This year I am so excited to report that I had a project funded by Donors Choose! I was able to get a yoga ball for each of my scholars to sit on. They are amazing and I can't imagine every teaching without them! The scholars really enjoy being able to bounce on the ball in order to get their energy out without disrupting the other scholars in the room. I recommend them to any teacher and any scholar (especially the wiggly ones!)

I do have rules to sitting on the ball: two feet on the ground at all times, bottom on ball at all times, no pencils on the floor (can pop the yoga balls). If a scholar has broken one of these rules, they lose the ball for the rest of the day and will sit in a regular chair. All scholars begin the day on a yoga ball, even if they lost theirs the day before.

Classroom Decor and Trackers

 Here are a couple of trackers that I use in my classroom!

Rocket Math Tracker: use it as a Do Now for every math lesson. Scholars are given 3 minutes to complete their individual math equations. If they complete it with less then 2 mistakes, they get to move their rocket up on the tracker. The next day, they are given the next set up the tracker. The following websites can be used for the scholars to complete: Rocket Math 1

This is my job chart! The owls are Velcro on and I change jobs everyday. Each morning a different scholar reads the jobs to the class.

This is our BAS reading tracker. Each scholar/ "car" starts at the same place on the track. As they raise their reading level, they get to move their car up the track (1 space per reading level). I like that it is a round track because their is never an end to becoming a better reader. The scholars just want to see how many times they can move their car around the track. (PS my classroom is themed after a college, Rice University, hence the owls :))



 

Finally, this is my in class work wall. It is owls sitting on a telephone wire! Each owl has a scholar's name in it where they can hang up their work. I have listed the TEKs and objective for the work shown on the clouds to the right of the wall. 





Parts of Speech Wall

This is the newest addition to my classroom. I love that it is color coded (matches Jolly Phonics color coding) and a strong example of where/ how the different parts of speech work in a sentence.

 

Parts of Speech

 

**it will look funny on google.docs but will download fine to Word

For a Co-teacher

Just finished making my phonics/grammar teacher, Ms. Ward, her holiday gift. I found the original template on Pinterest but added in the idea of the finger prints and scholar names in the grass! Get your own copy by clicking on the title under the picture!

Finger Print Tree

Polar Express Holiday Idea

My very first post! How exciting! I just finished creating a small holiday gift for my scholars (students). Last week we read and watched The Polar Express. My scholars absolutely loved it, as did I. I decided to use it as inspiration for my scholar's holiday gift this year. Each scholar will get a small jingle bell tired with a red ribbon. They will also get a "ticket" for the Polar Express attached on the outside. I incorporated the IB learner profiles into my tickets because we are working all year to embody these profiles. I found a profile that each scholar has shown the most of and that is the profile that they have on their ticket.

 

This was an inexpensive and fun way to send the scholars off into the holiday break! Hope you enjoy!

Polar Express Ticket Front

Polar Express Ticket Back