Word Wall Bulletin Board & CAFE Board

So a few of my bulletin boards are up.  Today was meeting day, so not much done, but I'm hoping to play catch up tomorrow - only one short meeting!!

Here are some pictures of my word wall and CAFE board, all done with Echo Park scrapbook paper and the "Life's A Beach" cricut cartridge.

Word Play Word Wall - Vowels are on pails and consonants on beach balls

This is the entire Word Wall board.  I have 5 black boards, 4 which I use as bulletin boards.  The letters are unevenly spaced due to how many words are under each.  The words on the word wall in this picture are just for show and I will remove them before school starts on Tuesday.

This is my CAFE board.  The strategies will be added to the board as I teach the lessons. 

Close up of Comprehension

Close up of Accuracy

Close up of Fluency

Close up of Expand Vocabulary

 

Tomorrow I am hoping to finish up all except 2 of the bulletin boards - these 2 require extra assistance (my sister is coming to help me on Thursday.  I also have a short meeting at 9, and would like to start photocopying some work and other classroom management tools...I'm gonna be there all day!!

Treasure Hunt BB and Oodles of Laminating

So we went to school yesterday and laminated all of the pieces we had cut out with the cricut...and now we have to cut them out of the laminating!  So much cutting.  I am very excited about putting up all of the bulletin boards on Monday though! 
 Here are some of the laminating pictures as well a one completed bulletin board. 

The first 2 pictures are of  the name plates that will go on the desks.  I used the Echo Park stickers that came with the paper I ordered.  A great way to use them up! 

 These two pictures are of the rows of  laminating that we are going to be cutting out!!  They will make up the Word Wall, the Six Traits of Writing bulletin board, job board, math workshop board, and CAFE board.  I still have to finish up my clip chart, Daily 5 titles, and Welcome board.

 This is the Treasure Hunt board.  It will be where I hang the students exceptional work.  I hope to change it weekly and give an opportunity for all of the studnets to have work displayed throughout the year.









This picture is a close up of the subject titles of the Treasure Hunt board.



We are hoping to borrow my mom's camera next week for better pictures.  My sister's small digital just isn't cutting it for us!  Stay tuned for the finished products!!

Math Workshop Beach-themed Bulletin Board

The next group of pictures are for my Math Workshop bulletin board/pocket charts.  I am using the idea from Clutter Free Classrooms and have created beach-themed centre/group titles.  The starfish are for the flexible student group titles - A, B, C, D.  The red, blue, yellow and green rectangular cards are the titles for each of the workshop activites. The small, corresponding charms are to be used as a rotation schedule for each group.   Ie.  If Group A is has the red crab charm first beside their starfish, they go to the math fact station first.

My sister and I will be going in to school on Monday to put up all of the bulletin boards.  Watch for more pictures then!!

Beach Theme Bulletin Board Creations

So I apologize for being MIA for the last little while.  My family went on our yearly camping trip - a time we all enjoy very much.  For my kids, it's a time for them to play with their cousins (my husband's entire family camps together at the same provincial park each year).  For my husband it's a time to catch up with his siblings and parents - we are scattered all over the province.  And for me it's a time to sit on a gorgeous beach all day with my laptop and curriculum.  I know, I know....you're thinking I'm crazy.  I mean, who really brings curriculum camping, right?  But I am obsessed with it.  I love organizing it, reading it and just really getting to know all of the things I teach.

Anyway, when I arrived back home, my paper order from Echo Park Paper Co. arrived in the mail, as did my new Cricut cartridge, Life's A Beach.  Since I am doing a Beach-themed classroom this year, these two products will help me, and my very crafty sister, create some amazing classroom decorations.

Here is a picture of the paper line I ordered and the cricut cartridge images:

And here are a few pictures of bulletin boards we have created so far.  The first on is going to be my Word Wall - beach balls for consonants and sand buckets for vowels.

My September Daily 3/CAFE plans

Well, I've been trying to upload this document now for a while.  I do have almost 70 days complete and once they are, I plan on sharing those too.  I am a big believer for not reinventing the wheel, so I don't mind sharing to help others.  So many of you have inspired me with new ideas and I hope that this document can help out a few of you too!

Since I'm planning on basing my writing curriculum off of the 6+1 Traits of Writing, I thought I'd post my bulletin board to accompany each trait.  This was a bulletin board that I created last year using my Cricut - I started using the traits later on in the school year.  This year I am doing a beach-themed classroom, so I've been sketching out some ideas for my new writing bulletin board.  Thankfully, I have a sister who is uber-amazing at decorating, so she tends to take my ideas and run with them!  Looking forward to getting into the classroom to start this process.

Language Arts

Little bit of background:  My Language Arts Block is structured using The Daily 5 by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser. When teaching reading strategies, I use CAFE (also by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser).  My writing lessons come from 6+1 Traits - I have used this a little last year, but am going to very much be relying on it this year.  My word work lessons come mostly from the Four Blocks.

So for the last 2 weeks I have been soley focusing on Language Arts.  I am mainly keeping the bones of my block.  I'm just organizing it all more into one document so I can see them all together.  The main area that I am really changing is the writing, as I mentioned above.  I have been really enjoying getting my mini lesson ideas from 6+1 Traits of Writing: The Complete Guide For The Primary Grades by Ruth Culham. 

So right now, it's more of amalgamating all of the components of curriculum that I like into The Daily 5 framework.  Hopefully soon I'll be able to attach the 'finished' mapped out product.

A Time for Review and Reflection

During the summer I spend a great deal of time, as I'm sure that any teacher does, reviewing and reflecting upon the school year that just ended.  After I take stock of what worked and what didn't, what needs to be tweaked and what needs to be trashed, I start wading through new curriculum, old curriculum, teacher blogs and numerous websites. 

So I have decided to start a blog to contain all of my thoughts and findings in one central place.  I also have the mentality of why re-invent the wheel, so I feel that this can also be a place where I can share some things that I have found and created for other teachers who may be searching for new ideas or information.

I can't promise that I will be very regular in my postings, but I would like to update at least weekly, so be sure to check back periodically to see what may be new.