Dry Erase Boards

My kids LOVE writing on dry erase boards.  When I moved into my new classroom, I found 4 dry erase boards... and they were kinda yucky.  I poured over the internet to find a solution to my dilemma.  I knew about using the shower wall stuff that you can buy at Lowes or Home Depot, but I wanted something cheaper... and easier for me to make.  Learning Pavilion had a solution for me!  This post about plastic plates was a life changer.

Next I had to find my own plastic plates.  Luckily I was taking a planned trip to our IKEA store and remembered to keep my eyes out for plates that would do the job.  

And of course, IKEA has everything you could ever dream of needing!  The SOLBRÄND plate was just what I needed. 

 

My kids think it's so cool that they get to write on plates.  

Parent Volunteers

I am blessed to have a great number of parents that have expressed an interest in volunteering in our classroom.  I have a variety of ways that parents can help.

1.  The Play Dough Maker's Club
     These parents sign up to make an assigned color from our classroom play dough recipe.  We have a variety of allergies, so I prefer that parents make the play dough by the recipe.  My sister (a first grade teacher) mentioned to me that she preferred store bought play dough, but I thought that this would be a nice project for both parent and child.  We will use the play dough for letter formation practice and number formation practice.

2.  Writer's Workshop
    The second half of our Writer’s Workshop takes place immediately following lunch.  Students will be writing in their journals at this time.  Parent volunteers would be guiding students during their writing, encouraging students to write the sounds that they hear, and writing what students dictate as being their journal entry.   The time commitment for this would be on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

3.  Reader's Workshop
     During Reader's Workshop, I am making a special time in my schedule on Fridays for a Mystery Reader.  The Mystery Reader will come in during our Reader's Workshop with a special book to read, either from home or from our classroom library.  I welcome parents with younger children to come during this time.  As long as the younger sibling can sit on the carpet and enjoy the story, we are happy to have them as guests in our classroom.  Those that can volunteer without a younger sibling with them are welcome to stay and assist through our literacy workstations immediately following Mystery Reader time.

Here's a freebie download of my Volunteer Opportunity form.

Google Doc of Volunteer Opportunity Form

Journeys (aka Journals)

We began writing in our journals on day one.  I had to giggle when my new friends called the journals their "journeys."  Oh, how wise they are- their journals will truly be an example of their journey through kindergarten.  That's exactly why I like to begin writing in journals from day one.  When we look back, it will be so neat to see growth.

I've tried a variety of methods for keeping journals organized.  One year, I gave each student a binder clip as a bookmark.  This summer, I came across this ingenious idea from Jaime at What's The Buzz In First Grade.  A ribbon bookmark!  SO SMART!

So, first I scrounged around through my craft stash, and then through my mom's craft stash for ribbon.  We had ribbon from my wedding five years ago and ribbon from other projects.  I showed my wonderful paraprofessional the idea and she took care of business and added a ribbon bookmark to each journal.

Another part of the journaling process is making sure that each page is dated.  This is important for documentation purposes.  One year I begged a date stamp from our school librarian.  She no longer used it as the records were now kept in the computer database and not in the card catalog.  This was easy for me to do and I may do this again.

But to start off the school year, I printed the writing prompt and the date on a mailing label.  This solved the problem of having a writing prompt to accompany the journal entry.  My next step in the journaling process will be inviting parent volunteers to come in and help me during writer's workshop.  I'm so excited- I have many parents that have expressed an interest in volunteering in the classroom.  This will be a great opportunity.