Keeping Track of Important Student Paperwork

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

Every year, there are tons of papers students need to take home and bring back. It can be an overwhelming task to keep track of who has brought back what… especially if you don’t have a system. I’ll post all the ideas I see on this topic here:

One teacher used an extra pocket chart. She assigned each student a pocket and made a bunch of colored laminated cards for each pocket. She would assign a colored card (she could write on it multiple times) to each form that needed returned so she could see who needed to bring something back.

Mystery Noun Of The Week

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

I saw this cool idea and had to blog about it! Each morning, the teacher posts a clue to a the mystery noun and reveals the noun on Friday. Participation is voluntary, but most kids are pretty motivated by the mystery aspect if this activity. The teacher uses a book from the Daily Detectives series by Daryl Vriesenga. It would also be pretty easy to make your own clues to introduce an important noun in a lesson the following week or clues that describe something your class learned a few months ago as a review. I liked this idea because it reinforces what nouns are in a painless way.

When You Finish Early…

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

Every student takes a different amount of time to finish an assignment. The tricky part for teachers is to maintain a learning environment for the students who are still finishing. Many teachers have a box/tote of activities for students to do while they wait for other students to finish. Here are some examples:

I used to have a “Dessert Box.” I had a box of fun, yet educational puzzles, worksheets, that focused on problem solving skills. The students knew they could do a page to earn a ticket (part of my classroom management system).

During the literacy block

She puts a few copies of a fun (yet literacy based) worksheet in a folder for each day of the week. Certain students (high achievers or low students) have their own folders. This helps the kids who finish early to know what to do, and keeps them focusing on literacy skills during the literacy block. She also includes holiday games or other seasonal literacy activities during the weeks of holidays. So Smart!

Send photos of your “done early” activities to squareheadteachers at gmail dot com.

Quiet Signals

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

Here are some quiet signals I’ve heard over the years:

Practice Map Directions. Teacher: “Point North” (students point). “Point East” (students point)… in different orders so the students learn the directions needed for using maps.

Eyes On Me. Teacher: “1 2 3 eyes on me.” Students: “1 2 eyes on you”

Counting Down. Teacher starts counting backwards from 5, getting quieter and quieter with each number.

Do This. Teacher does simple actions such as touching nose, folding arms, etc. while quietly saying “do this” with each action. Soon students are looking around for the source of the directions their friends are following and it gives the kids something to do until everyone is ready.

Claps. Teacher claps out a rhythm and students must copy. Some students have a specific rhythm they use (teacher claps the first part and students finish the rhythm).

What signal do you use? Please share your ideas by commenting!

Snarky Poster for Your Classroom UPDATED

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

I loved this phrase, and I love chevron, so why not put them together into a fun poster for your classroom! Free printable poster is formatted to print on a regular 8.5″ x 11″ piece of paper. Click here for the free printable PDF: Study Maybe snarky poster

Don’t Eat Pete! (Fun Party Game)

Posted on November 2, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

This game is one of my favorite games ever. It’s killer easy and it’s way fun. You can use candy (M&Ms are my favorite) or any other type of marker (I’ve used Cheerios, Goldfish, paper markers, etc.). Here’s how to play:

1. Using a grid game board (here is my Don’t Eat Pete Game Template or click here to download my other free holiday game boards), place one M&M on each square.

2. Send one player away from the board where they can’t see/hear you.

3. The remaining players choose 1 square or candy to be “Pete”. Make sure everyone (except the player sent away) knows what the square is.

4. Invite the player back and they get to take as many candies as they can until they get to Pete. When they touch Pete, everyone says “Don’t eat Pete!”

5. At the end, clear off the board (I give the candy to the kid that just played) and put new candy on for the next kid.

This is especially fun in a group and players who know which one is Pete can trick the guessing player by say “Don’t eat Penelope!” or something just to make them jump! Enjoy!

(You could turn this into a more academic game by requiring the player to answer a question before they get to take a piece of candy…)

Here are some of my favorite treats for this game:

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EASY word wall

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

Sometimes it’s hard to remember to add words to your classroom’s word wall. Here’s a genius idea I saw in a kindergarten classroom recently. The teacher prints up the words at the beginning of the year and tacks them to the board backwards. When they learn a new word, all she has to do is flip it over and wa-la… organized, done-in-a-second word wall!

Here’s another easy way… magnets!

Effective Vocab Bulletin Board

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

Teaching vocabulary is only good for students if they actually LEARN the words. Here’s one way a teacher uses a bulletin board to increase students’ vocabulary:

Make sure to post:

1. the vocab word (big enough to see from every desk)

2. a simple definition

3. a simple picture to help explain the definition

4. a list of previously learned vocab words

This teacher introduces the words (10 each week) on Monday and then reviews all the words every morning (only takes a few minutes on Tues-Friday). The class also comes up with a gesture for each word. I’ve seen her class do these vocab activities, and let me tell ya, these kids really learn the words!