Bright Idea {Data Doors}

Hi, Friends! How are you? This time of the month always brings me joy because it’s time to collabo on great ideas for the classroom….ready for another ‘bright idea’?

My idea for this month is a little one that packs a LOT of punch!

Organizing data is an ongoing topic that can be incorporated into any subject area. Answering questions, taking surveys, documenting responses….all lends itself to being organized onto bar-type or picture graphs. Rather than going to the workroom to grab that giant sheet of butcher paper each time, just use your classroom door! (Hopefully, most of your students won’t all make the same choice as mine did on this one, lol!)

Create a basic set up that can be changed out quickly.

Holidays and monthly themes can be incorporated easily. By this time of year, students can also record information after analyzing the data.

…and you have a larger area to work with than you might generally have using butcher paper. When you’re ready to change it out, just take down the items you used to represent each student’s choice for that graph and replace it with a new title or question to create the next one! Sticky notes are a fantastic choice for creating bar graphs! Easy peasy and you have a large data display for students to see each time you enter and exit the classroom! Want your students to transfer the graph to paper? It’s big enough for everyone to see in order to do so! =)

Thanks for stopping by! If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more great ideas. I update these sites {almost} daily.

For more bright ideas from other bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks again, for stopping by! Happy blog hopping!

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Bright Ideas {Round-UP}

 Hey, Friends! Welcome to the November edition of the Bright Ideas Link-Up! This one is going to be a little different….and a special one! Loved finding so many bright ideas? Perhaps you missed a few? Well, no worries! Over the past 10 months, we’ve shared 1,000’s of awesome ideas through this fun monthly linky. This month, we’re re-capping all of those awesome ideas in ONE spot for you to catch any that you might’ve missed!

You can check out my previous posts for the year below:   In March, I shared about one of my daily favorites….guided writing! It’s the perfect blend of reading and writing. The journals also serve as a natural way to collect meaningful documentation of student growth throughout the year!
 


My next Bright Idea was about setting the classroom atmosphere. It is SO important!



June was all about organizing using student numbers. We use them for just about everything!



August…..more organization! Oh, how I’ve loved using THIS bright idea! No more tangled spirals…..



September was all about instructional necessity….implementing [math] Problem of the Day. My kiddos wouldn’t let me skip this part of our routine if I tried! They love it!



In October, I shared a fun find. Initially, it was found during an online search for a shared reading resource. Later, I discovered the FREE was for a limited time only. Sad face……=(



Which…..catches us all up to the here and now!

I hope that you’ve enjoyed this quick wrap up, the bright ideas and that you’ve found an idea that you can easily use in your own classroom. Be sure to check out the link up below for tons more bright ideas from my friends!

Enjoy your day!

An InLinkz Link-up

Speak a WHO?

Hey, Friends! How are ya?  It’s that time! Time for another bright idea!
 

This one….has quickly become a class favorite! While searching online for an animated version of our story of the week, I came across an adorable website that couldn’t be a bit easier to use! It’s called Speakaboos. Have you ever heard of it? Speak a WHO? Speakaboos!

If you choose, you can enter an email address to receive a FREE story each month. Free! Yep! I’ll take it! There’s also an app for THAT! Don’t want to enter your email? No worries, just close the window and move forward to the website. It’s super simple, organized wonderfully and reads “everything” as the mouse moves over the screen.

Sooooooo, you know what my kiddos asked to use as their listening station for next week, right?

Yep! You guessed it! Speakaboos! Action stories, fairy tales, sports stories, ABCS & 123s…..students can also click the wheel at the bottom to choose animated stories by character.

The stories can be viewed within a frame or enlarged to fit the entire screen. SUPER kid friendly, beautifully designed…..and now another little resource for you to add to your toolbox!

I hope your class will enjoy it as much as we have. Now a class favorite….the question is no longer Speak a Who? Now, it’s when CAN WE Speakaboo?! Click HERE to visit the site and check it out!

If you enjoyed this bright idea, consider joining me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for more ideas to come!

For more bright ideas from a variety of other bloggers, please browse the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for stopping by! Happy Reading!

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It's Bright Idea Time!

HI, Friends! How are ya? It’s time for another round of bright ideas!



This one…is a favorite! My son’s teacher from last year actually inspired it! Let’s get to it!



Journaling has become all the rage in classrooms all over the country! I love using journals in the classroom, BUT always hesitated to store them in stations for students because I didn’t want those pesky spirals to get tangled. Composition notebooks are PERFECT, BUT….can be a bit pricey!



Even still, there were times that I’ve tried to store notebooks in bins only to have an upset kiddo struggle to detangle his journal from a friend’s in order to get to work. Well, thanks to the nifty thinking of a certain lovely, 3rd grade teacher……we shall detangle NO MORE!



With a handy dandy roll of duct tape and scissors….you can solve your tangled spiral problems like this…..



Use the dotted line that runs down the front of the spiral as a guide to adhere a length of duct tape. Turn the notebook over onto its cover and fold the duct tape over the spiral to adhere to the back of the notebook.



Lay open and flat to double check that you haven’t stuck any writing pages together. =)



….and viola! Instant “composition books”….no tangles….AND with all the different types of duct tape available now, you can color code for organization too! No more mixed up, tangled spiral notebooks! Thanks, Mr. Love! Love ya!

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for more great ideas.

For more bright ideas from more than 100 different bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for stopping by!

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Bright Idea Linky~Student Numbers

Hey, Friends! How are ya? It’s time to get hoppin’ through another great list of bright ideas! I don’t know about you, but even when I’m enjoying summer vacation….I’m still always on the lookout for great ideas for the classroom! No need to fret though because there’s over 100 of them included in this month’s linky! No great teacher works alone…get by with a little help from your friends!




How do you manage students’ materials? Taking turns? The helper chart? Mailbox tags? Locker tags? The clip chart? Do you label ALL of these things with their names? And then what happens when a student moves and a new student moves in? Do you race around the room from label to label to update them? No more…..



In our classroom, we use student numbers to organize our bodies in line and wellll, just about everything related to student “stuff”. I begin the year by laminating a blank list numbered from 1-22. We don’t usually have more than 22 students in a class. After getting my hands on the golden class list, I simply write my students’ names in ABC order down the list of paper. The list gets taped to the top of our mailbox bookshelf for easy reference. After a while, we memorize numbers, but sometimes visitors to our classroom may need a little help knowing who’s number is who’s. This is the ONE and ONLY time the list is perfectly in ABC order. Once a student has been assigned a number, they keep the same number for the entire year. If a student moves, their name is erased. When a new student arrives, they’re assigned the number of the student that moved last.



One of the primary ways we use them is to pick friends for questions or to take turns in whole group activities.



Instead of names, for a little privacy, we also use them on our behavior clip chart. Everyone likes their name up in flashing lights when they’re clipping up the chart. Having numbers on the chart, rather than names, when the infamous clip may be heading in the opposite direction allows for a little more dignity left in tact.



Here, as we were cleaning out for the end of the year, students grabbed buckets of goodies for them to take home. When all the numbers were gone, I knew each student had received a little somethin’ somethin’ from our classroom.

That’s it…..we LOVE our names and celebrate them in all their glory by making sure they’re on our papers and personal supplies. Things that could easily be used for all students are organized by number. We also line up in number order, so there’s no arguing about…….THAT’S MY SPOT….in line. Everyone lines up in the same spot, every time, every day…all……year…..long! Unless they’re the line leader, door holder or caboose. =) Quick easy….a little prep time that will save you a LOT of trouble with organization later…..

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for more great ideas! Links are listed at the top of the page!

For more bright ideas from over 100 bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for visiting!

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Bright Idea~Setting the Atmosphere

Hey, Friends! How are ya? Thanks for stopping by to check out my bright idea for this month!

Do you have a favorite store or restaurant that you absolutely LOVE to shop in or go to for a family dinner? A favorite place you love to vacation? If you do, it’s likely because of the atmosphere that has been set for you to enjoy. Think about your favorite place to be. 

What is it about that place that draws you in.....that makes you want to get comfy and stay a while?

The atmosphere in our classroom is set in such a way each morning that it helps us to walk in, calm down and move forward with tasks to begin the day. Each morning, I walk through the same routine. The majority of the overhead lights are left off. Two lamps are turned on and quiet, instrumental music is set on the iPod to repeat. Morning work is projected onto the whiteboard and the morning message is written.

With all of the awesome sauce that we splash over the walls of elementary classrooms, sometimes we have to take a step back and realize it can be a bit much! Beginning the day this way serves as a calming start………



…….and we keep it this way throughout the entire morning while working through our Daily 5 routine.



The difference when the lights come back up……..BIG, lol! Sooooooo, they don’t stay on for long. After working through our math block with all lights on, we end the day again with dimmed lights to concentrate during writer’s workshop. A simple idea….but one that has a great effect on our daily routine!

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on Facebook for daily updates......more great ideas to come!

For more bright ideas from almost 100 different bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for visiting!

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Bright Ideas Blog Hop~Guided Writing Journals

Hi, Friends! How are ya?  I hope you’re having a hoppin’ good time gathering lots of exciting ideas for your classroom!

In Room 159, we love reading. We love writing. We love writing about reading too! One way we accomplish this is through the use of guided writing journals.  Guided writing takes place at the small group table at the end of our guided reading lesson {on day 2 or 3}. It helps us to extend and reflect on the text we're reading.

 

 

Sometimes, our reflections look like graphic organizers. I keep lots of different sticky notes on hand for quick assembly in notebooks. The novelty of holiday and themed sticky notes helps to maintain interest in the journals.

There are also times when I pose a question for students to use to take a deeper look at the text and respond to it. We share our responses when everyone is done. This helps students to explain and provide textual examples to support the position they've taken to answer and respond to essential questions.

 

 

For emerging readers, guided writing journals also contain word work, sight word sentences, and illustrations to respond to reading. In order to help students organize journals, we use lots of coding dots, sticky notes and stickers.  Lastly, we’re also beginning to use this as a place for me to jot quick notes to students to encourage them or give them kudos for their hard work.

 

Do you use guided writing journals in your classroom?  If not, I hope this "bright idea" might shine a little light on your considering to do so! =)

 

Next up on the hop is Stacey from Teaching Ever After. She has a great post about organizing for a month at a time! I can certainly use some help with that! You can hop to her post by clicking her blog button below.

 

 

 



Not up for a one by one hop? That’s okay too! Alternatively, you can search by topic, using the link up below and move along to any other stop on the blog hop.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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An InLinkz Link-up