Primary Chalkboard

Back to School Night

Hi Friends! It's Nicole from Mrs. Rios Teaches here to share some ideas and tips for making Back to School Night enjoyable for both parents, and yourself!

My most popular post EVER on my blog, just happens to be on this topic! Click on the image below to take you there. (P.S. I just added a new Back to School FREEBIE to that post!)

Nicole

Tips for Using Interactive Notebooks with Primary Kids

Hey everyone! It's Karen from Mrs. Jones's Class.

Raise your hand if you are using Interactive Notebooks this year!

If you're a primary teacher (although, some of the tips would work with any grade), then head over and check out this post! I'm sharing lots of helpful tips and tricks that will help you seamlessly implement INB's into your classroom this year!

9/11 in the Classroom

Hi Friends! This is Autumn from The Primary Techie. I am always happy to write for The Primary Chalkboard, but today I have a serious topic; September 11th. Where were you when you heard the news? I am sure all of us remember that moment, but our students were not even born when the towers fell. I think for many kids, history seems irrelevant to their lives today. It is so important to acknowledge this tragedy and teach our students about this event that rocked our nation. Here are some of the things on my lesson plan for next week.

Background Video
I don't know how much my kids know about 9/11 so I want to introduce it in a way that is not too frightening for my little guys. I watched MANY YouTube videos and this one is the best kid-friendly explanation I found. It is just text on the screen with music in the background, so you will need to read it to younger kids. I plan on pausing the video to discuss things with my kids as this plays.

Watch, Think, Color
My class does two Watch, Think, Color activities every week (one on Monday while I make homework packets and one on Wednesday when I reteach small groups). This week, we will use the 9/11 design. I love this one because after we finish, I talk to my class about keeping this date in your heart and never forgetting. We need to remember history so that we can learn from it. I offer this in my store as a freebie this week only. I have it available for number sense, expanded notation, reading number words, and multiplication. Click here to download. To read more about Watch, Think, Color games, click here to visit my blog.

The Star Spangled Banner
Many kids don't know the Star Spangled Banner. My class will show our patriotism by singing it together every morning this week. This video has lyrics so students can read along.

Thank a Firefighter
Make cards and take them to your local fire department. It will mean a lot to the firefighters to know they are in your thoughts.

The Pledge of Allegiance
What is the pledge and why do we say it everyday? I always teach this at the beginning of the year with I Pledge Allegiance by Bill Martin Jr. I love this book because it breaks down the meaning of each part of the pledge. We will definitely revisit this book this week.

Celebration Crowns
I am OBSESSED with sending my kids home in hats. I just think they look so darn cute and their parents can SEE what we spent the day doing. I love making these hats because they use just one piece of paper per student. They are also so easy to assemble. I made some special crowns to celebrate America. I can't wait to see my class wearing some red, white, and blue! Click here to download your copy of my patriotic hat!

Looking for more patriotic ideas? Check out my Pinterest board by clicking here!

How do you recognize September 11th in your classroom? Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below. Thank you for reading!

Until next time,

MVP - Most Valuable Partnership

Hi, friends! It's Blair from One Lesson at a Time, here with an easy little strategy I use to make the most of student partnerships!

I think building a strong classroom community is just about the most important thing you can invest your time in during the school year. Obviously, the ability to work well with others is not only a critical skill in the classroom, but in life. I use TONS of grouping and partnership strategies to help my students maximize their learning potential.

I think partner work is particularly powerful because each student has an equal opportunity to contribute to the team. Everybody brings certain skills and strengths to the table, and I love seeing students working together in ways that complement one another.

Here's my TOTALLY blog-worthy partner work display. I KNOW. Contain yourselves. It's PRETTY FANCY.

#reallife

I write each student's name on a piece of colored card stock and slap it on a business card magnet. (Side note: If you have not yet discovered the beauty of business card magnets, allow me to introduce you to your new best friend. They are the jam.)

I love using the business card magnets because it allows me to easily change up partnerships often. Knowing how often to change 'em up is probably a whole different blog post in and of itself, but I like to give students opportunities to work with different partners as much as possible. Again, life skills and all that.

At the top of that BEAUTIFUL picture (again, I apologize for how stunningly amazing my half-erased, crooked lettering is - I know it must be pretty intimidating to try to recreate such a fab-o setup), you can see I have a little spot for "Today's MVP".

In this case, MVP stands for "Most Valuable Partnership". Each day, I am on the lookout for two students who really demonstrate WHY collaborative work can be so powerful. I am looking for more than just the students who are quietly working, behaving, etc. I am looking for partners who contribute equally, listen intently, and push each other to achieve at a higher level than each individual could reach on his or her own.

Being the MVP means....

• Speaking respectfully

• Listening critically

• Sharing work equally

• Staying on task

• Being responsible to one another

• Valuing each other's perspective

I LOVE this system for a bunch of different reasons. For one thing, it is so, so easy on my end. It's a great way to recognize and reward students in a meaningful way. It encourages teamwork and allows students to share their success with one another. And it's an easy way to recognize each student in due time. I've found that it is very motivating for ALL my students...even the ones who may not always *love* working with a partner. I've seen students who normally butt heads really making an effort to work well together because they are more tuned in to what the expectations are.

Some years, all I did was move the MVP magnets into the "special" spot on the board. For some groups, that was all the recognition they needed. For other classes, I printed out some simple MVP awards to distribute each day.

If you want to download the awards to use with your own students, you can grab them for free by clicking {HERE}. I've included several different versions in both color and black and white because making choices is not my strong suit. :D

For more ideas, here's where you can find me:

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

Blair Turner

Using Poems in the Classroom

Hi friends! It's Vicky from Teaching and Much Moore ~ Can you believe it's September already? Geesh this year is flying by!

I'm so excited to share some ideas I have with today. Do you incorporate poems in the classroom across the curriculum? If not consider trying it out...here are some ideas:

When I taught first grade I used them everyday during our reading group rotations. They would highlight sight words and respond to the poem in some way. Here's a sample of that:

I think using poems to teach concepts is so important whenever possible. Poems/songs/rhymes help kids to learn concepts and offer a different modality to their learning style. I have kids that chant these multiplication poems while working on their facts. KIDS remember songs & chants much better than they remember by you showing them something.

These poems were made because the kids at my school already learned this in 2nd grade! I added a plane and a bed to match and now as they are working on tests or assignments I hear them chant quietly: 4 or less let it rest, 5 or more let it soar!

It makes my heart happy to know that something I taught them sticks with them and makes their life easier!

So whenever possible try and incorporate poems or songs into your teaching day. Kids come back to me years later and still sing a song I taught them at calendar time to teach them math concepts. We all want our students to be successful in the classroom why not try this if you haven't incorporated it yet?

P.S. They don't care if you can't sing. LOL ~ I can't but they still think I 'rock it'.

xo, Vicky

Morning Messages

Hello friends!! :) It's Haley here from My Silly Firsties! :) I wanted to blog a little bit about Morning Messages today. It's such a fun way to start our day, and my kiddos are already loving it!

Here's the reasons I came up with for doing a Morning Message! I'm sure there are tons more! I'd love to hear them!!

Here are some ideas for what to include! :) Of course...you can do what feels right for you and your class!

And here are some examples! :)

I hope this little post was helpful to you!! :) Be sure to check out the calendar for our upcoming posts!

Way Back Wednesday

Starting this week, Primary Chalkboard is going to bring you a link up for amazing posts that were written ages ago. We are recycling some of our favorite posts for you that we think you'll enjoy.

Read through the titles to see what you'd like to read about!

An InLinkz Link-up