Primary Chalkboard

Back to School Planning: Teaching with Themes Throughout the Year

Hi everyone! It's Leslie from First Grade and Flip Flops! Hard to believe that back to school is in full swing for some of our teacher friends! I still have a few weeks left but it doesn't mean that I am not in school mode! I have been busy planning and getting ready for the year by prepping beginning of the year homework, information packets, making a new decor set, and the list goes on and on! 




This meme is the story of my life! 

One of the things I want to share with you is how I plan during the year. Of course I teach to our curriculum maps. That is a must! They are always in my plan book and I refer (and agonize and sometimes have an adult beverage just to sift through some of those tough standards I have to teach!!) to them constantly as I am planning weekly. It takes me at least 2 hours or more just to plan some weeks because our curriculum (like yours) is so. packed

One aspect of planning that I do is that I love to teach with a weekly theme in mind. It's not all the time (sometimes, I go with the theme of our weekly story) but it really helps to give me direction as far as gathering materials for my instruction. I tie in the standard to the theme (if I have one) to help make my planning and instruction go more smoothly-- plus, the kids love knowing what we're learning about. 

For example, we had an Olivia week where we learned all about Olivia. It happened to be that that was our story in our reading series. So I placed books about Olivia, books about pigs, all their literacy centers were pig or Olivia based (and skill targeted), and they had an activity where they had an art gallery walk just like Olivia in the story. 






I usually plan by seasons and if you were to take a look at my file cabinets (well, I rather you wouldn't as they are a HOT MESS! ha!) and my teaching tubs, I have them set up and prepared by what I teach by season. Here are just some examples:






Sometimes we get to it and sometimes not; you know how that goes! Our days are so packed with standards, curriculum, and pacing-- that sometimes we can't always fit it in! I do want to note that although I did list some holidays, our district has gotten very strict with mentioning anything of the sort. Who knew that Santa was another bad "S" word? LOL!! In all seriousness,  just to be on the safe side, check with your district to see what their policy is. For example, this year we weren't allowed to do anything Grinch related even though I could have tied it in with all the standards we were teaching that week (in ELA). I was very sad

This is just a sample of what I've taught throughout the years and if you have other ideas that you'd like to add to the list, we'd love to hear them!! 

And I've got a little {FREEBIE} for you to download, print, and keep in your plan book! It might come in handy when you are planning. 




I hope that this helps you with your planning as your school year begins! I know that it really helps me! Don't forget to check back with us for more fantastic ideas to help you with back to school! 


Take care!! :-)




Lots of love,
Leslie 


Parent Input Freebie

Hello, Hello!!!

It's Lisa from Growing Firsties dropping by today to talk a bit about getting Parent Input.

Over the last few years I've been pretty jazzed about Growth Mindset. You may have already seen this recent Primary Chalkboard post or this Growing Firsties post.

Smile if you like getting input from your students' parents at the beginning of the year about their child's learning style and personality. (Did ya smile? Hope so!)

Back in April, when I started thinking about my new crop of students, I started thinking about how I could get different input from parents...mindset-based input.

'Cuz, at the very beginning of the year, before I reallllly know my students, it's helpful to know which students may...

need extra organizational help

be reluctant to try something new

are reading at the beginning of the year benchmark, but it was lots of hard work to get there

benefit from close support to learn routines

For some students, the above characteristics are pretty easy to see...but in others, the ones who stay under the radar a bit, not so much.

Sarah has a GREAT post about her parent input form - you can read it by clicking {right here}.

I like to hit the ground running as much as possible, so this is the Parent Input Form I developed.
Growing Firsties Primary Chalkboard

Here's a bit of a closer look:
Growing Firsties Primary Chalkboard

You can download it by clicking either of the above pictures. It's a zipped (compressed) file because one of the formats is EDITABLE. Yep...you can make it work for YOU and YOUR context. :) I hope you find it helpful!!!


Chalkies LOVE Back to School TPT Sale

It's that special time again! Time for the HUGE annual Teachers Pay Teachers Back to School Sale! 

A special thank you to Mrs. Jones' Kindergarten for making our super cute sale button!

We are so excited to share with you some NEW awesome products from our stores! Click on any of the links below to visit our personal blogs and see what we've been up to! :)

An InLinkz Link-up




When you are checking out on August 3rd & 4th don't forget to enter the Promotional Code: BTS15 for additional savings! 
Also, remember to leave feedback so that you can TPT Credits towards future purchases!

Establishing Your Morning Routine and Classroom Jobs

Hi everyone! It's that time of year again. Summer is winding down and we are all starting to think about going back to school. Some of you are already there! Am I alone when I say that the first week usually makes me want to pull my hair out? Well today I'm going to talk about setting up your morning routine so your kids know exactly what to do when they walk in the room. Hopefully this will help keep a few more stands on hair on your head. ;)

My first couple years, I really struggled with this. Most kids learned our routines and knew exactly what to do. Others knew what to do, but got side tracked. Still others weren't sure. I realized it wasn't them It was me. When our students are struggling in the classroom, we always need to look at what we are doing that isn't getting through to them. I realized that I taught routines and even modeled them, but some of my students still needed a visual reminder. Most days were the same, but Mondays and Fridays were different because Friday was turn in homework day and Monday they had to check their job chart. Some mornings I had morning work, but other mornings I wanted them to read a book. I wasn't being consistent. So I created these posters for my class:


Each morning, I chose the posters I wanted for that day and put them on my magnetic white board. They took up a lot of space, but I was able to remove them when the bell rang and our day began so it didn't matter. I kept them easily accessible so I could grab them each morning. The following year, I started out my year strong by introducing these posters on day one. I told my students that they could count on these visuals to be there each morning so they knew exactly what to do. I started with just one poster: Hang up your backpack. Then as I introduced more routines, I added that poster up the next morning. Here are some tips on using these posters:

1. Start on Day 1 with just one poster. Introduce the morning routine posters. 
2. Each day, add a poster as you introduce new routines. 
3. Model and practice as you introduce a new poster.
3. After the bell rings and everyone is seated, go over the posters that you have on the board. Check to make sure everyone has completed each routine before taking down that poster. Give them time to do it if they hadn't already. 
4. After all have been introduced, modeled, and practice, spend a few more days or a week (however long it takes) going over each poster to make sure everyone has done them. Do this after everyone is seated. Take down a poster and ask, "Did you hang up your backpack?" If everyone has done it, move on to the next one.
5. Spend time practicing your morning routine at the end of the day so checking these each day becomes a habit. Mix it up so they get used to the fact that sometimes certain posters will not be there. (For example, my homework poster was only there on Fridays.)
6. For those students who need a little extra help, give them a mini-version (pictured below) to keep laminated on their desk. They can check off as they go using a white board marker. If needed, provide a timer to show them how much time they have. 


You can download these by clicking HERE

One of my routines on Mondays is to check the job chart. I change out jobs each week. I don't need to keep a checklist of jobs because I just move the jobs one over each week. 


There are two different ways to set this up:

Jobs on the inside and faces of students on the outside:

OR jobs on the outside and student names inside:

Come by my blog to read and see more about how I use this job chart.

Another clever idea for job charts:
A coworker many year ago used to have two kids doing each job at a time. The first student was the "expert" and the 2nd was "job training." The next week the job trainee would become the expert and teach the next person how to do the job. That means every other week you were learning a new job and every other week you were an expert. I loved that system! 


I hope you all have a great first week back.  I hope this post helps with some of those routines! :)





What We're Chalking About AUGUST: A Visual Calendar

Hi friends, it's Emma from Clever Classroom.  I am so excited to share with you all the upcoming posts that the authors of the Primary Chalkboard have planned for you this August. 

What We're Chalking About AUGUST: A Visual Calendar

Can you believe it's August? We are almost three quarters of the way through the year!  How did that happen?  

While you contemplate that, you might also want to think about what you have planned for this month?  Are you heading back at school now, or are you planning to go back soon?  Either way, this page will set you up for inspirational ideas from our experienced, and very dedicated teacher-authors. 

To receive blog posts directly, click here


Here's what you can expect this month. 

What We're Chalking About AUGUST: A Visual Calendar


1  Sarah from Sarah's First Grade Snippets - Morning Arrival Routines

2  All the Primary Chalkboard Authors - Our Little Secret

3  Lisa from Growing Firsties - Parent Input

4  Leslie from First Grade and Flip Flops - Teaching with Themes Throughout the Year

5  Christina from Miss Decarbo - The First Day of School

6  Casey from Second Grade Math Maniac - The Second Day of School

7  Valerie from All Students can Shine - Classroom Management

8  Greg from Kindergarten Smorgasbord - Names

9  Jessica from Second Grade Nest - Elementary Back to School eBook Tips

10 Terry from Terri's Teaching Tidbits - Intermediate Back to School eBook Tips

11  Monica from The Schroeder Page - Executive Brain Function

12  Katie from Teaching to the Core - First Day Freebies

13  Blair from One Lesson at a Time - MVP: Most Valuable Partnership

14  Autumn from Primary Techie - Family Journals

15  Susanna from Whimsy Workshop Teaching - Simple Art Tutorials

16  Laura from Peace Love and First Grade - Meet the Teacher

17  John from Created by Mr. Hughes - Back to School Night

18  Karen from Mrs. Jones's Class - Bulletin Boards Made Easy

19  Haley from My Silly Firsties - Dismissal Time 

20  Corinna from Surfin' Through Second - Sub Tub

21  Randi from Teach it with Class - Building a Classroom Environment

22  Stacy from Funky Fresh Firsties - Easy Hallway Displays

23  Anna from Simply Skills in 2nd - Classroom Rules 

24  Latoya from Flying into First Grade - Blended Learning Ideas

25  Meg from The Teacher Studio - Setting a Climate for Problem Solving

26  Matt from Digital: Divide and Conquer - Behavior Plans and Data

27 Jen from Out of this World Literacy - Spreading Kindness

28  Cyndie from Chalk One up for the Teacher - Math Games

29  Vicky from Teaching and so Much Moore - Setting Goals the First Daye 

30 Heather from 2 Brainy Apples - Integrating Social Studies & ELA 

31  Emma from Clever Classroom - September Chalk About It - blog Posts Overview


What We're Chalking About AUGUST: A Visual Calendar Primary Chalkboard

To remember this post, you might like to pin it.  That way, you can come back to see the posts throughout the month. 

On the last day of each month, we will post this visual calendar for you to see what we have planned for you. 

If you have any suggestions that you would like us to write about, please comment below. 

To follow our blog, please click here. 

Here's a link to our July posts which are full of classroom organization ideas, tips and makeovers, back to school ideas, first day inspiration, writing conferences, behavior management.  We also blogged about tips for new teachers, integrating math, writing and art, techy ideas and even a post about our trip to the Teachers Pay Teachers conference in Las Vegas. Click here to see July's posts from the authors of the Primary Chalkboard. 


Middle Grades Classroom Set Up and Organization



Well, hey y'all! It's so good to be back blogging here at Primary Chalkboard! I'm Heather from Brainy Apples, and today I am going to share how I set up my classroom for the new school year. I officially go back tomorrow, but I went in every day this week to get my room ready. Please don't throw tomatoes! I know you elementary peeps go in MANY more days than just 3, and, on those days, you spend close to 8 hours each day. I know. I was elementary for 13 years. I don't even know how many days and hours in the summer I would spend setting up my classroom. This will be my 2nd year in middle school, and I spend way less time getting my classroom ready. It's a lot easier when you teach just one subject. Last year I taught ELA. This year I get to teach social studies, and I can't tell you how stinkin' excited I am about that! So, when you see my classroom, you will definitely be able to tell I am a one-subject-kinda-gal now. 
  I wanted to write my blog post about middle grades classroom set up and organization because last year was my first year in middle school....and I was so worried I wasn't doing something I needed to be doing because I had my room set up in less than a week. Going from spending probably 80+hours setting up a room to less than 15 hours was weird. Definitely weird, but weird in a good way (well, weird is always good). There are some things I do the same, but there are many more that I do differently.


First Things First

Before I even begin decorating my room, I still write down every function I need my classroom to perform. I want to make sure I have a designated area for everything. AND that everything will actually fit. Nothing makes me a sad panda more than decorating most of my room, and then realizing that all I wanted to include won't be possible because I have run out of space. Even though I am still a rookie when it comes to middle school, I know I will definitely need the following:

A place for students to turn in (and store) their work 
Since I am teaching social studies, I know my students will be working on a lot of projects. These will most likely stay in my room, so not only do I need a place for students to turn in their work, I need space for them to store their work. Did I mention I teach 5 classes? So about 150 students...I need to have space for their work...ALL of them...during projects. 


Supply corner
My students will be coming to me with all the needed school supplies (pencils, pens, highlighters, markers, scissors, glue, etc.). However, there are always a handful who somehow forgets their supplies. Um, yeah. So instead of wasting time having them go to their lockers to get said needed supplies, I want to have a corner of my room with everything they need, so they can quickly get a loaner (and I know most will go missing because loaners become theirs. That's why I have tubs of extras in my closet. And I have been known to ask students for a shoe when they borrow a pencil from me because they give it back every single time...sometimes sticky...sometimes not).

Storage for extra supplies
Since I will be needing to replenish my "I forgot my supplies" corner, I know I will need adequate space to keep all the extras that will eventually make their way to that corner...and I need storage for my own supplies.

Absent work
This is a biggie. One reason why I love middle school is because the responsibility of completing classwork, getting work missed, etc. falls on the STUDENT. Not me. The STUDENT. So when someone is absent, it is his/her responsibility to get missing work. We use ItsLearning, which is an on-line platform, and I post what we are doing in class. However, if a student does not have access to a printer or a computer at home (which families can actually check out a laptop from our media center and get a broadband card for FREE so they do have the needed technology at home), or their Internet broke (which is an excuse I hear...a lot....) I need a place to neatly keep missing assignments so students can get it on their own without asking me. HEAVEN.

Word Wall
Even though I teach middle school, I am going to have a word wall in my room. It's non-negotiable. This year my word wall will consist of social studies vocabulary because there is a LOT of content-specific words in the curriculum. I am going to create my own word cards, and I will be putting a visual representation on each card to help students make connections. This will be an on-going project for me this year.  *Update! I finished my Social Studies Word Wall and you can get it by clicking {HERE}*


When I taught ELA, I had a Greek and Latin roots/affixes word wall. There are SO many students are responsible for learning, and I found that they were forgetting already learned ones. I created a word wall specifically for students to refer to all year long. I put this word wall on a bulletin board. During the year, students would write words that contained a specific root/affix on a notecard and then tack onto the board under the word wall card. Students were on the lookout for roots/affixes without me having to ask! You can also use this word wall during science because several vocabulary terms have these roots/affixes. My students were referring to my word wall to remember key science terms! You can see this word wall by clicking {HERE}.



Maps
Maps, maps, maps.....and more maps. I will be teaching Europe, Canada, Australia, Latin America, and islands in the Caribbean. We are literally all over the world. So I will be hanging up a lot of maps in my room. Good thing I love maps :)

A place to display student work 
Even middle schoolers like to have their work hanging on the wall! I don't have wall space outside my classroom (darn those lockers!), nor do I have wall space for 150 kiddos. I can, though, have a dedicated space on my wall and rotate out student work, so they know I appreciate and respect what they create. And, even though they may not admit it, they are proud when they know their work is important enough to display.

Quotes
I love quotes. Wen I coached basketball years ago, there were 2 girls responsible for finding a quote to read to the team before our game. They had to explain the significance of the quote and how it pertained to our team and the upcoming game. It was amazing to hear the message my players heard from those quotes and the impact it made on them. So I knew I wanted a wall space for quotes for my middle schoolers. I also decided that since there are specific people I will be teaching, most of the quotes will be said by those people (yet another on-going project for myself this year!). Not only will these quotes hopefully give my students something to think about, but the quotes will also help my students remember the significance of each person.

Interactive notebook table of contents
I will be using an interactive notebook this year. There is SO much content I will be teaching, I have to make the material engaging for my students. I will do this through INB and projects. I need a place where I can display our INB table of contents so if students are absent or get behind, they can see what they missed and what they need to make up. This won't take up much space at all either...thank goodness!

Word Splash
I love word splashes. I consider a word splash to be a group of words associated with one term. Because we will be studying 5 different areas, I want to help my students recognize key terms associated with each area. I need a large enough area to display the current splash as well as previous splashes (and I really need to think of a cuter name). I am going to color code each region's splash because color can help some students with remembering word associations. 

Fun social media board
We are a Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) district. Our kids come to school with different types of devices. I know they use Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I am going to bring those social media platforms to my classroom. I need a space where I can have an interactive bulletin board that they students will be responsible for updating. I have several ideas floating around in my head, but until the school year gets going, I am not sure which path I will take. As soon as I figure it out though, I will be blogging about it on my blog, so be sure to check in with me regularly!

This day in history...
I love trivia. And I love to know what happened today in history. This will be another interactive display my students will be responsible for updating. It won't need much room, but I do want a space where students can easily switch out events that happened in history, and I hope they find really obscure or interesting, little known facts! I just want them to become fascinated by history because I did NOT like social studies when I was in school. AT ALL. I am trying to think of things that would have helped pique my interest in hopes that it carries over to my students.

A place for students to sit
I guess this is important :) I do not like desks. Nope nope nope. These are the adjoined chair and desk, and they are so cumbersome! I like to have my students sit in groups, and those desks would move all over the room! They drove me crazy. I wasn't keen on the idea at the beginning of last year, but thought I would give them a try. I nixed that the 3rd week of school. So, over the span of several months, I replaced desks with tables. Now I have 5 rectangular tables and 1 circle table for my students. Not only do these tables not migrate, I have way more space than if I had 30 desks. I want my students to get on the floor and spread out, and easily do group work without having gaps between the desks. 

Once I knew what all needed to be in my room, I could begin moving furniture and decorating! Did I mention I love how I teach just one subject? I don't remember how in the world I fit everything 5 needed for multiple subjects in one room! I am going to eventually need storage space for social studies games and centers that I will be making this year (add some more projects to my ever-growing on-going to do list!), and I made sure to leave some blank space in my room for my new creations (and now I have Taylor Swift singing in my head).

Get Your Decorating (and Furniture Moving) On


Here's the fun part! Now, my room is not totally complete. I know there will be things I didn't think of that I need to add to my room. I learned in years past to NOT decorate every square inch of my room. Not only do ideas hit me out of nowhere, but I also want students to feel like it's THEIR room, too. It does make it look a little blah at the beginning of the year, but by the 3rd month (if not sooner), it becomes more colorful with the help of my students!

So, here we go with my classroom set up! I will address each item on my "Must Have" list:


A place for students to turn in (and store) their work 







Supply corner

Storage for extra supplies



Absent work
(the absent work display is behind my door)


A place to display student work, Interactive notebook table of contents, & This day in history...

Word Splash, Fun social media board, & Word Wall


Maps


Quotes & A place for students to sit

My quotes will go above my board, and I didn't take pics of the tables because there is still a lot of crap supplies on them :) 

I am going to be doing another blog post towards the end of August/beginning of September about how I have tweaked my classroom to fit the needs of my class (because you know it happens.EVERY.SINGLE.YEAR.) Be sure to head on over to my blog in a few weeks to check it out! I am also going to be blogging a lot more this year because, in case I haven't already said it, I am SO excited to be teaching social studies! I would love to share my journey with you! 'Till next time! -XOXO



Heather






BTS Routines & Procedures!

     Hey there! It's Karen from Mrs. Jones's Class, and I am here to share some tips and goodies that you can use to help make your classroom run like a well-oiled machine this school year. No, you don't need any WD-40 (although that does come in handy when cleaning your dry erase boards, but that's another post)...we are talking routines and procedures here, folks!

So. 
You are getting ready to go back to school, eh?  A new class. Crisp materials. Clean floors (for the first 10 minutes, at least). A whole new year of fun and memories. A fresh, new group of kids that need to "learn the ropes" before you can get down to business and teach!

Ok.
I'm going to start with the big kids first.
I taught 5th grade this year, and one thing that I've learned after moving from Kindergarten is-- 
the big kids need to learn classroom routines and procedures as much as the little ones do!

1. Have a system (for everything!)
(click image to download from Google drive)


2. Teach, model, and practice routines daily for the first couple of weeks!
We all know that repeated modeling and practice will help the procedures stick and become second nature. Show them, have them show each other, and have them practice. If a procedure is getting loose, then reteach it. Before breaks and vacations are great times to practice and reteach rules and procedures, too!


Now. 
The littles. A whole different beast in some ways. 
I have an extensive list of routines and procedures to teach in the beginning of the year Kindergarten and 1st grade over on my blog, Mrs. Jones's Class. 

Click the image below to take you over there and download the list!
 back to school routines



I hope that these resources come in handy this BTS season!  
Have a great year, everyone!
-Karen