Classroom decorations- border

So, last week  I was in the zone for getting classroom supplies.  Instead of going to Teacher Heaven (which does have everything you could ever want for your classroom, it is not necessarily cheap), I decided to stop by a Goodwill and see what they had laying around.  I found these borders, 24 ft in each package, for only .79 EACH.  I was SO excited!  Don't forget to LAMINATE your border so you can reuse for the rest of your teaching career!

They also has lamps that I would love for my classroom, to give it a calmer feeling and setting for the students.  Maybe even pillows for my classroom library!  Man, the things you can find!

Anchor Charts- Math Figures

In math we are beginning our figures unit.  To make things a little more interesting, I turned the shapes into race cars!  The number on the shape represents how many sides it has.  Also, I labeled at least one vertex and side so the students will see the vocabulary.  Naming the shapes also for vocabulary will be helpful.  Hope this one works well!  Enjoy!

Anchor Charts- Folktales

This is an anchor chart I made for when we studied Folktales in ELA.  The kids were glued to it because of the Spiderman and Superman logos I included (ALTHOUGH I need to brush up on my spiderman and superman drawings...yikes!)  .  Just goes to show, you can make them tune into ANYTHING!

Math work- Area

This is a piece of work that I completely adored!  It is supposed to be Mike "Wizowski" (?)  from Monsters Inc.!  What creative thinkers!
And they STILL had to use their math skills to find the area of little Mike!  Awesome job!

Anchor Chart- Multiplication

Even though I am in a DL second grade room, we teach math in English.  This anchor chart, I found, helped my ELLs because of the various ways and different representations of multiplication.    They also thought it was cool that I did not just draw circles with dots inside, on the top I drew backpacks with books inside and also diamonds with sparkles inside.  Make it a little more interesting, and they get sucked in!  If I could make it again, I would definitely put on some SpongeBob or LEGO themed illustrations, they love that stuff!

Anchor Charts- Measurement

When making easy anchor charts like this, all I do is prepare the lay out.  During direct instruction, the students help me brainstorm and write words that they know about measurement.  This also shows me how much background knowledge my students have.  They LOVE this anchor chart and always love to share that they have piggy banks at home.  During the group work and independent projects, I always see them checking out the measurement bank of words to support their learning.  GREAT!

Centers- área de un robot

In math we study in English, but we have centers to support the students in Spanish.  This is a math center that I made after we studied area.  The students love it because they get to create their own masterpiece of a robot, color it any color they would like, and then it also reinforces how to find area because they have to count the square units.  I also ask them to write in complete sentences the area in square units after they finish everything.  Don´t forget to LAMINATE!  That way you do NOT have to keep copying extra papers, and it is an easy clean up!  Enjoy!

Anchor Chart- Palabras que terminan con S vs Z

A veces los estudiantes tienen dificultad en escribir palabras que terminan con -s versus -z.  He hecho este chart para ayudarles en mirar la diferencia entre los dos sonidos y cómo usar las dos letras.  También les di una hoja para guardar en su carpeta de escritura para que puedan tener más apoyo durante el tiempo de escritura.  Les gusto mucho este chart porque las letras parecen como amigas. ¡Qué divertido!

Student work - Parts of plants and What plants need to live

We studied the part of plants and also what plants need to survive.  At the end of the unit, I split my students up into groups and each group was assigned a part of a plant or something a plant needs to survive.  They had to make a poster, label and write in full sentences about the why that part of the plant is important, its job, and how it works.  After everyone finished, they got to create their plant masterpiece and place it in the hallway for the entire school to see!  They were SO proud!  And made me a proud teacher!

The beautiful Blue Bonnets of Texas!

This is a picture of the beautiful Texas blue bonnets in the courtyard of my elementary school.  What a sight!

Anchor Chart - Narracion personal

Este es un chart que uso con mis estudiantes para ayudarles en escribir una narración personal.  Siempre me dicen que están terminados pero sus historias solamente tienen tres o cuatro oraciones.  Por eso tengo este chart puesto por todo el año para recordarles que hay muchos detalles que se pueden incluir en sus historias.  Durante escritura, veo que están mirando este chart y sus historias ya tienen mucho más detalles.

This is an anchor chart I use for writing with my students.  I keep it up all year because students need this constant reminder of how many details, dialogue, emotions, etc... they need to include in their stories.  The best part is...THEY USE IT! and their stories are becoming so much more detailed.

Anchor chart- como observar

This is an anchor chart I made for my students to kick off our science studies.  You can tell them to "observe", but they really don't know what that means.  This shows them and tells them all of the different details they can observe during science experiments.  (CAUTION:  make sure you tell them that we can NOT always taste what we are observing. It can be dangerous!)

Anchor chart- English sound long i

Love, love, love anchor charts for my classroom!  The students love seeing creative new posters, it grabs their attention, and gets the point across.  This is one anchor charts I made for the long /i/ sound.  It helps my ELLs see a picture representing the word so they connect the word with the sounds.  I always see them referring back to this one, it encourages them to write accurately!