Happy
Spring, Everyone! It’s Tami from Kamp
Kindergarten. Earth Day is just a few
days away. It is also getting to the
point in the school year where supplies are running low and everyone is
thinking of ways to stretch their meager store of paper until the end of the
year.
I have found
task cards to be a great way to save paper.
You do have an initial investment of copy paper or card stock, but once the
cards are made, you have them to use year after year. Many task cards utilize recording pages to
provide accountability. I will be offering suggestions to provide
accountability that require little or no paper.
A quick and
easy way to hold students accountable for task card material is have them
record their responses in their journals.
This uses paper that you already have in the classroom without
making additional copies. I also like
that you can look back through the journal and note how the learner has
progressed through the year.
There are
ways other than using journals for students to record student responses such as
individual dry erase boards, but these are temporary. If you want to keep a record, you can use a
digital camera or your phone to snap a photo of their responses. These photos can be used in digital
portfolios. You will have them to reference when you are assessing student progress,
for student/teacher or parent/teacher conferences, making comments for progress
reports and report cards, and for data for RTI meetings.
You can print
one copy of the recording sheet and put it in a dry erase pocket. Learners use a dry erase marker to record
their responses. You may use a digital
camera or the camera on your phone to make a photo of their work before they erase their responses.
If you don’t
have any dry erase sleeves, you can print one copy of the recording sheet
and put it in a regular sheet protector pocket for binders. Use a clipboard to provide stability.
When using
dry erase methods for recording responses, provide learners with an inexpensive
black glove to use as an eraser. Putting on the glove and getting the thumb and fingers in the right space adds a fine motor opportunity to the activity.
Many task
cards will fit in dollar store photo albums for 4X6 photos. Add a dry erase marker and you have a quick
and easy write and wipe activity. As an
added bonus, learners who are overwhelmed by a large amount of material at once
are confronted with only one task at the time before turning the page.
One last
tip…
This one will not save paper, but
it will save time. If the cards have
straight edges instead of irregular shapes, use a paper cutter to cut out the
cards. You will have nice straight edges without hours of eyestrain and tedious
cutting.
I hope you
find these tips helpful. Be sure to check the Primary Peach for other posts in
this series.
Happy Earth
Day!
Tami
