Helpful Harvest: Using Collaborative Posters to Ensure Small Group Participation

Hi, everyone! It's Stacia and Amanda from Collaboration Cuties.

We are so excited to share our Helpful Harvest tip with y'all today, and be sure to check out all the helpful tips this month here on the Primary Peach!  :)

Our tip is a way to ensure small group participation! We always love to let our students work in small groups, but sometimes we have students that get off task and are not really participating in the project or activity. Has this ever happened in your classroom? 

For example, we have just finished studying different Native American tribes, and the students are working in groups of four to create a poster describing one of the tribes. I come over to the group and see that student 1 is looking up information in their notebook, student 2 is recording information on the poster, student 3 is playing with the markers and colored pencils, and student 4 is just watching the rest of the group. Sigh.....

So, how can we fix this problem? Use Collaborative Posters! Collaborative Posters are a great way to ensure that everyone in the group is participating and contributing! 

Collaborative Posters are just posters that students work together in groups to create. We often use them when we finish a unit of study to let students show what they have learned. They are a great way to review important concepts and check for understanding and mastery. 

There are a few different ways to use Collaborative Posters to ensure that each student in the group is participating. To get started, put students in small groups of 2, 3, or 4 students depending on what type of poster you want to create. Then, show the students an example of the poster you want them to create (we usually show them the layout so they can create something similar- for example, they may need to divide the paper into sections and label them, or they may just need to write a topic at the top of the paper, or maybe they need to draw a Venn diagram, etc.) Now, use one of the three suggestions below to ensure that each student in the group participates.  :)

Suggestion 1- Each student in the group writes with a different colored marker. 

Give each student a different colored marker and instruct them only to write with that color. Have each student write their name on the back of the poster with that same color. Now you will know who contributed each piece of information. It's quick and easy to see that the student with the green marker wrote more than the student with the blue marker. 

Suggestion 2- Each student in the group writes on a certain section of the poster.

Assign each student a different section of the poster to write in so that you know who wrote each piece of information. If one section is blank or has very little information, it's easy to see.

Suggestion 3- Each student in the group writes about a specific question or topic.

Give each student a specific job for the poster. In the example above, the students have to write about different features of the Hopi Tribe. Each student is focused on a certain aspect of the tribe they studied. 

We've found that using these tips during small group work really helps to ensure student participation. It also allows all students to have an opportunity to show what they have learned, not just one group member.

We hope that these tips are helpful for you in your classroom! Please check out all the amazing tips shared this month on the Primary Peach!

Have a great rest of your week!

For even more ideas from The Primary Peach, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to catch all the latest news and updates!

-Stacia and Amanda

Helpful Harvest: Positive Reinforcement in the Classroom

Hey guys! It's Amy, from The Land of 2nd Grade, and I'm writing today about using positive reinforcement in the classroom.

I am one of those teachers that NEEDS order and structure in my classroom.  I LOVE doing fun activities, experiments, crafts, centers, and everything else in my classroom, BUT in order to keep my sanity, I have to have my kids ALL being good listeners and following directions.

In order to make this happen, I use A LOT of positive reinforcement throughout the day.

Here’s how my classroom works…

1. YES, I use a behavior clip chart! AND I LOVE IT!!!!!!! This helps my students gauge how they are doing throughout the day. My students LOVE getting to move their clips up, so they work very very hard to do this. 

They can move clips up by doing some of these things:
- Working hard
- Getting caught helping a friend or the teacher
- Working and completing all of their work during small groups (this is great because I remind them every time we get ready to break into groups that if they finish their work and are working the entire time at a whisper, they get to move their clips up when we clean up)
- Lining up correctly

They move their clips down by doing any of these things:
- hitting, kicking, or anything physical (they go straight to red and I contact the parents – this is a NO TOLERANCE rule in my classroom)
- Repetitive disruption
- Disrespect to the teacher or a classmate

The kids work sooooo hard to be on pink by the end of the day. If they are on pink at the end of the day they earn a “Stallion Buck”. Our school’s mascot is the stallion and our school does a school store where kids can go spend their stallion bucks to buy coupons and prizes. The kids treat these bucks like GOLD.

      2. Another way I use positive reinforcement is with CLASS DOJO. You can see my personal blog post here about how I use CLASS DOJO and my little Point Tracker Freebie. 

My kids work very very hard to get points throughout the day. This is where I can really use positive reinforcement. During every lesson, I look for people that are participating, focused, and working hard, and I constantly give points to those students. I keep my CLASS DOJO points up on the board for them to see throughout the day. Some teachers don't have the points up, but my students are VERY competitive and I feel like they work harder when they can see others’ points. I don’t ever let any of my students get in the negatives. I do keep the points up all month.

Any student that has 100 points by the end of the month gets to be in the 100 point club. The 100 point club gets a day where they eat in the classroom with the teacher, they get to pick a pretty pencil from my stash, they pick a piece of candy, and they get a dress down pass to use whenever they want (our school system wears uniforms so this is a BIG deal to them!). 

      3. The last thing I do for positive reinforcement is SHOUT OUTS. Every afternoon, I pick 3 students to give a SHOUT OUT to. On the shout out, I write something that they did great that day to deserve a shout out. 

I keep a roster with tally marks to keep track of how many shout outs each student has received. I love this because it’s a daily celebration at the end of every day. The students that get the shout outs get 3 CLASS DOJO points and a stallion buck. I make a big deal about the SHOUT OUTS.

I tell them to MAKE SURE to show their parents their SHOUT OUT as soon as they get in the car or get home. As a parent myself, I love seeing that the teacher takes time to notice when my child has been working hard, has done something nice for someone, or notices something great about my child and takes the time to point it out.

If you would like to download a copy of my SHOUT OUTS for free, just click the picture below.

I truly believe that POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT is the key to running a successful classroom! Do you guys have any other ways that you use positive reinforcement in the classroom? I would love to hear about it in the comments below!

Have a great weekend TEACHER FRIENDS!!!

Helpful Harvest: My Storymaker

Welcome back to the Primary Peach and our month-long harvest of great ideas for teachers!

Hi everyone, this is Valerie from Georgia Grown Kiddos.  I am super excited about a great find I get to share with you!!  

Today I have a fantabulous website to share with you to help your students create and enjoy their own online story.  

The site is My Storyline and students create stories by manipulating the characters and story details within the site.  Check out this short video to see it in action.

Isn't that amazing!!  I love how easy it is to add the characters and actions. You can type in the words too.  I think using it as a publishing tool would be super fun.  The kids can go through the writing process and when they are ready to publish, they can type it into the site and publish it when completed!  This would make for a fun and easy Work on Writing station for center time!!

I hope you utilize this awesome and FREE website.  There are tons of other fabulous tips and tricks to come this month in our Helpful Harvest theme this month.  For even more ideas from The Primary Peach, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to catch all the latest news and updates!”


Blessings y'all,
Valerie

Helpful Harvest: Scholastic Warehouse Sale Tips

Hey y'all, it's Kristin from School and the City. 

It's almost the most wonderful time of the year...

time for the Scholastic Warehouse Sale!!!!!!

If you have never been to a warehouse sale, YOU MUST GO. It is the perfect way to build your classroom library somewhat affordably. 

Shopping at a warehouse sale is no easy feat! I've shared some warehouse sale tips on my own blog before, but I thought the topic was definitely worth revisiting since the biggest book sale of the year is just around the corner.

I knew close to NOTHING when I walked into the warehouse for the first time, even after Googling "Scholastic warehouse sale advice" (to no avail). I suppose I'll share my suggestions with you before I start making my shopping list for the December event!

DO locate a warehouse sale near you and write it down in your planner or on your calendar (or tell Siri to do it for you). 

DON'T wait until the end of the sale to stock up, like I did. When I went to a sale, I went on the last day of a 10-day sale at my local Scholastic warehouse. Although I certainly had no trouble stocking up on books for my classroom library, all of the best deals were advertised on empty shelves. 

DO register as an attendee online before going. You will receive and print a "fast pass" meaning you do not have to wait in the registration line when you arrive. Also, your pass will have 2 coupons on it: $10 off $50 and $20 off $100!

DON'T show up at a sale without a game plan. Know what you are looking for and what you plan to buy, or else, if you are anything like me, you will end up throwing random books (that you wouldn't normally buy) in your cart because the prices are so great. (Hey - at least I limited myself to a basket, right?)

DO see if your local warehouse offers the "Build-a-Box" option. Basically, they give you a box and you can pack as many books are you can into it and pay ONLY $25 for the whole box of books! What a steal! Given, the box was way smaller than I imagined and you can only "build a box" with books from a specific bargain section. Unfortunately, I skipped out on this but I can't wait to do it next time. Since I attended on the last day, the Build-a-Box section was completely picked over and frankly I wasn't interested in one of those books, let alone enough books to fill a box.

DON'T ignore the stickers! Everything in the warehouse is 50-80% off (OMG!) except for items with purple or red stickers. Red stickers indicate the best deals, typically books that are marked down more than 80%... 1 dollar and 2 dollar books. Purple stickers are found with the biggest names ( Junie B, Magic Tree House, etc.) and mean that the book is only 20% off. 

DO download the Scholastic Book Wizard app. With the app, you can scan the barcode on a book and it will give you important information like GUIDED READING LEVELS! This app was the best shopping buddy - I'm so glad that I knew about it before heading to the sale. 

Lastly, DON'T spend your hard-earned cash when you can pay for your bargain books by volunteering your time. All of the nice ladies running the sale today were teachers from surrounding counties. I can't speak from experience, but apparently volunteers earn $8-10 credit an hour to spend on warehouse books! You can register as a volunteer on the same page that you register as a shopper.

*    *    *

I hope that you feel significantly more prepared for your warehouse haul than I did! Good luck!

Any other tips or tricks? 

Off to make my list now... can't wait for the holiday sale! 

For even more ideas from The Primary Peach, be sure to follow us on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook to catch all the latest news and updates! 

I'd also like to invite you to follow along with me at School and the City on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and TPT for more ideas to make your life easier!

Helpful Harvest: Tips for Roam the Room Activities

Hello.  Tami here from Kamp Kindergarten. 

 

Heard County Veterans Park in Franklin, Georgia

Before I get started I want to take a moment to give thanks for our freedom.   We all know that freedom has a price.  A heartfelt thanks to all who have served our country.

THE WEATHER OUTSIDE CAN BE FRIGHTFUL

 

I don’t have to remind you what it’s like to try to keep learners focused after days of weather like we have been having in Georgia the last week or so.  Winter isn’t even here yet with its weeks of no recess because of soggy playgrounds and windchill factors below freezing. 

Do your learners have PE every day?  If so, remember to add that to your thankful list.  I have had different PE schedules over the years, some where our rotation meant no PE for 2 or 3 weeks.  That is doable in months with great weather, but is a nightmare in January and February.

ROAM THE ROOM

 

I found “Roam the Room” activities to be helpful to keep my learners focused.  The activities offer an opportunity to get out of their seats and be actively engaged in their learning.

There is movement in the classroom, but it organized and has a purpose.  Kids love the opportunity to do the activities.  I love that it is an opportunity for them to channel excess energy in a positive activity.

With Roam the Room activities learners move about the classroom with a pencil, a clip board, and a recording page looking for cards with specific tasks.  When learners find a card they, write their response in the correct space on their recording page.

Types of activities include Read the Room, Write the Room, Spell the Room, Count the Room, Add the Room, Subtract the Room, and others.  You can make or purchase these activities including a recording page.  You may also make your own with task cards or flash cards you already have.  You may make a recording page or allow learners to use their journals to record their responses. 

I like finding these cards at dollar stores and the Target Dollar Spot.   Most sets have cartoon characters that the students love.  I think the favorite characters enhance the experience for little learners.

IMPLEMENTING ROAM THE ROOM

You may use whichever notebooks you already have for journals.  An advantage to using journals to record responses is that it saves paper and keeps your copy count low.  Those factors are issues at most schools with the current budget crunch.

I prefer these notebooks to the spiral bound ones for safety reasons and to avoid snagged clothing.  I am sure I am not the only teacher who has had a student to twist out the wire and present me with the wire and loose covers and pages.  (Who knew 70 pages of paper could create such a disaster?) 

 

If you have the spiral bound notebooks you may use wide tape to cover the wire.  You may use some of the cute printed tape available now.  Some teachers use different colors of tape to color code the journals for various ways that are helpful to their specific needs.

When using journals in lieu of a recording page, I have found it helps to use a medium binder clip on the right side about midway down the page.  This stabilizes the notebook and keeps the pages from flipping over as the student is trying to write.   If you have clipboards with a large enough capacity, you may prefer to clip the notebook at the top of the page.  Either method will stabilize the notebooks and make for easier writing.

 

I like to have the cards numbers or lettered for my activities.  I tend to number the language arts activities and letter the math activities.  When using flash cards or task cards I already have, I put them in a lettered or numbered zip top sandwich bag.  This way I don’t mark up my cards.

Place the cards in various areas around the room.  You may use clips or tape to post the cards.  If you use clips you can reuse the bags many times.

You are now ready for your learners to begin “Roaming the Room” with their journals looking for cards. 

I prefer to have a few students at the time roaming the room while their classmates do other activities in groups or in their seats. 

FREE ROAM THE ROOM ACTIVITY

Here is a Spell the Room freebie for your learners.  I hope they enjoy Spelling the Room.

 CVC Spell the Room FREEBIE

I want to take this opportunity to wish you and your learners a safe and happy Thanksgiving. 

Until next month,

Tami