Greetings, bloglings!
Great news: Target is bursting with Back to School teacher treasures!
What a time to be alive!
I like to consider the theme of my classroom as "Peaceful Rainbow." Montessori classroom colors are often calming and earthy, but rainbows are earthy, too! There are literally rainbows all over the earth at this very moment (probably). Operation Classroom Set Up commences tomorrow morn' at 1100 hours sharp!
I am especially excited to use these clips as what will surely be the prettiest anchor chart holders to grace the walls of any classroom! Anchor charts are so important, but also they are sometimes ugly. I always want to frame my anchor charts, but even I know that this would be absurdly impractical. I almost bought the entire bin of these beauties, but, alas, three shall suffice.
Rhonda Stewart at Scholastic offers an excellent guide for Anchor Chart usage:
"As the teacher models the lesson or strategy, the lesson reinforcement or strategy tool is written on chart paper. Once the lesson is complete, the chart is placed in a convenient student-friendly location that the students can access it independently. This is another vehicle for academic support, especially for the visual learner. The beauty of an anchor chart is that it can be displayed as needed or determined by the student work. Some anchor charts live all year long in the classroom, while others are only displayed during the current unit of study."
It is also important to make anchor charts together with your students during the lesson. This tool loses almost all of its value if it is simply teacher made and displayed without student involvement and input. One option is for students to copy or design their own charts in their notebooks to reference when the large chart is no longer displayed on the classroom wall.
It is also important to make anchor charts together with your students during the lesson. This tool loses almost all of its value if it is simply teacher made and displayed without student involvement and input. One option is for students to copy or design their own charts in their notebooks to reference when the large chart is no longer displayed on the classroom wall.
Charts that I leave up all year include classroom rules and shelf work choices. These clips will make it so easy to change other lesson-based charts without needing to find wall space, and I can plan where to display the few that will stay up for longer periods throughout the year as I set up my room. It is critical to minimize clutter in the classroom, so I make sure to only leave up charts that reflect current learning in addition to keeping the charts concise, easy to read, and free of unnecessary or distracting graphics.
I have a few decorations that I leave up on my classroom walls year after year: Our Morning Meeting area includes the calendar, days of school counter, schedule, job chart, and 100 chart. I also have a framed print of Norman Rockwell's "Happy Birthday Miss Jones," a framed print of Henri Matisse's "Goldfish," two maps of the U.S. and the continents, our CAFE bulletin board, and the display in the picture above that includes our three classroom rules (be respectful; take care of each other; and take care of our classroom), our attendance magnet chart, and our Daily 5 and Math buddies magnet chart (I made these with cookie trays and labeled the magnets with Sharpies!).
The rest of the wall space is either empty or used to display student work. For example, in the picture above, you can also see the twine and clothespins that I use as an easy and simple way to display whole class activities like poems or artwork. The clothespins make changing the display a breeze; I had students doing it themselves last year!
How do you display anchor charts and student work in your classroom?
Curiously,
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