Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor
“Three Things I Love” Thursday
“Three Things I Love” is exactly what it sounds like. It will give me an opportunity to share 3 things that I’ve been using in my classroom and make my job easier (or just more fun). Feel free to share 3 things you love too… I’m always looking to add new things to my classroom.
1. Evan-Moor “Retelling Tales with Headbands”
I’ve been using these headbands in my class during summer school as I am teaching classic fable and folk tales. My kids love wearing them (and I’m guilty of enjoying the relaxation I get from coloring them) and acting out the stories. They like to take turns and assume each characters’ role. For kids who couldn’t even attend to a story last September, they are retelling stories with ease and even remembering dialogue that occurs between characters.
2. Melissa & Doug’s Wooden Alphabet Stamp Set
I’m a huge fan of Melissa and Doug products and of everything alphabet. I love using these stamps in phonics (such as when identifying initial sounds) and studying word families (such as the -at family: bat, cat, fat, pat, mat, sat, etc). The stamps are just enough to keep them entertained while studying something that can easily be boring. I think next year I will let my students use them to add the title to the cover pages of their published pieces in writing (especially since the set includes capital and lowercase letters).
3. Double-sided dry erase boards
This one seems fairly obvious I’m sure, but I will admit that I love these even more because I frequently find them in the $1 section at target. These were a lifesaver in the beginning of the year when my kids were just learning to write and draw recognizable pictures. Rather than wasting a ton of paper, I could scan the important stuff and then they could erase and write again. Now its like a little treat for them to be able to use them. We practice drawing recognizable characters for our storyboard retells before writing on paper and occasionally I’ll let them use it for a random free-draw when we have an extra 10 minutes between lessons.
What are three things you love (especially if you’re a teacher too)?
