Word Wall Linky Party

I'm linking up with Jen over at The Teachers' Cauldron for her Word Wall Linky Party. To see all the great word wall ideas, click the picture to take you to Jen's blog post.

So here is what I did for my word wall this year... I divided one of my whiteboards into 24 sections using black string and tape. I print my word cards in black ink on white card stock, laminate, and add magnetic tape. At the beginning of the year I put up everyone's name and as the year goes on we add new sight words each week.

This idea was given to me by our very talented Literacy Support teacher. I started the year off with all the letters in black and white. Then as we went over each letter (correct formation and sound) I changed the card to blue letters with a matching sound picture. If you would like a copy of the letter cards, you can download them {here}.

 
The pictures on each card also match my Quick Stick Alphabet on top of my whiteboards.

I also wanted my students to have a quick place to reference the letters, so I made up my own desk nameplates that had the alphabet with the matching sound pictures and also a number line from 0-20. There is also a spot to write the student's name. I created a colour version and a black & white version. If you are interested in a copy of either, click the pictures to download.

As for the words I add to our word wall, I use the High Frequency words from our guided reading texts. These are words that the students are required to read and write correctly at all times. We add a few each week. This year I didn't do anything too special with the new words. We would read them, spell them together, and sometimes mix up magnetic letters. I think next year I would like to do a bit more practice with the new sight words each week.

Beside my main word wall, I have a mini pocket chart that I use as a theme word wall. I created cards for each month/holiday to use as writing prompts for the students in their journals. My students can come up, choose a card, and take it back to their desk. Then they can use the cards as ideas for writing and also to help them spell new words. Then they return the card back to the pocket chart when they are finished with it.

I have uploaded my mini word wall sets to Google Docs, so if any of them interest you, click the links below to download. I have tried to make them Canada & US friendly!

Back to School Word Wall

Thanksgiving Word Wall

Halloween Word Wall

Veteran's Day/Remembrance Day Word Wall

Christmas Word Wall

Winter Word Wall

February (Canada) Word Wall or February (USA) Word Wall

March Word Wall

April Word Wall

May/June Word Wall

Well, that is how I have been using my word wall! Go check out some of the other great blogs linked up with Jen! Good night, everybody!

Welcome to the Garden!

I am so in love with my new classroom. There is so much storage. There is a whole row of windows that let in tons of light. I think it is going to be a great place for my class to learn and have fun in!

This is my ADORABLE (if I do say so myself) bulletin board outside my room. Names on the bugs have been smudged for safety reasons.

Here is a view of my room from the door. I'm still missing a few student desks and my desk nameplates haven't arrived in the mail yet, but other than that the room is almost ready to go!

To the right of the door is these four big doors that hide our cubbies and jacket hooks. Love that I don't have to see all that mess! Up top is our birthday bulletin board.

Inside the doors is storage for the kids AND more storage for me. Love it!

On one of the doors is "Our 5 Bees Promise". When I saw this idea on First Grader... at Last I knew it would fit well with my classroom theme. The bees are SOOOO cute. I also love her Best "Beehaviour" Catalogue for some great rewards to go with it. I might make one of those later on this year.

On another one of the doors is our "Garden of Good Manners". This mini bulletin board was from Scholar's Choice (Canadian store... sorry!)

In the corner is my art supply closet. I am a bit of an organization freak. I love love LOVE labels. I spent a good part of my summer making labels for everything. I really like how they all turned out.

At the back of my room, I have one small bulletin board and three large ones over top of the windows. The small one has our "Spotlight Author" of the month. In September we are starting with Kevin Henkes. Can't wait to share his books with my little ones.

Next will be our Daily 5 board where I will keep our anchor charts up all year. I am so excited to fully try out the Daily 5 this year. Last year I tried some of it out, along with Reader's and Writer's Workshop, with my fourth graders. This will be a new experience for me! (Along with many others this year!)

Our first theme is going to be "All About Me". I think we are going to do some Me Gylphs to hang on the wall here. More details to come!

And the third bulletin board on that wall is the "Word Garden". I made the snails and leaves with my cricut (love that machine) and the printed out my own word wall cards. So far I put up number words, shapes and colours. We will also be putting up our names and the Grade 1 Dolch sight words as we learn them.

*Freebie Alert* If you're interested in the word wall cards (numbers, colours, shapes, Dolch words, and blank template) click here!

Underneath the windows are short shelving units which I am using to house my classroom library. I have a leveled section and a theme/series/author section. I was totally inspired by the awesome Kristen over at Ladybug's Teacher Files. I used her idea of putting a sticker on the cover of the book that matches the label on the basket. These stickers wrap around the spine of the book and on the back they have my name, grade, and the level of the book. Check out her blog to see how she sets up her library! Truly inspiring. This year she made cute round labels for her baskets!

I had these rainbow magazine holders already, so I thought they would make good book boxes. Hopefully they last the year and next year I can invest in some good plastic ones from Really Good Stuff.

Here is our math calendar wall and carpet area.

Next is our writing centre. Another idea stolen from an amazing blog. This tweet was inspired by Leslie Ann over at Life in First Grade. I found her tweet idea here.

Here is a view of the front of the room. I got a projector installed over the summer. No SMARTBoard yet, but maybe one day!

And moving right along, is the "What's the buzz?" bulletin board. This has our daily schedule posted. Loved Mrs. Carroll's schedule cards over at The First Grade Parade. This is one of my all time favourite blogs. Love her ideas! I used hers and made a few more of mine to fit my needs. Also on this board is our Daily 5 schedule and the Bug of the Day (my helper).

And lastly, right beside the door is our "How do we get home?" pocket chart and "Snail Mail" mailboxes. I also have my ring of Line Up Songs which were inspired again by First Grader... at Last.

And that concludes the tour! Thanks for stopping by. I realize this post is waaaaaaaaaay too long, but there was just too much to share! :)