| Something that I LOVE having is a collection of easy-to-use signs and labels. I have always kept a file for all of those random things I need to make quickly... word wall cards, birthday signs, book covers, student name tags, center signs, address labels, and on... and on... and on. I keep them all together in one place so I know where to find them and can whip something up fast.
However, it's become a hot mess. Big time.
See Exhibit A to the right.
So, I decided this folder needed some organizing. I despise having to look through all of the file names and trying to guess how big the label/sign is... or what it's used for.
I went with a simple system. 4 sub-folders:
Small
Medium
Large
Random | | I then sorted all of those files into their appropriate folder. I used my own sizing method to determine if something is small, medium, or large. Address labels? Small. Student name tags? Medium. Signs for the door? Large. CD labels? Random. If you do this, you might have different criteria. I went with the concept of....
Small = smaller than 1/4 of a page
Medium = 1/4 to 1/2 of a page
Large = bigger than 1/2 a page
Random = weird shapes
I also went through and renamed some of the files that were a little too 'general.' Like 'Student Names'. Does that mean sticky Avery labels or desk tags? I needed to get a little bit more specific. Renaming it to 'Student Names_Address Label Size' helps.
It works for me now and I don't have to open eighteen files to find the right one! Yay!
This literally took me 7 minutes (got through 2 songs on iTunes).
The moral of the story? Be specific with your file names. I know my computer is out of control with files and I find that spending a little time to organize, sort, and name files (with lots of detail) goes a long way.
Hopefully if you don't already have your files organized, this will give you a little inspiration. Throw on some Bieber (or not) and go to town. Don't try to get it all done at one time if you need an entire 'system clean'. It took me a while to do my whole computer. It's also a good time to do some Spring cleaning and recycle some of those files you'll never use. Let me know if you're interested in how I organize everything. I'll do a post on it.
On a similar note... I just finished something that I'm in love with. I can be in love with my own stuff right? Maybe it's just my love for chevron.
... or does everyone have a soft spot for chevron in their heart?
Rabbit trail.
We recently took a friend to Montreaux, Switzerland while he was visiting. There is a famous castle there called Chateau de Chillon. Construction began in the 10th century.
Yes. The 10th. Like 1000 years ago.
One of the things I appreciate over here is history. A lot of places we visit are incredibly old. Most are even older than the US itself... which blows my mind. While visiting this amazing castle, I noticed two things. Can you believe it? This was apparently painted in medieval times. THEY even loved chevron. I really need to know how they painted it back then. I know Pinterest, leveling lasers, and painters tape didn't exist back then. Maybe they were just extremely patient? Both of theses rooms were huge by the way. Bigger-than-any-classroom-huge. Impressive.
Here's the castle itself. If your ever in Switzerland, I suggest a tour. It's so cool and sits right on lake Geneva.
Cosette Bruhns Photo
My less impressive photo.
I will definitely miss the views of the Alps when we move back. Breathtaking and great skiing.
Ok. Onto more chevron. The thing that I love so much... You've figured out I'm a sucker for labels, signs, and chevron right? I decided to mix them. Voila! Editable chevron signs and labels! What you get: - 8 different sizes
- 11 fun colors
- chevron
- a .ZIP file containing 8 editable PowerPoint files (each size has it's own file)
- more chevron
- a PDF with previews, directions (with photos), and terms or use
- and some more chevron
- a grand total of 88 pages of editable signs/labels... 96 pages when you include the PDF
You can seriously make anything with them. Word wall cards, signs, labels, desk names, etc. The borders are locked, so all you need to do is just edit the text, add photos/clipart, and print! Easy. There are also gray and black versions for those of you who are limited with color printing. Just print on colorful paper! :) Here's a sample for you to try out below. It's the black pattern so you don't need to use colored ink. Click the 'Download File' link under the picture. Google Docs is giving me a hard time with uploading a ppt, so I just attached the file to the site. Promise it's not spam or anything weird. Hope you like it! There may or may not be a little giveaway of this set over on my Facebook page. Hurry! It ends 8.24.12 at 11:59pm.
My printer may put in it's resignation after I get done with printing things for this year. Yikes.
I hope everyone is having a great week! Especially those of you who have started back already.
Congratulations to Lindsay Flood for winning the giveaway! I found out that Lindsay is actually a blogger too! I've seen her blog, but didn't put two and two together until I emailed her! I'm terrible with getting blog names and real names linked in my mind. Primary Polka Dots is her adorable (and bright) blog! Go check it out if you get a chance! Lindsay, I hope you enjoy those word wall letters and the Fry Word Mega Pack! :) Thanks to everyone who entered! | |  I recently posted a new product that I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. I use these in my own room and it makes things SOOOOO much easier.
I've never had a formal name for them, so I just came up with 'Mini Material Posters.'
Basically, you use them to SHOW your students what materials they need for an activity. Being an EFL teacher, I do a lot (more like a ton) of repeating myself. These little cards make it less frustrating when we're transitioning.
I put the cards up... they get out the materials. Done.
For example, if we're doing a craft then I might post scissors, glue, crayons, pencil, and construction paper.
They see what they need to get out and I don't waste time repeating myself eight million times.
You get two full sets of cards (large and small), blanks to make your own, and three different titles if you need them. All of the graphics were designed by me and they are 300dpi, so they print beautifully. I put a lot of love and time into these. They're simple, bright, and my lifesavers. | |
I included some blank binders & books in case you want to customize.
| You can hang them with clips, put them in a pocket chart, or stick a little magnet on the back of each. I usually just use them during whole group activities, but you could incorporate them into centers or even use them as supply vocab cards. :) See on TPTI may or may not be giving a set of these away over on Facebook (Aug.9). Join in to win! I've also added a lot more classrooms to the 'Room Setup' page recently! You'll have to check them out if you're still needing some inspiration. There are some cool rooms and I just love looking at all the different ones. Check Out the New Rooms.
Oh. One more thing. Have you seen Cara's schedule card set? Wowza. They're free, beautiful, and she's added everything under the sun. If you download them, be sure to leave her some love and feedback. I know she's spent hours upon hours creating these and making them perfect. She had a TON of requests to add cards and she was generous enough to keep them free. Get Cara's Schedule Cards.Ok! That's all from me today! Remember to check out the Facebook page to try and win a set of my mini material posters! It's a 'First one to guess...' type giveaway, so hurry!
This post is about one of my absolute favorite reading + writing activities. I know it's been done before in a ton of different ways and has been given various titles, but I just call it 'Mixed Up Sentences.' Here's the low down: | 1. Gather different colored paper and cut into strips. I keep a handy supply of strips in 10 assorted colors. I'll tell you why *10* later. | 2. Get out your curriculum materials, a black Sharpie, and scissors. | | 3. Decide how you want to use this activity. Center? Assessment? Pre-assessment? Fun practice?
Decide which recording sheet to use. (See below)
Find sentences in your curriculum (or think some up) that match the purpose or skill your trying to target.
| 4. How many sentences did you decide to do? Gather that many different colored strips.
My favorite one is this one... with 10 lines. | | 5. Write your sentences. Neatly. One per strip!
{7.22.12 - I just realized that I'm losing it. Teaching British English over here has led to me spelling things differently... like 'theatre.' Maybe it's the French that's doing it?} | 6. Cut the sentences apart between each letter. Leave the punctuation attached to a word if you can. They're small and can get lost easily. You can even chunk two words together if you have beginners! | | 7. Admire how pretty the pieces are. | 8. This is how I set mine up as a center. I am obsessed with those pencil bags from Wal-Mart. They're cheap and paper fits perfectly when you fold it in half. I put the recording sheet, sentence pieces, and 10 matching colored pencils inside the bag. Now you're ready to rock n roll! | 9. Let your students get to work! You can have them do it individually, in pairs, or in small groups! Sometimes I even split it up and have two centers with five sentences each... especially if they're rigorous sentences. They just do five, put away their recording sheet, then get it back out when it's time to do the rest.
They piece together all of the sentences, color their little circles, and write!
HINT: If this activity is not for an assessment, then I like to check their sentences before they write. They simply raise their hand when they've pieced a sentence (or all) together and I let them know if it's correct or not. Saves time and frustration on their part.
| If you're the type that just can't stand writing things out, then try this approach... different fonts. Type all of your sentences out, but change each sentence to a different font. Make sure they're really different though! It backfired on me once when my kids couldn't tell the difference between Arial and Times New Roman. Seriously. They don't even look alike do they?!
| Have students at different levels? Of course you do. You can differentiate this activity easily. Make more than one set of sentences. Same content. Different learning levels. | Hopefully all those little instructions make sense! Once you do it one time, you be able to whip it up again quickly. This activity can be used for virtually any topic, any level, and I like to weave in some science and social studies topics when I can. It's another way to integrate content. Here are some more adaptation ideas:
- I usually do this as a center with only one set of sentences, but you could do it whole class if you wanted to. Type the same sentence onto a page (multiple times), copy onto colored paper, then cut. Might be a bit crazy with pieces getting mixed up, but it works if you're kiddos are super organized. Maybe they could use little trays to keep their pieces in?
- Since I have a small class sizes (10 EFL/ESL students in each class), I do this as a whole group activity by having them sit in a large circle and giving them 2 minutes with each sentence. They piece it together, raise their hand, I check, they write, then we rotate when everyone is done! Works like a charm.
- Sentences can be hints to a special activity or something else. If you're studying bears, then you could have sentences that stated facts about bears! Roar.
- Use the font version (above), cut out the words, mix them around on a piece of copy paper, glue down, copy, and send home for homework! Students could bring it back all cut apart and pieced back together.
There are many ways to adapt this activity. Got any more fun ideas or ways to adapt it?! Here's a little freebie for ya'll! It's the recording sheets I use when I do this activity. There are different types depending on the level you teach and how many sentences you want to use. Dotted lines for younger kids and plain for older. I most often use the 10 line portrait version (the one in the photos). My fave. See on TPT. So, what do you think? Have you done this before or is it something you think you can use? I really do love it and my kids do too!
Enjoy!
Well, I'm officially sick. I've been in denial. We went to Verbier this weekend to ski and I finally accepted it on the way home when I found that I was 'mouth breathing' and wiping snot from my upper lip every thirty seconds. Turns out it wasn't the skiing or altitude. :(
I'm excited that I've reached the 6 follower mark! Woohoo! I might throw myself a wine party when I hit double digits. I'm really enjoying having this blog. It's fun and I'm making some new connections in the process.
Onto business... You know the ' I have, who has' game? Hopefully. I love it and it's a great activity for vocabulary, reviews, math... basically anything. I have found that this game even works well with my EFL kids. It tackles the listening, speaking, and reading components I work into each lesson. I've had this template for a few years and just adapt it to whatever I've need. I went ahead and made it TPT/follower friendly. I also took pictures of my own sets, included directions, ideas, sample cards, and 32 adaptable cards. This template is so easy to use. You click on the boxes, type text, enter pictures, and print. The boxes don't shift and the pictures will re-size themselves to fit... no giant clipart overtaking the document when you insert it. I'm going to post some free PDF sets (various content) on here in the next couple of days, so be on the look out. In the meantime, here is the set you can customize yourself. I've posted it to TPT. It's $2.00 and you can 'Save As' to keep each set you create. Make as many as you want!  Here's a FREE I Have, Who Has set for food. 7 pages, 30 different foods, setup instructions, and an answer key. See on TPT
 Here's a FREE I Have, Who Has set for Numbers 1-25. 6 pages, numbers 1-25, setup instructions, and an answer key.
See on TPT
|  Here's a FREE I Have, Who Has set for animals. 7 pages, 30 different foods, setup instructions, and an answer key. See on TPT
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Hopefully you find these useful. Hope everyone has a great Monday!
Ashley
I just posted one of my favorite things to TPT... after spending hours making it publishable. Is that a word? Publishable? Anyway, it's something that I use and I thought I'd share!
Drum roll......................... It's called Build-A-Board-Game. You probably already guessed that. You don't actually build anything, so don't worry. Well, there is some cutting, gluing, and laminating involved. No hammers or chainsaws though.
Basically, it's a board game that you can adapt to whatever you're doing in class. It's pretty simple (similar to Candy Land, but they have to use their brains a little more) and I. LOVE. IT. My EFL kiddos love it too. I can't show you their cute little faces (for risk of getting canned), but they got to play it in class on Wednesday and I snapped a shot:
I used it as a center for reviewing our first six chapters. 70 questions over any and everything: food vocabulary, sports, using 'this, that, these,those', verb tenses, family vocabulary, etc. Here's what my questions looked like for this past week: (this is 1 out of 70)
Here's what the set looks like:
I've zipped everything together in a file. You'll receive four documents: - Introduction & Instructions: I show you pictures and give details on how to make your board(s), adapt the cards, etc.
- Game Board: the game board is approximately 11 x 16 inches. It's two letter size sheets merged together after printing. Make sure you laminate!
- Setup & Rules, Special Cards, & 'Number of Players' Cards
- 70 Adaptable cards (10 for each color), 10 Sample Questions, an Adaptable Answer Key, and an Adaptable Content Focus Sign and List
Want to see it in action?! Watch... Hopefully you can find it useful! It's available in my TPT shop if you'd like to purchase. It's only $5 and you can use it to make as many game sets as you like. I will be posting different version soon too! (different colors, themes, layouts, etc.) If you would like me to make you a custom one, then please let me know. I can change the way the board looks, colors, etc. Just send me a message on here. So far, there are 3 versions... click on the colors you like to check them out in my TPT store.
GIVEAWAY!!!
I'll be giving one of these away (your choice of color) on Friday, February 3rd, at 4:00 pm Eastern Time (10:00 pm Swiss time... my time). All you have to do is...
1. 'follow' this blog (click the blue button to the left)
2. let me know you want it by leaving a comment below
Update: Congratulations to Randy! You won a set of your choice.
I'm hoping to get my follower count up to 10... hahahaha. Have a great weekend!
Ashley
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