Fun in First

A Teaching Blog by Jodi Southard

Classroom

Behavior Management Strategies

by Leave a Comment

Over the course of my teaching career, I have collected and tried many different behavior management strategies.  Some were successful, and some were not.  What I have learned is that I need to always be collecting new behavior management strategies, because what works for one class, may not work the following year.  Same goes for students.  You may find something that is a miracle worker for one particular student, but does not work at all for another.  I’m teaming up with Astrobrights® Papers to share a couple of strategies with you that have worked for some particular behaviors in my classroom over the past couple of years.

These behavior management strategies are great ideas to keep on hand for common behavior problems in the classroom.

This is a sponsored post. Fun in First has received payment, trade and/or products from Astrobrights in exchange for promoting, however all opinions stated are my own. This post also contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase through one of my links, which helps to support the blog.

One VERY common behavior issue that we see in classrooms every year is having students that do not complete their work due to talking too much or other distractions.  Many times these students need some type of visual chart to help them work towards a goal of completing their assignments.  I created these simple charts that can be placed on or in student’s desks.

These behavior management strategies are great ideas to keep on hand for common behavior problems in the classroom.

I just print these simple charts on Lift-Off Lemon™ Astrobrights paper.  I love using colored paper for these because they make them much more appealing to my students.  You can use stickers on the charts, or laminate them and use permanent marker to draw a star or smiley face.  *Quick tip: Did you know if you trace over permanent marker with a dry erase marker, you will be able to erase both the dry erase and permanent marker off of the surface?

These charts can also be used as a behavior chart where students can earn a sticker or smiley face if they make positive behavior choices for a given amount of time.  After a student completes his or her chart, they can earn a small reward.  This can be a tangible object or some type of activity reward.

These behavior management strategies are great ideas to keep on hand for common behavior problems in the classroom.

I like to use these “I’ve earned a break” cards.  I can hand one of these to a student after he or she has completed a goal.  Then, they can use them to earn a break reward in the classroom.

These behavior management strategies are great ideas to keep on hand for common behavior problems in the classroom.

The students can pick the short break that they would like to use after earning their reward.  I print these Break cards onto Galaxy Gold™, Lunar Blue™, Gamma Green™, and Gravity Grape™ Astrobrights paper, but again, you can use any colored paper you choose.  You can also use the different colors to differentiate the types of activities you would like for your students to choose from.  If you have a child that is constantly picking the same types of activities, you can guide them by saying that they need to choose a “blue” activity.

Another idea for using these cards is to help control outbursts from emotional students.  My original use when I created these a couple of years ago was as a way to help a former student control his behavioral outbursts.  He usually knew when he was about to completely lose control of his temper and self control, but he could not express it with words.  I would hang five of these “I Need a Break” cards on his desk every morning that he could use throughout the school day.

These behavior management strategies are great ideas to keep on hand for common behavior problems in the classroom.

When he felt that he needed a break, he could take off one of his cards and hand it to me.  He did not even have to express with words what he was feeling.  It was our signal to know that it was time for him to take a break.  Then, he could chose an activity that he thought would help him calm back down.

These behavior management strategies are great ideas to keep on hand for common behavior problems in the classroom.

These cards are great to laminate and keep on a metal ring to allow students easy viewing of the activities.  I have included a variety of activities to choose from, but you could easily make your own just by typing or writing some ideas onto Astrobrights paper.  You can download this FREEBIE by clicking HERE.

These behavior management strategies are great ideas to keep on hand for common behavior problems in the classroom.

Another item that I have used many times over the past two years, has been these Liquid Timers.  I purchased these off of Amazon, and I love them.

These behavior management strategies are great ideas to keep on hand for common behavior problems in the classroom.

They are great to use as a “calm down” tool or as a timer for students to beat as they finish their work.

What are some of your favorite behavior management strategies that you have found to be successful in your classroom?

 

Interactive Task Folder

by Leave a Comment

“I’m done.  What do I do now?”  I know you’ve heard this.  My go-to answer is almost always “Go read a book.”  This is always a great choice, but I also wanted to come up with a way for my students to have some other options.  This Interactive Task Folder was the perfect answer.

Interactive Task Folders are great for early finishers and when you have a couple extra minutes in your day. Your students will take ownership in their work after making these.

After creating a Solar Eclipse Lapbook to use with my students, I knew that I needed to make something else like this that we could use on a regular basis.  My students took so much ownership in their work and commented over and over again how much fun they had while making it.

This Interactive Task Folder is great for my early finishers.  They can pull out their folders and work on sight words, phonics skills, vocabulary words, math facts, and more.  These are also great for students to use when you find yourself with a couple of extra minutes before lunch or at the end of the day.

Interactive Task Folders are great for early finishers and when you have a couple extra minutes in your day. Your students will take ownership in their work after making these.

You will need a file folder for each student.  Open up each folder and fold the two sides in towards the middle of the folder.  Then, print off the pages needed to create the folder.  I used Astrobrights colored paper, but you could definitely use white paper and have your students color their pages if they’d like.  The front of the task folder includes a cover sheet, a 120’s chart, and a writing idea list.

Interactive Task Folders are great for early finishers and when you have a couple extra minutes in your day. Your students will take ownership in their work after making these.

For the inside, I have included a BOGGLE board that can be edited.  This way, you can change out the letters when needed and just have the students glue the new board right on top of the old one.  I also had someone give me the idea to put this on with velcro to make it easy to change out.

Students will also be able to practice their math facts and sight words.  These pockets are sized to fit a 3×5 index card, or I have included editable math fact and sight word cards.  The Reading Response sheets are perfect comprehension practice for students if they read a book in their spare time.  I have included 4 different response sheets in this file.

Interactive Task Folders are great for early finishers and when you have a couple extra minutes in your day. Your students will take ownership in their work after making these.

The Making Words activity is a great way to practice spelling and phonics skills.  I have included templates to create your own Making Words cards.  I have also included a template for you to make your own vocabulary word strips.  These can be changed out each week to keep the items fresh.  I like to include the vocabulary words from our reading selections for the week.

Interactive Task Folders are great for early finishers and when you have a couple extra minutes in your day. Your students will take ownership in their work after making these.

On the back, I have included a Word List that is helpful for students when they are writing.  It makes a great resource for them to use throughout the day.

These folders can take a bit of time to make, but once they are done, they are such a helpful resource.  I highly recommend having your students make these instead of you or a parent volunteer.  The students really take ownership in their work and are much more likely to use these if they are the ones making them.

What are teachers saying about this product? 
“Very helpful; It’s nice to have everything a student needs in one place.” 
“A great way to review basics on a daily basis! I love that I can edit parts of it, and can differentiate for all my students!” – Jennifer
“I think this is my favorite lap book ever! Such a useful tool and easy to individualize in my resource room.”

You can check these Interactive Task Folders out by clicking on any of the pictures in this post.

 

Interactive Task Folders are great for early finishers and when you have a couple extra minutes in your day. Your students will take ownership in their work after making these.

Design Your Perfect Classroom – A Project Based Learning Activity

by Leave a Comment

As teachers, we constantly think about how our classroom is set up.  We may move furniture every year or even mid-year to change things around and try something new.  But, have you ever tried to ask your students how THEY would like to have their classroom set up?  What would their perfect classroom look like?  What type of environment would they learn best in?  What types of seating would they love to have?  I decided to create a Project Based Learning project centered around this idea.

This Project Based Learning activity allows your students to critically think about what would be the best learning environment for them and their classmates. Students will work together through 10 steps to complete a model of a their perfect classroom.

What is Project Based Learning?

Project Based Learning (PBL) is a way of teaching that allows students to work together to investigate, create, and solve problems in a deeper and more meaningful way.  PBL addresses learning standards in a more complex way because students are actively involved in the learning process.

Every PBL activity has a question or problem to solve.  Then, students work collaboratively together to brainstorm, research, and create a solution to the question or problem.

Just handing instructions to your students to complete a project is NOT Project Based Learning.  In PBL, students will use critical thinking skills to brainstorm, research, plan, and execute their project.  Then, students will reflect on their project and the entire process of completing the project.

Design Your Perfect Classroom – The Project

This Project Based Learning activity allows your students to critically think about what would be the best learning environment for them and their classmates. Students will work together through 10 steps to complete a model of a their perfect classroom.You will begin by presenting the students with the Essential Question.  You can decide if you would like to do this project with “realistic” or “fantasy” type classrooms.  They could even be separate PBL activities.

This Project Based Learning activity allows your students to critically think about what would be the best learning environment for them and their classmates. Students will work together through 10 steps to complete a model of a their perfect classroom.

Students will have individual brainstorming and group brainstorming time built into this project.  All of the steps to the project are laid out for you.

This Project Based Learning activity allows your students to critically think about what would be the best learning environment for them and their classmates. Students will work together through 10 steps to complete a model of a their perfect classroom.

I have also included “Think About It” Question cards to really get their minds thinking critically about what would truly make the perfect classroom.

This Project Based Learning activity allows your students to critically think about what would be the best learning environment for them and their classmates. Students will work together through 10 steps to complete a model of a their perfect classroom.

With this Project Based Learning Activity, I really wanted to put a huge focus on cooperative learning.  This includes teaching the students to be active listeners.  Each student should have the opportunity to be heard throughout the project.

This Project Based Learning activity allows your students to critically think about what would be the best learning environment for them and their classmates. Students will work together through 10 steps to complete a model of a their perfect classroom.

An important stage in the PBL process is research.  I have included some resource sheets to help students think about their research when designing their classrooms.

This Project Based Learning activity allows your students to critically think about what would be the best learning environment for them and their classmates. Students will work together through 10 steps to complete a model of a their perfect classroom.

Every step of this project is broken down into manageable portions for your primary students.  For the materials, you can provide the materials for your class or you can have them decide as a group which materials to bring from home.

This Project Based Learning activity allows your students to critically think about what would be the best learning environment for them and their classmates. Students will work together through 10 steps to complete a model of a their perfect classroom.

I have provided a variety of recording sheets to fit the diverse needs of your students.  Kindergarten students and early 1st grade students will be successful with the drawing reflection sheets and brainstorming pages, where 2nd graders and some 1st graders can use the writing reflection sheets and brainstorming pages.

What are teachers saying about this project?

“This is such a fantastic resource! This will be a perfect way to introduce working in groups right at the beginning of the year while also receiving insight on what students would like to see in our classroom! It will make for a great back to school activity! I really appreciate the step-by-step implementation directions, as well as the resources to even help with expectations. Thanks for a great resource!”

You can check out this Project Based Learning Project by clicking HERE or on any of the pictures.

This Project Based Learning activity allows your students to critically think about what would be the best learning environment for them and their classmates. Students will work together through 10 steps to complete a model of a their perfect classroom.

Morning Tubs – Round 6

by 3 Comments

I just switched out our morning tubs again this week.  Technically, I think this is our 7th round of morning tubs, but I repeated some of our items during the last round.

Morning Tubs - A great way to start the morning!Read more about our full morning routine HERE.

What is in our Morning Tubs this time?

I purchased some new items from Amazon to add to my tubs this time around.  I love searching for new things that I think my students will enjoy.  It makes new tub day even more exciting.

This post contains affiliate links.  Any purchase made through these links (at no additional cost to you) helps to support this little area of cyber space and keeps the blog up and running.

These Bristle Blocks were a great addition to our morning tubs this round. Check out more morning tub ideas on the blog.These Bristle Blocks are a huge hit this time around.  They go together really easily and attach in so many different ways.  My class also loves that this packet came with wheels.

These Bristle Blocks have been a great addition to our morning tubs. You can check out more morning tub ideas in this blog post.

They have been so creative with these blocks.

Check out these morning tub ideas.This iTrax Critical Thinking mind game is a fun little addition to our tubs.  The students are supposed to look at the cards and find the path that connects the two blocks.  Then, they race to build that path with their blocks.  Many of them wanted to explore with building on these cards first.  This one will take a little practice, but eventually they’ll get the hang of it.

These gears are a fun addition to our morning tubs this round. You can find more ideas over on the blog.These gears from Learning Resources have been fun for the students as well.  I love seeing the ideas that they come up with to make all of the gears work together.

This blog is full of morning tub ideas.I purchased these Smartie Pants cards a couple of years ago, and I’ve had the Brain Quest Cards for ages.  I placed both of these in one of our tubs.  The students have had fun quizzing each other using these cards.

This BOGGLE game is a great addition to our morning tubs. Check out all of these morning tub ideas.I bought this BOGGLE game at Walmart about a month ago and decided to put it in one of our morning tubs.

This BOGGLE game is a great addition to our morning tubs. Check out all of these other ideas.The students turn over the timer and write as many words as possible on their white boards before the time runs out.

This blog is full of morning tub ideas.I placed dominoes in our last morning tub.  They can build with these, group them by numbers, put them into patterns, etc.  Morning tubs are really just a time for them to explore and be creative.

Want to know what else we have done during Morning Tub time?

Here are the links to my other posts:

Morning Tubs – Round 1

Morning Tubs – Round 2

Morning Tubs – Round 3

Morning Tubs – Round 4

Morning Tubs – Round 5

A Camping Themed Classroom Transformation

by 1 Comment

Classroom transformations have been the highlight of my school year this year.  My students always look forward to them.  I love planning for them and setting them up. Even though they can be a lot of work sometimes, it is always worth it.  This time around, I transformed the classroom into a campground, and we “camped out” all day.

This is the perfect way to transform your classroom into a campground for the day. These academic based activities make for such a fun learning day.To set up the classroom, I brought in a tent that we had at home.  This was a gift to my girls a couple of years ago, so it was something we already had.  You could definitely bring in a regular camping tent, but I was just using what we already had at home.  I also brought in my decorative trees that I set out at Christmas time.  These were the perfect addition to the “campsite.”  I purchased small camping chairs from Walmart for less than $10.  I also hung some white Christmas lights from the ceiling to add to the glow of the room and to look like stars in the night sky.  I made a fire using construction paper and rocks that I bought at Dollar Tree.

This is the perfect way to transform your classroom into a campground for the day. These academic based activities make for such a fun learning day.I brought in some mason jars that I had at home and put battery-powered tealight candles inside of them.  I bought the candles at Dollar Tree.  Then, I threw some red and white checkered table clothes, that I already had, on the tables.  I also bought a spray bottle at Dollar Tree and filled it with water.  I used the Bug Spray label from my friend, Stacy, at Simpson’s Superstars.  The kids loved being sprayed with “bug spray.”  Set up was super easy, and I really used mostly things I already had at home or in the classroom.

Before the students came in, I placed a campsite coloring page onto clipboards for each student.

This is the perfect way to transform your classroom into a campground for the day. These academic based activities make for such a fun learning day.

Then, I turned off the lights and projected a crackling campfire onto the screen.  I used this one below.

 It really felt like we were camping.  It was so relaxing.  The students were able to sit anywhere around the room to do their work.  Throughout the day, we completed camping themed activities.  We read camping books including Arthur Goes to Camp, Berenstain Bears Go to Camp, and Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping.  I purchased little flashlights from Amazon for each of my students, so they could use them throughout the day.  They were really cheap, but also cheaply made.  I think I’ll just have them bring in their own next year.

This is the perfect way to transform your classroom into a campground for the day. These academic based activities make for such a fun learning day.The students had so much fun in the campground for the day.

You can find all of these activities and printables in my Camping Day packet HERE.

Want to save these ideas for later?  Feel free to pin the image below, or any other image from the post, to your Pinterest boards.  Be sure to check out my other Classroom Transformations below.

This is the perfect way to transform your classroom into a campground for the day. These academic based activities make for such a fun learning day.

You can read more about our other classroom transformations in these blog posts.

A Bat Cave

An Arctic Adventure

A Saint Patrick’s Day Craft

by 2 Comments

Now that Valentine’s Day is over, it’s time to start thinking about the next fun holiday, Saint Patrick’s Day.  There’s just something simple and playful about this day.  I love that no gifts or cards are exchanged, and it’s really just about having some fun.  Since I love color, Saint Patrick’s Day is the perfect time to throw in some rainbow crafts and decorations.

I am absolutely thrilled to be partnering with Astrobrights®Papers again this year as a Bright Mind ambassador, so I wanted to share this fun writing craft that you can have your students make using paper from Astrobrights.

This post contains affiliate links.

This is a great Saint Patrick's Day craft that incorporates writing.

I started by giving each student a pot shape from Astrobrights Eclipse Black™ and a clover printed on Martian Green™ paper.  (You can download the clover HERE.)

A Saint Patrick's Day craft.

Then, I gave each student a strip of Re-Entry Red™, Orbit Orange™, Solar Yellow™, Gamma Green™, Celestial Blue®, and Gravity Grape™.  The students wrote a sentence on each strip with a reason why they felt lucky.

This colorful Saint Patrick's Day craft is a great way to incorporate writing.

Next, I taped each strip to a black string and attached it to the pots.

This Saint Patrick's Day craft is a great way to incorporate writing.I hung these from the ceiling.  This was a great way to work on writing, while making a colorful craft for March.

Do you know the Brightest Teacher?

I’m partnering again this year with Astrobrights®Papers for the Brightest Teacher Contest, which kicked off this past week.

If you know a teacher that goes above and beyond every day, nominate them to win an amazing classroom makeover, valued at $5,000 sponsored by Astrobrights and designed by the Bright Minds.  The contest ends on March 26th, so head over to colorizeyourclassroom.com to nominate the Brightest Teacher you know.