Helpful Hints
1. Kelly Boland (first grade, Rice Elementary) came up with a great way to hang your Sound-Spelling cards and still be able to take them down, flip them over, and reposition them without using a ladder, step stool, or (Egads!) a student chair. Kelly bought 1/2 inch by 1-1/2 inch strips of wood at the garden center. After a quick sanding, she spaced her Sound/Spelling cards out along the length of the board. She left about 1/4th to 1/2 inch between each card. She then marked where the holes on each card were directly onto the board. Once the board was marked, Kelly used 1 inch headless nails (no flat area on the head of the nail shaft) and hammered one nail into each mark, being careful not to go through the board. These boards were then attached to the wall above the front white/chalkboard so that the bottom of the Sound/Spelling card was within reach. The cards easily slip on and off the headless nails. No more push-pins, sticky blue blobs, or equally sticky tape.
2. If you want to fit a page from your Teacher's Edition onto an 8-1/2 by 11 inch page, use the 64% reduction key on the copier.
3. Do you want to highlight something on a poster, chart, or big book? Lee Products Co. makes highlighter tape. This removable tape comes in 4 colors (yellow, orange, green, and pink) and in assorted sizes. The warehouse doesn't stock this item but office supply stores do.
4. Spelling words written on index cards for your Focus Wall can later become a word-sorting activity during Universal Access Time. If you combine several weeks worth of spelling words into a basket, your students can sort the words by their spelling patterns.
5. Are those little letter cards and cardboard tray creating problems in your classroom? Do most of them end up on the floor? Does it take your students half of your lesson time just to get them out of their storage bags and organized on their desks before they can use them? Well, if so, check out the Managing Small Letter Cards link on the First Grade Teacher Idea Sharing Page.
