Bright Idea {Data Doors}

Hi, Friends! How are you? This time of the month always brings me joy because it’s time to collabo on great ideas for the classroom….ready for another ‘bright idea’?

My idea for this month is a little one that packs a LOT of punch!

Organizing data is an ongoing topic that can be incorporated into any subject area. Answering questions, taking surveys, documenting responses….all lends itself to being organized onto bar-type or picture graphs. Rather than going to the workroom to grab that giant sheet of butcher paper each time, just use your classroom door! (Hopefully, most of your students won’t all make the same choice as mine did on this one, lol!)

Create a basic set up that can be changed out quickly.

Holidays and monthly themes can be incorporated easily. By this time of year, students can also record information after analyzing the data.

…and you have a larger area to work with than you might generally have using butcher paper. When you’re ready to change it out, just take down the items you used to represent each student’s choice for that graph and replace it with a new title or question to create the next one! Sticky notes are a fantastic choice for creating bar graphs! Easy peasy and you have a large data display for students to see each time you enter and exit the classroom! Want your students to transfer the graph to paper? It’s big enough for everyone to see in order to do so! =)

Thanks for stopping by! If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for more great ideas. I update these sites {almost} daily.

For more bright ideas from other bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks again, for stopping by! Happy blog hopping!

An InLinkz Link-up

It's Bright Idea Time!

HI, Friends! How are ya? It’s time for another round of bright ideas!



This one…is a favorite! My son’s teacher from last year actually inspired it! Let’s get to it!



Journaling has become all the rage in classrooms all over the country! I love using journals in the classroom, BUT always hesitated to store them in stations for students because I didn’t want those pesky spirals to get tangled. Composition notebooks are PERFECT, BUT….can be a bit pricey!



Even still, there were times that I’ve tried to store notebooks in bins only to have an upset kiddo struggle to detangle his journal from a friend’s in order to get to work. Well, thanks to the nifty thinking of a certain lovely, 3rd grade teacher……we shall detangle NO MORE!



With a handy dandy roll of duct tape and scissors….you can solve your tangled spiral problems like this…..



Use the dotted line that runs down the front of the spiral as a guide to adhere a length of duct tape. Turn the notebook over onto its cover and fold the duct tape over the spiral to adhere to the back of the notebook.



Lay open and flat to double check that you haven’t stuck any writing pages together. =)



….and viola! Instant “composition books”….no tangles….AND with all the different types of duct tape available now, you can color code for organization too! No more mixed up, tangled spiral notebooks! Thanks, Mr. Love! Love ya!

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter for more great ideas.

For more bright ideas from more than 100 different bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for stopping by!

An InLinkz Link-up

Bright Ideas Blog Hop~Guided Writing Journals

Hi, Friends! How are ya?  I hope you’re having a hoppin’ good time gathering lots of exciting ideas for your classroom!

In Room 159, we love reading. We love writing. We love writing about reading too! One way we accomplish this is through the use of guided writing journals.  Guided writing takes place at the small group table at the end of our guided reading lesson {on day 2 or 3}. It helps us to extend and reflect on the text we're reading.

 

 

Sometimes, our reflections look like graphic organizers. I keep lots of different sticky notes on hand for quick assembly in notebooks. The novelty of holiday and themed sticky notes helps to maintain interest in the journals.

There are also times when I pose a question for students to use to take a deeper look at the text and respond to it. We share our responses when everyone is done. This helps students to explain and provide textual examples to support the position they've taken to answer and respond to essential questions.

 

 

For emerging readers, guided writing journals also contain word work, sight word sentences, and illustrations to respond to reading. In order to help students organize journals, we use lots of coding dots, sticky notes and stickers.  Lastly, we’re also beginning to use this as a place for me to jot quick notes to students to encourage them or give them kudos for their hard work.

 

Do you use guided writing journals in your classroom?  If not, I hope this "bright idea" might shine a little light on your considering to do so! =)

 

Next up on the hop is Stacey from Teaching Ever After. She has a great post about organizing for a month at a time! I can certainly use some help with that! You can hop to her post by clicking her blog button below.

 

 

 



Not up for a one by one hop? That’s okay too! Alternatively, you can search by topic, using the link up below and move along to any other stop on the blog hop.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

An InLinkz Link-up

An InLinkz Link-up