Here it is! This is part one of my linky party “Gear Up with Teaching Strategies”. I wanted to create this linky party to get teachers ready for the year. As tempted as we all are to go straight to decorating and organizing our rooms, it’s also good for us to make sure we have some solid teaching strategies in our tool boxes.
Any strategy you use over and over again is a great one to share. I’d love to hear what you do no matter how simple! Feel free to link up or comment to share yours.
I want to share different strategies you can use that all have to do with butcher paper and smelly markers. (Really any kind of markers would work, but the smelly ones are so much fun!)
1. Pre-assessment
One of my favorite ways to pre-assess what students know about a topic is by writing down 4-8 content vocabulary words on pieces of butcher paper, with one word on each sheet. Students rotate around the room in groups writing down everything they *think* they know about that word. After they have had enough time you can discuss what they knew and find any misconceptions you will need to cover.
2. Formative Assessment
I love to use butcher paper for formative assessment as well. I put questions or words on butcher paper and put them around the walls of the room. Again, the students use markers to answer the questions or show what they know about a vocabulary word. This time, they get to do it more like graffiti. They can add little pictures or use special handwriting to put their answers on the wall like graffiti. Again, it shows you what your students know and what misconceptions they may have.
3. Word Problems
Butcher paper can also be fun to use for word problems. I’ve posted before about how I paste a word problem in the middle, and students rotate around the room answering the question.You can click here to go to my previous post.
I’ve also recently heard about a way to do the same thing only the butcher paper looks more like this:
The word problem goes in the middle, and 4 students have their own space to show their work for the word problem.
4. With Pictures
I also enjoy finding pictures and pasting them to butcher paper for certain lessons. When you can find eye-catching photos and students get to use your special markers, how can they not be engaged? I posted about how I did this with Fact and Opinion as the topic here. You could also do this with other topics easily such as landforms, shapes, letter sounds, and more!
I also have to add that I finally finished it!!! My “Not Your Normal Back to School Unit” is complete and packed with activities to do at the beginning of the year that require your kids to think deeper from the start! It also has ideas for almost every activity to differentiate for your strugglers and the ones who need more of a challenge. You can check it out here!
I’d love to hear about ANY teaching strategy you regularly utilize in your classroom. No matter how simple it may seem, it may spark an idea for another teacher. Please comment with your strategy or link up!
