Poems and Classroom Management!

Whew, it has been a busy few days, but I know that when I am busy--I am getting a lot done, so busy is never a bad thing!

I have managed to get a few more things accomplished for next year and I am definitely ready to implement them! One of my favorites is something I used last year, but I found a new and improved version that I think will work great for my kids! Voice Levels is something great to incorporate in the classroom for classroom management. Last year, I hung mine on the board and used a clothes pin to move the voice levels up and down! However, I love the new and improved one pictured below!

I think I just like the phrases they use! Spy Talk is GREAT! Getting kids to understand the concept of whispering is impossible sometimes! I think they will have fun with "Spy Talk"--hopefully not too much fun though! :) I used one of these last year and it worked great! The key is to introduce it at th beginning of the year and use it OFTEN. If it goes by the wayside then the kids won't respect it. :)

Another WONDERFUL goodie I found, downloaded, and already printed of is Month by Month Poems it is free and wonderful! We do a poem of the week at our school for our 3rd and 4th graders! We actually don't usually start at the beginning of the year but I think I will go ahead and start reading these in September! They are very cute and it is never to early to start teaching something! I put mine in a notebook in page protectors so I can pull them out and put them on the ELMO (document camera) for the kids to see while I read them!

I am also in the process of making a notebook for each member of my 3rd grade ELA team and our Curriculum Interventionist (basically our Wonder Woman!) :) Never pass up an opportunity to do a nice thing for someone, they will appriciate it!

I love the clipart of everything that goes with it! What a wonderful resource! (Just a heads up also--if you are new to teaching 3rd or 4th, perhaps a first year teacher or just never taught upper grades...poems are HUGE for preparing for the STAAR test.) Even if you don't teach 3rd--this is adorable! So enjoy!