Things to Plan for Your Classroom Now That Summer Is Here

 

Now That Summer Is Here

Now that summer is here, you may have decided to chunk your school books in the corner and relax. To be honest, I don’t blame you. No matter how much we love school, we all get tired. Now, take a deep breath and allow yourself to think about the upcoming school year. What are some things that you can do now that won’t make you even more exhausted, but that will help you make a smooth transition from summer break back to full school mode.

Word Walls

You can go ahead and begin designing your word wall for the upcoming year. Word walls are a great way to help increase your child’s vocabulary and help him or her become a better reader. Pick out words that you know you will use for the upcoming year. You can either design your own word wall or order one from places like Teachers Pay Teachers.

Back to School Activities

Plan your activities for the first day of school or if you’re feeling especially refreshed your first few weeks of school.  You can design fun games to help you get to know your students and help your students get to know you. Some simple games that you can use are Bingo and Scoot. Now is also a great time to create interest inventory quizzes and pre-tests for your subject area. You can even plan fun, age-appropriate craftivities for your students. All students no matter what age love to create things.

Rules and Regulations

No one wants to think about discipline especially in the summer. However, now is a great time to formulate your classroom rules. You may not know who your students are at this point, but you can create generic behavior charts. You can design homework check list sheets, create posters that display your classroom rules, and create behavior contracts.

Become Familiar with Objectives

Who has time during the school year to learn state objectives or standards? If you are like me, you may find yourself crunched for time. So, if you know the grade you will be teaching in the upcoming year, now is a great time to read over those state objectives or standards. Don’t spend all day every day reading them. Simply devote five or ten minutes per day looking over the objectives and familiarizing yourself with them.

Plan Activities

Once you have familiarized yourself with the standards, you can begin to plan activities. I am not suggesting that you do full-blown lesson plans. I am recommending that you take this time to think of the thematic units you want to teach or some ways to make learning those tedious objectives fun.

Schedule Me Time

Summer is definitely “Me Time”. Make sure that this is not the only time you get to spend with your family and yourself. Decide on the days or hours that will be reserved just for you during the school year. It doesn’t matter if it is the weekends, after 5:00 P.M. or Wednesday nights. Just carve out some time for yourself that is school work free. Once you have chosen your “Me Time”, do your best to keep it sacred.

Make the most your summer. Enjoy your time off. And, take advantage of your time away from your busy classroom. Do simple things that can help make your upcoming school year run more smoothly.

Word Walls Can Be Used At Home

 

Word Wall in my son's room

Start of a  Word Wall from my classroom

Word Walls Aren’t Just for School

If you ask your child about a word wall, he or she will more than most likely tell you about the one that is located in his/her classroom. Word Walls are a common part of any elementary classroom. They are used to help students become familiar with words that they may encounter in their reading books or other settings. The word wall acts as a visual bridge between words and their use. Word walls are very effective, and the great news is that they don’t have to be used just in school.

Words walls are not just for the classroom. They can also be used at home. Are you wondering how? Simple. You can start a word wall in your child’s room or any other area of your home. If you don’t want to risk ruining your paint or wall paper, you can opt to turn your refrigerator door into a Word Center. Just place the words on your refrigerator door in the same way that you add pictures and notes. It doesn’t matter where you decide to place your word wall. All that matters is that the words are easily visible, and you and your child can interact with them on a regular basis.

I decided to do a word wall in my home after I saw my son’s reading scores. My child has always been a fluent reader, but I noted that lately-since the arrival of his new wii-he wasn’t reading as well as he used to. So, I decided to take immediate steps to prevent further loses in reading. I decided to create a word wall in my house and begin teaching him new words. I opted to use my son’s bedroom as a place for his word wall. My son is in the 2^nd grade, so I chose the words that were recommended for 3^rd grade. I simply looked on the internet for a list of 3^rd grade words and chose some to start the word wall with. I did this so that his vocabulary would increase as well as his reading level. Now, my son and I look at the words daily and discuss the meanings of the words that I added.

Word walls are a great way to help increase your child’s vocabulary and help him or her become a better reader. You can use the words that your child brings home from school each week or you can find age-appropriate words on the internet.