Whole-Class Writing Journals

I saw another idea on Pinterest and knew it was a great idea for my classroom. Today I made 10 whole-class writing journals. I plan to let these journals circulate around the room during Daily 5 (Daily 3?) and want to encourage my kidlets to share their writing with the class. Some of my topics are hobbies, pets, vacations, deserted island, music, and college. The original pin links back to a really great website you need to check out. This teachers has some really wonderful ideas and a few freebies, too (I used her doc for my journal labels and then just threw in some graphics.) Click Here: I Love My Classroom

Writing Journals: Ribbon Bookmarks

I saw this idea on Pinterest (sorry--I don't know where the original post is but if it's yours please let me know). It was a pretty simple project. A little hot glue, ribbons, and now my student's new writing journals have a permanent book mark. I think they are so cute.

"My Future Looks Bright" Sunglasses

Here's something I saw on Pinterest and tweaked for my classroom's needs. These are sunglasses we completed for Open House. They were tied into goals my kidlets set at the beginning of the year. Our whole school is part of the "No Excuses University" program in which we instill in the students all year long in every grade that school automatically includes college, no excuses. So many of the students wrote on their sunglasses from a perspective of being a senior citizen and looking back on their life and all they accomplished (where they went to college, what their major was, what their career was, and other successes.)





I made the master for the sunglasses by tracing around a pair of those big plastic sunglasses that they sell at The Dollar Tree. Then I just added lines for text. I photocopied them onto large construction paper. They were a big hit at Open House!