February's Show & Tell

for February's 

Double Composition 

I've custom designed composition books before, but this one is different because it is two books in one.  I got the idea from my ELL's that come from the country of Cuba.  They told me their teachers attach their composition books together so that they can have all of their work in one place.  So, this is what I did.  I'm sure there might be a more scientific and better way, but this was my first attempt.

These are the supplies I used. 

(Packing tape was also used, but it's not in the picture.)

I leveled the books side by side and used a clothes pin to keep them together.

I then stapled the back cover of the first book and the front cover of the second book with a long stapler.

Then, I cut most of the unstapled part off.  

I used packing tape to cover the staples and keep the openings closed.

This is what it looks like with the two books attached.  One student told me that some teachers take out the paper from one book and attach it to the other book with just one spine.  I'll have to try that next time.  

I covered the two spines with bright green tape.

I used clear packing tape to attached a pocket to the back cover with the scraps I had left over when I attached the two books.  I used a big sticker to cover the bar code.

Using clear packing tape again, I attached a ribbon to the middle of the front and back cover.  This will help keep the book closed when it's not in use. I also attached another sticker to hide the seam.

With clear packing tape I also attached a pen holder to the side.  (One came out a little short.  To keep that from happening I should have attached it from the front to the back. I'll do a better job with the next one.) I got the idea from Pinterest.  Click here to see the pin.  

I'm going to give the composition book away as a gift to one lucky student.  

I love preparing a little corner in my room that feels like home and reminds me of the people I love all during the day. Each year my space changes a little.

January's Show & Tell

for the very first Show & Tell Linky Party.

This is a monthly Linky Party where we "show" up to four things from school, or home, or any other thing and we tell about it.

A few years ago I changed from using a file cabinet to organizing with binders.  I'll never go back.  My file cabinets now store supplies, headphones, microphones, and old files that I keep around for memory's sake.

 Right before winter break our school hosted Career Day.  Our kids dressed up for the occasion.

Finding Foreheads is a super, simple activity we use to "set" new vocabulary words.  We've already introduced new words, taken notes, looked for words in context. The next step is to try to set all of that learning in the student's permanent, personal word banks.  It's like "glossing" after you've gone through the hard work of painting a beautiful picture.  You want all of that learning to set in permanently and keep from dulling out.  

The inspiration for this activity came from the smart phone game "Heads Up".  I went to the Dollar Store and found cute headbands, 6 for $1.  I prepared flash cards with just definitions, no words.  I paper clipped the flashcard to the headband and placed the headbands on each student without them looking at their card.

Each student receives a handout with a two column chart.  On one column all the words are written out.  I give them a few minutes to write the definitions they already know.  Then, students go to find the forehead that has the definition of the words they can't remember.  It was fun and after playing the game a few times, the kids did fabulously on their quiz. 

I'd love to see and read all about your "Show and Tell".  Feel free to link up and join the party. Just click here and it will take you right to the fun.