5th Grade! Now Starring...

To welcome my new stars in September, here is my beginning of the year bulletin board.

The red title was cut with my school's die-cut machine and laminated.  I keep the letters in a plastic bag so they are ready to use each year.  The small yellow stars are cut out of construction paper and have each student's name on them.  They are, after all, the upcoming superstars of the year.The red and silver stars are cut from glittery craft foam and tied on with ribbon.

After spending some time together as a new class, I like to have students write something on the back of their star that they are a superstar at.  Many students choose a sport or activity they are successful at.  Then, we place the stars back up on the board.  Students take turns reading our superstar talents and guessing who they belong to.  We can check the answers by looking at the names on the back of the stars. It's a great way to start things off on a positive note!

Writing Center

My writing center contains absolutely EVERYTHING my students need for all steps in the writing process.  It is an integral station in our classroom.

The top shelf is home to blank index cards for making flashcards, writing prompts to get ideas flowing, pens, pencils, highlighters, tape, a stapler, electric pencil sharpener, and group cups containing scissors and rulers.  The lower shelf has rhyming poetry dictionaries, scissors, handheld pencil sharpeners, a three-hole punch, lined scrap paper, and white scrap paper.  The lined scrap paper was pulled from old notebooks that students donated at the end of previous years.  The white scrap paper is from worksheets and paperwork that was only printed on one side.  It's a great way to recycle and have paper for drafting, sketching, drawing, and math computations.

These plastic drawers contain labeled sections for handheld sharpeners, regular scissors, and decorative-edged scissors.  The labels serve two purposes: they give me an excuse to use my favorite label maker and students always know where to return the supplies!

Since the electric pencil sharpener can only be used during the morning routine, recess, and at the end of the day, we have sharpened pencils ready to go.  I made these two containers by covering coffee cans with construction paper.  The "Ready!" bin is home to pencils that are sharp and ready to use.  The "Need to be sharpened" can is for students to place dull pencils to be sharpened later.  A student helps with sharpening so I can focus on other things (what student doesn't love to use an electric sharpener?).  If students absolutely need to sharpen a pencil during the day, they simply use one of the quiet, handheld sharpeners.  

The cart of dictionaries is directly next to the other writing supplies.  The cart has various dictionaries and thesauruses as well as binders of graphic organizers and writing prompts.  The bottom left side of the shelf is reserved for other books that help with the writing process.  

Now, if only these writing resources could help me grade papers, we'd be in business!