You Oughta Know! Blog Hop

I am here to share with you something that you just gotta know if you are a teacher!  This is such a fun idea for a blog hop, but I must say that I had a hard time narrowing it down to just one thing.  Since the new school year is coming up, I thought that I would share with you my fun folders!  This is an oldie but a goodie!

I have been using fun folders for about 3 years now.  My students' fun folder is a folder full of things that they can go to when they have finished their work.  Is it fun?  Well, I think I have kind of tricked them into thinking it is fun! hehe.....sneaky, sneaky!  Our fun folders contain things like a blank hundreds chart, our handwriting page, fun writes, addition cross out, retell charts, and addition/subtraction pages.  What makes them fun?  They are ALL laminated so that the little ones can use dry erase markers on them!!

So I am also going to share with you a few organizational tips!
            *I keep all of these in a folder that students keep in their desk, making them always on hand.
            *Each student keeps an eraser and a black dry erase marker in their pencil box.  I recommend black, as the colored markers do not erase so well.
            *I number all pages in the top right hand corner with the student's number so that if it is lost, it can easily be returned to its owner.  You will want to number these BEFORE you laminate.  The kids LOVE to trace over their number with their dry erase marker, which incidentally, removes sharpie.
             *Inexpensive eraser options include small pieces of felt or cut up wash cloths.  With felt, it needs to be changed out often as it can turn the kids' fingers black.  With wash cloths, you can wash them!  You can get a pack of these for $4 at Wal-mart and cut them in quarters for MORE than enough for your whole class!  (I have also used old socks and t-shirts!)

               *For cleaning your "boards" I recommend Awesome Cleaner!  This stuff ROCKS!  It is ONE DOLLAR at the Dollar Tree.  Who can beat that bargain?  Once a month, I have a parent volunteer gather all of the folders and clean all of their "boards."  It keeps them from getting too gray and dingy and works great.  (By the way, this stuff removes stains from anything and everything!)

               *Color code them!  If you color code your "boards" or pages, it is really easy for students to find what you are wanting them to work on.  You can tell students to take out their yellow board instead of finding their addition page.  It helps students to find what they need quickly.

 Have I mentioned, that these are exceptionally handy when you have a sub?

Easy peasy sub plans:
Reading - Read aloud a story and have students complete the retell chart (green board) in their fun folder.
Spelling - Have students write all of their spelling words using a fun write (on their red board).

Math - Have students complete their addition/subtraction facts (yellow board).  If they finish early, they may play addition cross out with a partner (purple board).

No prep!!  =)


I do hope that you will stick around and check out more great ideas on both my blog and the others in the linky!  If you are not already following, you can do so here!

An InLinkz Link-up