Updated August 17, 2007

Curriculum Corner by Robyne D. Batson

Words of Wisdom

10) PAINTING INSTANT CLEAN UP (Litza Jackson, 2nd Grade)

Save your yogurt containers! Save your laundry detergent caps! Use these in your classroom to hold paint as your learners dip paint brushes in them to create their masterpieces! It's instant clean up! Toss the recyclable container after you finish painting! If you have extras (due to large families), please share!

9)POSTING SPI’s and OBJECTIVES (Lisa Massie)

List all the SPI numbers and objectives on chart paper for each nine weeks. Get the chart laminated. Slide a clothes pin to the SPI/objective that is being addressed in the current lesson.

 

8) UNITED STATES MAP (Catherine Mullins—Kindergarten, CIAA)

The fabric department of Wal-Mart has a simple and very colorful map of the U.S. It comes on a bolt and you get the clerk to cut off one for you. I bought mine last year in Millington and it was less than $4. You are welcome to come look at mine; it is on my bulletin board if you are interested.   Catherine

7) STEAMBOAT—VISUAL ARTS (Bonnie Wright, Assistant Principal)

Kindergarten applied their arts integration by creating steamboats from lines and shapes. They talked about vertical, horizontal, and diagonal lines in Francis’ room and made pictures of steamboats by applying those skills.

 

6)  CLASSROOM WEB PAGES (Robyne Batson)

Click on this link to discover step by step instructions for creating your very own, easy, free, web page. Learners will love to have a place to go to find homework assignments, upcoming events, class news, announcements, academic information, etc… Not to mention that parents love having a way to ‘know what is going on’ and email us. This may be an easy first step to get our learners using the web. It really is easy. :-) and it can be updated from any on-line computer...home, school, IBM, MAC. :-) Try it. ….Robyne Batson (4th Grade Teacher)

 

5) WIPE BOARDS...PERMANENT MARKER? (Leah Coop)

If you have ever accidentally written on your white board with a permanent marker, don’t freak out. (As you can tell, I have had this experience!) Just write on top of the permanent marker with an erasable marker. Voila! It will now erase! :) …..Leah Coop (1st Grade Teacher)

 

4) COVER THE CURRICULUM (Georgia Dawson)

USE the BLUE BOOK! While attending an Abacus revision session, Georgia asked us to remind everyone to be sure to cover every objective in the Tennessee Blue Book for your grade. She reminded us that not all of these objectives are in the textbooks. Our goal is to have at least one test question on the Abacus for each of the objectives in the TN Blue Book…..Georgia Dawson (Curriculum Director for Tipton County Schools)

 

3) GRADING MATH PAPERS (Robin Higgins)

After learners complete their Math assignments, ask them to use a highlighter to mark just the answers. Learners seem to love using highlighters and seeing the answer jumping off the page makes grading easier………...Robin Higgins (3rd Grade Teacher)

 

2) STORING BOARDERS (Tonia Stingley)

Save plastic frosting cans. Cut a short piece of a border to attach around the outside of the can. Roll the matching border and place it in the can for storage……Tonya Stingley (2nd Grade Teacher)

 

1) MANAGING YOUR TIME and GETTING IT ALL DONE! (Barbara Teague, Assistant Principal)

Divide the class into small groups and have each group take turns reading a section of the story or chapter. The teacher will walk around from time to time and ask a question about the section to make sure all learners are on task. The groups work together to discover the answers. Observation of these groups will reveal the leaders, peacemakers, etc… in your class. This process, Cooperative Learning Groups, will give teachers a break to grade papers, conference with students, complete paper work, write a note to parents, etc………..Barbara Teague (Assistant Principal of Culture)