Monday Made It - Sharing Bag

I marked two school projects off my To Do List last week but added at least a dozen more!  Thank goodness for Monday Made It!  It provides us with ideas, inspiration, and incentive to get it all done!

 

My first Made It was somewhat of a re-do on a previous project.  Remember when I printed new my sight word cards? They looked like this...

Well, I loved how they looked and I was just getting ready for the next step to mount and laminate them when I had a major thought.  As I was trying to decide which color cardstock to use, I started thinking it would be nice if they were color coded somehow.  Maybe having the first set of words on one color, the next set on another color, and so on.  The more I thought about a color system, the more I was sure it would work great for me.  It would allow me to group a set of words and then encourage students to learn all the red words or all the blue words.  I still need to figure out how I'll track everyone's progress and make a big recording chart of some sort (that's on my To Do List!) but I'm thrilled with how this step of the color coded sight word cards has turned out! 

 

 

Of course, the whole sight word color system project turned into a need to plan when I'm introducing each word and what color it's assigned to.  I created this Pacing Guide to keep in my Teacher Binder for easy reference.

 

 

 

In my classroom, the line leader for the day gets to do Show & Tell during our Morning Meeting.  The line leader brings an item from home for the Sharing Bag, gives the class a few clues, and then we all try to guess what they brought that's inside the bag.  It's a fun twist on the traditional Show & Tell and I love it because it really helps the kids develop good communication skills.

 

My previous Sharing Bag lasted at least 5 years and it was time for me to make a new one.  I went to Michael's, found a good sized black canvas bag, and some pretty turquoise letters. 

 

After trimming around the letters, I laid them on top of the bag.  I didn't even try to put them on straight because I know I can't possibly get them all lined up!  Instead, I gently tilted and turned the letters for a more random look.  This method helps cover up your uneven mistakes.  I do it with bulletin board letters or when I'm writing on an anchor chart all the time!

 

After ironing according to the directions, I carefully lifted the paper backing to reveal the letters.

 

Success!  They all adhered perfectly!

 

And here's the finished product!  A new Sharing Bag ready for school!

 

Click here to see what other teachers are creating and checking off their To Do Lists!