Every year, I always begin teaching the Daily 5 activities slowly and in tumble form. This helps students to learn what is happening in each one and form routines/expectations within literacy time. From term 2 onwards I usually implement my Daily 5 task card in place of a tumble. 

How does it work?
Students get to choose their own activities within reading time without teacher direction. Students receive their own Daily 5 checklist board (like pictured above) with a little picture of themselves on their one. This type of learning in reading time promotes student agency of their choices in learning, builds responsibility for their actions and is fun - no more teacher telling them what to do!

As i teach Year 3 students I chose to implement a practice version of this in the last week of school. This has helped my students see and know what is coming next term but also have a practice with it. This helps form new routines but practicing the expectations of how it will change. It really has been a great way to move from the tumble based programme to their own choice and would recommend doing a practice before hand to help with those routines. 

​My students are so excited to begin their real task cards next term after the holidays and I can't wait to see their ownership and responsibility of their learning shift from being teacher led to student led. 

This year in my class we are focusing on some class goals. These goals are for students in my class to work on together, and have a shared reward. I have found this to work in the past with my students, but instead of focusing on just one, we have three going on at the moment. 

These goals were brainstormed and picked together as a class. We voted on the three we thought were the most important and wanted to focus on every day. Each time me or other teachers can see evidence of this happening in class then they get a sticker on the chart. Each goal has a goal that they also brainstormed and voted on too. 

I find this type of goal incentive to be amazing for students as they are all working towards the same thing. They encourage each other to remember and there is a shared responsibility amongst everyone. Students that perhaps are always late to class, don't want to let the class down so have been actively getting to class on time. The positive encouragement they all have towards each other is also amazing as they are reminding each other in a positive way what we are working on!

I'll let you know how they go!
​Template made on Google Slides!

Some great ways to use the class doorbell that I use:

• behaviour management - getting students to stop while working rather than clapping or shouting out a phrase
• change over times between sessions
• tidy up time

Obviously I talk about the expectations and what the doorbell will mean if I push it. So if it is being used in between change overs I will say "when you hear the doorbell it means to change to your next activity". If it is tidy up I will prewarn them so they know that also. 

This just uses something abit different to get students engaged in the activities and listening to instructions!
Let me know your thoughts on using a doorbell in class! Would love to hear how it works out. 

This concept is based off something I saw online, but this resource has really grown over the last week to include so many more resources than when it was first developed! 
This resource comes with:
-charts explaining each concept with pre-made pictures
-blank charts for you to add your own pictures
-tumble board pictures 
-anchor charts for each concept

This resource also comes with some additional worksheets and activities that I have integrated into this PRISM Maths Concept.
-problem solving thinking frames
-number of the week chart
-missing numbers activities
-signs for boxes

Check out my video below walking you through the resource pack!

So getting ready for the school year is a hard process that involves so many things you want to do, complete and use! It really can be difficult to cull it down to things you want to try, and should try. I was 100% fixed on the idea of using Daily 3 in Maths this year. But after a big think, I actually changed my mind and developed my own Maths concept based on something I came across online. 

PRISM
An acronym for five different stations or activities students will/can complete in Maths Time. 

P - Practise by myself
R - Ready with a buddy
I - I can use technology
S - Solve in book
M - Manipulative exploration

I created each part of the PRISM maths concepts as anchor charts for students to view and see exactly what activities can be used. Today I introduced it in class and the students loved being able to refer back to the charts to help them make choices. 

You can download this resource to use in your classroom too! It comes with my anchor charts that explain each step, my resources that I have mentioned in the pictures (number of the week chart, missing numbers activity, signs for games box and problem solving charts). 

Purchase it from my Teachers Pay Teachers Store here!
Purchase it from my website here!

First day of school today! Back into the swing of things with my brand new 23 Year 3 students. Such a great feeling meeting those new people who will soon spend all day in my classroom.

Beginning of the year is always vital for building routines and getting those set in place for your class. This builds a strong foundation for all that you do in class, with one of mine being our morning routines! I have always used this template as a morning routine greeting to get students excited and up to date with coming to school on that day. 

I use a Google slide deck to share the above information with my students everyday!
Each day has a slide with:
-a fun GIF
-date
-message
-bitmoji sticker for fun
-other short notes with information that could relate to students or their parents that come in

I find that my students rely on this to be shown in the morning and love coming in to view the GIF or the Bitmoji sticker! A great way to build routines and share notes for everyone coming in in the morning. They then go off and find an activity or something set up that I might have for the morning. 

To make yourself a copy of this template to use in your classroom click here. Simply update your own items to the template and you're away!

With school heading back next week I know a lot of teachers have been heading back into school to set up their classrooms. And I have been storing a lot of ideas up to use this year! There are so many ideas from Instagram and pinterest that I want to use but have settled on the below details. 
Check out my pictures below for a snippet into my classroom and links to where things are from!

I have had lots of interest in my Daily 5 products over the last few days so thought I would give a quick blog post on my experience with Daily 5. 
It has been a huge part of my literacy programme for the last two years. This year will be my third year using it, this time with Year 3's. Previously I have done in with Year 1s and then Year 1/2 composite. I first came across Daily 5 online and purchased this book 'The Daily 5'. It unpacks it very clearly and highlights how you should implement it in your classroom. If you're looking to get it going in your classroom then start with this. 

Here is a very short and simple video that I created showing you how easy it is to create your own QR codes and cute little background pictures. These could be done for anything really in your class - books, videos, information videos for writing, topic studies! It really isn't limited!

Don't want to make your own? Check out the PDFs below of some that I have made that you can use in your classroom!

There are so many ideas out there that you can use, download and purchase that can fit into the look or activity you are trying to complete. Bitmoji is so easy to use but if you're stuck, keep an eye out on my youtube channel for a Bitmoji video coming soon!
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Check out some of the Bitmoji resources I have in the VIP access area also!