This is a themed version of a reading log for the Play Ball.
Wild, Wild, West – Welcome Letter
To help have a successful theme based classroom, you must start before day 1. This is a sample letter, where you can fill in the blanks. Use brown paper that you crumble, gives it a worn rugged look.
Table Jobs
To help you run your classroom effectively, set the students into table groups. Your configuration will depend on the number of students in your classroom. Table groups are a great way to involve each child with daily routines. We feel it is crucial that every child feels important and has a sense of belonging. One way to accomplish this would be to assign each child a table job. This job is different than their classroom job. It focuses on classroom management and daily routines. The sample below is based on table groups of 8 and The Director of the Week, you will need to make adjustments as necessary. Director of the Week – This student will have an additional class job this week. This is your student of the week. They do all you running around jobs; door person, attendance, noise monitor, letter to office and so on. The rest of the jobs are per table. Each table will have 8 jobs, adjust to the number in your classroom. We make them in little tags, with Velcro on the back and the kids simply rotate them each week. Mount them on construction paper and laminate them, so they will last the entire school year. Assistant Director – understudy report (this person writes down the work for the day for any absent students at their table). Cleaning Crew – makes sure tops of desk and floor is clean at their table Key Grip – straightens and cleans library Technical Advisor – Turns computer on and off, collects homework for their table Script Deliverer – paper passer and collector Props Manager – gets supplies for table Manager – cleans inside and tops of desk every Friday with wipes Stand-In – Substitute for their table
Upon completion of homework we give the students a punch on their homework pass. We recommend using a themed hole punch, such as a sun, palm tree or surfboard.
What’s Cooking? – Water Bottle Label
We create a water bottle label for our theme each year. This is the What’s Cooking? one. We place it on with double sided tape to a regular size water bottle. We have these on the students’ desk as they come into the classroom on the first day of school. We also give them to the parents on Back to School Night. Fun way to introduce your theme and give the students and parents a little inexpensive gift.