… and I’ve been dying all weekend to show you. Really. I’ve been working on these off and on since I decided on my classroom theme. They’ve gone through a few different iterations, but I’m settled. Finally.
When I chose the Wizard of Oz as my theme, I did so because I felt like I could really use it to my advantage when it comes to classroom management — and starting off the year. I plan to read (an appropriate version of) the book to my kiddos on day one, and do some community-building and foundational activities surrounding it.
So, then, the first thing I have to do is decide what I want my kiddos to focus on. In Room 108, what are the most important things? This was the answer:
I want my students to embody the journey through Oz — I want them to use their hearts, their brains, and their courage each and every day, and I want them to do it together.
While I’m still working on more in-depth “first week” activities, I did fashion-up the anchor charts to go along with these “rules to live by” and vision statements. I’m going to project the color version on my SmartBoard to discuss and write about as a class, and distribute a reproducible version to each table group to complete together prior to our whole-group discussion.
Because I want these “rules to live by” to really stick with my students throughout the year, I also made some bookmarks that they can utilize during Daily 5 or at home, and plan on making sticker versions that they can put on their journals or whatever my team ends up utilizing.
If you think you could utilize my Oz-Inspired “Rules to Live By” in your classroom, head on over to my TPT store (or click the preview below) — it’s on sale for $2.50 until I remember to put it back to non-sale price sometime on Wednesday!
And don’t forget to enter my giveaway — it ends tonight, a minute after midnight! If you win (remember, FIVE winners!!!), you’ll not only get my Oz-Inspired Binder Set and “Rules to Live By,” but ALL future products in my TPT store! I’m excited to find out who I’ll be e-mailing attachments to until the end of my teaching career (and then some)!