July 2, 2012

Monday Made It - Hall Pass and Writing Journals


I am linking up once again with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics with my newest creation.  I was inspired to make a "Hall Pass/Where are you going?" thing-a-mi-gig from a pin that I saw.  I don't know if that's a word, but I use it all the time, and spell check didn't catch it.  Here's how it turned out...  


Basically I used the Dollar Store Pizza Pan and added ribbon and wood letters to define the different places my students travel during the day when they aren't with me.  

C= Classroom
B= Bathroom
O= Office (hurt and in trouble kids)
M= Music (That section is larger since I've had up to 11 kids go at a time.)

I created magnets using glass pebbles.  The glass pebbles are just attached to the button type magnets by hot glue.  I loved my glue gun with this project.  To write on the magnets I used a white out fine tip correction pen.  My wonderful husband sprayed the magnets with sealant when it was all dry.  I have ribbon to hang it, though I'm not exactly sure if I will hang it or use a cook book holder to have it propped up when it gets into the classroom.  


Last year after my hall pass disappeared (again) I started using the clothespins for students to take with them to the bathroom.  They didn't come back grimy and gross, which I thought was a winner in itself.  If one of them got lost it wasn't a big deal to just get out another clothespin.  We did have to have a talk as to where to place the clothespin when they were heading out of the classroom (not on the front hem of their shirts), but overall it worked and I'm doing it again.    


Here's another project that I tackled:
My students last year loved having whole class journals to write in.  They had a chance to write in them during Work on Writing, and a chance to read them during Read to Self.  I made up a new set of 8.  At the moment they are pretty plain covers, but once a student writes in it they have the option of choosing a sticker from my collection to place on the front cover.  The stickers show me how many kids have tackled each topic.  

*Updated to add the document in case you are interested in using it.  The font is just Comic Sans and it's only one page - all I did was just change out the topic each time when I went to print.  Topics are: Family Vacation, Dream You Had, Hobby, Favorite Memory, Your Weekend, Wish, Favorite Sport, and Pets.  I also heard that people wanted to see a close up of them, so here you go.


Updated again... 



Since this original post in 2012, I have now started a TPT store, and have added many covers with clip art - resulting in a Whole Class Writing Journals Starter Pack and a Set 2.  
Shown is my bundle pack that combines both.

Whole Class Writing Journal Bundle

79 comments:

  1. I love your hall pass/ where are you idea. I am going to do that too, if you don't mind. Maybe next weeks Monday Made It.

    Teaching, Stitching, and Parenting

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    1. Glad I could help, and of course I don't mind!

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  2. Hey Emily! Love your hall pass/where are you craft! I haven't see one like that:)) Very Cute!!! You just reminded me...I need to come up with some new covers for my whole class journals:) My kiddos loved them last year:)) Thanks for linking up:))

    4th Grade Frolics

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  3. I love the where are you project! Super cute.

    Lorena
    Little Treasures

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  4. I have never heard of whole class journals, but I LOVE THEM! What a great idea to decorate with stickers :o) Your hall passes look great also!

    Thanks for the ideas,

    Sabra
    Teaching with a Touch of Twang

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    1. Thanks so much - my class really loved them last year. This will be the first year that I will use the stickers. I was going back and forth with me decorating them beforehand, but I figured that my students are always asking for stickers, so I might as well motivate them to write more!

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  5. Cute idea :) Glad I found your blog, I'm your newest follower!
    Amy
    The Resource(ful) Room

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  7. Love your hall pass! I have not seen that...but I am so pinning it! My hall passes disappear constantly (HOW does that happen?!) I like that you just replace the clothespins. Thanks for sharing!

    Primary Inspired

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    1. Thanks for pinning me =) I have no clue why my hall passes disappear - and if they ever turn up they are disgusting and I wouldn't touch them except to throw them away. The clothespins never seem to disappear... =)

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  8. Love this! I'm always looking for ways to track the movement of my students...this is a winner!

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  9. I have to go get those Michaels letters! Thanks for sharing. I am your newest follower and just started my own blog.

    Layla

    Fancy Free in Fourth

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    1. Thanks for visiting! Your blog is great!

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    2. I am making the class journals right now!!!! AHHHH I am so inspired by you! I love the sticker idea too! Great management.
      Fancy Free in Fourth

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    3. How did they turn out? I hope it really was easy. =)

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    4. I will send you a free version of mine since you inspired me I just need your email. I added a little more instructions because my demographic needs more direction... I am going to post mine soon....

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    5. My email is ilovemyclassroom@ymail.com

      Thanks!

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  10. My class enjoyed the class journals last year. I really like the idea of stickers on the front to see how many and who have been writing. The idea of reading these during self reading is a good idea, although during this time my students many only read from books in their book tubs.


    Pat

    A Time to Share & Create


    MY WEBSITE

    Fabulous 4th Grade

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  11. Love the class journals! What a great idea! I think I'm going to have to try that out.

    Megan
    I Teach. What's Your Super Power?

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  12. I love the idea of classroom journals! I've done an OUCH book like that but no others. Would you mind sharing what topics your journals are?

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    1. I just created random ones. My topics are Dreams, Hobby, Wish, Pet, Family Vacation, Favorite Memory, Weekend, and Sport. I had an ouch one last year - I forgot about that one... guess I need to get out more spiral notebooks. =)

      Thanks for stopping by!

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  13. I never heard of the idea of whole class journals. I love the idea of having them use them for both work on writing and read to self. Brilliant!

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  14. Those are great ideas! I love the journals and the pizza pan. you could do a ton of stuff with that.
    I'm a new follower!
    ann
    The Caffeinated Classroom

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and being a follower. Your blog is adorable! I bought 4 pizza pans - more centers coming up!

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  15. I am loving that idea for the hall pass/where are you going chart! Perfect to keep track :] I'm a new follower of yours!

    Sara
    Miss V's Busy Bees

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  16. Love the magnetic hall pass!!!

    I have nominated you with the One Lovely Blog Award and the Versatile Blogger Award! Come pick them up at my page :)

    http://simplysecondgrade.blogspot.com/

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  17. I like your pizza pan idea! Last year I felt like I was always saying, "Where did Bobby go?????" and the kids would say, "You told him he could go get an ice pack..........." and I felt like an idiot. Haha! I think this would help. :)

    Marvelous Multiagers!

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    1. I'm still not sure if I will have to have a bathroom log in addition to the pizza pan... The kids have never been really good about writing down the time they leave, but I still want to keep track as to how many times a day they go. The bathroom log is good for that... any advice? Thanks for stopping by!

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  18. I love love the notebooks! Adding this to my to do list!
    Rachel

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    1. Thanks for visiting! The students really enjoyed them last year!

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  19. Hi! I would love more info on your whole class journals! How do they work?? I love the idea! :)
    I'm a new follower!
    Tori
    Tori's Teacher Tips

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    1. Hi Tori,
      The whole class journals are journals that any of my students can write in. They sit in a basket in my writing center and during journal time the kids have the option of choosing a certain topic to write about. They write their name and date at the top of the page and then they write their paragraphs in that spiral notebook. Everything in that spiral notebook is the same topic, so it's interesting to see what the students add. Hope this helps.

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  20. I love the glass bead magnets. I do lots of stuff where putting student numbers on magnets is necessary, so I love the look of those! We also do whole group journals in my class. They love them! I have about 24 and we call them interest journals. They love using these during work on writing! So neat to see someone else doing something similar! :) I really like the sticker idea though... definitely going to try that this year. So glad you shared it!

    Amanda
    Reaching for the TOP!

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    1. Thanks for visiting. I had about 12 journals last year, I should make more of them... =)

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  21. Don't you just love the class journals. I've always done this the second semester of school. I made 25 that way every student would have a journal to pick from and write in. My kids LOVED writing and rereading what the others had written. We should share our topics. I like how you typed up the directions on the front. I didn't even think of that! Great ideas!

    rene'
    A Passion For Primary

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    1. I do love them! Do you have your topics at your blog? The ones that I made were Dreams, Hobby, Wish, Pet, Family Vacation, Favorite Memory, Weekend, and Sport. I know I forgot about Ouch...

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  22. Emily,
    I love the pizza pan idea. I plan to make this for my kinder/first grade class. I do tend to forget who I sent where and never, ever want to lose a kiddo! :) Thank you for sharing your great idea!
    Camille
    An Open Door

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  23. I really like the class journals! What a neat idea!

    Jungle in Room 207

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  24. I love the pizza pan where are you idea and the whole-classroom journals. It's like an easy anthology. Awesome idea!
    ~April
    The Idea Backpack
    ideabackpack@gmail.com

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  25. Love the class journal idea to do during Daily 5. Thanks for sharing. I am going to make these for sure!

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  26. I'm inspired by your "where are you pizza pan"!! I can't wait to make one. I can't help but think it would be a good attendance taker as well, that way there aren't absent student numbers on the "in class" section! Thanks for the great idea!

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    1. Thanks for the compliment. It was easy and cheap to make. Thanks for stopping by!

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  27. I just found your blog & I'm your newest follower!! I absolutely love your whole class journal idea!! I am excited to follow along with your blog. :)
    Lisa
    Learning Is Something to Treasure

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    1. Thanks for following me. =) The journals worked really well last year. Any other ideas for topics that you have? I probably should make some more.

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  28. I love your hall pass/where are you going? chart! What a great idea! Thanks for sharing. I am giving away a $20 TPT gift certificate. Come visit and enter to win! :)

    Delighted in Second

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  29. LOVE the idea of Class Journals--I had never heard of that before. Definitely using that next year!! And for the hall pass--great idea. I can't remember how many times I let a kid go to the library, then forgot I sent them and felt like a fool when my kids had to tell me where they were--yikes!! Following by email--love your blog!!

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  30. Do you have any PDF/Word documents of your class journals?

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    1. I only have that one sheet - I just changed out the topic for each one. If you email me your email address I can send you the attachment. =)

      Emily
      ilovemyclassroom@ymail.com

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    2. Thank you!

      katiecrockett08@gmail.com

      It's a fantastic brilliant Idea!

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    3. Love this idea too! I am planning to use it this year with my 5 th graders. I am new to blogging as well, and found you on Pinterest, which is my summer obsession! Could you email me the attachment as well? Thanks for sharing your great ideas- I also love the rainbow editing:).

      Tricianward@comcast.net. Thank you !

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    4. Can you please email me the attachment? mfrog317@aol.com

      Thanks!!

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  31. I LOVE the shared writing journals!! I saw them linked on another blog and had to come check them out. I know you let the students read them during read to self time but do you assess them in at all or just leave it as whatever effort they put in is okay as a free write? I am a brand new blogger and am so inspired! I love the sticker idea too. Thank you!
    ~Holly
    Fourth Grade Flipper

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    1. I don't grade journal entries, though it's motivation for them to do their best since others will be reading them.

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  32. Wow, those journals are such a great idea! I just found you linked from the Scholastic Teachers Facebook page. I'm so glad to have discovered your blog!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by! I just saw Scholastic's link too - I'm so excited about that!

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  33. As mentioned on one of your other posts, I love the idea of the whole class journals, and the sticker idea is great! Thanks for posting the document!
    Miss Milton's Memoirs

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  34. I used whole class journals last year. Yours look great!!

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  35. Emily...thanks for the great idea for the whole-class writing journals. I made my own today and even used your document for my labels. I posted the pictures on my itty-bitty blog and made a link back to you. You can check them out here, if you'd like: http://talesofagrade4teacher.blogspot.com/ You have lots of great ideas here! Thanks again!

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  36. Emily,
    I absolutely love the whole class journal idea. I especially appreciate that it is an idea that can be implemented immediately. Thank you so much for sharing!!

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  37. I'm not a professional teacher but love your blog

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  38. Love all of your ideas. Planning on using them if you do not mind. You are very creative.

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  39. I love the whole class journals! I'm starting my first year of teaching this fall and that sounds awesome. Thank you for sharing!!! :)

    Kristine
    Kristine's Book Reviews

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  40. Thank you for the writing journal notebook idea. The children always want a place to share what they do, and now they can. I love the categories! Doreen- http://www.doreensrockin3rdgrade.com

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  41. Thank you for the writing journal notebook idea. The children always want a place to share what they do, and now they can. I love the categories! Doreen- http://www.doreensrockin3rdgrade.com

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  42. Thank you for the writing journal notebook idea. The children always want a place to share what they do, and now they can. I love the categories! Doreen- http://www.doreensrockin3rdgrade.com

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  43. I love the idea of whole class writing journals! I plan to purchase your bundle on TPT :)

    Just a thought, I might glue a class list to the inside front cover and my students can cross their names off once they've written their entry.

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