Pocket Charts: Essential Classroom Supplies

Photo Credit: Learning Resources
Place Value and Counting Pocket Chart
Available on Amazon

Learning about time, how long a day, week, month or year are and relating those durations to numbers is a difficult concept for children to grasp. We help children learn the meaning of those numbers by keep track of the passage of time with straws for each day of school. Classroom teachers begin the first day of school. Homeschool teachers may choose their child's birthday, the first day they actually began homeschooling or any other day that feels important to their children.

Each day you gather together, place a straw in the one's place. When the straws in the ones place reach 10, put a rubber band around them and move the bundle to the tens place. When there are 10 bundles in the tens place, wrap a rubber band around the 10 bundles of straws and place that bundle in the hundreds place.

Each day we count how many days we have been learning. We use that number to create number sentences, add the number to the number line and use coins and bills to show that number in dollars.

We used to use a cup and Popsicle sticks but found that it was constantly falling on the ground. How I wish pocket charts had existed when I began teaching.

Photo Credit: Hundreds Pocket Chart
Available on Amazon

The hundreds board is an amazing tool for teaching number sense. The above hundreds board pocket chart comes with cards that are white with black numbers on one side and colored to show skip counting patterns on the other. You will notice that the cards for skip counting by fives have been turned over.

To make this pocket chart even more exciting, I took White Card Stock and cut it into 3X3 cards to cover the numbers on the hundreds board. Then each day we would guess what number would be under the blank card.

You also might begin collecting word problems related to each of the numbers. I have cut problems out of old math workbooks and glued them to index cards. I keep the index cards in a box near the Hundreds Board. Each day we pull one out and use the Hundreds Board Pocket Chart to figure out the answer.

Here are more ideas for learning number sense.:

Photo Credit: Daily Schedule Pocket Chart
Available on Amazonn

What are we doing when? This daily schedule pocket chart reminds us what we have scheduled for the day. Children can practice matching the analog clocks to the digital clocks as an independent learning activity.

Photo Credit: Letter of the Day Activity Wall
Available on Amazon

Pocket charts can be wonderful organizers of information for teaching children letters, letter sound associations and how to form the letters. Notice in the Letter of the Day Pocket Chart how there is a picture of something that begins with the letter of the day accompanied by the letter. There is also a space for helping children learn penmanship as well as space for picture cards depicting objects that begin with the letter of the day.

For more ideas and activities related to the Letter of the Day Pocket Chart be sure to visit these articles:

Photo Credit: Word Family Pocket Chart
on Flickr, Creative Commons

Beginning readers can discover new words by adding letters to word family words. Change the first letter in cat and see what words rhyme with it. Your children will find bat, hat, sat and more. Add these words to the Word Family Pocket Chart and reread them at circle time. Children can also use them when they wish to spell words during writing workshop.

Here are more fun, hands-on activities for learning three letter CVC words for beginning readers.

Photo Credit: Learning Resources Parts of Speech Pocket Chart
Available on Amazon

Create an independent learning center with this parts of speech pocket chart. On the back of each card, lightly write the word verb, adjective, or noun for self correcting. Challenge the children to find more words to add to the deck.

The following three articles feature hands-on activities for learning verbs, adjective and nouns. How could you use this parts of speech pocket chart to extend the activities in each of these articles?

Pocket Charts are a wonderful way to encourage children's interaction while keeping the materials clean and organized. I believe that children need to interact with material in order to maximize their learning. Come learn more about hands-on learning with hundreds of unit studies, activities and unique teaching ideas...