Placecards

We're working on our placecards this week. With over 700 names to learn/remember every year, I've found this helps A LOT!!

I cut up white tagboard into 5" squares and fold in half.


I write the first name of each student. I tried having the kids do it themselves way back when but unfortunately some were illegible or misspelled or didn't fit the card or...

Since we start every year with a quick refresher on line & pattern, they're instructed to create a line pattern on both sides.


I limit marker colors to the lightest colors: yellow, pink & orange. In the past, they had a larger palette to choose from but often chose darker colors which made the name hard to read from across the room. I set my timer for 5 minutes & then put away the markers. They can work on them at another time if need be...

Placecards are kept at the edge of the table, near the middle, with the hope that they are not in the way during class. If a student is playing around with the card during class, I promptly put it away. This cures most of them from using the cards as a distraction...


Table helpers put the cards out when they enter the room at the start of class & put the cards away at the end of class. Cards are stacked with the table helpers name on top of the stack, stacks next to each other in our class drawers.


Although I now use tagboard, originally I used the paper inserts from these boxes for medical supplies.


Not sure what was in the box, but a fellow teacher's wife was a home health nurse & thought maybe I could come up with a use for the leftovers. A match made in heaven until she switched jobs & now I have to order the tagboard to continue the tradition of placecards...