Focus Walls

Hello Friends,

Today in second grade, I introduced focus walls to my students!

I find focus walls important and beneficial for students. It's a great visual and reminder for those who are struggling with concepts AND it teaches students to become independent and find answers on their own. It's a definite must in my classroom!

First of all, I want to share a VERY important tip! At the beginning of the year, my walls are BARE! Yes! You read that right. I know how much we want our classroom to be "ready" by the time the students come in, but I don't have all my posters up for the first day of school.

Why you ask? Because it's overwhelming and confusing for the students to look at focus walls that are filled with information they haven't learned yet. It's also a wonderful way to show students progress in learning. When the focus walls are complete, I always say "Wow! Boys and girls, look at all the learning we've done so far this year!" They feel exceptionally proud and accomplished.

It also helps to build on your focus walls with regards to the students actually using them to complete work. For example, if we have learned summary and meaning and it's time to write a reading response, my students know that they only have two parts to complete (the ones that are displayed on the reading response focus wall). They don't get confused and start writing about connections (something they haven't learned about yet) just because the poster prompts are already on the wall.

So here's how it goes in my classroom! Each time I teach them a new lesson, I post the appropriate poster under the appropriate focus wall (narrative writing, reading response, reading comprehension, or math). From then on, the students are responsible for this new concept and can refer back to the focus wall any time they need to. Of course, I refer back to it constantly when I am modelling during a writing, reading, or math lesson. At first, students do have some trouble using the focus walls on their own, but after a few lessons of modelling and using them as a class, they start to get the hang of it. I love watching them use a focus wall to help them write a story or complete a reading response. I also love it when they go to the math focus wall to look for different ways to solve a problem.

Watching them become independent and confident in their learning makes my heart soooooooooo HAPPY!

Narrative Writing

This is my Narrative Writing Focus Wall! It comes with a variation of posters (different colors), graphic organizers, and an interactive notebook!

I love how this focus wall and the graphic organizers help the students learn the structure of a narrative. It really guides them through writing their very best stories while including all the important components.

Reading Response

This is my Reading Response Focus Wall! It comes with a variation of posters (different colors), graphic organizers, and an interactive notebook!

The graphic organizers are my favorite because they start off with a lot of support (sentence prompts like: I learned...) and then move towards more independent sheets (just the numbers).

Reading response is such a procedural activity that this focus wall really ensures that students write a full and complete response.

Reading Comprehension

This is my Reading Comprehension Focus Wall! It comes with a variation of posters (different colors), discussion cards, exit tickets, answer keys for the teacher, and an interactive notebook!

I love this focus wall so much! Especially the discussion cards because they are lots of fun and get the kids talking about interesting things!