Writing "Retirement" Board

I have four small bulletin boards in my room.  They are a challenge to plan for.  They are not big enough to display student work, so I struggle sometimes to keep them current and relevant for my students.
This year, in implementing Lucy Calkins' Units of Study, I needed to have an area in the front of the classroom to store visuals related to that program.  I call this bulletin board my "Writer's Block".  By the end of the first quarter it is pretty full with anchor charts, "Take to Your Seat" writing ideas (for  kids that couldn't come up with something to write about), other visuals and graphic organizers.

So what to do with all that stuff at the end of the quarter?  Lucy herself expressed it best.  We need to impress upon our students that they must remember everything they have learned previously when they embark on a new project in Writing.  So, in the back of the room, I created a Writing "Retirement" board.  This is where I put the most important evidence of learning from previous quarters.  Not everything goes on the retirement wall, otherwise it would be too full.  Using the bulletin board at the back of the room makes it easy for me to see and reference for my students. 

Towards the end of the second quarter, I have moved all the six traits describers to the Retirement board.  I have also moved the four levels chart.  I have two posters I made from the first quarter: a quote from Lucy and Show Don't Tell.  I replaced the "Ideas" descriptor from my rubric because the strategy of "show don't tell"  is the best method to add ideas to writing. 
This quarter we have been studying opinion writing, including the strong organizational components of a strong thesis statement, reasons, evidence, and conclusion.  I will probably take down the organizational poster and replace it with the graphic organizer we have been using during this unit.
How do help students remember the important things you have taught without having too much "eye clutter" for your students?

Multiple Uses of Name Badge Holders

This summer one of my professional reading books was Word Nerds by Overturf, Montgomery, and Holmes-Smith.  In the book they suggested the use of inexpensive badge holders to assign each student a vocabulary word to practice activities throughout the day.  As I purchased the badge holders, I got to thinking how I could make this tool work in other areas.  Here's my plans for next year:

1.  Attendance and Lunch Count
     I glued a magnet to the back of the holder.  Students will move their badge from the absent section to their lunch choice each day as an easy way to take attendance and take lunch count.

2.  Peer Editing Based on Writing Goals and Levels of Proficiency
     Writing is right after recess in my classroom.  When they come in, they will take their badge holder off the attendance board and clip it on with their name showing.  Below their name, each child has the Six Traits of writing.  Their personal goals are boxed in red. Nick's goals are in Ideas, Organization, and Sentence Fluency. Their present level of proficiency is represented by a shape:  triangle for level 1, circle for level 2, square for level 3, and heart for level 4.  Seeing these shapes will give students daily reminders of their goal areas.  If students move up a proficiency level during the year, I will change the foam sticker. 
     In my classroom, students can only be a peer editor in an area where they are at a higher profiency level than the peer they are editing with. So, for example, Nick has a level 2 in Sentence Fluency.  He can be a peer editor for a student with level 1 in Sentence Fluency. The badge will let all students know where they stand visually.
     But, you might say, Nick has a goal to improve in that area.  All the better.  As Nick helps other students, he will become stronger and practice that skill.  As teachers, we all know how much we learn when we have to teach others.
       Below is the start of a poster that explains the four levels.  This will go on my "Writer's Block" bulletin board and goes with my classroom colors of chalkboard green, black, and ladybug red.

3.  Vocabulary Practice
     Right after Writing is ELA, which consists of English grammar, spelling, and vocabulary.  Students will turn their names around to become vocabulary words for this instruction.  In the picture you can see the magnets I attached to the back for attendance.  I think I will make a nice and quick, but meaningful, transition from Writing to ELA, which occurs back-to-back in the same literacy block.
     Students will use the vocabulary words in many hands-on and creative ways.  They can line up by definition, in alphabetical order, group themselves by parts of speech, roots, or affixes.  Throughout the week, students will be adding synonyms and antonyms to the 5 core words for the week.  Students can pair with their synonym or antonym and decide which is "stronger" and why.  They can us the vocabulary cards for charades and creating oral sentences, which the authors of Word Nerds call 7-Up sentences because they need to have seven words or more. Students can create or find on the Web images to illustrate their word.  For an even greater challenge, students can find a single color that represents the word.