Do you use a focus wall in your classroom? We’ve been using one for the past ten years and loved having it to refer to, but it was difficult to keep up with it because I had to staple and take it down each week. I finally found a solution for this problem this past year. Keep reading to learn about my solution! This post contains Amazon affiliate links for your convenience. By using these links, I receive a small commission for referring you.
This past year we got a new reading series and it was time to toss out our old focus wall. Instead of remaking it the same way, I started from scratch. I decided to make a focus wall that is easy to keep up with and looks great! This is what I ended up making:
I included the most important components on the cards:
- The title with genre
- Essentials question
- Reading strategy focus
- Reading skill
- Vocabulary
- High frequency words
- Phonics skill
- Spelling words
It’s so nice having everything there for us to refer to during reading time and throughout the day.
The thing I disliked the most about my old focus wall was that I had to staple and unstable everything every single week. This time around I wanted something that could be quickly put up and taken down. I only stapled up the back header cards and those can stay up all year long! The cards that references the skills for each week can be slipped in and out. I used Stikkiclips to hold the cards in place. You can see them below:
Have you tried Stikkiclips before? You can find them on Amazon, teaching stores, Walmart, and Staples. They are removable and reusable. I wish I had found these sooner! Affiliate link below:
I store all the cards in a binder. I coded each card by unit and week so that if one gets misplaced, I know exactly where it belongs. You can either fill the cards in with your programs info or handwrite with a dry eraser marker. Which ever is easier for you.
The large back cards were originally created to fit onto tabloid paper but I had requests for 8 1/2×11″ size paper. I included both in the kit. The cards are blank so that they can be used with all programs and for any grade.
If you are interested in this bulletin board kit, please click HERE or on the image below: