Dog Theme Classroom Cozy Floor Area

If you have room n your classroom for a comfortable and cozy floor area, you can continue the dog theme there.  You won't have to spend a lot, either. My students love this area of "The Doghouse."

I bought the black and zebra print dog bed at TJ Max for $22. It's a large dog bed and the kids love it. Two students can comfortable read on it and they love that it's got an embroidered bone on it. (Retail $75 - how could I not buy that?)  

The red and bright blue floor pillows are floor pillow inserts from Walmart. I was going to sew pillowcases for them that would be long-wearing and easy to bring home and throw into the washer and dryer and it just CAME TO ME - this idea - in the bathroom towel section. I pulled a large towel off the shelf and folded it over the floor pillow - TA DA!  I came home and folded the towel in half and sewed down the sides, inserted the floor pillow insert, and shut the opening with double-sided toupee tape ( from Sally Beauty - that stuff has a thousand uses)  Now, they are big, they match the room, they are sturdy, and economical. They're very easy to pull off and run through the laundry cycle.

I bought the light brown dog at Walmart for $10.  (I've since received another as a Christmas present form a student.)  The dark brown dog is on loan from a student - she wanted to add to the collection.

I found this beagle second-hand. They have all different breeds on Amazon. He's sturdy and the kids love him. I have a teacher-friend who has a German Shepard stuffed dog in her room she found for $4 at a church rummage sale and it's German Shepard-Sized!

I also have two ultra-fleece throws with a dog print on them that are well-loved.

When the students go to this area they know they can have one pillow, rug, fleece throw, or dog. They go by the rules. They name the dogs, too.

We also have a dachshund that plays a song when you push a button and the tail wags and the ears go up and down. They work hard to earn a "song break" from that little dog.

So, keep and eye out and add to your collection. Kids love to have a place that they love to get on the floor and read or research or do math games.

Dog Theme Data Wall

       This is the beginning of our data wall. The students love the slogan, "Hot Diggity Dog Data."

       The 4th and 5th graders (and maybe the 3rd) will be tracking their SuccessMaker math scores on the bottom chart.  We are adding a little chart that shows that one year we had one student FINISH the SuccessMaker sessions - it shuts off with an 8.99 grade level, so this is a very big deal. The next year we had one student finish, and last year we had THREE people finish! This year's section will be blank until the end of the year, but we are going to try for 3 or more.    The 4th and 5th grade classes keep track of which class had the most gain on the group average from the gains report, weekly. It keeps them working! (and tracking more data!)

       We talked about what data to track for reading classes and decided on AR goals because it seems that as our elementary students get older, they don't take their AR goal as seriously as they once did. ( even the gifted and talented!) So, we are tracking it on the data wall this year, to see if it makes a difference.

       We may track tests, or exits, MAP score increases, etc. Students love to help with the planning of a data wall. They add their data to the wall.