Individual Whiteboards are incredibly handy for many purposes! I find them very handy to practice a number of skills.
I have a good supply of individual whiteboards in my classroom, and the children have their own whiteboard markers. I have enough erasers so that each pair can share an eraser.
I've also seen children bring an old sock to class to use as an eraser. They love to "wear" the sock on their non-writing hand, which makes it very quick and easy for erasing. These socks are also very handy for holding extra markers!
One of my favorite thing about the individual white boards is that they are VERY forgiving! The children can practice a skill, get it wrong a few times, and no one will ever know!
Another thing I like about them? The kids love using them!
Here are a few ways I use whiteboards in my second grade classroom:
1. Practice spelling words - Often I'll have the kiddos warm up for their word work by practicing their words on the white boards. The kiddos love to use the boards, and end up writing their words over and over again! Here's a tip: have the children say the letters aloud while they write - it helps the memory! Quite often, after a warm up, I'll have them put a star beside their best handwriting, or a heart beside their favorite word, or maybe an exclamation point next to the toughest word to remember. All these strategies are great for getting the children to self-evaluate, which leads to more learning!
2. Practice sentences from dictation - Writing sentences from dictation is one step away from writing sentences the children create themselves. Dictation models good grammar, vocabulary, and spelling skills. The sentences themselves can be models for the children to use in their own writing. Dictation helps the children develop the ability to hold some words in their heads while writing words. It is practice with spelling, handwriting, punctuation, and memory. Plus, the whiteboards are very forgiving when they make a mistake!
3. Practicing important math skills - Some skills just need to be practiced over and over again, and white boards are the perfect place to do it! The picture above shows my students adding three digit numbers using a couple of different strategies. To make it a little more fun, we use dice to choose our numbers, and they earn tiles for accurate answers. (When we're done, I give them a couple of minutes to create a design with their tiles. All that hard work deserves a little fun, doesn't it?)
What skills do you practice on whiteboards?
How do you make this practice fun?
