Teacher Problem: The Graffiti Table is Full

You never know how a new idea will play out in a classroom. Will it work for my students? Will it be a big disaster? Could it be made better with changes? 

Today's new idea was exciting. 

Yesterday after the students left, a table was wrapped in white paper and markers were set out. 

And then the kids arrived!

Interest was high! We set out a few rules. 

• The table is for pictures and words
• Please respect others' work on the table
• Share supplies and space
• Please don't eat snack or lunch there

Then we were off and running, our day filled with bus evacuation, phys ed, rhyme bag, patterning, and buddy reading. As children found themselves with free moments, they bee-lined to our graffiti table. 

What happened was magic. Absolute literacy magic.

Children started to draw. They added their names. They added labels. The best part? It was all student-directed and IT WAS FUN. 

"Sparkey" and "dog"

One little lady drew a cutie of a penguin and wanted to label it. One problem, though. She couldn't spell penguin. A classmate, who was familiar with our picture dictionaries, offered to show her how "penguin" can be found in the P section! Problem solved!

A surprising bonus of our Grade 1 Graffiti Table was the social aspect. Yes, frustrations such as "I don't have room" or "I can't find a blue marker" arose. But opportunities to share the supplies and space abounded. It was also exciting to hear children helping one another add words to their work!

Today's biggest problem? The graffiti table is full of pictures and words and needs to be swapped out. 

Pretty awesome problem for a grade one teacher to have.