Make Your Own Pocket Chart!

02 September 2015 / 9 comments


Hey, it's Beth from Adventures of a Schoolmarm... and I love pocket charts.   Little ones, big ones, red ones, blue ones, hanging ones, stand-up ones. I love them ALL. They are so practical and have so many uses!

The one downside of a pre-made pocket chart is that it is made primarily for sentence strips or other similarly shaped items. Sometimes the things I want to stick in a pocket chart are too tall and they flop over. I have even had some items fall out of the pocket chart entirely! One afternoon when I was cutting apart miles of laminated materials, it occurred to me that I could use it to make "pockets" on my bulletin board. It's really easy! 


If you are allowed, just run some lamination film through the machine without any items to actually laminate. (You can also save the "extras" that are always at the start of your film.)  Cut it into strips that are approximately the same length and width. I just eyeballed it, but if you want to be really precise, you could measure it! 

Next, staple the left/bottom/right sides to your bulletin board. This will create the "pocket" that you are looking for! If you know which items you want to place in the chart, you can use them to help you with the spacing. For example, I like to use the "pocket chart" above for my students' vocabulary illustrations each week. I always have them use a half-sheet of paper, so I used that to space them out correctly. 



I have also used it to make single pockets for other items that I switch out regularly, like this Place Value Station. I put a pocket at the top to hold the weekly number that we explore. 

I hope you find this tip practical and super easy to implement! 




9 comments:

  1. This is GENIUS! I am going to try using the idea to display my learning standards! Thanks so much!
    ~Jennifer
    Stories and Songs in Second

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    1. Thank you so much, Jennifer! I think it would work great for displaying the learning standards. Makes it so easy to swap out the standards each day/week!

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  2. I LOVE posts like this, and your photos make it so easy to take and make! Thanks for sharing your idea!
    Carla

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    1. Thank you so much, Carla! I hope you find it practical to try out in your classroom. :)

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  3. This is genius!! I can't wait to try it out :)
    Laura

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  4. I love this! I'm looking forward to giving it a try. Thanks for sharing!

    Amanda
    A Very Curious Class

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Amanda! There are so many different ways to use the idea, so you will really be able to make it your own based on what works best in your own classroom! :)

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  5. Great idea! When I first saw the picture, I thought it was a page protector cut in half :)

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