Upcycled Learning Board

While using math wrap-ups in class last week, I noticed how much one of my hands-on learners loved using the string. She’s working on counting, AB patterns, and her alphabet.  The multiplication wrap-ups were far beyond her current skill level.  However, she wanted to be part of the class.  

After talking with my teaching assistant, I realized lace-up cards might be a good option for her.  However, I wanted her to work on her academic and fine motor skills.  My assistant and I discussed laminating poster board and then punching holes in it.  We could label the holes with numbers or letters and then wipe-them off and update as needed.  This would allow the particular student to participate in class at her own level by using string to connect the holes in order.

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I thought about the idea some more that night and came up with a better idea.  I have a ton of white boards at work that my husband cut for me out when I first started teaching.  (In case you haven’t heard of that, you can get the Melamine material at stores like Lowe’s or Home Depot and use it as whiteboards for your students.  They’ll even cut it down for you at the store.)  Anyway, I had my dear husband randomly drill holes across the board.  We tied parachute cord to one of the holes (knotted on both sides so it can’t be pulled off). and now we can use a dry-erase marker to label the holes as many different times as we like. How great is that?!