Target $ Spot Find = Word Choice Resource

One day during this last school year while I was circulating throughout my classroom, I came across one of my students who was working on writing. I noticed that besides her pencil, she also had a handful of colored pens lined up next to her Writer’s Notebook. I watched over her shoulder as she wrote. Every time she added a descriptive word to her writing, she would write that word using one of the colored pens. Then she would continue with pencil. Her descriptive adjectives and verbs were colorful and stood out on the page. I thought and commented, “What a great idea!” However, I hate to admit, I didn’t give it much thought after that moment. Recently, while I was reading one of my “teacher books” I came across an idea that reminded me of my student with the colorful pens. These ideas sparked one of my own:

I found this pen holder at, where else, but Target’s Dollar Spot! Then I printed up a label and fit it into the frame. I’ve been slowly buying packs of colored pens to fill it with each time I’m at Target (which is AT LEAST once a week). {This is one way I trick myself into not thinking that I’m spending too much money on my classroom. Each time I go, I pick up one or two little things. It can’t add up to that much. Can it!?}

In the past my students loved any chance they got to use cool pens and markers in my class. I think that having these available for students will encourage them to use more descriptive verbs and adjectives in their writing. Plus, it’s a nice way to add some flare to their writing, while highlighting their creativity. I’m so excited to use these next year!