When it comes to teacher hacks, I’m always on the hunt for new ones. Helper cards to remind students of directions? Yes! Treasure trash to motivate students to clean up? You bet. When I learned how to print on sticky notes, my life was changed. (I realize that’s a little dramatic, but I was so excited!) I started creating templates to use for teaching, observing, and communication. I saved so much time by having the perfect little notes all ready to go at my fingertips.
Today I’m sharing my favorite ways to use sticky notes, teaching you how to print on sticky notes, and I have a free template for you! Let’s jump right in!
In the classroom, there are countless reasons to print on sticky notes to make life a bit easier! One of my go-to ways to use sticky notes is with interactive read alouds. I would write out my teaching point, what to say, and how I was going to teach it on a sticky note and put it in my book.
Another way to use printable sticky notes is by making templates for parent notes. This makes it easy to send quick notes home. Some ideas for parent communication note sticky notes could include:
The next thing you could print on sticky notes is anecdotal notes. Just make a box for student name, date, and observation. This could be used for writer’s workshop conferences, guided reading, or even math observations.
Finally, you could use printable sticky notes for rubrics and checklists. Think about writer’s workshop. You could create a checklist for writing conventions for students to use on their pieces. Did they remember spaces, punctuation, details, to color their illustrations, and to put their names on it? This is a great way to have rubrics or checklists right in your students’ hands.
Here’s your guide to learning how to print on sticky notes. I promise it’s not hard at all!
The easiest way to begin is to find a simple sticky note template. This shows you where to place your sticky notes for printing on the page. I have a free template for read aloud sticky notes below!
If you make your own template, you’ll want to mark where the sticky notes will go with three by three-inch boxes on the page.
Be sure to have the sticky side down and that they are all going the same way.
Place the template with the sticky notes on it back into the paper feeder of your printer. Be sure the sticky notes have the sticky side going in first so they don’t get stuck in your printer.
And then you’re done! Your printer will print out the sticky notes with the template on them. Easy peasy! I also have a video of this on my Instagram HERE!
One of my favorite times of day was the interactive read aloud. Not only do you get to connect with your students and build a classroom community, but you also get to model and teach effective reading strategies to help your students. To make my read aloud lessons easier when it comes to planning, I would use sticky notes in my book to remind me of my stopping points and teaching points.
I have a FREE sticky note printable template for you to use with your read alouds. Grab it below and use them to mark your teaching points.
If you’re looking to have everything for your read alouds done for you, including lesson plans and pre-filled sticky notes, I can help! April Read Alouds has six books with 7 detailed lesson plans, printable sticky notes, and vocabulary activities to support learning.
Here’s a quick pro-tip: Print out the sticky notes I made for you and leave them in your book. Then, you’ll be set each year for your read aloud lessons.
Grab your April Read Alouds today to be totally set for engaging, effective read aloud lessons!
Want to use the latest research to boost your readers during small groups? This FREE guide is packed with engaging ideas to help them grow!
I’m a K-1 teacher who is passionate about making lessons your students love and that are easy to implement for teachers. Helping teachers like you navigate their way through their literacy block brings me great joy. I am a lifelong learner who loves staying on top of current literacy learning and practices. Here, you’ll find the tools you need to move your K-2 students forward!
