Share Chair "How-To" with Pictures and a FREEBIE!

Especially now that I am switching to Third Grade next school year, I am really LOVING the idea of a "Share Chair."  If you are unfamiliar with the idea... it is simply a special chair that students sit in when reading their writing pieces aloud to the class.  Here is an example of a "Share Chair" that I found online that I love:

If you search "Share Chair" on Pinterest or Google, you will be able to find many more examples.  There are so many cute ones out there, but I wanted one that could be folded up and put away when not in use (since my new Third Grade classroom is MUCH smaller than my current Kinder classroom).  So I purchased this at Big Lots for... I think... $14, sounds about right.

Well, I am not much of an artist, so these are the steps that I took to ensure that I came up with something that was semi-fun and kid friendly.

1 - I found a font that I liked and typed the words "Share Chair" in a Word document.  I printed the words extra large and then taped the papers to the top of the chair.

2 - I traced the words with a thick permanent marker, ensuring that the ink bled through on to the chair.

3 - I used acrylic paints and thin paint brushes from JoAnn Fabrics (Don't forget to use your teacher discount there!) to paint the inside of the letter outlines.











I am super sad because when the purple paint dried, it looked totally black!  Boo hoo hoo!

4 - I traced the outline of the letters with puffy paint.

I had an oopsie on the letter "I"...darn it!  I am hoping it dries clear!

5 - I added some dots around the letters with the puffy paint.  I wish I had an artistic hand, so I could paint cool designs, but I decided to keep it simple with dots.

Here is the semi-finished product!  I still plan to tie some fun ribbon around the white bars to "spice" it up a bit more!  If you have any more EASY ideas on how I can make this "Share Chair" more fun for my kiddos, I would love to hear them!!

Okay, now on to your FREEBIE!  If you have been reading any of my recent posts, then you already know that I have recently been doing a lot of planning for next school year.  I am changing grade levels (Kinder to Third Grade) and I will be on maternity leave during the first month of school (July at my school).

Anyway, something I just finished is a "Classroom Rules Brainstorming Sheet."  I love the idea of my students brainstorming, developing, and writing their own classroom rules, but I know I will probably get blanks stares looking back at me if I do not scaffold this activity.  So to help my kiddos with their thinking, I created this brainstorming sheet.  The idea is not my own... I read about it in "The First Six Weeks of School" written by Paula Denton and Roxann Kriete.

Anyway, if you would like to grab this FREEBIE, please visit my Teachers Pay Teachers Store (where everything is always free) by clicking HERE!

Maybe it is just my pregnancy hormones flaring up, but I was a little crushed to see 909 pageviews on my blog, 230 views on TPT, and 120 downloads on my previous freebie and ZERO comments.  * tear*  So if you are able to use this freebie in your classroom, I could use a little love in the form of a comment.  <3

Thanks for stopping by!  :)