DIY Magnetic Words for La poule Maboule AIM Kit

Friday, July 20, 2018

Last June, we put together a wish list for our French department and on that list was a French magnetic poetry kit. I thought it would be a great manipulative for students to use as part of a centre, for example, but then I got to thinking that the vocabulary wouldn't be as practical for beginners since it would likely be geared more towards those who are francophone. So when I came across Avery Magnet Sheets (affiliate link) during Amazon Prime Day, I thought I would try to make my own. Printable magnetic sheets? Who knew? These ink jet magnet sheets, which are specially coated for brilliant colour, are compatible with my new Epson EcoTank 2750 and so I gave it a shot. I changed the print quality to high and I was very impressed with the result.

During Prime Day, I was so ecstatic to have found CARL RM-12 12-Inch Cutting Mats (affiliate link) for my really old 12-inch trimmer, which I haven't been able to find in-store. Plus, they were on sale. With these fresh mats, it made cutting my magnetic words sheet into strips that much easier and the cut was much neater. Then I just cut the strips into words by making small vertical cuts with a pair of scissors.

For this particular set, I tried to fit in as many of the words on the PDL Gestured Word List for the AIM Language kit I use with my grade 1 students - La poule Maboule. I managed to fit around 90% of the words on a single sheet in a Google Doc, in size 14 font. I still need to make an additional sheet with punctuation marks, several copies of the higher frequency words, capitalized words that often begin a sentence and additional conjugations and verb tenses. I printed mine in colour using a variation of the colour code used for the Montessori grammar symbols:

light blue for articles
black for nouns
dark blue for adjectives
purple for pronouns
red for verbs
orange for adverbs
green for prepositions
yellow for interjections

For certain expressions, I decided to use grey. You can download a copy by clicking on the thumbnail below. I also created one in black and white.

The Avery Magnet Sheets pack includes five sheets only so I have a feeling I'm going to buy some more during one of the Staples Teacher Appreciation Days when I can save 15% off.

How to Make Your Own Magnetic Words

Materials:

Avery Magnet Sheets
inkjet printer (such as Canon, Epson, HP and other popular ink jet printers)
scissors and/or a paper cutter

Directions:

Design a table with multiple columns and rows, and type out the required words, adjusting column width as necessary. For the set I created, I created a Google Doc and used a Serif font called Bitter in size 14.
Load a magnetic sheet into the printer, ensuring that it will print on the correct side, and print.
Let it dry fully for a few minutes.
Cut out the words. I used a rotary paper trimmer but it is metal which meant that the magnetic sheet wouldn't slide as easily. So I used it to make the horizontal cuts and used scissors to cut vertically.

I plan on using these magnetic words after introducing the "Mets les mots en ordre" activity. Initially, I would limit the words in the tin to select words with which they can formulate simple sentences. They can work in their groups during IPG (Independent/Partner/Group) work, where each day a different group gets to work with them while the remaining groups work on the activities. Once a group member creates a sentence, other group members can act it out or illustrate it on a mini whiteboard. Then I would add more words when it’s time to create "Mes phrases folles."

Have you used magnetic words in the classroom? I would love to learn more about how you incorporate them and any storage ideas you might have.