Why every classroom needs a chalkboard wall

What we've been doing: Last spring I covered a whole wall in my classroom with blackboard paint.  Well, in the DR it is really just plain black paint that you cover in chalk.  It took me forever to cover the whole wall with chalk, but it has been my favorite part of the classroom this year.  Here was me celebrating finishing covering the wall last May.

Inspirational messages above the door: This sign has been up there since the spring, but this week I want to change it to "You are loved."  I could change it weekly or monthly.  I want it to be the last thing they see and remember when the leave the classroom; something positive and encouraging.

Venn diagrams: The boys are working on writing a compare/contrast paper right now.  It is a combination between US History and English.  We just finished reading a book about Sacajawea.  The boys were comparing European and Native American women.

Conjugating verbs in Spanish: I have been teaching two 11-year-old twins Spanish after school twice a week.  It has been so fun to watch them grow and learn Spanish.  We used the chalk wall the other week for

Timelines: We have been studying US History this year.  I had the boys race to see who could put the beginning events in order the fastest.  They loved the action and game-like way of learning.

Photo booth wall: The first day of school we used the wall to draw angel wings, and speech bubbles.  We also used the wall for Dot Day photos.

Brainstorming: Before the first day of school, Christin and I had a giant brainstorming day.  We threw everything up on the wall that we thought we might do the first day/week.  It made it easy to circle things and cross out the ideas we wanted to save for another day.

Labeling science diagrams: When we were learning about the layers of dirt in science, we did a food activity where each layer of dirt was represented by cookies, pudding, or Hershey's kisses.  The next day as a warm up, I had the boys make a huge representation and label the layers.

Other ideas I want to try...

• Giant KWL chart
• Fill in the blanks for verbs, vocabulary
• Matching images to quotes
• Art gallery style wall 
• Holiday decorations (pumpkin patch along the bottom for Halloween, Christmas trees along the sides during December)
• Speech bubbles for famous people - could be presidents, MLK Jr., famous scientists.  The students could either dress up and pose as the person, or draw the famous person. 

What are your ideas for using a chalk wall?  How do you use it in your home or classroom?