A Little Bit of This and That

We just finished Round One of our state testing which was ELA and Long Composition.  During our test prep sessions, the children used answer sticks when going over their multiple choices.  I used tongue depressors and simply marked A, B, C or D.  It made it a little fun and I could quickly assess the room.

 This was a project that I did last year with the book Many Luscious Lollipops, to teach adjectives.  I did not wrap in cellophane this year…love the tye-die coloring!

 These are a few sample of the kid's opinion essay on Dr. Seuss.  It was their first piece.  I will share our newest pieces soon.  They have made some great gains.

Here are some water bottle wraps wishing each other good luck.  I cover with packing tape and we have used them several days.

I read the book "Under, Over, By the Clover" and had the kids go on a preposition hunt.  I did this lesson using ghosts but tweaked it for the spring.

Free Printable

We Love Dr. Seuss! (and Freebie)

We celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday every year at my school.  We have middle schoolers come read one of their favorite books to the elementary classes.  I was very lucky to have a former student come to my room.  The Librarian took pictures of classes all week.  

We have been working on "Opinion" pieces in writing.  As a class, we brainstormed reasons that make  Dr. Seuss a popular children's author.  They wrote essays with their thesis statements, reasons and evidence.  I created a sheet for their published writing.  I can't wait to hang them up!

Free Printable

Love That Dog

I love "Love That Dog"!!!  It is a great book, written by Sharon Creech, that is creatively set up in a narrative poetry journal format. (it sounds crazy) It is a story about a boy who reluctantly learns to love poetry and expresses his love for his dog.  As the story, unfolds the teacher introduces her class to several authentic authors, types of poems and poetry terms.  The story will also bring a few students to tears.  Sharon also published "Hate That Cat."

A sample of a poem in the book.  My children loved creating shape poems.

Free Down load on teacher vision

I bought a unit on TPT that I highly recommend.  It has great response questions and is easy to implement with the whold class or guided reading groups.  The students also write a few poems of their own.  I will be publishing those next week.  (Pictures to follow)

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Love-That-Dog-Novel-Study-and-Poetry-Unit-561763

Raining Cats & Dogs Writing

My fourth graders have been studying all types of figurative language this year. My students just love idioms!  During the year we completed many activities using idioms and I decided to take it to the next step and incorporate one in their writing.  My students had to use suspense and the idiom "It's Raining Cats and Dogs" in a narrative piece.  I gathered stuffed cats and dogs and pinned on an umbrella.  I took photos to add to their final writing piece.

A few of the books that we read:

Raining Cats and Dogs Download

My favorite photo!!! 

Here are a few completed pieces:

The student teacher across the hall was hanging up this bright and cheery adverb board and I had to take a picture to share…Sunny Skies and Rainbows are coming soon!!!  Great Job Meghan Foden!!!

Great Leads and Endings Posters

I have been missing in action for a while.  I have no excuses other than taking care of me for a change! My house is empty for the first time(both girls at college) and I have been getting healthy, both mentally and physically.  I thought I would have more time for blogging but that has taken a back seat.  I hope to get motivated and get back into this…I have missed it tremendously!!!

We are having a snow day and will be on vacation next week.  Just finished up parent conferences(last ones for the year) last night and feel a little relieved.  Today I opened up my computer and created two posters for writing narratives.  I hope you enjoy them!

Great Leads 

Extended Endings

A Change in Writing

Our district is making big changes in the way that we teach writing.  We are going back to a true workshop model based on Lucy Calkins.  Our system implemented the Common Core last year and has made writing a high priority.  

I found a great resource to support my writing lessons on Amazon.  (A recommendation from my friend Christine who is a third grade teacher.) They have specific grade level books for grades K through 6.

This book has lessons for setting up workshop, conference forms, rubrics, 30 lessons for the six traits of writing with printables, mentor text lists and MUCH More!!!!  You will not be disappointed.  

Visit Their Website

Here is a video on how to make multi-pocket folders for writing workshop.  I am going to do this for next year.