Rainforest Research and Upcoming TpT Sale!

One of the changes I have really enjoyed learning about when it comes to the Common Core Standards is the research component.  One of our stories, The Red Eyed Tree Frog, takes place in the rainforest and I decided to have our writing connection be a research project.  My awesome intern and I worked together to plan a lesson that collaborated with our technology integration teacher.  A flipchart was made that allowed students to click on their animal and be taken to various websites that were preselected to help them gather information on their animal.  Students worked in pairs in the lab to identify facts about their animal's habitat, diet, and appearance.  They were also encouraged to find other interesting facts that they read along the way.  The cool part about technology and the CCSS is that students are asked to gain information from readings as well as other sources such as videos.  This is a great extension for some of my struggling readers.  They are still able to collect information and it doesn't have to be watered down to their reading abilities.  They did the research in technology class (which made it much easier then taking turns on the 3 computers in the classroom) and we worked on putting it all together throughout the week in the classroom.

I will be adding the graphic organizers we used this week, but in the meantime, check out some of our finished projects!

Teachers Pay Teachers is having another big sale this week!  May 7th-8th you can get up to 28% off many items in different stores!  My store will be participating along with MANY others!  Be sure to check it out!  If you're a seller, I made some other banners that can be used to promote the sale!  Feel free to download and use!

Hope everyone has a great week! 

Illustrate an Idiom

Holy cow!  My kids are having a ball with idioms.  :)  I made this freebie to use in class tomorrow.  Click on the title to download if you can use it in your class too!

Illustrate an Idiom!

~Abby

Descriptive Writing Freebies

We just finished our descriptive writing pieces and I was tickled to death with how they turned out.  My class has been working all year on adding details and using our senses to describe various things, so I threw in a couple mini lessons on similes before we wrote our "official" descriptive composition for the year.  I introduced the concept using Crazy like a Fox: A Simile Story by Loreen Leedy.

We created a couple of our own using this freebie.  I am a big fan of half sheets.  :)

Simile Practice

This week I also came across the cutest simile freebie at The Learning Tree.  My students loved completing it.

I sent a note home and asked students to bring in their favorite toy or knickknack from home.  Then we used this organizer to brainstorm descriptive adjectives and similes that described our object.

Descriptive Organizer

Here is the writing paper we wrote our final drafts on.  

Writing Paper

Click on the titles to download anything you can use in your classroom.  :)  We just found out we are getting out June 8th!  That is the earliest since I've been a teacher.  Wahoo!

~Abby

Fonts used are by Kevin and Amanda and the border I used is from Scrappin Doodles.  If you haven't already, you should definitely sign up for their emails.  You get a freebie every Friday!

Slinky Sentences Freebie!

It was time to add a new writing center (one of my students kindly suggested), so here is what I came up with.  We have been working on adding details to our sentences all year. I always tell them they need to stretccchhh their sentences out by adding details....kind of like a slinky, hence the title. :) Someone along the way used that comparison once and I was a big fan.

The kids seem to be liking the idea so far.  I think I am going to make a couple more sets of the cards.  Check back if your lil ones end up liking the activity too!  Click on the title to download.

Slinky Sentences

~Abby

  Clipart by Scrappin Doodles and fonts by Kevin and Amanda.

Speech and Conversation Bubbles

This is a writing center that we currently use in my classroom.  We were given the idea from our county resources, but I wanted to make a version without the handwriting lines.  Students are able to choose stickers or magazine cutouts to create a speech or thought bubble conversation.  Students cut out the bubble(s) that work(s) with their picture and they glue it on a piece of construction paper.  Easy to maintain and the kids are obsessed with it.  :)  Click on the title to download.

Speech and Conversation Bubbles

Sparkly Sentences

My students are always dying to write with anything BUT a pencil.    One of the centers I added this week was “Sparkly Sentences.”  It’s super simple and requires very few materials.  I post a different picture each week and students write one asking and one telling sentence about the picture.  The goal is to make them “sparkle” by adding details and checking for capitalization, punctuation, and spelling.  Students write the sentence in pencil first and after proofreading are allowed to make it “sparkle” by tracing over it with the gel and glitter pens.  Click the title of the documents below to download.

Sparkly Sentences

Sparkly Sentences Worksheet

Fun with Phonics

So, after shamelessly using and enjoying the wonderful creations of many very talented teachers, I decided to attempt to give the whole blogging world a whirl.  I figure if even one person is able to use something I have created, it is worth it.  Between the blogs and Pinterest, both my new HUGE addictions, I will never be at a loss for new, cool ideas to use in the classroom.  :)

Okay, so first post.  Here we go.  I was about bored out of my gourd when it came to the assessments we use after our Open Court lessons.  I also have quite a variety of abilities in the classroom, so I wanted to make something easy to adapt to their levels.  The first sheet, Hey Diddle Diddle - Tell Me a Riddle, can be used by giving clues to the words in the word family taught that day.  At the bottom, students locate words from the board that we blended and have to come up with rhyming words.  The second worksheet, Sentence Superstar, prompts students to choose 4 words that were blended that day and use them in sentences.  Nothing too fancy or crazy.  :)  Click on the title of the sheet to download if you'd like.

Hey Diddle Diddle  

Sentence Superstar