Bringing Earth Day into the Classroom

Happy Spring to all!

Are you on the hunt for creative ways  to bring Earth Day into your classroom?

I have a few ideas to share with you.

My absolute favorite activity is doing Litter Bug projects, a yearly tradition in my classroom.

Students use recyclable material to create zany litter bugs.

This is a fun writing activity where students share ideas about having the power over trash.

Yuck, a trash shower ought to teach everyone a lesson!

This Power Over Trash writing is available in my store.

And finally I have a Earth Day writing freebie for you.

Enjoy~
Denise

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Lucky Thoughts

I can't believe it is already mid March! My class has spring fever as we are approaching our Spring Break next week.  This week, I am doing some St. Patrick's Day lessons. As we recently learned about writing dialogue using proper quotations this leprechaun writing craft helped culminate our learning.

I began by reading this cute story with a great theme of friendship.

At the beginning of the story the leprechaun and dog are at odds with each other over a misunderstanding. But in the end they realize they are true friends.

After reading aloud the story, I opening up a class discussion about what students felt lucky for.

They then wrote their ideas using quotations as if they were lucky leprechaun.

What are you most lucky for? Share your thoughts in the comments.

~Denise

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Solar System Research

My science focus in my classroom right now is learning about the solar system.

My class used the picture dictionary tool on Enchanted Learning to practice research skills.

The picture dictionary is set up in alphabetical order and for larger categories of letters , like "S", have subheadings similar to guide words to narrow ones search options.

My students had search questions to research like you see below:

 Here's a sample screen for looking up the answer to Question 1, which is the solar system.

First, students would click on the letter S and then on the subcategory So to search for the answer of solar system.

Each heading is also clickable to read and research further about a topic

This is the expanded information for solar system

This tool hit science, technology, research skills and dictionary practice all in one.

Hope you might find it useful too!

~Denise

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Classroom Resources for Martin Luther King Jr.

My class is focusing on biographies right now and I've compiled resources over the years on my blog for Martin Luther King. I hope you find something useful to use in your own classroom.

My newest find is an online MLK reader.

The following links are from my past blog posts

MLK Birthplace Virtual Tour

MLK Timeline and Famous Quotes

The King and His Dream Video and Song

National Geographic Kids Video on MLK

Stay in touch

~Denise

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Quality Counts Board

It's about this time of year that students get antsy and don't always put forth their personal best.

I find myself saying over and over, "Is this your best work?" or "Did you rush?"

So, this week I'm bringing out my trusty Quality Counts Board.

I ordered a large size car magnet from Vista Print a few years ago titled "Quality Work". When needed, I simply display it on my white board. Then every so often I will pick a few model work samples to hang underneath it.

The work I pick has to show quality effort. If I pick a student's work he then gets to write with a special pen until I replace their work with someone else's. It works like a charm and saves some of my teacher sanity as the "holiday-itis" sets in.

~Denise

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Keeping Kids on Track

If I'm being honest, I'd have to say that I have a pretty challenging class this year.

In addition to the academic needs of my students, many of them have behavioral and attention needs that need to be redirected. How do I keep them on track?

Let me share some ideas that work for me.

I conference with my {LARGE} group of kids that have on task issues and teach them how to use the SLANT cue chart and "What Level Are You Working" prompt. Then I place the cuing charts on their desks for a constant resource. I can then ask students, "Are you SLANTING?" or "Remember, N = Nothing in your hands".  I also hold them accountable to rate what level they think they are working by holding up fingers. 5 fingers is actively engaged and 1 or 2 fingers mean they are off task or distracting themselves or others. I ask them, "Are your choices helping you do your best learning?"

Both these strategies have been beneficial this year and I hope you will find them useful too.

~Denise

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Reaching All Students

Some students in my class this year need more intensive intervention to help them progress with their reading proficiency. I've found that I'm pulling out resources I used when I taught first grade.

Most of my target students have not yet mastered their sight words.

Here are some materials I've put to use to meet their needs:

1.  Snap Words by Child 1st

This resource is great for visual learners. It shows a word with a visual cue, hand motion and sample sentence.

2.  RAN boards

Rapid Automatic Naming Boards are useful for fluent mastery practice. Words or phrases are repeated over and over on the board. Students practice reading them as fast as they can.

3. Swat It Sight Word Games

I've made resources for all the Fry Words in a fun game format. Students compete to swat sight words with a fly swatter which is by far a favorite!

What is in your bag of tricks for reaching all students?

~Denise

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September 11th Read Aloud

I recently added the book The Man Who Walked Between the Towers by Mordicai Gerstein to my classroom collection.
It tells the true story of the Frenchman, Philippe Petit's, tightrope walk between the World Trade Center towers in 1974.  The theme of perseverance is a great point of discussion after reading this book. As I was preparing my lesson, I located this wonderful craftivity over at The Best Childrens' Book.org.
Students work on goal setting, as Philippe Petit did with his tightrope feat.

Here's my rendition of the craftivity:

Other just as useful resources for The Man Who Walked Between the Towers can be found over at Scholastic. Resources include lessons on analyzing the character traits of Philippe Petit.

Will you be doing lessons to honor September 11th? I'd love you to share your ideas.

~Denise

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Ready.... Set.... ENGAGE!

It's the first week.  The seats are lined up neatly.  The kiddos are smiling and excited to be back.  You've gone over rules and expectations.  It's time for the first activity.  The kiddos' minds are racing with anticipation to see just what type of teacher you really are......

The first activity is CRUCIAL.  You need to ENGAGE the kiddos from the start.  The kiddos are counting on you to set the speed for the year.  Hmmm... so do you teach a new concept, or review an old?  Want to team build and get your new groups working together?  Want to compete? AND want to have fun? Why not do all of that in one activity!?

Well, I've got an idea just for you!  Relays!  But not just any relays - Seasonal, creative, build-a-bear type relays!  Kiddos LOVE these.  I have had so many teachers tell me how much fun their kiddos had with these.  The best part is that they are completely editable to fit your needs!

Here's how they work!

You can use ANY topic, ANY subject, ANY types of questions to make this relay work!  AND... there are 10 different ones to choose from!  All four seasons and "major" holidays!

Want to see how the art work turns out?  Check out Beach Bum Relay  in Yearn To Learn's classroom, Lucky Day Relay in Math, Science, Social Studies OH MY!'s classroom and Frosty Relay in my Classroom.  

Want to try out a relay?  Check out this FREEBIE .... not quite what you were looking for? Check out all 10 relays, including the bundle and some that are specific to math content.   

On a side note, I started back this week to school.  I would imagine most of you are starting soon, if you haven't already....  Best wishes on a blessed school year to each of you!

 

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Start the School Year with Kindness

As I start each school year I promote the idea of Bucket Filling.

I recently was introduced to a story, Each Kindness, that would be a great discussion starter for older students which covers the consequences of bullying.

The story introduces us to Maya, the new girl at school who is not accepted by the others.

She wears second hand clothes and eats weird food and her efforts at forming friendships are all but ignored. Then one day she is no longer at the school and the teacher shares a lesson on kindness to the class. Each student drops a rock in a bowl of water and witnesses the ripple which is like each little kindness we show towards others. This book doesn't have a happily ever after ending, which is a great lesson to discuss with students. It  can make them realize that we don't always get a second chance to make things right and that behaviors and choices have consequences.

After reading this book you might even want to keep a bowl of water and rocks to drop in to show ripples of kindness towards classmates.

~Denise

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Vista Print Creations

Summer for many of us is a time to rethink, plan, and organize for the upcoming school year.

Over the years I've had a love/hate relationship with Vista Print materials.

I love it because I get lots of classroom tools, but I hate it because I always fill up my cart to the max.

 Vista Print is a online shop to buy business or marketing related material. This could be business cards, stationary, labels, notepads....You name it.

Here are some of my creations over the years.

I use the car door magnets to display on my white board.

Business cards can be used in all kinds of ways. I've used them for homework passes, exit tickets or brainstorming and bucket fillers.

Address labels can be used for writing revisions, AR labels and folders.

These a just a few of my favorite ways I've used Vistaprint in my classroom. I usually wait to order until I get a good deal email that offers free shipping or a sale of some kind.

Have you used Vista Print? Share your ideas with us.

~Denise

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Punctuation: Making it Interactive

Let's face it, punctuation to many students can seem dry and monotonous.

Here's a way to make it interactive and fun.

Here's how I did an end of the year punctuation review with my class:

1. I used cooperative structure groups of 4 students. 6 teams worked together to earn points for their team.

2. Each student was assigned a number 1-4.

3. I called out a task for each group to discuss and generate answers as a team member recorded ideas.

Example prompts:

What are some ways to use commas?

Write an example of a declarative sentence.

Give an interrogative sentence about school.

Write a sentence using dialogue.

4. After a few minutes I randomly selected a number 1-4. The student from each team assigned that number had to come to the white board and record an idea their team created. It had to be completely correct in order to earn a team point. This helped with accountability and engagement in the lesson, because during the task discussion the team doesn't know who will be responsible for answering for their group.

A cute literature tie in to the skill of punctuation is Punctuation Takes a Vacation by Robin Pulver.

I found this cute video of a teacher's class acting out the story line.

Click photo to view Mrs. Martin's 3rd grade skit

On a grammar related note I've been busy my first week of summer vacation creating a new product line called
"To the Point"
Here's a peek at what I've accomplished so far...more are in the works!
You can check them out {HERE}

Happy Summer everyone. If you are still in school, hang in there.

~Denise

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Getting into the Action with Adverbs

I like to introduce a lot of grammar concepts through literature tie ins.

The author, Rick Walton, has a whole series of language adventure books that are perfect for this.

For adverbs I use his book titled Suddenly Alligator which is a zany story about the adventures a boy encounters as he heads to town to replace his smelly socks.

I created this worksheet to use in conjunction with the book.

Grab it for free from my TPT store.

Students are to find the correct adverb to match the clues from the text.

The Grammarheads also have an adverb song that is useful too.

Don't forget about the Teachers Pay Teachers sale!May 7th and 8th

All of us at All Things Elementary have great stuff in our stores to stock up on!

Happy Shopping

~Denise

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