This fall worksheet is perfect for your fall lesson plans. Print it out and have your students circle the bigger item.

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Printable summer vacation word search for kids. The 35 hidden words can be found in every possible direction. Pdf includes an answer sheet.

Great ideas for free preschool games! Perfect inside or outside, during circle time, at home, or to develop gross motor and critical listening skills.

I am homeschooling my 3 yr old this year for preschool and didn't like any of the weather charts available. So my great friend and I made ...

This free focus on close reading resource helps you teach students about how to monitor for meaning as they read.rn

I got this from a magazine I read and thought it was worth saving. Now if I can just remember to say this to my self once and a while! Face it, ___________(your name), you are about the greatest thing since __________(favorite food). No one else can __________(verb) like you can. Your best friend says you are the __________(adjective)-est person in the world. Sure, you once ____________________ (embarrassing thing you did), but you also ____________________(honorable thing you did). So, __________(favorite endearment), today is the day you're going to stop beating up on yourself for being __________(negative adjective) and start loving yourself for being _________(positive adjective), __________(positive adjective) and __________(positive adjective). And if people give you a __________(adjective) time, just tell 'em they can take their __________(noun) and __________(verb) it up their __________(body part)!

Have you ever wanted to let students choose their own novel to read, but you couldn’t figure out the best way to assess all those books? Don’t want to write 20 tests? Tried to find literature circle materials that weren’t for elementary kids? Well I might be able to help! How This All Started Originally… Continue reading Literature Circles in the Secondary Classroom: Student-Choice Novels Made Easier

Hi bloggy friends! I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted. When I started this blog, I really had intentions of posting more regularly. But I guess I'm not as on top of things as I'd like to be. Besides being swamped at school (like I'm sure all of you are too), I was super sick with pneumonia for awhile and still have bronchitis. Needless to say, I'm so ready for winter break so that I can get some extra rest and spend lots of time with my boys. Anyways, I was so excited that my summarizing organizer was helpful to many of you! Thanks a bunch for all of the positive comments! Someone asked if I have the same organizer for nonfiction and unfortunately, I do not; however, here is an organizer that I have my kiddos use when reading nonfiction text. From this organizer, my students then write a summary. Main Idea Organizer I have created a graphic organizer to help with summarizing biographies. It also comes from some ideas I learned at a training with Kathy Bumgartner (www.kbumreading.com). Summarizing a Biography Also, this week we wrapped up our literature circles and the kids got to pick three activities from a Tic-Tac-Toe style menu that they'd like to complete. They had so much fun and their products were so creative (I've really got to start taking pictures). Here's a copy of the Tic-Tac-Toe. The activities can be used with any stories! Literature Circle Final Projects Ok, so that's it for now. I have been getting some creative ideas from other blogs out there and wanted to give back a little something! If you can use any of these activities, I'd love to hear your plans for them! 

Alphabet Worksheets help your kids do just that, learn their alphabet. Practice makes perfect and we have a lot of worksheet practice activities. Finish the alphabet, match letters, alphabet connect the dots and more. Help your child have fun learning to read and write their ABCs. They’re sure to enjoy all of these worksheets. Print […]

What are language functions? LFs are the "reasons" we use language; it's our purpose, or goal, when we express ourselves. Perhaps we want to express our needs or wants, explain a process, describe an experience, or persuade someone to do something. Whatever the purpose, we use language to perform these functions. Examples of Language Functions: -express wants/needs -sequence -compare/contrast -opinion -persuade -inform -describe -analyze -cause/effect -summarize -ask questions Students use language functions in every grade level and across all content areas, so what better way to set English learners up for success than by explicitly teaching the academic language needed to successfully use language functions. Here is how this looks in my ESOL classroom. Planning I like to plan certain LF units during specific times of year. For example, Compare/Contrast is fun in the fall due to apples and pumpkins. Cause/Effect is great in the winter because I like to use the topic of seasonal changes on plants and animals. Opinion/Persuade is great in the spring because I use the topic of plastic pollution, which ties into Earth Day. I sprinkle other LF units throughout the year, but those three I pretty much keep at the same time each year. You could teach any LF at any time of the year; it's very flexible. Each unit, in my classroom, lasts about 3-4 weeks, but again, it's flexible. Which language functions will my students need in order to be successful with the grade level content? When I sit down to plan a unit, I brainstorm science and social studies topics that my students will be learning about during year, then I pick the LF and topic I want to focus on. When we connect LF units with the content our students are, or will be, learning in their general education classrooms, it gives students the language tools and confidence they need to participate and succeed. Language Functions Planning Process This is the tool I use to plan out my language function units. It helps me map out the BIG picture first, then hone in on the details. The main components of my planning are: 1- identify the language function 2- identify content areas topics 3- create learning targets 4- locate activities to support the four language domains 5- determine the scaffolds needed Learning Targets I like to backwards plan by first identifying what I want my students to be able to do by the end of each LF unit. This becomes the learning target(s) for the unit. I have targets for both expressive (speaking and writing) and interpretive (listening and reading) language. A focus on the verb is important because it's what we want students to do, for example: identify, use, label, illustrate, explain, etc. The learning targets are then posted and referenced throughout each unit. Activities Once I've identified the learning targets, I start collecting activities and resources at various proficiency levels to practice viewing, listening, reading, speaking and writing skills. I also think about how I'll build background knowledge for the topic. I love to incorporate videos, so YouTube, BrainPOP Jr. and EPIC Books are places I typically go to first for engaging video resources. Building background knowledge using a short video is highly effective, IMO. It's an engaging way to get students talking about what they already know or think about a topic. This planning phase is all about finding materials that will help facilitate the language function. Since I work with a wide variety of proficiency and grade levels, I need a variety of resources. Here are some of my favorites for the 4 language domains. Listening I primarily use videos for this domain. I tell my students what to listen for and will stop the video in designated places to give them time to process and respond. Again, my top 3 places to find videos in order of preference are YouTube, BrainPOP Jr (paid subscription) and EPIC Books. EPIC has some really great videos, and it's a free resource! ReadWorks.org is another great site. The reading passages there have an audio component, so it's not a video, but it's an article read aloud. You could create your own questions for the article, but comprehension question are already provided for each passage. Nice! Reading For reading materials I look through my school's bookroom first. Then I check out Reading A-Z (a subscription my school pays for), Readworks.org, EPIC books (both are free), another online subscription resource from Benchmark Education, and lastly my own collection of books. Reading Materials for Cause and Effect The picture above shows some of the reading materials I gathered for my cause and effect unit. I searched for resources that demonstrated how changes in climate or weather impact plants and animals. Reading Materials for Opinion/Persuade As you can see, I'm a "spreader outer." By spreading out all of my resources during this planning phase, I can quickly see what I have and what I still need. Speaking I want my students talking everyday, so we do a variety of speaking activities in my ELD groups. This is probably the number one reason why I love the pull-out model of instruction, but that's a blog post for another day. Some activities I use are talking mats, games, class discussions, partner talks and simply sharing our thinking. Oral language is the foundation of language and literacy so I'm intentional about providing structured (and unstructured) opportunities for students to use oral language each time we meet. Talking Mat Activity for Cause and Effect Students chose the cards they wanted to talk about, then used the sentence frame as needed. One of my favorite speaking activities is having students record a Flipgrid video. They always moan about it at first, but then they get into it and enjoy watching and responding to their classmates' videos. It's also a great way to measure progress. You have recorded examples of your students speaking throughout the year! I like to jot down notes while I listen (and re-listen) to their recordings. This helps me target certain areas that my students need additional practice with, then I create or find mini-lessons for those skills. Writing Writing is integrated with listening and reading activities. Students generally have something to respond to each time we meet. (They usually write inside their ELD notebooks.) Similar to speaking, I'll have students writing at each meeting, even if it's a short task. I frequently use graphic organizers for writing responses. I like to reduce the size of the graphic organizer to about 75% and trim the edges, then I'll have students glue it into their notebooks. Opinion Writing At the end of each LF unit, there is a written or oral language component, sometimes both. It's an assessment to demonstrate their ability of applying the language function. Usually it's a prompt written in their ELD notebooks, but it could also be a digital activity. This past spring, at the end of our Opinion/Persuade unit, students had the choice to either create and present a PowerPoint presentation, record a Flipgrid video, or create and present a poster. Google Jamboard is another platform I frequently use for their end of unit writing task. Scaffolds Let's talk scaffolding for a moment. This is where we consider the specific language needs of our students and the appropriate supports for them. Scaffolds will vary from group to group. Some groups/students will need sentence frames, while others may only need sentence stems. Some groups will need more modeling than others. Some will need more visuals. Some will need extra opportunities to practice. Some might need L1 support. All will need explicit vocabulary instruction. We want to challenge our students without frustrating them, so picking appropriate scaffolding is key. Language Function Unit in Action For each unit, I display a "language board." It's a jumping off point and a reference tool that provides what the language function is, gives an example, along with key words. Next, I build some background knowledge so that students can connect to the reason we use the LF. It could be as simple as asking, "What do you already know about..." Then we dive into the plans and activities for listening, reading, speaking and writing skills. They spend the next 10-15 days practicing and using the language for the language function. Language Function Board for Opinion & Persuade Introductory Lesson for Opinion/Persuade Model OREO Opinion Writing Opinion Lesson - real life example to connect students' experiences with learning target Reading Activity- Will students' opinions about plastic bags change? Intermediate ELD group- students gave their opinion about plastic bags prior to reading. In Closing The best part about incorporating language function units into my ESL classroom is that ALL of my ELD groups are learning the same language function. This makes planning so much more manageable. Instead of planning 10 different lessons for ten different groups, all of my groups are learning the language of persuade at their language level. I love it! And more importantly, my students love it too! These units are fun, engaging, flexible and highly effective at building academic language. Do you teach language functions? If so, do you have a favorite? If not, do you want to? Here are links to some of my Language Function resources. Happy LF Teaching,

The Socratic style of discourse lends itself quite well to establishing critical thinkers due to the fact that Socrates believed that enabling students to think for themselves was more important than filling their heads with knowledge. With so much talk about the Common Core standards and truly increasing our student's argumentative powers and critical thinking skills, I decided to launch a Socratic Seminar style of instruction in my sixth grade classroom this week. Our Seminar The Text My approach began by engaging in a guided reading of a novel titled I Can't Believe I Have To Do This by Jan Alford. Throughout the course of the week we read the novel and discussed story events and critical vocabulary associated with the readings. The Questions Students were given a Socratic Seminar "Prep Sheet" at the beginning of the week. The sheet asked the students to do the following: #1. Summarize the assigned reading #2. Identify 3 compelling quotes or statements from the reading #3. Develop one Knowledge based question #4. Develop one Application style question #5. Develop one Synthesis style question Download at: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Socratic-Seminar-Packet The Set Up I then arranged my room in a double horseshoe configuration and assigned five students to be the inner circle. The inner circle students were slated to be the ones discussing and interacting. The outer circle of students were slated to observe and reflect and provide a 'backchannel'. The Discourse Relinquishing control was the MOST DIFFICULT thing!! Once the seminar began I truly had to force myself not to jump in and facilitate. Initially, it was truly awkward. Students nervously giggled and looked down at their papers. No one seemed willing to emerge as a leader. Once they realized that no one was coming to their rescue, the dialogue began and WOW. DID YOU KNOW?? A website called blockposters.com can take any .jpg or .gif image and turn it into a larger printable poster with overlapping edges for assembly?? Backchannel To occupy my outer circle, I distributed 5 ipads (1 for every 3 students) and allowed them to connect on todaysmeet.com. There they posted thoughts, questions, comments and even prompts to assist the inner circle. This back channel scrolled on the Smartboard throughout the seminar. (Admittedly, I didn't love the lack of grammar conventions demonstrated in the statements below.) Reflection/Assessment Without a doubt, we will do this again. Once the awkwardness ended, the dialog went FAR beyond what I've ever experienced with this novel. Students shared events that related DEEPLY to the characters, the character's choices and experiences. They also extrapolated character traits and applied them to new situations. As an assessment tool, each student completed an Exit Slip paragraph where they exercised their argumentative writing skills by completing a one paragraph reflection on the grade they deserved as a result of their participation in the seminar. Socratic discourse....making the kiddos use THEIR Smarticles!! All of my materials are available at: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Socratic-Seminar-Packet

I love the first week of library lessons!! While it’s often a blur of activity, it’s always fun to see the kids walking into the library, some for the first time, some for the 100th time, but all of them having that look of excitement. I know just how they feel! ... Read more

This packet helps to build a great foundation of reading comprehension skills! Printable stories with close reading activities require students to go back into the text to find information. Your students will love highlighting, circling, and coloring important information and completing a response activity for each story. Skills Addressed: *Genre identification *Reading for Details *Characters *Setting *Problem *Solution *Sequencing *Cause/Effect *Main Idea/Details

Испанский словарь для начинающих1.На кухне2.Цвета3.Время4.Транспорт5.Средств... Смотрите полностью ВКонтакте.

We did a little painting this week to celebrate the coming of fall (even tho it's still in the mid 90's). My aide, who is quite creative, drew the trees. Everyone was fine with putting their fingers in the paint (I had qtips on hand just in case)! The kids had a great time!

If you're happy and you know it clap you hands!! Or in the case of these super fun body gross motor dice... twist your hips, bend your elbow or shake your head! My preschooler loved this fun gross motor game and it was a great way to get her moving on a cold winter day!

I love using short films to teach reading comprehension skills, and my students love watching them!

Print your Free October Worksheets for Preschool below! Build fine motor skills and boost creativity with tracing, matching, and more!

These counting syllables activities include a variety of games and worksheets to help kids develop their phonological awareness. They make a great

In this free printable Routine Vocabulary worksheet students have to look at the pictures and circle the correct words.