D&D 5E Character Creation: This guide was created to help new and experienced Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) players create new characters. Creating a character can be a laborious task and it is very easy to miss steps in the creation process. This guide is tailored for creating …
Tonight I'm enjoying the sound of wind chimes through the window as the winds shift and winter blows back in. It's cold outside, so I'm staying bundled up inside and checking in just long enough to share a bulletin board I made today, to complement a lesson I'll be starting tomorrow on friendship. And, before I unplug again, some reflections on friendship: Making and keeping friends is an important skill for children to learn. Not only are friends fun to have around, but healthy attachments are an important part of a child's experience in school. Children that can form friendships tend to adjust to the school experience better because they're more likely to develop self-esteem and build important social skills, like getting along, cooperating and problem-solving. Since students don't come to school with these skills neatly tucked away in their backpack, we must be modeling, teaching, and practicing them in our day-to-day interactions right alongside of and, dare I say it, woven into academic content. How do you help your children find friends that fit? Here are some goals that friends can work on as new relationship opportunities present themselves: *Cooperate and be kind to others. *Be willing to play fairly, take turns, and share. *Listen to others' ideas. *Apologize and forgive one another. *Express feelings appropriately. Use "I" statements to share how you're feeling and what you need from your friends. *Practice empathy to respond to friends' feelings in an understanding, helpful way. *Be honest and loyal to your friends. *Keep a positive attitude and hang out with friends who uplift you. *Show respect. Be the kind of friend that you would want to have. *Express gratitude and appreciation. Encourage your children to choose one of these goals at a time to work on as they learn how each one looks, sounds, and feels in their world at their age. Remember that how these goals play out will change slightly through the ages and stages. Talk with your child(ren) about the qualities that they look for in a friend. Ask questions like these: *How did you decide on those qualities? *What do you usually do to make a new friend? *What advice would you give a classmate who is having a hard time making friends? *Would you want to be your friend? Why or why not? *What qualities do you have to offer to someone that might make you a good-fit friend? To enrich the discussion, have students trace their hands onto a paper, left on one side, right on the other. On the right hand, have them write five strengths that they bring to a friendship. On the other hand, have them write five areas for growth, things that they could do better in their friendships. If you don't have access to paper-pen supplies, partners can put their hands together as if they're giving a high-five and take the Five Finger Friendship Challenge aloud. Finally, check out these resources for additional friendship tips: 1. Do Kids Need Friends? 2. The Art of Boosting Your Child's Friendship Skills 3. Fostering Friendships
Understanding characters can be tricky! Learn my favorite strategies for helping students master character traits and changes.
I remember during the first 5 years of my teaching career I dreaded the first week of school. Yes, I said the first 5 years! I knew what to do after I got started, but I just had trouble getting started. Luckily, I stumbled onto some great books by seasoned teachers that showed me what teaching procedures look like. As I started putting together this back to school unit, I thought back to what I've learned about teaching procedures. I have tons of back to school activities that I've collected over the years, and I'm sure you do to. But how do you use those activities to teach students your classroom procedures? That is what I considered when I put this packet together. When you think about your favorite beginning of the year cooperative activity, consider using an anchor chart to show students what teamwork looks like and sounds like. Be explicit when teaching your procedures and routines. This back to school packet has everything you need to start your year off on the right foot. It includes 9 activities, 4 anchor charts, and a craftivity that makes for a great display. Click HERE to check it out.
Hi all! The big day is Tuesday! That's my first day back with my little sweeties. I'm getting excited and nervous. Yeah, can you believe after all these years of teaching I still get excited and nervous! I'm starting again this year with 30 firsties and I'm sure it will increase. I guess I should be used to it but I don't think I ever will. I thought I'd share with everyone some little tools I print to have on hand when I'm working in guided reading with my kiddos. I print several copies and have a stack of each of these by my reading table so I can quickly grab some for my lessons. Let me start by telling you that I tell my firsties they are 'smart readers under construction'. We talk about what that means and I tell them I am going to help them in every way become a smart reader. I love the word 'smart' more than 'better'. It seems more positive to me. When I think of 'better', I think well maybe I'm not very good to start with and I want my kiddos the think of themselves as good reader and I'm just going to help them be smarter reader. The first is sorting pages. I have 2, 3, 4, and 5 way sort pages. I use these a ton of ways. I might have them list short vowel words, long & short vowels, word families, inflectional endings, root word and ending, suffixes, prefixes, characters and describing words, who & what, hard & soft c or g words, the list can go on and on. Sometimes I give the words, sometimes they find the words in their reading. You can use it with the low, middle and high kids. It's open to whatever you can think of to use it with. It's a fun, quick easy practice or assessment for your kiddos. I don't make them into a booklet because I want the kids to take them home so parents can see what we are doing. The next one is the character sheet. I use this one a lot especially after I've taught describing words. I can generally use this one at the beginning of the year with my high students too. Another one I use is Did You Know. This one is great for non-fiction books. These sheets don't have to be used only in guided reading. Sometimes I'll use them with the whole class like when I read Boxcar Children. We fill out a 4-way sort on the four characters and what we know about them. There are so many possibilities, just use your creativity. If you'd like a FREE download just click HERE. Oh and some super GOOD NEWS- I have a new grandson!! This is Elijah Ray Robison. Born August 15th. He was 10 lbs. 5 ounces. My daughter has BIG boys! I just LOVE all the dark soft hair! Thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone has a terrific week!
i have so many v2 throne jokes i need to make
“環状構図が好きすぎる人の練習 手を繋いで3~6人 唐突に集合絵の醍醐味をやりたくなったけど地味にむずかしい 6人のやつは変則でハート型、5人のやつは一応星型にもできるように”
After reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio, students worked in small collaborative groups to create character posters about each of the characte...
Here's another original one in the 5-Minutes Activity-series. I started createing them a long time ago for my students to expand their vocabulary. It can be used in many ways - only fantasy puts a limit to it. - ESL worksheets
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Today’s Wednesday, and that means it’s one day closer to being break for me. And for the rest of you, only three more days ’til the weekend! Today’s post offers you another …
Modify for ELA character use or use in conjunction with Social Studies
If you’ve ever had (or possibly you currently do have) a student who struggled with phonics even after receiving daily, systematic instruction, it’s most likely because they have not yet developed their phonemic awareness abilities. Read more
Are you looking for a fun way to teach describing characters and character traits? Try this! Fold each side of a horizontal sheet of paper to the middle. Have the kids draw a picture of the character on the front. Put words to describe the outward appearance of the character on the outside. This can be things that are obvious from the text. Next, open the page up and write character traits and words to describe the character's emotions on the inside. These are things you have to infer about the character's traits based on the evidence from the text. It's pretty fun and these make a great display!
It seems like every day there is an endless stream of students reporting behaviors or incidents that happen in the classroom. On one hand, we want to help our students feel heard and validated so they know we are a safe person for them to talk to. On the other hand, we certainly don't want to feed into the tattle machine. It's a fine line to walk. So how do we handle tattling in our classrooms?
Teach character traits in upper elementary through activities, full lesson plans, anchor charts, and small group work! Plus a freebie!
Understanding characters can be tricky! Learn my favorite strategies for helping students master character traits and changes.
Teaching students to work in cooperative groups is vital to any classroom. BUT, they can go terribly wrong! Find out how to keep them cooperative!
As we have entered the month of August, every teacher, whether she likes it or not, starts thinking about school. Some of us have dreams (or nightmares). Some of us go on a Pinterest spree. We walk through Target and ask ourselves "What do I 'need' from the dollar section?" You don't do this? Okay, maybe it's just me. Anyway, we are also thinking about what were some of our students' challenges last year, and how we will address them this year. My third and fourth graders had difficulty with vocabulary and making inferences, which was evident in how they would describe their characters: Nice Mean Sad Oh my. So late last school year, I developed this chart of character traits with the intention of helping students organize their thinking when selecting a character trait. Traits are arranged in alphabetical order in the following categories: nice/mean/sad, confident/nervous, and does a lot/does very little. The rest of the categories are partially alphabetical and having a corresponding opposite. This year I will be teaching second graders, so I'm thinking how I will adjust this chart to better suit their developmental abilities: Less words? Words that are more relevant to a second grade schema? Some pictures or graphics to support the vocabulary? Some food for my thought... Many teachers or parents who have downloaded this chart seemed very happy, and I'm happy that they're happy!! Update: Hello there, long time friend! If you found this resource useful for your students, please check out my Character Feelings blog post and TPT product!
Teach upper elementary students about character traits by having them analyze their characters' feelings, actions, thoughts, and dialogue within the story. This blog post contains everything you need for a complete character traits lesson... for free! The reading passages on the anchor chart, the sentence strip activity, and the interactive notebook foldable are all free!
