10 Creative Short Story Activities for the Secondary ELA Classroom. This post contains engaging and exciting lessons for teaching story stories.
Rev up reading skills - no matter what level your child's at - with our favorite reading worksheets for preschoolers through fifth graders.
Collection of 30 fine motor activities based on children's books
These 20 Activities and Lessons that Teach Obedience to Kids will help equip you to teach kids to obey. This is part of my character building series, a great resource for parents and teachers everywhere. The word “obey” has gotten a bad wrap over the years. Before you jump into this post and all it...Read More
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20 creative ways to use one of our favorite games, Rory's Story Cubes
One of Nora’s favorite things to do is act out Fairy Tales. I love to see how she has taken ownership of these simple stories after “playing them” over and over. Lately we have …
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Are you looking for a free, no prep, and engaging back to school activity? This worksheet is perfect as a 'getting to know you' activity on the first day of school. Grab this free printable for your first week back to school this year! It includes 2 versions (US version with spelling of 'favorite' and 'color' & UK/AUS version with spelling of 'favourite' and 'colour'). *NOTE - This activity has the digital overlay tool option. Text boxes have been added! Need more amazing ideas for the first day/week back at school? Check out: Back to School Printables Back to School Writing Prompts Back to School Color by Addition Worksheets Back to School Sentence Building Back to School Roll a Story (Writing Prompt) Enjoy this resource! Don't forget to follow my store Terrific Teaching Tactics for more awesome products and rate this product :) Let's Connect! Pinterest Instagram Facebook
Picture comprehension is a great intro to reading comprehension! Kids will simply identify what is going on in each picture. Download to complete online or as a printable!
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One of Nora’s favorite things to do is act out Fairy Tales. I love to see how she has taken ownership of these simple stories after “playing them” over and over. Lately we have …
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Hello Everyone! Thanks for stopping by our blog to see what's happening in our first grade classroom! This week we are working very hard on "retelling"stories we have read. Learning how to retell a story helps our little learners as readers and thinkers. It helps to organize thought, and recognize the thoughts we have during reading. It helps us recognize when our thinking changes throughout our reading. Characteristics of good retelling are: using character names, telling about the setting, including the happenings or plot (beginning, middle, and end), discussing the problem the character is having, and describing how the problem was solved. Today I introduced our "retelling rope." Each symbol represents the parts of a story. I have used retelling ropes before, but revamped this with some better visuals. The kids really get it when they can actually manipulate the parts. This year I wrote a simple poem to go along with our retelling activities. We practiced retelling several stories together using the large retelling rope, and then the kids got to make their own mini one to manipulate during their own reading time. After putting these together, some kids chose to work with others to retell a common story (The Lorax has become a favorite for some reason :) !) We also practiced recording our retelling thoughts. We will continue to work hard on this important skill! When I read a story! For your printable of these pages plus larger visuals to make your own retelling rope click here! :) here's the link to the printable with student rope pics! :) Or click here! :) I love helping kids improve their retelling skills!! Don't forget to retell your own stories with your kids!!! Stop by again soon!! Joyfully! Nancy
Rev up reading skills - no matter what level your child's at - with our favorite reading worksheets for preschoolers through fifth graders.
One of Nora’s favorite things to do is act out Fairy Tales. I love to see how she has taken ownership of these simple stories after “playing them” over and over. Lately we have …
One of Nora’s favorite things to do is act out Fairy Tales. I love to see how she has taken ownership of these simple stories after “playing them” over and over. Lately we have …
One of Nora’s favorite things to do is act out Fairy Tales. I love to see how she has taken ownership of these simple stories after “playing them” over and over. Lately we have …
Anger is probably the #1 issue the kids I work with deal with. In this post you will find many great links, worksheets, and resources for addressing anger in children of all ages. One of my favorit…
Dear Zoo is a perfect choice for book based learning in a Early Years setting. Plenty of play ideas, art activities and printables to engage young children in Early Childhood | you clever monkey
Get your students to bond and start thinking about empathy toward animals and each other with this fun activity.
Teaching students to write for a specific purpose is one of my favorite skills to teach. Students enjoy drawing sketches that illustrate different writing
One of Nora’s favorite things to do is act out Fairy Tales. I love to see how she has taken ownership of these simple stories after “playing them” over and over. Lately we have …
The activities below are available for free download, and are to be used in educational and/or private settings. They may not be used elsewhere or for other purposes (such as for profit) unless exp…
I’m back from my little hiatus, and we are LOVING our new home!!!! My life has been absolute CRAZY TOWN, and I really haven’t taken enough pictures lately. Honestly, snapping photos has been the absolute last thing on my mind. I did manage to capture a few snippets of our classroom activities though. We have …
High Shoals Elementary School Music Blog, Oconee County GA, Orff Music Instruction
What is Literature? In this activity students explore this question by looking at not only novels and poems, but also songs, photos, and advertisements.
Hey friends! I hope your week is going fabulously!! I have been enjoying my second week off…I got totally obsessed with Orange is the New Black (on Netflix, if you don't know, you better ask somebody) and watched 2 seasons in 2 days. No my son was not home…totally inappropriate. Now I'm onto Scandal. Don't judge me.
Reader’s theater scripts perfect for supporting Kindergarten learners. These reader’s theaters help Kindergarten students retell their favorite stories and get them excited about reading.
The beginning of a new school year is always exciting for students as well as educators–I still feel the thrill several years after I’ve left the public schools to start my private practice. Everything is fresh and new–paper, name tags, friends, teachers and backpacks.
Hi friends! I'd love to show you my favorite digraphs activities for first grade and kindergarten that you can use to teach those tricky dig...
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Well it sure has been awhile . . . what can I say, I have been enjoying the beautiful weather and relaxation that goes along with sweet, sweet summertime. Let's be honest though, I haven't been solely focused on relaxing (what teacher ever is during summer?), I've also been thinking a lot about next year. What do you do at the beginning of the year? What are your first day icebreakers? As a shy person, I really have a love/hate relationship with icebreakers and team-building activities. As a teacher I see the importance, but as a former shy (well . . . still shy) student I know how nerve-racking those activities can be for some students. The other thing I see is students just rushing around trying to get the job done. Have you ever used those "find a student" sheets. You know, "find a classmate that has brown hair" or "find a classmate that has a little brother." I use them too, but often the activity turns into a few of the *louder* perhaps more extroverted students racing around the room asking in ever increasing volume: "Do you have a brother? Do you HAVE a BROTHER? DOES ANYONE HAVE A BROTHER?" So this year, I wanted to try something different. Not too different, but just a *little* different. I wanted to get the students talking, not just asking yes or no questions, and I also wanted them to try and learn the names of their classmates, not just the names of their friends. Enter my "Getting to Know You . . ."Back to School Task Card Challenge. I've made 20 (+ 4 bonus) task card questions to post around the room. Students then choose 10 questions (I'm hoping to decrease the anxiety felt by some students, by allowing them choice in the questions they complete) to ask 10 different students. Students must record the task card number, name of student they asked and the student's answer. Since the answers are not yes or no questions, I'm hoping it will get the students talking, rather than racing from one student to the next as they search for a student that fits a category. If you're interested, please click the pictures above or {HERE}. Speaking of back to school, have you heard about the Back to School Sale at Teachers Pay Teachers? From August 4-5th, my entire store will be 20% off and if you use the code BTS14, you'll get additional savings! I have a some new decor packs available: As well as some back to school activities: You could get an entire year of math practice ready with these Daily Math Bundle Packs: Or Word Problem a Day Bundle Packs: Looking for a quick author or book study to get your students invested in their reading? Try one of these: And finally, just need some reading comprehension printables that can be used for any picture or chapter book? Try these: Isn't there something just so exciting thinking about the new school year? Maybe too much excitement . . . I think I better go enjoy some more sun before September rolls around!
Teaching kids to write strong beginnings to their personal narratives has always been challenging. And then I found this Uh-mazing anchor chart on Pinterest: Turns out it is from one of my favorite blogs! Stephanie at Third Grade Thoughts wrote about using her chart here. She wrote about it way back in March before I started following her. Thank you for posting exactly what I needed 7 months before I even needed it! I made my own copycat anchor chart. The first day I introduced the strategies, modeled with the story I had written in class recently, and then sent them off to practice three with the story they had just finished. The next day, we had a little fun with it. They got with a partner and wrote three leads for this small moment story: You are standing in line about to get on a GIGANTIC roller coaster. Here are some of my favorites: •The screams of the riders on the roller coaster filled my ears. •Screams filled the air. Suddenly, I was not so sure I wanted to get on the roller coaster. •Trembling with fear, I'm standing in line and hear the man say, "Next up." and my very favorite (from one of my reluctant writers, no less!) •"Step right up! This is the best and scariest ride you've ever been on!" shouted the announcer. Now our anchor chart is in a place of honor and I can expect a great lead for all of our personal narrative from here on out! Big thanks, Stephanie!
First Grade WOW, Windows on Wonder
Friday letters are a great way to connect with students in your classroom and build a solid classroom community. Get tips to implement today!
This free printable Marvel roll-a-story is a great way to get kids writing and using their imaginations with some of their favorite characters.
