This Language Arts Interactive Notebook is filled with over 30 pages of hands-on grammar activities for grades 4-8. Activities including everything from diagramming to figurative language.
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One of the things I do every year that really makes a difference in my students' learning is having them use notebooks to store notes, examples, work, and
Isn’t writing challenging to teach? I think so too! To help, I worked on incorporating some writing activities into my interactive notebook pages this year, Maybe this freebie will come in handy for you and your students! You can grab this writing freebie from my Second Grade Language Arts Interactive Notebook. It will help your kiddos ... Read More about Interactive Notebook Freebie – Writing
Find strategies for teaching ELA academic vocabulary with graphic organizers for students, a word wall, and engaging games from mixed-upfiles.com
Prefix, suffix, and root lesson using morphology notebooks Are you teaching prefixes, suffixes, and roots? I strive for a literacy-rich classroom. Developing morphological-rich awareness is a basic building block for reading comprehension, spelling, and even fluency. If a student can pronounce and know what a “tyrannosaurus rex,” they are more than capable of interpreting a […]
Establishing consistent accountability when using the workshop approach to teaching and learning may seem daunting at first. After all, your students are producing, and consuming an immense amount of content during workshop on a daily basis…far more than you can (and want) to grade. The good news is, you don’t have to grade every activity. I know what you’re thinking…”If I stop grading every single thing…there won’t be enough accountability.” The reality is, there are other far more efficient ways to establish accountability and boost meaningful student growth. One of these ways is routine student self-reflection. If you’re ready to bring more student reflection to your classroom, these tips can help you establish routines that maintain consistent accountability in your workshop classroom. Creating Rubrics Together A foundational rubric will help you and your students create a common language that can make ongoing assessment more meaningful and fluid in your classroom. Begin by pulling the rubric your district requires you to use, or write a rubric that communicates your parameters for each level of understanding in your classroom. Rewrite this rubric in your own student-friendly language so you can share these parameters with your class. Making a slide or poster for each level on your rubric so it is easier for students to digest may be helpful. Set aside time in your schedule each day to create a one-week series of work sessions when you and your students can rewrite the rubric again as a class using language that is actually produced by your students. You may opt to: Have all slides/posters on display simultaneously while students rotate to stations where they work in groups to make meaning of each level of understanding. Students can then write their interpretations on the slides/posters, which can be aggregated on the final day. Display one slide/poster each day and host a class conversation that facilitates meaning-making for each level of understanding. Record student ideas as you work toward a common, and final definition for each level of understanding. At the end of these series of work sessions, you and your students will have a rubric that is unpacked by them, rewritten by them, and ready to be used by them. Working together as a class to write a final rubric that will be adopted as the foundation makes conversations about assessments more meaningful and productive. Rubric Drawers Once your class rubric is created, you can make it easy for students to consistently reflect on their work by submitting any assignments to “rubric drawers” that are marked with the definitions for each level of understanding. This built-in practice of self-reflection builds students’ intrinsic motivation to reach higher and produce quality work. If you notice your students have a tendency to submit work to the “wrong” drawer, this signals they need a follow up lesson on the type of work quality required to achieve each level of understanding. Using exemplars (examples of each level of understanding from a particular subject area or activity) can help students build a stronger definition for what work quality looks like. As students build their ability to accurately assess themselves, you can also have them attach a short note of justification for their self-scoring. This will provide insight about any misconceptions they may have about their work or the rubric levels your class has written. If you want to track the score students give themselves on an activity, provide a special pen or stamp that allows them to mark their score before placing it in the drawer. In addition, you can have students submit work with the help of a partner. Once an activity is complete, a student can briefly confer with their assigned partner to get feedback, and make a decision about which drawer a piece should be submitted. This provides an additional layer of motivation for students to reach higher, as they know a peer will be reviewing their work quality. Reflection Letters Another routine that can boost student growth through self-assessment is the writing of reflection letters on a routine basis. Students thrive when they know they have an important role in their assessment process, and will be eager to read your response. Begin by creating a prompt that asks students to reflect specifically on different areas of the assignment that will support their goal setting and goal progress. Also direct students to refer to their rubric to self-assess, and provide justification for their assessment as part of their reflection process. This routine will remind students the importance of keeping the rubric in mind as they complete their work each week, which will foster stronger performance. Set aside time to read these reflection letters and write brief responses which may include your own score using the same rubric, and comments that support your scoring. This written dialogue further emphasizes the value you place on student work and growth. If you find the need to differentiate this letter writing process to support the unique needs of students in your classroom. Here are some differentiation ideas: Have students dictate as you record their reflection. Have students circle their score on a rubric and mark evidence with color-coding or sticky notes. Provide sentence frames to scaffold independence. Self Assessment & Reflection In Your Classroom Ready to give self-reflection a try in your own classroom? Here are a few editable tools to help you get started. Once you’ve established student self-reflection routines in your classroom, stop by and share your experience. I look forward to hearing about the growth your students make, and the freedom you feel from teaching in a workshop classroom where accountability and engagement are off the charts.
Engage your students in great lessons using these videos for teaching figurative language! Check out the Top 5 here and save time searching!
Prefix, suffix, and root lesson using morphology notebooks Are you teaching prefixes, suffixes, and roots? I strive for a literacy-rich classroom. Developing morphological-rich awareness is a basic building block for reading comprehension, spelling, and even fluency. If a student can pronounce and know what a “tyrannosaurus rex,” they are more than capable of interpreting a […]
Blueberries for Sal Unit Study with printables for math, language, science and more! For early learners, preschool to 2nd grade.
Find ideas for teaching middle school with these full year lesson plans for middle school ELA.
Free reading sorts for grades 4-5 with idea for implementation! These make perfect reading centers, stations, and independent practice reading activiites.
This summer, after attending a reading workshop, I've made it my goal to amp up and improve my guided reading and shared reading instruction. With this in
Looking for resources for language teachers? Find fun lessons, ideas, and activities for teaching preschool and elementary Spanish.
Use these note-taking wheel templates for a wide variety of topics and subject areas. The wheel templates also make great graphic organizers for so many concepts - check out the list below for just a few ideas. As mentioned, one popular use is as a note-taking wheel. What is a note-taking wheel (for math or ELA or science or social studies, etc.)? A note-taking wheel is a type of graphic organizer where students can: Take notes inside the wheel Use color, drawing, and doodling to help create memory triggers Complete practice in the pattern around the wheel, and Color the background pattern Students can keep these graphic organizers in their interactive notebooks all year as a resource/study tool. Wheels are excellent for reviewing concepts as part of your test prep. You can also use them to create intervention materials. You can even enlarge the wheels and use them as posters or anchor charts! This resource is a PowerPoint document with 32 pages of graphic organizers/ wheel templates: 8 different backgrounds Each background has 4 different wheel versions (wheels are divided into 8, 6, 5, and 4 sections) The wheel templates can be used in any subject area and for many purposes: As graphic organizers for any topic or project Main idea and key details Sequencing Memory wheels Define and illustrate vocabulary terms For character traits To teach stems For reading comprehension questions As a research graphic organizer For story elements For book reports projects As 'wheels of choice' AND more - check out the feedback below to learn about the different ways teachers are using these templates! The patterned backgrounds can be used just for coloring, or you can add more notes, practice problems, etc. in those sections. The slides are editable, with the wheel/background as a fixed background, so you can add text, shapes, SmartArt, etc. **Not for commercial use. What teachers are saying about these note-taking templates/graphic organizers: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"I LOVE these wheels and so do my students, I have used them as note-taking, and as a test review. My 6/7's told me they found it an excellent way to study for a test. Thanks for this!" ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"Love, Love, Love this resource! It is a great template to make my own notes for students. Sometimes kids just need something fun to do while taking notes. It works especially well for topics that are to the point without a lot of nuances.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️"I used this resource w/ a 7th grade group. Students picked Character traits to describe the characters in our story and then used evidence to support those traits chosen! This product is very versatile & I like all of the different wheel choices!" ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️“I love these word wheels for teaching stems. They really do help make connections between the prefix, root, or suffix and the word." Related Resources: Memory Wheel Templates (no background) Graphic Organizers/Templates (Rectangular and Square) Make Your Own Color by Answer (#2) - For Any Subject Truth or Dare Review Math Game Template Math Talk Wheel ********************************************************************* You might also like: Math Wheels ELA Wheels 6th Grade Daily Spiral Review Math Warm Ups Fold It Ups and Notes for Math Concept Footloose Math! 6th Grade Bundle Footloose Math MEGA Bundle - 1080 FL Cards ********************************************************************* Please keep in touch by following me, to be notified when new resources are uploaded! Resources are typically 1/2 off for the first 24 hours, so it pays to follow! ********************************************************************* Connect with Me: Check out my Blog Follow me on Facebook Follow me on Pinterest Follow me on Instagram Click HERE if you'd like to get freebies from me sent to your inbox. ********************************************************************* Copyright © Cognitive Cardio Math Permission to copy for single classroom use only. Please purchase additional licenses if you intend to share this resource.
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I have received several emails about HOW to set up my interactive notebooks. This is a very personal decision, but I want to share how I do it with my kiddos. When you purchase one of my interactive notebooks, there are directions of how to personalize and set up the notebooks to work for you, as well as pictures of what it can look like as a finish product. I use 70 page wide ruled spiral notebooks for my journals. The pages fit perfectly in them. Many teachers prefer composition books. Either one works. If you choose to use composition books, you will need to print the pages at a reduced rate before you make a class set to fit into the books. Use what works best for you and your students. Each of my interactive notebooks also comes with strand tabs and strand covers for each of the areas the notebook covers. I like to copy the strand tabs on different colored Astrobright paper. This helps the students easily identify the strand we are working on. Since I am a control freak organized person, I set up my student notebooks with the strand tabs ahead of time. This is actually a very hard thing for first through third graders to do and leaves A LOT of room for error. I tried having my own fifth grade son help me, and it was a frustrating task for him. So, I recruited my mom to help me instead. I prefer to use the front and back of the notebook pages and add several extra pages to each section for any mistakes that my occur when they are used by the students. I count the number of activities in each strand and then add about 5 extra pages. Then, I have the STUDENTS color and glue the strand cover on top of the tab for reinforcement. Other people have laminated the tabs and stapled them into the notebooks instead of gluing them. Both work beautifully. Finally, I glue the notebook cover (included) to the front of the notebook. I use clear packing tape to reinforce the top and bottom of the cover too. Some people like to laminate the covers and then tape them, as well. Storage Suggestions: I have my students store their notebooks in their own desk. This does not work for everyone. I have not found it to be a problem so far. The tabs get bent through the year, but that will happen anyway, so it does not bother me that much. I have also used table bins or baskets to store them in. Experiment and see what works for your class. Loose Pieces: As we all know, students work at different paces. This can be frustrating and challenging to manage when some students have small pieces cut out, but not glued yet. I have tried to design many of my notebook pages to NOT have many little pieces for this very reason. However, sometimes it is unavoidable. In previous years, I had the kids put the pieces on top of the page they were working on before they closed their notebook. This was not full proof by any means. This year, I am going to glue a small manila envelope to the inside of the back cover of the notebook. Erin Cobb, from Lovin' Lit, shared this idea on her blog. I think it is simply brilliant and will solve my problem easily. I hope these tips and tricks help you get your interactive notebooks set up with ease. Enjoy!
As teachers begin planning for back to school, I see an abundance of creative classrooms filling my Instagram and Pinterest feeds. I love seeing how other
My favorite school days are the ones that find us in a bit of a routine, when my middle school students are to the point where they are energized and enthusiastic while knowing procedures and classroom expectations. One project that has exemplified this glorious balance has been our reader's notebooks.
Many English words have roots derived from Greek and Latin, and understanding these roots helps students deduce meanings and make connections between words. It enhances vocabulary acquisition, supp…
Prefix, suffix, and root lesson using morphology notebooks Are you teaching prefixes, suffixes, and roots? I strive for a literacy-rich classroom. Developing morphological-rich awareness is a basic building block for reading comprehension, spelling, and even fluency. If a student can pronounce and know what a “tyrannosaurus rex,” they are more than capable of interpreting a […]
We cover multiple subjects other than handwriting with the Draw Write Now books each day. If you believe children need to be at a desk for 7 hours than you will definitely want to stop reading. I strongly believe in teaching as many subjects together as a group and covering
Hi Friends…. The past two weeks we have been working on Prefixes and Suffixes in our second-grade classroom! My kiddos were having such a good time brainstorming words with prefixes and then figuring out the meaning. They really had a strong grasp of the concept… I was pretty impressed. After our whole … Prefixes, Suffixes and a FREEBIE Just for YOU! Read More »
Unsure of how to teach inference? These fun and engaging inferencing activities for middle school will excite your students!
Do you need parts of speech posters for your classroom? This post has several classroom décor resources to help teachers prepare an engaging learning environment.
This post explains how teachers can use an academic version of the highly engaging Spoons game to review concepts. Free games included!
This year, I decided to teach this skill over a few days at the beginning of the year. I've never taught it like this before. I usually wait until I move into nonfiction and argument writing and then I mention the difference in the three, but I never teach it as its own lesson. However, this year I thought maybe knowing how to do each of these early on would help as we start working on answering open-ended questions. I was inspired by this post over at The Creative Apple. I loved her anchor chart, which I believe she borrowed from this blog. Wanting to have an interactive page for our ISNs, I turned the anchor chart into this interactive folding page! {You can get it FREE right HERE!} They looked like this in our notebooks: Which open and look like this: Next, I had the kids read some short articles (I used some old Time for Kids magazines) and answer some simple, "right there" questions using either a quote, summary, or paraphrase to support their thinking. I am hoping that teaching this strategy early on will pay off. Often, I have students (usually my struggling learners) who will copy an entire paragraph from a text because they think they are supporting their answer. Typically, they don't use transitions and their answers come out disjointed and confusing and LONG! Do you teach this skill as its own lesson? How's it work for you? Happy Teaching!!
With so many of my BIG KIDS struggling with fluency, I worked to make it a part of my daily work with students, a Tier 1 intervention that the majority of the class could benefit from. Reading fluency incorporates three main components: speed, accuracy, and prosody, which directly impact comprehension. While I have shared a great deal about incorporating 6-Minute Solutions, here are a few other ways I worked to make fluency fun for my 6th graders.
Students will love practicing important reading skills and strategies with these free reading comprehension worksheets. Just PRINT & GO!
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Get your students excited about language review with these FREE grammar activities for 3rd grade! Hands-on, collaborative, & fun ELA review!
I have been using interactive math notebooks in my classroom for as long as I can remember. Math notebooks are a great place for students to take notes, record definitions and sample problems, and practice new skills. They are perfect to use for direct instruction and guided practice, in small groups or as a whole class.…
transformations, translations, reflections, rotations, dilations, transformations worksheet, transformations activity, transformations foldable
Hi Friends…. The past two weeks we have been working on Prefixes and Suffixes in our second-grade classroom! My kiddos were having such a good time brainstorming words with prefixes and then figuring out the meaning. They really had a strong grasp of the concept… I was pretty impressed. After our whole … Prefixes, Suffixes and a FREEBIE Just for YOU! Read More »
Grammar Comics! is the fun and easy way to help students grasp the basics of grammar and usage. For many kids, grammar is a difficult subject, one that is not particularly interesting, perhaps a bit difficult, and not immediately useful. "A sneaky way to get students to learn. Thank you! They love it! 4 stars for qual
These affixes are organized in 25 units (2-4 affixes per unit); these units correspond to the units in All About Affixes Practice Printables. You do not need to have the Practice Printables to use these sketch notes, but if you are looking for more structured word work for your students, you can learn more about it HERE.
Unlock the power of the past with this comprehensive biography brochure! This high-quality resource is a fun way for your students to research famous people. This brochure is a reusable and editable template, and students can add pictures and text either on the computer or by hand. Your students will love sharing their creations during their nonfiction reading study. I have included Google Slides templates for those who want to use Google Apps to complete the activity. ACTIVITIES INCLUDED... Title Cover and opening statement about the famous person Early Life Education Family Hardships/Obstacles Important Events Quotes Achievements Interesting Facts Character Traits Teachers love this activity because it is LOW PREP and NO HASSLE. TEACHERS LIKE YOU HAVE SAID... ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "I love that these can be used both digitally, as well as hard copy. The slides were easy for my students to manipulate and add their own text. They look very nice when they're finished." ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ " This resource made learning more about biographies and different influential people more engaging for my students." ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ "This is a great resource to use when using a Biography Unit with your students. I used with when my students read Who Was books and then completed the information." ******************************************************************* YOU MAY ALSO LIKE… → Biography - Famous Americans - Text Features and Lapbook → Biography Book Report - Digital Editable - Google Slides™ → Inventor Biographies - Famous Inventors Reading Passage - Graphic Organizers ******************************************************************* Copyright © Sweet Integrations. All rights reserved by the author. Permission to copy for one classroom only. You can purchase additional licenses if more than one classroom uses the product. © 2015 Google and the Google Apps are registered trademarks of Google Inc. ******************************************************************* Follow Me for sales, product launches, and FREE resources. ******************************************************************* Drop by my blog, Sweet Integrations for more ideas for your classroom!
The pencils are sharpened, your classroom is clean and the bell rings…gulp…here they come! My feelings on the first week of school are conflicted. On one hand, it’s one of the most important weeks. Explaining and practicing the class procedures and expectations sets the tone for the rest of the school year. Success is vital. On the other hand, I’m so excited to start teaching my historical content that waiting until all the expectations are explained requires a lot of patience! Every teacher has their own plan of action for that pivotal time. Here are 5 things I can’t live without during the first week of school: One: An Icebreaker. I aim to try and make kids feel comfortable in my classroom on day one. One of my favorite little activities is Fact or Fiction. Each student receives a small slip of paper and they’re instructed to write one fact and two fictions. Then each person (including myself!) introduces themselves and we all try to guess which statement is the fact! It’s a great way to quickly learn about each other. Two: Classroom Information and Expectations. This is every teacher’s staple, I know, but it had to go on the list because it’s a must-have! When you’re making your own, spell everything out – from the obvious grading procedures and late work policy to how to pass back papers and when to sharpen pencils and go to the bathroom. Trust me, leave no stone unturned. Your classroom will function much better if you set the tone from day one. (Oh, and don’t forget a seating chart!) Three: Fun and Games. On the second day of school, I love to start class with a little game. It’s a great way for the kids to start practicing our classroom procedures and expectations while getting familiar with their teacher and classmates. Here are some of my favorite games that I use during the first week of school: (P.S. Some of these activities can be found in my Back to School Activities resources! Click the grade level you’re teaching to check them out: Sixth, Seventh, Eighth) InstaFriend: This activity gets students moving around the room and interviewing fellow classmates! Their InstaFriend paper has a series of descriptions and characteristics. When they find a student who matches the description, they write their name in the box. Each name can only be used once! Right or Wrong: I love skits. LOVE THEM. I like to introduce students to the idea of skits during the first week by allowing them to create their own based on our class expectations. I first divide students into small groups of 2-3. Each group then randomly receives one of our class procedures or expectations. As a group, they have to work together to create two mini skits – one showing the RIGHT way to follow the expectation, the other showing the WRONG way. They get to be silly and I get to reinforce my class expectations. After each skit I happily point out all the positive behaviors as well as each time a class policy was violated. It’s a light-hearted way to grab their attention and create a positive atmosphere all while practicing the laws of the land. Classmate Bingo: I love to play this game at the end of the first week. I give each student a blank bingo board with a large selection of personal characteristics, hobbies, etc. at the bottom. The students choose 16 off the list and create their customized board. Then, I randomly select characteristics from the list. If a student has that characteristic on their board, they have to write down a student’s name that matches the characteristic – but no cheating! They have to use what they’ve learned about others during their first week of school to try and win the game. Four: A Pre Test. After a few days of class information and fun, it’s time to start getting down to business. Each year, I make a short pre-test on the information they’ll learn about that year. It gives me a chance to see what the kids already know and gives them a feel for what subject matter they’ll be learning about in the coming weeks. FYI: Your pre-test probably won’t take the whole class period. Make sure to have plans for other activities, too, on the day you give your pre-test! Five: A Writing Activity. True fact: when I tell kids they’re going to do a writing activity, they groan every time. It’s a signal that the “real work” is about to begin. Luckily, they’re always relieved when I assure them that this activity will require very little research because it’s about a subject they’re experts in – themselves! I have a few different activities to choose from each year. Here are some suggestions: Student Survey: What are your strengths? Weaknesses? What do you hope to learn in this class? These are just some of the questions I ask students in the survey. The more I know about my students, the better I can help them achieve success in my class. Write Away: A staple of many: write a letter to a future you! I ask students to write goals for the year, dreams they wish to see realized, and questions they want to ask their “End of the Year” self. I tuck these letters away and revisit them during the last week of school. I’m Ready: Like every middle school history class, we do a lot of writing and students always have to back up their reasons, statements, etc. with evidence to support their claim. In this writing activity, students have to identify which class rule or expectation they believe is most important and provide evidence to support their claim. This activity both reinforces my classroom policies and secretly gives me a preview of their writing proficiency. Have I left anything out? If you have any fun plans for the first week of school, share them in the comments. I’m always looking for new ideas for my classroom!
When it comes to history and science in the elementary and middle school years, nothing has quite matched the success of unit studies in our homeschool.
Grade Levels 1st - 3rd Subjects English Language Arts, Creative Writing, Engineering Resource Type Activities, Fun Stuff, Printables Formats Included PDF Pages 53 pages
