This is a group project that covers many ELA standards! Students will research a non-fiction topic within a news category, write a segment for their part, create a broadcast script, make visuals and signs, and perform their broadcast with their group. This project can take several class periods and ...
2D St. Patrick's Day Shapes Leprechaun Look and Find Worksheet for Prek,K1st2ndGet into the Holiday with our St. Patrick's Day Shapes Leprechaun Theme Look And Find Counting Coloring Worksheet! Perfect for Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd graders, this engaging activity combines counting and colori...
Today was Presidents Day. Unlike some lucky teachers who got to stay home, I had to go to work today. We had a full day of workshops. On ...
This past week we launched our writer’s workshop lessons! I use my writer’s workshop units throughout the year, but before we dive into small moments we talk about what Writer’s Workshop looks like in our first grade classroom. This poster is hanging in our classroom and we go through each of these bullet points throughout […]
Tons of opinion writing activities and templates
To view all of the fun filled learning ideas and activities that we did from my Dinosaurs Unit click HERE to see our charts, pictures and activities.
Strategies and lessons teaching descriptive writing in middle and high school English classes
Bundle 9 Planets Sun Moon PowerPoint Lesson Slide Quiz for 1st,2nd,3rdExplore the wonders of the solar system with our Sun, Moon, and 9 Planets PowerPoint Lesson Slide Quiz Bundle designed for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. Whether used in the classroom or for homeschooling, this PowerPoint bundle is ...
A writer has been born in our house and I contribute it to the fact that we have been writing every single day in our Daily Journals! I recently finished
Help your 1st graders master number sense with these interactive Boom Cards! Students practice identifying 10 more, 10 less, 1 more, and 1 less in a fun, self-checking game. Perfect for math centers, early finishers, or independent practice. These digital task cards keep students engaged while building essential math skills. No prep—just assign and go! Try them today!
Do you do writing workshop with your students? Long before I expect students to write stories, we spend a lot of time discussing stories. For example, every time we read a story, we … *name the author and illustrator *find words to describe the characters and talk about who they might remind us of *talk about […]
I blow this rubric up into poster size and have a discussion with my class about how I grade their writing and that they should always challenge themselves to try and get a 4!
When you want your students to write more, motivation is half the battle. Giving kids a real purpose and a real audience for writing can make a big difference in their desire to write! In today’s post, I’ll describe 10 engaging persuasive / opinion writing projects that you can use to motivate your students. At the beginning of each of my writing units, I tell students about our final project, why we are doing it, and who we will be writing for. This generates excitement and creates a sense of urgency! Here are 10 persuasive / opinion writing projects I’ve used to motivate my students: – “All About Me” book – This is more opinion writing than persuasive, but kids can make a book of their “favorites” (food, toy, activity at school, restaurant, recess activity, game, TV show, etc.). They give at least one reason to explain each favorite. Then, place the books in the classroom library – the kids will love reading about each other! – New student book – Have your students make a class book for students who move into the area from out of town. Each child can write a page about a different topic (or a few different students can write about the same topic). The topic of the book could be “Important Places”, and each student can make a page about an important place in the community. On the page, they would name an important place (i.e. library, water park, pool), describe it, and give reasons to explain why it is an important location in the community. Place the book in the school office so new students have something to read while their parents fill out registration paperwork. – Recess activities letter – Have students write a letter to a friend in the class or school. In the letter, the child can name an activity at recess and explain why the friend should try it. Kids can get into a “recess rut,” doing the same thing at recess day after day, so this can be a fun way to motivate them to try something new! Have kids deliver the letters and then invite their friends to try out the activity with them at recess. – Reviews – The possibilities are endless here! Kids can write book reviews, and then you can feature a few at a time in the classroom library to encourage kids to try out new books. Other possible topics include favorite restaurants, foods, video games, board games, TV shows, movies, sports, toys, and music. Make sure that you find a real audience for their reviews, such as other students in the school, administrators, community members, etc. – Debate notes – Have students engage in simple debates, like, “Should kids watch TV on school nights?” In order to prepare for their debates, they will have to write persuasive papers about their opinions and reasons. You can have them put different reasons on notecards and form teams to work together during the debate. I would probably only do this one with 2nd grade and up. – Book awards – If you teach a traits-based writing program, your students might already be familiar with concepts like “word choice” and “ideas.” Turn this into a book awards project. Students can give books prizes for “wonderful word choice,” “detailed descriptions,” or other categories of your choice. They can each present one award and show off the book as the rest of the class listens. – “Dear Mom and Dad” letter – Students can select something they want to see changed in their household and write to their parents to explain why they think the change should take place. Encourage students to think beyond the typical “later bedtime” or “buy me a new toy” topics. Maybe they wish their family ate dinner together more often? Perhaps they would like to have a family game night? Maybe they want more “say” in decorating the home? Help your students think outside the box here, and then have them hand-deliver or even mail their letters. – “Dear Teacher” letter – Similar to the “Dear Mom and Dad” letter, kids can select something in the classroom that they would like to see changed and write to you to share their opinion and reasons. They will be delighted when you write them back a letter in response! – “Dear Principal” letter – Similar to the above. Encourage kids to think about a problem in the school that might be solved, and to write to the principal to share their ideas. My principal wrote back to my kids, and they were thrilled! – “Dear Community Leader” letter – Similar to the above. Have kids think about problems in the community and improvements/changes that they might like to see. Your students will probably need your help to find audiences for their letters. Many of my kids chose topics like, “people need to slow down in neighborhoods,” so I had to look on the town webpage and find names and addresses for people who were in charge of things like road signs/transportation. If you are lucky, some of the community leaders might write them back! Most of these projects are included in my persuasive writing units for K, 1st, and 2nd. The lesson plans are already done for you, and supplementary materials (the ones pictured in this post) are included! For a list of persuasive mentor text suggestions, check out this post. Happy teaching!
Yes. Narrative writing....again.....well, personal narratives! :) Here are our "ouch stories": We started with this a...
This post is sponsored by Studentreasures. One of my dreams is to have a book published someday. I love to share those dreams wi...
Browse over 270 educational resources created by A Cupcake for the Teacher in the official Teachers Pay Teachers store.
Hi Y'all! So I spent the majority of yesterday and this morning creating 2 more products for my TPT store . I also revised 2 previous prod...
Happy almost Friday! We are wrapping up our nonfiction read on frogs this week and oh my did we have a blast! When I say we I mean me too! Every close read I feel like I learn even more then the kiddos! There is nothing more exciting to see my kiddos SO excited about something!...
EFL books for kids. 1. Kid’s box New Generation; 2. Power up; 3. Cambridge Primary Path. Учебники по работе с детьми английский язык от Cambridge Press.
Fab 5 for Writing! Anchor Charts and Student Rubric
