Kids need to talk to learn. These structured discussion techniques are fun and mix things up from the usual think-pair-share tactic.
Today I thought I’d share a strategy I use to help my students communicate their thinking during the inquiry process. See, Think, Wonder is a thinking routine I use with my students to help t…
Reading comprehension strategies for all types of learners. Encourage and
This little gem was just delivered this morning and I am already in love!! This newest addition to the Wonder collection is a picture book called We’re All Wonders by R.J. Palacio, featuring everybody’s favorite inspirational 5th grader. I can hardly wait to share this with my own 5th grade class after Spring Break!! This post…
Paper Bag Dramatics: A fun activity for Team Building and Developing Community. Here's an idea that can be used just about anywhere at any time. It encourages groups to solve problems, think creatively, and work as a team.
Think-Pair-Share does not have to be the only strategy that you use in your classroom to engage students and assess them! Check out these 3 strategies!
Developing strong morphology knowledge and skills can help our readers become stronger and have deeper comprehension. Learn how here!
Assessing student learning is often boring, but this post describes creative and fun ways to assess student learning - especially for formative assessment!
This past school year, I considered moving away from my clip chart to using Class Dojo. I think what attracted me to it was the fact that it was instantaneous feedback based on student behavior. The kids in my class all had super cute avatars. Each time they did something well, I could give points...Read More »
In need of some inspiration? Here are 16 Rumi quotes about life to give you comfort, motivation, and encouragement.
Do you use rubrics for self-assessment with your students? I developed this rubric based on others I had seen online. I wanted to get my students thinking more about their artwork and writing a few sentences in reflection. We haven’t done much writing in art class before, so I didn’t want to overwhelm them. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions for my rubric? (Does everything sound right, but also easy enough for little kids to understand?) … Read more... →
Integrating art and content in the ELA classroom. Tips and resources.
Informative writing can be tricky in first grade, but this all about book is the perfect way for students to research their own animal and publish a book
A blog about reading and writing, and sharing ideas about literacy and RTI for your classroom/ reading, writing, & RTI resources
If you're looking for Thanksgiving lessons that require students to think, create, and share, then you're in the right place. I'm rounding up my favorite ways to celebrate Thanksgiving in the classroom. These Thanksgiving activities are designed to honor the holiday while teaching students critical listening, speaking, reading, and/or writing skills. In other words, no fluff! Your students will love these engaging Thanksgiving lessons, and you'll love that they're already planned for you. Here's a quick overview of my favorites: --- Thanksgiving Doodle Poster and Gratitude Leaf Project --- FREE Listening Comprehension Activity --- 5 Reading Comprehension Learning Stations --- Thank You Note Writing and Pockets --- Parts of Speech Pop Art Turkey Lesson --- Autumn Poetry Analysis Flipbooks --- Reading Comprehension Passage THANKSGIVING DOODLE & DO Celebrate Thanksgiving in a meaningful and engaging way! This resource includes two activities. One activity is a Fact Hunt and Thanksgiving Doodle Infographic Poster. The other activity is an expandable gratitude leaf project. With these activities, students will learn about the history of Thanksgiving, interesting facts about the day, and make connections to the holiday. They’ll create a doodle infographic filled with facts and a gratitude project. Check it out here. LISTENING COMPRHENSION ACTIVITY In this FREE lesson, students will practice the critical skill of listening comprehension while learning about the origin of Thanksgiving as a national holiday. After a mini-lesson on what to listen for and how to take notes, students will listen to a passage about Sarah Josepha Hale two times. They’ll take notes during both readings. Then, they’ll answer questions based on their passage. Finally, they’ll create a festive piece of turkey pop art with designs and shapes based on the answers to the comprehension questions. This activity is a perfect way to celebrate the holiday, keep students learning, and integrate art created by Art with Jenny K. into your instruction. Download it for FREE here. READING COMPREHENSION LEARNING STATIONS These Thanksgiving-themed reading comprehension centers or stations are not only designed to give students meaningful opportunities to practice reading, they’re also incredibly fun and engaging! This Thanksgiving Centers resource contains activities and lessons for 5 learning centers. Each center is designed to give students engaging and exciting learning experiences to practice, enrich, reteach, and enhance their learning. Working independently and with their small groups, student will have the opportunity to develop multiple reading comprehension skills. Great News! The reading centers are also available as a Google Slides resource for students. Find learning stations for grades 4-5 here and grades 6-8 here. THANK YOU NOTE WRITING Celebrate the spirit of gratitude and thanks with this Thank You Note Writing mini-unit. This resource is all about gratitude! You’ll find resources to help your students craft a thoughtful and meaningful thank you note and create a fun Thank You Note Pocket. First, students will learn about the critical elements of thank you notes. Then, they’ll complete a brainstorm, pre-write, and rough draft before they write a final copy of their thank you notes. Finally, they’ll create a Thank You Note Pocket to place their note inside. This resource includes two sets of writing materials. One set is for students in grades 1-3 and the other set is for students in grades 4 and beyond. Learn more here. THANKSGIVING PARTS OF SPEECH Make grammar especially fun on Thanksgiving with this Parts of Speech Pop Art lesson. Students will learn all about turkeys as they identify different parts of speech. Then, they'll turn their answers into art with the pop art turkey coloring page. Your students will love this fun and creative lesson that Art with Jenny K. and I collaborated to make. Oh, and the resource includes 11 MORE Pop Art parts of speech activities to use all year long. Click here to learn more. AUTUMN POETRY ANALYSIS Celebrate the autumn season with five autumn poem studies in this hands-on and engaging 5-day poetry analysis unit. Each fall poem study includes a 5-page interactive flip book that helps students deeply understand the poem. As students progress through the analysis tasks on each page of their flip books they not only dive deeper into the text, but they also develop an appreciation for closely reading poetry. Your students will love the interactive flip books and you’ll love how engaged students are while analyzing poetry. Digital versions included. See them all here. READING COMPREHENSION PASSAGE Here's another fun way to celebrate Thanksgiving in the classroom. Have students read about the Great Turkey Pardon as they practice summarizing skills. Then, watch their learning come alive as they turn their answers into bold art work. Students will literally put the ART into English Language Arts (just the way Art with Jenny K. and I like it.) Check out this differentiated set of reading passages perfect for Thanksgiving (and any time of the year) right here. -------------------------------------- Well, there you have it...my favorite lessons to celebrate Thanksgiving in the classroom. I hope you found some that your students will love. Don't forget to grab this FREE Thanksgiving Listening passage. Wishing you a wonderful holiday! Mary Beth
Use these engaging while-reading activities: suggestopedic reading-aloud, vocabulary notebook and word wall, think-pair-share and more!
If you think I have the answers here, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I'm far from having any answers.
VERSES: Luke 12:16-21 MEMORY VERSE: Luke 12:21 "So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." BOOK TO REMEMBER: James. Write "James" on small slips of paper for the students to take home and memorize another book of the New Testament. Practice saying all the books of the New Testament together as a class or sing the song, The Books Of The New Testament, found under March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #3 as review. PRAYER: Pray that we will always put God first in our lives and place everything else below Him. SPECIAL SONG: Jesus Taught By Parable And Miracle (see March - Songs We Sing In Bible Class #4 on this blog. Click on orange circle to hear tune.) VISUAL AID: Make a large Activity like the one below under Activity. LESSON POINTS: As Jesus daily walked around Galilee, Judea, and Jerusalem, there were always a crowd of people who gathered around Him. Perhaps they were waiting for Him to perform a miracle and they wanted to see Him make a lame person walk, maybe they had heard about Jesus and were curious to see what He looked like, or maybe they wanted to hear what He had to say. Whatever their reasons, the people followed Jesus as He visited their towns. Sometimes there were just a few people following, but many times, there were great crowds of people. Because microphones and speakers had not been invented yet, the people had to be quiet and listen closely and remember what Jesus had said because there were no tape recorders or smart phones to record what He was saying. No, the people--all the people--listened quietly to Jesus as He spoke. When Jesus preached to the people, sometimes He said exactly what the people should do. He commanded them like He did when He taught on the Sermon on the Mount. Sometimes He would heal someone who everyone in the town knew to get their attention, then He would teach the people. Sometimes He told the people stories or parables to paint a picture in the people's minds, so they could remember the lesson and also understand the lesson. One thing remained true: Jesus always taught by His example. He lived what He taught. In the lesson today, Jesus taught a parable about a very rich man who forgot something. Jesus taught the people lessons by talking about something they knew, like farming for example, then he would apply the lesson to something spiritual. He told the story about a man who farmed land and his land grew a great amount of fruit. We don't know what kind of fruit it was, but there was a lot of it and the rich man put it in barns. God had blessed the man's land so much that the man began thinking about what he would do with all the fruit. He thought to himself, "What will I do? I have so much fruit that I don't have enough room for it all. I know! I will tear down all of my barns and I will build much larger barns and then I will put all of my fruit inside. I will say to myself--I have much fruit stored up for many years, so I will eat, drink, and be merry." BUT...the rich man forgot something! He forgot God and he forgot that he was going to die. God said to the rich man, "You fool! Tonight your soul is required of you! Then who will own all those things that you have stored up?" At the end of the parable, Jesus said, "Someone who stores up treasures on this earth and is not rich towards God is just like that rich fool." Jesus did not want us to be like that rich man who forgot God. He wanted us to always put God first in our lives, then God would always give us everything we need. (Matthew 6:12). What does that mean, "Put God first?" That's right! It means to always do spiritual things before we do the earthly things. First, we go to Bible class, then we can play soccer or go to the mountains. It means that whatever we do in life--get a job, play sports, etc.--we need to put God above those things. "Older Student" Tips: Discuss what a 'fool' is. Someone who is not smart. Talk about how smart Jesus was to tell parables about the things that the people knew: farming, cleaning house, finding a treasure, losing a sheep, etc. The people He taught could understand what the meaning was to His lessons. Have everyone open their Bibles to Luke 12:16-19 and count how many times the rich man said the words, "I" or "my". Then, count how many times he said anything about helping others or giving back to God. ACTIVITY: Parable of the Rich Fool Materials needed: 6" x 9" red construction paper, 5" x 12" light brown construction paper, 4.5" x 8" dark brown construction paper, 3" x 3" dark brown construction paper, glue, scissors, marker, crayons. Hand out light brown paper. This is the roof. Cut edges off two short sides of light brown paper to resemble a roof. Hand out red paper. This is the barn. Glue top edge of red barn. Place the bottom of the roof on top of the barn. Hand out dark brown paper. This is the barn door. Cut in half. Fold one edge of each dark brown square. Glue only the small folded edge. Place glued edges of two barn doors away from each other on top of the red barn. The doors should open. Hand out small dark brown paper. This is the hayloft. Cut in half. Fold one edge of each small dark brown square. Glue only the small folded edge. Place glued edges of two hayloft doors away from each other on top of the roof. The doors should open. Write "The Rich Fool" and "Luke 12:16-21" on top of the roof. Open large barn doors. Inside the large barn doors on the red barn, write "The rich fool said, 'I will build greater barns...I will eat, drink, and be merry.' But..." Open small brown doors of the hayloft. Write "...but he forgot God." On both sides of each of the barn doors, make a large "X". On the small hayloft doors, make black or brown lines to resemble wood. On the roof, make lines to resemble a roof. Before leaving class, have the students read what it says inside all doors.
Looking for a way to have students share their reading thinking from The Recess Queen in a digital way? This resource is for you! A set of Google Slides for story elements, main idea, author's message, and retelling that are activities for students to practice. Use whole group or assign individually. ** These are Google Slides! Please do not purchase if you do not have access to Google Apps. Earn FREE credits to spend on TpT! Leave this product a review after you purchase. It’s a win-win! We appreciate the feedback and you earn credits to spend on future TpT purchases!!
Looking for a way to have students share their reading thinking from We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom in a digital way? This resource is for you! A set of Google Slides for story elements, main idea, author's message, and retelling that are activities for students to practice. Use whole g...
Using animated shorts to teach ELA skills can be a fun way to engage students and practice skills in a way that allows students to see how another medium uses
This week I introduced visualizing to my little ones with a super easy and powerful lesson! Visualizing is such an important comprehension standard in primary grades! As our students delve […]
I am SO EXCITED to share this one with you! I came across a few elementary school blogs about a center game called KABOOM. Something just clicked–why couldn’t this work for rhetorical …
Goal Setting - This 4th grade teacher uses post it notes to remind children of their goals upon entering the classroom. I love that her method to this has
Though close reading may seem like a buzz word, it's not a fancy, newfangled strategy. If your students are rereading a text to gain better understand and deeper meaning, they are doing a close reading. This #2ndaryELA Twitter chat was all about teaching close reading and text annotation. Middle school and high school English Language Arts teachers discussed how they define close reading. Teachers also shared how they select the texts they use for close reading and annotation. Read through the chat for ideas to implement in your own classroom.
Setting Up a Reading Program (Year 3-Year 8) When I studied teaching at University, one of the things I was most surprised with was the lack of
Anyone who knows me, reads this blog, or uses my resources knows that I am passionate about differentiation. I think that is because I grew ...
A few years ago, the staff at my school began learning about inquiry research. We used the book, Comprehension & Collaboration: Inqu...
Leadership “Whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a randsom for many.” – Matthew 20:27-28 Teaching leadership to kids is something that can begin happening at a young age. We want...Read More
A blog post sharing information about why Contraction Surgery is a success in classrooms! Hands-on information is shared. #ContractionSurgery
Try this engaging way to build reading comprehension in grades 3 through 5!
Kindness is an important social skill the plays a huge role in creating a positive learning environment for all. When we have kinder students, kids are better able to work together, share, express differing opinions in respectful ways, and help each other when someone is in need. To help teach a
Click on the video to see the clips for the lesson. "English teacher friend Sarah Oleyourryk just shared a fun lesson to reinforce figurative language." "The video contains clips that have been updated in 2017 (the clips are not necessarily from 2017). Teachers: pause the video on the red screens and give students a chance to discuss (if in partners) or think (if working individually) and write down the type of figurative language it is an example of."
Howdy! Jen Bradshaw here from Teacher Karma. Thinking strategies to improve reading comprehension Reading without meaning is like eating pizza without cheese....and NOBODY wants that! So how do we get our students to make connections to the text, think while they are reading, and focus on what is most important......MEANING?? When I was in the classroom, I had great success with using the following anchor chart, Reading is Thinking. It is a great way to kick off a mini-lesson by presenting the thinking strategies that they will be learning about and USING EVERY DAY...really for the rest of their lives. Reading strategies to improve comprehension In my opinion, the 6 most important reading strategies are: asking questions predicting summarizing visualizing inferencing making connections Never try and do all of these strategies in one day! Depending on the grade level you teach, you may want to spend a whole week on each thinking strategy before moving on to the next one. If you would like to pick up your freebie and learn more about strategies to improve your student's comprehension, click here please. :) Best wishes!
