The Smart Cookie Writing Craft is a fun activity to complete after reading "The Smart Cookie" by Jory John. This wonderful book teaches students that everyone possesses intelligence in many ways. Your students will love coloring their very own smart cookie and completing the writing prompt of your choice. What's Included: 5 PDF black and white pages 1 Smart Cookie Topper 4 Writing Pages I am a SMART cookie!- 1 whole page with lines with a space to draw a picture I am a SMART cookie!- 2 half a pages with lines (will need to be cut in half below passing out to students) 3 Ways I am a SMART Cookie!- 3 lines numbered 1-3 for students to write 3 ways they are smart 5 Ways I am a SMART Cookie!- 5 lines numbered 1-5 for students to write 5 ways they are smart with a space to draw a picture Please note: This resource is uneditable. This product is not associated with this book's author or publishing company. The book must be purchased separately in order to utilize this resource.
A fun read aloud with an adorable main character, a sweet and smart cookie, shares an important message about acceptance and self-confidence.
Teaching writing DOESN'T have to be complicated! With these simple strategies, you can improve students' writing without having to work so hard.
Write effective AAC goals for speech therapy with my easy method! This template works for everyone - preschoolers to high schoolers and up!
I’ve been writing here at SCM for 15 years. 748 articles. 12 books and e-guides. Above all else, this takes focus. Which, in this day and age, I have to protect like a rare orchid. Otherwise, I’ll lose the ability to shut out distraction ... Read more
A blank novel outline template for use with Google Docs, Google Keep, and Scrivener. The One Page Novel is a simple, memorable structure for novelists.
Free hamburger graphic organizer printable that helps kids with paragraph writing
A plot development shortcut for pantsers or plotters who are STUCK: have fun with these scene writing prompts if you feel like your story is flagging!
This kindergarten lesson is about shape and Mondrian. It would work well for an art sub.
Looking for some unique phonics games for your students? Check out these13 different and engaging ways you can practice phonics in your classroom.
I have so much to share with you about writing interventions, but first things first: WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE NEW BLOG DESIGN?!?!? Please share your thoughts! Every year, I meet lots of middle schoolers who struggle with writing. And every year, I play around with lots of different interventions to meet their needs. Last year, I made establishing sound writing interventions one of my big goals. I spent lots of time (and money!!) on resources that I could use, and by about March, I had something that I thought I was pretty happy with. This year, I'm starting off with those interventions that worked so well last year and I couldn't be happier with the results! In fact, I'm so pleased with how they are working, I feel confident enough to share my practice with my blog readers. I can say that these are definitely KID TESTED, TEACHER APPROVED!! Creating a Time and Space for Intervention within your Classroom I teach by myself. There are no aides, special ed teachers, BSI teachers... just little, ol' me! So, when I want to create and manage small groups, I'm on my own. This is hard. It would be so much easier if there was another adult in the room to help, but there is not, so I just have to deal! It's work, but it absolutely can be done! A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Power of Bell-Ringers. Establishing a quiet and smooth transition into writing class is a great way to get started, but it also provides me with a window of time where I can pull a small group! By mid-October, my bell-ringer time gets extended to 15 minutes. The kids get started immediately and are clear on the expectations during this time. Now the environment for working with small groups is set: the room is quiet and engaged, allowing me to focus my time on the handful of kids in my group. I pull my kids to a table that I have set up in front of our classroom library. I have a "teacher station" at one end where I do my instruction. I usually stream some jazz or piano music during this time so my group doesn't distract the rest of the class. Establishing Interventions In my district, by middle school, there are no longer district-mandated interventions in place. There are no clear resources for teachers to use or personnel to help. So, when we have a struggling reader or writer in 7th or 8th grade, it's the job of the classroom teacher to meet their needs. In my tenure of working with middle schoolers, I've found that there are two types of students who need more support than my writing curriculum provides (and please remember... I am not a researcher/specialist/writer of books/etc. I'm just a teacher, like you, who loves my job, tries to do the best by my kids, and is compulsively reflective about what I see happening... to me, teachers are the best EXPERTS, but I know that we are hesitant these days to trust a "lowly" teacher and rather find ourselves relying on big publishers and educational researchers to show us best practices... I don't have lots of "data" to support what I'm sharing with you... just my actual observations I've made while working with real, live kids in an average classroom setting!!). Type One: Students Who Struggle with Structure The first type of students who need intervention are those who struggle with structure. These are the kids that can't organize their thoughts in a way a reader could follow. They simply write whatever their brain thinks at the time. They can generally stick with a broad topic, but because they are just writing whatever pops into their head at the time, there are lots of places where their writing veers off track and becomes confusing. Here is an example written by a former student struggling with structure: My dog Henry is my most special treasure. He is always there for me whenever I need him in sad times and happy. In many ways, he's my best friend. He has brown fur and a white chest. He is such a good dog to have around when you are sad because he always knows just how to cheer you up. His eyes are brown, like a Hersey bar. His favorite toy is a yellow tennis ball. Once he almost got hit by a car chasing the ball down the street. I have loved him ever since he was a puppy and we first got him. I was only 4-years old when that little ball of fluff was brought home by my parents to be best friends. His soft fur is always so smooth and warm when you pet him while watching TV on a cold night. He is my best friend and that is why he is my special treasure [sic]. This student is clear about his topic - his dog, Henry - but he cannot organize his thoughts. He is thinking about his dog and writes down everything he knows about his buddy exactly as it comes to his mind. Clearly, he has mechanical and conventional skills, and you can see evidence of where he is practicing what we learned in our mini-lessons and from studying our mentor pieces. But, because there is no organization, it is too difficult to follow and all of the skills he has are lost to the untrained, teacher-eye. Kids who write like this need an intervention that focuses on structure and organization. Typically, I LOATHE teaching step-by-step process writing, but in cases like this, I'm left with little choice. The lessons that I put together for kids in need of this intervention consist of learning how to write a well-organized paragraph. Together, we will work on writing topic sentences, creating strong and clear supporting sentences, and finish up with writing a closing that sticks with our reader. My favorite plans for this type of writing come from Michael Friermood. His Fact-Based Opinion Writing products are geared toward teaching elementary students (grades 3-5) how to write a good opinion paragraph, and they are PERFECT for my struggling 7th graders. They also lack a lot of the "cutesy" images that you find with products for this age group, so my big kids don't feel like I'm making them do "baby stuff." (I do not use the stationary he provides for the final writing piece... it's adorable, but it would be pushing in with my kids! So, we just do our paragraph writing in our intervention notebooks!) My plan is to pull the intervention group for one week (at 15 minutes a pop, this comes to 1 1/4 hours of learning). Long before I ever pull a group, I work hard to make sure that my lesson is broken down into five succinct 15-minute increments. Since time is so precious, you need to make sure not one minute is wasted! I can say that it takes me much longer to plan for a small-group lesson than a 50-minute whole-class lesson because efficiency is so crucial. The first few times you plan a small-group lesson, don't be surprised if your timing is mess. It definitely takes practice to be an effective small-group instructor! After their week is up, then I send them back to completing the bell-ringer at the start of class. I will watch them closely and conference with them lots to make sure that I am seeing a transfer of skills. If I don't, then it is likely that I will put them back in an intervention group in a few weeks to practice again. This intervention model will continue all year. Right now, I have 8 intervention students in one writing class, and 6 in another. By the end of the year, those number should reduce to 3-4 and 2-3. Never in all my years of working with small groups, have I had 100% of my intervention students "graduate" from small group. Don't be frustrated if this is the case! If you can improve 50-60% of those kids, then consider that a huge success!! Type Two: Students Who Struggle with Motivation The next group of kids that I work with are those who struggle with motivation. These are the students who complain a lot about not having anything to write about, spend more time doodling or coloring in their notebook than writing, and who will write the absolute bare minimum for any writing assignment. Many times, these kids produce too little for me to gauge whether or not they also need help with structure. But typically, once I can get them writing, they will likely find themselves in a small group for structure work :) Come October, after we've spent lots of lots of time list writing, the kids who are still struggling to get their pencils moving find themselves using a very special Interactive Writer's Notebook called "Musings from a Middle Schooler." This product contains loads of interactive writing pages that will motivate even the most reluctant writers. The pages can be printed out and glued into a marble notebook. (Most often, I'll have the kids create their own... I don't always have them use all the pages, rather I let them pick and choose the ones they like!). Cover Table of Contents page Table of Contents cont. and an "All About Me" page "My Life Story in Two Pages" My Favorite Thing Comics I created this project just last school year and it's been an absolute smash! The kids (especially my boys!) LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! In absolutely no time, they are writing like crazy. And once I can get their pencils moving it doesn't take me long to get them producing some actual pieces. I don't necessarily pull these kids and work with them in a small group. The first few days, we will assemble our books all together at the back table, but then they go right back to the big group. Rather than do the bell-ringer with the rest of the class at the start of the period, they will work in their "Musings" notebooks. Fifteen minutes of that is usually enough to get them into writing mode for the rest of class. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * So, that's how I make writing intervention work in my classroom. Phew!! That was long, folks!! I apologize for my wordiness and I am grateful if you stuck it out until the end! Also, I'm sure that I've left out some crucial details of my practice, so please do not hesitate to ask me any questions you still have! Do you have any good intervention tips or strategies that work for you? I'd love to hear about them. Drop me a comment and share! Happy Teaching!!
Follow this step-by-step lesson plan to teach your students how
This Free Smart Cookie Hat is a fun activity for your students to make and wear to show what smart cookies they are! Hop over and grab it now!
Writing your next book starts HERE
Discover the five most important secrets of good storytelling--which also happen to be the five most common problems in modern books and movies.
The Smart Cookie is a fabulous book by Jory John. This book companion provides a lot of writing options and a cute craft.
Happy Monday everyone! Is it just me or does it feel like this is going to be one of those weeks? Well, you may have noticed this litt...
Introducing the newest book in the Foodie Collection~ a delectable read about all the different ways to be smart~ featured in the MaiStoryBook Library Collection: “The Smart Cookie” by Jory John &a…
How to writing is one of my favorite writing units to teach. My students just get it and they enjoy writing many, many pieces! Maybe it’s because my students think they know how to do everyyyytthiinngggg. 😉 If your students are like mine, let them run with the idea that they know it ALL and have […]
Why does it pain teachers to hold students accountable? Why are some so quick to ignore misbehavior, look the other way, or make excuses for it? Accountability is important, right? So what’s the problem? I have a few ideas. Teachers are slow to hold ... Read more
Teaching writing DOESN'T have to be complicated! With these simple strategies, you can improve students' writing without having to work so hard.
Have you ever wondered how to help your littles with their handwriting starting on DAY ONE? The Handwriting House is the perfect way to teach your students WHERE their letters fall on the lines. Roof: top line Window: middle dotted line Floor: bottom line Basement: below bottom line Teach them all about the handwriting house, work on each letter individually, and when they've "got it", give them a Handwriting House bookmark to celebrate. To keep the momentum going, have them rate their own handwriting each month with a self-rubric. ALL included in {this} freebie! My students took their handwriting self rubric VERY seriously! :) I do this once a month to keep them on track and motivated. They don't like disappointing themselves. HA!
Is the task of grading student writing draining your time and energy? Check out these quick-score rubrics (for free!) to grade student writing faster!
What is the Zettelkasten method? Can it help you organise your notes? How can you use a Zettelkasten to write fiction or non-fiction?
Does your child hate to write? Discover effective tips for parents to understand and support children who struggle with writing. Learn how to identify the issues and foster a love for writing.
As we sit here, there are only seven days left in May. Seven more stories and then you’re free to take a break, keep writing, set your stories on fire or, preferably revise them into works of genius. To help you out with that latter option I’ve recruited Gabriela Pereira from DIYMFA.com to give you … Continue reading "Climbing Mount Revision One Step At A Time"
Teach students how to set SMART goals with this FREE
We were so delighted to be guest bloggers at Kids Math Teacher. We just completed this activity with our students this week and are excited to share it with you. There are many variations that can be done with this activity to soot your grade level. Wendie and I teach third grade and the students did an amazing job. First, we began by discussing what a line of symmetry is and completing half of a symmetrical monster. Then, students created their own symmetrical monsters using construction paper (monster colors). Here are some examples created by our kiddos. Now for the real fun part. Students added symmetrical details and googly eyes to their monsters. Finally, they used descriptive words and action words to write a descriptive paragraph about their monster. Possible variations could be having students add specific geometric shapes and/or fractions like 3/5 of the shapes need to be squares. Look how cool it all comes together. The students were very creative in their monster symmetry creations and their paragraphs. We hope your students will enjoy as much as ours did. For your free monster symmetry lesson just click on the pic.
