I always look forward to teaching figurative language in my classroom, and idioms in particular. Students get such a kick (note the idiom here) talking about and learning new idioms and we really enjoy doing some fun activities to help kids build a stronger language base. In this post by The Teacher Next Door, you'll read about seven different activities that reinforce idioms and have worked well in the classroom:
Hello teacher friends! Well in Third Grade Land we are learning about pronouns, and I am always looking for new ways to have my kids crea...
Aesop's Scripts contain 12 of the most famous of Aesop's Fables written as plays. The scripts are for second or third graders and focus on some of the unusual but common words in the English language.
Oink! BOOM! Ker-plunk. POW! Cha-ching, cock-a-doodle do! This is what you would have heard if you were hanging outside my classroom door today! No, it wasn't bring-your -farm-animal-to-school day... it was actually onomatopoeia day! Ono Mato What??? Onomatopoeia are words that imitate actual sounds. For the next two weeks, my students and I are embarking on an exciting study of literary devices. For today's lesson we used the Literary Devices Poster and Foldable set from my TpT store. Students folded, cut, and glued their foldable into their reading journals. I showed them the poster for onomatopoeia and modeled for them how to write the definition and example into their book. Next, I had students meet me on the carpet and I shared with them a couple of my favorite books: Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee and That's Good That's Bad by Margery Cuyler. Both of these books are a lot of fun and students love to grab them up later to look more closely at the detailed illustrations. After I had shared some examples from children's literature and a list I found on the web, I had students choose one onomatopoeia (everyone had to choose a different one) and gave them speech frames to write them in. Here is their final display: You will find a lot of resources for onomatopoeia on the web. Here is a printable pdf list from Read Write Think . Tomorrow we will be adding abundant alliterations to our academics. Tongue twisters will be the talk of the town as we tinker with our language toolbox! I hope you take a moment to check in here at Literacy Loves Company!
In this blog post, read about my best teaching strategies to teach writing narrative endings. Grab all the freebies to help you teach.
This post is going to have to be short and sweet. Mainly because I have forgotten to take almost any pictures in my classroom the last couple weeks. I feel like the second I walk in the door everythin
Check out the original Figure Me Out math activity and learn how you can make this poster with your students. This beginning of the year math activity incorporates numbers (and computation) into a page about students' own lives. Click to read about this fun ice breaker math project that you could easily use for a "who am I" guessing game or bulletin board display for Parent's Night here on Shut the Door and Teach.
Making inferences is one of the most important reading skills. It’s crucial not only because it helps kids comprehend text, but it is a key aspect of many other reading strategies, like determining character traits, cause and effect, using context clues, and more. So, what can teachers do to strengthen this skill? I’ll be sharing […]
It’s not just how darn cute the kids look, or how much the parents oooh and ahhh over what a great event it is, (we all need those pats on the back) but it’s the fact that I know how much the kids have gotten out of this project and how hard they’ve worked to […]
I gathered some courage to write about the inexplicable journey of thousands of prisoners through the tragic road of death in Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
It’s one thing to solve a math equation when all of the numbers are given to you but with word problems, when you start adding reading to the mix, that’s when it gets especially tricky. The simple addition of those words ramps up the difficulty (and sometimes the math anxiety) by about 100! How can […]
Teaching about character traits in reading can be challenging but fun! One of the hardest parts for kids is that in most pieces of literature, the character traits are somewhat abstract. The author doesn’t directly tell the reader what the character is like, which forces kids to have to learn to piece it together by […]
Hey bloggy friends! Long time, no see! Let me tell you, getting into the groove of this year has been C-R-A-Z-Y! After 3 weeks of gatheri...
Newton's Laws and easy in the same sentence? Maybe not, but trust me I have some resources that will do just that! But first, how do you display your classroom agenda? I have an easel right outside my door that lists what each grade level is doing and recently it said. "It's Newton Week!" The
Happy Saturday everyone! Today, I wanted to share a new writing rubric that I created with my students this week for their personal narratives/stories. I don't know about you, but my students always have a hard time assessing their own writing. Plus, I always have such a hard time grading it (I always procrastinate with grading writing for this very reason!) because it can be so subjective to grade. Over the years, I've learned the answer to these two issues- RUBRICS! Rubrics are such a great way to help your students learn to assess and judge the quality of their own writing. The best part of using rubrics is that my students help to make them, so they take ownership of them which in turn makes them more meaningful to the kids. Each day this week, we looked at different 2nd grade writing samples (from other classes) and judged the writing in each area on the rubric. As we judged them, I helped the kids write the criteria for each section on the rubric. We found that using the words ALL of the time, MOST of the time, SOME of the time, and NONE of the time were easy to use for a 4, 3, 2, 1. Here is the completed rubric if you'd like to download it and use in your classroom! Comparing it to a cheeseburger was a fun way to help my students understand the difference between a 4, 3, 2, and 1. We talked about how a 4 is like a deluxe cheeseburger with all of the toppings- it can't get any better! A 3 is a complete cheeseburger but is missing some of those yummy details. A 2 is a burger with just a bottom bun- there is a lot missing! A 1 is just a bottom bun- no one wants to eat this because it's no good at all! What are some ways that you use rubrics in your classroom? I'm linking this up with Heather at Peacocks and Penguins- be sure to check out her linky for some great ideas! Have a great weekend!
Our fabulous new teacher, Mrs. Wheeler, is acclimating herself to the 3rd grade team beautifully! She is part of the 2-teacher team of Jacks...
Teaching kids to identify the central message is not an easy task. Most central messages are implied and it takes some inferencing to piece it together. Once students get it though, it is truly like a lightbulb has turned on and they will start seeing central messages in every story, whether you’re focusing on that […]
In the summer, I spend a huge chunk of my time on school stuff. I read educational books that interest me, work a LOT on Teachers Pay Teac...
Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I just can’t wait to teach grammar?” I mean, we know that grammar is important and that we do need to teach it, but let’s be honest…It’s not usually one of the more exciting subjects to teach. That’s why I came up with some games, to make teaching parts […]
Objective: Students will be able to create alliterations based on the poem “Bleezer’s Ice Cream” By Jack Prelutsky. Vocabulary: Alliteration Time: Approximately 1 hour and 30 minu…
You see a pair of broken glasses. What happened? Why did it happen? You see an ice cream cone on the ground. What happened? Why did it happen? Enter cause and effect. Cause and effect is a big topic in the upper elementary classroom, and it is one that almost every year my students struggle […]
These nine main idea strategies will help your students successfully master this important reading skill. The Teacher Next Door shares her favorite main idea strategies for teachers of upper elementary students.
After World War II, thousands of Nazis became informants in the Cold War against the Soviet Union — and then got entry into the U.S. Eric Lichtblau's new book, The Nazi Next Door, tells the story.
I love teaching author's purpose...maybe it's the cozy PIE image it conjures up, or maybe it's the fact that for most kids, this is a concept that they "get" for the most part (with a little bit of explaining and some hands on practice). It's kind of the opposite of long division that way, if you know what I mean! Read more about Author's Purpose and how to teach it in this post by The Teacher Next Door.
I don't know about your students, but my students think that they have to guess at every answer after reading a text selection and answering questions about it! It's like they think they are going to get in trouble for going back in the text and finding the answer! To teach my students about the different types of questions, I use the QAR strategy. It teaches students about the 4 different types: Right There- Questions whose answers can be found right in the text. Often, the words used in the question are the same words found in the text. Think and Search- Answers are gathered from several parts of the text and put together. Author and You- Answers to these questions aren't directly in the text. Students need to think about what the author has told them and what they already know about the topic. On Your Own- Answers are not in the text- students need to think about their own personal experiences to answer. After teaching my kiddos about the different types of questions (and doing LOTS and LOTS of practice!) they understand how to answer questions so much better. In a couple of weeks, we have a huge 2nd grade test- I'm hoping this strategy will help them feel more successful! If you'd like to download the free QAR poster, just click on the picture below!
It is vital that we teach all our students how to practice good citizenship. After all, the actions of each individual person at home, in school, in communities, in states, countries, and the world impacts all of us. It really helps determine what kind of world we are living in. If you are looking for […]
Give your child some practice identifying lines, line segments, and rays with this geometry worksheet.
I teach 4 different math classes a day. It seems as though I am always reviewing key words that *usually* match with certain operations. While introducing variable expressions to my sixth graders, …
I admit it! When I see a homophone spelled wrong in any writing it drives me nuts. I used the Rebecca Sitton spelling program for many years, and her emphasis on spelling homophones correctly was right up my alley. If homophone misspellings are allowed to continue when students are young, they become habits that are very, very hard to break. Starting in fourth grade, in my opinion, is just too late! To really learn homophones, it takes review, review, review and it has to start early! With that in mind, I have written a post about homophones, included some great online games, a short video for kids, an anchor chart and a freebie that goes along with the video! Hope you enjoy it, and keep working on the tricky homophones! Click Here to Go to The Freebie!
The FCC wants to let Murdoch own even more media in the U.S. That's just nuts! Take action today.
Mornings in the classroom are a really important part of the day to me. It’s a time that sometimes doesn’t get the attention it deserves. When you think about it though, mornings set the tone for the whole school day! That’s one reason I’ve always made it a goal to have […]
Here's your child's chance to practice commas in lists and sentences. This colorful worksheet is part of a set that keeps punctuation practice fun!
The representation of numbers in graphs should be proportional to the numbers themselves. Otherwise, they mislead or deceive. Examples of misleading graphs not drawn to scale and a figure with unevenly spaced tick marks are shown.
Teaching fourth grade should be fun! Get ideas you and your students will love.
