Looking for a fun way to introduce the writing process to your students? What about using playdough? Come grab a fun & hands on lesson for your classroom!
Paragraph writing is a big challenge for many students. This post includes a step-by-step method to help your students write great paragraphs in no time.
There's a lot of ground to cover when you teach creative narrative writing. Here are 5 creative narrative mini-lessons you should be sure to use!
Short on time? Feel like you need an assistant? I was sceptical at first but in this blog post I'll share 10 ways teachers can use ChatGPT to save time.
105 creative writing exercises to get you writing again. Try these short, 10-minute creative writing exercises to beat writer's block.
If you love the book Enemy Pie, here are some great reading and writing lessons that go great with this story. Enemy Pie is one of my students' favorites.
This post shows the results of a question box from my Instagram story.
Sentence writing ideas for kindergarten & first graders. Engaging ideas for students to learn to write basic sentences.
Year long monthly name writing and self portraits for August- July. For this activity students can draw a self portrait of themselves and write their name on the line. These are a simple way to document students growth throughout the school year. Teachers can keep these for the year to show parents and students a progression of their abilities as the year progresses. You may also like: September Writing Prompts October Writing Prompts November Writing Prompts
I'm Sharing My Kindergarten Lesson Plans for Week One Of School! Including Freebies: Insta-Portrait and Build Your Name Printable Activities!
Do you use a yearly pacing guide? It is so handy to have a map of how you plan to fit the various standards into your academic year. Things WILL change, but it nice to have some idea of where you'd like to be with your instruction. I think that it makes lesson
Use these free Writing Folders and freebies to give your writers support during their independent writing time. Find all our FREE Writing Printables HERE. If you are a subscriber to my newsletter, you can download all the printables that go with it for FREE! Not a subscriber? Simply subscribe HERE! NOTE: If you are already a ... Read More about Writing Folders – for K-5 Learners
You're in the middle of your writing block during the day and students are sitting at their desks (maybe on the floor or in bean bags dispersed throughout the room) writing. Smoke is coming out of their pencils. They are writing epic stories about dragons, or spaceships -- or something equally as epic. This is your classroom every day, right? (Not) "I don't know what to write about!" (now that's more like it!) At least that's what *I* used to hear a lot. Well, no more. Give even those most reluctant writers something to talk about with "Roll and Write." You can make anything work if you turn it into a game, right? Here's how it works. You give each student a copy of the page below to place in their writer's folders. When they are stuck on what to write about, they simply roll a die three times. The first roll indicates the setting of their story (so if I roll a 3, my setting is a party on Friday night). The second roll gives them a character, and the third roll gives them a plot. The stories can turn out pretty hilarious. It encourages creativity and originality. No three rolls are the same. This freebie even includes a blank 'Roll and Write' sheet for you to swap out new combos every so often. Even that student that hates writing can get on board with a story about a frazzled teacher at the beach last summer that breaks her ankle. Oh shoot - did I just jinx you? I wish you no harm, a teacher needs her summer! :) Grab your freebie here! I'd love to hear about the stories your students come up with! Pin this post for later:
Help students plan and pre-write a narrative short story by following this blog post. Includes free graphic organizers and step-by-step directions.
I have a special love for teaching writing! It's definitely a challenge, but it's one that I enjoy greatly. And having a balanced literacy classroom makes writing even more enjoyable. Anytime I start a new writing unit, I open it up with a good book. That book then leads to a fun pre-writing activity. And
Diese Sketchnote Übersicht ist Teil der Reihe: "Englische Grammatik in Sketchnotes" Simple PresentSimple PastPresent ProgressivePresent PerfectPresent
Inspire your second writers with this list of journal ideas and 2nd grade writing prompts shared by one of our Journal Buddies readers!
Do you think writing an outline of your chapters will help you but don't know where to start creating one? Create the perfect chapters outline.
A blog about teaching middle school ELA and math.
Simple tips for improving writing in your second or third grade classroom. These tips are a must if you want better writers!
Teaching persuasive writing can be HARD. That's why every teacher needs to know these 10 steps to create confident, persuasive writers!
Get organized with a daily and weekly ELA plan so that you feel confident and prepared. Planning the structure of a class period varies by unit. Start here!
Simple tips for improving writing in your second or third grade classroom. These tips are a must if you want better writers!
Welcome, Upper Elementary Teachers! If you're looking for social studies and writing ideas, you've come to the right place! Teaching Social Studies Click Here Teaching Writing Click Here Manage your classroom like a rockstar! Click Here https://thriveingradefive.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/brand-updated.mp4 Visit my store! From quick printables to comprehensive
Writing in kindergarten has the potential to be so much more than handwriting exercises. The best kept secret to kindergarten writing is writers' workshop.
What are Scrambled Paragraphs? Scrambled paragraphs are sentences taken from a complete paragraph for your students to rearrange. They are like puzzles your students will put back together using what they know about text structure. Teachers
easy to use Kindergarten Writing Workshop Units that include writing prompts, ideas and activities for beginning writing throughout Kindergarten
Need Wonder activities for your classroom or home school Wonder teaching resources? We have Wonder lesson plans, Wonder worksheets, and more ideas for book projects, kindness activities for middle school, and diversity lessons to make a great study unit for students using both the novel by RJ Palacio and teaching with movies (including the popular precepts project!).
Find hands-on butterfly life cycle activities, butterfly science labs, and free printables to incorporate reading skills and get kids writing about science!
Learn how to use picture writing prompts to keep elementary students engaged, writing, and having fun with the great ideas and suggestions here.
Not only are theme activities a fun way to explore new topics with kids, there are also many educational benefits. Get a free printable list of themes to plan your year, and find planning guides and theme activities for our favorite preschool and kindergarten themes to use in the classroom or at home.
If you've been following my blog, you probably figured out that I love using writing rubrics! Today I want to share what a writing rubric is, why I like using them and share links to 3 free writing rubrics you can use.
Create a classroom of writers with these fun writing activities for middle school students! There's something for everyone!
Ten fun writing activities for kids of all ages. Low pressure, creative ideas to help students practice their skills and get writing!
The Sentence Game Let’s face it, writing is hard. It takes lots and lots of practice to master the many skills a writer needs. But practice can be boring. Not now! I’ve created a sentence writing game your kids will love. With this game they’ll write sentence after sentence without complaining, because it’s a game. It’s very simple, but practices very essential skills- capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and spelling. The game can be played with 2 or more players. There’s even a way to play it with your whole class. Each student needs a word grid and a sentence/scoring sheet. Each set of players will also need one die and a scoring guide. Here's how it's played: v Each player rolls the die. The players then circle that number of words on their word grid. They circle the words down the first column, in order. Words cannot be skipped. v Now each player writes one sentence, using as many of the circled words as they can. If two sentences are written, only the first sentence will be scored. All of the circled words do not need to be used, but players earn one point for each grid word in their sentence. The words from the word grid cannot be changed. (ie. quickly cannot be changed to quick.) Important: After writing the sentence, players underline the grid words they used. This makes it easier for the checker to check the grid words. v Once all sentences are written, players pass their sentence/scoring sheet to the right. These players score the sentence and write the score in the box on the right. To play with your whole class, simply roll the dice once. Every student in class will use that number to circle the words on their grid. Once all the sentences are written, students can exchange their sheet with a partner for the scoring. After your students understand how to play you can play a round anytime you need a time filler. Students can keep their word grid and sentence/score sheet in a folder or their binder so it’s always handy. This game also works very well in a literacy center. Click on this image to download The Sentence Game. Happy writing!
The beginning of the school year is an important time to assess the writing skill levels of new students in our English classes. One way to do this is to assign a diagnostic essay in order to "diagnose" each student's writing level. This creative approach to essay writing helps students t
I am all done with parent conferences and it feels great! I had the most terrific year and I’m so happy to share my students’ progress with their parents. During parent conference time, I always love to have lots of student work to display. I absolutely love to incorporate student pictures into student work. This ... Read More about Silhouette Autobiographies and Read Across America
Hoi, Welkom terug bij leren met Anita en Suzanne. Vandaag een leuk en leerzaam spelletje namelijk Boggle. Je kunt met deze download alle kan...
Writing portfolios are a great way to show student growth and to showcase your writers. Read how to create writing portfolios and manage them.
Make the most of your writing block with these funny picture prompts! Go here:
Scrambled paragraphs are a fun literacy activity your kids will love. This activity contains 5 interesting passages to scramble and re-arrange correctly. Students will use logic and transition words like "for example", "however", and "finally" to determine the correct order. Great activity to reinforce text structures!Each passage contains six sentences. The passages increase in difficulty, making this activity easy to differentiate. This works great as a station activity for helping teach students organization in writing. It can be useful scaffolding for students who are struggling with constructing paragraphs of their own.Answer key is included.No prep, ready to print and use! Teachers are saying: "We loved this resource. I set these up as stations. The kids went around in their groups and tried to put the paragraphs together in the correct order. It was interesting to see how the sequential one was the easiest one for him to complete. This was the perfect activity for our class needs." Format: PDF
I love writing prompts for my kids, because honestly, I just have to find things for them to write about when my ideas run out. Check out these 10 FREE samples of writing prompts worksheets for your homeschool this year.
Teaching writing to fifth graders doesn't have to be intimidating. This post details exactly how I teach writing in 5th grade.
Using writing folders saved my writing block. It's so frustrating (for me and the students) to be in the middle of a writing project, only to have a student say, "I can't find my paper." Writing folders have helped us all stay on track and organized! In late summer, as soon as Walmart and Target stock their Back-to-School aisle I look for their specials on pocket folders. I can usually find them priced at 10 for $1. That's when I put my writing folders together. They are a super handy way for students to keep their writing projects organized. Putting two folders together gives you 4 pockets, which is perfect for the steps in the writing project. What I love the most about these folders is they are so easy for the students to use. Whether they're working on their pre-writing with graphic organizers, drawing a picture, or working with a partner during the revising stage, they can store all of the pages they need in a writing folder. The pockets hold everything they need as they work through the writing process. The first pocket holds the writing prompt, organizers, sketches, or anything else they need to begin planning their writing piece. The second pocket holds the pages they use for writing the first draft of their writing. This pocket can also hold any notes or special instructions they need for a particular writing assignment. As they move through each step of the process they move their paper to the next pocket. The center of the folder (between pocket 2 and 3) is a great place to affix any writing tips or lists the writer may need. I like to include characteristics of the traits of good writing, along with common synonyms and homophone lists. The third pocket is where students keep their writing as they work on revising and editing. The pocket can hold any checklists the writer needs as they work on improving their writing. The fourth and final pocket will hold whatever the student needs as they work on publishing their piece of writing. After the final copy is finished, either rewritten by hand or printed from a computer, it can be placed in this pocket. The students turn in their entire folder when it's ready to be evaluated. It's nice to see all of the parts of the writing process as you evaluate their final writing. Once this writing project is completed, the pieces of work for this writing process can be stapled together. It's a great way for students to see how their writing grew and improved throughout the writing process. This completed packet can be kept in a portfolio until the end of the year. The folders can be stored in a box or basket. Storing the student writing folders in a central location makes it convenient for both students and the teacher. I often look through the folders to check on a student's progress. One of the best things about these folders is fewer students mysteriously lose their papers through the writing process. Making the Writing Folders To make the writing folder you need: 2 pocket folders without the center prongs. long-arm stapler pocket labels for Pre-writing, Drafting, Revising/Editing, and Publishing. Optional for the center, writer's tips and word lists Open the folders and put them together with the pockets facing each other. Staple along the fold, from the outside folder. That way, the staple ends will be on the inside of the finished folder. The folder should open up so you see two pockets, then the blank center section, and finally, two more pockets. Now you can add a cover, the pocket labels. The blank center section is a great place to add any word lists or writer's tips your students might need. These references are handy for your students to use all year. Another option is to laminate the pocket folders before you staple them together. If you choose to do this, make sure you add the labels, cover, and writer's tips and lists before you laminate. After you laminate them, staple the two folders together. You may be able to use the laminated folders for two or three years. The printable labels, tips, lists, and folder covers are included in my Writer's Folder and Checklists resource. It has lots of choices for the cover, plus checklists your writers can use when they're revising and editing their work.
Looking to foster a love of writing? Try setting up a writing corner featuring a bulletin board with useful tools to inspire student writing.
These FREE Printables and Unit Studies for Eric Carle's Books will help you expand on what your kids are learning through these beloved books.
TweetPin2EmailShare Anyone who has ever started writing a story knows that the beginning is the hardest part. Whether it’s the first page, first paragraph, or even just the first line,... Read more »
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!!
