Poems of Silliness: Challenge Complete

Today I finished my Thirty Poems in Thirty Days over on the Poems of Silliness blog.Some years I didn't get a chance to use my challenge during April because of Spring Break and testing.  It works well as an end of the year writing unit.  I have included the rubric I use to grade poetry writing projects.

Here are the links to the last few years of challenges:

April 2016--SAT Vocabulary
April 2015--Word Families
April 2014--Nouns
April 2012 & April 2013--10 Poetry Forms

Happy Writing!

 

Odd One Out Number with Support for English Learners

Earlier this year I covered a maternity leave for an English Language Learner teacher.  A few years ago, I had learned G.L.A.D. strategies for helping students acquire language.  Recently I finished the S.I.O.P. training to get even more tools to teach this population. As a result, I have been reviewing many of my products in my Teachers Pay Teachers and my Teachers Notebook stores and creating new resources.

English Language Learners need as much practice as possible reading, writing, speaking, and listening in English.  When I design small group activities, students have more opportunities for interaction.

Odd One Out is an activity I developed for students to practice their math vocabulary.  A group of three or four students gets a half sheet like the one shown above and students discuss which number does not belong.  They record their answers on a sheet of notebook paper--one per group.

How I would adapt this lesson for ELLs is to make sure they know what vocabulary words they need to use.  For the sheet above in a fourth grade classroom, I would have them work on factor, multiple, prime and composite.  This ensures they practice the academic language used in Common Core.

To download a freebie with four activities like the one shown above, please click here.

My full Odd One Out product is available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store and my Teacher's Notebook store.
This 22-page packet has 16 geometry sets, 22 number sets, and 6 money sets.

Happy Friday!

My Teacher is a Monster by Peter Brown

My Teacher is a Monster by Peter Brown is about a boy who is often in trouble at school.  One day he meets his teacher at a park and changes his thinking about her.

Click here to download a free printable with sentence starters for changed thinking throughout a story.

Here is a graphic organizer to write about an event from different points of view.

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People of Integrity from the Other Side

Several years ago I wrote a post about how I prepare my students for good behavior with a guest teacher.  I had them keep a list of other students who are doing the right thing when I am not watching.

Now, I'm the guest teacher.  I have found that keeping my own list of students who are behaving well helps me.  I am focusing on the positive.  Most students want to be on the list.  The host teacher also has a positive report and can use that with whatever reward system is in place.

I also find that it forces me as a substitute to learn the names of all the students in the room--especially the quiet ones who don't demand attention.

Quote of the Week -- April 24, 2016

The greatest accomplishment is not in never failing, but in rising again after you fail.

Vince Lombardi

Have a good week,

Create a Map -- Freebie for Friday

Here is a two page mapping activity where students read and follow directions to complete the map shown above.  The first page is a blank map with a key.  The second page gives the directions to use the symbols and create the map.

I used a similar activity when my students created a setting for their legends.  You can read more about Mapping the Setting here.

To download the activity shown above, please click here.

Happy Friday!

 

The Secret Life of Squirrels by Nancy Rose

Nancy Rose took several cute pictures of squirrels and created this picture book.  My favorite part of this book is the author notes explaining how she got the squirrels to cooperate.  She inspires young photographers to take their own pictures.



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