Making Responsible Choices

It was an exciting day today ... with still a month left of summer vacation I finished ALL of my school supply shopping for my students!  Wahoo ... celebration time!  At my school, each student pays a $50 school supply fee and we purchase everything they need.  I LOVE that all the students have everything they need and everyone has the same quality and brand.  I also LOVE the expression on people's faces when I but 24 packages of markers, 50 boxes of crayons, 24 binders ... LOL the list goes on!  The only drawback is that we pay out of pocket first so my credit card gets a good little workout!

On another note ... something new has been added to my TPT store.

All day, everyday we our modeling responsible choices in our classrooms.  The activities in my newest learning pack provide purposeful opportunities to discuss and review those behaviors.

Everything you see above is included in both color and b&w.

In this learning pack you will find:
- a pocket chart sort
- printable discussion cards
- a cut / paste activity
- a writing flip booklet
- an anchor chart
- graphics to make a class pledge

You can find it HERE in my TPT store.

As always, I'll send a copy of Making Responsible Choices to the first 3 people who comment on this post.  Don't forget your email!   Wowzers ... I had 3 comments in 10 minutes!  Thank you all for visiting my little blog!

Happy October!

Hi all!
Well we've done it! We have survived back to school!  My class has settled into routines and expectations allowing me to have a little energy when I get home!  That should give me some 'get up and go' to finish up some products I've been working on. 

First up ... a freebie to apologize for my absence!

This Halloween writing freebie includes a writing brainstorm web, a choice of two writing line styles, a self-check rubric and a word list with pictures.
You can find this HERE at my TPT store.  All I ask in return, if you download it and like what you see please leave me feedback in my store - it's your feedback that encourages me to create!

I'll be back in a few days!

Rainbow Candy Investigations

Are you looking for a quick, engaging science activity for your students?  If so, you'll love this!

This quick science experiment happens in minutes and provides students with lots to write about.

 Using a package of rainbow candies (I used Skittles) arrange them on a plate.  Add water and VOILA watch the magic happen!

I have included two templates that work for my outcomes and students but have also included an editable Powerpoint in the download.
Three recording options are included - no lines, lines and primary lines.
Differentiation will be a snap!

The page could also be glued into an interactive science notebook.

You can learn more about this in my TPT store HERE.

As always, I'll send a copy of this new learning pack to the first 3 people who comment on this post.  Don't forget your email!

Magic Seeds!

Christmas is such a magical time for children and adults alike.  This activity will help keep that magic alive and get students doing some writing.

My classroom elf will be stopping by with some Tic-Tacs Magic Christmas Seeds, a bowl and some sugar.

He'll have instructions with him and I'll have a few candy canes tucked aside along with a writing flip book for them to record their observations.  My plan is to have the candy canes 'grow' when they are out for recess. :)

You can find this activity at my TPT store HERE. 

As always, the first 3 people who comment on this post will get a copy. :)

Candy Cane Investigations

Happy December!!!  I absolutely love the holidays and enjoying a few candy canes is no exception!  Using those yummy treats in my lesson planning is a no-brainer!   For that reason, I've put together my Candy Cane Investigations to engage students and get them writing!

This learning pack is editable to suit your students and their needs.  For my class I placed min candy canes in water, 7-Up and vinegar and let the magic happen!

I've provided lots of options and made it easy for you to differentiate.

You can find this learning pack HERE at my TPT store and as always, the first 3 people who comment in this post with their emails will get a copy. :)

Back to School Writing

I LOVE knowing what my students are thinking and what their hopes are for the school year.  For that reason I've created this writing lesson.

I've included an organizing web, school words printable an a variety of writing lined pages.  You can find it HERE at my TPT store.

I hope this helps a bit with your back to school planning and lets you get a glimpse into what your students are thinking!!

As always, the first 3 people to comment on this post with their emails will receive a copy.

The Day the Crayons Quit

About 4 months ago I started creating activities to go with one of my favorite read alouds ... The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt.  Now that school's out I've had a chance to put the activities into a learning pack. :)

Although this started as a small unit it ended up being 80 pages!

Inside you'll find:

opinion writing
persuasive writing
scrambled color words
point of view
character traits
using color
personification
creating a new character
alphabetical order
writing craftivity
teaching tools
writing pages
and ... I added a place value mystery picture because my students can't get enough of them!

As you can see... this unit is jam packed!

Don't have the book on hand?  Here's a link to a read aloud on YouTube by The Storybook Factory.

You can find this learning pack HERE in my TPT store.  As always, the first 3 people who leave a comment with their email will get a copy!

Did I mention who I spent my Saturday evening with???  None other than Blake Shelton!  His show was FANTASTIC!!!!! 

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and I hope to be back soon with more of my half finished products! :)

Groundhog Day Shadow Writing

As hard as it is to believe, February starts on Monday, which means Groundhog Day is on Tuesday.  Did it sneak up on anyone else???

I created a writing activity for my kiddos and a thrilled with how it turned out!!

I've turned it into a learning pack for a ready to use writing lesson for you.  There's an anchor chart to spark a discussion and six shadows to share with your group.  Ask them: What do you infer the shape is?  How do you know?  Then using different shadows students will create a flap book where they print their guess on the top flap then underneath print their reasoning.

You can find it HERE to learn more.  Be sure to check out the preview to see everything that's included.

 

As always the first 3 people who comment on this post will receive a free copy.  I'm heading out for a bit but will check in later this evening and send a copy to the people who comment.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Winter Writing Freebie

It's another snowy day here and I'm happily sitting in front of the fire keeping warm enjoying some Netflix :)  Can a lazy Saturday get any better???

I've created a winter writing activity for my kiddos to do this week which you can download HERE for free.

You'll find a writing web, a couple of different writing pages and a winter words page.

I hope that by sharing I can help a few of you with your planning :)

Have a wonderful  weekend and for those of you who have Monday off I have one word - JEALOUS!!

Spaghetti and Meatball Spaces

Hi all,

It seems like it's been awhile since I posted .. you know the drill ... back to school...family...  How can it be that we've only had 23 school days?!?  I must add that I LOVE my class! They are a wonderful group of first graders, but I just don't have mush energy left at the end of the day. :)

We've been working in class on Spaghetti and Meatball spaces in our writing.  A couple of years ago (wow - time flies) I created an anchor chart and have recently gave it a little update.  You can download a free copy in both color and black and white by clicking on the picture below or HERE.

Enjoy and I promise not to be so long between visits next time :)

using picture prompts for writing

In my classroom 'small moment' writing plays a key role, but sometimes my students have a REALLY hard time coming up with that 'spark', you know the one, the 'idea' that gets the writing started.  Honestly, I was one of those students too... I just needed the spark and could waste so much time just sitting and thinking.

To help, I've been adding to my Writing Prompts Pinterest board (sorry, if I've been adding too many pins, but there are so many great ones!)  Here are a few ...

It's easy to display a picture or two on your Smartboard or you could print them off and have students choose one they like.

Those are just a few of the many I have added (with more to come).  So, if you're on Pinterest follow my board by clicking on the picture below :)

I've also added a few writing pages onto Google Docs that you can download by clicking on the picture.

If you know of any great pins that should be added to my board please let me know!