I am a middle grades ELA teacher who loves teaching! One of my favorite topics to blog about is providing access to a quality education to ALL students. Thanks for stopping by!
I am a middle grades ELA teacher who loves teaching! One of my favorite topics to blog about is providing access to a quality education to ALL students. Thanks for stopping by!
This includes an activity (or two) for each letter of the alphabet.
Advice Column
All About Me
Alternative Ending
Buddy Biography
Buddy Bookmarks
Charm Bracelet
Comic Strips
Dear Next Year Letter
Diary of…
End of Year Poems
Facebook Page
Find a Friend Who
Gratitude Notes
Hollywood Ending
How to Survive
I AM Poem
Interview a Classmate
Kind Words
Letter to My Future Self
MEMORY BOOK
Newspaper
Overcoming Obstacles
Postcards
Portrait of the Year
Quiz about Me
Recipe for Success
Reflect and Rewind
Stay or Switch
Timeline
Trading Cards
“U” Collage
Vocabulary Bookmarks
Written Reflection of the Year
X Marks the Spot
Yearbook Pages
Zooming In
There are so many activities to choose from.
This is an amazing beginning of the year resource pack that is LOADED with resources to kick off the school year and a strong class culture. This includes an activity (or two) for each letter of the alphabet.
All Hands In
Bingo
Celebrity Interview
Connection Creation
Dreams and Aspirations
Detectives
Encouragement and Excellence
Fact or Fib
Free Throws
Goals Galore
Important Book a mini-book
Kind Words
Kind Notes
Letter to My Future Self
Mad Libs
New Year Chronicle/Get Started Gazette )
Only the Strong
Person of the Year
Questions
Reel of Summer
Save the Date
Student Dictionary
Take as Much as You Like
Unpacking Me: A Craftivity
Venn Diagram
Wanted (2 Versions)
Would You Rather Task Cards
Yearbook Pages
Z-A about the Class
There are so many activities to choose from.
This unit will help students and teachers take on the ever elusive theme, which is a difficult concept to teach. This unit also delves into students writing constructed responses to text, which is aligned to Common Core Standards. There are more than 65 pages in this unit, which include posters, graphic organizers, half page graphic organizers, and practice questions (spanning multiple common core standards).
Literature Passages:
• The Boy Who Cried Wolf (Aesop fable)
• The Lion and the Mouse (Aesop fable)
• The Tortoise and the Hare (Aesop fable)
• The Princess and the Frog (Fairy Tale)
• Rapunzel (Fairy Tale)
• Marie and the Brilliant Fish (African fable)
• The Helping Hand (Short Story)
• Diamond in the Rough (Short Story)
• the drum by Nikki Giovanni (poem)
• Same Song by Pat Mora (poem)
(5) Theme Posters
(6) Graphic Organizers
(16) Half Page Task cards
This poetry resource includes 35 pages that are sure to supplement any poetry unity. There are templates for students to create poetry mini books, planning posters, publishing papers, and poem posters for each poem.
Two versions of mini-book covers
Full Page Graphic Organizer for Publishing
Posters with poem definitions
Common Core analysis for Haiku, Limerick, and Free Verse
Editable template for you to add additional pages
Poems in this Unit:
• Haiku
• Limerick
• Cinquain
• Free Verse
• Acrostic
• Couplet
• Diamante
Each type of poem includes:
• Mini-book student copy of the definition and example of poem
• Mini-book activity using the poem
• Mini-book space for students to create a poem
This is a great resource to get students to reflect on their year and capture lots of memories. There are two different options for creating minibooks with students. Either provides an awesome and interactive way for students to engage with each other and make new memories!
Included:
✰ School Information page
✰ All About Me
✰ Personal Reflections on the Year
✰ Comparing the Year
✰ Major Accomplishments
✰ Then vs. Now
✰ Class Awards
✰ Flashback and Forward
✰ My Favorite Class
✰ Best Moments and Funny Memories
✰ The Soundtrack of My Year
✰ Current Events
✰ Autograph Pages (2)
✰ Summer Plans
✰ Cover Page
This resource is also included in my End of Year A to Z Activities: 34 Activities and Memory Book PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE IF YOU HAVE BOUGHT THE END OF YEAR ACTIVITIES RESOURCE.
These organizers are included in my Argumentative, Informative, and Personal Narrative writing units. If you have those units, or purchased my writing bundle, please do not grab these.
This resource includes 30 original graphic organizers that will assist your students with writing. These organizers are aligned to three types of writing noted in the Common Core State Standards, and will guide students with organizing their thoughts to the topic of your choice. Organizers included:
★ Argumentative (8)
★ Informative (15)
★ Personal Narrative (7)
This resource is a compilation of reading literature graphic organizers that I have created for my students through the years. They are perfect for any fictional text and focus on students digging into the text to find specific details and deeper meaning for the Reading Literature Common Core standards. There are 43 original organizers that can be used with students in grades 4-6 and Common Core alignment is discretely noted on each organizer.
This resource also includes six sample completed organizers aligned with the short story “Thank You Ma’am” and suggested implementation for these organizers. These organizers can be used in whole group lessons, literature circles, novel studies, homework assignments, and/or small groups. My personal favorite includes using these organizers to hold students accountable for their independent reading books.
This craftivity is perfect for the beginning of the year to get students writing about their summer, but also has the flexible to be used in conjunction with other units. Camera template and interactive accordion book templates are EDITABLE using textboxes in PowerPoint. This resource includes:
• Teacher Guide
• Step by Step Instructions with Pictures
• Camera Template
• Camera lens and flash template
• Accordion Book templates
• 3 Planning Templates
• 3 Writing Templates
This is a fun freebie to get writing juices flowing with students. There are 24 different story starters and a few bonus goodies to assist students with Halloween themed writing. Enjoy!
This is a sample from my End of Year A to Z resource pack. It includes one activity for the letters D,E,N, O, P. If you like this resource, please check my store for more the full resource!
This resource demonstrates how I use graphic organizers in my classroom. It includes:
- Informational Text
- Lesson Plan/Overview
- Prereading Graphic Organizer
- Main Idea Graphic Organizer w/ Response Guide
- Common Core Aligned Comprehension Questions w/ Response Guide
“The Dinner Party” by Mona Gardner is a short story about making generalizations, and perfect for teaching or reinforcing the elements of plot. The story centers on an argument that occurs at a dinner party while events happening during the argument counter claims being made. This resource is aligned to Common Core Standards and provides opportunities for students to critically evaluate vocabulary, steps to solving problems, how characters approach challenge, and theme using evidence from the text! One of the most amazing components is the inclusion of FOUR original graphic organizers with answer keys. These organizers can be used with other texts!
This is a jam packed short story evaluation that includes:
- Suggested Lesson Plan
- Rigorous Questions
- Original Graphic Organizers
- Description of how to implement Graphic Organizers
- Comprehension Questions
This lesson focuses on Common Core Standards RL.5.1 and RL.5.2. The file uses the poem "Something Told the Wild Geese" by Rachel Field (obtained on a free public domain) to help students make inferences about the meaning of the poem and analyze how the speaker feels about a topic. This resource can be used as review, homework, or a supplemental component for the aligned standard.
This is a sample from my Beginning of the Year A to Z resource pack. It includes one activity for the letters B, G, H, N. Please note there are additional resources for these letters should you decided to purchase the full unit. If you like this resource, please check out the full resource with over 100 pages.
I love teaching poetry and this includes the poems that are included in all my resources and many more!This resource is just a list of poems from various poets. Share them on National Poem in Your Pocket Day by folding them up and putting them in your pocket. Enjoy!
This is an activity that can either be used as a homework activity, in class independent activity, or used with a small group of students. The passages are taken from npr.org and biography.com and are both easily accessible. Links to the article are included in the packet.
The entire file is in Word so that it can be edited to your needs and the answers are included in the file as text boxes that can be easily deleted when sharing with your students.
I am in the process of completely revamping my store to include more Common Core aligned resources that focus on the strategies of close reading and using evidence from the text.
This is a fun freebie to get writing juices flowing with students. This freebie assists students with creating the “perfect pair” and is great to assist students with Valentine’s Day writing. Enjoy!
This resource is a sample from my larger graphic organizer units.There are five total organizers with three aligned to reading literature standards and two aligned to informational text standards.
This beginning of the year FREEBIE is focused on summer reflection through writing and goal setting. The watermelon templates are EDITABLE using textboxes in PowerPoint. Enjoy!