Poetry Unit for Elementary and Middle School

April is National Poetry Month.  I now say that with a huge smile and a tingle of excitement.  If I'm going to be completely honest, and I am, I loathed having anything to do with poetry throughout my own education and teaching it my first few years.  That's because up until the past 6 years or so, the only experiences I had with poetry were:

1. having to memorize and recite Shakespeare in front of an entire class (as a teacher, I still don't see the educational value in that)

2. being forced to write poetry with minimal support or understanding of what I was doing

3. having to decode and analyze poetry

So, why the smile and tingle of excitement now?  Well, a wonderful friend and colleague turned me onto students writing their own poetry in fun and meaningful ways.  At first I was apprehensive because my students didn't want anything to do with poetry either.  They thought it was boring and confusing.  It was my job to prove them otherwise, and I was going to do it by allowing them to be the poets for a change.

It took me a lot of research and tons of time, but what I created I just have to share.  It's a complete unit that takes students through several stages.  First they learn about different poems, then practicing writing poems, and finally turn their poetry into an amazing book that includes an About the Author Page, a Table of Contents page, a Cover page, and much more.  There is even a rubric to keep your students on track and for you to grade student work.  My Poetry Do-It-Yourself Book does the following:

1. Introduces students to 9 different types of popular poetry
2. Provides my original examples of the 9 types of poetry
3. Provides directions for how to write these poems
4. Includes (printable) templates for students to write their own poems
5. Includes all of the materials for students to build their own book with Author, Cover, and Table of Contents Pages


Click here or on any of the images below to get yours.  I posted the product cover and some actual pages from the resource.  I'd love to hear your experience with this.  Happy Poetry Month!

Christmas Games, Writing, Math, and More

This is definitely one of my favorite times of the year to be a teacher.  There are so many fun, educational (and some just fun) things to do in the classroom.  People are happy, the air smells of hot cocoa at least once a week (thanks to some amazing parents), and the snow brings on such excitement.

As our two week break gets closer, there are some activities that I like to do to keep the kiddos interested and motivated in the classroom.  You can find all of these activities in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  Use this link to go directly to the Christmas Resources page.  You can click on any of the links or pictures below to go directly to the product pages also.

 

 

Christmas Taboo and Scattergories Games

 

 

'Twas the Night Before Christmas Mad Libs Edition

Dear Santa,...

A Holiday Gift Persuasive Writing Activity

 

 

 



Holiday Gift Tags (FREE)

 

 

 

Holiday Writing Paper

 

 

 

Happy Holidays!

 

 

Back to School Daily Labels Set

I know it's not back-to-school time, but I just updated this product and wanted to share it.  It's not too late to start using these Daily Schedule Labels today.  Just print, cut, (laminate if you choose), and display them to keep students updated on what the schedule for the day will be.

There are 43 labels with several activities, subjects, and events (including blank ones).  There are also time labels if you want to write in times. Click on any of the links or the image to get yours.

P.S.  I'll be running a sale soon, so check back often.  :)

Thanksgiving Activities

Here are a few of my new and updated Thanksgiving resources.  Enjoy!

A Turkey's Troubles:  A Persuasive Writing Activity

 

Students write from the perspective of a turkey and try to convince a shopper to buy a different turkey for their Thanksgiving dinner.  Included are student directions, brainstorming organizer, student rubric, and Thanksgiving themed writing paper.

 

 

 

Thanksgiving Taboo and Scattergories Games

 

I LOVE games.  I created these two games based off the board games Scattergories and Taboo.  These are super for small groups, centers, or whole class.  Both provide great oral language practice and can be beneficial for students learning the English language.

 

 

 

 

 

Memory Book for Many Students

It always seems like the end of the year is so far away, but it somehow always gets here.  Usually, after really thinking about it, I realize that the year went by so quickly.  Whenever I stop and think back about all of the things that I've done with my students throughout the year, it amazes me at how much we really did- from field trips to science projects to what everything learned.  A couple of years ago, I borrowed an old memory book from a colleague and gave my students a page or two a day for the last week of school.  They really loved it!  I took a good look at the pages and created my own.  Here's a look inside at a few of the pages.  You can find this product in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  There are two different versions- one with colors and graphics and one that is more plain.  Included are cover pages and several idea pages.  Click any of the pictures or the heading below to view it.  

Memory Book For Elementary Students

No More Book Reports, Introducing...Book Recommendations

That's right- NO MORE BOOK REPORTS.  I have always said that I had some of the greatest teachers when I was growing up, but if there was one thing that I didn't enjoy about their classes was doing book reports.  They were always so boring, and I felt like I was always writing the same thing.

Being a teacher now, I can understand the objectives behind them (kind of), and I appreciate that I did learn some skills like summarizing, distinguishing between main ideas and minor details, and learning about plot.  However, I also remember how boring they were for me, and I can only imagine how boring they would be for my students if I assigned them.  I'm not blaming my teachers at all.  Times were just different.  No big deal.  I'm pretty sure that the ones who are still teaching haven't done a traditional book report in years anyway.

So, in order to keep the objectives in place but to make it a bit more interesting and personal for students, I have created my own version of Student Book Recommendations.  Allowing students to critique and rate books empowers them and gives them ownership of their work.   They love to see their critiques displayed and read by other students.  I like to refer students to the display of Book Recommendations so they can browse them to see if they find something they are interested in.

For the past couple of years, I have designated a specific wall or bulletin board in my classroom to display student recommendations and the materials students need to complete the activity.  Sometimes, I assign them as a literacy center, use them after a group finishes a literature circle book, or allow students to complete them instead of doing their Reader's Workshop Response Log.  

Coming soon will be a picture of the bulletin board with the student recommendations that my students have just finished.  

Here are some values I have found in this activity:
1. Kids are excited about being the expert, or person who gets to critique something.
2. Kids love to see their work displayed.
3. The kids enjoy when other students ask them about the book after reading their recommendation.
4. Kids like being able to choose which books they write about.
5. I learn which books my students are really interested in without having to take a formal poll.
6. This can be a quick assessment.
7. Kids are interactively positively with reading.
8. It makes a great looking bulletin board.

Click here or on any of the images below to get your own set, which includes:

- Teacher Information/Suggestions for Use

- Student Directions

- Student Writing Forms in 8 styles (1 pictured below)

- Student Rubric

- Book Recommendation Cover Page

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

 



Creative Writing

How the Creature Got its Feature

Creative Writing Project

 

 

 

This creative writing assignment is one that I have really enjoyed doing with my students for the past few years.  I'm always amazed at what they come up with.  This would definitely work in grades 4-8.  Depending on your students' abilities, this could be adjusted and used at other levels too.  It can be used in different ways also when considering writing (shared, writer's workshop, writing centers, etc.)

 

Basically, students choose an animal that has a specific characteristic (ex. a zebra with stripes, a pig's curly tail, or a chameleon's changing colors) and writes a fictional, narrative story that tells "how the animal got its feature." 

 

Included in this set of materials are a lesson plan, an example story that I wrote with my class, student planning organizers, a student rubric, decorative writing paper, and materials to use to put a class book together (cover page, table of contents, about the author page).  I tried to make this collection complete so that you don't have to do anything but read through the materials and copy items that you want to use.  You can click here or on the picture to get the materials.

 

I'd love to hear your experience if you use this so please leave comments below.  Also, if you have any suggestions or ways to use this differently, please share.  Enjoy!

 

 

Back to School Student and Parent Surveys

There's so much to do this time of year if you're a teacher.  Many of you have already gone back to school, and many of us will be heading back very soon.  One thing that is important to every teacher who I've ever met is getting to know their students' interests inside and outside of school and what they like to learn about.  That's what this post will hopefully help with. 

These are back to school surveys for students and parents (separate).  Although the pictures show 5th Grade, the actual product that I created to share includes pages for 3rd-6th grades.  I also took out my name, but left it in the pictures to show you what they look like.  Click here to get the student surveys and here to get parents surveys for FREE!!!!  Please let me know what you think of them.  Happy School Year!

Student Survey

 

 

Parent Survey

 

 

 

 

 

Literature Circles

One of my favorite activities to do with my students is literature circles.  I think it's because they love them so much.  It wasn't always like this for me.  Why?????  Well that's because it used to seem like a daunting task.  With literature circles, it's all about student generated discussions to foster deep understanding of the text.  It's very difficult to get students to be able to discuss among themselves.  So, I spent a lot of time several years thinking about different learning styles and Bloom's Taxonomy to develop activities, games, and journal pages for students to use in literature circles.  Now, with some training, students are able to run their own groups while having powerful discussions in which they learn so much from one another.  Below are some of the materials that I use and some pictures some AWESOME fifth graders working on the activities.  Click on any of the materials (or this link) to get them for yourself!



Cameron & Zolin work on
the Acrostic Poem for
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

 

Kat & Manuel work on the Party Invitation
for
The Mouse and the Motorcycle.



Nayeli and Melissa work on the
Party Invitation for
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.

Emely and Jessie work on the
Acrostic Poem and Party Invitation
for Someone Named Eva.

Everardo, Adriana, and Odalys work on
the Character Interview Activity
for Homer Price.

Camila and Alyssa work on the
Word Search Activity for
Homer Price.



       

Jaylynn works on the Word Search
for Someone Named Eva.



Get These Materials for Yourself
 

Literature Circle Bundle with all Literature Circle Materials



 



Character Map Activity

Acrostic Poem Activity



 

Book Recommendation Activity



Word Search Activity

 

Illustration Summary Activity

 

 

Literature Circle Activity Rubric

 

Literature Circle Job/Role Cards

Literature Circle Question Cards

Literature Circle Journal Cover

Literature Circle Journal Pages

Literature Circle Student Evaluation Form