2016 | Crafting Connections
Receive tips, freebies, and resource updates when you subscribe to my newsletter!

Reference Materials... A FREEBIE!

Wednesday, December 21, 2016
I've been knee-deep in creating some reference material resources lately, so I decided to create some items to share with my blog followers!

If you've read my blog for a while, you know that I'm an anchor chart fanatic, so of course I couldn't pass up the opportunity to create a Reference Materials anchor chart!

This anchor chart is set up the same as the graphic organizer that's included in my free craftivity.

I envision doing the craftivity as a culminating project to conclude a study of reference materials. Each student chooses his or her own topic. After students choose a topic that interests them, they consider how they might use each type of reference book to research for a project, and/or write a report about their chosen topic. They jot down their ideas on the brainstorming paper. The photo below shows some completed papers.

When students finish brainstorming, they color and cut out the reference material images. They also write their chosen topic on their title box, and cut that out, as well.
Reference Materials Craftivity... FREE! Students explain how they would use a dictionary, thesaursus, atlas, almanac, and encyclopedia to research for/write a report on the topic of their choice!Reference Materials Craftivity... FREE! Students explain how they would use a dictionary, thesaursus, atlas, almanac, and encyclopedia to research for/write a report on the topic of their choice!

Finally, each student assembles his or her craftivity on a sheet of construction paper. 
Reference Materials Craftivity... FREE! Students explain how they would use a dictionary, thesaursus, atlas, almanac, and encyclopedia to research for/write a report on the topic of their choice!
Click on this image to download this free craftivity!
When students glue their books onto their sheet of construction paper, they only draw a light line of glue along the spine of the book. Then, when they place it on the construction paper, it creates a flap. After allowing the glue to dry for a few minutes, students gently pull back the flap and write a complete sentence on the construction paper explaining how they would use each individual reference book to research for a project or write a report on the topic listed in the title box!
Reference Materials Craftivity... FREE! Students explain how they would use a dictionary, thesaursus, atlas, almanac, and encyclopedia to research for/write a report on the topic of their choice!

My favorite thing about this particular craftivity is that each student creates a completely unique project in the end! Therefore, I think they could be used to create a great bulletin board or hallway display!

As I mentioned earlier, I envision this being a culminating project for the end of a reference materials study. If you are interested in checking out any of the other materials I created to introduce reference materials to my students, just click on the images below!

eference Materials PowerPoint- 112-slide PowerPoint that covers the dictionary (along with guide words), thesaurus, encyclopedia, atlas, and almanac.


Reference Materials Task Cards! These 24 task cards cover the dictionary (along with guide words), thesaurus, encyclopedia, atlas, and almanac.

Dictionary and Thesaurus Worksheets! Includes guide words, pronunciation keys, and use entries from both reference books correctly.

Text Structures: A Lesson for Upper Elementary Students

Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Informational text structures... this was the ELA topic that scared me the most when I was coteaching in upper elementary classrooms. Over the years, though, I've become more comfortable with the topic, and today I want to share a complete text structures lesson with you. To be completely honest, I've received such positive, thoughtful feedback about my free character traits lesson, that I decided to create a similar text structure lesson for my followers, too!  If you read through this post, and decide that you want to try this activity with your students, be sure to click on the following image. Everything you need for this lesson is FREE! (Well, almost everything… you’ll have to provide your own anchor chart paper and clipboards!)
Teach text structures with this nonfiction text structure anchor chart and FREE sorting activity! Ideal lesson for the upper elementary classroom that includes 8 free passages!

I would plan to do this lesson about halfway through my text structure unit. (I would show students my PowerPoint and work through my flipbook before this lesson would take place. By doing these activities first, students should have all of the prior knowledge necessary to fully participate in this review lesson.) I would prepare for this lesson by drawing the base of my text structure anchor chart (the rows and columns would be drawn, and the left column would be labeled). I would also have the passages printed, the interactive notebook copies printed, and the clipboards ready to go.

To begin the lesson, I would share the unfinished anchor chart with students and follow these steps:
  1.  Hold up one of the images, and ask students to tell me which row it belonged in. 
  2.  Glue the first image in place. 
  3.  Ask students to help me think of a guiding question for that text structure that I could write in  the middle column.
  4.  Instruct students to turn to a partner and list some of the signal words we have learned for that  text structure.
  5.  Tell students that I'm going to jot down a few of the words I heard mentioned during the  partner conversations that just took place, and do so beside the image (as shown).
  6.  Repeat the previous five steps with the other four text structures.
Teach text structures with this nonfiction text structure anchor chart and FREE sorting activity! Ideal lesson for the upper elementary classroom that includes 8 free passages!



The next component of this lesson includes these five clipboards. As you can see, each clipboard is labeled with the name of a text structure and its matching graphic. I also assigned a number to each clipboard.
Teach text structures with this FREE sorting activity that features 8 nonfiction passages! Ideal text structure lesson for the upper elementary classroom that includes an anchor chart!


Teach text structures with this FREE sorting activity that features 8 nonfiction passages! Ideal text structure lesson for the upper elementary classroom that includes an anchor chart!

I would tell students to listen carefully as I read aloud a passage. (I would also use a document camera to display the passages so my students could follow along.) After reading the nonfiction passage, students need to identify the text structure used by the author. To make sure everyone remains engaged, I would instruct students to display each answer by holding up fingers… one finger for description, two fingers for sequence, three fingers for compare and contrast, etc. After asking a few students to justify their answer (hopefully by using some of the language from our anchor chart), I would invite a student to clip the passage onto the correct clipboard.
Teach text structures with this FREE sorting activity that features 8 nonfiction passages! Ideal text structure lesson for the upper elementary classroom that includes an anchor chart!


Finally, I would have my students add the following clipboard images to their reading notebooks. Students can refer to the anchor chart as they write the guided question under each clipboard.
FREE Nonfiction Text Structures Interactive Notebook Entry! This blog post contains a COMPLETE informational text structure lesson with and anchor chart and 8 free nonfiction passages for your upper elementary students to sort, also!

(Notice that only the top of each clipboard is glued in place, allowing it to be flipped up and written beneath.)
FREE Nonfiction Text Structures Interactive Notebook Entry! This blog post contains a COMPLETE informational text structure lesson with and anchor chart and 8 free nonfiction passages for your upper elementary students to sort, also!

If you are looking for additional resources for teaching text structures to your upper elementary students, feel free to check out the following resources. 


Thank you for stopping by today! 





Pin for later:
Teach text structures with this FREE sorting activity that features 8 nonfiction passages! Ideal text structure lesson for the upper elementary classroom that includes an anchor chart!

An A From Miss Keller Freebies: A Mentor Text for Writing Personal Narratives

Friday, October 7, 2016

The book I am featuring for our mentor text link-up is An A From Miss Keller by Patricia Polacco. If you’re like me (and most intermediate level ELA teachers I know!), you’re already a fan of her work. This is one of her newer books, just published in 2015. Full disclosure: this blog post contains affiliate links. :)
Personal Narrative Checklist Anchor Chart... a writing lesson and FREE printables are also included!
Click on the image to take a peek at this book on Amazon!

An A From Miss Keller is a perfect mentor text to use during a personal narrative unit in writing. After all, this book IS a personal narrative. Polacco writes about the pride and fear she felt when she realized that she would be in “Killer Keller’s” writing class. Just as a fan of Patricia Polacco might expect, this book is fun to read aloud, full of descriptive sentences. One of my favorite lines from this book is “She stood stiff and erect, but when she was at her desk, she reminded me of a bird of prey, perched on a dead limb, ready to swoop down on one of us.”

A quick summary: No matter how hard Trisha tries, there just seems to be no way to impress Miss Keller, her writing teacher. Miss Keller critiques each one of her student’s writing, leaving Trisha and her classmates feeling discouraged. Trisha’s neighbor, known as Pop, recalls how his sons once had Miss Keller as a teacher, and offers words of encouragement. Still, Trisha can’t seem to make Miss Keller happy. One day, Trisha is positive that she finally nailed her writing assignment, but Miss Keller tells Trisha that she lacks emotional connection in her writing. Devastated, Trisha visits Pop, who tells Trisha about how his son became a journalist and won a Pulitzer Prize for reporting, and he credited Miss Keller for helping his son become a gifted writer. Shortly thereafter, Pop dies unexpectedly, and Trisha is heartbroken. She pours her heart into writing a piece about Pop as her term essay. Finally, Miss Keller is moved by Trisha’s writing, and tells Trisha that she wrote a stunning tribute to Pop the crowning example of a personal narrative.

BEFORE READING

I plan to use this mentor text during the week when I focus on Elements of a Personal Narrative. Before reading this book aloud, I will create the following anchor chart with my students. (We will have already focused on numbers 1, 2, and 3 in previous weeks, and I'm confident that we will have at least briefly touched on numbers 4, 5, and 6.) 

Prior to class, I will have the title printed across the top of the anchor chart, the lines drawn, and the visual cues ready to go. I'll begin the lesson by saying something like, "We've already learned several elements of a strong personal narrative. Turn to a partner and see how many the two of you can name." After giving students two minutes to discuss the topic, I'll randomly choose some students to share their answers. 

As students list the elements, I'll add them (and the visual cues) to the anchor chart. If students fail to mention any or all of the last three elements, I plan to say, I'm going to add a few more elements that we will really dive into within the next few weeks. Right now, though, I'm just going to give you a 'sneak peek' at them, because they are important elements to have on our personal narrative checklist." (Then, when we actually do reach these lessons in future weeks, we can discuss how we've already been introduced to these elements, and we can refer back to our anchor chart!)

Following our discussion, the anchor chart will look like this:

Personal Narrative Checklist Anchor Chart... a writing lesson and FREE printables are also included!

DURING READING

Next, I will display the book. I'll tell students that as they listen to the story, they will need to follow along and listen for evidence of how Patricia Polacco included these six elements in her personal narrative. After reading, we will fill in the final column of our anchor chart with evidence from this text that proves Polacco met the requirements of a strong personal narrative. (If they want to jot down notes on a sheet of notebook paper, they may certainly do so!)
Strong Personal Narratives: A Mentor Text Writing Lesson! After reading aloud the book, you and your students can work together and find text evidence to support each element!

After we reach the conclusion, I will hand out the printable checklist, and point out how I reworded the middle section just a bit to be more specific. Together, we will go through each row on the checklist and answer the question. For most of the rows, we'll need to dive back into the book and find specific evidence. When we do this, I'll place the book below the document camera so all students will be able to read along. When we find evidence, I'll record it on the anchor chart while students write it on their own checklist. The finished anchor chart will look similar to the one below: 
Personal Narrative Checklist Anchor Chart... a writing lesson and FREE printables are also included!
Having trouble reading the words? Just download the free printable and check out page 3! The same words are printed there.


AFTER READING

I anticipate referring to this anchor chart often as we progress through our personal narrative unit. I also created the following checklist for students to use as a writing or revising tool. They can use this checklist to analyze their own writing to make sure they included all of the necessary personal narrative elements. I'm also excited to use this as a tool during writing conferences to facilitate conversation with my young authors!
FREE personal narrative checklist for writers in grades 3-6! Students can use this checklist to analyze their own personal narratives!

If you would like to replicate this lesson for your own classroom, feel free to download the printables here! I've included both checklists, an answer key, and the visual cue images in case you want to replicate the anchor chart. CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW FOR THE FREE PRINTABLES!
Personal Narrative Checklist Anchor Chart... a writing lesson and FREE printables are also included!


If you happen to be looking for additional resources to use when teaching writing, feel free to check out my TpT store! One of my favorite writing lessons involves using the PowerPoint shown below! 


Thanks for stopping by today! 

Genre Activities... FREE Printables!

Wednesday, September 14, 2016
One of my goals for the first month of school has always been to get to know my students as readers. I want to know what types of books interest them, and which books bore them, and then I use this information to recommend certain books to my students throughout the year. These discussions pop up naturally when we review the genres with our students... everyone seems to want to share whether or not they enjoy reading a certain genre. Therefore, genre is a topic I dive into early in the school year with as many engaging and meaningful activities as possible! Today, I am going to share three genre activity ideas with you!
Looking for genre activities to engage your upper elementary students? This blog post contains a genre anchor chart plus two more genre activities! Free printables, too!

Activity #1- Genres Anchor Chart

This is a second-day activity in my classroom, because I use my Genre PowerPoint on Day #1 to introduce the topic. To prepare for this anchor chart activity, three things need to be done in advance. First, I make the anchor chart "base", which looks like this:
Genre Anchor Chart
Second, I print my definition phrases on sticky notes. (Click on the image below to download these free phrases. There are instructions listed for printing on sticky notes, or check out Courtney's blog post if you would like to see a tutorial with photos.)
Genre anchor chart sticky notes- plus two more free activities!
The third and final preparation task is to print a genre response sheet for each student. (You can download this free sheet also, by clicking on the image below.) This sheet is super important, because it keeps EVERYONE engaged in the entire lesson! I print the sheets on cardstock and slip them into a reusable dry-erase pocket or a page protector sleeve. (After our genre unit is complete, I gather them, and store them away so that they are ready to use again next year.)
Genre Identification Activity for the upper elementary classroom- plus two more free activities!
When it's time to begin the lesson, I hand each student a genre response sheet, a dry-erase marker, and an eraser. Then, I read one of the sticky notes, and tell students to circle the genre they think is being described. After a short discussion, we place the sticky note in the correct area of the anchor chart, and we move on to the next sticky note. Throughout the lesson, I'm making notes on a clipboard, marking which students are having difficulty, and which genres are the most confusing for students. As a result, this activity serves as a formative assessment! When we have finished, our anchor chart looks like this:
Genre anchor chart and free printables!

Activity #2- Identifying Genres

Minimal preparation is required for this activity. I only need to visit the school library (or classroom library) and check out a wide variety of books. I aim to pick out a few for each genre.
Genre activities for the upper elementary classroom! Free printables!
Add caption
Students will once again use their genre response sheets, dry-erase marker, and eraser. To begin, I simply display a book, and read its title. I also read the blurb on the back or share a short "teaser" that provides clues as to what genre the book belongs to. Again, students circle the genre  that they think the book belongs to on their response sheet, and then we have a short discussion to reveal the answer.
Genre activities for the upper elementary classroom- free printables are included!

Activity #3- Genre Minibooks

The only thing I need to do to prepare for this third activity is gather some old Scholastic book order forms and a sheet of blank white paper for each student. (Also, if you don't know how to make a tiny 8-page mini book, check out this one-minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21qi9ZcQVto )

After guiding students on how to form their mini book, they write "Genres" on the cover of their mini book while I distribute a book order form to each student. I instruct my students to find as many different genres in the book order as possible. When they find a book that belongs to a genre, they cut out the image and glue it to one of the pages of their mini book. After the image is glued in place, students need to label the genre they found.
Genre sorting activity for the upper elementary classroom- plus two more free activities!

If you are looking for additional genre activities, feel free to check out the following resources in my TpT store:
Genre PowerPoint- introduce your students to 14 genres. Lots of opportunities to practice identifying genres!

Genre Book Display Craftivity- students identify 12 genres... great bulletin board idea!


I hope some of the activities I shared will be helpful to you as you and your students explore genres this year. Thanks for stopping by!

What Do Authors Do: A Mentor Text for Writing! (Includes a sequencing freebie!)

Wednesday, August 31, 2016
I discovered a new picture book recently. Well, it isn't really a new book, but it was new to me! It was actually published back in 1997 (which was the year I student taught!). I wish I would have found it back in 1997, because I would have used it every year for the past 19 years! Perhaps you've heard of it, or have even used it in your classroom... (An Amazon affiliate link follows.)

Looking for a mentor text to use in a writing lesson for upper elementary students? This text can be used as a foundation to stress tons of truths about how "real" authors write.

What Do Authors Do? is by Eileen Christelow. You may recognize her name from the popular Five Little Monkeys picture book series. This book is written in cartoon form, and it follows two authors through the writing process, from the moment they get an idea and all the way through the arduous writing process and publishing process. Both authors get an idea when one of their pets chase the other one into a lake. The male author decides to write a chapter book, while the female author chooses to write a picture book.

When I found this book, the teacher in me immediately thought, Oh my goodness! This is the perfect book to share with students as part of a writing minilesson! As an ESL teacher who co-taught in many upper elementary classrooms, I wish I had a dime for every time I reminded a student that real authors revise their writing over and over, and that as authors, they needed to be willing to revise their initial drafts, too. This book provides proof of the revision process for authors in a kid-friendly way.
Looking for a mentor text to use in a writing lesson for upper elementary students? This text can be used as a foundation to stress tons of truths about how "real" authors revise. Includes a free printable!

Some of the other key points I would stress during a read aloud include:
Looking for a mentor text to use in a writing lesson for upper elementary students? This text can be used as a foundation to stress tons of truths about how "real" authors write. Includes a free printable!
This page could serve as a springboard to make a list of things students could do when they feel stuck in writing!

Looking for a mentor text to use in a writing lesson for upper elementary students? This text can be used as a foundation to stress tons of truths about how "real" authors write. Includes a free printable!
This is one of my favorite pages! I like how it shows that authors get emotionally attached to their writing, and that it can be difficult to hear negative feedback. Best of all, though, is how Eileen Christelow stresses that authors are persistent people... they DO NOT GIVE UP!

Looking for a mentor text to use in a writing lesson for upper elementary students? This text can be used as a foundation to stress tons of truths about how "real" authors revise and edit. Includes a free printable!
I would encourage students to connect this to the writing process that occurs in the classroom. When the author meets with an editor, who suggests ways to make the story better, it reminds me of how students meet with teachers during a writing conference for the same reason! 
Another fabulous feature about this book is how it does not end when each author receives an acceptance letter from the publisher. Rather, it takes the reader through the publishing process, which includes working with editors and designers, dedicating the book, and seeing how books are printed and bound by machines.
Looking for a mentor text to use in a writing lesson for upper elementary students? This text can be used as a foundation to stress tons of truths about how "real" authors revise and edit.

Finally, I love how the book ends... with the authors thinking about ideas for their next book.

Don't you love it when you can get two uses out of ONE book? When I first read this book, I knew immediately that I wanted to use it as a writing minilesson to show students how real authors work through the writing process. However, it quickly struck me that this could serve as a dual-purpose lesson! Not only could I focus on the writing process, but I could also make this a sequencing activity! Click here or on the image below to download the FREE sequencing strips!
Read aloud What Do Authors Do?, and then have your upper elementary students sequence the story-writing process using this FREE printable!


Looking for a mentor text to use in a writing lesson for upper elementary students? This text can be used as a foundation to stress tons of truths about how "real" authors write. A free sequencing activity is also included in this blog post!
Pin this activity for later!!

Classroom Must Haves: Things I Can't Picture Myself Teaching Without

Sunday, August 14, 2016

Are there classroom supplies you simply cannot imagine having to survive without? Whether you're a brand new teacher or a veteran with thirty-some years of experience, you've surely got a list of teaching must-haves. My fellow bloggers and I at Upper Elementary Snapshots are going to share our favorites with you!  (Amazon affiliate links follow.)


Thirteen upper elementary bloggers share their "must have" teaching supplies and resources!

Must Have Supply

I could not live without reusable dry erase pockets
Reusable Dry Erase Pockets... a classroom supply I couldn't live without! These are so useful in the classroom for multiple reasons!

They are soooo versatile! They are similar to individual white boards... but so much better! I have found multiple uses for these little gems!
Slip a colored sheet of cardstock inside the sleeve, and you have an individual "white" board! I use this feature on a daily basis to promote student engagement. Just like with individual white boards, each student can practice a math problem, define terms, or write responses (like the two words within a given contraction).

Here's the best part about the dry-erase pockets, though. You can slip any sheet of paper inside the pocket! Are your students learning to tell time? Slip an analog clock image inside, and students can draw the hands of the clock so that they display a given time. Slip a map of the United States inside and ask them to write the abbreviations you've learned on each state. Slip a Venn diagram inside and ask them to compare and contrast two characters! The possibilities are endless!
Reusable Dry Erase Pockets... a classroom supply I couldn't live without! These are so useful in the classroom for multiple reasons!

A final use for dry erase pockets I found on a whim. One day I decided to print a partner play at the last minute to use at a reading center. Normally, I would laminate my partner plays for added durability. However, on this day, I didn't have time to do that. I spotted a dry erase pocket out of the corner of my eye and realized hey! I'll just slip this pair of scripts inside two pockets until I have a chance to laminate them later! 
Reusable Dry Erase Pockets... a classroom supply I couldn't live without! These are so useful in the classroom for multiple reasons!

Must Have Book

What Do You Do with a Problem? by Kobi Yabana was just published in 2016. It is by the same author as the New York Times best-seller What Do You Do with an Idea? Both of these books caught my eye recently during a trip through a local bookstore. I ran across it right after I had finished creating my Growth Mindset PowerPoint, and I knew I had to have it... it fits so perfectly with the growth mindset approach!
Teaching about growth mindset? Check out this awesome classroom read aloud book, What Do You Do with a Problem?

This book is about a boy who encounters a problem. At first, he tries to escape from the problem, but he realizes that it keeps following him from place to place. After much worry, he decides to confront his problem. 

The following image shows my favorite page of the entire book:
"My problem held an opportunity! It was an opportunity for me to learn and to grow. To be brave. To do something."
I think a perfect followup discussion after you read this book aloud to students is to brainstorm problems, and some of the opportunities that might be found within.

Must Have Resource

Of all of my resources, the one I simply couldn't live without is my Nonfiction Text Structure Bundle! It contains a plethora of activities- possibly more than you could use in one school year! An interactive PowerPoint (with a companion handout), a flipbook, TWO craftivities, 24 task cards, graphic organizers, posters, worksheets, an assessment... this resource containing more than 100 practice passages has it all! 
Nonfiction Text Features BUNDLE!!  This file contains so many activities for teaching upper elementary and middle school students about text structures. More than 100 passages are included!

FREE FOR YOU!

If you were to ask my students what their favorite classroom activity is, I bet more than half would respond "PARTNER PLAYS!" without hesitation! Cheers erupt when a new set of partner plays is introduced! If you are not familiar with partner plays, they are scripts that students read with a partner. They are great reading center options that allow students to work to improve their reading fluency! Plus, all of my 4th and 5th grade sets now contain some sort of follow-up worksheet that accompanies each script. Click on the image below to try one out in your classroom!
Try out a partner play for FREE!  This script is designed for 4th and 5th grade readers. It comes with a bonus comprehension sheet!
2nd and 3rd grade teachers, CLICK HERE to check out the partner play freebie I wrote for your grade levels!

After you've downloaded my freebie be sure to visit each of the blogs below to add 12 more FREE RESOURCES to your own collection of things you can't picture yourself teaching without. Afterwards swing by our collaborative blog, Upper Elementary Snapshots for lots of great content and ideas you can put into practice in your own classrooms as well as a chance to win gift cards to Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Teachers Pay Teachers so you can stock up on your own Classroom Must Haves.


~DEB

Growth vs. Fixed Mindsets... A FREE Sorting Activity!

Wednesday, July 27, 2016
Hello, Friends!

I have spoken with several teachers who have shared how they started the last school year with teaching the fundamentals of growth mindset, and how it positively and profoundly affected their classroom climate last year. I’ve talked to even more teachers who plan to start with this approach this year. I even watched my own daughters blossom last year after a teacher they shared spent several days focusing on the importance of having a growth mindset. Therefore, when a teacher asked me to create a Growth Mindset PowerPoint a few months ago (that she could use to introduce the concept at the beginning of this upcoming school year), I immediately thought, Genius! Why didn't I think of that myself?

After creating the PowerPoint, I thought I was done… until, during a recent loooooong road trip, I was inspired to create some growth mindset stations, and make them available for free to my blog readers. 

The station I have shared below is simply a sort. Students cut out a statement, read it, and determine whether it is a statement made by a person who has a fixed mindset or a person who has a growth mindset.
Help students differentiate between growth mindset statements and fixed mindset statements with this FREE learning center!

Help students differentiate between growth mindset statements and fixed mindset statements with this FREE sorting activity!


Click HERE to download these free printables. Then, hop on over to Upper Elementary Snapshots, where I wrote an accompanying blog post. You’ll find FOUR MORE FREE STATIONS there that you can download!
Foster growth mindsets within your students this year with these four FREE learning centers!


Also, feel free to check out my PowerPoint and partner plays- just click on the images below. These stations would be an excellent followup activity after working through the PowerPoint with your students.


Growth Mindset PowerPoint and worksheets. This file includes directions on how to split this PowerPoint into a 5-day mini-unit... perfect for back-to-school time. Five growth mindset worksheets are also included!

Growth Mindset Partner Plays- 5 scripts students can read with a partner to improve fluency. This set focuses on growth mindset concepts and includes a free worksheet that students can complete after reading each script!


Powered by Blogger.
Back to Top