Search This Blog

Showing posts with label anchor chart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label anchor chart. Show all posts

Monday, September 18, 2023

IT'S ABOUT TIME for TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!

 


September 19 is TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!  

Avast! Are ye looking for some resources to use on this special day? Try this antonym activity:


Ye have found a pirate’s booty in this resource. In AHOY! ANTONYMS Literacy Center, students match words with their opposites. These materials are provided in print and digitally on TPT Easel.


You might also like to introduce the rules of syllabication with help from these pirates:

Display these syllables anchor charts in your classroom to make the syllable division rules easy for children to understand. Every poster includes an example word to further illustrate the rule. Syllable division is included in every elementary level of CCSS.






Wednesday, August 9, 2023

It's About Time, Teachers, for Syllable Rules!

 


Did you know that teaching syllable division is included in every elementary level of CCSS?

Do your students struggle with dividing words into syllables?

Do you need help teaching the syllabication rules? 

It's about time, then, that you checked out these resources that clearly and concisely explain 16 rules for dividing words into syllables.  

  • The rules in each resource are the same.  The graphics reflect the theme.  
  • Each poster includes an example word to further illustrate the rule.  That example also reflects the theme.  









To peruse these products, you can click on the above images, or proceed to my TPT store following this link.  You will also find products for practicing these skills.









Tuesday, January 24, 2023

IT'S ABOUT TIME for GROUNDHOG DAY

 

Celebrate this fun holiday with 2 resources:

Groundhog Day Hink Pinks, Hinky Pinkies, & Hinkity Pinkities is a super fun freebie!


These word riddles teach students to problem solve while honing vocabulary skills.  This product is available as task cards and digitally on TPT Easel.

SCRATTLE is a differentiated, math and literacy, learning center activity that combines word work with computation; individual effort with competition.


Students make words, as in ScrabbleTM, computing their worth.  Then they engage another learner in a friendly battle to see which child has the most high scores.  SCRABBLE + BATTLE = SCRATTLE.  The word warriors will quickly eschew the easy, low scoring words in order to create more complex and higher scoring words.  Thus, offer your pupils the chance to play several times.  They will love it and you will enjoy seeing the uptick in their efforts.

BTW, I offer 7 SCRATTLE products in my store and all of them have just been updated and refreshed.  So, if you already have some SCRATTLE in your resource library, download the new versions!

I've been refreshing and renewing lots of products lately.  As with SCRATTLE, you can download the new versions for FREE if you already own the previous version. 

HOW TO PLAY SUDOKU is a slideshow that explains and illustrates the terminology, procedures, and strategies for completing sudoku puzzles.  The revisions include all new graphics and compacting the slideshow.

Related to sudoku are my Latin Squares products.  They are great for easing into sudoku and are all freshly redone.


These QUESTION WORDS POSTERS have not only been refreshed with all new graphics, but the product has been expanded.  Even if you don't already own it, you can download it for FREE.


ATTITUDE POSTER is a FREEBIE that has been refreshed with new graphics.





Monday, August 30, 2021

CREATE CLASSROOM PANDAMONIUM

It's about time, teachers, to



I'm proud to announce that another bundle of PANDA CLASSROOM DECOR has launched.  This bundle features a rainbow theme.  It will create a bright and cheerful atmosphere for your classroom.  Check it out!



Find the bundle here.






















Monday, July 8, 2019

It's about time, teachers, for some D'NEALIAN CLASSROOM DECOR!



If you have a D'Nealian classroom, you know how difficult it can be to find decor in that font.  I created these 6 products just for you!














The blue and green palette is one of my favorites as it creates a charming, serene atmosphere without being overwhelmingly bright (and distracting).

You may also like these coordinating products that are not currently available in D'Nealian:








Monday, February 17, 2014

Anchor Charts Aweigh!

It’s about time, teachers, for anchor charts. 


I’ve been focusing on anchor charts lately.  It’s a love/hate relationship for me.  Let me explain.
  
· I am a visual learner, so anchor charts are a natural fit for my classroom and me.  If I had a photographic memory, such visual reminders would be superfluous.  But, alas, there is no camera in my brain.  I assume the majority of my students also lack an Instagram intellect.  Thus, I ♥ anchor charts for providing the cues.

· In my district, it is permissible to have anchor charts posted in the classroom during standardized testing.  Permissible, that is, if they were hanging prior to the start of testing.  That is a distinct advantage for visual learner students.  Gotta ♥ that!

· Creating anchor charts with my students allows me to model my thinking; a teaching strategy I ♥.  Similarly, I can evaluate their thinking and understanding by observing their reactions and contributions.

· Anchor charts can be dynamic.  As we delve into a subject, we can add to the anchor chart.  It’s another way to scaffold learning.  ♥

· Some of my anchor charts are static.  As such, I introduce the chart to my class, explaining its tenets, and post it at a learning center.  This promotes independence for my students and allows me to conduct small group instruction with minimal disruption.    These charts can be stored and used year after year.

· Anchor charts  are concise.  Teaching my students to be succinct is also a valuable lesson.  I ♥ bulleted lists!  (In case you couldn’t tell.)

So what’s not to like about anchor charts?

· Charts should be neat and organized, with simple graphics to enhance their meaning.  I can barely draw a straight line with a ruler!  Although my 1st graders think my stick figures are wonderful, I’m pretty sure my upper grade students are stifling their snickers.  Then I peruse Pinterest and see all the adorable anchor charts with hand drawn graphics and feel utterly inadequate. 

· There can be too much of a good thing.  Like most elementary teachers, I embrace trends with enthusiasm.  So my room began wearing anchor charts everywhere.  I even considered pinning some to the ceiling like my dentist does.  The sad effect is that my students were on visual overload and the anchor charts ceased being helpful.  It can be difficult to find the balance between just right and too much.  Just ask Goldilocks.

 
· As helpful as anchor charts are, they present the age old problem of storage.  Where to keep these instructional aids in an already overcrowded classroom is a perennial problem.  Of course, I could recreate them each year, but for some of them, that seems wasteful.  For example, I have a set of 20 poetry posters that are very helpful when my students are challenged to write a specific form of poetry.  Fortunately, while wandering through Pinterestland, I found a wonderful solution:  an anchor chart binder.  It's perfect for my pre-printed, 1 page, poetry posters.  





I've got an idea for storing and organizing all those large, poster size, anchor charts, too: install a dry cleaner's automated line.






I think my principal will go for it, don't you?


♫♪ Anchors Aweigh, my friends, Anchors Aweigh. 
♫ Send those charts whirling around, ♪

‘Til the perfect one is found. ♫♪






Sunday, August 11, 2013

More Back to School Time Savers



While there is no magic recipe for setting up your room and preparing to meet your students, there are many things that can ease you into it. I have a few suggestions for items to include in your backpack that may help alleviate some of the stress of going back to school. 









If you teach emergent readers, you know that word work is an essential component of reading instruction.  As a Reading Recovery teacher, I have spent years honing this aspect of literacy education. You can reap some benefits from my experience by perusing my 8 part blog series that starts here.  You may also wish to check out Word Work: A Guide for Teachers of Young Children.  

If blank bulletin boards bother you, download these FREE writing posters that coordinate with 6 Traits of Quality Writing. They can stay up all year!  Did I mention that they are FREE?


As students progress in reading and writing, an essential skill is breaking words into syllables.  Syllabication skills are included in EVERY elementary grade level of the CCSS.  As a literacy specialist, I have come to recognize that many struggling readers and writers do not have a good grasp of these skills.  Take some time to teach syllabication. The return is huge!

To help you with this task, I have several editions of Rules of Syllabication products that make excellent bulletin boards and/or center anchor charts.  The rules in each of the following are the same; the graphics and size of the posters vary by theme.





You may also like the Under the Sea Edition Bundle which includes the rule posters from the Under the Sea Edition above and a delightfully animated power point presentation.



As you are preparing centers and small groups, you may find the following syllabication activities helpful.  Friendly Frog's Syllables Book and Friendly Frog in Outer Space are both well suited to small group instruction or independent work.


Friendly Frog is very popular with my students.  Hence, he is a frequent visitor to our centers. The kiddos are always excited to see him back.  You can find these centers here.


Until next time...