IT'S ABOUT TIME, TEACHERS, for THE ELECTION!

It's about time for the Presidential Election in the U.S.  My favorite way to teach election vocabulary is with ELECTION HINK PINKS, et al.  These word riddles help children learn to problem solve while exercising vocabulary skills (definitions, synonyms, parts of speech, rimes, ...).  These task cards prompt learners to interpret data, make inferences, draw conclusions, and analyze new information. Here's a sample:

These Hink Pink puzzles are ideal for upper elementary and middle school classes.

You may also like resources about presidents:

These resources focus on the 50 states:

This is a great time for these patriotic products, too:

IT'S ABOUT TIME FOR THE 4TH OF JULY!

Let's celebrate America's independence with a patriotic FREEBIE! SCRATTLE combines word fluency with computation; individual effort with competition. It's easily differentiated for any elementary grade level. Your learners will quickly learn to eschew easy words in order to win the "battle." They may even beg to play again!

These patriotic resources are on sale this week.

IT'S ABOUT TIME for a HASHTAG SALE!

 

You don't want to miss this hashtag sale on TPT! #NEWSTART23 will bring you $1 deals to start your new year off right. The sale is just 2 days - 12/31 & 1/1 so don't delay.

My offerings are:
PRESIDENTIAL TRIVIA TASK CARDS

ONE DOLLAR WORDS 3.0 

Both resources are perfect for your intermediate students.

Presidents' Day Poetry FREEBIE!

It will soon be Presidents' Day.  If you are a regular reader of this blog, then you know that must mean it is time for a poetry freebie!  So, here it is. . .

It is also time for a some Poetry Possibilities to go with the poem...

Following is a preview of the literacy center referred to in #3 of the Poetry Possibilities...

You can download the poem for free by going here.

This poem is taken from my Poetry Possibilities -- February.  The product has 17 poems and nearly 30 pages of skills, centers, and activities.  The range of reading levels in the poetry makes this product appropriate to both primary and intermediate classrooms. Possibilities for differentiation are included.  

Hats off to President Lincoln and to a holiday from school!

Election Vocabulary

It's about time, teachers,  to work with election vocabulary.  

I love to sneak learning in with fun activities.  To that end, I cast my ballot for Election Hink Pinks, Hinky Pinkies, Hinkity Pinkities, and Hitinkity Pitinkities. With just a few days left until the national election, you have undoubtedly introduced vocabulary associated with it.  So now, you need to add the fun.  

If you are unfamiliar with Hink Pinks, they are riddles for which the answer must be a pair of rhyming words; each word having just 1 syllable (as do hink and pink).  Hinky Pinkies are riddles with rhyming word pair answers; each answer word having 2 syllables.  You guessed it, Hinkity Pinkities have 3 syllables and Hitinkity Pitinkities have 4 syllables.

Try these examples:

 

Skills involved in solving these riddles include: 

• vocabulary development
• parts of speech
• synonyms
• rimes
• Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS)

This product includes 24 cards with election themed clues and, of course, an answer key. The cards are copy ready; just print them on card stock (pink, of course), laminate, and cut them apart.  Now you are ready to place them at a center, use them as an anchor activity, grab a few for a sponge activity, and/or use them for whole group problem solving.  If your students have never tried Hink Pinks, et al, solve several together, modeling your thinking.

Were you able to solve the above examples? As you can testify, they are not quick and easy.  I recommend them for upper elementary and middle school.

And the answers are...

• vote tote
• tally rally
• President's residence
• politician opposition

Grab your copy of Election Hink Pinks, Hinky Pinkies, Hinkity Pinkities, & Hitinkity Pitinkities here.  They are only $2.50.

Remember to

  

Poetry Possibilities -- February

Do you love poetry but struggle with how to use it in your teaching?  Do you eschew poetry lessons because your schedule is too tightly packed to allow "frivolities?"  Did you know that reading poetry is the #1 way to improve reading fluency?  What you need is a plan that allows you to include poetry in your teaching while maximizing skill building and efficiently using your precious instructional time.  You can find such plans in my series, Poetry Possibilities.

Poetry Possibilities -- February is a collection of 17 poems covering Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, Presidents' Day, and the 100th Day of School.  Each poem is accompanied by a set of Possibilities for your teaching pleasure.  For example, the following poem about Valentine's Day is included in the unit:

The Poetry Possibilities that accompany this poem are:

As you can see, it is possible to use poetry in your teaching every day.  You can incorporate it into centers, guided reading lessons, art activities, movement activities, music, math, social studies, science, etc.  If you like this preview of the product, you can find it here.

I hope you don't think I forgot about Black History Month.  In fact, I created a product, Black History Month Poetry Possibilities with 14 poems about Black Americans of note.  

You can also find a FREE Poetry Possibilities product, Poetry Possibilities -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which can, of course, be used in your Black History Month studies.  There are 3 poems about MLK, Jr. in this product.

You may also be interested in Poetry Possibilities for Winter.  It has 20 poems about winter topics with teaching points and possibilities.

I am hoping to have Poetry Possibilities for March up soon.  Until then, please remember to make the world a better place by teaching with poetry.