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Sunday, September 3, 2023

IT'S ABOUT TIME for FALL POETRY!

 

Do you incorporate poetry into your daily lessons?  The potential for skills learned through poetry is nearly limitless.  Many students love learning through poetry because the text is less intimidating.

Check out these examples:


If you thought Johnny Appleseed poems were only for primary classes, you would be wrong.  The polysyllabic words are a great challenge to intermediate learners.  There are words with 5 syllables!  Have fun with this vocabulary by unscrambling them using the printable provided.  You can also work on fact and opinion with the another printable.


This apple poem can be used as a mentor text for couplets.  Or, focus on adjectives, creating an apple adjective tree.  Exercise verbal fluency and have fun brainstorming ways we use apples.

There are sooooo many possibilities for teaching with poetry.  Find these poems, lesson activities, and more in FALL POETRY POSSIBILITIES.






Monday, August 21, 2023

IT'S ABOUT TIME, TEACHERS, for COWBOY CURRICULA!


Saddle up for some fun, cowboy themed curricula. I adore teaching with a theme and cowboys are one of my favorite themes. My Wild West collection has something for every primary classroom.

Start with a FREEBIE:


This COWPOKE GLYPH is a fun craftivity that incorporates data collection and writing. 

Extend the data collection learning with a graphing, math center.  COWBOY SPIN-TALLY-GRAPH provides easy differentiation by including 3 levels of difficulty.


TANGRAMS are always fun and these Wild West themed tangrams deliver another math center that is differentiated and engaging.


Work on counting order with these WILD WEST NUMBER PUZZLES.  The puzzles progress from 5 pieces to 8 pieces and are also available digitally on TPT Easel.


COWBOY NUMBER SENSE PUZZLES exercise subitizing as students construct the 4 pieces of the puzzle representing the same number. This math center is also available digitally on TPT Easel.


Continue working on number sense with these WANTED POSTERS.  This open-ended activity requires students to express numbers in a variety of ways.  I love to use this activity weekly, providing spiraled practice that reflects their current learning in the curriculum.


SUDOKU for primary students?? YES!  BUCKAROO SUDOKU puzzles begin with easy, 4x4 grids that are perfect for early learners.  The puzzles progress to 6x6 puzzles before employing the traditional 9x9 arrays.  Hence, this differentiated, critical thinking activity can span all elementary classrooms.  

While you're working on critical thinking, introduce these COWPOKE SQUARE PUZZLERS. These brain teasers are also differentiated, increasing in difficulty from 2x2 puzzles to 4x4 puzzles.  The challenge is to make the images match on each interior side.  This activity also exercises flexibility and perseverance.  

Students capable of addition and/or subtraction within 100 will love these MATH COMPUTATION WITH COWBOY RIDDLES task cards.  The task even extends to basic multiplication.  My classes enjoy doing riddles around the room.  This resource is also provided digitally on TPT Easel.

Incorporate all things western by including ELA resources.

A great way to introduce cowboys to your young learners is with this emergent reader.  Drawing on my training and experience in Reading RecoveryTM, I created this text to explore things a cowboy needs while building on high frequency words, 1-1 correspondence, picture cues, word work, and inflections.  Suggestions and techniques for teaching these skills are included in the product description.


Understanding syllable counts and the rules for dividing words into syllables are crucial to learning to read and write.  As you introduce these skills, incorporate these western themed anchor charts.

Practice syllable counts with SYLLABES ROUNDUP.  This brand new, literacy center, available in print and digitially on TPT Easel, asks students to sort the picture/word cards by the number of syllables they hear (1-3 syllables).

COWPOKE COMPOUND WORDS is a literacy center that challenges learners to match the 2 halves of the covered wagons to make compound words.  The center is self-checking and available digitally on TPT Easel.  Some of the vocabulary may be challenging to young learners so be selective in the cards you place at the center.


You'll roundup a lot of learning with this ALPHABETICAL ORDER literacy center.  You determine how many word/picture cards to have your learners manipulate.  The words can be sorted by 1st - 6th letter, giving you the opportunity to differentiate with ease.







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Monday, August 14, 2023

IT'S ABOUT TIME for NEW MATH CENTERS!

 
It's about time, teachers, for a new set of math centers. These SPIN-TALLY-GRAPH centers focus on graphing, providing the opportunity to collect data, record it in several ways, and then analyze it. With 3 levels of difficulty, differentiation is built in. This fun, interactive activity is perfect for primary classes.

Try it before you buy it! This sample center is FREE!


Make this activity a recurring center with these additional versions. They allow you to spiral the curricula throughout the year.








These units are available in a bundle that will save you 30%.


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.









Friday, August 4, 2023

IT'S ABOUT TIME for BTS POETRY!

 

As you plan for the new school year, consider incorporating poetry into your daily lessons.  The potential for skills learned through poetry is nearly limitless.

Capitalize on the excitement of new school supplies to introduce this poem.  Then select from the Poetry Possibilities (lesson suggestions) the activities to employ.  This poem, for example, could be used to introduce/review adjectives and adverbs.  Challenge your learners to write an acrostic poem about their new pencils.  This poem is also great for studying punctuation.  Lots of possibilities here!


One of my favorite BTS activities is creating concrete poems about our new supplies.  These poems can quickly fill a blank bulletin board while celebrating your poets' efforts.

Use this poem to introduce similies.  Students can then write an acrostic poem about themselves that incorporates similies.  You'll learn a lot about your pupils.



Back to School Poetry Possibilities offers a variety of poems and a plethora of lessons.  Each poem has a custom designed teaching point about poetic elements and forms.  The Possibilities are tailor-made skills lessons, activities, and poetry writing prompts.  The range of reading levels makes this unit appropriate to both primary and intermediate level classes.  It also offers differentiated instruction to accommodate students reading above or below grade level.  AND, this week this poetry unit is discounted 20%.