President's Day Activity

We have been studying about the American Revolution for the last month.  We already learned about George Washington, so I took a little time talking about Abraham Lincoln. 

I got a few copies of this book from Scholastic.  It is an easy read for my third graders, but we didn't have a lot of time so it worked out well!

Then I made this cute Venn Diagram to compare and contrast Lincoln and Washington.

 

 

 

I had them write a paragraph about Washington, a paragraph about Lincoln, and a paragraph explaining their similarities (sorry I didn't take a picture of that).  We put them on my bulletin board with these cute headers. 

 

 

They really enjoyed learning about Lincoln since we have been so focused on Washington and the Revolution!  How did you celebrate President's Day?

Super Heroes + Writing = FUN

I just had to share this.  You know how each year your students are interested in something and it just escalates into a HUGE thing?  Well, this year it is Super Heroes.  It started with a few of my boys and then just went crazy.  A few of my boys are not very interested in writing.  So...I got to thinking....

I came up with these character cards (using Melonheadz graphics) on different Super Heroes.  I printed a small picture and taped it to a sheet of construction paper.  Then I printed their names on a small card using the Super Hero graphics from Dollar Doodles.

I had them graph for their favorite Super Hero.  I didn't tell them why.  All I said was that they had to pick on that they liked and knew something about.  That was last week and I didn't bring it up again (so evil, I know).

A couple days ago one of my students said "You know last week when you had us graph our favorite Super Hero?"  Yes...I said.  Then they said, "Are we gonna do anything else with that or was that it?"  I told them I was waiting to see if anyone remembered...which of course got a HUGE reaction from the class.  Like I remembered...I thought about it...etc.  (I just wanted to wait and build excitement).

Here is a picture of the charts with the Melonheadz graphic and

the Dollar Doodle name cards I made.

So I brought out the charts that they voted on.  That is the group they were going to work in.  They had to discuss their Super Hero and discuss the character traits that made them up.  We brainstormed things like:  super power, costume, villains, helpful, saves the world, etc.  It was such a fun discussion.

Then I had them start making a web of things they would have if they were a super hero.  Are you thinking where I was going with this activity?

Then they had to work in their group to...make their own super hero story!  They had to use a villain, a super power, a costume, all the things we talked about.  The excitement in my classroom was amazing!

Here is a picture of a group working on their story.  I used a writing page from

Nicole Shelby's Super Hero Pack on TPT.

 

They have been working on these for 3 days already (almost 3 hours of class time) and they are so loving it!  They ask "We have a couple minutes of free time...can we PLEASE work on our Super Hero story???"  I mean they are asking me to write????   It is so wonderful.

Once they are done and I put them on a bulletin board, I will take a picture to share.  They should all be done next week.  It is such a fun activity...I'm so glad I thought of something to get these guys writing!

Oh yeah...one more thing I did.  You know how with Whole Brain Teaching you use those fun little signs like:  Mac and Cheese, Everybody Freeze?  I made one that says:  "Have no fear...Good Behavior is Here!"  The students have to stand in a Super Hero pose when they say their part...too much fun to watch!

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the sign I have up on the board.  Like I said...so cute watching

them all make their super hero pose!  :)

Crazy Weather

In Illinois this week we have had CRAZY weather.  We started the week with 50 degrees and windy.  Then we went to 60s and rainy.  Now we have cold and a blizzard!  No wonder my students are so crazy this week.  Talk about talky!

I've decided to have another one of those wonderful teaching moments tomorrow at school.  I'm going to take advantage of this crazy weather and have my students write an opinion essay on their favorite type of weather from this week.

Here is what I'll use tomorrow.

I'll have them write information about all three types we've had this week on this paper. 

The one they have the most ideas written on they will write their essay about.

I'll have them write their essay on this paper.  They can draw a picture of

 the weather they picked in the box.

How has your weather been this week???

Best Winter Activity Argument Writing

A week or so ago I blogged about my new writing set I made.  This was the first time I attempted a writing activity with my students using the common core new guidelines specifically.  What I use to call persuade is now an argument.

They had to write about their favorite winter activity and make an argument on why it is the best.  We had discussions about what an argument was vs. what an argumentative writing essay was (that was a fun discussion).

I explained it by telling them to picture someone who lives in Hawaii coming to Illinois for the first time.  They only had a short time in our cold state, so what should they do.

Here are two samples:

Since you probably can't read this, let me tell you this student's introduction.

"Have you ever gone ice skating before?  I will tell you why ice skating is the best winter activity ever!"

 



And here is another one: "If you're from a warm state, country, or

if you're just bored you should try ice hockey. It is the best winter fun thing to do."

 

 

Aren't they cute???  They had to continue on writing using their graphic organizer and four boxes to guide them.  Some of them wound up writing a 6 paragraph essay...and they were enjoying themselves...I don't know what has gotten into my class lately, but boy am I a happy little teacher!

If you want to see what this writing activity looks like, please click either my TPT store or my TN store.

Common Core Writing

In third grade I am used to narrative, persuasive, and expository essay writing. With the common core, they have changed to Argument, Informational/Explanatory, and Narrative.

I really have to step up with doing some writing activities with my students.  I usually do 1 or 2 writing activities each month, but they are usually narrative.  My students are getting much better with writing narratives, but with argument and informational/explanatory writing...I haven't done much with these yet.

Here are some of my new writing activities that I've added to TPT store.   

 

This first one is an Argument type of writing activity.  The students pick one winter activity that they feel is the best.  Then they write an essay explaining their opinion on why it is the best. 

 

 

This one is a how-to or what the common core calls Informational/Explanatory.  The students pick one activity that they can write directions for.  Then they have to explain how to do it using information from their brainstorming activities.

 

 

Click on the pictures to see my sets.  How are you doing teaching writing skills to your students this year??? 

 

Happy Writing in 2013!

Turkey on Vacation

Turkey wants to go on vacation, just in time for Thanksgiving...  I made this fun writing pack to have some fun with my kiddos next week.  We will be off for one whole week during Thanksgiving for parent/teacher conferences and the holiday, so I thought this would be a lot of fun.  I just made it available on TPT for $1.00.  Let me know what you think!  :)

I'll put some pictures on here next week showing some of my kiddos great turkey adventures!

Shared Writing Journals

My class is really enjoying my shared writing journals!  During center time, one of my centers is writing.  I have a bunch of different activities the children can do in this center, but they keep going for the shared writing journals.  They even write in them during free time!

 

I only put out 6 journals to start with.  I figure after Christmas break I will put out 6 more and then 6 more again after Easter break.  I wanted the children to get excited about the journals and not become bored with all 18 out at once.

Here are some examples of what they look like once the kiddos have written in them.

    

 

 

 

     

 

  

 

 

How are your shared writing journals going???

 

 

Apple-tastic Writing

Sorry I haven't been blogging lately...I've been so busy with school this week.  I came down with ANOTHER sinus infection (second one in two months) and we have NWEA testing!  Anyone else have NWEA or MAP testing???  UGGGG!

Anyways...I had my class do a quick writing activity.  I wanted to see how they came in as writers and I wanted to do something fun involving apples.  I had them pick 4 of their favorite apple treats and put those on the graphic organizer.  Then I had them write why each one was their favorite. 

After that they had to pick only one treat to write about to try and persuade the reader that this treat was the most apple-tastic apple treat.  T

The kids had fun doing it and I got to see where they were with their writing abilities.  I'm having trouble with Google documents, so as soon as I get it working I will make it a freebie.  Sorry I can't get google docs to work tonight.  Uggg...what a week!

Have a great night.  I'm hoping to get a few more followers so I can put my 200 follower give-away on here this weekend!

Shared Writing Journals

I have used shared writing journals in my classroom before, but the kids never really wrote a lot in them.  Well I decided to change how mine look.   I know there are a bunch of teachers out there who have made signs you can put on journals this summer (I Teach What is Your Super Power has some really cute ones), but I wanted some to fit my classroom.  I used super cute graphics that I know will get my students to WANT to write in them.

I started out making a few and the next thing I know I made 15 of them!  I have topics like:  favorite book, vacation memory,favorite food, third grade, favorite movie, a scary time, a favorite hobby, etc. 

So now that they look cute, what am I going to do to entice the students?  I decided I would start out with 5 and gradually bring out a few more at a time.  You know if I set all 15 out there I would have journal writing overload with my students.  I am going to use this during my writing time in my reading block.  I was also thinking it could be fun if I passed out some and had the children buddy up and write a page together (great getting to know you activity).

Here is a picture of my finished journals.  I just printed the pages on paper.  I trimmed them and then used packing tape to tape the entire cover.  This way I knew they would not get ripped off of the covers or written on.  I know some people use composition notebooks but two reasons why I decided not to:  1) they haven't gone on sale by me yet and 2) I figured the students can use the front and backs of the notebook (and folding over the page for them to write on is impossible in a composition notebook).

If you are interested click on this picture, it will take you to my TPT store where I have them for sale.