September 11th Free Resources and Activities

A few years ago I wrote a post about September 11th. It is not an easy topic to talk to young children about.  I think about all the heroes of that day that risked their lives to save others. A great way to honor them is to talk about Heroes.

September 11th is very personal to me as I grew up 18 miles north of NYC and several of my relatives worked in the city and were there that day and could see the towers burning from their offices. My sister-in-laws brother was the first fireman to go into the Twin Towers. On that day we were in Anchorage, Alaska and my daughter called and woke us up at 5:00 am because we were 4 hours behind east coast time. My cousin, who lived in New Jersey, described all the cars in the parking lot at the train station that were there for days after the attack of those that didn't survive. Whatever grade you teach it is important to remember that day each year. There are so many wonderful resources that I have put together some great websites with free resources, activities, and lessons which you can check out. They are great for all grade levels and parents, too.

To start with you may want to have your students read books about September 11th or do a Read Aloud. I found a list of books at TeachHub. There is also a great list at Amazon which you can check out by clicking on the picture below. This one is for K-2.

If you are looking for some free lessons plans for all grades K-12 then click on the picture below. There are Foundational Lesson Plans for K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 

9-12. You will also find Videos and Tips for talking to Children about 9/11.

You can also find lots of resources at Scholastic which you can access by clicking on the picture below.

If you are still looking for more you can check out Edutopia which is geared more for intermediate students and older.

To honor the memories of the fallen I wrote a unit called "Heroes" for grades K-2. I have revised and updated the original one last year and it is one of my best sellers. It has a Shared Reading Book, Mini Books at each grade level , Hero Word and Adjective Webs, Writing Activities and a Word Wall. . If you would like to see more of my unit you can click on the picture below.

Heroes is a Great Unit to teach Anytime of the Year! Not just on Patriots' Day.

Students will love making a S'more Hero Sandwich Book that they can make.

I have put together a free Hero Poems and Writing Packet for Grades 1-3 that There are 2 poems, 2 Adjective Word Webs and a 2 Writing Activity to choose from. 

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Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Let's remember all the heroes of that day and all who are still fighting for our country overseas.

What activities do you do with your students on September 11th?

Everything ESL: More Tips and Resources for Working with ESL Students.

As many of my followers know I spent the last 10 years of my teaching career as an Elementary ESL Resource Teacher/Specialist for the Anchorage School District. I taught the most limited English Proficient students at my home Elementary school 5 mornings a week in my Learning Center and worked with other limited ELLs in the afternoon at my home school and 4 other schools in our district. This past January I found out that 3 new to the country Korean girls had entered my grandson's school and 2 were in his 4th grade class. You can see the 3 of them in the picture above. I was so excited and offered to come in and work with them several mornings a week. Their teachers were so happy and since they knew my background I was able to work with them in a small room with my own materials. There are very few ELL students at my grandson's school so resources were very limited. At that time their teachers were doing a lot of test prep for state assessments and their teacher's had a very limited time to work with them. They had access to Rosetta Stone and were able to read 1st grade level books on AR (Accelerated Reader). The girls were so happy to find out that I had lived in Seoul, Korea and new a little bit of Korean. At first they were really shy and quiet, especially the twins. I found out that they had only studied English with a private tutor for a few months before coming to Tallahassee.

One day the guidance counselor came to talk with me. She was new to working with ELLs and was trained to give them the IPT Oral English Language Proficiency Test. It is one that I administered more than 1,000 times over 10 years. All 3 girls were Non-English Speakers. You can find out more about this test by clicking on the image below.

Tips about Placement Tests:

• They are usually given within the first few weeks of entering school. 
• Students who are very limited or non-English speaking are usually very shy and may be experiencing "culture shock."
• They must be reliable and valid. (ex: IPT Test of English Language Proficiency)
• Administrators must be "trained"!

I have found that throughout my years of administrating these tests that after a month or so of being in school, many who test as Non-English Speaking start to feel more comfortable and safe to take risks. If the test were administered again they would probably be at the Limited English Proficiency Level and not Non- English Proficient. I found this to be true with the 3 Korean girls I began to work with as well. As I worked with them, they started talking more and more. It truly helped that I knew so much about their country and culture so we could talk about Korean food, holidays, customs, and school. Here is a picture of me with the girls after we played the Korean game of Yut which they play on Lunar New Year. They were so surprised that I had the game and knew how to play it.

In just a few short months their teachers were amazed at how much more they were talking and progressing. Soon they were able to read and answer questions in complete sentences and even sequence a story. Here are a few samples of their work.

Here are the twins with their biography report.

If I can share one important tip with all of you who have students in your classrooms like these 3 girls try to speak slower  especially when you are talking with them. They need lots of wait time to process what you say and when you speak at the same pace as you do to the whole class they probably only hear the first few words and the rest goes right over their heads. The girls told me over and over again that they could understand the material when I taught them because I spoke slower and gave them "think time." It may not seem like much but it is.  

Since my last Everything ESL Post I have added 3 New Beginning Speaking Lessons to my store.

You can check them out by clicking on each image below.

I finally bundled up my 1st 5 ESL Lessons which you can check out by clicking on the image below. You can save more than 20% on this bundle!

You can get a free ESL Beginner Speaking Lesson and get more tips and resources by clicking on the image below:

I have one more free resource for you. I just added this Free ESL Reading and Writing Lesson to my TpT Store. It is a great companion to my ESL Beginning Speaking Lesson: The Four Seasons. I hope you will leave feedback. 

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students.

Don't forget to follow me on Pinterest by clicking HERE You may also like my Everything ESL Pinterest Board.

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Mother's Day: Free Poems, Craft Ideas, and more for Pre-K through 1st Grade

Can't believe that it's time to be thinking about Mother's Day already! For the Pre-School and K-1 classrooms making crafts and having a Mother's Day luncheon or tea are always popular activities. 

I found some great craft ideas and poems that would be wonderful for those who teach Pre-K and K-1 that I'd like to share with you, too. I got lots of comments about the Tulip Craft that I though I would share again. All the instructions and free tulip templates are included. Just click on the picture below to find out how to make it.

I also found some great earth friendly recycled  Mother's Day crafts which you also might be interested it. Just click on the picture below to check these out.

How about a cute foldable card for your students to make? This one I found at DLTK. Just click below for directions. You can also link to lots of other free activities for Mother's Day.

If you are looking for free poems I have found some at Apples4theTeacher- there are quite a few to choose from.

If you are looking for a Shared Reading Book, Guided Reading Books, and Writing Activities for K-1, you might want to check-out my "Mom's Are Special People" Packet. You can click on the picture below to download the Preview file to see the new revised Preview file and get 2 free activities.

Last but not least is a special free Mother's Day poem that I wrote. If you are planning a Mother's Day Luncheon or Special Class Celebration, this would be a great poem for your students to learn and present during your special celebration. You can also include it in a Mother's Day card.  Just click on the poem below to get your free copy.

If you are looking for some wonderful free resources and activities for Grades 2-3 please click HERE.

It has been fun bringing you all these great free resources and hope that you have found some great activities to use in your classrooms. I hope you will check-out all my all my Pinterest Boards by clicking HERE and follow me.

Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students.

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 What kinds of Mother's Day Celebrations do you have in your classroom?

Buzzing with Bees! Free Resources and Activities

Now that it's spring it won't be long for those busy bees to be buzzing around. Without honeybees we wouldn't be able to enjoy many of the wonderful fruits we love to eat. Did you know that the wax that bees make is used to make lipsticks, candles, and even medicine? I have put together some great resources about honeybees for you to check out starting with some great Read Aloud books about bees. You can check them out by clicking on the picture below.

Your students may want to read more about Honeybees at National Geographic for Kids. Just click on the picture below to learn interesting facts and photos about Honeybees.

Here is a great website called "Everything about" where you can access lots of information about Honeybees. Just click on the picture below.

Here is another great website where you can find lots of interesting facts and links to several websites. You can check it out by clicking on the picture below.

Last year I uploaded my unit called "Busy Bees" and have finally revised and updated it to include lots more reading and writing activities. Students will not only learn about honeybees and the jobs they do but also about Beekeepers, read fact cards, sort the different jobs that the Queen, drones, and worker bees do and write an insect report. You can check it out by clicking on the picture below and read the complete description and see sample pages of all the materials and activities by downloading the Preview file. 

Hope you will check out my Pinterest Boards and follow. Just click HERE. If you home school your children I have added this one below. I also have one just for Spring.

Hope spring is around the corner and watch out for those Busy Bees! Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students.

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Presidents' Day: Free Resources, Activities, Craft Ideas, Books, and a Free Word Sort

When I was growing up in the fifties and sixties we celebrated Lincoln's and Washington's birthdays on their actually birthdays. Today we combine their birthday celebrations and celebrate them together.  Many of you just have a one day holiday but some school district have a whole week winter break. I have put together some great resources for your classroom Presidents' Day celebrations.

If you are looking for some great craft ideas for your students to make, I found a few great sites. How about this cute Patriotic Hat George or Washington Cotton Ball  Paper Craft ? Just click on each picture to find lots of craft ideas and directions.

If you are looking for a list of good books for Read Alouds, just click on the picture below.

For lots of wonderful free resources and activities, for all grade levels, you need to check out Scholastic. Just click on the picture below.

Apples4theteacher has lots of free resources including printables, worksheets, and poems. Just click on the image below.

There are more good activities at Education World you can check out by clicking on the image below.

There are more than 25 great free activities at Family Education that you can check out by clicking on the image below.

Finally I found lots of free activities at The Teachers Corner that you can access by clicking on the image below.

I finally revised and updated my Presidents' Day Packet for Grades 2-3. You will find a Word Wall, Picture/Word Cards, 3 differentiated Reading Texts about both George Washington and Abe Lincoln.

There is a Presidents' Day Fact Sort or a Picture Sort for your ESL or Struggling readers. Students will find Character Traits about each presidents and find proof in their reading texts, write Informative and Opinion Pieces using any of the 6 writing prompts, and one Compare and Contrast Activity.

Just click on the picture below to download the Preview file to see sample pages of all the reading and writing activities in this packet.

Finally a freebie for my wonderful followers and viewers. If you click on the picture below you can download my Free Presidents Day Noun Sort. Students will sort words related to Presidents' Day into 3 categories:

Proper Nouns, Plural Nouns, and Common Nouns. 

Hope you will leave feedback and enjoy using it in your classrooms.

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Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Have a great week!