Purring about Winter Poems, Plays, and Freebies

Winter has finally arrived here in northern Florida and although we probably won't see snow it sure feels like it. Most of you know that I love to write poems and plays. They are perfect for helping struggling readings build fluency and confidence. Poems are short and so much less intimidating. Try choral reading to help reluctant readers feel safe to take the risk of reading as their voices blend in with the whole group. Poetry is also great for teaching word strategies, fluency, and writing. Plays can be used in the same way. In many plays there are parts for all the boys or all the girls. If you don't have enough parts for everyone, 2 or 3 students can read the same part. Usually the parts are small and practiced over and over again which also helps build confidence and fluency. My ESL students loved performing plays and reading poems, especially ones they could act out.

A few years ago I wrote a Winter play and Poetry packet for Grades 1-2 and I finally revised it. It still includes the play called, "How Will I Know When it is Winter?" There is a Narrator and 9 characters that tell the children what happens to them when it is winter. Day is very short, Weather is very cold, and Snow falls from the sky. What a great way to teach the signs of Winter! Then they can practice matching the picture/word card with the sign of winter card.

If you use interactive student notebooks there is a page to add where students will look at the picture and word. Then they will flip it back and write the sign of winter. You can see the activity in the picture below.

There are also 5 original poems about winter and literacy activities to go with each poem. Here is a sample of a dialogue poem called, "I Love Winter!" which can be done by dividing the class into 2 groups.Then pairs of students can recite it as a center activity. This is a great poem to teach end punctuation as there are questions and sentences with exclamation points. There is a whole class activity using punctuation cards as well as an anchor chart. Then students will punctuate the copy of the poem that has no punctuation marks as a center activity.

If you would like to check out this revised Winter Play and Poems packet just click on the picture below. Download the Preview to see sample pages of all the materials and activities in the packet.

To help your students become fluent with winter words you can download this free Winter Fluency Learning Game. Just click on the image below.

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Fabulous Fun Fall Free Resources

Fall is my favorite season of the year. Although it still feels like summer here in Florida, as the days get shorter I know it won't be long to feel that cool fall air.
To get you in the mood I've put together some great websites for you to check out to find some free activities, crafts, games etc.

When I taught my fall unit, I read a book about fall everyday for Shared Reading time. It's a great way to teach new vocabulary words and get students interacting about the signs of fall and fun things to do in fall. At Apples4theteacher you will find lots of great resources. First is their list of fall books which you can check out by clicking on the picture below. You can check out their free activities, printables and poems by clicking HERE.

There are some great fall crafts to make and I found a few great websites to check out. Just click on the pictures below to access all the details and instructions.
                                             
                                              No Time for Flashcards

                                                   
                                                  apples4theteacher

Looking for online fall games and free printables just click on the pictures below.

I just revised my "What Happens in Fall?" Reading and Writing Unit. The original was 50 pages and my 2015 product is 114 pages! It has an original shared reading book, 3 leveled guided reading books, writing activities at the K-2 levels and so much more. You will also find Differentiated Writing and Fluency Activities and more. To see sample pages of all the differentiated reading books, writing and literacy activities just click on the image below.

You may also like this revised and updated Fall Play and Readers Theater: I added a fun Readers Theater Script for 2nd and 3rd Grade. Here is a sample of the Fall Play and Readers Theater:

You can see all the materials and activities by clicking on the image below.

If you like using poetry with your students you can check out my September Poetry and October Poetry Units.

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Thanks for all you do to make a difference for your students. Hope it's a fun fall where you are.

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What is your favorite fall book?

Sizzling with Free Summer Reading Resources and Activities

Here in Tallahassee school ends on May 31st. I've put together some great ideas and free resources to help stop the "Summer Slide" for your kids and their parents. We all know how important it is to keep our kids reading and writing all summer long so I have put together a few for you to check out.

At the local level parents should check out their library for their summer reading programs for elementary students. I know I always signed my kids up each summer. Usually there is a theme and books related to the theme as well as fun activities each week.

Scholastic has a wonderful  on line reading program with printables that you can check out and register for by clicking on the picture below.

You might also want to check out Reading Rockets which has a wonderful list of activities and websites with free reading and writing activities as well as great tips and ideas for parents about other summer activities to do with your kids. You can check it out by clicking on the picture below.

I found several Free Summer Reading Programs listed that you can access for different reading levels which you can check out by clicking on the image below.

 Education.com has a 10 week fun program to help kids beat the summer slide. There are lots of fun literacy activities for each of the 10 weeks and all you have to do is register. It's free. To find out more you can click on the picture below.

I just revised my Hooray for Summer Literacy Activities for Grade 1-2 that you may want to check out.

There are 8 different literacy activities to include a Summer Word Sort, Summer Noun Sort, Summer Word Syllable Sort, Summer Compound Word Match and Writing Activity, Making and Writing Sentences about Summer and a few more fun activities. When you download the Preview you will get this free activity.

I have lots of educational Pinterest boards for you to check out by clicking HERE. Hope you will follow me on Pinterest. 

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You may also want to check out some of my other blog posts about summer for some great free activities and resources. Just click HERE.

Thanks for making a difference for all the students in your classroom this last year. I hope you have a wonderful and relaxing summer vacation and take some time for yourself.

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Ireland and St. Patrick's Day: Free Resources, Crafts, Books, and Free Activities

March is not only the month when we celebrate St. Patrick's Day but it's also Irish-American Heritage Month. Since 1991 Presidents have recognized March as the month to recognize the contributions of Irish Americans and their descendants who have played key roles in the foundation of our history. Did you know that there were 9 Irish Americans that signed the Declaration of Independence. I hope you will take some time to celebrate their contributions, too. To see some famous Irish Americans just click HERE.

I've put together some great resources for St. Patrick's Day and always like to start with great books. I have to say that my favorite book is "Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato". If you click on the picture below you will see a great list to chose from.

Of course there is always Scholastic that has all your st. Patrick's Day need that you can access by clicking on the picture below. There are lots of materials for all elementary grades to be found.

For those of you looking for some great crafts to make with your students, games and history about St. Patrick's Day and fun facts, you should visit Kid Connect by clicking on the picture below.

For those just looking for fun crafts to make then click on the one below to get complete instructions.

I revised my St. Patrick's Day Unit to include reading and writing activities about Ireland and it's national symbols. I've included my own Shared Reading Book, Picture/Fact Reading Cards about Irish-Americans and Ireland's National Symbols, 2 Reading Texts and Comprehension Questions about Ireland and St. Patrick's Day at the 2nd and 3rd Grade levels and Map Activities and a Subject Poem about Leprechauns. Students will write a Country Report about Ireland, A Persuasive letter to a Leprechaun and a Subject poem about Ireland. There are also 4 writing prompts to include Informative text and Opinion Pieces. If you download the Preview File you will see sample pages of all the reading and writing activities in this unit. Just click on the image below.

Hope you all have the luck of the Irish and find some fun free resources for you to use with your students.

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

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November Poems and Free Activities

I can't believe that we are at the end of October! November is filled with wonderful holidays and celebrations. So I cooked up a November Poetry Unit with 10 original poems about Election Day, Veterans Day, Football, Native Americans, Pilgrims, Turkeys, and Thanksgiving.

Look at the poem below. There are so many ways to use this for teaching the 5 components of a balance literacy program.  It is the first poem in my new November Poetry packet. I see compound words, proper nouns, and plural nouns. You could also use it to teach syllables as there are 1, 2, 3, and 4 syllable words. There are lots of verbs and adjectives to find and short a words. Look at the words season and weather. Learning the different sounds of ea is a great phonics lesson. After learning the poem,  ask students about things that happen in November. This is a great way to check for understanding. As a writing activity, I included one in my packet.

Poetry is a great way to help students build fluency, even when you have struggling readers or ESL students. It is a great way to get all your students to participate. When students read aloud they develop expression, phrasing, and most of all fluency. For your struggling readers try  Echo reading.  First you read a line or stanza and then they read it. You can start by having students echo a line and then a stanza. Repeated reading helps develop fluency. You can also Choral Read the poems. Another strategy is Pair Unison. This is where the teacher and student read the poem together. You can also send the poems home so that parents can read them with their child. The more fluent they are the more confident they will be.

Here are the 10 original poems included in this packet.

Here are the Poetry Writing Activities in the packet. Students will write 3 different types of poems: A "How to be" Poem, A "5 Senses Poem" about Thanksgiving, and Acrostic Poems. There is one for Turkey, Veteran, and Pilgrim. When you download the Preview file you will see sample pages of all the Poems and many of the literacy activities for each one.

There are also 3 different literacy activities and Informative text, Opinion Piece, and Narrative Writing Activities with Graphic Organizers. If you would like to check it out please click on the image below.

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

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September Celebrations Fun Literacy Activities and a Freebie

I love September! Here in Tallahassee it's been 100 degrees or hotter for the last 4 days but with September right around the corner I know cooler weather is on its way. All my grand kids started school last week and love their teachers and college football starts this Saturday. I decided to do a little research to see what daily, weekly and monthly celebrations are in September and was amazed at how many there are. Besides Labor Day, Grandparents Day, Patriots Day, Constitution Day, and Fall, I found some really interesting ones. Did you know that September 13th is International Chocolate Day? I love chocolate. There's National Cheeseburger Day on the 18th and International Eat an Apple Day on the 20th. September is also National Save a Tiger Month. Click HERE if you would like to read more about it.

Many teachers have enjoyed my "Welcome to School" Making Words and Sentences Freebie so I decided to make a unit with 17 of the September Celebrations and Observances that I found. This packet also includes 12 Writing Prompts for 12 of these celebrations and observations. They are all Opinion Piece writing activities. Here is a Preview of the packet below. Just click on it to read all about it and download the Preview file to see all the Celebrations and the ones that have Writing Prompts.

Did you know that September 19th is "Talk Like a Pirate Day"? I remember when my grand son dressed up as a pirate for Halloween one year. Well I put together a fun free packet called "Talk Like a Pirate Day Literacy Activities"

 It includes some of the words that pirates say and what they mean.

Making Words and Sentences and Writing Prompts. Just click on the image below to download your free packet.

Hope your students have fun on "Talk like a Pirate Day". Arrrrrrr!

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

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