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Writing

Pick a Prompt – New Lit Station Idea

Literacy Stations, TPT, Writing July 28, 2015
So I was trying to think of some ways to update my writing station and I came up with “Pick a Prompt.” In addition to the other writing station tasks (writing a list, comic, story, card, letter), I thought it would be fun to come up with prompts that fit the different points in the school year and that could be changed out to keep it fresh so kids don’t get bored.  This is also great practice for responding to a prompt which is a skill all kids need to know how to do with standardized testing. 
 
My first version is for Back to School. I tried to make the prompt questions fun and interesting and also covered a variety of topics (books, specials, recess (a student favorite)).  These prompts are a great way for you to get to know your kids and your kids to get to know each other. 
 
Here’s what they look like…

 
I’m planning on using this as a task option at the Writing Station during Literacy Stations. These also could be used whole group. You could have all students respond to the same prompt and then share out. You could also give each student a different prompt card, have them respond, and again share out. 
 
I also provided three different writing response pages.  Two of them have pictures (different sizes) and one does not. The one without pictures could be used for students who don’t like to draw, if you want them to focus only on the writing, and it could also be used as an additional page if they need more than one pages when responding.
 

 
Check these out in my TPT Store – Pick a Prompt – Back to School
 
 
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Hero Writing Activity

Reading, Writing September 27, 2014
This week with our Journey’s series, we read Roberto Clemente, The Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates.  What a great story! Our focus this week with essential questions was – what causes someone to be called a hero? 
 
So, for a writing activity, I had the kids write about one of their heroes and what made them special. Here are some of the responses….

Here is our Hero Bulletin Board….

 
 
And here is a freebie – the hero’s page write-up. Check it out in my TPT store here.

Who is Your Hero? Writing Prompt

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Subjects and Predicates

Freebie, TPT, Writing September 5, 2014
We’ve been reviewing subjects and predicates over the last few days and my kids have struggled with knowing the difference.  Some kids have understood the difference between the two, but are having a hard time identifying the whole subject and predicate.  They are just picking out a word when really a few words are making up the subject or the predicate.  So, here’s how I decided to reteach/review subjects and predicates…
First, we watched a Brainpop Video on Subjects and Predicates.  There’s just something special about Tim and Moby explaining something.  Kids just listen :-).
Then, we worked on a Subject and Predicate Sort from Jill Gribbin’s TPT Store.  Check it out here.

My students worked on this with their table group and had a blast deciding where each part of the sentence should go.
Lastly, we completed Subjects and Predicates Around the Room. This was our first Around the Room Activity of the year.  Unfortunately we were so busy with the activity that I didn’t get a chance to take any pictures, but I’ve posted a few below of the actual freebie so you can check it out.

The Subjects and Predicates Around the Room is now in my TPT store as a freebie – be sure to download it here!
Thanks for stopping by to see how we worked on subjects and predicates!

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Monday Made It – June 30

Organization, Writing July 1, 2014
Still no teacher toolbox yet lol.  Last week was wedding dress shopping and then my fiancé surprised with me a staycation at Mandalay Bay for the weekend…so needless to say the toolbox was the last thing on my mind.  I’m pulling for next week.
 
Even though I don’t have my teacher toolbox ready yet, I’m still linking up for Monday Made It with 4th Grade Frolics.  Be sure to link up here!
 
My new school that I’m at is big in the 5 step writing process. I know most schools use this, but my last one didn’t really have writing resources.  Since they’re big in it and I know we’ll have writing folders, I decided to turn my old teacher plan bins into storage for their writing folders. This way I can see where each student is at in the writing process and it can help me stay on top of that.  I got this idea from Pinterest here at the Superlative Six’s Blog. Thank you for the idea!
 

 
 
 
 
 
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What If Story Prompts….

Literacy Stations, TPT, Writing May 18, 2014
One of my favorite writing activities that I always do at the end of the year are my What If Story Prompts. By this point in the year we’ve covered the writing standards and the kids need a little fun and creativity.  So, instead of having them on boring index cards like normal, I finally typed them up and added some spiffy backgrounds.

To see how I’ve used these in the past, click here.

See product examples below…

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/What-If-Story-Prompt-Cards-1248269

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/What-If-Story-Prompt-Cards-1248269

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/What-If-Story-Prompt-Cards-1248269
 
 
 Be sure to check it out in my TPT store, here.
 
Thanks for stopping by! Have a great rest of your weekend!
 
 
 

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/What-If-Story-Prompt-Cards-1248269

Learning About Nouns

Anchor Charts, TPT, Writing March 23, 2014

In addition to a review of verbs, we also reviewed nouns mainly focusing on singular and plural nouns and how to make a singular noun plural.  We also discussed the irregular nouns and how more than one tooth isn’t tooths….which is always a hard one for them to understand, but after this chart and activity I think we’re getting there.

We started by making an anchor chart together.

 
Then, after some whole group practice with nouns the kids worked on Nouns Around the Room.  Nouns Around the Room can be found in my TPT store here.  There are 24 different noun questions ranging from – which word is the noun, make this singular noun plural, and is this word a noun? 
 
The kids had a great time completing this activity and really showed that they have nouns down.
 

 
Thanks for stopping by my blog.  Be sure to visit my TPT store here and grab Nouns Around the Room!
 

Learning About Verbs

Anchor Charts, Language, TPT, Writing March 10, 2014

This week we spent two days working on verbs.  The first day we reviewed verbs (my kiddos keep getting confused on verbs, nouns, etc) and we started talking about verb tenses.  In second grade, the language standard focuses on students being able to use irregular verb tenses – made, swam, ran, etc. The CCSS standard is L2.1.

First, we created an anchor chart together.  We reviewed what a verb was and came up with some examples. Then, we used a mini tree map to practice changing the tenses of the verbs.

 
After creating our anchor chart, the kids went on a verb hunt using picture books. They each could pick a book of their choice and then they had to read each sentence, find the verb, and write the verb in their verb circle map.
 

 
Then, on day 2, came the fun interactive activity. I created a Verbs – Around the Room Activity for students to complete. There were 24 cards. Some asked questions on identifying the verb, some on changing a verb to a different tense, and some cards ask what tense the verb was in. This provided more practice on regular and irregular verbs and it is now available in my TPT store.  Check it out here…
 

 
Hope everyone is having a great weekend! Be sure to check out Verbs Around the Room in my store!
 
 

All About Penguins Book

Common Core, Informational Text, Thinking Maps, Writing February 12, 2014

Our most recent National Geographic Kids focused on penguins lend itself nicely to a little penguin unit study.  We researched penguins using a Brainpop clip, reading our awesome Nat Geo which provided a lot of great info for my 2nd graders, and using a few nonfiction easy readers.  After reading/watching, we’d add facts to our penguin circle maps. Then, after our circle maps were full of wonderful penguin facts we then moved them into a tree map to organize our facts.  For our penguin tree map, we had four branches – looks like, lives, eat, and predators.  The kids organized their facts under the specific branches to make writing their penguin book easier.  I decided to focus the kiddos instead of just letting them write. I’m finding on report writing at 2nd grade level in a highly ELL population, we’re really struggling at knowing what to write, how to sequence, and how to focus on important information, so I’m using this writing assignment as a way to scaffold their learning.

Here’s our tree map and planning…

 

Below are some pictures of their finished books…..

 
**Sorry for the sideways pictures, BlogSpot and my computer weren’t working with me :-).

Opinions, Opinions, Opinions

Thinking Maps, TPT, Writing September 29, 2013

We’ve been coming up with lots of opinions in my second grade class.  We’ve done a variety of opinions – some literature based, favorites, and taste-tested.  Here’s what we’ve been working on…

We started off with this great opinion writing unit by writing about Oreos.  We taste tested two different types – Halloween Oreos and Mint Crème Oreos.  I got this fantasic idea and cute Oreo writing paper from First Grade Fanatic. The kids loved this! Who wouldn’t love eating Oreos in class.  Most students picked the Halloween Oreo, but there were a few who liked the Mint Crème flavor.  Below I have a picture of my circle map.  In the middle, we put our favorite Oreo and then we put our reasons why in the bigger circle.  I also have my teacher model of the Oreo paper. This was a great way to start opinion writing because the kids were engaged instantly!

 
 
Next, we wrote about our favorite pets.  Again, we used a circle map to set-up our paper and brainstorm our reasons.  We had quite a few different favorite pets – ranging from your typical dog and cat to bunny rabbits, snakes, etc.  Here are two student samples.  We have spent a great deal of time slowly writing our paper and doing parts together.  We’ve been focusing on including a topic sentence, three reasons, and a conclusion. 
 
My example that I modeled for the kiddos:


 
Student Samples:

We’ve also read a lot of stories that went well with opinions. Some stories we’ve used include: I Wanna Iguana, Chrysanthemum, and Listen Buddy.
 
 
Here is my teacher example for I Wanna Iguana:

 
 
Student Sample:
 
 
I also decided to incorporate opinions into my writing station during literacy stations.  I’ve created some Opinion Writing Prompt Cards on TPT here.  These cards can be used for whole group prompts or could be put on a ring like below and used for students to pick a prompt to write about during their station.
 
 
Happy Saturday!
 
 
 
 

 

End Marks

Anchor Charts, Writing February 17, 2013

This is just a quick post, but I wanted to share our whole class anchor chart on end marks. We’ve really been working on how to write a sentence in first grade and teaching end marks is one part of it. While we are still working on mastery of this skill, we have the anchor chart below to refer to.