Here Is What We Are Up To With Writing!

I have taught since 1999 and have had many different types of classes during my teaching career.  I work in Flint, Michigan and I am not sure if the lead is having an effect on my students or not but what I do know is this year has been the most difficult to get the student to retain the concepts being taught.  For whatever the reason growth in my class this year is not where I wanted or expected it to be and writing has been no exception.  We are trying so many different ideas and teaching methods with these children and it still seems like a struggle.  This week for writing I again tried another approach and I pulled out a teacher resource that I just got called Ready To Write! Prompt Box Grades K-1 and we have been attempting to write opinion pieces.

The box contains many different prompts for different types of writing.  Here is the prompt that we used today.

I used my overhead projector so that the prompt was visible on the whiteboard and the students could easily see it.




The first few days were really rough but today I started to see some progress.  We started our lesson with a turn and talk.  If you are not familiar with this idea, it is a wonderful way to get students to think about and discuss their ideas during learning time.  I read the focus questions for this lesson "What is your favorite time of day?  What do you like best about it?"  I gave them think time and then told them they would be talking about those two questions with their partners.  I like the Whole Brain teaching method for many things including turn and talk which goes like this:  Teacher:  "Class Oh Class"  Students "Yes Oh Yes"  Teacher:  "Turn To Partner (clap, clap)"  Students:  "OK (clap, clap)"  and then they turn to their partners.  You give the students time to discuss and you walk around and listen to their conversations.  When you are ready for the students to come back together as a class it goes like this:  Teacher:  "Class Oh Class"  Students:  "Yes Oh Yes"  Teacher:  "Turn To Teacher (clap, clap)"  Students:  "OK (clap, clap)"  and then they turn.  It takes some teaching and a lot of practice to get the students to be able to follow these procedures but it really is awesome once they get it! Well after our turn and talk the students were ready to go back to their seats and get to it.  Here are a few of the pieces that we got today:

This student forgot the to after like and the last to above forgot the periods but this is progress.

I love the creativity in this one...She loves the morning because she can play in her garden!  I am excited to keep using this resource as just in the past week I am seeing my students grow as writers and actually enjoy it!

Someone has asked me where to get the cute writing paper.  Click here or on the picture below if you are interested:  Cute Story Paper

Are You Looking For An Awesome Bulletin Board For Spring?

This is my favorite bulletin board that I have created throughout my years of teaching. At my school we have to create what is called an achievement board vs a bulletin board. The difference being we have to put feedback on all work that is posted. We must also include a title, I can statement, and explanation of the given task. This board started as an addition only board, the following year I did a subtraction board and then I used both addition and subtraction on the same board. In order to create this board I worked with a small group of students at a time and they completed the problems on their given flower and then I later typed up the feedback for each flower and added it too the board. This activity also has story problems for the students to solve. The students really enjoyed working on their flowers and seeing their works out in the hallway. The boards each year received a lot of positive feedback from parents, staff, and administration. Here are some pictures of the board:

If you are interested in creating this board, there is not need to recreate the wheel....I have created all the pieces that you will need. Just click on the pictures below to pick yours up today. There are two sets available: addition and subtraction.

Who Wants To Read For Free?

     

We have lots of free books to grab in today's list! Scroll down for the list of today's free books and direct links to today's free books.  

For a list of even MORE free books, click the Buy From Amazon Button now!

Don't Wait!  Books are free at time of posting, but prices can change at any time. Be sure to verify the "Kindle Price", before purchasing. If you do happen to buy a book that you thought was free, you can return the book within 7 days for a full refund.

Don't have a Kindle? Use a free reading app! Available on your iPhone, Android phone, Blackberry, Windows Phone, PC or Mac computer, iPad, iPod Touch or Android tablet - just grab a free Kindle Reading app. Or read them on your Kindle, Kindle PaperWhite, or Kindle Fire.

April 1 - FREE BOOK LIST
Guest Blogging Master Class ~~ Author Guide - Building an Opt-in List ~~ In The End There Is Judgment ~~ Wings - Dealing with People ~~ Red Hot Internet Publicity ~~ Castles in Wales ~~ Murder in the Worst Degree ~~ Waking Sapphire ~~ Jilted ~~ Otherside Tales: The Smoke Riders ~~ ENKELI AND YOHEHKU ~~ The Path To Cure ~~ The Valesman ~~ He's A Good Dog ~~ In The Meadow Of Night ~~ Grand Master's Game ~~ Effortless Manifestation Magic ~~ 25 Days ~~ WISH ~~ Guinevere: On the Eve of Legend ~~ Gluten Free Vegan ~~ Dog Training ~~ Nightglory ~~ Doppelganger: A Psychological Thriller ~~ Long Time Dying ~~ Sheriff's Blood ~~ Interpretations: Meditative Poems ~~ Phalaenopsis Orchids Care ~~ Colonization: The Seamus Chronicle ~~ MALALAS MISSION FOR THE WORLD ~~ Dark Desires ~~ Holiday Surprises ~~ What I Did For Love

Today's Free eBooks - Apr 1

HOW TO ORDER: Just click on the book title that interests you!  

NOTE: If you do happen to buy a book that you thought was free, you can return the book within 7 days for a full refund.

In The End There 
Is Judgment: 
A Horror Short 
by Jonas Booke 

WINGS: A Journey in 
Faith Sample I - 
DEALIN... 
by Carolyn Molica 

Red Hot Internet 
Publicity - Fourth Edition... 
by Penny Sansevieri 

Castles in Wales: A 
Travellers' Guide 
by Gary McKraken 

                     

Murder in the Worst 
Degree (Rocky Bluff P. ... 
by F. M. Meredith 

Waking Sapphire (The 
Dream Traveller Series... 
by T J Gristwood 

   

ROMANCE: Jilted: 
Contemporary Romance 
(Life... 
by Jade Kerrion 

   

The Smoke Riders 
(Otherside Tales 
Book 1) 
by S. W. Heaton III 

                            

ENKELI AND YÖHEHKU 
by Jakub Fišer 

    

   The Path To Cure: 
The Whole Art 
of Healing ... 
by Allyson McQuinn

 

The Valesman 
(Collected verse Book 1) 
by Richard Lung 

     

He's a good dog. 
(He just doesnt like 
you t... 
by Richard Lung 

In the meadow of night 
(Collected verse Boo... 
by Richard Lung 

Grand Master's Game: 
Book 2 in the Grand Ma... 
by Aurora Springer 

Effortless Manifestation 
Magic And Miracle... 
by Michael Cesar 

25 Days: How I 
exercised happiness 
25 ways ... 
by Will Jelbert 

For a list of even MORE free books, click the Buy From Amazon Button now!
     

Students and Classrooms of Flint, Michigan

Heod on over to Preschoolmom.com for #Free #Letter of the Day #Worksheets. These worksheets provide #children with different skill building #activities on a daily basis. -#Read & I#dentify the letter -Say the #Sound -#Trace #Uppercase -Trace #Lowercase -#Write Uppercase & Lowercase -#Color Beginning letter #animal -Seek and Find letter -#Draw (items that begin with your letter) -#ABC #Order

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Learning Football Style For Fall

Click on each item to get more info!  This is a great way to get boys interested and engaged in learning letters, numbers, and sight words!