Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

Formative Assessment Sheet - Christmas FREEBIE Edition!

I've taken a popular download from my store and created the remix...Christmas style!   My Formative Assessment Sheet puts your Do Now, your checks for understanding AND your Ticket Out (or Exit Slip) all in one place for you to quickly monitor which students are feeling successful and find those that need a bit of reteaching.  It's quick, efficient and organized authentic data at your fingertips!

(Click on the image for your Google Doc. FREEBIE!)

The upper-left box has space for students to record answers to a "Do Now" activity that would be ready for them to tackle as soon as they sit down.  Then there are two spots for "Stop, Think & Share" where students can record thoughts about a topic of reading or discussion, answer a question, reflect on an activity, etc.  They can then share with a partner, small group or whole class.  The last box on the bottom right is a Ticket Out spot.  Students can record an answer to the last follow-up question of the class, list a few things they have learned, or ask a question about something they would still like to know.  Then, this whole sheet would be their "Ticket Out the Door" - handed to you as they leave.

Bonus: If they know that you will be seeing each of these at the end of the period - as well monitoring them while they are working during class - they are much more willing to stay on task! :)

Now you have a chance to go through the papers and really see who is getting it!  Hand back the next day or save in their folders - it's up to you how you use them, but the information you can get from these little sheets is very helpful in planning the next day's lessons and/or interventions.

A Letter From Santa - FREEBIE

I used to LOVE Mad Libs when I was a kid.  One of my favorite, really vivid memories of 5th grade is being in class when our teacher would review parts of speech with us by using them.  He would call out a part of speech and hands would shoot up in the air to take a turn contributing a word to the collaborative effort of completing what we hoped would be a hilarious story when we finished.  The best part was watching our teacher's face as he considered how the words given by us would alter the meanings of the story.  He would giggle to himself and nod, and sometimes, if he REALLY liked where the story was going, he would whisper, just loudly enough for us to hear, "Oh...this is going to be so good!"  The suspense was just this side of agonizing to a bunch of 9 and 10 year old kiddos waiting for the biggest laugh ever!  Then, when all of the blanks were filled in, he read it...as dramatically as he could, and we would laugh and beg to do another one.  Not a bad way to review some grammar!

For a Christmas time activity that I hope will bring your students the gift of laughter, I am giving you my first attempt of writing my own Mad Lib as a FREEBIE.  In this example, Santa is writing back to a child that seems to have made his/her way to the naughty list.

(Click image to view and download your copy)

Enjoy!

UPDATE: If your classes enjoyed Santa's Letter, I do have three more Festive Fill-ins available at my store, PLUS my Grammar At a Glance to help your students with choosing the correct parts of speech for each passage:

(Click the image to check it out.)

Happy Holidays!