We Are Our Own Best Teaching Resource

Although our spring break dates may vary a little, the season of seemingly endless assessment is just around the corner for most of us.  Good times!  Well, at least preparing for them doesn't have to be awful times, right?  During the next two weeks I'll be sharing different games and activities that I have created and used in my ELA classroom to help with reviewing the vocabulary and practicing necessary skills.  I'll also share the resources that I've found along the way that may be helpful in other content areas as well.  I know one of the greatest resources we have as teachers is each other, and in that spirit, later this week I'll be giving you some chances to share the strategies that you use and products that you've found or created that help your students feel assessment-ready.  Gather your best ideas and be sure to stop by on Friday, March 29th, to link up your favorites!

For today, I'll start by linking up my newest FREEBIE to Charty's Classroom Freebies.  Click on the image below to download my Literary Terms Word Search.  A quick activity to be used at a literacy center or for a "Do Now" or "Ticket Out," this word search will help you find who has an understanding of basic terms often found in middle school ELA assessments. Your students will need to answer the clues and find the words in the puzzle. Several terms are hidden in the puzzle that are NOT answers to the clues, so they will need to be careful...using the puzzle as a word bank may not be the best strategy! :)

(You will find both the puzzle and the answer key.)

I hope this post gets you started in thinking about the ideas you may want to share.  I'm looking forward to seeing how much support we can give to each other during this - the most wonderful time of the school year. ;-)  

Be sure to check back soon!

New Puzzle for Suffixes

A few weeks ago I wrote a post titled Puzzle Me This...Prefixes that had some great response.  Many people asked if I would be making any more 12 Square Puzzles, and in fact, I have!  I have now combined the prefix puzzle with one for suffixes (for a total of two separate puzzles) and have them available for free in both of Teachers Pay Teachers and Teacher's Notebook stores.

Click here to download:

TpT

OR

TN

Hoping you like them! :)

Puzzle Me This...Prefixes!

I'm SO happy to share my newest FREEBIE with you!  I so love games and puzzles.  I know that my students do, too.  The challenge of solving this puzzle certainly helps motivate students to learn the meanings of the commonly used prefixes that are featured in this 12 Square Puzzle:

(click on the image to download it here)

Simply print one copy to place in a folder for an answer key. Then, print and copy the puzzle (on cardstock, if possible).  Have students cut the pieces apart on the dotted lines and mix up them up. To play, have them match the prefixes to their definitions to put the puzzle together.  Ready, set, GO!  This is great on its own, but it would also be a great addition to my Content Area Roots, Prefixes and Suffixes PowerPoint and Center Activities.  This pack also contains a chart of prefixes that are used in this puzzle.  Feel free to stop by TpT or TN to take a closer look.  The pack is 20% off today (1/21/2013) at both stores!

I hope you find this FREEBIE useful.  I'm linking this post to Classroom Freebies' Manic Monday for January 21st.  Be sure to click on the link and check out all of the great resources available to you!

Have a great day!!

My Vocabulary Keeps Growing!

"Why do we have to learn Latin and Greek in English class?" Good question, and one that I'm sure your students have at least thought of - even if they didn't go as far as to articulate it.

The truth is, beyond the fact that root words, prefixes and suffixes are specifically addressed in the Common Core, reading and writing English can only become easier by learning the Greek and Latin roots.  If we are to guide our students to reading both literature and informational texts closely, empowering them to analyze and truly comprehend a text, and then take it a step further to acquiring knowledge from that text, the ability to decipher meanings of new words is essential.  Not only in the ELA classroom, but in all content areas, students can only be more successful if they understand what they are reading and what they are being asked to do.  Recognizing the patterns created by commonly used roots, prefixes and suffixes will help them negotiate meaning in challenging texts and the kinds of questions that are being asked as students write and speak about what they are reading.

One tool that I have created to help students with developing these language skills is the My Vocabulary Keeps Growing graphic organizer.

(Click image for FREE download.)

This graphic organizer is also a part of a much larger bundle for literacy center activities pertaining to roots, prefixes and suffixes.  Feel free to stop by my TpT store to check it out, but please be sure to download the above FREEBIE either way.  I hope you find it helpful! 

I'm linking this post to Classroom Freebies to make it easier to find.  Be sure to click the link below to stop by the site and see all of the other great FREE resources for your students.

Classroom Management Magic - Making Review Fun

This time of year can be wonderful, magical and full of fun.  Children seem to ooze with excitement; walking into my son's Kindergarten classroom, the energy is honestly palpable!  Our younger, elementary friends are not the only ones who may seem to have a little trouble focusing on the necessary tasks at hand during the school day.  Between concerts, and snow days, and professional development days, and vacation days...not to mention the extras that go on outside of school this time of year in December, Middle School can quite easily become Crazy Town in the days nearing Holiday Break.  Though these are mostly the best of times - they can also be the most challenging of times, especially when we know that CCSS and benchmarks wait for no one...not even a distracted child.   This is when, much like Santa and his magic toy bag, if you have a few tricks to pull from your sleeve to harness the energy and keep the kiddies focused, everyone will be that much happier to prepare for things like... any assessments you may be giving in December. ;-)

My Winter Tic Tac Toe Review is one such activity that is an easy game to set up, and provides not only for a creative review, but a chance for you to gather some formative assessment data for your students as you check questions and answers and observe game play.  I'm always looking for quick review activities that require students to process and internalize new information. This version of Tic Tac Toe is perfect because students must first create their own open-ended questions and answers to those questions - which require details for support - before they can play. Students then work together, quizzing each other, as they move their way to a Tic Tac Toe.

This download includes:

Complete Directions

Game Board

18 Game Pieces (Students can cut these out.)

Question/Answer Planning Sheet

...AND a link to a FREEBIE on my blog that can help with easily creating cooperative learning partners that can be used for this activity or any other quick think-pair-share kind of brain break you like to practice in your class.  The key to keeping activities like this from taking too much time to make worth it is having a system already in place to quickly get students working together...you'll find that here.

You can download a preview of this at my TpT Store:

{click image}

and you can also find other activities to help with some fun review that will leave your students asking when they can play again...and not, "When does this class end?!"

Grammar: I have...Who has...?

Common ELA Vocabulary Review Game Pack

ALSO - I'm linking this post to:

Be sure to click and check out other great resources for this crazy time of year...all for $1.99 or less!

Any activities that you like to do this time of year that keep kiddos focused  while having fun?

Please think about sharing below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Independent Reading Bookmark - FREEBIE

FREEBIE ALERT! :)

Today I am adding my Independent Reading Bookmark to my collection of free resources for you to print and use.

This is a great tool for students to use to practice their "during reading" skills that we know improve comprehension - and they have one place to put their thoughts that stays with the book...so they can use it anywhere they are reading.  The bookmark includes space for:

• Information about the book and author
• Specific information pertaining to fiction and nonfiction reading.  The first focuses on genre and the elements of fiction.  The next section provides space for information about a nonfiction text.
• Once folded, the inside of the bookmark provides space for questions and predictions the student may have while reading and a space to answer or validate their thoughts with details from the reading.  There is also space for new vocabulary.

Click on the image above to get a closer look. You will also find that there is a page that gives direction for how to copy and fold the bookmark as well.  I hope this is a useful resources for you and your students.

  

Trick or Treat

New Halloween themed product :

When looking at the ELA Common Core State Standards, regardless of the specific grade level, it is easy to see that the ability for students to understand some key words and concepts that are the foundation of the expectations of the CCSS would be extremely helpful.  I have pulled 28 terms from the standards that are common across 5^th through 8^th grade and created a study sheet that can be given to each child.  It is foldable so that children can quiz themselves by hiding the term or the definition  - just like flashcards, but on 1 piece of paper, rather than 28 separate cards for them to lose. (I Middle School!)

Next, I have created a review game called TRICK OR TREAT.  The setup and game play are both very simple, but the element of surprise makes this game one your students will want to play again and again!

Click {HERE} to visit my online store and get a closer look at this fun way to review the vocabulary that is necessary for our students to be successful with the Common Core.