Sunday Scoop 1.4.15 FREEBIES

It's time for Sunday Scoop with the Teaching Trio.

This is not just an ordinary Sunday, however. It's THE SUNDAY, the last day before classes resume after the holiday break. If you're like me you are dreading the alarm clock tomorrow morning, but you're also excited to see your kiddos once again. Here's the scoop for this Sunday, then!

I am just a teensy bit proud of myself and have to brag a teenie bit. Normally I am still grading papers and racing around getting things ready the Sunday evening before classes resume. This is probably the first time in forever that I was actually ready before Sunday. No school work for me this day!

If you are still trying to get ready and need a few more items to help you get back into the swing of things. Here are a few things to help you out. One is a set of spelling words and activities for the week and the other is a no prep, print and go grammar activity that are suitable for grs. 3-6. Just click on each pic to download the item.

If you are resuming classes tomorrow, have a WONDERFUL first day back!

Two Days and Counting... Freebie

It's Freebie (er, Freaky) Friday.


Today I've got a freaky freebie in honor of my favorite television show. Season five premieres in just two days on AMC and I can't wait!!!!!!

You can download this cute set of zombie spelling brag tags HERE. They feature the adorable (did I just call zombies adorable?) of Sarah O'Shea of Edu-clips. Her clipart is my absolute favorite! My kiddos enjoy her work as well, often commenting about it when they see it on our bulletin boards, worksheets, and task cards. Something else they enjoy is collecting brag tags. You might like to check out my other sets HERE. Beware they are addicting!

Two days and counting!

Wordless Wednesday: Incentive Prizes

It's Wednesday! That means it's time to join Miss DeCarbo for her weekly Wordless Wednesday linky party.

Do you use incentive prizes in your classroom?
My kids LOVE their punch cards, brag tags, and goodie jar!
This system has made such a DIFFERENCE with homework/test habits.

This past week my sixers ALL received a 95% or better on their weekly Spelling Test. WOW, was I ever surprised and PROUD! They are such SMARTIES! In celebration, they each received a brag tag and a package of SMARTIES! You can download a free set of Spelling Smartie Brag Tags HERE.... just in case your kiddos are SMARTIES, too!

Don't forget that tomorrow is Thursday! Get those Throwback posts, pics, and pins ready to post!

Must Read Mentor Text: Homophones vs. Homonyms

I'm linking up once again with Stacia and Amanda of Collaboration Cuties for their weekly Must Read Mentor Text linky party.

I always look forward to the first Sunday of the month because this linky focuses on Language Arts mentor texts. I teach in a departmentalized school, and this is my area of concentration so I'm always on the lookout for new mentor texts.

This week I'm sharing a book that I've had on my shelf for years but never actually used as a mentor text until this school year. I actually have quite a few similar books as a set that I simply display for the students to read when we would focus on work skills.

My fifth graders were in need of studying homophones again. They were still confused by some of the more tricky ones so I created a list of twenty to use as their spelling words. Three weeks later we are still studying these words. Not because they haven't mastered them but because of the polar vortex. We will finish them up this week... finally!

When we first began our study one of the boys asked me the question, "What's the difference between a homophone and a homonym?" He had heard both terms used interchangeably and was curious. We quickly consulted both the hard copy dictionary in our room and one online and soon discovered conflicting definitions so we expanded our search. Apparently the linguistic experts can not quite agree. Some say that the two terms are interchangeable while others state differing definitions. To help us with our quest, I remembered this book, pulled it from the shelf, and immediately shared it with the class.

by Nancy Loewen

The bright illustrations caught their attention while the simple sentence structure was easy to remember and connect with. Silly sentences caused ripples of laughter and helped the students remember key ideas, and the simple, concise expository text is easily comprehended by even the youngest of language learners.

Best of all, we were able to answer my student's question:

If you were a homonym, you would be pronounced and spelled the same as another word, but you would have a different meaning. If you were a homophone, you would be pronounced the same as another word, but you would have a different spelling and a different meaning. Learn the difference between these two tricky concepts... Amazon.com

Again and again my fifth graders are returning to this text as they work with their spelling words, especially as they are puzzling out the difference between your and you're and their, there, and they're. The current assignment (to be collected on Monday) is for them to write sentences in which they use homophone pairs/triplets from their list, in the style of the writing from the mentor text...

She ate eight jars of jam while waiting in the traffic jam.

They're riding their bikes over there.

There were lots of giggles on Friday afternoon as they began their work. I'm anxious to see what they come up with, and if they have mastered these tricky words. Ms. Murphy is teaching their language lessons this week (she has an observation late in the week) so I will not be able to close the homophone lesson as I would've liked (darn that polar vortex). However, I did whip up a quick interactive notebook item to help them do a little more practice distinguishing homonyms and homophones. If you'd like a copy you can download it HERE or by clicking on the graphic below.

Students should color the material, then cut out the pockets and word strips. They should glue the pockets into their notebooks, leaving the tops open. They then should sort the word strips into the correct pocket based on the type of word each is. An answer key is included.

Happy Teaching,
Angela
The Teacher's Desk 6

My Favorite Holiday (Holy Day)... Merry Little Christmas! FREEBIES Galore!

I don't know what it is about Epiphany, the Feast of the Three Kings, Little Christmas that I LOVE so much. There is a great informational article HERE that explains the historical and traditional background of this holyday (holiday). For me, perhaps it is the thought that three non-Jewish uber-knowledgeable royals put such faith in ancient Jewish prophecies and traveled across a treacherous desert to a mysterious place by the light of some star carrying precious gifts for a lowly unknown king that peaks my interest and touches a chord in my heart. Talk about faith and trust! Whatever it is, Epiphany is the day during the Christmas season that I await each year, and the day that I will give my gift (a coupon book full of student friendly prizes) to my sixers just as the magi gave their gifts to the infant in the manger.

Epiphany is celebrated on January 5th this year, and we return to school on January 6th, perfect timing for an Epiphany celebration in our classroom. I have several items prepared to help us with our celebration throughout the coming week.

First up... sharing the book The Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke, retold by Pamela Kennedy. This is one of my all-time favorite stories and is always enjoyed by my fifth-grade Language Arts students. Kennedy's book is told in child friendly language as compared to the original Van Dyke story. I'm also providing a FREE Kindle link to the original story HERE since Kennedy's book is not easy to procure. Barnes and Noble does have used copies available.

Henry Van Dyke wrote The Other Wise Man in 1896, and since that time, this enduring classic has woven its mystical appeal for countless children and adults. Here Pamela Kennedy retells the story for the young reader, making it easy to understand, while retaining the magic of Van Dyke's words. Because he is helping others, a fourth Wise Man delays journeying with the other Magi to see the newborn Jesus, but thirty-three years later he has an unusual opportunity to meet his Savior.... BarnesandNoble.com

I'm linking this book up with Collaboration Cuties weekly Must Read Mentor Text. The first weekend of the month is for Language Arts texts, and even though this is a holiday text, I am using it as a Language Arts lesson. Because I teach in a Catholic school my students are well-versed in the Nativity story and the story of the magi. This book provides a bit of a twist to the familiar, allowing them to wonder, predict, infer, and compare as the story unfolds, skills addressed in the CCSS. I will be using an interactive notebook foldable Venn diagram with my students to help them comprehend the story and see the similarities and differences. Once they complete the foldable and we've had time to talk about their findings, they will write a brief paragraph about the similarities and differences in these stories.

As the week continues more lessons will be centered around my favorite holy day/holiday. Our spelling list for the week will have an Epiphany theme.

I made a wordsearch to go along with the spelling list.

We will complete an Epiphany themed revise, rewrite activity. The cute clipart is from Charlotte's Clips. I just LOVE her faith-based artwork. I use it a LOT!!!!

I have an Epiphany mystery picture waiting for my kiddos. BTW, the picture is supposed to be the three gifts brought by the magi: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

We will do the Wise Men SCOOT activity that is available in my TpT Store. It will help my kiddos review many of the Language Arts skills we have already learned this year. Again you see Charlotte's Clips artwork. This item is normally a paid item, but for the next week it will be available as a free download.

I even created a Wise Men ZAP! game for our Math teacher. Just before Christmas break I had to cover one of the sixth grade math lessons because the math teacher was administering an eighth grade mid-term. My sixers were playing a game she had left for them and were stumped by divisiblity rules, especially the rule for three. So I, the English teacher, taught my sixers a brief math lesson. My ZAP! game will help them remember the rule for divisiblity by three.

Finally, sometime during the week, we will sing and examine (search for parts of speech and analyze as a poem) my favorite holiday song... We Three Kings.

ALL of the items discussed in this blog post are FREEBIES for you! 

Just click on the pic of the item(s) that you'd like to have. Please, if you download anything from my TpT Store, leave feedback. TIA!

Merry Little Christmas,

Happy Epiphany,

Happy Teaching,

Angela

The Teacher's Desk 6

New Year's Blog Resolutions and a FREEBIE

I've been doing some thinking about my blog and what I should do with it. Yesterday I blogged about the Top Six Blog Posts of 2013, and I noticed that the top posts all had one thing in common... a freebie! That got me thinking that I should probably include more freebies with my blogging. After all that was how I started in the cyberworld all those aeons ago with The Teacher's Desk (a warehouse of several hundred FREE lesson ideas for teachers in grs. 5/6). So at the end of this blog post is a spelling freebie to help me keep my FIRST blogging resolution.

I say first resolution because I was blog reading today and saw that my friend Diane from Fifth in the Middle is hosting a New Year's Blog Resolution linky party. I decided to join in since this will may help me reach some blogging goals that I have for the coming year.

font by Diane@Fifth in the Middle

1. More photos... I have good intentions toward this goal and ALWAYS have my camera in my teaching bag which is ALWAYS with me at school. However, do I remember to grab it and use it? NO!!!!!! This year I will try to improve.

2. 300 Followers... I am itching to reach this goal on Bloglovin' so that I can host a fun giveaway. My one year blogiversary is approaching, too. It would be SUPER fun to be able to combine the two. So..... if you aren't a follower yet, please consider joining via Bloglovin' over there in the right margin. TIA!

3. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE linky parties. I have found some really great blogs and met soooooo many terrific bloggers via linky parties. I would really like to host a linky party that someone joins. I tried one at Halloween but sniff, sniff! no one came to the party. Maybe 2014 will be party central for The Teacher's Desk 6. Just because I do LOVE linkies so much I am also joining a fun little linky hosted by Jennifer from Simply Kinder. This is a linky for bloggers to find new blogs to follow and meet new bloggers.... great fun!

4. Comments... I love receiving comments and anxiously check each post to see if there are any. Most of the time I check via my Kindle which is not conducive to email/online responses, at least for me it's not. I just don't text well. Then I just don't seem to get back to make the actual reply. THIS I WILL IMPROVE!

So, there you have it! Those are my blogging resolutions. And here's that spelling freebie I promised. This is something that I use with my fifth/sixth Language Arts students all the time. It's a go-to assignment when I have nothing else planned or we have extra time to fill. You can download it HERE or by clicking on the pic.

Happy New Year,
Happy Teaching,
Angela
The Teacher's Desk 6

A Peek at My Week and a FREEBIE

Oh my goodness! It is Sunday again. I have good intentions to blog during the week, but I can't seem to squeeze in the time. I figured I could find time this weekend since I had worked hard to get all my lesson plans and materials ready by Thursday this past week, but... sigh! Then this weekend: I had planned on blogging for Snapshot Saturday but left my camera at home. I had planned to blog for Mentor Texts but left the book at school. Now it's Sunday and time for...

Monday is my boys first home football game. My sixers are permitted to play on the junior high football team. There are only three of them that play with the bigger boys, and they have been begging me to come to a game to see them. All of the games have been out of town so far, just too far to travel after a long day at school. I can't wait to see them play! I hear they are better than many of the 7th and 8th graders. Here they are at pep assembly we had this past week. Can you pick them out?

The rest of the school week should run smoothly. There are no meetings or after school activities. All I have to complete is progress reports and view a formative assessment module online in preparation for an inservice next Monday. Unfortunately, I have several progress reports in eighth grade that I must send, not due to struggling with understanding concepts, but rather letting extra-curricular activities interfere with school work... several students are just not completing work. And that formative assessment module... two hours at my computer just watching a video... sigh!

I won't even have too many papers or assignments to grade this week other than some Padlet boards for gr. 8 English and Spelling papers for grs. 5/6. We've been studying words with Greek/Latin roots each week for five weeks. This week is a review week, returning to all the roots we've covered so far: AQUA, PHOTO, PHON, GRAPH, and MOT/MOB. HERE is an assignment sheet that I will give to my students on Monday. They will work on the assignments, one per day, turning them in as we go along. The wordsearch is a little fun and challenging, requiring them to not only search for the word but identify its root's meaning. This group of kiddos has never done one like this. I can't wait to share it with them. Then on Thursday we'll play a fun review game so they are ready for a test on Friday.

I'm hoping the week passes quickly as I've some special plans for the weekend. A dear friend of mine whom I don't see nearly as often as I'd like has invited a group of us women to her home for dinner. Can't wait!!!! AND I can't wait for next Sunday! I'm traveling out of town to visit once again with my former pastor/special friend who will be installed as pastor at his new parish.

I've got a terrific week ahead of me. How 'bout you?

Happy Teaching,
Angela
The Teacher's Desk 6

A Peek at My Week and a FREEBIE

Has it really been a week since last I blogged? School has a way of filling up my free-time... however, I wouldn't trade it for the world! Here's a "Peek at My Week" as I'm linking up with Mrs. Laffin's Laughings once again.

This is not a typically busy week for a change, just a regular ho-hum week, nice to have now and then.

On Monday, my kiddos will start their new mentor sentences and receive new spelling words. I'm "catching up" both fifth and sixth grade with Latin/Greek roots as they had not been exposed to them in fourth grade and this is now a CCSS requirement. Last week we worked on AQUA; this week PHOTO. We're doing a Making Words activity each week and a definition foldable. Grab them below by clicking on the pics if you'd like to use them. This week's secret word is PHOTOSENSITIVE.

I'm looking forward to Tuesday as my sixers will start reading "I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic" by Lauren Tarshis. Although this is really a fourth grade level book, I promised them last year that we'd read this book come fall. It had been featured at our book fair last spring and I was able to get enough free copies for the entire class to read.  I created a Prezi to help us connect nonfiction with the fiction of the novel so that we are meeting the CCSS for Reading for gr. 6. Check it out below.


Thursday is actually my last day of the week. I'm taking a personal day on Friday so I'll have to make sure that I leave detailed plans for my sub and clean off the top of my desk... sigh! I won't be able to find anything when I return. LOL!

On Friday I'm heading to Alliance to spend the day with one of my all time favorite people, my former pastor who is a dear, dear friend. I miss him horribly! He was with us for almost ten years and got transferred two years ago when our diocese began downsizing. A friend and I are leaving early in the morning so we can get as much time in with Fr. Joe as we possibly can. I CAN NOT WAIT!!!

Saturday will be a day to throwback and relax and get my weekly lesson planning done since I'll be busy on Sunday. Our school is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Every few weeks there are special activities and worship services being held in celebration. This coming Sunday is an anniversary Mass and brunch honoring all the alumni. I'll once again be leading the singing at Mass.

I'm looking forward to my week and looking forward to peeking at yours so make sure you link up also with Mrs. Laffin's Laughings.

Happy Teaching,
Angela
The Teachers' Desk 6

Throwback Thursday... FREEBIE!

I almost didn't make it this week for Throwback Thursday with The First Grade Parade! I worked in my classroom for most of the morning and early afternoon, then came home and immediately began working on my initial activities and lessons for my eighth grade English students... a prezi and project menu for the novel Underground by Jean Ferris and a set of QR Codes that lead to Padlet boards for the novel The Coffin Quilt by Ann Rinaldi. I'm tickled with how everything turned out. I'll probably share more about this next week for Tried It Tuesday as this was the first time I tried Prezi and QR Codes.

Anyway, I'm off topic... back to Throwback Thursday.

On  March 13, 2013, I blogged about an activity that I developed more than 25 years ago out of desperation.... and I'm so glad that I did.

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I've been up to my elbows in things from my old Teacher's Desk website. Sorting through all the drawers has been tedious but also a trip down memory lane. For instance, one of the activities I found in the English drawer is called Quiet Hour Journals. I remember a class of sixers that I had about 26 years ago. Goodness, were they ever chatty! Every one of their teachers complained about the incessant talking whenever they were in their class. We talked about strategies to help them overcome this behavior. Our principal even had us trained in Lee Canter's Assertive Discipline Program. However, nothing seemed to work. Out of frustration one afternoon came this brainstorm of an idea  Quiet Hour Journals.

Directions:

1. Give each student a sheet of 9" by 12" construction paper. Have him/her fold it in half to form a booklet cover.
2. Instruct each student to take five sheets of loose-leaf paper, fold them in half, slip them inside the cover, and staple all the pages together.
3. The Quiet Hour Journal is now completed and ready to go.
4. Give each student ten bingo chips and these instructions:
   • For the next 60 minutes, no conversation is permitted. All communication is to be done via writing. Write any message or question in your Quiet Hour Journal and pass it to your intended recipient.
   • The recipient is to read your entry and respond in kind.
   • If the recipient catches any proofreading mistake you made, he/she may take one of your bingo chips.
   • If anyone catches somebody talking, he/she may take one of your bingo chips.
   • If at any time you run out of bingo chips, you may no longer participate in the activity.
   • At the end of 60 minutes, the person with the most bingo chips is awarded a small prize.

I use to participate with my students.  Sometimes, I was called upon to settle a dispute. If a student challenged another's proofreading correction, I acted as a moderator, communicating with the pair through my journal. If the challenger was correct, he/she took back the lost bingo chip plus one of the student's chips who was challenged. This makes for more careful initial writing and proofreading.

I haven't done this activity in a few years. Actually, I haven't needed to do it so I pushed it to the back of the desk drawer. I'm glad I spent time today cleaning. This is the PERFECT activity for this year's sixers, another chatty bunch. Can't wait to try it this week!

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I did try it with last year's crop of sixers! They LOVED it and begged to do it repeatedly! I was able to use it as an incentive to behave... LOVED it! This year' incoming sixers will not NEED this activity; however, I think I'm going to use it anyway. Here's a little FREEBIE if you decide to do Quiet Hour Journals with your class. I made it to match all the cute Polka Dot/Monster themed decor I made this summer. You can download the cover HERE or by clicking on the graphic. ENJOY!

Before you leave hop on over to my sweet bloggy friend Jamie's 200 Follower Celebration at Sixth Grade Tales. She's got a really nice giveaway package waiting for a lucky blog visitor!

And also stop by my bloggy friend Heather's 300 Follower Celebration at Peacocks and Penguins. She's got a HUGE giveaway going on. You won't believe the prizes!

Happy Teaching,
Angela
The Teacher's Desk 6