It's that time again! Time to join the Teaching Trio for...
Here's my scoop for today...
Since it's not only Sunday Scoop day, but also Father's Day, I thought that I'd include a snap of my father (and his father). Although neither has been with us for a long time, they are both thought about and talked about A LOT!
Have you heard about the #tptsellerchallengebeing hosted by Ashley from Teach, Create, Motivate and some of her blogging buddies? It lasts for four weeks and I decided to join them. Here's a little more about the challenge.
WEEK 1 Here we go...
The first product I chose to makeover is the VERY FIRST product that I uploaded and offered on Teachers Pay Teachers: Newbery Award Book Report Craftivity..
This was basically all that was to the original product... dull, strictly to the point, no cover, and the directions were at the end! What was I thinking?
Here it is now, all spiffed up! The added cover is attractive (don'tcha just love the Tween clip art by Educlips?), the directions are right up front, and I added some additional pages for extra writing and illustrations. So MUCH BETTER! In celebration of its makeover, my Newbery Book Report Craftivity will be available for only $1.00 for the remainder of Makeover Madness (it ends on June 21st).
Originally created in Word, the margins, fonts, and sizing were slightly off! Egads!
More colorful and cleaned up, here is how the product now appears! I even updated the bonus files. LOVE IT! You can check out my Poetry Task Cards and Bonus Files in my TpT Store and snag them for 50% off through the Makeover Madness, June 21st.
I am SOOOOO very happy that I accepted this #tptsellerchallenge! I can't wait to check out all the other participants' product makeovers (you'll find quite a collection at Teach, Create, Motivate), find new sellers to follow, and maybe purchase some teaching things for the upcoming school year along the way!
I am FINALLY getting somewhere with making things! I can join 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It where you will find LOADS of great ideas for things to make.
It seems like my creativity (what there is of it) has been on hold for the past month or two. Actually, all those end of the school year activities and responsibilities took precedent, plus I needed to do some MEGA reading for next year's classes. Now that all that is finished I have some time to create and of course what I'm making is for school. I've been working on a several I HAVE, WHO HAS activities. Are you familiar with this fun, engaging, game-like activity?
Sometimes called a looping activity, I HAVE, WHO HAS provides students practice with not only content area information but also with listening skills. Students are given a card on which is written an answer (the I HAVE part) followed by a question (the WHO HAS part). Students must listen to the questions so they can provide the particular answer they have. Play continues around the room until all the cards have been read. If done correctly, the last question leads back to the first card.
It sounds a lot more complicated than what it is. Take a peek at this video of my sixers from a few years ago as they complete an I HAVE, WHO HAS for the Stations of the Cross. You'll notice a few students have more than one card, one student who makes a mistake and the class corrects him, and students encouraging their classmates.
I HAVE, WHO HAS lends itself to multiple readings thus improving reading fluency, bolstering listening skills, and reinforcing content area skills. LOVE it!
I've most recently begun making I HAVE, WHO HAS sets for books my students are reading for class assignments. My junior high English students participate in a countywide English Festival each spring wherein they are required to read six novels. See this post and this one for more information about this event. I HAVE, WHO HAS will be a great way to review the details of each of the novels prior to participating in the festival.
So, how do I make one of these activities?
First I decide on the size/format of the cards. I like to use a 3 x 3 table in Power Point for this type of activity. It leaves enough room for graphics and provides space for plenty of information. I choose colors that coordinate with the book's cover, and select two pieces of clip art that represent key elements in the story. Here's what the Power Point slide looks like for the most recent IHWH that I made (Counting by 7's by Holly Goldberg Sloan). The main character, Willow Chance, is obsessed with counting by 7's and loves plants so I chose clip art to represent these characteristics. These two items are offered free for teacher use by My Cute Graphics.
Next, I plan on the text, the questions and answers, for each card. This part ain't pretty, folks. I simply draft the information (with novel in hand) on unlined paper in my clipboard. Here's what one of my planning pages looks like. I'm almost embarrassed to show you.
I start with creating the list of all of the answers (answer key). This helps me keep organized as I enter the information on the cards. If I do it correctly, the last answer will lead back to the first card.
Then I fill in all of the information (in order to help keep me organized) on all of the cards. Here's what the actual Power Point slide for the above planning page looks like when it's completed, sooooo much neater and clear!
Both are available in my TpT Store by clicking on the links provided above. Soon also will be available I HAVE, WHO HAS for the following four books, completing this year's English Festival titles. Look for them in the coming weeks.
It seems that during the last few days of school time just drags! Kids and teachers both can't wait to be finished with lessons and being DONE! Not so I or my kiddos! NOPE, we kept at it until the very last. In between packing the room and special events, we continued working on our very last project of the year: Writing a Cinderella Adaptation. It is perhaps the most engaging and fun of all the writing projects that we do all year! Kids get a kick outta returning to their childhood and revisiting familiar stories with their "mature" minds.
For years I've had my sixth grade Language Arts students read and analyze folk literature. It lends itself to teaching theme, characters, plot, etc. so well! So many of the traditional tales are available online and there is a plethora of folk literature novels nowadays as well; familiar stories that have been extended and adapted. Think Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine, Rump the True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff, or the Percy Jackson Series by Rick Riordin. We used several of these titles to do one final round of Literature Circles, but we also spent considerable time looking at the most famous folk tale of all: Cinderella.
Did you know that there are more than 1500 "Cinderella" tales found all over the world? Students are astounded by this and curious as well. I've managed to accrue a collection of about 65 Cinderella picture books over the years. My students and I spend time reading them and notating their similarities to discover what constitutes a Cinderella tale?
This is just ONE of many graphic organizers that we use as we are reading, comparing/contrasting, and analyzing this literature. It's yours for the taking by clicking HERE.
From there we examine some fun adaptations.
And then we begin creating our very own Cinderella adaptations via the writing process. The stories must readily be recognized as Cinderella tales, be thoroughly original, and be picture books. Here are a few of this year's masterpieces.
And who said that fairy tales are for little kids?
I have been noticeably absent from the blogging world these past few weeks. I just had to stay away from my computer as much as possible. I was on technology overload with all the end of the year record keeping. I'm back now, and I've made it in time for this week's linky hosted by Doodle Bugs Teaching...
I have spent the first full week of summer vacation picking strawberries and making jam... hard work but OH SO YUMMY!
I've spent a great deal of time with my precious fuzz girls lately as well. Nothing relieves stress more than a purring bundle of love. And would you believe it? Daisy and Lulie are actually getting along. Here they are sharing their new favorite spot... the opened window at the top of the stairs.
Here my fuzz girls are REALLY playing together WHILE I was watching them! Normally, they are growling and hissing during contact, and if Daisy sees me looking at her while she is touching Lulie, she is DONE.
One more fuzz girl photo... I seldom ever take a selfie. The one time since LAST SUMMER that I did, would you look who photo bombed me? Miss Daisy... LOL!
Finally, I did a little cemetery scoping for a friend who is WILD about all things Titanic. It's a little known fact that one of the survivors of the Titanic lived in my hometown. Anna Turja was just a teenager from Finland when she sailed on the fated ship. Anna is mentioned in the book "Heroes of the Titanic" by Anne Marie Welsh. You can read more about this wonderful resource book HERE. Meanwhile take a careful peek at this pic. Can you make out the epitaph? Cool, hunh?
Something else really cool is the Five for Friday linky. Be sure to stop by Doodle Bugs Teaching to read more of these fun linky posts.
