Map Landforms Project: Create an Initial Island

My students love this culminated project for our map unit. After a study of maps and common landforms I assign students the task of creating an island out of the initial letter of their first name. Then, they are challenged to add a certain number of characteristics like landforms, bodies of water, animal species, human made features (bridges, houses, roads) and more. In addition they need to create an accurate map key and name their island. Finally, they complete the writing task where they are to write a persuasive commercial to entice others to vacation on their unique island. It is a BIG hit and is a great way to assess students' understanding of maps and geography. I hope your class will enjoy it as much as mine do. You can find it in my TPT store. 

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Doggy Tales Writing Pack

Oh, I wish dogs could talk. My Harley came down with a swollen, infected paw this week and I have no idea what he did. It's a fun battle to try and get his paw to soak in a tub of warm water. I have his bag of treats close by to reward him after I manage to soak it for a few minutes at a time.

I hope he's on the mend soon!

If you are looking for cute doggy themed writing, including a prompt on "If My Dog Could Talk", check out this pack in my TPT store.

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store

December Holiday Read Aloud

Holiday Freebie alert!

Go grab my Rudolph Writing freebie

I always read the story Rudolph's Second Christmas to my students and have them then write their own version afterwards.  The sequel to the original Rudolph has an endearing set of "misfit" characters who, like Rudolph, seem a little different. Santa and Rudolph come to the rescue to bring back Christmas spirit to two children who were "forgotten" the previous holiday season.

I recently started a Facebook Group for teachers to share ideas, questions, and inspiration. 

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Swap the Squiggle Writing

My class had the greatest time doing Swap the Squiggle writing.

 The idea is to take a random squiggle and create a picture to write a story about. But my twist on this popular idea is to "Swap the Squiggle" which involves a group/team effort in creating the final picture. I have found that this activity helps motivate reluctant writers. What fun! These 15 squiggle writing prompts will be sure to engage your students.

Grab it at my  TPT store

Here's one of the cutest prompts generated today. 5 people worked on this picture.

A story was written about a girl stepping in gum.


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Elections and Voting Activities

I just made an I Have Who Has Election theme set game.

It’s a fun Around the World looping type game. Each card states a question related to voting and elections. Students each hold one or more cards and need to listen and respond with their card if it is the correct answer. Play continues in sequence until all cards have been read.

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And if you missed my last post there's this: Election TV Ad writing

 Aso, here's a 5 page election writing prompt pack!

Cute kid quote:

One of my students wrote in response to character traits of a president:

"Well I think the president would need a squeaky clean record."

 

You can also grab my Election Pack Bundle at a discount.

 

 

Find more great ideas on my Pinterest page or TPT store

I recently started a Facebook Group for teachers to share ideas, questions, and inspiration. 

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Halloween Jokes and Themed Book Reports

Pick up some fun treats for your classroom for Halloween fun.

  Batty Book Reports pack

  Halloween Howl Joke pack.

Themed Book Report pack

Halloween class joke book.

These two items also come in a money saving bundle.

Leaf Writing

I think fall like weather has finally made it's appearance today.

I hope it sticks around. I'm sipping a pumpkin spice latte, as I share a fall lesson my

class did this week.

 First, I asked my students how many of them ever look at the clouds and imagine or "see" another item. We went outside and practiced just that. After the cloud observation,  I handed out fall colored die cut leaves, and had students make a leaf picture to create a story. What imaginations! Take a look.

 

You can get this activity in my TPT store.

A bird

An acorn on a tree

A campfire...this one impressed me!

An eagle

"Leaf" me a comment if you wish!

Find more great ideas at my  TPT store

I recently started a Facebook Group for teachers to share ideas, questions, and inspiration. 

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Back to School Photo Booth Activity : Framing a Great Year

I know many of you are gearing up to start your first day of school.

I've already been back for 2 whole weeks and have a great bunch of third graders.

I just put the finishing touches on my Back to School"Framing a Great Year" photo booth writing craftivity.

I had a cracked picture frame hanging around in the back of a closet that I drug out to use (minus the  broken glass). Then I posed students holding the frame and grade level caption "Fabulous in ____grade" We followed up with the writing piece! I got this done in one day and it was up on my walls for Back to School Night.

Grab it at my {TPT Store}

Have fun framing yourself a great school year!

I recently started a Facebook Group for teachers to share ideas, questions, and inspiration. 

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Story Snapshot Writing Activity

Take a look at my Story Snapshot Writing Center.

I've never figured out how to manage free for all magazine cut and paste in my classroom.

For one, some of the ads or articles your kiddos may run across as they cut and clip are not classroom appropriate.

So I did the prepping ahead of time.

I used magazines and the "teacher junk mail" packs for sources to get clip happy.

I glued pictures down to backing and laminated them.

Now I have a creative and reuseable "Story Snapshot" writing center.

Who wouldn't want to write about an elephant in a jar?

Fun story starters for the boys

Here's the writing sheet I plan to use

Click picture to download

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Dog Days of Summer Giveaway: Dog Themed Writing Pack

In my mind it was a beautiful day for a....dog bath

Not so much on the top of  Harley's list

I wonder EXACTLY what is he thinking?

He's a trooper though because he actually stayed in one spot as I took pictures.

I was living recklessly letting go of the leash, but it worked out.

He's learned to endure his bath because he can sniff out the biscuit I hide in my pocket to reward him.

It's the "I'm free...shake off"

"The most affectionate creature in the world is a wet dog."

~Ambrose Bierce

Pretty boy drying off in the sun

The stinker will actually lay in the shade right by the door to come in unless I stay outside.

I'm heading up to my parent's summer cabin in southern Utah in a few days and only thought it be polite to all in the car to have a clean pup.

Harley will have a week's worth of squirrel chasing time after the 7 hour road trip!

I created this Dog Writing Pack after Harley's bath today.

It's the dog days of summer.

Have you bathed your dog yet?

I'm giving away 2 of my packets in a quick giveaway for my followers!

 

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Paragraph Pizazz

I did group paragraph building practice. I wrote out main ideas, details, and conclusions on sentence strips and teams had to organize them in sequence on a poster board.  To wrap up the group activity, each student then did a paragraph cut and paste independently. The cut and paste paragraphs you can grab by clicking the photo below. Let me know how this works in your class!

**Also, stay tuned for some exciting giveaways I'll be doing with Learning Resources products!

You won't want to miss the chance for some great wins for your classroom.**

The Important Thing About Winter Poetry Writing Activity

The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown is the lead in to my Winter Poetry assignment.

After reading the book my students will write a Winter Poem in the same pattern.

It’s a Freebie in my TPT store.

I recently started a Facebook Group for teachers to share ideas, questions, and inspiration.  

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Prized Possession Writing for Possessive Nouns

My class got practice with perfecting possessives today with a partner writing activity.

Each student brought in a prized possession to share.  I took a picture of each student and then they partnered up and wrote about another classmate's object. So fun and eye opening. One of my students brought in a very touching item, a Beads of Courage necklace for children dealing with cancer and serious illness. Can I say that was POWERFUL!

 

 

(This photo below is from my original product file. It has since been freshly updated with new fonts and layout. Check it out.)

Want this perfect lesson for possessives? You can get a copy {HERE}.

You might want to do this writing activity after the holidays with each students' favorite holiday gift.

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No Cost Gift Writing

My FAVORITE December holiday writing activity is related to No Cost Gifts.

I assign each student an item that costs nothing monetarily, and they write about how they appreciate it in their lives.  

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Gratitude Journal Prompt Writing for Thanksgiving Lessons in the Classroom

Thanksgiving at the Tappleton's is an adorable holiday read aloud with a great message of finding gratitude in all situations. The Tappleton's traditional Thanksgiving meal goes all awry when Mrs. Tappleton lets the frozen turkey accidentally slide down the icy sidewalk into the pond. The meal plans go from bad to worse shape from there on in! It's a very cute read.

This book is a perfect lead in to my Gratitude Journal prompts I use in November.

This set has 18 prompts focused on thanks and gratitude.

I also do this adorable Apple Turkey Craft. It makes a wonderful table decoration for families on Thanksgiving.

Click picture to grab a copy.

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Traditions and Patricia Polacco Author Study

My class loved reading Patricia Polacco's The Keeping Quilt the past two weeks. It's such a special story about the importance of family and traditions. Students completed their own family tradition quilt square too and were proud to share a piece of their heritage.

After reading The Keeping Quilt, I read aloud some of her other books: Babushka's Doll, Some Birthday, Chicken Sunday, Thunder Cake and the most touching of the bunch, The Junkyard Wonders                      

To show our appreciation for her talent as a wonderfully inspiring author students wrote thank you letters to Patricia Polacco today.  

My class was "Over the Top" excited when we received a letter in return from Patricia Polacco.

There's no better way to bring letter writing to life than this!

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A Spin on Squiggle Writing- Creative Writing Idea

Raise your hand if you've done Squiggle Writing at some point in your classroom.  If not, then you've got to learn about this "oldie but goodie". It's been a standby, staple lesson in my classroom for years (30 years to be exact). 

Here's the nitty gritty directions. Basically you draw a random squiggle on paper and let students create an illustration out of it. Then they follow by writing a creatively, cute story.

Now, here's my spin on the traditional Squiggle writing.  Instead of having it be an independent activity, I've made it interactive and called it "Swap the Squiggle". The low down here is students start with their own squiggle for a brief amount of time to begin decorating and on a teacher signal move/swap their squiggle with another classmate. Ideally, you would swap the squiggles several times and then end by returning it to the original squiggle owner. Then the story writing begins! All of my classes have 

 L-O-V-E-D my "Swap the Squiggle" because it's a team effort and the end illustration ends up being a squiggle surprise. 

I've included 15 squiggle writing paper templates for writing fun. Grab it HERE

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