Steal these for your writing unit!
Informational writing can be a very new type of writing for many elementary students in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade. Primary students are usually used to writing in their daily journal or creating fictional
A writing template to help children when structuring text types.
Hello Everyone!! Happy New year to all of you! The end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016 have been very emotional for me. We started off our winter break visiting my son, Jordan in Indiana. He has made his way into the hearts of the people of southwest Indiana with his amazing storytelling and reporting for the local news station. And...He just bought his first house. We are so excited for him! We loved spending time with him over Christmas. --- On our drive back home, we kept getting texts, phone calls, and e-mails from friends about the 12 tornadoes that ravaged their way through the towns around our home in Texas. Oh my goodness---our emotions went from bliss to absolute heartbreak. So many of our friends lost everything, including a couple of teachers from our district. One of the elementary schools was hit and is now deemed unsafe. And sadly, 11 people lost their lives. The past few days have been filled with helping school and church groups gather needed supplies for those affected by this disaster. Texans do tend to jump in and help whenever needed!! The cleanup and rebuild will take years, but the support will be there. If you would like to help those in need during this time, here's a link to the red cross donation sight. Thank you in advance for sharing your blessings! http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/2015/12/28/how-to-help-tornado-victims/77965462/ These events really put things into perspective for me. What is important? Where should we put our passion? So many of us are blessed beyond measure. We take for granted who and what we have in our lives. Herein lies the resolution. Giving. The more you give, the more you receive. Throughout the coming year, I will continue to share things on this blog for anyone who can use them to help teachers, parents, and kids get excited about learning. Teaching is sharing. Teaching is giving. I will give the best I have. It may not always be perfect, it may not always fit everyone's bill, but, if what I share can help even one person, It is worthwhile!! So, having said all that, I am sharing a new unit. This one is all about Opinion Writing. You all know how much I love Lucy Calkins. This unit is based on her "Writing Reviews" book for first graders. When we get back from winter break, our firsties will be learning all about opinions and how to share them through writing. This unit is a precursor to one we will do on writing book reviews and other type of persuasive writing. It includes everything you need to print and go! Here are a few pics. The unit is about 32 pages. If you think you might be able to use any of this, simply click HERE for the printable download. As always, thanks for taking time out to stop by and read this little blog. I appreciate you! My New Year's wish for you is that you are surrounded by love and joy, and that you are blessed to be a blessing to others. If you are heading back to school next week, have a wonderful reunion with your littles. Give them the best you have!! Joyfully! Nancy
If you've been following my blog, you probably figured out that I love using writing rubrics! Today I want to share what a writing rubric is, why I like using them and share links to 3 free writing rubrics you can use.
" Note: Welcome to this new series on the iPad to transform how we approach writing in the classroom (or anywhere)! In this new series, the focus is on 6 actions you can take to iPadify the Writer's Process. Yes, that's right. The Writer's process. Maybe we've gone a bit astray with our focus on the writing process. As a writer, what do you do? That's what this series focuses on. By the way, if you haven't read the previous series, iPadifying the Writing Workshop, you'll definitely want to in this convenient post that combines all the sections into one.
Check out these fun teaching materials for teaching comma rules to upper elementary including an anchor chart, videos, and graphic organizer.
**These worksheets are included in my complete Persuasive Writing Worksheet Pack** Persuasive Writing Handouts - No Prep Printables This persuasive writing pack includes a range of worksheets and activities to support the teaching of persuasive writing. Worksheets include: Persuasive writing template. Persuasive writing sentence starters. Persuasive writing topics. Persuasive writing checklist. This resource includes a digital (Google Slides) version. See the end page of the resource for the details and the link to access the digital version. ________________________________________ For more persuasive writing resources, click the links below: Persuasive Writing - Marking Assessment Rubrics Persuasive Writing Worksheets - Persuasive Tools Persuasive Writing Worksheets - Include Expert Opinions Persuasive Writing Posters - Earth Tones Classroom Décor Persuasive Text Posters - Classroom Decor Persuasive Writing PowerPoint - Guided Teaching Persuasive Writing Prompts - Lightning Writing Persuasive Writing Posters - Classroom Decor Persuasive Texts - Writing Samples with Comprehension Questions ________________________________________ For more writing resources, click the links below: Compound Words - Worksheet Pack Understanding Nouns Worksheets - No Prep Printables Add The Adjective To The Sentences - Worksheet Pack Nouns, Pronouns & Capital Letters - Grammar Worksheets with Answers Add Punctuation to the Sentences - 10 Worksheets Reading and Grammar Pack, Google Slides - Distance Learning Parts of Speech Grammar Workbook Homographs PowerPoint - Interactive, full lesson Parts of Speech - Fill The Blanks Worksheets Verbs PowerPoint - Interactive ________________________________________ Follow Me Click the green star at the top of my page to be the first to receive updates about new products and discounts. ________________________________________ Feedback Please help me to improve my products by leaving valuable feedback. Simply click the 'Provide Feedback' button on your purchases page and leave a rating and a comment. You will also gain credits to use for further purchases. ________________________________________ Copyright Information This product is not for commercial use, individual use only. If you plan to share this product with others, please purchase extra licenses at the 50% discounted rate. The fonts used in my resources are from: Babbling Abby and Kimberly Geswein Fonts The clip art used in my resources is from: Krista Wallden Creative Clips and Whimsy Clips ________________________________________ writing | persuasive | expository | convince | persuasive tools | classroom | bundle | English | literacy | literature | warm up | reflection | text | reading | extension | alliteration | emotive language | groups of three | inclusive language | draft | rubric | no prep | printable | homework | teacher | booklet | learning tool | elementary school | primary school | homeschooling | homeschool
Did you think teaching students to write would be a snap? I mean, you are a college-educated, certified individual. How hard could it possibly be? Well, it’s a challenge, especially when just starting out. In my classroom,
When teaching narrative writing in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade, there are so many writing skills to cover. They range from creating a sequence of events (beginning, middle, and end) to more difficult
The activities below are available for free download, and are to be used in educational and/or private settings. They may not be used elsewhere or for other purposes (such as for profit) unless exp…
Are you in search of effective and engaging worksheets to help your 6th-grade students practice essential grammar skills? Look no further! Our collection of simple sentence worksheets offers a comprehensive selection of activities that cater specifically to the needs of 6th-grade learners. With a focus on the concept of subject and predicate, these worksheets provide ample practice opportunities and ensure a solid foundation of grammar knowledge. Get ready to make learning grammar a breeze for your 6th-grade students with our simple sentence worksheets!
by Jarrett Lerner I’ve been wanting to make an activity book for years now. Something that could help kids – and kids-at-heart! – explore and develop their creativity, and turn to as a source for r…
Fun and engaging ESL activities, games and worksheets in printable PDF format with full teacher's notes and answers for English teachers to use in class.
Farley is hosting her monthly Linky Party! Check out Currently February: As many of you know, I'm preggers (due in April). Therefore, my hubby and I are staying in a lot more than we usually do and watching lots of TV! We've watched Breaking Bad (all five seasons) and Homeland (just starting season two). We also watch lots of documentaries on Netflix. We found a great one the other night that I'd like to recommend. It's called "American Teacher" (2011), and it follows the lives and experiences of four teachers. It's only about 80 minutes long, so check it out if you have some free time! Matt Damon narrates the documentary so enjoy that! =) Photo courtesy of IMDb. On another note, did you hear about the Sunday Super Sale over at TpT!?! Everything in my store will be on sale for 28% off! Yippee!! I know I'll be shopping for lots of activities for the month of February, spring time writing activities, more clip art, and some center activities! Last but not least, I just added a great resource to my store called Sweet Sentences Mega Pack! It's only $4.00 and contains 56 pages of grammar and writing activities to help young writers grasp the concepts of complete vs. incomplete sentences. There are posters, activities for literacy stations and small groups, printables for independent practice, and whole group lessons. Check out a few examples below: {CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.1.1j and CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.2.1f} Leave a comment below about writing instruction in your classroom (also include your e-mail), and I'll choose a few lucky winners to receive the Sweet Sentences Mega Pack for FREE! :)
WOW!! I have not posted in forever (the start of this year has been a bit rougher than previous ones).... BUT, it is time t...
I am so excited to share that first grade no prep packs are here! This resource makes it so easy to teach the first grade standards for math, reading, phonics and writing. No more searching for high quality, engaging worksheets and activities.. they are all here. Plus I am sharing thr
Use the ARMS and CUPS strategy to teach your students the difference between revising and editing. The graphics and mnemonics will help your students remember all the important steps to revise and edit effectively. This download includes one color copy of the chart, a black line master, a smaller ve...
Hello Everyone!! Happy New year to all of you! The end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016 have been very emotional for me. We started off our winter break visiting my son, Jordan in Indiana. He has made his way into the hearts of the people of southwest Indiana with his amazing storytelling and reporting for the local news station. And...He just bought his first house. We are so excited for him! We loved spending time with him over Christmas. --- On our drive back home, we kept getting texts, phone calls, and e-mails from friends about the 12 tornadoes that ravaged their way through the towns around our home in Texas. Oh my goodness---our emotions went from bliss to absolute heartbreak. So many of our friends lost everything, including a couple of teachers from our district. One of the elementary schools was hit and is now deemed unsafe. And sadly, 11 people lost their lives. The past few days have been filled with helping school and church groups gather needed supplies for those affected by this disaster. Texans do tend to jump in and help whenever needed!! The cleanup and rebuild will take years, but the support will be there. If you would like to help those in need during this time, here's a link to the red cross donation sight. Thank you in advance for sharing your blessings! http://www.wfaa.com/story/news/2015/12/28/how-to-help-tornado-victims/77965462/ These events really put things into perspective for me. What is important? Where should we put our passion? So many of us are blessed beyond measure. We take for granted who and what we have in our lives. Herein lies the resolution. Giving. The more you give, the more you receive. Throughout the coming year, I will continue to share things on this blog for anyone who can use them to help teachers, parents, and kids get excited about learning. Teaching is sharing. Teaching is giving. I will give the best I have. It may not always be perfect, it may not always fit everyone's bill, but, if what I share can help even one person, It is worthwhile!! So, having said all that, I am sharing a new unit. This one is all about Opinion Writing. You all know how much I love Lucy Calkins. This unit is based on her "Writing Reviews" book for first graders. When we get back from winter break, our firsties will be learning all about opinions and how to share them through writing. This unit is a precursor to one we will do on writing book reviews and other type of persuasive writing. It includes everything you need to print and go! Here are a few pics. The unit is about 32 pages. If you think you might be able to use any of this, simply click HERE for the printable download. As always, thanks for taking time out to stop by and read this little blog. I appreciate you! My New Year's wish for you is that you are surrounded by love and joy, and that you are blessed to be a blessing to others. If you are heading back to school next week, have a wonderful reunion with your littles. Give them the best you have!! Joyfully! Nancy
Get your students reading and writing this summer with these fun and engaging enrichment activities for elementary grades.
Click here to get a FREE Printable Kids Writing Journal with 20 Prompts easy to use & perfect for early elementary aged children.
Check out this procedure writing freebie. This 'how to' writing worksheet helps students write about how to make popcorn!
Did you think teaching students to write would be a snap? I mean, you are a college-educated, certified individual. How hard could it possibly be? Well, it’s a challenge, especially when just starting out. In my classroom,
Write about yourself! These themed writing prompts for 1st to 5th grade students are all centered around the ideas of identity and personality.
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Do you do writing workshop with your students? My program has evolved over the last 23 years, and now it runs smoothly – although I can’t help but add new ideas each year! Long before I expect students to write stories, we spend a lot of time discussing stories. For example, every time we read […]
Picture this: You are wandering around your classroom in awe as each and every student is madly engaged in informative writing.
It seems that scammers are getting more elaborate to trick people out of their money every single day. From phishing emails to copycat websites, from romance scams to fake charities, there seems to be endless schemes to trick clueless folks into giving up their cash.
The toughest part of writing is often getting started. Jump the hurdle with these kid-friendly writing warm-ups that spark creativity!
Learn Round Robin Writing & Editing Idea. Visit for more!
Paragraph writing activities and tips for teachers in upper elementary
Summer holidays are a great time to emphasis on children creative writing and enhance their writing skills.
This year I am piloting a new ELA program in my classroom. I teach in a SMALL town. A REALLY small town. We do not have curriculum developers, language arts consultants, or any other authorities on curriculum. What we do have is an awesome principal and a staff full of creative teachers. SO when tasked with the challenge of aligning our current ELA program to the Common Core we realized there were huge gaps. This led to some research of new Common Core alligned programs where we discovered the Common Core Progress series from Sadlier Schools. The Common Core Progress text contains nonfiction and informational text units aligned to the Core and surprisingly to our science and social studies topics! Between each reading unit is a writing unit that draws from the previous reading unit. Talk about keeping everything connected! This week I am beginning a fictional narrative writing unit. So far my class is doing a fantastic job analyzing the student sample and using the included graphic organizers to plan their piece. Overall I am VERY pleased with this new series thus far! I also found a catchy tune over at Flocabulary to help students understand the steps involved in creating a piece of writing. From that song came this great acronym POWER which inspired the classroom poster below:
Story writing can be daunting for emergent readers. This differentiated resources is specifically designed to scaffold emergent short story writing by including "finish the story" writing prompts. It is also designed to be flexible enough to challenge advanced students when writing a story by prompting the use of more complex descriptive sentences and self-editing. Most importantly, the differentiation is discreet, with no additional work for the teacher. All students can use the same story template for the basis of their sentences and story writing - the only difference is the tasks they are expected to complete as directed by you. Differentiation is discreet; your expectations are different for each student. Depending on their ability, students use the template in different ways. There are 50 different animal story writing prompts included. I've been using this idea to differentiate instruction in my own multi-age classroom for over 20 years with much success. Note: If you are in need of an alternate version for Australia that uses the term "full stop" rather than period, you can find it included! Due to the popularity of this resource, SET 2 is now available with many more templates with seasonal themes! Click HERE to see them! WHAT ARE THE LEVELS INCLUDED WITHIN EACH PAGE? LEVEL 1: Use the word bank to label the picture. Students practice reading the word labels to themselves and peers, as well as illustrating the picture. TIP: Laminate the pages and slip them under journal pages so students can trace the picture into their own journal pages before labeling and coloring. LEVEL 2: Use the "fill in the blank" sentence frames to create three simple sentences about the animal in the picture. This kind of scaffolding supports emergent readers while fostering success. Students practice reading their simple sentences to themselves and peers. This step can be done instead of the labeling, or after the labeling task in level 1. LEVEL 3: Students who are more advanced can use the sentence frames to create more complex and detailed sentence in their own journals. Emphasize more descriptive vocabulary and longer sentences. These first three sentences will create the beginning of a simple story. LEVEL 4: Because the first three sentences from level 3 will create the beginning of a simple story, the next step is to complete the story. I like to use the word "Suddenly..." as a way to create some excitement and conflict to a simple story, even with one sentence. A final sentence can complete the story. LEVEL 5: UseFor higher grades or more challenging tasks, students use the same simple framework to write a longer, more advanced story on their own. When done, they use the checklist at the bottom of each page to self-edit work, check for capitalization and punctuation, and get peer feedback. Often it is easier to edit a story when it is read aloud to a friend. Finally, students can create a final edited version of their story and picture on a new writing template. These can be presented to the class if desired. Depending on student ability, you can specify how long and complex you expect the story to be. As you can see, the same simple template can be used in multi-aged classrooms and for all abilities. The same templates can also be used as a literacy center, as described below: IDEAS FOR USE: This set can be used as an independent literacy center, a writers workshop task, or a whole group morning writing job. Once students are used to the task, they will enjoy choosing their own animal, and then feel more excited about their writing! Students using this set are often surprised by how much they can write. This, in turn, gives them the confidence to continue writing! Another idea is to laminate the whole set and use repeatedly. Students simply trace over the animals and copy the sentences into their own writing page. For very young students, I prefer to use these as printables so they can write directly on the page. PLEASE NOTE: This unit is part of the Writing Workshop MegaBundle, which has 9 writing resources bundled together for an entire year of writing resources at a MUCH reduced price. Click below to take a quick look: Click HERE to see WRITING MEGABUNDLE If you would also like some seasonal themes using the same format, Click HERE to see SET 2! You may also wish to browse through similar bundles for PHONICS SUPPORT through the year: You can see the other PHONICS BUNDLES by clicking links below: Click HERE to see PHONICS PHONICS BUNDLE 1 Click HERE to see PHONICS PHONICS BUNDLE 2 Click HERE to see PHONICS PHONICS BUNDLE 3 Click HERE to see PHONICS PHONICS BUNDLE 4 All of these products have been used in my own classroom for many years with great success. I am so happy to share my teaching ideas with other teachers with the goal of saving time and increasing student engagement and learning. Thank you for taking a look! PREVIEW You can see the preview by clicking the green button near the top of this page. Please look at the preview to see the details before purchasing to ensure these are right for your needs. Click HERE to follow my store for early bird pricing on new resources! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Sellers-Im-Following/Add/Whimsy-Workshop-Teaching *Commercial purposes such as Outschool are not permitted. DOWNLOADING AND PRINTING If you have any trouble with downloading or printing your documents with the clip art, please read the help on this page: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Help If you still need troubleshooting, please email [email protected] and the TPT tech team will be happy to help you. Clip art bundles are collected in a compressed ZIP file and include all clip art on the cover, my logo, a preview image, and a link to my TOU. You can read more about zip files by clicking HERE. SIMILAR RESOURCES Would you like to see a huge list of similar resources all on one page? Just click the category below that you'd like to browse: ⭐️ Click to see all SOCIAL SKILLS resources. ⭐️ Click to see all ART resources. ⭐️ Click to see all MATH resources. ⭐️ Click to see all FREE DIRECTED DRAWING VIDEOS resources. ⭐️ Click to see all SENTENCE BUILDING resources. ⭐️ Click to see all PHONICS AND READING resources. CONTACT If you have any questions or concerns, please email me directly at [email protected] Please read my TOU first as many questions are answered there. Whimsy Workshop Teaching Terms Of Use OTHER RESOURCES You can see ALL clip art and early literacy sets organized in one place by clicking Whimsy Workshop Teaching -- simply choose a tab at the top of the page to explore! Don't miss out on free and discounted resources by keeping in touch! Click HERE to follow my store for early bird pricing on new resources! 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Failure to comply is a copyright infringement and a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Clipart and elements found in this PDF are copyrighted and cannot be extracted and used outside of this file without permission or license. Intended for classroom and personal use ONLY. *Not for commercial purposes such as Outschool. ************************************************************************************************
With students in your classroom who may not have the basics of sentence writing completely down yet, it can be overwhelming to plan tackling opinion writing with students in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade. For young
Expanding Sentences Anchor Chart and Mini-Lesson
Do you teach opinion writing as part of your writing curriculum? If you do, check out these opinion writing prompts. I created this set of 2...
