A blog for first grade and primary teachers with teaching tips for emergent readers including phonics, reading comprehension, and writing.
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
Teaching the difference between facts and opinions is such an important comprehension skill for students – actually, for all of us! Just because we saw it on TV or read it on the internet does not make it a fact. The first step in discerning the difference between facts and opinion is to understand what each […]
English Phrases – Expressing Opinions I am sure / I am certain that … I’m absolutely convinced… I am not certain, but… I am sure/certain/convinced that… I am under the impression that … I tend to think that… The main points are… Some people say that… The essential point is… I have the feeling that … I hold the opinion/ view that … I might be wrong but… I’m of the opinion that… I bet that… If you ask me… My conviction is that… Personally, I think… The point is that… I feel that… I would say that… As for
Get 5 tips for How To Teach Opinion Writing & details about the Opinion Writing Units that will help you bring Opinion Writing into your kindergarten, first, or second-grade classrooms!
Do you need an opinion writing unit with writing prompts and graphic organizers? This opinion writing unit will teach your kids how to write an opinion piece in a SIMPLE way that the kids understand! This Opinion Writing resource includes FRAMES, EXAMPLES, POSTERS, and PROMPTS. It is designed to TEACH students how to write an opinion piece STEP BY STEP. The young students need lots of examples and practice before they can write their own opinion. Opinion Writing Activities : *cut and paste an opinion piece *trace the frame of an opinion piece and complete it *follow several examples to write your own opinion *use several opinion frames to write your opinion *opinion writing prompts with visual support Included: *a “Write an Opinion” poster *a “Parts of an Opinion ” poster (I used green for topic sentence and red for conclusion. GREEN for GO and RED for STOP) *several simple frames for opinion writing *a cut and paste activity to create an opinion piece *several prompts to write an opinion piece *examples of how to write an opinion *frames and graphic organizers Happy Teaching! Dana's Wonderland
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
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
Fact vs. Opinion Poster/Mini-Anchor Chart...
K-1 OPINION WRITING This unit is so much fun to teach! I just love hearing all about my kiddos’ opinions… and kindergarten and first grade students sure love to share. In Unit 5 of my primary writing curriculum we are learning how to write about our opinions. We are writing about what
Première à réguler l’IA, l’Union européenne doit veiller à ne pas tuer l’innovation dans l'œuf, a dit mercredi Emmanuel Macron devant un parterre d’entrepreneurs inquiets de la tournure des choses à Strasbourg
Opinion Writing has always been a favorite for us. Read on for tips, ideas, and freebies to help you plan and teach your Opinion Writing (W K.1 + W 1.1) unit in your primary classroom! When we start our Opinion Writing unit, we always start with a very basic activity. We ask students to pick what they prefer out of two everyday things (i.e. Goldfish or chips, pencil or pen, glue stick or glue bottle, etc). This way every student can relate to what you are asking them to do and they can easily determine their opinion AND give a "because." We use our Prove Yourself pack for this; which is FULL of easy to answer opinion prompts that any student can answer. There are many choices to use and our kiddos never get tired of this activity. We use it during our Opinion Writing unit, but then the rest of the year as well (for morning work, quick finisher work, etc). You can grab our Prove Yourself pack HERE or a FREE Sample of the Prove Yourself pack HERE. Which do you prefer? Writing a Story or Reading a Book "I prefer writing a story because you can write whatever you want." Which are best? Stars or Hearts "Hearts are best because they are pretty and they mean love." This anchor chart contains a Language Frame for students to write their opinion. The frame guides them in what to write or say. We keep it up during the entire unit. Another way we like to practice opinions is with nonfiction books that provide information about a topic / topics. We try not to assume students will be able to generate reasons without background knowledge...even when it is a easy topic such as Cats or Dogs. We find without substantial background knowledge, students write reasons that are not specific or focused. One way to do this is to read a book about the topic and then brainstorm facts that were learned in the two categories. They can use this list when forming their opinion. First they brainstormed... Then they wrote their opinion... Cats vs. Dogs (Affiliate Link) Using picture books is a fun way to practice writing about opinions. For each of the picture books above, we have an Opinion Writing prompt / activity (FREE HERE). We always get a good smile when we read them. First graders usually come up with some pretty creative ideas. In the book Spoon, the main character "Spoon," feels like he isn't as special as the other silverware. After reading Spoon aloud, students decide which piece of silverware (spoon, fork, knife, or chopsticks) would be the best and why. Spoon (Affiliate Link) In the book A Fine, Fine School, the principal decides that school is so great that he adds more school time - weekends, holidays, etc! After reading A Fine, Fine School, students decide what the principal should do: keep the extra school hours or go back to the regular school day and why. A Fine, Fine School (Affiliate Link) In the book, Exclamation Mark, the main character "Exclamation Mark," feels like he isn't as special as the other punctuation marks (A LOT like Spoon!). After reading Exclamation Mark, students decide which punctuation mark they'd want to be the best (period, question mark, or exclamation mark) and why. Exclamation Mark (Affiliate Link) In the book, The Day the Crayons Quit, one crayon feels like he is not used near as much as all the other crayons. After reading The Day the Crayons Quit, students decide which crayon color is best and why. The Day the Crayons Quit (Affiliate Link) If you'd like to try these Opinion Writing prompts talked above above, click HERE! They're free and our students have loved them year after year! Another favorite tool in our classrooms during our Opinion Writing unit is our Print a Standard packs for W K.1 and W 1.1. These packs include opportunities for students to analyze opinion writing pieces, think about what the opinion might be based on character traits or scenarios given, edit opinion writing pieces, and read opinion pieces. These packs do not include opinion writing prompts so they are a great change from the usual writing activities. They can be used whole group, small group, for assessments, homework, etc. We hope this post helped you grab ideas for Opinion Writing that you can implement easily in your classroom!
Find a huge bundle of 20 kindergarten writing prompts right here. GET YOUR FREEBIE HERE!
A blog for first grade and primary teachers with teaching tips for emergent readers including phonics, reading comprehension, and writing.
We are working on distinguishing between facts and opinions this week. I made this fact and opinion sort to help students practice telling the difference between the two to use tomorrow. Before the lesson, we viewed a flipchart to teach the difference between facts and opinions. We then listed clue words to help us know when we are reading an opinion on an anchor chart. Here are some of the words we had on our chart - good, bad, best, better, worst, worse, fun, wonderful, perfect, awful, I think, In my opinion, awesome, fabulous, terrible, etc... You get the idea. I would have taken a picture of it, but it was NOT a cute chart! LOL In other news, I have been feverishly working on the Common Core Math cards for 4th grade, but I am still not finished and I have quite a headache from staring at this screen! I hope to have them finished by the end of the week. I know...I feel like I have said this so many times, but seriously this time! Keep checking back!! Happy Hump Day!!
If you need additional resources for opinion writing, I created a planning sheet and writing paper that can be used for any opinion piece throughout the school year! Grab it below (for free)! :) Have a great weekend! :)
One cognitive error which commonly results in distress is to act on our opinions as though they were facts. This CBT exercise helps clients to practice identifying the difference between facts and opinions.
Restaurant owner taught me this recipe! Simple and delicious recipe with canned tuna | restaurant, recipe
Look at the exam question and essay and do the exercises to improve your writing skills.
A ) Leçon vidéo Donner son opinion en français Vidéo de vocabulaire FLE pour apprendre quelques expressions pour exprimer son opinion, à partir du niveau A2 _________ B ) Activités Podcast français facile ( A1 / A2 ) DELF A1 1 . Podcast français facile - Audio - Exemples -Exercices à télécharger Les mots pour donner son opinion , exemples , exercices Donner son opinion : exercice FLE + Télécharger la fiche d'exercices+corrigés "Opinion personnelle" DELF A2 2. Podcast français facile - Communication - Audio - Questions- Exercices télécharger Tu en penses quoi ? ( DALF A2 ) Donner son avis ( adverbe / adjectif ) Dialogue / Questions / réponses / Imprimer Dialogue FLE et exercice de compréhension, niveau intermédiaire (A2) sur le thème de l’interview. Situation : Arnaud pose des questions à son amie Camille. Elle doit répondre en donnant son avis. 3. Podcast français Facile : Donner son avis Subjonctif ( A2) Subjonctif : dialogue ∣ conjugaison ∣ exercice 1 ∣ exercice 2 ∣ exercice 3 ∣ exercice 4 ∣ texte P.S Tous les Podcast Français facile , tag "Opinion" par ici ________________ Niveau B1 4. La Petite dictée - Donner son opinion, la mise en relief- Niveau B1 La Petite Dictée, c'est 5 phrases à écouter et à écrire. Essayez de bien orthographier tous les mots, et faites attention à la grammaire ! Cette dictée est pour le niveau B1 : parfait pour réviser le lexique pour donner son opinion et les formes de mise en relief. ________________ C) Fiches 1. Fiche - Exprimer l'opinion 2. Fiche - 10 façons de Donner son avis 3. Fiche - Donner son avis ......... À regarder dans le blog Le changement d'heure : exprimez votre opinion (A2) La Salle de classe idéale ( expression de l'opinion B1 ) Bon apprentissage ! Sources https://www.youtube.com/@Toutenfrancais https://www.podcastfrancaisfacile.com/
My 4th-grade students have just finished up a 6-week study of opinion writing, and we really learned a lot about the genre. Despite several stop-and-go weeks (thanks to the weather), we managed to complete six quality essays during our unit of study. If your day is anything like mine, then you consider yourself lucky to
K-1 OPINION WRITING This unit is so much fun to teach! I just love hearing all about my kiddos’ opinions… and kindergarten and first grade students sure love to share. In Unit 5 of my primary writing curriculum we are learning how to write about our opinions. We are writing about what
How do we differentiate writing instruction when we have 20-30 students to consider?
These are some fun cards you can use to practice debates in your ESL classes. Cut out the cards, students pick the card and should give their opinion on the statements written on it.
My article Depression and Your Messy House is the most read article on this blog in the past year. If you’ve ever found yourself caught in the vicious cycle of perfectionism and depression, you are not alone.
Turn around your students' attitudes toward opinion writing with these ideas.
Teams need to show hard evidence that a market exists and customers are interested (i.e. desirability), that the required infrastructure can be built and managed (i.e. feasibility), and evidence that the projected revenues and profits are not a fantasy (i.e. viability).
