Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year

Check out this neat Dragon Craft!

Use for a bulletin board, locker or put on a stick for a Lion Dance!

Lots of informational text in three different forms for leveled readers.

You can use this in reading groups.  Have students bring highlighters and as they read highlight key facts in the text.

Then use the Reading for Detail as a form of assessment.

There is also a KW sheet I love having the students complete BEFORE we begin the lesson for the day. At the end of the dat we then see if what we knew was a misconception or if what we wondered was answered.  Have the class use the back of the sheet to write one other new fact they learned.

These two activities can be used after informational text has been shared.

One is sensory and the other is a tradition sort.

The sort encourages reading and recall while the sensory really encourages student thinking.

They can write or draw. 

Finally there is a little math game and a compare and contrast Chinese New Year to our New Year.

There are colorful vocabulary words for posting.

I like to put them in a small pocket chart that can be moved to where they are needed.

Writing, word work, word wall...

The word work activities above are perfect for your literacy center or use the making word as I do with partners or groups challenging each other.

This packet also includes four literature suggestions with activities to accompany them.

Not shown are graphic organizers or collecting student thoughts for writing as well as writing pages.

Find the packet here.

Welcome 2019!

Happy New Year!

There is no better way to welcome your class back to school than to welcome them back to the New Year and this packet is ideal to do just that.

Let's start with these two cuties. They might decorate your bulletin board, hang on a locker or top this paper with resolutions your class has written.

I personally like using them to showcase the student resolutions.

If you do not have this book in your class library you will want find it in the library or I think it will be worth the purchase!  Begin your lesson about the New Year with this KW chart.

What does your class already know and what do they wonder?  I save this sheet and then at the end of the day I have the class turn it over and write one new fact they learned about the New Year.

This vocabulary is perfect for posting.  There are 12 colorful words for posting.  I like to use small pocket charts and place them by the New Year books.

I have the word search on their desk as they enter in the morning to keep them busy while I collect all the information students bring in but it could also be perfect  in the word work center.  All the words are related to the new Year.

My all time favorite activity is making words.

I like to put the students in groups, assign a secretary and have them work together to make as many words as they can. I set a time limit and when we finish groups share their creative efforts.  (Each child will need their own sheet to cut out letters and write down words.

It may just be the quietest time of the day if you tell your class to work quietly so the other groups do not hear the words they are making.

Your reading groups can consist of one of the three informational text pieces.

There is a one page sheet, a mini book (fold and read), and a mini book.

In the small groups as we read text we highlight key ideas.  I then send them back to write those key pieces of information on their graphic organizer.  They then use these facts to write and we create a class book.  The materials for these are included in the packet but not shown here.

Below you will see another sheet you can use to record information.

For assessment you might want to use the New Year Sort...what is a tradition and what isn't.

Then you will want to fit time into your day for writing those resolutions.  

One page focuses on what a resolution is and the other two help students gather their thoughts for what their resolution is.

One of my favorites is this cute cut and paste...it makes a perfect flip book with what they want, wish, etc.

The packet also contains two activities to accompany two stories about New Year.

The Night Before New Year's by Natasha Wing...Text to Self

Squirrel's New Year's Resolution by Pat Miller...Sequencing Text

Both stories help students gather even a deeper understanding of New Year's and Resolutions!

And for math how about this cute game.

Find your way to the New Year Party.

Use pennies, buttons, cute erasers or whatever you can find for markers.

Students roll and move using the grid on the game page.

I just know your class will learn while engaging in activities that promote academic growth.

Find it here.

Presidents' Day!

This packet is filled with activities to celebrate Presidents' Day with your class.

There are informative as well as activities that fit in with your curriculum.

Informational text comes in the form of a page filled with facts or a mini book.

They are ideal for reading groups or guided reading.

Have highlighters ready to highlight key facts in the text.

These easy fold and read booklets are simple and fun for students to read, highlight and color.

These graphic organizers are ideal for having students record key facts and gather their ideas for writing.  The third activity asks students to write about what they would do if they were president.

There is plenty of word work for your literacy centers.

Contractions, ABC Order, and a Word Search.

Not shown is a Let's Make Words using the letters in President.

I have also included favorite literacy and activities to go with the read aloud.

My Teacher For President students compare their teacher's responsibilities to the president's responsibilities.

Another favorite is Duck for President which lends making connections to elections.

Finally Presidents' Day!

This focuses on Mt. Rushmore and the four presidents on the monument.

I also included research activities.

I like to use it as a home/school connection project BUT everything could be completed during the school day.

There are activities for students to record their information as well as activities that focus on what types of resources were used to gather information.

Not shown are all the final write pages for students to finalize their reports.

George Washington...Craft, Activities, Vocabulary

George Washington was born on February 22nd, 1732.  

I love taking time to introduce him to the class during this time.

And YES I do believe you can take time away from your "language program" to introduce special events and characters.

This packet makes it easy because it includes reading, writing, word work, informational text and vocabulary...all key parts to the language standards. 

 These are two of the books I love to use when teaching about George Washington.

The packet has three forms of informational text...a fold and read, mini book, and single page.

There are two graphic organizers for recording information from the text.

Have students highlight key concepts in the text as they read.

I think the timeline is ideal for formative assessment.

There are writing pages for students to showcase their writing.

There are three delightful word work pages.

One focuses on George Washington and the word BRAVE.

Next is the Let's Make Words.  I love dividing the class into groups to complete this.

The ABC order is ideal for the word work center.

This poem also contains information about George and the activity that follows is perfect for students to recall facts presented in the poem.

These activities will be great fun.

There is a Quarter flip and a Room for one more!

This is a terrific video for younger students.

Abraham Lincoln Lesson, Craft and Activities!

Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12th, 1809.  

I love taking time to introduce him to the class during this time.

And YES I do believe you can take time away from your "language program" to introduce special events and characters.

This packet makes it easy because it includes reading, writing, word work, informational text and vocabulary...all key parts to the language standards.

I like to begin the day by gathering the students together to read this very special story.

If it is a little lengthy for your class ad lib a little.

Following the reading we do a class discussion and write key facts that we learned on a chart.

We will refer back to this at the end of the day.

During reading groups I use one of the three forms of informational text.

As we read we use our highlighters to highlight key facts.

In group or back at their seats they use this text to write key facts on the idea gathering page.

I post the vocabulary in a visual place for students.

You can also laminate them and use them for syllables or ABC sorting.

I put the Parts of Speech word work page in our word work center along with the vocabulary cards for sorting parts of speech.

As a whole group we go over the Word of the Day...Abraham Lincoln.

It encourages students to use facts they know to create a definition.

They look closely at the word HONEST.

You will also see a time line of Abe Lincoln which is ideal for formative assessment.

I have also included a poem in the packet.

Following the poem is a reading for detail page and a cute "what might Abe carry under is tall black hat".

During writing there are two options.  Students can write about if they had lived during the time with Abe or informative about Abe.

There are three leveled writing pages not show here for showcasing student writing.

My favorite for during math is the is the "flip a penny" activity.

Students get a partner and have fun flipping a penny and making tallies.

Have them predict before if they will flip more heads or tails.

This can also be in one of your math centers.

Also during math figure how old Abe Lincoln would be!

I use the Let's Make Words as a class game.

I divide students into groups and then have them make words with the letters Abe Lincoln.  Encourage them to keep there creative efforts quiet so other groups do not hear their ideas.

Groups then share how many words they made.

You can have a group secretary.

I put the word search on the desks as the students enter.

A wonderful video on Abe.

Great site with a video.

Abe Lincoln here.

George Washington here.

Presidents' Day here.

The Bundle