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Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writing. Show all posts

Monday, July 9, 2018

Using Picture Books to Inspire Writing {with a Freebie}


It's no secret that picture books are really my life. If you follow me on instagram, you know that I love the hunt for an amazing book. I use picture books to teach just about everything, but in the last two years, I've really focused on picture books that teach  writing traits. In this post, I'm going to give a few books that I like to use to inspire my students to create their own story.  I want my students to hear a story that they can relate to and create a spark for them to build upon.


picture_books_to_teach_writing




Picture Books To Teach Writing



To inspire my students, I  like to start with some favorite books. One of my favorites is Fireflies! by Julie Brinckloe. This book is about those special times that may only last a few seconds. It has a clear theme and lesson to the story. When I read this story, I have my students think about a time they've spent with their family or friends that was special to them. 


Another great story to use to inspire students and spark ideas is A Bad Case of Stripes. This is a classic story that is a student favorite. In this story, the character explores things she likes and dislikes. While reading this story, I ask my students to think about specific items they like or don't like as we come across them in the story. At the end of the story, students are encouraged to make a list of things they like and dislike. Once they've created a list,  they can start brainstorming on a writing piece. I encourage students to describe a time when they came across something they liked or didn't like. What was their reaction? How did it make them feel? I always tell my students writers answer questions readers ask. So just like good readers ask questions, good writers ask questions to provide an answer in the text. We use this free planning sheet after reading the story. 


This next book is one of my favorites to use at the beginning of the school year. In the story How I Spent My Summer Vacation,  the character takes a different journey during his summer than most. This is a great story for students to also practice visualizing. Students often feen like they are on this journey with the little boy! Throughout this story, I remind my students to think about an extreme vacation they would like to go on. We discuss how the story is very extravagant. When we begin to plan, we start with a map. The students identify a fancy or place to visit that they might not have an opportunity to, but have dreamed about visiting. Next, we discuss how they would get to that dream location. Then, we move on to questions such as who would be on the trip with them? What would they need to bring? What type of clothing would the trip require?  I use this free planning map with this story. 


Most of you know that I've taught 1st through 4th grades.I've used each story with all grade levels.  In first grade, we may just be focusing on creating a sentence or two. By fourth grade, I'd want an elaborate and detailed story. I just adjust the support I provide depending on their levels. 


I hope this helps your writers develop ideas of their own.  I'll work on read alouds I use for voice and organization next! 





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*This post contains affiliate links that I make a small percentage back on*

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Spicing Up The End Of The School Year

Hey friends! I wanted to take a minute to chat about our last few weeks! The last two weeks, we've done Cara Carroll's Camping Unit! My kids LOVED this unit. I actually didn't even get to my favorite part--the skunk creativity! I wanted to take this time to review all our writing traits that we've learned this year. 
We made these adorable little camping books! My kids LOVED doing this. It was a win-win because I gave them several prompts and they just had to pick three to include in their books! You can get your free copy here











 I left a few pages blank so that you can use this product to fit your classroom needs better :) 

To spice up our guided math centers-- I whipped up these easy bottle cap math mats. I used different colors for odd and even numbers for spiral review. I have the students draw their math sentences in their journals and write a sentence telling me which numbers are even and odd.



Click HERE for your guided math freebie!


What are some ways you spice up the end of the year??

Sunday, April 6, 2014

April Writing Center Freebie

Hey Friends! One area I've really tried to re-vamp is my writing center. I feel like my kids are ALWAYS doing the same things.
We always work with our word study words and create stories from that. We do write the room and description writing. What is your routine with writing? I'd love to hear some more ideas!!! Writing is such an important skill that kids need to learn and I am a firm believer in trying something different. Writer's Workshop is great, and I love it. I am just looking for more independent stations to use during guided reading.  If you have a great product or routine that you use, PLEASE let me know!!! We are all in this *together*. In the meantime, I whipped these little freebies and so far 
the kiddos love them! I am working on a year long packet for this, so if you like it, leave a little comment telling me what you'd like to see! Enjoy!








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Saturday, October 6, 2012

Product Swap

 Hello! I am paring up with Olivia from  Liv To Teach for the product swap!

MrsStanfordsClass



Liv to Teach


I am reviewing her Writing-Workshop-Personal-Desk-Reference-8-tools-in-1. Let me just start by saying how much I *Love* this product! It was so easy to use and so quick to put together. It really helped with vocabulary as well. For all the times when students want to use the same words over and over again...this is perfect! It stores so easily in their desk as well! 

The assembly was so easy. You just lay the file folders on top of each other and secure with double sided tap. Leave about once inch of an overlap, then snip the tabs off and you are done! So easy! Love it!



Proper punctuation is something most students often forget, but with this handy reminder, they remember to go back and check their work!



Purpose for writing....students need to think about the "why" a little more often. This is just a helpful reminder.



The front of the kit


Be sure to hop on over and check out Olivia's Blog Liv To Teach! She has some great ideas and wonderful apple stories to share!!


And if you hop on over to my TpT Store I am having a flash sale in honor of the product swap!


Go check out all the other great products out there!


Till Next Time





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