FREE Ideas for Writing Lists

The countdown is on. I'm about to begin another exciting year with my wonderful first graders!
I have 2 days of summer left not counting my weekend. I can't believe how fast it has flown by.
I'm excited to begin a new adventure!

One of the first things I like to do with my firsties in writing (after procedures have been established) is to write lists. It's a fun engaging activity. I try to find things they can connect with.

(It's a good thing I teach first grade because I draw like one. I am NOT an artist!)

 Here is a fun little picture chart that I put in my writing center to give them ideas. I like pictures because some of my littles can't read all that well yet. It even helps them springboard their own ideas from the pictures.

Very EASY prep, just print the picture chart on card stock then laminate. There are 2 different writing pages for the kiddos to write their ideas on.

I hope your students enjoy it as much as mine.

Click HERE for a free download.
THANKS for stopping by!

ARTSY??

The good Lord blessed me with a few good talents but being ARTSY is NOT one of them! I can't draw a straight line let alone a circle. It might be because when I was in school, ART was not part of the curriculum. The first real art class I remember taking was in college for my elementary teaching degree. I loved it, but looking at other people's projects I soon realized I was not very good. Thank goodness my school has a wonderful art teacher and I don't have to teach it! But it's still hard being an elementary grade teacher and not being able to draw. I can really relate to my firsties when they tell me they don't know how to draw.

But I found some great books that have helped me and they are helping my kiddos too.

This is a series of books by Barbara Soloff Levy. It shows you step by step how to draw tons of objects. I found them on Amazon.com. Here is the best part- they cost only $1.35 each. If you click on a book above, it will link you over to Amazon.
 I put them in my writer's workshop area. My kids are always grabbing them when they are illustrating their stories. I have to admit their pictures have really improved since I introduced these book. Mine too!!

Happy weekend everyone!
 

Writing, Winners, & Kindles

My kiddos did such a great job writing about BATS this week. I got this free packet about BATS from Jodi over on her blog Fun in First Grade. Click HERE for a link. They LOVE non-fiction writing and want to do more. So I made a generic graphic organizer for my little firsties to use. It's one of their choices in Writer's Workshop.

I made a basket of easy non-fiction books for them to read first. Next, they fill out the graphic organizer. Then they write.

If you'd like a FREEBIE of my organizers click HERE. It is 9 pages. It includes graphic organizers for non-fiction and 2 for biographies plus several different writing pages. Later in the year we will do biographies and this will work well when we interview each other and write about our friends. It will work well for writing about famous people too.

 And the WINNERS of my 400 followers giveaway are:

CONGRATS!

 BIG THANK YOU to all of you who entered and follow me and read this little ole blog!

 I'm VERY EXCITED about my new Kindle Fires and so are my kiddos.

I'd LOVE to hear everyone's ideas and what you do with Kindles and iPads in the classroom. I've just begun to explore all the fun possibilities! Please leave me a comment!

5 Star Writing Freebie & Winners

Okay I must be doing something wrong but I can't figure out what it is. I have emailed the winners of my giveaway but I haven't heard back from them. I'm wondering now if I did something wrong with the email. So if Bethany from Bubblegum Tree and Kate from kshee23 and Letters, Numbers & Book Oh My would email me I will get you your prizes. I'll try again with the info that I have and hope for the best.

I found the cutest writing ideas over on Johanna's blog First Grade Fanatic. She's got some great ideas for the new core's opinion writing with Oreos and Hershey's Kisses. I am so doing this with my firsties!

 To go along with the opinion writing I have a rubric for a 5 Star + paper.

I recently went to a district training and we learned about the writing portion of the new core. One teacher used a 5 star grading system to grade her student's papers. So we plugged it in to the new core and this is what I went home and made. I've been using it for the past few weeks with my kiddos and only made to make a few changes. I added the + mark for a neat paper. I don't know about your kids but I have to constantly remind most of mine to write neatly and legibly. So I thought I'd add the + for a nice neat paper. It really helps. I love when I'm conferencing with the kiddos and we can go back to the rubric to check if they have everything in their paper. I am going to use the opinion rubric when I do Johanna's Oreo writing this week.
I made a 5 Star + rubric for Opinion, Narrative, and Informative Writing. If you'd like a copy of all 3 just click on the picture above for a FREE download. And a big THANKS to Michelle at 3AM Teacher for the great star graphic!
I hope you're enjoying your weekend and thanks for stopping by. I hope you've found something you can use in your classroom.

Visualizing

We have been working on visualizing. I love finding books that help teach this. Here are a few of my favorites. If you click on the picture of the book it will link you to Amazon.com where you can find more information.

I like to introduce the concept by reading the first part of "The Gruffalo" by Julia Donaldson. I don't show the book to the kids and stop in the middle and have them draw a picture of what they think a gruffalo looks like. The book gives a great description and it's fun to see what the kiddos are visualizing.

There is also a sequel called "The Gruffalo's Child" that is just as fun and you can carry on the theme of visualizing.

Another favorite book is "Just Another Ordinary Day" by Rod Clement. I also hide the cover of this book from the students. I read through the book and we talk about what they are visualizing. Then I read the book again and show them the pictures. They LOVE it because it is not anything like they had visualized!

Next we read, Shark in the Park by Nick Sharratt. A little boy named Timothy Pope goes to the park with his new telescope. It's a fun book because the pages have a die-cut hole that zeros in on what he thinks is shark's fin but a turn of the page gives the big picture.

I share the book "Max's Words" by Kate Banks with my kids. It's a fun book for visualizing because it shows some visualizing by the characters as they begin to make up a story. I also like this book when I begin my Writer's Workshop. It teaches the importance of letters, words, and sentences and how together they can create a story for others to read.

One of my favorites is "Gooney Bird Greene" by Lois Lowery. I start this chapter book the middle of September because I like to use it for several teaching purposes. One is for visualizing. Ms. Lowery describes the feisty, friendly character Gooney Bird and the fun outfits she wears to school. It's fun to have the firsties talk about what they think she looks like before you show them the picture. I also use this book to launch my Writer's Workshop. Gooney Bird teaches her second grade class where they can get ideas for their own stories. It's a great way to get kids thinking about where they can find their own stories and what they can write about.

I'd love to hear what good books you use to teach visualizing. Happy Reading!

(Note: This post contains my Amazon Associates link)

Writing

Last night my football team got creamed by our arch rival. It was terrible to watch so I turned to my computer and did a little creating. But I still love my BYU Cougars even if they did have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad, game! Anyhow, I made three things last night I want to share. I have a dear friend Fredia, (you can check  out her blog at Frogs in First) she told me about a cool font called ABC Print. I searched the web and found it for FREE! I love free! There are a few versions of it. One is with the numbered directions, another with dotted lines on lines and another dotted lines without lines. That probably didn't make any sense, you'll just have to check it out. Anyhow, I have a student who needs help with her handwriting. I can barely read her name when she writes it. So I made her a practice sheet with this cool new font. I'm going to have my aide work with her. There are so many possibilities with this cool font. You could do sight words, spelling words, word families and so on. Our aides would love it for their EMK kits. Here is my practice sheet to give you an example.

Also, I'm getting ready to launch my Writer's Workshop. I made these labels to put in their folders. I printed them on Avery labels 5163. I have 3 pronged folders with pockets in the front and back. I place the GO label on the front pocket. This is where they put the writing pieces they are working on. I place the STOP label on the back pocket. This is where the pieces go that they have finished. Hopefully, this will work better than just a red and green dot.

I will also give my kids a copy of "What Can I Write About" to put in the folder so they can look at it for ideas. Most of the clipart it from DJ Inkers.