The Widow's Broom by Chris Van Allsburg

Woohoo!! I love this time of year because it is PERFECT to read The Widow's Broom by Chris Van Allsburg!  This happens to be home of my all time favorite stories to read with my class.  The character development is great and the twist at the end gets them every time!  There are so many different activities to do with this story so today I am going to focus on vocabulary.  Vocabulary is such a big factor in my class since many of my students are below level they really struggle understanding and a lot is due to vocabulary.  I created this activity pack to use the vocabulary in many ways so students don't just learn the definitions but they also use and see the words in multiple ways!

This activity is also COMMON CORE ALIGNED!! such a big topic lately so I didn't want to leave it out.  Many people are timid of using books that don't specifically say COMMON CORE on them but they do align with the correct activities!

One of the first activities in this pack is the actual words and definitions.  Students can use this matching activity independently at a center or they can play a memory game with a partner.  A good way to use this is to introduce the words, let them play the game, and then put it as one of your literacy centers for the week.  This gives them time to really continue seeing the words.  

Students can continue working with these vocabulary words in 3 different ways.  In this activity pack there is also a part of speech sorting activity which is a great review.  I know my students commonly forget parts of speech so I plan on using this as a center.  

There is also a syllable sorting activity.  As a 6th grade teacher I never really stressed to much on syllables.  I guess I always assumed they had that skill.... Jokes on me haha  They recently took an assessment that gave me items they were struggling on and syllables was a big one.  So I created a syllable sort to help them practice and again they are seeing these new vocabulary words.

The last activity is an ABC order activity.  I like to give them ABC order as a center because they always tell me it's so easy yet they do struggle with this skill.

Enjoy!

You can find this activity on my Teachers pay Teachers pay by clicking HERE!!

Fall Into Learning... Learning Syllables!!

My students seem to have such a problem with syllables! They recently took an assessment that gave me a lot of information on what they are struggling with and syllables were a major problem!! I created this activity pack to help all students in my class. It is differentiated to meet all the needs of the students in my class. So far they absolutely love it!

Within this activity pack there are 3 activities.  The first activity is a syllable sort.  Students have to read the word and place in on the correct sorting mat.  Then once they have checked they have all the words in the correct column ( there are 5 for each ) they write the answers on their response page.

The second activity has the students decide how many syllables are in the word but they also have to divide the word into syllables.  This can be done by laminating the task cards so students can write on them or they can just copy it onto their response page.

I like having the students interact with the materials so for me laminating works the best.  The students get more involved whenever I give them dry erase markers :)

The 3rd activity involves words with the suffixes -able and -ible.  They first have to divide the words by their suffix.  Then divide them by syllable.  It is a 2 step process and I give this activity to my students who are either on level or above.  

Check out this activity pack on my TpT page by clicking here!

Goldilocks ROCKS!!

I mean who doesn't love the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears... When I found this new book told by Baby Bear (Believe Me, Goldilocks Rocks by Nancy Loewen) I was so excited!  I love when they retell stories in the point of view of another character! It screams incredible teachable moments!  This is by far one of my favorite stories.  I love that the story has rich vocabulary which makes teaching it to my 6th graders very appropriate!  I really think my favorite part of this story is the fact that Goldilocks has a cell phone.  I know thats a very strange aspect of the story to like but my kids are totally able to relate to it which makes them love it even more!

I decided to create an activity comprehension pack to go along with this story.

There are a bunch of activities to use in this one file.  I know my students really love the I have Who Has game  so I created one to go with some of the vocabulary associated with this story.  I also created a vocabulary matching game that also works really well as a center!  

The higher order activity is really important now that we have implemented Common Core Standards.  The questions are common core aligned and allow students to think deeper about the text.  I love that this activity gets them out of their seat and walking around the room.  They are so much more engaged when they are moving rather than sitting in their seats.  PLUS they get to write on post-its so thats the best lesson ever for them!

Check out my Comprehension Pack at Teachers Pay Teachers by clicking here!!!

Halloween is in the air...

Halloween is right around the corner.  It came by really quickly, every where you go you see decorations and CANDY!! (I have a soft spot for chocolate) I wanted to start getting into the Halloween season at school so I created a short vowel sorting activity to use with my after school decoding program.  Since this is an after school program I love to come up with fun interactive activities for them to do rather than just work at their seats!

In this activity students have to read the word and place it on the correct sorting mat based on the short vowel sound it has.  Students then have a response page where they can write the words in the correct place.

 

Look for this activity on my Teachers Pay Teachers page by clicking here!!

Inferencing Activity Pack

So I have noticed that my students struggle the most with making inferences.  We just finished a unit on the first chapter of Alice in Wonderland, which they loved by the way!  They had such a hard time making inferences during this lesson.  I created this activity pack to help students use details to make inferences.  I also included the Common Core State Standards.

The first activity in this pack is a task card activity.  There are 12 in total.  I find the best thing to do is laminate them.  I like them laminate because they last longer but also the students can use dry erase markers to underline the clues that helped them make their inference.  It makes the activity a little more interactive which the students love.

I find my students love any activity that involves dry erase markers! 

This game my students absolutely love!!! I created a similar style game with character traits and my students begged me to keep playing.  So I decided to create a similar game with inferencing.  If students answer the card correctly they get to color in the letter that is on the question card.  The first player to color in "WADDLE" wins.  If they already have a letter colored in they get to skip another player (which they love :) ) This game I also added in a WADDLE card where they can color in any letter they need.  Just another bonus.  I think the students love the bonus card because it makes them feel like it is a real game they would play at home so why not add them here.

Check out Inferencing Activity Pack on my Teachers Pay Teachers page by clicking here

Common Core Character Traits!

This is a wonderful activity.  My students absolutely loved it!  It really helps enhance the students vocabulary and moves them away from the typical happy, sad, brave character traits that they use in their writing.  The activity is designed for upper elementary students because of the level of vocabulary used.

This activity gives a matching activity where students have to match the character trait with its definition.

After the matching activity there is also a character trait game where each student is given a blank "Monster" playing card.  Each player picks a game card when it is their turn and fills in the blank with the missing character trait.  If they get it correct they color in the letter that is on the card on their Monster Playing Card. If the letter has already been colored in they can skip another players turn.  The player who colors in the card first wins!

My students LOVE playing this game!  They love being able to skip their friends turn and they really put a lot of effort in to get the answers correct!

Check out this game on my teacherspayteachers store by clicking Character Trait Monsters