Give A Hoot for Latin Roots!

Teaching Latin roots really helps students connect to unknown words.  I like to introduce them into my classroom and then have students go on scavenger hunts to locate words throughout our lessons that have the same Latin roots!  This makes learning more exciting for my students!

I don't know about you but I'm always looking for fun, interactive ways to teach.  I can only stand up in front of the class for so long giving a "lecture" before I find my students staring into space.  I know at that point I've totally lost them.  I usually teach my whole class for about 15-20 minutes before breaking up into small groups so the students can do various assignments.  My students typically do well in small groups and for the most part all the activities are differentiated so I know the students are performing at their level.  This also makes for great RTI data (Make sure to check out the Confer App to keep track of your data.  To read my review click here!)

I'm really not big on "worksheets" but I found making this Latin Roots notebook for my students really helps them to connect and understand each of the roots.  When I introduce a new Latin root we always go over the meaning together.  Then they draw a picture and come up with examples.  For the picture and the examples I usually let students work in groups that they choose.  It's great to see the work that they can produce when bouncing ideas off each other!

I really love teaching using hands on activities.  They can be used for small group work or even during literacy centers.  I feel my students are much more engaged in the activity when they can become involved and even move around the room.  

One of my favorite literacy center activities is giving my students task cards.  Although this can be done in a small group I prefer to use them during a literacy center as a review of what we have been learning in class.  Their answers make for a great assessment and since the task cards all ask different questions you can incorporate different learning styles on them.  They all don't have to be question and answer, you can have students draw pictures or do other activities so the assessment can benefit all students.

You can purchase this activity by visiting my TpT page HERE!!

Download the Task Card activity FREE by clicking HERE!!

Enjoy :)

Beach Bum Literacy Chick

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Latin Roots Task Cards **FREEBIE**

Latin roots are an important thing to implement in a classroom.  It teaches students how to break apart unknown words to find meaning.  This FREEBIE can be used as a literacy center or as a small group activity after a lesson on Latin roots.

The Latin roots mentioned are mono, bi, tri, deca, cent, and mill.

Great ways to incorporate Latin roots in your classroom:

* Make a Latin roots notebook for students to use throughout the year
* Write Latin roots on index cards and hang together using a ring.  Put them outside your classroom door for students to use as an entrance ticket into the room every morning.
* Create a Latin root word wall - Make Latin root flowers as an ongoing interactive bulletin board

Download this free by going to my TpT page!

Please share your ideas for incorporating Latin roots in the comments!!

Enjoy :)
Beach Bum Literacy Chick

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The Best School Year Ever by Barbara Robinson *ACTIVITY PACK*

This week I am linking up with Book Talk Tuesday from Mrs. Jump's Class.  I love all the activities and books posted so definitely check it out!  The books are all about what to read on the first days of school!

I really enjoy using The Best School Year Ever by Barbara Robinson.  I find my students are really able to relate to the story and we are able to have many good discussions.  Some good discussion starters could be found from my Reader's Notebook post from yesterday! Check it out!

There are many skills that can be taught using this book.  I created an activity pack to use that contains skills such as:

• discussing genre (realistic fiction)
• citing supporting evidence 

It is important that students are able to sight evidence from the text.  Typically students give you a brief summary rather than analyzing evidence to support their answer.  This is a good way to introduce this skill to them in the beginning of the year.

• character traits 

This graphic organizer is also given without the characters names filled in.  This gives you an opportunity to differentiate the lesson within your class.  This also goes back to students have to cite evidence from a text and makes for a great group discussion once students are finished.

• narrative writing 
• the 4 types of sentences

My students love this activity.  I have the students work in groups using large chart paper.  I hang the chart paper around the room and give each group about 5 minutes to go through the story and identify a phrase from the story that matches the type of sentence they are assigned.  After about 5 minutes students rotate to the next chart paper station.  They really enjoy this scavenger hunt activity because it allows them to work together.  I really like this lesson because of the discussions I hear throughout the activity.  My students really start to analyze the sentences and this helps them comprehend the story better.

To check out the activity pack click HERE to go to my TpT page!

And don't forget to check out Mrs. Jump's Book Talk Tuesday!

Enjoy :)

Beach Bum Literacy Chick

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Having A Reader's Notebook

Having students complete a reader's notebook really allows students to interact with a book. It gives them the opportunity to reflect and record their feelings about what they are reading, as well as giving them the chance to analyze the story and how its written.  I find this important because students often just rush through their reading assignments rather than really trying to understand the text.  My students are often reluctant to begin a reader's notebook but I often find it is something they eventually enjoy doing because it lets them be honest about their feelings without the fear of being judged by their peers. This benefits me by really being able to see what they understand and what they are struggling with.

I like to have my students glue the checklist in the front of their readers notebook.  It is important to me that my students use different prompts so I like the checklist because I can quickly monitor how often they are using a specific one.

This is the checklist.  I have students write the dates on the lines next to the prompt.

On Friday's I have my students complete an exit ticket response page that they turn in.  I respond to their writing and return the page on Monday.  This gives me the opportunity to monitor the responses and I get to respond to their entries.  On Monday they glue the response page into their notebook. Sometimes I have students work in pairs or triads on Monday to discuss the prompt they chose and their responses.  It is great watching their skills grow as they become more involved with the book and their discussions become more in depth.

To purchase this activity click HERE to go to my TPT Page!!

Enjoy :)

Beach Bum Literacy Chick

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Is It Fiction or Non-Fiction? FREEBIE

I hope everyone had an amazing Fourth of July weekend! I know I did!!  Now it's back to the grind!  I wanted to post a FREEBIE to go after Fourth of July, thought it would be appropriate!  This one features students sorting whether titles are fiction or non-fiction.  Even some of my 6th graders sometimes struggle with the meanings of fiction and non-fiction, they always mix them up!  This is a great center activity to reinforce those skills.

These are some book titles that students will sort into
fiction and non-fiction categories.

These are the sorting mats that students use to sort the book titles.
It helps them organize their answers before recording them on their
response page.

I love having students complete hands on center activities because it keeps them engaged while I work with a reading group.  Another great idea is to have students check each other's work.  I know my students really enjoy this task because it gives them the opportunity to be the teacher.