Your students will be more than excited to be engaged in this informational text! This is an informative article written about the abandoned Six Flags Amusement Park in New Orleans, Jazz Land, who closed its door on August 21, 2005, and was scheduled to reopen the following weekend on August 27, 2005, and was never able to open its doors again to this day! With the forecast, the park braced for the storm and everyone evacuated. It has never re-opened. This article is approximately 2,000 words long and has eight illustrations/photos with captions. In the packet, immediately following the article, a twenty question formative assessment can be found complete with multiple-choice (state testing formatted), as well as, open-ended questions on multiple levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy with various levels of rigor. Next, in this ELA packet, one can find a performance task where the students are charged with the responsibility of re-developing the real estate visible from the interstate in New Orleans. The task is very specific in what the learner should accomplish upon completion. As well, there is an argumentative writing prompt for the students to complete and many opportunities for mini-lessons connected to the writing process prior to completion of the essay. Finally, there is an extended, or one might say, an anchor activity that can be utilized for an enrichment project, for early finishers, or for an additional small group project. The project is very versatile and can be utilized successfully in many different scenarios and across multiple class sessions. This text is sure to engage a room full of readers! Honestly, you will find yourself just as engrossed in this theme/topic as your students. There is just something about the word, “abandoned,” that invokes mystery for – the young and the old alike! Related Products: ➩ Informational Text: Old Abandoned Joyland Amusement Park ➩ Informational Text: Abandoned River Country Water Park in Disney

In this packet, you will find seven great at-a glance reading comprehension strategies mini posters that are a perfect fit above your white board in your classroom. They will also work ideal on a bulletin board. The seven strategies include: predicting, visualizing, questioning, connecting, identifying, inferring, and evaluating. They are all designed with colorful animal print borders!

Your students will be tickled pink by these humorous posters which feature popular idioms and clues associated with their definitions and implied meanings. Use these posters to explore parts of speech, promote understanding of figurative language, and use as a spring board for further study of figures of speech and writing experiences. This packet contains forty-three popular idioms and matching illustrations. You might focus on an idiom a week or use several to display on a writer’s workshop bulletin board! Your students will love these hilarious posters!

This packet contains a set of nine mini-posters which display each element of literature. Elements include: plot, setting, theme, characterization, conflict, mood, style, tone, and point of view. The mini-posters are the perfect size to display above a whiteboard in a reading/language arts classroom.

This is a packet of three mini posters. These posters can serve as aids for encouraging students to make connections to the world, to the text itself, and to themselves while reading; henceforth, text-to-world connections, text-to-text connections, and text-to-self connections. These mini-posters are a perfect fit above a whiteboard to make reference too as the class is reading or working on an assignment with literature and informational text!

Use these simple mini-posters to teach story retelling in a very simple way! These posters cover key concepts while teaching students a simple way to think about retelling a story with these key words and key questions! Utilize these as a teaching tool all year long to reference to daily and weekly in teaching retelling and how to construct a summary of a story!

This pennant is sure to get your students back in the groove of school after the Christmas break. On the pennant, students are asked to write a five to seven sentence paragraph about what they did over their Christmas break. Also, they are asked what was their most favorite present and who did they receive it from. Also, they are asked if they traveled anywhere during Christmas break and if so, where did they travel? Finally, on the perimeters of the pennant, students are asked to write an acrostic for winter as well as create a shape poem for a snowman! Students are sure to enjoy this activity as they "get in the groove" of school again in January!

This resource is perfect for the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Enclosed you will find five pages of a short narrative story that has a certain rhyme and rhythm to it that students will enjoy! It is a story told from a young girl’s point of view about how she wishes for a horse for Christmas. She is reminded in the story that she will still have a great Christmas even if she doesn’t get a horse; however, she is convinced that one secretly hides in the barn for her. Her mom reminds her about many other children whose parents might very well be away for Christmas. This is a very old Christmas story and was published through Scholastic in 1968. Again, the students will love many teaching and learning activities associated with the story! This story lends itself to several teaching and learning endeavors such as: (1) the use of personification; (2) great vocabulary instruction; (3) sequencing; (4) point of view; (5) Descriptive Writing; (6) research and investigation of several different states discussed in the story; (7) the use of similes to make comparisons; and (8) making predictions about what will happen next in the story based on the context clues provided! Have a great time with your students! And… Merry Christmas!

In this packet, you will find approximately thirty-three pages of photo props. The props include the following: (1) Liberty Bell; (2) God Bless America statement; (3) Uncle Sam Top hat: (4) Betsy Ross; (5) bouquets of fireworks; (6) Rockets; (7) the American Flag; (8) the Statue of Liberty; (9) Uncle Sam; (10) a July 4th Emogi; (11) an American cupcake, and many more! There is at least eight of each photo prop so you shouldn’t lack for everyone having a great choice as to what he/she might want to use in making his or her perfect photo. Are you planning a summer get together in the back yard? Are you working with a summer enrichment program and want to create a photo booth for your kiddos? Are you looking for a fun activity to do with your own kiddos? If any of these scenarios apply, look no more… you have found the perfect activity. Everyone loves to make selfies and other pics with family and friends to cherish forever! If you have boas or other props to put with these, the more the merrier. All you need to do is to print these on heavy cardstock, cut them out, and glue to a dowel or even a skewer in some instances. For young children, please be sure to use dowels in that skewers sometimes have sharp ends! Happy Independence Day!

This is the perfect set of instructional materials to work with your students in the last few weeks prior to the Christmas break! Whew! It is a busy time of the year that’s for sure! Now, to let you know a bit more about this product. As most of you are probably aware, Zillow has drawn quite a considerable amount of attention to themselves in the last week or so by creating a listing of Santa’s home at the North Pole! So, I have taken that listing and capitalized on it as a teaching and learning experience! This packet of materials contains the following: (1) 30 comprehension questions that travel and span the different levels of complexity; (2) 10 selected vocabulary words from the listing to complete “word work” with to include fifteen different pages of vocabulary graphic organizers to utilize; (3) A performance based task that can be differentiated just simply by student preference; (4) 3 different performance based tasks which involve “designing and creating” based on written descriptions from the listing that include the topics of: (1) Santa’s garage; (2) state-of-the-art toy making facility; and (3) toy prototypes; (5) 2 argumentative/persuasive writing prompts complete with organizers to frame thinking; (6) An extended activity in terms of investigating the history of Fisher Price Toys and sequencing major events within the article; (7) An extended activity in terms of investigating the proper way to roast chestnuts and sequencing major events within the article; (8) An extended activity in terms of utilizing a cake batter sugar cookie recipe complete with comprehension questions; and (9) An extended activity in terms of using analogies complete with graphic organizers to frame the analogies.

The RAFT strategy is a great strategy for being able to differentiate instruction in terms of content, process, and product. It is that time of the year again in terms of reading the famous classic ~ A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. During the reading of or after, the students have read this great classic, allow them to utilize the RAFT strategy where they get to make a choice in each column of the activity. They decide from what perspective they will write from, whom they will write to, in what format they will write, and what will be their topic.

The RAFT strategy is a great strategy for being able to differentiate instruction in terms of content, process, and product. It is that time of the year again in terms of viewing the infamous lighting of the Rockefeller Christmas Tree in New York City. But, have your students ever investigated the process of how that huge tree actually gets to its final destination? Have your students traced the history of how this celebration and tradition originated in the first place? Have your students investigated the history of the ornaments on the tree? What about the history of the lights on the tree? Have they determined how November 30th is celebrated in terms of “lighting” the tree? This is an awesome opportunity to explore all of the answers to these questions through using such strategies as jigsaw, discussion, inquiry, and discovery. Then, after this portion of the teaching and learning sequence has taken place, students can take part in the RAFT activity where they get to make a choice in each column of the activity. For example, students might choose to write from the perspective of the Christmas tree itself and write to the farm from which the tree has been growing all of these years prior to it being cut. The writing might be in the form of a narrative piece of writing where the tree tells the story of growing up on the farm all of those years and how he/she might have longed to become the famous tree in Rockefeller Center one day. The tree might narrate his/her journey all the way to the final destination and the lighting on November 30th. This is only one example. Of course, there are many, many other options, and many other opportunities for mini-lessons along the way!

Your students are absolutely sure to be engaged in this informational text! This is an informative article written about the legend behind carving a pumpkin-- a fall favorite past time! The young and old alike love this activity! The article is 458 words long, complete with illustrations and captions that help to explain the information. Also, at the conclusion of the article, there is a six question quiz. The quiz has three multiple choice questions and two open ended questions, and one sequencing question. This text is sure to engage a room full of readers! A great read for your students!

You will not want to miss this packet of informational text articles to use with your students in the classroom! This is a bundle of four fall articles that range from 450-650 words. Each article has illustrations and captions to further explain the text. At the conclusion of each article, there is a six question formative assessment to get a snapshot of students vocabulary and comprehension skills. The following articles are contained in this packet: (1) Visiting An Apple Orchard: A Fun Fall Activity! (2) The Origins of Carving a Jack-O-Lantern (3) Bobbing for Apples: A Fall Fun Favorite! (4) Fall Fun: Wind Your Way Through the Corn Mazes!

Here is an October word bank that will completely come in handy for a Writer's Notebook. This word bank is comprehensive of the many words that come to mind during the month of October and are sure to get your students' creative juices flowing! There are approximately 20-25 words that spur your students' brains for all kinds of writing-- narrative, expository, argumentative, etc. Use this October word bank for writing, ABC order, poetry, etc. It's uses are only limited by your imagination!

Here is an October word bank that will completely come in handy for a Writer's Notebook. This word bank is comprehensive of the many words that come to mind during the month of October and are sure to get your students' creative juices flowing! There are approximately 20-25 words that spur your students' brains for all kinds of writing-- narrative, expository, argumentative, etc. Use this October word bank for writing, ABC order, poetry, etc. It's uses are only limited by your imagination!

In this packet, you will find six mini-posters perfect for a bulletin board or above your whiteboard. These posters can be used to guide the thinking process as students are involved with a reading selection– fiction as well as nonfiction. Students should always think about what they read before they read, as they read, and after they have finished reading the selection, and these posters help them do just that! Each poster gives a key word to consider. These words include: connect, picture, summarize, predict, question, and evaluate! This is a great reference tool for students that you don’t want to miss!

This packet is awesome to say the least! You will find twelve posters with amazing backgrounds to help illustrate twelve different genres of literature. These genres include: poetry, fantasy, science fiction, historical fiction, realistic fiction, mystery, biography, autobiography, drama, fanciful tales, and humor. These mini-posters are perfect for a bulletin board or to be placed above your whiteboard as a reference tool all year long as students embark on each genre throughout their studies. The absolutely amazing, beautiful illustrations are sure to capture your students attention!

Use this fall pennant to accomplish multiple tasks within your classroom during this wonderful fall season. This packet contains a fall student centered pennant for each of your students to complete to share in your classroom! The pennant is made in five different fall colors and ask the students to write three favorite things that he/she enjoys doing during the fall of the year. Also, students are asked to write the names of three sports which are played during the fall! Finally, students are to write a goal they hope to accomplish during the fall! You will love this short writing task as a springboard for a writer's notebook, a tool for brainstorming to create a poem for fall, or simply to use as a pennant hanging in your classroom for this wonderful time of the year!

Your students will absolutely love this short passage of nonfiction informational text about none other than the highly decorated Drew Brees-- the New Orleans Saints quarterback. The article begins with information regarding Drew as a child and and gives information about his early life and one sibling. It continues to progress into his high school and college days and culminates with his career in the NFL. At the conclusion of the four page article, complete with illustrations that enhance some of the text, there is a six question formative assessment quiz. The quiz has four multiple choice questions and three open-ended questions asking the student to cite evidence from the text and defend his/her answer. Finally, there is a performance based assessment at the end of the quiz that students are sure to enjoy that includes a project regarding the two homes of Drew Brees. Your students will LOVE this text and the performances based assessment!