I'm a 3rd grade teacher at a small school in North Carolina and 2015-2016 will be my 7th year in the classroom. I have also taught kinders, 4th, and student taught in 1st grade. I strive to make my classroom as hands-on and "minds-on" as possible through project-based learning, manipulatives, centers, and so create resources to help me achieve that goal. My personal favorite subject to teach is math!
I'm a 3rd grade teacher at a small school in North Carolina and 2015-2016 will be my 7th year in the classroom. I have also taught kinders, 4th, and student taught in 1st grade. I strive to make my classroom as hands-on and "minds-on" as possible through project-based learning, manipulatives, centers, and so create resources to help me achieve that goal. My personal favorite subject to teach is math!
Short quiz that requires students to identify what is being compared in the figurative language and what kind of figurative language it is. The final two questions ask students to write their own simile and metaphor.
A short, 17 question, quiz on commonly confused homophones including they're/their/there, your/you're, two/to/too and our/are/hour. Includes a variety of fill in the blank and multiple choice.
Getting students to edit and revise their writing can be difficult - I've found that if I give them a checklist of specific things to look for (or have a buddy look for in a peer conference) that they are more apt to improve their work. This product contains an editing checklist (for items such as grammar and punctuation) and a revising checklist (a more difficult skill that involve items like word choice, sentence variability, order, etc). Both are in MS Word so they can be modified to meet the needs of your students. I have used them with 3rd and 4th graders but could easily be used with 5th and above.
Quiz to assess student ability to differentiate between major genres, including:
Realistic fiction
Historical Fiction
Science Fiction
Traditional Literature (fairy tales, fables, etc)
Fantasy
Mystery
Students read a description of a book from each genre and have to decide what genre the book is as well as explain their thinking. A word bank and answer key are included.
The writing goals clip chart makes an easy and visual way for students and you to keep track of writing goals. It is aligned with the Common Core writing standards for 3rd grade. Students names or numbers will be written on clothespins. As you decide on a writing goal together, their clothespin will move to that goal. You can hang all the writing goals at once, or just a few and add on as the year progresses.
To use: print, cut out, and laminate. I printed mine on white card stock and then glued each piece to black construction paper before laminating. I then used a hole punch to put holes in each goal and then used small binder rings to put it all together.
I have included a PDF version and a DOCX version that is compatible with Microsoft Word publishing layout if you'd like to modify the goals, along with a photograph of what the chart looks like put together.
This resource contains role sheets for student-run Literature Circles to help students prepare for their literature circle meetings. Role included are:
Discussion Director (questions)
Creative Connector (connections from text)
Adventuring Artist (visualizing/illustrations)
Wordsmith (interesting vocabulary)
Super Summarizer (summarizing)
Also included is a student self-assessment sheet meant to be completed after each literature circle meeting.
This is a set of 5 writing rubrics for a variety of writing genres, including:
General (good for most writing piece)
Narrative
Descriptive
Informational
Persuasive
All were written with 3rd grade writers in mind but could easily be used for 4th and 5th. I've left the files in Word Document format so that you can adjust as needed for your students, a particular writing project, and/or your grading scale.
Need a simple way for students to practice their spelling and/or vocabulary words for homework or in centers? Think-Tac-Toes work like a tic-tac-toe board but in each box is a simple activity that students can do to practice their words. Students choose three boxes to complete (horizontally, vertically, or diagonally) and there are six versions of the Think-Tac-Toe board to rotate between. A few activities are repeated once throughout the set but not more than twice - activities include a variety of options to write words, work on the meanings of words, and even incorporate movement into learning spellings.
My students enjoy the variety of activities and don't get bored with the same ones week after week - a great resource for homework too, as they are pretty self-explanatory and should not need much modeling or explanation.
Students get practice identifying common and proper nouns as well as using them appropriately in sentences - a must for their writing.
This is an easy activity that can be used with individuals, small groups, as a center, or even as an assessment.
Students choose a card from the 24 options. They must identify whether it is a common or proper noun on the response sheet and then write a complete sentence with correct capitalization of the noun (if applicable). The accompanying response sheet has places for 5 noun card sentences and a challenge option where students pick two cards from the stack and use both in the same sentence.
Introduce students to the important story elements with this interactive and engaging Smart Notebook presentation. Includes practice identifying characters, character mapping, character change, setting, plot and parts of the plot (exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution), types of conflict, and all along uses a well-known fairy tale to serve as guided practice in a small or large group.
This is a novel study guide for the book Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George. Julie of the Wolves is a wonderful tale of an Eskimo girl and her struggle for survival. The novel study divides the book into its three parts (that occur in the novel) and includes vocabulary to find and define, active reading (with a graphic organizer) for each section to help students be active learners and think as they read, and follow-up literary analysis questions. Several post-novel discussion/thinking questions are included as well.
In writing book review or summaries, getting students to be concise and thorough when they write can be difficult, especially in the early stages of learning to summarize.
This product provides a fun and challenging way to practice writing a summary and/or book review using Twitter's ubiquitous 140-character limit. Additionally, it is a great way to discuss digital citizenship and proper use of social media as well as persuasive writing techniques.
Using the provided Power Point, students learn about Twitter and its uses, then see sample book tweets, and have a chance to participate in guided practice before trying their hand at their own. A great project for a fun bulletin board with book recommendations or just to practice summarizing!
This is a novel study guide suitable for a whole class or small group for the novel Charlotte's Web by E.B. White. The novel is divided into four sections of approximately equal page numbers intended to be read over the course of about a week. For each section, there is a one page (front and back) guide that coordinates with those chapters. The front includes vocabulary from the chapters, an active reading activity and the back 4 comprehension and discussion questions per section. Also includes a page to list characters, a prediction question, a final novel writing prompt/project, and a comprehensive vocabulary list for the entire novel.
Directions and implementation suggestions are included on the second page of the download.
For my book clubs, I have created what I call a "Book About A Book" for each book I use to serve as a reading guide and discussion guide. Each guide divides the novel into sections meant to be read over a week and includes an active reading section to be completed as the student reads (a graphic organizer and sometimes an additional activity) and 5-6 literary analysis/comprehension questions to be completed after reading that section. There is also a section at the beginning to record characters and descriptions and follow up writing prompts.
For Esperanza Rising, this file includes:
Four sections of active reading graphic organizers and comprehension questions
Cover page for booklet
Dictionary of Spanish vocabulary used in the novel
List of English and Spanish vocabulary words by chapter and page number
Final book project ideas
Supplemental background information on the Mexican Revolution and the Great Depression
This is a novel study guide suitable for a whole class or small group for the realistic fiction novel, Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Patterson. The novel is divided into 3 sections of approximately equal page numbers intended to be read over the course of about a week each. For each section, there is a one page (front and back) guide that coordinates with those chapters. The front includes a vocabulary for those chapters, an active reading activity and the back has 5-6 comprehension and discussion questions per section. Also includes a page to list characters, predictions and a pre-reading question, along with two final novel writing prompts.
Directions and implementation suggestions are included on the second page of the download. I have included it in pdf and a MS Word docx format if you would like to make changes to suit the needs of your students.
This is a novel study guide suitable for a whole class or small group for the novel Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. The novel is divided into four sections of approximately equal page numbers intended to be read over the course of about a week. For each section, there is a one page (front and back) guide that coordinates with those chapters. The front includes vocabulary from the chapters, an active reading activity and the back 4 comprehension and discussion questions per section. Also includes a page to list characters, a prediction question, a final novel writing prompt, and ideas for final book projects.
Directions and implementation suggestions are included on the second page of the download.
For my book clubs, I have created what I call a "Book About A Book" for each book I use to serve as a reading guide and discussion guide. Each guide divides the novel into sections meant to be read over a week and includes an active reading section to be completed as the student reads (a graphic organizer and sometimes an additional activity), vocabulary, and 5-6 literary analysis/comprehension questions to be completed after reading that section. There is also a section at the beginning to record characters and descriptions and follow up writing prompts
For Island of the Blue Dolphins, this file includes:
Three sections of active reading graphic organizers, vocabulary, and comprehension questions
Cover page for booklet
Vocabulary words by chapter
Final writing prompts
Final book project ideas
Supplemental historical background information on the true story this novel is based off of
This is a novel study guide suitable for a whole class or small group for the historical fiction novel, Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis. The novel is divided into five sections of approximately equal page numbers intended to be read over the course of about a week. For each section, there is a one page (front and back) guide that coordinates with those chapters. The front includes an active reading activity and the back 5-6 comprehension and discussion questions per section. Also includes a page to list characters, a prediction question, novel wrap-up questions, and a final book club project.
A collection of 15 different math dice games - for most of the games, all you need to supply are the dice!
Packet includes directions for all 15 games and game boards if needed. Game directions are 2 to a page to be copied and laminated for student use. Math topics include addition, subtraction, multiplication, place value, money, less than/greater than, probability, strategy and decision making.
Perfect for math centers, fast finishers, or reinforcement activities - all of these games are ones that my students play in my math class. They are easy to explain and learn and almost all have variations that can make them easier or harder depending on the needs of your students. Games use standard D6 dice but most can be modified to use D8, D10 (a popular type of dice with my students) or any other type of dice. Games are suitable for a wide range of ages - I have listed 1st-4th grades but will work for any age depending on needs.