Watch how eagerly your students investigate options for their creative writing assignments as they click on interactive images to find fun and interesting topics. The six basic categories are: Farm Prompts Fantasy Prompts School Prompts Neighborhood Prompts Vacation Prompts Time Travel Prompts Within each category are subcategories that link to ideas to explore. Colorful pictures encourage your students to creatively develop new stories. No longer do you need to read the same lost puppy story!

This Mad-Libs© style resource includes 8 skit starters for camping (or classroom) fun: New Kid at the Camp Bunkhouse Blues A New Craft The Obstacle Course They Served What for Dinner? What I Bought at the Camp Store Campfire Tales Lost in the Woods To use this resource: Print enough directions sheets for each group. Print the individual Skit Starters on the reverse of these sheets. This resource can be used in many ways. You can give the same topic to each group and see how they are different when given different words to fill in the blanks. Or you can give each group a different topic for a variety of presentations. These can also be individual story starters for journal entries and assignments. Whichever way you use them, the children will enjoy creating their own stories and skits.

This PowerPoint presentation on Figurative Language covers the following topics: Similes Metaphors Alliteration Onomatopoeia Personification Hyperbole Idioms Adages Oxymorons Allusion Each slide provides a definition, examples, and a mini-quiz for discussion. Also included is a 12-page teacher's guide that includes worksheets, a quiz, accompanying resources, and an answer key.

This is a complete writer's workshop for you to use with your students. The accompanying PowerPoint includes introductions to the following topics: - What is Fantasy? - Choosing a topic - Picking a conflict, including an overview of sample fantasy books - Defining characters - Planning a plot - Organizing and outlining the story - Writing a rough draft - Revising - Submission of the finished product Also, I have included worksheets to go with each slide: - Choosing a topic using a fun, group activity that involves flying "spacecrafts" into a "universe" (see the sample) - Character descriptions - Planning a plot using a mind map - Outlining a plot that includes beginning, middle, and ending - Describing a setting using a checklist of possibilities This unit is totally student-driven and allows individuality within the framework of the assignment. I have not included a grading rubric because any writing rubric you currently use is applicable.

Do your students forget to use commas in their written assignments? This PowerPoint presentation will give your students a fun look at the life of a comma. Each slide covers a different comma personality: * The Marching Comma * The Independent Comma * The Welcome Mat Comma * The Comma Twins * How-Does-It-Happen Comma * The Gossip Comma * The Contrary Comma * The Time and Place Comma * The Name Comma * The Weighty Comma Your students will love this new way to understand the use of commas in their creative writing!

This .pdf contains complete directions for making each block featured in "The Quiltmaker's Gift" byJeff Brumbeau and Gail De Marcken. Each block is 9" square, making it easy to create a fun quilt for your students to study. Help them to see that different fabrics in the same pattern can yield different appearances. If you haven't read this heartwarming book about giving and caring, you're in for a treat! This should be on the shelf of every K-2 classroom. And the completed quilt can be used as a reward - get 10 stars on your reward chart and you get to be wrapped in a quilt on a cold day in January! If you don't quilt, perhaps you have some eager room moms who can help! A unique project for World Book Day!

This set of 40 story starters will keep your young authors busy all year long with a variety of topics to explore and develop. Either play the PowerPoint and project a different image each day, or print out a page from the .pdf for individual students or groups. Each picture caries a minimal question so your students can use their imaginations to develop their stories. Suggestions for writing the stories appear in the beginning. Post this on Monday and collect wonderful stories on Friday. I have included a variety of images to attract every interest.

This collection of 180 picture prompts can be used to help your students develop anything from single sentences to short stories. They are arranged on an Avery 30-label template, so you can stick them to your students' journals, or simply print them on plain paper and glue into the journal. Pictures include scenes, characters, and props. Your students can interpret them any way they want! I have left space to the right of the image for a sight word. In my experience, young authors are more creative when they have both an image and a word for a prompt. For example, you might give your students only the image of a snowman and they will likely give you a story about their last snow day. However when you couple that picture with a sight word like fly, you'll get an entirely new interpretation! Also included in this download are the second and first grade Dolch sight words lists. The Dolch word list is often used to teach reading skills. Additionally, although the Dolch word list was originally devised in the context of teaching English-speaking children to read, it has also subsequently become popular in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). Here is one way you can use this download: Print the images and cut them apart. Place them into a fish bowl, basket, or a simple box. Print the sight word list and cut them apart. Put them into a different container. When your students enter the room, have them pick one image and one sight word. They will then pair the two in their journal and begin their morning writing exercise. What fun! Finally, the images are unlocked so you can substitute any images that are specific to your school or area. For example, you might include a picture of your principal, or the local library.

This collection of 180 picture prompts can be used to help your students develop anything from single sentences to short stories. They are arranged on an Avery 30-label template, so you can stick them to your students' journals, or simply print them on plain paper and glue into the journal. Pictures include scenes, characters, and props. Your students can interpret them any way they want! I have left space to the right of the image for a sight word. In my experience, young authors are more creative when they have both an image and a word for a prompt. For example, you might give your students only the image of a snowman and they will likely give you a story about their last snow day. However when you couple that picture with a sight word like sing, you'll get an entirely new interpretation! Also included in this download are the second and first grade Dolch sight words lists. The Dolch word list is often used to teach reading skills. Additionally, although the Dolch word list was originally devised in the context of teaching English-speaking children to read, it has also subsequently become popular in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). Here is one way you can use this download: Print the images and cut them apart. Place them into a fish bowl, basket, or a simple box. Print the sight word list(s) and cut them apart. Put them into a different container. When your students enter the room, have them pick one image and one sight word. They will then pair the two in their journal and begin their morning writing exercise. What fun! Finally, the images are unlocked so you can substitute any images that are specific to your school or area. For example, you might include a picture of your principal, or the local library.

This collection of 180 picture prompts can be used to help your students develop anything from single sentences to short stories. They are arranged on an Avery 30-label template, so you can stick them to your students' journals, or simply print them on plain paper and glue into the journal. Pictures include scenes, characters, and props. Your students can interpret them any way they want! I have left space to the right of the image for a sight word. In my experience, young authors are more creative when they have both an image and a word for a prompt. For example, you might give your students only the image of a snowman and they will likely give you a story about their last snow day. However when you couple that picture with a sight word like sing, you'll get an entirely new interpretation! Also included in this download are the first, second, and third grade Dolch sight words lists. The Dolch word list is often used to teach reading skills. Additionally, although the Dolch word list was originally devised in the context of teaching English-speaking children to read, it has also subsequently become popular in teaching English as a Second Language (ESL). Here is one way you can use this download: Print the images and cut them apart. Place them into a fish bowl, basket, or a simple box. Print the sight word list(s) and cut them apart. Put them into a different container. When your students enter the room, have them pick one image and one sight word. They will then pair the two in their journal and begin their morning writing exercise. What fun! Finally, the images are unlocked so you can substitute any images that are specific to your school or area. For example, you might include a picture of your principal, or the local library.

These puzzles operate the same way as numbered Sudoku puzzles except there are spaces filled with letters that spell a compound word. There are 15 compound word puzzles in a 9x9 grid for you students to solve and then guess the word. The first letter of the word is highlighted for them. An answer key at the end of the packet shows your students if they got their Sudoku correct. This is great for students who are done with their assigned work early!

Watch how eagerly your students investigate options for their creative writing assignments as they click on interactive images to find fun and interesting topics. The six basic categories are: Biography and World Records prompts How-to prompts How it’s Made prompts History Prompts Nature Prompts Personal Prompts Within each category are subcategories that link to ideas to explore. Colorful pictures encourage your students to creatively develop new stories. No longer do you need to read the same article about SpaceX!

This is a complete writer’s workshop for you to use with your students. The best part of this unit is the included original mystery story. I am a retired language arts teacher and former instructor for The Institute of Children’s Literature. Throughout this unit, your students will see the formation of my finished story from choosing a title through developing characters, planting clues, and resolving the conclusion. See the revised story I have included as a sample for your students to witness the author’s craft! The accompanying PowerPoint includes introductions on the following topics: - Characteristics of mystery and suspense - Mystery writer’s vocabulary - Examples of published mysteries with synopses - Choosing a theme - Defining characters - Describing a setting - Adding clues, props, and red herrings - Planning a plot - Organizing and outlining the story - Writing a rough draft - Revising - Submission of the finished product Also, I have included worksheets to go with each slide: - Vocabulary puzzle with answers - Development of story themes - Description of characters - Determining a setting - Timeline of clues - Choosing props, clues, and red herrings This unit is totally student-driven and allows individuality within the framework of the assignment. I have not included a grading rubric because any writing rubric you currently use is applicable.