The School Supply Addict: language arts

Showing posts with label language arts. Show all posts

Making Words

Making words is one of my favorite activities to do in the classroom. It's perfect for a variety of levels and you can use it with literally anything. If you don't know what it is then you might want to check out one of these books below... awesome buy. I promise you'll use it. I have the second grade one.

I use this activity every other week in my EFL classes because it gets them thinking about what words they already know in English. Here's how we used it last week:

1. I adapted this sheet below to say 'happy valentines day' on the bottom. You can't see my lines very well because I copied it too lightly... :(

Tip: Draw a straight line in the bottom of your boxes if you have kiddos who will mix up P's with D's and U's with N's. They'll know which way the letters are supposed to face.

2. I made enough copies for my kiddos.

3. When I introduced it, I modeled how to do the activity... cut apart the letters, made blends we've learned, added vowels, etc. until I had made a few short words. I also wrote my words down.

4. When I handed it out they got right to work and it took them about 25 minutes to get 20 words.

5. I made a grid on the whiteboard and invited each student to come up and write 3 words they made... not duplicating words that were already written. They're o.b.s.e.s.s.e.d. with writing on the board. I mean obsessed. So, the ending was their favorite.

There are tons of ways to adapt this activity. It can be done as whole group, small group, partner work, centers (after they've done it once before), etc. You can make paper letter tiles each time or use some you already have. I used little plastic letter tiles when I had this as a cernter. You can choose any word (6 or more letters works best) and it's easy to make it relate to your current unit of study. Studying animals? Use the word animal! You can even use a phrase... "we love animals." More words that way!

I even use it with my high school EFL students. It's great for any English language learner... gets them thinking about all the English words they already know. I put a minimum letter count so they avoid writing down a ton of short easy words.

Sites to generate lists of words that can be made from a specific word:

ScrabbleFinder.com (up to 12 letters)

WordSolver.net (up to 15 letters)

Wordplays (up to 16 letters)

Wordles (up to 30 letters)

I posted all of the adaptable sheets I use on TPT fo $2. You'll get a zip file with...

14 recording sheets (similar to the one above, but different styles for various needs

5 different word/letter strips to adapt before copying

1 workmat for the kids (I laminated a few to use when I do this as a center)

Here's a FREE download so you can check one of the sheets out. This one has adaptable boxes at the bottom. Just write your letters, copy for students, and they will just cut the strip off the bottom. :)

Happy weekend everyone!

{ashley}lllllllllllllll

Storybird Love

Ok, I just discovered the coolest website. I almost peed my pants when I figured out what it was. It's Storybird.com and basically you can create your own picture book... and more! I tried it and it's amazing. Here's the description from the site itself...

Here's what the creation platform looks like...

I can't tell you how easy it is and what amazing artwork you can find. Here are thee completed books for you to check out. Books can be emailed, embeded in blogs, linked, and printed (by you or professionally).

Decisions. Decisions! by stad11 on Storybird

The Lonely Panda by JONeal on Storybird

Finding love in all the wrong places by jkrebster on Storybird
This would be such a fun site to use in the classroom. You could...

write group stories

make it a computer center (incredibly simple to use)

print them to showcase student work

assign it for a home project

create your own story to aid in teaching certain concepts

integrate into other subject areas (create math stories?)

and more!

Isn't it the coolest thing!?!?!

And guess what? You can create a teacher account and manage your whole class. They receive a login and password from your account. You can assign them projects, message them, review their work, print, etc. The free plan is the one I created (took 3 minutes). There are also two professional options, but they do cost ($60 & $99). The free one seems to be the way to go unless you plan on making it a big 'to do' in your class. Let me know if you already use this or plan on it! It's an amazing resource. :){ashley}lllllllllllllll

TPT Stuff

I've been on a TPT rampage the past 24 hours. I keep finding goodies on my computer that are ready to post. :) Here are some recent ones....

My EFL kiddos had a super hard time learning the concept of "this is, that is, these are, those are." So, I made this fun little packet of printables to use. I laminated everything so they can't be destroyed easily... I have one kid who has a habit of folding everything in half. Click to go to the store!

Next up: Pick-A-Dot SmartBoard game. My kids were O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D. with this thing. Choose a student, they pick a dot, and then read the sight word. I did this a lot with teams and it even made a great center... once I could trust them with the SmartBoard. You can adapt it to anything... kind of like the Jeopardy setup, just dots. Click to download!

This next little activity was always so cute. I used them each time I introduced a new letter, but they can be used for other things too. Very simple. It says: "They used to be a's, but now_______________." (fill in the blank) and they'd have to create a new picture from whatever letters were in the middle. My kiddos came up with some hilarious stuff. Click to download!

Drum roll........ The Mystery Bag packet. Ooooooo. Aaaahhhhh. I always did a little mystery bag in my classrooms and just recently broke it out again with my EFL kids. They love it just as much and it's a great inferencing activity and vocabulary builder. There are lots of things included: posters, clue cards, examples of questions, a journal page, different levels of worksheets to go along with your own mystery bag, guessing slips, and a lot more. Click to check it out!

Lastly, Assessment Grids. I recently did a post on them, but I decided to add a little more variety (2 more grids, plus versions with numbers). I can't tell you how many times I used these bad boys. I. loved. them. They came in so handy when I wanted to assess my kids... for anything. You can seriously use them for LOTS of stuff. Easy peezy... lemon squeezy. Click to download!

So, that's it for now. I've got a couple more on deck for this weekend. :)

Bon weekend! (have a good weekend in French... my husbands favorite phrase over here).

{ashley}lllllllllllllll

Class Directory

When I taught Pre-K and Kindergarten, I created 'class directories' each year. The kids used these mostly in the writing center when they wrote letters to one another (or to me). The little girl in the picture wrote me an interesting letter about unicorns and then used the directory to spell my name on the front of the envelope. For some reason, Hughes (my last name) is impossible for anyone under the age of 40 to spell... and for anyone under 6 to say.

This is so easy and cheap to make. Also, the kids are obsessed with looking at themselves and each other.

$1.99 at Hobby Lobby (something like this)

+ photos + names (I used sentence strips) = class directory

Obviously the kids have their names on the desks and other places around the room, but this little book was perfect for the writing center. It stayed in one spot all year. The kids didn't wander around the room looking for names or bothering other students to ask them how to spell their name. Perfect!

Other ideas:

use a binder with page protectors
make a laminated one (I used a photo album because it held up all year... got used a lot)
add more information (birthday, siblings, pets, favorite color/food/etc., or more personalized info
use sentence strips to write the names or print them out (I wanted the lines because it reinforced proper handwriting)
I took headshots of each of my students against a white wall and used these same pictures for this project, my files, and other things throughout the year.

{ashley}lllllllllllllll

Alphabet Sound Tubs

Ok, I'm cheap. I found these awesome alphabet sound tubs (beginning sound) and then had a mild panic attack after realizing I would have to give up 30 venti lattes in order for it to happen. Here are the 'shmancy-fancy' Lakeshore ones I wish I had:

Lakeshore Alphabet Sounds Teaching Tubs

Here is my swanky version (minus the magnetic letters that aren't pictured):

EASY to make!

$5 at the Dollar Tree for the little tubs (or you can get bigger/nicer ones).
Print out some letters or use stickers and tape them on with the wide clear packing tape (I love that tape).
Then beg, steal, find, search, etc. for things to go into the boxes. You have to get creative. I even drew a picture of an alligator for the 'A' box.
Some things I found: cotton ball (C), crayons for the colors (yellow=Y), glue, mini animals, car, truck, dice, q-tip, lipstick, paperclip, ticket, rubberband, mini-marker, eraser, chalk, dollhouse/Barbie things, Polly Pocket accessories, mini themed buttons (you can get these at a craft store), etc.
Warning: If you leave the tubs in your car (accidentally) and you happen to live where it may or may not get above 100 degrees (Phoenix) then the crayons will melt and cover whatever is in that tub. And maybe even the carpet in your car.

Tips

Make sure you introduce the boxes/containers slowly. Maybe a couple a day or when you do the letter intros. I can only imagine what would happen if you let the kids.... oh wait... huge mess, ate lunch while I re-sorted all 3,000 little toys. {first year of teaching}
This is great for a center. Dump all of the objects into a big tub/bowl and have the kids sort.
Create little labels (word strips/word mats) for the kids to match to the objects. Have them draw a picture of it.
Realize that they might sort them completely different than you imagined. I had a student put the Zebra in the 'S' box. Once I asked why (thinking he had difficulty with the S/Z sounds) he said, "Mrs. Hughes it has STRIPES!!!" Ok.

More examples:

The Virtual Vine

Teaching Treasures

OMG. How cute are these little Easter baskets & eggs!? I'm thinking other themes?

Pre-K Pages

The Learning Curv

Little wooden boxes.

Significant Noise

Ok. I almost peed my pants on this next one. Bead/tackle box? Look at those cute tiny little things! I think they're the little mini buttons you can buy at Michael's/Hobby Lobby (pack of ~10 different items)? Too cute!!!

Peacefulmann Lanuguage Link

Mini-drawers. Amazing and easy to relocate. (Make sure it has enough drawers... don't mix X, Y, & Z!)

Elaine Ng Friis

Where can I get little tiny items though?

Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Toy Store, Oriental Trading, hardware store, your local fairgrounds, the street, a circus, the trash, your kid's room, underneath couch cushions, the bathroom, etc. Seriously people. Anywhere. Be on the lookout for tiny things. You'll be amazed what you find.
Make a new class rule: You bring toys to school = I get them for my alphabet boxes