Flipping for Fall Blog Hop

I'm so excited that fall is finally here (although a little bummed that it has rained basically every day of it so far)! There are so many fun activities that I love - apple picking, decorating pumpkins, state fair, football, hot chocolate, etc - and there are also a TON of great books that I love to read with my kids! When our group started talking about doing a mentor text hop, I knew I wanted to be a part of it. The only problem was selecting a book.

As you click through this hop, be sure to grab all of our freebies. They are forever freebies, so you can always mark them and download whenever you're ready. We will also each have a mystery word in orange somewhere on our page. Find those to enter our big giveaway at the end. The winner will receive a copy of ALL the books mentioned! Can you imagine? I wish I could enter!

Before we begin, I want to share one of my son's current favorite jokes since it at least somewhat relates to monsters and scary things:

Knock, knock!

Who's there?

Boo.

Boo who?

Why are you crying?

I'm sure most of you at this point have read or at least heard of I Need My Monster. This has become one of my favorite books, especially because it works for so many ages. My 3-year-old loves the book, but I can also read it to a group of 5th graders without insulting them.

One thing I noticed about this book right off the bat was the rich vocabulary. Shortly after reading the book, I read Bringing Words to Life, Second Edition: Robust Vocabulary Instruction (and even did an entire book study that you can find here), and I knew I wanted to create a vocabulary lesson for this book. Of course, then I got pregnant and did a lot of nothing extra at all. Fast forward a little over a year, and I finally finished it!

Lesson Introduction

The great thing about this lesson is that you really don't need any special introduction. You could begin by simply reading the book or even doing a mini-lesson on another skill. I like to do a lot of activating schema (prior knowledge) at the beginning of the year, so I would just start a conversation about ideas behind monsters under the bed. As you read, there is no need to draw extra attention to the words you will work on, although you could have students take note of words that were unfamiliar to them.

Working with the Text

Day 1: Read the book, and then give students the monster vocabulary sheet to discuss each word as a class. I would recommend asking students to help you come up with simple definitions (not from a dictionary), but only IF you think they will be able to guess it. If they start getting off track, cut it off quickly and tell them what it means. This is important because you don't want to confuse students with an inaccurate definition.

Days 2-4: I have provided three activities for students to work on independently or with a partner or group. These activities all help students apply the words to their life, which is important for ownership of the words. I avoid matching and looking up definitions because they are not as meaningful

Day 5: Give the short assessment to check for student assessment. Notice that it includes some fill-in-the-blank, but it also has application questions. These will prompt the students to use the words as they apply to their own experiences.

Next step options...

If you haven't already read this book, I highly recommend checking it out! I know vocabulary is one of the major issues with my students, and this book has SO many recommendations for expanding their vocabulary. I also recommend checking out my book study. I plan on creating more lessons like this one, so be sure to follow me on Facebook, Bloglovin, and TPT for more updates.

If you missed it earlier, my mystery word is boo. Download the chart below to help you keep track of all the words as you hop through, then go on over to Andrea's blog for more freebies. Don't forget, there is a HUGE giveaway at the end that you don't want to miss!

Happy fall!

     
     

Upper Elementary (3rd - 6th Grades) Blog Hop

     

My plans for the week (and where to find them)

We have been BUSY with some Halloween fun this week, so I want to share a few things I'm doing in my classroom to celebrate while reviewing reading!

I love a good spooky story, and one of my favorite to do with fifth grade is The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I got this pack from forkin4th last year which includes a version that is more level appropriate for my kids. I like that it still has a good amount of words that they are unfamiliar with. We read the story yesterday, and then split into groups to do a character analysis for Brom Bones and Ichabod Crane. Today, I had them compare the two men and predict what happened to Ichabod after his encounter. I read over them today and made comments. Tomorrow, they will actually work on a sequel to the Legend and focus on giving details. I can't wait to see what they come up with and will try to remember to take pictures!

For fourth grade, we're doing test-taking strategies this week with a GREAT freebie I ran across from the 24/7 Teacher. This packet has some great questions for review, and the kids enjoyed learning some new facts about bats!

First, I had the kids make headlines for each paragraph. Since there wasn't much space on the paper and they take their benchmarks and SOL tests on the computer anyway, I showed them how to record the headlines (or stop and jot) on a separate sheet. They did a pretty good job overall, but I have a good idea of who needs more practice on this.

I took a picture of the headlines up close, but it didn't work for some reason.

Once they finished reading and making headlines, they answered the questions provided and highlighted it in the article. I'm making a big deal about proving your answers because these are the kids who need to the MOST!

We've already been doing a lot with bats for third grade in the past few weeks, but tomorrow I will be reading Nightsong! They're learning about animal adaptations in class, so we will discuss how this relates to factual information about bats we have read in other books. Then we'll talk a little about the author's craft. I can't wait to share this book with my very first group!

Finally, I want to leave you with a picture of my door that I finished when I didn't have my camera phone. I finally took this picture last Friday. I think it's fun!

Science Mentor Text: Nightsong

I've been waiting to link up with this book for TWO weeks now, and I'm so excited to share it! Last year, someone posted about this book, and I had to check it out because it just looked adorable.

So when I got some money to spend at the end of the school year, I added this one to my cart (along with Stellaluna, which I also love). This one is all about a little bat, Chiro, who is scared to venture into the darkness on his own. His mother tells him to use his "good sense" and his special song will light the way. Not only is the language in this story beautiful (and I may be using it with my 5th grade to talk about the author's craft), but the pictures are equally lovely!

I chose this book for science because it is a GREAT way to teach younger students about how echolocation helps bats "see" at night. Obviously their voice doesn't actually work as a flashlight, but students can picture it helping the little bat find food as he "sings his song".

I think Stellaluna may still by my favorite bat book, but this one definitely wins a spot on my list! I'm very glad I made the purchase and can use it this year.

Also, don't forget to check back by Friday for our big Super Sleuth Blog Hop! There will be tons of great reading freebies that you won't want to miss. Speaking of, I need to get to work finishing mine...

Let's talk turkey and I've been featured!!

About a month ago, I heard from the wonderful Dana at Fun in 1st Grade asking if I would like to be featured on her blog, and of course I said yes! What a great opportunity to get my name out, and I was so flattered! Please go check it out, and if you're not already following her, please do!

And now, on to another linky I know...another one? But it's the last full week before Thanksgiving break, and I'm fried. Plus I have a really cute book  that I want to share! This linky is hosted by Gina at Beach Sand and Lesson Plans (I love that name!).

My favorite Thanksgiving book to use with the kids is one I just discovered this year: Thank You, Sarah by Laurie Halse Anderson.

If you're not already familiar with this book, it's about Sarah Hale, the woman responsible for making Thanksgiving a national holiday. She wrote letters to politicians and 5 consecutive presidents asking them to make it a holiday - waiting over 30 years - before becoming successful finally with Abraham Lincoln in 1863. The book is very funny and engaging for students of many ages.

I loved this book so much that I created a letter-writing unit to go along with it. I've been using that this week with grades 3-5. So far, the kids love it! You can click on the link below to get the unit for yourself!

Top 10 Things I'm Thankful For

I know this is my second post today, but I really wanted to join in this linky. It's such a great one, and you really should join in!

Thanksgiving centers are here!

Yippee! Today was a teacher workday, and I was able to FINALLY finish my literacy centers. I'm so excited to post them! There are 6 centers and a poem that can be used for different activities. I focused more on comprehension because there are very few centers available that are geared more toward comprehension skills These are recommended for grades 3-6, although you know your kids and if they may be more capable. The centers include:

• fact and opinion
• main idea and supporting details
• cause and effect
• author's purpose
• prefixes
• suffixes

Isn't it so cute? These are the first graphics I've purchased (KPM Doodles), and I LOVE them!

I also bundled these centers with my writing pack that goes with Thank You, Sarah.

You can find the Thanksgiving bundle here.

By the way, PLEASE feel free to pin these activities. I would love to have my work floating around Pinterest!

Oh, and Tammy at Live, Love, Laugh Everyday in Kindergarten is having a giveaway. Go check it out here!

November Currently

Not going to make a long post at all today because Steven's taking a break from classwork so we can go hang out before he comes back to write a paper. But I wanted to go ahead and join Farley's currently!

I wish I could go ahead and post my literacy centers this weekend, but I have to wait until I get back to school. We have the old word, and the picture formatting is all messed up. So I have to get on my school computer and fix it before posting. It's going to be great though!

As for the music, I discovered this rap a few years ago and fell in love...

Then I found out it's actually from an entire CD all about math. Tons of fun! My kids loved it, and I would see them whispering the lyrics as they were trying to make their place value charts, etc.

Apparently they also have a language arts album, but I haven't listened to it.

If you teach math, I really recommend AT LEAST the place value rap. It's amazing, and the kids really will remember from then on!

Oh, and an FYI for my VA blogger friends - I decided to start a facebook page for us to join and find each other. I'm constantly running across other VA bloggers, but then I have trouble remembering who's who. Here's the CORRECT link (I hope):
http://www.facebook.com/pages/VA-Teacher-Bloggers/294987317271984
Please join and share with others!

Fun Friday linky and Frankenstorm

I found a fun new linky today during my day off. Yes, I said day off. We're out in preparation for Frankenstorm, and we'll probably be out again tomorrow. So far, it's just been a lot of rain, but they're expecting the winds to pick up later this evening, so we may be without power. Oh well, that just gives me more time to spend with Keagan!

Anyway, this linky is hosted by Kelly at Teaching Fourth.

Go check out this linky, then stop by Nichole at The Craft of Teaching for her 100 follower giveaway!

Update:  No school again tomorrow! Oh, and we might even see a little bit of snow. It's already snowing less than an hour away from here!

Halloween Sale!

It's been a great month for sales in my store, so I thought it would be perfect to end with a little sale! 

Thank you for creating this adorable button, Abby!

Fill up your cart with plenty of treats! Apparently there are a lot of great bloggers joining in on this sale, so be sure to check your wishlist. This could be a great time to stock up on last minute Halloween items, or you could even start preparing for Thanksgiving. I've already got two of my Thanksgiving units up (still working on my literacy centers I'm SO excited about - I even purchased some cute clipart from KPM Doodles today).

My Halloween bundle complete with the bats unit, pumpkin main idea/supporting details, and a pumpkin writing craftivity

Two Thanksgiving units - both brand new this week

And be on the lookout for my literacy centers. I wish I could finish them before Monday, but we might lose power over the weekend with this "Frankenstorm". Have you heard about it? Apparently it's a hurricane wrapped in a Noreaster with a winter storm wrapped up in it somewhere else. Eek!! My school is in a VERY rural county, so we could be out for a few days.

Happy shopping, and if you live anywhere close to me (although that could mean the entire east coast), stay safe!!

Thank you, Sarah - Thankgiving writing unit

Have you ever read this book?

I had not until this week when I was looking for good books about Thanksgiving to create my units for next  month. I almost passed this one up, but my librarian highly recommended it, so I actually opened the book. I am ashamed to say that I was not aware of the story of Sarah Hale. As a self-proclaimed "history buff", this is especially embarrassing. She is a fascinating woman (although I have to admit she would really annoy me if she were still alive today - I'm not a huge fan of complainers overachievers).

Anyway, as I was reading the book, I felt like it lent itself PERFECTLY to a great writing assignment, and I can't wait to begin it with my 5th graders! On the last page of the book, it says "Pick up your pen. Change the world." Our students always seem to struggle with writing, and they could also benefit from some extra practice on persuasion. Why not have them learn about Sarah Hale's story AND look at the actual letter she wrote to Abraham Lincoln (who is "only" the FIFTH president she wrote a letter to asking for Thanksgiving to become a nationally recognized holiday). Then they can come up with a list of things they would like to change and write their own letters to someone important. 

So here it is. My new "baby". I guess it's a good thing when I get so excited after I create the product. It includes 2 graphic organizers, a brainstorming sheet, a link to Sarah's letter, a character word splash, sequencing page, and a letter template (that's 10 pages!). I hope you love it as much as I do!