Author's Purpose and Point of View

I am really enjoying all of this time off for the Thanksgiving Holidays! It has given me some time to do some lesson planning and other school work on my own terms. =) I don't feel rushed, I can just do it when I feel like it! 

On that note, today, I worked on a packet for teaching author's purpose and point of view. There aren't really lessons included, just resources you can use during Reading Workshop, including sticky note templates for printing! Click the photo below to grab your free copy in my TPT shop.

To print on the sticky notes, head over to Kristen's blog, Ladybugs Teaching Files, for a better VIDEO explanation than the one I put in the packet! I use it all the time now during reading!!

I hope this is useful!! I am using it this week, so I will let you know how it goes!

Visualizing

Since it was a short week because of our Thanksgiving Break, I decided to do some mini lessons on visualizing.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving I chose some Jack Prelutsky Thanksgiving poems to teach the skill and it was a big hit! 

The first day, we read The Thanksgiving Day Parade and underlined words and phrases from the poem that helped us visualize. While they read on their own, they wrote down words and phrases from their books to help them visualize and then they drew their visualization. 

The second day, we reviewed what visualizing was and then I gave them this little handout with the poem, "I Ate Too Much Turkey," and they underlined words and phrases and then drew their visualizations! They came out so cute and I forgot to take pictures of them, but here is the freebie!

If you want the document to show up correctly, you need to have Pea Heather Michelle and Wish I Were Taller fonts from KevinandAmanda.com.

I am so thankful!

Rachelle over at What the Teacher Wants is hosting her first ever Linky Party to share what you are thankful for! And I have a lot to be thankful for!!

1.  What are you thankful for in your classroom?

In my classroom, I am most thankful for my students. Without them, where would I be?? I don't only teach them, they teach me everyday also and even though I sometimes forget what their lives may be like when they are at home, I always show them that I care (even if they have been driving me insane!) 

I am also thankful for the technology that I have been blessed with in my school. We have Promethean Boards in every classroom and Activ Expressions (which I use religiously). They help me assess students immediately and their question results pop right up on my board.

We have access to all other sorts of things that I think all teachers should have! But those are the ones I am most thankful for!

I am also thankful for a decent sized classroom! I like not feeling cramped when I walk around the room and it's just open enough that it makes it look comfortable!

2. What person are you most thankful for?

I am most thankful for my mom! She is the most amazing person I know. When I'm in a pinch, she's always there and she always knows just what to say when I am down. Love you mom!!

3. What 3 blogs are you most thankful for?

Oh geez, this is going to be a tough one. There are so many fabulous teacher blogs out there but if I had to narrow it down, here are my top 3 in random order:

1) Ladybug's Teacher Files - There are so many reasons I love her blog! She has such cute resources and she created my blog design! =)

2) The Inspired Apple - Even though she teaches firsties, she has sooo many ideas that I adapt for my third graders! She has inspired me to be more cutesy!

3) 2nd Grade Shenanigans - This girl just blows me away with her creativity! I would lying if I said I wasn't jealous of her genius teacher mind! Sooo many FAB ideas over there!

4. What guilty pleasure are you most thankful for?

I LOVE to read futuristic dystopian novels! ALL the time! Any time I get a chance to sit down and read, I am thankful!! After I read the Hunger Games, it became my new favorite genre of literature. That's pretty ironic because those books are all young adult novels! So, if you need any book suggestions, just let me know!! Here are just a few!

And I actually just started reading this one. A colleague of mine suggested it since we have similar tastes in books!

5. What are you most thankful for?

 I am most thankful for time with my friends and family no matter what we are doing and Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays for that very reason.

If you want to participate, just head over to What the Teacher Wants and copy the questions to your blog! Then, link up your post to her blog post! 

Facebook Fan Page!

I have finally created a facebook fan page!! It just took me a while to figure out how to do it! 

I am so thankful to FINALLY be on Thanksgiving break! Whoo hoo!! 

So be a sport and head on over and like my new page! =) 

I hope to be posting some new stuff this week, so check back soon!

How to Catch a Plump and Perky Turkey!

As a closing to our How To Make a Coke Float writing unit, I am doing this fun activity next week (since we are going to be without ANY technology!!) **Sigh**

Anyway, I stole this cute idea from Sarah Cooley, over at First Grader At Last! 

Read the poem, "A Plump and Perky Turkey," aloud. Then have the kids write about how they would catch a plump and perky turkey!

Click on the image for the packet!

I am so excited to do this next week!!! And yay for Thanksgiving Break coming in T-minus 3 days!!