Currently and Monday Made It: Writing Journals

Hey everyone! I need to start posting more than once a month :) Oh, life gets busy with a newborn, a 3 year old, and 6 year old. Maybe I should feel lucky I am posting at least once a month! Haha!

On to the post. I am doing a double-dip today with Farley's Currently and Tara's Monday Made It. I love both of these and am excited to go explore the link-ups.

I loved my students this year! One way this class was different from the other classes I've taught in the last 10 years is the way this class LOVED to write! It was fabulous! So I am going to link up with Tara for Monday Made It to share our writing journals!

One day we were talking and one student said they wanted a writing journal to keep all their "stuff" so I brainstormed aloud with them and this is what we developed!

Superhero Writing Journals! I made the covers and we simply put lined paper behind with a colored page on the back. We also made a little pocket on the back cover to keep "other" writing like posters and mini-books.

The students LOVED these! I made a bunch of different formats of the writing journals (half-sized, full sized, etc.) The kids get a different cover and journal each month to collect their writing. Sometime soon (hopefully) I will post on how easy my Writing Center is. 

You know what? I am in the giving mood :) if you would like a copy of my Superhero Writing Journal, leave a comment with your email and I will pick a few winners! Hope you have a fabulous day!!

Monday Made It! Student picture frames

Linking up for the summer's first weekly Monday Made It!! Don't you love summer and gettin' your craft on?

So a couple months ago I found this CUTE bulletin board at Learning in Wonderland. I LOVE IT!

I LOVE this wall and want to do the same thing in my room next year. So I found these super cute damask frames on Etsy

I printed, laminated and cut cut cut! And here are some of the frames for my bulletin board which will be a bright blue background with white and black border...

My students will be writing about themselves and switching out the paragraph underneath their frame during work on writing time. I'm excited about the student recognition and the sense of belonging this will bring to my classroom. The writing about yourself to display for other students to read is also a great incentive for writing.

How do you recognize your students in your classroom?

Pinterest Linky

I am so excited to join this linky! This is going to become a monthly tradition.



Cute Bookmarks




Writing Idea for Classroom


Tons of Coloring by Number Sheets


This is just my favorite :)

Book Blogging w/out a Computer!

This little thing-a-ma-bobber is AMAZING!! Teaching in Room 6 is doing a giveaway for it and I hope I win! If I don't, then I may just have to purchase one for myself :)

Keep watching, because I WILL incorporate this into my classroom somehow. Go check out how this is used at Teaching in Room 6! You will not regret it.

Picture Prompts - My Students LOVE These!

THESE ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE TO SHARE! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR INTEREST, BUT I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SHARE THESE ANYMORE. PLEASE SAVE YOURSELF SOME TIME AND DO NOT ASK, BECAUSE I WILL NOT REPLY.

So far the main purpose of this blog was to collect ideas for me to use in my classroom. But lately, I've wanted to start sharing my own stuff. So, here it goes :)

I'm joining PJ Jots for the Fall Blog Hop and I'm going to start by saying "I love fall time!" Now, here are my fun fall time picture prompts...

I would be more than happy to share! I have around 20 sets of 6 that cover everything from fantasy picture prompts to holidays. Leave your email and I will get whatever you want to you!

Sorry everyone! I no longer have this file...it has died along with a beloved computer. 

Voices - 6 Trait Writing

Kim at Fantastic Fifth Grade taught an absolutely fabulous unit on using VOICE.

-Uses the book "The True Story of the Three Little Pigs" and discusses VOICE using the different perspective approach. The student then writes a fairy tale from a different perspective.

- Use Spotify to have students listen to different singers who sing the same song and discusses the different "voice" of each song. The students take notes as each song is played on the way the voice impacts the song.

-Reads "The Diary of a Worm" and the students write diary from an animal perspective.

I am starting this in my room next week!!!

Getting the Kids Writing

Brilliant!!!! Seriously, so smart. Check out these lists for getting kids writing over at Walking By the Way. Make sure to look at the lists at the end of the post.

I am going to use these on Monday when I introduce Word on Writing for my Daily 5. I need to get the kids to like writing before I start teaching them about writing. I think this is going to be an AWESOME start!

Wanted - Peter Pan!!

This is from The Lesson Plan Diva and it is a fabulous ideas! I'm going to use it this year and I will report back when we are finished.

We read Peter Pan in my sixth grade class and the kids are surprised by the book because it is so different from the Disney movie which is where their ideas of Peter Pan are from. We actually listen to the book while the kids follow along. It is great! The guy who reads the book has a British accent and the kids giggle every time they start listening.

Amazing Short Story Idea!!

http://snowinateapot.blogspot.com/2010/03/if-found.html


Have students take pictures of themselves telling a short story on a whiteboard. Give them a certain number of photos and have fun! So genius!

Picture of the Day

http://sciencenotebooking.blogspot.com/2010/08/picture-of-day-activity.html

Students view different photo each day and make 5 observations, 5 inferences, and 5 predictions. LOVE this idea!!

Whole Class Writing Journals

http://www.ilovemyclassroom.blogspot.com/2012/07/monday-made-it-hall-pass-and-writing.html

Students respond to the same writing prompt in each journal. Can be used for Work of Writing and Read to Self.

If I Were President...