4-Square Writing for March

I've been on medical leave for three months and I'm FINALLY able to get back to school next week!  I was thinking how important it is for my firsties to really improve their beginning writing skills, so I put together a March 4-Square Writing Organizer and Papers packet.  

4-squares are a quick and easy way for your students to plan out a basic paragraph. I love using these simple writing organizers with my first and second grade classes! They provide needed scaffolding for beginning writers. You can use these as a whole class, during Writer’s Workshop, or your students can choose to use them during “Work on Writing” time. This is what I'm going to use on Wednesday for "Read Across America Day!"

As with each topic in the pack, there is a color cover for making a class book, 4 differentiated 4-Square Organizers, and 5 different coordinated writing papers for their paragraphs.

Each writing topic is differentiated so that all levels of writers are supported.  I included some pages without a topic, so you can use your own ideas, too.  Here are the topics included in the pack.

You can pick up a 10 PAGE FREEBIE by downloading the preview file at Teachers Pay Teachers.  It is the Rainy Day Fun writing papers.  I hope you like it!  Enjoy!

Writing Informational Text with 1st & 2nd Graders

Reading and writing Informational Texts are an important part of the Common Core Standards.  To make these Informational Text Features more meaningful for my students, I created an Informational Text Features book that each child researches and writes.  My “I Can Write All About Science” is my favorite writing project that I do with my students each year.  I have done this project for many years with first and second graders.  This project is so versatile that you will be able to use it for any topic you’d like!  In the past, my classes have made books on sharks, whales, fish, and penguins, but any topic that interests your young scientists will work!   You can include some or all of the pages, picking and choosing which text features are appropriate for your students.

We start by learning about a text feature each day and I have the kids search through informational texts to find examples.  I read aloud about penguins (or whichever topic we were learning about) and the students use the new information for their writing project.  Depending on the needs of your students, you may need to spend 1—3 days per text feature.  This past year, my class had to go slower due to so many students being pulled out for Speech, LD, ESOL, and RTI.  Kids who finish early have the option to make additional pages with illustrations and captions.

 I put the definition on the document projector so that kids can copy it into their own books.  My students who are pulled out a lot during the day get a copy of the definition and they just cut them out and paste them into their books to save time.

When we finish the books, I have the kids make Eric Carle style painted papers to make the animal for the cover.  Before putting them on the covers, we use them in the hallway for a big bulletin board display.  Be sure to have the kids make some penguins small enough to fit on their cover, in addition to larger ones that they can take home.

Click the title page above or HERE to check it out at my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

What are your favorite writing activities for kids in the first or second grade?  I'd love to hear some new ideas!
Happy Teaching!

Corinna

Under the Sea...Star of the Week with an Ocean Theme!

Hi Bloggy Friends!  Next year I’m going to do a Beach/Ocean theme with my class as we loop up to second grade. I love to do a Star of the Week activity with my classes. In the past we had a Hollywood Star of the Week and an Explorer of the Week. So, for our beach theme, I designed an Oceanographer of the Week pack.

Let me tell you about how I use these Student of the Week materials. I send home the parent letter with one boy and girl who will be the Stars the following week. I have new students go earlier in the year so we can get to know them. Then, I "randomly" choose students for the rest of the year (but I have my shy kids and kids who need to make new friends go first--don't tell!). On Mondays, the Stars share their posters that they worked on over the previous weekend. They are also allowed to bring a special item for sharing. This is a big deal because the kids don't get to share toys or things like that normally—only items related to what we're learning in class. Each day of the week the kids have the option to share other items or stories about their hobbies, families, etc... On Thursday, the class writes a page to go in a book that each Star gets. Usually, kids write compliments or tell why they like the Star. The writing is just priceless. “Hanna, I thenk yu are beeyutifol.” Then, at the end of the week, the stories are collected and bound into a book for each Star to take home. The kids LOVE this! Even the shy kids want to talk about themselves! I laminate the posters, 3-hole punch them, and bind them with binder rings. The Star of the Week big book is by far the favorite buddy reading choice in class!

In addition to the Oceanographer of the Week, I also made two other versions, Sea Star of the Week and The Big Fish of the Week, which are included with the Oceanographer of the Week materials.

The set includes:

3 Styles of Star of the Week Posters in color and B&W:

   Oceanographer, Sea Star, and Big Fish.

2 dated and 1 undated book cover for each style

4 styles of student book handwriting sheets

1 parent letter for each style

They are available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

I will give away a copy next week to a follower who leaves a comment. The winner will be chosen with a random number generator.

Have a lovely weekend!

♥Corinna

 

 

 

I'm Back!

Hi Teacher Friends!  I'm sorry I've been missing from the blogosphere lately.  I've had too many things on my Must-Do-ASAP-Before-Everyone-Realizes-I-Am-Not-As-Fabulous-As-I-Want-Them-To-Think list.  However, since this teacher forgot her MDABERIANAFAIWTTT list, I'll have to just do this blog post!  LOL!  So, here's a freebie to make you forget that it has been 17 days since my last post.  This is a 4-Square Writing Organizer for kids to write about a fun day with a friend. I love using the 4-Square because it is very simple to use and my kids feel comfortable using without needing an explanation each time.

With this organizer, we were doing a writing sample about friends and we were practicing using transition words.  We also had been trying to remember to indent our paragraphs, so I put the pointer finger in box 1 as a little reminder.  We were also working on a wrap-up sentence that shared our feelings about the subject, so I put a little heart shape in box 5 as a reminder.

This version can be used to allow your students to write their own topic sentence.

This version omits the transitional words so your students can choose their own.

 

This is one of the final copy writing paper options.  

There is a matching page with a full page of handwriting lines.

This is one of the other final copy writing paper options.  

There is a matching page with a full page of handwriting lines.

I hope you can find a use for these in your classroom! Click on the cover photo to get your own copy!

We have eleven school days left!  How are you keeping your kids learning until the last minute of the school year?

Happy Teaching!
♥Corinna 

Happy Spring!

To celebrate the first day of my spring break, I'm hooking up with Teaching Blog Addict for Freebie Friday!  Here is a quick and easy way for your beginning writers to plan out a basic paragraph using a 4-Square Writing Organizer.  The topic sentence is provided on one version and and a blank 4-square with a writing prompt is on the other version.  Your students just have to write three things that they love about springtime and a concluding sentence.  Four choices of handwriting-lined papers are included for the final copy.  

I LOVE using 4-Square writing organizers with my Firsties!  My reluctant writers really get into doing this because of the extra support the organizer provides.  On the first day, the kids fill out the 4-Square.  The next day, I have my students check each sentence for capitals and punctuation.  They trace over the first letter of the sentence with a green colored pencil and trace the ending punctuation with a red colored pencil.  They love this part!  Later, we use "spell checkers" (high-frequency word lists) to fix basic spelling errors.   The kids work with a buddy to reread the writing for any revisions before writing the paragraph on the handwriting paper.  Ta-da! 

You can grab yourself a copy of the project at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  If you like it, I'd sure appreciate it if you'd considering following my store and letting me know what you think.  Thanks for your support!

I love spring weather (sunny, but cool) and beautiful daffodils (OK, so it snowed a bit this morning, but that was very strange for mid-March in Oregon)!  What is your favorite thing about springtime?

Have a happy weekend!
♥Corinna

Operations & Algebraic Thinking Math!

I'm finally done with my latest math packet!  As I've mentioned before, our math "program" at school leaves a lot to be desired.  So, our first grade team is always supplementing to fill in the gaps.  We're currently focusing on Operations and Algebraic Thinking for our data teams.  We're also being asked to post our daily Common Core State Standards in the room.  To do so, I created my latest product, "Going Buggy for Operations & Algebraic Thinking Math Mega Pack." 

 It includes 77 Common Core State Standard aligned reproducibles for teaching Operations and Algebraic Thinking.  There are five practice pages for every skill for a full week’s worth of learning.  I also made ten Focus Wall CCSS anchor charts in student friendly “I Can” language.  These activities are not “seasonal” so they can be used any time during the year.  My kids have been having fun with them this week.  Check them out at my TpT store.

I'm hooking up with Teaching Blog Addict for Freebie Friday!  I made a 4 Square Writing Organizer for dental health month.  It includes a writing organizer and three different choices of paper for final copies of the paragraphs.  I hope you can use it!  Blogger is not being nice to me when I try to upload pictures of the freebie, so go to TpT (click HERE) to see it up close.  UPDATE!  Blogger decided to let me post the pictures!  Here they are!  Click on the cover to download for free from TpT!

Happy Weekend!
Corinna