Johnny Appleseed Graphic Organizer Extensions FREE

Hi!

Next week we will be working on our Johnny Appleseed unit. I have some freebies that I would like to share that can go along with most Johnny Appleseed units you already have or can get free on the Internet.

I have collected so many different stories and articles on John Chapman aka Johnny Appleseed. I wanted to have something that could really implement some common core strategies of comparing similar texts.  I created a graphic organizer you can use to compare different articles (for example on Johnny Appleseed).

The other freebies I have included is to use with a nonfiction piece or legend article on Johnny Appleseed.  Students can fill out a profile sheet on John Chapman, his motivations, and track his movement across America.

The final sheet can be used as a mini writing assessment of what they have learned about John Chapman. To get this freebie, follow the hyperlink below. It will take to you to the download.  You may consider following for more freebies to come!

Link to Johnny Appleseed Freebie 

Enjoy!

Erin

Dear Mrs. LaRue Craftivity

Hi,

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post! I have been busy doing many new literature units.  My class is currently studying the author Mark Teague. He has written stories such as The Lost and Found, the “Dear Mrs. LaRue” series, The Secret Shortcut, and much more.

Last week’s focus was on the book Dear Mrs. LaRue. This is about a dog that gets put into obedience school because his owner thinks he behaves badly. Throughout the story, the dog Ike writes his owner Mrs. Larue about his side of the story.  This book is a great way to teach a character’s point of view.

I also did a little activity that to help teach the point of view of both Mrs. LaRue and Ike.  The students create a Brotweiler Academy (this is the obedience school that Ike gets sent to).  The outside of the craft is a drawing of the Academy and on the inside; students write the two different points of view and draw an accompanying picture.  The following are pictures of the final craft that my students completed and my teacher example.

If you are interested for the templates and a literature study that goes with this book, follow the link below.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Dear-Mrs-LaRue-Book-Study-with-Activities-Vocab-Spelling-and-Craft-1396895

Enjoy!

Erin Hansen

Fun craft for summer vacation stories.

Hi Everyone!

So this week we have been working on summer vacation stories.  To go with this theme, I read the story How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Chris Van Allsburg.  This is a great story about a kid with a wild imagination.  I then had students write about their favorite summer vacation story. Once they wrote this we practiced editing skills which no one thought they needed! WRONG, lol.

Afterwards, I was inspired by a fellow teacher, who I like to call Amazing Amy (yes, she wears a cape) to do a similar activity craft she was doing with her student’s summer vacation stories. So I created a half sheet final draft sheet for their stories. I posted this below in a PDF link - Free.

Final Draft Link

I used a sunglasses pic from the website http://www.clker.com/clipart-black-and-white-sunglass-frames.html which is a free clipart site. Students colored the glasses and put mini-scene pics in the glass part of the glasses.

After students finished writing their final drafts and cut-out their completed sunglasses, I took them to attach to a long piece of construction paper. I pasted the story at the bottom and sun glasses above for students to draw their face and neck.

I think their final story and craft turned out great!

Thanks,

Erin

Butterfly Activity

Hi Everyone!

I am back in full swing at school and just completed my first week!  It was a full week and I have a crazy new schedule that I have to get used to.  However, I have a lot of great new students and have been doing many activities to help create a nice positive learning environment.  One of the activities that I did last week was this butterfly activity. I have done this several times in the past and other teachers have been asking me about it this year.  

This butterfly activity is a getting to know you, where students are paired up and have to complete this butterfly with is actually a Venn Diagram about similarities and differences of each student.

Here is how I put it together.

1.Pair students into partners of 2. Each partner gets a wing (one gets the right, and one gets the left).

2.Together they fill out things they have in common on the body of the butterfly.

3.Then they discuss their differences. This talk may sound like, what’s your favorite movie? or How many pets do you own? They put their differences on their wing.

4.Then students each color their own wing and decide how to color the body.

5.Students cut out each wing (do NOT cut off the black tabs) and cut out the butterfly body.

6.Then (up to you) but as the teacher I taped the butterfly wings on the back of the body.

7.Then as the teacher I took one pipe cleaner and bent it in the middle to have to equal halves. I taped the middle to the back of the body and curled the ends to make it look like antennae. 

This is the end result:

So now I have a great new bulletin board for parents to see when they come next week for parent night!

 See the Butterfly Activity on TPT.

Have Fun,

Erin

Place Value Mats

I can't wait to use these this year. I have done these in the past and wanted to update them to bring them back into my math curriculum. These are Place Value Mats that can be used all year for different math activities.

There are many different types of math lessons that you can do with the place value mats. The top reasons are to help students understand what place value is, writing numbers, help students say numbers, and to help students write numbers.


Other ideas I have come up with include.

Lesson Ideas for

the Place Value Mat

1.For beginning lessons go over vocabulary with students. Give tips on how to read and say a number.

2.As a whole class, everyone has their boards out. The teacher tells the students a number out loud to the whole class (repeat several times). This is great for informal assessing because it is easy to see which students get it and which don’t. After everyone has their boards complete, the teacher writes the number on the board.

3.In partners or small groups, one student builds the number (use privacy folder) and then has to say the number aloud. The other students have to build their number.

4.To emphasize the place in place value, have students build the number by only giving bedroom name and number. Example: There is a 2 in the tens place and a 4 in the ten thousands place.

5.To show adding and subtracting by 1,000, 100, 10’s.  Example: Build a number such as 23,789. Then ask students to add a 1,000 but take away 100. The new number is 24,689.

6.Use the mat to demonstrate rounding for different number values.

7.Students can practice differing money amounts.

8.Students write the standard form and the written form for each number. 

**Click here for a word form/standard form blog only freebie.**

If you are interested in the whole set to create the place value mats, you can find them here. 

Place Value Mats

I typically laminate these mats so students can use these all throughout the year.

Erin

All About Me

Okay, well not all about me really but rather my All About Me stuff that I will be using at the beginning of the year. I created some different posters for students to do that first week back  in school. I wanted to share this blog only freebie with you. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Erin

Click here to download this freebie.



If you are interested in the full product, you can find it here:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Me-Posters-for-Back-to-School-Activities-1976905

Fresh Start to the School Year? Well Maybe Not.

Hola!

If I  haven't already told you, I have been moving into a new classroom at the same school I have been at for 14 years. School for me starts in a few weeks and it is HOT here in Arizona!  I went to my classroom yesterday (with NO air conditioning) to look at my new room and organize a little bit. OH MY, what did I get myself into?  At the end of the year, I had enough time to physically move my stuff into my new room.  With that said, my new classroom looks like a cyclone hit it. Well I have to start somewhere, so I started with putting student books on the shelves.  This is a good place to start but was quickly ruined when I was emptying my library bin full of books when something CRAWLED over my hand and landed back in the bin.  I screamed needless to say. It is something I can't stand, I don't do spiders, lizards, snakes, etc. but I especially do NOT do scorpions!

These nasty little creatures are something this native Arizona girl will never get used to!  I don't even want to go back to unpack anything else. I envision myself only returning in a bee keeper or hazmat suit to sort through the other boxes full of wonderful surprises! Or perhaps I will just teach outside under a tree and use umbrellas if it rains (haha that was a joke, I live AZ remember). My fellow third grade teacher has told me I am being ridiculous and it was like I found a mouse or something.  I was like ummm bring on the mice - that I can live with. :) .



Anyone else found any nasty creepy crawlies in your classrooms?




Seriously, I am sure I am being ridiculous.

Sincerely,

Erin the Scorpion Hunter


Clipart by EduClips

How to help setup a routine for the school year with journals

Hi Again Everyone!

So as I have been looking into what I want to start the year, I have pulled up and revamped my journals.  These journals are one of my best kept secrets.  I have been doing them for at least 12 years.  When I first started them I was in a district that literally just focused on Reading and Math.  This particular district asked for 2 hours per day of each. If you got in something else, then great.  I combined my annoyance with a lack of a writing program with my need to engage the kids in something when they first walk in the door.

I think most teachers have this issue, morning starts, a million questions that need answering NOW, and the goofing off of students who have no direction when they first get into the classroom.  This is that stale time while we are waiting for announcements and turning in our homework. So I thought to start a daily journal.  My first draft of journals were from books I had purchased and a mix of this and that but it still took MY time.  Then one summer I bit the bullet and decided to create a journal that I could use that doesn't take any extra work from me (because remember the mornings are crazy time).

So what I came up with a full journal of prompts that I created and I copy (36 weeks worth) and put it into a binder for each student at the beginning of the year.  Ok - done with that, morning fixed.  Well almost, it takes a week or two to get the students accustomed to them but once they get into the routine, these journal TIME SAVERS, work like a charm.

Journal Freebie

To set up this journal routine I install for the morning I start the year off with explaining to them that they must fill them out all the way (and yes I teach third graders).  I typically get the big eyes but they get over it quickly. I do want to note however that I know we all have those students that just CAN'T write that much.  It is okay, we are just setting up expectations.  I also tell students that they need to use normal handwriting which brings up another great benefit to journaling.  Students handwriting improves quickly by having to write inside the lines. There are only 4 journal prompts per week which goes well because it gives a little extra room for students who have not finished theirs each day. However, there are days I like to give an extra prompt, just to see what they have learned that week or something else tied to the theme we are working on. I call these Friday Journal Templates. I even take these as a quick assessment on writing or other concept I am asking about.  

As an overview these journals have been my time saver because it gives the students something to do first thing in the morning. Once in the routine my students come in, put their backpacks away, turn in their homework, and get out their journal.  This has kept my classroom rather calm in the morning because students have direction and it allows me to take attendance, answer students questions, take lunch count, or respond to emails without the crazy morning kids. Just click on the student examples pic if you would like a freebie for you to try it out for yourself.  Also, I put a link below to my store if you are interested in the full year bundle.  I would love to hear how it has worked for you!


Thanks,
Erin Hansen

Full year journal link

Bloglovin

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/14276795/?claim=c3f8zrdnj6h">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

Said no teacher ever! Love this video.

For all of us teachers out there! This video is hilarious!