Stories by Storie

Everyone has a story to tell. What is yours?

A New Improved Santa Activities & Crafts

A New Improved Santa by Patricia Rae Wolff is a story about staying true to yourself and makes a great read aloud near Christmas. Here are some activities and ideas for using this book in your classroom! All About A New Improved Santa If you aren't familiar with the story, Santa is ready to make some changes for his New Year's resolution! But do kids really want a slimmer, hipper, cyber Santa? He seems to think so, and gets to work on his resolution to slim down, pump-up and become more fashion forward. Mrs. Claus patiently watches Santa go ... read more

Turkey Trios (Freebie for 3-Addends)

 Are your students working on finding the sum of 3-addends this month? Here's a great way to get your students up and moving during math time! If you are a Common Core classroom, 3-addends is a first grade standard: CCSS 1.0A.A.2: Solve word problems that call for addition of three whole numbers whose sum is less than or equal to 20, e.g., by using objects, drawings, and equations with a symbol for the unknown number to represent the problem.  However, my 2nd grade students still saw 3-addends in their daily work when using our ... read more

The Very Stuffed Turkey (Turkey Craft & Book Companion)

Are you still looking for a great read aloud before Thanksgiving? You should grab a copy of The Very Stuffed Turkey by Katharine Kenah! This is a great story about a turkey who just can't say no to one more meal with a friend. I want to share some activities you can pair with this Thanksgiving book. The Very Stuffed Turkey Written by: Katharine Kenah Illustrated by: Binny Talib This is a Thanksgiving story featuring a large turkey with a big problem - he's been invited to EVERYONE'S home for dinner! With five homes to visit - ... read more

The Littlest Pilgrim (Book Companion Freebie)

  The Littlest Pilgrim by Brandi Dougherty is a sweet little story about friendship that I love to read before Thanksgiving. Here are some resources you can use in your classroom, too!   THE LITTLEST PILGRIM If you aren't familiar with the story, Mini is the littlest Pilgrim in her village. She is too little to sew, too little to bake, and too little to fish. But she's not too little to make a friend! You can find a copy of this book on Amazon.  we are a participant in the amazon services llc associates program, an affiliate advertising ... read more

Substitute Creacher Book Activities

It's October and Halloween is probably on the minds of most of your students. Your students are starting to get comfortable and their true personalities are emerging. Combine these two and it's time to grab your copy of Substitute Creacher by Chris Gall and share it with your students! Here are some of my favorite activities to use with this story. If you aren't familiar with this story, here's the blurb: The trouble making students of Ms. Jenkins' class arrive at school one day to discover a substitute has come to put a stop to their ... read more

Writing Tip: Revising Sentence Beginnings

Do you dread reading some of the writing pieces your students have written because each and every sentence starts the same way? Do you find yourself reading something like this: "Then Sam and Jane walked slowly over to the door. Then Sam reached out for the doorknob. Then as Sam twisted the knob, the door started creaking. Then Sam and Jane quickly stopped to make sure they didn't wake up Mom and Dad." I know I have! Here's a quick tip I want to share with you that I have used with 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade writers to help with ... read more

I Need My Monster Activities

I like to do a mini monster unit before the Halloween craze begins! One of my favorite stories to read is I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll. Today I want to share some of my favorite activities to use with this story. If you aren’t familiar with the story, it’s about a boy named Ethan who has a monster named Gabe. Gabe has gone fishing and Ethan is worried he won’t be able to sleep without a monster under his bed. Ethan decides to interview substitute monsters to see if they can fill in while Gabe is gone. Monster Comprehension and ... read more

3 Ways to Organize Weekly Spelling Practice

I have been asked to share some of the ways I organize my weekly spelling practice. I prefer to incorporate spelling practice into our Word Work rotation during our Daily 5 block (you can read more about our weekly routine here). In order to do this, things need to be organized so the students can access and use the materials independently. Here are my three favorite ways to organize student practice. Use Pocket Charts for Spelling Practice Any pocket charts that hold folders work great because they don’t take up a lot of space and ... read more

Mr. Popper’s Penguins Resources and Activities

Mr. Popper's Penguins was written decades ago, but the story still captures the hearts of readers today. If you aren't familiar, Mr. Popper's Penguins is about a house painter who reads and daydreams about the polar regions in his spare time. One day he receives a penguin at his home. What follows is an adventure with a group of very talented penguins! Whether I'm reading the story aloud to my class or reading it with a small group, I use many of the same activities from year to year.  Today I want to share some of those activities and ... read more

Number Names (Different Ways to Represent Numbers)

Years ago our school was using Everyday Math.  One of our routines was Name Collection Boxes. If you aren't familiar, this is an opportunity for students to represent and read numbers in different ways.  I had a group of second graders who struggled with number sense, so I used this number names game to help during our intervention block. NUMBER NAMES ACTIVITY After creating the game, I copied enough sets so eventually each student in the group would have their own set. Each set was on its own color so the cards would not get mixed up. The ... read more

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