Everyone has a story to tell. What is yours?
Not too long ago I shared that I had worked my tail off to update all of my Magic Tree House book packs. Now I have finished updating my Horrible Harry packs, too. Here’s a quick peek at some before and after shots: On the left is the newly updated product with some new fonts and graphics. On the… Read More
We have reached the halfway point in our nonfiction text features study. It was time to slow down and see if students could identify the features within a piece of nonfiction text. I have a subscription to Time for Kids (TFK) magazines for 2nd grade students this year. A collection started piling up in October and November. I wanted to save… Read More
After I joined the world of Teachers Pay Teachers, some of the first items I added to my store were my Magic Tree House book packs. I didn’t know much about cover pages at the time so I just threw one together and uploaded. I must admit I never even thought to include an answer key. I was always using… Read More
In the past two weeks we added to our Nonfiction Text Features hunt by identifying captions, labels, tables, and graphs in our texts. Here is a current pic of our anchor chart with all of the updated features: Here’s a close-up of the pages attached to the chart. Each of these pages matches the ones the kids are putting into… Read More
We continue to learn about the features of nonfiction text. Last week we added bold and italic print to our list of features we can identify: Luckily, students had some idea of what these features were all about. They wanted to quickly point out that these features can be found in fictional text, too. So we have also been working… Read More
Winter is one of my favorite seasons to combine literacy and art. There are so many great books out there that inspire art projects as an extension. I’m not going to lie – this project is not original. There are a million pins out there with similar projects. This is just how I have interpreted the project in my room…. Read More
Are you a fan of fractured fairy tales? I am!
Josh Funk has taken this concept to a whole new level with his It’s Not a Fairy Tale series. In these stories, the fairy tale characters refuse to listen to the storyteller and will not go along with the original story. As you might expect, hilarity ensues!
So far, this series includes the following tales:
• It’s Not Little Red Riding Hood
• It’s Not Hansel and Gretel
• It’s Not Jack and the Beanstalk
My kids love hearing the back-and-forth banter between the narrator and the fairy tale characters. These books always get some big belly laughs, which is a win in my book! Have you read any of these books yet? If so, which fairy tale would you love to see @joshfunkbooks write about next?
#fracturedfairytales
❤️❤️❤️Reading is not only a meaning-making transaction between the author and the reader, it’s a magic-making experience and sharing this magic with students is one of the greatest gifts teachers can give their students, virtually or in person.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
Balloons Over Broadway is not your average Thanksgiving book. This one tells the story of Tony Sarg, a master puppeteer who helped create the first helium-filled balloons that are now a staple of the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade.
Many classrooms now use this book as inspiration for their own school-wide balloon parades. Whether your kids watch these parades as spectators on the sidelines or through videos online, let them describe their favorite balloons with a fun kid craft. Swipe to take a peek. You can find this craft along with more activities for Balloons Over Broadway in my TpT store. This resource has printable and digital options.
#balloonsoverbroadway
#storiesbystorie
With the holidays quickly approaching, there are many important lessons students can learn from books to help encourage gratitude and thankfulness. Here are some books about gratitude and thankfulness that you can read together. I encourage you to share these books not just at the holidays, but throughout the whole year. bit.ly/36QxMQz
The turkey fell into the pond?
The pies were sold out?
The class bunny ate the salad?
Mashed potatoes on the wall?
Sounds like a 2020 Thanksgiving, right? But this is what happens in Thanksgiving at the Tappletons’. Fortunately, this family comes to realize that there is more to Thanksgiving than a turkey and the trimmings.
After reading this story, kids can make their own Thanksgiving placemat craft that opens to reveal a piece of writing. Since this will be a Thanksgiving like no other, students can share a memory, things they are thankful for, their favorite Thanksgiving foods, a holiday gone wrong, or something else. You can find this activity in my TpT store. Tap the photos for more info.
#thanksgivingatthetappletons
