Lights... Camera... TEACH!: Writing

Hello Friends.

It's near the end of the year. I get it. You are tired. No, no. NOT just tired... but you're actually crawling to the finish line. You're almost there, my friend!

So WHY am I talking about writing at this point in the year? Well, for many reasons.

1. You still want the kids to behave before summer brains kick in and they have forgotten ALL the classroom/school rules
2. You still need some resemblance of order as you wind down your school year
3. You want to have fun at the end of the year and if you can incorporate some sort of learning ..then HECK YES!

Believe it or not, I have something that will help you with all these concerns AND it's fun, fast, and EASY for you (more on that later)!

I'm not sure if you've ever done journal writing in your classroom, but it seriously was our class favorite when I was still in the classroom! Kids would share their writings with their peers and I would pick a couple kids to read their journal aloud. Kids would laugh when responding to silly prompts and it was just plain FUN. Yep! I said it. Journal writing was fun!

We didn't worry about spelling (**GASP** I know, right??)

We didn't worry about punctuation.

We didn't worry about correct grammar.

My main goal was just to allow their creativity and thoughts to flow out. I wanted them to be able to express themselves without the worry of "getting it all right". There will be time and other assignments for corrections and lessons, but for now....for this... I just wanted them to freely express themselves.

WOW. Can I just share with you the pure freedom? The pure joy that I saw take place?

This time transformed into a time where my students could feel like they were not being "judged" or "corrected" for their lack of skills BUT praised for their wonderful creativity. It was a game changer.

That's when their joy of writing came in.

My students loved journal time because it was a time for them to freely express themselves. They didn't have to worry if they spelled this or that word correctly, or if this needed to be capitalized or not. Those thoughts didn't hinder them from continuing to write their ideas on paper.

If this sounds interesting and you have a plethora of high engaging journal prompts, then I would challenge you to try letting your students be a bit more free without your corrections. But if you were anything like me and need some FUN high interest prompts but don't have the time to go searching for them, this is where I can help!

This resource has EVERYTHING you need for the month and it really only takes a few minutes each day.

There are prompts for EVERY school day of the month and optional word banks for younger students or for those who need the extra help with ideas.

This resource was created to have the same routine every week so that kids know what to expect:

Day 1 – Finish the sentence (prompt)
Day 2 – Would you rather….?
Day 3 – Make a list (competition)
Day 4 – Quick Write (one word for 2-3 mins)
Day 5 – Would you rather…?

This is the order of the slides, BUT you can use the prompts however you wish in any order.

I love this resource because it's fast, easy, and comes in Google Slides, PowerPoint, and is also a DIGITAL resource.. which means that it can be PAPERLESS because students can type right onto the slides!

So whether you project it onto your classroom screen or push it out digitally to your students on their devices, it’s EASY for YOU because there is NO PRINTING involved! YAY! No more waiting at the copier just in time for it to break down. Or maybe that just always happened to me.

I know that right about this time of the year, my students always needed a fun way to learn. We are just mentally D.O.N.E. and I'm usually winding down my school year. I love that they can still continue to write and learn AND have FUN in the process.

That's a WIN-WIN for sure!

So what about you? Do you worry about spelling and grammar at journal time? If so, do you think that you can let it go...even just for a little bit?

Blessings,
Angela

WOW!!! Not only is it ALREADY Nov 1.. but it's Five for Friday! So fun! Since I'm a once a week blogger (not by choice but that's the season of life that I'm in right now), I love that I can count on this linky party to keep me connected.

This was a special week for me! Both my sons got awards at school that were a big deal to me. My younger son, Joshua got a HUGE award. His teacher nominated him to receive this award for his grade level. It was in honor of the founder and late superintendent of the school. My other son, Isaac, got the reading award. He's been voraciously reading the Harry Potter series since he was in 2nd grade and now a year later, it's paying off since it's worth SO many AR points. I could not be MORE proud of both of them for working so hard!!!

This is my first grader, Joshua

This is my third grader, Isaac

I job share so I work Monday - Wednesday. Because my sons' award ceremony was on Wednesday, I took the day off which means that I had a 2 day work week. Woohooo!!!! :)

I got in a nice nap today! I REALLY needed it. When you begin seeing double and going crossed eyed.... you know you've reached your point. I stayed up waaaaay too late last night finishing up my tpt unit...which brings me to #5. You can read that below.

Every year I feel like there's so much pressure for Halloween. I do it to myself. We have this HUGE outreach at our church called Trunk or Treat (cars decorate their trunks and pass out candy) and this year we had probably close to 7,500 people there! It was insane! Anyways, since my hubby is one of the pastors of the church and it is such a huge event, it is ALL hands on deck. That means that he works the event and I don't get to see him much. I used to put the pressure on myself to make sure that all their costumes are perfect and cute... but now. I just don't care. We get costumes, but the easier the better. AND if it's free... it's a plus! So this year, my sons are ninjas.... again.... for the 3rd year. They just love dressing up like ninjas I guess. Besides the fact that I have all the sizes for a ninja costume now, I do like this costume because it's easy and cheap. My daughter was a ballerina.... a free costume... so I liked hers the best. :)

2 ninjas and a ballerina

Trunk or Treat was fun! They ended the family maze with an area full of puppies! How adorable!

Karis was a pirate during the day for school....another free costume! :)

I am FINALLY done with my new TPT unit. I am seriously excited about this unit. Not only do I use these in my classroom but it is also good for different grade levels. I've been wanting to create this resource ever since I started TPTing this year. It is my The Best Writing Resource Pack:Word Lists,Word Books,SUPER Writing Folder, &More! unit. There are 3 different levels of "Words I Need to Read and Spell" books taken from Fry's High Frequency words list. Words are put in alphabetical order and extra spaces are provided to add your own words. There are also different levels of word lists. There are several pages of word lists to create more colorful writers and to satisfy the CCSS understanding of shades of meaning. There is also a one page "Spicy Words" list is for younger students who may feel overwhelmed by too many word choices. Take a look below at some previews:

Click on the picture to take you to my store

Here is a closer look:

The SUPER writing folder that I use is AWESOME! I saw this at a teaching conference that I went to over 10 years ago. I don't remember who or what it was....so if anyone knows, please let me know. I want to make sure that I give credit where it is due. Anyhow, I'm serious, my students DO NOT lose their writings with this folder. It keeps EVERYTHING organized... resources, ideas, and writings... and really, who doesn't want to be more organized??