Help Your Students With Reading Comprehension With Simple Bookmarks

We all have students who are hesitant to speak up in class; perhaps they do not want to ask questions in front of their classmates, or they are just shy. Regardless of the reasons, we can't help them unless we know that they are struggling.

To help combat this, try these bookmarks the next time you assign reading (or during read-alouds in class). Instead of students speaking up, they jot down the question on the bookmark. Have them submit at the end or beginning of class. This way you know what they may be struggling with and can address it in the next class period or the next day. It's a simple idea and can be done on any piece of paper or post-it note. However, I did create some free printables you can try.

Just print on regular paper and have students grab a new one when they turn one in. They can be printed on front/back, as well. One format has 6 bookmarks on one 8.5x11-inch page, the other has four per page. I also featured two different fonts (one is more appropriate for lower grades) and each with lines or without.

You can download them FREE here:

Reading Bookmark Aid for Chapter or Text Books - Any Content Area

Don't forget that the Teacher Appreciation Sale starts tonight at midnight! You'll be able to get all of my products 20% off and take an additional 10% off by using the promo code TAD12 at checkout. This is our way of giving back to our fellow teachers to kick of Appreciation Week! THANK YOU for all you do!

Poetry Linky Party

Do you need help with your poetry unit? 

Check out the poetry linky party at The ESOL Odyssey. 

There are lots of great links for lessons you can use all month.

Celebrate Poetry: Why I Love Poetry

Photo © T.Orman, 2010

April is National Poetry Month and a great time to celebrate creative writing. Many people are intimidated by poetry, perhaps thinking it is too confusing, too deep, or too vague. I like to think of poetry as more of an "anything goes" style of writing. You can say what you want to say without worrying about formatting, complete sentences, or even if it makes sense. That's the fun of it. I try to convey this message to my students so they feel less intimidated by poetry. Poetry should be fun.

My love of poetry probably began as a child listening to my favorite songs and tediously jotting down the lyrics (either by lifting the needle of the record player or pushing "rewind" on the cassette over and over again). I was in love with lyrics--the combination of words, often rhyming, but not always. 

But it was most likely my junior year in high school when I really fell in love with poetry. I had a teacher who encouraged creative writing and believed in me. (Thank you, Mrs. Conrad!) I started a poetry journal, writing down every poem I had scribbled in notebooks or on napkins. Looking back, my early poems are more lyrical, as I strained to make them rhyme. But my writing matured with age and in college, with the help of another fantastic teacher (Thank you, Dr. Herzig!), I let go of the lyrics and let my words be themselves, unburdened by rhyme schemes or formulas.

Having teachers who encouraged my own creative writing helped me understand reading poetry, as well. The more I wrote, the more I wanted to read what others were writing. And both activities led me to love poetry.

I do like to start my unit with song lyrics; knowing that most students love music, if they see their favorite lyrics being treated as poetry, it is much less intimidating. They aren't afraid to dissect or find poetic devices in their favorite songs.

As you celebrate poetry in your own classroom, remember to encourage your students and let them have fun with it. They may not always see the symbols, underlying themes, or know exactly how to write in iambic pentameter...and that's OK. Leave them with a positive experience so they won't be intimidated or reluctant to learn more about poetry later in life. 

It's a Hoot! Super Cute Owl Clip Art

Do you love owls? 

Here's a collection of over 50 owl graphics for you to use for commercial, educational, and personal use:

 It's a Hoot! Owl Clip Art for Commercial Use

 I was loving creating these little guys that I didn't want to stop. They are in various colors and styles and the package also includes frames and backgrounds with the owls already placed in there for you. Just insert it into your document or word processing, and start creating!

The art cannot be resold in another clip art package, but you may use these little fellas in any of your products for no additional cost (including your FREEBIES!).

Here are some additional thumbnails from the collection:

Spring is in the Air: Springtime Clip Art

Do you have spring fever? I am more than ready for spring break (just 3 more days for us!) and my newest clip art packages make me even more anxious.


Spring Fever Clip Art Graphics: I created a cute package of spring icons, which include several different birds (cardinal, blue jay, blue bird, robin, black bird, grayish brown bird), bird nest, flowers, a bunny face (white & gray), tree, tuft of grass, four-leaf clover, clouds, every color of eggs, and an Easter basket with eggs.

Spring Fever Backgrounds and Frames: My second bundle of graphics include backgrounds and frames that are in fun spring colors. The frames are the cute curvy frames that can be layered on top of one another (like you see below) for different effects. There are 17 total frames and 17 total backgrounds.

These one-of-a-kind graphics can be used for commercial purposes with no additional fees! View all of my clip art and graphics {HERE}.

HAPPY SPRING!

Green is the New Black

To celebrate ALL things associated with the color GREEN this week, The Lesson Cloud, which consists of 100 teacher authors in all grade levels and content areas, has switched things up and will be posting a ton of lessons for you to use in your classrooms this spring.

Anything related to green--like St. Patrick's Day, Earth Day, spring, bacteria (that's for those science folks!)--will be featured in the posts.

The authors wish to thank you all for supporting your fellow teachers. You can check out the latest "green" posts here:

THE LESSON CLOUD

Celebrate Reading Today & Every Day

In my previous post I wrote about celebrating reading in secondary classrooms. I also uploaded a writing/discussion prompt on my Hunger Games Lessons website that links Dr. Seuss characters to the Hunger Games (yes, what if your favorite characters were reaped? Who would survive?). 

 

These are just reminders that you are never too old to enjoy Dr. Seuss.

I hope everyone has a great day!

Never Too Old to Celebrate Dr. Seuss & Read Across America

This wonderful mural was drawn on my white board today by one of my very talented sophomores.

March 2nd marks Dr. Seuss' birthday and many schools will also participate in NEA's Read Across America to celebrate reading.

This shouldn't be an event reserved solely for elementary students. We secondary teachers want our students to love reading, right? And who doesn't love Dr. Seuss? I can remember buying my first hardback Seuss in elementary at the Scholastic Book Fair: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. It was my favorite and I can still remember reading it as a child. When I became a mother, I loved sharing that book (and so many others) with my son. And I still love reading my favorite children's books every now and then. There's just something magical about them that make you feel young again.

So when I told my students today that I wanted them to think of their favorite Dr. Seuss books (or any books) many of them blurted out a title right away. Their eyes lit up and I could see that many were reliving fond memories from their childhood. I asked them to bring in their book tomorrow, or try to find the text of it so they could read it to the class tomorrow to celebrate the day.

Don't be afraid to take a break from your regular curriculum to allow your students to celebrate this day. Reading is an activity we want our students to love and cherish, not loathe. It shouldn't be a chore; it should be fun! Tomorrow my students will be sharing their favorite books from their childhood, and hopefully creating new memories involving books that they'll cherish years from now.

One of my students is an incredibly talented artist; he drew this tribute to Dr. Seuss on my white board during his studyhall 8th period. He also created some great Seuss figures for Mel D. of Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations. You can see them in her awesome freebie "Free Seusstastic Primary Activities".

Great job, Danny! So proud of you (and wish I could draw like that!).

Leap Day Sale!

Leap day only happens once every four years; so to celebrate February 29th, TeachersPayTeachers is having a sale! Use promo code L2P9Y at check out to get 10% off PLUS I am having a sale in my store on all my digital downloads. Don't miss the opportunity to get some great lessons at discounted prices. :)

Using Jessie J's Song "Domino" to Teach Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

My lesson using Katy Perry's song "Firework" has been such a hit with teachers (and students) that it only seems right to keep making additional activities like this for teachers (and myself).*

My latest is using Jessie J's song "Domino." It's another upbeat, get-you-ready-for-the-day type of song. It does, however, use the word "damn," so teachers will have to use their own discretion on whether they want to use it with their students. Also, the lyrics may be too mature for your students; I list it as 9-12, but you should look up the lyrics first and use your best judgement for your students.

It covers the following different poetic devices:
    • true rhyme
    • alliteration
    • onomatopoeia
    • assonance
    • anaphora
and figurative language:
    • simile
    • metaphor
    • personification
    • hyperbole
    • allusion

Because it is a priced product, it does include more than my "Firework" lesson. There are two separate handouts for differentiation: one will be more guided, asking students to pick out particular examples in each section. The other is more like "Firework," asking students to find the examples on their own.

It also includes a list of the terms & definitions for students. You can project the page & have them copy them down, or give each a copy. A separate teacher's guide is included with Common Core alignment, directions, and a detailed answer key. 

Do you have any suggested songs for lessons? If so, comment below to let me know.

*I actually have a a packet of songs that I paired with poems with similar themes to help students understand the meaning of poems, found here.

They're Seuss-tastic! ~ Dr. Seuss Inspired Graphics

Oh, how I love Dr. Seuss! And the colors in his books are so fun and bright. So I created some colorful backgrounds, frames, and borders inspired by the colors used in Seuss books that can be used for commercial purposes, or your own personal use. 

Wonderfully Wacky Backgrounds, Frames, and Borders!

There are 52 total graphics in this bundle. You can use them in your free products, as well, as long as they are secured in a PDF document. I hope you enjoy these - they were fun to make! Here are some additional samples (the items in the download are much larger and better quality images, of course. They are all .png files.)

(My designs are NOT affiliated with Dr. Seuss Enterprises or any of its affiliates)

And check out my Wonderfully Wacky Designs 2 

for even MORE wacky fun clip art graphics!

New! Pretty in Pink and Free 2012 Graphics

 I uploaded a couple of new graphics packages yesterday for those of you who like my backgrounds and frames (and more coming, I promise). 


One of the packages is called "Pretty in Pink" and features graphics in shades of pink, red, and purple. It also has over 30 heart images in numerous colors. My backgrounds can be shaped to become sidebars, or layered with your own frames. They are versatile and saved as png files for your convenience.


The other package I uploaded is a freebie. It has 12 "2012" graphics. What makes these unique is the transparent cut-outs and backgrounds. Below are examples of how these can be used in your products.


I hope you all have a great 2012 and finish your school year strong! Make sure to stop by my store today and tomorrow to enjoy my New Year's sale on EVERYTHING - including CDs! 

2012 with the transparent cut out. The background used is my "Bubbles" package.

2012 with the transparent background and white numbers.

Another 2012 with the numbers cut out to reveal a purple background.

The purple background with the 2012 numbers in white with transparent background.

*Please note that the backgrounds shown are for examples of use only and are NOT included with the 2012 bundle download. You can find all my clip art packages here: {Tracee's Graphics}

Link Up at Secondary Solutions

Calling all secondary teachers!

If you teach middle or high school and blog or have a website, head over to the Secondary Solutions Link Up for Secondary Teachers. You'll be able to post your blog or website in your field so others can find you. Don't miss out - share your knowledge with other teachers and gain more readers to your site!

Happy New Year! Back to School Writing Activity

Happy New Year, Everyone! 

I hope you are enjoying this holiday break. I know I have not been the greatest at updating this blog, but one of my resolutions is to do a better job of sharing my teaching resources, classroom activities, and ideas with you.

One activity you can share with your students when you go back to school is this free download of New Year Activities. It includes four different activities and one that can be used for a new school year or new class (if you have a new group of students at semester or in the fall).

The first activity is a basic printable for writing a resolution. Students should choose something they want to accomplish or make sure they don't do for 2012 and write about it in complete sentences.

The second activity is a list-writing goal-setting activity with a twist. Students play off the words twenty-twelve and write twenty things that they want to do or accomplish in 2012 and twelve things they want to make sure they don't do.

The third activity is an acrostic poem-writing activity, but instead of using letters, the numbers (or words) for 2012 are used to begin each line. Students should start each line with the words Two, Zero, One, and Two (though they may use the actual numbers, it would just be read "Two..." and so on). Here's an example:
  (2) Two times I've searched
  (0) Zero times I've found my
  (1) One true love, but
  (2) Two more times might just do it.
Students can write an nontraditional acrostic and use the words in the middle of the line, as well. When it comes to poetry, anything goes!

The fourth activity involves a scavenger hunt for the students to find things in the classroom. It involves some critical and even creative thinking on their part. Feel free to tweak it to work for you and your classroom.

The last activity is a generic writing prompt for the start of the new year. It can be used for a back-to-school activity, when you have a new group of students, or any new year.

I hope you enjoy these activities! 

Make sure to download them {HERE}. 

If you like the clip art, I'll be posting it soon in my store. 

Just click on the link the left of this article to find all my clip art (both free and for purchase). 

All my art can be used for commercial purposes.

Winter and Holiday Tips and Activities

In case you missed it, a group of 50 teachers collaborated on a Holiday/Winter eBook with free tips and downloads to use in your K-12 classroom. You can download it FREE by clicking on the link below:

FREE Holiday eBook

Happy Holidays, Friends!