This post is about one of my absolute favorite reading + writing activities. I know it's been done before in a ton of different ways and has been given various titles, but I just call it 'Mixed Up Sentences.' Here's the low down: | 1. Gather different colored paper and cut into strips. I keep a handy supply of strips in 10 assorted colors. I'll tell you why *10* later. | 2. Get out your curriculum materials, a black Sharpie, and scissors. | | 3. Decide how you want to use this activity. Center? Assessment? Pre-assessment? Fun practice?
Decide which recording sheet to use. (See below)
Find sentences in your curriculum (or think some up) that match the purpose or skill your trying to target.
| 4. How many sentences did you decide to do? Gather that many different colored strips.
My favorite one is this one... with 10 lines. | | 5. Write your sentences. Neatly. One per strip!
{7.22.12 - I just realized that I'm losing it. Teaching British English over here has led to me spelling things differently... like 'theatre.' Maybe it's the French that's doing it?} | 6. Cut the sentences apart between each letter. Leave the punctuation attached to a word if you can. They're small and can get lost easily. You can even chunk two words together if you have beginners! | | 7. Admire how pretty the pieces are. | 8. This is how I set mine up as a center. I am obsessed with those pencil bags from Wal-Mart. They're cheap and paper fits perfectly when you fold it in half. I put the recording sheet, sentence pieces, and 10 matching colored pencils inside the bag. Now you're ready to rock n roll! | 9. Let your students get to work! You can have them do it individually, in pairs, or in small groups! Sometimes I even split it up and have two centers with five sentences each... especially if they're rigorous sentences. They just do five, put away their recording sheet, then get it back out when it's time to do the rest.
They piece together all of the sentences, color their little circles, and write!
HINT: If this activity is not for an assessment, then I like to check their sentences before they write. They simply raise their hand when they've pieced a sentence (or all) together and I let them know if it's correct or not. Saves time and frustration on their part.
| If you're the type that just can't stand writing things out, then try this approach... different fonts. Type all of your sentences out, but change each sentence to a different font. Make sure they're really different though! It backfired on me once when my kids couldn't tell the difference between Arial and Times New Roman. Seriously. They don't even look alike do they?!
| Have students at different levels? Of course you do. You can differentiate this activity easily. Make more than one set of sentences. Same content. Different learning levels. | Hopefully all those little instructions make sense! Once you do it one time, you be able to whip it up again quickly. This activity can be used for virtually any topic, any level, and I like to weave in some science and social studies topics when I can. It's another way to integrate content. Here are some more adaptation ideas:
- I usually do this as a center with only one set of sentences, but you could do it whole class if you wanted to. Type the same sentence onto a page (multiple times), copy onto colored paper, then cut. Might be a bit crazy with pieces getting mixed up, but it works if you're kiddos are super organized. Maybe they could use little trays to keep their pieces in?
- Since I have a small class sizes (10 EFL/ESL students in each class), I do this as a whole group activity by having them sit in a large circle and giving them 2 minutes with each sentence. They piece it together, raise their hand, I check, they write, then we rotate when everyone is done! Works like a charm.
- Sentences can be hints to a special activity or something else. If you're studying bears, then you could have sentences that stated facts about bears! Roar.
- Use the font version (above), cut out the words, mix them around on a piece of copy paper, glue down, copy, and send home for homework! Students could bring it back all cut apart and pieced back together.
There are many ways to adapt this activity. Got any more fun ideas or ways to adapt it?! Here's a little freebie for ya'll! It's the recording sheets I use when I do this activity. There are different types depending on the level you teach and how many sentences you want to use. Dotted lines for younger kids and plain for older. I most often use the 10 line portrait version (the one in the photos). My fave. See on TPT. So, what do you think? Have you done this before or is it something you think you can use? I really do love it and my kids do too!
Enjoy!
Making words is one of my favorite activities to do in the classroom. It's perfect for a variety of levels and you can use it with literally anything. If you don't know what it is then you might want to check out one of these books below... awesome buy. I promise you'll use it. I have the second grade one.
I use this activity every other week in my EFL classes because it gets them thinking about what words they already know in English. Here's how we used it last week:
Step 1:
I adapted this sheet below to say 'happy valentines day' on the bottom. You can't see my lines very well because I copied it too lightly... :(
| | Tip: Draw a straight line in the bottom of your boxes if you have kiddos who will mix up P's with D's and U's with N's. They'll know which way the letters are supposed to face.
| Step 2:
I made enough copies for my kiddos.
Step 3:
When I introduced it, I modeled how to do the activity... cut apart the letters, made blends we've learned, added vowels, etc. until I had made a few short words. I also wrote my words down.
Step 4:
When I handed it out they got right to work and it took them about 25 minutes to get 20 words... and they were working hard the whole time. I did give them a couple hints though. I put up the words 'at' and 'in' on the board and reminded them that they could add letters to them.
Step 5:I made a grid on the whiteboard and invited each student to come up and write 3 words they made... not duplicating words that were already written. They're o.b.s.e.s.s.e.d. with writing on the board. I mean obsessed. So, the ending was their favorite.They did really well and I can tell their spelling has improved tremendously, as spelling is one of those EFL skills hardest to master. They do a great job of putting together chunks of sounds they already know.
There are tons of ways to adapt this activity. It can be done as whole group, small group, partner work, centers (after they've done it once before), etc. You can make paper letter tiles each time or use some you already have. I used little plastic letter tiles when I had this as a cernter. You can choose any word (6 or more letters works best) and it's easy to make it relate to your current unit of study. Studying animals? Use the word animal! You can even use a phrase... "we love animals." More words that way!
I even use it with my high school EFL students. It's great for any English language learner... gets them thinking about all the English words they already know. I put a minimum letter count so they avoid writing down a ton of short easy words.
Sites to generate lists of words that can be made from a specific word:
ScrabbleFinder.com (up to 12 letters)
WordSolver.net (up to 15 letters)
Wordplays (up to 16 letters)
Wordles (up to 30 letters) Making Words Printables I posted all of the adaptable sheets I use on TPT fo $2. You'll get a ZIP file with... 14 recording sheets (similar to the one above, but different styles for various needs 5 different word/letter strips to adapt before copying 1 workmat for the kids (I laminated a few to use when I do this as a center) | | Here's a FREE download so you can check one of the sheets out. This one has adaptable boxes at the bottom. Just write your letters, copy for students, and they will just cut the strip off the bottom. :) Have a great weekend everyone!
Ashley
Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Valentine's day! I've been away for a few days. The husband and I went to Barcelona for a weekend trip. It was our joint birthday & valentine's day gift to each other. It was about twenty degrees warmer than Geneva, so it was welcomed even though it was still just 45 degrees. I didn't have to wear gloves though! Beautiful city. I think I could live there and eat tapas for the rest of my life. Soooo yum. Our Valentine's day wasn't overly exciting yesterday. We made pizza together and cuddled up on the couch. We've never been huge vday people. It's kind of weird... cute... but weird. We try to show our love, eat chocolate, drink wine, and buy flowers weekly. No sense in waiting all year for only one day of it. I always love reading the posts on Facebook from the Valentine's Day haters. It's so entertaining. Anyway, here's a FREE bingo set you can use for a Valentine's day activity. I posted this on TPT several days ago, but never got around to doing a blog post about it. Hopefully you found it before yesterday? See on TPTHope everyone had a lovely Vday!
Ashley
Well, I'm officially sick. I've been in denial. We went to Verbier this weekend to ski and I finally accepted it on the way home when I found that I was 'mouth breathing' and wiping snot from my upper lip every thirty seconds. Turns out it wasn't the skiing or altitude. :(
I'm excited that I've reached the 6 follower mark! Woohoo! I might throw myself a wine party when I hit double digits. I'm really enjoying having this blog. It's fun and I'm making some new connections in the process.
Onto business... You know the ' I have, who has' game? Hopefully. I love it and it's a great activity for vocabulary, reviews, math... basically anything. I have found that this game even works well with my EFL kids. It tackles the listening, speaking, and reading components I work into each lesson. I've had this template for a few years and just adapt it to whatever I've need. I went ahead and made it TPT/follower friendly. I also took pictures of my own sets, included directions, ideas, sample cards, and 32 adaptable cards. This template is so easy to use. You click on the boxes, type text, enter pictures, and print. The boxes don't shift and the pictures will re-size themselves to fit... no giant clipart overtaking the document when you insert it. I'm going to post some free PDF sets (various content) on here in the next couple of days, so be on the look out. In the meantime, here is the set you can customize yourself. I've posted it to TPT. It's $2.00 and you can 'Save As' to keep each set you create. Make as many as you want!  Here's a FREE I Have, Who Has set for food. 7 pages, 30 different foods, setup instructions, and an answer key. See on TPT
 Here's a FREE I Have, Who Has set for Numbers 1-25. 6 pages, numbers 1-25, setup instructions, and an answer key.
See on TPT
|  Here's a FREE I Have, Who Has set for animals. 7 pages, 30 different foods, setup instructions, and an answer key. See on TPT
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Hopefully you find these useful. Hope everyone has a great Monday!
Ashley
So, I'm sort of a calendar nut. I love having a large one (whether printed or in a book form) that I can write all over. I love my iPad calendar, but after recently losing it in Chicago (at the airport) and waiting an agonizing 14 days to retrieve it, I've decided to just do the paper one and add to the iPad if needed. I think I'll eventually be in the 21st century again. I used to do everything by Outlook, but I don't have it anymore with this new computer... too cheap to spend $100 on just Outlook.
Here are some calendars I've had on my computer for a while... I didn't just decide to make a bunch of calendars. That's been done before... but I do love the cute colors. :) I use this one pictured below (picture of June because the months prior are already written all over and you don't need to know my birthday or travel plans). I love Monday start calendars because it makes the weekend more exciting for some reason... gray boxes together give the illusion of a longer break? I don't know.
Below are six calendar sets you can download for FREE. There are colored ones (my favorite) and black and white versions too. Three different styles: Blank Monday Start, Blank Sunday Start, and 2012. Click the picture to download a set on TPT. Colored Calendars | Black & White Calendars |
Hopefully they come in handy! Happy Monday! Or is it?
Ashley
I've been on a TPT rampage the past 24 hours. I have a feeling this will be the first of many. I keep finding goodies on my computer that are ready to post. :) Here are some recent ones.... My EFL kiddos had a super hard time learning the concept of "this is, that is, these are, those are." So, I made this fun little packet of printables to use. I laminated everything so they can't be destroyed easily... I have one kid who has a habit of folding everything in half. See on TPT. Next up is the Pick-A-Dot SmartBoard game. My kids were O.B.S.E.S.S.E.D. with this thing. Choose a student, they pick a dot, and then read the sight word. I did this a lot with teams and it even made a great center... once I could trust them with the SmartBoard. You can adapt it to anything... kind of like the Jeopardy setup, just dots. See on TPT. This next little activity was always so cute. I used them each time I introduced a new letter, but they can be used for other things too. Very simple. It says: "They used to be a's, but now_______________." (fill in the blank) and they'd have to create a new picture from whatever letters were in the middle. My kiddos came up with some hilarious stuff. See on TPT. Drum roll........ The Mystery Bag packet. Ooooooo. Aaaahhhhh. I always did a little mystery bag in my classrooms and just recently broke it out again with my EFL kids. They love it just as much and it's a great inferencing activity and vocabulary builder. There are lots of things included: posters, clue cards, examples of questions, a journal page, different levels of worksheets to go along with your own mystery bag, guessing slips, and a lot more. See on TPT. So, that's it for now. I've got a couple more on deck for this weekend. :)
Ashley
So... I opened my own little TPT store. I've been wanting to for a while and finally did it. Super easy! Now I can start posting all sorts of goodies I have saved on my hard drive. :) Here's my first product: Download at TPT for FREE!They're cute little reproducible postcards. I used these a lot in my writing center. The kids love writing postcards to one another or their parents. There is a place for a stamp (or sticker) on each and they come in colors or bw. I've included a full-size 8.5x11 one for use during group lessons, shared writing, etc. Enjoy! Ashley
When I taught pre-k and kindergarten, I found that I struggled with getting assessments done in an efficient and timely manner. I really wanted a way that I could do a quick whole-class assessment of basic skills (uppercase, lowercase, numbers, shapes, colors, etc.) instead of having to sit down with each student and say...
"Can you write a big A?"
"Now can you write a big B?"
"Big C?"
"How about a big D?"
and on... and on... and on. F-o-r-e-v-e-r and ever and ever. (Literally 3 days out of each quarter)
... I wanted a way to do it quick. A way to assess them and be able to use it immediately, send home, or bring out at conference time.
I came up with these 'assessment grids' a few years ago and love, love, love them. I remember seeing something like this in college, but not sure where. Also, I don't remember coming across any with symbols (could be out there, but I have no idea). They are perfect for the younger kiddos and for giving whole-class assessments.
They are grids with symbols instead of numbers and letters... because sometimes those itty-bitties don't know their numbers and letters yet. Also, sometimes you have kids who write/draw in 8 inch font. The boxes keep them from getting too crazy.... those darn 'helicopter arm' kids.  Using this one above I knew which uppercase letters 'Student A' needed more work on. I could also let her parents know easily. :) Easy peezy lemon squeezy. Click the Pictures Below to Download a Few Samples Grid with 12 Blocks | Grid with 30 Blocks | Small & Large Symbols |
Need more? Or maybe some with numbers? |  If you like the three downloads above, consider downloading my whole pack. It contains: 4 different grids with symbols 4 different grids with numbers 1 set of large symbols 1 set of small symbols Guess what? It's FREE! See on TPT
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You can use them for lots of things! Here's how I used them.Step 1: Print a copy (I kept a lot in a folder). Put the type/name of assessment at the bottom right corner (and date if you want). Make copies for kids. Step 2: Show them the symbols and make sure they know what each one is. (I used large copies of the symbols during the assessment, so there was no confusion.) Hold the symbol up during testing so they know what box to write in. Step 3: Pass the assessment grids out and ensure they can't see each other's papers Step 4: Give the assessment. (list below are ways I've used these) "In the box with the scissors, write a lowercase m.", "In the box with the envelope, write the number 3.", etc. Step 5: Check it. I used a highlighter to highlight boxes that 'needed work' (wrong). I could have them fix the ones they missed, keep them for conferences (handwriting progress), or use them to make notes in my gradebook. Ways you can assess using these grids:
- Whole-class, small group, or individual
- Writing upper or lowercase letters
- Writing numbers
- Drawing shapes
- Colors ("Color the scissor box yellow.')
- Sight words (although they're probably advanced enough to "number their papers" by this point)
- Writing sentences (12 block)
- Counting ("In the box with the flower, put 13 dots.")
- Greater than/less than/equal to (show problem on the board, they draw the symbol)
- Beginning/Ending sounds ("In the scissor box, what sound does 'cat' begin with?")
- Addition/Subtraction
- Measurement (they each had a ruler and went around to different stations, labeled with the symbol, and measured an object)
- Science vocabulary (again, with the symbol stations, they'd look at a picture and write down the vocabulary word shown)
- TONS OF STUFF! Seriously, you can adapt it to anything.
Important: If you send it home make sure it's one that parents will understand (or staple the questions to it). A grid of random things marked wrong is no help. Hope you find this helpful and easy. :) Ashley
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