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!
Hi everyone! It's been a while! I'm excited to be back and in the swing of things again. Just let me tell you... I've been a bizzay girl. I was on vacation for almost 3 WEEKS and it was amazing. My sister got married, we had a ton of family in, there may have been a traumatizing spray tan incident, and I got some precious time in with the crazy nephews and some friends.
Also, on a more career-related note: I applied to grad school. Yikes. I found this awesome program (at my alma mater... UK!) a week before I left and scrambled to get all of my stuff together.... and study for/take the GRE. Yes. Two weeks of studying=no blogging. I think most normal people take time to think about these kinds of decisions and plan for plenty of time to study, write essays, etc. Didn't work out that way. It's an online program and would be perfect to do while I'm over here. I'd like to be a little more efficient and try to get the bulk of my Masters out of the way during our last year here. Anyone have experience with online programs? Like it? Hate it? Should I start drinking now?
Anyway, home for us is Kentucky, so it was H.O.T. We lived in Phoenix for three years (still have our house there) and it was much worse than anything Phoenix ever threw at us. Terrible. I forgot that it was possible for my knees and elbows to sweat. Gross. Hope the heat wave is over for any of you experiencing it! B
The wedding girls!!! I'm to the left of the gorgeous bride (my sista).
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Me & the Hubs in the Photo Booth
| Onto some blogging things. Omiword (as Babbling Abby would say). I'm blown away you all. Katie, from Queen of the FIrst Grade Jungle, did a little Sunday Safari over here on The School Supply Addict and I got a ton of hits, emails, messages, followers, etc. Thank you so much Katie! I think we might have to meet up when I move back... she's a Kentucky girl too! :) Also, I've gotten an overwhelming amount of hits from some Pinterest link... anyone know how to find out which one!? I've only pinned a few things from my own site, so that means someone else did it. That's awesome! Thanks to whoever you are! It's a link that's directing people to my 'Room Setup' page. It's a good little collection of links and ideas for setting up your room, which many of you are already doing or are having nightmares about right now. Check it Out for some great ideas!
Thanks Katie!
| | Anyway, just thought I'd drop a little post and let you know I'm still around! I have a long list of things I'm working on right now, but I did just post something that I'm totally in love with...
Lowercase Letters
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Uppercase Letters
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Lower & Uppercase Letters
| Maree Truelove is one of my absolute favorite graphic artists, so I snagged a TON (like 21 sets) from her sale she had going on. I think it ends today. These little popsicles were one. Aren't they precious!? My previous classrooms were beach themed. Even though I don't have a big ole classroom to decorate now, I'm saving these puppies for when we move back home. :) The 28-page pack includes three sets (lowercase, uppercase, and both). I also made a cute little matching sign to go with. Some previews are above. You can grab it from my TPT shop for 2 bucks, but.... I'll pick 1 winner... leave a comment for doing each of the following (each is one entry): - Follow my TPT shop
- Like The School Supply Addict of Facebook
- Follow on Twitter
- Comment and tell me what your favorite flavor of popsicle is... mine are those 'Real Fruit' bars... strawberry. Oh, Yum!
Entries close on Sunday, the 15th, at midnight. I'll announce the winner on Monday morning! :) Winners will receive... | My Popsicle Alphabet Pack | Candy Graphics by Maree Truelove
(Commercial Use) | Popsicle Graphics by Maree Truelove (Commercial Use) |
My blog reading list is out of control. I've got to check in on all of you lovely ladies (and guys)! I've seen some posts that mention a trip to VEGAS?!?!? Sounds amazing. I am so excited about moving back next year, not only because we'll be closer to family, but because I'll be closer to some of you and be able to shop at Target, Michael's, and Hobby Lobby. Trust me, I still managed to do some damage on this recent trip. The hubby had to fly back to Geneva early, so I loaded him up with cardstock, laminating pouches, and some other goodies. I'm a nut.
Thanks for all of the amazing support. It makes me just love doing this all the more. I'll be doing some serious blog-stalking tomorrow and linking up more amazing resources on here!
| I know I'm not the only one that enjoys using movies at least once a quarter. It's a great way to mix it up a bit... and a good excuse to make your room smell like popcorn.
My EFL students recently watched 'Night at the Museum.' It's super hard trying to find a movie to use (here in Geneva) that is appropriate for my kids. A lot of the movies I thought would be great wound up being filled with too many 'American' idioms or language interactions that were too complicated for them to comprehend. It seriously took me about two hours to find the perfect one. Plus, we just did a unit on 'history', so it was great!
I've had some movie review sheets stored on my computer for the past few years, but wound up revamping them into one big pack a couple of months ago. I wanted to try it out first before I posted it on TPT. Glad I did! I wound up making a few changes and adding a couple more pages. My kids did such a great job and really seemed to enjoy drawing & writing in the pack... all three of my classes. Seriously. Beginners (7-8 years old), Intermediate (9-11 year olds), and advanced (teenagers). I just adapted the amount of writing I expected of each class and it worked like a charm. They were able to tell me loads about the movie after it was finished and summaries aren't their strong suit.
So... here's my Movie Review Pack if your interested! 9 different pages that you can use with any movie! You can mix and match to make a pack that's perfect for your class. Yay!!! | What's included? There are sections that cover all of these...
-characters
-setting
-plot (beginning, middle, end)
-conflict & solution
-important vocabulary words
-designing a movie poster
-alternate ending
-connections to other movies, books, & self
-plot(flow map)
-favorite scene
-movie rating
-favorite character & character traits
-movie theater themed page to write a summary
-students create a movie quiz
You'll receive a .zip file that contains 2 pdf files... one in color and one in bw (easy on the wallet)
.... and it's only $1.50
| First two people to leave a comment (with email) will receive a free copy! Hope everyone has a great week! So glad it's almost Summer! So ready to not be pasty white anymore. I do have photos of my kids using the pack, so I'll add those tomorrow... it's way past my bedtime.
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
I just posted one of my favorite things to TPT... after spending hours making it publishable. Is that a word? Publishable? Anyway, it's something that I use and I thought I'd share!
Drum roll......................... It's called Build-A-Board-Game. You probably already guessed that. You don't actually build anything, so don't worry. Well, there is some cutting, gluing, and laminating involved. No hammers or chainsaws though.
Basically, it's a board game that you can adapt to whatever you're doing in class. It's pretty simple (similar to Candy Land, but they have to use their brains a little more) and I. LOVE. IT. My EFL kiddos love it too. I can't show you their cute little faces (for risk of getting canned), but they got to play it in class on Wednesday and I snapped a shot:
I used it as a center for reviewing our first six chapters. 70 questions over any and everything: food vocabulary, sports, using 'this, that, these,those', verb tenses, family vocabulary, etc. Here's what my questions looked like for this past week: (this is 1 out of 70)
Here's what the set looks like:
I've zipped everything together in a file. You'll receive four documents: - Introduction & Instructions: I show you pictures and give details on how to make your board(s), adapt the cards, etc.
- Game Board: the game board is approximately 11 x 16 inches. It's two letter size sheets merged together after printing. Make sure you laminate!
- Setup & Rules, Special Cards, & 'Number of Players' Cards
- 70 Adaptable cards (10 for each color), 10 Sample Questions, an Adaptable Answer Key, and an Adaptable Content Focus Sign and List
Want to see it in action?! Watch... Hopefully you can find it useful! It's available in my TPT shop if you'd like to purchase. It's only $5 and you can use it to make as many game sets as you like. I will be posting different version soon too! (different colors, themes, layouts, etc.) If you would like me to make you a custom one, then please let me know. I can change the way the board looks, colors, etc. Just send me a message on here. So far, there are 3 versions... click on the colors you like to check them out in my TPT store.
GIVEAWAY!!!
I'll be giving one of these away (your choice of color) on Friday, February 3rd, at 4:00 pm Eastern Time (10:00 pm Swiss time... my time). All you have to do is...
1. 'follow' this blog (click the blue button to the left)
2. let me know you want it by leaving a comment below
Update: Congratulations to Randy! You won a set of your choice.
I'm hoping to get my follower count up to 10... hahahaha. Have a great weekend!
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
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