Coming off of Thanksgiving break and knowing that Christmas is all around us, it is often difficult to keep my little elves motivated to learn.  I like to find interesting project-based activities to keep their attention!  This week, we will be doing a Christmas Around the World project!  Last year, my students LOVED this!  I did the background work by looking for websites that provide the following for different countries:
1.  Flag
2.  Location
3.  How to say Merry Christmas
4.  3 History Facts of the country
5.  Environment/Climate
6.  3 Holiday Traditions
7.  Recipe

It took a while to find all of these items for different countries.  I had to narrow it down to the ones I could find all items for so the students would be able to find the information without going onto different sites.  I thought 29 different countries would be enough since I've never had more than 28 students in my class.  To start, I tell students they are going on a trip and need a passport.  They choose a country from my list in a hat or container.  Then they fill out their passports.


Next, the students are given a booklet to record research and a website where I have their web quest all ready for them.


Here are some examples from last year:


The last example above is from presentations.  As students present their projects, other students have to choose four other countries to take notes about their traditions.

Students are also given a doll pattern to dress according to the traditional clothing of that country.  I have a Pinterest board that helps with this section!  Christmas Around the World Pinterest Board  Look how stinkin cute some of my students made their dolls last year!


Although my students loved this project, they loved the International Food Fair even more!  If you have time to do this, your students will remember it forever!  I have prior students who tell me how they remember this project and Food Fair as being the highlight of their year.  There is always so much food!  I usually offer extra credit for anyone who wants to bring in food.



If you are interested in conducting this research with your students, you can download my web quest and printables.  Christmas Around the World Project  It is also included in my larger literacy bundle:  Christmas Literacy Bundle

Keep your students engaged with project-based learning!

Our last mini lesson #8 was on Table of Contents.  Now it is time to introduce the writing process to your class.  Every writing program out there will stress the importance of encouraging students to use steps in a writing process.  Here are some ways I found it helpful with my fourth graders.  Below you will find a link to get these posters for FREE!


Step One:  Prewriting:  Brainstorming and Graphic Organizer




The first part of prewriting is brainstorming ideas.  If there is not a prompt to follow, then have students go back to their "Ideas" section in their interactive notebooks.  Remember where we brainstormed ideas for our I, heart, hand, home, question mark?  This will get them thinking about a topic that is interesting so their ideas can flow.




Whether it is a free writing paper or a prompt, students will need to choose a graphic organizer that will work well for that type of writing.  Click on the graphic organizers below for a free download!


Step Two- Rough Draft

For this step, I tell my students to JUST WRITE!  Don't worry about spelling or anything else.  Put your story together by writing writing writing!  Get your thoughts down!  I tell my kiddos to skip lines to have room to revise later.  I love to model this step and my students want to correct all my mistakes and I tell them, "Let me write!  I don't want to lose my thoughts!"  Get comfortable, sit around the room, and wwwwwrrrrrrriiiiiiiitttttteeeeeee!




Step Three-  D.A.R.E. to Revise

Read your story out loud!  The best advice I've ever given for this stage is for students to listen to their own writing.  They can read it out loud or record themselves reading their stories.  I guarantee they will find fragments, run-ons, or words that just don't make sense!  D stands for delete, A stands for add, R stands for rearrange, and E stands for exchange.  In a later mini lesson, I will go in more depth with each of the DARE to revise components.  While revising, I require my students to use a different colored pen or pencil so I can see their attempt to making it better.  So many times these little cherubs think their rough draft is their best draft.  Time to pump them up to REVISE!



Step Four-  C.U.P.S. to Edit

Capitals, Usage, Punctuation, Spelling.  When my students are editing, I ask them to use a different colored pen or pencil.  However, if they want to use multiple colors, I allow that as well.  My philosophy is as long as they are editing and I can see their attempts, that is what matters!  Don't forget that National Punctuation Day is September 24th!!!


Step Five- Peer Reflection

I allow this step so students can get feedback from a peer.  I supply them with a reflection form, sticky notes, and a writing checklist.  I ask them to take this step seriously and pretend they are a teacher or editor.  I remind them that we not only give advice on how to fix their peer's paper, but we need to let them know the parts that ROCK!  Students should not write on each other's papers.  Many students take such pride in their work and don't want anyone else writing on it.  This is where sticky notes are a blessing!  After they receive the sticky note and reflection form, it is completely their own decision on what they want to change OR not.  This is their last chance to make their papers better!



Step Six- Final Copy

Time to be neat!  Depending on your instructions, students need to write final copies neatly.  If they are handwritten, I ask them to sit a desk or table to help assure proper handwriting posture to optimize their final outcome.  If it is a typed paper, it must also be neat and free from typos.


Click here for the UPPER ELEMENTARY version above.  I have a PRIMARY version of these posters as well and guess what?  They are free!  Oh yeah!  No lie!  The picture below is an old picture I had of how I displayed it in the classroom.  Notice in the picture below, I have clothespins.  I have my students mark the step of writing they are on so I can quickly glance and see who may need help.  I can't take credit for this nifty idea- found it on pinterest, but I do LOVE it!


I hope your students got a good grasp of the writing process!  Stay tuned for Writing Mini Lesson #10- Narrative Writing standards and elements.

How was your clincher lesson #7?  I like to stop after clinchers and revisit Table of Contents.  I have students double check page numbers with their Table of Contents and fix any mistakes.  It is also a good place to pause and grade their progress!  Here is my example of Table of Contents.  I like to add the picture related to the skill so students can quickly think back and remember our lesson.

Now that you have finished Mini Lesson #6- Relevant Details, it is time to finalize the paragraph with a CLOSING SENTENCE!  FYI-  This lesson is for ending a paragraph not a concluding paragraph for the end of an essay.  That will come later!

MINI LESSON #7 CLOSING SENTENCE

1.  Teach:  A closing sentence is the concluding sentence. Close the door to the paragraph!


Do you need a complete NO PREP Sentence Structure AND Paragraph Unit?  There are anchor charts, interactive notebooks pages, practice worksheets, and task cards for each of the following:  Complete Sentences, Fragments, Run-Ons, Topic Sentences, Rockin Beginnings, Indents, Relevant Details, Transition Words, Closing Sentences, and Clinchers!  As a Bonus- hamburger graphic organizer, and assessment!





ROCK 'N' WRITE!!!!!

I am so stinking excited to teach Secret Garden this year.  I took my old version of the unit activities and completely did a facelift!  You won't even recognize it!  This extensive unit is based on the story, Secret Garden, by Frances Hudgson Burnett and is a aligned to COMMON CORE standards with oodles of reading skills!

It has chapter questions and activity sheets that I create into a student notebook, a vocabulary quiz and a unit test.  The test has 26 questions based around BLOOM'S TAXONOMY!!!!  Answers to all the questions and tests are included.  If you are a Facebook fan, I am offering a free copy today to a winner.  Go to https://www.facebook.com/rockinteachingresources to enter!

Test:
Knowledge- multiple choice
Comprehension- sequencing
Application- predicting and finding results
Analysis- Figurative language related to the story
Synthesis- Relating character behaviors
Evaluate- Explaining thoughts and ideas

Here is a sneak peek!

Are you ready for your next mini lesson?  The previous paragraph writing lesson was on topic sentences which leads us into:


1.  Teach:  Within a paragraph, writers need to STICK TO THE TOPIC.  This means that everything in the paragraph is related to the topic sentence and is IMPORTANT!

• These details support the topic and give the writing true meaning.
• It creates imagery, a picture in the reader's mind.
• This is the perfect place to include personal experiences or detailed examples.

2.  Take Notes:  Students should take notes and show examples.  VIP-P- very important piece to the paragraph!  This provides students with a future reference when writing paragraphs.

Hello!  Welcome to one of our writing mini lessons!  Now that your students are WRITING COMPLETE SENTENCES, it is time to transition into paragraph writing!    These lessons are broken down into 3 mini lessons 5-6-7- Topic Sentences, Relevant Details and Closing Sentences.





The first paragraph lesson is:  
MINI LESSON #5 TOPIC SENTENCES

1.  Teach:  Paragraphs need to have topic sentences.  It is a way of organizing and expressing the main idea of the paragraph!

• It answers questions like why, how, or where.
• It has supporting sentences or relevant details.
• It can prove, explain, or describe something.

• It is usually 5 letter spaces.
• The first sentence of every paragraph should be indented to show where the paragraph begins.
• The rest of the sentences should be lined up on the left.  If using notebook paper, these sentences should line up on the pink or red line.

3.  Take notes:  If using interactive notebooks, create something similar to the following.  Students should take notes and show examples.  This will provide them with a great reference for future writing assignments.

Students should brainstorm ideas for a paragraph of their own.


4.  Apply:   Students use their brainstorming skills to write a paragraph using a topic sentence.  Shoulder partners can point out the topic sentence or share as a whole group.  Students can hold a hand up to their ears if they hear the topic sentence.  This will help keep their attention!

5.  Go Deeper:  Do you want your topic sentence to have a Rockin' Beginning?  This can also be helpful to differentiate in your classroom.  Use the following FREE resource to help students write better topic sentences:


6.  Practice:  Provide students with practice.  Have them identify topic sentences, write topic sentences, and write rockin' beginnings.  Task cards are a great way to give students practice especially in centers.  You are welcome to use the samples below when creating your own materials to use in your classroom.


7.  Assessment and Tracking:  Have students work independently on an assignment and record their progress.  This will be helpful when forming small instructional groups and review.


I hope you learned something in lesson #5!  To continue with paragraph writing lessons, click MINI LESSON #6   RELEVANT DETAILS.


Do you need a complete NO PREP Sentence Structure AND Paragraph Unit?  There are anchor charts, interactive notebooks pages, practice worksheets, and task cards for each of the following:  Complete Sentences, Fragments, Run-Ons, Topic Sentences, Rockin Beginnings, Indents, Relevant Details, Transition Words, Closing Sentences, and Clinchers!  As a Bonus- hamburger graphic organizer, and assessment!





ROCK 'N' WRITE!!!!!