My Kiddos BEG for this Writing Assignment

Hello darlings! One of my favorite writing assignments each year is creating a Diary story based on the Diary of a Worm series. My students LOVE this activity every year!  We spend a few days reading  Diary of a Fly, Diary of a Worm, and Diary of a Spider.  We chart the characteristics that each book shares. 

For example, each story is a diary written by one of the characters. It is written in first person point of view. The other two characters from the other books are included.  Each book includes events that happen at home and at school.( Etc)

After our brain storming, kiddos make a story board to plan out their “Diary”.  They can choose any character they want to be.  I’ve had kids choose dogs, rabbits, cats, caterpillars, etc.

We take time to really plan out each entry and we team up with partners to help us make sure we stay on track.

Once we edit and revise, we write on final copies on plain white paper. (Notice the marker on her page from another student editing)

I have had kiddos present their books in many different ways…

1. Share with buddies in a lower grade.
2. Present in front of our class.
3. Share with another 3^rd grade class who also did this project.
4. Have a “Read In” where kiddos bring snacks from home and rotate to each kiddos’ desks to read each story at their own pace.  They then leave a comment on a comment paper. (They LUV this)
5. Students get into groups of 4-5 and read their stories.  They secretly vote who should share their story with the entire class.
6. Video tape each kiddo reading the story, like Reading Rainbow.  Watch 2 or 3 a day. 

I hope you get a chance to do this with your kiddos!  I have provided everything you need for FREE!  (except the books of course!) You have permission to pin this and share with your colleagues! Click the pic to download.

Have a fantastic night!  Congrats to the Giveaway winner!

Shawnda Worth @ totallywirthit blogspot

Common Core Freebies and GIVEAWAY!!!

Hello darlings!  Last summer lots of you were able to grab my FREE Common Core Checklists for teachers and kiddos.  I know lots of you may have just found me recently and you may not have seen this yet. Well, here you go!  Download these two helpful freebies and tell your friends!  I love to share!

Now are you ready for the big GIVEAWAY?  One lucky winner will get to pick ANY THREE items from my TPT store!  I have all kinds of goodies in there!

What do you have to do?

Just follow my store so you can get freebie updates.
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Terrific Tangrams

Hello darlings!  We just completed the Communication Arts section of the MAP Test this week!  Yay!  Now we just have the math section to go.  One of my colleagues found this website that has great math activities on it.  Thanks Meghan!  There is this really AWESOME video lesson on geometry that gives step by step instructions and visuals on how to create tangrams.  It talks about the different shapes such as square, triangle  rhombus, and parallelogram.  Each kiddo needs one sheet of paper and a pair of scissors.  That's it!  Kiddos then use the shapes to make different designs and objects.

This was a fantastic hands on lesson for my students.  They were finally able to see that two triangles make a square and how to combine shapes to make objects.  This website and lesson is also PERFECT to use with a substitute because all you have to do it click "play" and "next".

Enjoy!  Click here to visit Links Learning.

This is a boot. =)

Do you have any fun ways to review geometry?

State Testing is Upon Us!

Hello Darlings!  Next week is the start of our state testing: the Missouri M.A.P. Test.  Yippy!  =(  Well, all I can say is we are as ready as we are going to be.  So I thought that I would share some resources with you to help you in your state test prep.  I wish you luck and that all of your students score in the advanced range!

This year, the third grade test has brought back the writing performance event.  Our little kiddos have to read a prompt and go through all the steps of the writing process to write a five paragraph essay.  They have to
 1. Prewrite  2. Rough Draft  3. Edit/Revise 4. Final Copy all in one sitting!  Ahhhh!!!  Whoever decided this loves to torture children and teachers.  I NEVER have my kiddos write that much TWICE in one day!  Their hands and brains are done by the rough draft.

When I practice this with my kiddos, I do NOT have them practice the entire process. I simply teach them how to write the rough draft and then we edit and revise.  They do not write the final copy.  I feel practicing all of it is like practicing a road trip.  If I were going to drive from Missouri to Arizona, I would not "practice" the 2-3 day drive.  When I finally had to drive there for real, I would be dreading it because I know exactly how far and long it is.   It would probably take me even longer to get there because I would want to make a lot of rest stops.  Don't worry, my kiddos know how to copy their work into a final copy. =)

Here is the template I use to help them set up their five paragraph essay.  Please excuse my errors!!!

Here are a few prompts we practice.  Download for free!

To review for the Reading Comprehension section of the test, we read Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Book by Lauren Child.  Then kiddos answer MAPlike questions.  I always tell them to R.A.P restate, answer, prove.  

Click the pic below for this booklet in my store.

We also practice Language Art Skills using the smartboard.  I have senteo clickers so my kiddos can type in their answer choice, but this can be used on the smartboad to write on.  You can also print it out and do it as paper pencil.  If you don't have smartnotebook, go to smartnotebook interactive viewer to download a free program that will allow you to use it on your computer.

Here are some great links for skill practice.

http://www.studyzone.org/testprep/ela3.cfm#Literary%20Response

http://www.columbia.k12.mo.us/fie/jgerhart/MAP.html

I joined the Test Prep Linky over at Teaching Is a Gift!

Have a fantastic weekend!  Thanks for all of the prayers about my mom!