How to Spell Plural Nouns

Over the years, I've noticed that kids can't spell. Plain and simple. It started a couple of decades ago, when there was a lack of phonics instruction in primary grades because of education reform. We were told that kids would figure out how to read by just reading a book. I disagreed then, and I still disagree.

The people who thought up this brilliant plan didn't understand that kids have to know the sounds of letters, blends, etc. in order to decode words. Short, long vowel sounds. What sound does "CH" make?

What happens if you put an "E" on the end of HOT? We, who had phonics instruction and were taught spelling rules, know that an "E"added to the end of a CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) word, gives the vowel "O" a long sound. If kids don't know the CVC rules, how are they going to master spelling at a young age?  What about two vowels together? We learned "When two vowels, going walking, the first does the talking".  Isn't this true of the word BOAT?  What vowel do you hear? Right! "O". Any child that isn't taught the "rule" might have no idea of how to pronounce it.  

One year, when I was teaching fifth grade, a boy pronounced "boat" as "BO- AT".  It really didn't shock me because I knew that he had little or no phonics instruction up to fifth grade. That's a perfect example of why we need to stress spelling and pronunciations of words. 

Another year, I was giving a "Back to School" presentation and told the parents that even though we weren't "allowed" to teach phonics, I teach it. I got a HUGE round of applause! One parent told me that she had been frustrated because it wasn't being taught, and she was teaching her daughter, phonics and spelling rules at home, the best she could. 

That's a long story about why I created this "How to Spell Plural Nouns chart and activity!  Why is it free? I'm hoping that MANY teachers download it and use it with their students, then hopefully, future generations will know how to spell!

Shiloh Student Worksheets

I don't know about you, but as a child, I loved dog and horse stories.  It seems that when I was growing up, girls loved animal stories and boys loved mysteries and adventure stories. 

The Call of the Wild by Jack London, Old Yeller, Sounder, The Black Stallion by Walter Farley and so many more were on my "must read" lists in fifth grade. It may sound a little strange, but I always selected library books that had the shabbiest covers, figuring they had been read by thousands. 

I was always drawn to animals stories when animals were saved from terrible circumstances.

I used to help my sister save baby animals that had strayed from the burrow or nest. How could we leave a poor baby robin on the ground when it had fallen out of its nest? A neighborhood cat would have it as a snack if we didn't.

We took our lives in our hands as the mother robins would screech and dive bomb us as we chased the little bird around the yard. It usually couldn't fly, so the chase always ended quickly. We always placed those little birds in a high bush or shrub close to where the nest was. 

Then we'd run inside and peek out the window to see if the mother would fly down to her fluff ball baby. We were never disappointed because mama robins will try to coax their little chirpers up to the nests and if that's not successful, they'll fly down and feed them big fat juicy worms. Yum!

When I first read Shiloh I immediately loved Marty for trying to save the little beagle, Shiloh, from his mean tempered owner. I knew it would be a great read aloud and the girls in my class would be wiping tears from their eyes as they, too, wanted Marty to save Shiloh.

When I introduce a book to my students, I always explain that authors have reasons or purposes for writing stories. Many times they have an experience that sparks an idea for a story. Mrs. Naylor had an experience with an abandoned dog during one of her vacations. The dog never left her thoughts so a few years later, she wrote "Shiloh".

My 54 page packet, with ready to print worksheets, is aligned with the Common Core for grades 4 an 5 but can be used with grade 6, too!

Click on the cover to learn much more about the packet. 

NonFiction Bingo

Kids will learn nonfiction elements as they have fun playing Bingo! Run a weekly Bingo contest! Winners put their Bingo coupons in the Bingo Jar and win prizes! Laminate and use year to year!

Included in the packet are:
Call out card

4 pages of creative design markers

6 different bingo cards

Bingo winner coupons

Bingo labels for the Bingo Jar

Instructions

Click on the cover for more!

                                     

NonFiction Find It, Check It

When I first started teaching nonfiction, I wanted to model a lesson for my students that would be fun. That week, we brainstormed for topics they like reading about. I asked them to give me topics and not specific genre. Before I knew it, my board was covered with topics I never knew interested them. Some listed hobbies, others listed sports, and games they enjoy, but the topic that won, when we voted, was animals.

I think back to when I was in school and my all time favorite topic was horses. I lived, breathed and dreamed about black stallions, prancing pintos and buttermilk colored mares with dark manes. I was sure that if I asked the girls what specific animals they loved, it would be horses.

This was the perfect time to write TOPIC on  the board and under it, the word SUBTOPIC. I then asked for a volunteer to give me the name of a specific animal.

One of my eager girls was oooo'ing and almost fell off her chair as she waved her hand wildly. 

"Call on me, call on me!" she moaned.  I was sure she was going to say "HORSE" so when she yelled "CAPYBARA" I was stunned. Capybara are in the rodent family and are, from what I've read, the largest rodents in the world. They live in South America and are quite vocal! From her response, I realized that times sure have changed. I wondered what the rest of the kids would say....

Here's a little video of a capybara being petted at the Explorarama Lodge on the Napo River in the Amazon. Listen to the chitter chatter of this cute critter!
I showed this video to the kids and they were all crying out "I WANT ONE! I WANT ONE! I told them I wasn't sure if their parents would really like it if they brought one home and told them my two dachshunds would definitely NOT like it at all.

Capybara - YouTube

Back to Nonfiction....

I told my capybara girl that I didn't think we could think of a lot of details about the capybara, so we had to select another animal on the board. I praised her for knowing about capybara and she beamed.

The kids added many subtopic animals to our list on the board. Some were giraffes, dolphins, lions, tigers, hamsters, guinea pigs, hippos and more. I found it strange that most were wild animals instead of domesticated pets like kittens, puppies, canaries and HORSES!

At that point, I had them vote for one so I could continue my lesson, which by this time, had the kids really interested and on task. They selected dolphins. I kidded with them and told them dolphins would be too big for their home aquariums. Immediately, I had one boy blurt out that he'd build a HUGE aquarium for it. I grinned and told him I'd like to be in on that project.

We then listed details about dolphins... mammals, live in water, eat other fish, intelligent, etc. Right after that I handed them one of my worksheets that I created and broke them into small groups. They were to do some research about other animals and had to have all the same answers on their worksheets which means they'd have to agree about what was important and what wasn't.

I recently put this Nonfiction Find It, Check It packet together to share with everyone. You'll find worksheets that can be used with any Nonfiction text, a poster, bookmarks with NonFiction features and more.

I also included a detailed animal lesson with excellent kid friendly websites. The Smithsonian National Zoo has animal cams the kids can watch. There's a NASA site with facts about the sun. The National Geographic animal site is another excellent website I included.

This is a great packet that teaches kids the features of nonfiction and motivates them to find the features in any nonfiction text.

I'm still wondering why kids don't like black stallions or pinto ponies.  Times sure have changed...

Have fun!

Ruth

Ireland mini report for St. Patrick's Day FREE

Your students will love working on this mini report about Ireland as a St. Patrick's Day activity. Included are writing, drawing, map making and researching topics. These ready to print, creatively designed worksheets can be used in both social studies and Language Arts classes. Click on the cover page for this FREE download! :)

FREE Punch or Stamp Cards for Classroom Management

No matter what time of year it is, teachers are always thinking about school! 

Classroom management and behavior are two top teacher issues.  

My FREE punch cards packet is a positive reward system that works! Over the years I've been teaching, I've tried many different classroom management systems and this one is great! I love positive reward systems. so I highly recommend this one. 

Just keep in mind that if you begin a reward system or any other type of behavior/classroom management system, it has to be done consistently.  If you don't follow through, your students will know. In my opinion, that's why some teachers have difficulty with behavior management techniques. Follow through is extremely important if the system is going to work.

Oh! If you don't want to punch the cards, each time a student reaches a milestone, you can stamp them with your special teacher stamp or you can use decorative punches that can be purchased in craft stores! 

Try the cards with a student who doesn't do homework or who has a hard time managing his or her time or materials and you'll definitely see positive changes.  The packet has all the instructions needed.  These cards have been used with 5th, and 6th grade students. 

I did, however, have a 7th grade teacher friend of mine,  who just couldn't reach a couple of her students. One, a very bright girl, was totally disorganized and the other student never completed his homework when it was due. She asked if she could try my punch cards. I told her the illustrations would be too "young" for her students. Well, it worked!  The students were a bit immature and needed a special pat on the back and TLC. That and the cards were a perfect fit. 

Click on the card to see more.. :) 

Ruth

Design-A-Game Book Report

I created this book report when I was my state's representative on the Weekly Reader National Teacher Advisory Board.  A few years later, I presented it at the NELMS (New England League of Middle Schools) convention for four years, along with other activities and resources I created. Over six thousand educators attend the NELMS convention, so it was really exciting to be asked to be a presenter. 

The feedback from teachers, parents and students about this book report has been phenomenal! 

Surprise your students by handing them the certificate that says they've been chosen to design a board game for a game company before you introduce the project and watch the fun begin! 

The main objective is to reinforce comprehension strategies. As class friends play the games that have 16 events in sequential order, they'll be introduced to a book they might want to read. What better way to learn about new books!


Kids have to design the board game at home so there is a sheet of instructions and a rubric for parents. This 19 page packet includes everything you need for this book report including my detailed instructions. Kids have told me over the years that it's one of the best reports they've ever done. 

Have a "Game Day" and invite other classes to come play your students' games with them. 

You'll be amazed when you see how creative the games are. 

Find out more by clicking on the cover of my packet!

I LOVE sharing this book report with other educators.