Common Core Setting Comparisons

When it was first announced that the Common Core Standards would be implemented in schools across the United States, I spoke to many teachers who were searching for Common Core materials. We all thought we'd be given resources that would help us "get off on a good foot" but it didn't happen.

Many teachers attended professional development workshops to prepare them for the Common Core,  but no one was given specific resources they could use with their students. Everyone was scrambling for materials; no one wasn't happy.

For that reason, I designed Common Core resources that can be used with any books or stories that include "student friendly" rubrics.

Because it's very important students recognize similarities and difference of different settings, I Included five setting selections from five different books with activities designed so students could compare/contrast them.  

The books' settings are on different reading levels, to accommodate a wide range of readers especially because reading groups are usually heterogeneous. 

For example, it's very common to have a fifth grade ELA class with some students reading on a third, fourth, fifth, sixth and even reading on a seventh grade level!

The student friendly rubric, included, helps students understand what's expected of them in a way that's easy for them to understand. 

If you like this resource, I've created others like it, that can be used with any books or stories. There's one for almost every reading strategy... theme, cause/effect, problems/solutions, main idea, character comparisons and other Common Core resources. 

Enjoy!

Ruth

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Common Core Standards Worksheets to Use with Any Book or Story!

When the Common Core was adopted, I decided teachers would need Common Core worksheets they could use with any story or book. 

To make sets of these worksheets, would take more time than teachers have on hand, so I've developed some that will make teachers' lives easier. 

Don't you find that students often confuse main ideas with themes? Mine do! These first two resources will help them understand the differences!

Each year, I discover that many of my students don't know the "basics" thus I created foundational skills task cards that can be used as informal assessments to find out who's mastered the skills and who needs a gentle review. :)

Enjoy!

Ruth

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. 

Snowball Antonyms

After Hurricane Sandy roared up the coast causing a path of unthinkable destruction in our area, and a short time later, a Nor'Easter blizzard blasted us with Arctic winds and dumped nine inches of snow on us, I decided to create an activity packet called "Snowball Antonyms". 

This is a hands on activity, and what's really cool is your students don't have to wear mittens or gloves to do it! All that's needed are scissors, glue sticks, the activity sheets and dictionaries. 

Download this free activity to help increase your students' 

vocabulary so they will become better readers and writers! 

Have wintry fun!

Ruth

An Early December TeachersPayTeachers SALE!!

An early December sale! 

Need resources for after the holidays? 

Everything in my store is discounted! 

This is a site wide sale! TeachersPayTeachers wants you to have the best resources at very low prices. 

December 1st and December 2nd!

 

Be sure to use promo code TPTCYBER when you check out, to receive even more discounts! 

I just modified my Nonfiction Bingo packet! If you've already purchased it, you may download it  again free of charge. The packet is now 45 pages, 20 are student Bingo cards. Also included is a student nonfiction text feature guide with terms and definitions. 

Happy Holidays to All!!! 

Ruth

Madame Periwinkle's Halloween Brew

Madame Periwinkle needs your students'' help! 

Her favorite Halloween Brew recipe card was torn into strips

 and she needs your students to help her 

put them back in the correct

sequential order!!
Great for small groups!
Download this fun freebie 
and
watch your students have fun!

Madame Periwinkles Halloween Brew

Look for more of my sequence and Common Core activities at my TeachersPayTeachers store!

Back to School with the BlogLovin Blog Hop

I LOVE BLOG HOPS!

Bloggers share lessons, teaching ideas and more, then link up and travel on blog hops to see what other teachers are offering. 

What I really like is that each blog is very uniquely designed. Reading the posts provides me with new ideas. The best part of all, is you can easily move from one blog to another with just a click of your mouse. 

The most recent blog hop I joined was a Back to School blog hop. There are so many wonderful back to school lessons created by very talented teachers who love sharing their ideas. 

Take a minute to hop from one blog to another to see what's being offered. I guarantee you'll find many things you'll want to start the new school year!

Common Core Figurative Language

Do you remember walking out of workshops, your bag overflowing with papers and handouts, feeling a bit overwhelmed, wondering what you're going to have for dinner and trying to align your schedule with your kids' soccer schedule? Oh and the following day are parent conferences and you wish the workshop hadn't been held the day before conferences? 

When it was announced that the Common Core had been adopted in a majority of the states, teachers sat up and took notice. On top of all their other responsibilities, which could be possible grade level changes or moving to another school, this was just more mashed potatoes heaped on their already full plate. 

Some teachers in my district were concerned because our state and district curricula had been worked over with a fine tooth comb for years and we had it just where we thought it should be. The age old question came to mind. "If something's not broken, why fix it?" Our test scores were high. Sure, there are areas that needed attention, but overall, they were tops in national rankings. 

Teachers buzzed among themselves. Would the Common Core be watered down? Would it fit our students' needs? Would we be supplied with the who, what, why, where, when and how's of the Core so that we could easily implement it?  Or would the Common Core workshops be overviews and hand outs filled with charts, graphs and other "file in the round basket" paperwork that really wouldn't help teachers implement it? I wonder how many other teachers, like me, file all the paperwork, six months later, in the recycle bin.  ????

Don't get me wrong. Yes, teachers need to know details about the Common Core, but they also require practical and ready to print student worksheets to save time.

When I ran teacher workshops at the NELMS (New England League of Middle Schools) convention in Providence, RI, for four years, I was a hands on workshop leader who gave teachers student worksheets and other things that would make life easier for them. The conventions were huge. Middle and high school teachers from New England, Canada and some from other countries attended. The average number of teachers, in attendance, was 6,000 each year.

One of my presentations was to introduce educators to my Geobear project I created when I was the Connecticut representative for the Weekly Reader National Teachers Advisory Board. The purpose was to demonstrate how teachers could integrate all subjects into geography.

My students sent their teddy bears around the world. Over a ten year period their 900 teddy bears traveled with human companions, television stars, companies, grandmothers, relatives, ESPN of Asia and to places we never dreamed they'd visit. I loved it because I integrated all the subjects... reading, writing, social studies, science and math.

I was amazed that high school teachers attended my workshops. Never did I think high school kids would be interested in traveling teddy bears! Even more surprising is that I received fantastic feedback  from them, explaining in detail, their experiences with the bears.

Each workshop session I ran, I handed the attendees all the ready to print sheets they'd need to do this exciting project. No lengthy paperwork with theories about how GeoBears would affect my students in later years LOL or how it aligned with our curriculum. Teachers, who have spent years, learning how to become teachers, don't need all the theory thrown at them when they attend a workshop for something they have to implement. They need student worksheets!

Let me get to the point. (I bet you were waiting for that! :) 

I know how long it can take to develop lessons and activities for changes in curriculum, so I created worksheets, that align with the Common Core. These sheets can be used with any book or story.

This packet includes worksheets for similes, metaphors, personification and three posters to display in your classroom. 

Students are asked to find examples in books they're reading or in other text. Also included is a student friendly rubric. Yes, student friendly! How many of you have piles of rubrics that kids wouldn't be able to understand or relate to? I probably have hundreds!

Check out my Common Core ready to print student worksheets that will save you time! If you look under my custom categories under Common Core in my TeacherspayTeachers store you'll see many more of my Common Core products to help save you time! 

Snowball Synonyms

I'm having a great time creating my snowball lessons! I guess it's because Mother Nature opened her seasons door and winter entered like a bull. There never seems to be a gradual change in our area. One day it's in the 70's and the next ay, it's teeth chattering 30's. We had an unusual October Nor'Easter that set the pace for others to follow.

 I remember my cousins coming to visit from Mobile, Alabama, one winter. They were 10 and 7 years old and had NEVER seen snow. An over night snowstorm dropped 6 inches on us and when we woke up the next morning, it was truly a "winter wonderland".

What we didn't realize is our cousins had run out, grabbed our sleds and were flying down our back hill with reckless abandon. They didn't realize that you have to HOLD on to the sled and steer it, otherwise, a tree just might jump out in front of you. I pulled on my snowsuit and went flying out the door, waving my arms and yelling STOP STOP! 

They were too far away to hear me and before I knew it, they were flying down the hill, waving wildly back at me. They must have thought I was cheering them on. Fortunately, they made it to the bottom of the hill safely.

My Snowball Synonyms is a cut/paste activity. I love these kinds of activities because kids love hands on activities. Match up the synonyms, paste them in the snowballs, while thinking of snowball fights with friends and making snow forts with HUGE snowballs!

Have fun!

Ruth

TeachersPayTeachers Back to School Sale!

TeachersPayTeachers is having an incredible Back to School Sale on August 12th and August 13th.

Use PROMO CODE BTS12 to get an additional 10% off!  Fantastic lessons, novel packets, ready to print worksheets, Common Core items and more! The savings will help teachers have a stress free start for a new school year. Click on the sale sign to see more! 

Remember! This sale starts tomorrow, Sunday August 12th! 

Happy Back to School to All!

Teachers are adding to their wish lists on TeachersPayTeachers now. Browse my store and add to your list. The sale begins Sunday! Everything in my store will be on sale!

Just a few examples are...

This is one of my newest packets of ready to print worksheets for common and proper nouns. Great practice for the Common Core Standards!

Check out my Common Core Reading themes worksheet and student friendly rubric that can be used with any story or novel! 

Students have so much fun coloring the states they don't realize they're learning

states' shapes, locations and other important information. Have them work in small group

and watch the fun begin!! 

These cards are a perfect way to assess your students' knowledge of vowels/consonant sounds, prefixes/suffixes, base/root words, verb tenses, syllables, singular/plural nouns and more! 

Use as pre-- and post assessments to determine their strengths and weaknesses.

There are 24 task cards, teacher answer sheet, teacher sheet to record their answers, mastery certificates in black and white and Common Core labels for students' folder in color and black and white. 

Once you determine who needs extra practice in a certain area, you can work with small groups. 

I also offer novel packets with ready to print worksheets that save teachers from having to create them!

Stop by my store and browse my 200+ products of teacher saving worksheets lessons in reading, spelling, English, science, social studies, holidays and more! 

Scroll down to see more of my product listings that were featured in the Lesson Cloud sale! 

Ruth

Subjects and Predicates

I remember my fifth grade teacher required us to state our answers in complete sentences. I'm not referring to writing our answers in complete sentences. She would make us turn a question around and answer her orally in a full sentence. I learned a valuable lesson from her and throughout my teacher career have always insisted my students do the same. 

These days everything is quick and easy. Need a cake for a party? Buy a boxed cake mix. Need to change the channel on the television? Grab the remote instead of getting up to change it. So why not answer questions with a quick "yes" or "no"? 

Is everything quick and easy in our classrooms? Do we require kids to give us oral answers in complete sentences or do we accept one word answers so we can move on to the next topic? Are we too stressed out because we're required to meet goals in all subjects by the end of the year and it  just doesn't seem like we'll be able to cover all the material we're supposed to? Have our expectations changed?

Oral response is just as important as written response. In my opinion, speaking in complete sentences should be required in schools. 

For that reason I created a subject and predicate packet of ready to print student worksheets with my instructions. Hopefully, teachers will stress the importance of written and oral responses as they present these to their students and require they give their oral responses using complete subjects and predicates! :)