5th grade State Writing Assessment Review {Freebies}

How do you prepare for the upcoming STATE writing assessment? My plan this week:

• Discuss the types of writing -- the parts of each piece - have discussion about each
• Discuss what a good writing piece looks like (for each type of writing)
• Discuss the six traits and how they can be used to spice up their writing
• Discuss which graphic organizers would best be used during pre-writing for each type of writing

• Discuss & practice breaking down various writing prompts... really asking ourselves, "What is it they are asking me to do, exactly?"

**When I say discuss, students will have discussions about each defending their responses**

To assist in the first part, I made a few graphic organizers to keep the kiddos focused!! Hope you can use this FREEBIE! Click the picture to grab a copy (all 6 included in the download):

Signs of Spring & Mini-Contest

It has been warmer since last week's WINTER BLAST! This warmer weather is making me think about SPRING! Yay! Spring also means allergy trouble for me, but I love the warmer weather too much not to be excited. :)

With signs of Spring in the air, I wanted to share a couple creations that are more Spring Themed:

Comment below (leave an email address)

and follow me on TpT to enter to win one of the below sets for FREE!

{Your choice of which item}

Drawing will be held on Sunday!

{Click each to visit page}

 

Five for Friday

In addition to spring on my mind... Let me share Five for Friday from Doodle Bugs Teaching!!

Been enjoying all of this post-winter storm weather. Outside time with my family is SO important!

Stressing a little that I have had 4 winter days and then a week of Winter Break out of the classroom. Don't get me wrong, I love time with my family, but I needed those FOUR days to conduct a MOCK writing assessment. Now, I am super pushed for time, because on top of that, we have some mock CRCT testing to do for the state in math... eek! The 5th grade State Writing assessment is March 5th, so it is GO time when I return Monday!

On top of creating new materials, I have also been preparing items for an upcoming Kids Consignment sale (for the beginning of March). Inputing items, tagging, items, etc.

Happy about the upcoming weather forecast AND the fact that I get to wear my FLIP FLOPS this week! Oh boy, that means I need to pedicure my toes..

Excited to begin a NEW linky beginning NEXT Wednesday. It is always my goal to walk closer to and have a close relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ. To help me (and maybe others) focus more on HIM, I wanted to do a little something as a mid-week refresher. I hope you will join me in order to...

I am also enjoying the Sharing is Caring Sunday each week and the fact that people really appreciate it. Let me know what you think about it, and if you feel it is beneficial. 

Sharing is Caring Sunday!

Every Sunday, I will have Sharing is Caring Sunday! This is where I want to give a few Fulbright Hugs back to all of you! This is a way to say THANK YOU for following along with me:) 

The item(s) I will post will be FREE in my shop (I will include the link) for Sunday only (so grab it while you can). Sometimes it might be one of my older products or it might be a new product I will introduce. Please spread the word and come back each Sunday for a little shared gift! 

*Note: I will try to get it out in the morning from now on. It will be available FREE until 9pm*

Today's Sharing is Caring Sunday item is:

Click image of here:

Winter Animal Writing Graphic Organizers

Morning Message (K-5)

Morning message CAN be a very important learning tool IF it is used correctly. Having a morning message without a purpose is pointless. First of all, why have a morning message time? Teachers have different purposes for their morning message. Many use it to introduce or practice skills. Others use it as a good morning group time message. Some do not really know why they do it, they have just seen it being done and put a message up.

Morning message can be a powerful tool. How? By embedding many skills throughout the message, you can teach and reteach with ease. After thinking a lot about morning message time when I taught Kindergarten, the purpose was primarily for catching writing mistakes. Now that I teach 5th grade, there are many skills that can be touched upon during that time, which will SAVE you time later... and allow you to formatively assess students' knowledge of certain standards.

This is the first set I have made, which is designed for use in K-2nd grades. I am working on a version for grade 3-5, as well. In this 36 week set, teachers can use one message per week. Throughout the week, I have listed certain skills to work on that are embedded throughout each message. Here is a sneak peek. You can purchase this set in the K, 1st, or 2nd grade in my shop at the grade level links above.

12 New 5th grade items

I just finished adding some 5th grade items that I made throughout this year, so far. I had been meaning to post once I created them, but time always kept me from doing so! Please check them out by clicking 5th grade above!. Here is a preview:

Quality, not Quantity

It has been some time since I have posted. 5th grade is going GREAT! In the past, I have posted more often, but I am one who wants to try things out first, see how they work, and then give you all the best I have... quality, not quantity is important to me... you? Over the past couple of months, I have reflected on my lessons, tweaking things here and there, and having fun while learning! Of course, there is ALWAYS room for improvement, so I always consider that each day.

I wanted to give you a few things I have used lately.

During our first quarter of school, we worked relentlessly on Opinion Writing. Many of my students had difficulty with generating ideas and keeping those ideas organized. For this reason, I created this organizer to assist them. In addition, MODELING for students is HUGE, and I do this constantly. I am a visual learner, so I feel it is very important that they SEE what it is they will be responsible for doing on their own. I have included a sample with this organizer.

You can get these here!

In addition to this organizer, some had a tough time getting this information into detailed paragraphs, using transitions. For this reason, I created another organizer. It was really an eye opener for many (even my gifted students), as they THOUGHT they had enough detail until they began placing their rough draft into this organizer.

One last thing I want to share is my revising/editing sheet that students used during the writing process:

Hope to share some more quality items with you during Thanksgiving Holidays (when I have a little time...haha)!

Figurative Language Posters

I have so many things, but I have yet to get or make some items for figurative language. I didn't want to do chevron on these, as I don't want EVERYTHING chevron...LOL. I pulled in some of the colors from my other items in hopes it will all blend nicely.

You can get these here!

Oh... and I forgot to post a pic of my new curtains...

I got these (this is a stock photo) at Walmart about a month ago discounted. They are microfiber. They are regularly online for $16.00 -- I got them on clearance for $7.00 :) Yay!

6 + 1 Traits of Writing Posters

I am trying to get my themed items ready so I can begin designing once my room is ready!! Here are some 6 Traits posters I made to match my theme. Click the image for a free copy:

You can get these here!

Writing Process & Management Cards

I have been brainstorming about how to best manage my writing time... to show where students are at in the writing process & to know when they are ready to meet with me. In addition, I wanted a way for students to self-assess and show me how confident they are feeling about a skill we are working on AND a way for me to see if they need help, if I need to slow down and reteach, or if students are good to go... Thus, came these cards. I plan on printing a set for each child, laminating them, and placing them on a key ring. This way, it is easily accessible for each child. Maybe someone out there can use them. The Star Wars idea came from the following site: http://chartchums.wordpress.com/2013/05/06/whats-play-got-to-do-got-to-do-with-it-answer-everything/

You can get these here!

Writing Process Sheets

Okay, I promised these after my vacation, but I had a little time before packing...


You might want to use some of these in a writer's notebook and some as needed. There are 10 sheets:

• 2 Brainstorming sheets (one for boys, one for girls)
• 1 Graphic Organizer for writing ideas for a topic
• 1 Planning sheet for ideas
• 1 Revising Checklist
• 1 Self-Editing Checklist
• 1 Peer-Editing Checklist
• 1 Teacher Conference sheet (can use Post-Its with it)
• 1 Writing Reflections sheet
• 1 Publishing Plan sheet

You can get these here!