Morning Messages: Adjective Edition

This school year I seem to be busier than ever!!! I couldn't believe it when I saw the date on my last blog post!  I'm REALLY looking forward to summer, so I can finally spend some time on my neglected blog.  A HUGE thank you to everyone who continues to stick with me even though my posts are getting farther and farther apart.

Today, I really wanted to share something new I started awhile back.  My district began requiring us to do a daily morning message.  I had done morning messages in the past, but due to time constraints, they didn't always happen regularly.  I really tried to get back into the hang of doing them, and ran into the same problem this year.  My students LOVE doing them, but I was always struggling to find the time to create them and then write them out on chart paper.   I started with a bang and then they fizzled.

Another issue was that I really did not have time in my reading block for both morning message and a separate language lesson on top of all the other Balanced Literacy activities I do daily.  So, I came up with this idea to integrate my language and morning message.  I couldn't be more happier with the results.  Keep in mind that this isn't the only time I teach language.  In the morning message I focus on teaching the content, and then it's integrated into everything I do the rest of the day, especially in writing!

Here is a little peek at what's included:

 

There are a total of 15 pages designed to teach students all about adjectives.  These activities are so much more than simply filling in blanks. Students can interact with the message by looking for abbreviations, contractions, possessives, proper nouns, pronouns, rhyming words, spelling patterns, and even counting syllables. I simply use my digital camera to display it on my Smart board.   Then, my students can come up and interact with the morning message on the Smart board.  My students love working on morning message, and I am thrilled that so much learning takes place during this simple 15 min. block of time.

This Adjective Edition introduces adjectives to students.  It also discusses comparatives, superlatives, and sensory adjectives.  The Day 5 page is designed to be completed independently.  This is a quick way to assess what they have learned over the week.  It is also a great way for them to interact with the morning message on their own.

This is an example of a Day 5 page.  I really wanted them to have to explain their thinking in their own words.

I am currently working on the Adverb Edition.   This summer I plan to complete the sets for sentences, nouns, and verbs.

As always, I'd love to give it away for free to the first 3 people that leave a comment and their e-mail.  Just a way to show my love to the wonderful teachers that follow my blog.
 

Plenty of Parts of Speech

I can't believe how fast summer is flying by.  While my hubby has been working hard in this Texas heat to build a playground set for Greysen,  I have been inside (where it's cool) working on a few school projects I had for this summer.  I'm trying to get them done sooner rather than later,  because we have a big bathroom remodel we just started that is going to keep me SUPER busy.

I am happy to say, I can cross this project off my list.  I finally uploaded it to TPT and I'm super excited to use it next year.

This resource is designed to help students identify the different parts of speech. The cards can be laminated and placed on a (large) ring.  The cards can be used as a quick review throughout the day.  It is also a great way to practice on the go.  You could take them with you and even do a quick practice while waiting in the hallway.  It's a great way to seize a down time and make it a fun instructional moment.

I have been using this idea for years, I just finally decided to make my cards fancy.  Up until now, I have been using handwritten cards written on sentence strips.  When you're putting together the ring, make sure you mix up the cards really well.  Then,  you can turn them over and have a student randomly choose a card.  You could also just pick a card yourself.  The student has to give the correct part of speech.  If they choose a card that has the name of a part of speech, then they must come up with their own word for that part of speech.  If they get it correct, then they write the part of speech on the class game board.  I also usually have a small reward for them like a sticker, stamp, or eraser.

 

If a person is able to get the 3rd part of speech in a row, Then I usually give that student a larger reward like a pencil, homework pass, etc.  Once the class completes the entire game board, then I generally have a class reward.  I like to do a Go Noodle break for the class reward.  I like to stop and practice several times throughout the day.  They really enjoy playing, and are usually the ones to remind me that it's time to play.  I usually start the year with all the parts of speech on the ring, but you could add them as they are introduced in class.

This review page is also included, so students can refer to it throughout the year.  They  will probably only need to refer to it in the beginning.  They will soon be little parts of speech experts.

If you are interested in this resource, please check it out in my TPT store by clicking HERE or by clicking the image below.

AS always, I'd love to give this away for free to the first 3 people that leave a comment.  Please don't forget to leave me your e-mail.

Parts of Speech Posters

I finally created Parts of Speech Posters and I'm in love with them.  Actually it's probably just all the bright, pop out colors.   My room seriously has no theme except for colors, colors, colors everywhere.  I'm talking brights, neons, polka dots, shimmery, chevron, etc.  You name it, I probably have it, with the exception of pastels.  I'm not really a pastel kind of girl.

I wanted to create posters that would also serve as a mini word bank of words for each of the parts of speech.  My students really like to read around the room.  They truly do use all the resources I have on my walls, especially when they need a reminder of something they have already learned, or they are looking for a word to use in their writing or on an assignment, or if they are looking for the correct spelling of a word.

Here are the posters I came up with:

There are 8 posters and a page that contains all of them on one page.  I like to display the one pager on my Smart Board, so I can zoom in when I need to.  As you can see from the pictures below, I have the posters hung right above my Smart Board.

I also have this little guy hung on my front board.  We call him Mr. P  (I 'm not so sure our kiddos nowadays know who Mr. T is.  I'm thinking that connection probably goes right over many of their heads). If we are working on a language assignment or simply reading a story, I will often ask which P is being used in the sentence.   It is a simple little reminder of  some of the different language skills we have already learned.  My students really have mastered the P's as a result of this little guy.   It only took me a matter of minutes to make Mr. P, and we refer to him all the time!!!

If you are in need of colorful parts of speech posters, you can head over to my store by clicking here.
 

Punctuation Posters-Polka Dot Pizazz

Language and grammar are a huge part of my daily instruction, and my students really refer to my punctuation posters a whole lot!   I was looking at the set on my wall awhile back,  and noticed they were extremely worn and tattered.  I'm sure you can relate to those posters with the lamination peeling off, and staple holes everywhere!!!  I think they were one of the first poster sets I bought when I was a newbie teacher looking for things to hang on the walls in my very first classroom.

I knew it was time to update!!! I seem to have a polka dot theme going on, so it was my natural first choice.

 

There are a total of 10 Posters.  

Included are:

Period, Question Mark, Exclamation Mark, Comma, Apostrophe, Quotation Marks, Hyphen, Parenthesis, Semicolon, and Colon.

Simply click an image above, to head to my TPT shop.

Nouns and Me and Spelling Pictures

For this post, I'm combining a few things we did this week.  We have been talking about nouns, and each year I make a Nouns and Me class book.  I simply laminate and combine their pages into a book for my class book nook.  Their pictures are super cute! You can get the FREEBIE here.

 

Each student had to list a person that started with the first letter of their name.

 They also had to list a place that started with the first letter of their name.  I love that this student decided to draw a profile picture.  How original!

 Then, they listed a place that started with the first letter of their name.

 For best of all, they put their first name.

 In the box to the box to the side, they write the first letter of their name and made it fancy.

 I really have some artists in my class this year.  Love the detail in this picture.

 I noticed that many of them were making connections across the curriculum.  For person, Connor used chemist.  We have been talking about types of scientists in science.  In a picture above, Sydney used scientist.  That's so great!

We also tried something new for practicing spelling words before our test on Friday.  I saw a picture done like this on Pinterest, and instantly thought that would be great for practicing spelling words and the picture goes along with the story we are reading for the week. Click  here to see the original idea on Pinterest.  Below are some examples of my students' work.  I'm thinking of doing one each week.  They did so much better on their tests this week- yay!

Last but not least, my students made this adorable sign for my student teacher's birthday.  I had to share, because it's super cute.  I have a fantastic student teacher, so we had to make her something really special for her. The idea of  the having them draw themselves holding a balloon came from Pinterest, but now I can't seen to find it again-sorry.

Proper Nouns

We had fun with proper nouns.  Each student wrote their names in the boxes vertically.  Then, they had to write a proper noun that they either like or is special to them across.   They just left the extra spaces at the bottom blank.  We've talked about proper nouns all year long, so it was a great mini review at the end of the year.  It will also be a cute addition to our end of year portfolios.

Stations

This is a more recent picture of my station pocket chart.  I added the ABC station this year (it's the icon with the orange background), and it's made such a difference with alphabetizing.  I like this form because it gives me flexibility when choosing words.  Some weeks I may have them use their spelling words. Other weeks, I may have them use vocabulary words or word wall words.  When we did our weather unit, they used weather words.  The ABC station with the red background is my Word Study station.  They have a specific activity they complete for each day of the week.  I posted a pic of the Word Study poster below.

Click the images above and below to get the FREEBIES.

Cowboy Adjectives

So, right before Spring Break we celebrated Texas Public Schools' Week.  To keep with our cowboy theme we wrote adjective poems about cowboys.  Their cowboys/cowgirls turned out super cute!

Click the image below to get all the patterns.