Teaching Subjects and Predicates With Mr. Morton - FREEBIE

‘Mr Morton is the subject of the sentence, and what the predicate says he does.’

That song is ingrained in my brain after I used the Grammar Rock anthem to teach some of my kiddos about subjects and predicates.  Several of them were having difficulty with  writing complete sentences, and most of them were thrown into a tizzy when we were working on some of Jivey's amazing grammar lessons when they were asked to identify the subject and predicate in her mentor sentences.

So... a mini-lesson was in order.

First we watched the video:

Then we practiced identifying the subject and the predicate in the sentences from the video. They really got it after I modeled a few of the sentences.

I also found this picture from Doxie House that I will definitely incorporate next year or if I have a few strugglers.

I made a free worksheet for you to use with your students if you would like.  You can download it here. 

While you are there, be sure to follow me on Teachers Pay Teachers for the chance to win a $25 TpT gift certificate :D

Friday Freebies

Here are a few great Freebies I have found this week:

 

I love this clock freebie from Mrs. VanMeter of Primary Possibilities.  I had a similar set around my clock last year, but I can't remember where I got it from (if you know let me know and I will link up!)

 One thing that I really like about the freebie is that you can print it on colored paper or cardstock to save money on ink!

Another time oriented freebie I found this week was these adorable schedule cards from Cara at the First Grade Parade.

 

I used these in my classroom last year as well and I loved them! She has updated this version, so if you already downloaded them before, go back and check them out!

 

 

Last but not least - I love these monthly spelling menus from Christine Statzel.

 

I love that she has different activities for each month.  These would be great for Word Work, Spelling, or homework.

 

 

And speaking of Freebies? Did you know that I have a Facebook Page now with Fan Freebies?  You can follow here.

 

An Apple For The Teacher

Elementary Teacher - Inspiring Fellow Teachers and Educators with tips and resources through An Apple for The Teacher Blog

 

 

 

Have you found any great freebies this week?

Friday Freebies for Teachers

Teachers Pay Teachers has a ton of great freebies - more and more are added each day.  Here are just a few that I've run into lately:

 

Independent Reading Logs from Mallory over at A Teacher's Highlight Reel. She is a newer blogger and seller at TpT - but I think we can expect some great things from her if these freebies are any indication!

 

 

Since I am moving up to 4th grade next year, I have been on the hunt for 4th grade specific items, and these task cards are perfect.

 

I am also loving these adorable Writing Process Posters.

 

 

Speaking of freebies - the clip art above comes from MyCuteGraphics which has tons of free clip art for those clip art addicts (like me) out there.

 

Have you found any great freebies recently?

 

Also.. I am linking up with Christina at Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge for:

 

 

In this linky, we find awesome feedback given from a buyer of one of our TpT products that we found really meaningful or that made us smile. 

 

My awesome feedback that I found was on My Can We Get a Class Pet Unit.

 

Here is what she had to say:

 

 

As part of the linky, she gets a free item of her choice from my store!

 

Conference Ideas And Resources

We had our last conferences for the school year last week, but I am just getting around to posting about them.  Is it just me or is that week before Spring Break the LOOOONGEST week ever???  Today was our last day before break and boy do we all need a break right now!

Anyway... I just wanted to share a few things that I do during conferences.  If possible, I have the student run the conference.  I have them complete the sheets below which I found from Lesson Plan SOS.  This really helps them guide what they tell their parents and I have found the students to be VERY honest.  Their reflections usually match their grades closely, and light bulbs seem to go off in many of their heads about their work habits.

They are often tougher on themselves then I would be, but that is often a great teaching point in itself!

 

 

 



This conference I also asked them to write a short note to their parents telling them one thing that they are proud of this quarter and one thing that they are still working on.  It worked great for the conference but also as a mini-assessment.

 

 

I also found these forms from Ms. York's class that I think I might use next year.  I will use the ones above for the beginning of the year conference, and then the ones below for the end of year. 

Do you have your students write self-reflections for conferences?  Do you have any other tips for having successful conferences?