Writing Introductions to Non-Fiction Pieces

Writing Introductions to Non-Fiction Writing Pieces

We are currently working on a non-fiction writing unit, and the students are loving it! We have been working on our introductions for our President Research Reports using one of the lessons in the unit from the  Lucy Calkins units of study 

Nonfiction Writing Anchor Charts

We started with a mini-lesson where we explored various non-fiction mentor texts looking for ways authors wrote their introductions.  Then we made an anchor chart which I modified from the book.

The students were then tasked with the challenge of writing three different introductions based on the strategies on our anchor chart. 

Here are a few of their examples:

Asking questions seems to be the popular method of writing introductions in our class right now.  I can't wait to see their final products!

Delegate Your Grading to Your Students!

I know this idea is far from new since I graded my own papers way back when I was in school, but it was one I had not really used myself, so I thought I would share how it is going.

We were at a grade level collaboration when we were given yet another assessment that we had to administer to our students.  Of course we groaned and complained about one more thing to do when our plates were already overflowing.  One of my team members suggested having the students grade them so that it would take a little off our plates.  Brilliant!  Some of the best ideas are so simple!

I started having my students grade EVERYTHING!  They get instant feedback, and I get a small break!  Win, win.

Here is how it works in my class:

When students finish an assignment, they come to the carpet with the assignment ONLY!  No pencils or pens allowed.  Then I hand out markers to each student to grade with.  Each student keeps their own papers to allow privacy, and for them to focus better on the feedback rather than gloating over how many times they get to mark another student wrong.

Students then mark their papers with just an X on the incorrect answers (to make it easier for me when I double check as I enter scores).  We go over the answers together, which seems to keep the students more engaged as you can see below.

We have been able to get extra practice with fractions as they learn how to come up with the fraction of correct answers over the total problems or points available.

They even leave themselves encouraging messages!  I love that!  Scores actually seem to be improving as they self-monitor their own learning and that makes me even happier!

Do you have your students grade their own work?

And just in case you were wondering, the pages they were using came from my 3rd Grade Daily Math Review product.

Geometry Flip Books & $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway!

My students have been loving our new geometry unit, thanks to some awesome resources from my TpT friends!  I have already shared about the geometry posters

and the geometry scoot game


that I used to begin our unit, and today I am sharing these awesome Geometry Flip Books from my friend, Lindsey from Miss Johnston's Journey!

I love how Lindsey has created a flip book that can essentially act as a text or resource for my students!  They also LOVE making flip books!

 

 

 

 

A completed flip book.

 

 

After our flipbooks were finished we had a mini-lesson on how to use them.

 

 

I asked them to look inside the flip book to find the answers to questions such as:

 

How many sides does a triangle have?

What is a right angle?

Is a rhombus a quadrilateral?

 

They loved it!  We finished up with a game of types of lines Simon Says. 

 

 

 

We have hand signals for

*point

*line

* line segment

* ray

 

We play just like Simon Says where I say, "Simon Says, show me a point, Simon Says, show me a ray. Show me a line."  They love being active and learning!

And now! Time for another giveaway! It is time for my monthly $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway! You can enter using the Rafflecoptor below!

And stay tuned next week for a really big giveaway as I celebrate my TpT milestone!

Thank you for following my blog and purchasing products from my TpT store!  You are the best!

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Product Swap - 2D and 3D Geometric Shape Posters

Erin over at Learning to Be Awesome put together a fabulous product swap.

I was able to swap with Georgina of Teach and Tell Us.  I chose her 2D & 3 D Shape Posters because we are currently working on our geometry unit, and I thought they would fit in perfectly!




Here is a view of the posters I have displayed right now.  Sorry about the glare from the laminate!

 

I am putting up the shapes as we learn about them.  You could also just have them up as a display all year long if you preferred. 

I also love that they are in English and Spanish!  I don't have a large ELL population this year, but they will be great for that if I do in the future.  This year they were perfect because of a comment a student had made during our morning meeting.  We have a portion where the students tell me their concerns if they have any.  These are usually things such as the pencil sharpener isn't working or the water fountain is leaking, etc.  One day a student said, "I am concerned that we aren't learning Spanish."  He was so excited when he saw these posters hanging on the wall!  Now we are learning our geometric terms in English and Spanish!

 

My students absolutely loved their little faces.  When we started talking about what attributes the shapes had one of them said, "They have cute little faces!"  I have to agree!

 

 

 

Do you have geometric shapes on display in your classroom?

 

February Pinterest Pick 3 Linky

It is time for our monthly pick 3 party hosted by PAWSitively Teaching and Inspired Owl's Corner.

Here are three of the things that have caught my eye to use with my students during February:

 

 

Click here to see original pin.

 

I love this Valentine's art project of radiating hearts.  I am going to have my students make Valentine's Cards for their parents with covers like these.

 

Click here to see original pin

My students always love Minute to Win it Games, and I think these games will be a hit for our Valentine's party.  I sometimes add a graphing component (of their results) to make it a bit more academic.

Click here to see original pin

 

My students love science, and this one looks like a great experiment!

 

 

To see all of the things I am pinning, be sure to follow my boards!

Visit Kelly's profile on Pinterest.



Share what you are pinning for February and follow along with other bloggers here:

An InLinkz Link-up

Stop, Swap, and Roll - Product Swap

I had so much fun swapping products the last time I participated that I was happy to join again with Melissa from Jungle Learners for her linky:

This time I swapped products with Gina Coniglio from Beach Sand and Lesson Plans.


I have been following her blog for at least a year now, so I knew she would have something amazing to choose from!  Because we are just starting our geometry unit, I decided to try out her Geometry Scoot Game. I have used some of her other scoot games, so I knew this one would be a hit with my students as well.

 

As I did geometry unit lesson planning, I decided that I would put this to use twice - as a pre and post test.  This week we did the pre-test  as an around the room activity.  I taped the pieces around the room for the students to find.

 

Then  the students walked around the room finding cards and writing their answers on their sheets.

 

I love how her scoot games get kids up and moving as they learn!

After we finished the pre-test I asked the students to tell me which problems they had the most difficulty with and we sorted them into categories.

 

In addition to the movement of this activity, I love that I was able to differentiate my math groups with it.  The set covers the CCSS standards for 3-5th grade, so even my highs were challenged with this one.  I hate when you give a pre-test and the high achievers in your class score a 100% before you even begin the unit.  With this activity, my high achievers realized they had some learning to do!  "Who would have known that there was more than one kind of triangle?" One of them said as we debriefed!  LOL!

Would you like to try Gina's Geometry Scoot?  You can enter to win below.  She is also having a 10% off sale on all of her scoot games this weekend, so head over and check them out!

Also, be sure to visit Gina's blog where she is reviewing my Dear Mrs. LaRue unit.

My Dear Mrs. LaRue Reading Packet is on sale this weekend!

Be sure to visit all of the other blogs who participated in the swap below for great ideas and inspiration!  I am a visual person, so I love seeing the products in action!

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