Teaching Students How to SHOW not TELL in Writing

I was scared. I felt sad. I was really happy. Do these sentences sound familiar to you? These are the types of sentences my students were writing a couple of weeks ago when explaining how they were feeling in their writing. Now they are writing sentences such as, "My heart started pounding and my palms were sweaty." and "I jumped backwards and threw my arms up in the air!" Their writing is so much more interesting and they are really showing how they were feeling instead of just telling it.

So how did my third graders make this jump in their writing? Meet my newest unit, Now Showing... {A Unit on Showing not Telling in Writing}

To start off the unit, I showed my kids examples of telling and showing sentences. I asked them which type of sentence was more interesting to read. They all agreed that the showing sentences were more interesting. I then explained that over the next week or two, I was going to teach them how to show not tell feelings in their own writing.

The first activity that I did with my students is called "Feelings Charades." My students LOVED this activity and it really showed them how to describe a feeling in detail rather than just telling it.
Volunteers in our class acted out different feelings while the rest of the class recorded the body language/actions that they noticed (eg. hanging head, shuffling feet, shoulders hunched, etc.) This game helped my students understand how to "show not tell" a feeling in their writing. They loved acting out the feelings and were begging to do more than the six feelings I had planned.

After we finished the activity, I gave each student a "Showing Feelings Chart" to add to their writing binder. I explained that they could use this chart as a resource throughout the year if they needed help with showing a feeling. There are twelve different feelings explained on the chart.

Later in the week, I read many Patricia Polacco books to my students and had them listen for examples of "showing not telling." Patricia Polacco has many examples in one book alone. For example, in Chicken Sunday, there are 8 examples of a feeling being shown not told. Each of my students were assigned a different feeling before I read the book (different feelings were typed on cars and passed out to each student). While I was reading, they had to listen for an example of that feeling being shown. If they heard an example, they held up their card and we stopped the story to discuss how Polacco had described it. I love using mentor texts in writing workshop and Polacco's books are always so enjoyable for the students. Three of the books that I used in this unit are:


                              

For each read aloud, I've included a chart of the "showing not feeling" examples and the page numbers that they can be found on. Also included in the unit are a brainstorming list, practice pages for students to turn telling sentences into showing sentences, and a recording sheet for students to write down showing sentences that they find while reading on their own. If you'd like to check out my unit on TpT, just click the image below!

Five for Friday!

What a crazy, busy, exhausting, rewarding, and fun week! Whew! I.am.exhausted. There's been a lot going on this week so I'm excited to share my Five for Friday from Doodle Bugs Teaching linky!

1. We created a class ABC book of collective nouns. It turned out absolutely adorable! This is the first year that I've taught collective nouns (it's new in the Common Core standards) and I think it's now one of my favorite parts of speech to teach. Who knew that a group of bees can be called an "erst of bees" or that a group of peacocks is an "ostentation of peacocks"?! My kiddos were cracking up hearing all these different collective noun names for groups of animals =)



 

 

2. I finally finished all of my paperwork to renew my teaching license! I'm not sure what it's like in your state, but here in Ohio it is quite a process. I'm sooo relieved to have it all completed and in the mail!

 

3. We've been working on 3-digit addition so we played Addition Scoot to practice! I'm going to be honest here and admit that I'd never played "Scoot" before and I had to look up the directions! My students really loved playing the game and it was a great way to get my "active" kiddos up and moving!

 

 

4. Over the past three weeks, my students have each been researching a famous person. I purchased  One Extra Degree's unit called Wax Museum Biographies and it is by far my favorite purchase ever! This week we started practicing our speeches and planning our costumes. It made for a VERY busy week but it all got done!

 

4. The Wax Museum!!! Today, my students "became" their famous person and pretended to be a statue in a wax museum. The entire second grade participated and we held the museum in the gym. Each student dressed up as their person and prepared a speech to give about them. When someone stepped on their "push" button, they came to life and gave their speech. It was absolutely precious! Listening to my students deliver their speeches made me so proud of all of their hard work. I had tears in my eyes listening to them deliver their speeches so confidently! Below is a pic of us in the gym when it was all said and done!

 

 

What a week! I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

Autobiography Writing Unit

My kids finished up their autobiography writing unit last week and I couldn't be happier with how their books turned out! They absolutely loved making these books all about themselves =) We started the unit off by reading different autobiographies and discussing what made them interesting. I then introduced the book that they would be writing called "An Autobiography of Me!" Any time they get to publish their writing in a book form, they are so motivated to write.

We started by filling out the planning page and then I modeled how to turn their ideas on the planning page into complete sentences in the book. Each book has a table of contents, blank photo boxes on each page, and a caption box for each picture. We also took time to review the different parts of a non-fiction book including the table of contents, headings, captions, photos, etc. I let my students choose whether they wanted to illustrate a picture on each page or whether they wanted to bring in real photographs of themselves. I would say about 90% of my class opted to bring in photographs. It was adorable to see them as babies!

These books turned out great and were a fun way to learn about autobiographies, non-fiction text features, and writing. If you'd like to check out more about this unit, you can click on the picture below to read more about my "It's All About ME! {A Mini Autiobiography Writing Unit}" on TpT. It includes the planning page, student booklet, autobiography poster, and an editable teacher autiobiography book!

Life-Size Famous American Projects

This past Friday morning, I was in a panic trying to think of a project for my students to create on the famous Americans that we've been studying. We had parent-teacher conferences the night before so I didn't have much time to prepare anyting. (That's my excuse at least!) An idea hit me at the last moment and I knew my students would love it! I decided to have my kiddos make life-size famous Americans using butcher paper and construction paper. I wanted them to do some writing as well so I thought that each member of the group could be in charge of a box or bubble showing what that person said (Wise Words), did (Amazing Action), thought (Thoughtful Thoughts), and a trait to describe him/her (Terrific Trait). To be honest, I was a little nervous about this project at first because I'd never done it with my students before and it was going to be a little crazy, but it went so smoothly! Their creations turned out absolutely adorable and it was such a meaningful and fun project.

I first put the kids into groups of 4 and assigned them a famous American. Our six people were Abraham Lincoln, Harriett Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King Jr., and George Washington. One person from each group laid down on a large, white piece of butcher paper while another student traced them. They cut the person out and then began using contruction paper to turn it into their famous American. My teammate, Kristin, has this great skin-color construction paper so we used that for the head and hands. I let them use books that we've been reading so they could look at the pictures for ideas of what they looked like. After they finished creating their person, they worked on the boxes/bubbles. Here are some pics of our finished famous Americans:

I love Abe's beard and bow tie!

It's hard to tell in the picture but Susan B. has ruffles around her neck and wrists!

Doesn't this look just like MLK?!

Sojourner was given patches on her dress and glasses... so cute!

Harriett has patches and some fringe on her dress =)

I LOVE George's curled hair and hat!

 Here are some close-ups of faces and the boxes/bubbles:



This project was amazing for me to watch. The kids worked really well together and were so creative! I love how these look in the hallway and best of all- it was SO easy! If you'd like to make these famous Americans, you can download the boxes/bubbles {here}.

Another resource that you can use when teaching about famous Americans is the new product I just posted called My Book of Famous Americans. This product allows your students to create their own non-fiction book complete with a table of contents! They will love being a real author of a non-fiction book. Plus, it's a great way for you to assess what they've learned.

To create the books for your students just print double-sided, fold down the middle, and staple. My students absolutely LOVE making books like this. To see more views of the book or to snag your copy, click on the picture below!

Guided Reading Progress and Interactive Writing

Last week, I decided it was time to reorganize my guided reading groups. My kids have made so much progress since the beginning of the year and their groups needed adjusted. Some kids jumped up several reading levels and needed to move out of one group and into another. That's what I love about flexible grouping in guided reading. The kids aren't "stuck" in one group. I can move them around easily depending on their needs at that time.

Since I needed to make changes, I collected the guided reading books out of their browing boxes. They keep these browsing boxes in their cubbies and bring them to guided reading when I call their group. They get out the book that they read the night before (this is in their guided reading bag) and reread it. This is when I take a running record on one of my students. When they are finished rereading the book, they place it in their browsing box. During reading workshop, they can choose from the books in our classroom library as well as the books in their browsing boxes. This is an easy way to help your kiddos that are struggling with fluency. Rereading familiar books helps them to read quickly and fluently. My students love reading books out of their browsing boxes because the books are at their level and are familiar to them. (Although lately they've been telling me, "These are sooo easy!")

Here is a pic of my guided reading table after collecting the books out of their browsing boxes...

 

It was crazy! You can't tell in the picture but I also had books on the window ledge, books on chairs, books everywhere! After putting all the books together, I bundled them up and placed them in the red bins that I use to keep my guided reading groups' books in.

 

 

It was so exciting to move up levels for each group and get rid of the lower books altogether. I used post-its to help me remember the level of each group while I was putting the books in the bins. (And yes... if you can read the post-its, I have a span of level from C to O!!!) Now we are all set for guided reading groups this week with new groups and new books! Woo hoo!

 

 Last week, we had an in-service about guided reading and one of the points that was brought up was that interactive writing can and should be incorporated into guided reading. To be honest, this is something that I hadn't really thought about and wasn't doing. I really liked the idea of having a 5 minute lesson using interactive writing at the end of guided reading with each group. The only problem was that I didn't have any sort of chart paper to use that was small enough for my guided reading table. My teammate, Casi, and I were brainstorming and thought that it would be easy to just cut a regular sized chart paper tablet in half. I already have a table pocket chart at my table, so I could just put the chart paper over it. Here's a couple pics of the table pocket chart before and after.

 

      



I'm so excited to start incorporating interactive writing in my guided reading groups. I think it will be especially beneficial for my lower readers and writers!

Opinion Writing Graphic Organizer FREEBIE

Today my kiddos started learning about the five parts of opinion writing. I taught them that an opinion piece has to have: 1) an introduction where you state your opinion, 2) reason #1 to support your opinion, 3) reason #2 to support your opinion, 4) reason #3 to support your opinion, and 5) a conclusion that restates your opinion. I am a visual person so I think about this like a sandwich/hamburger. Here is a picture of the hamburger display that I showed them to understand the five parts:

This is just a placemat from Walmart that I cut apart into five different sections. I hot glued magnets on the back and wrote each part of an opinion writing on the pieces. This helps the kids to understand everything that they need to include in their writing. After learning about the five parts, I modeled how to support an opinion with reasons. I told them that my favorite sport was volleyball and gave them three reasons why I thought this. Then, I asked them the question "What is the best Unified Arts class?" and boy, were there plenty of differing opinions! Some chose P.E., some chose Art, some chose Computer Lab, etc. I told them that they were going to practicing supporting their opinion with reasons just like I did by using a graphic organizer. They used the organizer below to state their opinion and write three reasons.

If you'd like to pick up a FREE copy of this organizer, just click on the picture to download it! The download includes both color and black and white versions of the organizer. If you're interested in more common core opinion writing resources, you can also check out my unit on TpT below. Just click on the picture below to check it out!

Tomorrow we are going to focus on the conclusion and how to wrap it up. It went really well today- such a nice break from personal narratives! Enjoy =)

Monday Made-It and My New Blog Design!

Well today was my first official day back to work after break, although it was just an in-service. Let me tell you- it was great to slowly ease into things and have time to work in our classrooms. I feel so much better about starting back tomorrow. I feel like it's the first day of school again- I have little butterflies in my stomach thinking about seeing my kiddos again! I'm going to miss my little man, but also glad to get back into the swing of things.

I'm excited to share several "Monday Made-Its" with you. A few weeks ago, I shared a post about the stools that I made my colleagues for their classroom. I decided to make one for myself and I just adore it. Here are a couple pics of my finished stool...

Seriously, these were so easy to make! I used leftover fabric from my classroom curtains and chair pockets so that everything is coordinating. I love it!

Okay- next up for "Monday Made It" is a project for home that I did over break. My son, Grady, who is 18 months old LOVES to color and draw. My sister-in-law built this adorable table for him on his 1st birthday and I've been dying to paint it and make it all "cutesy." I was inspired by the picture below on Pinterest:

Here are some pics of my little man's finished art area: (sorry for the picture quality!)

He is having so much fun coloring at this table! The chair pockets would be great for a classroom also. I love the bows at the top (can you tell I like bows?!) The curtain rod holds little pails with crayons, markers, etc. So fun! =)

Alright, last up is the Common Core Opinion Writing unit that I created over break. I am so pumped about teaching opinion writing to my students. When I first started searching for ideas, I found a lot of prompts such as "Pretend you are and ant. Write a letter trying to persuade someone not to step on you." I was struggling to find what I was looking for so I decided to make it myself! I started by thinking about times in life when we write opinion pieces. I came up with 8 different types of writing- speeches, editorials, letters, book recommendation letters, book reviews, movie reviews, advertisements, and campaign posters. I'm proud to say that the 8 writing activities included are all authentic writing opportunities for kids. If you'd like to learn more about the unit, just click {here}. You can also check out the unit by clicking on the pic below:

Hope you all have a great week!

My Year in Preview and Fun with Fairytales Unit!

Happy New Year everyone! I can't wait to see what 2013 has in store for me =) I have a feeling it's going to be a GREAT year!! I'm linking up with Michelle from Making It As A Middle School Teacher for her "Year in Preview" linky party. Here's what I have coming up:

I am especially looking forward to a weekend away with my husband in the Amish country. It is absolutely beautiful there and so relaxing. We love to shop for furniture and enjoy all of the delicious food (cheese and wine especially!) that you can find there. I also am already excited for our Field Day at the end of the year. Our PE teacher, Mr. L, always plans the most amazing field day for the kiddos and staff. Each year has a different theme and all 20+ rotations are centered around this theme. Last year was pirates and it was such a blast! He sets up a slip-n-slide on the hill in our school's backyard, water balloon sling shots, HUGE bounce houses, cornhole, and so much more. It is definitely the best day of the school year! (Alright- I am really getting ahead of myself here- we still have months until Field Day!)

For those of you going back to school tomorrow, I hope you have a great week back! I still have a few days off, so I've been planning for what my kiddos will be doing when we return. Before break, we started a fairytale unit and the kids have LOVED every minute of it! We've really only covered fairy tales so when we go back next week, I plan to focus on folktales and fables. If you're interested in checking out my "Fun with Fairy Tales, Folktales, and Fables" unit, click on the image below. (My favorite part of this unit is the fable writing activity. So fun!)

 

Happy New Year everyone!

 

Main Idea Madness and Then/Now Freebie

Happy Sunday everyone! I am having such a hard time finding time for everything so I apologize that my posts have been pretty few and far between. I wanted to share a couple of things with you today. First up, I have a FREEBIE for you! This past week, my students learned about how life in the past is different from life today. Two wonderful books for teaching about life in the past are:

Then and Now by Heather Amery

 

If You Lived 100 Years Ago by Ann McGovern

 

 

On Friday, my students did a T-chart partner activity to write and illustrate what life was like in different areas: shops, streets, railways, schools, family rooms, country, beaches, kitchens, garage/smithy, bedrooms, transportation, communication, clothing, games, jobs for women, and jobs for men. The kids worked in groups of two and really had to "synergize" with one another. Here are some pics of my kiddos hard at work =)

 

 

 

I gave my students copies of pages from the books to help with their ideas and illustrations. These turned out really great! I mounted the finished products on construction paper and hung them in the hallway. Check them out!

 

 

Don't you just love 2nd grade illustrations? They are too cute! If you'd like to download your FREE copy of these T-charts, just click on the image below. Enjoy!

 

 

Next up-- I am so excited to share the "Main Idea Madness" unit that I created. We've been using this unit over the past couple of weeks and it sure is helping! In the past, teaching my students about main idea and details is always a struggle. It is just such a hard concept for them to understand. My favorite part about this unit is that it starts out pretty easy and builds up to more challenging activities. In 2nd grade, students have to be able to identify the main idea of a text as well as the main idea in each paragraph of a multi-paragraph text. Whew! That's hard! After using the activities in this pack, they are beginning to understand =) Woo hoo! This unit is packed with reading passages, graphic organizers, and meaningful activities for your kiddos. If you'd like to check it out, just click on the image below!

 



 

Have a great week!