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!

 

New Year, New Blog Name... and a Sale!

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas! I know I did =) I'm so excited because I have another entire week off of school. That means I will be organizing, planning, and enjoying time with my little guy. Okay- on to some big news... in case you didn't notice, my blog name has changed! When I first started blogging about a year ago, I came up with the name "Tales From Room 112". I've never been in love with the name but couldn't think of what else I wanted it to be. I knew that I wouldn't be teaching in Room 112 forever so it would have to change eventually. Yesterday, the idea of an open door classroom came into my mind and I just had to have it as my blog name. That's how "The Open Door Classroom" came to be! I was reflecting about blogging and how much I've learned over the past year from fellow bloggers. It is because everyone opens the doors to their classrooms and shares ideas that I've grown as a teacher. This is my hope for all of you- that you will be able to take ideas and inspiration away from my blog because of my "open door classroom." I hope you love the name as much as I do! Here are some great quotes I found yesterday when playing around with my new blog name:

“Whatever we possess becomes of double value when we have the opportunity of sharing it with others.” -Jean-Nicolas Bouilly

“If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas.” -George Bernard Shaw

“If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it.” -Margaret Fuller

Another big change is coming soon in the next few days- Erin Blecki from Creating and Designing is currently working on a new blog design for me! She sent me the previews a few days ago and they are amazing! I can't wait to get it installed on my blog. It's like an Extreme Blog Makeover =)

I also wanted to tell you that I am having a sale on all of my Common Core posters and Common Core vocabulary cards through January 2nd! I decided to throw a sale for these items because I know that it takes a while to print, laminate, and cut out the cards in these products. Winter break is a great time to do this! You can now enjoy 20% off of these items =)

Have a wonderful Sunday!