David Shannon Author Study

 I am going to share with you Blog Hoppers one of my classroom's favorite themes...

 our Author Study about David Shannon we do at the end of the year.

I made a digital version to share with everyone this year. 

Here is an example of one of the 8 games in this pack. 

This one is for the book, No, David!

Here are 6 more game boards. 

Each board has its down reading comprehension cards and answer key.

 Each book also has at least one writing prompt that concentrates on the story element for that book.  Here is a picture of some of the writing prompts provided. 

 Collectively, these will make an awesome author study book. I provided a cover sheet in this pack. 

It is for sale here on TpT. 

This pack has been a labor of love for me. I have been working on it for weeks and weeks. I hope you can use these elements together or separately in your classroom too. David Shannon is so awesome and ALL students love his books. 

Does your class read David Shannon books?

Mary Amoson, Sharing Kindergarten http://sharingkindergarten.blogspot.com/ http://www.facebook.com/SharingKindergarten

Behavior Punch Cards, Vocabulary Center, and Extended Tax Break Sale

Hey.....psssst......over here!  Yeah, you!  Just wanted to let you know that I am still running my tax break sale.  I figured we all needed an extra day of savings!!

I need to take a poll. And, I really would if I knew how with html code! But, anyway, dear readers, do you find the behavior punch cards that I have been using in my classroom helpful? I hate to keep putting them out there if they aren't helpful. Up until now I have been putting them out as a Google Doc, but do to the issues it has had with the punch cards I will need to start putting them out on TpT.

So...please leave a comment letting me know if you find those helpful. If they aren't, then I'll find something else that is free!!

Also, today I redid my Vocabulary Center Graphic Organizer and took the old one down. The new file is soooo much better than my old one. Now everything is in color and just beautiful. This is what they look like.

 
I made 32 graphic organizers this morning at 5 A.M.!!  Sixteen of them are in color and 16 of them are black lined for copying.  I plan to use the colored versions on my Promethean Board and annotate over them.  The cost is $3 which is a steal...if I price as recommended on TpT, it should be priced much higher--more than twice of the price it is set out now.

The thing I like most about graphic organizers like this is that they almost teach for you.  Once your students learn what to do the first time, they can pretty much roll with it.

I recommend creating a Vocabulary booklet to document the vocabulary learned throughout whatever book you are teaching.  Plus, it is a really nifty study guide when it comes time for a vocabulary test!!  Just click !on a thumb nail to go to TpT to grab it.  By the way, I am still running my Tax Break Sale....I figured we all needed another day!!!

Hope you enjoy this!!

P.S.  While you are at my store, click on the little follow button so that you can keep aware of all of the new products I am uploading.  I counted, and as of today, I have 24 days until school is out.  Then, I can finish a lot of unfinished products and get them out so that we can all print, cut, laminate, and cut again!  Story of my life in the summer!

Beach + Ocean Art Resources!!

As an author/illustrator of children's picture books, my favorite part of making school visits is to see what sort of "Art" is on display during my time on site. As a 'snow-bird' resident of Florida,  my favorite part of our season in paradise is getting to go to da-BEACH!!! As an educational blogger one of my favorite things is linking up my observations + efforts to that of others to share with a wider audience. 

So imagine my enthusiasm when Mary at Sharing Kindergarten, said she was going to host a blog-hop on all things Beach related!!! 


Check out all of the dozens of simple Arts + craft ideas that I've gathered together into one l-o-n-g post. There are additional bulletin board ideas, sunny projects to paint, an awesome anchor chart and some delightful connections to palm trees from "Chicka, Chicka Boom, Boom!!"


The post is quickly charging toward my Top 10 list as readers pin + share it to their circles of influence. Check it out, by clicking right here. 


In any case, I promise it will get you thinking of summer!!!


-- Debbie -- 

Looking for a Time Filler?

Every teacher needs a variety of time fillers for those times when there are five minutes left and you need something to do. A quick, easy and fun time filler that I have done with several classes is called "Guess Who?" cards. For a full explanation, head over to my blog, Teaching in the Early Years, by clicking on the image below.



Enjoy!

Graphic Organizers: Foldables

Popping through from RainbowsWithinReach again.

I've added a second article filled with photographed examples of 'graphic organizers' -- known as 'foldables' from my recent travels to the Illinois Reading Council's conference.

I know that these are a delight for differentiated learning and support kinesthetic learners.

Here's the link to my second article on Graphic Oragnizers.

Here's the link to the original article, filled with Graphic Organizers.

Hope that your spring is filled with a feeling of accomplishment.
                                                  -- Debbie --

Cute bumblebee freebie

What a cute song to add to your Spring or Insect unit. Come on by to download this free pocket chart activity. Click on the picture to take you there:)

Lidia R. Barbosa from: 

         

Tippy Toe Chick Go Freebie

We just finished our Reading Street story, Tippy-Toe Chick, Go!  It was a great addition to our Easter week!  Our theme was Clever Ideas so the students were Problem Solving Detectives during writing!  I had some writing activities in their centers they were really excitied about.  They brainstormed problems they have had and came up with a few clever solutions to those problems.

I added Read and Write the room with the ending -le and vowel pattern -ow

The students played a game with these skills in word work.

Please enjoy all of this for free by clicking the link below.  Enjoy!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter!

Art Ideas and Ocean Ahead!

I was away this week on a family vacation, but I posted a TON of fun art ideas to share. Head over to my blog to check them out.

I also worked on a new unit on my way home. Here is the old lady again... she swallowed a shell this time. Can you believe it is beach time already?

I am working on the Literacy and Art... but stop by to see this unit to get you in the beachy mood!

Mary Amoson, Sharing Kindergarten http://sharingkindergarten.blogspot.com/ http://www.facebook.com/SharingKindergarten

Hop on Over to Sharing Kindergarten

I put all my Easter items on sale on TpT for 20% off through today! Go pick up all your Easter items for this week.

If you are looking for planning ideas post Easter... Hop over to my blog to see my newest game based on the book Tops & Bottoms by Janet Stevens. I use it during my plant unit as a great literacy tie in!

Mary, Sharing Kindergarten http://sharingkindergarten.blogspot.com/ http://www.facebook.com/SharingKindergarten