Persuasive Writing: Mentor Texts

Hi Bloggy Buds!

I'm linking up today with

for their Must Read Mentor Text Linky.

Today I'm going to share two mentor texts that I used recently for teaching persuasive writing:

I Wanna Iguana and I Wanna New Room! (These two books are also great examples of letter writing, word choice and presentation.)

I started off by reading I Wanna Iguana. We talked about what Alex did and how he tried to convince his parents to let him have the iguana.

Then we made an anchor chart to help us remember what we look for in persuasive writing (duh!).

 After we came up with our anchor chart, we read I Wanna New Room to 'double-check' that we had our 'traits' right.

Then I had them brainstorm a list of things that they wanted to persuade someone about. I had them pick one, then fill out this persuasive writing map:

Click on the picture to grab!

After they mapped it, they went through the writing process. Some of them had some very creative ideas!

I've only read a few so far, but what I've read has been really good. I'm excited to read the rest!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

PS...This was my 200th post! I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Fact and Opinion

Our focus for this week has been Fact and Opinion. They have been doing a really nice job with this one....by the time they get to 4th grade, I hope they know the difference between a fact and an opinion!

Our chart:

They were able to tell me, fairly clearly-right off the bat, what the difference was and why.

Of course, I made my own organizer for them :)

Click on the picture to grab!

Thursday's Outfit

Sweater: Target
Pants: Kohls
Shoes: Burlington Coat Factory








Today:

Sweater: Maurices

Shirt: Burlington Coat Factory
Jeans: JCP
Shoes: Zappos



The allergy medicine has started to cure my sniffles, although I'm still looking a little like Rudolph...and I sometimes start coughing in the middle of a lesson :)

The kids are patient with me though-so it's working out!

Happy Friday!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Workshop Wednesday: Math Websites

Hello Bloggy Buds!

It's time for Workshop Wednesday with Jivey!

This week's topic is math websites.

The first one I am going to share with you is Common Core Sheets. This site has great, FREE worksheets for almost everything you can imagine (Plus stuff for Science, Social Studies and ELA!). I love this for independent practice or homework.

I have a SMART Board, which I use a lot for math. So the next site that is my favorite is the SMART Exchange website. I've been able to download FREE lessons to introduce topics, review topics, and teach lessons (again-not just for Math...covers all subjects).

The kids love the interactive nature of the SMART Board, and they get so excited when I tell them to sit in front of it.

I hope that you can use either of these websites!

I'm still having mucho sinus pressure...a trip to the doctor will be in order soon if it doesn't go away :( . I sound fairly froggish, which the kids always enjoy-but my energy is low and I'm spending more time sitting than usual. Because of this, my outfits to school have been comfortable, and a little more casual than I usually wear.

Monday:

Shirt & Tank: Target
Pants: Kohls
Shoes: Endless/Amazon









Tuesday:

Sweater & Top: JCP
Tank: Target
Pants: Kohls
Shoes: Amazon










Today:

Sweater & Pants: Kohls
Shirt: JCP
Tank & Shoes: Target




Warm weather, please come back to New England!!




Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

Currently

Happy April Fool's Day!

  

Smiles and Sunshine,

Kaitlyn

NonFiction Fun & High/Low

Happy Saturday!

I wanted to share my 'Fun Friday' lesson (the kids all cheered when I told them no, they didn't need their reading books because it was Fun Friday! :)

This week we focused on NonFiction Text Features...of which they have been woefully ignorant of. (until yesterday!)

We first started off by making and anchor chart (of course!). I took our Social Studies book, and some other non-fiction books, and show them each of the features as I talked about it.

This is actually a remake of the chart that I made last year:

Source: Uploaded by user via Kaitlyn on Pinterest

I like the one I made this year better, I think it is a little cleaner and easier for the kids to read.

After we went over what the features were, I spread out the picture books and sent them on their way.

First, I had them doing a Scavenger Hunt that I got from Buzzing with Ms. B (to see if they could recognize the different features), and then I had them do a Using Text Features that I got from Ginger Snaps (to see if they understand why they were included).

I'm going to have them finish up with focusing on one book, using the NonFiction Response Sheet that I got from Create Teach Share.

The books I used:

I put out a variety of reading levels and topics, so everyone found something that they wanted to read about!

I'm also linking up with Teacher to the Core High/Low linky for March.

~ Getting 2 Snow Days AND a Delay
~Being 90-95% sure that for the first time EVER, I will be offered a returning contract...meaning I'll be in the SAME place and the SAME grade!! : D
~Finding out that my school bestie may be joining us in 4th Grade!
~Going to see Zombie Prom with the same bestie (her daughter was in it, and they did a wonderful job!)

~Getting a look at my electricity bill! (somehow, I (or someone linked in to my line) is using up triple the amount of electricity...and it all comes out of my pocket)
~ Having to buy two new tires for my car
~Getting 2 Snow Days AND a Delay (This makes 7...so we're going a week later than first scheduled)

March turned out to be a pretty decent month! I hope April is the same!

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

5 Days, 5 Ways- Casual Friday

Hello!


I'm linking up with Franish and Whitney for their 5 Days, 5 Ways.


Up until last month, there was no such thing as Casual Friday at my school. My principal didn't (and probably still doesn't) believe that jeans are professional enough for us to wear.

However, he has recently allowed us to wear jeans on Friday (those days when we are actually in school and don't have a teacher workshop day or a snow day!) if we pay $2.

The money is being donated to one of the Sandy Hook Victims Funds-so it is going to a good cause.

Here are my Casual Friday Outfits! (The jeans are from JCP and the skirt is from Old Navy)

Comfortable, but still stylish and nice looking :)

Today's Outfit:

Sweater: The Limited
Shirt & Pants: JCP
Shoes: Amazon



Have a wonderful weekend! (and Hoppy Easter!)



Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn

CC for You

Hi Peeps!

I wanted to share with you a really cool website that I've recently discovered and found very helpful (not asked to do this...just wanted to share something truly great!)

I'm sure that, by now, y'all've heard of the Common Core State Standards.



and things have been coming out that are CC-aligned.

Well, I found the coolest, FREE website that has worksheet aligned to the CC.

It's called Common Core Sheets.

Not only does it have Math, it has ELA, Social Studies and Science!!

The worksheets are organized by topic, and they have TONS for any skill you could imagine.

They are also super easy to grade-as all the answers go down the side...makes it easy-peasy lemon-squeezy!

I hope you found this helpful!

Today's Outfit:

Sweater: JCP
Pants: Kohls
Shoes: Burlington Coat Factory

SO happy that tomorrow is Friday! Although this week has gone by pretty quickly, I am always happy to see the weekend come (I love my job, but I love my weekends too!)

Smiles and Sunshine,
Kaitlyn