Tag Archives: Elementary School
Fun Group Games: Killer Frog
Start of School Classroom Tour
When I was a brand new teacher, I was a bit overwhelmed with everything I had to cover in the first few days of school. There were tons of procedures, campus features (office, library, etc.) and expectations to go over. Here were a few notes (not an inclusive list by any means) I made to myself to help me remember some of what to cover:
Writing Submission Sheet
My students were notorious for turning in incomplete writing assignments. They would forget to include the rough draft or outline or something. So I created this easy page to run of on a colored sheet of paper and cut into fourths. My students were required to attach this submission sheet to the front of any writing assignment and fill it out. This helped in numerous ways:
- They were less likely to forget parts of the assignment
- It was easily identifiable in a stack of papers as a writing assignment
- I could easily write comments, scores, etc. on the submission sheet
- Everything in the assignment would be stapled together!!! Less loose pages flying around = victory!
Letter To Your Teacher
Teachers are responsible for so many aspects of a student’s life- not just the academics. It’s helpful to give students an opportunity periodically to tell you whatever is on their mind. However, some students will tell you they don’t have anything to say. So here’s my solution:
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| To get this poster, right click on it and select “save image as.” Then you can save it to your computer and resize it before you print it. I printed mine on a regular 8.5″ x 11″ sheet of card stalk. |
I print this page up at the beginning of the year (to save time writing up the prompt multiple times), and put it on the board about 4 times a year as an in-class writing assignment. One year, I had a particularly social group of 6th grade girls and there always seemed to be some dramatic catastrophe going on between them {sigh}. I chose to do this writing assignment during one particularly dramatic episode and it turned out to be very helpful for me as their teacher to hear about what’s going on without “prying into their lives.”
Halloween Persuasive Writing Prompts
Halloween Persuasive Writing
- Should students be allowed to celebrate Halloween at school? Why or Why not?
- Should parents get to eat candy their kids bring home from Trick-or-Treating? Why or Why not?
- At what age should kids stop Trick-or-Treating? Why?
- What’s the best part (or parts) or Halloween? Why?
- What’s the coolest Halloween costume anyone could ever be? Why?
- hand written, skip lines
- 5 paragraphs: introduction, 3 body paragraphs with at least 5 sentences each, conclusion
- 3 reasons (each paragraph will be a different reason)
- Graphic organizer
- Rough draft
- Final draft in pen
- Submission sheet
- Picture (optional)
Compare/Contrast Essay Organizer
Compare and contrast essays are one of the most common writing assignments on standardized tests. I found it helpful to have an organizer for my students. Having specific questions that prompt students about what to write in each part was especially helpful for my ESL kids. Here’s the one I used for our social studies unit on world religions (research and compare/contrast 2 world religions):
General vs Specific
Some of my students struggled with the concept of general vs. specific. After a mini-lesson on the difference (including common vs. proper nouns), we used this worksheet to practice. NOTE: The example is not done for you. This is for you to use in your mini-lesson and transition to independent/partner practice. Enjoy!






