Writing Page for Stories (with picture space)

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

One of my teacher friends calls this page her “must have” for writing. It’s got a space for kids to draw a picture, and lots of blank lines for writing.

Click here for page: Writing page blank- picture frame and lines

You’re A Star (free printable blank certificates)

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

It’s always nice to have some blank certificates for spur-of-the-moment use in your classroom, or at the end of the year. These have a space for student’s name, teacher’s name, date, and the star is open if you’d like to write award specifics in it. Enjoy!

Click here for the free printable PDFs: You’re a Star – Blank Certificates

Don’t forget some cool pans to use when filling these certificates out! I recommend these “throwback to middle school” Gelly Roll Stardust pens!

Click the photo to grab them!
Here are some more blank certificates I’ve made over the years:

End of the Year Awards (#Awards for Upper Grades) 45 page set

End of the Year Awards (43 page set)

Build-A-Word Literacy Center for lower grades (time-saving genius idea!)

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

Here’s an idea I got from a 2nd grade teacher. First, save this Microsoft Word file of letter/sound cards to your computer. Then read the directions below.

Click here to download the sound cards.

How To Use This Literacy Center

Students:

Build words with the letter cards. Each word mush use the sound of the week (the double sized-card).
Make a “T –chart” of the words you make. (If there are 3 sounds of the week, make a T chart with 3 columns).

Teachers:

Save this template to your computer, so you can use it each week.
Each week, change the sounds on the double sized cards to match the sounds your class is studying that week.
Run off the set on cardstock paper (1 set on a different color for each student who attends the center at any given time).
Use a paper cutter to cut out multiple sheets of cards at once (until all cards are cut out).
Label an envelope so you can reuse these cards next year (“oi/oy sounds – blue cards”). This way, the kids will always know which set is theirs (color), which sounds they need to focus on (double sized cards), and what envelope to put them in when they’re done.
Smile because you’ve set up a literacy center that will only take a few minutes each week for the first year, and then will be ALL DONE for every year after that! J

History of Valentine’s Day (grammar practice book for lower grades)

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

I’ve gotten positive feedback from a few teachers on these grammar practice books, so I’ve decided to make a Valentine’s Day one for lower grades. It’s 5 days long, and the passages are fairly short. Look through the pages first to know whether this activity will be best for your class as an independent work activity or as a whole class activity. Happy Heart Day!

Click here for the PDF to download/print.

Parts of Speech Valentine’s Wreath (Paper Craft Idea)

Posted on January 22, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

You’ve probably seen Valentine’s Day paper crafts that look like this…

(image source)

But have your ever thought of adding a parts of speech twist to the wreath project?

1. As a class brainstorm nouns, verbs, and adjectives that fit with Valentine’s Day.

2. Assign each color of hears a part of speech (yellow and green are nouns, pink and white are verbs, etc.)

3. Have students select words from the class brainstorm to write on the color of heart you’ve assigned.

The product is a cute, Valentine’s Day wreath, that looks like conversation hearts, but it really part of speech practice!

7 Up Sentences

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

Here’s a sign I saw in a lower grade classroom that encourages the students to write sentences with 7 words or more. Just thought it was clever…

Snowman Adjectives Project

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Squarehead Teachers

Younger grade classes (like the 2nd grade I was recently working with) need to constantly review the basic parts of speech. Here’s one activity the teacher and I drummed up to combine adjectives and winter themes.

Print out these PDFs and make copies for your class: page 1 page 2 page 3 page 4

1. Cut out the snowman and glue it to a large piece of constriction paper (12″ x 18″).
2. Glue on the adjectives graphic organizer
3. Write on the organizer any adjectives that describe the different parts of the snowman

For extended use with this project, write a story starring the snowman and analyse the story elements, write a character description, etc.

Paragraph Planners

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Squarehead Teachers

Here are 2 paragraph planners for you to whip out when needed. One has a space for transition words/phrases and one doesn’t. Choose the best one for your classroom, or download both just in case. Remember to right click on the page, choose “save image as” so you can save it to your computer for future use. Enjoy!