Using Melissa and Doug to Facilitate Writing

My love for Melissa and Doug products continues to grow. In addition to my last post regarding ways to use their products for educational purposes, I wanted to highlight a different M&D item. 

Melissa and Doug Make-a-Face Pad

I had my son create a face using the stickers and images from this pad. See the pictures below for a detailed description on how this can be used for writing. 

Option #1: Label/Describe

Brainstorm descriptive words for the picture and label in marker. Using this as a "guide" a student could produce a creative fictional writing piece about this character using some of the descriptive words listed. 

Option #2: Character Traits

Using the picture made, students can create a story about the character while focusing on what specific traits make that character unique. 

The possibilities are truly endless with these pads! Multiple characters can be made and used in a series of stories. The pictures can be used to label facial features, predict feelings of the character, add speech bubbles and conversations to, etc. 

Do you have any other ideas? If so, leave them in the comment section below! <3

XOXO, 

Mary Call 

Teaching Takes the Cake 

The Many Uses of Melissa and Doug Sticker Books

     Ever since my son turned two, we have been buying him Melissa and Doug sticker books. They are perfect for travel, taking to restaurants and other outings that require sitting for a period of time, and the list goes on. He has loved certain books so much, that we are now on sets 2 and 3 of the same books!

    I wanted to share a list of ways I have thought to use these sticker books. At $4.99 a book, you really can't beat the limitless ways these can be used by children of MANY ages! Today I will choose and cover just one of our family favorites! Come back to visit to see additions to this list soon!


Melissa & Doug Make-a-Meal Sticker Book 

                        Get This Sticker Book Here

• CREATING A BALANCED MEAL - Go over the food groups with your child and have them make a balanced meal focusing on proteins, vegetables, grains, sweets, etc.

• WRITING WORD BANK - After your child creates a meal, label the parts of the meal (as shown in the picture below. Using this as a word bank, help or challenge your child to create a piece of writing using many of the words that are labeled. Maybe they create a fictional story, a how-to piece, or even a recipe to go along with the picture they created. Again, parents of younger kids can help them brainstorm and write a few sentences for them to read and reread. Teachers can easily have many of these placed in a writing center for students to use! You can write a sentence a day for a week until you have a paragraph about the picture. So many options! In the picture below, the yellow sentence strip might be something a younger child would do and the blue would be a child capable of writing their own sentence. Older kids can write full stories or pieces.

  

  Writing Word Bank
  

• DESCRIPTION WEBBING - Taking even just one component of the picture, kids can create a web to further describe what is on the placemat. This can be added to a writer's folder or used as an activity to help them brainstorm or work on bettering their skills as writers.

• PERSONAL PLACEMATS - Let each child decorate their own placemat picture. Once they are finished, laminate the picture and actually use it as their own placemat at the table!

• TEST REVIEW OR GAME - Come up with what kids will need to earn during the game like...1 entree, 3 sides, 1 drink, and 1 dessert for example. As they answer questions correctly, have them pick one of the items needed and add it to their placemats. Continue play until the first person collects all the items they need. There are so many fun ways to adapt this! Be creative! :)

• SPECIAL CHORES CHART - Pre-select food stickers and write down chores on them. Your children can choose a food (chore) to finish and then add it to their placemat. Once they have filled up their plates/trays with stickers, they can earn a prize, allowance, etc. You can choose ahead of time how many food items need to be added to their placemats in order to earn the reward.

• PLAYING RESTAURANT - Better if done with multiple people or multiple placemats, fill up a few sticker mats with different foods. Have or help your child create and design a restaurant menu listing these items and the price of each. You can play restaurant and choose placemats to use and allow your child(ren) to "add up" what your bill will be. There are many directions you can take this once you feel your children are ready! Added bonus - hang onto the placemats and reuse the next time you want to play restaurant! :)

• HOW MANY CALORIES - Create a meal and then using the internet and other resources, try to determine the total weight of the meal in calories. This can start a conversation about recommended calories in a day for certain groups, what calories are, why they are important, how to get the biggest bang for your buck in caloric consumption, etc.

I would love to hear how else you might use this really fun sticker book! If you have any other ideas, please share in the comment section. I have linked the items mentioned in this blog post if you are searching to purchase them on your own. They are affiliated links. 

Get Sticker Book Here

Get Sentence Strips Here

Get Chart Paper Here

Get Primary Writing Notebook Here

Get My Go-to Laminator Here

Get Thermal Laminating Pockets Here

Let's Talk About Race

With so much going on in our world right now, it can be difficult to find the best way to explain these events to our children. I will be the first to admit that I still have a lot to learn. I have been sitting back and watching, reading, listening, and reflecting on all recent and not-so-recent events. I've been in full "education mode" here. 

In the only way I know how, I wanted to create some content that parents can use with their children at home. Feel free to download and use any or all parts of this freebie pack. You will need some craft supplies, a computer with internet access, and an invitation for open dialogue with your family. 

I was inspired by a read aloud shared by The Tutu Teacher on YouTube. You can find (and will need) her video which can be found HERE or below. 

I came up with a few activities for young children that could be done with the help of an adult. I also included helpful links and additional resources for kids and parents to navigate this sensitive topic. 

Activity #1 is a must if you choose to do activities #2 or #3.  The Tutu Teacher does a great job of explaining racism and race to young children. She challenges kids to "take off their skin" and get to know someone without judging them based on the color of their skin. 

Activity #2 - Have children decorate their "person" to represent themselves. Attach the skeleton page to the back of their artwork by using tape or staples. Reiterate that without our skin, we would look exactly the same on the inside. Take the papers over to a window and hold up to the light to reveal the skeleton underneath their self-portraits. This is a good time to also talk about how what is inside is the most important when learning about someone's story because the color of their skin and their appearance is only one small part of that. 

Activity #3 - In the read aloud, the story talks about how everyone has a story...elements of their lives that make them who they are. This activity challenges your child to really think about the things that make up their story. I included some questions that may help get the ball rolling, but encourage them to really dig deeply and think about who they are as a person. I also took this opportunity to discuss how their are parts of our stories that make us unique, but also that can connect us with others. The color of our skin doesn't mean that we can't relate or have things in common with others that look different than us. 

Activity #4 - I included some questions and statements to help get the conversations started with your family. There are plenty others online if you choose to look for more. 

Ready to get started???????

Just visit my store and download everything you need. Ready to print and use. 

I just started with my little guy and here is a sample of activity #3 (My Story). 

Good luck and let me know how it goes!

CLICK THE PURPLE LINK BELOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GET IT HERE

Love, 

Mary

Snappsy the Alligator Freebie

I have always loved Storyline Online. It was a great option for my students if they finished work early or if we had a few minutes before dismissal that we needed to fill. I have always wanted to do read alouds of my favorite books and post them on a platform like YouTube, but there are way too many rules regarding copyright that I don't want to infringe. One positive that has come from this pandemic is that many publishers are now allowing this without any issue in order to help teachers work from a digital setting. Most publishers have set an expiration date on this favor though, and I am way too forgetful to remember to delete anything I have posted.

I figured the next best thing would be to use Storyline Online. There you can find uploaded videos of famous actors reading some absolute classics. They even now include lesson ideas! I chose to provide some extension activities for a super cute story called Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book) read by "Hopper" from Stranger Things. The activities provided could be appropriate for a younger age range - Pre-K with help from an adult through 2nd grade. Feel free to download from my TPT store! The link is at the BOTTOM of this post.

Activities from my packet include...

Recipe

 Roll-a-shape Game with Die Template

 3D Shape Sort

 A Scattergories-like game (easily adaptable for older kids):

Visit my Teachers Pay Teachers Store HERE to download this packet for FREE! 

So my hubby and I have been quarantining with our two kids...young kids...young boys to be exact. We have been having to find ways to fill our days without turning to the trusty old screen of the iPad or TV. My MIL killed it in the gift department for our 4 year old this year and purchased a subscription to National Geographic Little Kids magazine. We received our first issue this week and it has been a huge hit!

In light of recent events (and partially because my inner teacher has just been itching to contribute), I created a few activities to accompany both the magazine and their website. You do not need a subscription to the magazine to do these activities...it's just an added bonus. 

I tailored the activities to fit a younger crowd (think preschool-kindergarten), but the video material provided by National Geographic is appropriate for much older kids too. 

Feel free to print and complete at your own pace. Share with anyone that you feel may need a filler for their day with young ones...we are in this together! #teamtruth #teamIgotyourback #quaranteam #whatdayisit

Click Here to Download

Ugh...not more math.

     As I was growing up, I can vividly remember my hatred for math. It never came easy for me. I somehow managed to always do well enough, but God did I loathe numbers and anything that involved problem solving. The one math area that I did actually enjoy in elementary school was learning about data and measurement. Finally...visuals! Pictures! Hands-on concepts! Manipulatives that made sense to me! 

     When I became a teacher, I promised myself and my students (both current and future) that I would always try to make math fun. I would come up with ways to engage every kid (fellow math haters included). I would spend many hours on weekends creating centers and games for the different concepts I was teaching at the time. Some worked. Some didn't. Some centers stuck around a tad longer than expected because my kids loved them so very much. I wanted to share a set of centers/games that proved to be winners in my class. 

Measurement and Data Centers/Games

These centers and games can be used in many ways.

Ways to Use:

• These are great options for those early finishers! Partnered up, they can play until you are ready to tranistion to the next task. 
• Putting these into centers is another great use (and how I used them). This can be done in pairs or groups of four (two students teaming up - good for students that may struggle). 
• Want to use individually? Assign students a certain # of dice rolls or a certain # of spaces that must be answered. 
• You can also use in a small group by projecting this onto an interactive white board and use magnets as game pieces. Kids in the group can team up to answer questions together or students can take turns. 

Materials Needed:

• Printed sheets (like the one above)
• Game pieces (counters, coins, paper clips, etc...)
• Scratch paper or notebooks (to work problems out if needed)
• Manipulatives (mini clocks, etc...) if necessary
• Die

How to Play:

1.       Students decide which player will go first.
2.       Player 1 will take and keep Player 2’s answer key, and Player 2 will take and keep Player 1’s answer sheet in order to check the math. (you can also have both students working on every problem to check each other’s math too).
3.       The first player will roll the die and go to that space on Player 1’s board.
4.       Using the graphic on the sheet, Player 1 will work the problem out on scratch paper or in a notebook. (They can also use small post its and just place the post-it over the space on the board if they get it correct).
5.       If Player 1 gets it correct, they can place a marker over that spot on the board.
6.       It is now Player 2’s turn.
7.       If a player gets an answer wrong, their turn is over.
8.       If a player rolls a number that has already been answered, their turn is over.
9.       Continue playing until one player has markers on every space.

I created five different centers/games that can be used. The Common Core Standards 

addressed include:  

Hot Dog Stand Mania - CC.2.4.3.A.2
Tell and write time to the nearest minute and solve problems by calculating tie intervals

Ice Cream Truck Chase - CC.2.4.3.A.3
Solve problems and make change involving money using a combination of bills and coins 

Ballpark Birthdays - CC.2.4.3.A.4 Interpret data using line plots

Snow Cone Surprise - CC.2.4.3.A.4 Interpret data using bar graphs

Buccaneer Burger Shack - CC.2.4.3.A.4 Interpret data using pictographs

This product can be found in my Teachers Pay Teachers store here -> CLICK ME! 

Peace, Love, and Math, 

Mary

BAS Benchmark Assessment Tracking System

We have all been there. It is district assessment week and you have a billion students to test using Fountas and Pinnell's BAS Benchmarking kits. If your school is anything like mine, you have trained countless staff members on using and adminstering the test. If you are expected to get through so many students, you need all hands on deck!

The last three years I worked as a building-level reading specialist, my colleague and I tried to think of ways to ease the burden on ourselves in regards to organization and planning for the testing week. With so many "cooks in the kitchen", we wanted to be sure that it ran smoothly and without kinks. After each testing session, we would sit down and try to think of a way to make things easier on ourselves that didn't include writing a million notes on what students were left to test, how to store assessments, how to keep track of what levels and books were used with each student, etc... After some deliberation, we came up with a tracking system to help ourselves regain some sanity during these testing weeks. 

I developed an assessment tracker sheet to use for each student being tested. The purpose of this sheet is to...

• follow the student from grade to grade
• serve as a "cover sheet" for the student portfolio that includes hard copies of the running records
• track the staff that administered testing
• record the benchmark books used with the student so that the opposite is used in case of a need for retesting in the future
• list instructional reading levels for the student for fall, winter, and spring for one grade or multiple grades depending on the version you use

Follow the pictures and notes below to see how this can be used. The student used is fictitious and the levels are made up. I have included all versions of these tracking pages for you to download for FREE at the end of this post. 

Picture 1: Student was tested first in the winter of kindergarten. The first round of testing was done and written in pink. Based on the findings, the student would start with level B and work on some of the behaviors noticed during testing to work on getting to level C. These actual hard copy running records with specific score information would be put into a folder using this as the cover sheet. Anyone with questions or concerns would see the test administrator (in this case T.C.).

Picture 2: Spring testing rolled around, and the test administrator (using purple ink to show the difference) saw to start with the level C non-fiction title for this student. The student scored very well on level D and was close to independent level so the administrator kept going. The student hit a level of frustration on the next level. Since this was the last time the student would be tested for this school year, a highlighter was used (pink) to show what levels were assessed during this school year. In this case, levels A-E were highlighted.

Picture 3: It is now the following school year. Fall assessments have started and each teacher should have a folder for every student with these cover sheets depicting the previous year testing data. If your school district pays for data tracking software, more specific info will be available online too. This is more for teachers to have an idea as to where to start and with what BAS title. Seeing that he student frustrated on a level E in the spring, the teacher started there with blue ink and continued all the way to level G. The teacher stopped going further with testing because the student showed some weakness in accuracy even though they were instructional. During winter testing, the student scored instructional on level H but had great accuracy and comprehension and was very close to scoring on the independent level. Spring scores for this year are shown in black ink. The scores for the duration of the year were highlighted in yellow (levels E-K).

Picture 4: Following the same routine from the years prior, the new year's teacher has all of the testing data from kindergarten and first grade for each of her students. The green levels represent the testing done in second grade. During this year, you will notice that he student showed some regression. Intervention was utilized for a few weeks and then the student was able to close the gap. That is the reason for having four lines under each level. Alternating the use of fiction and non-fiction titles is important and gives the tester information on what titles were already used. Instead of this student having seen the fiction title for level K 3 times, there is now a long period of time from the first non-fiction appearance (5/13), to the retesting session (10/29). *note* I did not fill this in correctly to match this statement. Please follow what is written in the blog, not what is shown in the picture.

Picture 5: The years continue...

Picture 6: On page 2 of the cover sheet, there are places to list the instructional levels found during each testing session for a quick snapshot. There is also an area for notes that can be filled out by any test administrator.

I am posting these for free for anyone that is interested in using them. There are multiple versions to fit anyone's needs. I have versions for strictly K-2, K-5, K-3, not grade level specific, etc...

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS FREEBIE