Sunday, June 25, 2017



Will You Sign Here, John Hancock?
By Jean Fritz
John Hancock loved to sign his name! After studying the styles of his autograph illustrated in the book, Will You Sign Here, John Hancock?, invite students to compare characteristics of John's elaborate signature with traits of his personality. For example, his large, fancy script claimed as much attention as his love of flamboyant clothing demanded recognition.

Next, have students consider their own character traits and how they can be expressed through their own signatures. Give each student a sheet of unlined paper to fold in half to make two sections. Instruct each student to brainstorm and list her qualities and likes on one half of the paper.

Then, on the other half, have him/her design an artistic signature that reflects some of the items from him/her list. Allow time for students to share their creations.Mailbox.com







What a Great Idea!!!
I was reading on a blog a short message about collecting notes from students. The blog stated to collect student love notes, poems, drawings, and more and keep them in a binder to display all year long called the Big Book of Heart (name it as you please). It further stated that it gets tough sometimes to find a new space to display the materials.  The binder will be your catch all, and will still be on display!




Goggle Drive
If you are like me and know nothing about Goggle Drive, this infographic may help. You can use it to introduce Google Drive to your students. It briefly describes the features in Google Drive including Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms and Drawings using images and graphics.                                                                        www.classroomfreebies.com
 


Sunday, June 18, 2017

Sunday, June 4, 2017





“Friday Letters”

Each Friday have your students write to their parents sharing what they have learned during the week along with any special highlights that occurred.  Students can also communicate with their parents by sharing their behavior and academics for the week in the “Friday Letter”.  This unedited piece of writing is meant to help students think about the week’s learning while practicing written language skills. Students should be given the freedom to choose what they would like to share in the letter as choice provides motivation to complete the letter each week. 
At the preschool and kindergarten level, the “Friday Letter” will need some modification.  Students may draw pictures that express events from their school week and/or the teacher or aide can scribe for the child. 

Some suggested sentence starters are listed below. 
I am confused about…
I did very well…
I love the way…
I still need to work on…
I was surprised…
I wish you would look at…
I’m not sure…
I’m very proud of…
The hardest thing…
This week I learned…
What was most important to me was…

Here are SOME fundamentals of writing. Please focus on these throughout the year:
Capitals
Complete sentences
Cursive writing
Grammar 
Indenting paragraphs
Periods
Spelling