1-2-3 Come Read and Write the Room With Me

This week has been especially busy, so I'm not quite done with a Very Hungry Caterpillar activity that I've been working on for days...so I wanted to check some of the most popular downloads and feature one on the blog today. 

I came up with my Read and Write the Room packet.  You can plug in this activity anytime of year, or make it part of your Daily 5 word work activities. There's nothing like passing out a clipboard and telling your kiddos that they should pretend to be ABC De-tectives, to grab their interest, and get them excited.

With that in mind, I designed some "Read and Write the Room" worksheets.   You can simply make copies of the template you like best and have students fill them out, sending them home when they finish, or you can have them glue them in a notebook.  (I stock up at the beginning of the year when all of the supply stores sell them as loss-leaders ranging from 10-15 cents!)

By having students glue the worksheets to a page in their Read and Write the Room Journal, you'll have an easy way to show student progress during parent teacher conferences, and a nice keepsake for the end of the year.

Since I'm blogging about this in April, use these activities as a wonderful review that helps reinforce what your kiddos have learned thus far.  I found that I constantly needed to do that to make sure they were retaining things as we moved along. 

I also needed to add some zip to their "word work" activities to keep that interesting for them.  This is great for that, as it's easy to implement, they can work on things independently and at their own pace, and they get the wiggles out, by roaming the room reading and writing!

The first photo is one journal option, if you like the idea of running off separate worksheets.  I have two kinds available.  One has a traceable letter box with an empty one for children to write the upper and lowercase letter in.

The other is an "I spy" version and has students draw something that they see that begins with that letter.  You can pick the style you like best or mix things up to add more interest and variety.

Another option is seen in the second photo. Here you conserve paper and the time it takes to run things off. Run off the "Read and Write the Room!" template, trim and glue to the inside cover.

Students use the “master” to write their own page for a new letter each week, or each day, depending on how long you want to stretch this activity out for.

After students have completed the alphabet, you can still continue this activity by using the "roam the room" alphabet cards.

Toss them in a container and have students pick one.  That will be the letter they "roam the room" looking for.  You can use the blank template as a worksheet for them to fill in whatever.

As with all of my other alphabet cards, you can use them for games, flashcards, sequencing etc.  A tip list is included to give you some ideas and includes the "Kaboom!" game.

I've also included a simple ABC De-tective alphabet worksheet, where students roam the room, trying to find something that begins with each letter of the alphabet.

This is a wonderful activity for your early finishers, or something quick and easy when you need a fun time-filler.

There are also several choices for the cover of the notebook journals.  Choose one, run off, trim and glue to the cover of your notebooks.  You could also have students design their own cover. 

Click on the link to view/download the Read and Write the Room Packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  

I'm so excited that spring has finally (sort of) arrived here in Michigan.  The birds are chirping, and the rain has managed to wash away all of that dirty lingering snow.

I'm headed out the door to rejuvenate my spirit with some fresh air and sunshine. Wishing you a blissful day.

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush." -Doug Larson

1-2-3 Come Read and Write the Room With Me

Reading and writing the room was always a fun activity for my students.  I think making them ABC De-tectives and allowing them to roam the room with their worksheet on a clipboard, helped encourage an enthusiastic effort.

With that in mind, I designed some "Read and Write the Room" worksheets.   You can simply make copies of the template you like best and have students fill them out, sending them home when they finish, or you can take advantage of all of the back to school super sales going on and pick up notebooks for as little as .15 cents.

By having students glue the worksheets to a page in their Read and Write the Room Journal, you'll have an easy way to show student progress during parent teacher conferences.

If you start the journals in October and have students “write the room” once a week,  (using a new letter) you’ll complete them in April, and have a wonderful end-of-the-year keepsake for them to haul home.

The first photo is one journal option, if you like the idea of running off separate worksheets.  I have two kinds available.  One has a traceable letter box with an empty one for children to write the upper and lowercase letter in.

The other is an "I spy" version and has students draw something that they see that begins with that letter.  You can pick the style you like best or mix things up to add more interest and variety.

Another option is seen in the second photo. Here you conserve paper and the time it takes to run things off. Run off the "Read and Write the Room!" template, trim and glue to the inside cover.

Students use the “master” to write their own page for the letter of the week.  If you assign a new letter each week, it will take you 6 months (+2 weeks) to complete the journals. 

If you want to continue afterwards, you can run off my "roam the room" alphabet cards.  (Laminate them so you can use them each year.)

Toss them in a container and have students pick one.  That will be the letter they "roam the room" looking for.  You can use the blank template as a worksheet for them to fill in whatever, or one of the other options.

As with all of my other alphabet cards, you can use them for games, flashcards, sequencing etc.  A tip list is included to give you some ideas and includes the "Kaboom!" game.

I've also included a simple ABC De-tective alphabet worksheet, where students roam the room, trying to find something that begins with each letter of the alphabet. 

There are also several choices for the cover of the notebook journals.  Choose one, run off, trim and glue to the cover of your notebooks.  You could also have students design their own cover. 

Click on the link to view/download the Read and Write the Room Packet.  Thanks for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN away.

I'm off to try and find the bottom of my desk.  So many design ideas, so little time!  I need to prioritize and organize!  Can you relate?

The difference between school and life?  In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test.  In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson." -Tom Bodett  

1-2-3 Come Do A Back-To-School Icebreaker With Me.

My Y5's LOVED playing games as icebreakers for the first week of school. They are a quick, easy and fun way for students to learn about each other.

With a wave of my "magic magnifying glass" I'd often turn my kiddo's into ABC-De-tectives.  They especially enjoyed running around with a clipboard interviewing their classmates. With that in mind, I designed this "Find A Friend" icebreaker.

Here's What To Do:

Teacher runs off “rap sheets.” (A list of 5 simple questions.) Older students can fill them out in class; you may want to send the questionnaire home with younger students, to have parents help them out.  

Remind students NOT to put their name on their paper.  Pass out a rap sheet to each student. Make sure that no one has their own.

Inform your students that they are all detectives and that their mission is  to find their new friend.

Explain to your students, that by interviewing their classmates, they will eliminate suspects, until they find their  new friend.
When everyone has found their friend, detectives will introduce them to the class, using their rap sheet to tell about them.

Helpful tips:  

•  Choose one question from your list.
•  Ask this SAME question for each suspect.
•  If you get a no response, move on to another suspect.
•  If you get a matching response, then ask them another question.
•  If their next response does not match, then move on.
•  If it does, ask another question.  This may be the friend you’re looking for.

For added fun, I've included detective badges, a congratulations certificate of praise, that students earn when they find their new friend, a rap sheet, as well as an interview form.

Click on the link to view/download the Find A Friend Icebreaker Activity.

Thanks for visiting. Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find useful. My "Pin It" button is at the top.

"Education is not received.  It's achieved." -Unknown