12 pages.

Are your students working on transitions and "how to" "directional" writing?  How to make a pumpkin pie is a quick, easy and fun activity to help them practice. 

12 pages.

Ready! Set! Action! is an interesting and fun way to help your students learn about verbs.  This game also acts as a classroom management technique to help students "get the wiggles out".  Students enjoy the action of the activity, while you reinforce the grammar concept.

1-2-3 Come Have Fun Learning About Verbs With Me!

One of the things I used to do with my Y5's, was to help them "get the wiggles out".  When I felt they were getting a bit antsy, I'd say: "Quick! Jump up! Get those wiggles out!” (We’d wiggle, giggle & shake.) Then I’d say “FREEZE.”  (Everyone froze in place in utter silence.)  I'd quietly and slowly say: “Now-carefully, peel those frozen wiggles off and throw them out the window!”  They’d toss their wiggles out, and we’d wipe our brows and say: “Whew! Wiggles gone!" 

Sometimes, after they had thrown their wiggles out the window, I’d exclaim, “Uh oh!” (Then whisper:) "Shhh! A wiggle snuck in! Catch it and toss it out again!”  We’d very slowly and quietly reach for the stars, grab a wiggle, and toss, it slow motion, out the window once again.

As a teacher, you mime the movements and they will follow your lead. "Monkey-see, monkey-do."  The quiet voice and very slow actions will calm your wild ones down and give you control of the class.

My Y5's absolutely LOVED this, and were ready to get back down to business.  Brain breaks are so important with little ones, especially during that first month of school, when they are getting used to a long day of routines.

With that in mind, I designed the Ready! Set! Action! packet.  It's an interesting and fun way to help your students learn about verbs, at the same time acting as a classroom management technique.  Students enjoy the action of the game, while you reinforce the grammar concept.

Explain to students that verbs are words that describe an action, then ask them for some examples. (I don't get into "state of being verbs" with my kiddos, but if you teach older grades, by all means, give them the full definition.)  

Print the action poster on card stock and then put it on the front of a container (shoebox, ice-cream pail, basket)

Print off the action cards, laminate and trim. (I've included 45 verb cards, plus a blank set for you to program with whatever.)  Put the cards in the container.

When you are ready to get the wiggles out, or want to transition to another activity, choose a child to pick an action (verb) card out of your container.  They show the card and everyone reads it. That person can demonstrate the action, or everyone can do their own version.

I've included small blank clacker cards, for you to program with your students' names.  Just another fun little detail to match the theme.

There's also an "It's time to wiggle" poster. Show the poster and have students call out a verb.  Choose one and do that action to “get the wiggles out.” 

You could also use this as a way to transition children over to the action verb activity explained above.  Show the sign, pick a student, who picks a verb card and then children chant: “Time to wiggle. Time to giggle.  Time to ________ (jiggle)." or whatever word card was chosen. Have students do that activity in place, or have them transition to the next activity by doing that action.

I wanted to give a shout out to Michelle over at 3am Teacher for the cute "movie clacker" clip art.  As you can see, it was just what I was looking for and perfect for this packet.  I have a "real" slate clacker that I bought at the party store for only $2.00.  I thought it would add to the fun.  Click on the link to view/download the Action Verb Packet.

While doing verb research, I discovered that the term originates from Latin. (Who knew? And I took it for 5 years!) I also found some super-helpful sites that you might like.  Enchanted Learning has a wonderful (school appropriate) alphabetical list of verbs.  My personal favorite site for verbs is Verbs 1.  If you're looking for a verb that starts with a specific letter, then this site's for you.  Simply click on whatever letter you need and you'll find an alphabetical list starting with that letter.

For 2,000 action verbs, Grammar Check Dictionary is also a nice resource.  Finally, Woxikon, is a database that helps you with a verb's individual meaning, forms and conjugations in 8 different languages!

Well that's it for today.  It's Saturday and summer is calling! (My husband is too, as my computer time is up and we're off to the fair.) I'm wishing you an action-packed day, over flowing with fun. 

8 pages.

Students practice giving directions in this fun writing prompt that makes a cute bulletin board: "Hats Off to Great Directional Writing!"  Encourage students to use transitions, ordinal numbers + adjectives.  Pom poms and white glitter add that finishing touch.