writing prompts for early elementary
Yahoo! Red White and Blue...
More flags than usual will be flying soon.
Memorial Day is coming up, followed by Flag Day on the 14th of June and then 4th of July.
It’s time to think of reasons why you are proud to be an American and pose that question to your students as an interesting writing prompt.
I’m not a world traveler, but I have friends who are, + others in the mission field.
When they share their stories of the deplorable conditions in some countries, where people are thrown into jail for no reason, or worse yet, shot or beaten, it makes one not only proud to be an American, but extremely grateful.
I’m proud to be an American for all of the wonderful freedoms we have, yet so many take for granted. Dreams really do come true in America; one can aspire to be anything they want to be.
We’re free to be whom we want, dress how we want, come and go as we want, believe as we want and express our feelings and opinions openly without trepidation.
I’m proud to be an American because we are a caring country that defends human rights and comes to the aid of hurting countries in their time of need.
I’m proud to be an American, where we get a say, we get to vote, we have a president, not a dictator, and although things are far from perfect, we don’t live in constant fear.
I’m proud to be an American, because we are a diverse melting pot of many cultures, rich in diversity. We strive to live peacefully, treat everyone equally and stand united.
Why are you proud to be an American?
Here's a writing prompt template to give your students an opportunity to answer that question.
Run off 2 sets of your students’ school photos; cut them into ovals.
Have children glue their picture + a friend’s to their page and color it.
Brainstorm with students why they are proud to be an American.
Write their answers on the board.
Pre-cut 3-4 yellow stars for each child. Have them write why they are proud to be an American on the stars.
Students glue the stars to their “Proud To Be An American” page.
Everyone shares their “pride page” with the class. You can send them home or collage them on a bulletin board. Caption: Remember to be proud! Happy Memorial Day.
Click on the link to view/print the Proud To Be An American activity.
Another quick "crafivity" that you can do, is this patriotic windsock.
I like making windsocks throughout the year. They are an excellent way to show children what a cylinder shape looks like and reinforce that 3D shape vocabulary word.
Click on the link to view/download the Patriotic Windsock.
I hope you can flit on over tomorrow for more fun.
Feel free to PIN anything from my site or blog that you think others might find helpful. Thanks for visiting!
Do you need some quick and easy ideas with a butterfly theme that reinforce standards, but your students will also enjoy?
You’ve come to the right place.
If you’re assessing right now and looking for something to prove your students can listen and follow directions, a GLYPH is a super easy and fun way to do that as a whole group.
The end results also make a terrific decoration for a bulletin board or hallway. Students can either guess who did which glyph, and practice all sorts of skills, or they can share them with the class and practice their verbal acuity.
Click on the link to view/download the butterfly glyph.
123 Count Butterflies With Me is one of many “count with me” easy readers, that reinforce a variety of math skills.
Students enjoy using a bingo dot marker to stamp sets in a specific pattern. They also cut and glue groups of butterflies to the matching numbered boxes.
When everyone is done, read the booklet as a whole group to reinforce concepts of print and recognition of number words.
Because students can work on these booklets independently, they are perfect for Daily 5.
Children not only enjoy making them, they feel empowered; teachers are then free to assess or work one-on-one.
Click on the link to view/download 123 Count Butterflies With Me.
Click on this link to view the collection of 22 123 Count With Me Books.
I’m always looking for ways to fit in a mini lesson on compound words and rhyming as this can get a bit tedious if you constantly “skill-drill & then kill” it.
I’ve found that tossing in a fun-themed skill sheet, whenever it’s appropriate, is much more palpable and interesting for most students.
Butterfly Word Play does just that. It breaks down the compound word butterfly and has students think of rhyming words for both butter and fly.
Students trace, write and alphabetize the words on a skill sheet. This is a quick plug in for a tabletop lesson, as is adding UT to consonants and making up words for the prefix of butterfly.
Click on the link to view/download Butterfly Word Play.
Finally, I think it’s a lot more fun for students to complete a writing prompt if they know their page is going to be part of a class book.
Writing about being a caterpillar or a butterfly is a wonderfully imaginative thing for a child. Illustrating how they would look as one results in adorable pictures.
I’ve also included a graphing extension to hit yet another standard and learn a bit more about your students.
Click on the link to view/download Butterfly and Caterpillar Class Books.
Happy fluttering through your spring lessons; I hope these helped! Feel free to PIN anything you think might help someone else and thanks for flittin' on over.
I hope you can fly in tomorrow for some new tricks.
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