0 Figurative Language Similes Idioms & FREE Sample

Do your students have the wiggles?  Is today anotherinside recess day? Then it is time for the Mystery Hat Game!  It is a fun way to learn figurative language and get the wiggles out at the same time.

Mystery Hat Game:

•Students draw an expression out of the hat or choose an expression and make a hat. There are blank hats and a list of expression included.

•Students will turn in the hats without stapling the hat. 

•Call up one student at a time and put a hat on the student that another student made. 

•Do NOTlet the student see the expression on the hat.

•When all of the students have a hat, the Mystery Hat game will begin.

•Students will walk around the room asking their classmates questions about the expression on their hat until they can guess the expression.  There are two different question sheets included so you can differentiate this activity.

•Options:

•The first student who solves the mystery is the winner.

•Play until all of the students know what expression is on their hat.

•After everyone has figured out the expression on their hat, have the students stand or sit in figurative language groups.

 

These hats are part of my packet that I just finished.  There are 3 blank hats and a list of idioms of similes (see picture above) that you can use to play the Mystery Hat Game.  To make it extra fun, cut up the list of expressions and put them in a hat.  I love to use visuals like hats with lessons like this.  I think these are the things that give students those hooks to remember these lessons later when they need to remember the information.

There are 2 question sheets included.  Suggestion:  Have you students put one of these answer sheets on their clipboard and then walk around asking their classmates questions on the page about their mystery hat.  The object is to try to figure out what expression is on their hat.

There are also 14 hats with a graphic and idiom written on the hat.  Students will: 

• Write what the expression means
• What type of figurative language
• Use it in a sentence
• Illustrate the sentence

There are also 14 hats with a graphic and simile written on the hat.  Students will: 

• Write what the expression means
• What type of figurative language
• Use it in a sentence
• Illustrate the sentence

You can set these hats up as a center, use them as seat work, or give each student a different hat, and then play Mystery Hat Game.  

There are cards with similes and idioms that students can sort in a center.  Answers are included so it can be self-checking center.  

There are 3 different recording sheets for the sorting center so you can differentiate.

There are also 4 different interactive journal printables.  One of the printables is open-ended so you can use it with any type of figurative language.  The other 3 have different expressions written on hats like the one in the picture above.  Students will write what the expression means under the hat.

Click HERE to download a FREE sample.

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Detail: Figurative Language Similes Idioms & FREE Sample

0 Holiday Book Craft and Activity Linky

Have you begun making plans for December? Some of my friends and I were talking about holiday plans last week. We thought it would be fun if we shared a holiday book and a craft or activity to go along with it.  To make it a little easier for you, we made our posts into a linky party.  All you have to do is go to the bottom of each of our blogs and click on a picture to visit the next blogger who will share some fun ideas.  As a holiday bonus, we are each hosting a giveaway.  The more blogs you visit, the greater your chances are of winning!

Yesterday, I was at Barnes and Noble doing a little Christmas shopping when I discovered a new author named Tim Bugbird.  Have you read any of his books?  I bought Katie The Candy Cane Fairy and Georgie The Gingerbread Fairy.  I know they say you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.  But, it was the cover that initially caught my eye.  Look at the cover (above) and you can quickly see how adorable the graphics are.  Your students will love trying to figure out what happened to the stripes of Katie's candy canes.

Then I opened the book and was enthralled with the story.  Both of these stories remind me of the Fancy Nancy stories.  The stories are full of descriptive words which makes it perfect for teaching so many different skills. You and your students will love the rich vocabulary.   

Georgie, the Gingerbread Fairy book takes place in Fairyland.  Georgie owns a shop that sells gingerbread. A fairy named Teena opens up a store next door that makes and sells tinsel.  This creates a problem for Georgie.  Your students will enjoy finding out how Georgie solves her problem so there is peace once again in Fairyland.

This story also has rich vocabulary.  You have probably seen the different Fancy Nancy bulletin boards on Pinterest.  I have several of them pinned on my Reading Pinterest board.  How about making a Fancy Nancy-inspired bulletin board but use tinsel instead of a feather boa?  You could call these glittery words!  If you are really brave, let your kids decorate their words with glitter.

I know many of you will soon be giving another Dibel's test so you are looking for fluency activities.  I made Reader's Theater scripts about these two stories which are a fun way to practice fluency skills.  Plus, at this time of year, your students are a little off-task right?  They are excited about Christmas and have trouble containing their enthusiasm.  Why not channel that energy into performing a play?  These scripts are included in my new Reader's Theater and More packet.  This series of packets includes extensions activities for the scripts plus props (see name necklace in picture above) for the play.

I made a Candy Cane FREEBIE last year that would be a nice extension to Katie, The Candy Cane Fairy story.  In the picture above is one of the activities.  Your students can either paint the strips of the candy cane on the left or design their own candy cane on the right.  Add peppermint extract to the paint to add a little seasonal smell and fun.  Don't forget to add a few drops of dish soap so clean up time will be easier.  There are also short and long a sorting printables included with this packet.

I am giving away my new Reader's Theater and More packet that features these books.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Looking for more December themed lessons?  Check out this Pinterest board.

Don't forget to visit my friends and enter their giveaways.  They are going to share their favorite holiday book and an inspired craft or activity.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

Detail: Holiday Book Craft and Activity Linky

0 FREE Reader's Theater: Veterans Day - Tuesday Teacher Tip

Celebrate Veterans Day with a play!  Do your students enjoy Reader's Theater?  This is a great way to strengthen your students' fluency skills and learn about Veterans Day.  

You can use the signs above as name necklaces.  Decorate them, attach yarn, and students can wear them when they present the play.

You can use the pictures as props.  Students can draw pictures of themselves in the frames if you want to make stick puppets.

As an extension, have your students write to soldiers or sailors thanking them for their service.  The page above is included that you can use for this assignment.

Click HERE to download this Reader's Theater freebie.

Have you heard of A Million Thanks organization?  This organization has information that you may find helpful.

Looking for more tips?  Check out my November Pinterest board.  Click on the picture below.

Fern has a few tips to share with you, too.  Be sure to hop over to her blog!

Each week, Fern and I will share a teacher tip. We love to read teacher blogs and the latest teacher idea books and hope you do, too!  Stop by Fern's blog and my blog each week for our latest tips.  We hope you will share your ideas, too.  

Each week we will choose one person who shared a tip on our blog who will get a $10 shopping trip.  We will announce the winner on the following Tuesday's post.  

Do you have a Veterans Day tip to share?  Be sure to include your email so I can contact you if you're the winner of the $10 shopping trip. You must leave your email address in order to win.

Looking for more ideas?  Click on the pictures below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

Detail: FREE Reader's Theater: Veterans Day - Tuesday Teacher Tip

0 Halloween Party FREEBIE: Tuesday Teacher Tips

Have you been making plans for your Halloween party?  If you're lucky, you have a room-mom that is doing all of the hard work for you.  One year, there was a glitch and I somehow ended up without a room-mom.  So, there wasn't anyone to plan my holiday parties.  At first, I was stressed about it.  After a little brainstorming,  I decided to structure the party like my small group block of time.  It turned out to be one of my easiest years - party wise.  

My students were organized in their reading groups and rotated to the following activities:

Teacher's Table:  Halloween BINGO

Table #1:  Snack and drink box - it works best if you keep it simple. Suggestions:  juice box and a bag of popcorn.

Table #2:  Make a jack 'o lantern using attribute blocks.  There is a printable for students that finish early.

Carpet:  Play hot pumpkin which is played the same way as hot potato only you play it with a small pumpkin.  Play seasonal music.  I chose one person from each group to be in charge of playing the music the first time.  After the first round, the winner was in charge of the music.

Looking for more tips?  Check out my October and November Pinterest boards.  Click on the picture below.

Fern has a few tips to share with you, too.  Be sure to hop over to her blog!

Each week, Fern and I will share a teacher tip. We love to read teacher blogs and the latest teacher idea books and hope you do, too!  Stop by Fern's blog and my blog each week for our latest tips.  We hope you will share your ideas, too.  

The winner from last week's post is:

Each week we will choose one person who shared a tip about the topic of this week's post on our blog who will get a $10 shopping trip.  We will announce the winner on the following Tuesday's post.  

Do you have a tip about Halloween parties to share?  Be sure to include your email so I can contact you if you're the winner of the $10 shopping trip. You must leave your email address in order to win.

Looking for more ideas?  Click on the pictures below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

Detail: Halloween Party FREEBIE: Tuesday Teacher Tips

0 Having fun when you can't celebrate Halloween at school!

Do you teach at a school that has a policy against using Halloween activities?  I've taught in a variety of schools with a wide variety of policy about this holiday. At some schools we could use Halloween activities as long as we didn't include anything scary like witches.  Other schools we could use about any type of activity except for students wearing costumes.  At one of my former schools, Halloween was a big event.  Students went home at lunch and changed into their costume.  Many parents took the day off of work.  When students returned after lunch, it was time to get ready for our school-wide parade.  Students paraded down the hall of the school and around the block of the school.  When we returned to our classroom, our room moms had the room decorated for a Halloween party.

At one of my schools, we were not allowed to incorporate any holiday into our lessons.  The district felt like this was the most sensitive thing to do when you teach students from a variety of cultures. We could use seasonal topics like scarecrows or pumpkins but the pumpkins couldn't be a jack 'o lantern.  I had mixed feelings about this policy. 

This policy sounds good when you read the policy as it is written on paper.  But, when you are in the trenches teaching little people, it doesn't work quite as simple as that.  Children, even those from cultures and faiths that may not celebrate Halloween, hear holiday music when they are at stores, see their neighbor's house that is decorated, and hear their friends talking about what they are going to be for Halloween at recess.  I found most of my students were excited about Halloween.

After a little brainstorming, I found a compromise that seemed to make everyone happy.  Listed below are topics that I've taught in October that followed the policy, and aren't Halloween-ish, yet allowed my students to have fun.

Social Studies:  Community Helpers Unit - Let your students dress up as their favorite community helper. Be very clear with your students that you do not consider a ghost, witch, or vampire as a future career for them.

Science:  

Animal families:

• Mammal:  bats
• Arachnids:  spiders
• Birds:  owl

Nocturnal animals

Phases of the moon

Life cycles of:

• Pumpkins
• Bats
• Spiders
• 
  

Math:  

Pumpkin measurement unit

Reading:

Author study - dress up as your favorite book character.

Do you have any ideas to share of how you incorporate non-Halloween activities?  I would love to hear them!

I made a FREEBIE for you.  Click HERE to download it.

Looking for more tips?  Check out my October Pinterest board.  Click on the picture below.

Fern has a few tips to share with you, too.  Be sure to hop over to her blog!

Each week, Fern and I will share a teacher tip. We love to read teacher blogs and the latest teacher idea books and hope you do, too!  Stop by Fern's blog and my blog each week for our latest tips.  We hope you will share your ideas, too.  

Each week we will choose one person who shared a tip on our blog who will get a $10 shopping trip.  We will announce the winner on the following Tuesday's post.  

Do you have a non-Halloween lesson tip to share?  Be sure to include your email so I can contact you if you're the winner of the $10 shopping trip. You must leave your email address in order to win.

Looking for more ideas?  Click on the pictures below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

Detail: Having fun when you can't celebrate Halloween at school!

0 Halloween Party Tips - Bright Idea

Do you enjoy parties?  How about class parties?  Through the years, I have had great class parties and some that were a little on the crazy side.  Here are a couple of ideas that we did at my parties that were fun and less hectic.

One year I discovered the book, The Hallo-Wiener by Dav Pilkey.    This is such a great story!  I thought it would be fun to serve hallo-wieners at our party.  It ended up being a hit with my students and parents.  Parents loved it because the kids didn't go home all hyped-up on sugar from the party.

We cooked the wieners in a crockpot.  We put the wieners in the crockpot standing up which I think might have helped us fit more in it.  I asked for condiments that were bottles to make it easy and less messy.

This is a inexpensive snack to serve.  I have so many donations that I put extras in the teachers' lounge for the custodians.

Supplies needed:

-Wieners

-Hotdog buns

-Condiments (ketchup, mustard, relish)

-Potato chips

-Juice box or water bottles

-Crock pot(s)

-Power strip / extension cord

-Tongs

-Paper plates

-Napkins

-Handsanitizer

-Small cooler to put wieners in if you don't have a refrigerator nearby.

By the time of the party, kids are excited and the last thing they want to do is sit and be quiet.  One of my go-to activities is to play hot potato.  Only the potato is a seasonal object.  Target Dollar Spot is a great place to find a small plastic seasonal object. 

 Right now there are some little plastic pumpkins and spiders that would be perfect for this.  Have your students sit in a circle on the floor.  Give one student the seasonal shape.  Begin playing seasonal music.  Students pass the pumpkin or spider or whatever shape you have to the person next to the them.  When the music stops, the student that is holding the shape is "out".  That student now moves out of the circle.  This continues until there is only one person left who is the winner.  This game gets your students moving and they have to be quiet so they can hear the music.  It is a win-win!

Looking for some seasonal music?  Here are a few choices:

-Monster Mash

-The Addams Family

-Ghostbusters

-The Witch Doctor

I hope you have been joining us each month for our Bright Ideas Blog Hop.  My friends and I enjoy sharing ideas with you.  Don't forget to pin these to your Pinterest board so you'll have them handy when you need them.

I hope you will follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Bloglovin' so you don't miss out when I share more ideas and freebies!

Looking for more ideas?  Check out all the great ideas my friends are sharing this month.

An InLinkz Link-up

Clipart to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE.  Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

Detail: Halloween Party Tips - Bright Idea

0 Parent-teacher Conference Tips & FREEBIES

Parent-teacher conferences are an important part of teaching.  The week of conferences is one of the most exhausting of the year.  I often found that after all of the meetings were over, my parents and students were more engaged.  It felt like we were working as a team.  Even though I communicated with my parents through all the usual methods like newsletters and phone calls before we met, the face-to-face meeting is always best!

The disadvantage of meeting with all of your parents at one time is having a limited amount of time to talk to parents.  I have found that it helps if you send home a note like the one below before the conference.  It serves as a reminder and helps the parents organize their thoughts.  It also helps you prepare for your meeting.  There is nothing worse than being blindsided when you are talking a parent.

On the actual day of conferences, I hang a note like the one below on my door.  I have found this to be the best way to keep me on schedule.  Parents who are waiting are never sure whether they should knock or not.  With this note, you are giving them permission.  It also reminds parents that your time is limited and you are doing your best to stay on schedule.

I put a student desk outside my door with a basket of candy and digital clock.  I keep another digital clock next to me on the table where I meet with parents.  Different people set their clocks to a t.v. news programs or computer site which means clocks aren't synchronized.  Having these two clocks keeps everyone happy!

Click HERE to download these free conference printables.

Looking for more tips?  Check out my October Pinterest board.  Click on the picture below.

Fern has a few tips to share with you, too.  Be sure to hop over to her blog!

Each week, Fern and I will share a teacher tip. We love to read teacher blogs and the latest teacher idea books and hope you do, too!  Stop by Fern's blog and my blog each week for our latest tips.  We hope you will share your ideas, too.  

Each week we will choose one person who shared a tip on our blog who will get a $10 shopping trip.  We will announce the winner on the following Tuesday's post.  

Our winner last week is Nicole.  Congratulations Nicole!

Do you have a parent-teacher conference tip to share?  Be sure to include your email so I can contact you if you're the winner of the $10 shopping trip. You must leave your email address in order to win.

Looking for more ideas?  Click on the pictures below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

Detail: Parent-teacher Conference Tips & FREEBIES