Also remember, you can now listen to this newsletter as well. To do that, just click here. In this edition, you’ll find… - Giveaway Winner
- January FCF Line Up
- Ball/Balloon Brain Break
- Winter Writing Prompts
- One Word Agamographs
|
|
First up? The 2023 Classroom Library Giveaway Winners! That’s right, I said winners, plural! The past two years I’ve given away one prize, but thanks to some fundraising efforts, with Miami Dolphin Alec Ingold and a generous gift from Scholastic, we’re tripling that… and then some. Watch this video to find out which lucky classrooms are going to be getting all sorts of word nerd goodies in the mail next week! |
|
My basement is a book warzone right now. Laid out all over the floor are post it notes marking each month and dozens of possible book choices. It’s like a bit of a puzzle… one that I’m still working on. But I do know what I’m going to share with you in January, February, and part of March… so I’m making progress! Here is January’s FCF Line up! |
|
(If you want to print this poster to hang in your classroom, just click on the image above for a downloadable PDF.) |
|
Also, I want to give you a freebie. Here is the student engagement worksheet for the first book of the year, Conspiracy 365: January by Gabrielle Lord. Just click the image to download a printable PDF. |
|
If you’ve never tried these with my videos (or your own reading aloud), give it a whirl. If you like them, you can grab the full bundle here, which I’m putting on sale (20% off) until Sunday (1/7). |
|
I love when I can take a fun activity and add an educational component. Or when I can take a lesson and make it fun. This Ball/oon Brain Break is the perfect example. First, watch this reel on IG and then come back. Here’s how I’d use this in class - Divide into Teams/small groups
- Set a timer and have one student collect as many balls (while simultaneously keeping the balloon afloat) as they can in that amount of time.
- Use the balls they collected and the resources I created to extend this fun/physically active activity into an educational moment.
|
|
Get it everything you need for this brain break (slides, timer, links to purchase supplies, etc.) here for free. I absolutely love taking the seedling of an idea and growing it into something fun and useful. This resource is JUST the start. I’m sure you and your teaching team can come up with all sorts of additional ways to implement this Ball/oon Brain Break. If you hit on a winner, email me! I’d love to hear about it! |
|
January is a great time to start new routines. If you are wanting to reinvest in your writing time as class, this free list of winter writing prompts could be a good place to start. Print the list, and cut each prompt into its own strip of paper. Clothes pin them to a line for kids to browse and pick or put them in a bucket/hat for random selection. Or print them on full sheets, ball them up and have a mini snowball/paperball fight for one minute and then pick one randomly off the floor to write about. Write for a few minutes, throw again, read what the first writer wrote and then continue the story. Remember, gamification works wonders, especially with middle school students. My students and I wrote (yep, I wrote when they wrote) for ten minutes every day, right after the read aloud we did at the start of class. You’ll be amazed at the amount of words they can produce when you put in a little time each day free writing. For an instrumental playlist to use while writing, try this one. |
|
During my holiday Instagram scrolling I discovered this gem of an activity from Marine @Talesfromaverybusyteacher. She says this was one of her absolute favorite lessons to do in January with her students, and I can see why. If you do goal setting or the ONE WORD activity with your students, I think this would be a fun way to extend it! To get Marine’s template, click here. |
|
Okay! That’s it. I hope that your 2024 is off to an awesome start! I'll see you back here again on the third Thursday of the month. Until then… Happy Teaching, |
|
P.S. If you want to say thanks for all the GOOD THINGS I send your way and fuel future content creation, click here to buy me a virtual cup of coffee. (Almost as good as the real thing!) |
|
Thank you to Maria, Deb and Jeanne for their continued contributions to my Ko-Fi fund! :) |
|
|
