Cyber Monday Sale!

For all of you who haven't heard yet, there's a HUGE sale going on TpT today! With promo code CMS28, you get 10% off from TpT, and then I am offering an additional 15% off my products. That equals EXCELLENT savings for you!!

Some great blogs I think you should know about!

Most of you are probably wiggling with anticipation of this short week, so I won't load you down with any strategies or theories that you're likely to forget in the next week. Instead, I want to share with you some wonderful new blogs that I've come across recently. Check them out, and if you like them, follow them :) If you have any other suggestions for great blogs to follow, please comment below and share them with us!

Innovative Connections
Mrs. Knapp's Sack
Teacher Park

The Mr. G Show

Fun to Teach ESL
Smarty Pants Teaching
I love 1st Grade

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Strategy of the Week

So, I know that it has been awhile since I have posted my weekly "Strategy of the Week" and for that I apologize. Our ESOL program at school has started a new after school program two days a week, and I am busy and exhausted all at once! I'm sure all the teachers out there can relate! So, without further delay, here is your strategy!

Strategy-

WritiNG A CINQUAIN

I like to use this strategy to help students synthesize what they’ve learned or read about a topic. This particular strategy can be used with a content topic (cells) a biographical character (Madame Curie) or a story character (Snow White).

A cinquain is a five-line poem describing a noun or subject. Line 1: Subject. Line 2: two adjectives that describe the subject. Line 3: Three –ing verbs (present progressive) that describe the subject. Line 4: One sentence that describes or tells about the subject. Line 5: Another word that describes the subject. Example:

Snow White

Pale, Lonely

Running, Hiding, Crying

Snow White is the fairest in the land.

Beautiful.

Another Example:

Water Cycle

Cool, Wet

Evaporating, Condensing, Precipitating

The cycle never ends.

Circle of Water

I have included a copy of a FREE cinquain organizer that you may give out to students to help them write. After having them use the organizer, I like to have them create a final draft on printer paper and decorate it.

I have used this strategy with students as young as grade 3 and with students as old as grade 8.

Switching gears for a moment, I'm happy to announce that I have finally finished compiling my novel study unit on Barbara Robinson's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and it is now available in my TpT store. Click the picture below to find out more or to purchase!

More Bulletin Board Fun Thanksgiving Style

Most of you saw the cute spider bulletin board I put up last month. That was getting a little outdated, so we decided to do a Thanksgiving-themed board...but what? The same book I got the spider idea from (Language Arts Bulletin Boards from Scholastic) had a cute "colorful words" bulletin board with peacocks. The peacocks hold signs with worn-out words, and their feathers would have more colorful synonyms on them. I kept thinking that those peacocks, with their little head feathers cut off, would look an awful lot like turkeys. Turns out, I was right, so here's what we came up with. To add a little more fall flair to the board, we used some fake cloth leaves and stapled those around the board. We also gave the turkeys little hats- one has a pilgrim hat and the other has a little Native American headdress. I'm very pleased with the results! Let me know what you think :)

Thanksgiving Products Linky Party!

Thanksgiving is coming up and many teachers are looking for creative activities to do in their classrooms. Many TpT teachers have awesome Thanksgiving activites available in their TpT stores, so, why not bring the two together with a linky party?

All TpT Teacher-Authors are welcome to submit their products! Here are the rules:
1. Link directly to the product, not to your blog.
2. Post a link to this page on your blog or Facebook. This allows even more folks to see your products!
3. Send me an e-mail at tools4teachers.mrsj@gmail.com and let me know where you posted a link to this page.

**I do not want to be a meanie, but if all steps are not followed, your link will be deleted!!**