Creating Creators

To say I love Dan Santat would be an understatement. His works are just magical. I always use his books as a mentor text for RL 2.7, using illustrations to understand the characters, setting and plot. This product is useful when using his books Beekle, Drawn Together, Are We There Yet?, and After the Fall. This product is a graphic organizer and lesson idea for teaching RL 2.7: using illustrations to understand the characters, setting, and plot. The graphic organizer is the same, but the title

Response sheet that works with any poem. It asks the student to draw what they are visualizing, and then write about what words helped make that mental picture. Standards 1st Grade Identify words and phrases in stories or poems that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses. [RL.1.4] With prompting and support, read prose and poetry of appropriate complexity for Grade 1. [RL.1.10] Second Grade Describe how words and phrases (e.g., regular beats, alliteration, rhymes, repeated lines) supply rhyth

STEAM activities are often reserved for Math and Science, but they can be integrated into ELA easily! These are task cards that I use at my ELA centers. These cards work with any book. All can be completed with a partner, and most can also be completed individually. I have split the cards into 4 categories: with Apps, with robots (some will need devices to control), a blend of technology, and unplugged. All of the apps I recommend work on iPads and are free!

One of my goals at the beginning of the year is to instill a love for reading in my kiddos. One way I try to do this is by showing them that we can read in many different ways besides sitting alone with a book. One of my first lessons is on partner reading! I use a favorite book of mine, that many kids have not yet read, Peanut Butter and Cupcake! This product in includes a lesson plan,questions to ask with mentor text, response sheet, and suggestion for STEAM extension activity.

Students will describe how the character responded to a major event and compare it to how they would have responded. Then they can illustrate what they wrote. RL 2. 3- Describe how characters in a story respond to major events and challenges. RL 2.6 Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.

Make your students feel like the wizard of words as they record words they clarified in the text. Ask and answer questions to help determine or clarify the meaning of words and phrases in a text. [RI.1.4] Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text relevant to a Grade 2 topic or subject area. [RI.2.4] Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a Grade 3 topic or subject area. [RI.3.4]