Lightning Leonard

In this packet, there are two poems written. One written by William Blake called "The Poison Tree" and the other by Nikki Grimes called Summer Time Sharing. These poems are a great tool to teach themes and topic, tone, main idea, compare and contrast, author's message. Great mini lesson!!! Common core here we come!!!

The Willow and The Gingko Poem and Loaf of Poetry are wonderful poems great for comparing and contrasting ideas and characteristics of poetry. Great for visualization as well.

This is a guided activity to teach students how to become metacognitive and active readers. This power point goes step by step using thinking and annotating strategies. Teach yourself and students how to be good reader with this fun Star Wars theme!! This is an item you won't regret. I did this power point as a 3rd grade workshop with the entire 3rd grade of 144 students. Every single student was actively engaged. We also so a dramatic increase in reading scores.

Innovating teachers know that posting and showing the learning goal is very important for student success. Well lets go a step further, and post a rubric containing the learning goal so students can reflect on how they are progressing. Adapted from Marzano's 4 point rubric, I have created two rubrics that have the learning goal broken up by a 4 point rubric. These can be used in grades 3 and 4. I created one for story elements RL.3.3/4.3 and Themes/Central Ideas RL.3.2/4.2, RI.3.2/4.2. I also u

This packet includes the actual fables with activities such as cause and effect, sequencing, theme/concept, classifications, literary elements, generalization, and synthesizing. Students will be able to learn lessons and also compare and contrast many fables within one author. These are all common core approved activities that elicit higher order thinking. They may be used to cut and paste in readers notebook as well.

A great poem to do a close read with high order questions. Great for homework and a deep discussion the next day.

My Vocabulary Activities are active strategies to get kids to look at vocabulary differently and have fun at the same time. The days of rote learning are over. Common Core is at our door. Vocabulary plays a vital role in how successful a reader will be. Do these activities in small groups or cooperative groups. Great for all levels of students. ESE, ESL, GIFTED Made for grade 3-5, but can be used in middle school. My packet includes: *Teacher Explanation sheets with objective and mission for

This is a perfect organizer for students to use to summarize an informational article. This will help organize a student's thinking when having to higher order think and analyze nonfiction text. Enhancing Vocabulary by Mindy Leonard is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

I have created a class record of the common core standards for writing informational and explanatory for Kindergarten. This will help you keep track of who mastered this skill. Also, includes graphic organizers for students to show mastery. I'm working on doing all writing anchors for k-5. Will be for sale soon.

Poetry is a part of our common cultural language. Teach students to close read using different strategies to deepen knowledge and foster higher order thinking.

PowerPoint to help students become meta cognitive and learn to become a better reader through strategies.

Students will create a scrapbook based on different places around the world.