PS Smith

Gerund? Participle? Using the spelling of the word GERUND, this colorful graphic gives students an easy way to remember that GERUNDS are nouns. Display this memory tool on your Activboard and have students copy it into their notes for a simple way to learn and remember the identity of GERUNDS. "GERUNDS are . . ." prints to an 8.5 x 11 size. Color quality may vary depending on printer and ink.

Participle? Gerund? Need a visual strategy to help students remember that Participles are adjectives? Try this colorful graphic. Using the spelling of the word Participle, this digital poster gives students a tool to help them remember the function of a Participle. Prints to an 8.5 x 11 size, but I recommend saving ink and paper by displaying as a digital poster on your Activboard.

Help your students see the patterns! Learning simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences becomes easier with Color Coded Sentence Structure Pattern Pieces. This lesson uses color coded subject, verb, coordinating conjunction, subordinating conjunction, relative pronoun, commas, and other sentence pattern squares to help students break sentences down into easily identifiable patterns. After cutting the sentence pattern squares apart and placing them in a plastic bag, students ca

Students speak emoji-like images; teachers need information on student progress. This quick assessment gives teachers quick student feedback after a learning activity. It's great for organizing small groups and identifying areas a teacher needs to target.

Are your students still confused about the difference in compound and complex sentences? Try this cheat sheet that breaks sentence parts down into simple color-coded pieces. Taken from my activity packet "Color Coded Sentence Structures", this is a short, simple, and colorful tutorial. Sentence parts are color-coded to help students evaluate a sentence for its subject, verb, and conjunctions. I have used this visual model successfully for over ten years with my students, and it helps them

Engage your class in this active writing exercise. They will quickly realize the importance of details in writing when performing or viewing a performance of this skit. Then, students will have a chance to revise the skit and add their own colorful details.

One size does not fit all, or one graphic organizer doesn't work with all topics. Help students see the connection between writing purpose and text organization. Great for reteaching, summarizing a lesson, or a quick formative assessment.

'How do I start?' 'What do I do first?' These are questions frequently asked to writing and composition teachers by their beginning writers. Frequently, beginning writers need the stages of the writing process broken down into simpler steps. This helps beginning or struggling writers build a foundation for future writing instruction. Simply telling some students to prewrite isn't enough. In this minilesson, students are instructed how to create a jot list, graphic organizer, and outline. In ad