Smart Language Arts

Ten excerpts from young adult literature provide inspiration for meaningful Writer's Notebook work. Students read a passage and discuss the choices the author made. What makes the writing so effective? What connections can the student make to their own personal experiences? Students then write a response inspired by the mentor text passage. Included in this purchase: An 8.5" by 11" PDF handout for each of the ten passages, triple spaced for ease of annotation and other note taking. Each stu

Comma practice is more fun when the sentences are about Disney movie plots! Kids in upper elementary, middle school, and high school can review comma rules and apply them in these sentences about Moana, Beauty and Beast, and Frozen. Included in this purchase: A three page lesson overview defining clauses, independent clauses, dependent clauses, compound sentences, and complex sentences. Jeff Anderson's AAAWWIBBIS mnemonic and the traditional FANBOYS mnemonic are shared, and examples of pun

Mentor sentences, class practice, independent practice, and a summative quiz cover capitalization rules for the following: the word "I" (including "I" in contractionsfamily rolesproper nouns and proper adjectivesdays of the week, months of the year, and holidays--and a reminder that we DON'T capitalize seasons!Sentences are ideal for upper elementary, middle school, and lower level high school, but I've included all high school grades and adult education because some students benefit from practi

In this Mentor Text Set 2, ten excerpts from young adult literature provide inspiration for meaningful Writer's Notebook work. Students read a passage and discuss the choices the author made. What makes the writing so effective? What connections can the student make to their own personal experiences? Students then write a response inspired by the mentor text passage. Included in this purchase: A presentation PowerPoint that includes each passage and its accompanying writing invitation, pe

These "I can" statements for the new Florida B.E.S.T. Standards for English Language Arts Grade 5 are perfect for posting or projecting in the classroom. Zip file includes all the 5th Grade ELA Florida B.E.S.T. standards adopted in 2020 for implementation in 2022-23. Included are two designs and two formats for a total of four items: a black and white 27-page set in PDFa black and white 27-page set in PPTXa color block 27-page set in PDFa color block 27-page set in PPTXIn the color block set,

These "I can" statements for the new Texas 3rd Grade Social Studies TEKS are perfect for posting or projecting in the classroom. Zip file includes all the 3rd Grade Social Studies TEKS streamlined and adopted in 2018 for implementation in 2019-2020. Included are two designs and two formats for a total of four items: a black and white 42-page set in PDFa black and white 42-page set in PPTXa color block 42-page set in PDFa color block 42-page set in PPTXIn the color block set, each of the eight

These "I can" statements for the new Texas 5th Grade ELAR TEKS are perfect for posting or projecting in the classroom. Zip file includes all the 5th Grade ELAR TEKS adopted in 2017 for implementation in 2019-2020 in two designs and two formats for a total of four items: a black and white 66-page set in PDF and PPTX as well as a color block 66-page set in PDF and PPTX. In the color block set, each of the seven strands has its own color. See cover for samples. All pages/slides are 11 X 8.5 inches

These "I can" statements for the new Texas 5th Grade Social Studies TEKS are perfect for posting or projecting in the classroom. Zip file includes all the streamlined 5th Grade Social Studies TEKS adopted in 2018 for implementation in 2019-2020. Included are two designs and two formats for a total of four items: a black and white 71-page set in PDFa black and white 71-page set in PPTXa color block 71-page set in PDFa color block 71-page set in PPTXIn the color block set, each of the eight stran

These "I can" statements for the new Texas 4th Grade Social Studies TEKS are perfect for posting or projecting in the classroom. Zip file includes all the 4th Grade Social Studies TEKS streamlined and adopted in 2018 for implementation in 2019-2020. Included are two designs and two formats for a total of four items: a black and white 67-page set in PDFa black and white 67-page set in PPTXa color block 67-page set in PDFa color block 67-page set in PPTXIn the color block set, each of the eight

These "I can" statements for the new Florida B.E.S.T. Standards for English Language Arts Grade 4 are perfect for posting or projecting in the classroom. Zip file includes all the 5th Grade ELA Florida B.E.S.T. standards adopted in 2020 for implementation in 2022-23. Included are two designs and two formats for a total of four items: a black and white 27-page set in PDFa black and white 27-page set in PPTXa color block 27-page set in PDFa color block 27-page set in PPTXIn the color block set,

Mentor sentences, class practice, independent practice, and a summative quiz cover capitalization rules for the following: geographic namesplanets, stars, and other heavenly bodieshistoric events, periods, and documentsships, trains, aircraft, and other structuresofficial titles of peopleSentences ideal for upper elementary, middle school, and lower level high school, but I've included all high school grades and adult education because some students benefit from practicing with "easier" sentence

These "I can" statements for the new Texas 2nd Grade ELAR TEKS are perfect for posting or projecting in the classroom. Zip file includes all the 2nd Grade ELAR TEKS adopted in 2017 for implementation in 2019-2020 in two designs and two formats for a total of four items: a black and white 65-page set in PDF and PPTX as well as a color block 65-page set in PDF and PPTX. In the color block set, each of the seven strands has its own color. See cover for samples. All pages/slides are 11 X 8.5 inche

These "I can" statements for the new Texas 3rd Grade ELAR TEKS are perfect for posting or projecting in the classroom. Zip file includes all the 3rd Grade ELAR TEKS adopted in 2017 for implementation in 2019-2020 in two designs and two formats for a total of four items: a black and white 68-page set in PDF and PPTX as well as a color block 68-page set in PDF and PPTX. In the color block set, each of the seven strands has its own color. See cover for samples. All pages/slides are 11 X 8.5 inche

Students review figurative language, elaboration, support with specific details, imagery and other language arts concepts as they decorate their writing folders or journal covers. Students who don't want to draw can illustrate their writing with cutouts or printouts of images. An instruction page for the ten item exercise is included along with a three page handout to support students in their drafting. A grading rubric is also included. All pages are fully editable Word documents so that you

Expository writing is often a formal assessment, a genre tested as part of state writing exams or assigned as a summative measure of student performance--but expository writing can also be an authentic exploration of a student's thinking on a variety of topics. These 24 expository prompts (6 pages with 4 prompts per page) provide students with an opportunity to choose an expository writing topic that is meaningful to them. Each topic is written in a fill-in-the-blank format, and each student

These "I can" statements for the new Texas 4th Grade ELAR TEKS are perfect for posting or projecting in the classroom. Zip file includes all the 4th Grade ELAR TEKS adopted in 2017 for implementation in 2019-2020 in two designs and two formats for a total of four items: a black and white 65-page set in PDF and PPTX as well as a color block 65-page set in PDF and PPTX. In the color block set, each of the seven strands has its own color. See cover for samples. All pages/slides are 11 X 8.5 inche

Use as a writing workshop mini-lesson or as a writer's notebook exercise. Students read six short excerpts from published literature and nonfiction essays, noticing how authors create images and build rhythm through a magic three of details. With teacher guidance, students discuss each Power Point slide and notice parallel use of three verbs, phrases, and other structures, then imitate the patterns first through group practice and then independent application in their writers' notebooks. Pre

Listed in Word .docx format, these new ELAR TEKS for grades 3, 4, and 5 are numbered for quick and easy reference. Grade level and strand numbers are carried through to each Student Expectation (SE) and romanette (i, ii, iii, iv, etc), making it easy to copy and paste specific TEKS into lesson plans, website pages, and other materials. Keep as .docx or upload the file into your Google Drive. Search by keyword to quickly find the standard you are looking for! ZIP file contains separate Word doc

Designed for upper elementary or secondary students, this writing exercise asks students to craft a Halloween scene to establish a mood. Mentor text study of passages from four novels emphasizes choice of details, use of imagery, diction, sentence variety, and paragraphing. Students realize that effective descriptions often have an element of narration: something or someone in the scene moves, acts, or reacts. A 20-page PDF takes students through this fun lesson on descriptive writing and pro

I use these PowerPoint templates to post my daily agenda or other content. As students arrive in class and settle in, they read a quote that captures some aspect of the fall season through figurative language. Even if our current unit isn't explicitly about writing and imagery, a thirty second discussion of that day's quote reinforces prior learning and is a nice way to start class. Even on days when I don't draw attention to the quote at all, I find that students still stop and read as the