Secondary Giveaway Time!

It's GIVEAWAY time!

I've joined up with some AWESOME secondary TpT sellers to help celebrate Kim at English Oh My! reaching 50 followers!

Click on this picture to link up to Kim's blog "English Oh My!" and to find out all about this fun giveaway!

I'm giving away one of my favorite products- my Punctuation Color by Code Activity!  This (and all Color By Codes) is a great teaching and reviewing activity for middle grade kids.  These activities would be AWESOME to use as end of the year activities to keep kids learning and engaged until the very last day!  Parents may also like these as summer packets...but don't tell the kids!

When you participate in this giveaway, you'll be eligible via Rafflecopter to win my product, as well as products from 14 other TpT sellers!  Don't miss out!  Click on the link to "English Oh My!" or the giveaway picture above to join in the fun.  Good luck!

Using Games to Spice Up Your ELA Curriculum!

Use GAMES to keep MIDDLE SCHOOLERS excited about and engaged in learning!

A few weeks ago, I posted about how I jazzed up worksheets to make grammar practice more fun!  This time, I want to tell you about some games I use to keep kids engaged and excited about learning! Here are my Top 10 games to play in the ELA Middle School Classroom!

1. Kahoot

If you don't know about Kahoot yet, click on the link to check it out!  Kahoot is an awesome interactive quizzing game that kids absolutely LOVE!  Every student needs an iPod, iPhone, iPad, Android device, or computer to play.  The teacher can create their own "Kahoot", or choose from the millions of ready-made Kahoots on the site.  The teacher logs in under their own ID and projects their view, then kids log in using a game pin.  Kahoot takes it from there!  Questions are flashed on the projection and kids use their device to answer a multiple choice question.  Kids can then see who is winning, and you can see how many kids answered correctly or incorrectly!  You can even download the data!  Talk about a great formative assessment tool!  This is the PERFECT game for 1:1 technology schools!

2. Quizlet

I love Quizlet for a bunch of reasons! It is super adaptable!  Teachers or students can create flashcards to review vocabulary terms, or just about anything!  There are also tons of ready-made Quizlets out there to choose from!  Once you have a Quizlet set created, students can practice on their own devices in many ways: matching games, races, etc.  I love using Quizlet to play games in the classroom, like the old favorite "around the world", or Trashketball (see #3).  The benefit to Quizlet is that when used in the classroom, students don't need their own devices.

3. Trashketball

There are many versions of Trashketball, but my version is really simple and really effective.  I create a Quizlet, then I describe the rules to Trashketball which applies to any Quizlet set.

1. Break the class into teams. (3 usually works best)

2. Each team takes turns answering a question.  

Students on the team take turns individually.  

If the student answers correctly, they earn 2 points.  

If they need to ask the other team members for help and then answer correctly, they get 1 point.

3.If the team gets the question right, they shoot an extra point basket.

I use a garbage can and a foam ball.  

If the student who answered can make the basket, they get to add a point to their team score.

4. Minute to Win It

This is an absolute FAVORITE of my students!  I do this a few times a year to keep the novelty.  I use my task card sets like Parts of Speech or Verbals.  I make 3 or 4 sets of the cards and break my students into teams.  Each team gets a set of cards. Then I give them one minute to do tasks like "find as many nouns as you can" or "find as many sentences using infinitives as you can".  The team that gets the most wins that round.  I've also used Quizlet flashcards to make term/definition matching tasks!  I often make these more active by having kids move around and sort cards into boxes or something like that.

5. Scoot

This is another great way to use task cards!  Each student gets an answer sheet.  I tape the task cards to desks and tables around the room in numerical order.  Students move from desk to desk writing down the answer to each card on their sheet.  It doesn't matter what number a student starts with, as long as they write in the correct box on the answer sheet.  This activity is great for getting kids up and moving! Here is a sample from my "Types of Sentences" task card set.

6. Score Four

Do you know the card game "Spoons"?  You have to collect 4 of a kind, then grab a spoon from the middle of the table where there is always one fewer than the number of players (like musical chairs).  Well, I use my task cards to play my version of "Spoons" which I call "Score Four".  This is an AWESOME game for small groups.  I always give the groups an answer key so that they can self-check each other.  Rules for "Score Four" are included in each task card set! Click on picture to learn more!

7. Matching

As I mentioned in #4, I like using Quizlet flashcards printed out to have kids work together to match terms and definitions.  I usually make a race out of it!  Nothing motivates middle schoolers like a bit of competition!

8. Timer Games

Enough said...use a timer projected on the whiteboard and watch kids hustle to finish ANY task!  I like to pull out personal whiteboards or have a few students write on my big whiteboard and give tasks like, "write as many sentences using similes as you can before the buzzer", or "list as many adjectives as you can in 30 seconds".

9. Marker Toss

This is whole class fun!  I project a homework assignment on the whiteboard.  Kids take turns correcting their work up at the board (best to do with work that kids have already done once, so no one gets stumped on the spot).  I randomly call on one student to start, then after they circle, underline, or write the answer on the whiteboard, they toss the marker to any student to do the next one.  Kids LOVE being able to throw things, and it keeps all kids paying attention so they don't get bonked in the head with a marker ;)

10.Board Games

I often use board games and adapt them to whatever I'm teaching.  Maybe kids play Scrabble, but can only use verbs.  Or, we play Trivial Pursuit with comprehension questions from the novel we are reading.  You can do this whole group or small group and it is a really easy way to get kids engaged!

There you have it!  My TOP TEN ways to incorporate games in your Middle School and High School Classroom!  You can use these games with any subject!

Get Your Carts Ready! TpT is Having a SITEWIDE sale!

Did you hear the great news!  Teachers Pay Teachers is showing us some love for Teacher Appreciation Week!  On Tuesday, May 3 and Wednesday, May 4, they are hosting a sitewide sale! This means up to 28% off ALL YOUR PURCHASES for two whole days!  Everything in my store is 20% off, even my bundles! Use code CELEBRATE at checkout for an extra 10% off everything in your cart!

This is a great time to stock up on materials to get you through the end of the year, or to start looking ahead to next year!  Remember, all your purchases are tax-deductible if you are using them in the classroom...BONUS!

To make a great sale even better, I've joined up with Jen at Teaching in the Tongass and a bunch of other great sellers for a LINKY party to introduce some of my favorite sellers! Click on the picture to follow along!

Here are a few of my most wishlisted and top-selling products you might love! Click on the picture to find out all about each product!

This one is so AWESOME because you can use it in a variety of ways! Verbals are really tricky for kids to understand, but with this product you can review in lots of ways!  You can play "Scoot!" with your entire class, play "Score Four!" in small groups, or "Minute to Win It" style games with these task cards.  Directions and game ideas are included, as well as an answer key to make it easy on you!

Here is a preview!

Tangerine by Edward Bloor is my most favorite book to read with middle schoolers!  It is a high-interest novel about a legally-blind 7th grader who loves soccer and fears his older brother.  Girls and boys get sucked into this novel so quickly!  They seriously can't put this novel down.  I've created a novel study that doesn't suck the fun of reading with endless comprehension questions after each chapter.  This novel study also offers end of book assessment essay options.  Click here to read the blog post I wrote about using this book in your classroom! 

Here's a sample of what you get with this product: 

This product is near and dear to my heart as it is one of my first-ever TpT products!  I created this product last summer as a way to get my kids excited about ELA during the first week of school.  It is the very first activity I do with my students, because it not only introduces a key literary term, but lets me get to know them right away!  I learn about who they are and how well they write from the essay, and I quickly see how well they work in groups.  This is my best-selling product, and I know you will love it too!  Here is a pic of my students watching the youtube videos of all the songs included! (Don't they just love getting out of their seats and sprawling on the floor?!?)

Here's a preview of what you'll get!

These are just a few of my favorite products.  Be sure to check out my store for other great ways to make ELA fun!  My "Color By Code" Bundle is a deal you really don't want to miss! The 20% off plus the extra 10% with TpT code makes this a nearly HALF-OFF deal available these 2 days only! 

Don't forget to use the code: CELEBRATE at checkout to get an extra 10% off your purchases!  Also, remember to leave feedback for purchases because every time you do, you earn TpT points.  20 TpT points earns you $1 off your purchase!  

Click here to start shopping!

Happy Shopping!

Grammar Worksheets Don't HAVE to be Boring!

Do your students groan when you pass out a worksheet?

If your curriculum is like most middle school/high school curricula, you were probably given an anthology textbook along with supplemental blackline master sets of worksheets, right?  You've probably been told to read certain text excerpts and have students fill in the worksheets analyzing particular lit terms or practicing reading strategies.  Your grammar curriculum (which most likely came with the anthology set) is probably a book full of fill-in-the-blank, black and white, Times New Roman font-covered, dull-as-a-dishrag, worksheets, right?

BORING!

ELA curriculum doesn't have to look like this!

Let me tell you a little secret...you can use your district curriculum with fidelity (gotta love the academic terms being thrown around these days!) but jazz it up to make it more fun!  I've been doing it for years, and I've found my students' engagement level has increased astronomically, and their retention of knowledge has grown, too!

Here's what I've done: I've taken my 15 years experience teaching elementary school and brought the kind of teaching I did there into my middle school classroom.  What exactly does that mean?  It means 2 things:

1. I DON'T lecture all hour.  I DON'T expect students to sit still all hour. I DON'T overwhelm them with pages upon pages of black and white fill-in-the-blank worksheets in Times New Roman.

2. I DO play games with my students.  I DO get my kids up and moving and talking to each other. I DO create my own worksheets that are fun and colorful.

My absolute favorite thing to teach is grammar.  It is also most students' LEAST favorite topic to learn!  So what did I do to get my students excited about grammar?  I created "Color By Code" coloring sheets!  My students LOVE these!  I LOVE these because my students are engaged!  They are analyzing sentences, they are identifying parts of speech, they are thinking about punctuation marks, they are working together and debating the reasoning behind their beliefs...and most importantly they are on-task, having fun, and remembering these topics long-term!

Here are a few examples of my "Color By Code" activities:

These activities each include 25 sentences to analyze and a coloring code.  Students read the sentences and either identify the underlined word or decide which punctuation mark belongs in the blank.  Then, they color the picture to match the coloring code.  It's like a color-by-number!  Kids enjoy coloring...it's not something they do much of in middle school, and it is calming.

As a teacher bonus, these are SUPER easy to correct!  Just post a master picture and have kids see if their pictures match up!  Each "Color By Code" comes with an answer key!

One of my students told me "I wish all homework was like this!"  Have you ever heard a student HAPPY to do homework?!?  Here are some examples of students hard at work :)

If you'd like to try these out in your classroom, I have many to choose from in my TpT store: Tween Spirit Boutique!  There are topics to use in elementary and in middle school! You can even grab my Types of Sentences edition for free by clicking on the picture below!

If you LOVE these activities, you can find many individually in my store, but I'm offering 10 for the price of 6 in this bundle!

Click the picture to find out more!

I also have just added a holiday-themed bundle of Color By Code Grammar Activities to my store!  You can buy each separately, but you'll save $2 if you buy them all in the bundle. There is one for Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and December Holidays! 

 Click the picture to find out more!

Sign up with your e-mail address to get notified about future blog posts about how I use FUN and GAMES to make ELA more exciting for older kids!

Liebster Award!

I'm so honored to have been given a Liebster Award from Tierrany at www.misstierraney.com!

The Liebster Award is given by veteran bloggers to new and upcoming bloggers!  The award was first given out in 2011 to give attention to new blogs and bloggers.  Every year, previous recipients of the award nominate others.  It is a great community and I'm so proud to be associated with all these wonderful bloggers!  

In case you were wondering where the name "Liebster" came from, I'll tell you!  "Liebster" is a German word, meaning "sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome".  What kind things to say about my blog! Thanks, Tierrany!

One particular goal of the Liebster Award is to give blog readers insight to the personal side of bloggers.  So, Tierrany has asked me to list 11 random facts about myself, then to answer her 11 questions. So here goes!

11 Random Facts

1. I have lived in 3 countries, but only 1 state.

2. I love traveling and have been to over 25 countries.

3. I love college sports, especially Michigan State Spartans, but don't care much for pro sports.

4. I am an avid reader.  My son's name came from a book that I was reading while pregnant.

5. I love the beach and Jimmy Buffet songs!  My daughter's name comes from one of his songs.

6. I am married to my high school sweetheart.  We began dating when I was 15.  

7. I am an only child, so friends are like family!  I'm still tight with my best friend who lived across the street from me as a child and my college roommates.

8. I dabble in writing and editing.  I'm trying to get a children's book published, and I've written articles for a parenting magazine in Switzerland called "The New Stork Times".  I've also edited a travel guide titled In and Around Zurich with Kids and a romance novel titled Starting from Lost.

9. I have been teaching for over 15 years.  I've taught pre-school through 8th grade, only skipping 1st and 7th grades!  I have a Bachelor's and Master's degree from Michigan State.

10. I believe in life-long learning.  I only began running at 31 and ran my first half-marathon at 36. I learned to speak German at 32 while I lived in Switzerland. I learned to ski in my 30s, too. Just last week, I took my first surfing lesson! I take online courses for fun to learn about technology, teaching-related topics, and writing/publishing.  Starting a business on Teachers Pay Teachers was a brave leap for me last year;I'm considering taking some business classes soon!  You are never too old to try something new! 

11. I'm a manic multi-tasker.  I usually have 4-5 projects going on at once.  I'm trying to be better about focusing on one thing at a time, but my brain is like a computer with 10 tabs open all the time!

11 Questions from Miss Tierrany

1. What is the best compliment you have ever received? I've been told many times that my children are kind and polite.  That is the nicest thing a mom can hear!
2. If you could only have one meal for the rest of your life what would it be? crab legs and baked potato
3. What did you do to celebrate your last birthday?Perfect timing for this question!  I just celebrated 40 a few weeks ago!  I learned to surf (something that had been on my "bucket list") and then this weekend my husband threw me an amazing surprise party!  
4. What youtube channel do you watch the most? I don't really watch youtube...unless I'm looking for videos to use in my class. In that case, my go to channel is "Shmoop".
5. Why do you blog?I love writing, teaching, and my family...blogging is cathartic and I want to share ideas with others who also love teaching and family!
6. Who do you trust the most? My husband and my mom
7. What is/was the most challenging part of being a working in education? Negativity.  It is hard working in a field where someone is always saying negative things, whether it is kids, parents, politicians, or other teachers.  
8. What is your dream job? Either being a curriculum designer/consultant, an author, or a travel guide!
9. What is your favorite thing to do when you are not working? Read, exercise, play with my family
10. Would you rather change the past or be able to see into the future? I think I'd worry less if I could see the future...but not all of it!
11. What was the last picture you took with your phone? A picture of my niece, nephew, and me celebrating our birthdays.  We are all 10 years apart, so we celebrated 20, 30, and 40 together!

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I'm nominating some of my favorite new blogs and bloggers too!  Liebster Awards all around for:

Tricia @ Tricia's Terrific Teaching Trinkets

Amanda @ Free to Discover The Common Core

Samantha @ Aurora Publicity

Christopher @ Courage to Core
Cristina @ Nerdy Music Mama

Here are the questions I want you all to answer:

1. What is the best vacation you've ever taken?

2. What is your favorite hobby?

3. What social media/tech tool is your favorite and why?

4. Who do you most admire?

5. Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

6. What is the one article of clothing or accessory you can't live without?

7. Who is your favorite author?

8. What is something you'd like to learn?

9. Are you an early bird or night owl?

10. What is your "theme song"? What song represents your life or personality best?

11. What is your #1 goal for 2016?

Make sure you go check out their amazing blogs and tell them I sent you!

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RULES FOR NOMINEES:

  

1. Thank the person who nominated you, and post a link to their blog on your blog.

  

2. Display the award on your blog — by including it in your post and/or displaying it using a “widget” or a “gadget”. (Note that the best way to do this is to save the image to your own computer and then upload it to your blog post.)

  

3. Answer 11 questions about yourself, which will be provided to you by the person who nominated you.

  

4. Provide 11 random facts about yourself.

  

5. Nominate 5 – 11 blogs that you feel deserve the award, who have a less than 1000 followers. (Note that you can always ask the blog owner this since not all blogs display a widget that lets the readers know this information!)

  

6. Create a new list of questions for the blogger to answer.

  

7. List these rules in your post (You can copy and paste from here.) Once you have written and published it, you then have to:

  

8. Inform the people/blogs that you nominated that they have been nominated for the Liebster award and provide a link for them to your post so that they can learn about it (they might not have ever heard of it!)  

Another Celebration!

Help me congratulate Nikki at Teaching Autism celebrate 1000 followers on Teachers Pay Teachers!  A whole bunch of us joined up to create a really great giveaway!  Check out Nikki's blog "Teaching Autism" to find out how to register for this Rafflecopter giveaway!

Way to go, Nikki!  

Nearpod is FUN!

Have you all tried Nearpod yet?  

If you use Google Slides slide shows you HAVE to check it out!  Especially if your school has 1-1 devices!  It is seriously a game changer!

Nearpod makes Google Slide presentations interactive!  I've uploaded, or "nearpodized" my Google Slide presentations for my 8th grade Verbals unit and my students have been much more interested in learning about participles, gerunds, and infinitives than I've ever seen before!

So here's how it works:
1. First, go to nearpod.com and set up an account.  I use my Google account so it connects with my Google Classroom and Drive, but it's not necessary.

2. Here you've got a few options.  You can find free nearpod presentations in the "Explore" section to check out how they work.  There are also presentations made by others that are for sale.  Or, you can create your own nearpod so it perfectly suits your needs in the "Create" section.

3. I like to create my own nearpods by using Google Slides I've already created and used in the past.  The easiest way to do this is to go to the Google App Store and get the "Nearpodize This" extension.

 4. Once you've got the extension, you'll see a little black circle with overlapping parallelograms (Nearpod logo) in the upper right corner of your computer.  Now, open a Google Slide show from your drive, then click that circle.  You will be directed to either "launch" or "edit" your slide show in nearpod.  Then, once you've got your Slide Shows uploaded to nearpod, you'll see them in the "Library" section like mine below.

5. Here comes the cool part!  In editing mode, you can add interactive activities to your slide shows!  You can choose from quizzes, fill in the blanks, drawing activities, and others!  In this slide, I want the kids to use the drawing tools to box in the prepositional phrases and underline infinitives.

This slide activity is a multiple choice question.

6. Once you've added all your activities, you click "publish". Now you are ready to use in the classroom!

So you've created a nearpod, now what??

To use in the classroom, you will need to choose the "Live Session" option when you hover over the nearpod presentation.  You'll then get a code for students to log in with.  Each student needs their own device to use nearpod, which is why it is perfect for 1-1 districts!  When students log in, they will see the slides, but YOU control them on your computer, cool huh??

You can use the presentation like you would any other, but the activity slides are what make it so cool!  When you come to one of the activities, your students will see the screens in step 5, but you will see the student responses on your teacher screen!  What a cool formative assessment tool, huh?

Nearpod keeps kids engaged in your presentations and gives you immediate feedback about their understanding.  It is definitely my newest obsession! Go to nearpod.com and play around with the sample presentations and try making a few of your own.  It's always fun to find new ways to use technology in the classroom,,,especially with tech savvy middle and high schoolers!