Prediction Pete

In my classroom, I have a stuffed wizard named Prediction Pete, an Ask Zandar globe (remember that game?), a wizard hat, and a star pointer. I also use this icon on my sheets whenever I want students to make a prediction. As soon as they see it, they know what to do!

Anticipation guides are also a great way of having students predict, make inferences, and make conclusions about story events because they offer more structure. Click on either of my examples (astronomy or Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day - my favorite book EVER!) to download templates.

Here are some  other resources for using the prediction strategy:

Prove It
Harcourt Digger Dog
Guess What Happens Next
Prediction Practice Sheet
Seed/Plant Prediction Sheet
Predicting and Inferring Organizer
Anticipation Guides for Literacy

Very Easy True Stories books with picture walks - a series

Morning Meeting Game - Categories

This is a neat game to play during morning meeting. I call it categories because students are given a category and each have to come up with something that fits into it. An example is animals. You can ask students simply to name an animal, to name an animal that is a mammal, to name a reptile that lives in a forest habitat, to name an animal that lives in your state or country and is a fish, etc. You can change it up for difficulty. I included some pictures for prompts for younger students.

I like playing Scategories-style with older students. When they come into the room, I have it posted as a "Do Now" so they get started and are ready to bring their written lists to the circle. The object for them is not only to stay in the category, but also to come up with words that no one else says (this leads itself to different word choices and vocabulary development). It's a great interdisciplinary lesson as you can include topics in all areas and play over and over again with different categories. Enjoy, and check out these books from Responsive Classroom! I especially like the Morning Meeting Messages  and Afternoon Wrap-up books.

Favorite Classroom Sayings Posters

I made posters of my favorite classroom sayings! A sense of humor always helps with behavior management. Click the pictures to download them for free from Teachers Pay Teachers and leave a comment here or there :)

Alphabet / ABC books for all ages

Here's a quick video I made explaining how to use Alphabet / ABC books as an alternative assessment. This video explains what an alphabet book is and how you can have your students create them to show what they know about a particular topic instead of having them do a report or take a test. Depending on the age of your students, you have have them work independently, in pairs, in a group, or as a class by assigning each student a letter.

 I used the webcam and PhotoBooth on my computer to make the video, then uploaded it to my YouTube account, which is linked to my Google account and blog. If you need any help making your own video, leave a comment and I'll post a tutorial.

Here are the planning sheet / blank word list, cover, and 26 alphabet pages that I made!
I tried to embed the document here as a pdf, but the formatting is off. If anyone can help me fix that, let me know! Please leave a feedback rating and comment about the topic you think you'd use it for.

I started doing this with my students before Roland Smith's books became popular. They're awesome though, so check them out!

A great idea is to get the books published. Students can buy the books and you get a free copy! I have used Student Treasures. The pages are glossy, so make sure to do a practice run and have your students work only in pencil until you have checked their pages. Also, you need to give yourself plenty of time for ordering, publication, and shipping. I think we had to get our order done and shipped out by early April to get it by the end of the school year in June.

Sight Word and Word Wall Freebies!

Here's something to go with your word walls and word wall folders. This book is called "Wall Words Word Search" by Kathleen Knoblock. It says it's for Grades 1-2, but older children love it too! Click the book for sample pages.

I also loooovveee these sight word books. My students get lots of practice writing and spelling the words and they have fun in the process. I got them at Barnes and Noble, but they are also available online at Amazon too.

More freebies: 

http://www.cherylsigmon.com/pdf/WordShapes.pdf  word shapes for writing word wall words

http://www.cherylsigmon.com/pdf/LightningWordGame.pdf  lightning word wall game

http://www.cherylsigmon.com/pdf/keyboard-4.pdf  laptop sheet for "typing" word wall words

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Don't forget to check out my Teachers Pay Teachers Store for Word Walls and the Dolch Sight Word pack!