Cyber Monday Sale for Teachers!

It's shopping time for teachers again: Cyber Monday (& Tuesday) Sale on TeachersPayTeachers! 

Stock up on resources for the rest of 2012 and to start the new semester off with a bang. All my items will be marked down; be sure to take advantage of the great savings using the code CMT12 at checkout.

Over the next few days I'm going to be posting about some great products you won't want to miss! Follow my blog to get all the updates. I'll also be posting some new products that I think you're going to love!


Part one of the essential products you'll want to add to your cart include (middle and high school teachers):

English Language Arts Reading Assessment - This is a great packet for teachers looking for Common Core State Standards-aligned reading evaluations. It includes a lengthy non-fiction reading passage, a shorter fictional piece, writing response, and vocabulary in-context assessments. Appropriate for grades 8-10.


For my elementary friends:

iPad Literacy Common Core Creative Writing Activities - If your students have ever had the opportunity to use an application on an iPad, you can use these activities to generate that excitement of technology into writing activities. Practices many Common Core State Standards skills for grades 1 and 2 (though higher grades seem to like it, as well!). Coming soon: a packet for the older students!


For my clip art fanatics:

Mega Bundle of Teachers & Students Clip Art for Commercial Use - The sale is a great time to stock up on my people bundle. And how can you resist those faces? ;)

What will I be buying?

Kimberly Geswein Commercial License for ALL Fonts - I absolutely love her fonts! I've already purchased several individual licenses, but she continues to create gorgeous fonts (that include great high-school friendly scripts) so I know her store-wide license will be more than worth it.

See you tomorrow for some additional finds to put in your shopping cart! Browse my store on TeachersPayTeachers to find additional resources.

In the comments below, post links to your favorite items that you'll be purchasing Monday & Tuesday. 

Common Core State Standards: Tip #2 for Implementing the CCSS Your Curriculum

Align your lessons with the Common Core Standards.

If you teach in one of the 48 states that has adopted the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), chances are you've been looking for resources to help ensure your students are practicing the essential skills to meet the standards. And chances are you haven't found much for grades 6-12. I'd like to offer some tips that I learned as I went through this process during the 2010-2011 school year. Check back often to read my next tip (I'll have several). See tip #1 here.

TIP FOR IMPLEMENTING THE COMMON CORE STATE STANDARDS INTO YOUR ELA CURRICULUM
2. Take advantage of the fact that the ELA anchor standards for 6-12 are the same, just varying the depth of each as students progress. For example, the first anchor standard for reading literature grades 6-12 is:
1. Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. 
(Source: corestandards.org)
Take a look at each grade-level standard for reading literature and see how they either build upon one another or stay the same:
RL.6.1. Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL.7.1. Cite several pieces of textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL.8.1. Cite the textual evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL.9-10.1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
RL.11-12.1. Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

At the sixth grade level, it seems as though just one supporting piece of evidence is necessary to find in the text, while seventh through 12th grades require more than one piece of evidence, and/or more difficult texts to find the supporting evidence from eighth grade on up.

Common Core Graphic Organizers

This is helpful because students will continue to build on these same skills each year, reinforcing what they know. It's also to your advantage when it comes to finding resources by using materials that cover several grade levels. My graphic organizers can be used with any text (fiction or non-fiction) in any content area. I begin with the anchor standards, then add directions or prompts that suit the grade level. Therefore, if you teach both an 8th grade and 11th grade literature class, you would only have to purchase the organizers for grades 11-12 because those will have all the materials from grades 6 on up. The organizers for grades 6, 7, and 8 are very similar to those for grades 9-10, so only one or the other would need to be purchased if you taught any of those grades. This is why my organizers for grades 11-12 are more expensive--they contain more and go more in-depth on many of the standards.

UPDATE: History and science teachers can find Common Core Literacy resources here:
CCSS Graphic Organizers for History & Social Studies, Grades 6-12
CCSS Graphic Organizers for Science & Technical Subjects, Grades 6-12

ADDITIONAL CCSS RESOURCES
• If you are a pin-head like me (aka Pinterest Addict), check out my Common Core resources board:
Common Core Resources for English/Language Arts

• You can also find resources through Charity Preston's Common Core Reading Lessons website. Just click on the specific grade level you are looking for.

SOURCE
The Common Core State Standards were posted under the public license:
The NGA Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) hereby grant a limited, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to copy, publish, distribute, and display the Common Core State Standards for purposes that support the Common Core State Standards Initiative. These uses may involve the Common Core State Standards as a whole or selected excerpts or portions.

NGA Center/CCSSO are the sole owners and developers of the Common Core State Standards.

© Copyright 2010. National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and Council of Chief State School Officers. All rights reserved.

Two Holiday Freebies for Download

I just posted two holiday freebies you can download in my teacher store right now!

"The Day After Halloween Creative Writing Activity" 
(or it can be done anytime!)

"Thanksgiving Creative Writing Activity"

Both can be quick bell-ringers or exit slips, or used as journal prompts. They allow your students to be creative, which is always a good thing. And I like that you can use these for upper elementary students through seniors in high school. I know my older students had fun coming up with their responses. :)

Enjoy!

Oh, and they ARE aligned with the Common Core Standards.  Bonus!

Get to Know Your Students with a Creative Project

One of my favorite assignments to give my students at the beginning of the year is to create a collage mobile. They are required to fill out a questionnaire of their interests, then based on those answers, create a collage mobile that will hang in the classroom. The third step is to write about the items they chose to include in their collage and why those things are special, or represent who they are.

I like this activity because I'm able to find out the interests of my students and get some classroom decoration up. The 3D effects of a collage adds interest, then hanging them as mobiles make them even more fun. Are they distracting? A little at first. I do give students time to look at them when they first go up. They love seeing what their classmates have created. They stay up most the year and we've even added smaller collages to the originals for true mobiles.

The picture shows how you can assign an addition to the mobile at the end of a novel unit. Have students find images, favorite quotes, and artifacts that relate to the novel.

If you would like the handouts and extensive lesson plan for this project, check here.