A Little More Figurative Language

Before spring break, we were hard at figurative language. I found so many amazing activities on TPT - many of them free! (Bonus!), and we used those, plus others that I made up for my students. I wanted to show you some of the activities we've done and share with you where to find them!


First up is our "Similes and Metaphors self-portraits" from Mary at Teaching with a Mountain View. Students had to describe themselves using similes and metaphors. Mary gave a great example for kids to use. My kids did a GREAT job with these. I was so impressed with their work.

Next up is our "In a Pickle" idioms. The craftivity idea is free from Amy Lemons!

We also did a "Bring an Idiom to School" activity from Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching. My kids REALLY loved this! They got into it, and they especially loved presenting them to their classmates, and having them guess the idiom!

We had a little review with an Idioms Matching activity. You can find this for FREE here. 

Next, we had a TON of fun with hyperbole! (Did you see what I did there with exaggeration?)

My kids really had a blast partnering up and finding HYPERBOLE in these fun poems! They are FREE here on TPT! Thanks to Ms. U! I even let my kids use my fun, smelly markers. (I think they got just as excited about this as they did sharing with each other!)

And we HAD to do a craftivity to sum up our learning on personification! I couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so I found some book clipart (can't remember where I found it) and had students write a paragraph with the story starter, "This book flew off the shelves!"

Before I leave (hoping that you haven't left yet after all these pictures and this long post), here are a few more (FREE) activities I found that worked for my kiddos!

Onomatopoiea Pop Art from Free to Teach - great craft to go with our Onomatopoeia stories

Figurative Language Freebies from Where the Wild Things Learn - this one had a great activity finding figurative language in songs

Figurative Language Matching from Lisa Jester - great review before our final test

Enjoy! Happy Hump Day! :)

Giveaway Winners, New (50% Off) Product, & Sale Extended

WOW! I can't believe I just completed my first giveaway! That was so much fun! It makes me want to do it again, and soon I will be! I reached a milestone on Facebook with 155 likes on my page. I also gained a lot of followers on Instagram, Twitter, and even some new followers on TPT! You guys are amazing. I am truly starting to see the benefits of collaboration and communication with a variety of inspiring educators across the world. I never knew Facebook would be so invaluable in that area!

Here are the lucky winners of the Rafflecopter giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For ANY product in my store, congratulations to Julie, Suzy, and Lori R.!
For a Marketplace Makeover, congratulations to Markisha H.
If you won a prize, please check your emails for instructions!

Sooooo, with all of this good news, I uploaded a new product (Food Idioms Differentiated Task Card Pack) and it will be 50% off for 48 hours -until Wednesday night. The regular price is $3.25, but it is on sale for $1.62! It's a pretty large product at 48 pages, so grab it up while you can for amazingly cheap! (Click here or on the first picture to check it out!)
The set of 28 task cards are differentiated, with a set of passages with the idioms underlined, and a set without the idioms underlined. Also, there are differentiated recording sheets - one set for students to simply identify the idiom. Another set has students identifying the idiom and explaining the meaning. The third set is students who are ready to be challenged. It requires students to write a new sentence using the idiom on the task cards.
You can use these cards to introduce idioms (and figurative language) to students or you can use them to review and challenge your students after you've studied them together!

Here's a detailed look at the pack!

I have also extended the sale in my store until Thursday! I'm on spring break. I don't know if you are or not, but I thought I'd share in my happiness, and if you're not on spring break, at least you can get some of my products at a great price!

Have a great week!!!

Spring Blog Makeover Celebration (It's GIVEAWAY Time!!!)

I'm so excited that my spring break is starting NOW, but I'm even MORE excited that I just got a blog makeover from Alexis Sanchez at Laugh Eat Learn!!!

Click on the picture above to see Alexis's design portfolio. You'll love her!

Seriously, I told her once it was done that I just wanted to sit and stare at the screen! She did an amazing job, and I highly recommend that you check out her designs!

Now....for the fun part! Alexis has so generously donated a "Marketplace Makeover"! What does this mean? She will design new custom features for your TPT store! This includes a TPT store banner, custom quote box image, a brand button, and a fancy profile picture! Look at how amazing and personalized the TPT store (below) looks!

Who doesn't want an amazing TPT store????

In addition to that amazing prize, three people will win ANY product from my store! Plus, my store will be on sale during the giveaway. Everything will be 20% off until midnight, Sunday, April 5th (EST). 

I really hope you all will help me out and get this blog and TPT store running! I appreciate you stopping by! Have a great weekend!!!

Be sure to enter the giveaway below and share with friends!

Click here to share on my Facebook page!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Favorite Things Linky~Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Hi friends!
I'm linking up with Teaching Trio today with a few of My Favorite Things!

This is my first linky party with Favorite Things, so here goes! :)

1. I am loving the Fox TV show, “Backstrom” right now. It has Rainn Wilson as the lead character (detective). He’s so sarcastic, a little dirty, but HIGHLY hilarious. Plus the All State guy is a detective in the show, and I love his character. Check it out. It comes on Fox on Thursdays at 9pm EST.

2. Scentsy Shimmer! I got a free sample of it in a plastic bag – I didn’t even know I had it. I kept smelling it at my desk, thinking, “What is that amazing scent?” I’m finally buying some this week from Ciera Harris (Adventures of Room 129)! Try it out! 

3. I know I’m not alone in the teaching world when I say I’m quite an office supply nut! I try out new pencils and pens all the time. My FAVORITE pencil is a Paper Mate triangular barrel mechanical pencil. They are thick and very comfortable to use. My kids love them. The leads NEVER break! Plus, I have many students who have fine motor issues, and some struggle with holding a pencil correctly. This really helps those kids because they are easy to grip. The only thing that worries me is that I haven't been able to find them at Target lately (where I usually get them). I found some in the craft section at Hobby Lobby. I hope they are not planning to discontinue them. If so, RUN, don't walk, to get yourself some of these!

Don't forget to link up and share YOUR favorite things at Teaching Trio! Happy Hump Day!

Sunday Scoop 3/29/15 + a Freebie!

I'm linking up with Teaching Trio for the Sunday Scoop! I think I have gotten into this particular linky because it makes me appreciate the end of my weekend, and it mentally prepares me for the week ahead! This is our last week before spring break, so I'm even more excited to participate!

We are continuing with figurative language in my literacy class this week. I created a few entrance and exit slips for them over the past few weeks. I just made an entrance slip for personification. As I brainstormed on the topic(s) I would use to review this skill, I noticed in my school bag a set of freebies I got at the French Lick Spring Blogger meet-up (#springteacherbloggermeetup2015). They are a bag of small (1-inch) weather cut-outs. My students will choose one of the weather cut-outs. They can choose from a cloud, a rain drop, a lightning bolt, a sunshine, a snowflake, or a group of rain clouds. They will glue the cut-out to the strip of paper, then write a personification sentence adding a human characteristic (or comment) to the type of weather they choose. This should give me a quick view of who can apply their knowledge of personification to non-human objects! Easy-peasy!

Click here or on the picture below to download the Weather Personification entrance slips! Leave a comment for me letting me know if it is something that will be useful to you, or if you have better ideas or suggestions as to how I can improve them (or just add to them!).

Thanks and have a great spring week! Don't forget to add your link and comment on a few other bloggers' Sunday Scoop posts! :)