28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 28 - b-d Reversal Boy

Today is the 28th, so this will be the last freebie, but don't worry.  It is a GREAT one!

This b-d Reversal Boy is an amazing resource for helping young readers and writers remember correct formation for lowercase b and d. 

At the beginning of the year many of my students struggle with b and d, but this b-d Boy helps them quickly differentiate between the two letters. 

The b-d Reversal Boy comes from Incredibly Fun Visual Phonics who is new to TPT, but not new to teaching and developing great resources.  They have so many amazing strategies and resources for helping young readers succeed, and I hope they will post more on TPT soon.

You can also check them out on their website here: Visual Phonics

Enjoy!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 27 - Piggy Went to the Market

Today's freebie comes from Curriculum Castle and it is called Piggy Went to the Market. 

It is a great little book for K-1 and centers around Piggy going to the market for.... FRUIT!

I love how it centers around healthy eating!

It is a cute book and has great reading and writing activities to go with it.

Grab it now: Piggy Went to the Market

Enjoy!

Quote of the Week

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 26 - Nouns

And here is another great activity for nouns.  This one comes from Mr. Watts (again!) and it great for 4th-8th graders. 

Nouns Grammar Worksheet + Test is just that - a worksheet that lets your students have extra practice with nouns and then a test.

Keep this one in your file for when your kiddos need a little extra help. 

Enjoy!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 25 - Nouns

Today's freebie comes from Emily Ames and is perfect for St. Patrick's Day which will be coming up before you know it. 

Emily's St. Patrick's Day Fun: Mystery Nouns is great for fourth and fifth grade students.  Students have fun with nouns as they solve clues to figure out mystery words. 

Check it out here:  St. Patrick's Day Fun: Mystery Nouns

Enjoy!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 24 - Blabberize

Oh, your students will have fun with this one!  Blabberize is a tool that lets you make talking pictures. 

You can upload any picture you want, select the mouth on it, add audio, and ta-dah!  Your picture talks! 

I have not used it in the classroom yet, but I can imagine that it will be a great tool for grabbing students' attention and for students to use when making presentations. 

Have you used Blabberize?  If you have any ideas for how to use it in the classroom, please share below.

Enjoy!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 23 - Tweet Story

Here is a freebie for the middle school to high school crowd.    

Tracee Orman's Twitter Tweet Story or Chapter Summary quick and fun formative assessment tool. 

Tracee recommends this activity for bell ringers or exit slips. 

So if you need a fast way to gauge if your students are "getting it," then check out her Twitter Tweet Story or Chapter Summary.

Enjoy!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 22 - DIBELS Resources

Today's free resource is actually THREE resources and they come from Mrs. VanMeter.  All three resources relate to building early literacy skills that are tested by DIBELS.

The three activities are:

1. Pea-Pod DIBELS Interventions and Literacy Activities 
2. Camping Theme - Beginning Sounds Freebie
3. Popcorn - A NWF Game

Even if you do not use DIBELS in your classroom, your kiddos will still benefit from practicing literacy skills while playing these fun games.

Enjoy!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 21 - Similes

Out of This World Similes comes from The Peanut Gallery. 

It's been downloaded over 31,000 times already.  Plus, look at how cute the cover is! 

This packet includes multiple pages and activities that let your students explore the fun of similes.

Enjoy!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 20 - Constructed Response

Today's freebie from Brenda Martin helps students when answering constructed response questions.

Using the image of an ice cream sundae, We All Scream for Constructed Response allows students to breakdown and practice the steps required for an effective and well written constructed response.

Enjoy!

Quote of the Week

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 19 - Synonyms and Antonyms

Today's freebie comes from the amazing Teachers Unleashed.  Downloaded over 78,000 times, Diving Deep for Synonyms and Antonyms is a twenty-one slide PowerPoint.

In their own words, "The presentation gives a description of what synonyms and antonyms are, and gives several practice slides for students to create T-charts, and interact with the PowerPoint using whiteboards or paper."

It's recommended for 3rd - 6th graders, so if your kiddos need some practice with Synonyms and Antonyms, then check it out: Diving Deep for Synonyms and Antonyms

Enjoy!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 18 - Marking Books with Sticky Notes

Marking books is a great tool to aid comprehension and vocabulary development.  Today's freebie from Bridget will help develop these skills. 

Comprehension Bookmark Sticky Note Note Coding has cute bookmarks that help prompt students as they create their own sticky notes to mark their books. 

Plus, Bridget includes a graphic organizer for vocabulary development.

Enjoy!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 17 - Tagxedo

If you like using Wordle, then you'll also LOVE Tagxedo! 

The basic idea is the same - you can turn words into a word cloud.  Tagxedo also lets you pick different shapes, outlines, etc. that the words can form in and around. 

Here is an example for this blog iHeartLiteracy.  The words generated are all from how frequently they occur on my blog, and I picked the heart because... well... I just heart literacy!

Your students will enjoy playing around with this site.  The combination of shape and words can play off of each other in interesting ways to help create meaning for the image. 

Enjoy!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 16 - Themed Newspaper

Need a fun way to get students working on expository writing?  How about Addie Williams' having students create a Themed Newspaper?

As Addie states in her description, "students practice writing in 3rd person, answering the 5 w's and working in the style of a newspaper."

So check out her freebie here: Themed Newspaper

Enjoy!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 15 - Why Writers Write

Have your students ever stopped to wonder why writers write?  Well this freebie from Teaching and Tapas will do just that.   

Why Writers Write - Student Reflection Printable quickly share why they drafted their piece of writing.

Enjoy! 

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 14 - President's Day Printables

Today's freebie comes from Michelle Tomaszewski and just in time for President's Day.  Her President's Day Free Printables provides a variety of resources for your class. 

From writing paper to acrostics to a word search she has a bunch of fun activities for your kiddos.

So check out her President's Day Free Printables and get ready to celebrate!

Enjoy!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 13 - Cause & Effect

With over 14,000 downloads already, today's freebie is Laura Chandler's Heartfelt Cause & Effect.

This two-part lesson is a good fit for grades 2-5 and it is perfect for Valentine's Day (which is tomorrow)!

Plus, it is from Laura Chandler so you know it is good!

Get it here: Heartfelt Cause & Effect.

Enjoy!

Quote of the Week

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 12 - Contractions

I know my kiddos always need help with contractions.  Well this freebie from All Students Can Shine is a fun way to practice contractions while playing "Go Fish." 

I'm excited to use it with my group of third graders who need a little extra practice.

You can download this game here: Go Fish for Contractions.

Enjoy! 

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 11 - Snow Globe Word Families

Today's free resource is Snow Globe Word Families and it comes from Miss Martin.  This freebie is perfect for practicing the -op, -at, and -in word families during the winter months. 

The new blanket of snow yesterday reminded me that the sun was only temporary and that it is, in fact, still winter!

So check out her Snow Globe Word Families and good luck staying warm for the last weeks of winter.

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 10 - Wordle

Wordle is an awesome tool that really engages students.  I like to use it with vocabulary development (where students add synonyms and make the more impressive words larger), but you can use it in many ways. 

Just make sure you go to Worlde.net not .com!  Or you can just click on this link: Wordle

Example:  A student’s Wordle for the word little.  (The word little is on there, it is just too small to read it – ironic?)

Enjoy!

 

Giveaway from Krystal at Lessons from the Middle

Krystal from Lessons from the Middle is having a giant giveaway for her blog's birthday!  How nice is that?  She has NINE different prize packs worth over $500! 

My I Have Who Has Letter Naming & Letter Sounds Game is included in Prize Pack Six.  :)

The giveaway ends on February 11th, so hurry over to the giveaway here: Lessons from the Middle Giveaway and enter today!

Good Luck!

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 9 - List of Character Traits

I can’t tell you how many times students struggle to find just the right word to describe a character. Well, Mrs. R has created a two page list of character traits that will help any student find the right adjectives.

A List of Character Traits has been downloaded over 90,000 times already!  That should tell you how useful it is.  Plus, character description and analysis is a skill that students work on throughout school, from the young primary grades all the way through their senior year (and into college in literature courses too). 

This is a very helpful and flexible tool that many teachers can utilize.  You can download it here: A List of Character Traits.

28 Days of Free Literacy Resources, Ideas, and Tools: Day 8 - Five Senses Snowman Book

The Common Core standards ask students by first grade to be able to identify words in a story that appeal to the five senses.  Joan Doyle’s Five Senses Snowman Book is a great resource to help prepare younger students to be ready for this standard by first grade.  Plus, it is really cute!

You can download this free resource here: Five Senses Snowman Book

Enjoy!