Set up Morning Message as a Center

Is your schedule unusually hectic this year?  Are you having trouble fitting everything in?  Are there days when you didn't have time to do morning message?

Morning messages are one of those tools in my teacher's toolbox that I feel has had a major impact in my students' achievement.  By incorporating so many different skills in this format I found that a skill that might be enrichment one week, may be review a few weeks later. It is motivating when students go from a "scratch your head" type of skill to "this is easy-peasy". I love the confidence building aspect of it. The continual review makes skills "stick like glue" better than other approaches that I've tried.

But, what do you do when you would swear the stars in the universe line up against you? It seems like there are so many interruption in your schedule that you can't possibly fit everything in that you need to fit in.

Set up your morning message as a writing center when you are having one of those days or weeks.  By this time of the year, your students know the format.

In the picture above is an example of how you can set this up.  This Earth Day morning message is a self checking center.  I put the answer key in a page protector with an extra page that is colorful.  Tell students they will see the colorful page until they are finished with their morning message.  Then they may flip over the colorful page to the other side and see the answer key.  I put a ring on the answer key and hung it up on a push pin.  You could also use a command hook.

To make it extra motivating, you can add thematic props like the small globe for Earth Day and the small pot of flowers in the first picture for the plant morning message.  I found the pot of flowers at Dollar Tree.

Would you like to read more about Morning Messages?  Click HERE for more ideas plus there are FREEBIES on that post.

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

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FREE Fill Your Bucket - Valentine's Day writing center

Have you read the book, “Have you Filled a Bucket Today?” by Carol McCloud?  I highly recommend you read it if you haven’t already.

This book is perfect for this time of year.  Have you noticed a change in your students' behavior lately?  Too many days spent inside for recess plus colds and viruses can make students irritable.  They often spend more of their time tattling than doing their classwork.  
This book will help your students make an attitude adjustment.  Your class will begin to look for the positive instead of focusing on the negative.  

This book can be used a variety of ways. Use it with your lesson about metaphors. Or set up a "Share the Love" writing center.  There are writing papers and cover included with this FREE packet so your students can be bucket fillers.

BLANK FORM: This would be perfect for a pen pal type of activity.  Each week, let students draw a name out of the hat, and write a note to fill their classmate’s bucket.

FORMS WITH PICTURES: Classroom teachers are often shown appreciation during the holidays by parents.  There are many people like crossing guards, cafeteria ladies, reading specialists, librarians, P.E. teachers, and custodians  who help our students, too.  These staff members are often overlooked.  Why not use these forms to fill their buckets?  You could set this up as a writing center.  Staple the notes together in a book and put it in their mailbox for a nice little surprise.  Click HERE to download the freebie.

Looking for more tips?  Check out my February Pinterest board.  Click on the picture below.

Fern has a few tips to share with you, too.  Be sure to hop over to her blog!

Each week, Fern and I will share a teacher tip. We love to read teacher blogs and the latest teacher idea books and hope you do, too!  Stop by Fern's blog and my blog each week for our latest tips.  We hope you will share your ideas, too.  

How do you show appreciation?

Looking for more ideas?  Click on the pictures below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE.
Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

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Become a playwriter: improve writing and reading fluency

Do your students love it when they see you pull out a Reader's Theater script?  It is the one time when your students don't mind reading the same thing multiple times.  These scripts are a great way to improve students' fluency skills. 

Students love these scripts because they are based on books that are familiar to them.  Have you ever thought about having your students be the playwriter?  Why not let Reader's Theater help your students grow as readers AND writers!

I just added a new free packet to my store that included some printables to get you started.

You can either let your students write the script by themselves, with a partner, or small group.  There is a template for the script that should make it a little easier.  I recommend having your students outline the dialogue boxes with a marker.  Use different color for each character.

There are printables and suggestions for the performance.  There are frames if you want your students to make popsicle stick puppets or frames to write the names for character necklaces.

Your students can announce the title of the play on the sign above.

There are signs to announce different acts in case you have industrious writers.  I hope your students enjoy being a playwriter!

Click HERE to download this freebie.

Sources to make my blog post graphics can be found HERE. Click HERE to read my blog's disclosure statement.

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Idea Book - cure for Writer's Block

I realize it is cold and flu season, but have your students caught writer's block, too?  You offer suggestions but it doesn't seem to fix the problem.  They can't think of anything to write and they don't like your ideas either.  What do you do?  The next time this happens, tell them to get out their idea book.  It seems to cure writer's block!

The easiest way to make idea books is to set it up as a center.  Each student needs a 4 1/2 X 6" photo album book.  You can usually find inexpensive ones at the Dollar Tree.  You also need to stock your center with magazines, catalogs, and scissors.  Students will cut pictures out of the magazines and catalogs and add it to their idea books.

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The next time your students can't think of something to write about, have them take out their idea book and look through the pictures they cut out of the magazines and catalogs. Students can glue the pictures in their writing journals or on their writing assignment and add details to the picture.  Students will need to restock their idea book from time to time.

I have an idea book freebie packet for you.  This packet comes with:

Parent note asking for photo album, magazines, and catalogs.

Planning sheet is included.

Use these as labels for photo albums.

There are different papers so you can differentiate this writing center.

Students can glue the picture on this writing paper and write a story about the picture.

Click on the picture if you'd like a free copy.  

Don't forget to leave feedback!

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