Throw Back Thursday With my 2 Top Sellers on Sale for 1 day!

A new linky for me! Today I am linking up with The First Grade Parade for a little throwback! Here’s a post from August 2012 which showcases my top 2 selling products. Maybe it’s something you can incorporate into your classroom this year.

………………………………Originally posted August 2, 2012……………………………

An Idiom a Day and a Root (or 2) a week!

One of my goals this year is to streamline some of my grammar lessons, teaching idioms and root words in particularly. I am doing this by teaching an idiom a day and a root (or two) a week. This is what I created to so I can stay on the straight and narrow. Hope it helps!

Here is my piece of cake idiom idea:,

I compiled 144 of the most commonly used idioms and created a bundle of 18 worksheets that have 8 idioms per sheet. This can be made into a little booklet or handed out individually. I think that the booklet idea is better because it will prevent students from losing them or putting them in random places.
I did this activity las year, but I started in the middle of the year, so I taught 3 idioms a day. After doing a lesson on idioms, I would present an idiom and ask the class if anyone had a prediction of what the idiom meant. If someone got it correct, their team would earn a table point. To help generate more guesses, I used it in a sentence so they could use contact clues to help them make a better guess.
After that, I told them the definition and had them copy it down in their idiom book. To finish the activity, they drew a picture to create a visual representation of the idiom. In their free time they could color it. I would quiz them every so often to see which roots I needed to reteach.

Here is what it looks like:

The kids LOVED this daily activity, and once you do it a couple times, it only takes a few minutes our of your day. This activity would be the bee’ s knees during bell work, or while you check homework and attendance. Not only will this prepare your class for idioms that they might see on a state test, but they will adopt these into their everyday language. It is a barrel of monkeys to hear them use these idioms on the playground or while working on a group assignment. It cracks me up!

You can find this activity here.

My students have gone “buck wild” over the Idiom of a Day lesson that I created. Each day I introduce an idiom and we go over it, draw it, guess the meaning and use it in a sentence. They show SO much EXCITEMENT for learning during this activity. They beg me to do more, they have used the idioms in their writing and everyday speech. This is one of my most favorite things to do each day. I mean they ever cheer if I say we can do 2 idioms in one day! You can find this activity here.

Now,, onto rooting out roots!

Teaching roots is a Common Core Standard for EVERY grade level 1st-9th. I always wanted to teach a root or two a week, but somehow I just never stuck with it. I would introduce new roots to my class, but there was no rhyme or reason to when I did it. Teaching in a cohesive way will make learning root words more meaningful. This year, I pledge to stay on track. I can ensure that I will stay on board because I created a weekly Root Word Activity that will help me stay more focused.

I compiled 60 of the most commonly used roots, suffixes and prefixes and made circle maps with each root. I plan on running this off as a packet and having them make a root word book.

I have used vocabulary webs for the past 5 years with our regular story vocabulary. I modified these down for this root activity pack. All you have to do is introduce the root word(s) of the week, I do this whole group. I ask if anyone thinks they know what the root word means. Then I copy the correct definition on my example. I let them work in pairs to come up with some examples of words that contain the root(s). We then share some of them as a whole group, giving time to let the students copy down examples that they did not have. Then, we go over what each of the example words mean, and connect it to the root’s meaning. I keep the roots that we go over posted above my white board as a reference for the students to easily access whenever they may need it.

For extra practice, I created a root word version of the famous “I have…, Who has?” game. This is a great way to review the roots that were covered every few weeks. It is also a fun way that gets the kids out of their seats and using the words.