Comparing Characters like Crazy!!

We will be practicing several skills this week in Reading class. Our main skill is comparing and contrasting characters. Remember to use evidence from the text when comparing characters.

Basic Compare and Contrast Strategy
The Story House
The Story House 2
Compare and Contrast Characters
Character Scrapbook
Compare and Contrast Game
Compare Characters Game

Subject-Verb Agreement

Hi! This week's post discusses subject-verb agreement. Remember that if the subject is singular, the verb must be singular. If the subject is plural, the verb must be plural. Here are some practice, videos, and games to help!

Verb Viper
Spaced-Out Subject Verb Agreement
Pirate Waters!
2Bee or Not Too Bee
Subject Verb Agreement Quizzes
Subject-Verb Agreement Additional Practice
K12Reader Notes
Subject-Verb Agreement Video 1
Subject-Verb Agreement Video 2
Twinkle Trails Subjects and Predicates
The Tale of Mr. Morton

Quotation Mark Mania!!

Hi! This week the students will continue to work with using quotation marks in dialogue. Remember to use quotation marks around what someone says. Here is some practice and videos to help.

Captain Cluck
He Said/She Said
Rags to Riches: Quotation Marks
-This reviews a little more than just dialogue, but it is still a good preview and review.
Quotation Mark Quiz
Quotation Mark Lesson
Quotation Mark Song by the Grammarheads
May I Quote You on That? Song

What's the Theme?

Hi! Theme can be a pretty tough concept for students to figure out. Theme is the general idea of a story; It is often connected to the lesson. Students must be able to pull out the bigger idea - the "real-life" connection. This is different than the main idea we have talked about recently. For example, in the story  "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", the main idea might be that the young boy learns not to lie to others.  A possible theme would be about honesty or the life lesson would be that lying causes others to lose trust. Here are some practice activities and games to help with understanding theme.

Determine the Theme of a Story Video
All About The Theme
- This ones site gives a lot of different activities that deal with theme.
Understanding Setting, Plot, and Theme
Create a Story with Theme!

Branches of Government Song!!!

          Ok, I can't resist. These songs always seem to help the kids remember important information, so here is one about the branches of government that we will be learning in class!

Branches of the Government Song

To the tune of “Happy and You Know it” 

The Legislative Branch makes the laws. 

The Legislative Branch makes the laws. 

Its the Congress you can bet,

That’s the House and the Senate. 

The Legislative Branch makes the laws. 

The Executive Branch enforces laws. 

The Executive Branch enforces laws. 

President and the Cabinet,

Highest office you can get.

The Executive Branch enforces laws.

The Judicial Branch makes sure its fair. 

The Judicial Branch makes sure its fair. 

As for judges, there are nine,

They can serve for a lifetime.

The Judicial Branch makes sure its fair.  

Government is Great!

          Our next unit in Social Studies will cover American Government. This will include the three branches and how our power is split at the local, state, and federal level. We will be completing lots of activities in class to help with this as it is a tougher topic. Of course, we have songs, videos, games, and other activities to help the kids along. Enjoy!

Three Ring Circus Schoolhouse Rocks

Three Branches of Government

I'm Just a Bill Schoolhouse Rocks

We the People Liberty Kids

Ben's Guide to Government for Kids (Review)

-This one and the site below are wonderful!!

Ben's Guide to Government for Kids 

Sequencing can be Spooky!

We are continuing to work on using details from the text in order to sequence events this week in Reading. Note: Students will start being required to use more advanced transition words when writing events in order. Instead of using "first", "next", and "last", they will use words such as "in the beginning", "afterwards", and "finally".  

Story Scramble with Binky
Carving a Pumpkin
FCAT Chronological Order Practice
-This is GREAT standardized test practice, but it is a little challenging!
Reading Skills Rocket 1
Now Trending!
Sequence of Events Reading Strategy Video
Now Trending! The Tortoise and the Hare
Sequencing Using Transitions Words and Context Clues Strategy
-This is a great video lesson that shows how a student highlights information in the passage as she looks for context clues and transition words in the passage.