5th Grade Reading Street Concept Maps

My school started using the Reading Street program (Common Core Edition 2011) last year.  Needless to say, it was a little overwhelming at first. I think I got the the point where I knew what I really needed to cover and sometimes didn't worry about the rest.  This is called prioritizing...

One thing that I wasn't the best at doing was using the concept maps.  I hated trying to find them in my teacher edition and I also hated having them on my board the whole week. 

I decided that I was going to try to make more of an effort to use the concept maps so I revamped the way I used them before. The Concept Maps are now more usable and accessible. They can be displayed on the wall or a bulletin board instead of just written on the board. They could also be used in small group or student led group discussions by having the students sort the cards themselves.

I hope that I do better now that I have these! They can be found here for Unit 1 if you think you could use them too.

Cute First Day of School Treat

I saw this cute idea for a Back to School treat on Facebook.  I just wanted to share this really cute and simple idea.

Here are the supplies you will need:

Each Rolo pack makes one pencil.  The Hugs/Kisses are used for the pencil tip and the tin foil is the metal by the eraser. You will use pink paper and yellow paper to cover the Rolo pack.

Here is a little more of a step by step look.  You can use the string shown in the supply picture to tie on a cute note for your students.  You can also just write directly on the pencil for your note. 

I thought this was so cute.  Let me know what you think!

Back to School Already?!

I am always amazed at how fast the break seems to be.  Maybe we just plan so many things that we don't have a lot of free time.  I feel like I've been gone the majority of the break and now I have no time left.  As I'm trying to get used to the idea of going back to work, I wanted to make sure I had some fun activities for my students.  This is a great Back to School packet with 11 activities.  It will be a great resource for all during beginning of the year assessments.  I hope you find it useful!

The packet containing all 11 activities can be found here.

Here are the activities that can be found in the packet. You can find these activities individually in my TPT shop by clicking on the activity titles.

1.Back to School Word Search- Students search for 21 Back to School words.

 2. Welcome Back to School Word Bank-Students try to create as many words as they can only using the letters found in "Welcome Back to School"

3. Summer Snapshot- Students draw a picture and write about their favorite thing from Summer.

4. Student Get to Know Each Other Activity- Students have to find a student that fits the category like "has a pet". Each category has a point and students try to get the most points.

5. Back to School Maze- Maze activity that's FREE!

6. Back to School Activity Grid- Students think of a word that fits the category and starts with the letters in "Welcome". For example, a color that starts with 'W' could be white.

7. Good Teacher Comic- Students create a comic that shows what they think makes a good teacher.

8. Student Get to Know Each Other Summer Activities- Students have to find a student that fits the category of summer activities like "someone who saw a movie".

9. Back to School Double Puzzle- Students must unscramble 21 back to school words and then solve the puzzle.Word bank included.

10. Back to School Cryptogram- Students use the code to solve the riddle.

11. Back to School Crossword Puzzle-Crossword with clues to 15 back to school words. Word bank included.

I hope these help you ease back into the swing of things.  Good luck getting your classroom ready and enjoy the rest of your time off!