writing prompts for January,

4 pages.

When your students come back from Christmas break, discuss resolutions and the goals that they have for the New Year.  Children choose a ball and complete the writing prompt.  After they share their work, collect and sprinkle on a green-turf background, using the enclosed caption poster in the center:  Having A Ball Reaching Our New Year Goals.  I've also included 2 more writing-prompt stationery pages, for journal options, including one with a hockey theme. 

1-2-3 Come Do Some New Year Craftivities With Me!

I wanted to get some “Happy New Year!” items designed and posted before you leave for Christmas break, so you can get a few things ready for when your kiddo’s return, before you take off that teacher hat and truly relax.  

happy new year activities, new year activities, new year crafts, writing prompts for january, new year writing prompts, resolution activities, graphic organizers, alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet games, math activites, subtraction activities, January Daily 5 activities, activities for January Daily 5, Start things out by leaving a bookmark on or inside your students' desks, as a sweet surprise when they come back.  I've taped a lollipop on the back of mine, that they can quietly suck on while they do their morning tabletop lessons.  Click on the link to print some off now.  Happy New Year bookmark.

happy new year activities, new year activities, new year crafts, writing prompts for january, new year writing prompts, resolution activities, graphic organizers, alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet games, math activites, subtraction activities, January Daily 5 activities, activities for January Daily 5, The Place Value “Happy New Year!” craftivity can be done as a whole-group or independent center. Students trace and write the numbers, cut them out, arrange them in correct order to form the New Year and then glue them under the appropriate place value “door.”

The last door helps children practice subtraction as they subtract the year they were born, from the New Year, to get their age. It’s self correcting, because they know how old they are!

Before hand, demonstrate yours on the board to review how this is done. Even when I was in my 20’s children always thought that was so “old!” Click on the link to view/download the Place Value New Year craftivity.

happy new year activities, new year activities, new year crafts, writing prompts for january, new year writing prompts, resolution activities, graphic organizers, alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet games, math activites, subtraction activities, January Daily 5 activities, activities for January Daily 5, Some of my kiddo’s had not mastered counting backwards from 10 to 0, so I designed the New Year’s Glitter Ball Slider to help them practice.   Even little ones are familiar with the New York, Times Square countdown ball, so this was a great Segway.  

I’ve also included a strip to count from 20.   Add some silver glitter for that extra bit of pizzazz. I had my kiddo’s crouch down and then jump up and yell “Happy New Year!” when we got to zero. Click on the link to view/download the Happy New Year Countdown Slider.

When one thinks about the New Year, it’s inevitable that a few resolutions come to mind. This was a new word for my Y5’s, so I presented it as a promise to themselves, of what they’d like to improve on.  

happy new year activities, new year activities, new year crafts, writing prompts for january, new year writing prompts, resolution activities, graphic organizers, alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet games, math activites, subtraction activities, January Daily 5 activities, activities for January Daily 5, With that in mind I designed some New Year word art craftivities last year, using Tagxedo, one of my favorite educational sites. You can set this up as an independent computer center for students to think up their own designs and words.

happy new year activities, new year activities, new year crafts, writing prompts for january, new year writing prompts, resolution activities, graphic organizers, alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet games, math activites, subtraction activities, January Daily 5 activities, activities for January Daily 5, The packet has a list of 68-positive "resolution" words + an ABC booklet for students to "improve" alphabetically.

Click on the link for this great verb reinforcement tool and vocabulary builder.  New Year's Word Art Craftivities.

vFor more parts of speech practice,  I know your kiddo's will enjoy playing the Fractured New Year writing prompt game.  Students take turns rolling the dice to fill in a word from the adjective, noun or verb list, which creates a hilarious story. 

When everyone has completed the game, have students read their stories aloud, and enjoy all of the giggles.  Click on the link for Fractured New Year fun.

cFinally, I’ve also designed a New Year's graphic organizer for students to fill in with some interesting writing prompts.

  Children can draw a picture of themselves or glue a photo to the center oval.

happy new year activities, new year activities, new year crafts, writing prompts for january, new year writing prompts, resolution activities, graphic organizers, alphabet activities, alphabet crafts, alphabet games, math activites, subtraction activities, January Daily 5 activities, activities for January Daily 5, Thanks for visiting today. Feel free to PIN away. I hope you can stop by tomorrow for the newest FREEBIES.

"Character is the ability to carry out a good resolution long after the excitement of the moment has passsed." -Cavett Robert

8 pages.

Look closely and you will see that the snowman's face is textured, and made out of embossed wallpaper.  Wally, the Wallpaper Snowman looks terrific dangling from the ceiling, as there is a writing prompt on the back.  (There are 4 to choose from in the packet.)

Martin Luther King Jr activities, Martin Luther King lessons, ideas for Martin Luther King Day, Martin Luther King crafts, January bulletin board ideas, January bulletin boards, january writing prompts, I have a dream activities,

What Are You Doing For Martin Luther King Day?

If you plan on celebrating Martin Luther King Day with your students, you may want to take a peek at the 40-page MLK mini unit I’ve put together.

It includes several “craftivities” that are quick, easy and make lovely bulletin boards or hallway decorations.

Martin Luther King Jr activities, Martin Luther King lessons, ideas for Martin Luther King Day, Martin Luther King crafts, January bulletin board ideas, January bulletin boards, snowflake activities, snowflake lessons, snowflake bulletin boards, snowflake writing prompts,january writing prompts, I have a dream activities, Martin Luther King Jr activities, Martin Luther King lessons, ideas for Martin Luther King Day, Martin Luther King crafts, January bulletin board ideas, January bulletin boards, snowflake activities, snowflake lessons, snowflake bulletin boards, snowflake writing prompts,january writing prompts, I have a dream activities, The 1st is a stained glass window, where students  can glue colored tiles in a pattern or simply keep it random.

I’ve included one of my favorite Langston Hughes poems on the back.

I chose a dove to top off this “dangler” because I feel that Martin Luther King's beliefs are synonymous with peace, which the dove is a symbol of.

My Y5’s enjoyed accordion folding paper, to make the 3-D wings, which was a great fine motor activity for them.

Martin Luther King Jr activities, Martin Luther King lessons, ideas for Martin Luther King Day, Martin Luther King crafts, January bulletin board ideas, January bulletin boards, snowflake activities, snowflake lessons, snowflake bulletin boards, snowflake writing prompts,january writing prompts, I have a dream activities, The MLK  Letter Dangler, allows students an opportunity to express what their dream is, and is a nice review of those capital letters as well.

Click on the link to view/download the Martin Luther King mini unit.

Snowflakes are a huge theme for me in January, so I combined making a strip snowflake for a Martin Luther King activity.

If you cut strips in a variety of colors, your students will create a rainbow blizzard for you, that looks truly awesome on a bulletin board. 

Martin Luther King Jr activities, Martin Luther King lessons, ideas for Martin Luther King Day, Martin Luther King crafts, January bulletin board ideas, January bulletin boards, snowflake activities, snowflake lessons, snowflake bulletin boards, snowflake writing prompts,january writing prompts, I have a dream activities, Martin Luther King Jr activities, Martin Luther King lessons, ideas for Martin Luther King Day, Martin Luther King crafts, January bulletin board ideas, January bulletin boards, snowflake activities, snowflake lessons, snowflake bulletin boards, snowflake writing prompts,january writing prompts, I have a dream activities, Use aluminum foil for the background for that extra bit of pizzazz and suspend cardboard or plastic snowflakes from the ceiling , so that they dangle just in front of the top of your b. board.

Click on the link to view/download the Martin Luther King snowflakes.

Martin Luther King Jr activities, Martin Luther King lessons, ideas for Martin Luther King Day, Martin Luther King crafts, January bulletin board ideas, January bulletin boards, snowflake activities, snowflake lessons, snowflake bulletin boards, snowflake writing prompts,january writing prompts, I have a dream activities, Thank you for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful.

“Your success and happiness lies in you.  Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you, shall form an invincible host against difficulties.” –Helen Keller

writing promps for January, writing prompts for the New Year, New Year writing prompts, fractured tales, noun verb adjective lessons, parts of speech lessons, writing with adjectives lessons, adjective activities, noun activities, verb activities, New Year lessons, Daily 5 activities, Daily 5 word work activities for January, activities for the 1st week back after Christmas,

Happy New Year!

New Year Fractured Tales, are a delightful way to review parts of speech: nouns, verbs and adjectives.

Students roll dice to see which word they will use to fill in the blanks from the word bank list.

They can work independently or with a partner.

After children have filled in all of the blanks, students draw a before and after illustration.

Have students read their story to another person, or exchange it with their partner.

writing promps for January, writing prompts for the New Year, New Year writing prompts, fractured tales, noun verb adjective lessons, parts of speech lessons, writing with adjectives lessons, adjective activities, noun activities, verb activities, New Year lessons, Daily 5 activities, Daily 5 word work activities for January, activities for the 1st week back after Christmas, New Year Fractured Tales, makes a nice Daily 5 "Word Work" activity.

As another writing extension, challenge students to make up their own Fractured Tale using the same format.

Click on the link to view/download New Year's Fractured Tales.

writing promps for January, writing prompts for the New Year, New Year writing prompts, fractured tales, noun verb adjective lessons, parts of speech lessons, writing with adjectives lessons, adjective activities, noun activities, verb activities, New Year lessons, Daily 5 activities, Daily 5 word work activities for January, activities for the 1st week back after Christmas, Thank you for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think may be helpful to others.

"We will open the book, it's pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day." -Edith Lovejoy Pierce

Scroll down for another New Year's article and more New Year lesson ideas.

Happy New Year activities, FREE common core lessons for kinergarten and 1st grade, New Year lessons, writing prompts for January, writing prompts for the New Year, pinch and poke, calendar activities, trace and write activities,

Happy 2013!

As with yesterday’s blog article, I wanted to post 2 more writing activities for the New Year.  My Y5’s LOVED trace and write activities.  Being able to 1st trace the words or sentences made it easier to then write them on their own.

They felt empowered and self-esteem was built.  Happy New Year activities, FREE common core lessons for kinergarten and 1st grade, New Year lessons, writing prompts for January, writing prompts for the New Year, pinch and poke, calendar activities, trace and write activities, I’ve made trace and writes for each month.  They are a terrific writing center activity that can easily be accomplished in a few minutes.

 

Because these involve the New Year, this would also be a nice extension for your calendar time. Click on the link to view/download New Year Trace & Writes.

Making class books is a fun way to get students excited about writing.  You also have an opportunity to review such Common Core Standards as reading right to left, and from the top down.

Happy New Year activities, FREE common core lessons for kinergarten and 1st grade, New Year lessons, writing prompts for January, writing prompts for the New Year, pinch and poke, calendar activities, class books, making class books,trace and write activities, I also point out to my students that the first word is capitalized, and in this case, ask them to point out what other words are capitalized and why.

Be sure to point out that there are spaces between the words and that each sentence ends with appropriate punctuation.

You can make 3 different class books using these 3 writing prompts, or combine them into one big booklet. Having students glue their school photo to the page makes the booklet more of a keepsake, as well as helps identify the writer.

You can also have students sign their name to their illustration as they are an artist as well.

Happy New Year activities, FREE common core lessons for kinergarten and 1st grade, New Year lessons, writing prompts for January, writing prompts for the New Year, pinch and poke, calendar activities, trace and write activities, When everyone is done, collate the book and then read it to your class, or have each individual student read and share their page when you come to it.

Click on the link to view/download New Year Class Books. Pinch & Pokes are a great way to help students gain finger strength.  Use a large tack or golf tee.

Students lie on their tummies on a carpet, to increase upper body strength, and poke a hole in each dot. This is another fun way to help students learn that you are in a new year.

Click on the link to view/download the 2013 Pinch & Poke New Year activity.

Happy New Year activities, FREE common core lessons for kinergarten and 1st grade, New Year lessons, writing prompts for January, writing prompts for the New Year, pinch and poke, calendar activities, trace and write activities, Thank you for visiting today.  Feel free to PIN anything you think others may find helpful.

“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom, but rather, leads you to the threshold of your mind.” –Kahlil Gibran

Page 2 of 2