Magic Squares: Supporting ELA Vocabulary & Concepts {A Magical Giveaway}

I did it! I am taking the plunge.  I finished my first product for TPT.

Ahhhh!!! I'm so nervous and excited all at the same time.

But... y'all... I'm also so proud of my work. :)

Introducing... ELA Magic Squares

An Activity Pack to "Magically" Support 

ELA Vocabulary & Concepts

One of my student's favorite activities we did this year was our Non-Fiction Text Feature Magic Square. I knew it was popular in my room, but then I looked on TPT and it was popular there too! It was right then and there that I started imagining the possibilities and this is the final result! Isn't it cute?!

What are Magic Squares?

In the simplest form, a magic square is a puzzle. The puzzle itself consists of 9 squares that contain vocabulary words and their definitions. When the square is completed correctly, all definitions match up and the border of the square is left completely blank. (Which is awesome for teachers because you can quick check student work in seconds!!)

How can Magic Squares be used?
Magic squares can be used as a whole group activity, literacy station, review, or intervention activity. You can run individual copies for students have them glue completed squares on construction paper or in their ELA journals for reference. You can also copy squares on colored paper, laminate, and use over and over again in stations to build student's problem solving skills and content vocabulary mastery. The choice is yours.

How do Magic Squares support student learning?
Magic squares give students an opportunity to revisit the vocabulary they have learned in a new and different way. As teachers, we present material in many ways to help our students make connections and "lock in" their learning. This is just one more great strategy for students to work with the content vocabulary but in a new context. The puzzle element challenges even the highest students in your class. For the kids who want a quick match up game, the magic square pushes them to think outside the box. They must manipulate the pieces, use problem solving skills, and review the content vocabulary all at the same time.

What vocabulary is covered in this activity pack?
The ELA magic squares that are included in this packet cover the a variety of topics covered throughout the year, including:

• Non-Fiction Text Features & Purpose
• Reading Genres 
• Poetry Terms
• Drama Terms
• Writing Terms
• Parts of Speech

How should I introduce this to my class?
Don't give too much away! That takes away from the fun. I tell them they are getting a vocabulary puzzle.  Their job is to match the vocabulary word with the definition. They will know they have completed the square when the outside border is blank. (I usually draw a sample on the board, so they know what I mean by a clean edge). The only other hint I give is to start in the center. The center square is the only square with all four sides filled with writing (vocab word or definition) From there, I let them figure it out. Do some get frustrated a first?  Yes. Do they give up?  Never! They always want to figure it out and the feeling of success they have when they do is priceless!! 

My class LOVED this activity and I hope your class will too.  

How about a freebie?
Sure! I can't wait to share the fun! Click here to grab your free Text Feature Magic Square from my TPT store today! Your feedback is greatly appreciated and valued.

Now for the giveaway...

To win a copy of Magic Squares: An Activity Pack to "Magically" Support ELA Vocabulary & Concepts Grades 3-5 just enter the giveaway below! 

Don't forget to check out my TPT store for other great activities and freebies!

a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Six Rules & Our Comma Kingdom

Is there one skill or topic you teach ALL year?  I know I do.

It's those pesky comma rules. It's one of those skills that I keep revisiting over and over again because no matter how many ways we break it down, we have forgotten those pesky comma rules two weeks later.

We all know the importance of good punctuation. Books like Eat, Shoots, & Leaves have shown kids that commas really DO make a difference. After all... commas save lives, right?

And yet... there are so many different rules for commas.  It's hard to remember it all. Some rules are even disputed (Oxford comma I'm talking to you.) Remembering all the rules can be challenging, especially when you are nine and ten years old and let's face it... sometimes you forget to start your sentence with a capital letter. So...we learn about commas all year long and all different ways! 

On my hunt for quality comma activities, I found some awesome resources from Amelia over at Where the Wild Things Learn. (BTW...how fantastic is that blog name?!?) She created  a great Comma Mini-Lessons Pack that included colorful posters with 6 very specific comma rules and practice pages. Definitely check out her TPT store and her blog.

After all our lessons throughout the year about commas, introductory clauses, fanboys, aaawwwbbis, and lists my kids loved having six very straight forward clear cut rules. Six rules they could manage.  This made sense.

We practiced using these six comma rules with a Comma Graffiti Activity! I'm so disappointed I didn't take pictures of my students doing this because they LOVED it!

Set up was simple. I grabbed six pieces of anchor chart paper and wrote each comma rule at the top. I included an example sentence below that. Then I numbered the anchor chart paper down the side 1-22.  I hung the posters around the room in a place where students could easily write on it.

from Where the Wild Things Learn

I had all students grab a marker (oh yes, a marker!!) and go around the room to add 1 sentence to each poster using the appropriate rule correctly. I had the kids write their sentence next to their classroom number so that I could see who had done what and seize a teachable moment for kids to fix mistakes.

Every child in my room loved this activity. My writers went to town! The crafted creative sentences that went beyond my simple examples. My struggling writers started at the simplest poster first (using a comma in a date) and by the time they got around to the other posters, there were 5-10 other examples for them to look at.   

Everyone was supported and encouraged as they practiced using the six manageable comma rules. They were laughing and reading each others sentences and at times trying to outdo each other. If something wasn't used correctly, they were helping their friends correct it! It was one of those perfect moments in the classroom where the activity does not just go well, but exceeds your expectations.  Yesssssss!

For our culminating activity, I had seen this fantastic comma project on Pinterest.  The link led me to 2nd Grade Rocks: Mrs. Fritts' Classroom and an activity called Mr. & Mrs. Comma that she did way back in 2012! Ahhh! Aren't those adorable?!?

I modified the project a bit for 4th graders, but not much. They had to write example sentences for all 6 rules and then they could create their very own comma person.

Here was my example.

They started getting creative. :)

I couldn't pick a favorite even if I wanted to.

As more and more comma people started rolling in, I felt we needed to create a bulletin board to showcase how awesome all these comma people were turning out. The kids designed and cut out the buildings all by themselves. I just assembled. 

Can you find the Gryffindor? 

How about the disco dancer? 

Captain America is on top of the yellow building on the right.

We just kept adding comma people to our Comma Kingdom. We ended up with a wookie (bottom left by the wizard), Darth Vader (tall yellow building, FYI-the helmet lifts up), Wonder Woman (in the clouds), a pirate, a moose, an astronaut, a nar-whal, and so much more!

The kids had an absolute blast and were so proud of their work. I soooo wish I had a better picture of the final board, but I had to snag this from the background of another photo. How I did not take a picture of the final product, I have no idea. I won't make that mistake again next year. #liveandlearn

My class said it was one of their favorite projects we did all year. Grammar is not always the most exciting thing to teach, so I'm so thankful that I found awesome inspiration online. With their guidance, I was able to put together great learning activities for my students and it turned into something they will never forget. Thank you ladies!

How do you teach commas and other grammar rules? Silly cartoons? This one made me laugh.

I'm always a fan of grammar humor. Of course, you have to understand it to get it.  :)

Simple, Fun, and Effective: Verb Poem

Sometimes it is the simplest activities that turn out the best. Don't you think?

Several weeks ago, we were studying verbs.  Another fabulous teacher on my team, pulled out her verb file and we started digging.  Why reinvent the wheel, right?  Maybe we already had something great.

It turns out we did. It was simple. It was direct.  And it required the kids to use verbs correctly in the past tense and allowed them to be creative. We found "The Verb Poem." Original source unknown.

This one page simple guide required students to finish each sentence stem to create a poem.

On Sunday I ....
On Monday I...
On Tuesday I...
On Wednesday I...
Etc.

You get the idea.  

Here are some of my very favorite student examples:

On Monday I fell through a portal.
On Friday I slurped a Slurpy the size of my house. Brain freeze!
On Tuesday I walked along the yellow brick road.
On Monday I jumped of the wing of an airplane. 
On Thursday I galloped all the way to the moon.
On Monday I flew to the fortress of solitude.
On Tuesday I baked an apple pie for God.
On Wednesday I traveled to Egypt and sat on a pyramid.
On Friday I saw Percy Jackson.
On Monday I played video games with a dinosaur named Davy Bob.
On Tuesday I hung out with Superman.
On Wednesday I saw the hump day sign.
On Friday I beat up black ninjas.
On Thursday I ruled the world.
On Saturday I rode a penguin down a hill.
On Thursday I tiptoed into a volcano.
On Sunday I jumped so high I broke the ceiling.

Again...you get the idea. 

Didn't they do a great job?  I just love what they came up with and had to share with you guys.

You can't always say you enjoy reading a writing assignment from every 4th grader in your class, but I enjoyed reading every single on of these.

The teaching possibilities for this poem are endless. We used it for past tense verbs, but you could go back and talk about strong verbs.  You could add adjectives or adverbs. You could expand each day and add details. The possibilities are endless. So simple, yet so effective and so fun.  I just had to share. To download the template we used from TPT, click here.

If you download and use, I would love to hear some of your favorite one liners from your class. Please comment below. We are going to put all our poems together and make a class book. 

Enjoy!