Primary Resources by Martha Moore

Good morning all!

It is a beautiful day in NJ today with temps in the high 70's... I'm loving this weather!  Today's post is being done today by a special guest, Martha Moore.  Martha is a very talented elementary school teacher who has created some wonderful resources for our kiddos. Take it away Martha! P.S. don't forget to check out Martha's facebook page.

Easy and Cheap Word Work and Writing Centers

Hi everyone! My name is Martha and I’m a first grade teacher from New Jersey.

This year, my grade partner and I have decided to try The Daily Five. After reading the book, I was very excited, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was overwhelmed. I felt that it would be so much work to get all of the materials together and to think of fun and creative word work and writing activities. After some research, thinking, and shopping, I came up with a few really cheap and easy activities. Even if you don’t use the daily five, these would be great center activities for kindergarten to second grade students.

Word Work

Smooth Stone Words

Words Cubed

Word Tic Tac Toe

You can download this Word Tic Tac Toe game here-https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B9_YjC4YHAgza0ozOXM1V1lPT1E

Students simply have to do three choices in a row for each new word they are working with.

Writing

Story Starter Journals

Buy a few journals and type or write a story starter on the front cover. Students read and copy the story starter and then use that to write a story. These journals are shared so the entire class can write in them throughout the year. After students finish their story, they can go back and read their classmates stories. Not only does this help them practice reading and writing, but it encourages them to try their best since their classmates will also be reading it.

Some examples of interesting story starters are:

When I grow up ____________

If I went into space _____________

 The coolest thing I ever saw was _____________

This summer I will _____________

If I was an animal _____________

I wish I had ______________

 If I could go back in time I would __________

Roll Out a Story Center

I created these story centers because I needed something that I wouldn’t have to worry about changing out throughout the year. This dice story center is great because students will “roll out” a different story every time! That means they won’t get bored which we all know is a huge bonus. It also makes students get creative as they might be presented with very strange and unusual writing topics. Students roll a die to decide who their character is, what the setting will be, and what the character is doing. They then use the choices to write a fabulous and creative story. You can purchase all 10 versions of this center for $4.00 at my teacherspayteachers store here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Roll-Out-a-Story-A-Dice-and-Writing-Center

I hope that you can use some of these cheap, easy, and fun centers in your classroom this year!

Thanks Marina for letting me be a guest blogger! I had a blast.

Martha J