MINDS IN BLOOM BLOG

Writing Prompts for When Winter Break is over

20 Back from Winter Break Writing Prompts

Writing Prompts for After Winter Break Two whole weeks without school…what have those kids been doing all that time? What are they looking forward to in the end of the year and the new one? One great way to find out and promote social and emotional learning is to have your students write about it using these SEL journal prompts! I got a little help from

how to teach students to compare and contrast

10 Ways to Compare and Contrast

Comparing and contrasting is a higher level thinking skill important across the curriculum. We compare and contrast characters in a story, word choice in writing, equations in math (think < > =, not to mention word problems ), different hypotheses in science, how holidays are celebrated in different cultures, etc. That is probably why comparing and contrasting shows up multiple times in the Common Core Standards. Here

FREE: Five Suffix, Prefix and Word Root Worksheets

FREE: Five Suffix, Prefix and Word Root Worksheets

Here are five free worksheets (with answer keys) to use with your class to help reinforce affixes and to introduce word roots. These five worksheets will work fine as stand-alone activities but are actually part of a much larger 40-page prefixes, suffixes, and word roots product. Download this worksheet plus four more right here!  

how to make journal writing more fun for students

How to Write Great Journal Prompts

The other day, my sweetheart’s third grade daughter, Claire, was talking about how much she loves her new teacher. When I asked why, one of the first things she said was, “She makes writing fun! I used to hate writing, but she gives us neat stuff to write about.” When I asked for an example, she enthusiastically told me about how the teacher had them write

Find the Teacher’s Mistake!

Here is something fun to try this year: have your students find the teacher’s mistake! Let your (upper elementary or middle school) students know that sometimes you will intentionally make a spelling or grammar mistake on a handout or worksheet. It is their job to find that mistake. They will never know if there is a mistake on any given worksheet – it could come

back to school writing prompts

20 Back to School Writing Prompts

Want to go beyond the classic “What I Did Over Summer Vacation” essay? Try some of these engaging writing prompts.   Who is someone you spent a lot of time with this summer? Describe this person. Where did you go this summer that you have never been before? How did you spend Independence Day? Where did you spend most of your time this summer? Describe

Write a Poem by Rolling Dice!

Here is a fun activity that integrates creative writing with math by having students use dice to write a non-rhyming poem. Students will also get practice with syllables. You could do this as a whole class, if you have enough dice, or at a center. Here is what to do: Give each student a pair of dice. Students roll the dice and add them up

summer journaling

Five Fun Summer Journal Ideas

Kids often embrace the idea of a summer journal because it is a nice way to capture some summer experiences and it has a finite end – the end of summer is the end of the journal. Here are three fun ideas. Nature Journal Use a book with unlined pages (or half-lined pages) for a nature journal. Use the journal to record interesting things found in

Fun word games for the classroom

Free Word-O-Rama (Similar to Boggle) Task Cards!

Grab this super fun Word-O-Rama Freebie! Word-O-Rama is played like Boggle. Each card is a different game. At a literacy center For fast finishers With partners or small groups (use the same card, score only unique words) As morning work (display for the whole class) Or any time you have a few spare minutes Students can play with or without a time limit. They can

Phone Spelling – Fun Free Activity!

Here is a fun way for students to practice their spelling words using a phone keypad. Students use the letters on the keypad to create a number for each word. To make the activity more challenging, have students translate their words into numbers and then switch papers to solve. Just be sure they mix up the words. This worksheet, plus another version to use with

Free Christmas Tic-Tac-Toe Journal Prompts

Want to add a little holiday magic to your journal writing program? Try this free journal prompt choice grid. At the start of the week, students choose three of the nine prompts. Since they must choose three in a row, they will have to make some choices, weighing one prompt against another. You can get the whole set of  Holiday Tic-Tac-Toe Journal Prompts here. Or you

Are your students stuck in the routine of using the same words over and over in their writing? Read these tips on fun ways to get your students looking up synonyms to jazz up their writing. No more overused words in your classroom!

No More Overused Words

Getting students to stop using those tired, boring words can be a challenge. But word choice is one of the easiest ways to make a ho-hum essay, poem, or story into one that people will want to read. Here are some ideas for helping your students to choose better words: Make finding synonyms for overused words a class activity. This is a great way to practice

Fun ways to teach idioms in the classroom

8 Fun Things to Do with Idioms

Teaching Idioms? I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say that idioms are more fun than a barrel of monkeys. There is a boatload of idioms at GoEnglish. Beyond going over the literal meaning of such phrases as, “It’s raining cats and dogs,” there are many other out-of-this-world things to try. They are the cat’s pajamas, so give them a whirl!    

10 Fun Activities for Dictionary Skills

10 FUN Activities for Dictionary Skills

10 Awesome Dictionary Activities Are you looking for some fun activities for National Dictionary Day? It’s October 16th, which was Noah Webster’s (the father of the American dictionary) birthday! Hopefully, you’ve got dictionaries, maybe even a class set. They are, of course, great for looking up words and you will use them to teach dictionary skills, but there are also other great things you can do

This quick and fun creative writing idea will have your students pushing their brains and using their creativity to write a short paragraph without repeating any words!

Quick and Fun Creative Writing Idea

Happy Chyck posted this great idea in her post, Squeezing Good Writing Out of Them. It seems like a good one to try during these squirrely-before-break days. So here is the idea: Assign your students to write a 6-sentence paragraph with no repeating words. Great for coming up with creative alternatives and great for thesaurus use. And as Happy Chyck noted, students seem to enjoy

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