December Literacy Loot

Happy Holidays, Literacy Luminaries! 

I hope you're able to snuggle by the fireplace this month with a mug of eggnog - or at least relax and enjoy family and friends. You deserve it!  

Just a few instructional goodies to make your December the best...

Check out my Holiday Literary Jumbo Bundle for tons of resources that will keep students engaged and learning the next few weeks! 

Are you considering hosting a Book Tasting but don't know where to start? My Book Tasting Response Packet has everything you need to host a delectable book buffet your students will love! 

Response to text has never been easier with the Response to Text Jumbo Bundle bag of tricks, including ACE Graphic Organizers, Dialectical Journal Entries, and AOW Reader Response Packet for any fiction/nonfiction text.      

Literacy Centers, anyone? Say no more! Click HERE. 

And finally...I made (27) Teach and Test Bundles for when you need to teach and check for understanding on a high yield literary skill - STAT! 

• Analogy Teach and Test Bundle
• Author's Purpose Teach and Test Bundle
• Cause and Effect Teach and Test Bundle
• Characterization Teach and Test Bundle
• Context Clues Teach and Test Bundle
• Ethos, Logos, Pathos Teach and Test Bundle
• Fact and Opinion Teach and Test Bundle
• Fears and Phobias (Greek and Latin Roots) Teach and Test Bundle
• Figurative Language Teach and Test Bundle
• Fragments and Run Ons Teach and Test Bundle
• Genre Teach and Test Bundle
• Inferences Teach and Test Bundle
• Irony Teach and Test Bundle
• Main Idea Teach and Test Bundle
• Mood and Tone Teach and Test Bundle
• Organizational Writing Patterns Teach and Test Bundle
• Parts of Speech Teach and Test Bundle
• Point of View Teach and Test Bundle 
• Puns Teach and Test Bundle
• Research and Reliability Teach and Test Bundle
• Sentence Types Teach and Test Bundle
• Short Story Teach and Test Bundle
• Subject Verb Agreement Teach and Test Bundle
• Symbols Teach and Test Bundle
• Titles of Works Teach and Test Bundle
• Transitional Words and Phrases Teach and Test Bundle

And for the whole Teach and Test Jumbo Bundle - click HERE!

With literacy love,

Kimberly 

#WordCatcherWednesday: Clinquant

What sparkly words are you slinging this holiday season?

 

Host a Buffet of Books!

What English teacher doesn’t want to expand their students’ literary appetites with a Buffet of Books? Now you can sharpen their palates by hosting a Book Tasting! This activity has a great ROI with very little out of pocket expense. Your students will love sampling juicy reads in a short amount of time as the critique different authors, genres, and themes.

Book Tasting Steps: 

1) Create a Reading Restaurant: Your Reading Restaurant can be anything from a “red gravy joint” or five-star restaurant. The important thing is to set the stage and have a quiet place for students to taste (or read). Create a simple ambiance with tablecloths and place mats. Kick it up a notch with flower vases, battery-operated votives, a roaring fireplace video, finger snacks, and after-dinner mints. Feeling eccentric? Dress up in an apron and chef’s hat!

2) Pull books. Decide which books you want students to taste. It can be a totally random selection or you can organize by genre, author, theme, diverse characters, award-winners, etc. You’re the literature chef - so you decide the menu.

3) Establish Directions: Allow students about ten minutes to taste their book and take notes on their menu or note-catcher. Ring a bell or chime to let them know they are to rotate books, seats, or tables. Repeat the process as time allows.

4) At the end of the tasting, student rank their top three books, complete Book Tasting activity packet, share their best dish (or book), and check out their favorite, which you can pack up in a To-Go bag!

What a delectable literary feast!  Merry Reading!  

Click for more Book Tasting Ideas and Resources!  

Positive Vacation Vibes

 Hey teachers!

Which picture will be you on winter break?

Educator Wellness Ideas

#WordCatcherWednesday: Fait Accompli

 

Words of Inspo for #NaNoWriMo

National Novel Writing Month is upon us, and the pressure is on!  If you're not in the know, NaNoWriMo is an annual challenge in which participants attempt to write a 50,000-word manuscript during the month of November.  With a focus on length of work over quality of writing, writers are encouraged to finish their first draft quickly so it can be edited later at their discretion.  After all, writing is revising, as they say.  

I'm all for NaNoWriMo, but I also like to take this time to read and reflect on established authors' words of wisdom.  This year, I'm focused on Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing, which I love almost as much as Leonard's sleek and stylish crime-fiction books.  

Elmore Leonard's 10 Rules of Writing

1. Never open a book with weather.

2. Avoid prologues. 

3. Never use a verb other than “said” to carry dialogue.

4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb “said” …

5. Keep your exclamation points under control.  

6. Never use the words “suddenly” or “all hell broke loose.”

7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly. 

8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.  

9. Don’t go into great detail describing places and things.

And finally:

10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip. 

My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.  If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.

So go write that NYT best seller #NaNoWriMo novel, y'all!  Just watch those adverbs and don't overdo the exclamation points.  And remember,  if it sounds like writing, rewrite it.  

I think I'll go re-read Be Cool now.     

#WordCatcherWednesday: Witching Hour

What spooky words are you slinging this Halloween? 

 

October Literacy Loot

Anyone who knows me knows I love Spooky Season!  And what's not to like?  Candy overload, haunted hayrides, sweater weather, and of course chills and thrills!  

In October, I also love to create products that leverage literacy skill-building with a touch of spine-tingling creepiness.  Bring on the Edgar Allan Poe!  

Below are some of my favorite reading, writing, and vocabulary resources that celebrate October and everything that entails.  Hold my pumpkin spice...

Halloween Haiku Bundle

Halloween Literature PowerPoint Bundle

Fears and Phobias Vocabulary Bundle 

The Monkey's Paw Unit Bundle

Gothicism and Suspense Bundle

The Tell Tale Heart Unit Bundle

Edgar Allan Poe PowerPoint Bundle

Click HERE for more literacy products!

#WordCatcherWednesday: Gemütlich

 

Em’s Em’s: An Homage to Emily Dickinson and the Em Dash

If you are writer of any sort, you probably have strong opinions on punctuation, such as the vanishing Oxford comma, the ubiquitous ellipsis, and my personal favorite, the business-casual of all punctuation marks—the em dash. 

And if you’re like me, you can be a little judgy based on people’s choice of punctuation or lack thereof, and that’s totally okay.  True confession - I’ve actually broken up with future fiancés based on poor punctuation choices.  Maybe not to their face, but deep in my heart I knew we didn’t have a future.  I’m just sayin;’ I take punctuation very personally. 

Which brings me back to the eminent em dash, a.k.a. the Bad Boy/Cool Girl of Punctuation.  But first things first — how do you even make an em dash?*  Because two short dashes do not equal one em, which means it takes a little effort and finesse on the part of the writer and therefore worthy of respect on that point alone.  Fun fact: the name comes directly from typography, as the em dash is literally a dash that is the width of an M.

The other important need-to-know is of course when to use the em dash, so as not to look like you’re writing in Morse code but execute with bold assurance when the situation calls for it.  Basically, “emmies” (my word – not official) are a stylish way to break up a longer sentence, add modification phrases, or show a break in dialogue.  Emmies allow the reader to pause and absorb your voice, adding fresh energy and weight to your writing.    

 

 Example: 

“Steve**, what is so hard about using an Oxford comma—”

“Seriously, Kim!  Keep your affected punctuation opinions to yourself.  I write good.”

(Fine, I will.  But we are officially broken up.  PS – You’re cheap and a dope!  Good is an adjective, not an adverb).

**Names have been changed to protect the grammatically guilty.   

 

I give full credit to my favorite poet, the Myth—Emily Dickinson—for introducing me to the em dash.  Dickinson regularly ended gorgeous lines of her aphoristic poetry with emmies, possibly to highlight the ambiguity of a word or underscore her own observations on life.  

 

 

To wit - 

Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality.

As seen is “Because I Could Not Stop for Death,” Em’s em’s give us a window into her worldview, allowing the reader to hold space and reflect on what she’s saying.  In this case, Death is a gentleman suitor taking the speaker on a hot date joyride to eternity.  And she’s totally okay with that as he is dripping with strapping chivalry (and clearly not cheap—carriage ride and all)!  That’s personification at its finest, enhanced with an em dash or Em dash, as is this case.  

One thing is for sure.  If the woman in white embraced the em dash, I will too!  Thanks, Em!   

* On a Mac, it’s as simple (or complicated) as Option + Shift + Hyphen.

Love Emily?  

Click HERE for nifty literacy products! 

Happy International Literacy Day!

Read a book!  

Write a poem!  

It's September 8th - International Literacy Day!  

#WordCatcherWednesday: Sprezzatura

 

September Literacy Loot

Greetings, Literacy Luminaries -

I hope this finds you sipping a pumpkin spice latte! Fall is just around the corner and the Back to School Spirit is in full swing.  Here are some instructional goodies to make yours the best ever: 

Leverage the benefits of S.M.A.R.T. (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Based) Goal-Setting with your students HERE! 

Ice-Breakers don't have to be cringy. Try a little Student Speed Dating for the best get-to-know you activity! 

My BTS Products will set you up with ice breakers, word walls, Morning Meetings, hall passes, and must-have PowerPoints to share with students and parents.  Be sure to check out the Morning Meeting Year Long Jumbo Bundle and no-prep Class Management Jumbo Bundle for everything you need to set a positive tone and establish routines! 

Everyone wants to do Literacy Centers but easier said than done, right? Now it actually is with the Literacy Center Jumbo Bundle.  Just download and print! 

This year is a great time to Drop Everything and Read with your students while building a culture of reading. The D.E.A.R. Jumbo Bundle has everything you need for a successful experience, including norms, discussion questions, and fun activities. 

Research shows that students need brain breaks!  Combine word work with word fun with the Word Game Jumbo Bundle - that includes Boggle, Scattergories, and Rebus Puzzle Brain Teasers.  

Need to assess or build skills?  Check out my Grammar Bundle and Ultimate ELA Test Prep Bundle for instructional PowerPoints, strategies, task cards, and easy-to-score assessments.  

Finally, if you need a quick placement assessment or sub plan - click HERE! 😀

Happy fall!  

With literacy love,

Kimberly