#WordCatcherWednesday: Bardolatry

 What Shakespearean words are you slinging today, friends?  

How Do I Love Thee, April? Let Me Count the Ways!

Hey Lit Lovers!

Just a reminder that April is Poetry Month and National Shakespeare Day is on April 23rd - the anniversary of both William Shakespeare's birth and death! 

Celebrate verse and the Bard with this glorious Poetry Jumbo Bundle and Sonnet Writing Bundle for super fun and engaging reading/writing activities. (Students will love the Shakespeare Sonnet Insult Activity)!

You can also share these fascinating facts on Shakespeare: 

1) Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, who was three months pregnant at the time.

2) Shakespeare’s parents were probably illiterate, and his children almost certainly were.

3) Shakespeare’s epitaph wards off would-be grave robbers with a curse.

4) Some people think Shakespeare was a fraud as there is a conspiracy that he didn't write his plays. 

5) Shakespeare had seven siblings. 

6) Shakespeare wore a gold hoop earring.

7) Shakespeare was a Catholic. 

8) Females were not allowed to perform on stage during Shakespeare's time. 

9) Shakespeare introduced 3,000 words to the English language. 

10) Shakespeare was an actor as well a writer. In fact, he played the Ghost in ‘Hamlet.'

With Literacy Love,

Kimberly 

Celebrate National D.E.A.R. Day

 D.E.A.R. Day, also known as Drop Everything and Read Day, is an annual celebration that takes place on April 12th. As the name suggests, this holiday is intended for everyone to dedicate a small or significant period during the day to reading. 

National D.E.A.R Day is also the birthday of the beloved author Beverly Cleary who created one of my all-time favorite childhood characters – Ramona Quimby.  On National D.E.A.R. Day, schools are encouraged to read together while promoting books as an integral part of daily life.

So how will you be celebrating D.E.A.R. Day?  Fun activities to do with family, friends, or an impassioned book club include making bookmarks, reading favorite passages, and acting out scenes.  Character charades, anyone?  While April 12th is official D.E.A.R. day, every day is a great day to Drop Everything and Read!  So take a literary timeout break today and get your read on!

Amazing Reading Facts:

1) Reading for six minutes a day reduces stress by 68%.   

2) According to many studies, regular reading is correlated with a longer lifespan.

3) Reading fiction can make you a better decision-maker.

4) The three books that have been read the most are: The Bible, Quotations From Chairman Mao Tes-Tung, and Harry Potter.

5) 'Bibliosma' is the word for loving the way books smell!

6) Adults who read for only 30 minutes a week are 20% more likely to have greater life satisfaction.

7) 19% of readers say reading helps them feel less lonely.

Need some D.E.A.R. Classroom Goodies?  

Click HERE

April Literacy Loot

Hey Lit Lovers ~

April showers bring May flowers and testing season! Here are a few instructional goodies to leverage literacy in your classroom this busy time of year....  

Don't stress about the test! Check out my Grammar Bundle and Ultimate ELA Test Prep Bundle for instructional PowerPoints, strategies, task cards, and easy-to-score assessments just in time for Testing Season.  

April is also Poetry Month! Celebrate verse and balanced literacy (reading, writing, speaking, listening) with the glorious Poetry Jumbo Bundle and Sonnet Writing Bundle for super fun and engaging reading/writing activities. (Students will love the Shakespeare Sonnet Insult Activity!). 

If you want to combine poetry and test prep, check out the TPCASTT Poetry Jumbo Bundlefor thirty engaging, high leverage strategy, no-prep lessons! 

Are your students showing Spring Fever and everything that entails? Reestablish your class management routines with the Class Management Jumbo Bundle and Morning Meeting Year Long Jumbo Bundle.  

I've created a Writing Activity Jumbo Bundle for narrative, descriptive, informational/explanatory, argumentative, and response to literature no-prep writing packets.     

Is one of your professional goals to become a teacher-leader in your building?  Impress your adminstrators and colleagues with the Teacher Leader Meeting PowerPoint Bundle that will showcase your leadership skills in no time!  

And finally (because it's that time of year)...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

April is a busy month.  Be sure to take some time out and practice self-care.  Read, walk outside, and write a poem.  

With literacy love, 

Kimberly =)

April is National Poetry Month

April is National Poetry Month, the largest literary celebration in the world.

Why should we devote an entire month to honor words written in verse?  Because poetry is the language of the soul.  When life drowns us with its dark moments, poetry throws us a raft – a verbal sanctuary of healing and beauty - especially during this unprecedented time of fear and uncertainty.

So I urge you to release your inner poet and succumb to the sensory language, rhythm, flavor, call and response of poetry.  Feel the human spirit and universality of life's shared stories in a stanza.  Read or write a poem this month.  Restore your spirit.  Restore your soul.

April Challenge:  Write a Cinquain

A cinquain is five line poem that follows this lyrical pattern:

1) a word for the title

2) two adjectives

3) three verbs

4) a phrase

5) the title again – or synonym

Examples:

Chocolate

Dark or milk

Smooth, silky, sweet

Best thing ever

Yum! 

Eyes

Large, mysterious

Watching, rolling, blinking

Tell more than words

Soul-windows

Cinquain

Short, sweet

Five, simple steps

Maybe not so easy…

Voila!

Students need a brain break?  Try a Poem Pause!   

By projecting a short poem, such as "Dreams" by Langston Hughes, students can have a silent reflection period where they read and ponder the poem.  After five minutes, students can share their noticings and wonderings - if they choose.  

Poem Pauses are "Power Brain Breaks."  They build community, reenergize the room, and allow the students to share moments of the soul through verse. 

Next time your students need a Brain Break, do a Poem Pause instead.  Along with April being Poetry Month, you may just inspire a poet or two!    

For more Poem Pause Inspo, click HERE 

and for Poetry Instructional Goodies, click HERE