Identifying narrative elements and writing stories

I came across a lovely post from Jenn at Finally in First about how she approaches narrative texts in her classroom.

She has used the same flashcard headings to organise the children's responses to a story and to plan their own narratives.

Jenn has shared a freebie with these headings and a story planning sheet. I really like the simplicity and clarity of these resources. Click on the image below to download them for free from her TPT store.

Instagram inspired lesson idea

Whilst a-browsin' around Pinterest, this display board really caught my eye. The students were given the task of presenting a pictures that they think Dr. Martin Luther King would have shared with the world. The teacher, Lindsey Fuller, provided her class with the opportunity to stage photographs to capture his messages. She got a fantastic response. The children annotated these photographs with captions Instagram-style. They were then mounted on an iPad backing. Have a look at Lindsey's blog post here.

Lindsey has credited Erin from Kleinspiration for the inspiration. Erin's class used this method to show book characters' points of view. It's a fantastic way to undertake a character study in reading or creative writing. Visit Erin's blog post to find a link to templates for this activity.

Classroom reveal: bee-themed decor - FREE resources

Wow! I've been back at school for over a week of planning and training. Today I finished my decorating! Here's a photo-filled post for you to browse through.

The classroom features FREE clipart from My Cute Graphics and Phillip Martin as well as frames from Ink N Little Things.

Colour splat posters from Teachers' Toolkit. 

Colours heading (FREE!) from Sparklebox.

Questions posters by me (available for free on this blog in English and as gaeilge)

Bee-themed class birthdays display:

Heading by Sparklebox (FREE!)

I got the birthday hats from Jennifer Squires' TPT store and changed the font to Comic Sans and black.

I made the balloons.

Give Me Five display (FREE!) from Elementary School Garden

Cubby labels, made by me. Please excuse the copybooks!

Word-wall - part of the bee-themed kit I won from Classroom Decor and More.

Calendar - part of the bee-themed kit I won from Classroom Decor and More.

Days of the week cards from Johnson Creations.

"The day is/ The month is" sign from Sparklebox.

FREE polkadot behaviour management clip chart from Under The Alphabet Tree

My desk area (look at the adorable house full of stationery!)

My bee-themed learner profile display. You can download it for free on this blog.