Mother's Day Writing Freebie and Product Updates

I've been updating some of my earlier products, mostly because I wanted an excuse to purchase some new clip art! LOL! Do you already own my topics to write about cards? If so, you can download the updated version here. In addition to adding tons of new cards, I also switched out the clip art and changed the font and border. These cards are great for your work on writing station, as they help the children come up with topics to write about. Gone are the days of hearing, "I can't think of anything to write about!" These cards were made to fit in a pocket chart, however, I keep mine in a small container.

Stay tuned for more product updates. Currently, I am working on making word sorting cards to go with all my Word Sorts activities. Here's a sneak peak...

My students love these word sorts. I thought it would be beneficial for them to sort the words in a pocket chart before they filled out the recording sheet. Although I'll be making heading cards, like Long a and Short a, I probably won't have my students use them. I like for them to sort the words based on the similar patterns and then decide for themselves what the phonics rule is. If I give them the heading cards, they won't have the opportunity to figure it out on their own. But, I'll make them because I know other teachers might prefer to use them.

In other news, we've been working on some Mother's Day activities. I have this letter writing template at my work on writing station. The children have been writing letters to their moms.

You can find this letter writing template, and many more, here, in my Writing Right Through April and May pack.

Here's a cute Mother's Day card my students made for their moms (or aunts or grandmas or mums).

This is the front cover. Some of my students followed a directed drawing I found on Heidi's Blog. Heidi's step by step directions are very easy to follow.

Some of my students drew their moms all by themselves. If only I had just an ounce of their talent!

The inside of the card is a writing frame that I had in my files from years ago. Truth be told, I'm not sure where it originated from because I just have it written on a piece of paper. I used to have my students copy it neatly for a handwriting activity. This year, I typed it up all pretty. If anyone knows where the wording came from, please let me know so I can give proper credit.

I printed the writing template front to back and had my students write a rough draft. Then, we met and fixed some of the spelling errors. Finally, they copied the writing onto a new template, and glued it in the center of their card. I had such a ball reading all of them and I know the moms will cherish them.

Click here to get the writing template for FREE! 

I also made this FREE writing template for Father's Day.

Click here to download it!

Cute Mother's Day Idea/Freebie

This week, my students are taking their state tests, so it's important to schedule in lots of fun activities for them (and me!) Here's a cute Mother's Day activity that they are really enjoying. They are making a portrait of their moms and using adjectives to describe them. At the beginning of the year, I have them make portraits of themselves and use adjectives to describe themselves. I actually have that as a freebie here!

Here are some pictures of their moms...

My Fun With Parts of Speech cards were very helpful to my students, because they picked out all the adjectives that they can use to describe their moms and put them in a basket for easy access.

Here is the descriptive word page I used for first and second grade.

And here is the one for kindergarten.

Just click here to download them.

In other news, don't miss out on a chance to win this really fun game! My students ask to play it every single day!

Just click here to enter my giveaway!

Mother's Day Book

My students just completed the cutest Mother's Day Book! It was created by Lidia, from Kinder Alphabet.

I saw it and immediately fell in love with it! I love how each writing page comes with it's own graphic organizer. My students are used to planning before they write, so I knew this book was right up my alley. I also seized this opportunity to teach my first graders how to use commas correctly, because each page in the book has them writing four things about their mom. 

Here's the pretty cover...

Some of the graphic organizers...

And some of the writing pages...

I can't begin to tell you how much my students enjoyed making these books. And, I'm positive their parents will LOVE reading them. What a great keepsake!

If you need a really cute book for Mother's Day, I highly recommend this one for kindergartners and first graders.

Lidia is also a very talented clip art artist and created all the clip art in these books. 

Click the image below for a FREEBIE!

Click her button below to see her clip art store.

I LOVE her work!

Mother's Day Writing and Two Freebies!

Today, all of my classes finished their Mother's Day writing activities. I would like to share with you some of the activities they completed.

In kindergarten, we brainstormed some adjectives to describe our moms. 

Then, we filled out a tree map.

I had the children highlight their favorite idea from each column. Then, they used each one in a sentence and illustrated each sentence.

My mom is happy.

My mom has lots of clothes.

My mom can juggle.

Here is a more advanced writer, who added details to his sentences.

In first and second grade, they did the same thing. First, they started with the tree map to help organize their ideas. Then, they picked their favorite from each column.

Gotta love the "smoke!"

In first grade, I had the children fold a piece of notebook paper in half and write their three main ideas in each fold. Then, they added a supporting detail and, in some cases, a one time when. In second grade, they used this planning sheet to help them organize their main ideas, supporting details, and one time whens.

After they were done organizing their thoughts, they wrote their rough drafts. I conferenced with each child while they were at stations completing other activities. Then, they wrote their published essay on pretty paper. Here are some first grade essays:

Here is a second grade essay:

You may have to right click and enlarge the essay to read it. She colored it in before I made the "don't color over your words" announcement!

My first and second graders also completed a My Mom book. They came out so cute. Here are some pictures of the first grade books:

Sorry some are blurry!

The last activity I would like to share with you are the letters my first and second graders wrote to their moms. Here are some first grade letters:

"...even when you're mean." Gotta love the honesty of kids!

All in all, it's been fun completing these activities. If you like them, you can check out my Mother's Day Activity Packet by clicking the image below. 

I apologize that this post is so l-o-n-g! As a thank you for reading my post, here are two freebies for you. Just click on the images to retrieve them.

If you download my freebies, please let me know by leaving me a comment. Thanks so much!

I hope you all have a great Teacher Appreciation Week.