5th Grade Resources

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Guided Reading Strategy Cards

$2.50

This set of Guided Reading Strategy Cards includes 12 pages of cards with 12 different reading strategies (4 on a page) that can be used in guided reading groups to reinforce the reading strategy you are teaching. You might also find these cards useful to support students during Independent Reading, Conferences, or to send home for parents. The strategy cards can be printed on paper or card stock and then laminated. You can keep the cards on a binder ring or in Ziploc bags. In my 4th grade classroom, we used these cards during small group to help students “SEE” the strategy we were working on. You can find more information about these particular strategies in the book The Next Step in Guided Reading by Jan Richardson I hope you and your students find these cards useful!

Strategies Included:

*BME -(Beginning, Middle, End) a summarizing/retelling strategy

*Somebody-Wanted-But-So- A strategy to follow the plot structure and what the character wants in the story in order to summarize the story.

*5 Finger Retell- A retelling strategy to retell the characters, setting, problems, and events.

*Stop! Think. Paraphrase.- Helps students monitor their thinking.

*Who? and What?- Who is this part mostly about? What was the most important thing that happened? A strategy to keep track of the big events of the story.

*VIP {Very Important Part}- a strategy to focus on important things that are happening and character change.

*VIP {Very Important Part} Internal and External-a strategy to focus on the important things the character does (external) and how the character feels (internal)

*Ask Questions- a strategy to mark interesting parts with questions using What? How? and Why?

*It’s all about the Character!- Pay attention to the character’s action and dialogue.

*Green Questions- These types of questions can be found directly in the text. The author states the question exactly. I can GO directly to the text and find the answer. Who, What, When, Where, Why?

*Yellow Questions- I need to slow down and look in more than one place in the text to answer this kind of question. Compare & Contrast, Cause & Effect, Main Idea/Details

*Red Questions- The question is NOT answered directly in the text. I must STOP and THINK about the passage and what I know to help me answer this question.

🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.

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Rubrics, Charts, & Checklists, OH MY!

$6.00

This mini-bundle of resources includes:
Informational Writing Student/Peer Checklist
Informational Writing Teacher Rubric for grading purposes (2 versions)
Narrative Writing Student/Peer Checklist
Narrative Writing Rubric for grading purposes (2 versions)
Opinion Writing Student/Peer Checklist
Opinion Writing Rubric for grading purposes (2 versions)
Language Arts Short Response Rubric
Character Feelings and Traits Notebook Charts
Transitional Words and Phrases Notebook Chart
Words We All Should Spell Correctly Chart
Writing an Opinion Essay Chart
Writer’s Celebrate! 3-2-1 Style

This product is one that I see myself continuously updating and adding new material. hope you enjoy and I would love to hear your feedback about this product! I am always open to ways I can improve my products:)

How to use the Checklists:
The checklists are used to help students understand what is expected of them as they move through the writing process. In addition, the checklist requires them to reflect on themselves as a writer. In my classroom, I introduce the checklist shortly after we have started the unit so they can monitor themselves as we go along. As we move towards publishing our final draft, the “I’m done” declarations dwindle. I have found the checklist reiterates specific things students can work on as a writer. Furthermore, they are required to consult one another through peer editing and revising.

The Rubrics
Reading and Writing grades are not so quick and easy anymore. Although I have the abstract mind of a Language Arts Teacher, when it comes time for grades and assessments- the “measurement” of my student’s progress can be a bit gray and I have struggled with giving my students’ a fair grade. The Writing rubrics included in this product are aligned to the checklists and allow you as the teacher to attach a grade to their final writing piece in an objective manner.

The Language Arts Short Response Rubric is a new one I am trying out this year and am very excited about!!! No longer are our assessments simply multiple choice-you got it or you don’t, a quick and easy grade. Questions and tasks are open-ended, which requires students’ to think more critically. In many standardized district or state assessments, students are required to respond to a task in an essay form AND ALSO a short response. As a teacher, assigning grades isn’t so easy anymore. I have often wondered how my classroom assessments are aligning to the district and state assessments as well as the standards overall. Alas, this product was born.

I don’t know about your students, but when my kiddos get a short response it is…definitely short!! They either answer in 2-3 words or a sentence or two that may or may not answer the question.  No more! This rubric will help you get students in the habit of answering short responses in complete sentences and require them to efficiently and quickly reflect on their work. Because after all, it is a SHORT response I use these at least once a week with a question about the current text or Read Aloud we are using in the classroom. They respond in their Reading Response Journal (or Reading Notebook). An added bonus is that throughout the year you can watch your students grow and become not only better readers, but also better writers

The Charts
Charts, charts, charts-I Love Charts. The problem is that we run out of wall space in our classrooms. I have found that students are sometimes more likely to use charts when they are at their fingertips- in their notebooks. I try to create the charts that they can continually refer to in their Reading and Writing work into half sheet versions they can simply glue into their notebooks. This product includes charts students can use in both Reading and Writing as well as a sample of charts found in the product My Opinion Matters!

🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.

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My Opinion Matters! {An Opinion Writing Unit}

Comic Strip Book Response

$3.00

🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.

This resource is a fun and interactive way to have your students respond to a book they have read. You might use this after finishing a Read Aloud or when students finish their Book Club or Independent Reading Book. This resource leaves a lot of room for creativity and individual response. I used this project in my classroom after we finished the book The Landry News by Andrew Clements. Students used their Reader’s Response Journal to take notes throughout the book. Once we finished the book, students jotted ideas in their notebooks about which characters changed (how and why). The theme charts included in this product are charts my students keep in their Reader’s Response Journals. You can find more charts like this here. These charts were especially helpful in planning for this project.

Students used their notes (although you could do this any way that works for you:) ) to answer the questions. Then, they created a rough draft sketch of their comic strip. Finally, students illustrated a colorful comic strip demonstrating their understanding of the text. This product lends itself to much creativity and is wonderful for an end of the year, keep-your-students-engaged activity!
If you ever have any questions or concerns, please contact us at help@theliteracyloft.com.

Happy Reading!

Text Structure Anchor Charts

$3.00

What this Product Includes:

Anchor Chart Classroom Posters with the 5 Text Structures
*Black and White NO Graphic Organizer (pages 3-7)
*Black and White with Graphic Organizer (pages 8-12)
*Black and Pink NO Graphic Organizer (pages 13-17)
*Black and Pink with Graphic Organizer (pages 18-22)

*Notebook Anchor Chart with all 5 Text Structures (Half Page)
*Large Anchor Chart with all 5 Text Structures (Full Page)

The Posters include 4 different versions of the 5 Text Structures, Characteristics, and Signal Words, and Graphic Organizers. There is a poster for each of the following Text Structures:

*Description
*Sequence
*Compare and Contrast
*Cause and Effect
*Problem and Solution

🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.

If you have any questions about this product or a request for another color scheme in the posters, please email me.

Student Led Conferences & Goal Setting

$3.00

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Reader’s Notebook Anchor Charts

My Life is A Story {A Personal Narrative Writing Unit}

About the Product:
This product contains the following tools to help you conduct Student Led Conferences in which students have direction about what to share with their parents and more importantly- you have direction as a teacher to implement Student Led Conferences! Additionally, students have tools to help them set goals for themselves based on current grades or test scores. In our 4th grade classrooms, we used a Student Data Sheet for students to record and keep track of their data. Because districts use different assessments, I have provided a power point document which is editable so you can change to suit your needs. If you would like to use the same fonts I used, head over to KG Fonts to get your font fix. :) The other documents are generic enough that you can use them in your own classroom.

What this product includes
*Save the Date! - This document is editable to add in the dates and times for your Student Led Conferences.

*Welcome to our classroom! - This is a welcome sheet students can leave on their desks when the parents come in. Students also used this as an agenda/guide for going through the process and remembering the steps for their Student Led Conference. (This helps to work through the awkward moments of, “What do I say next?...”)

*Questions for Parents to Ask Your Child - This form is for parents to fill out during the conference. This serves as a guide to help parents ask their child questions while their child walks them through their work.

*Setting Goals - Ideas for improvement in Language Arts, Math, Science, Work Habits, and Behaviors. These are slightly a combination for tools to set goals and goals themselves. This will help students, parents, and you identify HOW to reach goals. In my classroom, students set goals based on their grades, test scores, or assessment data. Then, they used this sheet to identify ways to reach the goals they set. However, for some of your students- these may be the actual goals. Use this sheet to suit the needs of your classroom and your students.

*Goal Setting Sheets for Language Arts, Math, Science, Work Habits & Behaviors - These sheets can be completed in class or during the Student Led Conference. Students use the Setting Goals sheet to help them complete these sheets.

*Tracking my Reading Progress - This chart is a tool for students to track how many books they are reading each month. This can help you to monitor students’ Independent Reading as well as help students to set Reading goals.

*Setting Monthly Goals for Reading - This is intended to go with #6. When students are keeping track of how many books they are reading each month, they can use this data to set monthly goals.

*What did you think? {Parent Feedback Form} - This form is a reflection/survey for parents after the student led conference. Parents can complete during the conference or after.

*What did you think? {Student Feedback Form} - This form is a reflection/survey for students after the student led conference. Students can complete during the conference or after.

*My Progress Portfolio Binder Cover - This is a binder cover for students Progress Portfolio or some people like to call it a Data Binder. I personally prefer Progress Portfolio because in my classroom we keep a binder with tabs for each subject area. Students put work they are proud of inside the binder behind the appropriate tab. This sheet serves as a cover page.

*Sample Student Self-Evaluation - This is a form kept inside the Progress Portfolio used to track student’s data. This form is an example of how we used it based on the assessments in our districts and state. This product includes 2 editable Power Point files in which you might use this document based on your state and districts’ standards and assessments. If you need any assistance with this document, please contact me at help@theliteracyloft.com

Also, MOST of my fonts come from Kimberly Geiswein Fonts on Teachers Pay Teachers. She offers them FREE for personal use. So, if you like the look of the editable documents, downloading the fonts will allow you to personalize them even more to suit your needs. Plus, her fonts are amazing and you might become slightly addicted! So, go enjoy some free fonts!

🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.

Please contact me if you have any questions or issues with this resource :) help@theliteracyloft.com

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Email: help@theliteracyloft.com

Bookagram - Book Recommendation/Reading Response

$1.00

🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.

About this Product:

This product is a fun activity for students after they finish a book. I don’t know about you, but I always cringe when I see my students finish the last page of a book, immediately close it, announce they are done, and put it back on the shelf. I am constantly looking for ways to get them to linger with their books just a little bit longer…

Besides just writing a response or taking a Reading Counts quiz, it is nice to mix it up with fun stuff when they finish. Hence, the creation of this product. If you are anything like me, you enjoy social media. Not just any social media, but specifically Instagram! I am a fan and sometimes slightly addicted. What I love about Instagram is that you can share your experiences with others instantly. Moments or experiences you might not normally share with people, but Instagram makes it possible to share it with more people outside of your usual social circle. With this activity, your students can share their reading experience and recommend books to their classmates in a fun and social way.

How to Use this Product

Anyway you choose! See the Guide Sheet for suggestions. The small circle at the top is a place to draw a picture of themselves. The big picture area, students draw a picture of the cover of the book. Below the picture, they can recommend/tag the book to 3 of their friends. The student who created the Bookagram can make comments about the book as well. Next to the heart, those same 3 students can “like” the book OR others in your classroom who might have read the book can “like” the post by leaving their name. Having an area to display students’ Bookagrams is a nice way to build community in your classroom and build community with your readers!

Please note there are 3 different versions , based on your student needs. One also includes a place for students to rate the book. As always, please let me know if you have any questions about the product. :) Jessica@theliteracyloft.com

Happy Reading!

Bookagram - Book Recommendation/Reading Response

Writing Charts

$2.00

These charts are for students’ use in their writing notebooks, but also for teachers! At the beginning of the year, one of the most important things we can do for our students is teach them how to get ideas for their own personal narratives. This will lead to better writing in other genres. More importantly, this will get students excited about writing! I like to focus on these key points at the beginning of the year:

Volume, Stamina, & Confidence

This chart is a simple tool students can glue into their notebook as a reminder of ways they can generate ideas for entries, drafts, or stories. Also, teachers can use these as teaching points for mini lessons at the beginning of the year. I would strongly advise teachers to teach students HOW to use this tool & model ways to get ideas, before giving to students. I have included 4 copies:

One half-page (so 2 on a page) for students with my examples
One half-page (so 2 on a page) for students with a blank t-chart
One full page with a blank t-chart
One cute colorful one which could be displayed in the writing center or however you choose.

By giving students a resource to get ideas, you may be less likely to hear, “I don’t have anything to write about…”
And when you do, you have a simple response:

“Let’s take a look at some ways writers get ideas…”

This chart could also be displayed in the classroom for students in the writing center. I would love to hear how this works for you! I appreciate any feedback

🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.

Let’s connect!

Happy Writing!
Jessica

Informational Writing-Animal Research Project

$2.00

What this Product Includes:

1. Teaching Points for the Unit - These are suggested teaching points you could use to teach this project. They do not need to be taught in this order and you may find your students need different teaching points. Please note this does NOT include full lessons, only teaching points aligned to standards

2. What Should my Field Guide Include? - a Content Guide for students (and teachers) to help guide the research and the content of the field guide

3. My Research Notes - a graphic organizer to help students record what they learn about the animal. This will also help students to organize their research, thus organize their writing.

4.My Research Notes with Guiding Questions - This version of the graphic organizer includes questions from the Content Guide to help students think about what to include in each section.

5. My Research Notes BLANK - This version allows students to think more critically and could be used with other projects. Students would determine what that category would be.

6. Field Guide Template - This is a template you can use for the rough draft of the Field Guide. You could also use this as the students’ actual field guides if you wanted to. In our classrooms, we used this as a template for the rough draft and then used large 11 x 18 in manila paper to recreate the template in a larger format.

7.Field Guide Pictures - Classroom photos to help you and your students see the end product.

8.My Field Guide Rubric - This is included to make your grading life easier!!! Writing can be so subjective sometimes- hopefully, this rubric will help you zip through grading students’ final projects!

9.Writers Celebrate! 3-2-1 Style - These cards can be used at the end of the unit as part of a gallery walk. Students can lay out their final masterpieces on top of desks or in a display area. Students walk around leaving comments for other classmates.

This is a resource to help you integrate Writing into the content area of Science or vice versa. Additionally, you might be able to integrate technology by using websites and videos to support your students’ research. Another possible way to use this resource is by having students create their final product in a power point presentation. There are NOT supplemental resources included in the product, but this may give you some ideas on how you can suit this resource to best fit your classroom‘s needs.

In order to implement this into your classroom, students will need to choose an animal to research. You may choose to limit the choices your students’ can make or limit to only wild animals or limit to animals found only in your state. One teacher tip I have for you is that if you do not want your students to choose pets, state that at the beginning of the unit. I gave my students a little too much freedom and some of the field guides became about pets. You might be okay with this if you are using this unit to get your kids writing! In my 4th grade classroom, we aligned this to various animals we discussed in class. As we began this unit, I noticed my students needed more guidance with topics an informational writer might discuss when writing about an animal. The questions we came up with are included in the “What should my field guide include?” page.

This is also meant to be a research project. Students will need to have access to books, articles, or websites about their particular animals. Whenever we begin any type of unit in my classroom, I head to our school library and fill baskets with that type of text. For this unit, you might want to choose two types of texts:
1)Texts based on the topics your students are writing about
2) Texts that students can use as a mentor text. I also suggest you choose a Mentor Informational Text to teach the lessons and model the writing techniques.

On Day 1 of the Unit, you might collect brochures, field guides, magazines, and other informational texts to help define the characteristics of Informational Text. Through your class discussion or minilesson create a classroom chart. Doing this simple study together will help set the foundation for the rest of the unit and create a point of reference for you and your students.

Another thought about implementing this into your Informational Writing curriculum is using the research to create an Informational Essay. In this way, you are still meeting the writing standards, in a fun and innovative way! Your students will have fun teaching their others all about their topic! If you use 11x18 paper to fold into the field guide as shown in the pictures, there is a spot for a sheet of paper 8.5 x 11 or notebook paper.

🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.

Let’s connect!

Please know the there is a blank template for notes and the field guide. This might allow you to use the field guide and teaching points for other informational writing topics. Have fun and Happy Writing!!

Informational Writing-Animal Research Project

Raving Reviews - Sampler Opinion Writing Unit on Book Reviews

$2.00

This product is a small piece of my Book Review Unit that is growing larger than I imagined! In my 4th grade classroom, we completed a small Opinion Writing Unit on Book Reviews. My kids LOVED it! I began this unit by explaining to my students that “reviews” are a special type of Opinion Writing that a writer writes based on their experience. There are reviews on EVERYTHING! Restaurants, Movies, Video Games, EVERYTHING! I also told my students a funny little story about when I went to try a new Chinese restaurant by my new house and found that my mother had written a review- and it was not a good one! Needless to say, I tried somewhere else. My students got a nice chuckle out of that and it was a nice way to get them excited about Book Reviews. I then showed them the website Crixut.com, which are Movie Reviews written by kids. Even though they are movie reviews, they are excellent examples of a Review and Opinion Writing written by kids. This is just an idea to help you get Book Reviews & Opinion Writing up and running in your classroom.
This sampler includes:

“Building a Book Review” Anchor Chart- This helps to explain the structure of a Book Review. I have included two versions depending on the needs of your classroom. Their essays could be 4 or 5 paragraphs.

“A Book Review” (stepped out version) - This version is for those students who need a little more scaffolding or you could use this as a homework assignment or in a center.

“Planning my Book Review” - a planner for your students to organize their writing Boxes and Bullets style. There are two of these planners, one for a 4 paragraph essay and one for a 5 paragraph essay.

“A Book Review” Publishing Paper- this is the final landing spot for their Book Review with a small window for them to include an illustration of the book cover.

“Bookagram” – an Instagram inspired book recommendation sheet. If you are interested in purchasing this product alone, please see my Bookagram product.

🛑 Are you a member of the TLL Membership? These materials are already included. If you are not a member, click here to learn more. The TLL Membership gives you an all-access pass to hundreds of ELA resources for teachers in Grades 3-5.

Let’s connect!