When is your 100th day?

That is a good question!  Our 100th day of school has changed three times now.  This happens every year with snow days.  Right now our 100th day should be January 22nd.  I'm not holding my breath!  I teach a 3rd/4th grade split.  My students have fond memories of celebrating the 100th day of school in K-2.  Every year they always ask me how we will celebrate this monumental day.  While we don't make it a day long celebration, I do like to recognize the day all week long.  I will put my 100th Day of School Jar out the week of January 19th.

The jar contains 30 writing prompts/activities for students to reflect on 100 days of school.  I have included 13 printables to go along with the jar.  Here is a sample of what you'll get in the download.

If you would like to take a closer look at the 100th Day of School Jar, you can check it out at my TpT store.  It's on sale until my 100th day of school!

Using Comics in the Classroom

It all started years ago when my two daughters would fight every Sunday morning over who got to read the comics first.  Kids love to read the comics.  I put a comic basket in my classroom library and it quickly became a fan favorite.  This year I decided that I wanted to take comic reading a step further.  This is how Using Comics in the Classroom was born!

Comics in the Classroom has 47 task cards with six categories (fluency, vocabulary, phonics, grammar, comprehension, and writing).

This is a sample of one of the comprehension task cards.  There are 17 graphic organizers included in the download.  Here is the graphic organizer for the Inferring task card.

The graphic organizers can be printed for single use or laminated to be used over and over again.

I put my task cards on a loose leaf ring.  I added tabs to make it easier for students to find the skill they wanted to do.

If you would like to more information on my Using Comics in the Classroom or would like to purchase it at 50% off (for the next 24 hours!) you can find it in my TpT store.

Helping students learn to infer

What activities do you do in the classroom to help students learn to infer?  I do a lot of modeling during read alouds but I wanted a fun activity that students could do during workstation time.  I made a mystery box activity that I'll start using right after break.

What's in the Box? has three different levels for students to choose from when working with a buddy or small group.  I have 90 picture cards and 90 clue cards included in the activity.

To play the game, students can use one of the following worksheets...

They can draw a picture of what they think is in the box after each clue is read or write down their guess.  Students can also ask yes/no questions to figure out what's inside the box.  There is a worksheet to write their questions and their guess after five yes or no responses from their buddy.  Students can even come up with their own clues for those guessing instead of using the clue cards.  

I hope my students enjoy playing the game and improve their inferring skills at the same time!  You can check out What's in the Box? in my TpT store.  I would love to give away a copy!  Simply share this post on Pinterest (leave your link below) and I'll choose a winner on Tuesday!  Hope your first day back from Winter Break goes smoothly!