August 12, 2015

Inspire Me! Story Starter Photo Cards ~ Cat Theme

Cats Story Starters Printable Photo Cards

Inspire Me! Story Starter Photo Cards feature a simple photograph on the front, with word ideas on the back. You can see more about why they were created and how we use them here in our original post!

We have a brand new CAT set for you today, with 18 different photographs. My daughter helped me choose some of these and was giggling as we picked them. A reader shared with me that she plans to use these with her ESL students, what a great idea!

Here’s one of the stories my daughter wrote using one of our cat cards!

Story Starters Cat Theme

Below you can see the photographs included in this set, there are matching word idea cards for each photo also!

Cat Photo Printables

See a video walk through here showing you how we use and organize our cards, and the extra printables we use alongside of them.

We have more themes coming and many will be released here on my blog for FREE. I am also listing sets in my Teacher’s Notebook Shop. Be sure to subscribe to our blog posts so you don’t miss any of our free printables!

Have a theme idea for a set? Leave me a comment!

Download your free Cats Story Starters here!

The printables shown below were were created to go along with our story starters!

Looking for more CAT fun?

Follow {1plus1plus1} Carisa’s board Cat Theme on Pinterest.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Cats, Literacy, Pets, printables, Story Starters, Writing Leave a Comment

July 21, 2015

Inspire Me! Story Starter Photo Cards ~ Bug Theme

Bugs Story Starters Printable Photo Cards

We have a brand new BUG set for you today, with 24 different photographs…many which I think will get kids giggling and thinking of ideas to write or talk about. A reader shared with me that she plans to use these with her ESL students, what a great idea!

Below you can see the photographs included in this set, there are matching word idea cards for each photo also!

Printable Bug Photo Cards

See a video walk through here showing you how we use and organize our cards, and the extra printables we use alongside of them.

We have more themes coming and many will be released here on my blog for FREE. I am listing sets in my Teacher’s Notebook Shop. Be sure to subscribe to our blog posts so you don’t miss any of our free printables!

Have a theme idea for a set? Leave me a comment!

Download your free Bug Story Starters here!

The printables shown below were were created to go along with our story starters!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: bugs, Insects, Literacy, printables, Science, Story Starters, Writing Leave a Comment

July 8, 2015

Inspire Me! Story Starter Photo Cards ~ Summer Fun Theme

Summer Fun Story Starters Printables

Sometimes young writers have a hard time putting their thoughts on paper. When I used to teach Kindergarten, writing was actually my favorite subject to teach, but many children struggled with it. In my homeschool, my boys have struggled the most with being free writers. My daughter is much more willing to write and I am trying to find unique ways to encourage and inspire her to just have fun with writing. I have been brainstorming for awhile; trying to come up with a consistent, fun, and engaging way to have her writing for fun on a regular basis.

I love photographs and using them in teaching. Many of our printables feature real photographs in place of cute clipart. The idea of using a simple photo to inspire thought for free writing is where my brainstorm ended up. I decided to create a series of printable story starter cards featuring photographs based around a theme. Inspire Me! is the name I landed on.

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Each set features a simple photograph on the front, with word ideas on the back. The word ideas were added as a way to give young writers confidence with a few key words spelled correctly right there for them to refer to. Often children feel lost and dislike not being able to spell. For my boys especially, this would cause them to freeze. The word ideas are to help that type of child, the one who loses all ideas, mostly due to their fear of not writing correctly.

For our first set, I chose a summer theme since it is HOT where we are!

See a video walk through here showing you our cards and the extra printables we use alongside of them.

Below you can see some action shots of my daughter using these. She chooses a card from the set, chooses her writing paper {I allow her to choose if she feels like drawing that day or not}, grabs her Try-It Sheet, and starts writing. Right now she is only writing one sentence but this will increase as we move along.

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Story Starters -8009

We have more themes coming and all will be released here on my blog for FREE. I will also be listing sets in my Teacher’s Notebook Shop. Be sure to subscribe to our blog posts so you don’t miss any of our free printables!

Themes coming soon…

birds
bugs
cats
people
flowers Have a theme idea for a set? Leave me a comment!

Download your free Summer Fun Story Starters here!

Recently we shared a few other printables that were created to go along with these new story starters!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Literacy, printables, Story Starters, Summer, Writing Leave a Comment

June 9, 2015

Try-It Sheet and Basic Writing Checklist for Young Writers

Try It Spelling Printable and Basic Writing Checklist for Young Writers

I have been busy creating many writing tools for my daughter, and sharing them with you! I have been using a Try-It sheet with all three of my kids since they began writing, and used them back when I taught Kindergarten. I have never shared a printable on my blog until now!

How we use the Try-It Sheet

A young writer is often discouraged when words or sounds come up that s/he doesn’t know how to spell. Instead of spelling words for my daughter I encourage her to try the word first, writing any sounds she hears in the word. She then brings the paper to me and I show her the correct spelling. If time permits we discuss the sounds she got right, and learn from her mistakes. Sometimes it’s a quick pass back of the paper so writing can flow freely.

Below you can see a peek at her recent Try-It Sheet…

Try-It Spelling Printable

Below you can see my daughter in action as she uses her Try-It Sheet. She is using our writing paper and also something new we will be sharing very soon! Here’s a peek from our Instagram!

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There’s also a basic early writing checklist in 2 formats. One with a space for checking off when editing a paper, and one without check boxes to display on a wall or in a writing notebook.

Basic Writing Checklist Printable

Download your free Try-It Sheet and Basic Checklist here!

Be sure to grab our free Choose Your Own Writing Paper Printable Pack and Choose Your Own Alphabet Chart too!

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Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: 1st Grade, Kindergarten, Literacy, printables, spelling, Writing Leave a Comment

June 8, 2015

Choose Your Own Alphabet Chart Printable

Choose Your Own Alphabet Chart Printables

Having a simple alphabet chart available for young writers can greatly assist with proper letter formation. Hang a chart on the wall, keep a laminated copy on the table, or slip one in the front of the writing notebook if you use one.

Homeschoolers and classroom teachers use a variety of handwriting methods so I am offering a few different options!

There’s a regular manuscript font, a cursive font and a D’Nealian font. One blank, one with lines, and one with stroke help {numbers}.

Alphabet Chart Printable Alphabet Cursive Chart Printable