Friday, December 2, 2011

"Synonym" Roll Pocket Chart

UPDATE 02/22/2018: Short on time or low on energy for creativity? I now offer a printable version of this resource here in my TPT store!

I found the original "'Synonym' Roll" idea on Pinterest (love that site!). It showed cinnamon-roll-shaped pieces of paper with a swirl drawn on them, on which students wrote a word and some synonyms. I loved the idea and tucked it away in a corner of my mind. Then I found another pin (I'm telling you, Pinterest is my new addiction) for a synonym pocket chart, originally from usefulwiki.com. The idea is that when students are writing they can go to the chart and pull out synonyms for overused words. I also liked this idea, so I started to think of how I could combine the two, and this is what I came up with:


I decided to make the original "boring" word the icing on the roll, because I thought it dressed up the idea a little bit. Each "synonym" roll is a pocket in which to store synonyms.


Now students can select words from the pocket when they need to "spice up" their word selections. Of course, I teach reading, so I have other plans for it, too. I'm going to use it as a game by taking all of the cards out and having students sort the synonyms. This will help their reading comprehension as they learn all of these new words.

I came up with 16 overused words, and it was too crowded on one poster board, so I actually made two boards. I will either switch them out from time to time or just have two groups doing this project at once.


I just think this looks so cute; I can't wait to have my students try it out next week.

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Nativity Wreath

Here's an adorable Christmas wreath I came up with a while back. I absolutely love this project and the finished result. I made this before I started blogging, so there are no step-by-step pictures, but it's pretty straightforward.



You will need:
1 undecorated Christmas wreath
1 small nativity set with removable pieces
1 star ornament
1 spool of coordinating ribbon
A hot glue gun

Start by wrapping the ribbon around the wreath, securing in place occasionally with hot glue.
Arrange the nativity pieces on the wreath. When you like the arrangement, glue the figures in place with the hot glue gun. You may have to use a lot of glue. :)
Glue the star ornament on the top.
Hang and enjoy!