"Less Mess" Interactive Notebooks- FIVE DAY 20% OFF SALE!

SALE= 5 DAYS ONLY! 20% OFF

OVER 40 "LESS MESS" RESOURCES!

FEBRUARY 20-24, 2018

Sale starts February 20th at 4 PM (EST)

Sale ends February 24 

I know that interactive notebooks are all the rage now, and many teachers absolutely love them. I wanted to try them, and I did. We formed a strange relationship- these interactive notebooks and me.

For a few years now, I guess I have had what you might call a “love hate” relationship with interactive notebooks. I LOVE the idea and concept of them. I love the way they engage students and provide opportunities for inspired and engaging note taking. I love the way they allow students to use what they learn in class and turn it into something creative. I love how they provide students with a useful studying tool to use all year.

However, the hate part comes in due to all of the cutting and pasting. I guess "hate" is too strong a word, but I know that when you don’t have students in your classroom all day and only see them for limited periods of time, it's sometimes difficult to spend a good portion of the period cutting and pasting. I am only speaking about what works/doesn't work for me. I have great admiration for teachers who make this work on a daily basis in a 38 or 40 minute period. However, I realized this just might not work for everyone...or perhaps not every day. This inspired me to create a new line of interactive notebooks.

My “Less Mess” Interactive Notebook Activities allow for two simple steps: cut around the border and glue it in. That’s it! However, you can choose to use these pages in a variety of ways. Also, if you are a big fan of the “folds and flaps” that usually come with interactive notebooks, this resource can be a nice supplement to add to what you already have or to use on days when you may have less time.

I know that we don’t always have the supplies we need and often have to rely on whatever we have. The format of my pages gives you the freedom to pick and choose whatever method works best for you in your classroom. They work in spiral notebooks, composition books, and three hole binders. They will even work as individual activity pages if you are just not ready (or don't want) to make the leap to interactive notebooks in your classroom!

The line now has over 40 different resources for all of your teaching needs in ELA, social studies, study skills and more! For five days only, there is a 20$ discount on all "Less Mess" resources!

Click on this link to see the FULL LINE of

"Less Mess" Interactive Notebook Activities.

Breathe Some New Life Into Ancient Egypt!

Hi, Friends!

Do you want to breathe some new life into your study of the ancient past? If your unit is on Ancient Egypt, this resource will provide you with a way to ENGAGE STUDENTS and INCORPORATE TECHNOLOGY!

My "Less Mess" Ancient Egypt Interactive Notebook helps you tackle this challenge in a ready-to-use, creative format. Just like all of my other "Less Mess" Interactive Notebooks prove, less mess equals LESS STRESS for you as a teacher. Don't use all your time cutting, pasting, and gluing. Do it in one quick step and get RIGHT TO THE CONTENT!

There is just SO MUCH included!

 Check it out by clicking HERE.

If you'd like to view my entire line 

of "Less Mess" Interactive Notebooks, click HERE.

Archaeology and Stone Age FUN!

Hi, Friends!

Are you struggling to make your study of archaeology and the Stone Age fun and exciting for your students? Why not add some creativity so that your class can be engaged and motivated when studying the ancient past?

My "Less Mess" Archaeology and the Stone Age Interactive Notebook helps you tackle this challenge in a ready-to-use, creative format. Just like all of my other "Less Mess" Interactive Notebooks prove, less mess equals LESS STRESS for you as a teacher. Don't use all your time cutting, pasting, and gluing. Do it in one quick step and get RIGHT TO THE CONTENT!

There is just SO MUCH included!

 Check it out by clicking HERE.

If you'd like to view my entire line 

of "Less Mess" Interactive Notebooks, click HERE.

The Magic of Dada Poetry

Teaching poetry is my passion and my love. Watching what students can do with words is amazing. Even those students who are struggling with how to write a complete sentence can somehow magically string together words to create the most beautiful poems.

 

One of my favorites is dada poetry. Here's how I do it:

 

1. Give students a stack of magazines.

2. Give them a time limit to cut out words that appeal to their senses. Be sure to require that they find different parts of speech.

3. Have the class compile a box of "found words." You could categorize them by parts of speech if you want to.

4. Give each student a chance to take a handful (or a specific number) of words without looking.

5. Have each student construct a poem with the found words. I also allow my students to write in articles, prepositions, and conjunctions as well as punctuation as needed.

Behold the magic that is created!

Stop by to see my poetry resources and ideas at TpT by clicking HERE.

Easy New Year Planning- Part Two



I hope your students will enjoy learning about New Year's customs and traditions with this ready to use "web search" resource! After your students have completed the web search (featuring twenty questions), they could then complete the graphic organizers to show facts they have learned in a decorative way.

On these organizers (both boy and girl version provided), students could:
a. record facts they learned in their web search
b. record facts NOT on the question sheet (other facts)
c. record facts they found most interesting
d. record facts from a different website provided by you

The graphic organizers can be colored and make a great holiday bulletin board display when done!

Easy New Year Planning- Part One

The first days back from winter break can be rough on kids. Getting back into a routine is not easy…especially when all the students want to do is talk about their break!

Why not give them an opportunity to do just that while using reading skills, writing, and art? This activity is a great way to ease back into school after a long vacation.

★ Special Note: The pages in the student packet are not holiday-themed. Students may opt to write about Christmas if they celebrated it over break, but none of the pages have a holiday theme. The samples provided are Christmas-themed, but the actual student pages are not.

Each page features reading/writing skill practice using the student's own winter break as the topic. You can use just a few sheets or all of them according to your preference.

When the packets are finished, they would be great for sharing with partners, small groups, or as a whole class.

These pages could be easily adapted for various grade levels depending upon your requirements. For upper grades, you might require students to include additional information. These organizers are a perfect starting point for some great personal narratives!

Pages included are:
• Setting
• Characters, Character Traits & Evidence
• Plot- important events
• Visualization/ Illustration
• Conflict
• Compare/Contrast- Venn Diagram
• Setting Goals

 

 

Leafy Zoo Animals



 

We created a whole zoo of animals made from leaves! We used a combination of leaves traced on construction paper and silk leaves. We tried some with real leaves, but they didn't hold up for display very long!

 

Offer students a variety of shapes and sizes of patterns (or silk leaves) and watch their imagination take over! It would be great to accompany your creations with writing pieces as well.

 

Happy teaching, friends!