Keeping the Kiddos Learning Before Winter Break!

Still need an activity for the week before your winter break?  Try out this holiday themed mystery picture!  Students identify types of figurative language and then color in the grid according to the key given.  This activity keeps students engaged in their lesson while they are having fun learning.  This activity is sold only for $1.  It is also part of my bundles. 

Here is the link if you are interested!
Figurative Language Mystery Picture Christmas Tree Theme

Review Parts of Speech

Reviewing Parts of Speech can be fun using task cards and mystery pictures.  Students can interact and be actively engaged as they determine the parts of speech of words in sentences.  Students love these types of activities.  They are different than just ordinary worksheets because it feels more like playing a game or solving a puzzle.  Here is a sample from my latest products.

Parts of Speech Task Cards with Mystery Picture

Figurative Language Fun

This Thanksgiving themed mystery picture is a great way to review figurative language.  This is a great way to keep students engaged.  The students will identify sentences as being examples of simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, idiom, analogy, and symbolism.  These are all academic vocabulary terms that they must know in order to answer questions on state tests.  The students can verify that their answers are correct by coloring the picture according to the key.  I find mystery pictures help students stay actively engaged in a lesson, especially right before they go on a holiday break.  My middle school students, including my 8th graders, ask me to make more of these.  They tell me, "Mrs. Harnish, we love doing these.  Some teachers forget that we are still kids."  Here is the link if you are interested.

Figurative Language Mystery Picture Thanksgiving Theme

This week I want to discuss mystery pictures.  My middle school students love it when I give them a mystery picture.  They think that mystery pictures are a relaxing way to learn or review something.  The students are still practicing the skill, but then they get a chance to follow a key or code and color.  It makes a worksheet much more interesting.  The picture helps the students realize that they did the problems correctly.  Below are some examples of mystery pictures I use in my Language Arts classes.  If you are interested in using mystery pictures in your class, visit my store.  I have them for homonyms, figurative language, parts of speech, and word parts.  If you go to my freebies page, I posted a mystery picture freebie.

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Welcome to my Blog! Today's Topic Is About Warm Ups.

I cannot say enough about how important establishing a routine with a warm up is, which some teachers might call a bell ringer.  Students need structure, and when middle school students are shuffling in from class to class, the warm up will give them a reason to go to their seats and begin class.  My students have a little more in their routine.  The students line up outside my classroom while I am doing hall duty between classes.  I greet them as they come inside the class, and for the first month of school, I remind them to write their homework down (which is posted on the board) and begin their warm up.  The warm up is on a weekly sheet.  I have tried putting warm ups on the smart board each day for them to write down in their notebooks, but I like giving them a weekly handout instead.  That way they can keep up with it if they are absent or late to class.  It also just gives me a sense of peace that this part of the routine is ready to go for a week.  In addition to the warm up,

I also have the students write a reading response entry in their composition books right after they finish the warm up (see my freebie link).  Between the warm up and the reading response (using their independent reading), it gives me that few minutes I need to take attendance and get make up work to the students who were absent.  Then we do a share out of answers.  If you don't follow through and do a share out, I can pretty much guarantee that you will have students who will catch on and then not do the work.  Accountability is key.  I have used a variety of warm ups over the years.  I have recently made a new product putting my warm ups in a format that addresses a variety of skills.  Below is the link if you are interested in it.  I am temporarily adding in a sample from this set as a freebie.  Here is the link for the freebie.  Just copy and paste it into your browser. 

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Weekly-Warm-Up-Freebie-Language-Arts-Middle-School-2800011

Below is the link for the entire set:
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Weekly-Warm-Up-for-Middle-School-Language-Arts-Editable-2780151

Have a great week!

 Here is a fun word activity that can be used for Memorial Day or 4th of July.  Students read the sentence and determine the relationship of the underlined words.  Then they color in the graph according to the key.  This is a fun and engaging way for students to review their academic vocabulary and use their critical thinking skills.   Click on this link for this fun product:  Memorial Day or 4th of July Mystery Picture

End of Year Activity

Keep those kiddos busy with a mystery picture review.  That last week of school can be exhausting with all of the anticipation of summer just around the corner.  Our school is in festivity mode with picnics, field days, end of year field trips, student recognition ceremonies among other activities.  In my class, I settle everyone down with my figurative language and parts of speech mystery pictures.  They are an awesome review, and the kids work peacefully trying to figure out what the picture will be.  Here is what it will look like when you are done.