The Littmus Lozenge

We are reading the book Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo.  In it, Miss Franny Block tells the story of Littmus W. Block, who created the Littmus Lozenge.  The Littmus Lozenge has a secret ingredient–sorrow.  Opal and Amanda share their great sadnesses with Miss Franny Block.  I asked the class to write down their great…

Complete the Sentence

In the golden mist of sunset… “…I look at the sky.” “…I was looking at it and went completely blind.” “…was a rainbow.” “…we saw a big rainbow.” “…there was an army of knites (sic) waiting for them.” “…I found my dog.” “…we saw a little rainbow.” “…it started to rain.” “…there was a man…

The Man on the White Horse

Truly, I don’t know when I started doing this, if I stole it, or if it helps as much as I think it does, but The Man on the White Horse Series has been an integral part of my grammar curriculum for many years. The Man on the White Horse arrives to give various examples…

Oh my, it’s a–

This week, we reviewed sentence fragments. In an attempt to energize a possibly dull topic (especially considering this has taken quite a bit more review than you might imagine), I first had them writing sentence fragments on their individual white boards.  They were supposed to make the fragment interesting enough to entice their partner to…

Going to PE

This little pumpkin-head likes to hang out in small spaces.  He hides, he crawls under things, he wraps himself up in blankets.  We don’t fight it.  It’s where he is comfortable.  Instead, we make sure he has his materials with him, and that he is taking part in the activity in some way. Yes, he…