How to Babysit a Grandpa.

I'm excited to link up with Stacia and Amanda, the Collaboration Cuties, to share this hilarious text.

The first Sunday's link up is dedicated to mentor texts for Language Arts, 

and How to Babysit a Grandpa is my choice for today!

"Babysitting a grandpa is fun--if you know how. 

When your grandpa rings the doorbell, what should you do?"

(this is how it starts! so cute!)

Quick summary: Grandpa comes over to the little boy's house because his mom and dad are going on a date. The little boy has some insider tips about how to be a good sitter when taking care of your Grandpa. Some of his tips include what to feed Grandpa at snack time, how to play with Grandpa, and how to take him on a walk!

To take a peek inside the book, check it out on Amazon by clicking the cover above!

This sweet book is a unique perspective and I bet many kiddos can relate! I've never really considered a child's perspective when a babysitter comes over, but it makes sense that they would want to be "host" or "hostess." It's their house! The boy's point of view provides a refreshing and pretty hilarious look at babysitting a Grandpa, and the illustrations are like icing on a cake!

I plan on using this book when writing how-to's, making ordered lists, and writing procedurally. You could also use this book to create concept webs and brainstorm ideas (how to...ride a bike, make a PB&J, be a good friend, etc.).

Kid-wise, it is most appropriate for the younger kiddos (Pre-K to 2nd). Older students might think it's a little cheesy, but hey, I'm all about the cutesy with a purpose. 

:)

One of my favorite parts is when the parents leave and the little boy pats Grandpa's hand and says, "don't worry, Grandpa. They'll be back!" Eeeeks, so sweet!

 It contains some great little lessons and adults will find it appealing, too! I bet Grandpa's would love it.

And guess what?!? 

Grandparent's day is September 8th. 

Alllllright!

If you have a language arts mentor text that you love to use, link it up {here}!

You can also follow that link to read about other teachers' favorite texts!

Happy Sunday, teacher friends!

The Friendly Letter Man {Parts of a Letter+Song Freebie}!

Y'all have probably seen the precious little letter writing people floating around Pinterest--yes?!

Well, just in case you haven't, I'll show you mine! :)

Letter writing is a really fun topic to cover with kiddos because you can do SO MUCH. 

My Mentor Teacher had a precious mailbox in the classroom and the firsties would write to whomever, then put their letter in the mail and send it on its merry little way!

(...and then I would forget to check the mailbox and take the letters out. Ooops!!!)

I also love the letter writing ideas from {here}, {here}, and {here}. 

1: Erica Bohrer uses children's literature to teach writing, which I LOVE. 

2: Tamara from Teaching with TLC has a compilation of TONS of ideas to teach letter writing--parts of a letter, children's lit, songs, etc.

3: Amanda from Teaching Maddenness shares about her friendly letter writing workshop!

You'll definitely want to check out these links if you're teaching about letter writing any time soon!!

I am a Texas teacher and was using C-Scope at the time I made my letter man. I was to teach the kiddos about the parts of a letter using particular vocabulary--and after searching good old Pinterest for an anchor chart idea, I found this guy.

Does anybody know the source?! I can't find the original source anywhere!!

I loved the idea and immediately knew that I wanted to make one! So I did.

:)

P.S. Sorry for the poor picture quality--it was taken with my phone!

We named our friendly letter man Jeffrey! 

And Jeffrey is cuuuuute with his little googly eyes (at least I think he is :)). 

Because we love to learn actively and looooove to sing, 

I used the song below to teach the parts of a friendly letter! 

I keep a copy in my binder of songs so that I can pull it out whenever it's letter writing time. 

 My kiddos had so much fun and a whole lot of learning was going on!

Thanks kevinandamanda.com for the fonts and clker.com for the graphic!

Click the picture for your own copy. Woohoo!

After we all knew the parts of a letter by heart and we're done getting our groove on, we put our Jeffrey in the writing center. 

Our writing center included:

pencils and fancy pens

anchor charts

letter writing paper (lined with space for a picture and just lined)

envelopes

class mailbox

etc. 

He lived in the writing center for quite some time for the kiddos to use as a reference. 

They loved having him nearby while writing!

The anchor chart that I had found on Pinterest got the idea from Teacher Vision. Below is a free printable on their website! It details the parts of a letter and gives an illustration of Jeffrey's cousin!

Click {here} for the free download from Teacher Vision!

I hope you can find something that's helpful/useful! This was the beginning of letter writing in our classroom and I'd love to hear what you like to do!

Letter writing has so many real life applications and your kiddos will love sending some snail mail.

Everybody loves getting a friendly letter. 

:)