ENGLiSH
Here are are some Absolutely Splendid Sites & Ideas for inspiration.
Language gives us superpowers, to imagine, persuade, connect & create.
This page is packed with English activities designed to make words come alive, through creative writing, storytelling, poetry & play.
Discover ways to build literacy, spark curiosity & help every student find their voice.
THE HARE & THE TORTOISE
Make Shadow Puppets with Aesop's Fable
Step into a world of light and shadow with this timeless fable brought to life through shadow puppetry. Watch as the classic story of The Hare & the Tortoise unfolds, full of charm, lessons and creative visuals.
A retelling of The Hare & Tortoise using shadow puppets.
Tips & tricks for setting up your own shadow puppet show.
Invent your own Fable. Use the Downloads to see how.
Hare & Tortoise Shadow Puppets
What do you find in a Fable
Be a Fabulist and Write Your Own Fable Template
A REALLY REALLY SCARY STORY
Make a Halloween Shadow Puppet Show.
Make scary sounds, and add some scary music.
Get ready for a magical Halloween experience through the art of shadow puppetry! In this video, we bring spooky creatures, haunted castles, and phantom tales to life, all with simple hands, cutouts and dramatic lighting.
Enchanting shadow puppet animations and storytelling
Easy-to-follow techniques and setups
A fun, atmospheric vibe perfect for Halloween
Ideas to inspire your own puppet creations
Download the Halloween pdf for all the characters.
READ A Really Really Scary Story, have some fun with this. Choose the script layout and option that you would like. Or you can write your own really scary story if you would like.
Narration Script
Here is a timed Narration Script
and this one is a Studio Voice-Over Script
HOMOPHONES
Citizens of the Planet Homophone are totally confused, chaos reigns and they don't know which to write there, they’re or their.
The Monarch says, "Over there are a group of citizens. They're having trouble figuring out which words to use.
They have their iPhones at the ready but what will they type?"
Can you help them? Download the Homophone.pdf here.
VOCABULARY
Loved the vocabulary site, particularly the vocabulary trainer
10 questions, explained and then a progress report. The FREE version allows one training session a day, you can also sign your class up after a 14 day trial. However, I love the free version. Students can sign up for FREE and send you a screen shot of their results. A great fun vocab builder.
I also liked the the SAT word list great vocabulary builder & extender.
WORDLE
WORDLE - The Pandemic Sensation
In the second-biggest gaming deal of the day, the word puzzle sensation Wordle was acquired by the New York Times, for a low seven figures. Seven figures refer to a number with seven digits, meaning that it's an amount over 1,000,000, yes that's 1 million at least.
Not a bad haul for a pandemic hobby. Created by software engineer Josh Wardle to help his puzzle-loving partner kill time during Covid, Wordle has exploded.
The game was played by just 90 people on Nov. 1, per the NYT. Fast forward to today, and millions of people play it on the regular basis.
DO YOU PLAY Wordle?
Would you like to try? Here's the link to the NYT Wordle Game
WORDLE for KIDS
ERINTEGRATION Has a number of these puzzles that run for Google Classroom in Sheets. You can download them direct to you Google Classroom for FREE from this link. You do need to sign in. Just scroll down to the Wordle Puzzles.
Kiddos can also make their own Wordles using Conditional Formatting - Here are the instructions You will love them.
I suggest you ssubsrbie to this site for all the good stuff.
DORDLE is another version - BEA showed me this one. Some of my great thinkers love this one. You solve 2 words at a time. Because one word a day is never enough!
REAL MARTIAN
Will the Real Martian Please Stand UP? Twilight Zone!
22 minutes of Amazing StoryTelling
A black and white masterpiece ideal for studying narrative storytelling.
Here are some great questions to get you started:
What are the settings?
Name the characters and provide a brief description.
What is the problem?
What things increase the tension?
What is the climax? (stop the tape at 17mins in and ask.....)
Who is the Martian?
What do you predict will happen?
What is the resolution?
What did you think of the story?
CHALLENGE: Write a Twilight Zone story. Use the headings above to make a story map. You might like to start with the opening narration:
You’re traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only
of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s the signpost up ahead - your next stop, the Twilight Zone!
POBBLE
Pobble 365 – A Photo a Day to Inspire Creativity
Read more writing in your class. High-quality teaching resources to inspire and motivate your young writers. Pobble.com is the new home of Pobble 365. You do have to sign in for this one.
Still with motivating images like the one above, on a daily basis, but now with a searchabee database by topic and grade.
Pobble now includes, lesson plans, example texts, word banks, success criteria downloadables on a wide variety of writing.
Pobble also offers an easy interface to create your own lessons and share with the community.
Pobble as always, offers a FREE option but there are also paid options with more features.
For me the FREE version is just fine. With it’s formatting, Question time, Story Starter, Sentences challenges and Sick sentences options.
PLOT DEVICE
A young filmmaker obtains a mysterious device that unleashes the full force of cinema on his front lawn.
Great Plot device video - very entertaining and engaging. (Please check content before showing this to younger viewers), it contains violence in some scenes.
Plot Device explanation Straightforward explanation with lots of examples.
LUMINARIS
Juan Pablo Zaramella - Luminaris animation.
GUINNESS WORLD RECORD to the Most Awarded Short, with 324 Awards.
Amazing inspiration for writing and creativity.
FLYING BOOKS
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore - view the video.(15mins) William Joyce's "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore", blurs the line between picture books and animated film.
The short demonstrates the importance of reading, making a beautiful tribute to physical books. Inspired alike by Hurricane Katrina, Buster Keaton, The Wizard of Oz, and the love of books.
"Morris Lessmore" is a humorous story about people who dedicate their lives to the books and books that return this favor.
NARRATIVE VOICE
The Spider Who Couldn't Hide...... Splendid TEDED Lesson I love to sign into these and answer questions and add content as a whole class.
Narrative voice is another name for a person telling a story. The narrative voice adds clarification and can better explain what is going on in a scene -- it's even an insight into a character's thoughts. Take, for example, The Spider Who Couldn't Hide. Fabulous. Use this as inspiration for making a video, use iPads. Write and record POV for the For the Birds, Original Movie from Pixar(3.26m) or for Pigeons (2.5min rest is credits)
Use Padlet for students to ask questions
Suction Cup Ducks - Great to discuss walking in straight lines.
Chad Michael Simon Videos
ALTERNATIVES
SIX ALTERNATIVES TO BOOK REPORTS
Some visual writing ideas that are alternatives to the standard book report from John Spencer.
Here’s what he says.
"What I did love, though, was geeking out on what I read. I loved arguing about who was better, what they should have done, etc. I loved making mash-ups and fan fiction. So, with that in mind, I have created some visual writing ideas that are alternatives to the standard book report."
SENTENCE SURGEONS
This innovative activity (The Blue Whales)requires students to correct the flawed spelling, grammar, and punctuation. The online versions show the numbers and types of errors. As students check their answers, they can see how many of each type of error still needs to be corrected.
Extreme Sentence Surgeons: Saving Critically Injured Paragraphs - Online Game
AWESOME
Jill Shargaa: Please, please, people. Let's put the 'awe' back in 'awesome'
Possible MUTE FROM 4.00 - 4.20
Which of the following is awesome: your lunch or the Great Pyramid of Giza? Comedian Jill Shargaa sounds a hilarious call for us to save the word "awesome" for things that truly inspire awe. Watch the TEDED video
Some ideas, take notes from the Video. Make a list of 5 truly awesome things. Write a sentence about each. Write a list of 5 ways you use the word awesome this week, go on be honest. Replace the word with something more suitable.
More Adventure, use iPad app 'Explain Everything' to docment things that are awesome and things that are not. See if you can go for a comparison by opposites. Show a high level of skill and context in your presentation but add some humour.
Even more adventure - Work in powerpoint and use the exit animations to setup a reveal on click option for things that are truly awesome and things that are just well NOT.
Word Cloud from ABCYA
Word list "Awesome Alternatives” click the AWESOME button below.
CREATIVE THINKING
CREATIVE THINKING CHALLENGE
THINK OF ONE WORD that can form a compound word with “sauce,” “pine,” and “crab.”
Take a moment and think. See if you figure it out.
NOW, TRY to form a compound word with “fence,” “card,” and “master.”
NOW FORM a compound word with “bump,” “step,” and “egg.” ANSWERS:
Think of one word that can form a compound word with “sauce,” “pine,” and “crab.”
HERE'S THE LAST ONE to take with you.
What is the one word that can form a compound word with: “back” “clip” and “wall?”
NOW SEE if you can find some other compound words like this.
Meet the Monkey
Use these Amazing Stories as a stimulus for Imaginairing and Flow Writing. Then write your own story and use AI to prompt your images & make your own picture book.
Imaginairing
Students relax, sit cross legged on the floor or in their chairs.
Relax their shoulders close their eyes, be still. they imagine their own story based on one of the AMAZING stories. Maybe invent their own world.
FLOW Writing
Using Flow writing student write about their own world or story for 5-7 minutes in flow writing. Then use this as a basis for writing their own picture book and using AI to create their illustrations.
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