Guest Blogger Tuesday! Linda Nelson, Primary Inspiration

Hi! My name is Linda Nelson, and I’m very excited to be here today guest blogging at Christina’s delightful Sugar and Spice. Thanks so much for inviting me, Christina!

From what I’ve been reading on the teaching blogs, lots of you are organizing a year’s worth of activities for your centers. A year’s worth ? Whew! Ultra-ambitious, but ultra-smart, too! Anything we can do ahead of time is for the good, since we’ve all learned the hard way that sometimes just getting through a week of school equals total exhaustion!

So, in hopes of helping you with all of this tremendous do-ahead organization that you all have 🙂 , here are some ideas to help you build up a year-long supply of picture prompts for your Writing Center. Of course, the prompts would also be great for writing mini-lessons and for assessments. Click, print, file, and then just pull as needed for a quick changeover in your writing center! Please be sure to note the copyright information on these sites. They’re all restricted to personal and classroom use.

Let’s start out with Chateau Meddybemps, a site designed for both parents and teachers. Their collection of printable illustrated story starters is bright and kid-friendly. The format makes these prompts perfect for using on your interactive whiteboard for modeling writing. Don’t miss the right column on the page, where you’ll find examples of writng from real children aged 3 to 12. These are wonderful to use as you introduce the use of writing rubrics!

Are you familiar with WritingFix? I love their collection of resources, which has been developed over 10 years in coordination with the Northern Nevada Writing project. They have amazing resources for all levels. Here’s a link to the winners from WritingFix’s annual photo contest. The pictures were taken by teachers and students, and can definitely be the spark for some interesting writing by your students. Click here for the photo prompts.

Debbie Clement of Rainbows Within Reach has some of the brightest and prettiest pins on all of Pinterest, in my opinion! Here’s her post on photo prompts!

Debbie’s post links to another great set of photo prompts and  a picture prompt linky party at The Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher. There are more than 30 links here, and there are even directions for using Powerpoint to make some of your own prompt pages.

So, if your head isn’t exploding yet with how you’re going to use all of these writing options, I’d like to offer an exclusive freebie for the readers of Second Grade Sugar and Spice. It’s a writing “novelty” (don’t tell the kiddos – basically it’s a set of writing prompts in a different shape!).

Click on the picture to get 2 story cubes and 4 task cards, just for you at Google Docs. Enjoy!

Happy Teaching!

Many thanks again to Christina for allowing me to join you here today!  Please stop by and visit my blog, Primary Inspiration. Thanks!

Primary Inspiration

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2 Comments

  1. Dear Joann,

    So embarrassing …I just happened across your comment and question. The ridiculously-delayed answer is YES!! I have a winter set, Winter Wonderings, at my TPT store, along with several other sets (spring, animals, school, etc.) There's also a big combo set, which will save you money if you really like lots of riddles! Just click on "Riddles" in the Custom Category section of my store (left column).

    Thanks for asking!
    Linda

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