Language Arts Success: Top 10 List, 2020 Edition

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Language Arts Success: Top 10 List, 2020 Edition

As the calendar year comes to a close, a teacher’s journey is still moving at full speed. (It’s true!) We are not quite to the half-way mark of our year, and we still have much to do! As 2020 comes to a close and before you begin the second semester, I would encourage you to take a moment, stop, and reflect. It is good for the mind and soul to take note of one’s progress. What successes are you seeing in the classroom? Are you on the track you had planned? Do you need to make adjustments?

To help you do so, we've assembled a list of the 10 most significant language arts stories we discussed in 2020. From the

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Writing Toolbox: Let's get organized with Writing Maps!

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Writing Toolbox: Let's get organized with Writing Maps!

Teaching kids to write can be easy if you have the right tools! Getting organized is the first step, and one of the best ways to accomplish this is with an excellent set of writing maps. Writing maps are the foundation for writing success and truly help your children start out focused and on topic. What could be better than that?


At Shurley English, we want to give you a great start to the new year. Right now, you can download our Shurley English writing maps for FREE! Below, you will find

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The Right Tools for Writing Success

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The Right Tools for Writing Success

The Shurley English Writing Folder will help your students move through the writing process with ease. This foldout, four-pocket folder keeps students organized with a dedicated space for their prewriting, rough draft, revised draft, and edited paper. It is packed with handy references, checklists, and tips to ensure students have exactly what they need to produce a polished piece of writing. The Writing Folder…

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How to Manage Stress During the Holiday Season

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How to Manage Stress During the Holiday Season

There are only eight shopping days left before Christmas! (Let that sink in for just a minute!) I know that Christmas is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but right about now, I’m feeling a little less than wonderful! The very idea that I only have a handful of days left to select, purchase, and wrap gifts for my family stresses me out! I’ve never been this unprepared!

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ELA Holiday Activity: My 12 Days of Christmas

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ELA Holiday Activity: My 12 Days of Christmas

Coloring sheets, word puzzles, tinsel, glitter, and glue are just some of the items you’ll find scattered around many classrooms during the holidays. There are so many wonderful craft ideas and activities people have used to make the season a memorable one at school. Here’s a fun way to keep your students engaged in writing during the weeks before the holiday break.

Ask students to use their creativity to rewrite the lyrics of a holiday tune. Allow them to work in pairs or small groups, and invite them to really “get outside of the box” to present their final masterpiece to the class. They might turn their song into a rap, a short musical skit, dramatic presentation, radio broadcast, or a story. Anything’s possible when

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ELA Holiday Activity: The Kindness Calendar

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ELA Holiday Activity: The Kindness Calendar

Kindness is defined as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Some of the words associated with kindness are affection, gentleness, warmth, concern, and care. The act of being kind often requires courage and strength, but a simple act of kindness can have huge effects individually and globally.

Think back to a time when someone was kind to you or when you were kind to someone else. Do you remember the feeling you felt when that person held the door open for you? Did you happen to see the other person smile or light-up when you acted with kindness?

Take a look at how kindness affects a human being:

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