Confused vs confusing

View more presentations from Kyle Hildebrandt.

Learning the difference between past participles used as adjectives and present participles used as adjectives can be difficult. Remember, with -ing adjectives, the subject CAUSES a feeling. With -ed, or past participle adjectives, the subject RECEIVES a feeling. This power point helps to explain this difference visually.

English Grammar -- Passive Voice -- Quarterbacks and Receivers

There Have Been Vs. There Has Been

Pronunciation Power App

Many of my students have started using their iPhones and other such smartphones to study English. I have made a little worksheet attatched below that gives step by step instructions on how to download a free Pronunciation Power App from the iTunes store. I've recommended it to many of my students who have been struggling with particular sounds in English and it seems to be a fun, easy way to focus on improving pronunciation in these areas. Enjoy!

Pronunciation Power App for iPhone

25 Best YA Fantasy

This is a test to see if I can upload useful teaching pdfs to this blog. Wish me luck!

Max Wears A Wolf Costume

My second graders are working very hard on their summarizing skills. We've been reading "Where The Wild Things Are" in an effort to strengthen our summing up abilities before moving on to more difficult non-fiction summarization.

Based on an end of class writing assessment, I've noticed something interesting. Despite the fact that we modeled the summary process multiple times, many students still couldn't help themselves from retelling their favorite detail in the story. "Max wears a wolf costume" was commonly included in student's writing.

I used the info I gathered form this assessment and planned a lesson that asks students to distinguish between the main ideas and details of the story. As I showed students pictures that detail the main events of the story, students wrote down a few details and the main idea or the "big idea" or the "most important thing happening" in a graphic organizer.

Students were quick to point out details such as "Max has a hammer." And "the moon is in the window." After a little support, students were able to focus on the main idea and were writing something like "Max made mischief and was sent to his room."

This experience has helped me to realize the importance of assessment as a tool for meeting students’ diverse needs. And it reminded me of how full of wonder kids are. Even though it isn’t a main idea, Max wearing his wolf costume is one of my favorite parts of the book, too.