How to Use Minecraft to Teach Creative Writing to Kids

Several days ago, I wrote a blog post about making Halloween pixel art in Minecraft. A few weeks before that, I described how to practice finding the area of objects in Minecraft. In this blog post, I'm going to write about how you can use Minecraft during your language arts lessons as an inspiration for creative writing. Keep reading to learn more!

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

The Brave Butterfly Gratitude Journal Product Review

Several months ago, I wrote a blog post about Abby Cadet... the young author who wrote and published Living in Two Homes Is Tough when she was 9 years old. Since then, she has written a second children's book and has released a series of gratitude journals for children. (Pretty amazing, yes?)  Today's blog post is a product review of one of Abby Cadet's gratitude journals that can be used at home or at school.  Keep reading to learn more!

This is an unpaid review of a Brave Butterfly Gratitude Journal. I was given a promotional journal in exchange for my HONEST review.  To learn more about product reviews, please visit the Authors, Publishers, and Sponsors page.  Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

What is a Word Spree?

One of the first writing assignments I have my students do at the beginning of the school year is something called a word spree.  A word spree is a short, 10-minute assessment that checks students' abilities to recall words they already know by heart. . . or in more professional terms. . . how many words they can control with automaticity.  (Automaticity comes from the word automatic and refers to the ability to do things without occupying the mind, without thinking about them.)  To do a word spree, all you need is a blank piece of paper and something to write with.

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

Helping Your Left-Handed Students

Today is August 13th... did you know it is also International Lefthanders Day?  An estimated seven to ten percent of the world's population is left-handed and International Lefthanders Day brings attention to the advantages and disadvantages of being left-handed in a predominately right-handed world.  Chances are you have a student or two in your class who is left-handed.  Here are three simple strategies you can use in the classroom to support his/her writing efforts

Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.

Creative Ways to Practice Spelling

Are you tired of the same old, same old when it comes to spelling practice? Are you tired of having your students write their spelling words five times each or having them write their spelling words in sentences? If so, keep reading. In this post, I present to you four strategies that have helped my students with spelling over the years. I didn't invent these strategies... these strategies have been around for years. But these are the strategies my students have enjoyed the most and have gotten the most benefit from. I hope they'll help your students too. Enjoy!

This is an updated version of a blog post I wrote in 2015.  Disclosure: Affiliate links to Amazon are included in this post.