Throwback Thursday Style!

I'm linking up with Cara at The First Grade Parade today to bring back a short & sweet little post from last September.  It includes a freebie that you can go ahead and download and get ready for your new babies this year!

I looooved my Weekend News journal!  It was so easy to look back and see/document growth in writing.  My kids and parents also loved having all of the little snapshots of their entire year.  I will most definitely be doing Weekend News again this coming year!  It makes for the easiest Monday morning work EVER...and who doesn't need a little something easy on a Monday morning?!?!

*The only thing I did differently than what I posted is that I went ahead and copied, hole-punched, and  put together all 36 weeks worth of sheets at the beginning of the year.  I'm so glad I did that so I never had to go back and put them in....like that would have happened!  Let's get real...those folders would have been a hot mess if I had just put them in the pockets! Ha!

Click here to see the post and grab your FREE weekend news cover and writing pages!

Happy Summer to you!

Monday Freebie: Weekend News!

One of the awesome teachers that I get to work with introduced me to "weekend news." I have loved incorporating it into my Mondays ever since!

 

Since today was our first Monday back to school, it is time for the first "weekend news" of the year! Very simply, for morning work on Mondays, my kiddos write about whatever they did over the weekend.

 

 Last year, they wrote on regular writing paper or in their journals. We would illustrate and share them and then they just took them home. This year, I designated a three-prong folder just for weekend news so we can save them throughout the year. 

 

It is such an awesome way to watch their writing grow and develop throughout the year and it also provides a lot of insight into their lives outside of school.

 

As a parent, I think it would be a neat thing to save at the end of the year, too!

 

I will probably collect several weeks in the pockets of the folders, date them, and then three-hole punch them and put them in a few at a time or ask a volunteer to do the same.

 

If you'd like to do "weekend news" in your classroom, here is a free template and a cover for your weekend news journal or folder. These can be printed front and back so that they have extra space as they start to write more and more!

 

 

Happy Monday!