D.Z. Mars Creative

  It's hard to keep kids engaged with grammar. I always try to make my sentences and activities as silly as possible to keep the kids interested. One of my favorite ways to keep kids paying attention is to use their names in example sentences. I pick a numbered stick, ask the child if I can use his/her name in a sentence, and write the sentence on the overhead. The class corrects the grammar in my sentence or finishes a sentence starter with a certain grammatical task. Today, I created and posted a packet of "old school" notes on prepositions (5th grade Common Core skill). The packet features a Squirrel Banjo band. The worksheet on identifying prepositions tells a story of an annoyingly loud Squirrel Banjo Band, a visit from an (unnamed) president, and a happy ending for all involved. It includes two pages of interactive notebook notes (Old School notes are on grid paper and meant to look like sheets from before mass-production), a drawing and practice activity, and

 Here's yet another variation on my Halloween Cat color-by-something.  In this case, it's a Color-by-Spanish-Numbers (to 100).  It's available in my TPT store for $2.50.  Great way to keep the kids busy on Halloween while reviewing Spanish numbers.

 I put up a new product on Teachers Pay Teachers:  It's a French self-correcting riddle sheet (you can only answer the riddle if your French translations are correct) that focuses on color adjective agreement.  Uses "il / elle est" and some possessives. This is  compatible with lesson 12 of Discovering French Bleu, but it can be used independently as well.                                 

 I created a new post at Family Car and Van Camping about recording camping memories.  There's a free printable, too, for you to record your own camping memories.  Head on over to get the it!

 Today's activity included a new post on my Family Car And Van Camping blog about using shelf-stable dairy products when I go camping.   Shelf-stable dairy has been a game changer for us when we've gone camping lately.  Click below to read more.

  I'm back!  And here's my newest Teachers Pay Teachers item :  an "old school" (hand-drawn and -written on dot-grid paper) crossword puzzle featuring basic French ER verbs.   This can be used with any basic chapter on ER verbs for French class, but it is compatible with the list of verbs for lesson 7 in Discovering French Bleu .  It is an introduction and only uses infinitive forms of the 18 basic verbs. If it were up to me, I'd draw all my worksheets and assignments.  I love black and white ink drawings and find drawing much more relaxing than doing art on the computer. One of the things I like best about my iPhone is that it has a built-in scanner.  In case you weren't aware, you can go into "notes" on your iPhone, push the camera button in notes, and you'll see a "scanner" option.  I generally scan the item I want and then I screenshot the scan because I can then easily manipulate and edit the photo /scan in photos. This is also a n