Category Archives: Freebies!

FREE Reading Comprehension Passage – First Day of Winter

Posted on by Leave a comment
FREE Reading Comprehension Passages about the Winter Solstice

Wouldn’t it be great to have no prep reading comprehension passages that come with vocabulary activities, text dependent questions, and more? Done! Click now and grab this one!

Reading Comprehension Passages about the traditions and science of the Winter Solstice.

This Winter Solstice Reading Comprehension Passage is a favorite with students, and you’ll love it too! Grab it FREE – today only! It includes lesson plans and five days worth of activities to teach about the traditions and science of the Winter Solstice. Make your life easy! Grab this no prep resource today!

This is part of my 12 Days of Giveaways in December. Want to get more freebies? Follow me so you don’t miss a single one! Just click the black button to the right, and the blog posts will be delivered to your inbox. Or, find Ms. Cotton’s Corner on Instagram – the daily freebies will be posted in both locations!

Do your teacher friends like free resources? Be sure to foward this to them – they deserve free resources too!

What is Included with the Winter Solstice Reading Comprehension Resource?

Reading Comprehension Passages

This resource comes with an informational article about the traditions and Science of the Winter Solstice. The article is written at three different reading levels, but all the levels look the same – so differentiation is easy! If you are trying to different your reading comprehension passages, then this is the resource for you!

My students are always fascinated by the Science and the traditions of the Winter Solstice. The article discusses the Winter Solstice traditions of the Romans, the Cree people, the people of Stonehenge and other cultures across time and geography. The information about the causes of the Winter Solstice is supported by a detailed diagram that brings the concept to life.

Vocabulary and Comprehension Activities

This resource includes 5 days of vocabulary and comprehension activities focused on the content of the passage. The vocabulary activities focus on helping students use context clues and prefixes – skills that will help them learn new wordsin other reading comprehension passages.

There are several comprehension activities, including text dependent questions and an integrating information activity that gives students an opportunity to write a longer response similar to the responses they write on standardized tests.

Teacher Supports to Make Your Life Easier!

This resource includes three formats – printable pdf, Google Slides and TPT Easel. Use what works for you! I’ve also included two suggested schedules and suggestions for each activity. There are many choices and supports to make your life easier. You deserve it!

Why Teach About the Winter Solstice?

Truthfully, the Winter Solstice has fascinated people across time and space, and it will will fascinate your students too! As the first day of winter approaches (and also all of the holiday craziness!) an interesting article is just what you need to engage your students and keep them busy! And, the information in this passage connects to essential 5th Grade Science content, so win win!

What Are Teachers Saying About this Reading Resource?

“A great activity for my small group table. My students found it very interesting.”

-Sarah G.

“Great resource – easy to use. Excellent to teach the concept.”

-Grace C.

Love This Reading Comprehension Passage? Check these out!

I love writing, so check out these other reading comprehension passages in my TPT store. And if there is something you want, reach out and let me know!

Click to check out these resources and more in my TPT store!

Make sure you don’t miss a single FREEBIE this December! Follow this blog by clicking the black button to the right, and follow me on Instagram too! While you’re at it, forward this post to your teacher friends and share the love. Everyone deserves free resources this December!

I hope this Reading Comprehension Passage, and the 11 other free resources I’m giving away in December help you have a wonderful holiday season, and your students too. Happy teaching!

Susan

Christmas Mad Lib – Free resource

Posted on by Leave a comment

It’s time for another fun, free teaching resource – a Christmas Mad lib for the traditional holiday poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. This resource has both a Google Slides version and a printable pdf – use what works best for your classroom! This Christmas Mad Lib is FREE for 24 hours, so be sure to grab it right away! Click here and grab it now!

This is part of my 12 Days of Giveaways in December. Want to get more freebies! Follow me so you don’t miss a single one! Just click the black button to the right, and be sure to choose to have the blog posts delivered by email. Or, find Ms. Cotton’s Corner on Instagram – the daily freebies will be posted in both locations!

Do your teacher friends like free resources? Be sure to foward this to them – they deserve free resources too!

What is included with the Christmas Mad Lib?

This resource includes so much more than a Mad Lib. The resource features a copy of the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, which is more commonly known as ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. You also get several activities to use with the poem. It is a perfect activity for upper elementary and middle school students.

Probably my students’ favorite activity is the Mad Lib of the poem. It’s such great grammar and parts of speech practice, and their poems are hilarious! The resource includes supports for teaching the parts of speech and for helping students complete the Mad Lib. You also get a Word Search and a Reading Response to the poem, which includes practice with similes! Everything you need for a fun English lesson right before the holidays is included. Just print and teach if you are using the printable, or assign the Google Slides, and away you go! Simple!

How Can I Use this in My Classroom?

Whether they know it or not, many of your students’ ideas about Santa Claus originated in this poem and it has inspired other artists, writers and musicians for 200 years! This poem is a wonderful way to help your students connect to tradition, and it’s just so much fun!

I like to begin with a shared reading of the poem, having students listen and read along with their own copy. When they hear the poem, they have a wonderful opportunity to experience language, and also to hear the rhythm of the poem. Here are two of my favorite online renditions.

The resource includes supports focused around the parts of speech and similes – two important concepts that intermediate students need to master. Once students have listened to the poem, ask them go back to the poem to read it again, this time focusing on finding the similes. There are many, many of them! It’s important to give students a purpose when asking them to reread a text so that they understand it is not busy work. They have a goal – find the similes.

Once they have found the similes, collect them on the board, and lead a class discussion about how the similes enhance the poem. Then, ask students to reread the text again, this time finding and circling the words from the Word Search. And of course, they complete the Word Search!

I usually spread this lesson over two days. On the second day I begin by discussing the parts of speech handout and having students brainstorm the parts of speech. Mad Libs are such a perfect way to practice parts of speech. I have students work with a partner to do the brainstorm, and they really get into deep discussions about each word and if it is, or is not, the correct part of speech. That discussion is key for cementing the concept, and of course, you are walking around the help resolve any differences of opinion.

Students use the brainstormed words to complete the poem, and I have them read their poem aloud to a partner. They are hilarious, so be ready for laughter! Students have now heard the poem once, read it twice, and read aloud their mad lib version. That is a lot of exposure to the text, and students should be able to complete the reading response independently. It makes a great formative assessment, but if you don’t want to grade papers over the break, just send them home. I won’t judge!

You can do all of this with the printable or the Google Slides. The instruction doesn’t change, just the mode of delivery.

Want to explore Google Slides further? Check out these blog posts for more tips, tricks and ideas!

Love this? Check out these other great resources!

This time of year it is hard to keep kids learning, but these resource can help. Plus, they are all easy to prep, and don’t take a lot of your time. Good for you and good for your students! Click to check them out!

Make sure you don’t miss a single FREEBIE this December! Follow this blog by clicking the black button to the right, and follow me on Instagram too! While you’re at it, forward this post to your teacher friends and share the love. Everyone deserves free resources this December!

I hope this Christmas Mad Lib, and the other free resources I’m giving away in December help you have a wonderful holiday season, and your students too. Happy teaching!

Susan

Free Fraction Activity – Winter themed

Posted on by Leave a comment
Free Christmas Fraction Activity

Ready for a free fraction activity? This Google Slides fraction activity is the first of twelve free Christmas resources and printables that I will be giving away in the month of December. It is free for 24 hours – so click the image to grab it now!

Be sure to follow this blog and MsCottonsCorner on Instagram to get all of the FREEBIES! And pass the news on to your teacher friends – they deserve free resources too!

Check out this blog post to learn more about the 12 Days of Giveaways!

Read on to learn how this free fraction activity will help you and your students. Happy teaching!

What is the Free Fraction Activity?

This free fraction activity will help make December easy for you, and valuable for your students. These whimsical Google Slides will have your students comparing fractions and having fun at the same time! The penguins and polar bears will hook your students, and you’ll love the rigorous math questions and the ease of use! This free activity comes with a student slide deck AND a teacher slide deck to make modeling, teaching and grading about fractions a breeze!

Comparing fractions with unlike denominators can be a difficult skill for students, and this fraction activity will give students plenty of practice. This deck includes 20 fraction questions based on released items from 4th grade state tests, making it a great review for fifth grade and solid test prep for 4th, or even a fraction extension for 3rd graders ready for this step. The questions are word problems, fill-in-the-blank problems, multiple choice and true/false. The rigor is high, and the variety of the problems will engage learners!

Why Google Slides?

  • Engagement! Get away from boring worksheets and use digital to elevate practice to an activity. Because Google Slides are interactive, students will be more engaged in the activity, and that leads to greater understanding of this important fraction concept. The colors are also key for engaging learners, especially visual learners. And the cute Christmas penguins and polar bears will make kids smile.
  • Rigor! There are multiple formats to the questions in this fraction activity, and that variety increases the rigor and the engagement. Students are not passive learners, they are active – dragging and dropping, typing, circling…. That rigor will help students deepen their understanding of how to compare fractions, and lead to better retention and transition.
  • Ease! Google Slides are also easy for you to use. They are so simple to assign, and if the copy machine is down, you don’t care! This is a paperless activity! They are also simple to grade, especially if you use Google Classroom. However you assign this fraction activity, I recommend printing out the included Answer Key and keeping it handy as a reference. It will make grading simple and quick!

Check out this blog post for more tips and ideas for how to use Google Slides in your classroom.

Love this Free Fraction Activity? Check out these….

Fractions are such a key concept for students, so I have plenty of digital fraction activities in my TPT store. Your choices include BOOM Cards, Google Forms and Google Slides. Check them out today and make teaching fractions the best part of your year!

Make sure you don’t miss a single FREEBIE this December! Follow this blog by clicking the black button to the right, and follow me on Instagram too! While you’re at it, forward this post to your teacher friends and share the love. Everyone deserves free resources this December!

I hope this free fraction activity, and the 11 other free resources I’m giving away in December help you have a wonderful holiday season, and your students too. Happy teaching!

Susan

Free Christmas Printables and Resources

Posted on by One comment
Free Christmas Printables and Resources 12 Days of Giveaways

It’s time for my annual 12 Days of Giveaways, and that means FREE Christmas Printables and resources for you, plus some FREEBIES to take the sting out of January. The giveaway starts Sunday, December 3, and all you have to do is follow Ms. Cotton’s Corner on this blog and/or on Instagram. Each day I will post a link to a new FREEBIE, which you download, and voila! December made easy and January too! Read on to learn all about it!

How do I get the FREE Christmas Printables and Resources?

Be sure to do these two steps NOW so you don’t miss a single free Christmas printable.

  1. Follow this blog if you don’t already. Just click the big black follow button to the right! It’s best to subscribe by email so that the blog post for each Christmas printable is delivered right to your inbox each morning. And you can always unfollow me later if you don’t like the blog – but I bet you will stick around. 🙂
  2. Follow Ms. Cotton’s Corner on Instagram. Click here to do that! I will post reminders on Instagram each day with links to the free Christmas printables and resources!
  3. Tell all your teacher friends! Don’t hog the free resources – there are plenty to go around! Forward this blog post or one of the Instagram posts so your teacher friends can get the free Christmas printables too!
  4. Follow Ms. Cotton’s Corner on TPT so that you can easily come back for more. There is lots of great stuff in my store, and I’m always creating more with your students, and mine, in mind!

That’s it! If you do the first three steps, you will be a hero to your team mates, and you will also make your life easier. Win win!

Which resources will be FREE?

Are you ready to learn more about the Free Christmas printables and resources for 2023?

These resources and 2 Brand NEW Mystery resources will be FREE for 24 hours between December 3, 2023 and December 15, 2023. Click to check them out now and get them in your TPT cart so you are ready to download ALL the free Christmas printables and resources!

Comprehension Activities about the story

More Info About the Free Printables and Resources

Free Christmas Printable during 12 Days of Giveaways

I love Google Form Escape Rooms because they are easy for teachers to use and engaging for students. This is my BEST SELLING Escape Room!

This Escape Room takes students on an adventure through Christmas stories and traditions from around the world. Gryla and the Yule Lads (mischievous characters from Iceland) show up to cause mayhem, and the Snow Queen tries to freeze students! Students will read tales and answer comprehension questions for hours! Because students make decisions during this Escape Room adventure, they can play more than once, and have a different adventure each time! This free resource includes a pdf printable with a link to make your own copy of the Google Form.

For more on using Google Escape Rooms in your classroom, click here!

“This was the perfect way to spend time before Christmas vacation started. Students were engaged and focused, hard to do that time of year.”

Wendy C. – 5 Stars

This is my newest Word Wall, and I love it! Perfect for teaching the Science behind the Winter Solstice! I think you will love this free printable too!

I love using (and creating) Word Walls that bring Science, Math and Social Studies content to life! I have spent many years teaching students who speak languages other than English, and I have learned that consistent vocabulary instruction is good for ALL kids! It is one of the pillars that leads to reading comprehension, and sadly, many kids’ vocabularies are shrinking. That’s why Word Walls are so useful! For more on that, check out this blog post.

My Word Walls all use high quality, high resolution photos and diagrams to engage visual learners and help cement the content. There are more words in each Word Wall than you will ever need, but I believe that teachers need choices too! Use the words that work for you and your students!

Free Christmas Printable during 12 Days of Giveaways

I discovered BOOM Cards during the pandemic, and I really love them. Kids love the game-like feel of the decks, and I love how easy they are to use and the great data I get. If you love grading papers, you probably won’t like BOOM Cards!

This deck gives students a chance to practice comparing fractions using number lines and fraction bars. You have to have a BOOM account to use them, but you can get a free trial account, so give it a try! You will be glad that you did!

This resource includes a free printable pdf with a link to make your own copy of the BOOM Card deck.

“I LOVE LOVE LOVE that this deck starts with guided learning! It gave my struggling students additional guidance and my stronger students a quick review! This was a perfect station for my 5th graders!”

Kathleen C. – 5 Stars

Who is Ms. Cotton?

If this is our first time “meeting”, it’s great to “meet” you! I have been teaching elementary kiddos since 1995 (PLEASE don’t do the math!). In that time I have earned my National Board Certification as a Middle Childhood Generalist twice (currently working to renew again!) and I have mentored many teachers through that process, and through the adventures of teaching.

I love teaching, and I have taught every grade from K – 5. On my blog and in my TPT store, I am always looking to help teachers teach and students learn. I create resources that are easy for teachers because I know how hard we work. And I create activities for students that help them engage with interesting content and love learning! There are many free printables and resources in my store, so be sure to check them out!

I hope that these free Christmas printables and resources save you time this holiday season. You deserve it!

Have a lovely holiday, full of happy memories and good times with friends and family. I know you will help your students have a wonderful year!

Happy Teaching!

Susan

Flash Freebie alert! – Twelve Days of Giveaways!

Posted on by 6 comments

One of my favorite holiday traditions is giving away a resource on my TPT store. This is my third year of doing it – just my little way of saying thank you to other hard working teachers! This year, I have a problem – I can’t decide which resource to give away! So, I’ve decided to give away twelve resources – one a day for twelve days! I’ve chosen a good variety of Math, Reading, Vocabulary and Escape Room resources – something for everyone (and not a single Partridge in a Pear Tree – hee hee!)

I’m giving away twelve resources in twelve days – plus a bonus sale on Day 13!

I’m sure you want to know how to get your hands on all these free resources. Several will be revealed here on this blog and others only on Instagram or TPT. Here is what to do to get them all!

  1. Follow me on my blog (if you don’t already!) – Just enter your email on the side of the screen
  2. Follow me on Instagram – instagram.com/mscottonscorner/
  3. Follow me on TPT – Just click here to do that!
  4. Share this blog post with your teacher friends so they get in on all the goodness. Sharing is caring!

And if you love the FREE resources, leave me a review on TPT so that other teachers know what you loved!

Which Resources Will Be FREE and included in the sale?

Click the image to put these resources in your cart today! Then, wait for the day they go on sale to checkout, and get them for FREE! Remember, each resource is free for 24 hours, and each resource will be announced on this blog, TPT OR Instagram!

These are 11 of the resources. There will be one mystery resource so stay tuned! Get these in your cart today, and watch for the first one to be free on December 1! And if you missed them, the are all on sale for one bonus day – today!

Click the image to check out the resource, and put it in your cart!

I hope this gift helps you get through the holiday season with your sanity intact, and your kids learn something along the way. Have a wonderful holiday – you deserve it!

Happy Teaching!

Susan

Flash Freebie #9 – Escape from Santa’s Workshop

Posted on by Leave a comment

Today’s FLASH FREEBIE is a digital Escape Room about decimals – Escape from Santa’s Workshop.  It is FREE for 24 hours! Grab it on TPT right now before the price goes back up! And be sure to follow me on TPT and Instagram to get all 12 FREEBIES in December!

Your students will love frolicking through the North Pole, solving decimal problems and laughing along the way. There are riddles, codes and rhymes along with some rigorous decimal problems. The decimal concepts covered are plotting decimals on a number line, comparing decimals, rounding decimals and writing decimals in expanded notation. The Form is completely self-grading, so just assign it through your Google Classroom or other LMS, and sit back and watch the fun!

There are still 3 MORE FREEBIES in the month of December! Watch for more postings about them on this blog and at MsCottonsCorner on Instagram! And one brand new resource will be revealed in my TPT store. Follow me all three places to ensure that you don’t miss a thing!

And there will be a bonus 13th day, so stay tuned!

And don’t forget to tell your teacher friends. Sharing is caring!

FLASH FREEBIE #6 – The Legend of the Poinsettia

Posted on by Leave a comment

Today’s FLASH FREEBIE is the The Legend of the Poinsettia – a traditional tale from Mexico! It is FREE for 24 hours! Grab it on TPT right now before the price goes back up! And be sure to follow me on TPT and Instagram to get all 12 FREEBIES in December!

This resource includes a heartwarming story from Mexico about a gift from the heart. The text is written at a fourth grade level, making it accessible for most intermediate students. They will love this charming tale! The resource also comes with text dependent questions to help students practice inference and summarizing, and a Synonym Craftivity to build vocabulary!

There are still 6 MORE FREEBIES in the month of December! Watch for more postings about them on this blog and at MsCottonsCorner on Instagram! And one brand new resource will be revealed in my TPT store. Follow me all three places to ensure that you don’t miss a thing!

And don’t forget to tell your teacher friends. Sharing is caring!

Happy December!

Susan

FLASH FREEBIE #5 – Gryla and the Yule Lads

Posted on by Leave a comment

This charming tale from Iceland is the fifth FLASH FREEBIE of 12! It is FREE for 24 hours! Grab it on TPT right now before the price goes back up! And be sure to follow me on TPT and Instagram to get all 12 FREEBIES in December!

This resource includes a charming fiction tale from Iceland. Gryla and the Yule Lads are traditional characters from Iceland – they play tricks as they roam the land, leaving gifts for good children and rotten potatoes for naughty ones! The resource also comes with summarizing practice using the Somebody Wanted But So Then format (SWBST). There are teaching supports to help the students summarize the story. The resource also includes 12 Winter Idiom Task Cards with a fun riddle for figurative language practice.

Low prep – just print and teach!

There are still 7 MORE FREEBIES in the month of December! Watch for more postings about them on this blog and at MsCottonsCorner on Instagram! And one brand new resource will be revealed in my TPT store. Follow me all three places to ensure that you don’t miss a thing!

And don’t forget to tell your teacher friends. Sharing is caring!

Happy December!

Susan

Christmas Down Under – FLASH FREEBIE #4

Posted on by Leave a comment

The fourth FLASH FREEBIE is Christmas Down Under. It is FREE for 24 hours! Grab it on TPT right now before the price goes back up! And be sure to follow me on TPT and Instagram to get all 12 FREEBIES in December!

This resource includes a non-fiction text that briefly explains some of the traditions of Christmas in Australia. It also includes a text of the lyrics to a favorite Australian Christmas Carol, Six White Boomers. I’ve turned the lyrics into a fun Mad Lib for extra parts of speech practice! The resource also comes with text dependent questions to help students practice inference and summarizing.

There are still 8 MORE FREEBIES in the month of December! Watch for more postings about them on this blog and at MsCottonsCorner on Instagram! And one brand new resource will be revealed in my TPT store. Follow me all three places to ensure that you don’t miss a thing!

And don’t forget to tell your teacher friends. Sharing is caring!

Happy December!

Susan

FLASH FREEBIE #3 – The Hanukkah Candle – Get it now!

Posted on by Leave a comment

The third FLASH FREEBIE is The Hanukkah Candle. It is FREE for 24 hours! Grab it on TPT right now before the price goes back up! And be sure to follow me on TPT and Instagram to get all 12 FREEBIES in December!

This resource includes two texts – a non-fiction text that briefly explains the history of Hanukkah and a fiction story of a Hanukkah miracle. The story will warm the hearts of your students, and the non-fiction text increases their comprehension by improving their background knowledge. The resource also comes with text dependent questions to help students practice inference and summarizing, and Word Search for vocabulary fun!

Check out the video below for more information!

There are still 9 MORE FREEBIES in the month of December! Watch for more postings about them on this blog and at MsCottonsCorner on Instagram! And one brand new resource will be revealed in my TPT store. Follow me all three places to ensure that you don’t miss a thing!

And don’t forget to tell your teacher friends. Sharing is caring!

Happy December!

Susan

« Older Entries