Gratitude Journals

I got this wonderful idea from a cute blog I recently discovered, Passport Academy. The children are creating journal pages each day that detail things and people that they are grateful for. In the Holy Quran, it says that Allah (God) hates ingratitude. So what better daily writing assignment then one that reinforces being thankful for everything from Allah (God) himself to our pet fish to Amir's shirt and pants. The children simply write at least two sentences about something for which they are grateful and then draw a picture that represents their statements. I'm able to get in grammar, spelling, sentence construction, punctuation, capitalization, creative writing, penmanship and much more in this one assignment. It doesn't eat up a lot of time, so I followed my fellow blogger's lead and we do this assignment everyday whether it's a school day or not. This reinforces the fact that we should be grateful when? Everyday!

Spelling Word Journal

In an attempt to take freshen up our spelling word activities and began composition instruction, we began a spelling word journal. 3 times per week, the children chose one on the week's assigned words, draw a picture, and write 2 to 3 sentences about what they have drawn. I stress capitalization, punctuation, and expressing a complete thought. I've found this to be a great creative outlet and a wonderful to allow the children to combine penmanship, grammer, spelling, and composition skills.