Captain Apostrophe to the Rescue!

So last week we had been talking about contractions in writing. We had discussed and read the Captian Apostrophe short story and how he is a super hero and super strong. He is so strong that he can punch out letters AND fly high above.

So I drew Captain Apostrophe to post on my wall. My kids LOVE finding their "Captain Apostrophes" in their books during independent reading! They have a "write your words" recording sheet available to them so that they can record words that they find in their books. My kids have filled up many of these recording sheets with contractions! It really engages them and it makes this usually boring topic into a fun and exciting one! They Love Love Love it!

Super Cute Ladybug Contraction Activity

For an activity towards the end of the week I wanted the students to applying the idea of contractions. One of my teammates found this super cute ladybug blackline. On each of the two wings the student writes the two words that come together to form the contraction.

On the inside of the wings, the student writes the contraction made from the two words.

You simply connect the wings to the body with a brad so that the wings can open and shut.
I decided that after they completed the lady bug contraction that they would glue it onto a white construction paper and use it in a sentence. Then they could decorate the background.

When they were finished, they could read their sentence with the wings closed and the two words separate OR they could open the wings and read the sentence with the contraction! They loved it and thought it was very cool! Here are a couple of my students' examples.

Here is the ladybug blackline if you'd like to use it!

Ladybug Contraction Blackline