Spaghetti and Meatballs with WRITING?!?!

I can't take credit for this, as I learned about it a LOOOOONNNNGGGG time ago when I first started teaching, however, I have NO idea where it came from.

My kids struggle writing sentences.  It drives me bonkers!  This past week, we had the little talk about how we're 1/4 of the way through first grade and I still see ONE LONG word in their writing!  I showed them examples of ME doing the wrong things on chart paper (from no spaces to those "runaway capitals" to those who put 3 feet of space between words to make it look like they wrote a LOT!  They laughed and giggled, but they don't in their own writing!

So, I busted out my spaghetti and meatballs.  Red pompoms and yellow "string" (yarn, gimp-do they make that anymore?!?!  I had this noodle-y string I got when I was working at Zany Brainy back in the day when I was in college... loved that place... wish they were still around...)

Spaghetti spaces are for between letters IN words.  Meatballs are for between words!  Simple as that folks.  Don't need to go out and buy those spacemen, etc...  {though they are cute!}  Kids thought they were the greatest things ever-and you should have seen them writing!  (I only passed out the meatballs... they certainly didn't need help with spaces between their letters right now.... )