Summer Blog Party Kick-Off

Happy Summer!  I hope this blog hop finds you ready to tackle some summer relaxation and fun!  For my family, we are in the midst of tournament play for baseball, attending various sports camps, spending lots of time at the pool, and enjoying time with friends.  We will be heading to the beach for a week in August, but for now, we bask in the warm weather and minimal schedule.

Despite our busyness, one thing we continue throughout summer is reading.  As a reading teacher, I enforce daily reading time in our house.  I say enforce because grabbing a book and slowing down is NOT a favorite past-time among my kiddos.  My littlest can sit and read book after book, my middle loves to be read to, and my oldest knows that his allowance gets reduced if I have to ask him to complete his daily reading more than once.  If a friend calls for a playdate for my daughter, or a knock comes at the door for my oldest, reading is the last thing on their minds.  Therefore, I have to mandate that it happens. 

I have given up on the idea that my kids should want to read. I want them to want to read, but ideally, if my children could be outside playing every moment of every day, that is what they would prefer to do! And so, before we head outside and grab for any type of technology, reading occurs.  Some might argue with this strategy, but it works for my family.  There are no written rules, no chart to keep track, just the expectation that for 20 minutes a day, we read.  Very manageable.

My heading into 4th grade son has tackled Chocolate Fever and is on to Frindle.  I am offering him the chance to choose the books. I am not making him complete any novel units to accompany his reading, but they are available, just in case.

My heading into 1st grade daughter is tackling Level D books and inspired me to create this FREEBIE text unit for my intervention students.  She loves Young Cam Jansen books.  She struggles a bit to read them independently, but loves when we read them together.  This unit is perfect for reading comprehension for grades 1-3, and an intervention resource for students that might be struggling a bit in grades 4-6.  If you are a teacher in the midst of summer school, or a parent wanting to help your child with comprehension, this text resource is ideal for you! It includes: directions for use, lesson plans, character analysis work, context clue word work, chapter by chapter reader response questions, and post-reading writing prompts for FREE!

It is a forever FREEBIE and I would love to hear how you put it to use at home or in your classroom.  Grab some more HOT resources as you move on to the next stops!  Michelle from Big Time Literacy has a great one!  Grab it at the next stop!  Happy Hopping!

Teaching about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Upper Elementary to Middle School Resources

Every year the return to school in January is C-R-A-Z-Y!  Despite state testing not taking place until May, it seems like it is a time where we go into uber TEST PREP mode.  In addition to lots of test prep work, I begin a writing piece, start a novel unit, administer DRAs, students are DIBELed, and the list of goes on and on.

One thing I have struggled to focus on minus a You Tube video snippet or a showing of My Friend, Martin, is a true sharing with my students about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  My lack of focus is unintentional, and with some writing time, this year I vowed to not ever let that happen with my instruction.  Because I don't want to slight my students from learning about a significant individual in our American history, I created two separate resources.

The first is a set of 20-informational text task cards spanning his life.  The task cards are common core aligned and cover grades 4-6 RI. 1 and RI 3.  They can be used in a literacy center, as a class scoot, or in small groups.  These are an ideal tool to share with students to learn more about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. while helping students navigate informational text effectively.  Click the image to grab them from my TpT store!

Another resource I created is this reader's theater script.  The text focuses on a group of students doing research in order to present information to the class about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Your upper elementary to middle school students will love performing this script and will be able to complete reader response questions, context clue word work, journal writing, and an interactive notebook page based on information shared in the selection.  This resource is also common core aligned and covers both reading literature and writing standards-RL.1-4 and W.4 and L.5 for grades 4-8.  Click the image to grab it!

Both of these resources are on sale for $1 each!  I would love for you to incorporate them into your instruction.  Your students will LOVE them!

Keep me posted on any great resources you use when teaching about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.