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September 7, 2014

Keeping Busy - Reading Products that Work!


I hope you had a good weekend.  Mine consisted of "trying" to clean my house.  It's one of those 2 steps forward, one step back type of things...  One thing that I loved was having all my papers & tests graded before I left school on Friday, I contribute that to my husband bringing me my favorite Starbucks drink to school.  Gotta love a little caffeine to power through.  I know, he wins the best hubby ever award!   


What are we tackling this week at school?  

Reading

Our main story this week is Chapter 3 of Charlotte's Web "Escape".  We are actually reading the entire chapter book as our read aloud, so the kids have already heard it before.  I love when these kind of weeks happen, as then there is more time to spend working on skills and strategies.

2 Truths:
*These kids really need to work on their reading skills.  
*These kids are probably already sick of working on their reading skills since we are constantly working with them.

This year my school is in full Common Core mode.  We have new texts for Math, but not for Reading.  So I am using our old textbook as a jumping off point, but adding a lot more (since we have been given the green light to expand, create, delete, and not follow everything in the old text).  

During the typical week, I am using these following products for as much practice as possible:

Open Court 4th Grade Pack - Themes, Vocab, Writing, and Gr
We use this for our vocabulary and writing practice.  I didn't copy it off for the kids, but I use it as my jumping off place to get the kids thinking and extending their thoughts.

Reading Graphic Organizer Bundle {3 products - Adventure,
Every week I try to tackle at least 2 strategies.  I printed these off 1/2 size and the kids glue them into their Reading composition books.

Close Reading Concept Posters
Close Read Posters
I'm not an expert in Close Reading... yet.  But I'm learning about it!  I printed these off half page, and they are perfect for kids to glue into their notebooks.

Common Core Weekly Reading Homework: 3rd-4th-5th Grade {Co
I printed these off at the end of last year, and so far we are using them for Close Read Practice (whole class), and then comprehension is homework.  Each week there is an one page article/story, a page with comprehension questions, and a skill page.

Reading Response Menus Across the Year {4th Grade CCSS-Aligned}
I use these for homework practice.  This year I decided to print them half size - perfect to glue into their composition books.  Now it's easy for them to keep things organized by month in their booklets.  I love how it's working with their exact standards.

Daily Close Reading {September}
The kids are using these for fluency practice with a parent helper, and then we go through the Close Read part as a class.  Since I have so much other stuff going on, the plan is to use one of these per week (instead of daily).

Read Aloud {Blank} Mini Pack
Like I mentioned, we read together every day.  I have the kids write about it every day.  It keeps them focused and only takes a few minutes.

Complete NO PREP Reading & Writing Units for 40 Mentor Tex
Better Than Basal
You know I use Mentor Sentences in my classroom.  Since I already have that going on, I added this to our morning routine too.  This contains activities for each of the mentor sentences from Jivey's program.  I don't copy everything, but I do use the lessons and the ideas to have the kids dive a little deeper with each book we read.
Partner Plays 4th-5th BUNDLE (a set of 90 2-person scripts
These kids need to practice their fluency, and I'm excited about how excited they are about reading together.  I set these up just like the example.  The kids take time to practice during our workshop time.

Reading Response Newspapers!
Reading Response Newspapers
Every once in a while (like once a month), I have the kids do a mini book report over what they have been reading at home.  I change up what skills they need to report on - such as characterization, or setting, etc.  These make an awesome bulletin board!

Bundled EDITABLE Weekly Reading Records (Fiction & Non-Fiction)
Reading Response Prompts
After the student's silent reading (Read to Self), I have them take out their reading logs/journals to write in for 5 minutes.  I have these printed out, laminated, and color coded with a dot on the top corner.  The papers are rotated around on Fridays from one team to another.  I think it helps keep kids accountable for their reading. 

Okay - I guess the main point is that I use a lot of stuff for reading in my classroom.  All of this on a weekly basis, even more stuff for those "special" projects.  What did I do before TPT??  :)  What do you use on a weekly basis?



  




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