Summer Reading

One thing I love about summer break is all the extra time I get to read!  It is so relaxing to sit out on my patio with a good book and just read for as long as I like.

If you are looking for something to read, I highly recommend these books:

Go Set A Watchman-  Harper Lee

To Kill a Mockingbird is my all time favorite book, so of course I could not wait to get my hands on this new book by Harper Lee.  I went to the bookstore right away on the day the book was released, purchased a copy of the book, and spent the rest of the day reading!  It was interesting to get a glimpse of Scout as an adult and see how characters changed/stayed the same.  While this wasn't as good as "Mockingbird" (nothing really can be that great) I still found it to be an enjoyable book that provided a look into history and let me see the futures of the characters I got to know in Mockingbird.

First They Killed My Father-  Loung Ung

This is a non-fiction book about the authors life as a child in Cambodia living during the horrible genocide under the leadership of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.  Loung was only 5 years old when the Khmer Rouge took over her city and this book tells her story of what life was like during that time.  I found this book to be a great read and I learned so much about Cambodia and this horrible time in Cambodia's history that I really did not know a lot about before reading this.  I just read that this book is going to be made into a movie, directed by Angelina Jolie.  I am excited to see the film!

The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street-  Susan Jane Gilman

I am currently half way through this book and I am LOVING it!  This is another historical fiction novel set in the early 1900's and the present.  The story line switches between the present time and the past, telling the story of how the main character came to be where she is now.  The  main character was a young child when her family immigrated to the United States in 1913 and their new lives are not easy. Without giving too much away, they main character gets injured and ends up living with/working for an ice cream maker.  The story gives a great history about the evolution of ice cream, what life was like for new immigrants at that time, and what life was like for kids during those years.  The main character is one you feel sorry for and also despise, which makes the book intriguing!  This is a great summer book that will surely make you want to dish up a bowl of ice cream for yourself!

Do you have any books that you would recommend for my remaining month of summer reading time?

Close Reading and Text Dependent Questions

This past school year I really worked hard to try and incorporate more close reading skills and text dependent questions into my reading instruction.

First, I had to figure out what exactly close reading was.  Here are a few books and web posts that I found really helpful:

Close Read Complex Text and Annotate With Tech
great post with lots of good links

10 Super Innovative Teacher Ideas for Close Reading
another good post with a lot of helpful information and links


Text Dependent Questions- Grades K-5 by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey

Falling in Love with Close Reading by Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts

Once I wrapped my head around close reading strategies and thought about how I could use it in my classroom I gave it a try with a couple TIME for Kids articles and short fiction passages.  I was amazed at how hard it was for my 5th graders to find actual proof from the text to support their thinking.  I had wrongly assumed that this would be a simple task we would simply gloss over.  NOPE!

We worked on text dependent questions A LOT this spring, and I was excited when my kiddos finally started to get it, and I heard them discussing books on their own and saying things like "yeah, because on page 23 it said....".  YES!  They actually took the time, on their own, to go back and find proof to support their reasoning when discussing a book.  

I wanted to have an easy to use resource that would allow me to have a large quantity of text dependent question stems close by at any time so I could hit the different reading standards with a variety of text dependent questions.  

 I created a set of text dependent question cards that have worked wonderfully for me!  They are organized by each common core reading standard and there are a variety of questions to go with each standard.  There are over 190 different question prompt cards covering fiction and non-fiction!

They can be hole punched, organized on a binder ring, and kept close by for those times when you want to throw in a TDQ!  You can print them on white card stock with the colored boarders, or print them in black and white on bright colored card stock.  

 You can find this resource in my Teachers Pay Teachers store if you are interested in getting the whole set of over 190 different text dependent question stem cards!

Happy Reading!

Non-Fiction Reading

Last week I started a new unit on reading non-fiction. My students love listening to me read nonfiction to them, but I rarely see them pick up a nonfiction book and read it themselves.

I am hoping that  exposing them to many different topics and types of nonfiction will pique their interest and encourage them to pick up a nonfiction book.

We started by charting the characteristics of both fiction and nonfiction.  At first they were kind of stuck on real/non real, so it took a bit of prompting to get them to think beyond that.  Once they got going they were able to come up with many characteristics.

The following day we brainstormed different forms of non-fiction texts.  Again, they got stuck on the basics, and kept naming different types of books (a book about whales, a book about Texas....) .  It took some prompting to get them to realize that nonfiction writing is found in so many things we see everyday, not just books.  

We made this chart listing different types of nonfiction texts, and I added some visuals so they could see examples of the different items we brainstormed.

My class is now more excited to read nonfiction, after seeing all the different types of nonfiction there is.

Next we will be talking about nonfiction text features and then moving into main idea and details.

Do you have any favorite resources for teaching nonfiction reading?

20 Book Reading Challenge

Winter break is over.
We are in the middle of a cold spell.
It has been cloudy almost every day.

My kids need some MOTIVATION!

I altered an idea I found in the book The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller.  She has a plan where she requires her students to read a certain number of books, and a certain number of each genre.

I thought about my class, and the fact that the year is half over, and I came up with....

20 BOOK READING CHALLENGE

Each student is challenged to read 20 book between now and the end of the year.  Within that 20, they need to read 2 historical fiction, 2 fantasy, 2 science fiction, 2 realistic fiction, 2 mystery, 

2 biography/autobiography and 8 additional books of their choice.

Let me tell you, there is nothing like giving kids a challenge to get them pumped up about doing something.  

My class immediatly started asking questions:

"When can we start?"

"Can I read....?"

"Can I read more than 20 books?"

To add to the excitement, I announced that everyone who completes the challenge will be invited to my reading pizza party at the end of the year.  Whoa!  A challenge + a pizza reward = motivated kiddos!

If you would like to try this challenge in your classroom, head over to my Teachers Pay Teachers shop to download a free copy of the book recording sheet with all the requirements.

Happy Reading!