$25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway July 22, 2016

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Co-hosts:  Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher), 

Giveaway Organized by:  An Apple for the Teacher, The Chocolate Teacher, Kamp Kindergarten, English Oh My, Glistening Gems, and Margaux Langenhoven.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 7/30/16 and is open worldwide.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers!

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Thirty-One Bag Giveaway - Summer Survival Kit

How would you like to win an amazing Thirty-One Bag filled with some summer essentials?

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: Thirty-One Summer Survival Bag (Thirty-One bag, sunscreen, flip-flops, beach towel, and cup TOTAL VALUE - $70)

Co-hosts:  Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher), 

Giveaway Organized by:  An Apple for the Teacher,        A View Into My Classroom, Crystal Clear Teaching,      The Bender Bunch, The Chocolate Teacher,               Cait's Cool School, Heart 2 Heart Teaching,                 Mrs. Humphries Class, Simone's Math Resources,   Jackie Crews, and Sarah Griffin (Daughters and Kindergarten).

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Giveaway ends 7/28/16 and is open worldwide.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers!

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Reading Strategies Goal 5: Supporting Comprehension in Fiction

Welcome to our book study of The Reading Strategies Book:  Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers by Jennifer Serravallo! I am joining forces with some other fabulous teacher bloggers to discuss the reading strategies we come across in this AMAZING professional text!  If you missed my first post about this book study, you can find it here, along with a suggested way to set up your book for easy reference.

You can also find my thoughts and ideas on other goals in this book below:

Goal 1: Supporting Pre-Emergent and Emergent Readers   
Goal 2: Reading Engagement   
Goal 3: Supporting Print Work  
Goal 4: Teaching Fluency

This goal is all about supporting comprehension in fiction.  Serravallo says that in order "to help students achieve that lost-in-a-book, engaged sort of reading that makes reading enjoyable, they have to understand what's going on."  

Students who need to work on this goal are the ones who when asked to retell a text include EVERY SINGLE DETAIL, or the ones that say too little, or the ones who mention events in the story, but do not seem to have a clear understanding of how they are related.

Focus Strategy 1: Series Books Have Predictable Plots

As students become more proficient at reading, they often gravitate towards series books.  There are several benefits to reading series books including:

• a deeper connection with the books' characters
• an increase in comprehension
• an increase in time spent reading 
• less wasted time trying to decide what book to read next.

You may want to read this article about a Las Vegas school that created a culture of reading using book series.

In this strategy, you use the fact that things are often similar from book to book in a series to help students figure out what's most important, to retell what they've read, and to predict what come's next.

Serravallo suggests organizing your class into book clubs to give students support for understanding patterns in series books.  Some prompts you might ask students include:

• What do you know about other books in this series?
• Is there a patterns to how the stories go in other books you've read?
• What might happen based on what you know about how problems were solved in other books in this series?

Focus Strategy 2: Let The Blurb Help You

Just like any other text feature, students need to learn how to use the blurb on the back cover of their books.  Serravallo suggests that you can use the blurb to teach text structure, main problem, and theme.  She also suggests a variation for using with nonfiction texts.

Some prompts you might ask students include:

• What will the structure of the book be, based on what you read?
• Do you have any ideas about the main problem the character will face?

Using this blurb from Big Nate Blasts Off, the students might determine that the text structure might consist of both text and comics.  They could also determine some problems that Nate might have including getting in a fight with Randy Betancourt, a crush on the new girl, Ruby, and doubts about the annual Mud Bowl.

Focus Strategy 3: Chapter-End Stop Signs

This strategy is great for those students who have trouble remembering events from a chapter books.  Essentially, you let students know that each chapter will have at least one important event.  You ask them to stop and jot about what that most important event is as soon as they finish reading a chapter.  When they pick the book back up, they can remind themselves what happened so far by re-reading their notes.  These notes can also be used to write a summary.

Serravallo says that students can use sticky notes, a notebook, or a paper with spots to jot after each chapter to keep track of their notes.

Here is a free Chapter Stop and Jot graphic organizer.

Remember, we are only picking and choosing some of the strategies to share with you - there are so many more great ones in this section as well as the rest of the book!  You can see a complete list of all of the strategies here.

If you would like to purchase the book mentioned above, you can find it here.




Other books by this author that I LOVE!





This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love. 


Amanda from The Teaching Thief is officially hosting goal 5 over at her blog, so make sure you head over there to see which strategies she chose to share!  While you are there, be sure to leave some comment love!

 

If you would like to link up your own blog posts about this book, feel free to do so in the linky below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Back to School Product Giveaways

We have been having so much fun sharing some of our favorite TpT products with you!  It is time for another chance for you to win!  You can enter to win one product, or all 4.  There will be one winner chosen for each giveaway.

This week, I am giving away my Capitalization Rules! pack.  

This packet will help your students to learn and remember all of the times that they should use a capital letter in their writing.  Best of all, there is no prep for you - just print, copy and go! To enter to win, complete the Rafflecopter below:

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Paula from Paula's Preschool and Kindergarten is giving away one of her top sellers, Oceans Hundreds Charts. 

It includes 8 ocean mystery pictures: fish, shark, turtle, crab, jellyfish, seahorse, whale, and an angelfish.  

This resource is super flexible, because each puzzle comes on both a numbered and a blank hundreds chart, with directions to further differentiate if needed.  Use these puzzles with units on animals, oceans, summers, or ponds.  

Skills covered include number recognition to 100, writing 2-digit numbers, following directions, and fine muscle development.  To enter to win this prize use the Rafflecopter below:

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Our next giveaway is from Mickey's Place. She is giving away her Alphabetical Order product. 

 Here is what she has to say about her giveaway:

First Grade is filled with many skills to learn.  Here is a Hands-On Learning Game with 32 different ways to practice Alphabetical Order while practicing First Grade Dolch Words!
Best of All It Can Be Used Year to Year!!!!

Stop by and visit Mickey’s Place!  Most products are designed for use from Pre-K thru 4^th grade.  Also, they are usable over and over!  Definitely a Time Saver!

A special thank you to Kelly for spotlighting this give away!

Mickey

You can enter to win this product by entering the Rafflecopter below:

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 Our last giveaway is from Cait's Cool School.  She is giving away her Matilda by Roald Dahl Read Aloud Activities.  Here is what she says about this awesome product:

"Read alouds in the classroom can be so fun in the classroom. One of my favorite books to use is Matilda by Roald Dahl. To continuously build my students' comprehension, we use question task cards to help my students really think about the story they're listening to. I've used these in whole group discussions, and have had small groups start their own book talks using these questions. They work well in centers, or even just a quick way to close out the reading for the day. I'm always so impressed by the connections they make and their understanding of the text that is demonstrated through their answers. And I know they're really in love with reading when I start to see copies of Matilda appear around the classroom because they can't wait to see what happens next! "

You can enter to win this product by entering the Rafflecopter below:

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Explore Like a Pirate Book Study Ch. 7

Today I am linking up with Sweet Sweet Primary for our book study of Michael Matera's book Explore Like a Pirate.  Join us each Tuesday as we share our takeaways from this book that is all about engaging your students.If you missed my previous posts you can find them here:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

Matera says that this chapter is a treasure chest full of mechanics ideas and he isn't lying!  It is packed with so much info about the mechanics of game play that can be used in the classroom.  Because the chapter is so long, I have decided to only share a few of the mechanics with you, but there are so much more!

The author warns that not every student will be motivated by every game mechanic.  As discussed in chapter 5 with Player Types, he reminds us that individuals are motivated in different ways. He also reminds us that we don't have to do everything at once.  He suggests picking and choosing only two or three mechanics to start with at the beginning.

Experience Points (XP)

The first mechanic he introduces is experience points which is a unit of measurement in many role-playing games.  Players start the game with little or no Experience Points, and as they proceed through the game they earn more points, and often powerful upgrades.

Matera says that Experience Points can be a wonderful addition to the game, but when used alone, are often useless.  In Matera's class, students earn Experience Points by completing Extra Credit Assignments, and or designated days in class.

He uses three leader boards to track points: individual, house, and group.  He says that this pushes students to help each other to ensure that everyone is contributing to the team score. I really like this idea of teamwork.  

Levels

Levels are another mechanic of gaming.  Levels indicate the players' position or rank.  It can also be used to refer to a player's current stage in the game.

Leader boards

As previously stated, the Leader boards are used to show the standings for players or groups. Matera says that he uses leader boards to display a ton of information.  He says that they provide game data necessary for players to make strategic decisions.  Students are motivated by their ranking and work to stay at or near the top.

I have seen evidence of this motivation both in my classroom via Kicking' It Math, and with Marzano Scales, but also in conversations with students about games they play at home.

Guilds

Matera says that this is just a fancy term for groups.  He places his students in guilds and only changes them four or five times a year.  He says that in real life we don't get to choose our own teammates, and they don't change daily or weekly.  He also believes that this helps them learn how to work together long term.

He often determines group placement randomly (but he gives a few additional ideas).  He does this by having students select a card, and depending on the suit they draw, that is the team they are in.

On boarding

This mechanic is how you get players into your game, and how you familiarize them with the possibilities withing the game.

Matera tells his students that they are on an adventure while he displays a picture of a castle on a screen with epic music playing in the background.  He then launches them in their first house challenge.

I LOVE this idea!

He gives one student a sealed letter with cryptic instructions inside.  Together, they need to figure out this message and unlock its mystery.  He says there are a series of clues, and students have to look up information in their textbooks and on the web to figure out the message.  When they finally do, they are led to open a Google Form where they enter their team information and first see the Leader Board.

Achievement

Achievements are anything that are unlocked through game play.  They are often badges or items that might relate to the game's theme.  They can also be used to demonstrate mastery.

As I said before, this chapter is just jam packed with ideas and mechanics.  I am really excited to see this in action, especially in seeing the new Pokemon-Go craze!

Erin Condren Planner Giveaway

Back to School means back to planning!  One of the most popular teacher planners out there is the Erin Condren Teacher Planner. As a special back to school thank you to all of our readers, some of my blogging friends and I are giving away the planner below to send you back to school in style!

Here are a few of the pages inside:

An All About Me Page where you can list your personal info so it can be returned if you ever lose it.  It also has spaces for keeping track of passwords and favorite websites.

A Dates to Remember Page with additional spots to write in your own special days.

An Absent Log to keep track of student absences.

Long Range Planning Pages for planning out your school year.

Monthly Calendars

Weekly Planners - to schedule our your week with spaces for each subject or class period.

Student Checklist for keeping track of assignments, permission slips, book orders, etc.

If you're new to Erin Condren, and would like to save $10 off your first order, click HERE to register.  Erin Condren will then e.mail you a code for $10 off.

If you would like to enter to win this Erin Condren planner, enter using the Rafflecopter below. 

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: Erin Condren Teacher Planner

Co-hosts:  Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher), 

Giveaway Organized by:  An Apple for the Teacher, Mrs. Roltgen, Reading and Writing Redhead, The Tally Tales, Momma With A Teaching Mission, Sliding Into 1st, Tried and True Teaching Tools, Heart 2 Heart Teaching, Mrs. Irvin's Toolbox, The Literacy Garden, Schoolhouse Treasures, Mrs. Humphries Class, Third Grade Giggles,  Teaching With Hope, and Growing Grade by Grade.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter below to enter. Giveaway ends 7/25/16 and is open worldwide.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers!

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Win a $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Co-hosts:  Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher), 

Giveaway Organized by:  An Apple for the Teacher, The Chocolate Teacher, Ms. K, Kamp Kindergarten, Teaching With Hope, and La-Nette Mark.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter. Giveaway ends 7/23/16 and is open worldwide.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers!