Reading Strategies Book Study Kickoff and Giveaways

If you teach K-8 readers, you need to run not walk to your nearest book store, (or online retailer of choice to get this book!  The Reading Strategies Book : Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers by Jennifer Serravallo is hands down one of the best reading instruction resources I have ever read!  

A group of bloggers and I are spending our summer diving deeper into this incredible resource, and we will be sharing our thoughts and ideas with you through weekly posts.  If you scroll down a bit, you will be able to win your very own copy of this book, and find out how you can participate in our book study!

Each week we will be going through a chapter and sharing some of our own thoughts, ideas, and resources.  You can follow along with us by just reading or posting your own thoughts on your blog and linking up with us!  I will also have some discussion posts on Facebook and Twitter as well, so you can join in with us however you would like!

If you would like to sign-up to host one of the chapters on your blog please click here.

This book is a bit different from a traditional book in that it is set up kind of like a menu.  As you discover the needs your students have as readers, you find that section in the book and then have a list of strategies broken down step by step to address that need.  If you've ever struggled with what to do during a "strategy group" this book covers you from emergent to advanced readers.

Today I am going to share with you a little bit about how I set up my book to be more user-friendly. Here are some of the supplies I used:

I did not use all of the tabs, but I wanted to show you that you could do this in a variety of ways depending on what works best for you and what you have on hand.

The book is divided into 13 goals (you will not use all 13 goals with every student as not every student has the same needs).  I created a label for each section and then placed it in the book where that section is.  This way, I can easily find what I need as I plan my lessons.

During the school year, I am all about easy!  If something is hard to find or difficult to manage I don't always end up using it.  This resource is one that I have definitely wanted to use, so I made it easy for myself!

 As you can see from the picture above, I can easily find the section I need without having to look through the table of contents or index.

Some other teachers have rebound their books with spiral binding to help it lay flat, but I still need to take that step.

This is an example from Nancy at Teaching My Friends.

Jennifer Serravallo Reading Strategies Anchor Charts

The next thing that I did was to prepare a mini toolkit for the anchor charts that are included for all of the strategies.  For this, I used a sketchbook.  I chose this because it is very durable and the pages don't fall out as easily as they do in a binder.  

Because I don't know what needs my students have yet, I decided to prepare a few charts that tie into our standards.

I chose to look through goal 6 because we begin the year talking about characters.  I flipped through a few lessons and decided to start with this one.

Each strategy tells you: 

* What level the strategy is appropriate for

* What genre

* The Skills

*Teaching Tips

* Prompts

Serravallo also includes anchor charts or sample student work for each strategy.

I checked through this and decided it would definitely tie into my lessons about character traits.

I recreated the given anchor chart in my sketchbook (using pencil first in case I made a mistake!).

I left sections of it blank so that it could serve as a sample graphic organizer that a student could use for any text.  Sometimes students falsely believe that graphic organizers are created for a particular book or lesson and don't transfer their knowledge to other assignments especially independent work.  I am hoping that this will be a better reminder that this strategy can be used again and again.

To again make my life easier, I used a tab to identify this anchor chart in my sketchbook to make it easier to find during lessons.

I color-coordinated the tab to match the ones in the Reading Strategies book, and as you can see, I labeled it with the corresponding unit and page number.

I hope this helps give you some ideas to set up your book to use!  If you don't already own a copy of the book we have a giveaway to help you win one!  Enter the Rafflecopter below!

AND.... If that wasn't sweet enough for you.... we are also giving away a $35 Starbucks gift card (separate giveaway) so that you can sip away at your favorite drink while you peruse your new book.  Be sure to enter both giveaways!  Giveaways are now closed, check here for our current giveaways.

 

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Prize: Reading Strategies book by Jennifer Seravallo

Co-hosts : Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher), Samson's Shoppe, Mrs. Roltgen, The Craft of Teaching, The Chocolate Teacher, and MM Bilingual.

Giveaway Organized by: An Apple for the Teacher

Rules:  Use the Rafflecopter to enter.  Giveaway ends 6/23/16 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!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

We're also giving away a week of Starbucks to one lucky reader!  The winner will receive a $35 Starbucks gift card - enough to treat yourself to a week's worth of caffeine goodness!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Prize: $35 Starbucks Gift Card

Co-hosts : Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)  The Chocolate Teacher, Ms. K, A Teacher's Idea, Mrs. Roltgen, Debora Marines (Teach Magically), Schoolhouse Treasures, Samson's Shoppe, Minute Mommy, MM Bilingual, Jackie Crews, and English Oh My.

Giveaway Organized by: An Apple for the Teacher

Rules:  Use the Rafflecopter to enter.  Giveaway ends 6/23/16 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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Favorite Read Alouds for Upper Elementary

My students and I LOVE read alouds.  If I have to give up any part of my day due to a crazy schedule, I refuse to let our read aloud go.  Here are a few of my favorite books to read aloud to upper elementary students.  

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.  

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

I love to start out my school year with Wonder. It really is a great way to teach students empathy and kindness for one another.  I also love the way that it is told from multiple viewpoints and that the characters are very rich and complex.  Both are important reading comprehension standards for upper elementary students!

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane

This book is always one of my students' favorites!  They love how a cold-hearted bunny learns to love despite all of the obstacles he faces.  I am always impressed by the symbolism that my students find as we read the book and I love the looks they get at the very end of the book.  Pure magic!

The Tiger Rising

Kate DiCamillo has got to be one of the best author's of read alouds for upper elementary!  Every book of hers that I have read to my class has become a fast favorite.  This one was actually the first read aloud suggested in Lucy Calkins' reading units for fourth grade, and it did not disappoint!  It is a great way to teach about characters and how they change throughout a story. It is also a great conversations starter with so many themes including: bullying, fitting in, keeping feelings bottled up, loss of a parent, and whether wild animals should be kept in captivity, and more.

The One and Only Ivan

The chapters in this book are short and easy to read, but there is so much that goes on in each short chapter.  My students always fall in love with Ivan and root for him right from the beginning.  This is another book that stimulates great conversation about animals and how we treat them. It also ties beautifully to upper elementary standards with first-person narrative, literary devices, perspective, character change, and so much more!

Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin

Jack: The True Story of Jack & The Beanstalk

Red: The True Story of Red Riding Hood

I have been looping with my students for the past several years.  During a round of 3rd grade, I purchased Rump to go along with our Lucy Calkin's writing fairytale unit.  My students ate it up!  When I found out that the author had other versions, I had to get them.  My 4th graders loved the idea of reading another one of Liesl Shurtliff's amazing books when we read Jack.  I have ordered Red and am excited to read it this summer!

How to Steal a Dog

I love using read alouds with characters that my students can relate to.  The main character in this story, Georgina Hayes finds herself in the situation of choosing between doing what would be best for her, or doing the right thing.  The situation in the story is not exactly black and white, and I love how my students wrestle with the idea that doing the right thing is not always the easiest thing to do.  I teach in a Title 1 school, and many of my students have been in the situation of homelessness just like Georgina.

What are some of your favorite read alouds for upper elementary students?  

This Giveaway is Over!  Please visit our Giveaway page to enter our current giveaway.

Now, time for the giveaway!  Thanks to my some of my generous blogging buddies, you can win a $25 Amazon gift card to purchase any of these great books, a summer read for yourself, or ???  Decisions, decisions!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

Prize: $25 Amazon Gift Card

Co-hosts:  Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)  The Chocolate Teacher, Ms. K Math, Schoolhouse Treasures, Samson's Shoppe, Jackie Crews, Sliding Into 1st, and The Literacy Garden

Giveaway Organized by: An Apple for the Teacher

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter below to enter.  Giveaway ends 6/22/16 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 groups of bloggers!


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Explore Like A Pirate Book Study Chapter 2

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

If you would like to read along with us, you can find the book here.  It is also available for free on Kindle Unlimited right now.

If you missed my first post on chapter 1, you can find it here.

Chapter 2

Tall Tales: Dispelling the Myths of Gamification

Chapter 2 is all about reducing your fears (or perhaps the fear of others including administrators, parents, and students) about game based learning.

Matera says that the most common question he hears is "What is gamification?"  He supplies this definition:

He says this definition is a great place to start the conversation, but there is so much more to it.  He says success comes when we are intentional about the ways we use gamification in tandem with curriculum standards.  You use this method along with other tried and true methods.  I definitely appreciate this, because it often seems that when new methods come along, we are asked to throw away everything else we are already doing regardless of whether or not it was already working.  I like the idea of this being an addition rather than a replacement.

Matera addresses several common myths about game based learning including:

Myth 1: Games are just for play.  There is no challenge or educational rigor.

Not so, says Matera.  He says the truth is that games are filled with a "motivational complexity" that can be used to increase content acquisition.  

He asks, why do students play games like video or board games?  No one makes them play, they choose to do so on their free time.  In fact, it is their number one use of time.  By the time students complete high school, they will have spent over 10,000 hours gaming! As educators, we need to meet the students where they are - with the games!

Myth 2: If I give them a badge or points, my class will be gamified.

Matera dispells this myth by saying that without an engaging setting or purpose badges or points are not incentives.  This makes sense to me, because I notice that most of my students are not motivated by grades - I think this is how they view them.

Myth 8: My classroom doesn't have enough technology to make this work.

I am FINALLY getting 1 to 1 ipads in my classroom this year - I say finally because all of my team mates have had them for at least a year or more.  I was last man on the totem pole so I have been patiently waiting. So, that means I get this if you don't have technology in your classroom yet.  Luckily Matera says that YOU decide what this looks like in your classroom.  It doesn't have to be electronic.  You can play ANY kind of game.  I have links of a few examples below.

Games to play in the classroom when you don't have technology:

Do you remember doing this when you were a kid?

As you can see from their smiles below, my kiddos LOVED doing it too!  Instead of just solving math problems, we turned it into a game when we checked the problems.  You can read more about it in this blog post.

Snowball fights

and water balloon fights are also fun ways to practice skills.

My students also love rounds of mental math.

What kinds of games do you play in your classroom?  Leave a comment below, and share any links as well.  We would love to see them!

Last but not least, head on over to my giveaway page to enter our current giveaways!

Explore Like a Pirate Book Study - Chapter 1

I am linking up with Sweet Sweet Primary for a book study of Explore Like a Pirate by Michael Matera. Join us each week as we share all of our takeaways from this book, that is all about engaging, enriching, and elevating your learners with gamification and game-inspired course design.  If you missed my previous posts you can find them here:

Chapter 2

If you would like to read along with us, you can find this book on Amazon here.  It is also currently available for FREE on Kindle Unlimited.

Chapter 1 

The Call of the Explorer: Discover the Adventure That Awaits

Are you ready to set sail and explore the idea of gamification or game based learning? Or are you just wondering what exactly is game based learning?  Either way, you will love this book!

In this first chapter, Matera gives a brief explanation of gamification and highlights the possibilities that are available to teachers and students when used in the classroom.

What is gamification?

Gamification is delivering your lessons and content with elements of game playing.

Why Should I Use Game Based Learning in My Classroom?

When Matera first started using game based learning  in his classroom, he wasn't sure what the experience was going to be like, and he was uncertain if it would be successful.  But, he remembered back to when he was a student that even if the subjects were interesting, he wasn't very motivated.  College seemed to be too far off and the threat of receiving a lower grade didn't seem to phase him. He knew his students were feeling the same way.

As he began using game based learning he discovered that "the power of play in the classroom activates the human spirit and leads to greater content acquisition and self-motivation."

 I know I have students who are also unmotivated - so I am definitely interested in finding out more! 

I have used game based learning in my class, and I definitely see huge gains when I do use these elements.  

My students LOVE learning their math facts, because we use my Kicking It Math System and they earn karate type belts as they progress through the levels.

I have also used games to review concepts we have already learned, like this fishbowl review game and Pie Face.

Even though I have already incorporated some forms of game based learning in my classroom, I am excited to learn even more ways to implement it into my classroom!

Are you interested in learning more as well?  Be sure to follow along with this book study!  In the meantime, I found a few articles about game based learning and gamification that you might want to check out.

What is the difference between game based learning and gamification?  I have often heard these two words used interchangeably, but there is a difference between the two.

Educator's Checklist for Game Based Learning  This article provides educators with a starting ground and list of ways to get started with Game Based Learning.

Game-Based Learning - Why Does It Work?  According to this article, people learn from games and they will learn MORE from games than other forms of learning.  The author lists all of the reasons why it works, and I have to admit that I definitely agree with all of them!

Summer Reading List For Teachers

One of my favorite things about summer vacation is the opportunity to plow through my reading list.  I am linking up with Molly from Lucky To Be In First to share my Summer Reading List for Teachers. Read on for some recommendations of books that I loved and think you should definitely read as well as a list of books that I am looking forward to reading this summer.

Let's start with the books that I have already read:

The Reading Strategies Book: Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers by Jennifer Serravallo.  Whether you use readers workshop, Daily 5, Guided Reading, text book, or any other approach, this book will complement and extend your teaching.  The book provides 300 strategies that support 13 main goals including everything from fluency to literacy analysis.  No matter what level readers you have in your class, this book will give you a strategy to help them move forward.  Each strategy is cross linked to skills, genres, and Fountas & Pinnell reading levels, so that you can find the right lessons your students need.

You can check out this video about this book if you would like to know more.



Unlike a traditional book, this is more like a recipe book where you look for specific strategies and needs. However, I do recommend reading it through so that you can orientate yourself to what is included and how the book it set up.  I tabbed my sections to make them easier to find and prepared some mini-anchor charts based on the lessons.  I will be sharing how I did this in a future blog post!


The Literacy Teacher's Playbook, Grades 3-6: Four Steps for Turning Assessment Data into Goal-Directed Instruction by Jennifer Serravallo.

I am sure that my school is not the only one to be a bit data collection crazy, but what do you do with all of that data once you collect it?  This book gives you step by step directions on both collecting data and how to use it once you have collected.  This book has been gold in my literacy instruction! I teach 4th grade, so I read this book, but she also has a K-2 version if you teach lower grades.

You can view a video of Jen teaching a strategy group here.

As you can probably tell, I am a bit of a Jennifer Serravallo fan!  I have read all of her books and regularly follow her blog.  She also has a podcast called Teachers Ask Jen Serravallo. I can not recommend her resources enough!  She is AMAZING!

Teach Like a Pirate: Increase Student Engagement, Boost Your Creativity, and Transform Your Life as an Educator by Dave Burgess

This book is based on the author's popular Teach Like a PIRATE seminars and offers inspiration, techniques, and ideas for increasing student engagement. If you have not had the opportunity to hear Dave Burgess speak, you will definitely want to check out this Ted Talk with him.  He is so inspiring!



Learn Like a Pirate: Empower Your Students to Collaborate, Lead, and Succeed by Paul Solarz

Collaboration and student-led classrooms are key buzzwords in education right now, but how exactly do you implement it without complete and total anarchy?  This book will tell you how!  Using the acronym PIRATE - Solarz leads you through a variety of methods and strategies for designing classroom experiences that encourage students to be risk takers who explore learning in a motivation, supportive environment where improvement, rather than grades is the focus.

Peer Collaboration
Improvement Focused Learning
Responsibility
Active Learning
Twenty-First Century Skills
Empowerment

Last summer I participated in a book study of Learn Like a Pirate, and you can read my thoughts here. I was so inspired by the two Pirate books last year that I even created a pirate themed classroom.  It was amazing!

And just so you know, I am not a total teaching nerd who only reads PD books (although I really am), I am also recommending the Game of Thrones book set by George R.R. Martin.  I am super addicted to the show, so my son bought me this set for Christmas two years ago.  I devoured the whole set over my Christmas Break and am waiting not so patiently for the next one to come out.

And now the books that I am excited to read:

Explore Like a PIRATE: Gamification and Game-Inspired Course Design to Engage, Enrich and Elevate Your Learners by Michael Matera.  

Who's Doing the Work?  How to Say Less So Readers Can Do More by Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris.  I am about half-way through this and am LOVING it!  It has been a slow read only because I have to stop to take notes every other paragraph of ideas that I want to implement next year.  It is definitely a must read!  The authors talk about how teachers always ask them how they can do more to help students become better readers, but they believe that teachers need to do LESS so students can do more.  They suggest small but powerful adjustments that teachers can make in their instruction that will allow students to be more accountable for their own learning.

DIY Literacy: Teaching Tools for Differentiation, Rigor, and Independence by Kate Roberts and Maggie Beattie Roberts.

This book is all about making your own visual teaching tools and using them in the best way possible.  It's also about helping kids to think strategically using these tools so that they too can be DIY learners.  I love this quote from the Amazon listing:

"We have never seen teachers work harder than we do now.  These tools inspire kids to work as hard as we are."

-Kate Roberts and Maggie Beattie Roberts  

The Big Book of Details: 46 Moves for Teaching Writers to Elaborate by Rozlyn Linder

We have been using the Writing Units from Lucy Calkins, and my students have definitely become better writers, but many still lack those important details and elaboration.  Whenever I ask them to add more details, they often write longer pieces, but they are not necessarily better. I  am excited to see the suggestions Roz Linder has!

And last... my non-teacher-nerd book pick!

Primates of Park Avenue: A Memoir by Wednesday Martin PhD  This is Wednesday Martin's memoir of life as a mother in Manhattan's Upper East Side.  The author has an anthropological background and applies that to her experience.  She had a difficult time fitting in with the glamorous, rich mommies around her, but begins to analyze her new "tribe" and their behaviors and eventually learns to fit in and enjoy her new life.  A friend of mine recommended this and I can't wait to try it during those times I need a break from my more academic reads.  

What's on your summer reading list?  

I am always on the hunt for more books to read!  Leave a comment below or link up with Lucky to be in First.  Don't forget to check out the other blog posts for even more great reads to add to your own list!

Before you go though, make sure you check out my giveaways page to enter our current giveaway!


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.