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Showing posts with label Summer Slide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Summer Slide. Show all posts

Summer Blog Party Kick Off Hop- Book Suggestions, Parent Tips and Reading Contracts

Welcome to the Summer Blog Party Kick Off Hop!  I want to start by thanking Carla from Comprehension Connection for organizing the hop.  Seventeen literacy bloggers from The Reading Crew are participating in the hop to share suggestions, tips and freebies to help prevent the summer reading slide.  The Crew is also supplying two $25 TpT gift certificates for those of you who enter the giveaway found along the hop, so let's get this party started! 

Isn't it wonderful summer has finally arrived?  Students have packed up their belongings and headed home for the summer. Hopefully, they'll continue to read throughout the summer to keep their reading progress advancing in the right direction.  However, we, as teachers, know that is not always the case for some of our students, so we offer tips and resources, then hope for the best! Right?

I think the most advantageous thing we can do for our students is to get parents invested in their child's education.  Don't you agree?  We all know students perform better academically when their parents are involved in their learning, so it's our job to offer parental support. When teachers assist parents in navigating any educational challenges their may child be encountering, everyone benefits. 

Ever heard of the ABCs of Improved Reading?  It can serve as a simple, but informative, reminder of ways parents can engage their child in reading.  Children must have access to literature in order to become avid readers, so the first step is to make sure parents supply various types of reading materials for their child.  Of course, the literature has to be at a just right level for their child because, if it is too easy or too difficult, not much reading growth can take place.  Furthermore, the whole purpose of reading is to gather meaning from a text.  For this reason, it is crucial parents are asking their child questions before, during and after a story or informational text.  You'll find some helpful prompts below and HERE.
Source
I also wanted to compile just a few of my favorite book suggestions containing fun and engaging story lines, but also teach the reader literacy tips along the way.  I figured these stories would be relevant to share with parents, since each book has a lesson in itself. The story titles listed below enlighten readers about some aspect of reading and writing: what it takes to become a good reader, how to choose a "just right" book, writing a story of your own, etc.  Just to give you an example, in the book Wolf!, the main character learns to read fluently to impress his friends, but he finds out he must practice often to get it right.  The moral of the story is Readers need to practice reading to become better readers!  

The two book collages found below consist of the thirteen titles geared mostly toward early primary students.  Each title is linked to Amazon, if you would like to take a closer look at any of them.  The books are How to Read a StoryWolf!The Best Place to Read a BookThe Best Book to ReadWild About Books,  Goldisocks and the Three LibeariansCharlie Cook's Favorite BooksHow Rocket Learned to ReadRocket Writes a StoryThe Plot ChickensLittle Red Writing, Pick a Picture: Write a Story and Tell Me the Day Backwards.
Last, but not least, I created a couple of freebies to help kids continue good reading habits throughout the summer and school year. The images below are linked to my TpT store. If you download the freebies, ratings are always greatly appreciated. The first freebie is a handout offering literacy tips for parents on how they can support good reading and writing habits at home. 
The second freebie is from a previous post.  It is a set of summer reading contracts for both students and parents, along with some reading logs. The logs can be valuable motivators for students because they serve as documentation of a child's dedication to read.  The contracts help secure a commitment between a parent and child to work together to keep reading growth soaring throughout the summer.  :)
Well, that's it from me!  I hope these book suggestions, literacy tips and reading contracts with logs help keep students reading all the way through the summer and well beyond!  Thank you to Paula Kim Studio, Kimberly Geswein and Whimsy Clips for the fonts and clipart in this post.  

Before you go, I'd love for us to stay connected!  Check out any of the social media buttons on the blog to follow along on Literacy Loving Gals' educational journey, or feel free to link your blog to the Blogs tab above, so others may find you when they visit Literacy Loving Gals. :) Now, head on over to Allie at The Positive Teacher for some more suggestions and freebies!
Happy Summer!


What I'm Loving Wednesday

Hello! I'm linking up with BigTime Literacy for What I'm Loving Wednesday to tell you about my brand new obsession and a few other loves in my world.  I'm absolutely, AB-SO-LUTE-LY (I can't stress this enough) loving The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Seravallo!  It will be my new go-to resource, besides Jan Richardson's The Next Step in Guided Reading.  

When I saw the Amazon package on my doorstep last week, I started clapping with giddiness!  I pre-ordered the book back in April, so it's been tough to wait.  The minute I started flipping through it, I knew this would be my new favorite professional text.  I posted a few pictures on my Instagram and Twitter account to seek out some possible Book Study participants.  It looks as if a Book Study will be under way sometime in the near future.  We're thinking August would be a useful time before school gets underway.  Stay tuned!

Another thing I'm loving on this beautiful Wednesday is the weather. I love long summer days.  Today, the sun was out along with a slight breeze.  It was a bit warm, but not as humid as I've experienced before, so I'll take it.  When I got in my car this afternoon, this is what I saw on my dashboard.  Yikes! 
No matter the case, it was still a wonderful day to have some Mama-Daughter time at the park, while my hubby and son spent some time together.  We flip-flop days so we can "fill the emotional tank" of our kiddos.  One on one time is always nice, but we make sure to have tons of family time, too.  Camping trips, here we come! :)
I'm making sure my twins don't have any summer slide in their hunger for books (even though they're only 3 years old) by visiting the library often.  I'm loving the library theme for the kids this year!  The League of Super Readers is a theme that certainly caught my son's attention.  He's a fan of Spiderman, even though he's never seen an episode or movie with Spiderman. He's loves Spiderman because of a shirt he received from his Aunt, which he happened to be wearing when we spotted Spiderman. Besides seeing a life-sized Spidey, my son also thought it was "way cool" the librarians were wearing capes.  What I found cool was seeing the shelves divided up for kids by grade-level interests.  It provided the opportunity for me to find some new titles for the various grades I service.  Cute stuff happening in our local library. :)
Last, but not least, on this Wednesday, I'm loving the VW bus my kiddos got for a Christmas gift.  Recently, it's been sparking some imagination in the minds of my little ones.  The bus has been used for all sorts of things, including an extended fort (yesterday) and, my favorite, a reading nook (today). 

Well, that's it for this edition of What I'm Loving Wednesday!  Don't forget to link up with Michelle over at BigTime Literacy to share your loves for the day! 




FREE Book Lists, Activities, Online Resources and Apps to Support Kids' Reading During the Summer

Friday was my first official day of summer.  Woohoo!  It's been nice to relax the past few days.  I say relax in the loosest of terms, though, because it's tricky for me to really relax.  I'm a mover and a shaker.  There are always tasks to accomplish and most tasks usually involve something school related.  I have a handful of professional texts I would like to read, blog hop posts to prepare, and Back-to-School products to create.  

Why in the world have I already started preparing for the start of the school year when summer has barely started?  I ask myself this on a nightly basis.  The minute I hop into bed my mind starts racing with thoughts about professional texts I'm reading, activities to incorporate into my guided reading groups and fun projects to do with my own children at home.  I think it's because I've always been addicted to learning and teaching.  

The picture below gave me a laugh.  Toward the end of the school year, I was reading The Diary of a Wimpy Kid with one of my 3rd graders for the last 5 minutes of our time together.  It was the only book that seemed to interest him.  Even though it was a Level S, which was far from his Level J reading abilities, it was an amazing motivator.  Besides, levels aren't everything!  Anyway, now that I'm a teacher and a mother, I'm always turning things into a "teaching moment", not only with my students, but with my own children, too.  

Anyway, as I mentioned above, I'm now a parent and have my own kiddos to involve in fun reading activities throughout the summer. Which brings me to some resources I'd like to share in hopes to support and motivate kids to read throughout the next few months.  I've included leveled book lists, an online reading challenge, some summer reading activities, along with online read alouds and iPad story Apps.  Best part?  They're all FREE.

After reading Beyond Leveled Books, I have a new understanding of the purpose of leveled books.  Getting kids to progress up the guided reading levels isn't the end all be all.  It's about motivating our readers to find joy and pleasure in reading.  It's about them choosing to read even if they don't have to.  However, reading leveled books does have an important place in guiding students to become more proficient readers.  Knowing a child's independent and instructional level will help put him/her on the path to reading for enjoyment.  If a child is appropriately matched with texts, meaning he/she does not read books that are not too easy or too difficult, reading can become something pleasurable.

Because of this, I've added a resource I stumbled upon when viewing another school's website.  It contains a lists of books categorized by Levels A through Z to help parents seek out titles within their child's reading level(s). 

Books Arranged by Guided Reading Levels A-Z
Are you looking to have children participate in an online reading program?  Look no further!  Check out Scholastic's Summer Reading Challenge with options for students, educators and parents.  This is an annual challenge, so check back each summer. :) 
FREE Online Reading Program for Kids
If you're on the hunt for some fun summer reading activities, Reading Is Fundamental has some choices for you.

Are you seeking various read alouds children can listen to via the Internet?  Check out Storyline Online and Mrs. P's Stories.  They have a plethora of books to enjoy.  
Storyline Online- FREE Stories Read Aloud
Do you prefer using an iPad?  Check out the Apps below for some stories to read with your kids.  My own kids certainly love them. 
Booksy App (Free Version)

Before I go, I want to say thank you to EduClips for the cute clip art of the kids with books up above in this post.  I hope the resources I provided are useful to you this summer.  If you have other resources, please share them in the comments.  I'm always looking for more. :)  

Help Prevent the Summer Slide! FREE Summer Reading Contracts and Logs

I'm linking up with Teaching Blog Addict for another edition of Freebie Friday to share a resource I created in hopes to help prevent a slide in my RtI students' reading progress over the summer.  If you're looking to send a little something home with your students, this freebie may be for you.  Color and black and white versions of child and an adult contracts have been created, along with reading logs, so students and parents can work together to help the reading continue throughout the summer.  
CHILD READING CONTRACT

PARENT/GUARDIAN READING CONTRACT
Don't forget to link up your freebie over at Teaching Blog Addict!
Happy last Friday in May! 

***Disclaimer: This is NOT a reading log, but a Reading Contract. Now that I have read a handful of professional books and tons of research on reading logs, I no longer use them with my students. Mistakes help us learn. (May 2016)  


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