Sunday Spotlight!

I'm excited to be taking part in Countless Smart Cookies's Sunday Spotlight!  I knew I just had to spotlight my favorite techie product, my Camping Themed Making Inferences QR Code Game, which will be on SALE for the next 2 days!  I post these camping themed cards around the room and have students roam the room during guided reading groups to complete the accompanying student response sheet.  Students read for clues, make inferences, and take turns checking their answers using our couple Smart devices.  They love the bright, labeled, camping photographs that appear when they scan each card's QR code (go ahead, try it on the QR code below!).  I love how engaged and independent they are while I'm working with another reading group!

Next, let me tell you a little about my awesome friends' TPT stores!

Beth, creator of ElementsofLearning, teaches 3rd grade and her store is filled with great products to kick off your school year and make Math super fun in your classroom.  My personal favorite is her Multiplication Array Scoot!

Terri, creator of Teacher Antics, is our amazing Science Lab teacher and was my partner in crime last year when we both taught 5th grade.  In her store, you'll find some great Science Writing prompts.  She even has one set for free here!  

Their stores are growing all the time, so be sure to check them out and leave some feedback love on their freebies.  :)

Check out even more discounted spotlight products and super teachers at the link up below.

Author Study Fun

Do you conduct author studies in your classroom?  In the past, author studies were a totally foreign concept to me, but I have to admit that I recently became slightly obsessed!  Author studies don't have to include loads of prep time or even lots of teacher knowledge about the author.  Let the students do the learning!

Take note of an author that students seem to enjoy, or ask the Media Specialist for suggestions, then check out every single one of that author's books from the library!  It's the "Find the books, and they shall come" theory.  ;)  Once students see the giant stack of books, their excitement and curiosity steers the project.

 

Buddy reading works really well for author studies, because students naturally enjoy talking about similarities between books they read.  My students simply use their independent reading time in the morning and during Guided Reading to read these books.  After a few days of independent and buddy reading of the author's books (or longer if the author writes novels rather than picture books), I give my students this "Find Someone Who Has Read" activity.  Students roam the room, searching for students that have read each of the books on the page (all written by our author study author, of course).

Afterwards, students buddy up to talk about two of the books they've both read.  They use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the books.

Finally, after loads of lively verbal discussion and note taking, students write 2 paragraphs comparing and contrasting two of our author's books. The writing is always top notch, because of all of the discussion that has taken place prior to this activity.







And there you go!  Author studies can be as simple as that.  You can really do a mini-author study every week. In fact, that's what I'm planning, so I created author study activities for 14 of my favorite children's book authors.

I'll link them here in case you also have a love for author study fun!  :)

Aliki
Byrd Baylor
Chris Van Allsburg
Cynthia Rylant
David Shannon
Dr. Seuss
Eric Carle
Eve Bunting
Jon Scieszka
Judy Blume
Mem Fox
Patricia Polacco
Roald Dahl
Steve Jenkins
Tomie dePaola

Water Cycle "What Am I" (I love QR codes!)

Just finishing up teaching the water cycle to my fabulous 4th graders, and thought I'd share my little obsession with you all...I'm in love with QR codes!  Combine that with my love of vibrant photographs, and you get my newest QR code inference game: Water Cycle "What Am I" Task Cards and Picture Match!

Students venture around the room and read the clues.  They are so into it!  I literally have never heard my room so SILENT!  After they've finished writing their responses (check out the student response answer key below), they scan the QR codes check their answers.  

A labeled pic pops up to show them an example of the vocabulary word.  I then print the pictures off for a matching game and for my word wall.  Don't have any way to read QR codes?  No worries, I also created this Water Cycle "What Am I" and Picture Match without QR codes!

How do you use QR codes?  I'd love to hear!

Happy teachering!

-Amber

Paragraph Attack Video

This is a silly (and educational) video I created to assist my fourth grade students in breaking down reading passages on assessments. I call it "Paragraph Attack!" and it includes circling the title, numbering paragraphs, underlining topic sentences, boxing in important words, and eliminating wrong answers. I have found this strategy gives struggling readers confidence in attacking passages at higher reading levels than they generally read. It gives them a place to start and reminds them that they have the necessary skills to gain meaning from any text.  (If YouTube won't play at your school, like it doesn't play at mine, you can also find it here on TeacherTube to play it for your students!)

Text Structure Bookmark Freebie!

It seems to me that text structure questions come up an awful lot on standardized tests.  I prepare my students with these mini bookmarks.  Students use them to identify the text structure in their book (or a stack of books that I dump on their group’s table during whole class activities).

Print, cut apart, and give each student or group their own set.  Laminate for longer life and reuse again and again!

Make it a game!  Students love the challenge of finding one of each type of structure.