Check out my blog post for more detailed directions!
http://inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2015/04/celebrate-success-of-your-rockin-readers.html

For more detailed information, please check out my close reading file:
Digging Deep Into the Text with Close Reading: A Must-Have Teacher Resource>

Learn more about this idea here:

http://inspiremeasap.blogspot.com/2013/07/michaels-create2educate.html

When the Venn diagram is complete, I like to take a picture of it. I photocopy the picture and have my students glue it in their reader’s notebook. I also place the picture on an anchor chart next to my guided reading bulletin board. Whenever a student needs a reminder about one of the expectations, I just refer to the anchor chart as a friendly reminder of our lesson.

***This file is included in my Teacher Reading Binder resource as well. Per customer request, I am also selling this lesson separately!!***

These clean, simple, and colorful posters are great for a bulletin board display. This file includes 10 different reading strategies.

**These posters are also sold with my Teacher Reading Binder: The Ultimate Resource for any Reading Teacher!**

Students will learn to infer character traits and also prove their thinking and ideas by referring to the text. I used the story, That’s What Leprechauns Do by Eve Bunting for the anchor charts, but you can use any books with leprechauns as the main character for the lesson.

This file is **common core aligned** and will conclude with the students making an adorable leprechaun craft, featuring the character traits. There are lots of pictures and detailed directions.

If you have any questions, please email me at:
inspiremeasap@gmail.com

Thanks so much!
Melissa

American heroes: A Biography Bonanza!
This 84 page file is aligned to *Common Core Writing Anchor Standards 2,5,7,8,9,10* and *Speaking and Listening Anchor Standards 1, 4, 5*

There are 15 different mini-lessons that engage your students in using the writing process to use research skills to write a biography about an American hero of their choice.

This file includes:

* Unique and creative ways to engage your students in a fun genre- biographies!

* Resources, tips, and ideas for how to host a success culminating learning celebration- The Biography Bonanza….which will knock the socks off of your administration and the parents of your students! (Invitations, sign-up sheets, posters to hang up around the school, tips for success, note for students, color and b/w student awards)

*Colorful, student friendly “I can” statements that align to every mini-lesson

*Student worksheets and resources which correlate directly to the mini- lessons

*A colorful and cute bulletin board idea for how to display the writing process and the status of the class

*Editing checklist and rubric for the project

*Tips for organizing papers and notes the students take

Do you already have reading workshop up and running in your classroom? Do you have a classroom full of rockin’ readers that are ready to have their reading workshop kicked up a notch…gingerbread style???

If so, this is the unit for you! Grab a copy of The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School, by Laura Murray. This beautiful picture book will serve as the mentor text for this RW unit of study. There are 20 comprehension based mini-lessons that are included in this file. All mini-lessons are written in the reading workshop daily lesson plan template, which will explicitly outline what the teacher is saying. This file will teach you how to set up your mini-lessons and help you keep your reading workshop mini-lessons truly “mini,” which can be challenging to do!

There is an abundance of colorful anchor charts, which will provide you with a powerful way to support what you are teaching during your mini-lessons.

The mini-lessons in this unit are aligned with ELA common core standards, for grades 1-5. (The standards that apply for this unit is listed by grade level in the file!)

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me!

This resource is also part of my Reading Workshop BUNDLE 

Reading Workshop Bundle

The common core correlation is explicitly stated in this resource, suitable for grades 2-4. The following learning targets are included in this unit:

1. I can identify a cause and effect relationship with Camilla Cream in the story A Bad Case of Stripes.
2. I can identify the main character in the story. I can explain how the main character grows and changes from the beginning to the end of the story.
3. I can describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events. Or, I can identify how Camilla’s actions contributed to the sequence of events.
4. I can identify the character traits of Camilla Cream.
5. I can infer specific character traits about Camilla Cream. I can use clues about the character’s actions, words, and feelings to make an inference. I can use the text to support my thinking.
6. I can identify the point of view of A Bad Case of Stripes. I can support my thinking by using evidence from the text.
7. I can identify the author’s purpose of A Bad Case of Stripes. I can support my thinking by using evidence from the text.
8. I can ask and answer thick questions before, during, and after I read.
9. I can compare and contrast two stories with the same theme/topic.
10. I can identify the theme of A Bad Case of Stripes.
11. I can identify the theme of the story, A Bad Case of Stripes, using the text for support.
12. I can write a summary of the story.
13. I can identify Camilla’s external (outside) and internal (inside) character traits. I can use the text to support my ideas.

This unit ends with a reading celebration- a Camilla Cream art project.

This unit includes directions, colorful and unique anchor charts, and pictures.

This unit will complement your reading workshop or even a basal reading program. All you will need is a copy of the mentor text, A Bad Case of Stripes, by David Shannon…which is probably already on your bookshelf right now! :)

Many teacher’s want to know what my students are doing when I am working with a small group of readers. That is a great question and the answer is independent reading! Not a very exciting answer, but an exciting time for engaged, rockin’ readers!

If you are already implementing reading workshop in your primary classroom, and are looking meaningful literacy writing activities, then this is the file for you! No centers in sight!

Included in this resource:

– 13 scripted mini-lessons
– Colorful posters to display as anchor charts
– Student reproducibles for every mini-lesson

Mini-lessons include:
Readers celebrate their brand new reader’s notebooks with a decorating party.
Readers demonstrate expected behaviors with their reader’s notebooks.
Readers respond to what they read in their notebooks.
Readers use sticky notes to show their thinking
Readers keep a record of their reading.
Readers can respond to a fiction text by writing a response letter.
Readers can respond to a non-fiction text by writing a response letter.
Readers self-reflect on their reader’s notebook by using a rubric.
Readers self-reflect on their independent reading behaviors and habits by using a rubric.
Readers read a variety of different genres.
Readers read with expression and fluency.
Readers have strong reading behaviors and habits.
Readers create reading goals to help them become better readers.

Also included:
* Alternative to purchasing and using composition notebooks for reader’s notebooks.
* Cover pages for reading binders, instead of using composition notebooks. Resources include cover pages (in color and black and white) and directions.

This resource is also part of the Reading Workshop Bundle 

Reading Workshop Bundle 

If you have any questions, please contact me before purchasing!

Adjectives- Awesome adjectives that describe me!

Children love everything! As educators, we need to encourage them to love themselves!This is a great lesson on self-esteem, but also integrates writing, reading, and art. What better time to teach these lessons than during Valentine’s Day? Although they can be taught any time of the year, I like to capitalize on the “love theme” of the month!

This file includes colorful photographs, directions, a note to send home, and colorful anchor charts.

Please ask me if you have any questions!

Melissa :)

If you have any questions, please contact me before purchasing!

A Must Have Teacher Resource for Successful Implementation of Close Reading in your Primary Classroom

I initially began to create this file because my school district did not provide any professional development on close reading, yet the teachers were expected to start implementing this strategy into our English Language Arts framework. Sadly, that seems to be the case for many other teachers in districts across the country. Most teachers do not like to just implement something new, without a solid foundation of WHY they need to do it and HOW they should be doing it. After taking this school year to research close reading and its connection to the Common Core State Standards, I am ready to share this with you!

The title “digging deep” for this file comes as a result of what close reading really is- DIGGING DEEP into the text by rereading multiple times with a different purpose/focus for each read.

Part One: Digging Deep into the Text with Close Reading: 157 pages

This part of the file informs the teacher about what close reading is, why you need to be using this strategy, and most importantly, HOW it is done correctly and effectively.

Resources include:
1. A background about what close reading is and characteristics of a close reading lesson
2. Guidance about finding a complex text using the three levels of text complexity
3. An explanation, rationale, and the “know how” to create text based questions for a complex text
4. Information about the three tiers of vocabulary and how it is incorporated in the CCSS and close reading lessons
5. Information about scaffolding close reading lessons, including what that means and how to do it
6. An explanation for how YOU can create a close reading leveled passage for your class
7. “Thinking about my Reading” Toolkit of close reading strategies- resources to use with your students as you teach them to annotate or “code” the text
8. Text dependent teacher flip book- a great resource to keep handy as you are creating text dependent questions with your complex text for your close reading lesson
9. Close reading (first, second, and third reading) in action! Detailed explanation of how I used a complex text with my students for every read (a picture is worth a thousand words- they are included, too!)

Part Two: Digging Deep Close Reading Anchor Charts and Classroom Library Book Labels- 84 pages

This part of the file is more for the students. This part includes colorful anchor charts to print and post for your students, so they can refer to them as you teach a close read.

Resources include:

1. There is one graphic organizer for the students to use, which correlates with the 10 reading anchor standards
2. There are more than 10 different colorful anchor charts that list the learning target, ready for you to post as you close read
3. Resources to create your own close reading bulletin board- a nice way to remind your students (and yourself!) the different steps to a close read
4. Classroom library book labels according to genre, series, author name, and social studies/science topic. Also includes a template that you can customize so you can create your own title (this part is a power point file)

***This file does NOT include close reading passages for you to use with your students. What this file does do, however, is teach you about what MAKES a text complex and high enough in quality to use for a close read. Also, please understand that in order to implement close reading successfully and effectively, you will need to take ample time to read through the information presented in this file. Think of it as a professional development in a PDF format!!***

This is ZIP file. This file is aligned to the Common Core Anchor Standards for Reading for grades 1-5.

It is my sincerest wish that this file enables you implement close reading confidently, correctly, and effectively in your classroom!

Please contact me with any questions about this file PRIOR to purchasing.

If you have any questions, please contact me before purchasing!