Book Bag Fun

Happy Summer!!  I was soooooo ready for this much needed break!!  So far this summer I have done some summer cleaning, lots and lots of yard work, dog sat our friend Shadow, attended a fun blogger meet-up with my co-teacher/blogging partner,  some retail therapy (a girl always needs new shoes), worked on our 2nd grade math common core units for next year, finally started some creating for TPT, hung out with friends and done a lot of sleeping relaxing!  What have you been up to so far this summer?

 

During the summer I am always thinking about what I want to do next school year - what should I change, keep the same, start new, not do again, etc.   One thing I started two years ago was using "book bags" with my students and they love it!  This gives students a variety of books to have available at home to read independently or with someone else.  I have several students every year that do not have access at home to a variety of books to read and this makes that happen for them.

So here is how it works.  I have created a class set of book bags.  Each bag contains 5 books with a variety of levels.  I usually put at least one picture book, one chapter book, and one informational book in each bag.  Be sure to label the books with either the teacher name or book bag number too.

At the beginning of the year, I send home an informational letter to the parents.  It lays out what book bags are and what the expectations are for using the book bags.  There is a part for the parents to sign  acknowledging the expectations and stating that they understand that if a book or book bag is lost or damaged it needs to be replaced with another book (any children's book in good condition - it doesn't have to be brand new).

Each week students take home one book bag.  I have a checklist to keep track of what book bags each student have taken.  I love hearing them get excited when they come up to get their bag - "I got book bag #2!" or "I got the one with the Magic School Bus book!"  Each book bag is labeled with a numbered tag as well.  (I have added a sticker on the back with my name so if it's left in the building or on the bus the finder knows where to return it!)  

I found these super cute Dr. Seuss reusable bags at the dollar spot at Target last year (love me some Target!). 

If you would like your own set of book bag tags, parent information letter, and tracking sheet, I have two different files for you!  Click HERE (or on the picture below) to download the free black and white version.

If you would like the colorful version, click HERE (or on the picture below) to purchase that file.  The "colorful book bag tags" file contains 4 different sets of 40 book bag tags each, parent information letter, and tracking sheet.

Hope your students love this as much as mine do!  Enjoy!!

 

I'm Still Addicted to Reading

Hi Everyone!  Are you enjoying summer?  Summer is a wonderful time to sit back, relax, and read.  In case you didn't see my post yesterday over on my own blog, I wanted to repost it over here.  It's such an awesome deal that I want to shout it from the rooftops!

I love reading in my classroom.  I know I've talked about that before - I adore my Read Aloud time.  During this past year we read 12 books whole class, and I already bought a few more class sets for next year.  I am an official Scholastic Bonus Point/Dollar Book Addict!  In class I carve out time every day after lunch for us to settle down together and read for 15-20 minutes.  It's only enough time for a chapter or two, but enough to get the kids wanting more.  Many of them will continue on with the books during silent reading time.  

This past year I got smart.  I have always read every single page of every single book, but this year I found that website "Audible".  So many of our class read alouds were on there, read by the authors.  Having the authors read the characters the way that they imagined them to be, with different voices, etc... it was amazing!  I downloaded the books onto my iPod and then it was easy to plug into my speakers.  Many of the downloads were cheaper than getting a CD on Amazon.  During the chapters, I was able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the books with my students.  It felt really good to sit for a change...

 I am teaming up with Educents again with some instant downloads for you! It includes activities for so many of your favorite stories you will be reading this next year (and even a few downloads you can use with any book)! 

My products included will surely be loved by your students!  Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and The Chocolate Touch are both books that I read with my kiddos.  Last summer I wanted to create critical thinking questions for my kiddos, so I made up 48 Activity Cards using Marzano's Dimensions of Thinking prompts for each book.  When we were reading the books, I put the cards into our ELA Workshop/Daily 5 rotation, and the kids responded to them in their journals.  

      

There is also a chapter summary grid included in both of them (just like my Read Aloud Mini Packs), that the kids responded on.  I LOVED those chapter summary sentence grids this past year.  It was a easy graphic organizer that kept the kids responsible and paying attention to what we read together.  I already have them copied for all my read alouds for this coming year!  

This bundle contains other great stories too!  

       

For a limited time it is $19.99 from Educents which is about 78% off!  

18 instant downloads with over 700 pages of materials perfect to accompany your reading list!

You can also take peek at some of the other products included in the bundle at any of the links below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Have a Great Day!