Sharing my love of literacy

June 30, 2010

Summer Slide

Most teachers know there is summer slide for kids because their brain is not working as hard as it does during the school year. Here are some daily activities I do with the student I tutor to keep her brain in work mode all summer long:
1. Read aloud to me and then retell the story.

2. Weekly spelling words. Daily writing of the words on a white board. We also go outside and write them with chalk on the sidewalk.

3. We play scrabble, sight word bingo, sight word memory, and the game "Magic Word Bucket" which I blogged about here

4. Weekly poetry activities. I made a poetry notebook for my kido and I give her two new poems a week that we choral read together.

5.Write and illustrate her own books.

6. Play educational computer games.

7. Write a grocery list for her parents and then organize that grocery list by food categories.

8. Assemble a puzzle.

9. Participate in a reading program at the local library. I also have used the summer reading rewards from my local Barnes and Nobles.

10. Write to family and friends using email, letters, and postcards.

11. Read the newspaper to learn about special summer events. We also read the comics to practice fluency.

The beat part of all these activities I do with kidos is I suggest the parents do it with their child, too!
Happy Reading !

June 10, 2010

End f the Year Read Alouds


Here are a few of my favorite books I have shared with students during the last week of school. I hope those teachers still working can find something they want to share!

Enjoy!

I Can Be Anything by Jerry Spinelli
The boy sees himself as a “puddle stomper, or a apple chomper. He sees himself as a mixing-bowl licker and a tin-can kicker,” among numerous other “professions." It is a nice story to read to any elementary classroom!




Who doesn's love Dr. Seuss at the end of the year??
Oh, the Places You'll Go! is a fun book that I use to read to my 5th graders before they left school and headed off to middle school. I read it on the last day every year and it always made me feel a little teary!







Arthur Goes to Camp by Marc Brown
This is a cute story about my favorite aardvark who is homesick at summer camp until a mystery arrives. My first graders love this lovable character and it is a nice way to kick off the summer and share camping stories!







Summer Beat by Betty Franco
The sounds of summer sizzle and pop in this bouncing,swinging tribute to the best sound of every child's favorite season. There is a lot of fun words in here that students just love. This book works well in any K to grade 3 class!


Happy Reading! Summer is just around the corner !!