Summer is coming!

With the end of the school year quickly approaching, parents are asking "What can we do with the kids over the summer to keep their skills up?"  Scholastic has some great ideas for activities on their website.  Just click on:

 http://www.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=98

and you will find a collection of activities to enjoy over the summer.  Do you know of other websites with activities?

Finding out book levels

Yesterday I asked my fifth/sixth grade students for book recommendations.  If they finish their work during reading group in an orderly manner and WITH manners then I read to them the last five minutes.  Surprisingly they love being read to even at their age!  One suggested A Case of the Stripes, another suggested Harry Potter, while another student suggested The Edge Chronicles.  I hadn't heard of the last series and the requirement is the book must be on a fifth grade level.  So I used my book leveler from Scholastic to find out the grade level of The Edge Chronicles.  Unfortunately for them that series is a 4.3 level.  So we will have to brainstorm some more.  If you would like to check out the Scholastic Book Leveler, just take a look at the bottom of this blog.  I keep the widget at the bottom of this blog.  Have fun!

Scholastic website for teachers

I often search for websites that offer lots of resources and ideas for me to use in the classroom and with other teachers. One site that I have found very helpful is the Scholastic website for Teachers. If you click on the title of this article it should be a direct link to the website. Scholastic offers many articles on several different topics. I found several articles on interventions here. It also provides links that can be passed on to parents. Teachers can also find lesson plans, student activities, planning calendars, recommended books and authors, and many more items. So take a moment and go on over to Scholastic to see the wealth of information they have to share!