Free printables!

It's summer time!!  School is out and the heat is spreading everywhere.  To celebrate, today's note is about a great website that has some free printables that you can download for personal use.  Just head on over to a blog named "Anything But Perfect" and download some fun!  Do you know of any great free printables?

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?

What to do over the summer????

If your district is like ours, you are winding up for the year about now. The countdown has begun for teachers and students in a happy way and sadly for parents! The question we hear most from parents is "What do we do over the summer to keep my child's skills fresh?". Usually parents are looking for something inexpensive and easy to access. I don't blame them.

Teachers are the kings and queens of finding items and activities on the cheap. Typically I like to recommend our public library as a resource. They usually will have some type of a reading program for the children to encourage reading over the summer. Our public library even offers the children incentives of prizes for a certain number of books read over the summer. Barnes & Nobel has a similar summer reading program available nation-wide.

The next question we hear is "What should my child read?". Luckily our district has what we call Championship Playbooks for each grade level. Within each playbook is a recommended reading list for the summer. I am posting our list for first grade going to second.

Suggested Summer Reading List for First Graders

Moving Up to Second Grade

Level Name of Book

E All By Myself by Mercer Mayer

O Bats by Gail Gibbons

M Berenstain Bears by Jan and Stan Berenstain

I Big Dog, Little Dog by PD Eastman

G Carrot Seed by Robert Kraus

G Curious George by H.A. Rey

J Danny and the Dinosaur by Syd Hoff

K Franklin and the Tooth Fairy by Paulette Bourgeois

K Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel

K Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crock Johnson

G Just Grandpa and Me by Mercer Mayer

L Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes

J Little Bear (series) by Elise Minarik

P Magic School Bus (series) by Joanna Cole

M Mitten, The by Jan Brett

O Moon Book, the by Gail Gibbons

J Mouse Soup by Arnold Lobel

J Mouse Tales by Arnold Lobel

J Mr. Putter and Tabby (series) by Cynthia Rylant

K Nate the Great... (series) by Marjorie Sharmat

J One Fish, Two Fish by Dr. Seuss

G Owl at Home by Arnold Lobel

J Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

J There's a Nightmare in My Closet by Mercer Mayer

I There's An Alligator Under My Bed by Mercer Mayer

M Three Names by Patricia McLaughlin

M Thunder Cake by Patricia Pollaco

J Very Hungry Catapillar by Eric Carle

H We Are Best Friends by Aliki

M When I Was Young in the Mountains by Cynthia Rylant

F Who Will Be My Friends? By Syd Hoff

We use the Rigby reading levels to rank books from A-Z (easy to more difficult). This list gives a variety of levels to choose from for your child. You can find our Championship Playbooks at : http://www.cityschools.net/instruction/instruction_news/championship_playbook.php. You can find the first grade list on page 26 of the first grade playbook.

Remember: if you ask the children what they need to do over the summer they will tell you that they need to be swimming in the pool. But children cannot live by chlorinated water alone! They need to stretch those brains and continue reading over the summer. So check out your local library and see what type of summer program they offer.

See you in August!

Looking towards this summer.....

It is April and items are already coming out about what to do over the summer. I wanted to share with you the 2010 Barnes and Noble Passport to Summer Reading information that I just received. Barnes and Noble is partnering with author Rick Riordan on summer reading. This summer reading program encourages first through sixth graders to read during the summer.

Each child picks books they wish to read and fills the titles in their Summer Passport form. After they have read eight books they can return their book passport to their local Barnes and Noble store and receive a FREE book! Completed forms may be turned in between May 25 and September 7, 2010. Children choose a free book from the list on the passport of available titles.

If you would like your book passport form, visit your local Barnes and Noble store to request one. If you live in the Murfreesboro, TN area, just send us an email and we can get the form to you.

Encourage your children to participate in this great adventure!