My Top Five Books for Close Reading for the Upper Elementary Classroom

My Top Five Books 

for Close Reading for the 

Upper Elementary Classroom

Inside Out and Back Again is a wonderful book

written in free verse 

chronicling Ha's, a ten year old girl, 

journey from war-torn Vietnam to Alabama 

and her problems as a second language learner 

and with bullying.

Wonder is a wonderful book chronicling Auggie's, a young boy born with a facial deformity, journey through school and the adjustments he, his family and his classmates have to make.  There's a movie now too!

The One and Only Ivan is a great book 

on the power of friendship. 

It's a beautiful story about Ivan the gorilla. 

It is told from his point of view in captivity in a circus.

Come with Alice and the White Rabbit 

down the rabbit hole! Experience Wonderland. 

Read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, written in 1865,  chronicling Alice's adventures as she chases a Rabbit down a rabbit hole. You may have seen the movies but you need to read the book!

Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures! 

This middle grade novel won the Newbery medal for 2014.  The story is about Flora, a self-described cynic, who witnesses a tragedy/miracle in her neighbor’s backyard. She is able to revive the squirrel and names him Ulysses. The book is very funny but also tackles some serious issues such as divorce, abandonment issues and more. The book is written as part narrative and part graphic novel.

I hope this was helpful.   

Do you need more help?  

Check out my close reading guides!  

I've already chosen the most pivotal parts 

and created the focus questions.  

 It's all done for you to make it easy 

to get deep with the literature. 

Jus click the hyperlinks to go straight there!

               

You can find me on these platforms (as well as my blog!)
  

How can I make your job easier this year?  Let me know in the comments.  If I use your ideas for a blog post, you will win $10 to Teachers Pay Teachers.  Even better, if I use your ideas to make a resource in my store, LisaTeachR's Classroom, I'll send you a free copy of that resource! 

LisaTeachR's tips for the LaborLess Blog Hop

Hello everyone!

ARE YOU REAAADDDY!!!

It is Finally here!

Today I am linking with Laura from Where the Magic Happens, Krista from Teaching Momster, and Lisa from PAWsitively Teaching! I have joined forces once again with my bloggy friends to bring you the best, most amazing giveaway on this Labor Day weekend!
All of us have been thinking about  good ways in which to treat our readers and followers.   We thought hard, and I mean it! Really, really hard… and decided that  we can treat you to our best ideas to work smarter rather than harder… at school and home!
I know what it takes to be a great teacher, the stress, the time, the energy… I could go on and on! I also know that we crave time to ourselves and our families.

So here I go!

Bathroom magnet board

So I made this magnet board to manage bathroom visits.

When students go, they put their number in the center box.   When they return, they put it on the bottom.  Students know not to ask if someone is out of the room.  It has cut down on interruptions in the classroom!

These are buttons with round labels on them. I got most of the stuff at the .99 cent store and Walmart.

Then I put magnetic tape on the back.  I affixed the ribbon with duct tape on the back.

Disneyland Walks

I de-stress with my Disneyland Walks.  OK, ok, I know not everyone can do that but you can just take a walk.  Get out in the fresh air, get some exercise and de-stress!

GRA and Fish in a Tree

A great book to read is Fish in a Tree AND it's part of the Global Read Aloud this year. That's where one book connects the world. It starts soon! This is from the web site:
"The premise is simple; we pick a book to read aloud to our students during a set 6-week period and during that time we try to make as many global connections as possible. Each teacher decides how much time they would like to dedicate and how involved they would like to be. Some people choose to connect with just one class, while others go for as many as possible. The scope and depth of the project is up to you. In the past we have used Twitter, Skype, Edmodo, our wiki, email, regular mail, Kidblog, Tackk, and any other tools we can think of to make these connections. Teachers get a community of other educators to do a global project with, hopefully inspiring them to continue these connections through the year. "
Fish in a Tree is told from the point of view of Ally Nickerson. Ally is a really smart girl. She’s so smart she’s been able to fool a lot of people. One day, however, Mr. Daniels comes to substitute for Ms. Hall. He’s able to figure out Ally when no one else could.
Some themes to consider while reading this book: dyslexia, friendship, family, bullying, overcoming adversity, identity, perseverance, and the power of asking for help.  I created this close reading guide to help with the close read lessons. 

Check it out! Have a great school year!

Top all these great tips and ideas  with these top-notch prizes!

A $100 gift card to Amazon

A $50 gift card to TpT

2 $25 gift cards to TpT

1 $10 gift card to TpT

Thank you for reading! And now don't be silly and get your hands all over this awesome giveaway!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway  

An InLinkz Link-up

 

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Global Read Aloud '15: Fish in a Tree

Global Read Aloud '15

Fish in a Tree

Seven schools in seven years and they’re all the same. Whenever I do my best, they tell me I don’t try hard enough. Too messy. Careless spelling. Annoyed that the same word is spelled different ways on the same page. And the headaches. I always get headaches from looking at the brightness of dark letters on white pages for too long.

I wonder how many kids are going through this but, like Ally, are too embarrassed or afraid to say something? There are many famous people who struggle(d) with Dyslexia...Albert Einstein, Whoopi Goldberg, Dav Pilkey, Pablo Picasso and George Washington to name but a few.

This website (www.dyslexia.com) has common characteristics and what to look out for.

I found another great resource: understood.org. There are a lot of good resources and tips. Some things they suggest to encourage reluctant readers:

• Let them read comic books or graphic novels 
• Use social media and blogging as a forum for reading and writing 
• Let them read joke books 
• Let them read cookbooks and try their hand at cooking or baking 
• Read newspaper and magazines to keep up with current events (online or paper) 
• Ebooks or reading apps 

Global Read Aloud

Fish in a Tree was chosen for the Global Read Aloud 2015. Sign up now to participate this fall. It's a wonderful collaborative project for your students. It'll get them excited about reading and writing.

Here are some resources I found that can help with the Global Read Aloud.

• Book trailer video.  If playback is a problem, try Teacher Tube.  Playback shouldn't be a problem on school networks then!  Click here for Teacher Tube.
• Click directly to the Global Read Aloud site here!
• A free Educator's Guide from Penguin.  It was pretty good!
• You can find Lynda Mulally Hunt's website here. She will even do short Skype visits with your class!
• Edmodo group for Fish in a Tree.  Great place for collaboration and to hook up with other classes.
• It kicks off October 5th and ends November 13th. Don’t worry about getting behind, just don’t get ahead.  Here is the schedule for FIAT:  

Week 1: Chapter 1 – 8, Week 2: Chapter 9 – 17, Week 3: Chapter 18 – 24, Week 4: Chapter 25 – 33, Week 5: Chapter 34 – 42, Week 6: Chapter 43 – end

• Twitter is a great place to talk about the project and meet people. The slow chat hashtag is #GRAFIAT  Make sure to follow Lynda Mullaly Hunt @Lynmullalyhunt

I will add to this list as more things become available.

Close Reading Guide on TeachersPayTeachers!

This is a guide to a close reading of this wonderful book, Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. It was first published in 2015 and has been a breakout hit.   This is a great book. Read it to your kids/class today!

This story is told from the point of view of Ally Nickerson. Ally is a really smart girl. She’s so smart she’s been able to fool a lot of people. One day, however, Mr. Daniels comes to substitute for Ms. Hall. He’s able to figure out Ally when no one else could.

Close reading will be an integral part of teaching with the Common Core. Students need to know how to be analytic when reading texts and poems. I have outlined the components of authentic literacy and what it looks like in the classroom. I formatted the guide as follows. It begins with an explanation of close reading and how to format a lesson. Then, there is a story summary, themes listed and character descriptions. I created focus questions for each and every chapter. There are explicit gradual release formatted lessons throughout. I included a close reading sheet for each of the explicit lessons. You could use the focus questions to create more close reading lessons using the blank templates or for class discussions. At the end, there is a blank sheet for planning and to use with close reading of different chapters. I hope your students enjoy it as much as my students did.

Some comments my other close reading guides have received:

"This was my first year using this book and your resources helped me out greatly! Thank you!"
"Love this! My ESL students are struggling with the novel and this will help."
"Thank you for this wonderful product! Walking through a close read with my students, helped them understand the process. It was fantastic being able to reproduce the novel in a close reading graphic organizer. This product saved me a lot of time!"
"Awesome resource! I can't wait to use it. I can see that it will be useful with SEVERAL different grades. Thank you!"

Thanks for taking a look at my close reading guides on my TPT store!

I'll see you at the Global Read Aloud!

TPT: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lisateachr
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+LisaRoblesLisaTeachR/posts
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IMWAYR: Fish in a Tree

Monday Linky from Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers!

Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mulally Hunt

What a powerful book.  It's about Ally.  She's a whiz at math and an amazing artist.  She's been able to hide a secret for a long time though...she can't read. One day, though, she gets a new teacher, Mr. Daniels who is on to her.  He takes the time to help Ally gain skills to overcome her Dyslexia.

As a teacher, I paid particular attention to the interactions between Ally and her teachers.  This passage made me think:

Seven schools in seven years and they’re all the same. Whenever I do my best, they tell me I don’t try hard enough. Too messy. Careless spelling. Annoyed that the same word is spelled different ways on the same page. And the headaches. I always get headaches from looking at the brightness of dark letters on white pages for too long.

I wonder how many kids are going through this but, like Ally, are too embarrassed or afraid to say something?  There are many famous people who struggle with Dyslexia...Albert Einstein, Whoopi Goldberg, Dav Pilkey, Pablo Picasso and George Washington to name but a few.

I found a great resource: understood.org.  Lots of good resources and tips. Some things they suggest to encourage reluctant readers:

• Let them read comic books or graphic novels
• Use social media and blogging as a forum for reading and writing
• Let them read joke books
• Let them read cookbooks and try their hand at cooking or baking
• Read newspaper and magazines to keep up with current events (online or paper)
• eBooks or reading apps

Fish in a Tree was chosen for the Global Read Aloud 2015.  Sign up now to participate this fall.  It's a wonderful collaborative project for your students.  It'll get them excited about reading and writing

You can find Lynda Mulally Hunt's website here.  She will even do short Skype visits with your class!

If you need some help with close reading and comprehension questions, you can buy my close reading guide on Teachers Pay Teachers.  

TPT: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Lisateachr
Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+LisaRoblesLisaTeachR/posts
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LisaTeachR
Bloglovin: http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/12597175
Twitter: @Lisa_teacher
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/lisarteacher