Summer Reading Activities for Kids

Are you looking for ways to keep your students reading this summer? Or maybe you are searching for ways to keep boredom at bay with your own personal kids over the break?  Check out these great reading programs that offer different incentives for children to read.  This is a great way to slow that summer regression and keep kids engaged!  This post from freebies.about.com is a great starting spot!  If you know of others, please share them in the comments section at the bottom of this post!

http://freebies.about.com/od/familyfreestuff/tp/summer-reading.htm

Updated for Summer Reading 2016

Summer reading programs are a great way to encourage your child to read over the summer months. So why not give them a little incentive to really get into that summer reading? Especially if those incentives are some great kid freebies!

Below you'll find a list of summer reading programs that will get your kids free stuff likefree books, money, gift cards, movies, and more.

Having a tough time getting your child interested in reading this summer? Try downloading a free kids book on your Kindle to get them on board.

Between these summer reading programs, free summer movies, free summer bowling,free summer skating, and all the other summer freebies your kids will be very busy this summer!

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Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Program 2016

This year the Barnes and Noble summer reading program, Summer Reading Triathlon, gives out a free book to each child who complete 3 reading triathlon activities.

There are many free books to choose from and there's something for every kid in grades 1-6.

This summer reading program runs May 17 - September 6, 2016. More »

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TD Bank Summer Reading Program 2016

When your child completes the TD Bank summer reading program, they'll get $10 free!

Kids will need to read 10 books and have a new or existing TD Simple Savings account at a TD Bank to get this deal.

This summer reading program runs June 1 - August 31, 2016. More »

Scholastic

Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge 2016

Scholastic has a summer reading challenge where kids read and then go online to record the minutes they've read this summer. They'll also be able to take weekly challenges to earn rewards.

This summer reading programs runs May 9 - September 9, 2016. More »

Sylvan

Sylvan's Book Adventure Reading Program 2016

Sylvan's reading program called Book Adventure encourages children to read books and then take online quizzes over the books to earn points.

These points can then be redeemed for prizes like books, magazine subscriptions, tattoos, candy, CD's, and games.

This summer reading program is ongoing, all year around. More »

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Chuck E. Cheese Reading Rewards 2016

Chuck E. Cheese has a summer reading program where kids can earn free 10 Chuck E. Cheese tokens for reading each day for 2 weeks.

This summer reading program goes on all year. More »

Book It!

Book It! Spark Your Greatness Summer Reading Challenge 2015

Kids who participate in the Book It! Pizza Hut's Spark Your Greatness Summer Reading Challenge will be able to enjoy fun activities, play games, and have the chance to win some prizes.

This summer reading program starts June 1. More »

Showcase Cinemas

Showcase Cinemas Summer Reading Program 2015

For each book kids read and write a book report over, they'll get to see a movie at a Showcase Cinemas movie theater for free.

This summer reading program runs July 8 - July 29. More »

Books-A-Million, Inc.

Books-A-Million Summer Reading Program 2015

Kids can get a free Percy Jackson 10th anniversary Camp Half-Blood tote bag this summer with the Books-A-Million Summer Quest reading program.

The kids must read 4 of the 75+ qualified books, fill out a journal form to show which ones they read, and return it to any Books-A-Million store.

This summer reading program ends August 8. More »

Metro Bancorp, Inc.

Metro Bank Summer Reading Challenge 2015

Metro Bank is offering all kids $10 this summer through their Reading Rocks summer reading program.

Participants who read 10 books from the Reading Rocks brochure, which can picked up at a Metro Bank Store, will get $10 deposited into a new or existing Young Savers account.

This summer reading program ends September 30. More »

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Half Price Books Summer Reading Program 2015

Half Price Books gives out free gift cards to kids who read books this summer.

When kids read for 300 minutes during both June and July, they'll get a free $5 gift card per month to Half Price Books. One lucky kid in each age group and store will get a $20 gift card.

This summer reading program runs June 1 - July 31. More »

© H-E-B

HEB H.E. Buddy Summer Reading Club 2015

The H.E. Buddy Summer Reading Club sponsored by HEB grocery stores gives out a package of cool prizes for each child who reads 10 books this summer.

It's a mystery what the prizes are but I'm betting it includes a free t-shirt!

This summer reading program ends on October 1. More »

Public Library Summer Reading Programs

Some of the best summer reading programs are at your local public library. Every public library has a different summer reading program but almost all of them have rewards and prizes for kids as well as fun events. More »

Kindergarten Fun

What a fun day working with these kindergartners on phonemic awareness and phonics!  This group of students needed extra help hearing the sounds in words.  As part of their lesson, we stretched the sounds with rubber bands and used elkonin boxes to help our students.  These elkonin boxes also provided a great formative assessment on who could hear the sounds.  It was so helpful in planning our next steps for the lesson.  

When our group was ready, we practiced reading and writing short u words. These students were so eager to learn and enjoyed reading, writing, and talking to each other!

What strategies have you used to help students with phonemic awareness?  Leave a comment below so that we can all learn from each other!

Growth Mindset and Testing Times

Educators are not the only ones who stress out about "the test" each spring. Help your students feel positive by teaching them to have growth mindsets rather than fixed mindsets.

Nurturing Growth Mindsets: Six Tips from Carol Dweck - EdWeek Blog

Read the March 14, 2016 blog from Evie Blad (below)

Stanford researcher Carol Dweck clearly tapped into a powerful and compelling idea when she linked the concept of growth mindsets to academic success.

As fans of Dweck's research can quickly explain, people with fixed mindsets see strengths and skills as inate traits, like eye color. You're either born with them, or you're not. But people with growth mindsets recognize that the brain can grow and change through effort, and they embrace failures as opportunities for developing new strategies and approaches to learning content and concepts they find challenging.

Enthusiasm for Dweck's work has spread rapidly, and her name is a buzzword in many schools as teachers buy into the idea that helping students shift their mindsets can lead to academic gains.

But, in recent years, Dweck has worked to balance that enthusiasm by busting some misconceptions about her research and its applications in schools. That includes a wildly popular Education Week commentary and, on Friday, a keynote address at EdWeek's Leaders to Learn From event in Washington.

"I fear that my work, which grew up to counter the failed self-esteem movement, will be used for the same purpose, trying to make kids feel good but not actually changing the process of learning," Dweck said, explaining her concerns. 

As people have embraced the growth mindset idea, they haven't always fully understood every dimension of the research. Among the biggest misconceptions? That boosting students' mindsets is simply a matter of praising effort rather than results or helping students develop new strategies for approaching content they struggle with, Dweck said.

 "Sheer effort is highly important, but it is not the ultimate value; learning and improvement are," Dweck said. "Effort is one route to learning and improvement."

Here are six tips pulled from Dweck's talk:

1. Acknowledge the nuance in the research.

Growth mindsets are not a magic trick that will solve every challenge in the classroom, Dweck said. The enthusiasm for the research sometimes leads to an expectation of unrealistic results, researchers have said. And that same enthusiasm can lead skeptics to dismiss them all together. Fellow mindset researcher David Yeager has even published a paper called "Social-Psychological Interventions in Education: They're Not Magic," which he just calls "The Magic Paper."

"A growth mindset is not a panacea, but it does empower [students] and help them learn," she said.

2. Everyone has a fixed mindset sometimes.

There's a misconception that every student and teacher can be put into one of two categories: those with growth mindsets and those with fixed mindsets, Dweck said, but in reality, everyone "has a little bit of both." The either/or mentality causes some people to ignore chances they have to address the fixed mindsets they do have about some areas.

"Let's legitimize that fixed mindset, because we all have it somewhere; we are all a mixture," Dweck said. "And watch for those fixed-mindset triggers."

What sparks students' fixed mindsets? It's whatever makes them retreat to that place where avoiding "looking dumb" is more important than being vulnerable and learning a new idea, she said. Those triggers are different for different people. They could be struggles, setbacks, criticism from others, or even meeting someone who is smarter or more talented, Dweck said.

"Do you hate them just a little bit? Or do you say, 'wow how did they develop those skills?' Maybe I can learn from them."

3. Name your fixed mindset.

Dweck told of a consultant in Australia who encouraged business executives to name their "fixed-mindset persona" so they could have a fun, comfortable way of discussing it with peers. 

In schools, the name gives a quick identifier to the triggers students and teachers identify, and it helps them recognize their responses that might not be productive, she said.

"Name it, claim it, and talk about it," she said. "And over time, recruit it to work with you on your growth mindset goals."

For students, that might mean calling their mindset by their middle name or a goofy nickname.

"When we're in a crunch, when we're on deadline and I'm not sure we're gonna make it, Duane shows up," one Australian man told his coworkers, according to Dweck. His organization's morale and productivity shot up as they adopted those strategies, she said.

4. Move beyond effort.

If teachers and parents want to nurture growth mindset in children, they should move beyond just pushing them toward effort. They should also help them identify new strategies and approaches so that effort can be productive, Dweck said. I discuss that a bit in this story about how math teachers can strengthen growth mindsets by changing their approach to the content. 

Children can then move beyond just asking for answers when they don't understand and instead ask "What can I do to help myself?" she said.

5. Put mindsets into a greater school-culture context.

The larger culture of a school can influence their mindset formation, Dweck said. Students are less likely to avoid "looking dumb" and more likely to try new approaches if they believe that their school is interested in their success, she said. Similarly, in workplaces, employees are more likely to display growth mindsets when they believe that the organization believes in developing abilities.

Social-emotional learning efforts and school climate initiatives that encourage students to build supportive relationships may help build this attitude in a school, Dweck said.

"What is the larger culture that allows teachers and students to feel safe? That we're out for your development? We're not here to sort you into who can succeed and who can't."

6. Don't use mindsets to label students (or yourself).

Dweck said she's been disappointed to hear that some teachers have used a student's mindset as an excuse, saying things like "that child can't learn; he has a fixed mindset."

"We used to say kids don't have the ability. Now we're saying they don't have the mindset? I think it's protective. It's our way of saying 'It's not my fault that child isn't learning.'"

You can watch the whole address here.

Change your words; change your mindset bulletin board:

Source: https://www.pinterest.com/explore/mindset/ 

"What Can I Say to Myself?" Anchor Chart 

Source: Third Grade Thoughts

 

The Power of Believing that You Can Improve - TED Talk

by Carol Dweck

 

 

One Little Change in How You Talk to Your Kids Can Make Them More Successful

This post by Angie Aker on Upworthy gives some practical advice on how to say things to your students.

Love this growth mindset post by Stephanie Van Horn at Third Grade Thoughts.

 

It includes several video links and a growth mindset resource round-up, including videos, books, and other resources.  It includes how to use "The Dot" to talk about growth mindset, too. 

Growth Mindset video to show your students:

Awesome Writing Anchor Charts

25 Awesome Anchor Charts For Teaching Writing

Anchor charts are a great way to make thinking visible as you record strategies, processes, cues, guidelines and other content during the learning process. Here are 25 of our favorite charts for teaching your students all about writing. This is the first post in the Teaching Young Writers blog series sponsored by Zaner-Bloser’sStrategies for Writers.

1. The Why Behind Writers Workshop

thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com

First and second graders will draw inspiration from this fun-filled anchor chart about why we write. Make this chart applicable to older students by expanding on each aspect with a specific audience or goal. “To share experiences” can become “to share experiences with friends in a postcard or with readers in a memoir.”

2. Setting Goals

followpics.co

This second-grade writing-goals chart sets goals around important writing skills for younger students: punctuation, spelling and vocabulary. Older students can set goals around writing complex sentences, revising for tone, using a thesaurus to find just the right word or crafting clear multi-sentence paragraphs.

3. Writers Workshop 101

lesd.k12.az.us

The beauty of this writers-workshop anchor chart, which could be used with any elementary grade, is that when you get to number 10, you’re ready to return to number one. To make this chart a living part of your classroom, write each student’s name on a clothespin and have the student put the clip where he or she is currently working. That will help you—and the students—track exactly how fast they’re progressing on each writing piece and help students find partners to conference with.

4. Checking Off the Six Traits

working4theclassroom.blogspot.ca

This anchor chart is jam-packed with things for fourth- and fifth-grade writers to remember about the six traits of writing. Use the chart as a whole-class reference, or laminate it to use with a small group. When it’s laminated, students can check off each aspect they’ve included in their own writing. Meaningful dialogue? Check! Problem and solution? Check! Or before each writing assignment, review the chart and check the aspects that are most important so students know where to focus their time.

5. Writing Realistic Fiction

myclassroomideas.com

This anchor chart reminds upper elementary students how to create realistic stories. As you create this with your students, add organization by color-coding the tips. Red for organization, orange for transitions and so on.

6. First, Next, Then, Finally

deniseherman.wikispaces.com

Help early-elementary students stay organized with an anchor chart that’s focused on order-of-events language. Tactile learners can write their first drafts on sentence strips and use this format to put the events in order before they transcribe their work onto writing paper.

7. The Elements of Informational Writing

myclassroomideas.com

Focus upper elementary students on the most important aspects of informational writing, and keep them organized with the color-coded tips. This chart could be used to support paragraph writing or essays. (Color-coding student work by underlining or writing with different-colored pencils can help visual learners be sure they’re including each type of sentence as they write.)

8. Oreo Opinions

pinterest.com

This deliciously inspired opinion anchor chart can be used by students in grades 3–5 during writers workshop, or when developing an opinion for discussion or debate. To build out student writing, have them “double-stuff” their Oreos with extra “E” examples.

9. Student Reporters

joyfullearninginkc.blogspot.com

This anchor chart, best for K–2, is made relevant with examples of student work, in this case a fantastic ladybug report. Keep this chart relevant by updating the examples with student work throughout the year. In kindergarten, this will also showcase how students move from prewriting and pictures to writing words and sentences.

10. Get Argumentative

pinterest.com

Use this anchor chart with middle schoolers to make sure they’re considering all sides of an argument, not just the one that matters the most to them. One way to adapt this chart as students develop their understanding of argument is to write each element—claim, argument, evidence—under a flap that students can lift if they need a reminder.

11. Pre-Writing Strategy

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msmichellelouise.blogspot.com

These upper elementary anchor charts will help students deepen their prewriting skills as they develop different ways to map out ideas. To make these prewriting anchor charts a living reference in your classroom, write assignment specifics on sticky notes that can be switched out for each new prewriting map. For example, the events on a timeline map could change when students switch from writing chronological realistic fiction to writing biographies.

12. Organized Beginnings and Endings

lifein4b.blogspot.com

Get upper elementary students focused on good beginnings and excellent endings with this chart. Post it in the writing conference area and provide students with a few questions to start their discussions about one another’s beginnings and endings.

13. Stoplight Paragraphs

myclassroomideas.com

The stoplight visual can be used to help early elementary students understand and write clear paragraphs. As students are editing their work, have them read with green, yellow and red pencils in hand so they can see how their paragraphs are hooking and engaging readers.

With this anchor chart, upper elementary students can try out each type of introduction to see which fits best with their writing style. To make this chart interactive, have students write their names on clothespins and pin their names to the type of introduction that they’ve chosen to write. Then, during conferencing, they can conference with someone who is writing the same type of beginning.

14. From the Beginning

missklohnsclassroom.blogspot.com

This sixth-grade anchor chart gives students lots of ways to start their writing. It could be updated midyear with strong examples of leads that students have written or that they’ve found in books. Students could also copy this chart into their notebooks and keep track of the different ways they’ve started their own writing, to see if they develop a signature lead.

15. Power Up Student Sentences

teachingmyfriends.blogspot.com

Inspire students to get crafty and creative with their sentences. Update the moods or key words with every writing assignment so students are constantly refining their clauses, verbs and descriptions.

16. Show, Don’t Tell

readlearnteachlife.blogspot.com

“Show, don’t tell” is a cardinal rule of writing. This anchor chart, best for upper elementary writers, can be used to strengthen scenes in fiction and narrative nonfiction works. Build this chart out for middle school writers with additional ideas and more complex emotions.

17. Sentences That Do the Heavy Lifting

pinterest.com

Get early-elementary students to write longer, more descriptive sentences with this chart. Bonus: Use sentence strips to switch out the examples of strong sentences based on student writing.

18. Add Author’s Voice

totallyterrificintexas.blogspot.com

This second-grade chart gives students the language to add their own thoughts into their writing. Modify this chart by highlighting key phrases for students with special needs. Or have students create different thought-bubble icons to represent each internal-dialogue sentence starter.

19. No More “Said”

working4theclassroom.blogspot.com

Expand students’ vocabulary with more ways to yell, whisper and chortle the word “said.” Adapt this chart for students with disabilities or who have ELL needs by limiting the number of word options, or have them create their own mini–anchor chart with a shorter list of words that they want to build into their writing.

20. Evidence Supported

literacyinklings.blogspot.com

Upper elementary students will benefit from reminders on how to refer to and cite text evidence. Use this anchor chart during writing and discussion to help connect the language that we use across domains.

21. CUPS Revising and Editing Marks

hedwigsnest.blogspot.com

Pick your acronym when revising and editing. These charts are great for third, fourth and fifth graders. Older students can get more targeted with editing marks (use this list from Merriam-Webster).

22. Spicy Edits

luckeyfrogslilypad.blogspot.com

Have students choose one element, or “spice,” to add to their work as they revise. This chart works for students in elementary and middle school, depending on which elements they include.

23. Conference Starters

pinterest.com

Post this anchor chart (for fourth and fifth graders) in the writing conference area to help students find just the right words when giving feedback. Leave Post-its and pencils by the chart so students can write and post feedback that helped them become better writers.

24. Publishing Guidelines

juiceboxesandcrayolas.blogspot.com

Third and fourth graders can easily see if they’re finished writing with this publishing checklist. Consider making an anchor chart that shows how students can determine if their digital writing is ready to publish (or print) as well.

25. The Final Touch

juiceboxesandcrayolas.blogspot.com

It’s the icing on the cake! An intriguing title will make your third and fourth graders’ work stand out and get to the top of your “to read” stack. Keep this chart fresh by switching out the title examples with the names of student works.

Posting anchor charts keeps current learning accessible and helps your students to make connections as their understanding grows. Teach writing with 25 of our favorite anchor charts for the writing process. Keep the charts up-to-date and they’ll serve as a living reference in your classroom and will inspire a culture of writing.

Looking for writing lessons? We have nine free units on different kinds of writing complete with teacher and student pages at http://owl.li/BYtT6

Source:  http://www.buzzfeed.com/weareteachers/25-awesome-anchor-charts-for-teaching-writing-h0xt