Handouts for Launching Book Clubs

Finally, decided to take all the general book club forms and handouts and put them into one BIG Book Club Handouts bundle on Teachers Pay Teachers. This bundle includes all the handouts and forms you need to get book clubs started in my classroom. I've included sample activities, letters to parents, teacher tips, leveled book choices by topic, quizzes, and a {no mess!} final book club project.

I'm not one to typically use my blog to promote my products but book clubs are SUCH a big deal to me! Since, book clubs are a focus of my blog, I just had to share my newest product that could help get them started in your classroom! This was truly a labor of book club love to get all these files updated and bundled together. If you're thinking of starting book clubs, check it out! These handouts are a great way to EASE into book clubs!

So what do you get? 

Do you currently use book clubs in your classroom? 
What questions do you still have about using book clubs to teach reading?

Counting Down to 2016!

Graphics from I Teach What's Your Super Power? & Whimsy Clips.

Just a few more days to 2016! To celebrate, I'm throwing a sale in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop! All items {including bundles} will be 20% off this Wednesday through Friday! I just finished up my Europe and Africa lapbooks if you're looking for new Social Studies resources!

I also added a new freebie for anyone wanting to keep up with the Sixty Book Challenge! Grab the freebie and keep your reading organized and on track in 2016! I plan on gluing my copy into my Erin Condren notebook to help me stay organized and on point with my reading. Plus, I feel more accomplished when I write things down.

Also, don't forget to link up for the Sixty Books in 2016 Challenge. Share your reading list and set your read-olutions for the New Year! You can share on my blog, Instagram or Twitter.

Here's to a new year of reading,

March Madness: Dollar Sale!

I haven't blogged in forever and I really don't like promoting my products on my blog, that's not what my blog is all about... but, I am having a sale. And I'm all about sales!

I'm having a March Madness dollar sale! Select items from my store will be on sale for $1 throughout the weekend! The items will change so check back each day for a new $1 deal!

Here's the first set of $1 deals...
{Click the image to be taken to the page}

Please leave some feedback after you purchase/use the product! I love seeing how everyone is using these items in your own classrooms! 

Let's Go CATS!
{Bearcats that is!}

100 TPT Followers Sale!

Need a sweet treat? Today, I'm offering 50% off all bundles! That's $2.50 for TWO lapbook units! You can grab the entire Western Hemisphere for $4... That's a $1 a unit! I can't thank my followers enough! If you grab a bundle today, please leave some love!

Also, don't forget to check out my newest product on sale through Sunday... Civil Rights Lapbook!

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Sweet Deal & Mini-Milestone!

Hit a mini-milestone tonight! I finally reached 100 followers on TPT! I'm having huge sale to celebrate! My entire TPT store will be 20% off all single items all weekend and 50% off all lapbook bundles on Saturday! Enjoy your guilt- free-carb-free Valentine's Day treat!

Thanks for all the love!

Super Bowl Sale!

If you're like me and not so into the Super Bowl this year...except for the commercials, food, and half-time. Then check out my store today and tomorrow. I'm running a "SUPER" sale and my entire store is 20% off including bundles! The sale will run 21 - 2/2!

Graphics and Font by: Ashley Hughes, I Teach What's Your Super Power, KG Fonts, Melonheadz, and Glitter Meets Glue Designs.

I have a few items perfect for Black History Month. The Freedom on the Menu lapbook is a freebie! Please leave some feedback if you use it in your classroom!

I also just updated my Maya, Inca, and Aztec Interactive notebook pages. It now includes pages for the Mississippian culture. It's a stand alone product or you can bundle and save! It also comes with Native Americans of North America bundle.

Please leave me some feedback and enjoy the big game!
Let's Go Seahawks! 

Hump Day Highlight: Freedom on the Menu

Happy Wednesday! Since it's hummmmmp day, I thought I'd link up with Mrs. Standford's Class for my first Hump Day Highlight!

With Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday, I knew I needed to start gearing up for our Civil Rights Movement unit and Black History Month. Plus, I'm currently reading Maniac Magee to my class which describes segregation and discrimination although no time period is ever mentioned. I knew, I needed a resource to help pull in some of my favorite Civil Rights picture books.

One of my favorite's is Freedom on the Menu by Carole Boston Weatherford. I've been using interactive notebooks this year so I created a FREEBIE that includes interactive notebook pages or a lapbook version that aligns to the book {and of course Common Core standards}. I'll make sure to take some snapshots once my students complete their notebook pages!

Here's a preview:{Click the images for a direct link to download!}

Here's some of the 5th Grade standards covered:

If you download, please leave some feedback for this freebie! Happy Wednesday! 

How are you preparing for MLK Day and/or Black History Month?

January Pin-spiration!

Today, was our teacher work day. It was a relief to have time to get things organized before meeting up with our students tomorrow. On break, I had a lot of time to look at Pinterest and search the internet. I was looking for some specific resources and found a few great items that provided me with some pin-spiration!

So, today I'm linking up with PAWSitively Teaching for her Pinterest Pick Three Party!
Click any of the images to be taken to their "home" location!

First up, I'm starting Maniac Magee this Thursday. So, we need to do a little Folktale refreshing before we start our Maniac Close Reading Activity. I found this great chart that would perfect to glue into our Reader's Notebooks.

We're also going to start prepping for PARCC testing in February. To go along with some test prep, we;re going to be gathering evidence for our literary essays. I found this free PEELS bundle on Pinterest that helps struggling students gather evidence and state their opinions with this easy to use acronym.

My last pin-spired post will help during my intervention block. We are teaching "mini-classes" on the topics of our choosing. Each of my partners will get assigned a "class" of students and we're going to do rotations so we teach the same thing to a new group every so many weeks. I usually run a reading or social studies class. Personally, I love social studies and think it's important to help students practice map skills and complete projects we've never have time for in the classroom. I've done state float projects in the past...

But, since we've spent a lot of time on the United States this year... I thought maybe we could tweak the project and have students research a province of Canada! I found this nifty graphic organizer that could help students get started before creating their Canadian float!

I'm excited about starting this project and getting it organized! I'll be sure to share and blog about my students' (sure to be) amazing floats.

I've also been using some of my downtime to finish out some of my Social Studies Interactive Notebook & Lapbook pages! Now, that my units are wrapped up, I have officially created several bundles! All bundles save you at least $2 dollars on buying individually and give you bonus lapbook pages. Right now, all bundles are an additional 20% off in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

You can also check out all my pins by following MsAPlusTeacher on Pinterest!

What has pin-spired you?

What are you teaching in January?

Saw several primary folks sharing what they'll be teaching as many of us head back next week, so I thought I'd do the same. Here's what I'll be teaching my 5th graders as we head back to school...

Graphics courtesy of Ashley Hughes & Fonts are KG Fonts.

We are starting our interpretation unit on Tuesday. This unit is one of my favorites because we get to connect all the books we've read this year and read so many great new books! Maniac Magee is a personal favorite and usually a student favorite as well. This unit is like an "pumped up" character unit. I'm out for a PD on Wednesday to actually tweak the unit but we're starting with the basics and sharing some new amazing book club novels with our students! We'll be practicing our writing skills during this unit for the upcoming PARCC testing and ending with a literary essay.

In Social Studies, I'm behind. I need to finish Regions of the United States and then start Mexico. Hopefully, we can get Mexico finished by the end of January so we can start our Civil Rights unit in February.

Here's some of the resources I plan on using in January to help me tackle it all...

Click on the images and check out the resources yourself! 

What are you teaching in January?

2 + 1 = TPTCYBER : What's On Your Wishlist?

Many of you probably have your wishlists ready for Teacher Pay Teacher's Cyber Monday & Tuesday sale! You can get up to 28% off many of your wish listed items. Don't forget to add the code TPTCYBER before checking out.

So, as I check out my wishlist and finish up some products, I thought I'd take a few minutes and link with Ideas by Jivey for her What's On Your Wishlist? linky.

The number one wish listed item from my store is one of my very first products -- "Social Studies: I Can Statements" for American History. Looking back, these "I Cans" are simple and get the job done. I used this statments in my own classroom until Ohio changed it's Social Studies curriculum.

 

You can get the updated version of these "I Can" statements based on Ohio's Model Curriculum for both 4th & 5th grades in my store as well.

At only $3 dollars regular price, you can get these as a great add-on item during the sale. They look great on colored card stock.

The second most wish listed item is a new product in my store. It's my Maya, Inca, Aztec Interactive Notebook pages! These can be used with any textbook, nonfiction trade book, movie, etc! These are a fun addition to any interactive notebook collection. I created these after striking out when trying to find "big kid" Social Studies interactive notebook pages that fit my curriculum.

Click the image to snag a freebie and download a preview!

First on my list are from the amazing Hello Literacy's TPT Store. I've had these on my wishlist for a while now but with our nonfiction reading unit in full swing - these articles would be a great addition for small group work and RTI. And of course, I need Short Informational Text Articles Set 1 and Short Informational Text Articles Set 2.

And you can never have too much clipart... I've wanted these Melonheadz cuties since they came out!

What's on your Cyber Monday shopping list?