Tried it Tuesday: Holiday Close Reading

I feel like I'm barely keeping my head above the snow recently! We've had two snow days and a 2-hour delay this month... now, this is wonderful don't get me wrong, but I also need to wrap up some units before break! I feel like I've been MIA from my blog and the real world! So, today, I decided to let my teacher bag sit by the door so I can write a quick post. I'm excited to link up with Holly at The Fourth Grade Flipper with some holiday cheer (and close reading)!

 So, today in 5th grade we got into the holiday spirit by using Ashleigh's from Ashleigh's Education Journey Holidays Around the World Close Reading Activity. Since, we've been studying regions of the United States we used her freebie about the United States to keep up with our close reading practice. The Christmas in the United States article was wonderful for our morning work time! Her directions were very clear and precise and teach great note taking skills! If you want a sample, check out the free version and then go add her entire Holiday collection to your cart or wait for another TPT sale! I wish I had more time this year to cover more of the holidays. We may have to pick up a few after our break. 

The directions are very clear and focused. The first read students go through and jot down notes in the margin of interesting facts. On the second read they look for key and unfamiliar words. And on the third read they add their own information to the passage! Plus, she has three different levels! Love, love, love! Since our students know their DRA reading levels it made it super easy to pass out each "Just Right Text" and since they look practically the same - the students didn't do the "What's that one?" face.

Check out the "higher" level passage.

My students seemed to really enjoy the short passage plus the clear directions. I loved it as a teacher because it also taught them some great note taking and text coding strategies. If you need something to do before or after break and you want to ease your students into close reading - check out the Holidays Around the World Close Reading pack!

Hope everyone else is enjoying their last few days. Hang in there... only 3 more to go!