Reading Comprehension Skill Reference Sheet - Digital Download

State testing is over for my third graders...thank goodness!

Today we have the day off because it was reserved as a Bad Weather Make Up Day. It's truly been wonderful because I'm getting so many things done.

Not only things for school, but many things around the house that just need to get done. Plus, I got to sleep in and I really, really needed that! :)

One of the many things that I've checked off of my to do list today is the new product I just listed. I created some Reading Comprehension Skill References Sheets for my students and yours! I wish that I would have thought to create these earlier in the year, but I suppose I can't think of everything my first year, huh?

I got this idea from some after school tutoring that I've started doing. In Texas, our 5th graders get multiple opportunities to pass the state assessment, STAAR, and those make up tests are quickly approaching.

I started this tutoring group just this past week on Thursday. It's really nice because the 5th grade teachers provide everyone tutoring with the materials that you need and you just open your folder, pull out your materials, and get started. One of the materials that was handed over to us was a reference sheet.

On the reference sheet, there are a variety of reading comprehension skills that are briefly defined and explained. I asked one of the 5th grade teachers about it and she said that they originally found the pages online and then revamped them to fit their needs.

{Click here to download Reading Comprehension Skill Reference Sheets.}

So, I thought that would be a good idea for my students, too. This version of the reference sheet is a little more simplified because it is geared more toward my third grade students than any others, but I hope that teachers in grades 2 - 5 will find it helpful in their classrooms.

To download the files, please just click the image or link above and you'll be lead to my TpT store. :)

I hope you're all having a fabulous start to your week!

Summer's not far...

Making Inferences with Poetry - Free Download

This year on our campus we hosted a Literacy Night  - truly a lot of fun!

Literacy Night for us this year was an entire night (5:30 - 7:00 p.m.) of planned activities for students to do.  The Literacy Committee started off choosing a date and theme.  Then, each grade level selected an activity to prepare for students.

Our theme this year was "Winter Wonderland!"

The activities that each grade level chose didn't have to relate to the theme, but the decorations for the entire event related to that. There was a large mural that had been painted on cloth and displayed outside. Icicle lights hung from the breezeway covers outside. It was such a NEAT theme & I wish I had taken pictures to share!!

The activity I planned for the students was making inferences through poetry. I had already received some poetry from the Literacy Specialist that I worked with at the end of last year during my long term sub position, and then I Googled & found more online.

{Click here to download FREE Inference Poetry.}

AngelFire.com has oodles of making inferences poems! I chose four of them for Literacy Night and "prettied" them up with fancy fonts. Then, I printed them on thick, colored card stock & laminated them. I made a set of 4 for each poem & scattered them across the table so that each was readily accessible by different children throughout the night.

Students read the poem & inferred what it's talking about. There are many different topics - from a tongue to a magic wand. Some of them are pretty funny, too! The kids really enjoyed them!

Hope you're all having a restful, merry Winter Break away from school. I'm so thankful for this time with my family!!

Who Owns This Bag? Inference Activity - Digital Download

Making inferences is such a BIG part of Third Grade!

Unfortunately, it can be one of the biggest challenges for students. One thing that has helped develop this skill for my students is this inference activity called Who Owns This Bag?

I used this as a literacy station in my classroom. As the teacher, you must outline what items are inside each bag.  Then, the students must use their background knowledge and the clues that you have given them to determine who owns the bag.

{Click here to download Who Owns This Bag? Inference Activity!}

It's really a lot of fun and it's easy to personalize for your students. If you have kids that are interested in gaming, make one of the bags belong to a gamer. Have a lot of basketball or soccer fans in your class? Customize the baggage to them by including items related to that sport!

This activity not only makes inferring fun for students, but it helps them understand how easy making inferences can be if you just use the clues that you've been given.

Do you use any ideas similar to this in your classroom? Students can truly make inferences about nearly anything!!