Reading Corner

Whoops! I wrote this a few weeks ago & guess it never got published -Better late than never. 

It's that time of year! Summer is on its way out & I'm busy thinking about classroom set-up. I started going through last year's b2s photos for inspiration. Here was my reading corner: 

I can't wait to share my new designs with you in a few weeks! What do your classroom reading spaces look like? Plz share your pics (#classroomreadingcorners) & follow me on Instagram! 

Literacy Madness!

After HOURS of thought and dedication, it's finally done! 

 

My first major classroom product is completed. 47 pages of 2nd Grade Common Core Aligned Literacy Centers! 

Included in this packet are also 20 Reader's Response Worksheets, which I decided to sell separately as well.

Check them out in my TpT store! 

 

Reading Strategies

As I predicted, it didn't take me long to want to post more ideas for The Daily Five/CAFE. Here is a set of 1st/2nd grade Reading Strategy Cards, which I purchased from TpT seller, Smart Puppy Learning.

Above is a picture of the CAFE board I created on top of an old chalkboard in my classroom using the Smart Puppy Learning CAFE Posters (FREEBIE), strategy cards (link above),  bulletin board paper, a pretty border, and some magnets.

The project was a success. I'm glad I invested the time into this one. It stayed up all year and was such a nice visual -even our classroom visitors loved to check the board to see what we'd been working on.

*Of course I selected the owl-themed materials, but it's worth noting there are many other themes available as well.

The Daily 5 Ideas

Today, most elementary teachers are familiar with The Daily 5 and The Daily Cafe by Gail Boushey and Joan Moser.​ Additionally, there are what seem to be endless resources and creative ideas for implementing these core literacy tasks into your classroom life. Well, in support of The 2 Sisters I'm here to give you some easy to implement ideas. 

           

My suggestion as simple as reading online! Your students will love it -after all, isn't that what you're doing in your very own free time right this minute? 

With very little planning time needed you can have students completely engaged in reading online! When you visit Owl Ready to Learn (topic: books), students will see several pages they can visit for online reading. Give them freedom or choose the stories you want them to read, it's really up to you! The point is, you can easily make these books part of your "listening" or "read-to-self" centers. You also could partner students up and make it a "buddy reading" activity. All you need to get started is the link above, a couple of classroom computers/iPads, and headphones (optional). 

You also could try using some of the great phonics/spelling sites, such as Starfall, to practice "word work." 

Or, sign-up for a classroom membership and have the students publish their work on sites like Kidblogs and Storybird as part of your "writing center." 

The possibilities are endless and I'm sure I won't be able to resist sharing more of these ideas with you later! In the meantime, I hope this gives you some new inspiration for planning future classroom centers!