Why I Ditched Reading Logs and Started the 40 Book Challenge Instead

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“I became a teacher to prepare kids for standardized testing,” said no teacher ever. I personally have a myriad of different reasons contributing to my current career choice, as I’m sure each educator does. One of the big reasons I became a teacher was because I love to read, and I wanted to share the joy of reading with children. I never realized how much my teacher life would change once I discovered the 40 book challenge.

When I was told during my first year of teaching that kids couldn’t read books “just to read books,” I was disappointed. How would my students learn to love reading if there was always some assignment or quiz looming at the end of a chapter? How would my students get lost on a fantastical journey if they had to make sure they could identify the theme and cite evidence from the text at the end? But, I was the new teacher, and as the rule-follower I was, I listened to my mentors.

For 3 years, everything we read in my classroom had a purpose. I made sure that my classroom library was leveled appropriately, and that my students only read books on their independent reading level, because “that’s how they would become better readers.” When some of my students wanted to read Harry Potter, I told them to put it back and find a different book because it would be “too hard” for them.

I made sure my students were reading every night by sending home reading logs that required a parent's signature. Surely, I thought, this was the way to make sure my students became the best readers they could be.

But there was a small voice in the back of my head that kept telling me "there's a better way to do this."

And then, the summer after my 3rd year of teaching, I checked out “The Book Whisperer” from the library. 

How the 40 Book Challenge Changed My Teaching

First, if you have not read this book yet and teach reading in any way, shape, or form, GO READ IT NOW! Seriously, stop reading this, then come back once you’ve finished it.

As I read this book, I felt free. Finally, there was someone who agreed with me, that kids could read “just for fun.” Not only that, but perhaps some of the best ways to reach my reluctant readers was to give them the chance to select what book they wanted, and let them read it, just for fun. This book was going to change my life and the lives of my students.

The next school year, my reading logs went into the recycling bin. Instead, my students were introduced to the 40 book challenge. Simply put, I challenged each of my students to read 40 books throughout the course of the school year. I gave them a list of how many books from each genre type they should read, started a “Books I have read” list in their notebooks, and we got on our way.

Instead of nightly reading logs, students were tracking the number of books they read. And let's be honest: if they managed to read 40 books throughout the school year, they were probably reading the 20+ minutes they needed to at home too. I didn't need parents to rush to sign some reading log just to prove to me that their child read the night before (when half of the time the parents were lying too). I felt so liberated in this new approach to reading.

And so it began. Even though it was my first year of implementing the challenge, I consider it a success. I didn’t have all of my students read 40 books, but it was a part of our class culture, and several of my students read more than they did the year before. The biggest payoff though was when I saw students who were disenchanted with reading fall in love with a book. Just one book. And they learned that maybe reading isn’t the worst thing on the planet. 

I also learned so many things over the years of doing the challenge that has allowed me to make it easier for my students to complete. Now, I’m sharing what I’ve learned with you.

Want More Info on the Challenge?

This is Part 1 in a 5-part series about the 40 book challenge. Each week I'll post a new blog post that talks about one of the parts of the 40 book challenge. Check out these blog posts to learn more!

Part 2: Introducing the 40-Book Challenge to Your Students

Part 3: How to Track the 40-Book Challenge

Part 4: Creating a Book Tasting Experience for the 40-Book Challenge

Part 5: FAQ about the 40-Book Challenge

Want some help implementing the 40 Book Challenge in your class? Check out my reading tracker here to get started!

5 Ways to Build Relationships with Students

You know that feeling at the end of the school year, where you have gotten in the groove with your students? You know who they are, what they need, what they love, what struggles they have? You’ve put in so much time and effort to connect with your students, and then all of a sudden, the year is over. That blessed summer break comes and goes all too quickly, and then all of a sudden you are back in the classroom with 25 new faces looking up at you in anticipation of what the year will bring. You get to start to build relationships with students all over again.

Building relationships with students is vital. For some students, it can come really naturally. For others, you may feel that you were working the entire year so that the student knows and understands that there is somebody who cares about them. I have found that the first couple of weeks are crucial for building solid relationships that can last throughout the year. There are various activities that I like to do with my students to help them get to know me, and that helps me get to know them. 

Here are five things that I have done to build relationships with students:

1. Do a “brown bag” activity

This is always a fun one to do. On the first day of school, I bring a brown bag with 5 to 6 items that I feel represent me. As I pull each item out, I asked my students to make an inference about what that object says about me. For example, I love to play the piano. So one of the items that go into my brown bag is a small piano ornament that I got for Christmas. From this, my students are able to make inferences such as maybe she plays the piano. Or maybe she loves Christmas. Or maybe, it’s both.

After I’ve modeled the brown bag activity for my students, I sent them home with their own brown bags. They bring them back the next day filled with 5-6 items that represent them. Over the next couple of days, my students will take turns sharing out what they brought and why. This may feel like a major show and tell at the beginning of the year, but I promise that from this activity, you will gain so much insight into who your students are and what they like.

2. Try out this “One Thing” activity

Another thing that I think is really important to building relationships in the classroom is where the students really get to know each other. It is a fairly simple activity, but it yields powerful results. In this activity, I give them a bunch of sentence starters for them to complete. They are:

• One thing I love is…
• One thing that makes me sad is…
• One thing that makes me laugh is…
• One thing I want to be better at is…
• One thing that makes me upset is…
• One thing I’m afraid of is…

I print out each sentence starter on a separate piece of paper, and then I put them around my room. At each sentence starter, there are pieces of paper where students can write down their responses. I tell my students to NOT write their names on the paper because I want them to feel like they can be honest in their answers. 

Over the next few days, I share out their answers anonymously. I’ve gotten some silly answers to these, but I’ve also received some serious answers too, such as “One thing that makes me angry is when my parents fight.” Or, “One thing that makes me sad is when I lost my turtle.” By doing this activity, my students see that they aren’t the only ones who experience strong emotions when something happens to them.

You can easily do this activity on your own, but if you want, I have all the sentence starters already typed up for you ready to go. All you need to do is print them off, put them up around your room, and your students will be ready to do this activity. I also have a digital version on a Google Form for you as well if that works better for you. Click here to check it out!

3. Become Pen Pals with Your Students 

One of my favorite things to do with my students is to write letters back and forth with them. Each week I have my students write me a letter. This letter often isn’t very long, but it gives me a chance to communicate in a different way with my students. When I first introduced the letter to them at the beginning of the year, they seemed a little apprehensive. However, as the weeks went on my students really loves getting to write to me. 

The thing about this activity though, is that you have to be willing to write back. You don’t have to write very much, but by creating that dialogue through writing with your students, you will help them in multiple ways. 

1. They will become better writers.
2. You will get to know what they like.
3. They get to ask you questions, helping them to know who you are.
4. Ultimately this helps to build a relationship with them.

I’ve had some students that have been extremely shy, and her struggle to talk to me about anything. But when they get a chance to write things down, they feel like they are able to express themselves. This is a chance for students to tell me things that they might not want other people to hear.

Sometimes my students can’t think of anything to write, so I always give them sentence starters. Some of the ideas I give them are:

• One thing I like to do at recess is…
• Some of my friends are…
• What is your favorite…?
• One thing I wish I could do better is…

I change up the sentence starters from week to week depending on whatever it is we are working on. If you want to do this with your students, I have a free weekly letter packet that you can sign up for here. I’ll send it straight to your email, so it doesn’t get lost.

4. Take an Extra Recess to Play with Your Students

The beginning of the year is a great time to take an extra recess or two. Students are still trying to adjust to being back in school after being at home the whole summer. I love taking my kids outside. The first thing I do is watch and observe who plays with who. I watch to see who has lots of friends, and who doesn’t seem to have very many friends. Even though I’m not often out at recess with my students, I take this time at the beginning of the year to make those observations about my students. 

I also like to join in with my students. To do this, I like to have some type of game in mind that we can all play together as a class. Whether it’s something like playing horse on the basketball court or playing some sort of tag, this is a fun way for students to know that you enjoy having fun too.

5. Start using student interests in class right at the beginning of the year.

Another thing you can do to build relationships is to take note of students' interests and start talking about them. A few years ago, I had a student that I could tell, really struggled with math. On the first day of school, I could see him starting to shut down when we did a small math problem from the year before. I knew that math was going to be a difficult subject for him. So I did whatever I could to get him more interested in math. I noticed one day that he was wearing A Stranger Things T-shirt. I asked him if he like Stranger Things, and he told me that he loved it! 

Well, what do you know? The next day one of our math problems was about a guy named Steve who worked at an ice cream shop. If you’ve watched season 3 of Stranger Things, you know what I’m talking about. My student was thrilled to see something he loved being used in math. And you know what, he paid more attention that day. Does that mean he became a math genius? No. He still struggled throughout the year. But I was able to capture his attention, and we continued to go on to have several more conversations about Stranger Things throughout the year.

Building relationships takes time, but it is the foundation of what we do as teachers. It goes back to that old saying that “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.” 

I have seen this in my career. There have been times when I haven’t been able to build relationships with students like I should have. And it was hard. Since then, taking the time to foster those relationships with students has been critical to me. Obviously, these are not the only ways to build relationships with students. These are just some ideas that I love to use in my classroom. 

What are some ways that you build relationships with your students? Leave a comment below.

Happy teaching!

4 Ways to Use Boom Cards for FREE in Your Upper Elementary Classroom

So you’ve just purchased your first set of Boom Cards. You go to use them when all of a sudden, BOOM! You realize you have to pay for a subscription! Sound familiar? 

As teachers, we often end up paying for a lot of things out of our own pocket, just to help better our students’ education. But I get it. There are bills to pay, people to feed, and life to live. Purchasing another subscription was probably the last thing you wanted to do. After all, you’ve worked hard for your money!

I love using Boom Cards in my classroom. If you are able to purchase the subscription I definitely recommend it, but if it just isn’t for you, don’t worry. You can still use the Boom cards you’ve purchased in a meaningful way in your classroom without having to spend more of your hard-earned money.

Here are 4 ways to use Boom Cards for free:

1. Use Them as a Whole Group

Boom cards are great for whole group instruction and practice. With the free account, you still have access to any decks you have purchased. Throw the Boom cards up on your SmartBoard or Promethean Board, and solve them as a class. I’ve had my students get out whiteboards, and answer math problems on their whiteboards. Then, they show me their answers and I am able to easily assess where they are. I can easily address any misconceptions, or extend their thinking. Plus, students love being able quickly see if their answer was correct or not.

2. Use Them for Tier 2 Instruction

As long as you have some device that connects to the internet (like a laptop, an iPad or a Kindle) you can pull the Boom cards up while you are working in a small group. You can use the same sort of procedure that you do with the whole class. Have your students answer the questions on a whiteboard or a piece of paper, and then you can address those misconceptions in a small group. Boom cards are great for targeting one specific skill that you need students to work on. This is always great during tier 2 intervention.

3. Use Them in a Center 

If you have access to a SmartBoard or a Promethean board, you can put these up and turn them into a math center. You can easily see what your students are working on, while using the Boom cards on their own. This is a great way to solidify their understanding of different concepts. Have your students write down their answers on a piece of paper, and then turn the answers in to you. This allows you to still check for understanding, even if they don’t have their own account.

4. Utilize the Fast Pin

Boom Learning does have a free option that you can utilize with your students called a fast pin. If you want to assign your students to each work on the same deck, you will create what is called a fast pin. You give the students the Boom website and the fast pin, and they can log in and work on it on their own without any subscription required from you. The only downside to this is that you will not see the reports on how your students are doing. However, this is great if you need something quick and easy for your students to work on. 

This is also a wonderful option for sub plans. Your students can still get the practice in for whatever specific skills you want them to practice while you’re gone, and you don’t have to copy off piles of worksheets. And if you’re like me when writing sub plans, the less time you can spend in the copy room, the better. Want to know exactly how to get the Fast Pin? Check out the video below and I’ll walk you through it!

If you are able to purchase a Boom cards subscription, I would highly recommend it. I love getting reports about how my students are doing on various decks, and I can easily assign different decks to different students. However, if it just isn’t in the cards for you, that’s okay! You can still get a lot of value out of using Boom cards for free.

And if you’ve never tried Boom cards, I’ve got a free deck you can try out on comparing multi-digit numbers. Click here to sign up, and I’ll email it right to you! Let me know how you use Boom Cards in your classroom!

Happy Teaching!

6 Books to Read Aloud to Your 6th Graders {with a FREEBIE!}

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One of my favorite times of the day is when I get to sit down and read a book to my students. There is just something about connecting through books and stories that can help to strengthen relationships among students. My 6th graders are always so excited when it is read aloud time.

I love this reading time is because I can expose my students to new literature that they might not have sought out on their own. I also love reading the first book in a series, because that has a natural lead-in for my students to want to find out “what happens in the next book.” There are also so many life lessons that can be learned through reading, and I love having those discussions with my kids. 

6 of My Favorite Books to Read Aloud

(I provide links to Amazon if you want to purchase them, but these are NOT affiliate links. I really just love these books!)

1. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

I love this one because it is full of adventure. My kids were hooked from the very first chapter! It also tied in nicely with our social studies unit about Ancient Greece and their gods and goddesses. It was also the first book in the series, which meant the next book, The Sea of Monsters, often flew off of my shelf once we finished The Lightning Thief. Click HERE to check it out!

2. Prisoner B-3087

This is a really heavy book full of loss and despair, but it also has a very empowering message of hope and survival. This book is based on the experiences of Jack Gruener going through several different concentration camps during World War II. I would definitely make sure you read this book for yourself first before reading it to your students, to ensure that you know they are mature enough to handle the story. That being said, I’ve been able to have some amazing discussions about prejudice, kindness, hope, grief, identity, and so much more with my students. My students loved this book and were able to relate some of the experiences to things that are happening today. Click HERE to check it out!

3. Fablehaven

Fablehaven is such a fun book if your students love fantasy. It is about a brother and sister who go to stay with their grandpa, and find out he lives on a magical preserve, full of fairies, satyrs, ogres and other magical creatures. They face danger and learn that their actions have real consequences. This is a great book to talk about cause and effect with your students. I have some comprehension and student activities to go along with this book too. Click HERE to check out a freebie, or HERE to see the entire novel study. You can find this book HERE on Amazon.

    

4. The Witches

My 4th grade teacher read this book aloud to my class, and I’ve always remembered it. She made this story come alive, and I love being able to do the same with my students. This book is about a boy who finds himself in a room full of witches that are trying to destroy children!  I’ve read this to each of my classes since becoming a teacher. I love introducing them to the Grand High Witch with a crazy loud voice (that sometimes makes me lose my voice…). This has been one of my students’ favorite books that we’ve read aloud. It might seem a little “young” for 6th graders, but mine absolutely loved it! Click HERE to see this book on Amazon.

5. Number the Stars

This was a good preface to reading Prisoner B-3087. It is shorter, but still very powerful. We learn about how the Danish people helped to smuggle Jews out of Denmark into neutral Sweden during World War II through the story of Annemarie and her best friend Ellen, who is Jewish. Annemarie has to risk her life to help her friend and a number of other Jewish people escape. This is a great book to talk about friendship, loyalty, and protecting others who may not be able to protect themselves. Click HERE to find this book!

6. The 39 Clues

This is another adventure book whose main characters are a brother and sister. Dan and Amy find themselves faced with a decision after their grandmother dies: take $2 million, or a single clue that could lead them to become the most powerful family in the world. Dan and Amy choose the clue, and it leads them on an adventure around the world. They have to learn how to overcome weaknesses and deal with failure while learning to trust each other. My students love the action in this book. Plus, this is the first book in a long series, which is a great way to hook your students into reading the rest of the books! Click HERE to see the series on Amazon!

Books that are read aloud can have such a powerful impact on students. Even my reluctant readers look forward to this time, because they know they get to enjoy a story with their classmates. Once we finish a book, they will often reread the book on their own again, or pick up the next book in the series.

I also love to let my students recommend books they want to read aloud as a class. I have them fill out a small form that they then submit to me, and I consider their request for the next read aloud. This is a great way to get students even more invested in this precious time during our school day. Click HERE to get my book request form sent to your email! By reading books aloud, you can help foster your students’ love of reading.