elementary reading lessons

J.D. and the Great Barber Battle: An Excellent Kids Book About Perseverance

Summary

J.D.’s mom gives him a terrible haircut before his first day of third grade. He gets teased by his friends and classmates for days. Then J.D. decides to do something about it. He realizes his artistic talents could also help him cut hair. He gives himself a sharp new haircut that makes him feel proud. Then he starts cutting the hair of his classmates. It doesn’t take long for J.D. to have a long list of kids who want him to cut their hair. Unfortunately, the man who owns the local barbershop doesn’t like that J.D. is stealing so many of his clients. He threatens to shut down J.D.’s in-home barbershop, but J.D. refuses to quit doing something he loves. J.D. and a friend think of a creative solution that helps the local barbershop get more business and allows J.D. to continue giving amazing haircuts to the kids in town. It’s a wonderful example of how creative thinking can benefit lots of people.

Teachable Moments

J.D. earns good money cutting hair. I love how the author writes the math equations that J.D. uses to calculate his income. However, J.D. gets the most joy from seeing how happy people are after he cuts their hair. J.D.’s first haircut is on his younger brother, Justin. When he finishes, J.D. thinks, “Making Justin happy with something I did filled me with a warm feeling. Like I’d just finished a plate of fried fish and French fries that my mom made every Saturday in the summer.”

I also love how J.D. thought of ways to fix his terrible haircut instead of just complaining about it. As he brainstorms solutions in the first few chapters, he realizes he’s always been good at drawing. He wonders if this talent will help him cut hair — and it does! J.D.’s self-talk throughout the book is great for your students to read. I also love how he hypes himself up when he gives his first few haircuts.

Finally, I hope your students see how important it is to encourage others. J.D. appreciates the support from his family throughout the book. It means the world to him as he starts cutting hair and when he is in the competition with the local barber.

Resources

I’ve created writing prompts and quizzes to help you teach this awesome book. You can check them out in my TpT store.

I hope you will have a chance to read J.D. and the Great Barber Battle with your students. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you so much for all that you do for your students.

Great Books for Grades 3-6: Midnight at the Barclay Hotel and The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter

I just read two amazing new books that are perfect for kids in grades 3-6. Both involve ghosts and mysteries. They also have great characters who bravely help others and discover more about themselves in the process. The books are:

Midnight at the Barclay Hotel, by Fleur Bradley

The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter, by Aaron Reynolds

Midnight at the Barclay Hotel

Brief Summary

Five guests are invited to spend a weekend at a historic hotel in Colorado, which is rumored to be haunted. Two of the guests have kids who get to come, much to the delight of a young girl who lives at the hotel with her family. The guests arrive expecting a relaxing weekend, but instead, they are thrust into a murder mystery involving the hotel’s owner. The kids work together to find several important clues that help the adults solve the mystery.

Teachable Moments — People are More Than a Label

One of the girls, Penny, is primarily known as a quiet, timid child who only enjoys reading. The text states, “Everyone saw her as ‘Bookworm Penny,’ but she wanted to be more.” She was determined to solve the mystery, even if it meant putting herself in dangerous situations. The other two kids gained tremendous respect for Penny’s detective skills. Penny proves to herself that she is more than a “bookworm.”

Things to Keep an Eye On — Several Plot Twists

Your students may need help keeping track of several big plot twists. Penny and her friends uncover lots of information that help them solve the mystery, but there were a few times when I had to flip back a few chapters to remind myself of some key details. The author does an outstanding job of tying up all the loose ends at the end, but some kids might need help remembering things that happened earlier in the book.

Final Grade: A-

This was a fun read and the characters are amazing! There were a few great one-liners where the kids gave funny perspectives about adults. When the boy was trying to persuade his mom to accept the invitation to the hotel, he repeatedly told her it had a hot tub. He thought, “Most adults are suckers for hot tubs. It’s like going swimming without making an effort.” As an adult who loves hot tubs, I CRACKED UP at this line!

Resources

I’ve created 11 quizzes and 11 writing prompts for this book, which is one for every five chapters. The full resource, which includes each quiz and prompt in a Google Form, is available for $4.95 in my TpT store.

The Incredibly Dead Pets of Rex Dexter

Brief Summary

Rex has always dreamed of owning a dog. He thinks he’s finally going to get one on his birthday, but instead, his parents give him a pet chicken. Rex is devastated. Then he gets cursed after losing a mysterious arcade game with the Grim Reaper. Because of this curse, Rex becomes the go-to guy for the ghosts of animals who have recently died at the zoo. Rex is overwhelmed at the thought of helping these animal-ghosts, then he slowly starts to piece together some clues about how they were killed. By the end of the story, Rex and these animals make a fantastic team that stops a person from harming animals. He never gets a dog, but he realizes his pet chicken is the best pet he could possibly ask for.

Teachable Moments — Sometimes, It’s Okay If You Don’t Get What You Want

At the beginning of the story, Rex makes it very clear that he wants a dog more than anything else in the world. By the end of the story, he barely thinks about it. He has so many memorable experiences with the ghost-animals. He learns that more than one thing in life can make him happy. His “ghost-pet” chicken, Drumstick, becomes his new official “sidekick” at the end of the story.

Things to Keep an Eye On — Rex’s Sarcasm

I love Rex’s honesty. He doesn’t hold back on expressing his thoughts throughout the book. However, there are a few times when the sarcasm might go over your students’ heads. It’s also important to teach your students when it’s appropriate to THINK something as opposed to SAYING it.

Final Grade: B+

The ghost-animals are a lot of fun! Rex can hear them speak because they are dead and he is the only person who can see them. He even brings them to school. I also enjoyed seeing how Rex matured during the story. By the end, he accepts responsibility for a poor grade on a report, telling his parents he could have done more research. He also tells his parents that he understands if they don’t get him a dog.

Resources

I’ve created 10 quizzes and 10 writing prompts for this book, which is one for every four chapters. The full resource, which includes each quiz and prompt in a Google Form, is available for $4.95 in my TpT store.

The Amelia Six — A Fun Mystery Book for Kids

I love books that show kids how to have an inner dialogue with themselves in stressful situations.

The Amelia Six, by Kristin L. Gray, does just that.

First, the basics — This book is a wonderful “Who-Did-It?” with lots of plot twists. It’s fantastic for kids in grades 3-6 who enjoy piecing clues together to figure out a mystery. The main character, Millie, wins a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to spend the night in the house where Amelia Earhart grew up. Millie is expecting an evening where she gets to play fun games and learn about one of her heroes. Those plans go out the window when a famous pair of Earhart’s goggles are lost. The adults blame the kids. The kids blame the adults. Everything is wrapped up perfectly at the end.

The plot is fun and there are some SERIOUS cliffhangers at the end of most chapters, but I feel like kids who are shy and anxious in new situations could benefit by reading this book. Millie, who is 10 years old, doesn’t have many friends. She gets anxious around new people and those feelings come out in full force when she arrives at Earhart’s house and meets five other girls her age who are also spending the night. Part of her wants to turn around and go home, but she reminds herself that she was one of six girls chosen to spend the night here. I love the way she reminds herself that she deserves to be there.

Millie keeps a Rubik’s Cube with her at all times. She works on solving it when she starts feeling anxious. Moving her hands eases her nerves. If you have students who feel like Millie, it should help them think about things they can do to calm their nerves in stressful situations. This could lead to some outstanding class discussions.

After the goggles are stolen, Millie bravely steps into a leadership role as the girls try to figure out where the goggles are. Near the end of the book, Millie “channels her inner boss” to help them escape a dangerous situation. She sees how her talent at observing and remembering small details is a massive help in this situation. Near the end, she feels proud of herself for how much she’s accomplished in just one night at this house. She also gives herself credit for making five new friends.

It’s so important for young kids to learn how to talk to themselves. The Amelia Six does an outstanding job of modeling how to do so. And who doesn’t love a good mystery!!??

I’ve created 12 quizzes and 12 writing prompts for this book. They are available for $4.95 in my TpT store.

Thank you for all that you do for your students!

How To Use Novels For Morning Work

Ideas to help you use novels for morning work

“Did you say boring work or morning work?”

I asked a student this question early in my teaching career. He wanted to know where to turn in his morning work. I could have sworn he said “boring work.” The normally respectful student answered “morning work” and I told him where to turn it in.

I had the following goals for morning work during my first few years of teaching:

Make it routine so I don’t have to answer questions while I collect homework.
Make it something that will get the kids quiet.
Make it a worksheet because I can easily prepare it.

My students were given a math review worksheet when they entered my classroom. It met my goals every day. It kept the kids quiet. The questions were simple review problems that most students could easily complete. It gave me time to quickly check homework and take attendance…

…and it was DEFINITELY “boring work.” So I added the following to my list of goals for morning work:

Make it engaging.

I had been wanting to increase the number of novels my students read. So I decided to incorporate them into my morning work. I went to my board after school and wrote, “Morning Work: Read pages 1-10 of Loser.”

Hmmmm, that was not any more engaging than my math worksheets. And how was I going to get 25 copies of the book?

I spent a few days pondering how to make this work, but couldn’t think of an idea that was practical. Then I saw a student dozing off while completing his “boring work” math worksheet. This student LOVED talking. Then I realized the solution.

Have kids read 5-10 pages with a partner and give them a discussion topic each morning.

I put students in groups of 2 or 3 based on their reading level. I wrote the book title and pages they needed to read during the first 15 minutes of the day. All I had to do was change the page numbers each day.

How to use novels for your morning work

The day’s discussion question for each group was displayed on the projector. All I had to do was type a question from the book’s novel study for that chapter (see links at the end).

How to use novels for your morning work

Before students started reading, they had to leave their homework assignment on their desk. I collected homework while they read, marking who had completed homework and who had not.

After time was up, I randomly called on one or two students for each book to tell me what they discussed. Then we began our day.

Discussing quality literature was more beneficial to students than quietly completing a math worksheet. It’s difficult to explain, but it seemed like my students’ brains were flipped to “learn” instead of “zoned out” when our first subject started. Some of my fifth-grade students fell asleep less often during the morning.

This new system was never perfect. It required some tinkering every now and then, but the student engagement made the work worth my time. Here are a few pointers to help this system run well in your room.

Tip #1: Use Novels That Are A Bit Lower Than The Students’ Reading Level

I usually used three or four novels at a time. I wanted each book to be a bit lower than each of my fifth graders’ reading level. I did not want this to be a frustrating reading experience. But if a student ran into problems, that’s where reading with a partner could help.

Tip #2: Use Novels That Students Can Finish In 3-4 Weeks

When I first started this, I made the mistake of assigning Hoot to a few groups of students. Since Hoot is 292 pages, and kids could only make it through about 8 pages each morning, this took forever to finish. Kids lost interest if their book took more than a month to finish. Books like Loser, The Hero Two Doors Down, Shiloh, Hatchet, and Inside Out & Back Again were perfect lengths. Some of your groups will be able to read more or less each day, so that affects which books you can assign. Use your judgment. Just try to avoid having a group read one book for more than 3-4 weeks.

Tip #3: Ask Your Librarian For Copies

Librarians are rock stars. A few weeks before I needed a new set of books, I asked my librarian to ask for copies from other libraries in our district. This usually provided enough copies for every student. If kids have the book on their Kindle, I got parental permission for students to bring the Kindle to school.

Tip #4: Be Ready For These Books To Be In Demand

Some students will want to read the book their classmates are reading. When I had a few groups read Loser during morning work, they laughed at several events in the book. Other students saw this. Then they asked to read Loser on their own. This became a perfect way to promote reading.

Tip #5: Make This A Reading Participation Grade

I created one assignment in my grade book called “Morning Work Participation.” Everyone started the grading period with a 100%. If a student refused to read, I took 5 points off the grade. If a student refused to respond to the discussion question when called upon, I took off 5 points. With all the difficult reading tests kids are graded on, I liked to have at least one or two assignments like this where they could earn a 100% as long as they gave an honest effort every day. It also provided the perfect amount of accountability.

Tip #6: Don’t Rush An Occasional Extended Discussion

Did you notice the topic for Shiloh above? Students had to think about whether the main character should lie to his parents about keeping a stray dog or be honest and return the dog to an abusive owner. Students had strong opinions on this. Even kids who weren’t reading Shiloh chimed in. ELA class started about 10 minutes later that day because my students wanted to discuss this. There was no way I was saying, “Sorry class, we have to stop this discussion so we can begin Language Arts on time.” If your students are wanting to spend 40 minutes discussing books every day, that’s a different story. But you should certainly allow time for the occasional extended discussion.

Need Discussion Ideas?

If you’d like discussion ideas, I have created novel studies for over 40 books. My writing prompts and quiz questions make perfect discussion topics for morning work. You can download the first novel study for free!

Don’t see a novel study for a book you love? Click here to browse over 40 novel studies I have created.

When Kids Say Reading is Boring, Prove Them Wrong!

How to support reluctant readers

“Aw man, reading sucks.”

I volunteered at a local school recently to help administer state testing. I worked with a small group of elementary students for one week. One boy seemed particularly annoyed at spending the next three hours bubbling circles on a reading test. My thoughts were confirmed when I gave him his test and he said the quote above.

My first thought: CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!

By the end of the week, this boy almost ran into a wall while walking to class because he refused to look up from what he was reading.

How did this happen? I learned a lot during my 14 years of teaching that helped me show this boy that reading does not suck. I hope my story gives you ideas to engage your students who normally hate reading.

When a Student Says “Reading Sucks” ACCEPT THE CHALLENGE!

When a kid says they hate reading, it usually means one or two things:

They are rarely given, or know how to find, reading material about topics that interest them.
They struggle to read and feel bad about it.

I taught long enough to know this boy fell into the first category. When he said, “Aw man, reading sucks,” I just walked away. I said nothing, but I used his words as motivation to provide reading material that he would love. The best part of teaching is showing a reluctant reader that reading can be an enjoyable experience. I only had a week with these kids, but I was determined to show him that reading is fun.

Like everything else in teaching, this is no easy task. You MUST get to know students who say reading is terrible. How are you going to provide engaging reading material if you don’t know what interests the student?

Goldfish Crackers — The Golden Ticket

When my small group began testing on day one, I wondered how I could get time to talk to them. This was a challenge since the whole school had to be quiet for testing and I had to leave when testing ended. Then I looked at the table beside me and saw the golden ticket — SNACKS! Between part 1 and 2 of testing, I snuck my students to the cafeteria to eat their snacks. I’m not sure if I was technically allowed to do that, but the cafeteria was far enough from classrooms that a few kids talking would not disturb any test takers.

I spent the next 10 minutes asking questions to my small group while they gobbled their goldfish and slurped their juice boxes.

Which special class is your favorite?

What’s the best thing in your home?

Where else have you lived?

Several students chatted about art, visiting their home country, and their XBox at home. That was great, but my reluctant reader was still quiet. I only had a few minutes before I had to return to testing. Time was running out. I was determined to find something this boy liked before I left on day one.

What’s the best/worst lunch here?

Tell me about one person who lives with you?

What do you enjoy doing after sch…

SOCCER!!!!!

This boy, who had said three words the last 10 minutes, barely let me finish my question before he blurted out his favorite sport. Then he talked about friends he played with, where he played, and how he scored a bunch of goals one game.

During our snack break the next day, I asked who his favorite player was. He said his favorite player was Cristiano Ronaldo because he had cool hair. Then another student in my group started talking about how she enjoyed playing basketball.

So I went home and printed off articles about soccer players and basketball players.

After everyone finished on the final day of testing, I gave these articles to the kids to read. They finished early and I figured their teacher wouldn’t mind 10-15 extra minutes of having fewer students in her classroom. I gave the article about Ronaldo to the boy who said reading sucks. I pointed to the top of the page to show him it was about Ronaldo.

The boy literally jumped out of his seat.

He then proceeded to read the passage for the next 10 minutes. He did not look up or say a word until he was done. Then I gave him a passage about basketball star Steph Curry and he devoured it too. When it was time to leave our testing room, I walked out to the hallway with my group. As I was ensuring I had all testing supplies, I noticed the boy was not with us.

He was still at his table reading the passage about Curry. He didn’t notice everyone had left.

He refused to look up from the passage about Curry as we walked back to the classroom. Before he returned to class, I asked him “Are you sure that reading sucks?” Unfortunately, he didn’t respond because he was so engaged in what he was reading.

I think I proved my point.

How Do You Learn About Your Reluctant Readers?

Ask them questions about themselves.
Chat with them during recess.
Eat lunch with a few students.
Find them before or after school.
Call on students to say a few words about things they like. Morning meetings are perfect opportunities for this if that’s part of your schedule.
Give them chances to write about their interests.
Watch what they do during recess.
Do read alouds and keep an eye open for times when they enjoy it or don’t show as much boredom as they normally do.

Once you find out what they like, that will help you find reading material that engages them. Even if you can’t work that reading material into your ELA lesson, just give it to them and say, “This is about _______. I think you’ll enjoy it!”

You can’t always provide every single student with reading material they love. But you can’t let a student leave your class without having some enjoyable reading experiences.

If you have students who enjoy sports, feel free to grab my free reading passages about famous athletes. Each of these free downloads has passages on a variety of reading levels to meet the needs of your students. Click the images for more information.