Summer Reading Is Hot!

Research has shown that it is critical for children to continue to read over the summer months when school is not in session. Here is information about the Summer Reading Program that I created for my students.

Summer Reading Is HOT!!

Mrs. W's Summer Reading Club For Holy Spirit Students 

Everyone knows the more you read the more you grow, so come on board and join Mrs. Wollmering for a Summer Reading Adventure Fill In the lines below with favorite books that you have enjoyed during June, July, & August. You may read the books, listen to the books, or have the books read to you. Pick your most favorite book and go online to send an Email to Mrs. W: wollmeringm@holy-spirit.org. Write a paragraph telling Mrs. Wollmering why you liked this book. Be sure to include your Name, the Author and the Title of the book. You may also send me a picture of you reading that I will include in a Blog Post about your Reading Adventures. Everyone who sends Mrs. Wollmering an Email by August 31st will receive a free book when they return to school in September. 

TITLE                                                                                       AUTHOR  ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Summer Reading Clubs

2013 Summer Reading Resources

Everyone knows that the more you read, the more you grow! Are you concerned about your children not growing as much as they could over the summer months? Well, have no fear because there are so many wonderful reading programs available that are aimed at keeping kids learning and reading during the summer. Here are some of the more popular programs. The best part about all of these programs is that they are free. Let's keep reading alive and prevent the downward summer slide!

Here are some fantastic Online Summer Reading Resources

1.  Scholastic's Summer Challenge is a great FREE online resource! Kids log minutes read to earn rewards and read for the World Record. They have lots of great info, lists for different age ranges and even challenge books if your child is up for it. Scholastic even has a Summer Reading Time App which is FREE.

2.  Sylvan's Book Adventure  is another fun & free way to motivate kids to read. Kid's find a book from the list, take a quiz and ear prizes for their reading success. In the Parent's Place parents can monitor their child's reading progress, track and view their quiz results and even approve prize selection.

3. Pizza Hut has their Book It! Read Your Heart Out Summer Reading Challenge for kids in grades K-6th. They also have lots of tips, activities and printables for parents and teachers too.

4. To participate in Barnes and Noble Summer Reading Challenge kids have to read 8 books, record/log them in their Imagination's Destination Reading Journal and turn it in at your local Barnes & Noble store between May 22nd and September 4th to earn a FREE book from the list printed on the back of the journal.

5. Chuck E. Cheese reading rewards - kids read everyday for 2 weeks and win 10 free tokens. Document their reading on the form provided and take it into your local Chuck E. Cheese.

6. Pottery Barn Kids Summer Reading Program - The program runs from May 16th thru August 26th. Kids 

7. Half Price Books Feed Your Brain Summer Reading Program - Kids read a minimum of 15mins a day until they total 300 minutes. Turn in completed log to earn HPB Bookworm bucks.

8. Read-a-Palooza with American Girl - From May 1st thru August 26th your American Girl lover can join in the reading fun with special in-store events, free printables and amazing reading resources. Joining in helps a great cause too. $1 of every book purchased through American Girl goes to Save the Children's US Literacy Programs.

9. Check your local library to enroll in their Summer Reading Program.  In the Twin Cities the five county area public libraries all support the MELSA system. Here is a link to their Summer Reading Program. Bookawocky @ The St. Paul Public Library 

Welcome To Our First Ever Second Grade PowerPoint Preview Party

During the month of February my second grade students researched African American Achievers and then created mini reports. They took the information from those reports and produced three slide PowerPoint projects. The first slide was a title slide. The second slide gave some facts about the person they chose to learn about. The third slide was a "Meet The Author" slide where they told something about themselves and explained why they chose the person they reported on. We held a Preview Party for parents and had over forty impressed guests. This lesson incorporated several of the Common Core Learning Standards as well as, the ISTE standards.

You Can't Blend In When You Were Born To Stand Out

In honor of "I Love To Read" Month our entire Middle School participated in a read aloud with R. J. Palacio's awesome novel, Wonder. After the students finished listening to the novel they participated in a number of activities. Students found their own precepts and created a Bulletin Board Display featuring these precepts. Several students used Tagxedo to create character studies of the main characters. Six grade students skyped with another school in the Twin Cities who had also listened to the book being read. All of these activites had a tech component to them. More importantly they allowed the students time to reflect on the powerful themes presented in this novel.

Our Hero: August "Auggie" Pullman

Third Grade Authors

Beginning in third grade students learn touch keyboarding with TypeToLearn. Throughout the year I collaborate with their classroom teachers on assignments where they can apply the skills they are learning. One of their recent projects was creating a BioPoem. After their poems were typed they added them to an art piece. This project allowed students to practice their formatting and editing skills.

Happy Valentine's Day From My Kindergarten Students

I have become a huge Pinterest fan and visit the site frequently to find ideas for meaningful student centered projects. Here is an example of one project that I reproduced. For my Kindergarten Valentine Lesson I read Daniel Kirk's, Ten Things I Love About You. Each student then randomly picked another student to compose a note of kindness to. Once they typed their one sentence message I took their picture, printed them, and added their images to their notes.

Collaboration + Critical Thinking + Creativity = Awesome Persuasive Writing Assignments

One of my Middle School Language Arts Colleagues asked me if I would help her find an application that would allow her students to create Travel Brochures and Travel Flyers. After comparing and contrasting several options we settled on the Template in Microsoft Word. This collaborative, project based learning assignment produced some impressive results. Several of our other colleagues thought they were viewing professionally created material. The students enjoyed this creative assignment and worked hard to meet the requirements. This assignment matches up well with the Common Core Standards.

Every Reader Is A Star...Our 2012 Scholastic Book Fair

Our 2012 Scholastic Book Fair was a huge hit. Financially, we sold close to $10,000 worth of books and our "All For One" Coin Competition raised $400.00 for our partner school, St. Peter Claver. The festivities began with our Family Event. Everyone was encouraged to wear their team colors, or dress like their favorite "star" and join "Coach Wollmering at the Holy Spirit Mary Library Stadium. Attendees could also bring an originally designed trophy that would be on display throughout the Fair.

Here are two students proudly showcasing their creative trophies. Patrick is paying homage to his favorite stars, police officers!