Classroom Booksource--a free resource

I've found another good freebie!  This one will not only be helpful for the classroom library, but I think we need to start brainstorming on how we can use this in our guided reading library as well.  It's called Classroom Booksource and it's a free, online library cataloging system.

It's very similar to what I have purchased from Intelliscanner.  But this you can use it with your smartphone (it's a free ap--just search for booksource) as well to scan in books, however it isn't necessary.  The smartphone will just save you a little bit of time so that you don't have to hand enter all of the ISBN's.  (Just a side note that I learned from intelliscanner...if you are going to scan in a barcode, you want to find one that starts with a 9.  You may have to look in the front cover as well.  An ISBN can start with any number, but you won't be able to use your smart phone to scan that in.)  I've only just begun to dig into the potential with this site, but from what I can tell, you enter all of your books into the system along with your students, and they can check books out allowing you to keep track of what they have read in your library.  It will export any of its reports to excel so you can look at student reports as well as have a print out of all the books in your library.  One of the great features is that for some of the books, it will also put the guided reading level and you can also enter what location the book should be returned to!  If you want to learn more about all of its features, click here. This is a link to the instructions (which took me a long time to dig up while I was looking around the site.)

I hope this is helpful for you.  As you learn more about it, feel free to comment below so that we can all learn about it together.

Get this freebie quickly!

I found this freebie the other day.  You should grab it too before they change their mind and want to sell it!  It's a power point with 50 different thinking maps that you can use in reading {get it here}.  But the best part it that it's free!  You can read more about it on Lisa and Beth's blog {here}.  Thinking maps are great to use to help kids get into a routine of noticing their thinking and being able to comprehend.  They are best to use with kids who are accurate and fluent readers, but all readers will benefit from them if they need help with comprehension strategies.  Enjoy!

Fluency Routine

I hear a lot of people talking about fluency and how many of their readers can read accurately and talk about the book, but it just isn't fluent.  They are anxious to move their students up in levels even if they aren't exactly fluent.  When in reality, it will be easier to teach them fluency at the level where they are having difficulties in stead of trying to teach them new words, new comprehension skills and fluency at a higher level.

Thanks to pinterest, I found this great video from a fifth grade teacher sharing her fluency routine.  I love that the students are engaged in a physical way and the reminders she gives them will stick in their heads for a long time.  Can't you just imagine yourself leaving her classroom and still saying this to yourself in a sing-songy way?

I also liked the sign that she made that I'm sure she had hanging in a prominent place in the classroom.  However, it wasn't really my style and didn't match the bright colors in my classroom.  I created my own that you are more than welcome to have it.  I can send it to you as a PDF or a publisher file if you want to tweak it for yourself.