The Not So WImpy Teacher creates resources for busy teachers in grades 2-5 who are looking to deliver engaging and meaningful lessons without overwhelm and chaos.
Each of these 16 reading units includes a PowerPoint that makes it simple. You can download it and teach the skill today! There are also two interactive notebook activities, five centers, and three passages that can be used in reading groups or as assessments to support the new skill.
Some people climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. Others run marathons or even ultramarathons. There are people who dog sled in the Iditarod or pull trains with their teeth.
And then there are the 3rd-grade teachers who must teach their students reading comprehension skills (main idea, central message, point of view, etc.)—no matter what curriculum and resources they’re given (if any)—so they can perform well on standardized testing. *moment of silence*
Teaching these skills is challenging! You want your students to love reading, but you also know the stakes are high. Kids who aren’t reading at grade level by the end of 3rd grade are four times more likely to drop out of high school.
That’s why we created the Reading Units and Centers MEGA BUNDLE. Teachers tell us how much they love the centers in this bundle. The centers are unique in that they include text and focus on just one skill or standard at a time. Teachers can drill down into one skill and tell how students are performing with each individual skill—and students get to have fun while doing it!
In addition to the centers, this huge bundle also contains a year’s worth of PowerPointlessons, interactive notebook activities, and assessments to supplement your existing reading curriculum! This reading bundle contains 16 different units for a total of 32 weeks of material.
Each of the 16 reading units includes a PowerPoint that makes it simple. You can download it and teach the skill today! There are also two interactive notebook activities, five centers, and three passages that can be used in reading groups or as assessments to support the new skill.
Each unit is intended to be used over a two-week time frame, but this can easily be adjusted to meet your needs. The units do not correlate with any one particular reading curriculum, but it has been designed to supplement any materials or routines that you already have in place. You can use any books (or magazines) you already have in your classroom library or school library. The bundle includes fiction and nonfiction lessons.
This is a money-saving bundle. If purchased individually, these resources would cost $96. Buying the bundle means you are getting 3.5 units for free!
The PowerPoint slide shows provide an introduction to the skill (see list above) prior to your reading groups. The slides encourage student participation and discussion. Your students will have many opportunities to practice their new skill during the mini-lesson!
There are two interactive notebook activities per unit. You could use these as a whole group activity or in small groups or centers. The activities have very simple cuts so precious class time is not wasted! The first activity is designed to reference and review the PowerPoint mini-lesson. The second activity however is more challenging and asks students to demonstrate their new skills. Students will need a notebook (spiral or composition), scissors, and glue.
→ BONUS: If you also use my Grammar Units, one notebook will easily fit all of the grammar and reading notebook activities. I included a cover and dividers for this.
Each of the 16 units includes five centers and one student recording book. That’s a total of 80 centers! For each unit, the answers to all five centers can be written into one recording book. The recording book takes two sheets of paper.
The final center is a reading response activity. Students will need access to some fiction and nonfiction books. The center will require that they read two different books/articles/passages and respond to a question relating to the unit skill. You can allow them to use read-alouds, choose books from your classroom library, or choose from a basket of books that you have pre-selected. You could even have them use a story from your basal.
Centers take 4-6 sheets of paper per unit. I do recommend cardstock and lamination for durability. Depending on the size of your groups, you might want to print more than one copy of each center.
I made each unit of centers with the plan that students would complete them in two weeks. This will somewhat depend on how much center time you have scheduled. If students finish early, I would recommend having them choose a book and read to themselves.
Each of the 16 units includes THREE different passages with three questions on each passage. The questions focus specifically on the unit skill.
The passages can be used in a variety of ways. You can use them as a pre-test, post-test, and/or a re-test. You could use one or two of them in your reading groups and then use the last one as an assessment at the end of the two-week unit. They can be done as a whole group lesson.
