Free Mini Books

Do you need more reading resources for your classroom?  Do you have a classroom budget?  Then the free Mini Books from Scholastic are just what you need.  You can search by topic, reading level, and grade level. This tool is wonderful for reinforcing concepts from other subjects in your reading lesson.  If you have students that are above or below the level of books you have in your classroom library this could also be a valuable tool.  If you create an account, or have a Scholastic account all ready, then you can save books online to use in the future.  Happy reading!! 

Nook Apps

Barnes and Noble has added apps to the Nook.  Check out the NPR story and the Barnes and Noble webpage for more info.  If you have a Nook for your classroom start thinking of new ways to use it!

Project Based Learning

I am a big fan of Project Based Learning (PBL), or Inquiry-based learning. Edutopia has a free ebook called Top Ten Tips For Assessing Project Based Learning.  It is 14 pages and has tips on assembling your PBL Tool Kit.  If you like PBL or you are just thinking about starting PBL in your   classroom check it out!

Learning to read with Startfall

Starfall has four different sections and several other activities to use with your students with using phonics. This page would work well with an interactive white board for full class instruction or with students on individual computers with head phones.  It could be uesed as part of your centers rotation. I find this page easy to use for teachers and students. My 5 year old pre-schooler has no trouble using this webpage with no help from mom or dad.

The ABC's section helps students get ready to read.  There is an activity for each letter.

Learning To Read has 15 book and activity groupings based letter combinations, sight words, and vowels. There are even some short videos.

The It's Fun To Read section is fun!  There are several different activities that the students can use.

I'm Reading has several eBooks for the students to explore.

There are several other activities that would be fun to do with you class for several holidays as well.  There is also an interactive calendar that is fun to use as well. It works well with an interactive white board and your calendar helper would love it!