Books to help you recharge over the Summer

Hello Friends, it's Erin from The Elementary Darling. The countdown is on! I have about four weeks left before the end of the year, and this is the time that I start planning for the summer and organizing for the beginning of the year. I know some of you are thinking, "She is crazy!" and I might be a little bit, BUT the end of the year is the best time to organize and plan.  Last year, I wrote this post about what I do a the end of the year, and Kristin wrote this post, about planning during the end of the year.

But TODAY, I am going to show you my favorite professional development books. Obviously, I would recommend checking out one or two based on your needs, however they are ALL amazing!

For the teacher that needs to RECHARGE

I love anything written by Ron Clark, but Move your Bus is my favorite. I reread it often to remind myself to be a runner! If you don't know, his co-owner of The Ron Clark Academy is Kim Bearden, and her book, Crash Course will remind you why you went into teaching. It is my ultimate favorite! I also recently found the book Conscious Discipline, thanks to my friend, Theresa from True Life I'm a Teacher. This book is all about teacher mindset. I just started it, and I am loving it!

Throughout this post, you’ll find Amazon Affiliate links. This means I receive a small commission if you purchase something through that link, at no extra cost to you, that helps keep my blog running and helps fund giveaways!

For the teacher beginning Reading Groups

These books are good for reading groups, or ideas for your groups. Even if you have been implementing reading groups for several years, I know you will find something useful in them! These two books are my everything when it comes to Guided Reading. Jan Richardson has everything you need, including strategies and printables in this book for every level of guided reading. The Daily Five book is great for anyone who uses a grouping method for reading.  I also LOVE Word Nerds. This book has amazing ideas for vocabulary instruction. While I would recommend it for 2nd grade and above, it could be modified for Kindergarten and 1st grade.

For the teacher looking for Math Group ideas

I LOVE this book! Debbie Diller is an amazing math group guru, and she has fabulous ideas in this book! It is for grades K-2, so if you have a book suggestion for 3-6, I would love to hear it!

For the teacher looking for Differentiation Ideas 

If you are a GenEd teacher and you have a huge range of student abilities in your classroom, these are my top picks! I got my gifted endorsement several years ago and the book, Teaching Gifted Kids in Today's Classroom is my all time favorite. It has so many suggestions to extend the learning of higher level students.  Advancing Differentiation and How to Differentiate Instruction for Mixed Ability Classrooms are both amazing and so helpful when your classroom ranges in ability levels.

For the teacher looking for IDEAS or Strategies

How many times have we all run out of ideas or needed new fresh strategies for teaching a topic?  I recently found these books this year, and I never knew what I was missing. THEY ARE SO GOOD! You can use these books no matter what ELA format you use. It is literally a book full of strategies for every level. They do cost a little more, but honestly, they are worth EVERY penny. You can find the reading one here and the writing one here. These two will be the ones that I will be reading over the summer!

What professional development books will you dive into this summer? Whether you are reading to recharge, learn new strategies, or try a new method, these books will help you achieve your goal! Do you have an awesome book that I didn't show, leave it in the comments below! Happy Reading!

Workshop Wednesday- End of the Year Read Alouds!

Hi Friends! It's Chandra from Teaching with Crayons and Curls! I am SO excited about my first post on this amazing blog with some amazing teachers from Georgia!

I am so excited to share Workshop Wednesday with you! 

I am officially SEVEN days away from the last day of school! It's absolutely crazy, but- Oh. So. Exciting! I don't know about you but the end of the year can be completely chaotic- trying to get in all those last minute assessments, award shows, field, day, etc. So many exciting things going on! But, I really enjoy taking some time in between all the chaos to just read to my kids. It's one of my favorite things to do as a teacher. I wanted to share some of my favorite read alouds for the end of the year! 

Last Day Blues is a classic last day of school book. If you don't have it, find one! It goes along perfectly with First Day Jitters (a must-have read for the first day of school) and is such a great read aloud to end the year with! 

Another favorite my Julie Danneberg is First Year Letters! It's a book with a collection of letters written to Sarah Jane Hartwell during her first year teaching! Another great story to end the year! It's a great book to introduce memory books or have students write letters to future students about their year in your class! No matter what, it leads to a great conversation about all the fun you had throughout the year!

Grab these {Letters to Future Students} FREE in my store! 

Dream Big, Little Pig by Kristi Yamaguchi has become one of my favorite books this year! One of my amazing colleagues let me borrow it one day and I ordered it from Amazon immediately! It's about this sweet little pig who has big dreams for herself and realizes to never give up! 

After reading the book, you can have your students discuss their own dreams for their futures OR dreams that they accomplished this year! Grab these freebies! 

Here are some other great read alouds for the end of the year: 

I hope everyone has a fabulous end of the year!  I'd love to know your favorite read alouds for the end of the year! Make sure to comment below with your favorites!