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!

6 Strategies for Teaching Poetry

Does teaching poetry stress you out? Try these 6 strategies for teaching poetry to get learners to fall in love with poetry.

Use Poetry Templates:

Many styles of poetry use a certain format.  Using templates allows learners to really focus on word choice. Learners don't have to focus on the structure with templates.  Giving access to a thesaurus and dictionary will help writers find the best words to fit their poem.

I want FREE Templates!

Integrate Other Subjects:

Poetry doesn’t have to be limited to just literacy lessons. You can easily integrate poetry into the content areas. For example, in math you can write diamante poems about the different operations, bio poems about shapes, and acrostics for key vocabulary terms.  You can get plenty of suggestions in this

FREE How to Teach Poetry (Even if You Hate It!) eBook

Use Close Reads

A poetry close read can help readers make inferences and connections. This simple close read guide can be used with any poem. The questions guide readers to understanding the parts of poetry, identify key terms, and search for main idea.

Take me to the FREE Poetry Close Read.

Use Poetry in Lessons and Centers

Make poetry part of your guided reading lessons and literacy centers. Keep it up and running with a poetry book basket and the poetry close read.  Want poetry book suggestions?

Poetry Books Kids Love

Do you want poetry literacy centers that are already prepared?  These monthly poems will allow for you to cover all holidays and seasonal themes. A test-prep/close read guide, written response, poetry writing lesson, and content area connection is provided for each poem.

Take me to Poetry Literacy Centers

Read Poetry During Read Aloud Time

Use poetry as part of your daily read aloud. Poetry is perfect for read alouds especially on those days when you are running short on time.  Check out this article to get suggestions of poems that will keep your students reading poetry all year long. Each month includes a FREE set of questions and activities.

Take me to the FREE monthly poetry resources.

Found Poetry

Use found poetry to help students identify the main idea of a passage. Have students highlight the important words and phrases as they read. Then cut out the highlighted words and organize them into a poem.

Click here for a FREE Lesson Plan for Found Poetry.  

Create a Wall Display

Keeping up a poetry word wall is a great way to help students learn those important terms. Put it up near your literacy center.  This poetry word wall has terms and examples.  You can color to meet your classroom decor or for student notebooks.  Or just print and go.

Take me to the Poetry Vocabulary Book.

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