January Rooted in Reading

Well HELLOOOOO! I have been thoroughly enjoying my break! How about you? We have been busy hanging out with family, organizing the house, and keeping up with three crazy kids. I haven't shown any personal pics on the blog lately so here are a few pics we got taken downtown a couple of weeks ago!

Emma thoroughly enjoyed the camera...just in case you couldn't tell!

A little update on my trio- Nash is 8 years old and one of the smartest, kindest kids I know. He is a HUGE star wars nerd and loves all things to do with sharks and football! He is a second grader!

Emmie is 6 years old. Emmie is the princess of extremes (some would blame her artist heart). She has a mind of her own and keeps us on out toes. She loves painting, dancing, reading, and writing.

And we can't forget oh-so-sweet Smith! He is seven months old and the easiest baby on the planet. He is off the charts...literally- in height, weight, AND head circumference haha. He is getting his top two front teeth and besides that, loving life!

Here are just a couple more for fun!

I forgot to check in and tell you about Rooted in Reading January because there's so much included in the unit!

For MLK, Jr. we made it to where you can use the unit with lots of different MLK, Jr. biographies and books that you probably already own! We didn't want to limit you to a specific selection!

Comprehension Focus: Locating Key Events and Nonfiction Text Features

Grammar Focus: Commas in Dates and Commas in a Series

Here are some books that would be great to use throughout the week!

And, YouTube has tons of great videos to watch!

We thought that Alexander, Who Used to be Rich Last Sunday would be a great book to use after New Year's. The lesson of saving/spending money would be a great fit with New Year's Resolutions! My husband would tell you that I could learn a thing or two- HA!

Comprehension Focus: Identifying the Lesson of a Story

Grammar: Pronouns

We also found this really great video to incorporate with our identifying the lesson of a story. You'll use this in one of the lessons!

Kids love learning about the Iditarod and the traditions of other states in our nation. We just adore the book Akiak written by Robert Blake. The perseverance and courage shown in the book is just so inspiring! You'll definitely want to watch THIS video (click HERE and HERE) to learn more about sled dogs!

Comprehension Focus: Fact vs. Opinion

We also included a nonfiction reader about Alaska so that you can identify key facts in a nonfiction story!

Grammar Focus: Possessives

Oh my goodness, y'all! Have you read Snow Day by Lester Laminack?! I had the privilege of hearing Mr. Laminack speak a couple of years ago and I have been in love with his style of writing ever since! Another one of his books that you just HAVE to have is Saturdays and Teacakes. This is a great video to watch before reading Snow Day with your students. The author gives some read-aloud tips!

In this unit we also compare the book to Brave Irene by William Steig. This book can also be found as a read aloud on Storyline Online. It's such a cute book so we just HAD to use it somehow!