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During second quarter our focus during Reader's Workshop is nonfiction text. We have spent the first part of this quarter learning about nonfiction text features and how they help us when we read informational text.  Today we did an activity that my students really enjoyed. I saved a few of our Time For Kids magazines, ones we had already read and discussed, and then I collected them and stored them- so today I pulled those out and we went on a scavenger hunt searching for 7 different features.  Of course, I had already scoped them out and knew which features were for sure in the magazines. I typed up a directions page for my kiddos to use and we looked at the sample  I had made so they would know just what they needed to do.  You can find the directions page for free to use with your class here...  Nonfiction Text Features Poster As for my teacher example- here it is (the red border is a magnetic border on my dry erase board- it is not part of the poster):  Here are a couple stude

Another book that I love to use to teach character is Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli. Not only does it have a strongly defined main character, but it is such a sweet book with a wonderful message. I read it to my class every year and they always love it.  This year I designed a quick activity to use to help students see the changes that Mr. Hatch goes through during the course of the story. As I read the book to my students I stop at three different points in the story for us to chart (and also at the conclusion of the book) and for them to work.  Here are my stopping points in the book... And here is our anchor chart... I love the detail my students used when completing their work- they loved drawing Mr. Hatch with the different emotions on his face! You can get this activity for free here- Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch printable! This book is also available on Storyline Online read by Hector Elizondo.  If you haven't used this book in your class before, I hope