Book Raffles to the Rescue!

Welcome, welcome, welcome!!!! 

I am so happy to be joining this month's Bright Ideas Link Up!

So for my post today, I'm going to tell you all about how I use BOOK RAFFLES in my 2nd-grade classroom and how it RESCUED me from a huge stress factor! 

I posted a couple of snapshots of my book raffle set ups on IG a while way, way back. There was lots of excitement and interaction on those posts which lead me to write this blog post.

In order to explain this in an organized manner, I'm going to address the questions that were asked of me when I posted on IG in the hopes that I will explain it clearly enough that YOU can implement Book Raffles in YOUR classroom on Day 1 this upcoming school year! Yay!

Answer: In a nutshell, book raffles are a way of motivating students to work hard and get excited about reading! Students earn tickets for various things and then get to try and win a book that they want. I pick random winners to keep those books and then it starts over again. 

Now to expand upon that with more detail.... 

Answer: There are truly many different ways you could set up book raffles in your room. I will tell you how I do it, and then feel free to adapt to fit your classroom needs! 

I set the raffles up in 2 different ways this past year to see which I liked better:

As you can see, I tried cups and I tried with baskets. I found that the cups worked better for my set up personally and by displaying the books on the board, they were able to be seen easier. The baskets worked well too so definitely give that a try if you don't have any cups handy for ticket collecting!

Here's the process for implementing raffles into your classroom:

I raffled 4 books every 6 weeks. For drawings near a holiday, I added a few extra books as a bonus! I displayed the books using the tray of my whiteboard and next to each book was a cup where they placed their tickets. I drew an arrow from the book to the corresponding cup so they knew exactly where to put their tickets for that specific book. I wrote the drawing date and how may winners there would be right above where the books were displayed so they knew their deadline for those particular books. I also had frequent discussions with my kiddos about how to be strategic about using your raffle tickets. For example, if you like all of the books up for raffle and you see that one cup has very few tickets in it, you'll have a better chance of winning that one if you put your raffle tickets in there. On the other hand, if there's only one book you like, work hard to earn lots of tickets and put all of your tickets in the cup for that one book to raise your chances! 

I allowed my students to earn tickets for a variety of things although I mostly centered it around AR. You may ask WHY I centered it around AR and that's because my students were not motivated. They did not want to read books more than once. They did not want to take quizzes and when they did take quizzes, they were BOMBING them. It goes on and on and something had to change. For them. And for me. That's why I started book raffles in the first place and WOWZA, it worked! It became such a success that I added more ways for students to earn tickets that focused on the behavior side of classroom management. 

Tickets are earned as follows:

- 1 ticket for every 100 on an AR quiz.

- 6 tickets for meeting your AR goal. 

- 3 Bonus tickets if you met your AR goal EARLY. 

- 1 ticket for every student anytime we receive a class compliment in the hallway or at specials.

Those are the main ways. I would also randomly find other reasons to give tickets. For example, give a ticket to the fastest table to get quiet or a ticket for someone doing something extra nice...you get the picture. My students became more motivated to read AND comprehend their reading. They became more EXCITED about reading and more interested in the different series out there in the world to read! They also became more focused and harder working because they just never knew when I was going to randomly give out more raffle tickets!  

I know this is probably the top question because we ALL know that, as teachers, we spend way too much of our own money on classroom items. 

The way I got all the books needed for my book raffles this year was through Scholastic Bonus Points. Every school year, the Scholastic Book Club program does a special bonus points offer such as "On a class order of $100+, you'll receive 3,000 bonus points" or something to that effect. The first one of the school year is always the best offer and the perfect time to capitalize on your classroom (and personal) orders. I really try and rally the parents to place orders during this first month to get my total class purchase as high as I can. I will then factor in any book purchases I know that I will need to make for my classroom that year and combine it. This allows me to have a fairly high order and then I can claim all of those extra bonus points. If you are strategic in using those bonus points, you can easily get enough books for book raffles for the entire year. I got enough last year to last me through this year's book raffles! 

If you don't use Scholastic book Clubs or you don't want to, I would try seeking book donations, a project on DonorsChoose, yard sales, Dollar store books, etc. 

Where there's a will, there's a way! :)

I stated this above, but in case you missed it, I raffled books every 6 weeks. This allows them time to work on their AR goal and make those 100s on their quizzes AND earn their tickets for meeting their 6 week AR goal. But as I said before, that's what worked for me! Adapt as you see fit! 

I wanted to make sure that the book raffles were fair. If a student had already won a book, I didn't want them winning another and another while some students hadn't won any yet. At the same time, I didn't want those who had already won to be discouraged either so I had to come up with a solution. 

After the very first round of book raffle winners, I added a PRIZE CUP next to the books that were being raffled off and wrote the list of prizes up for grabs (pencils, stickers, sharpeners, etc.) I made it a rule that once a student had won a book, they would then start putting their tickets in the Prize Cup for a chance to win a prize. When I picked book winners, I would also pick about 3 or 4 names from the prize cup. 

I made it a rule that once every student had won a book, we would start over fresh and THEN it would be OK for someone to win a second book. 

This was a personal choice because I wanted every child to feel the excitement of winning a book they had wanted so badly. You may want to do it differently! 

Kudos to you and THANK YOU for checking out my post about book raffles today! I truly hope you will give this a try in your classroom this school year. As the image I made above says, book raffles motivate students to read. It feeds their interests, and it gives them CHOICES which they don't always get. If there are any questions you have that I didn't answer, please leave a comment or email me!

If you enjoyed this bright idea, please consider joining me on Facebook, TpT or check out one of my other bright idea posts!

For more bright ideas from other bloggers, please browse through the link-up below and choose a topic/grade level that interests you. Thanks for visiting!

An InLinkz Link-up

Differentiated Reading Centers: An Overview & a Freebie!

Hi guys!

I shared this photo on my Instagram/FB page a while back and I was really shocked at how much interest there was in them! It was very flattering to say the least!

Lots of people asked if I could share them and at the end of the post, I will be doing exactly that!

But instead of just uploading them as a freebie and being done with my post, I thought it best to explain a little about how and why I use these!

I tend to be very wordy, especially on posts like this so I'm going to try NOT to be this time.

I group my children based on reading level and differentiate my centers accordingly. The way that I differentiate is by assigning my groups an animal based on their reading level. My below-level group is a GIRAFFE. My on-level group is an ELEPHANT. My above-level group is a ZEBRA. You'll notice that the directions I use, have one of these animals at the top. Students are to read the paper with THEIR GROUP ANIMAL only and follow those directions. 

My 6 weekly centers are: 

1. Word Work

2. Writing in Response to Reading

3. Sight Word Center

4. Spelling

5. Independent Reading

6. Teacher Table/Guided Reading

Out of those 6, I have made permanent directions for 3 of them: Sight Word Center, Spelling, and Independent Reading. 

Teacher Table is of course with me so there's no need for written/typed directions for that center. 

Word Work and Writing in Response to Reading are my 2 centers that change weekly HOWEVER I always try to keep similar steps to the activities, just with different content. 

Let's see some visuals for what I just said.

I use this paper to organize my groups based on level and assign them the proper animal to match their ability.

I use these super nifty plastic latch bins to organize my center materials. All of the direction sheets and materials needed for that center go inside. Each bin is labeled with the center name so students can quickly grab the bin they need and take it to their table. They can get started immediately since all materials are already inside. I use Sheet Protectors to store directions/copies which I discuss a little more later.

For my 3 permanent centers, I have printed and laminated the direction sheets that you will see in the pictures below. I place the laminated directions into the storage bins along with the materials and they're ready to go each week with zero hassle!

For spelling, I have the 3 direction sheets but also include a few other things...

I take the blank word list and fill them in with each groups spelling words. Notice the lower group only has 10 and their words are usually very simple. The on-level group gets the regular spelling words for that week and the zebra group gets challenge words to practice. 

I have also laminated 2 blank copies and cut them apart so that each child has an already numbered paper to write their words on. They do their words 3x each with a dry-erase marker, then erase and use the same sheet for ABC order, and then get out their journal for Step 3. This eliminates thousands of spelling papers to be collected and/or lost and saves my precious paper supply each week. 

I've taken the alphabet strips seen in the picture below, laminated them, and cut them apart. This allows students to use a dry-erase marker to cross off the letters as they go when they are working on step 2 for ABC order. 

I also place dry-erase markers and erasers into the box for spelling. Sounds like a lot, but I promise it's really easy once it's set up. 

The Independent Reading box simply has these laminated direction sheets inside. I have pillows in my classroom but I also included a set that says "pick a comfortable spot" in the freebie so that it hopefully works for your room.

I use my Abra Cadabra Sight Word Game in my room for the Sight Word Center. I made that game specifically so that I could quickly differentiate it. I use my FRY edition even though I also have a Dolch version. Bag 1 contains the first 100, Bag 2 contains words 101-300, and Bag 4 contains words 301-400. 

For my 2 centers that change weekly, I use these blank direction sheets. I made about 20 copies of each animal sheet and placed them into sheet protectors. I then put the sheet protectors into my Center Binder. I simply grab one blank direction sheet for each animal group on Fridays before I leave, write the directions for the upcoming week on each sheet, and then place them in the appropriate center box. Since I can't laminate these directions, I place them in a sheet protector within the center box to protect them for the week! 

My Word Work center is almost always a sort of some kind so the students are familiar with the process but I can change out the content each week and sometimes change the response activity. Writing in Response to Reading is also a similar process every week - read an assigned story and then respond in writing. Process doesn't always change but the stories and ways to respond do. Again, because the papers are already copied, it's super quick to prep each week. 

Because kiddos can fluctuate in and out of a group once their ability changes, I like to keep visual reminders of WHO is in their group and what their ANIMAL is. I display the rotation schedule pictured below on my Promethean board. I have a "Board Magician" that will go arrow to the next slide once our timer goes off. When that person clicks to the next slide, the groups/animals rotate on the screen helping students to stay organized and not waste time wandering around the classroom. 

Wow! I realize that's a LOT OF INFORMATION I just threw at you and bless you if you actually managed to read through it all!

I **think** I have included all necessary information in this post but I certainly may have left something out! If you have any questions about anything in this post or how I do centers, PLEASE leave a comment below and I will certainly answer you! :)

If you want to snag these directions and resources for yourself, click here or click the pic below to download!

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to PIN any of the images! :)

Wishlist Sale - Day 4 & 5 Items

Alright, 2 days left of the wishlist sale which means 2 more products are getting marked down by 20%!

 

Day 4 Item - on sale August 3rd ONLY!

My 4th top wishlisted item is my You Better Splat That! Phonics Game!

 

 

This game was made to go with CCSS 1.RFS.2 and 1.RFS.3!

This product includes directions for how to play, directions and resources for creating your own Splat! stick, Splat! cards and word cards. I also included a Quick Print Reference page so that you can quickly know what pages to print for the version of cards you want.

The word cards come in 4 different versions:
A. Full color with words and pictures to match
B. Full color with words only
C. Black and White with words and pictures to match
D. Black and White with words only

My hope is that by providing you with multiple versions, you can use what works best for you. You can challenge students by using the word only cards or aide visual learners or readers who struggle by using the cards with words and pictures.

Overall there are 244 pages in this pack! It's usually $4.50 but for today (August 3) it is only $3.60!

Click the picture to check it out on TpT!

 

 

 Day 5 Wishlisted Item

 

My fifth most wishlisted item is my Prove It! Worksheets!

 

My Prove It! worksheets were designed with CCSS 1.RL.1 specifically in mind! That standard is all about asking and answering questions about key details in a text! They will also work for K.RL.1 and 2.RL.1!

I really wanted to give my students explicit practice with finding RIGHT THERE information from a text.

This file includes 18 different worksheets. Each worksheet has a different short story at the top for students to read. Then they answer 3 comprehension questions. For each comprehension question, they will be asked to mark the sentence that proves their answer is the correct one.

I made it so that they "mark" the text in a different way and color for each question to help you in checking papers quickly.

These papers will help you to see who is struggling with reading, comprehension, and who has trouble backing up their answers! They also work well for increasing fluency!

 

 This pack will only be on sale August 4th! It is usually $4.00 but it will be on sale for only $3.20!

Click the pic to check it out on TpT!



                             

Aaaargh you ready?!? Check it out!

Hi friends!!

 

So I rarely post on Tuesdays but this is a special occasion because I am participating in a book study this summer that I am super stoked about!!!

 

 

I have signed up to participate with Gina from Third Grade Tidbits and Jenn from Rowdy in First Grade for this awesome book study! We are reading Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess!

 

This book looks totally awesome and I can't wait to post about my two chapters! For a full line up of the dates as well as the bloggers who will be going in-depth for each chapter, click on Gina's and Jenn's buttons below to head to their blog posts!

 

I will be blogging about Chapter 8 and 9 on June 27th! So go now to their blogs and follow all of the amazing bloggers participating so you won't miss any Pirate-y goodness! :)