Bright Ideas: End of Year Purging

Today I want to share a "Bright Idea" with you.

I don't know about you, but I sure do accumulate tons of "stuff" for my classroom and have a hard time letting go of things (I think this is the definition of hoarding)!  At the end of each school year I "try" to purge as much as I can.  I recently came across this great acronym to help me actually let go of more "stuff" and I'm here to share it with you!

The acronym is ROLL.

I hope you find this tip useful!

If you liked this bright idea, please consider joining me on Facebook, my blog, or Instagram!

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

End of Year and New FREEBIE

How many days of school do you have left?  We have 6 days!!! I don't know about you, but I feel like this year has gone by so very fast! These last few days have been chaotic and the next 6 will probably be the same, but it is simply a reminder that the end is near.  So if you are feeling the same as I am, just remember that it's almost over.

This post will be short and sweet, but I want to share a few things with you all.

First, thanks to all of you who entered my giveaway for The Reading Game!  The winner is:

Check out the cute Mother's Day gifts my students created in class for their moms last week:

The idea for these necklaces comes from the amazing teacher/blogger Lory Evans from Lory's Page.  Click here to read more about creating these necklaces!

Also, I wanted to let you all know that I've got a new Summer themed FREEBIE in my store!!  Click below to download your copy!  As always, feedback (good or bad) is absolutely appreciated :)

Thanks for stopping by the blog today!  I've got a few fun things coming up that include giveaways and bright ideas, so be sure to watch for new posts.  The easiest way to stay up to date with my blog posts is to follow my blog by email.  To do so, simply find the heading "Follow by Email" to the right of this post, enter your email address and click Submit.  ***Please Note: The ONLY time you will be emailed is when I publish a blog post, you will not get unsolicited emails from me :)  

The Reading Game Giveaway

I am here today to share with you an amazing resource I recently stumbled upon while at EdExpo. One of my lucky readers will be winning a copy of this great product, so be sure to enter the giveaway at the end of this post!

The Reading Game is an amazing resource for beginning readers!  This fun engaging product is an early vocabulary builder and learn to read game.  It focuses on teaching students to read by using 180 of the most common Dolch and High Frequency words.  On completing the series, the student has a reading vocabulary of 180 words and will have successfully read six story books all on their own!  Each of The Reading Game's six stories is told using just thirty new words.  These are broken down into six sets of five words.  The student learns to read each set of five words by playing a simple word matching game.  Frequent exposure through play hard-wires these words into long-term memory.  Rote learning is transformed into a fast-paced game with a winner every few seconds. (quoted from The Reading Game website)

This game was created by the author of the famous Wordly Wise series, Kenneth Hodkinson.  While visiting EdExpo, I had the privelage of meeting his daughter, Erika, who gave me a personal demonstration of how the game works.  I was absolutely intrigued and couldn't wait to use it in my classroom!

I have had the pleasure of using this game in my classroom for the past month and I am beyond impressed with the growth my struggling students have made by "playing" this game.  My students beg for more time to play The Reading Game!

This resource is super easy to use!  The format is the same at each level.  You can easily have parent helpers or tutors use this game with your students.  To see the game in action, be sure to visit The Reading Game's website and click on the heading "How it Works"  

In order to help educators with implementing this game and tracking student success, the makers of The Reading Game offer FREE assessments and recording sheets for the words taught in the game.  To download these, simply visit their website and click on the heading "For Educators."

If you think this resource is something you need for your classroom, enter my giveaway below!  One person will win a free copy of The Reading Game.   I will be choosing the winner on Monday, May 11, 2015.  Good Luck!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Reading Game can be purchased many different ways.  You can visit their website for a list of retailers by clicking {HERE}.  You can also purchase it using your Scholastic Reading Club bonus points, how cool is that?!  It can be found in the Bonus Catalog or on the website.  It is item # 045696.

Thanks for stopping by!!!  I'd love to hear any comments you have about this game or my blog :)