Magical Product Swap # 3 ~ Reindeer Reading

It is that time again ~ time for the Magical Product Swap with Jessica Stanford.  I love this for so many reasons!

1.  I get to meet a new blogger and make a new friend!  That has been the best part of blogging!
2.  I get to try out a new product that enhances my instruction.
3.  I get to see my product in action, something that always intrigues me!

So, once you find out about Reindeer Reading from Lauren at Teacher Mom of 3, click on the button below to see what everyone else has reviewed.

MrsStanfordsClass

Again, I was paired with another wonderful partner ~ Lauren from Teacher Mom of 3!!  She is a reading specialist as well, so we share a common bond.  She has been so much fun to get to know, and that makes it all the more fun!

Now, onto the product!  I had the opportunity to use and review Lauren's Reindeer Reading! Informative Reading and Writing.  She has it labeled for 1st and 2nd grade, but I work with students who struggle in reading.  This was perfect for my third graders who read on a second grade level.  Just before Christmas we spent a week working on this unit.  It was a lot of fun!

First I copied all of the pages, which go to a community copier in our school.  One of the other teachers picked it up as I was walking to the copier and said, "I wonder whose this is because it is adorable!"  What a compliment!


We started off with the KWL chart that had such cute little reindeer on it.  The students had fun filling these in before we read.  I told them to write down what they knew about reindeer.  Several of them put that reindeer can fly.  I had to remind them that we were focusing on the reindeer in the wild who did not make "Santa's cut". 
We then went over the vocabulary words for the articles.  They are perfect because they can match the words to the definitions.  These came in handy for learning those Tier 3 words.  I used them throughout the week to review the words as we read the passages.  We also predicted which words would be used in each section of the passage.

We then read the articles, one each day, and discussed them together.  There were three articles about reindeer:  Where Reindeer Live, What Reindeer Eat, and What Reindeer Look Like.  Each day the students filled in what they learned from each section in their books.  They also drew pictures to show what they learned.  On the last two pages, the students drew pictures of real reindeer and Santa's reindeer (what reindeer can't do) and wrote a sentence for each.

The articles were super informative!  I learned a lot about reindeer from these.  Our area is really big into deer hunting, so the students had to understand that we were not talking about deer like we see. Here are some of the students' books.






After reading all of the articles and filling in our books, we filled in the Reindeer Can, Have, Are chart.  The students did this first and then I filled mine in with their answers.
We also labeled a reindeer after reading "What Reindeer Look Like".
One other activity we enjoyed was the Write and Draw.  The students chose four the vocabulary words to write and then draw a picture of.  It is funny how much third graders still love to draw and color.  They did a wonderful job with it!

We also filled in the included web to describe reindeer.

There was one activity we did not have time to get to.  We did not complete the writing activities.  In this activity, the students write a story telling what it would be like to be a reindeer.  The students have to include many details about reindeer to really show what their lives would be like as a reindeer.  Wow!  That really digs deep into that analytical brain of theirs!!  We just ran out of time!

Below is a preview of everything you get in the packet.  Click on it to head to Lauren's TPT store and grab it!  Christmas may be over, but reindeer are interesting no matter when you learn about them!


We are giving away copies of our products that we have reviewed!  Enter the Rafflecopter below to enter to win a copy of each of our products!

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Now, head on over to her blog to see what she has to say about my emergent reader, Little Pig Goes to the Zoo.  And enter again for a second chance to win both!   All of my emergent readers are 10% off through Monday in my TPT store!

Until next time!

1 comment

  1. I found your blog through TBA and am so glad I did! I am your newest follower :)

    Rae
    Mindful Rambles

    ReplyDelete

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