Reader,
I have to be honest with you.
There were years I made it to the last two weeks of school and had absolutely nothing planned. Not because I did not care. Because I was exhausted. I was counting down the days just like my students were and hoping nobody noticed that I had stopped trying.
Sound familiar?
If you are reading this on Sunday night with zero plan for Monday morning, this email is for you.
Here is everything I have ready for you right now.
For your literacy block this week:
The May Literacy Playbook has your last two weeks already mapped. Anchor skill is synthesis and reflection. One read-aloud. One sentence stem. One organizer. That is your entire literacy block through the last day of school.
I used to think end of year reflection meant asking kids to name their favorite book. Turns out that is just a survey. Synthesis is asking them what they think differently because of what they read this year. Those are not the same lesson.
The sentence stem that does the work: I used to think ___. Now I think ___ because ___.
That because at the end is where the learning lives.
GRAB THE MAY LITERACY PLAYBOOK
New This Week- Eyes That Kiss in the Corners Book Companion
This book by Joanna Ho is one of the most powerful texts I have taught with in grades 3-5.
The companion is live right now. Five day lesson plan. Vocabulary. Comprehension organizers. Identity writing page. Compare and contrast chart. Everything already built.
If you are teaching AAPI Heritage Month or wrapping up a compare and contrast unit — this is the one.
GRAB THE EYES THAT KISS COMPANION
PAIR IT WITH
- May Literacy Playbook — four weeks of read-aloud lessons, skill progressions, Tier 1, 2, and 3 already mapped
- AAPI Heritage Month MEGA Bundle — bulletin board, posters, slideshow, Grades 3-5
This Week's Free Resources:
The Summer Reading Bingo Challenge. One page. Print it. Send it home. Done. It keeps your readers reading all summer without you having to build anything.
Blog Post 4 IS LIVE with the full written breakdown.
Plan your End of Year with the FREE End of Year Activities
If you are tired of building this from scratch every single year like I was, the Literacy Playbook Series Bundle is every month sequenced, skill-first, and already mapped.
All My End of Year Activities
So next year's planning happens in June when you have space for it. Not August when you are panicking.
I built it because I was tired of reinventing the same week of lessons every August. If that sounds like your life, this is for you.
You made it to the last stretch. Finish strong
In literacy and less overwhelm
Patty