Reading Fair

The last two weeks of school are finally here!! The thought is overjoying, yet a little bittersweet & and totally terrifying because...what am I doing to occupy my students' time and not let myself be driven absolutely out of my mind?!

We have been working on a Reading Fair project for the past month after STAAR testing (Texas' state standardized test) finished. I LOVE IT. I got the idea from one of the teachers on my team and have been using 3rd Grade's a Hoot's (www.3rdgradesahoot.blogspot.com) incredible resource that has everything already ready to go!

How do you put together a Reading Fair? It's simple, student led, and promotes independent research a.k.a. literally the best for teachers at the end of the year and the kids are getting to show off their creativity and reading skills!

1st I introduced the project. I defined what a Reading Fair is: similar to a Science Fair, except each student will read their own novel (pre-approved from out classroom library) and use it to research literary elements and write a book review to assemble on a tri-fold board.
Check out tons of examples on Google or Pintrest when you just type in: Reading Fair
Google: Reading Fair Images
Pintrest: Reading Fair

2nd I gave them each their own Reading Fair packet and we went through it step by step together! I added my own due dates and rules as they applied.
Check it out here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Reading-Fair-Project-Packet-682224

3rd We created Reading Fair folders to contain everything we will be working on in class and to be able to easily transport materials back and forth from home to school. We just stapled two pieces of construction paper (one "hot dog" and one "hamburger" style) together and we had our folders! My kids loved these because the folders even create a pocket they could keep their books in!

4th We started working! During independent reading time they were all reading their novels (they also read these at home) and each day we focused on completing a different page or piece of the Reading Fair packet (covers lots of skills- great review). After the packet was completed we typed up all the info. to get ready to go on their poster boards!
*I created a Word Editable Template to allow my students to type their own novel info. directly from their Reading Fair packet over my example so that I could ensure they had the right format and would include the correct info. You can find it on my TPT store for free here: TPT Example Poster Template

5th We are currently finishing our typing and piecing our boards together. I wanted to ensure that every student had the materials necessary to complete the project (no one should be punished for not being able to buy supplies) so I sent home tagboard (like poster board) with every student and we folded it to make mini tri-fold boards. But, many of them have bought larger tri-fold boards and extra materials as well. We are going to set them up around the room and enjoy all the success of our end of year labor at our fair on Friday!

Here's my example with the tagboard I gave them:

*This example was made in a hurry so it is not perfect! It is missing a drawing/mosaic/3-D image that relates to my novel. I merely used it as an example to show students what their bare minimum effort should look like. It turned out to be a great example to use because we went over the project rubric and determined what I had, what I was missing, and guesstimated what grade I would have gotten!

Love,

Barbara

P.S. Kid Quote:

The other week we had Career Day at my school and one of the career stations my class went to was for the Houston Fire Department. I felt certain my students were trying to set me up with one of the firefighters since they were all telling him my first name (serious stuff lol). My suspicions were confirmed this week when one of my students told me "Ms. Cantwell, that firefighter had a huge crush on you. Seriously, that firefighter's heart was on fire for you and you are the only one who can put it out!!"