Classroom Freebies Too

Hi there!  It's Susan hopping over from First Grade Friendly Froggies to share a Freebie that I'm hoping will help my students beat the "Summer Slide"!  Now I know that most of you are out of school for the summer and you're probably thinking that this post is too late to be of value!  Please keep reading and enjoy a freebie at the end of this post!

Now where was I?  Oh yes, The dreaded "Summer Slide"! You know what I'm talking about!

You work with your dear students all year.  You and they work hard!  They have made growth. Maybe they are even reading at grade level.  And then they leave for the summer.

I always try to encourage my students to read over the summer so they don't lose all of those skills! In the past, I've given them bookmarks with reading strategies, books from Scholastic, you name it! Anything to keep them reading!

Well, this year I tried something a little different.  I gave them a simple gift of a "Summer Reading Chain" and a CHALLENGE!  I've seen this idea on Pinterest, so I tweaked it for my class.

I challenged them to read over the summer and show me their reading chains in the fall!  I promised a treat to anyone who showed me their chain in the fall…no minimum number of links.  My kids were over the moon with this challenge!  

Without realizing it (in fact, I was a little worried about not giving them more of a "present") I gave them the gift of anticipation!  They are so excited to see what "treat" I'll have for them in the fall.  I'm originally from Texas and return each summer to visit my family.  So they are all hoping it will be a treat from Texas!  

Now this is why I asked you to keep reading!  I think I may just "tweak" this idea a little bit more in the fall and use the "Reading Chain" as a fun way to kick off reading!  So download this Freebie now, but follow my blog to be notified later when I post the  updated version for the fall!  

Here are some pictures showing how I put these together.  I stapled an envelope on the back of the frog card (you can't see it in the picture) and put a handful of strips inside each envelope.   

Print and laminate!  I laminated them so they would  hold up over the summer and be more sturdy to hang on the wall.  I stapled an envelope to the back to hold the strips!

The strips have a spot to write the book title and the date.  I chose to color these on a variety of colors just to make it more fun!

Please download the Freebie to use with your own children this summer or to kick off the fall like I plan to!   

I hope you'll hop over and visit my blog, Friendly Froggies,  this summer.  

Have a great summer!  You deserve it!