DEAR and DEAD Time and Friday Flash FREEBIE!!!!

My absolute FAVORITE time of the school day is DEAR time.  (For those of you unfamiliar with DEAR...it means Drop Everything And Read.)  My 4th graders have DEAR time every single day.  I love, love, love to read books (when I can find the time and lately that hasn't been very often) and I want my students to share the same love for books that I have. 

So this is how my DEAR time works.  Every day after our lunch recess, my students walk in the room, grab the book they are reading, and get comfortable.  They can sit pretty much wherever they want in the classroom.  I have a reading corner with bean bags and pillows they are allowed to use.  They can take off their shoes and sprawl out on the floor, they can lean up against the wall, or they can sit at their desk.  There is ABSOLUTELY NO TALKING and once they get comfortable, they must stay in that spot.  No switching books because that causes a distraction.  And now the stage is set...for the next 15 minutes the students can get lost in their books and think of nothing else.  And they do...  

Click on the picture above to download this FREEBIE poster to display during your DEAR time!

I also do DEAD time (Drop Everything And Draw), but this is much fewer and far between.  We are so busy in 4th grade, but I do think drawing is an important skill to have.  My goal is once a month.  The same rules apply...get comfortable and forget about everything else but drawing.  I do play music during DEAD time, but this is optional.

Click on the picture above to download the FREEBIE poster.

This weeks Flash Freebie is my newly created Literature Unit for SCAT by Carl Hiaasen.  

It includes vocabulary, review questions, a research project, and an end of the book test.

Enjoy it quickly...it won't be free for long.