The Ultimate Summer Reading List

Summer is here-- which means I have a list of places I want to take my kids, DIY crafts that I have pinned on pinterest, and a list of books that I would like to read. So....I thought I would try my first link-up!  Molly from Lucky to Be in First is sharing her summer reading list.

One of my favorite things to do during the summer is read right before I go to sleep.  During the school year, I am usually so tired from the day that I'm asleep before my head hits the pillow.  So, the summer is the perfect time to catch up on my reading.  My husband keeps telling me to buy a Kindle. But for some reason, I love reading from the actual book.  Especially a teacher book because I am usually taking notes in the margins, underlining, highlighting, and putting post-it notes on pages that I don't want to forget about.  And let's not forget-I am super clumsy and would probably break it within a week!  :)  

First, here is the list that I WANT to read this summer.

I am actually starting Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty tonight.  I am looking forward to it!  I read the The Husband's Secret within a few days.  I highly recommend it.  Which brings me to my list of books that you SHOULD read this summer....

What are you going to read this summer?  Do you have any suggestions for me?

The Lemonade Stand

This is my very first literacy post, so please bear with me....

The last two months of school (April and May) can be a very exciting and stressful time for a third grader.  It's exciting because they're only weeks away from the freedom of summer, but also stressed with the large amount of assessments.  Not to mention, one of the state assessments determines their future to become a 4th grader.  So, what better way to end the year than with a class chapter book.  After successfully getting a Donor's Choose project funded in the winter, I had a class set of The Lemonade War by Jacqueline Davies.  This book is about two siblings that launch an all-out war to see who can sell the most lemonade before school starts.

This book ended up being a huge success.  My students wouldn't put the book down.   They made great personal connections to the characters and I was also able to link a lot of our social studies standards to the book.  The chapters included definitions of business terms,  marketing tips for making money at a business, charts, diagrams and math problems.  Because they would not put the book down, we were able to finish the book just in time for a project.  Learning from the two siblings successes and mistakes, I helped my students design and implement their own lemonade stand.  They designed posters, advertisements, and other business schemes like the characters did in the book.  The students decided on a location, time, brand and price of the lemonade, and even how their profit was going to be spent.  In the end, my third graders donated roughly $120.00 to our community's non-profit organization which is raising money to give four-year scholarships to all graduates.  And the best part is.....my students left for summer break excited to read the second book in the series!

Has anyone read this book with their class?