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Virginia is for Book Lovers Blog Hop


I am SO excited to be working with my VA blogging buddies to bring you the Virginia is for Book Lovers Blog Hop! A big shout out to Rachel from Mrs. O Knows for organizing this hop :) Each VA blogger will be giving away a book of their choice as well as posting a freebie to use with their book! Be sure to visit each blog for your chance to win a new book and to grab all of the fabulous activities. Also, one lucky follower will win ALL of the books if they complete the hop from start to finish and enter the Rafflecopter on Rachel's post...that's 21 new books!


The book I chose to giveaway is Gumption by Elise Broach and Caldecott Medalist, Richard Egielski. I love using this book when teaching CONTEXT CLUES. Its rich vocabulary and colorful pictures are excellent for practicing this skill. My freebie includes a recording sheet that is used as a pre-reading, during reading and after reading activity. Students first write a prediction for the ten big words they will come across in the text. All they have to help them with this part is their background knowledge. If a child has absolutely no idea what the word means, I allow them to write a question mark in the prediction box next to the word.

Next, we make binoculars out of two toilet paper rolls and string. Students LOVE decorating their magical binoculars that will help them "search for" context clues as we go on our "expedition". Here is an example:

Once we start reading the book, we talk about using the pictures AND the words (context clues) to help us figure out the meaning of the unknown word. As we read, I slow down as we come across one of the words. I allow time for students to look at the picture as I reread the sentence and have them write down what they now believe is the meaning of the word. At the end of the book we go back and reveal the correct answers. Students are always surprised how much they improved from the prediction column compared to the context clue column just because they "looked" for the clues!
Click on any image below to take you to the FREEBIE:





Enter the Rafflecopter below to win a brand new hardback copy of this book (a $18.00 value!)
a Rafflecopter giveaway


To celebrate our love of reading, Virginia bloggers have put together an additional mega-giveaway. One lucky winner will win ALL of the books (that's 21 wonderful books) in our hop! Each blogger will send you the book they've talked about. Imagine receiving 19 wonderful books for free on your doorstep and sharing them with your lovely students! Enter below for the chance to win :)

Thanks so much for hopping by! If you haven't had the chance to hop through yet, be sure to click the teal button below to head over to the beginning of the hop. You don't want to miss any of it!


Next stop is Andrea from Reading Toward the Stars!
Reading Toward the Stars