Building strong reading skills in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade is important for academic success. However, finding the best resources for teaching reading can be difficult.
Many districts give teachers a reading curriculum, but it often lacks key pieces that create an engaging and supportive place to nurture the love of reading.
Here are the top resources for teaching reading. They all can be found here as well: Teaching Reading Bundle.
Reading Skills Lessons
The first step in teaching reading is direct teach. Reading skills can be taught in any order. Plus, you’ll come back to them multiple times a year.
One way to teach reading skills is through genre study. For more information on teaching reading through genre study, check out my blog post: Teaching Reading Through Genre Study
These Reading Lessons are PERFECT for direct reading instruction. The lessons are divided into genres, so as you introduce a reading genre, you focus on reading skills that go with that genre.
There are slideshows to present the lesson and also guided notes for students to use to follow along. Additionally, an independent practice page over the reading skills is included.
Reading Notebook
Next, a Reading Notebook is necessary to organize reading skills notes. There are so many reading skills for students to remember: inferencing, author’s purpose, point of view, summarizing, plot, sequencing, and much more.
After teaching a reading lesson, students glue in the coordinating notes in their Reading Notebook
Then throughout the year, students reference their notebooks while working independently, in stations, or small groups.
Additionally, matching Reading Anchor Charts can be hung around your classroom. The more your students see the information, the more they absorb it.
Reading Games
Who doesn’t love a game? Reading games keep students engaged while reinforcing different reading skills.
Reading Games are great for literacy stations, small groups, or reteaching. Students get a chance to practice difficult reading skills with hands-on activities. A bonus is these reading games come with independent practice pages.
Reading Assessments
It is important to know where your students are in their reading at the beginning of the year. Your school may give you a tool for assessing reading levels.
However, how will you know where to focus your teaching? A reading skills is assessment is needed as much as a reading level assessment.
The Beginning of the Year Reading Assessment is a great tool to assess your students’s reading skills.
STAAR Reading Resources
The STAAR Reading Test can be a struggle for 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Even if they know all the reading skills required in the TEKS, the way the questions are asked on the test is tricky.
Therefore, it’s important to practice STAAR stemmed reading comprehension questions.
Here are more resources for teaching reading comprehension:
STAAR Reading Recursive Review
The STAAR Reading review resource provides 18 weeks of recursive review of reading comprehension.
It works well as a warm-up, homework, or small group tutoring.
Each week includes a short passage (genres include fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama). There is one question for each day: Day 1- Summary, Day 2- Unknown Word, Day 3- Skill Practice, Day 4- Inferencing Day 5- Short Response
STAAR Reading Strategies
An incredible, hands-on resource that will help teach STAAR reading strategies for specific question stems.
The resource has a Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Paired Passage with a variety of STAAR questions and their specific strategies.
STAAR Reading Passages Review
This resource is an engaging way for students to practice STAAR reading passages in small groups or at a center.
Without at doubt, reading passage after reading passage is boring! Mix it up and give students a variety of ways to practice reading passages.
Each of these passages (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and paired passage) has 6 to 8 questions. Then students can self-check with the QR codes.
STAAR Reading Prep BUNDLE
Last but not least, this 12-day STAAR reading prep is perfect for your STAAR Reading boot camp or blitz. The calendar included helps you know what to teach each day.
The TEKS aligned resource offers notes for whole group lessons, small group hands-on practice, and independent practice perfect for a grade.
It is the ULTIMATE STAAR review! Essential skills that are covered: Text Features, Author’s Purpose, Cause/Effect, Unknown Words, Summary, Inference, Point of View, and much, much more!
More tips on How to Plan your STAAR Reading Review can be found HERE!
All of the resources in this STAAR Reading Resource Round-Up can be found at a DISCOUNTED PRICE in this STAAR Reading Resource BUNDLE.
In conclusion, the resources used to teach reading make all the difference. It’s important to find reading resources that will complement the great work you are doing in your 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade classroom. These resources for teaching reading enhance instruction and create an interactive learning environment for your classroom.
