Reader's notebooks and letter after letter after letter

As soon as my kiddos walked in this morning, their eyes lit up when they saw stacks of reading response notebooks across my desk ~ some with books banded to them. They could barely wait until after morning meeting to find out what it was all about. When I explained that Katie Byrd dropped in and was very excited to see what they were reading, they smiled ear to ear! She took time out of her day to respond to many of their letters about their reading. Again, getting them to wait until reading workshop to read their letters and see what she may have recommended was a difficult task. 

Sometimes, I think the most difficult task is keeping up with all of their responses myself. Two classes makes for a lot of reading! Enough to make your eyes cross if you're not careful. ;) Making sure that all students have responded and written their letters, or even simply making sure to get to all that have before they look at me with their "what's taking so long" look can be overwhelming, LOL. Yet, I have to say that this really helps me know exactly where my kids are in their independent reading. I learn so much about my kiddos this way, and boy do they have fun writing back and forth with me. As tiring as it can be, I sure do love it, but I can't wait to tell Katie how excited they were to read her letters.

I will post some pics of reader's notebooks here soon. 

Speaking of morning meetings, thought I might share a couple of morning messages. My kiddos crack me up...they keep me on the mark if I don't give them a message either on time (you can usually hear sighs if I am still writing as they walk in, haha) or if it is too short. That is what the 10-10-12 message is referring to. 

You might notice that we are still focused on practicing what a complex sentence is. I have tried to include at least one, if not two, in every morning message. I also try to use the vocabulary from our read alouds as well.  

Just one picture book for tonight, but it is perfectly fitting for the topic of letters. :) We all love to get them don't we! The Long, Long, Letter by Elizabeth Spurr and illustrated by David Catrow is a great little read for of hyperbole and alliteration. We move through the seasons as sweet, lonely Hetta waits for her letter. Love the illustrations, but if you have been visiting long, you are not surprised. ;)

With that, I will close with a short little post for the night. There is a first for everything.

Happy reading...