Our First Week is in the Books!

Yes...summer is over. Not only do I have to remember the day of the week, but oh my...I have to wake up to an alarm! Those that know me well know that this is certainly something that is NOT in my wheelhouse. Goodness...there were a couple of pretty violent snooze punches this week. 

Ah well... early or not, I have genuinely enjoyed our first week back! Every year I think that it is just not possible for me to love what I do any more than I do, and every year I am proved wrong. This new round of kiddos has me excited for all the possibilities. It is going to be an awesome year, and we have certainly started off productively!

As always, we launched our Reading Workshop with a huge, and frankly quite messy, book frenzy! Stacks of books were given to each kiddo - this is when I love my huge library. Each stack contains books just below, comfortably within, and just above their reading levels and lots of their favorite genres, subjects, and authors. Watching them make their final selections and conferencing with them clues me in to just how well each kiddo is at making appropriate book choices.

Garrett checking out blurbs to create his
"to read" pile in his cubby

Stacks of "to read" piles in cubbies...as we conference and work
together on reading, adjustments will be made to help kiddos
continue growing and motivated in their independent reading

Of course, my ultimate goal is to get them reading and responding to the books they love as quickly as possible.... AND to do as much of that as possible WITHOUT unnecessary interruption from me.

 

 

I am a big believer that kiddos DO NOT get nearly enough uninterrupted independent reading throughout the day. So I definitely try to give them as much as possible in my room. It is always my goal to guide each student as unobtrusively as possible, but we do need time to talk about our reading as well. 

A quick round of Mix-Pair-Share to discuss
our book choices :)

I certainly couldn't launch a crazy book frenzy
without my awesome new librarians...
not sure if they know the enormity of the task
they have agreed to take on :)

Our writing workshop is launched right along side reading workshop... getting the kiddos comfortable and established in the routines and procedures of writing workshop can be challenging, but we are on our way to some fun writing!

We created our writer's notebooks!

  

Some of my favorite personal notebooks

And our heart maps...

 

 

Of course I had to read some of my favorite picture books....

   

This year's kiddos were overwhelmingly impressed with the engravings of Barry Moser in What You Know First. Such a beautiful book!

We had a surprise visitor in our first week back....my new Marine stopped by to say hello! He took a few minutes to talk to the kiddos and answer questions. So proud of him!  They seemed to get a kick out of it, and they had some great questions for him. 

 

He stopped by after visiting another teacher at our local high school... this sweet, sweet lady had the opportunity to visit the MCRD in San Diego and small worlds of small worlds, she was able to meet and eat lunch with Justin. After not hearing from him for months, she called and delivered precious news about how he was doing in bootcamp. I will forever be grateful to her for such a simple act of kindness. :)

I also had a couple of former (and present lol) kiddos come back to visit me after school. They were totting little sister around with them as they visited teachers. The expression on his face is cracking me up, and that is not even HIS little sister...she belongs to the boy on the left....haha. 

I am sure you will all be surprised, but I made a stop by my fave book store this weekend. Whoop whoop! Ah... the feeling of peace that comes from walking into a good book store! It's like coming home!

Well...even more surprising... I found a new favorite picture book.

Little tidbit here...I am a sucker for a picture book that started as a song... I have quite a few, and I just can't help myself when I find a new one. 

Jon J Muth did an AMAZING job painting this beautiful song by Bob Dylan. LOVE! LOVE! LOVE! Oh...and it has a CD... happy dance! I cannot wait to share this one!

I also finished reading the sweetest and most skillfully written little book. Sheila Turnage has such a beautiful way with words, and more than once I caught myself stopping and rereading a certain part just to wallow in the magic of it. It is no wonder that it was a Newberry Honor Book, and I cannot wait to read it to my kiddos. I am in love with Mo Lebeau and all of her southern stubbornness! Such an unforgettable character!

I guess that's it for now, my blogging peeps. I will say goodnight until next time.

Happy Reading, friends!

Summer Time Five for Friday

Whoo hoo...IT IS Friday! The LAST Friday of my summer.

My last official week of the summer has crazy busy. Workshops and lesson plans. Where does the time go?

Even with all the mad rush craziness, it has been a wonderful week, so I am joining Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday to share it! And I might just cheat a little and share a few things from the end of last week as well. :)

SO MUCH professional development this summer...it has been a whirlwind of classes, but some of them have been so awesome that I am totally fine with it! I am a sucker for a good professional development...very nerdy of me, but I am totally fine with that, too. 

My most favorite workshop this summer was "We Can Do It: Using Primary Sources for Social Studies." It was a field trip to the local military museum and Air Base. It was an awesome time with awesome friends, and I picked up some really cool ideas...QR codes on field trips...yes, please! 

 

Old flight simulator

 

Cockpit of C130

Of course, I spent even more time working in my room. I found this great idea from Shannon at Class Organize. I can't wait to use this quick exit ticket strategy to help my kiddos self-assess this year. I have often used exit tickets but never thought of having the kiddos evaluate their own thinking. This is one of those ughhh...why hadn't I thought of that sooner moments. Simply brilliant! I will let you know how it goes. Thanks for sharing, Shannon.

Look at that mess. What do they say about a messy desk? Hmmmm.... Oh well, that mess was purposeful and this teacher is done with her first week's plans. Whoop whoop! I am ready for my new babies to walk in the door!

I just love a new binder of plans :)

 

I am now LESS than one week away from seeing my baby! I have so missed him this summer, and this momma cannot wait to wrap her arms around her little boy. Marine, or not, he will always be my little boy, and not hearing his voice, his laugh, or seeing his I'm-up-to-no-good-and-you-love-me-anyway-grin has been one of the biggest challenges I have faced as his mom. Lord knows I will look like a blubbering idiot at his graduation from bootcamp, but I don't even care. LOL...hope all of my friends are ready for me to blow up their news-feeds on all social media! 

His graduation is the reason I will not be making it to our school's open house this year. It is the only time since I have started teaching for me not to be there, and it has driven me nuts all summer...it is the reason for the mad rush in getting my room ready, the tons of professional development, and early planning. But tickets are purchased, rooms are booked, and I will be there front and center, smiling through the tears! 

 

Our Back to School Party was a blast, full of hugs and giggles! Our principal asked all the staff to read a book that she felt would make a huge impact on our year. She gave each of us a copy of One Word that Will Change Your Life with the task to read it this summer and find our word. It is a very quick and inspirational read, and if you take a moment to really think about it, your word will come pretty easy.

We all met at our local Painting With a Twist studio to create masterpieces with our One Word. You know how much I love and miss painting, so this was right up my ally! For few of my partners in crime...maybe not so much. ;) Love you, Vicki!

My sweet teammates...Linda and Sandy :)

My One Word and finished product!

After all the painting fun, we ended up at my favorite restaurant, yummy Kan Pai! There the laughter and fun continued.

 

Barbara trying to catch a shrimp in her mouth LOL

Here is a much better picture with hysterical-pee-your-pants photo credits going to Dawn Coyle! I can't tell you how hard we all laughed at this one! Snorting was heard, people! Barbara is such a great sport. 

That just about wraps up my Five for Friday...but I do have my first picture book recommendation of the school year! This sweet little beauty was picked up by my Katie Byrd at the Salvation Army. I love that she is always looking for beautiful picture books for her mom; makes my heart smile that she loves a good book as much as I do. 

I now have a new favorite to add to my huge pile of favorites. I Hope you Dance! by Mark K. Sanders and Tia Sillers is beyond stinking cute! LOVE, LOVE this rhyming romp of a story for kids that sends the same message that the adult version, book and song, does.

Look at these illustrations by Buddy Jackson and Karinne Caulkins!

I mean LOOK how cute!
I hope you woggle your goggles out!

With that, I will say good bye for now. I have to use my last few days of summer freedom to clean up this mess I call home....oh and pack for my trip to San Diego to see that baby boy of mine!

Happy Reading, friends!