Week Four Reflections

20 days… I still can’t believe it’s already September. 

Highlights of this last week!

1. My students started a Silent Reading Book Club this week.  I learned last week that they hadn't read Island of the Blue Dolphins (regular 4th grade class novel) due to distance learning, so I highly encouraged them to check out a copy from our school library. They are SO excited to read it. The deal with the book club is that when they are done, we will watch the movie.  About half my class chose to check it out, and now I’m hearing (and seeing) them react to the big moments in those first chapters. 

2. Since it's been 3 weeks, we started our week having a class chat about what we've noticed that we are doing well as a class, and what goals we want to work on.  I wrote it on the board.  I used to do this weekly, and I guess it's another thing that I forgot over the last year of craziness.  

3.  We started researching our Native American Tribes.  Groups are learning about common consistencies between tribes in certain regions, so we are working on learning specifics about how the Native Americans before the European Settlers arrived lived - diet, location, shelter, tools, jobs, etc.  I like to use this project by Teaching in Room 6. 

As for tri-fold boards - every year we clean out the Dollar Tree.  It's a great price when you are buying 8 per class (32 total).

4.  We changed desks on Tuesday, the last day of the month.  It's a tradition in my classroom.  Every last day of the month we are switching seats, unless it's the weekend and then it's always the Friday before.  In the past the kids would just take out their items and move everything to the new seat, but this year with everything going on, they had to haul their entire desk across the room. It just took longer.  :)  To make it easy, I have a powerpoint template on my computer that I always print. This year it's 8 groups of 4... we are a little squishy, but we're making it work. I just make 1 table of 2x2, and then copy and paste it over and over.  Tables in a ppt. make it easy to type the names in.

5.  Speaking of the end of the month... I really LOVE my calendar this year.  Every Back to School I always buy one of these desk calendars for our information wall. So far this year, everyday I ask the kids for one highlight.  What is something they want to remember?  Then I write it on the calendar.  Usually it's a satisfying rip and toss at the end of the month, but this year I'm going to hold onto them for the end of the year so we can see all our memories. 

6. First day of the new month also meant that we were changing out our class jobs. I have my job chart on the side of my file cabinet. On the base of the laminated numbers I have velcro holding it on. It’s really easy to attach. I use this product.

*Paper Checkers - they are filling up our class mailboxes with practice papers. I personally take care of graded work.

*Teacher Assistants- they are helping me pass out papers and materials in class to get it to all the groups quickly.

*Book Helpers- they are keeping our classroom library organized.

*Lunch- they are in charge of bringing the basket in and out every day. 

*Future leaders- they are in charge of randomness- writing team points on the boards, choosing the class game, etc.

*Errand runners- they are my go to kids when something or someone needs to go some where.

*Kindness Club- they are the ones I’m sending to read kindness books to younger grades, and they are writing encouragement notes to the kids in class.

*Room Monitors- they are my extra set of hands and eyes, reminding kids about cleaning up their areas.

Everyone always has a job, because it’s our classroom and belongs to all of us.

7. We had a Math Fact Snowball Fight this week.  Yep, it's really easy, and the kids LOVE it.  One piece of copy paper each, then they write a math fact on the paper. They write their name, and on my "Toss!" they toss it into the air. The papers fall, and the kids grab one from the ground. They open it up, solve the math fact, write their initials, and then make a new math fact.  They don't toss until it's time.  It goes super fast. We continue on until the paper is full or falling apart.  I've learned we really need to practice our math facts. 

8. I had to print out sight word lists. Yep. 5th grade. Some kids are starting with the basics. I still use my sight word lists from when I taught 2nd grade, lists go to 5th grade as well... but it's mainly for my beginning readers. I’ve been doing book talks every day during independent workshop, so now I’m also pulling my special friends to do sight word practice at the same time. I can't wait to see growth.  :) 

9. We had our first taste of Rainbow Editing this week as well. I love Rainbow Editing.  I've been doing this for years, and it really works! 

Red - capitals

Orange - punctuation

Yellow - indents

Green - topic sentence and/or key words

Blue - details or reasons

Purple - spelling to check

Every paragraph should be a rainbow... and if it's not, then add to it!

10. We had Spirit Week this week! It was fun. :) PJ Day, Sports Day, Monochrome Day, Tourist Day, and Extreme School Spirit. Having a staff meeting in PJs is always welcome.  Ha!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend! I'm so thankful for the extra day.  :) 

(Disclaimer - these are things that I have found that works for my classroom.  Not sponsored in any way, I just like to share.)

Week 3 Reflections

This week seemed to be slightly easier because we are now in a routine. 

Highlights!

1. We started our new novel - Indian in the Cupboard. I love how this ties into our SS unit, and gives them a taste to learn about different Native Tribes, and then how that information connects to nowadays. We start our research team projects next week... 

2. I read Totem Tales to them, and then they created their own totem poles and tales. I used the clipart from here to make a small sheet to give them as ideas. 

3. We had a moment and did I wish my teacher knew… it’s sweet and heart breaking all at the same time. Man, I love these kids. Have you ever done "I wish my teacher knew...?" Basically I give them an index card, and they finish the sentence, then turn in.  I told them that it can be anonymous or they can put their names on it if they want.  They tell me information that means something to them.

4. We also tackled our Context Clue Travel Adventure! The foam flyers worked wonderfully as a mini STEM project to build, then sort the kids to mix them up a bit from their normal team groups before they hit the stations to review context clues.  

5. The kids got to attend music class for the first time in years. It was amazing and they absolutely loved it. And I loved the extra prep. :) It's amazing how much one can get done in a short amount of time... It feels good to tackle the to do list and actually get something accomplished.  

6. I read Noteable Notebooks. It's a great story to show pictures of real scientist notebooks.  

7. We also worked on our science observation note booking skills- working on those A,B,C,D’s. 

*Accurate

*Big

*Colorful

*Detailed 

This week we closely observed shells.  Last week we observed classroom objects, and the first week we observed rocks.  Our drawings are getting more accurate, bigger, colorful, and definitely more detailed. 

8. I ordered a bulk pack of ear buds for our class set of laptops.  This is the link I used, so far they are working great. It's helping now that I'm letting them use the computers more for Code.org, Scratch, and for Prodigy as a May Do.

9. We tackled a Growth Mindset Escape Room on Friday afternoon. This is the product I used.

It kept them moving and they needed to use that growth mindset because it was tricky! I ended up taking the 4 included puzzles and putting all 4 on a single page before I made copies for my class, it saved on paper. Then each table group had a specific task and code, and the kids rotated around to complete it all.

10. I taught them the game "Hello Mr. President". 

Hello Mr. President is a listening game, and it's quiet. Key word - silence... A kid stands in the front, eyes closed.  Silently, pick a second student to stand in the back of the room and say "Hello, Mr. President" - in whatever voice they want to use... kids get into the disguise. The "President" with their eyes closed has to guess the owner of the voice. For some reason the kids LOVE this game. 

11. The kids are reading!!! Silent Reading seems to be our favorite time of the day.  Kids are stretching out all over the room, in chairs, under desks, on the rug... I'm over in my chair also reading (currently Poison in the Colony), and there's a groan when we get to the point we HAVE to move onto workshop.  They love to read, and I'm getting to hear all about their books during our Book Talks.  Book Talks, with the 40 Book Challenge, and Book Beads are filling my time during Workshop.  It makes my day!

And now I'm ready to go curl up with my own home book... Have a great weekend!

Disclaimer - These are not sponsored links, just things that I LOVE and that I'm currently using in my classroom. I love to share ideas.  :)  

First Things First and Context Clues

It was a wonderful weekend. I’m trying out this whole balance thing. School during the week and relaxing on the weekend. I hope that I can move into relaxing during the week as well. 

I’m learning (again) to let things sit. I can grade that stack of papers during the week when I’m getting paid for it. My plans are ready. My copies are made. My plan book and that stack of papers took a nice ride home and back this weekend.  It's all good.

One thing that does help me is planning out the entire unit at a time. Then even if something comes up, or timing has to change a little, well at least I know what’s next. It’s a little stressful at the beginning of the year, but it becomes easier. It's also easier when you can look back at past years and have the reminder of what you did...

Copies can be made in advance. Links can be grabbed. The big picture makes it easier for me to see clearly. 

This week I’m excited about our Context Clues Travel Adventure. Last week the focus was on dictionary skills, this week is all context clues. We have whole group practice on Monday, task cards for Tuesday, and then the adventure is going to be on Wednesday, then a formative check on Thursday. I use this product by Teaching with a Mountain View. 

For a small room transformation I hang this backdrop over my window, and these country flags around the classroom. 

I set up the stations around the room. One country at each station. I have the country context clues page and pictures of the country that I have googled. Each country has a specific color, so by the end the students should have completed the rainbow. 

We will start out with each kid making their own travel booklet. It’s just a few pages of copy paper folded together. They will use the markers to color code their booklets. There is a booklet included, but I don’t want to deal with the copy machine. 

This year an Amazon search for airplane stickers ended up with a purchase of airplane foam flyers. Since it won’t be their table groups flying around together, they will have to match up with those that have the same type of airplane. So 6 groups instead of our normal 8. 

We will do America together, then they will be flying around to the other countries. I’ll give them 10ish minutes at each station, and will use my best stewardess voice to let them know when it’s time to transfer to their next destination. After our last landing we will take a moment to go over answers for them to check their papers before turning them in so I can take a peek. 

I hope you have a great week! 

ELA Review - Shout Outs for Great Resources

In one week the kids will be taking the ELA state tests. You know, the tests that I didn't think would actually happen, but it's now back on... hmmm... I think I have figured out a game plan for testing... But first it’s last minute review time. We have been spiral reviewing all year, and with ELA they either know it or they don't.  But usually they do... I finally settled on a last minute cram plan over spring break - in class vs homework, whole group vs breakout groups. All with the knowledge that in just 5 days my class will not be altogether much anymore. It will be 3 separate groups, moving at their own paces, as I am with the kids testing for hours upon hours...

Back to ELA...

When I moved from 4th to 5th grade I didn’t really know what to expect for state testing, I mean I knew it would be similar, but there's the additional pressure of learning something new.  Jennifer Findley made it easy with her blog posts and her resources.  I met her in real life years ago at a conference, she was so friendly and personable.  I felt like I could trust her advice, so with the move to 5th grade, it was easy to trust her blog.  Today I wanted to share some links that I have found helpful.

Her blog posts about testing... she even has a some free resources. I'm all about not recreating the wheel... I use her post about Test Taking Strategies throughout the year.  I use her free Reading Test Prep Helpers as reference in their notebooks.  I also use her 10 Days of Test Prep Freebies and then have modified to fit my own classroom.  I also use her Test Prep Coloring Pages to help relieve some stress...

This week I am using her Reading Test Prep Task Cards whole class, a handful of questions per day. The last couple of years they have helped to hit all of those standards one more time. I have them printed and will snap a picture to add to our morning conversation. That way the kids at home can click the picture and enlarge it on their own screens. I will then put my copy under the ladybug so kids in class can also follow along.

I also purchased her ELA task cards Rock the Test task cards. I have those prepped for one day to slide into our color channels. It’s a couple pages of task cards per skill. One center per color channel. The kids will get into breakout groups to have a race, and will slide through the rainbow together, answering questions. My in class kids will use their pouch of Brain Flakes to show off what color (aka center) their team is currently working on. 

Rock and Roll theme - I bumped it up a notch and brought in my son’s musical decorations from his bday celebration, and even bought a banner to keep at school. The kids went nuts yesterday when they walked in and saw it. 

Another day we will be working through Jennifer's Survival themed Reading Review.  It's all about survival this year... This is both informational and fiction.  There's also a cute bulletin board prompt to put up.  

For Homework, the kids will be doing another set of review task cards by forkin4th. I'm uploading the task cards to their TEAMs assignment, and the kids will fill in their answers on a separate page before uploading.  

I also like to put these little testing notes by Math Mojo on their desks for testing days.  Just a little something to let them know that I know it's not fun, but that I'm proud of them for their perseverance.

All these resources have helped me keep my sanity in the jump to 5th grade.  I use other things for all year long, most that I've found and bought, some that I've created. I'm the type of person that needs to know that something works before I will buy it, so that was my hope today. Just in case you didn't already know these existed.  These are great review and they are awesome.  I hope this helps you!

I Love Novels!

What is your favorite subject to teach?  Mine would have to be reading... or maybe Social Studies. I love seeing the characters through my students' eyes.  I also love to have history come alive...  

Okay - Reading... 

Growing up I was always the kid with her nose in a book.  I wasn't outgoing, I was the kid whose report cards said needed to speak up.  I know, me.  :)  Making friends was hard when you were beyond shy, and when you lived next-door to the popular girl and just wanted to be accepted... yeah. :( Back then I easily made friends with the characters in my books though and didn't have to have awkward conversations with them.

There are so many good books out there, and mostly the kids don't know what they like to read when they get into my classroom.  Every year I try to introduce multiple genres to my students.  I do it as part of the 40 Book Challenge.  We start the year with a Book Tasting (courtesy of Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching).  Usually I decorate the classroom, this year it was a lot simpler.  I wore a chef hat on screen and used a wisk as a prop. I shared her slides and we used our anthology as the resource since most didn't have many chapter books at home with varying genres.  But it got them talking... and the conversation hasn't stopped all year.  

Books - I like to use novels to teach our reading strategies and standards.  There is something so satisfying to see that character development and the entire story unfold.  Like I said 3 paragraphs ago, I like to see the characters through my students' eyes.  They root for them, they care about them... and they grow as readers.  

Here's what we've read so far this year:

*Frindle - we focus on the meanings of words, multiple meaning words, context clues, roots, and suffixes.

*Wonder - focus on character development and empathy

*Blood on the River - focus on SS's explorer unit and beginnings of colonial times

*Long Walk to Water - focus on compare/contrast

*Hatchet - focus on character development

*Tuck Everlasting - focus on figurative language

*Woods Runner - focus on SS's American Revolution and compare/contrast author study with Hatchet

*Holes (current) - focus on comparing and character development

You can see my full list of 5th grade novels here.  There is no way that we can cover all of those this year, but we are trying. It's so hard to pick and choose between the books, they are like my babies...

Every novel we always start out making a SCAT chart.  I know, not the best Acronym, but they don't really care (and neither do I).  

Setting

Character

Action

Theme

Usually we read at least 1 or 2 chapters of the book per day, we discuss, and kids fill in their chart. We do an activity with it that is focusing on our weekly or unit skill, we work on vocabulary, and we do a comprehension check with it.  Here's how it goes in a normal year - when each kid has a book in the classroom... 

First trimester - We do everything together

Second trimester - I read one chapter, we discuss, they read one chapter, and discuss with small groups.

Third trimester - Book Clubs

Gradual release...  

This year  since they don't have copies of the novel at home I am reading everything to them.  It's all been virtual, so I haven't had to read everything from behind a mask... but that will be starting soon.  Any tips to share? I'm going back and forth with prerecording myself without a mask and just sharing the video... not sure.

I'm still using these Novel Notes, they are free in my TPT store.  Hope they can help you too!  

Wearing Many Different Hats

A few summers ago I went to Colonial Williamsburg for their week long teacher institute and saw firsthand how a hat or an outfit can transform a person into another character. Those historians and actors are really good at their jobs.  I thought I was in the presence of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.  They knew their stuff and made history come alive.  

After that I started adding in some different hats and outfits to my lessons and playing different roles.  The kids totally get into it. Here are the many personas I try to capture during the year...

Mrs. Granger from Frindle.  She is a very sour teacher that absolutely loves the dictionary. This is the first character that my students meet - usually the 3rd week of school as we are wrapping up the novel.  She leads our lesson for the day, gives the students dictionary drills... and somehow always has a British accent... I don't know how that happens.  :)  In a normal year, she usually appears right after recess or PE - when there is time to change clothes and throw on the wig. This year it was kind of weird with the virtual classroom.  I just had to turn on my camera to get the reactions.  

It always gets me how every year there are students that really believe Mrs. Granger was in the classroom... like truly believe it still in May when we are reflecting over our year. :) 

Miss Liberty makes her appearance on Election Day. She leads the students in the Great Cookie Election.  In a normal year the students taste test Chips Ahoy vs. Oreo and we vote.  We do put a spin on it, as we are fifth graders learning about our states... Each student becomes a representative for a specific state (they have to find it on the map), and their vote counts for that state's electoral votes. They see how the system works and where those numbers come from.  It's very simplistic, but it gives a general overview.  And since it's a competition there is buy in.  This year with virtual we still did it, but I was the one holding the cookies. It’s amazing how many of them loved pulling out cookies to join me online at 9am. :) 

In January (this year December) we host a Colonial Day where the teachers dress up in colonial garb and the kids experience different trades and learn about life back then.  I have a list of 18th century phrases that I use all day.  Usually my room has kids practicing script, using foil to be a silversmith, folding a shoe pattern to be a cobbler, and practicing tin smithing using a push pin and cardstock (on the floor). This year with virtual we focused more on things that they all had at home. I highly recommend the Teacher Resource Library over at the Colonial Williamsburg website.  They have so many short videos that really show how life was back then.  

This is where I'm currently at in the American Revolution.  I'm either King George or I switch to a tricorn hat and become a Patriot.  Queen Emily playing the part of King George III. It's fun and the kids get so into it, even though I wear it a lot during SS.  This was taken on a day that we played the Tax Game...My class, aka the colonists, were not happy they were going into debt. 

I do have other hats and wigs as well - just no pictures. I have a chef hat that I use for Book Tastings, and a hamburger hat that I use for details. Then there is my electric blue wig that I use for crazy hair days.  Do you dress up to? I can't be the only one being silly.  Hope you have a great day!

A Big List of ALL the Novels I Read

Switching grades is hard.  I mean, there are some perks to it when you already know some of the same kids going into the next year, but switching classrooms, standards, materials, activities, and all the novels - well, that was the tricky part.  

I had gotten attached to the novels that I would always read with my fourth graders.  Books have always been special to me and saying goodbye to some of them was really really hard.  But since we read so many of them as a grade level, it's not like I could just take them with me to do the next year...  

That just wouldn't work.  

So before I dive into my new fifth grade novels, let's take a moment of silence for the memory of my fourth grade favorites:

*Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

*The One and Only Ivan

*Charlotte's Web (this has since moved to 3rd grade)

*Island of the Blue Dolphins (tied into our CA Native American unit)

*By the Great Horn Spoon (tied into our Gold rush unit)

*What Was the Gold Rush

*Percy Jackson (tied into out Mythology unit)

*Stone Fox 

*Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

*Who Was Milton Hershey

*Chocolate Touch

*Chocolate Fever

*Lemonade War (tied into our Business/Money unit)

Now, onto some NEW favorites in fifth grade.  I really really LOVE reading novels with my students.  We can have some great conversations about them, and they are (in my opinion) so much more engaged in them than using basals.  It's also a way to teach our history through novels, so that's what we do.  When I switched grades, I bugged my new teammates about the class sets they already read, and then tried to get another set for myself.  Thank you Scholastic books, Donors Choose, my colleagues for sharing, our school library, and definitely Mrs. H. for the stacks of books you left behind.  It has really helped.  

Here is what's in my cabinet:

*Frindle - great novel to start the year.  Our focus is on learning the meanings of unknown words

*Wonder - we read this just as a read aloud and to have class discussions - this is our beginning of the year, right after lunch book

*Indian in the Cupboard - ties into our Native American study

*Tuck Everlasting - all about that fantasy (after so much Realistic Fiction it's good to switch it up)

*BFG - great for figurative language

*Long Walk to Water - read aloud - great to compare characters

*Blood on the River - I start it as we are finishing up Explorers and heading into Colonial times

*Hatchet - all about survival, great for character development and growth

*Rules - great reminder about empathy - my January, right after break book

*Woods Runner - our start to the American Revolution, same author as Hatchet, we do an author study for comparison of the books.  We have two SS units that deal with the Revolution - the causes and the actual war itself, so lots of books during that time of the year that helps give students more context

*Holes - I read this during the American Revolution to compare the freedom America was fighting for with the characters in the story and their lack of freedom.  It has led to some big class discussions.  

*I Survived the American Revolution - they LOVE I Survived Books, they are so engaging and they can make connections PLUS there is a great Scholastic webcast. 

*George Washington Spy - short read aloud, gives insight to the spies of the Revolution

*What was the Boston Tea Party - we focus on non-fiction text features

*What was the Declaration of Independence - focus is on those non-fiction strategies - the beginnings of unity and government

*Chains - Book Club project - kid choice - great book to talk about slavery during that time period

*Sophia's War - Book Club project - kids choose this or above, they work together in groups to spiral review all the comprehension strategies and skills over 6 weeks - this book is great to talk more about women's roles as spies during the Revolution

*Ben and Me - short read aloud about inventions of Ben Franklin

*Electric Ben - kids work in partners to create newspapers based on the information they learn from this nonfiction 

*I am Malala - great to use with our government unit

*Westing Game - it's a murder mystery, fun way to end the year

Yep, lots of books.  Most novels we read 1-2 chapters a day and finish within 3 weeks.  That's with having a daily focus and doing different activities with the books.  Sometimes we have a second book going as a read aloud right after lunch (like Wonder, Long Walk to Water, Rules...)  If a book is really heavy, then I portion what we read, and balance it with a lighter book later on in the day.  Sometimes we have 3 books going at a time - like if we have a read aloud, novel study, and a non-fiction project happening during SS time.  The kids can handle it.  It's a wonderful way to tie the books together, to learn more about different characters, different character traits, different plot lines, etc...  

Hope this helps someone!

Building Your Classroom Library

Years ago a colleague and friend told me the secret to getting class sets of books for cheap on Scholastic.  It has everything to do with their Birthday Book Coupons and their Back to School deals.  Do you know the secret too?

During that first order of a new school year, this year pick up a set of their Birthday Book Coupons.  In past years it's been 32 coupons for $32-34.  Yep, that makes each of those magical coupons only $1, BUT each coupon can be used for up to a $5 book.  That makes my teacher budget very happy!

Yes, I have gotten a lot of my class sets of books when they are $1 each (don't use the coupons for those books), save them for those $5 books that you have been eyeing.  Last year I picked up THREE of those coupon books, my goal to add a couple more sets of class novels to our mix, for our monthly book clubs, and to add some surprises into our class library.

Another way to add more free books to your classroom is to get a gigantic order together first thing in the school year (when they are giving out TONS of extra bonus points).  I send home an email to parents to give them a heads up that the order is coming home.  I put ALL the 4-5 book club orders together to give the students a lot of options.  I give students a challenge to see if everyone could order at least one book to help our class... with the idea that if everyone orders at least one book, that our order will reach those higher bonus points.  

We go through all the catalogues together (I have mine under the document camera), and I make a list of everything they see that they would want me to order if I get enough bonus points.  I show them where those dollar books are, and with their highlighters they circle everything they are interested in.  I tell them that as a mom I love buying books for my boys, but I need to know exactly what they want - so they need to let their parents know too.  I log onto my Scholastic account and show the kids exactly where to put in our class code... I also tell them that I use all the bonus points that they order on them - meaning they will see all the rewards that our class earns.  It's motivating!

That's with adding new books, but there are so many other places to get more books that may have been used.  Here are my list of places to beg and visit:

*friends cleaning out their child's bookshelf

*asking my class families for donations when their child is done 

*cleaning out my own child's bookshelf

*public libraries in their for sale room

*thrift stores

*retiring teachers

*garage sales

*Scholastic warehouse deals

*clearance racks

*Half Price bookstores

Just mention you're a teacher and some places have thrown in additional discounts.  Where else have you picked up books?  

I hope this helps someone!

First Week of School: Purposeful Mentor Texts

I love a good read aloud!

The first week of school is a time to build relationships and become a class family, learn and practice routines and expectations, and hopefully have some fun in the process.  Of course you have to figure out what works well for your own classroom, but these activities help me to fulfill many purposes at once.  I wanted to take today and share what I read to the kids the first week of school.  

I love to use picture books for a specific purpose.  The kids learn that about me right away in a new school year.  Here are my favorites - Links go to Amazon, not an affiliate link.

*7 Habits of Happy Kids - 

I read one per day the first 2 weeks of school, short stories that teach about responsibility, organization, priorities, friendships, etc. and we do short activities after each.

*The Important Book -

I read this in the afternoon of the first day and they do an art project from Teaching in Room 6 that describes themselves.  They trace their arms and write characteristics inside, then I display those arms on a year long bulletin board.

*The Golden Rule - 

It's our first Mentor Sentence book, but also a good reminder to treat people the way they want to be treated.  

*Juice Box Bully - 

This book is great to help build character.  We make a class promise (Idea from Head Over Heels for Teaching) after reading the book and display it by our arms.

*Do Unto Otters - 

This book is great to read right before you brainstorm your rules for the year.  It talks about the importance of manners, and the kids easily can brainstorm how they want their classroom to look like and sound like.  

*What Do You Do With a Chance -

This book is great to read for a growth mindset message.  We read it and then do a growth mindset challenge, then we watch the Growth Mindset Yoda video.  

*The Dot - 

This book is great to get their creative juices flowing.  It's also great to talk about expectations, how we don't just do the basic, we push ourselves to do our best.  It talks about growth mindset, leaving a mark. We do the Dot project that's in the book after reading.

*What Do Teachers Do After You Leave School? -

This book is a fun one to use as a kickoff to have the kids learn more about you.

Yep, tons of books that first week of school.  A lot of great discussions come from them and I wouldn't change that for anything.  This post was getting pretty long, so I'll come back another time and write more about the other activities we do.  

Hope this helps!

Lunch Bunch Book Clubs

This last year I started a new (to me) idea and had a monthly Lunch Bunch Book Club.  It was SO SIMPLE to do, I don't know what took me so long... At the beginning of the month I would display the new book on the whiteboard after reading the first paragraph to the kids.  The interested kids would then sign up on a nearby piece of binder paper.  

I have multiple copies of the monthly book (thank you Scholastic bonus points), and the kids would take a copy to read.  I have my books labeled, so on the binder paper I wrote the number of the book they borrowed.  If kids had their own book, they were welcome to bring it home, but if more kids signed up than copies available, the kids would just take turns in the classroom during silent reading time.

On the last day of the month (or the last Friday), the Book Club would meet during lunch.  The kids would bring their lunches into the classroom, and we'd talk about the books - their favorite parts, what they thought the author's main purpose was, anything surprising, the parts they didn't like, etc.  

Then we'd do a little craft or game that had to do with the book before they headed outside to play a bit before lunch recess was over.  No matter what, I always picked up some di-cut shapes (month themed) where the kids would write their name on one side, and their favorite part on the other side.  I put these di-cuts on the wall as a little reminder of the importance of book club for that month, then they would come down and be sent home with the specific kids.

Overall, I'm definitely doing this again this next year.  I love talking books with the kids, and spending time together during lunch helped to build relationships.  :)   

This next year my books for Lunch Club will be How to Steal a Dog, Save Me a Seat, Restart, Ugly, Pay it Forward, Loser's Club, Mudshark, Field Tripped, and the Great Gilly Hopkins.  Some of the same books, some different.  

I hope this helps!

Book Tasting

 On the 5th day of 5th Grade I like to celebrate making it through the first week of school.  The last couple of years I've hosted a Book Tasting in my room on that morning.  It's pretty easy set up, and it's really the first "taste" of what I hope are memorable activities for the year.

I use Joanne Miller's (Head Over Heels for Teaching) Book Tasting product.  It has all the print outs I need to set up the tables.  (To be honest, it has everything I need to have my sons set up the tables before the kids come in that morning.)  With parents' Back to School night always the night before, there is NO WAY to get everything done early by myself - especially if I have morning yard duty.

Here's my shopping list for those extra things:
*plastic table cloth for each table
*small battery operated candle per table
That's it.  When the kids get in there, and the books are on the table, well there really isn't that much room for decorations.

Quick set up:
1.  Tablecloth on the tables.
2. Candle turned on in the center.
3. Placemat at each seat (I have the kids write books they want to read directly on the plate portion of the placemat - it's included in the product.)
4.  Label the tables with a number and a genre type. (They are included in the product.)
5. Stack of books (10ish) at each table.  My classroom library is grouped by genre, so it's easy to just grab a stack from each to set in the middle of the table.
6.  Project the Book Tasting Today sign (saves some ink).
7.  Turn on some instrumental quiet music.
8.  As kids enter the room, stand in the doorway with an apron and (this next year a chef's hat) with the included reservation form.

During the Tasting:
*We start out the tasting by reviewing the different genres that are featured.  I get a little background information from them to see what they already know (or think they know).

*I wander around watching them read - noticing who dives directly into a book, who is barely sticking their toe in... so much to notice about a new batch of readers every year.  I ask them questions about the books they are looking at, what they notice, and what genres they have liked to read.  It gets them set up for our Reading Conferences later on in the year.

*I time them for about 10 minutes per table, and then we rotate through so they can experience all the genres.  They take their placemat and pencil with them as they move to write more books down.

*Near the end I pass out the reflection paper (included in her product) and have them give me some feedback.

*Then for clean up, the classroom library is open for business.  Students can look at their placemat and go and get the books they are interested in reading.  They slide their placemat into their classwork folders in a sheet protector to save for future, and they help me put the remaining books back into the book shelf.  I give them a few minutes to get more of a certain genre for their desk.  I want each kid to have 2 books at their desk to read at all times.

*An idea I have for this year is to add a stack of post it notes to each table during the tasting.  I'm thinking that if kids see a book they are interested in, then they could write on a post it -

"Give next to:"
and then add their name and stick it in the front cover of the book.  Many kids may write their name on that single post it as they are looking at the books during the Book Tasting, but when kids are done reading a book during the school year then they know who is next in line to give the book to.  I may try it and see what happens.

It's a fun activity and I hope that you try it out too this year!

Hope this helps!

"Adopt a Reader" Idea

This last year there was a great idea that swept over the classrooms - having sponsors step up to "adopt" a reader.  For $9 a year, a child could receive a school year's worth of books from Scholastic. 

9 books from the dollar deals.  $9.  That's it.

Well I saw fellow teachers put it out there on Facebook, and they were getting so many of their personal friends to donate.  A person there and a person here.  I put it out on Facebook too, and then came the awkward silence that followed.  It was just a little embarrassing.  

Then I got a message from my dad that forever changed my classroom.  He said that he wanted to sponsor not just one or two kids, but the ENTIRE class of 30 kids.

It's he a great guy?!!

(Yes, it was a tax write off for him, but STILL! He is a great guy, and he knows how important reading is.).

The kids this year received a book a month from my dad.  

I picked up some handled gift bags from Michaels, labeled the bags with the kids names on one side, and added this note on the back of the bag.   I chose different genres they would enjoy, all of them were from the dollar deals.  I chose a mixture of classics and newer.  They each had a message to pass on.   The kids were able to fill their home libraries with the books, or they passed them onto others after they read them.

It was a nice treat every month.  It was a gift that continued to give.  AND Dad has already said he's going to do it again next year.  :)