New school years are exciting. And scary. I'm always anxious & excited to not only meet the students I'll be spending the coming months with, but try out new things in my classroom. My first week of school was last week. Here are some highlights:
*An old favorite - Picture Book Biography of me!!
I started this a few years ago & have loved it! I gather & display picture books that tell something about me. It's fun to look through all my books as I'm pulling them back out of summer storage & think about which ones will tell my new students something about me. I talk about a couple everyday & share how they relate to me. It also allows me to start sharing my favorite genres, authors, & illustrators!
Wild About Books - obviously :)
Roanoke The Lost Colony - Jane Yolen, history mystery, a favorite series
Mammoth Cave - I love visiting National Parks & collecting National Park Passport Stamps, park I visited last year on annual Corvair road trip
The Journey That Saved Curious George - Louise Borden, former visiting author, great link to research
Olivia - a favorite series... love her spunk!
The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins - historical fiction (favorite genre), amazing author & illustrator notes (favorite book feature), in my Top 10 Book Love list. I actually went out to Crystal Palace Park to see the dinosaurs while I was in London this summer!!! I was in awe!
The Wonder Book - Amy Krouse Rosenthal. I love her whimsy!
All Kinds of Families - All my close friends know that adore all cute little objects with faces. I think I actually squealed at the cuteness of this book when I found it a few years ago. It is hands-down the most adorable book I own.
The Chiru of High Tibet - Jacqueline Briggs Martin, former visiting author, great author's note & research!
You Wouldn't Want to Live in Pompeii - a favorite series, another place I was blessed to visit this summer!
Butterflies in My Stomach and Other School Hazards - word play & mixed media illustrations!
Italy ABCs - informative ABC book, another stop on my summer trip itinerary :)
Queen of the Falls - Chris Van Allsburg, a favorite author/illustrator, love the author's note!
Lewis and Clark Explorers of the American West - visited gravesite of Lewis on this year's Corvair road trip
*Trying something new - Class guidelines
For the past few years I've asked students to help me come up with the classroom rules. I decided to take that a step further this year. I asked both classes to brainstorm as many guidelines for class as they could. Once the board was FULL. I wrote R-E-A-D acrostic style & told them we could only have 4 guidelines. They had to figure out how to fit their "rules" into broad statements that began with those letters. This was one of those times they really impressed me! I read Do Unto Otters the first day & asked them if their guidelines fit with the lessons of the book. I read One Smart Cookie the second day & had the same conversation. This is our school-wide book this year (more posts about that later!) I LOVE how this turned out :)
*Trying something really new - big blank wall
See that BIG, empty wall? I don't like it. This is my writer's workshop meeting area. It is nestled between my desk, the computers, & bookshelves. It is a nook that I love & in which students respond! That wall is usually covered in book posters. Really cute book posters that I loved seeing. I know that within weeks it will be covered with anchor charts from our writing workshops. I know that those charts will be more beneficial than my wallpaper/visual noise. It is still hard for me to look at that blank wall, but it is a change I know needed to happen. Some of my students from last year have noticed other changes in the room. Think any of them have asked where the posters are? Nope.
I feel like we are off to a great start & am excited about what this year will bring to my corner :)
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