Well it's no surprise that I am already busy with this school year. This summer flew by and of course I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped. Well that's partially true because we (the hubs and I) got a lot done here at home. We even got to remodel our kitchen and get granite countertops! This has made me smile every time I walk into our house :-) We also adopted a kitten. Her name is Molly and she is full of energy.
When it came to planning for this school year I was a little behind. But as much as I would love to say that I could've had more planned, I know that I am just not that kind of person. I am too indecisive to plan for many weeks at a time. Maybe that is a bad thing, but I like to think of it as being flexible. I really dislike planning for something and then realizing that my students aren't ready for it, or that they are leading me towards a different idea instead of the one I thought of. It's amazing what the minds of fourth graders can do to your planning. So this year I have decided to plan for a couple weeks (or one week) at a time. I guess this makes a little more work for myself on the weekends, but in the long run I think I will be less stressed. (I guess we will see).
I did do a lot of professional reading this summer. I say professional because technically I was reading textbooks. To some this would be painful, but to me it was delightful. I read The Cafe Book, The Daily 5, Strategies that Work, and I reread Words Their Way. It is pretty exciting to say that 2-4th grades are working with the reading cafe and daily 5 format. Of course it will look different in all of our classrooms, but at least we will be using a common language (that is my hope of course).
I have already kicked off IAW for the year! We are working on types of sentences, so we defined them with some examples.
We have started on writing a persuasive paragraph. Each color group selected a topic: one is persuading the reader for additional recess, while the other is persuading the reader as to why students should have Segways on campus (specifically 4th graders). Oh, the minds of young children! We are discussing what makes a paragraph, topic sentences, staying on topic, and focusing on our audience. Needless to say, we have jumped head first into the writing process.
We are starting off the year with reading Esperanza Rising. Thus far we will be focusing on making connections, making predictions, and asking questions. The students will be using this for the reading cafe portions of read to someone... as we will be reading some of the book as whole group and some as partner reading.
I am really excited to be using the reading cafe and daily 5 (or 3 as it will be for fourth grade) format. This is going to allow me to meet with students individually or in small groups to work on reading strategies. More on this topic later, as I am still working out the kinks.
A funny quote from the first day of school:
A student walking into my classroom for the first time... "You're prettier than I expected."
I don't think she realized she was saying this out loud... and I wasn't sure how to take it, but it sure did make me laugh :-)
Pictures coming soon.... my classroom looks different this year!
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