Reading, here I come!

Wow!

I know that God has a great sense of humor, and (thankfully) He always has plan that goes along with it.  How do I know He has a great sense of humor?  Well, I know this because next year I will be our school's new Title 1 reading teacher.  (Of course, this is probably only humorous to me.)

For those of you who know me, I take my job as a teacher VERY seriously, probably too seriously at times.  So, when my principal came and asked me if I would like the position, I looked at her and told her I didn't know how to teach reading!  Well, long story short, I went home, prayed, talked to my husband, talked to my my best teacher friend (aka, partner in crime), and decided to jump way out of my comfort zone and take the spot!

That being said, I am excited and nervous all at the same time.  Math and science have always been my strengths as a teacher.  Teaching reading has been my weakness.  So, me being me, I have spent much of my time this summer researching how to be an effective reading teacher.


The main point of today's post is to share with you some things that I have found this summer.  I hope you enjoy them!

Inspired reading:

This book is not really a how to, it is a WHY to.  I have committed myself to read every day, how else can I expect my students to read if they don't see me reading?  I have also been inspired to keep my own reading log for the year.  Not just with books I have read, but also with a list of books that I want to read.  Not sure how I am going to incorporate that into a reading intervention program, but give me time, I will figure it out.





After reading The Book Whisperer I was on a quest for more books to read.  (I now have a list.)  I also did not want to break the bank doing this.  I was so excited to reintroduce myself to the (gasp) LIBRARY!  (I know, right?)  My library is barely 3 miles away, the fact that I don't visit it more often is just sad!

So many technological changes make using the library so much easier though.  I  am able to go to my county library's web page and look for the books I want to read.  I can then place a hold on them and the books will magically appear at my library!  The library emails me when the books arrive and I go and pick them up.

The next exciting feature of the library is a new app called

This app allows you to "borrow" e-books.  This app is simple to use.  My county library there has many books to choose from, not just adult reading but also picture books!  (I plan to use this app on the iPads I have for my reading groups.) You can also borrow audio books.  For those of you that prefer to read books on your Kindle or Nook or whatever device you own, this is a great app for you!

Last, but not least, is a website that helps me keep track of what I have read, what I want to read and what my friends are reading.  The site is new to me, I have yet to discover all of its capabilities, but I know that when I am in need of something to read, I will go there and see what everyone is reading to give me some ideas.

Last, but not least, this is the next book on my list to get started reading:

                                                                                                        Whole Brain Teaching is hosting a book study to explore Chris Biffle's newest book.  Stop by either the WBT website or the Book Study to learn more about Whole Brain Teaching.  We look forward to seeing you there.  

and with that,

Until next time................................

Deanna

Time flies........

I know I am not the first one to say it, or even think it for that matter, but this year is quickly flying by.  It seems that this is the time of year I feel so far behind.  It is also the time of year that I see the most growth in my kids.  They are so excited to show me what they can now do and they do it with such pride and confidence.  I truly don't feel like I am the one that has taught them anything, but rather, I feel blessed to be allowed to be their teacher and watch it all happen.

I thought I would share with you my students' favorite new activity to practice spelling.

We already have our spelling worksheets done, but then one night this wonderful thought popped into my head:  I have 10 sided dice, why not let them roll and write their words this way.  They L-O-V-E-D it.  This is one of their favorite ways to practice spelling words now.  The bonus for me is there was absolutely no extra prep work involved.

Until next time,

Deanna

100's Day

The 100th day of school, and what a day it was!  We managed to do a few fun things.  Usually we do all of our activities in one crazy fun day, but this year I had to spread it out.  Here are a few pictures of my favorite things.

Their hats were so cute!  I wish I could show the class picture I took. What a group of hams I have.

Monster truck, with the family driving.

 This one is a hippo, (see the fish jumping?) so cute!

meow.......

wins for most creative!  I love how she trimmed the zero to make the mane.

Another lion, just love the happy face.

And of course, some of my little old people!  Love how they react to hearing what they would have had to do without 100 years ago.  You would have thought the world was ending when they found out there were no x-boxes!!

 Don't you love the eyelashes?  

Well, that's it for me today.  Here's praying for a blessed week.

Until next time,

Deanna

Martin Luther King Jr.

Peace has been the theme of our week.

As a way to introduce Dr. King and what he wanted for our world, I began our week reading 2 books about Peace.

                                                                                                                                                  
Before I read either book, the kids and I talked about what peace is and began an anchor chart with ideas.  After I read each book we added to our chart.

                                                                                                                                              Friday, I read my kids Martin's Big Words.  I have no idea why, but this book always chokes me up.  His words are not only big, but they are pretty powerful too.  I don't think first graders really understand what MLK did for them or how much our country has changed since his time.  My hope is that they will only seek to learn more as they go through life.

Next we moved on to a directed drawing activity. I used this picture from Enchanted Learning as my guide.  All I can say is WOW!  My first graders did an absolutely awesome job.  I am so impressed with how they turned out.

Finally, Fun Friday centers: We made some very cool peace plates, and a nice little peace sign with the geo boards.  I love that some of the kids caught on to the theme of the day!

                                                                                                      The best comment of the day, (out of the mouths of babes,) "I didn't know you had paint!"  Haha, apparently I need to let them know all of the fun things I have stashed for them, (actually, it is a good hint that I should break it out more often!)

I got my inspiration for the plates and book from a fellow blogger, please go check out her ONEderful blog!

To end our day, we watched this video.  The kids loved it.  They were moving along with it and I didn't see or hear a peep from them during it.  I plan to show it a couple more times next week, because I am not quite finished working on my theme of peace.


Tuesday, we will work on some "I have a dream" writing.  The kids will be read this story and then brainstorm ideas of dreams they have.  After, they will write their dreams and  either draw a picture of themselves under it or draw a picture of their dream above it.  If you would like either one, just click HERE to grab it.

     

Thank you for visiting, 

(especially if you made it all the way to the end!)  

Have a peace filled week!

Until next time,

Deanna

Gingerbread Man

Wow!  What fun the Gingerbread man has been having in our room the last two weeks!  He has been spotted reading his book to many of our classroom friends.  What great words my kids came up with to describe him.  "He is sneaky and he only runs around the room at night!"

I was wondering if the kids would notice that our little friend was moving, but needless to say, the ones who have the hardest time focusing, were the first ones to find him each day.

And then, what do you know?  He ran away!  While we were at lunch (on gingerbread house day) he ran away.  We had to search high, and low for that sneaky little guy!  I loved listening to the kids as we searched for him through the school, reading his clues and deciding where he might be next.  They had so much fun.  

Then when we got back from our hunt we made Gingerbread houses for him to look at.  

My kiddos this year were extremely creative.  

 Another one of my favorite activities this year was our science experiment to discover why the Gingerbread man shouldn't go into the river.  

(The worksheet is from Babbling Abby, 

a freebie you can get HERE)

We also made our own Gingerbread people. 

                             

 I found the pattern for these adorable little guys at 

Mrs. Miner's Monkey Business.  

You can link to it 

HERE

In case you can't tell, I love the Gingerbread Man.  There are just so many areas of the curriculum that you can teach with it. These are just the highlights of things I remembered to take pictures of. I had an awesome student teacher who was gracious enough to use the many activities and ideas I have collected over the last few years instead of what she may have wanted to do herself.  Thank you Tanya for humoring me!

And with all of that,  I wish all of you a Merry Christmas and safe and Happy New Year!

Until next time.....

Deanna

Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary.......