Summer Reading Goals

Today was fun! I had the opportunity to teach with a friend of mine at Rapoport Academy in Waco, Texas! It's been a few months since I've been in the classroom and it was JUST what I needed. Oh boy- it was a humid morning on the third to last day of school! So what on Earth was I going to try and TEACH on one of these last days of school you ask? Why Summer Reading Goals of course!

So if you read this blog, you know I am in love with Donalyn Miller and her new book Reading in the Wild was not a disappointment.  She reminded me that we have to cultivate readers- so they will be readers outside of school! And pretty soon- these 2nd grade readers that I spent the morning with- are going to be "outside" of school for nearly three months!  It is our job as teachers to do our best to ensure READING is happening outside of school and over the summer!

Begin mini-lesson...

I sit down in front of a classroom of 40 2nd graders (two classes were part of the lesson) and I produce a large stack of books from my backpack.  You can hear "Whoa!" from a few of the students as they look at my tall stack.

I ask students to turn and talk about what they are excited for this summer?  Lots of answers- camping, swimming, going to the park, playing video games. We come back together as a group and I tell them that I'm excited for all of things too- but what I'm most excited about.... more than camping... more than swimming... more than playing at the park... is READING!  I wait all school year to have time to read! I show them my stack of books that I will finally have time to read over the summer and I tell them that I am trying to read 75 books before it is time to come back to school!  I talk about how I am going to read in the pool. I talk about how I am going to read in a tent. I talk about how I am going to read in the car on the way to the mall.  What am I going to do this summer? READ!  

So then I ask how many books they think they can read this summer? We agree that one is not a good number.... it should be a goal of more than one... but we also know that we are all different and that maybe we will only read two books because we know they are going to be really big/long books.
Then we talk about how hard it might be to read to 100!  We agree that any goal is a good goal.  

I am armed and ready with copies of Hundreds Charts.  Because it seemed to be an easy way for kids to keep track of their number of books read- just color off a box for every book.  I ask every student to come up to me and whisper their reading goal to me and I circle their number on the Hundreds Chart. Then each student takes their paper back to their seats to make their reading goal banner- decorating and coloring their number on the black back side!

There were some incredible goals made! Some kids said they would read 100. One student said he would read 2. Another student who first said he would read 2 changed that to 17 after a small conference with me about his number.

Here's the deal... will all students meet their reading goal? Nope. They won't.  But will some of them read more this summer because of this goal?  Yes. I think so. Some of these students hadn't even thought about reading over the summer! It had never crossed their mind. Maybe they didn't even know they could.  I owed it to them to make sure they think about summer reading, right?   I sure hope these kiddos read more this summer than they did last summer because they made a reading goal!

Do your students have summer reading goals? If you don't know- you owe them this mini-lesson. AND- decorating the reading posters/banners easily could fill up a half hour of your morning.... just sayin! :)

Be sure to attach a note to the Hundred's Chart and Reading Banner so families know the scoop.  Share the website We Give Books which I have blogged about here so students won't run out of FREE reading options!

Happy Reading! And may I ask- what is YOUR summer reading goal? :)

Teacher Appreciation

I spent the week in schools for Teacher Appreciation Week!

It inspired me to write this for y'all! I hope it makes you smile! I appreciate you- all of you!

If you want to get your own copy... click here! 

Currently May

I am currently on a plane (I really do love being able to blog from 30,000 feet and it seems to be the only time I have TIME to blog these days!). I am flying home to Texas from my final days in DC.  We had another successful district wide Professional Development day with over 700 DC teachers, coaches, and principals.  So many familiar and kind faces! Thanks DC! Now get out there and get your Running Records teaching on! They are interviewing for someone else to step into the role of Small Group Literacy Professional Learning Designer- and he/she will be fantastic! I have no fear that Small Group Literacy instruction will be alive and well in DC Public Schools for years to come and it was an honor and an immense privilege (that still amazes me) to have been a part of y'alls learning and journey with Guided Reading this school year. One thing I do know for sure. MORE Guided Reading is happening in DC now than it was two years ago and that means MORE students are getting what they need to be successful in years to come!

It is also Currently time to LINK UP! Thanks as always to Farley for keeping us blogging- sometimes its the only blog post we make each month, but we still do it!

Listening: I just love Zac Brown Band. Their music represents summer for me. Knee Deep was my favorite song our last summer in Texas. Island Song (another awesome one) was my favorite song the summer we went to the Bahamas.  Free... Settle Me Down... so many good ones! 

Loving: Spring is finally here in Texas! Jeff made me a new patio to sit on (took out the old deck and put down pavers). It's so pretty and I treated myself to a new patio set. I am pretty sure he will have it all set up for me so I can drink my coffee and do some work (writing Guided Reading lesson plans) on the patio in the morning before our day out on the boat.

Thinking: Usually April/May is NOT a busy time in my line of work (Educational Consulting). However, this year, it is non-stop! I had a couple of weeks off in April, and then the fury started. I keep reminding myself that I only have two more trips and then I can have a two week break.  

Wanting: I love teaching Guided Reading- but I don't always enjoy preparing to teach Guided Reading.  I have to do it- I know I have to do it. The only way to ensure a good Guided Reading lesson is to preview the text, and make good instructional decisions for each book/text/reader.  I am however, dragging my feet getting started. I have a feeling it will be happening on the patio tomorrow morning.  

Needing: I am in desperate need of a day on the boat (not so much looking forward to my bathing suit) but I desperately want a day floating on our anchor line at the sandbar! I want to be out there just after lunchtime and make dinner and come back in my the glow of the moon! I need a day/night on the boat.  

Surprise: My friend Kathy is part of the Educational Consulting world with me. We don't see each other as often as we should, but we have some of the best conversations via text messages and of course we read each other's blogs.  Check out her blog here! 

Friday Freebie: Word Study Ideas

Yep! You heard me! Friday- FREEBIE!

I will be leaving DC on a jet plane tomorrow (headed back to my home in Texas). And I wanted to share a resource that was made by a DC colleague with you all.  There are still 30(or so) days of instruction in DC Public Schools- that's probably longer than what you have left in your school year depending on where you are reading this from. Like it or not- that's still a lot of time.

Maybe you want to give students something "new and novel" at a Work Station in your last month of school.Maybe you want to send home some summer work.  Maybe you want to start saving things for NEXT school year.

Whatever floats your boat. Check out this file for your Word Work Station/Working with Words Center.

Thanks to Cara Hoppe in the Office of Teaching and Learning for this great resource.

Happy last 30 (or so) days of teaching out there folks!

Book a Day Update

I'm on my way to 150 books y'all! A book a day! Sometimes 5 and 6 books a day! I have completed review of my first 28 books! And if you're interested- check them out HERE.

In doing this challenge- I also found an AMAZING book! If you liked Hunger Games- you've gotta read this! I could not put it down! I was laughing out loud in some places and gasping in others! My husband was laughing at me one night at 10:00pm as I plowed through the last three chapters- "Shouldn't you be in bed?" HA! Yes- I was way past my bedtime, but I had to finish it!

OK.... I have to stop blogging and get back to reading! Cheers y'all! What are you waiting for? Start your Book a Day pile for the Summer- remember books from your classroom library to start! Then new books! Don't wait until the summer- just start now! Take some home in your teacher bag tonight! 

Book A Day Template FREEBIE

So I went right home and got started. I wanted to keep track of my reading and the new books I'm finding so I made a file to assist me in the process.  It might be a document I could even use with students as they keep track of books read and what they thought about them.

If you want your own file- you can get it at my TpT site!

Enjoy! And what are you waiting for? Seriously- get reading! You'll be glad you did!

Book a Day Challenge

Hey y'all! I am currently sitting at the public library. I should be doing a PowerPoint for coaches in DC Public Schools, but instead I am fixin' to start my Book a Day challenge from Donalyn Miller.
I am currently reading her 2nd book Reading in the Wild. And on every page, I am reminded of how much I want to be like her and how many books there are out there that I have not read! Hearing Deanna Jump speak recently also reminded me- that I am not reading enough children's books. I realize too, that the way to be more like "them" is to read! It's that simple!

So here I sit at the library (and in procrastination of my real work) I am going to check out 30 books (I can do that because my card has a code on it that says I'm a TEACHER!) and start my Book a Day Challenge. You may be asking- what's with the book a day thing she keeps saying?  Donalyn started this. It is a way of encouraging teachers to read more- and specifically to read books that they own in their classroom library. You know- those books you bought that were on sale? There's no time to read them- but you bought them! Donalyn encourages teachers to take home one book for every day of their summer vacation and to read a book a day.  It's harder of course with chapter books, but can be quickly compensated by reading three or four picture books in a day.

Here is my first stack...

I've set a goal- there are 139 until August 31st. And I want to read 150 books before that date! I'm going to make a spreadsheet and I'm going to keep track of my books! Hopefully finding a few new favorites along the way. Perhaps even some that are worth blogging about?  I'm going to try and remember to use the hashtag #Bookaday Challenge (PS- I am way early on this- Donalyn hasn't even mentioned her 2014 challenge yet) But I'm the kind of girl that needs to get a jump start sometimes and this is one of those times! 

Why don't you join me? You could start now too. Or you could start a stack that you want to take home for the summer?  Come on!!! Do it!

Mystery Monday

So y'all have heard of Mystery Walkers right? While lined up to leave the classroom and walk in the hallway. A teacher picks a Mystery Walker- (one student) before leaving the room, but that student's identity is not revealed until they get back to the classroom (or wherever they are going if your class can't wait long).  Kids love it! I of course make announcements as to whether or not my Mystery Walker is doing a good job- or I say things like "If Katie is my Mystery Walker she's doing it right."  Even BIG kids love it! (3-5 kiddos) Of course big kids have to be the one to pick the Mystery Walker and watch them like a hawk down the hall to announce if they were walking "right" or not!

I used a Marble Jar in my classroom and we worked as a class to fill the jar with marbles. If the Mystery Walker did their job in the hallway- I would announce who they were- and if they earned any marbles. When they came back to the classroom and put a marble (or sometimes more if I thought they had done a really good job) in the jar.


Now I just randomly picked kids, but I've since seen that teacher put names on sticks, or even on colored disks. Whatever works for you.  This pic is from What Happens in First Grade's blog.

So what do we know about this as teachers? If it works- make it work for MORE THINGS! So I created Mystery Piece of Paper. You know you have to keep your custodians loving you- and when you teach elementary school, especially K-2, there's always a bunch of "junk" on the floor at the end of the day and custodians really get grumpy about that sort of thing!  So- I pick a random piece of paper- and then my students crawl around like human vacuum cleaners- whoever picks UP the Mystery Piece of Paper puts a marble in the jar- and typically because it was already the end of the day- went home with a piece of candy!  It's amazing what kids will do for a Jolly Rancher! :)

Wait- it was still working- they were still loving this Mystery Thing which is why when a teacher told me about her Mystery Reader idea last week-  I knew it would also work!

Sometimes (especially at this time of year) kids are a little squirmy during Independent Reading. So, before that station or that time of day begins, the teacher picks a Mystery Reader (again- mystery- you don't tell WHO it is until the end of reading time). Did they read right?  Yes? Then boom- marble in the jar. Did they not? Too bad- so sad! No marble for you!

What other Mystery ideas to you have?

Currently April

So once again, I am amazed that it is time for Currently again, and sadly there have been very few Blog posts (if any) since my last Currently post, but I have a real excuse this time! I moved across the country- yep- you heard me! I am back living in the GREAT STATE of TEXAS!  Many cherished memories of DC, but Texas is HOME! We have two homes, Michigan (our childhood home) and Texas (our adult life home).  So I'm a little late with Currently, because we just got Internet (and cable, and phones, and electricity) hooked up a few days ago!

So... let's get to it! Thanks Farley for this new Currently.

Listening: Ft. Hood is our post. Ft. Hood is where Jeff works. Ft. Hood is the post we moved back to from DC! And a few days after our arrival- there is another shooting. I say another, because there was a terrorist shooting in 2009 at Ft. Hood when we lived here before.  It is horrible! It is horrible that my husband can't go to work and be safe and in fact is just as at risk on his Army post than when deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. There is no excuse. This is not a gun rights issue. It's not a mental health debate and it's not a concealed weapons conversation.  It's just sad and I am sick of people who have personal agendas weighing in on the situation.  Prayers for the families, prayers for the community, and prayers for the soldiers who won't talk about how very much this bothers them.

Loving: If there were awards among Army Wives for the fastest unpack- I think I would get it! It does help that we have moved back into a house we have lived in before- but I had this bad boy unpacked in less than a week. There is not a single box remaining in my house. The garage is another story, but that's Jeff's gig.  I've even taken all of the boxes to the recycling drop off center. If feels good, but now there is nothing to stop me from doing all the other work that is waiting for me. See NEEDING below.

Thinking: There are of course little things still on the list of "to-dos", but I don't want to do them. I went through such a period of industrial work- 6AM-11PM days of unpacking and now I think I'm being lazy.  It's such an odd feeling for me, but it's not the end of the world.

Wanting: So most of you know, Jeff and I have a boat. That boat has a slip at a marina, but has been parked in front of our house (the neighbors LOVE us) since we arrived in the state because it has been too stinking windy to launch it! Every day we check the forecast, and every day we say, maybe tomorrow! Sorry neighbors. And sorry for us, if it's not in the water, we can't be on it, which means we can't be at the sandbar, and I really WANT to be at the sandbar.

Needing: SO much I need to do. BOO! Again, see above, I'm in a lazy mode! Monday- on Monday I'll start being a hard worker again!

Hours and Last Day: I used to love the hours of my school day when I was a teacher.  I was there early- and still out in time to run some errands before dinner time! Or go participate in Happy Hour with my friends.  Once school lets out for the summer, I start my BUSY season! So... no rush summer. I'm going to enjoy my April and May, thanks!

Need Something to Read?

I'm going to be truthful. I'm in a reading SLUMP! I need some amazing books to get my eyes scanning pages again. The last three books I've read- meh. Nothing to get excited over. And I love books! I want to love books and have that love for books be as known as Donalyn Miller!

I had the pleasure of meeting her a few years ago and the woman is amazing! She OOZES a love for reading! She knows more about books than anyone I've ever met! So... this little presentation came at a perfect time for me!  I've started a new list of books. The last book she recommended to me was The One and Only Ivan. I could not put it down! If one of these are as good as that, I believe my reading SLUMP will be O-V-E-R!

Bring on the Books!



Leave me a comment! Have you read any of these? Which one should I read first? Now as Debbie Miller says, Happy Reading!