World Read Aloud Day 2012

This is loooooong over due! But, better late than never!

Ivan has become and instant
 favorite among the students.

On March 7th, my students had the great honor of participating in a Skype session with author Katherine Applegate. Mrs. Applegate is most recently noted for her wonderful book, The One and Only Ivan. We were reading her book as our class read aloud, so I reached out to Mrs. Applegate to see if she would be available to read to us on World Read Aloud Day. She kindly agreed to. It was wonderful! Not only did she read aloud to the students, but she also spoke with them about being an author and answered some of their burning questions. We had a great time and are so thankful to her for spending some of her valuable time with us. 






Here are some pictures form our virtual visit:

Making introductions

Mrs. Applegate shows the students another one of her books, Home of the Brave

Mrs. Applegate talks about the Animorphs series that she co-wrote with her husband. The kids were surprised to discover she wrote them!

Sharing her favorite award: One she received after a school visit.

Meeting Mrs. Applegate's muse, Lightning.

Students stood up in front of the web cam to share their questions

Talking about our favorite books!

Mrs. Applegate shares her secret to writing a good story: ask yourself "What if?"

We learned so much from Mrs. Applegate and are so appreciative of her agreeing to Skype with us on such an important day. It was hard to tell who was more excited that day, me or the kids. Afterall, it was MY first time meeting an author face-to-face, too! 

Week in Reveiw 3/5-3/9

This was a GREAT week in 5th grade!

First of all, we celebrated World Read Aloud Day with a VERY special guest: Katherine Applegate, author of our current read aloud The One and Only Ivan. (I will be devoting an entire post to this experience because that is what it will take to sufficiently explain how utterly awesome it was.) She honored us with two sessions (one for each class) of reading aloud from the book and talking about being an author. It was wonderful!

We are STILL working on our persuasive essays regarding the right to chew gum in school. I have learned that, despite my immense fear of them, writing conferences are more useful than simply editing the work for my students. Turns out what I thought was easier, is actually MUCH harder. Also, what will they learn it I am doing all of the editing and they are just copying my corrections. Lesson learned. I really did enjoy sitting down with my students, listening to them read their work out loud and then say things like: "Oh! I don't like how that sounds. I am going to change it to..." Yes, the process is taking longer, but it is much more meaningful for them. Plus, they are doing all of the work as I guide them through it, instead of me doing it all for them. Wish I had caught on sooner!

Because the kids are so engaged with our read aloud, I have begun to also use it as a teaching tool. I do not teach a lesson WHILE reading aloud, we just enjoy the book during that time. Instead, I pull past excerpts to help with my instruction. Why pull in an additional text when the kids are already familiar with one that will do the same job? This week's lessons revolved around figurative language, which any good novel is chock full of.

That's it for now. More posts on what I've been reading this week and WRAD coming soon!

Week in Review 2/17/11

A thought occurred to me today: I do not post as often as I would like to. What I will *try* to do from now on is provide you with a "Week in Review." As I stated in my first ever blog post, this blog is primarily to share my teaching life- the good, the bad, and the sometimes ugly. I will share my ups and downs in hopes that you will benefit from what is (and is not) working for me in my educational endeavors. And, for fun, I may include some random stuff, too. 

This week, my kids and I started reading Phoebe the Spy. It is part of our anthology (which I am openly not a huge fan of), but it is a theme paper back instead of the textbook. I decided to dip into these paperbacks because my teammate (who is the math, science, social studies, and health teacher)just started a unit on the American Revolution with our kids. I wanted to support this in my room by reading some historical fiction related to that time period. The kids like the book, but I am not sure I like what I am doing with it. I originally got the idea from the Comprehension Toolkit. There is a lesson (I can't remember which off of the top of my head) in which you use historical fiction to complete a Fact, Question, Response (FQR) sheet. At first it seemed like a great idea, but this story is somewhat long to do this with. I may probably will abandon the idea next week and replace it with the tried and true sticky notes. 

We also started working on an opinion piece about whether or not gum should be allowed in schools. We are currently in the research and outline phase. The technology integration teacher showed the students how to do a keyword search that would help them find sites that would contain facts supporting their opinions. They came up with "bubble gum benefits," "bubble gum facts," "bubble gum school," and "bubble gum bad." The kids are really into it and have found a lot of information that supports their opinion (the majority obviously think it is a GREAT idea). Our principal liked the idea and what she heard from the kids while she was in the computer lab with us so much that she is in the process of ordering enough gum for every student taking the state tests next month. I hope this helps them realize the power writing can have!

Things that "made my day" this week:

1. I had a nice hearty laugh when one of my kiddos came bursting into the room in the morning, excitedly announcing to his buddy that he had finished the first Harry Potter book and how he "couldn't BELIEVE that..." Only to be shushed by said buddy so he didn't "ruin it for everyone else." They then scampered off to our library to whisper secretly about the ending. SO cute.
2. After returning from a grade level meeting that took me away from my homeroom, I came back to a note from the substitute complimenting my class on how hard they worked and how well behaved they had been. This was, in the sub's opinion, "a direct reflection of my wonderful classroom management." That would make any teacher feel great, and I made a mental note to remember her words the next time I feel like my management is less than "wonderful." 
3. Our superintendent has agreed to be a guest on our televised school announcements for World Read Aloud Day on March 7th. He will read a poem or short story to the whole school. (We are also working on getting in touch with Ben Carson to see if he has some availability...cross your fingers and toes!)
4. My Donors Choose project has posted and is already receiving donations! I hope we raise all the money needs, our classroom library could use some sprucing up!

On a personal note, my mom just got me a fantastic belated birthday present from Etsy. I am in LOVE with all things Harry Potter (which is probably the reason behind my owl obsession, too). I found two necklaces that I fell in love with containing quotes form The Deathly Hallows. These quotes both still bring tears to my eyes. I could not possibly decide between them...so, my wonderful mother got both! *YAY*

I hope you all had a great week and are going to enjoy a nice three day weekend! 

Reading is WRAD!

Recently, LitWorld invited me to participate in World Read Aloud Day (WRAD) by being a WRADvocate. WRAD will take place on March 7, 2012. The goal of WRAD is to spread the word about the joys and benefits of reading aloud to children.


I have LOTS of ideas for making WRAD successful in my classroom and my school. I am going to start by passing along the information to my administration. One idea I have is to ask one of our administrators to read a favorite picture book to the whole school via our televised announcements. I picture all of the students on the carpet in front of the whiteboard, listening to her read.


Another idea is to invite parents and family members in to share favorite picture books or a chapter from a favorite novel. I've even thought about having the intermediate students take some time to read aloud to a student in a primary grade that day. The possibilities are endless!


Please join me in celebrating WRAD by setting aside some time to read aloud to your students. Spread the word: WRAD is coming!




What are some ideas you have for celebrating WRAD?