The One That Made Me Cry...

I posted earlier in the week about the amazing reading response that one of my students wrote.

Here it is.

Maybe I'm just sappy, but when they are this genuinely sweet, I just can't stop the sweaty eyeballs.

 

Right!?!?!

I LOVE MY JOB!

Reasons I Love My Job: Post #1

I had two fantastic reading-related experiences today:

I had a girl finish reading Esperanza Rising yesterday and she wrote about it in her reading response journal. When she found out I hadn't read it yet, she opened it and left on my desk so that I would be SURE to read it. In her response she thanked me for recommending it and told me that she couldn't WAIT to tell me as soon as she finished. I knew, from the moony look she had on her face yesterday, that she had loved it. I hadn't realized how much she connected with the main character's struggle to make a new life for herself in a new place. I got a little misty eyed reading her lovely response.

There used to be a picture of students reading here... I apparently deleted it from my phone and it's gone forever... this is normal for me... *sigh* Enjoy this pic of my kiddos reading instead. 

Also, I have several students that come back for book recommendations or to talk about what they are reading. I had a 7th grader stop down for a 2nd book in a series I had to order from England (why are there only one of an author's FIVE books published in the US???) and mention to me that he was really enjoying a book I had given him last week. I had recommended The Alchemyst to him in 5th grade, and he had started and abandoned it. I love that he was willing to give it another shot and ended up loving it.

I really really really really love my job. A lot.

The 40 Book Challenge

***This post has been moved over from a different blog site. It was originally posted on 9/20/14

I have asked my 5th graders to read 40 books this year. That's right, 40 books!! They have accepted the challenge with enthusiasm! 

Essentially, the 40 book challenge is more a celebration of reading than an assignment. The kids have a reading notebook in the classroom.  Attached to the front cover is a graph that shows the genres that they can choose from and has a dashed line in each column to signify how many books of that genre they should read. The required number of texts in each column adds up to a total of 30, leaving 10 books that can be selected from any genre. I don't count pages or require kids to read books at a certain "level." The books in my room are within the range of abilities that I expect my students will have. Anyone above or below may require a little extra support, but they are welcome to choose books that interest them. I believe that it is more important for kids to read, than to read something that doesn't interest them just because it's at their "level." 

They also have a book list glued into the notebook, so that they can record the titles of books they finish, along with a star rating and the genre of the book. I've been trying to remind them to record books they finish in both places. Most of them have finished at least one book already. I'm not grading them on it, and I'm not worried if they don't get all 40 read this year (but I am not telling them that!). If a student in my class reads 22 books this year and that's more than they've ever read before, that's cause for celebration! I am checking in with students 2-3 times a week and conferencing with them about what they are reading. The first time I did a check-in (called "status of the class") I found that I actually already knew what book all of my students were working on! They are talking about books all of the time, we are starting "book talks" (like a commercial for a book) and they are sharing and trading books as they finish. I have been thrilled with how well it has been going so far.

The challenge was inspired by my reading of The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller.  Check out her blog here.


Sara D.