They're Back!!!

I might be crazy, but it was so great to see my 6th grade friends today! I had walked to the workroom this morning to make a last minute copy, and I come back to my room and am greeted by 3 of my sweet girls with giant hugs! That was such a wonderful way to start my day. 

For the most part, all of my kiddos were so excited to be at school. I had some that could barely keep their eyes open, others who were mad because they had to put real clothes on, and others who obviously had not been taking their medicine during the break which I totally agree with. It just makes the transition back to school a little more difficult. The thing I noticed first was that they were super chatty. Luckily, I had found this super cute activity on Pinterst over the weekend and knew that it would be the perfect activity to get them back in the school groove without requiring too much thinking. The best part is that it was a freebie too!

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Katie on Pinterest

I also saw this cute idea on Miss Knight's blog the other day and I knew it would be the perfect way to remind my students of the rules. I volunteered a response first for each class and I said the exact same thing. I told them we needed to work on talking less and listening more. After we came up with our resolutions for 2012, we also all signed the paper making them a contract and I then hung them up on the wall. Hopefully we will be able to abide by them since they are no binding. Maybe that is just wishful thinking on my part. I am planning on snapping a picture of them tomorrow to share with you all. 

After we remembered our rules, I then began to introduce CAFE to them. I was amazed at how much they loved it! They also all agreed with me that they feel like they do not know enough strategies to help them be successful when they read. I was lucky enough to find the book Testing the Ice by Sharon Robinson when I was at the Scholastic Warehouse sale back in December and I knew it would be perfect for the first strategy I wanted to teach, check for understanding. It is a book about Jackie Robinson that his daughter, Sharon, actually wrote. I was able to model lots of question asking as I read it aloud. My students quickly realized what the strategy was when I asked them at the end and were even more surprised to realize that it is actually something that most of them already do when they read. I reminded them that is why I ask them to write K.I.S.S. statements when we have stories on our tests. K.I.S.S. statements stand for Keep It Short and Simple. I have them write a small statement about the paragraph that they just read. I will take a picture of one of their district benchmarks to show you what I am talking about tomorrow. I will spare you from my benchmark rant, that will need to be a post all in its own! I am really excited about using CAFE and the kids seem really excited about it too! I hope that it ends up being exactly what my kiddos need to be successful in reading!

The sweet Kate over at To The Square Inch awarded me with the Versatile blogger award!

She is a fellow middle school teacher who teachs Science and Math. Be sure that you go and check out her blog, it is super cute! 

I also wanted to join in on Teaching in Room 6's linky party where you share your favorite go to book. I am always looking for great professional resources being a first year teacher and I hope that I can find a few to add to my list. I have already collected quite a few professional books in my first year, but there are 3 that are my absolute favorite that I look at on at least a weekly basis. 

The first two have completely changed how I look at literacy and what instruction really is best for my students. If you teach literacy in any grade K-6, I highly suggest that you add them to your professional library if they are not already there. The last title is a new one to me, but I have already referenced it so many times. There are so many amazing lists in it that help tons when I do not have too many resources for my lessons yet. 

I am thinking about doing a linky next week that will have us all share a day in our classroom. What do you think? Would you join me for that?