Today I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!
This week I'm blogging about my summer to do list... as you can see it's about a mile long and I have not crossed anything off the list yet. I've been working hard the first few weeks of the summer but I've tackled some long term projects that aren't finished yet!
I thought I'd blog about a few things I've been working on so far this summer!!
I thought I'd blog about a few things I've been working on so far this summer!!
ONE: Reading Assessments
I enjoy doing reading assessments and I know they are vital to any successful classroom. However, sometimes I have a "now what" moment when I look at these assessments but I'm not really sure what to with them. I came across this amazing teacher author this spring and I can't get enough of her books. I am reading all three of her books this summer! and I'm hooked...so excited about what she writes about.
The Literacy Teacher's Playbook is an awesome read. She details 5 areas to assess reading and then names some assessments that can be used for each area. Then the book details how to use these assessments to create goals and action plans for each of your students. WOW! This is what I've been looking for. I feel like I've always had a stack of assessments but have not truly known what do with these assessments... until now.
I enjoy doing reading assessments and I know they are vital to any successful classroom. However, sometimes I have a "now what" moment when I look at these assessments but I'm not really sure what to with them. I came across this amazing teacher author this spring and I can't get enough of her books. I am reading all three of her books this summer! and I'm hooked...so excited about what she writes about.
The Literacy Teacher's Playbook is an awesome read. She details 5 areas to assess reading and then names some assessments that can be used for each area. Then the book details how to use these assessments to create goals and action plans for each of your students. WOW! This is what I've been looking for. I feel like I've always had a stack of assessments but have not truly known what do with these assessments... until now.
Like I said, I can't get enough of these books. I'm right in the middle of this book but I took a break from it to read the Playbook referenced above. I wanted to really get a good sense of what these assessment would look like and how I would use them before I continued on in this book with mini-lesson topics and ideas. 
This book is about teaching reading in small groups. However, the small groups look less like guided reading groups where the teacher chooses the book and more like strategy groups where students apply a strategy to a book they have chosen to read during the independent reading portion of reading workshop. The book talks about these strategy lessons as explicit instruction in reading strategies so these strategies can be applied to any book rather than the current book the student is reading.
THREE: Reading Strategies
This book is about teaching reading in small groups. However, the small groups look less like guided reading groups where the teacher chooses the book and more like strategy groups where students apply a strategy to a book they have chosen to read during the independent reading portion of reading workshop. The book talks about these strategy lessons as explicit instruction in reading strategies so these strategies can be applied to any book rather than the current book the student is reading.
THREE: Reading Strategies
After beginning the book about small group reading I was curious as to how I would actually explicitly teach these reading strategies. The power of google... I found another Jennifer Serravallo book and ordered it right away. I haven't read it yet but I'm excited to use it. She lists 300 reading strategies that can be used in small or whole group lessons.
The unique part of this book is that each strategy comes with a "how to teach it" section. Many of the reading strategy books I have don't give enough direction when it comes to delivering a lesson. This book does... it's going to be so easy to use as I plan small group strategy lessons as well as whole group reading workshop lessons.
FOUR: New Room Decor
I've also been hard at work creating a new classroom decor pack. After three years I'm ready for a change in my color scheme. That being said I don't want to change everything... I just want to update a few areas in my room. I decided to use these pastel polka dot digital papers as background for the cards and banners I'm going to use in my classroom. I need to finish this and post it to TPT this weekend... I've been working on it for too long already!
FIVE: Summer Garden
The unique part of this book is that each strategy comes with a "how to teach it" section. Many of the reading strategy books I have don't give enough direction when it comes to delivering a lesson. This book does... it's going to be so easy to use as I plan small group strategy lessons as well as whole group reading workshop lessons.
FOUR: New Room Decor
I've also been hard at work creating a new classroom decor pack. After three years I'm ready for a change in my color scheme. That being said I don't want to change everything... I just want to update a few areas in my room. I decided to use these pastel polka dot digital papers as background for the cards and banners I'm going to use in my classroom. I need to finish this and post it to TPT this weekend... I've been working on it for too long already!
FIVE: Summer Garden
On to some summer related pictures. My husband and I decided to grow a small garden this year on the side of our house. This is the first year we attempted to garden and we decided to keep it manageable to see how it goes.
So far so good... we enjoyed our first cucumbers from the garden on Sunday and it was nice to know we were using ingredients we grew ourselves. Nothing says summer more than a salad from the garden... even if only one ingredient actually came from the garden!
WOW at your to do list! Hope you manage to get it done - enjoy some 'you' time too though !! Your garden looks fab! I wish I was more green fingered!
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