We have 6 days of school left. It is hard to believe that the school year is ending. Last week, I looked at my camera roll and realized that the last full week of school, in many ways served as a celebration of our reading.
On Thursday, we had a FABULOUS Skype visit with Liesl Shurtliff. Rump was our last read aloud of the year and it was FABULOUS! Kids loved it and many have added Jack to their summer reading list already!
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| Irma asks Liesl Shurtliff a question about Rump. |
On Friday, we had our last "Books and Breakfast". It was a full house with 15 students coming to school early to enjoy donuts and discussion about the first book in a new series by Bruce Hale--The Big Bad Detective Agency. The kids loved this book and have enjoyed the 6 Books and Breakfasts we've had throughout the year.
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| Our Last Books and Breakfast of the year! |
On Friday, we had an All-Day Read in our classroom (every 3rd grade classroom did!). It was pretty low-key --something kids have been asking for for months. We talked about the joy of a full day for reading and kids started to think about books they'd bring from home. That morning, some kids brought in bags of books--favorites from their home reading life. They reread these and shared them with friends.
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| Kids brought in bags of favorite books for the All Day Read! |
The day before the All-Day-Read, we decided to pull some books that we'd loved this year to put out so they could be easily reread during the All-Day-Read. For the last 30 minutes of the day, there was a whirlwind of favorite books being pulled. I overheard lots of, "Oh, remember this one? We loved it!" as they rediscovered books from earlier in the year.
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| Some of our favorite books of the year. |
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One of my own personal celebrations happened last week in the midst of reading workshop. A few kids were choosing new books when one of my past students came in to get a book. I have a few students who stop down frequently to grab a book they know I have, ask for book recommendations or just browse. What was fun about this visit was how she just became part of the conversation already happening at the bookshelf where kids were sharing books as they browsed. Love how even though these kids didn't know each other, they trusted each other about books just by standing together browsing:-)
I love reflecting during these last weeks of the school year and I love how naturally things happen around reading at this time of year. I am going to miss this community of readers but I am enjoying sitting back and watching them interact these last few weeks, hoping that this feeling they have as readers stays with them.
Reading is a habit now for these students. You will send them home with this lifelong gift.
ReplyDeleteI would love to hear more about your "Books and Breakfast". Are there any older blog posts that discuss it, or can you email me with a short summary? Sounds like something I might like to start next year!
ReplyDeletekenney.anne@oakwoodschools.org
Hi Anne, I don't think I blogged much about it. But it was very easy. We had a monthly event where kids could sign up and come in 30 minutes early. We'd focus each talk around a specific book and kids could sign up for whichever books sounded good to them. Then from 8:30-9 they'd eat a donut (sprinkled) and chat about the book before schools started. VERY EASY. No prep at all and several 3rd grade classes rotated books so we only had to buy multiple copies of a few titles. I got the idea from a teacher on Twitter.
DeleteI am always so envious of how many books you have and how organized they all are. I need to go back through your organizational posts and re-read them before next year. I love the stool idea. Why didn't I think of that? Breakfast and Books! I used to do a Lunch Bunch, but then my timing didn't work any more. I'm going to start a breakfast one next year. Thanks for the idea! Your classroom and blog posts always inspire me.
ReplyDeleteI am always thrilled to read about how much you do to infuse the love and magic of reading into the classroom. And the students are obviously responding! Enjoy the last few days of chaos:)
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