2 Types of Readers

When I reflect on my years as a classroom teacher, I think about my students as individual learners. I spent a lot of time reflecting about teaching and learning this summer. It became clear to me that 2 types of readers have passed through my life.

The 2 types include those who get lost in books and those who read until the timer goes off.  In fact, the two different types of readers are represented in my own house as well.

My daughter read over 100 books in 6th grade last year.  Big books.  She has her nose in a book while she walks around the house.  I frequently find her reading under the covers with a flashlight long after her bedtime.  She has stacks and stacks of books waiting to be read in her room and frequently runs out of things to read.

My 9 year old son is a good reader, but he reads approximately 25 - 30 pages a day with a timer in his hand. When the timer goes off, he happily drops the book.  He won't pick up another book until I remind him about what research says about summer lag the next day.

This summer, I'm collaborating with some of our 5th and 6th grade teachers and our Instructional Support Team to re-read The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller.  I have read this book six times and each time it leaves me reflecting on different ways to reach our young readers.

The first step for me (although I'll admit that it is painful) is accepting the fact that not all readers are born with a natural love for books.  The second step as a teacher (and a mom) is to let what we know about the reader and the books they choose "whisper" (as Donalyn Miller says) to us so we can support them as readers.  The third step is to never give up hope.

I'm hopeful that my son will soon fall in love with a series or genre so much so that he no longer feels the need to read for only 20 or 30 minutes. Until then, I'll keep modeling a love for reading.  I'll keep exposing him to different authors, genres and series.  Most importantly, I'll let the choices he makes whisper to me so I can support him even if it is for only 25 - 30 pages a day (for now).

Summer is in Sight!

It's the time of the year when things are wrappin' up...

We went on our zoo field trip last week.  On Thursday, my students hosted a Grandparent Tea Party!  I'll be posting about that soon.  It was adorable!  Next, we're gearin' up for field day and our ice cream social.  In between all that, I need to keep these kiddos on task!

My students are working on writing activities from my Get Ready for Summer Writing and Drawing Activities.  Everyone loves to make plans for summer vacation, right?

My friend, Emily, is a retired teacher.  She volunteers in my classroom on a regular basis and I am incredibly grateful that she has gifted so much time to me and my students over the years.  You can read a previous post about her here.  I am truly lucky!

Emily visited yesterday and she helped me prepare my summer packets for the children.  I always send summer work home.  Luckily, most of my students usually do it (and stop by to show me when they head of to 2nd grade). This year, I'll be their 2nd grade teacher since I'm looping with my class.  So, I'm planning a surprise to celebrate the completion of their summer work.

If you need a summer packet to send home with your students or to use for tutoring this summer, you can check out my pack by clicking on the image below.

Our Sharing My Writing Books are also bound and ready to be on display for our Ice Cream Social!  The Sharing My Writing Book pages are completed at home (but they can be used in the classroom).  My students are motivated to write about different topics each month and then they share their work with the class. For my students, this is a good opportunity to practice writing at home.  It's also an eye opener for many parents about encouraging their child to write using good sentences, punctuation, interesting words and details in their illustrations.

This weekend, I need to focus on my end of year gifts for students and volunteers.  I'll do that in between baseball, bike rides, the Memorial Day parade and report cards.

Pen Pal Letters

A few days ago, I mentioned that I would be posting about my summer pen pals.

At the end of each school year, I give each student an envelope and invite them to be my pen pal over the summer. The envelope is for their first letter to me. I put a label on it with my address and attach a little note to explain this writing opportunity to their parents.

Last summer, I received 27 letters from my students. Not every student wrote to me, but many of the ones who wrote sent more than one letter over the summer. I promise the children that I will write back to them each time they write to me (and I send stickers for them with every letter). Some children use a letter writing form that I included in their summer packet. 

 We just finished school on June 7. So far, I've received 5 letters from my class. This one made me cry...so sweet!

Emma moved to our school (from another state) on my birthday. We immediately decided she was my "birthday present" and what an amazing little birthday present she turned out to be! I miss seeing her face each morning too. 

 I am enjoying these summer days though. I woke up early and went for a quiet run (hooray for me). Then my family started the day at our swim club with trampoline lessons for both kids and swimming lessons for our little guy. Then we had a picnic and I took a nap. Then it was off to dance class for my daughter. This evening, we squeezed in a family bike ride and a long dog walk. The weather is beautiful here this week. I am so grateful for this time to be with my family. Life is good! 

 Happy summer to all of you!
 

Krazy Kool Summer (freebie)

I'm just now finding time to share about the last couple days of school. I'm not sure why, but I've had kind of a hard time "winding down" so far this summer. Believe me, we've been enjoying riding around town with the top off the new Jeep, get togethers with friends and days by the pool...but it just has not really settled in yet. 

 During the craziness of the last few days with my super nice class, I finished the class slideshow (500+ pictures) and burned a CD for each student.

To encourage writing practice over the summer, I give each student an envelope with my address and invite them to write to me. I will be doing another post about my pen pal experiences in the next few days, but here is a pic of the envelopes.  I make sure I give them at least one envelope with my address already on it and a note that tells their parents about being my pen pal.

I also give my students a summer packet of work to do over the summer months. Each student takes home their packet in one of these large envelopes. 

 If you wish to checkout my summer packet, please click on the image below.  It includes a variety of summer reading and writing practice activities (summer reading log, nouns, verbs, adjectives, writing prompts, summer poetry, informational text,etc).  I send my packet home with students, but you could use this packet for tutoring as well.  I also include some math work in the envelopes for my students, but the pages I give them are from one of our math programs.

And just for fun, I gave my students a fancy straw and a package of Koolaid.  I was surprised to learn that most of my students had not tried Koolaid before (and alarmed when one of them tore open the package and tried to eat the powder like candy).  Oops.

There are several versions of a label to go with these floating around out there, but you can click on the image below to grab a copy of  my version if you need one for the future.

Summer Work to Send Home

I feel like I might be the only one still in school. That can't be true since I know that Holly (from Crisscross Applesauce in First Grade) and all the other Michiganders are trudging through the last couple weeks with me. My post is going to have to be short today (busy day). Church (check). Sunday school (check). Groceries (check). Laundry (in progress). Graduation party (later this afternoon). Snuggling with my kids (top priority). 

If you're still in school and you need some fun things to do to keep your kids busy during the last few days, check out my Get Ready for Summer Writing and Drawing Activities. My students did a few of these activities last week and will do the rest in the next two weeks (in between Windexing everything and spreading shaving cream on the tables/supply bins).

 

 I also have a Summer Reading and Writing for Home pack that I send home with students to help them maintain their current reading/writing levels over the summer. I tell my students that if they return the packet to me during the first week of school in September, I'll give them a little prize (which is usually a bookmark, a pencil or eraser). Last year, about 1/2 my students returned it (which I was happy with).