Saturday, September 22, 2012

Something Old, Lots of New!!

Hello again! It's good to be back.
So many new things this year. First, a new class. I looped up to second grade last year with my first grade class and loved it. Sure do miss them this year! It finally hit me during the third week of school that I had a brand new class! They're not reading my mind yet, but they'll get there.

Next, our campus has a new reading/ writing specialist. She is very enthusiastic and it's hard not to be excited about what's coming our way. Every classroom is getting a set of Lucy Caulkins' Units of Primary Study for Writing. I've been wanting a set for a while now, but I'm pretty cheap. And...if we like the set she will order us the brand new set that is coming out later this year for next year. Sweet!

We are also changing up our Morning Reading Intervention to a Reading Workshop format. This will be in addition to our Guided Reading instruction. It's 30 min Monday through Thursday from 7:55 to 8:25 am. This is something else I've been wanting to implement, but haven't until now. The thing that always made me put it off was leveling my classroom library and getting book boxes for every student. The ones I really wanted would be expensive. So, being the cheapie I am, I didn't do it. Sure, I could have used ziploc bags, but I really wanted my students to have boxes. So I was thrilled when I found directions for making book boxes out of the priority mail boxes from the post office. One of the best things is that the boxes are free!! It's pretty easy too. The directions can be found at Lyssa Beth: Tidy Up Tuesday.

Here is a photo of mine.
Photo: Free book boxes! If I can do it, anybody can!

The first one was the hardest because of the measuring, but after that I just used the cut box as a template and traced around it on all the other boxes. Make sure you have a good box cutter and be careful! I'm not a crafty person, so if I was able to do this, anybody can!

Here's to all the new that is going on in your classrooms! have a great year!