Back-to-School Freebie

Well, tomorrow will be our first day of school. I didn't like any of my old scavenger hunt worksheets, so I made a new one. Click here if you would like to download this from Google Drive. Enjoy!

Monday Made it!

Today was my first official day back to school.  No kids yet, but meetings, workshops, family visits, and of course classroom prep!  So last week I was busy making labels for my cubbies and for all of my new organizational tubs.  I also saw this great idea on a Monday Made it by Teaching in Room 6.

So I decided that I could try that too!  Here is how mine turned out:

Not quite as good, but they will work. :)

Here is a close up:

 I made these for my table supply crates, but now I'm considering the student toolboxes from Ladybug.

Here is a picture of the labels I made for my cubbies.  Can you tell what my theme is this year?

The superhero clip art is from Kate Hadfield Designs.

I hope to share some pictures of my finished classroom next week. :)

More Summer Reading!

This week I have read four great books! 


Navigating Early is an adventure story of two boys at the end of World War II on the Appalachian Trail. They are on a quest to find the great black bear.  The adventures along the way is what kept me on the edge of my seat. Now I want to read her previous book Moon Over Manifest.

Floors is a mystery and  fantasy.  The owner of the Whippet Hotel is been missing for 100 days and Leo, the janitor's son, finds himself in the middle of this mystery.  Every floor of the hotel has its own wacky design and secrets. The fate of the hotel is in Leo's hands. This was a fun read.  I love mysteries, but the added craziness with bizarre inventions made this very enjoyable.

Waiting for the Magic is about love, family, 4 dogs, and 1 cat. This will be a good story for my lower readers.  I wasn't sure I would like it, but it is a good story.  Students who love animals will like this even though it isn't about the pets.  The pets help the family heal.

And now for the story I finished yesterday...Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library. I loved this book!  Twelve students win an essay contest to stay overnight in the town's new library.  Once there, they find out that they have 24 hours to solve puzzles in order to escape the library. This was a fun book.  The author even ends with a puzzle for the reader to solve.

Prior to these 4 books I also read:

The Year of the Book is a cute story about friendship that I think my girls would enjoy. Five Lives of Our Cat Zook was a little slow for me in the beginning.  I choose this one to read because it is on the Sunshine State book list.  Students who like animals or realistic fiction would like this.  I, however, like mysteries and adventures better. :)  Free Thaddeus was definitely one many boys will like.  When the students begin wearing "Free Thaddeus" T-shirts, all I kept thinking was "Ferris Bueller".  Yep, I'm an 80's gal!  Three Times Lucky was one of my favorites!  This has murder, kidnapping, mystery and even a hurricane.  Boys and girls would like this one!  Chomp is another great adventure book.  Living in Florida my classes always like Carl Hiaasen's books.  As for See You at Harry's, I loved it.  I cried a lot too. However, I believe this is more a middle school book.  It might be O.K. at the end of the school year.  I know I haven't given a whole lot of information about each book, but if you click on each one, you can read more at Amazon.  Many of these are on our Sunshine State Book List and others are ones that were recommended to me read.  I would love to know your thoughts on these too!

Author Signing

So yesterday my friend sends me this in a text:

So of course I said I would meet her there.  

I brought my copy of "Chomp" and here is his message to my class:

It was a fun impromptu meeting.  I love when something unexpected happens.  The joys of summer!

Summer Reading

Ok, I know it's not Monday.  I'm a little behind, but better late than never.
I have been busy reading, which is my favorite pastime during the summer. Here are a list of books I've read so far:
Among the Hidden            One for the Murphys
      

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children 

Because of Mr. Terupt    Small as an Elephant 

      

I loved all of these!  "Small as an Elephant" and "One for the Murphys" are similar in that both of the  main characters struggle with family problems.  The boy in "Small as an Elephant" while camping with his mom wakes up to find her gone. He feels he must find her before someone realizes he has been left alone.  The girl in "one for the Murphys"  has just been sent to live with the Murphys as a foster kid.  I liked "One for the Murphys" better, but it made me cry alot (that's not that hard to do).

"Because of Mr. Terupt" I like because it is about a fifth grade class who gets the new teacher Mr. Terupt.  He is not quiet what they expect.  Each chapter is told from a different classmate.  I believe there are 7 students telling the story.  I plan to read this with my fifth grade class.

"Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" is a fantasy that has been compared to "Harry Potter".   It does have some similarities in that the main character doesn't know that he is special in any way.  He feels very ordinary.  He loves the stories his grandfather used to tell him.  He believed they were real until he gets teased when he repeats them at school.  After his grandfather's death, he is not so sure any more.  He sets out to discover what his grandfather's last words really mean.  It is the first book of this new series. 

"Among the Hidden"  is a book I've been wanting to read for quite awhile.  My daughter has always loved books by Haddix.  This is also a series that takes place in a future where our government has so much control that personal freedoms have been lost. I know many middle school teachers use this in their rooms.  It is a great read.

My next book will be "Three Times Lucky" by Sheila Turnage.
I'm in the middle of reading "Notice and Notes"
This is very interesting.  I can't wait to try this with my Language Arts class.  I have been practicing some of their strategies with these books I just read.  Highly suggest this!