Class of 2027 -- Are You Ready?

    Tomorrow is the big day -- I will meet the children and families who will become the focus of my year.  I am excited about having the opportunity to teach a much smaller class than last year's 27 -- we only have 16 registered so far, and that sounds wonderful. I hope to open their minds to a whole new world, and build the foundation for a lifetime of learning.

    I've been busy all week getting everything in my classroom ready.  I am so glad to have the resources available from other teachers who share their great ideas on Teachers Pay Teachers.

I used a tri-fold board to make a new writing center combining resources from about 4 different people -- I think it looks great! It will give the kids lots of options as they practice writing.

I also made some anchor charts using Kim Adsit's ideas for launching the Daily 5 and guided reading groups-- here's one I made this week.  I am putting all my anchor charts in one chart tablet so I can find them when I need them.  Within a few weeks, I hope to have the whole class trained to "read" books independently for at least 15 minutes. This doesn't mean they will read the words, but if I do it right, they will be able to stay engrossed in their baskets of books as they begin the process of learning to read the words.

   I had to make one last trip to Wal-Mart after work today -- I realized that I didn't have any environmental print for the first letter of some of the names I will work on.  I was lucky enough to find an empty Kool-aid box on the shelf -- I needed a word kids would recognize for the letter K.  I still needed L and N, and no more empty boxes.  So I bought a box of Nilla Wafers -- my husband was happy to empty that box for me. For L, I chose a box of Life cereal.  Is there anyone besides a teacher who goes grocery shopping just to get the box??  Anyway, I have done all I feel like doing tonight, so I am propping my feet up for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow I get to start the job of making a difference in some lives -- I feel blessed!