Each Saturday Ruth Ayres invites us to share and celebrate events, big or small, from our week. Looking for celebrations has certainly improved my outlook on my week. For that, I am certainly grateful to Ruth and to all of you who choose to celebrate with me.
Let the summer begin! What a great week this has been with so many fun activities, but I will celebrate just a few.
Celebration #1 - Our last day of school was yesterday, and as much as I will miss this class, I am so ready for a break. It is a time for me to rejuvenate, review my year and think about changes for next year. Reading of course, takes center stage along with pool time. Last year I "unofficially" participated in #bookaday because I had just entered this blogging-tweeting-sharing world and was just getting my feet wet. This summer, I am ready for #bookaday. Click here to read a post about the #bookaday challenge by Donalyn Miller at The Nerdy Book Club.
Celebration #2 - This week I celebrated books with my students. At the beginning of the year I challenged them to read 40 books as suggested in the Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. I think my students were surprised and proud of the reading they accomplished this year.
Celebration #3 - I received two Barnes &Noble gift cards from my students, so I will be making a road trip very soon! My TBR list is so long, and it seems like each day I add to it thanks to my blogging friends and Twitter! Please feel free to share any reading recommendations with me in the comments!
Celebration #4 - Thursday we had first annual Franklin Fear Factor. I will say this day ended up being much more fun that what we first anticipated. The teachers were divided up into teams and we had challenges such as catching crickets and worms, holding a 6ft. snake, drinking pond water (ginger ale with cilantro and relish) and passing crawdads. We even had three teachers catch a worm in their mouths for extra points. Here is a picture of two of my teammates - and YES she caught it! The kids loved it!
Celebration #5 - We had our first annual book swap. Students could bring in books from home and swap for new-to-me books. For our first ever swap, it was a huge success, and so many kids were able to take home books to read this summer. This was an easy project and would highly recommend it to any school!
Love the book swap as a way to celebrate and encourage summer reading! I think I might try that in my college courses next year! I am participating in #bookaday too. Hoping some of my students will also participate. It really is wonderful to be on break! Enjoy spending your B&N gift cards. Hope you'll share on your blog what you purchased!
ReplyDeleteLeigh Anne - Here is one of my suggestions - The Secret Hum of a Daisy by Tracy Holczer Happy shopping! I love the book swap idea and will suggest it to teachers that I work with. And a school Fear Factor - I find you all brave. :-)
ReplyDeleteI love the photos of the book swap and the kids on the slide with the books read numbers I highly recommend Golden Boy by Tara Sullivan if you haven't read it yet- it's YA but so worth reading.
ReplyDeleteI read Donalyn's book in April and will begin my year next year with the challenge. I love how you celebrated with their numbers. I will steal this idea. Reading Moon over Manifest right now and have a big stack of TBR for summer. If you haven't read these yet, you should read One for the Murphys, Snicker of Magic, and Wonder. Those are my top three from this school year. Next year I plan to require Wonder. I think all middle graders should read it. Happy summer!
ReplyDeleteLeigh Ann, I'm a bit envious that you're done! So glad that we have this 4 day weekend before we head into our final four weeks. Love the pics you included, especially your students with their numbers. Two books to add to your list: Rooftoppers and Hope Is a Ferris Wheel (I'm off to finish it). It's my reward for completing one class of projects.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great week!
ReplyDeleteLeigh Anne, Congrats on finishing a great year. I LOVE the picture of your students with their signs. What an accomplishment!! I have 14 days left...Looking forward to Bookaday & reflecting and planning for next year! Thanks for sharing! :) Happy Summer!!!
ReplyDeleteLove the book ideas and the pictures! After our winter, it's great seeing kids in shorts :) One of my goals this weekend is to make my summer TBR pile. I've already pulled a few and I can't believe how many books I have to read!! So ready for #bookaday :)
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on what sounds like a marvelous year, Leigh Anne. I too love those pic of your students with the book numbers-just awesome to see. There are so many good books just out, & I'm not sure what else to recommend. Those above are terrific. I'm reading The Mark of The Dragonfly now & loving it. I have so many on my list-am soon starting The Summer of Letting Go by Gae Polisner, also supposed to be good. Happy summer!
ReplyDeleteHappy Summer! My book pile is ready and waiting for me - three more weeks to go. Sneaking in the reading whenever I can. I checked your 2014 TBR list and it looks great. If you are looking for adult reading then Khaled Hossein's And Mountains Echoed Back is worth the time (his two previous books impressed me deeply). If you want to marvel some exceptional writing then Donna Tartt's Goldfinch is your read. Unfortunately both books that I recommended will probably take more than a day, so they wouldn't qualify for your challenge.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that you are finished with the school year, but I know that means you likely go back sooner than we do. I love your proud readers holding their signs.I am sure they go into the summer feeling accomplished, which will lead to wanting to keep reading. Happy summer and happy reading!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on being fully into summer vacation and #bookaday. I have a few more weeks to go. Fear Factor looks like a lot of fun! I too love book swaps. I have had one every year. I also collect books ahead of time so afterward anyone can take at least one book home if they would like to do that. :)
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