A Change of Plans

So, my running is going to be making a change because my husband and I received a referral for an adoption! We won't be running the Army 10-Miler and my training has been put on hold... for just a little while. We'll be training to become possible parents for a 3 year old instead!

My classroom is up and running and it feels good to finally have some kind of schedule. Those first few weeks are always draining. We are ready to move on in Daily 5 because they've hit the Read to Self 20 minute mark. I'm going to begin pulling small groups this week while the students are reading to self and writing about reading. I'm so glad that I found Daily 5 four years ago. It really fits my teaching style and just makes sense.

New race and getting ready for the Army 10 Miler

Yesterday I was inspired to sign up for a new race with my husband. We were trying to find a few races to get us through the end of the year and I came across this one. After reading about this precious little boy, we could't help but sign up right away. I'm always inspired by families and their stories. This is a special one and if you're in the area, you should think about running.
Race website

With the long weekend, it was nice to get a long run in. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed with school starting and less than 40 days until the 10 Miler. One foot in front of the other is all that I can do at this moment.

Book Whisperer Challenge

I decided to design my own challenge for my 4th grade class this year. I will begin with 30 reading selections and see how they do. I think that most of them will do great! I'll keep you posted on their progress.
Goal Sheet

My Theme for the Year

I started making the poster for my hallway and will add more photos this week. After watching the show, Expedition Impossible, I thought that the kids would love to have a try at this. I plan to have the student in teams of 4 when they arrive in a week. They are each assigned a color for their team. I purchased bandanas at Oriental Trading for the teams. On the first day, they will discuss team names and begin making a banner that represents their team. This will be go above each group when they are finished. I am also taking a team photo and they will be writing about each other. I will assign each member to interview another teammate and write a one paragraph bio. I am super excited about this theme and can't wait to share more of my ideas!

My Reading Log

This year I am having the kids complete a weekly reading log and I am including a math log on the back. I am hoping that the kids improve their math automaticity. I always have one or two that find this challenging and I want to make sure that they are keeping up with it at home. I'll let you know how it goes.
Reading Log

Trying my best with Daily 5

This will be my 4th year with using the Daily 5 and CAFE in my classroom. I have to confess that I always start the year off strong and after we return in January, I seem to lose momentum. Does anyone else have this problem? I need ideas about keeping it fresh all year long.
Here's a photo from last year and you can see the CAFE menu in the back of the room.


I thought that I'd try to add a few of the items that I like to use at the beginning of the year. Most of these ideas have come from the Yahoo group! This is an amazing group and they are willing to share all of the time. You should join and take a peek at all of the files and photos.
CAFE Progress
FACES Chart

Well, this is my first post ever for my classroom and I am so excited. I've been addicted to Pinterest and borrowing so many great ideas! Teachers ability to be so creative and dedicate so much time to their classroom is amazing to me. I am beginning with a photo from my room from last year because I love it when the students are allowed to be creative and take over my lessons. In this lesson, my students are role playing what it means to search for meaning and ask great questions.
I'm off to bed because my classroom awaits me in the morning.