Recently, my students and I put together a new project on our Donors Choose page. Just like our last project, the idea was completely created by my kiddos. The only thing I did was locate the books on Amazon and help type up their plan. Our book club dream actually grew from our AMAZING Global Read Aloud experience that we participated in this year. As a class, we read the book Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. After the book was finished, the students begged for more. They had enjoyed the discussions, the shared reading, collaborating together on tasks and reflections, and wanted to do it again. Here is an overview of our project incase you are looking to write your own Donors Choose request! Book Clubs: Embarking On A New Reading Adventure My Students "Stories are light. Light is precious in a world so dark."- Kate DiCamillo As the school year matures, my students are finding that they enjoy discussing and sharing books with each other. However, only ...
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The Innovator’s Mindset Book Study
Every once in a while, I read an educational/professional development book that just rocks me to my core. The ideas, critical thinking, puzzlement, affirmation, ah-hah moments, and personal growth experiences that stem from reading a solid piece of literature is just so juicy! When moments like this occur, I can't hold it in! I have to share the book out to the world. That my dear educator friends is why I have decided that my latest juicy read was SO phenomenal that I wanted to do a group/collaborative book study on it. When a friend and colleague recommended the book The Innovator's Mindset by George Couros, I bought it, read it, then FREAKED OUT and read it two more times. Innovation is a term that is tossed around like confetti, is often misunderstood, and yet so needed and vital to our education system. Mr. Couros has done an exceptional job of pinpointing the need for innovation in education and to make learning an experience that is relevant and meaningful to ...
The Importance of Fostering a Love for Reading
As the school year continues to fly by, I have been reflecting on some of my favorite parts of my new experience in 5th grade this year. Hands down, the reading community that my students have built is my absolute favorite part of this year. Helping build a reading community has really helped me reaffirm just how vital loving/enjoying reading can be to our youth and how lucky I was to find my love for reading at a young age. My parents read to me all the time growing up. My mom, who is a preschool teacher, has always encouraged me to read, explore books, and appreciate a good story. I am the avid reader that I am today because of the reading opportunities and encouragement that I had in my youth. I know that not everyone has parents who love to read or have role models who have encouraged them to read so helping students embark on their own reading journey has been one of my missions this year. As I prepared for this year, there was no question in my mind that reading was ...
