Literacy Learning Zone

Slice of Life is  hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join in and share a slice of your life.  _____________________________________________________ I'm thrilled to say that I am finally in a routine of meeting with my small groups of students (a.k.a intervention groups).  It feels so good to be spending time with students face-to-face who are just as excited to see me! These kids amaze me every day when they get the opportunity to move to a smaller learning space where we are surrounded by books and not distracted by anything else.  It's just us and books and time to connect and read. We are creating our small group learning comm...

The March Slice of Life Story Challenge hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join us for a month of writing! ____________________________________________________ Spring break is so close.   It's almost here.  And it's just what I am in need of ... Right now. Today is the last day To send kiddos home  with lots of books to enjoy. Right now. "You will be missed." Then we say our goodbyes  with many hugs and high fives. Right now. Right now. Time to play, ponder, pack. Time for family, friends, fun. Time to read, write, renew ... Right now. It's almost here. It's just what I am in need of ... Spring break is ... here.

Slice of Life  hosted  at the Two Writing Teachers Join in and share a slice of your life. This is a deep breath kind of moment. Just a day before a new year begins. Anticipation of the what's to come. Smiling faces walking through the school doors. A fresh start.  To begin again a year older. Brand new clothes and shoes and backpack and supplies. A missing tooth grin.  Fancy hairdo.  Looking too cute. Excited to be with friends in a new class with a new teacher. Nervous about the newness of it all.  Ready to start. Me? I'm ready to foster new and old relationships. To show them I care.  Wanting to make the difference. To read and write and laugh together. To laugh and write a...

I'm here to  {celebrate}  with  Ruth Ayres   and  YOU ! Finding the little moments of joy in life. Today I am celebrating: {portfolio sharing} {students} Talk about celebrating!  This week we hosted portfolio sharing conferences at school.  Yes, they are two loooong days.  Yes, I always hope to sneak in a little extra organizing in my classroom.  But I celebrate the time with students visiting over the two days.  I get to see big older brothers and meet little younger sisters.  It is enjoyable to watch the students celebrate their learning.  Big smiles.  Proud Moms and Dads.   And teachers.   {growth} In my role as a reading specialist, I teach small groups of students that are developing readers.  Reading isn't easy.  I am always on the hunt for the right books for the right kids.  And still reading isn't a natural fit.  Yet, we celebrated growth that was made over the yea...

March Slice of Life Story Challenge hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join us for a month of writing! Yesterday was a tough day for two of my students.  I'm not sure what to blame.  Perhaps the leftover full moon.  Or the two days of no outside recess breaks.   Or the constant struggles they are fighting at home that they have no control over. Or the thought of spring break and how much our kids worry about not being in school.   I walked out of school deflated, reflecting on what I could have done differently.   Today will be a better day for two of my students.  There is no one or nothing to blame.  I will check in with both of them in the morning.  And provide them with words of encouragement.  And have a little more patience and understanding.  And remin...

March Slice of Life Story Challenge hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join us for a month of writing! Yesterday, I shared my (hopeful) worry about the developing readers I am privileged to work with every day.  Yet, many of my readers are not readers on their own.  I try my best to support them through this journey and wait and wait until the reading bug bites and I can't get their nose out of a book.  But when reading already doesn't come easy (and in some instances reading is limited to a letter or a number) many of my students just don't choose to do it on their own. Therefore, being a hopeful worrier, I won't sit by and let that happen.   I continue to encourage, talk about books, help pick good fit books with choice, and make reading plans.  It was announced by my reading colleague and fri...

March Slice of Life Story Challenge hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers Join us for a month of writing! Friday afternoon I had the laptops checked out for my intermediate small groups.  The students know when they walk into my room, see the laptops on the table, that we will be blogging .  My fourth graders walked in excited to see the laptops waiting.  Recently we read Love Monster by Rachel Bright .   An cute story about a monster looking for someone who will love him just the way he is.  That same day, Jocelyn went home and created her own little version of the book.  It was adorable and I wanted her to be able to share it on her blog.   I  took pictures of each page, but I thought there had to be a better way to share her creativity.  I debated using the Vine app, b...

Slice of Life  hosted  at the  Two Writing Teachers In celebration of Picture Book Month , we are reading picture books.  Picture books to remember. I shared the title of a recently published book with our school librarian.  I shared it with our school social worker and psychologist.  I shared it with a teacher who mentioned she had a student crying every day at recess because she was feeling ignored. This is a picture book to remember. My second grade group of four boys spotted the new book on the whiteboard ledge first. "Oooo, can you read that book?  Pleeeease!" "I'm sorry, our time together is up.  It's time to go--" "C'mon!  Just read the first page!" "Ok! Ok!  I can't say no to that, especially because it is one of my newest favorite ...