A Year of Reading

In case you didn't know....I love to read!  Goodreads is one of my favorite apps for keeping track of my reading.  So in celebration of a new year and for anyone looking for some new reads, here are some of my stats and favorites of 2013!

Books Read:  83
Pages Read:  23,393

Favorite Books: 
Across a Star Swept Sea:  Retelling of The Scarlet Pimpernel.  Not as good as For Darkness Shows the Stars but still a page turner!

Escape From Mr. Lemoncello's Library:  Such a clever book....a Willy Wonka/Librarian mashup.

Least Favorite Books: 
Ever After High:  Love Shannon Hale, but this book was too cheesy!

The Red Tent:  Not sure I was okay about fictionalizing an event I believe to be true.....

I reread The Mark of the Lion series...oh so good.  Christywas also a reread....LOVE that book!  A must read for all teachers:-) 

I read A LOT of young adult fiction!  Happily take suggestions of great adult fiction:-)

Happy Tuesday,

Saturday Saying Genius

Every Saturday I look forward to Tammy's new saying.  So I am joining her with a Saturday saying of my own.  On Christmas my family saw Saving Mr. Banks.  It was fabulous and I want to read Mary Poppins to compare to movie. 

Walt Disney is someone I would like to know about.  He has lots of great quotes and this one is something I am hoping to work with my class on.  Look up genius hour...you will find all kinds of great plans students are researching and creating about the things they love.  We brainstormed our ideas before break and I am excited to get back to class and begin our work!

My kids have come up with some exciting things to explore!  What would your genius hour project be?

Happy Saturday,

13 in 13

Kristin, Hadar, and Traci are hosting the 3rd annual Linky Party!  

13.  Favorite Article of Clothing
Not a clothes fiend....I would wear jeans and a hoodie everyday, if I could get away with it!  I do really want Portland socks.  They are printed with image from our old airport carpet.  (Only in Portland...weird things happen here!)

the carpet....

the socks...

12.  Favorite Movie
Love the Dodgers...Love Peewee Reese and Jackie Robinson...Love Baseball...Love the movie 42!

Honorable Mention:
Saving Mr. Banks (had to go home and watch Mary Poppins)

11.  Favorite TV Series
Sherlock is so good!  Each episode is an hour and a half long and just six episodes so far.  

Honorable Mentions:
Still Love New Girl!
Elementary
Chicago Fire
Person of Interest

10.  Favorite Restaurant
The Waffle Window--so many delicious ways to eat a waffle!

9.  Favorite New Thing You Tried
Finally started a tpt store...it has one measly freebie:-)  We will see where that goes.

8.  Favorite Gift You Got
I have wanted a mixer for forever....no more mixing by hand!

7.  Favorite Thing You Pinned

And not only did I pin it, I made it and it was delicious! 
A three layer cake.  Pumpkin spice cake on top and bottom.  Cheesecake in the middle.  Pumpkin frosting on top.  All from scratch.

6.  Favorite Blog Post
Winner:  How to Eat a Cupcake  If my class learns nothing else, I will consider it a success if they know how to eat a cupcake correctly!

Runner Up:  Famous Teacher Appreciation  An unsuccessful linky party attempt, but that doesn't deter me from liking it:-)  Just spreading some appreciation.

5.  Best Accomplishment
Reese (see #12) has made it to 8 months and we are both s till surviving...so that IS an accomplishment!  She loves no-school days as much as I do!

4.  Favorite Picture
Spent the day at the beach with friends I have had since 3rd grade.  Love hanging out with the friends who have been around for forever!  It is amazing how we get together and it is like no time passed at all!

3.  Favorite Memory (this is going to have to be 2...sorry)
-Spent a week at Teacher's College Reading Institute.  It was so inspiring and I wish I lived in New York, so I could go more often.  While in NYC, I saw Newsies on Broadway.  The whole trip Back East was fabulous, but I think Newsies was towards the top!  

 -I also got to meet a bunch of Oregon bloggers....so COOL! 

L to R:  Nicole (Teaching With Style), Tanja (Journey of a Substitute Teacher), Michelle (3rd Grade al Dente), Laura (Teacher Laura), Me, Sarah (Sarah's First Grade Snippets), and Nicole (Teaching's a Hoot).
And it really is a small world....a student in my class is friends with a student in Michelle's class at a school across town!  

2.  Goal for 2014
I have been dabbling in Whole Brain Teaching for a while and love the results from the pieces I have implemented.  My goal is to add more pieces and make it a much bigger part of my class environment. 

1.  One Little Word
I think my word is going to be motivate.  I want to be motivated and, more importantly, I want to be one who motivates my Chickadees.

And there are my 13 things!

Happy Thursday,

Todd Parr Loves Reading and So Do We

Blogging has been so difficult lately.  It takes me around two weeks or more to get up a post and my class is lovely!  It is amazing how different 28 kids are from 36....and so far none that need duct-taped personal space.

I thoroughly enjoy the world of Todd Parr.  My roommate teachers kindergarten and has all of his books.  My favorite is Reading Makes You Feel Good.  Each page is colorful and tells why reading is so amazing...for so many different things.

So of course, we needed to do some Todd Parr imitation art and share about our love of reading.  (Because in this room, we LOVE reading.)
"Reading makes me feel happy because the main character takes me places.  And it makes feel calm after I just played outside.  And it does not cost money at the library.  Only if you do not give the book back.  Then you have to spend money." 
"Reading makes me feel brave, sad, happy, pleasant, kind, good, shiny, and smart.  It makes me dig into the book."

"Reading makes me feel like I can do anything.  One thing I feel like I can do with some books is talk to animals.  Another this is fly and go to places that don't exist."















Check out these readers-

 

Happy Thursday,