Recently the teachers at Chets Creek were challenged to create a weekly blog post about a common subject. The first post is to describe our lives as readers. As you know, Mrs. Morris and I are sisters and we grew up together. You may find it interesting that she ALWAYS had a book in her hand and I rarely read for pleasure. She can give you the summary for every Paula Danzinger, Beverly Cleary, and Judy Blume book ever written. She read on long car trips while I listened to my Walkman. Ironically, I turned into a reading teacher and she developed a love for math and science. While in college I discovered the amazing world of children's picture books. As a new teacher I attended the International Reading Association Conference in Orlando and had the opportunity to meet many authors and illustrators. Since then I've read countless picture and chapter books and spent a small fortune stocking the shelves of our classroom library.
As adults, Mrs. Morris and I share fiction books. A common favorite author of ours is Jodi Picoult. Mrs. Morris enjoys books by Nora Roberts and Danielle Steele. I've read everything Mary Higgins Clark has ever written. We also read a lot of non-fiction books - particularly for school and we both still have subscriptions to the Florida Times Union.
Earlier this year we asked our students if they had parents that were readers. It's so important to model this behavior for your children. We asked if they had any magazine subscriptions delivered to their homes and if their parents read on-line. We'd love to hear from you. Please comment if you have a favorite author or genre. Everyone should live their life as a reader!
In Science Workshop we are learning about seeds and plants. We germinated lima bean seeds and planted them in clear cups so the roots and stems would show. The stem of the plant is like a person's backbone and holds it up. We like how the plants lean toward the window and curve to the sunlight!
As a special reward, students can wear their socks and slippers in our classroom on Fridays - if they turn in all of their homework assignments on time. Today we had loads of cute, fuzzy, comfortable slippers walking around our room! Even the teachers had their shoes off!
On our very first day of second grade we moved through centers to learn about life on the farm. We listened to a bee keeper tell us about pollination and tasted fresh honey. We got to plant a green vegetable, see tractors, eat watermellon, and enjoy the petting zoo. Back in the classroom we read books about the first day of school and watched a video about one of our favorite books, Click, Clack, Moo - Cows That Type!
