Reading Challenge

Our librarian posted this challenge for the New Year:

I love it, although I'm not sure I'll be able to finish it all.

Week 1 (01/01-01/07):  
Alexander, Who's Trying His Best to Be the Best Boy Ever by Judith Viorst. 

 I literally just discovered this sequel to Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day and am using it in my class on Monday (1/08) to talk about goal setting and behavior.

I shall count it as the book with a name in the title:

So on to week 2!
 
Week 2 (01/08-1/14): 

The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan. 

I'm currently over 100 pages into it with high hopes of finish it soon (ya know, by the 14th).  Since it's the third book in the Magnus Chase series, I'll check off the trilogy box when done. 

Any suggestions for the other 50 books?

Recapping Reading Week

In college, reading week was this glorious time before finals where I had no responsibilities (other than a few hours at a desk job) but to read and study for finals.

As a teacher, the concept of "reading week" is an entirely different beast.

To start with, we have a week of spirit days.   Now don't misunderstand me, I love spirit days.  I don't love the spirited attitudes that accompany these dress up days.  Because of the surplus of extra fun activities, many students (not just my own rambunctious class) were extra off task and defiant.  It made for a long and exhausting week.

Our school tends to take celebrations to the extreme, and that's okay.  The kids need to have fun in elementary school.  Our reading week activities include:

Book bingo (We get blank boards and a list of titles the week before reading week.  I had students help me fill it out.  Three books were called each morning during announcements.)

Mystery Readers (Students have to guess which staff member is reading the poem or short story aloud over the intercom.  Students submit their guesses on blue colored slips of paper.  One winner from each grade level with the correct guess wins a prize, which is usually a left over poster from the book fair.)

Spirit days (Not only did I give students points on class dojo for participating, but they got pink colored slips of paper to submit.  Once again, one winner from each grade level was chosen for a prize.)

Assemblies (Each grade level got at least one.  Ours featured a local published author who did an amazing job interacting with the kids.)

Lunch with someone you love (families are invited to bring students lunch and eat together in the courtyard.)

Guest readers (Everyone from high school students to the air force to news anchors to families came in to read picture books to the classes.  We had our principal and a fellow teacher's husband (he's in the air force) come read to us Friday afternoon.)

Read around the pod (teachers switch classrooms and read to one another).

Book picnic (Students brought blankets or towels and we read outside on Friday afternoon.  It was mid seventies and gorgeous.) 

No wonder I'm exhausted!  

Our spirit days included:

Monday: Ties & tutus day.  I borrowed an electric blue one from a friend and rocked it with jeans and an eagles shirt (our school mascot).  I had twenty minutes of playground duty, so not only did I start my day with already hitting my 10,000 steps (thanks fitbit!) but I got lots of compliments.  I should wear tutus more often!

Tuesday: Dr. Seuss day.  I snagged a solid red shirt from Target, wore jeans and the electric blue tutu again.  I didn't want to ruin my shirt, so I attached a paper plate from my classroom (a Christmas one no less!) to a lanyard.  With the help of a black sharpie, I became Thing 1.

I also had crosswalk duty.  I got a lot of questions asking if it was spirit day... I didn't really know how to respond to that one.  Do I normally look ridiculous and wear tutus on normal Tuesdays?

Wednesday: Disney day.  (Also, Marvel and Star Wars day!) This was the day Ms. C and I had our Disney themed lip sync battle for students who met their reading goals.

Can you guess which Disney princess I was?

Would it help if I said I carried around a dinglehopper (fork), yellow fish, and red lobster?

Thursday: Dress as your future self day.  Not only did I rock a Hogwarts alum shirt that I snagged at Target, but I also completely dressed another teacher.  She wanted to be Wonder Woman, so I lent her a cape, crown, shirt, and the blue tutu.  (Yes, I do just have those things laying around.)

Friday: Pajama day.  I rocked black yoga pants and an oversized pink shirt that said "I was made for taking naps."  (Another stellar Target find!)

I really failed at taking pictures this year!  

To make things fun for teachers, we were entered in a raffle for free books each time we participated.  While I didn't win, I really like and respect the intermediate teacher who did. 

Reading week was great, our librarian put a lot of hard work into every detail, but I'm really glad it's over.  It's time to get back on track with learning.

 

The last week

We had Monday off for parent teacher conferences, which left only four days to attempt to manage students' behavior choices.  The excitement over the holidays was adorable...and loud.

We had a spirit week, which always adds to silliness in the classroom.  I reward students who participate with bonus class dojo points and let them do a fashion show. I also take a group selfie and post it to our class blog (but won't post here due to students' privacy).  That always gets them super excited.

Our spirit days:

Tuesday: Wear white or snowflakes.  I completely forgot...so good thing a coworker snagged some foam snowflakes at the dollar spot and I got crafty.

My students said I was channeling Queen Elsa, so I went with it.

Wednesday brought dress like a present day.  It was really, really difficult not to joke about this being inappropriate (cue Justin Timberlake).  I wore a green dress accented with a red belt and a red bow in my hair.  Halfway through the day, I discovered there were lots of bite marks in my belt...not sure which pet is to blame.  

Thursday was Santa hat or winter hat day.  I let my students wear hats inside, which was a special treat.  I had a tough choice to make that day:

Friday was pajama day, which is always a favorite.  I rocked Batman pajama pants with a Cardinals hoodie, much to the delight of my students.  They are very vocal about their passion for their football teams...none of which are my team.

Friday started with this treat on their desks: 

There are fruit snacks attached (I couldn't find holiday pencils) and the pass is good for one night of no math homework (much to the delight of my students).

The last week was also devoted to a Reading Rangers challenge (my favorite of the year).  The school was split into two teams (red and green) with a different leader (principal or assistant principal).  Whichever team read and passed more AR quizzes got to throw marshmellows at the losing team's leader.  I created a large paper book for my door and whenever my students passed a quiz, they wrote their name on the sheet.  For the first time in three years, the assistant principal's team won (my team) and I got to pick three students to throw marshmellows at our principal.  It was such a glorious bonding moment.  I'm blessed to have such amazing admin that aren't afraid to make fools of themselves in the name of student achievement. 

Some of the kinder classes decorated gingerbread houses and wrote letters to Santa.  Another fifth grade classroom displayed a fake fire on the smartboard during reading time and played holiday tunes (stealing that idea for next year).  Others did a book swap, classroom secret santas, and a hot chocolate party.

What fun traditions does your school have for the last week of school?

 

Teacher vs. Student

One of my students has been working on The House of Hades for about a month now.  He's on page 188 and has read other books in the mean time, but he's stalling.

I only have one copy of this book and two other students are ready to read it.  

Instead of demanding that he finish the book over the long weekend, I game him a challenge.

If he finishes his book (The House of Hades) and I don't finish my book (The Sword of Summer) by Wednesday, the class gets to pick my outfit for Thursday.  They voted on a Denver Broncos jersey and a San Francisco 49ers hat.  As an Arizona Cardinals fan, this is hurtful and they are so excited about the idea of me wearing my rival team's attire.

If I finish my book and he doesn't finish his, his table team gets to pick his outfit for Thursday.  They voted on a pink tutu.

If we both finish, there is no public embarrassment.

On a side note, he started on page 188.  I was on page 20.  I've got a lot of reading to do before Wednesday!