It's Almost October! Can You BE-LEAF it?

This week in Room A-1 we're going to start our thematic unit on Leaves!  I know.  Can you BE-LEAF it?  We'll be reading lots of great fiction and non-fiction books about leaves.  Here's a little list of some the books I'm planning to use this week!

We're Going On A Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

Why Do Leaves Change Color?  by Betsy Maestro

I Know an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leaves by Lucille Colandro

I Am A Leaf by Jean Marzollo

We're going to do a fall tree craftivity on Friday!  That will be lots of leafy fun!  We'll be doing lots of leaf exploration, leaf rubbings, leaf science experiments and we'll create some beautiful leaf people!

Last week I did begin working on pulling small groups for guided reading!  I think my boys and girls are almost ready because the kiddies are almost able to work in Centers by themselves.  It's been a little tricky because they were getting used to the idea of working in Centers, getting to know the routine and the way the class functions within our structure.  I'm happy to report that they are doing much better since Day 1.

Lots of things to do this week!  I hope you have a fun Monday!
Kimmie

Teacher Week '13 - Wednesday Organizing!

 

Hey Y'all! 

It has been a busy week!  I'm still in the middle of rearranging organizing my classroom.  If you stopped by yesterday, you read about how I had gotten my room ready and then changed my mind and decided to twirl things around!  So now, I'm digging out!  I worked all day and I'll work all day tomorrow too!  Maybe, just maybe, I'll have it all put back together by tomorrow afternoon!

 

I've had a couple of things slow me down.  Two of the plastic supports for my wooden shelves broke apart and now I'll have to go to Home Depot or Lowe's on the way to school in the morning.  Uggg. 

 

 

This is a picture of leveled book shelves in my room.  I have a LOT of books!  There are lots of ways that you can organize leveled books but because we use the Guided Reading Letter Leveling, I have my books organized in that way.  

 

Scholastic.com has a great link to help level books!  Here's a link from their website that shows a comparison for the leveling system.

 

 

Scholastic Guided Reading Leveling Chart

 

 

And here's a helpful link to the Scholastic Book Wizard!

You can plug in a book and find out the reading level! It makes quick work of finding out the reading level of the books in the classroom!  I hope you love it as much as I do!

 

 

 

 

Scholastic Book Wizard

 

 

 Thanks to Blog Hoppin' for this fun Teacher Week Linky Party!

 Blog Hoppin'

 I hope you're having a great week!  Thanks for stopping by to check out the Wednesday Organizing for Instruction Post!

See you for tomorrow's post!
 Kimmie