"Consider
the energy harnessed by having the minds in your classroom community come
together and focus on the language and events of the story you are putting in
the air. Consider the power of beginning
your day with all that energy traveling on a common current; every member of
the community rubbing shoulders with the same characters – pondering their
dilemmas, cheering their accomplishments, and sharing in the pains of their
struggles and losses. Consider having
the cumulative effect of all those readings as a common touchstone across the days,
weeks and months of the school year." Lester Laminack from Learning Under the Influence of Language and Literature.
I love summer. I love summer because it is all about renewal of the spirit. I love turning the page to the next chapter, another class, another chance for revision. A lot of thought goes into that first read aloud that we are going to come together around. I think I found that September book that I HOPE all of the kids will love as much as I did. Anna is the kind of reader that I hope the kids can imagine themselves into being (or perhaps already believe themselves to be). What is that all important first read aloud that you are planning to use to start off your year? Is it a old favorite or a new read? Please share the title and I will upload pictures on a wall in the blog (after I figure out how) to celebrate our intentions and launch us all off on another glorious reading-rich, buzzing about books school year.
I look forward to the different titles that we will share here together.
ReplyDeleteI need to add this title to my TBR stack - sounds like a must read :)
ReplyDeleteI'm starting the year with Kate DiCamillo's Tiger Rising and Natalie Babbit's Eyes of the Amaryllis.
ReplyDeleteI'm starting the year with Tiger Rising and Eyes of the Amaryllis, by Kate DiCamillo and Natalie Babbit, respectively.
ReplyDeleteI like to start the year reading a book with the students that I've never read myself so that I am discovering it with them and my thinking aloud is truly genuine. I've heard great things about Wonder and will most likely start with that.
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to take Lester Laminack's advice and do a couple (he would do more) of read a louds a day that will include some good beginning of the year picture books, but my first chapter read-a-loud will be The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. It is great for my third graders who love the fantasy but also a great base for character work that I return to throughout the year.
ReplyDelete