Back to School...Thank Goshness for Pinterest and Blogs!

So, today was my first day back after the holidays. Last night, I couldn't sleep...which made for a grumpy tired Keri this morning. Two coffees and a looooong shower helped to revive my spirits and I felt pretty close to normal by the time I got to school. The kids, surprisingly, were very subdued/quiet/sleepy. Perhaps there will even be tears tomorrow; hopefully not mine.
I took the advice of many bloggers and decided to slowly transition the kids into the normal school routine. In Reading Workshop, we are starting our unit on MAIN IDEA & supporting evidence. I also wanted to incorporate the holidays into our work this week...so I read the story "Whistle for Willie" by Jack Ezra Keats. It is the story of a little boy who desperately wants to be able to whistle. Throughout the book, Willie practices and practices until he achieves his "goal" of whistling.

I highly recommend this book if you are working on perseverance as a theme. We then talked about the main idea and how we know this is the main idea (evidence). Tomorrow we will make a GO chart.

The second task that I introduced was the 2012 Resolutions Flip Book from the fantastic blog Views from Room 205. Mrs. Lamb has created a great activity that incorporates goals into the digits of 2012. My kids LOVED it. 

Thank you so much to Mrs Lamb for a truly enjoyable, engaging activity that suited all the learners in my class.

Well, back to planning, planning and more planning. Unless, of course, I have a little nap instead!