Slice of Life March Challenge #28

Dear Mr. Christopher Paul Curtis,

I am writing to inform you that something most miraculous occurred over the past few weeks in my class--all thanks to you.

You have changed the lives of a group of students (and I'm sure many more) in my class.  In fact, you have transformed four rambunctious, eleven-year old boys into readers--a seemingly impossible feat I myself have struggled with all year.  After try and try and try, I just couldn't find the right book that could magically make these boys want to read--I mean, really want to read.

And then, I assigned them Bud, Not Buddy and everything changed.

You gave them a character they loved--Bud, and a story they couldn't stop reading.  You surprised them, made them laugh, and gave them so many wonderful ideas to bring to their lively book club discussions. You gave them their "favorite book ever"!

You even made this group fight a bit over who would read The Mighty Miss Malone, The Watsons Go to Birmingham, and Elijah of Buxton first from our classroom library. They even had to make a list of who was reading what and when it had be finished by, so they could swap books--because they are that serious about your writing!

Your book was the greatest gift my students, and I, their teacher, could ever receive.  I can't thank you enough.  What would we do without authors like you in this world?

Yours eternally grateful,
Ms. S.


P.S. expect another letter soon from four enthusiastic boys from room A-204!

Slice of Life March Challenge #27

Spring, are you here? We think you have finally arrived--it was warm, breezy, 

and sunny today, and we couldn't help but notice.  It was all the talk around here...

We're ready. We've been waiting and waiting  for our buds, 

the color of flames, to spread and grow. We long for being planted in the front yards 

of aged, brick homes, along worn pathways, and crumbling stone walls...

We don't want to get too excited, though--not just yet.  We thought you were finally here the other 

day, but then it grew frosty and cold--and we ended up feeling disappointed and sad...

 But we're hopeful, Spring, because you showed  up today, and we were happy and 

we smiled.  Our colors grew brighter with the warm, beautiful weather. Our souls felt restored.

Please, do your best tomorrow, Spring.  We hope you come back to visit.  

We'd love for you to stay for awhile...

Slice of Life March Challenge #26

A list of some random/cute/interesting/funny things that I observed today in 6th grade:

• One student (during quiet, independent reading time) screams: "Ahhhhh, I just got to the surprise part in my book! I've been waiting a whole 136 pages for this!!!! " And then proceeds to tell his entire book club group what happened--not a happy group, to say the least.
• One group in my social studies class brought poster lights (which I didn't even know existed) to put on their Industrial Revolution poster--and we had to turn off all the lights to see the poster flashing and ohhhh and ahhhhh at how cool it was. It was necessary.
• I overheard two girls discussing what they wanted to write their slices about, with smiles on their faces.
• My afternoon block begged me to let them take the social studies test tomorrow, instead of Thursday, because they felt super ready--and I told them they were going to rock their test!
• A sweet 6th grader, whom I don't even have in class, said good morning to me and held the door for me and asked if I needed help carrying all of my bags.
• It was crazy hat, hair, everything day--and I teach sixth grade, enough said.
• I graded several feature articles--and one student wrote all about pickles, yes, pickles, and it was best topic I could imagine!
• I watched my class working together so well today--like we're all friends, like we're a big family.
• I walked down the 6th grade hallway and was rammed into by about 5 kids--because in 6th grade, we have no concept of where we're walking/if we're going to walk into anyone--we just walk as if we don't have a care in the world.
• I was told by a student that my missing hall pass was lodged in a toilet in the boys' bathroom--and then he proceeded to ask if I wanted it back--umm, no thanks!
• During writing workshop, one of strugglers said, "This essay writing is actually getting easier" and it made me smile.
• Kids crowded around my desk to hear a silly story I was telling another student after the bell rang--instead of taking a four minute break to socialize with their friends--and they love those four minutes.
• One of my students said, "Thank you, Ms. S!" and another, "Have a nice day, Ms. S!" after leaving class--and they do this every single day.

What a great, and always interesting, day in sixth grade. :)

Slice of Life March Challenge #25

Slice of Life has officially been launched in our classroom today!  My kids seemed really excited about it, too.  I actually think this may have been the first time that my sixth graders haven't complained about a homework assignment--that says a lot in itself. Excited about homework--my class--not in million years! Maybe they're having a change of heart.

But the best part of this already has been that the student in my class that dreads writing--really dreads it--one of most reluctant writers, posted the first slice! How cool is that?!

So, I've been sitting with my computer up since after school waiting to see if my kids would post any slices today.  After looking at the first few, I realize that some of their slices are going to need some work for sure.  We'll have to go over again tomorrow in class what makes a good slice and I'll have to show them some more examples.  But I think this is going to build an excitement for writing overall in my class, and I can't wait to see how my students are going to grow as writers the rest of year because of slicing!

Slice of Life March Challenge #24

I've decided that I'm going to start Slice of Life in my writing workshop class tomorrow!  I'm currently working on creating a blog for my class. We have a blogger section on our class website, so it's going to be great for this! I'm so excited for my kids to get started, and I can't wait to read what they're going to write.  I think I'm even more excited about them commenting on each other's posts.  I know my students are going to love that.

Well, only a short slice for tonight--I have lots to do for tomorrow at school.  I'll post about how it's going soon, I'm sure.

Slice of Life March Challenge #23

This morning I had to get my hair done. It needed to be cut and colored so badly.  I generally avoid getting anything done to my hair, until it absolutely has to be done. For some reason, getting my hair done stresses me out. I think it's probably because I've seen and had some pretty scary outcomes from drastic dye jobs and hair cuts.

There was a time when I was blonde and a time when my hair was almost black--my hair's been pretty much most shades of the rainbow--minus blue and purple and green.  It's been short and very long and somewhere in between.  

And I've even dabbled in being a "hair stylist" myself.  I remember one time when we were on a family vacation, I attempted to dye my sister's pretty light brown hair to blonde and it did not go so well.  Her hair turned pretty much as orange as a carrot. Not a pretty sight.  Lauren was in tears, her prom was two weeks away--of course, and we had to make an emergency appointment at a local salon to fix the havoc I had wreaked on her head.  Three hours and 200 dollars later, she emerged with a slightly lighter, fried head of orange hair--now about the color of orange sherbet. 

So you can see why my level of stress rises as I enter a hair salon.  And I know this is not normal--most people enjoying getting their hair cut--it's relaxing they say.  But I'm not fooled by that guise.

As I was driving to the salon today I realized that these were the reasons why I don't enjoy getting my hair done:

1. Scary things can happen when you dye your hair--I've seen and experienced them firsthand
2. I usually never know what I want to get done
3. When I think I might have an idea about what I want to get done, I'm never sure if it'll look okay on me and my hair stylist never seems to know either
4. My hair usually doesn't come out as I expected/hoped, and I never leave the salon looking like a model and/or celebrity, which I always think will happen when I walk into the salon
5. The lights in salons can be deceiving--everyone's hair looks shiny and beautiful and the perfect color--until you walk outside in the sunlight and it looks totally different

Anyway, I tried to go in there today with a open mind.  Maybe I'd try a new 'do, I thought.  But then I remembered how my sister's hair had turned out that time and thought I should probably just stick to something simple--and I did and I'm happy with it.  Yes, it pretty much looks exactly the same as before, but a few inches shorter.  But nothing drastic occurred and my head feels lighter and I feel happier, so I guess it was a success, after all.

Slice of Life March Challenge #22

One of my goals this year was to incorporate more projects into my social studies class.  So with almost every unit we've done, I've tried to develop some sort of project.  I think its really important that kids get opportunities to work as a team, problem solve, and just be creative.  Not to mention, a project seems like it's just what my kids need.  My students are starting to "check out", and I think they need a little bit of a break in a way.  A project is well-needed right about now in our class.

Right now, we're studying the Industrial Revolution and have learned about lots of important inventions and inventors. For this project, the students are working with a partner to further research an invention from the Industrial Revolution--the one that they think is the best. Then, they're going to create a poster advertising their invention.

To get the kids hyped up about the project, I told them that they had just been "hired" by a prestigious advertising firm and their "job" was to work as a team to create and design a poster that would convince the public to buy their  invention.  Any time my students have to get into character or are given a "job" for a discussion or project in social studies, they'll all about it! They get excited about some of the silliest things. That's what's so great about sixth graders! 

We were off to the library today to research our inventions! And my kids did such a great job!  We had a successful day in social studies researching and gathering information and working together and giggling and learning a lot while having fun. I'm excited for Monday to see their projects start to come together!