Monday

Whew! Everybody was excited to be back today; I could tell by the sheer volume of the conversations I overheard in the hallway and in my classroom. I'm personally hoping we'll be able to dial it down a notch tomorrow because it promises to be a long day, especially with student-led conferences starting at 5:30 p.m. (Looking forward to seeing the scheduled families then; the others we will see on Thursday.)

Today I returned the quarterly writing portfolios, and students practiced their conferences with a pseudo-parent (peer.) I witnessed several groundings and more than a few stern talking-to's. (Students seem to have a firm grasp on playing the role of parents!)

We also cleaned out our LA binders, inserting a new section in the back and discarding old materials. Parents, please ask your students about their need for writing utensils as I'm finding myself having to provide wayyyy too many pens and pencils.

I shared a new method of responding to literature, which we will begin this week. Instead of writing two RRJ entries as homework, students will begin writing their RRj responses in class on Fridays. They are still responsible for a week's worth of reading (30 minutes daily,) and this remains their LA standing homework assignment. However, we will start reading more short works together in class on Reader's Workshop days, too, and students will use that material for the sources of one of their entries each week.

Have a great evening, everyone!

Fondly,
Mrs. V~