breakin' the law... breakin' the law

Hi Friends!
It was bound to happen in this pinterest inspired time we live in. I broke the fire code! {GASP!!!} Oh no!!!

I didn't do it on purpose, I swear. I really thought the the fire rule was 70% wall covering in a sprinkler building. Apparently it's only 50%. Whoops! My bad. I didn't get in trouble, but I had to remove some of the coverings. It stinks 'cause the walls aren't the prettiest, but what can you do? So here's my before picture of the bulletin board that I was so proud of a few weeks ago...

...and here's the after. Notice the sign missing from the top, and the bulletin board literally cut in half! I had to smoosh some stars in there too. Oh well! I'm all about complying and being a good rule follower, so I guess it's not that bad! I've learned my lesson, and I will no longer have floor to ceiling bulletin boards {even though they look cool!}. 

Taking down the title of this board left me with little dilemma. If you walked up to it, you'd have no idea what you were looking at, so I updated the board by adding speech bubbles above their pictures with their personal reading goals. MUCH BETTER!!! They are going crazy with their independent reading goals! Especially these two!! 

So that's my story about "breakin' the law". Have you ever gotten yourself in and out of the hotseat? =) 

-Jackie- 

A New Year, a New Challenge...

Happy Saturday!

I am so thrilled with the progress my class has made this year in reading. Everyone has put forth so much effort and their hard work is really paying off. I wanted to continue to accelerate their momentum by giving them a challenge. They were so good about picking out and reading their "good fit" picture books, but I wanted to see them use their stamina toward reading "good fit" chapter books.

During our first week back to school, I challenged them to think about how many chapter books they would like to read by the end of the year. We had discussions of attainable goal setting and how to chose "good fit" chapter books. Thus our class' chapter book challenge was born. Each child in my class has set a personal goal which they think they will be able to attain by the end of the year.
Yesterday during our teacher work day, I was able to put the finishing touches on the bulletin board that we are using to keep track. It's located outside of my classroom. They are actually tracking their books on a reading log inside the classroom and at the end of the day, I write the name of their book on a star a put it under their picture. As you can see, I have three eager kiddos who devour books. They are loving it, and I think they secretly love the competition. As you can also see, I have a few kids who need some extra encouragement to get moving.

I think I am going to add something their pictures which tells what their goals are. Maybe speech bubbles? We'll see. For now I am happy that they are so excited about this challenge. I know they'll all rise up to it. =)

One more thing... I'm not a huge fan of A.R., but we're required to do it. Before my kids write their books down on their logs, they have to take a test first. It's like killing two birds with one stone. =)

There's only a little over 4 hours left to enter our 300 follower giveaway! I wonder who the winners will be??

Have a great night!! -Jackie-