Ready for the NEW YEAR?!!

2015

Happy New Year!  Here it is...Friday, January 2nd and "I am ready......(can't believe I am going to finish this phrase)..... to go back to school." I said it.... It's out!!! The holiday was wonderful, relaxing, full of food and family, and I am yearning for a little structure and routine to the day. I'm sure that as January D-R-A-G-S into its final days I will be wondering what I was thinking. But for now, I am ready to see my little darlins' again. 2105...."I'm ready for YOU!"

We have an in-service on Monday, January 5th with the kids coming back on Tuesday, January 6th. I have spent some time over the break cleaning my room...I will be posting pics soon.... and I think I have MOST of my "stuff" back in its place so I can surge forward with few remnants of the "old" left over. 

Whenever we start again after Christmas break I always find it necessary to reteach the expectations for the classroom. The first expectation I will start with is what our DAILY 5 routines look like. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Bizzy-Teaching

I also use Daily 5 bookmarks. For a large part of the year we will all "Listen to Reading" as a group. I read stories to the class. We are about to start one of my FAVORITE books: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. I don't need the class to complete that round in their independent work time. Also, they "Read to Someone" when our 5th grade friends come into the classroom (sometimes once a week.) Therefore, I don't always want that round in our independent work either. I have found that I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY try to make time for "READ TO SELF, WORK ON WRITING, and WORD WORK" every day. I use the Daily 3 book marks. They are on each of the student's desks. We simply determine if we are on round 1, 2, or 3 and they know exactly what they should be doing. I do have three choices of the chalkboard bookmarks in my TPT store (Daily 5, Daily 4, and Daily 3) so you can customize what works for your class as the year progresses.