Today was my last day of work. As much as I love my students, teaching and the library, I do feel the need for a break. This school year seemed interminable and, with temperatures climbing into the 80s and 90s, it was simply too hot for students to concentrate on learning much longer - at least not in a cramped, stuffy classroom.
As usual, I passed out a bibliography of books for summer reading, but this time I retitled it "100 Books You Should Read Before You Turn 13". I told my fifth graders they were lucky. Unlike the sixth graders, who only had two years to read all the books on the list, they had three whole years. If they got started right away, they might have time to finish all of them. The first thing the kids did was to run through the bibliography and check off all the titles they'd already read. Most of them had read somewhere between five to ten of the books. Today, a girl named Kayla called me as she leaving for summer vacation. "Mrs. Michel, I'm almost done with The Whipping Boy. Next I'm going to read The Secret Garden."
I gave her the thumbs up and smiled. "Happy vacation!" I called.
Now for two months of rest. Oh, and a big stack of books to make my way through.
5 comments:
Congratulations--it does seem like you've had a long year. June 27th--seems like everyone else has been out of school for two weeks already.
I'm jealous of the kids--I want to see how many of those books I've read. Interested in posting the list on your blog? :)
Post the list? I think I have the complete list on Word, but at work. But I could post one that's close. I usually try to include a blend of the old and the new, some easy to reads, high concept and more challenging material for a variety of readers. I'll try to do that next post, Becky.
How great that you got the kids excited about reading like that. What a great idea!
I'm glad you're getting some time off to do some things for you. You deserve it!
I'm looking forward to seeing that list.
Yay, summer! When I was teaching, I was always ready for summer when it finally arrived. And though it seemed to fly by a little too quickly, I was usually ready to start school again, too.
Enjoy your reading and don't forget to really pamper yourself at least once or twice!
Enjoy your break! And sure, I'd like to see the list too.
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