Welcome Back! :)

Welcome back from break!  I enjoyed getting to meet with you all this past week and I hope that you all had lovely Thanksgivings!  I enjoyed some relaxing time at home with my puppy and tried to stay healthy!  There are a lot of germs going around so make sure you emphasize to your students about hand washing, especially after using the restroom and before eating, that would be great so we all stay healthy!  :)

Book orders will be coming home tomorrow with students.  If you're interested in buying books for your student for holiday gifts, please email me and let me know that they are surprises so that we can arrange pick ups in more discrete ways.  :)  I am happy to arrange those pick ups after school or can leave them in the office for you to pick up after school.  Books make great holiday gifts!  :)

Speaking of books, this week we are starting our focus on nonfiction reading in class.  Some students cheered in delight while others groaned at the sound of nonfiction.  While it may not be the favorite of the class it is very important that students are reading more nonfiction as they mature to make sure that they are able to learn from texts but also to gain valuable nonfiction reading skills.  Middle school teachers consistently complain of a lack of competency in nonfiction reading so we want to bump up that reading both at school and at home.  A great strategy is to encourage students to read more nonfiction based on their interests and also buying (or checking out books from the library) that are nonfiction.  Often nonfiction has more academic language and is therefore at a much higher reading level than fiction books.  This generally means that students are going to need more help reading those challenging books.  Offer to read the books with your student or ask them what they are reading to make sure that they are understanding what is read!  You may learn something new as well!

Lastly, I just created a request for my classroom: Help Us Get Moving!  If you chip in to help my students, you'll get awesome photos and our heartfelt thanks. Give to my project by November 28 and your donation will be doubled thanks to the DonorsChoose.org Board of Directors! Just enter the code INSPIRE on the payment page and you'll be matched dollar for dollar. Your support would mean so much to us!  As many families have already asked what I am interested in getting for the holidays (you guys spoil me!) this is a great way to support our classroom in a meaningful way that will help our students a lot! 

Thanks for your support for our classroom in advance!