This week, I got the exciting news that our floors are all waxed and ready, so I got to start setting up my classroom! I love, love, love rearranging, organizing, and setting up the room, and it is so nice to have a fresh start every year! Over the next few weeks, I'll post some pics of my classroom and give a little tour, but until then, here is a little something I've been working on updating for this school year.
For the past two years, I've had a Mystery Readers program in my classroom, and it has been a huge success! My students have really enjoyed listening to their favorite stories being read by family members, local business people, and even some famous country music stars (we're close to Nashville, so there are quite a few around here)! It is really easy to get this program started, and I love how excited the students get while guessing who our next guest reader is going to be! It is a great way to get the students pumped about reading, and it encourages them to have some real life reading role models. All I do is send home a sign up at the beginning of the year with the dates that will be available, set appointments, and send home a questionnaire before the reader comes in. Afterwards, I have the students write letters to the reader and bind them into a book to send to them as a thank you. The hardest part for me was finding a 15 minute block of time each week to dedicate as mystery reader time, but once I saw how beneficial it was to the students, it became a priority.
My entire
Mystery Readers Kit (which includes everything you need to start your own Mystery Readers program) is on sale on TPT for $3.00, but here is a freebie for you! This is the thank you letter page and book cover that my students send the readers who visit our classroom. Click
Here to download it from google docs :). Hopefully you and your students will find this a rewarding learning experience!
