What Am I Reading?

Summer is the best season for reading.

And this summer I have 3 professional books going and 1 fiction book.

Ag camp today was finishing up the pig pictures (no photos) and then scooping poop in the calf pen. No pictures of that either, because I was actually working! Mrs. Jones went with me later to check and she said I did a good job! YES! Mostly I supervised the kids, but that meant that I could not snap photos. 

And since I have no photos I thought I'd share a bit of my aha from this afternoon's reading.

Here are some points that I put into my special notebook...

1. I am the best reader and writer in my room and I have to be a source of knowledge for the kids, not be on a power trip or a control freak.

2. Reading is a journey. I'm going to teach how to read (read and comprehend), and what to do if the reader gets lost (doesn't know what to do).

3. I'm not going to teach "books." I'm going to teach comprehension strategies, literary elements, and phonics patterns. The kids will practice by reading books.

I'm super excited about this book.

Have you guessed what book it is? Comment below the title of the book I'm reading, and your email address, and I will reward some correct answers.

Also, what book are you reading? Maybe I need to get a few more...

Ag Camp, Day 3

Today the paint came out.

Yesterday I led the kids through a pig directed drawing. The idea came from Art Projects for Kids.  I love that site for ideas. After the drawing of the pig the kids had an opportunity to add to the background. Some added a horizon line, or birds and wheat. It was super fun to see their individual styles come out.

And today, their styles came out even more. I did not specify what color to use, or where to use it. I had about 10 colors available and let them go. Fun!

I've been super fortunate to have another teacher helping me with my art rotation at Ag Camp. She gives the kids tips on painting and helps keep everyone working.

She has even cleaned up each day as I am dismissing the kids. Wonderful, right?

As I was thanking her today for the clean up she did, she said--"wouldn't it be great to have an aide that cleans up while you teach and work with kids?" Uuuummmm, YES!!

So, now I am on the look out for a full-time volunteer to help me with the little stuff, so I can focus on the other stuff.  Any takers? Just let me know...

Ag Camp, Day 1

Isn't it great to do "school" when the rules change, the atmosphere is looser, and the FUN stuff comes out?

For a number of years (I'm not sure exactly how many) my school sponsors an Ag Camp. It is usually a week or so after school has ended, and the activities are as varied as the grown ups that run it.

This is a smallish year, but mighty in the fun factor. Here are our five groups for this week-long camp:

1. Archery (in the gym, with our very qualified PE teacher and principal)

2. Cooking (in the kitchen, with our head and sous chef, today they made dog biscuits and strawberry jam)

3. Garden/painting (out back, with our teacher/gardener and art teacher, today they worked the garden--perhaps harvesting, I'm not sure--and painting fence posts)

4. More gardening (out front, with a couple of teachers that researched garden beds and know stuff, today they started getting the beds ready for planting)

5. Art (in my room, with me who is trying to find her artistic self and another teacher, today we made oil pastel drawings of a wheat field)

Fun, right?

Each group lasted about 20ish minutes, then they rotated. At some point, we gave the kids some grapes and a cheese stick snack. And I had the BEST conversation with a couple of boys about The Avengers, Age of Ultron during our snack time. So glad to be able to talk with knowledge about that movie. And maybe I tacked on a couple of "she's cool" points... But we never really got in to the girly stuff...

Each year the response we get is, "It is so much FUN."

To be at school, where the school rules still apply, but it's relaxed, and FUN.

The materials and teacher stipends are paid for by the camper's fees, and our local Farm Bureau even offers scholarships. Cool, right?

We will work all week to beautify our school, harvest produce, make baked goods and paintings and then sell it all on Friday at our "Farmer's Market" to cover more costs and have a little left over to do more ag-related projects next school year. 

Here's a sneak peak at today's artwork...

Come back tomorrow to see what we create with our time...