First Day of School
Jack and Brian Bell
Here are 2 of the 3 Bell Boys on the first day of school. These 2 headed off to the middle school, one "king of the hill" as an 8th grader and one "bottom of the barrel" as a 5th grader. Brian's excitement of going off to middle school quickly came to and end when he couldn't open his locker. (A trauma that will surely stay with him for the rest of his life.) There are no pictures of Casey because he did not want to go to school and wanted nothing to do with getting his picture taken. His first day of school started with him having to be surgically removed from me, but he quickly recovered and had a great day:)
Paige and Mrs. Bell
Our first days of kindergarten went smoothly. We drew pictures of what we did this summer during Writing Workshop, played tic-tac-toe in math, read The Night Before Kindergarten and made our own book about what we did the night before kindergarten. I enjoyed getting to know all of the children this week. I can tell it is going to be a great year in kindergarten!
The Boys (and 1 girl) of Summer!
We have had a great summer! Brian and Casey played baseball, I went to see Coldplay, we went to a Reds and Dragon's game, went to Sunset Beach, North Carolina, Casey learned to ride a two-wheeler, went canoeing, played on our friend's largest slip n' slide, Brian broke his wrist, we went to the pool a lot and an old car show. I am looking forward to drawing and writing about what I did this summer. What did you do this summer that you can draw or write about during Writers' Workshop?
Fly Me To the Moon!
June 2oth marked the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong's first walk on the moon. The following are resources to share with your students or children about this historical event.
1. Find out how to view the moon in Google Earth at Free Technology for Teachers.
2. Read about 5 great books about astronauts at this link to 5 Great Books.
3. JFK's "We Choose the Moon" speech at Free Technology for Teachers.
4. Unearth places to find quality images at The Whiteboard Blog.
5. Anastasia's Suen's Book of the Week post shares information and activities to go along with her book Man on the Moon.
6. Video timeline of Apollo 11 moon landing at Free Technology for Teachers.
Children's Literature
I love children's literature!
Anastasia's Suen has 5 blogs about children's literature that I love following on Google Reader. My favorites are Picture Book of the Day, Book of the Week and 5 Great Books. Picture Book of the Day introduces you to a book and gives you an idea about how you can use the story to motivate writers. Anastasia says, "Teachers are busy so I get right to the point. Monday through Friday I post a new picture book on this blog with a 1 or 2 line plot summary (no spoilers!), a short quote from the text (in italics), and a writing activity for one of the six traits" Anastasia's Book of the Week blog is a place where she introduces you to one of her books. She posts the cover, a brief description and links that you can use after you read the book with your class. The purpose of the 5 Great Books blog is to provide a thematic book lists for children learning to read.
SMART Board Websites
Spelling City from
Mr. Young's Bouncy "A" also from
I got a SMART Board about 4 weeks before the end of the school year. I have spent a lot of time this summer looking for SMART Board tips, tricks, websites and Notebooks. These sites are my interactive websites "finds" and the links to where I found them.
This final website is a great place to find and download
SMART Board Notebooks.
Father's Day 2009
On Father's Day, Mr. Bell decided that he wanted to go canoeing. We went to Loveland Canoe and Kayak to start our journey. We traveled 5 miles on the Little Miami, saw a water snake, fish jumping out of the water and boys jumping out of canoes. What did your family do to celebrate Father's Day?
Lester Laminack and Mrs. Bell
I attended The Fifth Annual Lakota Literacy View Reading and Writing Institute June 16-19, 2009. One of the presenters at the institute was author Lester Laminack. He has written several picture books, including my favorite Snow Day. Lester has also written his own and contributed to others' professional books about reading and writing. It is a treat to hear Lester read a picture book aloud. He makes the characters come alive as the story unfolds.
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