Summer is almost here! It seems that we get out of school much later than the rest of the country. My school district isn’t out until Monday! I always joke that one of these years, I’m going to have to write some 4th of July curriculum, because we’ll probably be in school on that day!
Anyway, I just received an email from The Sisters. I’m on their subscribed email list. They shared their own personal Daily 5. I loved the idea, so I thought I’d share my Daily 5. If you are not familiar with The Sisters or The Daily 5, click here to go to their website. They are brilliant teachers and authors.
1. Read Something
I think this is a good first choice for my summer reading. See that giant bottle of antibiotics in the background? My teacher friends have accused me of going around and licking the doorknobs at the school. That’s how sick I’ve been this year. I always have a pile of Summer reading books, but this will definitely be first!
2. Work On Writing
My teaching partner and I are working on a sewing book for kids! We’ve even been talking with a publisher about our ideas. They’d like us to have 10 out of 25 sewing projects completed by the end of the summer. Three of those projects need to be written up as we’d like to see them published. I haven’t even begun to wrap my brain around this yet. I see a lot of writing and sewing in my future! Here are the floor pillows I made for the listening center in my class this year.
3. Read to Someone
As much as I love the public library, I also love this place.
We usually start our Summer break by hitting Barnes and Noble, to pick out a few good books for the kids. My son is really excited to read a certain book this summer. Although I can’t remember the title right now, I know I will be purchasing it shortly. He says it’s a really thick book, so I was thinking it might be a good one to read together. I don’t always read with my 5th grader anymore. Most of the time he reads on his own now. Over the last few months, we’ve read Avi and City of Ember together. I really enjoy the one on one time with him. He’s growing so quickly and I know that soon he won’t want to spend time reading with his mommy.
My daughter is excited to read anything and everything. She’s a “judge a book by its cover” kind of girl. If the cover of the book is pretty, she’s in! She loves to have me read to her. She enjoys all different kinds of books, so the Barnes and Noble trip is usually very eye opening to me. It’s fun to see what she’s excited about now.
4. Listen to Reading
Did you know that you can “check out” audiobooks at the public library, and download them right into your iphone? I really DO NOT do car rides well. I have no patience for sitting still. If I can listen to a book on my iphone, I feel like I’m being productive. I prefer non-fiction. My last two audiobooks were The Money Class and Mastering Your Metabolism. My husband thinks I’m extremely boring, but I just tell him that’s what headphones are for! He doesn’t have to listen if he doesn’t want to.
5. Word Work
Learning new words and language development boil down to experiences. I want my children to experience a wide range of activities during the summer. We’ll pick berries, ride the ferry, explore the beach, and see new animals at the local zoo. I think the thing I love the most about summer is spending time with my kids and giving them amazing summer experiences. It’s really my gift to them.
Happy Summer Friends!
I’d love it if you’d stop by my Home and Family blog too!
