I spent a couple of hours on my
yearlong planning, and by the time I forced myself to take a break and go for a run, I had *sort of* finished planning through December. I was exhausted! I've never done specific and strategic planning like this, but there is so much I want to do this year, I felt as of I needed to give planning some very specific attention.
I've been reading The Book Whisperer, by Donalyn Miller, and she has really shown me the power of the read aloud versus teaching a whole-class novel. Over the summer, I've made a list of books that I want to do as read-alouds this year:
- Wonder, by R.J Palacio. The narrator is Auggie, who has a severe facial deformity and is starting 5th grade in traditional school. The story shows his classmates' struggle with accepting him. This is the perfect book for the start of the school year, as bullying is a heavy issue in most schools. A book about kindness and acceptance could be just the background knowledge that my students need.
- Hatchet, by Gary Paulsen. This is traditionally taught whole-class at our school, but I think we're just going to enjoy it for the sake of it being a fabulous book. The students always love this book, year after year, and it's a great book to read around the time that we go to Fifth Grade Camp.
- Skeleton Creek, by Patrick Carman. If you haven't read this, it is an absolute MUST! The book is written from one character's point of view, and there are videos every few chapters made by another character and are available online.
- Savvy, by Ingrid Law. The story centers around Mibs, whose family gains a supernatural power at the age of 13. It's great for teaching student that wet one has their own savvy, or special know-how.
For all of the ELA teachers out there, do you think it's reasonable to do one read-aloud each month? Or am I setting my sights too high?
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