Picture Book 10 for 10 #pb10for10

I was very excited when I read about the Picture Book 10 for 10 event on August 10th. I absolutely love picture books and this is a great way to share my top 10 choices (difficult decision!) and also find some new books to read and share with my class! If you would like more details head over to Reflect and Refine or  Enjoy and Embrace Learning to find out more details about how to join in. Also if you are on Twitter follow the hashtag #pb10for10! I can't wait to join in for the first time!

Are you joining in? What are your favourite picture books?

Kelly

It's Monday What Are You Reading? 29th July

I have seen this on a variety of posts and thought this would be a feature I would quite like to join in with! Check out Teach Mentor Texts for more details about What Are You Reading?

The summer holidays started last week for teachers in the UK and after a few days in the classroom and celebrating Mr Dotty's doctorate graduation I am finally starting to get relaxed. And part of that is planning my summer reading!

Last Week

Last week the final book I shared with my class was FArTHER by Graham Baker-Smith. It was a lovely text to share as the final book of the year with class, if tinged with a little sadness. However I highly recommend this picture book and it's stunning illustrations. I also read a Michael Morpurgo book, Alien Invasion! which details life on a farm. Children will like the story and the funny illustrations that go with it. I also had a few re-reads of Into the Forest by Anthony Browne which we are going to be using for our first topic in the Autumn. I cannot wait and spent a few hours doing some mind mapping for it today.

I also read some good adult books!

Coming Up

I picked up Robot Dog by Mark Oliver and The Bear in the Cave by Michael Rosen over the weekend so I have those to read. Some longer novels to read are Room 13 by Robert Swindells, Which Witch? by Eva Ibbotson and I have The Earthsea Quartet by Ursula Le Guin. However my mood my change!

What have you been reading lately?

End of the Year Musings

I cannot believe that the term is over and another academic year ends. Yesterday, with a tear in the eye, I said goodbye to a most wonderful class and now the hustle and bustle has ended I am sat here in the classroom reflecting on what a super year we had. The end of a year is always a strange time, wrapping up with your current class and eager to savour the last moments with them but also needing to prepare for the next year, the new class and excitement for the year ahead. I have a slight change next year, instead of a straight Year 4 class I will be teaching a mixed Year 3 and 4 class so need to adjust my thinking from the end of Year 4 to just left Year 2!

I am so excited about the year ahead, we have been working with a Literacy consultant about developing our Literacy curriculum and I am going to continue working with a super teacher who will also have a Year 3/4 class. I get to stay in my lovely classroom and the Chicks return after the summer after their holiday away on the farm! And obviously more chances to share some super books!

So onto working on this rather empty looking classroom, making it a super learning environment for September. And then onto the holidays, have a good one everyone!

Kelly Dotty