Books, Books, and MORE Books!

I love to read.
Seriously!
  One of life's little luxuries.
I've read an entire series
this summer.
..and it's only July... 

In fact, I learned how to read on my own

before ever going to school.
My bloggin' buddy is gifted.

We were living in Milwaukee,

and I was supposed to start Kindergarten.

I went to my Kindergarten class one day.
Uh, I'm calling the truancy officer.

That's it.
Seriously?
Yup.
One Day.

Every day after that,

I would make up a fake illness

and insist that I was in too much

pain to attend school.
Oh, you were one of "those" kids?!

In my five year old brain,

my performance was Oscar worthy.

I was taken to the doctor several

times by my mother,

and finally one day she had enough.
...and so did her insurance company!

She was ready to make a deal.

We were moving to Spain
...because that's a sentence we all say..

right before Christmas,

so she told me that I could

stay home from school until we

moved to Madrid.  Then I would have

to go to school whether I liked it or not.

That seemed like a good bargain,

so I took it!

Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh.......Bliss!

I know....all of your teachers

out there are just rolling your eyes, and thinking:

I see....you were THAT type of a child!
LOL!  See above!

Don't worry,

I've had plenty of time to make up my

childhood Kindergarten loss...

I've spent 8 years teaching it!

How did THAT happen?
Karma, people....Karma.

It bit you firmly on the butt....
...while you're on the class carpet
with a lot of short people.

As my older brother and sister

got up every morning to take a ride

on the yellow school bus,

I got to stay home with my mother

and the baby.
You realize they secretly plotted
to get you right?
Can you say jealous much?

I remember watching Sesame Street,

Mr. Rogers, Zoom, and The Electric Company

daily.  My mother would read to me every day, and

she'd follow my 5 year old directions of how to

make playdough that I learned from Mr. Rogers.

I remember watching all of the phonemic clips on
The Electric Company and Sesame Street

with great interest.  Remember the double-sided screen

with two people's mouths facing each other...
SH......IP = SHIP

H......OT = HOT

P.....OP = POP
Remember it?  Girrrrrl, they still do that!
Check out my Reading Video board
on Pinterest for a walk down memory lane.
I can't find the OLDER version....but here's
a new cooler version with  silhouettes
from The Electric Company.
AW SNAP!  I guess I should read
your entire post before I add my 2 cents!
Can you say great minds think alike?
I decided to list ALL of the ones I found so that
I can access them easily this year!

 Short "i": Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

e/ee: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 Long and short "u": Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

st: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

ight: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 
aw: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 ink: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 mb: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 br: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 ell: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 Silent "e": Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 Bossy "r": Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 ou: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 ao: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 oo: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

sh: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 lt/ld: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

mp: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 ly song: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

br: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 ing song: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

mp: Silhouette Blends (The Electric Company)

 

After watching these type of activities
on The Electric Company:
Hmmmmmmm......my young brain thought.

Then we moved to Spain.

I was taken immediately to  a 

Private British Montessori School

and enrolled into Kindergarten.

I remember a meeting that the teacher

had with my mother about 2 days later.

She let my mother know that I could read

and was far past what she could teach

me in Kindergarten.
Put your hand in the air
and pat yourself on the back!

My mother just looked at me.
I just looked at her.

She was surprised.

Very surprised.

So off to First Grade I went.

Overachiever!

To the class of Mrs. EYE.

Looking back now,

I'm sure her name was Mrs. I

(short for a longer name beginning with that letter),

but for years I thought that it was "Eye" like "EYEBALL".

As in: I'm Always Watching You!

She was evil.

PURE EVIL.

Ouch!

I walked in and all of the children were sitting up

straight and tall, no backs were touching their chairs.

Slouching was not allowed in Mrs. Eye's classroom.

Good golly, I just sat up straighter...and I'm 44 not 6!

Unbeknownst to me (and my mother),

there was a good reason why everyone

had such great posture.

Mrs. Eye did not like slouchers.

She didn't like them....not one little bit.

She had a long, thick, brown, leather belt

with a huge, clunky brass buckle at the end of it

that she would use to smack

the back of your small, wooden chair.
It was her husband's belt,
and she handled it like a
professional bullwhip cracker. 
Oh.no.she.diiin't?!

The first time I witnessed
her cracking her belt buckle,
saying I was completely freaked out
is an understatement.
Uh, that's a memory tattooed to your brain
for.ev.er.

She never hit the back of MY chair
(thanks to my countless hours
of pretending to be a regal princess),
...believing you're a pampered pooch
can come in handy...

but I witnessed her whip the backs

of several children's chairs.
I can still hear the crack of the belt

and the heavy thud of the belt buckle striking

the wooden chair of an unsuspecting child

who would jump a good 2 feet in the air

when his/her chair was thwacked.

She asked me to read a passage
from "Dick And Jane".

I remember looking
at the page full of words,

and I could read it.

I could read it ALL.

But I was so frightened,

that my tongue wouldn't move.

I just stood there.
I just stood there holding
the book...the book I could read...
without saying a word
while the clock ticked,
and Mrs. Eye's eye watched me.
I stood there,

until a very brave soul
whispered the words to me.

It was a chubby, dark haired boy
who was sitting next to me.

I never knew his name....
so thank you, whoever you are,

you rescued my backside
or at least my pride (believe me
when I say that I would have
peed my pants if Mrs. Eye
started toward me with her
heavy belt buckle).
Wow....let's hope that
"those" teachers have
all retired!

I lasted for a day and a half in First Grade.

That's it.

I started crying uncontrollably.

As in, wailing, and sobbing.

Mrs. Eye was in a panic.

She had no idea what to do with

this American child

who.would.not.

stop.

Remember me?

I'm the one who didn't go to school for 4 months?
If I start something....I'm all in!
That's dedication my friend.

She called my sister over from 2nd Grade

to console me and see if she could help.

She left us alone in the hallway,

so I was able to tell my big sister
in between gasping sobs

what was happening in the classroom.

When my mother found out.

She pulled me out.

She insisted that the school
send me back to Kindergarten.

She didn't care if I was academically
ready for First Grade,

obviously I wasn't emotionally ready...
especially for a psychopathic teacher.

Go, Mom!

Back to Kindergarten I went.
Thank you very much.
Back to crafts and naps and snack.
...and the freedom to slouch...

Maybe THAT'S why
I've stayed
in Kindergarten
for the past 8 years...
I consider it a safe haven!

I never saw Mrs. Eye again.

She no longer taught at the school

when I moved up to First Grade,

so I'm hoping that they fired her. 

I do sometimes wonder
what The Evil Mrs. Eye would have 
done if she ever came across a student
such as the little boy in the
No David series by David Shannon.
I would hope HIS mother would pull him
from her class as well!
Buh-Bye To Mrs. Eye!

Here's to children everywhere who
don't always fit the mold....
and to teachers who love them
and teach them anyway.
...and sometimes they even grow up 
to be famous adults that give those
teachers props for being so patient with them.
Just saying...

Davis Goes To School:
Alphabet Handwriting Practice

Dang girl!  That'a TON.
Thanks for sharing...
...again!
You're good like that.

Davis Goes To School:
Beginning and Ending Sounds

Create cvc words by writing in
both the beginning and ending sound.

 Here's a little harder version with blends:

If you'd like some other No David
freebies....check out our post: Have You Ever...?????

Talking about books....
and reading books in a classroom...

I am so excited to say that we have our

first Back To School Level B, Level D,
Level G, and Level I Guided Readers ready!
I am so geeked about these!
Every time I check out the completed product
I am SUPER excited to use them myself!
Teacher created, Teacher tested,
Teacher approved!!!

Back To School B-2 Guided Reading Book

Back To School D-6 Guided Reading Book

Back To School G-12 Guided Reading Book

Seeing these books get progressively harder,
just makes me smile!

Level L is coming! 

I am going to love me some
guided reading this year

as I print these bad boys out
and let my kiddos keep

their individual differentiated readers
in their book boxes.

Woot-Woot!

Confessions of an
overworked reading teacher:

Last year, with 54 students
...before you all think she has 54 kids
jammed into a small classroom, 
Regina actually taught Reading
to ALL of the Kindergarten students
in her building.
Can you say pressure much?!
I TRIED to keep book boxes

 for my kids, but with SO many students
it was a complete disaster.

Trying to trade out books
into their 54 book boxes
was a nightmare. 
By mid-January my attempts were over.

Done...Finito.

Now that we're making these amazing sets,

I'm so, so, so excited to try out
the 54 book boxes with a different angle.
I.loved.them!
We used the Mom set
for more than a day or two.
We jammed the set with so many
activities that we really
got a lot of use out of them!
I can't wait to see what the
rest of the teaching world thinks!
There's not going to be any

trading out books on my part...
each child will just receive

and keep his/her guided reading books
for their own reading level....

I can't wait to try this out in September!
Now to save up my pennies
to buy 54 $ Store boxes...
Oh...wait!  
First comes our Vegas Trip!!!

I'm so excited!
I get to meet my bloggin' buddy
and a whole bunch of TPT peeps.
Me=SUPER excited