Wed. July 24, 2019
As I sit here with few school days left with my fifth graders, I am a ball of mixed emotions. I have had this class for two years, and I have been so incredibly blessed with this group! While I am ready for summer and some downtime, I feel a deep sense of sadness knowing we will soon have to say our goodbyes. Despite the sadness, when I think back on this year (and last) I feel an enormous sense of pride for my students. As I look back at the memories we have made, I cannot help but smile.
As I have blogged about all year, I used the #classroombookaday to replace my school’s outdated literacy curriculum. I taught my fifth graders through the use of picture books only, across all subjects, all year long. Using these picture books made this year even more enjoyable. Seeing my students grow throughout the year by using these books has just been incredible. Not only have I seen my students grow academically, but socially as well through these books. The connections they are able to make among each other has been great to see! The conversations we have had regarding picture books have been even greater to see.
Most recently, we read the story Some Birthday! by Patricia Polacco. In this book, we meet Patricia. Patricia is feeling sad because it appears that her family forgot all about her birthday. By the end of the story, we realize that her birthday hasn’t been forgotten at all. As an extension activity, I had my students write the sequel to the story and they had it take place the following year on Patricia’s birthday. Below is one of the sequels two of my students wrote. As you will see, they connected all of the other Patricia Polacco books into their sequel. I cannot even begin to describe how happy this made my heart! The fact that they remembered the details from these previous stories was so wonderful to see.
Overall, this has been an incredible experience, and I look forward to completing the #classroombookaday challenge next year with a whole new group of students. I encourage you to give it a shot, too!
Carly Accomando is a fifth grade teacher at Duker School in McHenry, IL. It's her fourth year teaching, and this is her second year at Duker School. Previously, she taught first and second grade at a charter school. Says Carly, "Teaching is my greatest passion in life! I feel very fortunate to say that I truly love what I do. Each day is a new adventure." In her free time, Carly enjoys reading, baking and shopping. She also loves spending time with her family, boyfriend and their three dogs.
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