Five for Friday: Historical Fiction, here we come!

Perhaps, one of the best joys of Friday is being able to sit down at the computer for a minutes to blog about the week. It's really the little things in life that get me by! Plus, right now my student teacher is rocking it and teaching all day long... so I've got lots of time to think about new blog posts! Let's hope the creativity starts flowing!

Until then... I thought I'd start simple by linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the always inspiring Five for Friday!

Sent my student teacher home with one of my favorite "teacher" resources for our Civil Rights unit! If you have to teach the Civil Rights or just want to brush up on your own knowledge then you definitely need to check out Belinda Rochelle's Witness to Freedom -- this book is such a great read! I actually copied a few articles out of the book last year for my students as well. Plus, all the stories and biographies focus on how kids were able to participate in the movement. It's an easy read with lots of great information and background.

New book club books were passed out this week! We're starting our historical fiction reading unit next week. Students had an opportunity to pick their three favorites before I created groups. We offered 11 different choices at a variety of levels. Some students already started to dig into their books today. Love watching them devour books! Here's a few of my piles (minus an additional crate)... I think I'll have enough copies this year!

Speaking of Civil Rights... we're getting into the history of the Civil Rights movement this week! Front load, front load, front load. We've been reading nonfiction and watching videos so we're ready to read our historical fiction novel! We've done quite a bit of vocabulary work as well. On Monday, we're taking all of our new vocabulary and posting it to our classroom word wall! I have the headers and blank paper ready to go. Definitely worth the time to display throughout our unit.

  

Want a copy of the words? Grab a copy of our Civil Rights word wall handout from my Drop Box. 

I might have a bag problem... I love my Scout teaching bag! It's fantastic but I was looking for something a little wider to hold a few more items or maybe to use as a pool bag. I'm not really sure - you don't need a use to buy everything, right? Since my teaching partner has started selling Initials, Inc. I ordered the Big Grip tote. Let's hope it's super cute with my free personalization!

 

 Favorite moment of the week: Two of my girls sitting side by side in the computer lab during our essay publishing session. One student finished early so she was helping "edit" and look over her friend's final copy! Love building a community of writers.

What was your favorite moment of the week?