A New Book on Valentine's Day

Look familiar?

Yup, I made the paint swatch bookmarks for my friends.  I chose pinks and reds for my girls and blues for my boys.  I figured that 5th grade boys might be a bit picky about pink and red bookmarks, Valentine's Day or not.  Turns out going with the blue was a good choice.  I did add some silver ribbon to both.  The kids really loved them.  I think I am going to make them again for St. Patrick's Day with some green swatches.  I could find a rainbow ribbon for the tassel.  Wouldn't that be so cute?!

Of course, nothing is ever as simple as it seems.  When I first got the paint swatches, I grabbed these:

Yeah, Hot Passion Pink. Oh my!  Didn't notice that until after I had already left the store.  Now, I personally wouldn't have a problem with it, but you never know how a parent will react.  It only takes one!  So, the next day I headed back to the store to get a new set of pinks and reds that wouldn't cause any conflicts.  Better safe than sorry!  By the way, I noticed on Pinterest someone commented that taking the swatches was kind of like stealing.  I went to two different home improvement stores and simply asked if I could have some paint swatches for a school project.  They were both happy to oblige. :-D

So, we had cupcakes, bookmarks, and played a rousing game of Heartbreakers.  And, my friends were very generous.  I got these yummy chocolates. . .

Usually, when I get chocolate treats like this, I open them in class and share them with my friends.  Stops me from eating them all!  However, this year I have a couple of friends with EPI pens, so that wasn't an option.  Guess I will have to suffer through and enjoy them on my own.  Oh, what I won't do in the name of good teaching! ;-)   I also got this gorgeous orchid.  It really is this color.  I didn't alter the color in this picture one bit!

 All in all, a lovely Valentine's Day with my little friends!

Then, when I got home today, there was a nice little package waiting for me from the International Reading Association.  I opened to find this book that I had recently ordered.

Small Group Reading Instruction: Differentiated Teaching Models for Intermediate Readers, Grades 3-8 by Beverly Tyner and Sharon E. Green.  This is the second edition of the book.  It looked really interesting, and I was looking for some new, relevant professional reading.  One of the things I liked was the resource CD in the back of the book.

Here's the blurb that sold me.  It's right off the IRA web site.

With the pressure of high-stakes assessments and heightened demands through the Common Core Standards, the quest for effective reading instruction continues to be at the forefront of education. Teaching reading in the intermediate grades brings the added pressure of content area mandates. Keeping in mind this increased pressure to succeed, Beverly Tyner and Sharon Green have revised and expanded their best-selling Small-Group Reading Instruction.

Chapters provide the knowledge base and practical application models necessary to implement small-group differentiated reading instruction for a wide range of readers in the intermediate grades. To help you provide struggling and proficient students with the specific instruction that will increase their overall reading ability as they face higher standards, Beverly and Sharon offer

• Lesson plans for each intermediate reader stage—intervention, evolving, maturing, and advanced
• Sample lessons that include both narrative and informational texts and in-depth teacher–student dialogue
• Reading and writing extension activities that reinforce grade-level standards
• Management ideas and tips, including classroom routines, organizational models, and sample schedules
• Assessments that support the small-group differentiated reading models and can be used to track progress in fluency, word study, and comprehension
• A CD with printable PDFs of assessment, word study, and support materials

At a glance, it looks like a great resource.  When I got home,  I opened the package and quickly snapped some pictures to include in this post.  I've literally had the book for only 30 minutes, so I've not had a chance to really look through it in any depth yet.  But, I'm excited to see what it holds.  If you know this book, please leave a comment and tell us what you think.  I'm not sure how soon I will be able to get to it, but once I read it I will come back and let you know my thoughts.

So, that's been my day.  I hope you and your friends had a spectacular Valentine's Day!