Blabberize Poems

My students loved this project. They picked their favorite poem or wrote their own poem and illustrated it. Then I scanned their pictures and uploaded the pictures to www.blabberize.com (it's free) and recorded them reading their poem. Check it out! They were so proud and I love hearing their sweet voices.

Teacher Moment

This year I implemented Reading Workshop and my students have so enjoyed reading. They are inspired to read and love sharing books with me and each other. I had a student who always had trouble finding the right book. Well, now he finds his own books as well as recommends books to everyone. He ALWAYS wants to share what he reads. At the end of a crazy day, this is what I found on my desk. He usually reads chapter books, but now he enjoys reading whatever he can get his hands on. This is an AHA moment for a teacher. It brought a smile to my face!

Published Books by Students

My student's books came in and their excitement was incredible. I think they could actually see themselves as writers. A little over a month ago, my students started to write their own books. Some students (mostly boys) wrote ABC book, others used mentor texts as inspiration, and some just had an idea they ran with. We used Student Treasures to create the books and their success was by far worth all the work. My students received their original hardbound for free and if they wanted to purchase a copy it was $19.95. The catch was that we needed as a school to have at least 80 participate. 6 classes did class books and the fourth grade students did individual books. I will definitely continue to do this project. After doing it once, I learned ways to make it better next time.

Student sharing with her classmates

Authors with their books!