My Book List - A List Entry

It happens every year, about March or April I start making a list of books to read over the summer. Some of them are books I want to read for pleasure, however, most are books that I want to read or reread for school. I pack these books up and take them home to read over the summer. These books usually spend a week in my car, a week in my living room and eventually they end up in my bedroom. These are some of the books I have sitting and waiting to be read.

The Daily 5 by Gail Bushy & Joan Moser - I read the first edition once and this will be my second time through the 2nd edition. Primarily Inspired is doing a Daily 5 book study and I am reading along with her. I love the growth and excitement for reading that I see with my students doing Daily 5. 

The CAFE Book by Gail Bushy & Joan Moser - This book goes along with the Daily 5 book. Staff at my school did a book study on this book last year and I plan to review it before starting the school year up again. 

Worksheets Don't Grow Dendrites and Shouting Won't Grow Dendrites by Marcia L. Tate - I had the opportunity to see Marcia L. Tate years ago and have had these books collecting dust in my classroom. I pulled them off the shelf when I saw that the ladies at Blog Hoppin' were doing a book study on the worksheets book. I will be reading Shouting Won't Grow Dendrites next. 

Next Steps in Literacy Instruction Connecting Assessments to Effective Interventions by Susan M. Smart and Deborah R. Glaser - Deb Glaser is a former Boise School District employee who comes back often (I've been to 4+ trainings in the last 2 years) and the book has great ideas on ways to implement effective strategies for literacy instruction. My copy is full of post it notes and papers. I plan to flip through it again as the school year begins and once I see the reading level of the students I have this year. 

Core Teaching Reading Sourcebook by Bill Honig, Linda Diamond and Linda Gutlohn - This is an old textbook that I have pulled out this year and am wanting to read/skim through this summer. Last year I moved grades from teaching 3rd to teaching 2nd and I was most surprised by the increased need of phonic/phonemic support the students in my classroom needed. 

Teaching Student-Centered Mathematics Developmentally Appropriate Instruction for Grades Pre-K-2 by John A. Van de Walle, LouAnn H. Lovin, Karen S. Karp and Jennifer M. Bay-Williams - Another book that I pulled out this last year due to the need that my students had for more hands on math instruction that would aid my students to develop number concepts and number sense. I have this book tabbed and full of post it notes as well. My plan is to read it again and add to the post it notes inside. 

The First Six Weeks of School by Paula Denton and Roxann Kriete - This is a book that I pull out and read before I start school every year. While I don't follow the book step by step for starting school, it has valuable information that helps me to start the school year out on the right foot. 

The First Days of School by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong - Another textbook from school this is a book that I find is a great resource to skim through before I start the school year. It serves as a reminder as to the expectations and procedures that I need to have in place as the school year begins. 

Talks with Teachers Summer Book Club - This may or may not belong in this list. For the last 2 summers I have participated in the talks with teachers summer book club. I find it is a great way to engage with other teachers and read great books in the process. The group may be more geared to junior high/ high school teachers, but I think that good books are good books. Every summer the read a non-fiction in June, a novel in July and a professional book in August. This year it was The Element by Ken Robinson in June and Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee in July, August is still TBD.