Summer Check-In

Hey Everyone!
You probably thought I gave up on blogging.  Well, that's partially true.  I haven't blogged since March and the end of the school year was so busy, I honestly didn't even think about it.  Today I was searching for word wall ideas because that is one of my summer goals: to improve my word wall; and I came across an amazing first grade blog: Sailing Through First Grade.  I spent all day downloading her resources and reading her ideas.  It so happens that she is a first grade teacher in California and we teach the same Language Arts curriculum. After getting so much useful information from her blog, I remembered one of the reasons I started this blog in the first place: to inspire others.  I certainly haven't inspired too many people with my lack of blogging!  So, I thought I'd check in and see how everyone's summer is going...and leave some of my word wall ideas, in case someone else is having the same dilemma as me!
Last summer when I got the keys to my classroom and decided on my monkey theme, my word wall was one of the first parts of my classroom I conquered.  It was so cute! I was so proud of it. I posted pictures and showed it off to everyone. When December rolled around it dawned on me that I had been TERRIBLE at using it.  It was cute, but I didn't really set it up to serve a good purpose.  I spent the rest of the year trying to make it work, but it just was kind of a flop.  Earlier this week I tore it all down and started fresh. I used ribbon to make grid lines and create "boxes."  I decided this new word wall was going to be organized alphabetically and these boxes will enable me to label each letter clearly and allow the children to easily see where the words are located on the wall.  This is as far as I've gotten.  In my curriculum I review kindergarten high frequency words over the first few units and then introduce first grade high frequency words.  So, my debate lies in whether or not I include the kindergarten words or just stick with first grade words.  Also, I'm pretty sure I'm going to put up ALL the words on the wall at the beginning of the year, but turn them over until they are introduced.  I saw one teacher do this and I thought that was a good idea because everything is up and it's spaced well ahead of time.  The fact that everything is already up will alleviate me losing any words and it should be a reminder that I have to turn them over as well.  I think this year should be more successful when it comes to the word wall.
Another summer goal I have for myself is to re-organize my classroom library.  I spent HOURS last year making my library beautiful and organized.  It worked pretty well, but I see that there is a better way for me to have it organized.  Our school adopted the accelerated reader online program this year and it has opened doors for the kids when it comes to reading. Previously we used the accelerated reader program, but it didn't have the internet option, so we had to purchase a reading test for any book we wanted the children to be able test on.  We only had the children test on the book they took from the library that had the test attached to it. The internet option allows us access a test for any book that accelerated reader has loaded.  Since this is such a big part for first graders learning to read, I want them to have the ability to read books in the classroom at their accelerated reading level as well and not have to only choose books from the library.  I think the reorganization of my classroom library will aid in my students' success on their reading tests and comprehension. After basic reorganization my classroom library ranges from level 0.6-3.9.  The kids can choose books to read that are in their range of proximal development at any time.  My next step is labeling everything simply so it can stay organized and beautiful all year long! :-)
Enjoy the rest of your summer.  We have officially one month left until back to school night! Yikes!