Week 2, Ready, Set, Go!

Well it's Sunday night before week 2 begins and I'm here cramming the last minute things I need to get done before tomorrow morning.  I really wanted to post pictures of my classroom for you, but I forgot my camera at school.  So I will post them tomorrow between the end of school at 3 PM and my PIE meeting at 6:30.  (PIE stands for Parents Involved in Education, it's our PTL.  Yes pie is served at PIE meetings.)

As I was cramming for tomorrow I realized that I'm stumped.  I cannot figure out which book to read with the 7th and 8th graders for guided reading.  I've never taught 7th and 8th grade before, all the books I can think of seem to be too simple or too hard.  I'm also struggling because I do know that they are not the best of readers.  Their first quarter book report is to read some classic literature.  This is big and will probably challenge some of them, so I don't want to overwhelm  them with additional reading for class, however, I want them reading  and reading a lot.  For this week I'm going to read out of their Literature books, but I do want to begin a novel soon.  Suggestions?

In 5th & 6th grade I'm going to start the year reading Tuck Everlasting.  It's a quick, relatively simple read.  Having never had the 5th graders in class before I'm not exactly sure where they are, but I think they are pretty academic.  I've always had good responses from students when I read Tuck Everlasting.

I know there are teachers out there starting their school year this week, some like myself are going back for week 2, and others could be well into their school year at this point.  Blessings on you and your class wherever you are in your teaching endeavor for the year!