It's About That Time...

Hey everyone! I hope everyone had a fabulous summer and got some good rest in! We made our move from Dallas, TX to Phoenix, AZ this summer for my husband's job transfer. This summer has been quite a whirlwind! School actually started here yesterday but unfortunately I was unable to find a teaching job for this school year with school starting so quickly. Instead, I'm going to be subbing this year so I can get to know the schools and the area. We also found out some great news! We are expecting twins!  Needless to say there has been quite a bit of change in our lives these past couple of months!  Even though I won't have my own classroom this year, I will still be posting ideas and uploading projects because I love what I do!  Since I don't have my own classroom, I'll have more time to create things to share!  For those of you who started school this week, Happy First Week!

I've started creating some things for my former co-workers that I'll share in the next few days. For now, I thought I'd share this. Does anyone do Mystery Reader in their classroom?  I have had Mystery Readers every Friday in my classroom for the past few years and I know it's becoming quite popular in the elementary classroom!  Here's how it works...at the beginning of the year parents can sign up to be a Mystery Reader one Friday during the year. (I try to keep it to one Friday each so we have a variety of parents but sometimes you have the same parents 2 or 3 times.)  The week before a parent is signed up, I will email them and ask them for 3 clues. (I've also had parents write down three clues with their name on an index card when they sign up so you don't have to keep up with weekly emails.) On Friday, about 15 minutes before Mystery Reader time, I share the clues with my class one at a time. After each clue, I pause and ask if anyone knows who the Mystery Reader is. It's so interesting to see how many things parents have in common!  Once we guess, we find out once the Mystery Reader arrives. Sometimes no one guesses and it's a complete mystery!  The Mystery Reader has 15-20 minutes where he/she can read books they brought to share with the class. It's a great time for the kids to see their own parents involved in the classroom and the kids love hearing different readers each week. It's become one of our favorite activities of the year in my classroom. Below you'll see an example of a sign-up sheet you could use for Mystery Reader sign-up. We skip some Fridays throughout the year due to school-wide events, state testing, etc.