October 15, 2024

The Gift of Reading…

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!  I had a great one filled with family and friends.  It was nice and relaxing.  All was Merry and Bright!!!  So Merry and Bright that I have not updated the blog is sometime…  Oppppssss….  Hopefully posts will become regular again now that all the holiday parties have come and gone.  My to-do list is all Teaching Heart related now…  Starting with getting a 100 days Instant Packet and Ground Hog Packet up on the site. 

I wanted to share a great idea that my son’s third grade teacher did with his class.  I loved the idea and want to file it away.  First she sent home a letter explaining that each student would be sharing the gift of reading with a first grader.  They would be selecting a book to read to the first graders.  After they read the book they would be giving them a gift to open that would contain small items that matched the story they read.   They were to bring five items to school that matched the story in a unwrapped box.  My son’s book was The Magic Hockey Stick.

After reading the book at home, he selected some items to put in the box that went along with the story.  His box included a giraffe figure, a drawn hockey stick, a drawn net, a picture of the words magic, and a picture of Wayne Gretzky.

Each item was placed in a box.  At school they wrapped up the boxes.  They read their stories to their first grade buddy and the first grader unwrapped the box and they discussed how the pictures related to the story.

I thought this was a great idea!!!  Just another way to share the love of reading….  She did it as a holiday activity; but, I could see it being a great idea for any time of the year. You could even do it at Valentine’s Day! 

His teacher also happens to be one of the authors of the book below.  Great program if you are interested in literatire circles and getting your students to grow to love reading!

 Another awesome gift of reading happened to me this season… I became the owner of an Amazon Kindle Fire.  Have you seen these babies?  They are like ipads without the hefty price tag.  I am so excited to start reading on this and reading to my students and kiddos via the Kindle Fire.