Save those 2007 calendars!
Caroline Musselwhite, nationally renowned AT specialist, was in Richmond last week at the 10th annual TechKnowledgy conference. She shared with the audience a lot of wonderful information and ideas for working with students who are emergent readers and writers. She quoted research that says the good first grade teachers, who have successful readers, include a classroom with over 1500 books that can be read by students. I can’t imagine 1500 books in a classroom…how much would that cost? How is that possible? Well, she shared wonderful ideas such as: purchasing books at yard sales; used bookstores; ask for donations from the community; AND making your own books. This is where the calendars come in! Before winter break, make an announcement or put a box in the teachers lounge to collect all of the old calendars from your colleagues. Using the pictures you can add text/caption that applies to the photo and create a story. Who knows how many you could create! Involve your students, get them to contribute to calendar, either by filling in one word or writing short phrases…the possibilities are endless! And you could have 25 or 30 books that your students will really enjoy!