Hello, July!

I can't believe July is here already! I've been out of school for almost a month. (Yes, I know I'm still technically in school since I'm teaching summer school... but seriously, that job is so much FUN that it doesn't feel like work.

So, that doesn't count! :)

July holds my favorite day of the year... my birthday! Not looking forward to 28 candles on my cake this year, but excited all the same for everything God has in store for me.

Linking up {{here}} for CURRENTLY.

For "reads", we are supposed to share two books this month.

The first book to include is your all-time favorite read-aloud book.

The second book is your favorite professional resource book.

Enemy Pie is a Reading Rainbow book that I absolutely love. I used this book during a classroom meeting at the beginning of the school year. It's a charming picture book with a lesson about the challenges and rewards of making new friends. My students loved the book, too. Check it out!

My favorite professional resource (which tends to change on a monthly, or even daily, basis) at the present time is The Daily Five. The Daily Five is a way of structuring your language arts block to promote the development of independent literacy habits in your students. I implemented bits and pieces of the Daily Five in my reading block last year, but the new schedule with the Common Core Curriculum is going to give me a lot more flexibility to implement more of The Daily Five in my language arts block. "The Sisters" who wrote The Daily Five also have an extremely helpful resource website with lots of great tools/demonstrations. Click {{here}}.

I've had a busy weekend of editing photos from my recent New York City trip that I took with my Dad on his Harley! I can't wait to share more of that story later this week. Here's a picture-teaser, though, as a preview of what's in store:

A New World Trade Center Building Under Construction