Literacy Jenga

At the Dobrow house, we are ending school & starting our summer break.  My younger two are still young and, with one heading to first grade and the other to kindergarten next year, they are all about anything that involves learning - or "getting smarter" in their words!  So, to keep the excitement alive, I have transformed our family Jenga game.  I would like to introduce .... Literacy Jenga.

On one side of the blocks, I have written some two, three, and four letter sight words (keeping in mind the age of my children) in a fairly large print for easier reading.  These are some of the high-frequency words that my son has been using in kindergarten, and words my daughter will encounter next year when she starts school.

On the other side of the blocks, in a different color and smaller print, I have written larger words that are encountered in the early elementary years as well.  I chose to write out the words for numbers one through twenty, the days of the week, as well as the months of the year.  These are going to be challenging, but with practice and continued exposure they too will be mastered! 

What Have I Read Lately?

Today, I finished a beautiful story that my husband's grandmother gifted to my oldest son for his birthday a few years back.  It was lost in his bedroom, only to surface when he was forced to clean everything - including the back of the closet and all other "black holes" that exist in a pre-teen bedroom!    He brings this down to me and asks where he should put it, knowing that I would absolutely DIE if he just got rid of it or put it back in a drawer somewhere where it could never be enjoyed by others, and I snatched it up as future reading material! I expected it to be a sweet story because Grams shares a special bond with Jaydon around books - she has since he was small.  I curled up on the couch that night and readied myself for an adventure through this book.  I read through most of it that evening, enjoying every page, and picked it back up today to read the final five pages.  It ended in the same sweet way that it began, a sweet and moving story between a writer and a reader!

 I love this book for so many reasons!  First, it is a beautiful way to illustrate the relationship between writers and readers - there is a direct line of communication, a pure conversation, that exists in this relationship and this book.  Walter, a rat that devours any literature he can get his tiny paws onto, has begun living in the Long Island home of Miss Amanda Pomeroy.  Miss Pomeroy is an old lady that is that does little more than write books and stay inside her home by herself, no family that is mentioned throughout the entire story.  Walter and Miss Pomeroy develop a very unique relationship through letters and small gifts that they leave for one another, each making an impact on the life of the other in an unexpected yet heartwarming manner! 

When trying to teach students about fantasy, about various literary elements, or just simply trying to give them something to connect to when teaching them how literature is a direct line of communication between a writer and a reader, this book is it!!!! So cute, a new favorite in my literature collection!

This is Me

This is my first post on this blog - how exciting!  I can't wait to put my experiences and thoughts here to share with the world, or at least whomever reads it. The past few years have been devoted to being "Mom" and knowing that there would come a day, in the not so distant future, that I would have to embark on a new journey and figure out what I really wanted to do in life.  This blog is the beginning of that new chapter in my life.  With the kids a bit older now and my Master's degree nearly complete, I will begin to find my place in the classroom - educating other people's children in the way I would want others to educate my children!  I am eager to begin - So, here's to many new experiences!