At the End of the First Day

As I sit here, all of you (the students) have gone home. The classroom is quiet. I’m thinking about the day. It was perfect. Learning names and watching you meet each means that we are already building our classroom community! Talking about YOU MATTER and how we will live that this year brings me such hope!

You Matter

Reading aloud is always one of my most favorite parts of class. I hope you enjoyed School’s First Day of School by Adam Rex. It’s a new favorite of mine. The mind maps you are making are so creative and I get to learn more about you. I think my favorite part is reading your writing. I can’t wait until you finish your writing and I can read the letters and sentences. When you write, you share a part of yourself. I’m grateful that I get to read your writing.

I can’t wait for day two!

Category: beginning of the year | 2 Comments

August 29 2016

Welcome to Sixth Grade!

Welcome to Room C10. We will spend time together every day this year. We will be reading and writing a lot! I have spent lots of time preparing and I have a few surprises ready for you. If you are wondering what it takes to be successful in this class, the answer is easy…

Show up.
Do your best.
Be kind.
Make mistakes.
Be honest.
Work hard.
Take risks.
Ask questions.

This is going to be a great year! Please stop by our class Twitter account at @haseltineclass and our class Instagram at @haseltineclass. We have a facebook page too: Ms. Haseltine’s Class.

I can’t wait to get started!

Bella LOVES her new blanket.

Category: beginning of the year, Bella, Haseltine | 2 Comments

October 17 2015

Celebrating Blogs, Recess, and Books!

I am celebrating my students today!

We launched our blogs this week. I nudged and pushed and stretched them this week. We became problem solvers. We became published writers. We worked hard and worked together and created our own place in the blogosphere. I celebrate their perseverance and their strong writing voice.

This week we took a little time to relax. Recess!! I think this picture says it all!

New books. A favorite author of mine, Adriana Trigiani, published a new book. It is based on the true story of the Hollywood star Loretta Young. Her words are like a symphony on paper. It’s one of those books I can’t put down.

Finally, I celebrate this beautiful autumn morning. There’s something about how the sun shines in the fall. It seems more golden. The leaves and the cool, crisp air make for a perfect day! Enjoy!

Category: beginning of the year, celebrate, student writing | 5 Comments

September 7 2014

Reading & Math

Who knew to improve as a reader that you need to do math?!?! Today we will calculate our reading rate. This will help us figure out how much reading we complete every ten minutes! Once we know how much we can read in a certain amount of time, we will be able to make reading plans and goals for the year!

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” Yogi Berra

What amazing book are you reading right now?!?! What’s the best book you’ve read recently?!?!Tell us about it!

Category: beginning of the year, goals | 5 Comments

September 5 2014

What is Reading?

I asked a simple question. What is reading?

Our discussion about this made me so proud! I witnessed so much passion behind your answers about why something “counts” as reading and something else doesn’t.

I love listening to your answers. There are so many good ideas. Thinking about WHAT reading is really challenged us all today and each of you rose to the occasion. Job well done! Keep thinking about this. We will come back to it. Here are some of the notes about reading. Reading is…

Category: beginning of the year | 4 Comments

September 1 2014

First Day of School…You Matter!

The first day of school holds so much excitement. I was thinking back to my first day in sixth grade. My homeroom teacher was Sister Jean. I attended Holy Cross School, a K-8 Catholic school in Springfield, Massachusetts. Sixth grade meant that many classes were finally upstairs and I got to leave the school building and walk across the playground to another building to go to my math class. Sixth grade was also when students got the chance to serve on the safety patrol.

It was a time when we got more responsibility and more privileges. I wonder what your memories will be? Here’s a peek at me in the sixth grade…

Can you find me? This is my sixth grade class.

I am so excited for a wonderful year. I can’t wait to start 2014-2015. The classroom is ready. Desks are set up. Books are organized. The only thing left to make this year amazing is YOU!

I found these words written by Angela Maiers and they will guide me this year. Please read these words and know that…

YOU MATTER!

YOU are the reason I come to school every day. YOU will leave my classroom knowing how special you are and how much potential you have.

Category: beginning of the year, You Matter! | 3 Comments

November 3 2013

First Quarter

Category: beginning of the year, first quarter | LEAVE A COMMENT

September 11 2013

Back to School Night

Thank you to everyone who spent their valuable time attending Back to School Night. You were a terrific audience and I’m so excited to continue to get to know your children, my students, this year! This is a year of change and new experiences. I can’t wait to see what this year will bring. I’d love to hear from the parents, so here’s your chance. Please comment on this post and let me know you’r out there reading. Have a great night!

Category: back to school night, beginning of the year | 2 Comments

September 10 2013

We are readers

We’ve spent lots of time talking about books and reading these past few days. Some of my favorite memories (already) include:

“Hey I thought I didn’t like reading!” exclaims a student.

I ask her, “And now?”

In a voice filled with disbelief she admits, “I like it. I really like it!”

a student coming in with props he’s made from Origami Yoda and Fortune Wookie

“Hey, do you have those books? Can I read one of those?” (A student referring to the pictures on the classroom door. There are pictures of some of the books I read this summer.)

It’s only the second week of school and I’m so excited to already have some amazing reading memories. I can’t wait to see what’s ahead for us!

Category: beginning of the year | 2 Comments

September 10 2013

An author reads our “Big Plans”!

Big Plans by Bob Shea is our first read aloud of the year. We love reading it because we get to read part of it together. “I’ve got BIG PLANS! BIG PLANS, I say!” As you walk up and down the hallways of sixth grade the first week, you can hear students repeating this in Language Arts class. After reading the book, we discussed and shared our “Big Plans”. You can see some in the video and in the pictures. These sixth graders certainly have “Big Plans”! If the story ended here, that would be enough because I’m already so proud of each and every student in my classes…but it doesn’t end there. I posted the first Vine video on twitter and guess who commented on it? Oh, it was Bob Shea. Yes, that’s correct!

THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK BIG PLANS!!!

He commented on our work. His comment, “Stealing these”, sent us reeling. It’s the sixth day of school and we have already made contact with an author. Woo Hoo!