Welcome to August Sunday Reset
Happy Sunday Reader,
September always starts before the calendar says it does. You feel it in your read-aloud pile, in the way your class has finally settled into a rhythm, in the fact that you're already thinking about the next book before this one's even finished.
This week I want to hand you something small that does more than it looks like it should. Whoo Hoo!
THIS WEEK'S SKILL: One Page, Eight Questions, Zero Prep
Most reflection activities need a worksheet, a pencil, and a kid willing to sit still and write in complete sentences. Some days you don't have any of those three things. That's where a cootie catcher earns its keep.
I built one around A Place for Me. Eight folds, eight questions. Where do you feel most like yourself. What makes you feel brave. What makes a place feel welcoming. One student picks a number, another calls it out, and the question underneath gets answered out loud, no writing required.
It looks like a game and it functions like a check-in.
WHERE THIS WORKS IN YOUR UPCOMING WORK
DAY ONE
Read A Place for Me aloud if you haven't yet this year. No cootie catcher today, just the story, cover to cover, no interrupting.
DAY TWO
Fold one cootie catcher as a class. Model it on the document camera so every student sees the steps once. Play one round together so they see how it works before they're on their own.
DAY THREE
Hand out blank copies. Partners fold their own and trade. This is the day it becomes theirs instead of yours.
DAY FOUR
Use it in your normal transition gap, the five minutes between read-aloud and whatever comes next. One student runs it while the rest of the class listens in.
DAY FIVE
Ask the whole class one question: which prompt came up the most this week. Let a few students share their answers out loud. That's your whole-group close, no worksheet needed.
THIS WEEK'S ACTION ITEM
Start with Day One tomorrow. You don't need the whole week planned out before you begin, you just need the first day.
YOUR SEPTEMBER FREEBIE
The cootie catcher lives inside my full September Resource Guide, along with Hispanic Heritage Month prep, September 11th resources, and a few self-care ideas for you, because this month asks a lot of teachers before it asks anything of students.
A Place for Me has been out in paperback for a few weeks now, and the hardcover officially launches September 2nd. If you've been waiting for the sturdier version to hand down year after year, or the one that survives twenty-five sets of hands in a classroom library, this is it.
WHAT'S COMING THIS MONTH
Inside Story Garden Club, September belongs to Areli Is a Dreamer, paired with A Place for Me. Two different books, the same throughline: what it costs to belong somewhere, and what it means when someone makes room for you anyway. More on that next Sunday.
ONE LAST THING Reader
However week one goes, you already did the thinking. Let this week meet a teacher who's ready, not scrambling.
See You In The Next Chapter!
Patty