Grandma of the Birthday Boy

Today's mystery reader is a grandmother to 10, lives on a farm with several animals, and has lived and worked locally her whole life.  One student guessed right away that it was Mrs. Ruen.   Thanks so much for coming in to share a story with us.  This made the birthday boy's day extra special!

Older Sister and Former Student

Today we had an extra special Mystery Reader.  The older sister of one of our students who is now in 3rd grade came in to read "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs."  I happen to know this awesome 3rd grader because I also had her in 1st and 2nd grade.  When she came walking in the whole class was so surprised, and her brother had the biggest smile on his face!  He kept looking at her like he couldn't believe it!  Thanks for sharing a story with us today Miss T.

Mom of the Birthday Girl

Today is the birthday of one of our special students.  When her mom contacted me about bringing in a birthday snack on Friday to celebrate I recommended that she come in as a mystery reader as well. What a special surprise for her daughter!  Not only did the class get to hear a new story, but they also got to enjoy some chocolate cake and ice cream.  Thanks for the story and treat Mrs. LaDoux, and happy birthday to your daughter! (The birthday girl wanted a silly picture with her mom:)

Gopher Loving Teacher

On Friday we were lucky to have 2 mystery readers visit our classroom.  The first one is a mom of one of our students who is at school regularly since she is part of the ECFE program, helps in the Ag Department, and subs in other classrooms.  You can tell that Mrs. Ruen is a teacher in the way that she interacted with the students throughout the read aloud.  She chose to read a book by Tomie dePaola since that is her favorite children's author, and she met him when she was in elementary school.  Her daughter knew it was her right away when she heard the last clue "I love the Minnesota Gophers."  Thanks for visiting our classroom Mrs. Ruen!

Kindergarten Authors' Celebration

On Friday the kindergarten class invited us over to their classroom to share the stories they wrote called "What Do You See?"  The stories were awesome, and my class sure enjoyed listening to the kindergartners share.  Many students in my class were able to partner up with a brother or sister or cousin.  I felt especially lucky to partner up with my son, Mason.  The kindergarten class is a group of super writers and illustrators!

Fun Website!

This week we have been using a new website to help us practice our spelling words.  The website it called goanimate.com.  The students began by writing up a dialogue between 2 characters including as many of their spelling words as possible.  Using this website,  the students were able to see their scripts acted out by 2 characters of their choice.  The class is having so much fun with it that many have wanted to go home and try it out.  I thought I'd post it here so students can try it out with their families!

New Pigeon Book!

I have to share that another new book is out by my favorite children's author, Mo Willems.  Willems is the author of the Piggie and Elephant books which my class loves.  He also has a series of Pigeon books, and I've been waiting forever for a new one to come out.  The newest book is called The Duckling Gets a Cookie!?  I can't wait to share this book with my class tomorrow!

Mother of one student and Teacher to Many- Mystery Reader Four

When our mystery reader walked in the door today her son was so exited to see who had arrived.  Not only was he excited, but half the class called out that Mrs. Berg is their dance teacher or Sunday school teacher among other ways that they know her.  It is obvious that Mrs. Berg is very committed to being involved in the community.  Thanks for taking the time to share one of your favorite stories with us today!

Mystery Reader Three

We were very lucky to have another mystery reader to end our week.  In the morning, I display the book with the clues taped on the front.   The students now come in the morning eager to read the clues right away and try to figure it out!  One of the clues was: "I have 5 grandchildren."  After reading the clues, it was so cute to see the Mystery Reader's grandson stop and immediately start counting up his cousins on his hands.  He declared, "That has to be my grandma!"  He was right.  This student has been particularly lucky to have both grandmas surprise us now!  She did a great job asking the class questions as she read which was helping them to make "text-to-self" connections.  Thanks for joining us Mrs. Olson!

Our 2nd Mystery Reader!

We were very lucky to have another mystery reader join us today.  She is the mother to the set of twins in our classroom.  After hearing her clues, the class had it narrowed down to the librarian, Title I teacher, or principal.   You can tell that she has a lot of experience reading to children since she has four of her own. Thanks for sharing a story with us Mrs. Peterson!