Today was the first day that the fifth graders are switching classes. My mentor is the Reading/Language Arts teacher and I could not be happier. Although I feel confident in all content areas, Reading and Language Arts are the ones that I enjoy the most. Our homeroom (the Red Class) has been identified as Talented and Gifted (TAG) or above grade level and goes to science and social studies first and then math until they come back to us for the third and final period of the day.
The Blue Class, which has been identified as below grade level, comes to us for first period. They are significantly different from the Red class. Most of them strongly dislike reading and, if they do read, choose books based on how short they are. They are also much less eager to share. We tried to get them engaged in reading short stories by reading a short story called "When Pete Bruce Came to Town" aloud from a book called Porch Lies by Patricia McKissack. The story was humorous but the discussion with this class was strained and it was difficult to get them to participate.
The Yellow Class (on or slightly below grade level) were very similar to the Blue Class - not very excited about reading and reluctant to participate.
