This week I am inviting students to write on an old fashioned blackboard....kinda! The idea was inspired by my family's favorite coffee house - a popular chain in the Midwest - Caribou Coffee! Each Caribou has a blackboard with a rotating question that visitors can answer if they wish. I enjoy my favorite drink, skim chai, the great WiFi and the heavily wooded interior, but I also really like their blackboard! It brings people together around a topic and gives them an opportunity to share their truth - even though it is usually little trivial truths. It is fun and community building!
I didn't have a blackboard, so Nancy and I created one out of black butcher paper! I picked up some chalk at the store. It is clearly not something people use anymore because I had to look at several stores to find good old fashioned chalk! (They had sidewalk chalk for summer, but not the regular kind!) After everything was ready, I invited students to answer the question, What book are you hoping to read this summer? Students really embraced the idea and almost all of them wanted to add to the blackboard. Also, as students have been adding their book titles, I am finding that some of my students are reading books I haven't read myself or added to our OHE library. I LOVE it when students help me find new books! They are also suggesting books to one another, which from my perspective is the greatest reading promotion of all!
Keep on reading Oak Hills Elementary students! You are my inspiration!
