It's Monday...What Are YOU Reading? 12/19/11

Hello again! It's time for another weekly update on my reading life. I am a tad disappointed as I was unable to get my hands on the picture books I so desperately wanted to read this week.

However, I DID finish reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It was wonderful! There were a lot of twists and turns that I was not expecting...which is something I really value in a book. The ending has left me wanting more, so I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series. I am not sure I would recommend it to my 5th graders, as there are some romantic scenes and a lot of death/gore. However, I would recommend it for students in grade 6-7 and up.

Another book I read this week that I had not planned on was Press Here. It caught my eye when I was shopping at Barnes and Noble. Since I was standing around waiting for my husband, I read it. I enjoyed the simple artwork consisting of primary colored dots, and the clever way it was written. It gives children directions as they read that "cause" something to happen on the next page. For example, at one point it says to tilt the page to the left, and on the next page, all of the colored dots have magically grouped up on the left page. Cute! I think this would be great for teaching children patterns, counting, and relative direction.

I am still on the hunt for my previous picture books, so I am not adding more picture books to my list this week. I am planning on getting a hold of Catching Fire, which is the second book in The Hung Games trilogy.

So...what are YOU reading?

These Books Really ARE "Great"!

You know those days when you teach a great lesson and you just feel...amazing? I had one of those days this week. It was sublime!


My principal recently ordered the intermediate teachers in my school a program (if you want to call it that) called Junior Great Books. I.Love.It. "Love" might even be an understatement. I was so sick of our county anthology/basal, that this was a welcome change. It comes with a "guide", but I also find there are so many ways to "make it yours"...which is why I love it so much. I always has trouble making the anthology "mine" and the kids hate the feel of a textbook in their laps as we sit on the carpet. The stories are very high interest (mainly made up of realistic fiction and traditional literature). The best part is they are regular "book size" so they have the feel of a novel. 

Students used sticky notes to keep track of
questionsthey had as they read. 

Actually...the REAL best part is they are designed to be discussed! We have had some great literature circles with these books! I have the students create their own "complex questions" for their groups (see photo). You know...the ones that can't just be answered with one word, or that have more than one answer. This was exactly the stepping stone I needed to help guide me in the process of transitioning from an anthology to reading workshop...which is what I am working on.


Anyway, now that I have come down from my soap box (I should get some compensation from the company for my little plug...), here is what happened:


We've been reading an African folktale called "Kaddo's Wall." Today we discussed how the character experiences both losses and gains as a result of building said wall. I was assuming they'd pick up on all the material things that he both gained and lost which sort of had to be inferred in some cases. Of course, they blew me away with all of the things that even I didn't pick up on. For example, one student explained how one of Kaddo's losses was his "loss of dignity." We discussed how his having to beg for food after being selfish would cause this to happen. Another student chimed in with how he "gained the king's pity" when he was given the food. Wowzers! Then this led to us discussing how some gains (such as pity) are not always positive...which opened up the flood gates for other negative gains and more discussion! I was in teacher heaven!


I ended the lesson by asking the students to answer the following prompt:


"Explain the effects of Kaddo's decision to build the wall of corn."


I am sure you can guess that they had PLENTY to say. Just had to share :)

It's Monday, What Are YOU Reading? 12/12/11

I am joining Jen and Kellee over at Teach Mentor Texts in their weekly posts about reading! I read a lot of "kidlit" (thanks Twitter) these days, and figured that visitors to my blog would benefit from posts like these...not only themselves, but also for their students. I have to admit that a the world was put on hold this week as I read the 7th and final book in the Harry Potter series...Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Simply put....it was AMAZINGLY, SPECTACULARLY, WONDERFULLY FANTASTIC! This book was everything it should have been and much more. I laughed, I cried, I got angry and then felt bad about it...it was rather emotionally draining. BUT, it was well worth it! 

Because I was so bound and determined to finish this 784 page masterpiece, I didn't read much else this week. If you have not yet entered into the world of Harry Potter fanaticism...do so immediately. Put all other books on hold and jump in feet first! It was the best reading decision I have ever made and I wish I had made it sooner!

As I am still getting used to my renewed love of reading (thank you, Donalyn Miller!!!), I am setting small goals for this week. I am going to work on reading (and hopefully finish) the first book in The Hunger Games series. 

 I am going to try and get my hands on some picture books this week, too. So I also plan to read:

We'll see how it all pans out! So...

What are YOU reading?

'Tis the Season of Giving!

What better gift to give than a book to a child who needs it most?!? I have been frequently visiting a site called "We Give Books." This site allows you to read a variety of childrens' books online (cool enough, right?). But that's not all! For EACH book you read, they will donate a book to a literacy campaign of your choice! It's such a wonderful cause! Not only do I get to add to my growing list of "read" books on GoodReads, but I am also making positive contributions through my love of reading. Win-win!


I thought this was so amazing that I am going to try it out with my students this week. I made a class login and plan on using the same login for each student. I will let you know how it goes!


In the meantime, head on over to We Give Books and give some books yourself!

It's a Bloggy Blog World!

This week, I had the most fun blogging with my students! Blogs are a fantastic resource because the kids forget they are "writing", therefore they enjoy it a whole lot more than when we whip out the pencils and paper! We have used blogs in the past to post book reviews and discuss stories, but this week we worked on expressing ourselves by playing "Three Truths and a Lie" in the blogging world. 


For our class blog, I use KidBlog. It's specifically designed for teachers to use with students. You can control comments and settings, which I feel is very important. 


The assignment for this blogging session was created by our Tech Integration Teacher (so lucky to have one!). We discussed the importance of choosing truths that were very unique and outrageous to match an outrageous lie, or picking a lie that sounded believable enough to be true and fit in with more "normal" truths. The kids did a great job! 


The kicker was that when they finished their own post, they then had to comment on at least five other blog posts. In their comments, students were told to single out the false statement and explain why they thought it wasn't true using thoughtful reasoning. 


Here are some of my favorite posts:

I joined in on the fun, too! Here is a screen shot of my post:

Not to brag, but I got the most comments! :) Once the kids get five or more comments on their posts, they are allowed to reveal the "falsehood" (yay vocabulary!). Can you guess which one was mine?