What We're Reading Wednesday-Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave by Jen White

I haven't done one of these in a while, but I just had to share a review that I wrote for an ARC of Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave by Jen White.  This blog post coincides with the launch of a new blog, one that I am very excited about, called Reader Rach.  I will be reviewing books that I read and love!  I think I'm so excited about this new blog because I love reading so much and I want to share the books I read with the world!

If you're a middle grade teacher, please come check out and follow my new blog and read my review of Survival Strategies of the Almost Brave, the best middle grade book I have read in a long time, which is set to be released on June 9!

What We're Reading Wednesday-The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt

Hop on over to my other blog to find out What We're Reading Wednesday!

What We're Reading Wednesday-Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson

Join me on my other blog Family, Love, & Fairy Tales to find out more about this awesome book on What We're Reading Wednesday!

 

 Also, I've finally set up my Google Plus account.  Please feel free to add me!

What We're Reading Wednesday-Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin

Hop on over to my other blog Family, Love, and Fairy Tales to find out what we're reading Wednesday!

Book Review-The Shadow Throne by Jennifer Nielsen

Title:  The Shadow Throne
Author:  Jennifer A. Nielsen
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Release Date:  February 25, 2014
Source of Book:  Netgalley

The Shadow Throne is the third book in The Ascendance Trilogy by Jennifer A. Nielsen.  War has come to Carthya. When Imogen is kidnapped, King Jaron makes a plan to rescue her.  Of course, nothing is ever easy for the Ascendant King, but don't discount Jaron just yet--he always has a plan.

I thought this book was the perfect conclusion to the trilogy.  At this point, Jaron knows who he can trust and who his real enemies are.  Though young, he never loses sight of saving his kingdom and the people of Carthya.  Nielsen gives a conclusion to all characters in this book, leaving the reader satisfied.  This is probably my favorite children's series since Harry Potter.  You can't help but to love and root for Jaron.

I am still at a loss in which genre to classify this book.  It is definitely Middle Grade/YA.  I prefer to classify it as Middle Grade, but when shopping for the books at Barnes & Noble, I had to look in the YA section.  As far as genre, though, I have mostly seen it listed as fantasy.  My only issue with this is that I believe fantasy involves magic and this book does not.  I prefer to think of the genre as a cross between fantasy and historical fiction.  The kingdom is a made-up place (fantasy), but takes place in the past (historical), though there are no historical facts in this book, which is a key component of historical fiction.  I never know how to describe the books in this trilogy, except that they are all excellent!

Rating:  4/5 stars.

Author Studies

Does anyone do author studies to teach reading strategies and author's craft in writing?  This wasn't something I was exposed to in college, so it is new ground for me.  I have done an Eve Bunting author study in the past and I am currently doing an Angela Johnson author study.  Angela Johnson is an Ohio author.  Her books relate to many of my students.  She has won three Coretta Scott King awards and one book was awarded an ALA notable award.  With two split-up weeks, I thought this was the best time to conduct our Angela Johnson author study.  We started with The Leaving Morning and Tell Me a Story, Mama.  Both books are very relatable to my students.  We discussed making connections and point of view.  This week, we will be reading When I Am Old With You and studying sentence fluency.  Angela Johnson is a great author to study in fourth grade because she has authored picture books for young children, middle grade and young adult novels, and poetry.  This offers a wide variety of books for the wide variety of reading levels in my classroom.  We will also be doing a mini-study of the historical fiction genre with her books Wind Flyers about the Tuskegee Airmen and A Sweet Smell of Roses about the March on Washington.  Both books offer opportunities for nonfiction companions.

If you would like to learn more about Angela Johnson and her books, you can visit her website at http://www.ajohnsonauthor.com/.  There is also an excellent video on Ohio Channel where Angela Johnson discusses her books and writing process.

If you would like to purchase my Angela Johnson author study, you can visit my Teachers Notebook shop.  I will have it discounted this week only!!

Book Talk Thursday-The False Prince

If you have not read this book yet, RUN, don't walk to your nearest bookstore and pick it up.  I say bookstore because it's so good I imagine there will be a LONNGG wait list at the library.  Would you believe me if I say this is more than likely the best fantasy book I have read since The Hunger Games?  I know, The Hunger Games isn't technically fantasy...but I think you get the idea.  It is really, really, really good!

Ok...on to the synopsis.

Sage is an orphan in the kingdom of Avenia.  You can tell right away that he gets into a lot of trouble, but it always seems like it is for the greater good.  A wealthy man buys Sage from the orphanage and Sage quickly realizes this man has a purpose.  There are three other boys with him that were also orphans and they all somewhat look alike.  The man tells the boys right off the bat that he is looking for a boy that will replace the prince of Carthya, who was thought dead four years ago when his ship was overtaken by pirates.  He wants the prince to become king so that he will be able to rule Carthya from the background.  Sage and the other boys are taken to the man's home in Farthenwood to train and become The False Prince.

Right away, you will fall in love with Sage.  He is feisty, but you can tell has a good heart.  I like his spunk and his attitude.  The character development in this book is amazing.  You will also find some twists and turns in this book.  I predict a lot when I'm reading, and I'm often right, which sometimes ruins the book for me.  I did not predict a few plot twists, which made me love the book that much more!

The chapters in this book are also very short, which I think makes the book great for a read-aloud.  After I gushed and gushed about this book for a few days, my husband very quietly snuck it into his carry-on so he could take it on his next business trip to read!

And guess what?  This book is the first in a TRILOGY!  Yay!  The Runaway King is already out (and I am currently reading it!) and the third book, The Shadow Throne is due out March 1, 2014.  Also, I was checking out Jennifer Nielsen's website and it looks like The False Prince has been optioned by Paramount Pictures!!  Go read this book RIGHT NOW!

Thoughts on Abandoning Books

Have you seen this infographic on GoodReads recently?  

My co-teacher sent it to me for a little laugh.  We allow our students to abandon books.  We know that every book is not right for every person.  Our goal is to pair each student with their just-right book.  Of course, we have those few students who abandon every single book they pick up.  We call them "Book Abandoners."  It's a term we use every day in our classroom, and the students know that we do not want them to become habitual book abandoners.  This infographic was kind of a laugh for us, because we had a parent a few years ago that did not like that we told her son he was a book abandoner.  Regardless of the fact that the child did not finish a book his entire fourth grade year.  We wanted him to finish a book.  We begged and pleaded with him.  We allowed him to pick his own books.  We gave him books we thought he would enjoy.  He never finished one.  That will haunt me for a long time.  

I recently finished The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.  A non-teaching friend recommended it to me, which was huge because this friend rarely reads kid-lit or YA.  She told me how much she loved it and how she had to slow her reading down because she just didn't want it to end.  Great review, right?  This same friend also recommended The Storyteller by Jodi Piccoult.  I also read that book this summer and she did not steer me wrong.  (Side note: What's with the Nazi books this summer?  I also reread Number the Stars).  The Book Thief had been on my GoodReads list since I started marking books to-read on the site.  On this friend's recommendation, I decided to read it this summer.  What the heck, right?  I read two other Holocaust-era books, what's one more?  

I struggled through it.  No, I STRUGGLED through it.  I don't know why.  Maybe it was one too many Nazi/Holocaust books in such a short time period.  It could be the fact that Death was the narrator in this book, obviously something very new to me.  My go-to reading superstars on GoodReads & Twitter, Donalyn Miller and Colby Sharp both rated the book very highly.  I kept wondering, "What is wrong with me?  Why don't I like this book like the rest of the world does?"  I still don't have an answer to that question.  I will continue to ponder.  

I thought about abandoning the book a few times.  I allow my students to be book abandoners, why can't I?  Then I kept telling myself, "Everyone else loved this book, there's got to be something I'm missing."  I kept reading.  In my eyes, the last 100 pages or so redeemed the entire book.  It was so well-written and I felt so many emotions reading the end of the book.  (No, the emotion was not happiness that it was almost over!).  That got me thinking, should I allow book abandoning?  Should I encourage my students to stick with it, because they might get something out of it in the end?  I won't say I loved this book, by any means, but my entire perspective on the book changed now that I reached the end.  Maybe this book wasn't just right for me at this time.  I'm now curious, should I encourage students when they abandon books to go back and try it again at another point in the year?  

One of the great things about being a teacher who reads is that I can reflect on my reading life and use it as a teaching tool in the classroom.  I will definitely be sharing my struggle with this book with my students.  First, they will learn that readers do sometimes feel conflicted with a book they are reading, dislike a book even.  They will also learn that persevering through a book, rather than abandoning it, does have it's rewards.  I felt accomplished finishing this book, as well as seeing the book in a whole new light once I had time to reflect.  I learn, or take away something from every book I read.  This time my lessons will carry on with my students.  

Picture Books for Back-to-School

I'm joining yet another linky today with First Grade and Fabulous!

I L-O-V-E picture books!  Who am I kidding?  I love all books.  Mostly kid-lit and YA, but who cares. One of my good teacher-friends texted me the other day after reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and said, "Whoever said YA is just for teens is a complete idiot!"  I whole-heartedly agree!

Anyways, I'm linking up with DeAnne to talk about my favorite picture books for the first week of school.

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg.  Surprisingly, most of my students have never heard this book when they get to fourth grade, which makes the ending even more fun!  

I truly identify with Miss Malarkey in this book, Miss Malarkey Leaves No Reader Behind by Judy Finchler and Kevin O'Malley.  I'm sure many of my students agree.  Miss Malarkey refuses to give up until she puts the right book in each child's hand.  

I use A Crazy Day at the Critter Cafe by Barbara Odanaka when I am introducing Daily 5 and CAFE. It's just a fun book when we start talking about the CAFE reading strategies.  

How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Mark Teague is a fun tall-tale about a boy and his summer adventures.  It is also a great book to jump start your first writing assignment for the year-have students write their own tall-tale vacation stories!

Nothing builds a classroom community like bucket-filling!  How Full is Your Bucket? For Kids teaches kids how their words and actions affect others.  I didn't read this or do bucket-filling last year, but I will definitely be starting right off the bat this year!  

Make sure you go check out all the other awesome back to school picture books and link up with 

Five for Friday

What better way to get back into the bloggin' thing than to link up with Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday?!

This is my little astronomer checking out the Supermoon this week.  We got him this telescope for his birthday last year.  He loves looking at the moon-even when it's not super!

This is my baby at Vacation Bible School.  Each night, at the end of VBS, they had a little song and dance for the kids to do.  Each night, my little one didn't want to do it.  He has this thing against singing and dancing.  My husband blames me since that's what I love to do, and he things I overdid it when I was pregnant with him!  Anyways, on the last night, my little guy decided to sing and dance!  My mom and I couldn't believe it!  

This is the professional book I have been reading-Notice and Note by Kyleen Beers and Bob Probst.  After I was about one chapter into it, I text-messaged my friend & colleague and told her if she reads only one professional book this summer, Notice and Note should be it.  I highly recommend it.

My Disney photopass pictures came yesterday!  When you visit Disney, their professional photographers will take your picture for free!  Get a photopass and add all your pictures throughout your trip.  The photographers will take pictures with your own camera as well.  We always buy the photopass CD, though, because the pictures are so much better!  And you can add cute enhancements, like the little phrase in the picture above.  This was our first trip to Disneyland, after visiting Disney World several times.  We loved it, though, and plan to go back!  You just can't beat the southern California weather in the summertime!  

We went to see Monsters University tonight!  This is my son with his "girlfriend."  It was a triple date.  

They've known each other since they were infants.  Her mommy and I work together and they go to the same sitter.  As we were walking into the theatre, he grabbed her hand.  Of course, we had had to snap a picture!  Monsters was super-cute!  As you can probably tell from above, we are huge Disney fans, but we are even bigger Pixar fans.  I have to say, this movie might be one of my favorites.  It was so funny!  You do not need to have a kid or be a kid to enjoy this movie!  

Thanks for reading!  Make sure you go check out Doodle Bugs for all the other Five for Friday posts!  

Side note-I want to thank those of you who commented on my post yesterday.  It was so nice to read all your supportive comments!  

Promoting Summer Reading

It's no secret that students lose so much of what they've learned throughout the school year over the summer.  I am always looking for new ways to prevent the "summer slide."  Last night on #titletalk on Twitter, which I posted about yesterday, I got some great ideas that I would like to implement this summer to keep my students moving forward.  


I have Edmodo accounts set up for all of my students.  We use it regularly to talk about books we are reading.  Here are some ideas for using Edmodo to promote summer reading:  

• One thing I was planning on doing prior to #titletalk chat is to keep all students active on Edmodo and keep in contact about books we are reading.  I think it would be a neat way to stay in touch.  I have a student who moved a few months ago, and she still checks in regularly to tell us how she's doing and books she is reading.  

• Another idea for using Edmodo is to have an online book club.  We will plan to meet every week and post ideas about a common book we are reading.  I even thought if I had parent permission slips for students to participate in the online book club that I could try to get copies of the particular book donated by a local bookstore.  I was thinking about a fun read, perhaps Babymouse.  It was all the talk on Twitter last night, and I don't think I've ever seen any of my students reading it.

• As a way to keep students interested in reading, and logged into Edmodo, I also thought it would be fun to take and upload pictures of ourselves reading in our favorite summer reading spot.  

Other fun ideas to try:  

• Give each student a stamped postcard addressed to you.  Tell them to write you a short note about the book (or books!) they are reading.  

• Promote your local library!  Choose two dates (or more!) you will be at the library.  Help your students choose books, sign up for the summer reading program, discuss the books you've read.  Encourage them to come-order pizza!

• I thought this was a great idea, and wish it were feasible at my school. Some people mentioned they keep their school library open a few days a week throughout the summer.  Students are free to come in and check out books.  I work in a neighborhood school, where most students live within walking distance.  I would totally be willing to come in once a week and man the library if I knew it would keep kids reading!  

Please feel free to add to my list!  Leave a comment about what you are doing to promote summer reading.  I would love to feature your ideas in an upcoming post!

Books to Celebrate Earth Day! (& Linky Party!)

As you all know, Earth Day is Sunday, April 22.  I am preparing a pinterest-inspired bulletin board through this week.  It was mostly inspired by this from the Suesstastic blog.  More to come on that later.  This blog post is dedicated to books that I will be sharing with my students this week in celebration of Earth Day.  

The Lorax is my all time favorite Dr. Seuss book.  It is also perfect for discussing plot, theme, setting (and change of setting), point-of-view, etc.  It is also the perfect book to talk about why we should take care of our environment.  

P.S., Yes, I have seen the movie and I loved it!

I pulled The Giving Tree off of my personal at-home bookshelf this year to share with my students.  I don't know why I've never thought to bring it in to school before.  I'm sure everyone is familiar with the story, but it is about a tree who gives and gives and gives to the same boy-turned-man throughout the story, until it can give no more.  The love the tree has for this boy is endless, regardless of the fact that the boy gives nothing in return.  

The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs was introduced to me at the Dublin Literacy Conference by Donalyn Miller, the Book Whisperer herself!  It is an informative book, but also a real-life mystery that your students will enjoy.  The golden frog, a national symbol in Panama are mysteriously dying at a very rapid pace.  Scientists race to discover what is causing the frogs to die and make an attempt to save them before they become extinct.  If nothing else, check this book out for the pictures alone!  

 This book is new to me.  I've had it on my Good Reads list for some time, and I finally decided to check it out for Earth week.  It is amazing!  Can We Save the Tiger tells the story of various animals that are on the brink of extinction.  It's not all depressing though, it also tells about animals that were once on the brink but were brought back and are now thriving.  A lot of connections can be made between Can We Save the Tiger and The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs.  The vanishing frogs were even featured in this book!  This is also a great book for teaching the questioning strategy.  

Who says alphabet books are for preschoolers?  This is middle-grade ABC book combines poetry, informational text, and awesome illustrations to explain the many wonders of our wonderful Earth.  

I thought it would be fun to see what everyone is doing to celebrate Earth Day in their classrooms.  Grab my button and link back here!  Don't forget to connect the actual link of your Earth Day post, not just your blog url.   

April-Poetry Month

Happy Easter everyone!  


All of my teacher buddies probably know that April is Poetry Month.  In an effort to find new poetry books to share with my students, I just read a book called Lemonade and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word.  It is so cool!  It is a mix between poetry, word play, and a puzzle.  The words in each poem contain only the letters found in the title.  

Warning to all:  It will make you want to write your own!  

Here's mine:

Get it?  

reading

grin 

and

read

dear

This would be such a neat poetry writing assignment!

Back in December, I posted about writing Found Poetry.  We did another Found Poetry assignment last week.  I challenged some of my higher students to write their Found Poems displaying character traits for the main character in their chosen books.  One student wrote an AWESOME Found Poem inspired by the book Moses.  I didn't bring the poem home with me, but when I get back from break I will be posting it for you all to read.  It is amazing!  When sharing on Thursday, another student commented, "Wow!  That gave me chills!"  If you haven't tried Found Poetry in your classrooms and would like to, please contact me if you have any questions!  The students really enjoy it and it is a nice change from the common acrostics and cinquains!  

My Book Reviews

BookSpeak!: Poems About Books by Laura Purdie Salas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A book that gives books the voice! Books beg readers to open them, characters asking to be liberated, what it feels like to have a reader fall asleep on you, and a book's biggest fear: the feeling of wet! These poems can be used throughout the year to teach voice, point of view, metaphor, story elements, etc.


Balloons over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy's Parade by Melissa Sweet
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Interesting story about the creator and evolution of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The illustrations are amazing. This book is definitely getting added to my personal library!

View all my reviews

Celebrating Dr. King

I'm sure like all of you, I was required to take a speech class in college.  On the first day, after reviewing the syllabus, our professor showed us a video of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.  I had heard this speech before, and knew what Martin Luther King stood for, and knew a little about his life, but I had no idea the magnitude of this speech.  There was just something about watching the clip of that speech that resonated with me.  It was so powerful.  And so well written.  And so eloquently spoken.  By the end of the speech, I was fighting back tears.  As a white woman living in a suburban town in the midwest, I see so much of Dr. King's dream coming true.  I'm sure there are African Americans who disagree with me, as they see racist and prejudice in their daily lives that I do not.  But there is no doubt that America is in a better place than it was 50 years ago.  


My students, like me in college, do not understand the powerful message Dr. King fought for.  They will not understand, I believe, until they are much older.  It is unfathomable to them that black boys and girls had to go to different schools, drink from different water fountains, and swim in different pools.  I wanted to find a book to at least try to get them to understand.  

I found My Dream of Martin Luther King by Faith Ringgold.  First of all, the illustrations in this book are amazing.  I was not familiar with author/illustrator Faith Ringgold before.  After reading this book a few times, I instantly wanted to run out and buy every single book she has written and illustrated.  This book walks you through the story of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement through the narrator's dream.  It starts off and ends with people trading in bags of racism, prejudice, and ignorance for bags of tolerance and hope.  This is a great picture book for middle grades, because not only do you get a great story with great illustrations, but it is also a great book to teach about symbolism.  

If this book does not exist in your classroom library, type your way over to Amazon as fast as you can!  

Happy Birthday, Dr. King.  

Book Talk Thursday-The Hunger Games

Ok.  If you're like me and have been living under a rock the last few years and you haven't read The Hunger Games yet, you need to get the book NOW.  I'll wait while you reserve it at your library (good luck!), buy it from Amazon, or download it on your Kindle.  


Ready?  


The Hunger Games is actually the first book in a trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  So you're actually getting a three-fer this week with my Book Talk Thursday.  I have read all three books in less than a week.  The second book is Catching Fire and the third Mockingjay.  I am not kidding you when I say these are the best books I have read in a LONG time-maybe ever.  I loved me some Twilight-but Bella and Edward have nothing on Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.  This review should mean even more to you when I say I am not a Science Fiction fan-at all.  I lost that desire long ago when I was forced to read A Wrinkle in Time in seventh grade.  Don't shoot me-I probably would enjoy it now, I think it was more being forced to suffer through a book I wasn't interested in.  


Anyways...


The Hunger Games takes place at some point in the future.  The United States has been destroyed and a country called Panem has risen in it's wake.  The Capitol controls each of the country's 12 districts.  An uprising in the former District 13 caused the Capitol to start the Hunger Games as punishment to the other districts and to distract the citizens from another rebellion.  One boy and one girl from each district, called tributes, are chosen to fight to the death in an arena with many man-made obstacles.  The last person standing is the victor.  


There are so many twists and turns, ups and downs, in this book that you will not want to put it down.  I have not been this excited about a book in a very long time.  I want everyone I know to read these books so that I can talk about it with them.  I have even convinced my husband (who is not a reader) to read this book and he has been reading it non-stop ever since.  This book will turn nonreaders into readers.  Catching Fire and Mockingjay are just as good as the first book.  I don't want to say more, so I don't give anything away.  


And, as a nice little sidenote, The Hunger Games movie is coming out March 2012.  Liam Hemsworth plays the role of Katniss' best friend Gale.  Although not a major role in the first book, he will be very nice to look at!  


Happy Reading!  

Digital Books

Before I got my iPad, I had no use for digital books.  I always thought there was something to be said about reading an actual book with pages to turn.  My, what a difference a week makes!  I am obsessed with digital books!  Because many of us have, or are getting iPads and E-Readers, and very soon many of us will have iPads in our classroom, here are a few things that I have found useful in regards to digital books.  


If you Kindle, or want to Kindle, a Kindle app is free to download in the iTunes app store.  If your local grocery store offers fuel rewards, I suggest buying an Amazon gift card before purchasing your digital book.  My local Kroger & Giant Eagle offers double fuel perks on gift cards ($25 gift card = 50 fuel points!).  I suppose the same would be true for the Barnes & Noble Nook.  


Also, check out your local library to see if they offer a way to borrow digital downloads.  My local library participates in a program called Overdrive.  You can browse this link, but unfortunately cannot check anything out unless you have a library card with my local library system.  Digital & audio books can be downloaded from this site to borrow for 14 days.  Overdrive has an iPad app and the books go directly to your device.  There is something with the copyright that they can only have a limited number of digital titles out at a time, so you sometimes have to reserve it before you can check it out.  I recently downloaded and read a juvenile fiction book and a picture book for my son.  I strongly suggest asking your local library if they use a similar system.  It definitely saves money if you prefer e-reading!  

Book Talk Thursday-Weslandia

I've decided to start a new theme-Book Talk Thursdays.  Inspired by The Book Whisperer, when Donalyn Miller suggests reading more books for children, I've decided to do just that.  Every Thursday, I will review a children or young adult book that I am currently enjoying.  

I just discovered the book Weslandia by Paul Fleischman and I am in love!  Wesley is an odd boy.  He has no friends, and he just doesn't fit in.  Sparked by what he learned in school about civilizations, he decides to create a summer project-his own civilization complete with it's own staple food crop, clothing, counting system, games, and alphabet.  This is such a great book about creativity, differences, and even civilizations and the possibilities of using this book in the classroom are endless!  I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have!  

Library Book Display

I don't know about all of you, but I find that I spend a lot of time browsing books at the library and choosing ones that I really think my students will like, only to have them take a look at one or two and never read them.  I have found, however, if I display the books, my students are more likely to check them out.  

This is one of my favorite ways to organize & display library books.  

This is a wire dish rack that I bought at Walmart.  Two-three books fit nicely between each rung on the rack.  If you have a check out system, you can use the sponge holder to hold the student check out cards or sticks.  

Here is a side view of the display:  

This display is also nice because it keeps the library books separate from your classroom books.  Many times I find an overdue book in one of my classroom library book bins.  I love organization, but I'm not an organizer, so this really me helped with that!

My Summer Reading List (Edited)

I've added my summer reading list.  The books I've added are books I've already read this summer, or those I am currently reading.  As I read more books, I will add them as well.  I'm making a point to read both children and young adult books and books for my pleasure as well.  I will also be reading The Book Whisperer, but my library must only have a few copies because I've been on the waiting list FOR-EVER!  I'm always looking for new books to read, so feel free to leave me comments about books I should add to my list!  


Since writing this post, I've played around a little with the design of my blog, and decided to add my summer reading list as a separate page on my blog.