At the Scenic City Literacy Conference, Lester Laminack emphasized that our students need to be "residents" of literacy land, rather than visitors or tourists content to walk along the edge. As the school year begins, our goal is to help our kids find the music on the page and fall into books. One way we do this is to hook them with powerful read alouds. We might choose a dependable author or a book in a series that makes them want more.







In The Book Whisperer, Donalyn Miller says, "...my life is marked by the road signs of my beloved books, each one symbolizing who I was when I read it, shaping who I have become. The uninitiated might say I am lost in my books, but I know I am more found than lost." Don't we want our students to be both found and lost in life changing books?







A book Cheryl began the 6th grade is Priscilla Cummings' Red Kayak. Her ordinary characters are faced with tough decisions. She creates the need for the reader to turn the page so eloquently and forces us to ask, "How does she do that?" and "How can we do that in our writing?"







From one of our favorite authors, Wendy Mass, Cheryl chose Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life for her read aloud for seventh graders. This book about friendship and finding what is lost is packed with memorable truths. Mass is an excellent storyteller and brings it home with, "finding what you've looking for is wonderful, the harder something is to acquire, the more satisfying it is when you finally find it."





Mandy started her 5th graders out with Flying Solo by Ralph Fletcher. The characters and the writing in this book make a impact on students right from the beginning. Students can't wait to hear how the day without a teacher develops.





The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau is the book Mandy's 6th graders are enjoying first this year. This book really lends itself to teaching the basic concepts of character/setting/plot. Another reason Mandy choose this book was to introduce students to a series of books with which they may not be familiar. They will also be able to work along with Lina & Doon to decipher the mysterious message found in the book.



Skeleton Creek. Need we say more? Mandy's 7th graders came through the door on day #1 asking about these books. How do you say no to that?! Patrick Carman is a master of suspense that pull those middle grade readers right into the story. The format he has created by meshing written narrative and video narrative is pure genius.