it's monday!

from Mandy:

Something major happened to my reading plan this past week.  I visited my favorite used bookstore & also discovered a new store (kind of like Big Lots & TJ Maxx had a love child) that had an amazing selection of books!  In my world, new books mean new plan.  Luckily it's ok for plans to change!  So, here's what I'm reading:

American Boy The Adventures of Mark Twain by Don Brown.  I bought this because a) I'm a sucker for picture book bios, b) I'm a sucker for Don Brown, & c) I thought it would pair nicely with The Adventures of Mark Twain by Huckleberry Finn by Robert Burleigh.  The past few years Cheryl & I have had our 6th graders write biographies.  I've found that Don Brown's books are a great tool for me to use as mentors.  His style is evident throughout each book, but I love the varied ways he chooses to begin them.  I rely heavily on his books for my "Biography Beginnings" lessons.  This particular title is organized my date, so will also be good to use for sequencing or timelines.  Great addition to my collection!

Benjamin Pratt & The Keepers of the School We Are the Children by Andrew Clements.  I think the biggest reason I loved this book is because of how different it seems from the stock Clements books.  It is the first in a series & as I was reading I wasn't sure if I would be intrested in the rest... until it pulled me into the adventure & ended in a big fat cliffhanger.  This book begins with the fact that Ben's "harbor-side school is going to be bulldozed to make room for an amusement park.  It sounds like a dream come true... Or is it more like a nighmare?"  Ben realizes the school is holding a few secrets & sets out with his friend Jill to save the day.  And, I can't wait to read book 2!  I think this will be perfect for my 5th graders.  This is my favorite quote from the book, "That was the moment when Ben first glimpsed how every single moment happens only once during a person's lifetime; and how each moment arrives in a particular order, one event after another; and how every separate event shapes all other events that come next.  Forever."

Firegirl by Tony Abbott.  I think I picked up this book because the title & cover reminded me of Stargirl (one of my all time faves), and I read The Postcard by him last year & really liked it.  It was a quick read, I think it will appeal to my 6th graders, but I felt it just hinted at a bigger possibility.  One of the TN reading standards deals with characters having moral dilemmas.  This book is perfect for helping students understand that.  It's full of moral dilemma.

Dragonbreath by Ursula Vernon.  I had seen these books in stores, but hadn't really paid much attention to them, read them or added them to the classroom library.  Franki, at A Year of Reading, had it on her list last Monday, then I saw some on my book shopping last week, & decided to try one.  Danny is so quirky! 

Northward to the Moon by Polly Horvath.  This book is a sequel to My One Hundred Adventures.  I really love Polly Horvath.  Lots.  I love how she uses words.  This story starts with Jane & family out West, but Jane is longing for her Massachusetts coast.  Horvath describes Jane as worrying that her little brothers will have the prairie as their "place memory of growing up."  I love the idea of place memory & it makes me want to explore my own place memory of growing up.  I liked MOHA better than the sequel, but there were moments of the same beauty from the first book.  Since I am also all about adventures, like Jane, this is my favorite quote: "It is not a place I would ever have thought to come on my own.  Sometimes it is good to have things happen to you outside of your control.  There are parts of yourself you would never discover otherwise."

I just started the first book in the Sisters Grimm series by Michael Buckley yesterday.  Again, Cheryl has been telling me to read these.  Again, I don't know what took me so long... I love fairy tale twists!  Loving it so far & already can tell I will need them all!

I'm still working through ChoiceWords & didn't make it to The Wednesday Wars.  I added the second Percy Jackson book (yes, Cheryl, finally!) & Welcome Home or Someplace Like It by Charlotte Agell.

from Cheryl:

My Maggie Steifvater books were never in my classroom library - middle schoolers loved them! So even though I got Forever as soon as it came out, I never got more than halfway through before someone wanted to read it. I finished it this week! Great ending to the triology. One of my favorite quotes from one of the main characters, Grace, as she was looking at the titles of someone's personal collection of books: "I wanted a library...a cave of words that I made myself." I feel at home surrounded by books too, a cave of words.

I'm working on To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, again. After hearing Rachel Thompkins speak at the Niswonger Symposium about it, I felt like I needed to try it again. I'm appreciating it so much more. I am swept away by her real characters.

I read the picture book, Have I Got a Book for You! by author/illustrator Melanie Watt (Scaredy Squirrel). Mandy & I heard Debbie Diller read this at her Institute in Richmond, and I knew I "needed" it. It is fabulous for teaching propaganda techniques, as well as a great addition to the Recommend a Book work station.

I'm reading Teach Like a Champion: 49 Techniques that Put Students on the Path to College by Doug Lemov. This would be a great text to use in a teacher preparation program. It's well written and organized in a user friendly manner, but most of all Lemov describes practical strategies that can easily be implemented in any teaching situation from grades K - 12.

I recently finished What Readers Really Do: Teaching the Process of Meaning Making by Dorothy Barnhouse & Vicki Vinton. Wow! My copy is full of sticky notes and writing in the margin. This book looks at current practices and considers a deeper approach to making meaning of narrative texts. It is grounded in Peter Johnson's work, while weaving in common core expectations. I will definitely visit this text while planning my lessons this year!