#IMWAYR May 29, 2017

Each week I join Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers to share all of the reading I've done over the week from picture books to young adult novels. 

This week in the classroom:

Fractured Tale Study

To end the year my students will be fracturing a traditional folk or fairytale. To get them ready we have been exploring different versions of Red Riding Hood.

As Little Red Pencil goes through her journey she teaches the parts of a story and grammar rules. I will definitely use this book as a read aloud close to the start of each year.

We love Corey Rosen Schwartz's fractured ninja tales!

Read Aloud

I was lucky to get an F & G of this book from Holly McGhee last week. It's a timely story about overcoming the fear and anger seen on the news by doing simple things, like getting outside and being kind to others.

Here's what I read this week:

Spy School

I took one of my student's #BookTalkTuesday recommendations and read Spy School. I can definitely understand why these books are flying off the shelf. When Ben Ripley is recruited to CIA Spy School he's honored. That is until he realizes that he's been selected as a patsy and his life is in danger. But Ben isn't going to let that get him down. He's determined to show the CIA he deserves to be a spy, even if it gets him killed.

When Jax Aubrey's father dies he finds himself living with a complete stranger, eighteen-year-old Riley Pendare. Riley is a terrible guardian and Jax doesn't understand why his father would trust him with Jax's care until the day he turns thirteen and wakes up on the eighth day, a day created by none other than King Arthur, the Lady of the Lake, and Merlin, to keep a group of sorcerers from invading our world. As a descendant of a knight of the original round table, Jax has the responsibility to preserve this day and protect the people living there. Highly recommended.

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Stacy Barnett Mozer is a third grade teacher and a middle grade author. The Sweet Spot and The Perfect Trip are available now from Spellbound River Press. If you like what she's been reading follow her on Goodreads. Please leave a comment below. It's Monday, what are you reading?

#BookTalkTuesday May 23, 2017

This year I have been trying to find new ways for my third grade students recommend books so we have decided to post their recommendations on #BookTalkTuesday. We'd love to see more classes join in. Don't have time to post? If you want to add books for an individual student, make sure to go to Miss Palmieri blog and fill out the book talk form.

Here's what my students recommend this week:

P. recommends The Night Gardner because it was kind of scary. The author's description of the characters and setting were very descriptive and made him want to read on.

J. recommends The Amulet series. It's a great graphic novel series that is similar to Star Wars. It has action and a lot of other elements that people would like - machines, magic, etc.

C. recommends Finding Perfect. She likes how Elly Swartz describes the main character. She also loves how the poetry is weaved into the book through the Poetry Slam. It's also full of suspense because there are so many terrible things that might happen, such as her friend moving away and her mom staying away.

L. recommends the Elephant and Piggy series because they are funny. He likes the way the author introduces the character's feelings. He likes the books very much.

That's all for this week. Check back next week to see what other kids are reading. Please comment on our reading choices or share your recommendations below. They love hearing from you! 

#IMWAYR May 22, 2017

Each week I join Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers to share all of the reading I've done over the week from picture books to young adult novels. 

This week in the classroom:

Fractured Tale Study

To end the year my students will be fracturing a traditional folk or fairytale. To get them ready we have been exploring different versions of Cinderella.

My students loved how so many aspects of a Cinderella story were turned on end  and that everyone in this book wanted Cinderella to be happy. Plus - she plays baseball. http://sportygirlbooks.blogspot.com/2017/05/book-review-elly-and-smelly-sneaker.html

My class loved the humor in this version of Cinderella and that there was a male protagonist. Their favorite moment was when Prince Cinders lost his trousers instead of his shoe.

CinderHazel hates dresses and balls. She wants to spend her days in dirt. She's a great protagonist who kids will love, even if they are fond of cleanliness.

Here's what I read this week:

Middle Grade

The Green Book is a science fiction story set in a future world where a group of people have no choice but to flee the earth for a new planet. Life on the planet is challenging and they may not survive. This book would be a great read aloud for a 3rd - 6th grade classroom. I plan to pair it with The Wild Robot.

Young Adult

This week I read the next group of novels in The Iron Fey series. In some ways I enjoyed this sequence better than the first. I liked how Julie Kagawa brought back many of the original characters and found Ethan to be an interesting main character.

Check back tomorrow on #BookTalkTuesday to see what my third graders have been reading. 

_______________________________

Stacy Barnett Mozer is a third grade teacher and a middle grade author. The Sweet Spot and The Perfect Trip are available now from Spellbound River Press. If you like what she's been reading follow her on Goodreads. Please leave a comment below. It's Monday, what are you reading?

#BookTalkTuesday May 16, 2017

This year I have been trying to find new ways for my third grade students recommend books so we have decided to post their recommendations on #BookTalkTuesday. We'd love to see more classes join in. Don't have time to post? If you want to add books for an individual student, make sure to go to Miss Palmieri blog and fill out the book talk form.

Here's what my students recommend this week:

J. recommends Lunch Money by Andrew Clements. She likes the book because she likes seeing all the ways that the main character finds to make money.

A. recommends The Talented Clementine by Sara Pennypacker because it's really funny. Clementine thinks she is not good at anything and at first she is only going to help at the talent show but she ends up doing more than that.

Y. recommends Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary. In this book Ramona's father loses his job. She likes how Ramona helps her father to gain confidence.

W. recommends Spy School by Stuart Gibbs because it is about a kid named Ben who gets into a top secret spy school. When he is in the school he discovers a mole. He likes Ben's character and the book is exciting and dangerous (he almost gets killed - twice!).

D. recommends Summer Ball by Mike Lupica which is about a boy named Danny who goes to a summer camp with a really mean coach and barely gets to play. He likes all the action in the story and the way the games are explained. One thing that happens during practice sends the whole book spinning.

That's all for this week. Check back next week to see what other kids are reading. Please comment on our reading choices or share your recommendations below. They love hearing from you!

#IMWAYR May 15, 2017

Each week I join Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers to share all of the reading I've done over the week from picture books to young adult novels. 

This week in the classroom:

Fractured Tale Study

To end the year my students will be fracturing a traditional folk or fairytale. To get them ready we have been exploring different versions of The Three Little Pigs.

This is one of my favorite versions because it causes a debate among my students over whether this is the real story or if the wolf is lying to get out of trouble.

In this version, told in rhyme, the three little pigs are locked in the third pig's house and afraid to go outside until their sister shows them the importance of overcoming fear. It's a great graduation present.

I love these ninja stories by Corey Rosen Schwartz. My students can't get enough of them. 

Read Aloud

I adore this book about a girl who decides one of her chickens is a dog. Her parents are more skeptical until the chicken helps them find the baby brother. My students loved the story and the fact that the illustrations helped them predicted the ending (if they were paying attention).

This has not been an easy read aloud for my third graders because of the many points of view, hidden meanings, and vocabulary, but the incredible story and characters are reaching all of them and is stretching their reading minds.

Here's what I read this week:

Young Adult

I read all four books in the first series this week. I love that magic always has consequences and that the main character, Meghan Chase, is a strong female character and even though there was some "can't get out of my bed heartache" (which I loath), it was followed by strong action. I also loved that book four was told Ash's point of view because he is a strong and thoughtful male character.

Check back tomorrow on #BookTalkTuesday to see what my third graders have been reading. Hope everyone had a Happy Mother's Day!

_______________________________

Stacy Barnett Mozer is a third grade teacher and a middle grade author. The Sweet Spot and The Perfect Trip are available now from Spellbound River Press. If you like what she's been reading follow her on Goodreads. Please leave a comment below. It's Monday, what are you reading?

#BookTalkTuesday May 9, 2017

This year I have been trying to find new ways for my third grade students recommend books. Last week we started posting for #BookTalkTuesday. We'd love to see more classes join in. Don't have time to post? If you want to add books for an individual student, make sure to go to Miss Palmieri blog and fill out the book talk form.

Here's what my students recommend this week:

L. recommends the series My Weird School. This week he's reading Miss Laney is Zaney. He likes the series because the characters do weird stuff that make you laugh.

N. recommends Stick Dog because it's very funny and he likes the character's dialogue. There are many jokes throughout the book. 

A. recommends Sisters because she likes that the little sister always annoys the big sister. She's also a little sister and she enjoys learning more about this family relationship.

B. recommends A Wrinkle in Time because she likes that there is teamwork and that the kids don't need their parents' help. She also likes the mystical people that comes to help them instead.

That's all for this week. Check back next week to see what other kids are reading. Please comment on our reading choices or share your recommendations below. 

#IMWAYR May 8, 2017

Each week I join Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers to share all of the reading I've done over the week from picture books to young adult novels. I was thrilled to see my own novel, The Sweet Spot, reviewed on Unleashing Readers on Friday. I started something new on this blog last week. On Tuesdays I will be posting book recommendations from my third graders as part of #BookTalkTuesday. You can see their first suggestions here. I used one of their recommendations and read my first Captain Underpants book this week. Check in tomorrow to see what other kids in my class are reading.

Here's what I read this week:

Picture Book

It was nice to see Lady Pancake and Sit French Toast working together again in The Case of the Stinky Stench. Josh Funk's rhymes along with Brendan Kearney's adorable illustrations makes this book fun for any age. Lots of great new characters to meet in an extension of the previous world. A definite must read.

Middle Grade

I can definitely understand why this series is a favorite in my classroom. Not only does it use potty humor, it also breaks up the prose with comic strips, illustration, and flip-o-rama. 

Young Adult

The third book in Sarah J. Maas's Court of Thorns and Roses didn't disappoint. The book was an exciting conclusion to Feyre's journey. It wrapped up all the story lines and didn't leave any questions - or at least I think it didn't. It felt like the conclusion. But according to Sarah's website and newsletter there are still three more books and two novellas to come. I'm not sure I can wait!

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Stacy Barnett Mozer is a third grade teacher and a middle grade author. The Sweet Spot and The Perfect Trip are available now from Spellbound River Press. If you like what she's been reading follow her on Goodreads. Please leave a comment below. It's Monday, what are you reading?

#BookTalkTuesday May 2, 2017

This year I have been trying to find new ways for my third grade students recommend books. Every Monday they fill out #IMWAYR bookmarks but I have only had a few chances to add their recommendations to my posts. Instead we will be trying to post on #BookTalkTuesday. We'd love to see more classes join in. Don't have time to post? If you want to add books for an individual student, make sure to go to Miss Palmieri blog and fill out the book talk form.

C. wants to tell you about the Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger. He's currently reading Jabba the Puppet. In this book the class has to have "fun time," which isn't exactly fun - it's test prep! The class rebels and it's a lot of fun!

E. recommends Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the screenplay by JK Rowling. She thinks that everyone should read it because it's an exciting adventure.

T. recommends The Twits. It's about two people who don't like anyone. He feels it's a very funny book because of the pranks and because of what happens to the Twits in the end, but he isn't giving that away!

S. recommends Captain Underpants. It's about two boys George and Harold, who have a mean principal. To get back at him, they hypnotize the principal to think he's Captain Underpants. He thinks it's a very funny book that everyone will enjoy. He even offered to bring it out to recess so that I could read it too.


That's all for this week. Check back next Tuesday for more recommendations from my 3rd graders! Please tell my class about your favorite books and comment on their choices below.

#IMWAYR May 1, 2017

Each week I join Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers to share all of the reading I've done over the week from picture books to young adult novels. It's #IMWAYR.

Picture Book

On Saturday people around the world did more to celebrate the life of Amy Krouse Rosenthal. On Friday my third grade class read Spoon, Chopsticks, Exclamation Mark, The OK Book, and I Wish You More. We discussed the author's message and created our own messages to share with others. 

Middle Grade

Voyagers is the first book in a science fiction series about a group of kids that compete to go on a space mission to save the world. The story is told from close third person in multiple points of view. There are surprises at every turn. I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Young Adult

In A Hundred Hours of Night, fifteen-year-old Emilia has escaped a social media scandal about her father in Amsterdam by running away to New York City. She thinks she has everything planned, but when she gets to New York she has no place to stay and Hurricane Sandy is closing in. She ends up weathering the storm with two other teenagers and an eleven-year-old girl. As the four of them experience NYC without power, they learn about each other and themselves. I enjoyed this book. It reminded me of The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner and Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins.

I was desperate for a high fantasy with a kick-butt female character so a friend recommended this series. The story did feel familiar (two teenagers on opposite sides of a war that are forced together and fall in love) but it had some twists that made me keep reading. I'm looking forward to finding out what happens next. 

_______________________________

Stacy Barnett Mozer is a third grade teacher and a middle grade author. The Sweet Spot and The Perfect Trip are available now from Spellbound River Press. If you like what she's been reading follow her on Goodreads. Please leave a comment below. It's Monday, what are you reading?