It's All About the Journey

Monday, May 29, 2017

#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?

Tuesday, May 23, 2017

#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!

Monday, May 22, 2017

#IMWAYR May 22, 2017

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.