It's Monday, What are You Reading? June 24, 2013

 

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it at Teach Mentor Texts. 

Professional Development:

Notice and Note by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst

Well, the Notice and Note book club has finished and what a terrific three weeks of reading strategy learning it was. I was beginning to see signposts in everything I read and even as I watched Disney's Lion King.

Modeling a Reader's Conference

This week one of the university professors held a readers camp in my school library. Her reading diagnostic teacher's education students each were assigned a student with ages ranging from 1st grade to middle school. They are doing a great job with basic reading skills but it soon became apparent to me that they do not read typically children's books. When it came time to let a student select a book to take home for the weekend, they froze up and cast me desperate looks. I ambled over and modeled a reader's conference by asking each kid a little about their interests and the name of a book they had recently read. I always tried to get a little laugh out of them before launching into a book talk. I love how kids open up to grown ups when they can tell you are truly interested in and respect what they have to say. Reader's conferences are the best way I find to connect kids to book they will love.


What I read this week
 Science Fiction/Fantasy

Audio Books

I just finished my summer re-listen of Divergent by Veronica Roth. These are the books I will be listening to while I work this week. I am very excited to hear Navigating Early after my recent experience with Moon Over Manifest. Clare Vanderpool appears to be an author with endless talent.

Science Topic books I re-read this week:

A Storm Called Katrina

by Myron Uhlberg (2011)   Illustrated by Colin Bootman

Peachtree Publishers

 

When flood waters submerge their New Orleans neighborhood in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, a young cornet player and his parents evacuate their home and struggle to survive and stay together. 

Teaching Guide:A Storm Called Katrina

Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 

by Brian Floca (2009)

Atheneum Books for Young Readers

The story of the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon -a story of leaving and returning

during the summer of 1969, and a story of home, seen whole, from far away by steady

astronauts in their great machines.

Discussion Guide: Moonshot

How to Clean a Hippopotamus
A Look at Unusual Animal Partnerships
by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (2010)

Watch the book trailer: How to Clean a Hippopotamus







Book on Deck: 
(if I can get the book loan from the nearby high school library)

I moved Keeping the Castle to the top of my #MustRead pile after hearing Nancy Pearl review it on NPR this past week. She also talked about the wonderfully delightful MG novel A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff. Listen to NPR: Nancy Pearl Scours The Shelves For Books You Might Have Missed

Keeping the Castle: a tale of romance, riches, and real estate
author: Patrice Kindl
YA Fiction
Book appeal: fans of Jane Austen literature and Downtown Abbey fans.

Summary: In order to support her family and maintain their ancient castle in Lesser Hoo, seventeen-year-old Althea bears the burden of finding a wealthy suitor who can remedy their financial problems.

















I am also looking forward to my first experience participating in Teachers Write beginning tomorrow. My primary goal is to improve my writing skills and learn to use more concise, meaningful language in my writing.

OCAL

I am always looking for new and exciting books to introduce my students to and welcome suggestions. Let me hear you book talk the best book you have read recently. I am all ears!

It's Monday, What are You Reading June 17, 2013

 

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme began by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it at Teach Mentor Texts. 

Professional Development:

Notice and Note by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst

N and N has been a very useful reading strategy professional development read. The authors offer helpful strategies to assist student's in identifying six important "signposts" or markers and through use of  six anchor questions. Along with reading N and N, I have been participating in the Twitter book study under the hashtag #nnnchat with the last chat taking place this Thursday, June 20th at 8 p.m. CST/9 EST. The first two chats were filled with insightful observations from a very diverse group of teachers, librarians, literacy coaches and reading advocates. 

This week I read:
Freaky Fast Frankie Joe
by Lutricia Clifton

What a wonderful story this is. The cover lacked so much personality that I have long neglected to read it even though it is on the 2013-2014 Texas Bluebonnet Award master list. I am looking forward to book talking it with students in the fall and am currently working on my Freaky Fast Frankie Joe lesson plans which I will eventually add to my 2013 Bluebonnet Book Club wiki.

I liked book chatting about this TBA nominee with @utalaniz, a fellow Texas librarian who is also engaged in reaching out to readers through state award nominated titles.




Hold Fast by Blue Balliett was so wonderful. The cover had not appealed to me in the beginning but I soon fell in love with this beautiful and adventure filled story. I HIGHLY recommend Hold Fast and it will be a prominent part on my 2013-2014 library collection.

I received great book chat feedback from these fellow book lovers: @shannonclark7, @kelleemoye, @utalaniz, @libraryfanatic, @middlegrdreads, @jluss @Lori_A-Carter



Library Hold List
I was very happy to receive notice this week that these two goodies had come available from my library Hold List. I am planning a quiet reading weekend. Ha! That will never happen but I still like to pretend. (update: as predicted, my twin daughters created much drama so total lack of sleep. Thanks goodness I can escape into books).

Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell  proved to be a delightful romance/social issue read. Unfortunately, this will not be a good match for my elementary school library but I will recommend it to my HS library buddies as a must have. My age definitely showed through as I was easily able to get the 80's references.

I had a lot of fun book chatting Eleanor and Park with @rainbowrowell @shannonclark7, @got_wanderlust, @mselke01, and @librarygrl2

Ok, now who is going to read a book with me this week? I start with Sapphire Blue and will be open to other suggestions. I am thinking something edgy-Emerald Atlas, Eleventh Plague, The 5th Wave, etc.


Sapphire Blue, by Kerstin Gier, is the sequel to Ruby Red, a science fiction fantasy involving time travel, I am just starting this title. I loved Ruby Red and look forward to reading Emerald Green as soon as it is released in America in October 2013. The series has been translated from German and a German version movie is in the works. 






Audio Books this week:

I like to listen to books at work. I read Divergent last year so decided to was time to re-visit the series as I go through my annual YA Summer Reads. This was one of my favorites and I look forward to reading Allegiant when it finally becomes available in 126 days!

I love to return to the Harry Potter series every year finishing up by Harry's and J. K. Rowling's birthdays on July 31st. This is my present to the duo. As I piddled around cleaning up my post-kids library this week, I listened and remembered all those great little tidbits that the HP movies were not able to squeeze in. One of my favorite parts is the Headless Hunt banquet that occurs in HP and the Chamber of Secrets. TRIVIA QUESTION: What year was Harry Potter born?

It is hard to believe that it's been 15 years since Harry Potter magically appeared in our literary world. I am looking forward to stocking my library shelves with the new updated cover September 2013. My library copies are barely holding themselves together due to all the love they receive. I kind of like the European version of HP and the Chamber of Secrets shown here on the right side of this page.

Very pretty! New cover of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Make a Magic Wand craft

Here is an amazing "make  your own magic wand" craft to help celebrate the new book cover.  

I am suggesting we create this activity at our next Librarian Hang Out. 

Source: majann.deviantart.com via Julee on Pinterest

It's Monday, What Are You Reading June 3 , 2013

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by Sheila at Book Journeys as a way to share what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and what is in store for the upcoming week. It's also a great chance to see what others are reading. I first learned about it at Teach Mentor Texts.

This week, I began the arduous task of library inventory but with it comes small pleasures. Every now and then, I would come across a forgotten favorite book so I would take a few minutes to quickly read through it again. Sometimes, I would scan the book into the inventory and then set it aside promising to create a new lesson plan for a chosen few. The problem beginning to unfold was my chosen few stack begin to grow taller and taller. I am so grateful for such a rich and diverse collection of books that well reflects years of dedicated and thoughtful curation. How very lucky I am to be a elementary/middle school librarian.

During inventory, I came across one of my favorite biographies The Day-Glo Brothers by Chris Barton. I still remember when I was a kid becoming fascinated by these odd new colors. I spent my entire allowance on things like fluorescent glow in the dark paint and glue. I was really into science at an early age and still love it today thanks to cool inventions like day-glo paint. This is a terrific addition to any school library with themes such as: inventions, chemical reactions, family relationships-brothers, seeking solutions to a problem (multiple problems), and perseverance.

In School:This week, I read The Last Day of Kindergarten by Nancy Loewen to (of course) Kindergarten students and then we talked about what they were looking forward to when they became first graders. This was a wise little group-they pretty much offered answers that might help butter up their future first grade teacher.

It was a fun activity and they loved that the kids in the book were also graduating from Kinder while wearing mortar boards on their heads.

In Our Home:
4 year old, Mr. L, wanted to give his teacher books for her "Thank You Teacher gift" so he picked out some favorites-A Sick Day with Amos McGee, Big Animals, Worms, and a Toni Morrison's The Big Box which I added to the stack. 2 year old Mr. J wanted to hear A New Bear at School by Carrie Weston and Tom Warnes. This is one of the books I set aside for working into my fall lessons. Mr. J also selected Little Quack's Bedtime by Lauren Thompson because he likes math and this is a terrific way to introduce subtraction as each duck closes their eyes and goes to sleep leaving the others awake to hear the night sounds.

Professional Development Read:

 Notice and Note
Strategies for Close Reading
by Kylene Beers and Robert E. Probst

I borrowed a copy of Notice & Note from my friend and colleague, Mapuana Jones, a very talented literacy coach and the epitome of a book lover. This woman has possibly read every book ever written for children and middle grade students. I will be taking part in a Twitter PD and #NNNchat beginning June 6th at 8 p.m. CST. Join us!

I am still listening to Moon over Manifest by the talented Clare Vanderpool.  It is taking me a while to get through M.O.M. as I have a three mile commute to work, but listening to an audio book makes that short commute a joyful ride. I was not fond of the voice artist in the beginning and almost quit listening to it (for the second time) but I was a Bluebird when I was in elementary school (Campfire Girls) and our motto was "A Bluebird always finishes what she begins" although I am not sure this is always such good advice. I am glad I am sticking with the book. 

Abilene is a good sturdy main character and I like her tremendously. She appears strong and venerable at same time. She can take care of herself but still ponders over the reasons why her daddy left her in a stranger's care. She is hard working and honest. After accidently breaking Hungarian fortuneteller, Miss Sadie's clay pot, she returns to work off her debt and is rewarded with intriguing tales of 

 the days of Ned and Jinx, two previous residents of Manifest that are linked to the contents of a mysterious old cigar box that Abilene finds under a floorboard in Shady's home. 

Some of the characters are predictable like the mine boss and his spoiled son but there are also some very endearing like Lettie and Ruthanne, the two cousins who have befriended Abilene and set off to help her unravel clues to discovering who may have been a spy nicknamed The Rattler during the war. I am a big fan of historical fiction and found it interesting seeing Manifest's connection to World War I, immigration, orphan trains, Prohibition, the Spanish Influenza, coal mining and the use of a "company store" to keep employees in a never ending cycle of poverty.

What am I reading next? I am going to try to get my hands on a copy of The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater. Last year, I read The Raven Boys on Net Galley and am hoping to find The Dream Thieves available too. The woman knows how to write interesting books. For me, summer time is a chance to read YA fiction and listen to audio books at work as I work on much needed library maintenance-reaffix all those labels that come loose, create library displays, take part in online professional development and work on my Bluebonnet Book Club lessons.

Let me know what you are reading. I am always on the look out for something thrilling, mysterious, romantic, or shocking!