2.28 {BookFlix Friday} School for Good and Evil

Today is

Few things can draw a reader to a new book like a book trailer can. Each Friday I will endeavor to bring a couple to you—some new or recent, some teasers of upcoming books, and a few “classics”. Get the popcorn ready.

Lights…Camera…Action!

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Description

The New York Times bestselling The School for Good and Evil, the first book in the series, is an epic journey into a dazzling new world, where the only way out of a fairy tale is to live through one. This paperback edition features an Extras section, giving readers a chance to see which school they’d be in and a Q&A with the author, Soman Chainani.

With her glass slippers and devotion to good deeds, Sophie knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and join the ranks of past students like Cinderella, Rapunzel, and Snow White. Meanwhile, Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks and wicked black cat, seems a natural fit for the villains in the School for Evil.

The two girls soon find their fortunes reversed–Sophie’s dumped in the School for Evil to take Uglification, Death Curses, and Henchmen Training, while Agatha finds herself in the School for Good, thrust among handsome princes and fair maidens for classes in Princess Etiquette and Animal Communication.

But what if the mistake is actually the first clue to discovering who Sophie and Agatha really are?

And coming in April…

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And because it’s Friday, I bring you a new Kid Snippets:

2.26 {Whatever Wednesday} Reading is our only hope

Whatever Wednesday — a chance to post something I’ve seen that I’m diggin’: a cool quote or poster, a video, or simply a picture.

Enjoy!… and consider posting your own Whatever.

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Have you seen these books? If not, you should find them. Clever.

I like these spinoff posters from the series.

Is reading our only hope? Nah. But there is so much pleasure to be had from reading. Not to mention that life and school is easier when one can read well. Keep reading!

2.24 It’s Monday! What are you reading? #ImpossibleKnife #BoyOnTheWoodenBox

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

This meme is originated by Jen and Kellee at TeachMentorTexts. Thanks!

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

A haunting look at the effects of war and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on soldiers who are trying to return to a normal life. Andy Kincaid, an Iraq war hero, has become a victim of the war he waged. As the war continues to rage inside him, his daughter becomes the collateral damage. This is a difficult and touching look inside the lives of these characters. It’s difficult to see Hayley struggle with taking on a parenting role to her own father whose mood swings and behavior are unpredictable and destructive.

For the past five years, Hayley Kincaid and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.Will being back home help Andy’s PTSD, or will his terrible memories drag him to the edge of hell, and drugs push him over? The Impossible Knife of Memory is Laurie Halse Anderson at her finest: compelling, surprising, and impossible to put down.

Here is a great interview with Mrs. Anderson on NPR:

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For anyone who read and was moved by Prisoner B-3087, this would be a great companion:

In the #1 New York Times bestseller, Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto.Leon Leyson (born Leib Lezjon) was only ten years old when the Nazis invaded Poland and his family was forced to relocate to the Krakow ghetto. With incredible luck, perseverance, and grit, Leyson was able to survive the sadism of the Nazis, including that of the demonic Amon Goeth, commandant of Plaszow, the concentration camp outside Krakow. Ultimately, it was the generosity and cunning of one man, a man named Oskar Schindler, who saved Leon Leyson’s life, and the lives of his mother, his father, and two of his four siblings, by adding their names to his list of workers in his factory—a list that became world renowned: Schindler’s List.

This, the only memoir published by a former Schindler’s List child, perfectly captures the innocence of a small boy who goes through the unthinkable. Most notable is the lack of rancor, the lack of venom, and the abundance of dignity in Mr. Leyson’s telling. The Boy on the Wooden Box is a legacy of hope, a memoir unlike anything you’ve ever read.

Sadly, Leyson passed away in January of 2013—before his book was actually published. Fortunately, he spoke on many occasions and share his story with his audience. Here is one of those accounts:

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… (Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Reading is not a “school thing”.)

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For every parent who leaves a comment on TODAY’S POST with what you’re reading, I’ll give your child a BUSTED ticket…

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[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past few weeks, my 1&2 Class read:

24 books

My 6&7 Class read:

18 books

My 9&10 Class read:

25 books

My church is doing a church-wide book read. This is my “book club” book.

 

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This week, we’re going to add BOOK SELFIES to a Padlet. Here are the links:

1&2

6&7

9&10

Thanks,

David Etkin

2.10 It’s Monday! What are you reading? #Flora&Ulysses #TheLittleAndroid

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

This meme is originated by Jen and Kellee at TeachMentorTexts. Thanks!

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

OK—I really wanted to love this book. I just liked it. It’s fine to realize that a book isn’t quite my “cup of tea”.

Onward.

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Click the “book” above to read the story. VERY cool.

The Little Android is a retelling of The Little Mermaid, set in the world of The Lunar Chronicles by New York Times-bestselling author Marissa Meyer. When android Mech6.0 saves the life of a handsome hardware engineer, her body is destroyed and her mechanics discover a glitch in her programming. Androids aren’t not meant to develop unpractical reasoning or near-emotional responses…let alone fall in love.

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Remember Friday’s Carnivores?

It is fantastic!

I got to read it aloud three times—AND share it with my colleagues.

I’m so lucky.

I told you I’d post the trailer. Here it is.

(Pssst: that’s illustrator Dan Santat as the great white!)

Here are the pics that illustrator Dan Santat saw.

Remember the awesome Carnivores we read on Friday? Here are the pics that illustrator Dan Santat saw…

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… (Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Reading is not a “school thing”.)

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For every parent who leaves a comment on TODAY’S POST with what you’re reading, I’ll give your child a BUSTED ticket…

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[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past few weeks, my 1&2 Class read:

13 books

My 6&7 Class read:

6 books

My 9&10 Class read:

12 books

I’m nearing the end of this one. Wow. My students will enjoy reading it when they are a bit older.

Here is a great interview with Mrs. Anderson on NPR:

 

This is the conclusion to Starters.

I learned last year that a two-book series is called a duology.

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This week, we’re trying to add some BOOK SELFIES to a Padlet. Here are the links:

1&2

6&7

9&10

Thanks,

David Etkin

2.7 {BookFlix Friday} Lunar Chronicles + Lost Trail GN

Today is

Few things can draw a reader to a new book like a book trailer can. Each Friday I will endeavor to bring a couple to you—some new or recent, some teasers of upcoming books, and a few “classics”. Get the popcorn ready.

Lights…Camera…Action!

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First, the trailer from today’s morning announcement—complete with the order form teaser:

I received this awesome Tweet from Sylvie, a teacher in DC:

Amazing, right?

Then there’s this — a free short story by the same author:

Click here to get the story.

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Description

Donn Fendler’s harrowing story of being lost in the Maine wilderness when he was just twelve, was made famous by the perennial best-seller, Lost on a Mountain in Maine. In Lost Trail, more than 70 years after the event, Donn tells the story of survival and rescue from his own perspective. Lost Trail is a masterfully illustrated graphic novel that tells the story of a twelve year old boyscout from a New York City suburb who climbs Maine, s mile-high Mt. Katahdin and in a sudden storm is separated from his friends and family. What follows is a nine-day adventure, in which Donn, lost and alone in the Maine wilderness with bugs, bears, and only a few berries to eat, struggles for survival.

Movie trailer

2.5{Whatever Wednesday}: Stop Motion videos made by students

Whatever Wednesday — a chance to post something I’ve seen that I’m diggin’. Though often a cool quote or poster, it might simply be a picture.

Enjoy!… and consider posting your own Whatever.

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Some of my students are having fun making stop-motion videos with their iPads. They take the pictures and send them to me, and I make them into a movie.

I’m thankful to have students who are creative and adventurous with their technology.

Nice job, Alexis and Sarah!

Here are a couple examples:

Now, can you imagine how many pictures it takes to make a video like THIS?

Now… What are YOU going to create?

2.3 It’s Monday! What are you reading? #CodenameZero

A new week, a new batch of books—both finished and being read. Today is…

Ring-the-Bell Monday & It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

This meme is originated by Jen and Kellee at TeachMentorTexts. Thanks!

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week & the titles we are currently reading.}

Coming in February

Description

From Chris Rylander, author of The Fourth Stall, comes an incredibly funny and clever mash-up of middle-grade school story and spy adventure, in the vein of H.I.V.E. and NERDS.

There are places in the world where heroes are born. There are places where brave men and women fight a never-ending battle against evil in order to keep our country and all other countries safe. There are places where the fate of our planet is being decided, even at this very moment, the consequences of which will echo through history.

None of these places is in North Dakota.

Carson Fender, seventh grader and notorious prankster, knows this. He’s lived in North Dakota for his entire life, going to the same boring school every day, the same boring movie theater every week, the same boring state fair every year. Nothing ever changes, and nothing ever happens. That is, until today. Because today a desperate man hands him a package with a dire set of instructions. And that package is going to lead Carson to discover that there’s a secret government agency operating in his small, quiet North Dakota hometown.

And that this agency needs his help.

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What were PARENTS reading last week? Let’s check it out… (Thank you, commenters, for contributing to our book awareness. Reading is not a “school thing”.)

•

For every parent who leaves a comment on TODAY’S POST with what you’re reading, I’ll give your child a BUSTED ticket…

§

[Check back throughout the day for updates of my students’ reading.]

These past few weeks, my A Class read:

20 books

My B Class read:

10 books

My C Class read:

16 books

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Here is a great interview with Mrs. Anderson on NPR:

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This is the conclusion to Starters.

I learned last year that a two-book series is called a duology.

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This week, it’s back to the SpinCam. Take a look at these awesome kids and books:

 

 

 

Thanks,

David Etkin