10.31.16 It’s Monday! What are you Reading? HAPPY HALLOWEEN #IMWAYR

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week

&

the titles we are currently reading.}

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


screen-shot-2016-10-30-at-8-22-38-pm Had a little fun carving with the family. They neighbors gave us a couple large, oddly-shaped punkins and this one was perfect for my one-eyed dude. How did yours come out? Maybe you’ll want to include it in your BOOKselfie.img_6064

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Okay–moment of honesty here. I have been reading… but I’ve also been watching the world series… by now it might even be over… There is so much interesting history in this one.

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•   •   •

Who wants to contribute towards next week’s IM! WAYR? post?

Share a book, a book selfie, a blurb, and your opinion.

Make a video? Find a video? A collage?

This is your space.

•  •  •

Did you catch my
this past week?
screen-shot-2016-09-11-at-8-35-58-pm
 How many books did students in each class read?

PERIOD 2&3 READ 14 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.

PERIOD 8&9 READ 12 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.

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

Let’s take a look to see if any parents commented on last week’s IM! WAYR? post…

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The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones
audio-books

AUDIO BOOK

Pennies For Hitler

Screen Shot 2013-01-15 at 9.39.48 PM
 saved-world-200
 download
School of the Dead
Never Missing, Never Found

10.28.16 {BOOKflix Friday} LEGEND trilogy

Today is

Few things can draw a reader to a new book like a book trailer can.

Get the popcorn ready.

Lights…Camera…Action!


Marie Lu’s

LEGEND TRILOGY

Sometimes it gets tiring waiting for the next installment of a series or trilogy. The plot gets murky and the characters difficult to recall.

Sometimes I like reading a series that is ALL published so I can move quickly from one book to the next and keep my momentum.

If you feel at all the same, here is a great opportunity for you!

The trilogy is completed. And yes, the books are better than the trailers.

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#1: LEGEND

What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.

From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths – until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.

§

#2: PRODIGY

June and Day arrive in Vegas just as the unthinkable happens: the Elector Primo dies, and his son Anden takes his place. With the Republic edging closer to chaos, the two join a group of Patriot rebels eager to help Day rescue his brother and offer passage to the Colonies. They have only one request—-June and Day must assassinate the new Elector.

It’s their chance to change the nation, to give voice to a people silenced for too long.

But as June realizes this Elector is nothing like his father, she’s haunted by the choice ahead. What if Anden is a new beginning? What if revolution must be more than loss and vengeance, anger and blood—what if the Patriots are wrong?

§

#3: CHAMPION

He is a Legend.
She is a Prodigy.
Who will be Champion?

June and Day have sacrificed so much for the people of the Republic—and each other—and now their country is on the brink of a new existence. June is back in the good graces of the Republic, working within the government’s elite circles as Princeps Elect while Day has been assigned a high level military position. But neither could have predicted the circumstances that will reunite them once again. Just when a peace treaty is imminent, a plague outbreak causes panic in the Colonies, and war threatens the Republic’s border cities. This new strain of plague is deadlier than ever, and June is the only one who knows the key to her country’s defense. But saving the lives of thousands will mean asking the one she loves to give up everything he has.

•   •   •

This is a great place to share the video I put together to celebrate our fundraising efforts for UWP.

I’m so proud of the AlphaTeam and the rest of the 6th grade. You are world changers.

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10.24.16 It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? Students guest post!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week

&

the titles we are currently reading.}

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


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Last Monday I offered to have a student from each class guest post on this blog.

Two were brave enough to volunteer right away.

SWEET!

Introducting: Fatima H. and Secrets of Dripping Fang series.

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***

Next, I introduce to you Makayla W. and Serafina and the Black Cloak:

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Serafina and the Black Cloak was a very interesting read. Serafina is a 12 year old girl who secretly lives in the basement of the Biltmore Estate with her pa. With the help of her new friend Braeden, Serafina will uncover what’s going on, and where she came from.
I love this book. It has mystery, action, and a bit of gore at the end.
Heres a blurb and the first chapter:
“Never go into the forest, for there are many dangers there, and they will ensnare your soul.”
 
Serafina has never had a reason to disobey her pa and venture beyond the grounds of Biltmore Estate. There’s plenty to explore in Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt’s vast and opulent home, but she must take care to never be seen. None of the rich folk upstairs know that Serafina exists; she and her pa, the estate’s maintenance man, have lived in the basement for as long as Serafina can remember. She has learned to prowl through the darkened corridors at night, to sneak and hide, using the mansion’s hidden doors and secret passageways.
 
But when children at the estate start disappearing, only Serafina knows the clues to follow. A terrifying man in a black cloak stalks Biltmore’s corridors at night. Following her own harrowing escape, Serafina risks everything by joining forces with Braeden Vanderbilt, the young nephew of Biltmore’s owners. Braeden and Serafina must uncover the Man in the Black Cloak’s true identity before all of the children vanish one by one. Serafina’s hunt leads her into the very forest that she has been taught to fear, where she discovers a forgotten legacy of magic. In order to save the children of Biltmore, Serafina must not only face her darkest enemy, but delve into the strange mystery of her own identity. 

Read the first chapter here!

 

•   •   •

Who wants to contribute towards next week’s IM! WAYR? post? Share a book (a book selfie?), a blurb, and your opinion. This is your space.

•  •  •

Did you catch my
this past week?
screen-shot-2016-09-11-at-8-35-58-pm
 How many books did students in each class read?

PERIOD 2&3 READ 19 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.

PERIOD 8&9 READ 13 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.

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

Let’s take a look to see if any parents commented on last week’s IM! WAYR? post…

Screen Shot 2015-09-13 at 8.27.33 PM

The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones
audio-books

AUDIO BOOK

Pennies For Hitler

Screen Shot 2013-01-15 at 9.39.48 PM
 saved-world-200
 download
School of the Dead
Never Missing, Never Found

10.21.16 {BOOKflix Friday} The Graveyard Book

Today is BookFlix Friday!

Few things can draw a reader to a new book like a book trailer can.

Get the popcorn ready.

Lights…Camera…Action!


My daughters love Halloween. Do you?

The imagery, tastes, and sounds of this time of year are awesome:

 

glass-of-cider trick-or-treat-nyc jack-o-lanterns-2048x2048-h download

There is no better day to share…

It Takes a Graveyard to Raise a Child.

Nobody Owens, known as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised by ghosts, with a guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the dead.

There are adventures in the graveyard for a boy—an ancient Indigo Man, a gateway to the abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible Sleer. Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians’ time as well as their ghostly teachings—such as the ability to Fade so mere mortals cannot see him. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, he will be in danger from the man Jack–who has already killed Bod’s family.

Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead?

I found another cool book cover:

 

One of the coolest things is that Neil Gaiman made available the videos of him reading the book aloud. Here is the playlist:

10.17.16 It’s Monday! What are you reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week

&

the titles we are currently reading.}

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


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Most of:

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As a teacher I’m always learning. I want to be a better teacher and one of the ways I try to do that is to read about how I can do things better. Ideas don’t stay the same. People are always getting smarter and trying new things. If I just stay where I am with what I already know, I’m not growing.

That’s where I am with essays. We’ve all written essays. Four paragraphs. Five paragraphs. Topic sentence. Details. Conclusion. They serve a purpose.

But what if there’s more?

What if essays were really something much better and more interesting than those five paragraph writings we usually think of?

I think there’s more to it. And I’m trying to learn. For me.

For you.

***

Who wants to contribute towards next week’s IM! WAYR? post? Share a book (a book selfie?), a blurb, and your opinion. This is your space.

•  •  •

Did you catch my
this past week?
screen-shot-2016-09-11-at-8-35-58-pm
Soon we will keep track of how much reading we are doing together as a class. This is what it will look like:
 How many books did students in each class read?

PERIOD 2&3 READ 17 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.

PERIOD 8&9 READ 21 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.

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

Let’s take a look to see if any parents commented on last week’s IM! WAYR? post…

I realized that we missed some comments from the previous week, too. SORRY.

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The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones
audio-books

AUDIO BOOK

Pennies For Hitler

Screen Shot 2013-01-15 at 9.39.48 PM
 saved-world-200
 download
School of the Dead
Never Missing, Never Found

10.11.16 It’s TUESDAY! What are you reading? #Moo #BoneGap

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week

&

the titles we are currently reading.}

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


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Moo

This was a sweet little read that I enjoyed. Reena and her family move from the city to Maine and to a whole new rural life. Pigs? Yep. Cows, snakes, and horses? Mmm-hmm. A crazy lady who accuses Reena and her brother of being rude? Oh yes, that is Mrs. Falala.

Reena is sure that she will hate it in Maine. But what she doesn’t know will surprise her.

Written in prose mixed with verse, this book is sure to please.

From the HarperCollins site:

Fans of Newbery Medal winner Sharon Creech’s Love That Dog and Hate That Cat will love her newest tween novel, Moo. This uplifting tale reminds us that if we’re open to new experiences, life is full of surprises. Following one family’s momentous move from the city to rural Maine, an unexpected bond develops between twelve-year-old Reena and one very ornery cow.

When Reena, her little brother, Luke, and their parents first move to Maine, Reena doesn’t know what to expect. She’s ready for beaches, blueberries, and all the lobster she can eat. Instead, her parents “volunteer” Reena and Luke to work for an eccentric neighbor named Mrs. Falala, who has a pig named Paulie, a cat named China, a snake named Edna—and that stubborn cow, Zora.

This heartwarming story, told in a blend of poetry and prose, reveals the bonds that emerge when we let others into our lives.

I also finished listening to

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Man! I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this one. I even found the narrator, Dan Bittner, on Twitter to compliment his reading. He was able to use distinct voices for each character: Finn, the main character; Petey, a teenage girl; Roza, a native Polish speaker; and The man with icicle eyes—creepy…; and even a goat. (Bah!)

This is also a bit mature for my sixth graders, but I hope some of them read it someday.

Here is the blurb and a sample of the recording:

From the author’s site—

Bone Gap

—Winner of the 2016 Michael L. Printz Award for
Excellence in Young Adult Literature
—National Book Award Finalist

Everyone knows Bone Gap is full of gaps—gaps to trip you up, gaps to slide through so you can disappear forever. So when young, beautiful Roza went missing, the people of Bone Gap weren’t surprised. After all, it wasn’t the first time that someone had slipped away and left Finn and Sean O’Sullivan on their own. Just a few years before, their mother had high-tailed it to Oregon for a brand new guy, a brand new life. That’s just how things go, the people said. Who are you going to blame?

Finn knows that’s not what happened with Roza. He knows she was kidnapped, ripped from the cornfields by a dangerous man whose face he cannot remember. But the searches turned up nothing, and no one believes him anymore. Not even Sean, who has more reason to find Roza than anyone, and every reason to blame Finn for letting her go.

As we follow the stories of Finn, Roza, and the people of Bone Gap—their melancholy pasts, their terrifying presents, their uncertain futures—acclaimed author Laura Ruby weaves a heartbreaking tale of love and loss, magic and mystery, regret and forgiveness—a story about how the face the world sees is never the sum of who we are.

Sample audio from Audible.com

***

Did you catch my
this past week?
screen-shot-2016-09-11-at-8-35-58-pm
Soon we will keep track of how much reading we are doing together as a class. This is what it will look like:
 How many books did students in each class read?

PERIOD 2&3 READ ?? BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.

PERIOD 8&9 READ ?? BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.

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

Let’s take a look to see if any parents commented on last week’s IM! WAYR? post…

Screen Shot 2015-09-13 at 8.27.33 PM

downloadThe Secret Life of Lincoln Jones

audio-books

AUDIO BOOK

Pennies For Hitler

 

Screen Shot 2013-01-15 at 9.39.48 PM
School of the Dead
Never Missing, Never Found

10.7.16 BOOKflix Friday—Middle School: The Worst Years…

Today is BOOKflix Friday!

Few things can draw a reader to a new book like a book trailer can.

Get the popcorn ready.

Lights…Camera…Action!


Patterson has a whole site that features his books. I bet there are a few here you haven’t heard of.
You’ve probably seen that there is a coming movie based on this book. How closely does the movie follow the book? You tell me:
If you want to get to know Rafe better, here are some little clips of him and his opinionated self:
Don’t forget the rest of the series AND some other series that you may be interested in:

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10.3.16 It’s Monday! What are you reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

{Celebrating the books we’ve read in the past week

&

the titles we are currently reading.}

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


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I read… I just didn’t finish.  I will be ready next week—maybe with TWO!

***

Did you catch my
this past week?
screen-shot-2016-09-11-at-8-35-58-pm
Soon we will keep track of how much reading we are doing together as a class. This is what it will look like:
 How many books did students in each class read?

PERIOD 2&3 READ 20 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.

Remember that Friday is the 5 week point of Q1. All reading should be recorded on your digital Reading Record.

PERIOD 8&9 READ 26 BOOKS THIS PAST WEEK.

Remember that Friday is the 5 week point of Q1. All reading should be recorded on your digital Reading Record.

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

Let’s take a look to see if any parents commented on last week’s IM! WAYR? post…

Screen Shot 2015-09-13 at 8.27.33 PM

Moo

audio-books

AUDIO BOOK

Another 1.5 hours of listening…

Image result for bone gap

Screen Shot 2013-01-15 at 9.39.48 PM
The Secret Life of Lincoln Jones
School of the Dead
Never Missing, Never Found