Month: June 2014

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/30

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

Books I Finished This Week:

I very much enjoyed the Grisha trilogy.  I am not exactly sure what I think of this ending.  The author certainly surprised me and kept me guessing about what would happen next.  I am both happy and a little skeptical of the way things worked out in the book.  I highly recommended this series for grade 8 and up.

The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle by Christopher Healy is every bit as hilarious as the first book.  So fun to read!

I don’t think I have words to describe how awesome this book is.  I cannot wait to read it aloud to a classroom of 4th graders.  I love how the author used so many book titles throughout the book.  That library would be the most amazing thing ever if it really existed.  If you haven’t read this one, you need to fix that asap.

I saw Amelia Rules on the children’s graphic novel shelf at the library and picked it up to check it out.  I was not very impressed. I didn’t like Amelia very much and I wasn’t so sure about the style of talking to the reader.  I do know that not everyone has my taste though, and will look for these books for my classroom because some kids might really like them.

Chickenhare was just a weird story.  Again, there will be some kids who love that about the graphic novel.  I was not really impressed with it.

Books I Am Currently Reading:

I am reading El Francotirador Paciente by Arturo Perez-Reverte.  I also started Dr. Bird’s Advice for Sad Poets and am still reading the professional books I wrote about last week.

What’s Next?

I am not sure what will be next.  I know I want to spend time writing this week, which will take away from time spent reading.  Therefore, I don’t know if I will have time for more than just what I have already started.

What are you reading this week?  I would love to hear from you in the comments!

Celebrate 6/28

Join this fabulous group of bloggers as we celebrate our weeks. You can link up on Ruth Ayres blog at www.ruthayreswrites.com

My celebrations this week:

Comfort: 

We had a new air conditioning unit installed this week.  Our old one had been on its last legs for two years.  It is nice to know that the a/c will kick on when we turn it on this summer.  
We figured out a way to rig up the computer and use our bluetooth speakers so that we can watch the World Cup games on the television.  We don’t have cable so we have been watching the games on Univision.  This makes it so much easier to view.  

Health:

My dog is all better.  She spent about a week in pain after having an abscess on her anal gland.  It was uncomfortable for all of us.  I celebrate the expertise of veterinarians and antibiotics that rid her of infection.  
Extra sleep has been really good for me this week.  I have been able to take naps when I am tired and this is helping to clear up the lingering cold I had.  

Entertainment:

Because we wanted a change of scenery, my husband and I went back to a bar/restaurant that we haven’t been to for awhile.  We discovered that they have gone back to a very good Happy Hour deal and that they updated their menu and improved the food they were serving.  Now, an old favorite will probably become a favorite again.  
The license was approved for a new beer garden that will be opening in the park that is three blocks away from my house.  It will be fun to be able to take our dog and go have a beer or soda in the park.  Beer gardens are a Milwaukee tradition that people are trying to start up again.  Love it! 
More time for reading! More time for writing! More time to watch some mindless television! More time with my husband! 
Last week, I attended the Fierce Reads tour.  It was so much fun hearing all four of the authors talk about their books and their writing lives.  I really like this panel format because the authors play off of each others’ answers and it seems like you get so much more spontaneous talk.  Leigh Bardugo, Ava Dellaira, Jennifer Mathieu, and Emmy Laybourne were awesome to listen to.  
What do you have to celebrate? I would love to hear from you in the comments!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/23

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

This week was another busy week.  Although I finished my school year on Tuesday, I ended up not having as much time to read as I thought.  For one thing, I am really interested in soccer so I am taking a lot of time to watch World Cup games.

Also, my dog had a small medical issue this week.  We ended up at the after-hours veterinary clinic on Weds. evening because she was red and swollen on her rear end.  She had an abscess on her anal gland which was obviously quite painful for her. She spent the night there and since Thursday we have had to be vigilant and caring for her.  She is getting better but this took up a lot of my energy this week.

I hope next week will feel more like summer vacation, with more time for reading.  

Books I Finished This Week:
Los Vigilantes del Faro by Camilla Lackberg is the seventh book in the Patrik Hedstrom series (The Lost Boy is the title in English).  Camilla Lackberg is a Swedish writer and these mysteries are very entertaining. Not all of the books are available in the United States yet.  I read them in Spanish because I could get them in Spain, but you now can get the first few books in English here.  I would highly recommend them to anyone who likes murder mysteries.  The Ice Princess is the first book in the series.  
I am not usually a reader who stops to write down quotes or put flags on pages.  I think hard about the book and the language, but I don’t like to stop my reading to take notes.  The book A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd was so well-written, with so much beautiful language that I found myself stopping to write things down.  I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED this book.  It is such a wonderful story about magic in the world and the love you can find in your family.  I will definitely use this as a read aloud next year with my 4th grade class.  I highly recommend this book to all middle grade readers and up.  
Books I Am Currently Reading:
I started reading The Hero’s Guide to Storming the Castle this week.  I also am reading some professional books on Heinemann’s digital campus.  I love the chance to subscribe to a great professional library and the opportunity to read some great books.  I am reading three books to participate in the summer book club on this website: Comprehension Connections by Tanny McGregor, Thrive by Meenoo Rami, and The Literacy Teacher’s Playbook by Jennifer Serravallo. These are excellent books to be reading as I start to think about next year and the procedures I want to use in my workshops.  
What’s Next?
I went to the Fierce Reads event here in Milwaukee on Saturday.  I bought Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo while I was there.  I am so excited to read this third installment of the Grisha trilogy.  I also will be choosing another one of the books in Spanish from our bookshelf to read.  
As many of you know, I am moving back down to 4th grade next school year.  I still had many of my books for the classroom library at this grade level, but I will be working to build the collection more.  I am trying to gather lists from people of which books are essential to have in a 4th grade library.  I also would like suggestions of read aloud titles.  I know that many of the lists I get will be similar to the list I already have in my head, but I would really like to create a comprehensive collection, so please give me any suggestions you can think of.  
What are you reading this week?  Any suggestions for my classroom library?  I would love to hear from you in the comments!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/16

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

This week was a crazy, hectic week so I didn’t get much reading in.  I am looking forward to much more time to read this week.

Books I Finished This Week:

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu was a story that pulled me in from the beginning.  My heart broke for Hazel and I wanted to see how things would work out for her.  The fantasy part was more far-fetched than I usually like to read, but it was well done in this book.  I recommend this one for middle grades and up.

That Workshop Book by Samantha Bennett was a perfect professional book to read at this point of the year.  I am busy working on packing up to move to a different classroom and reading this book really helped me to start remembering the things I would like to have in place next year.  I love that this book was full of glimpses into other classrooms and chock full of great ideas for workshop teaching.  I will definitely come back to my notes over and over while planning for next year.

Books I am Currently Reading:

I am reading a mystery book by one of my favorite authors, Camilla Lackberg.  I also started listening to The Clockwork Princess.

What’s Next?
I don’t know what will come next.  I will go with what I feel like reading this week.

Celebrate 6/14

Join this fabulous group of bloggers as we celebrate our weeks. You can link up on Ruth Ayres blog at www.ruthayreswrites.com

This was a crazy, chaotic, exhausting, celebratory week.  The end of the school year is always exhausting, but this one is especially busy with thinking about packing up to move to a new classroom.

Here are a few highlights from my week:

Monday and Tuesday my students stepped up to help me clean.  At one point, I had half the class working in harmony to take down all the bulletin boards.  I had asked one student to start and they all joined in to get the job done.  This is one of the reasons that I will miss this group of students. Here are some selfies with a few students:

 
On Monday, I also brought in some books to give away to the students.  I had bought a box of books at the Scholastic sale so that I could give one to each student.  I put the box out on a table and told them that they could come get one if they wanted.  I did not plan it better because I did not expect the whole class to clamor for a book.  It was a stampede!  I love that these 8th graders have learned to appreciate reading and to be excited for a free book.

Wednesday, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and then to the bowling alley.  I had called the restaurant ahead of time, and the manager offered to give the kids a free soda with their lunch. We had a lot of fun, and I love how the students were conscientious and asking for help with calculating tips for our servers.

Then, after school on Wednesday, I picked my mom up from the airport and she came to school with me to decorate for the 8th grade completion ceremony.  She just returned from visiting my sister in California and decided to stay here an extra day so she could help in my classroom.  I had a good time with her.

Thursday, the tears were flowing at our completion ceremony.  The 8th graders looked so snazzy! We celebrated the years that these kids were with us.  It was great to see the families and some older siblings that are former students.  After their ceremony was finished, the students left with their families and I had time to work in my classroom with just my mom for company.

On Friday, my students did not have to come to school.  The rest of the school is in session, but the 8th graders get an extra day off.  8 of my students showed up to school anyway so that they could help me.  I didn’t ask them to do this, and I was not expecting it.  They just weren’t ready to say goodbye.  I love that I made such an impression that these kids felt they should come to help. Also, I appreciate all the help they gave me.  I am in really good shape for finishing my move to the new classroom.

I also put the World Cup games on in my classroom on Friday.  I invited any students who wanted to see the games into my classroom.  Since Mexico was playing in the first game of the day and it was the last day of school, I had quite a full house.  I love watching the World Cup and I was happy to share this experience with students.  Don’t ask me anything about the second game of the day…I don’t want to talk about it. (My husband is from Spain)

My experiences this week were a perfect way to say goodbye to teaching middle school, quit while you’re ahead.  I will miss some of the ways I built relationships with my middle school students, but I am ecstatic to go back to 4th grade.  I am much more of an elementary school teacher at heart.

Lastly, I am celebrating that summer is just about to start.  I have two more teacher work days and then my vacation begins.

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/9

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

I didn’t do much reading this week because of crazy end-of-school-year tasks, but I still had a great reading week!

Books I Finished This Week:
I loved Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter. It is a beautiful story with a good message about what it means to be human.  I enjoyed the references to old Hollywood and the descriptions of the tiny fishing village in Italy.  I like the way the story was told, with different perspectives from present and past combining into one fluid story.  I highly recommend this adult read.  
I finished listening to this audiobook over the weekend.  It is a really well done audiobook.  I highly recommend this format.  This is another really good book from A.S. King, who is quickly becoming a favorite author of mine.  Vera is conflicted because she knows something about the death of her best friend that she has not told the police.  The book is as much a mystery as it is a discovery for Vera of what kind of person she wants to be.  I recommend this one for high school and up.

Books I am Currently Reading:

I started Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu.  It is really tugging my heartstrings.  I also am almost finished with That Workshop Book.  

What’s Next?
My plan for the summer is to read a lot of middle grade titles and to read books in Spanish.  I always feel like my level of fluency is better when I am reading a book in Spanish and I feel like I need to brush up.

Have a great reading week!

Celebrations 6/7

Join this fabulous group of bloggers as we celebrate our weeks. You can link up on Ruth Ayres blog at www.ruthayreswrites.com
Today I am celebrating this crazy, busy time of reflection and goodbyes and new beginnings.

Next week, my 8th grade students will have their completion ceremony and move on to high school.  There are so many details to take care of.  We celebrate the years that these kids have been at this school…some since 4-year-old kindergarten.  It is fun putting together the slide show for this ceremony.

I finished my report cards!!!!!

I spent time in my classroom cleaning and boxing things up.  The task is much bigger this year because I will move to a different classroom next year.  I also need to sort through all of my books and weed out the ones that are not appropriate for 4th grade.  Although it is a big task, my heart is light and it is easy to do.  I am so excited to be an elementary school teacher again.

I shared the news with the middle school students that I won’t be their teacher next year.  Although I hated to disappoint them, it really pulled on my heartstrings to see how upset they were. I have had a love/hate relationship with my role as a middle school teacher and I celebrate the fact that I have been able to become a teacher they want to have.

I got a surprise visit from two young men who just graduated high school.  They were students in my very first 8th grade class and I haven’t heard from either of them since then.  It was so nice to see that they are doing well and heading off to the Marines.  Both of these young men were very challenging to teach as 8th graders and it was wonderful to see that they are successful young adults who now can appreciate the help and advice that we gave them in 8th grade.

I had my writing classes write reflections about their year in ELA class.  I love reading about how they have grown this year.  I plan to write a blog post to share some of their insights.

My teacher planner from Erin Condren arrived this week. As soon as I heard I would be teaching 4th grade, I celebrated by ordering a planner.  I love these planners and am so excited to have it over the summer while I am working on learning the 4th grade curriculum. (If you don’t know about these planners, you need to go to their website and check them out…pricey, but completely worth it)

We had a nice dinner out with our student council group this week.  It was fun to celebrate our year of working together by having some great food together.

What do you have to celebrate this week?  I would love to hear from you in the comments!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? 6/2

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? –From Picture Books to YA is a weekly meme started by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers. This is a chance for bloggers to recap their week of reading and share their plans for the next reading adventures they will take. Visit the host blogs for a list of great blogs participating in this meme and a whole bunch of titles to add to your to-read lists.

This is such a busy time of the year!!!! I am busy packing up my classroom and getting ready to move to a new classroom and sorting my class library to weed out all the books that are not appropriate for 4th graders.  We also have a week and a half left of school and I am working on finishing up the last minute projects and reflections on the progress we made this year.  
Books Finished This Week:

I love reading these fun adventure books! The 39 Clues series was so much fun, and these Infinity Ring books are definitely holding up.  In this second book, the protagonists are sent back to the time of the Vikings.  I can definitely see some middle grade boys loving this series.

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han is a nice beach read.  I thought the story was very touching and I really enjoyed reading it.  I am looking forward to reading the other books in this trilogy.  I would recommend this book to teens and adults.

I loved The Apothecary! It was just the right mix of mystery and fantasy.  There were twists and turns in the story and I was kept surprised throughout the entire book.  I highly recommend this one!

This was such a fun picture book!  I can imagine how fun it would be as a read aloud!

Books I am Currently Reading:

I am still listening to Please Ignore Vera Dietz and am reading Beautiful Ruins.  Both are great books!

What’s Next?
 It is completely up to my mood in the next week.

What are you reading this week? I would love to hear from you in the comments!!