What I'm Reading

I read a lot of book blogs and a lot of bloggers have a Monday meme called "What I'm Reading". It's a great way for me to keep track of what I'm reading and it's also fun to see what other people are reading. One thing I've learned is that there are a lot of people who read a lot more than me!

Check out Teach Mentor Texts for more cool books and links to other blogs.

This week I'm reading Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult.



I also finally started Fablehaven!

My Top 50

I read a great blog post here: http://nerdgirltalking.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/top-100-childrens-chapter-books/ She goes through a list of the top 100 children's chapter books that some uppity librarian created. It got me thinking that perhaps I should create a top something list of children's chapter books. I am not sure I could come up with 100 - but 50 seems reasonable! It would be a great resource for the best part of my job: The Grade 3 book club. More to come!

What I'm Reading

This week the list hasn't changed that much. I'm reading:


Number the Stars (Lois Lowry)


Change of Heart (Jodi Picoult)

....and I might pull out something else from my TBR pile. It's a short teaching week. I wish that meant I had some days off to sit in quiet and read - but alas, I have to go learn. Maybe I'll sneak some alone time in there somewhere though!

Forgive Me, I Meant To Do It: False Apology Poems (Gail Carson Levine)

If you need a laugh, this is a great one! We are doing a poetry unit in our class. We have covered limericks and next is cinquains. I can't say that I love cinquains. I've wondered why we teach them. I think it's because they have a nice pattern to follow. Let's just say I'm glad it's a short unit. Voila! These poems have a nice pattern to follow too! Well, maybe nice isn't the word - but there is a pattern. They're all false apologies.....meaning, apologies are said, but we know it's not really meant. Great experiences with sarcasm! I read a swack of them to my class today. They loved them! They are mostly poems written by fairy tale characters - like the cow who cuts down the beanstalk because she figures she certainly is worth more than 5 beans. Or, Cinderella who is tired of stinky short men, or the ape that puts a banana peel on the hill so Jack slips, and the ape runs off with Jill. Fun! Now I have to figure out how we can fit in writing some of these crazy poems.

What I'm Reading

It's Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme hosted by a number of different bloggers. This week, I'd like to encourage you to check out Teach Mentor Texts. It is an awesome blog.

Three holds showed up at the library that I've impatiently waited for. I've started Wonder by RJ Palaco and am looking forward to also diving into A Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult, and The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom.

I'm also reading Number the Stars by Lois Lowry again because that is the book my wonderful Grade 3's chose for our next book club meeting.

Need more reading time!

The One and Only Ivan

 

Some books are worth reading again and again. This one is one of those. I read it a couple months ago and blogged about it here. I was impressed with it then. This time, though, it has caught a hold of my heart. When I read it the first time I thought it was a 'cute' story. Now, however, I have a bit of a reverence for it. Katherine Applegate has done an amazing job of using simple language to express big ideas. This book would make a great novel study.

The story seems to run along tickety boo, and then Stella, the elephant dies. Events unfold, causing Ivan to be thoughtful about his life's experiences....just like what happens to people. Part of the story touched me so much I had to stop and put the book down for a moment to take a minute to reflect, along with Ivan.

p. 129 Somehow I knew that in order to live, I had to let my old life die. But my sister could not let go of our home. It held her like a vine, stretching across the miles, comforting, strangling.
We were still in our crate when she looked at me without seeing, and I knew that the vine had finally snapped."

Wow....the vine snapped. Amazing visual!

And, like a true gifted entertainer, the author had me laughing a few pages later:

p. 136 While Mack and Helen were busy in the living room, I wandered into the kitchen. A cake covered in thick chocolate frosting sat on the counter.
I like cake - love it, in fact - but it wasn't eating I was thinking about. It was painting.
The frosting peaked and dipped like waves on a tiny pond. It looked rich and gooey, dark and smooth.
It looked like mud.

....he takes the icing and starts painting with it on the refrigerator door, continuing until he's used every bit of the frosting.

Then you turn the page and it says:

p. 138 I soon learned that humans can screech even louder than monkeys.

After that I was never allowed in the kitchen.

Great quotes:

p. 8 Sadly, I cannot read...Once, however, I was able to enjoy a book left in my domain by one of my keepers.
It tasted like a termite.

p. 2 Humans waste words. They toss them like banana peel and leave them to rot.
Everyone knows peels are the best part

p. 27 Stella loves the moon, with its untroubled smile. I love the feel of the sun on my belly.

She says, "It is quite a belly, my friend," and I say, "Thank you, and so is yours."

p. 31 They think I'm too old to cause trouble," Stella says.
"Old age," she says, "Is a powerful disguise."

p. 32 Humans do seem to enjoy watching me eat. Luckily I'm always hungry.
I am a gifted eater.

p. 43 Homework, I have discovered, involves a sharp pencil and thick books and long sighs.
I enjoy chewing pencils. I'm sure I would excel at homework.

p. 60 Humans always smell odd when change is in the air.
Like rotten meat, with a hunt of papaya.

p. 66 Bob, who has been chewing his tail, pauses, tilting his head. "Is that a true story?"
"I always tell the truth," Stella replies. "Although I sometimes confuse the facts."

Common Sense Media....please use common sense!

Common Sense Media is a website where you can get an idea of what others think of books, movies and tv shows. If you are concerned about a book your child has been asked to read you could get some information here.

I would caution you though, the best way to screen a book is to read it yourself. I did a search on The One and Only Ivan, a book I have found to be heart warming and wonderful. It was part of a Global Read Aloud where hundreds of classrooms participated in reading it at the same time. Really? Would hundreds upon hundreds of teachers agreed to read this book to their class if violence was a serious concern? I know, not all teachers make good choices - but this one is a pretty easy one! It's a great book.

 I would think there is absolutely nothing wrong with this book. It's a story about a gorilla, an elephant and a stray dog. However, on Common Sense Media it give it 3 points (dots?) for violence - which means it has a fair bit of violence.

If you took what this review says at face value you'd probably dismiss this book - and then you'd seriously miss out on an amazing story. It's not violent.

I ran into a similar problem with a book last year. In our Grade 3 book club we read Skellig. I had a parent come to me quite upset that we were reading this book. She hadn't read it, but had looked on Common Sense Media. It said the book was targeted to 11 year olds and she felt it was totally inappropriate for her child to be reading it. Funny thing was that at the time her child was reading the Harry Potter series. It was something everyone was proud of as this child was becoming such a great reader. On Common Sense Media it has ratings for the various Harry Potter books anywhere from age 8 to age 13. Harry Potter was okay but Skellig wasn't. Mom hadn't read either.

My point: Take the reviews with a grain of salt and do your own work. Read the book! Don't limit your child's experiences just because you're not willing to take the time to read the book.

Here's a great video I saw recently that touches on the value of children reading difficult things (oh, and did I mention The One and Only Ivan ISN'T full of difficult things at all??? Just wanted to be clear!)