Must Reads

Some books should be read because they teach amazing lessons. Some books should be read because they are immensely enjoyable (for me that means that they make me FEEL something). Some books should be read because they give you a new view of a topic that you couldn't otherwise have. Some books should be read because others think they should be banned. The two books I'm talking about fit all of those categories.

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas will stay with me for a while. I wanted to cry through much of it, but it was light-hearted enough that it didn't send me into a depression. I loved that there was a white kid in the book that was a part of the life of one of the main characters, but still kind of clueless as to what she was going through. It shows that no matter how hard we try, we cannot know what goes on in the lives and minds of others. I love that it was realistic in regards to the friendships and everything else that happened.

There are parts of it that I can see people not wanting high-schoolers to read:the relationship parts (but honestly, it's what high-schoolers are dealing with),the drug references and gangs (however those aren't things that are unfamiliar to high-schoolers either), and the language.

The content of the book and what the characters go through are things that high-schoolers need to read, whether because they experience it as well, or that it is foreign to them. Just because a book has things that may be objectionable to some doesn't mean it doesn't have worth. As a white woman I needed to read this book and the book I'm about to discuss. I don't see things the way some people do and I needed to have their lens in front of my eyes at least for a little while. I have some of the fears that were expressed in the books, however not to the extent that was described in the books. I am thankful for the life that I lead, and thankful that I got to experience someone else's view of the world through the safety of a book. I am blessed.

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely is similar to The Hate U Give, but incredibly different at the same time. This book is so good. There is a lot of cursing which fits with the characters, but I still find to be too much. However, the content of the book is what makes it a worthy read. I would love to know what happens next, but the last line of the book was perfect and I wouldn't want anything to mess that up.

This is another book that high-schoolers should read. I am not sure that middle-schoolers are the right age group for this text, although I did recommend these two books to my students for when they get older.

I love that it goes back and forth between Rashad, the kid beaten by the police, and Quinn, the white kid who witnessed it. Seeing how this event impacted their lives and the lives of their families and friends gets you thinking. The tough questions that are asked, that are uncomfortable, that is why I think it should be read by students. 

I am able to look through things with a different lens after reading these two books and I am forever grateful that they were put into my hands. 

Readers Block

I know that writer's block is a thing, but I think reader's block is as well. I was a reading machine at the beginning of the school year reading more books in a semester than I have probably ever during the school year.

I read:

1. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
2. Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
3. Restart by Gordon Korman
4. Projekt 1065 by Alan Gratz
5. OCDaniel by Wesley King
6. The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
7. The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch
8. Save Me a Seat by Sarah Weeks and Gita Varadarajan
9. Esperanza Rising by Pam Munoz Ryan
10. Pickle by Kim Baker
11. A Series of Unfortunate Events the Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
12. The Gallery by Laura Marx Fitzgerald
13. Spy School by Stuart Gibbs
14. Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller
15. Notice and Note by Kylene Beers
16. All American Boys by Jason Reynolds
17. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I was on a roll. 

I cannot keep my interest in a book right now. It's been almost two months since I've completed a book. I've started and stopped: Prince Caspian, Parker Inheritance, and Fuzzy Mud. I'm attempting to read the first book in the Princess Diaries series. 

I am sad that I am having this much trouble sticking with a book to completion. I want to set a good example for my students and keep reading and finishing books, but I am struggling right now. I think the problem was that I read the Jason Reynolds and Angie Thomas books after each other and they were so amazing that I'm having trouble with books that aren't hitting me in that same way. What do you do when you have reader's block? 

Book Whisperer

After reading The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller I have changed a few things about my reading classroom.
1. Status of the Class
2. Independent Reading Time
3. Segmented classroom schedule

1. Status of the Class
Taking a Status of the Class on the books that my students are reading is something that I used to do as a history teacher. I would ask the students the title of the book they were reading, what page they were on, and how many pages the book had in total. I would do this every day with my homeroom. It allowed me to keep track of my students' reading lives, but only inasmuch as learning what books they were reading and how many pages they were reading each day.

After reading The Book Whisperer I have a new appreciation for Status of the Class. I have started using it in my reading classroom with all five of my classes. This time I call the students to my conferencing table one at a time to get the same information I used to get, only now I also ask the students about their books. I am learning which students are enjoying their books, which students have a hard time recalling information, which students are reading a book that may be too difficult, and more. I am going to start asking specific questions instead of my regular, "What's going on in your book right now?" including *What problem is the character facing?* *What do you think is going to happen next?*

2. Independent Reading Time
Since I only get to see my classes for 55 minutes each day, if i don't give them time to read in class I would never be able to figure out which students pretend to read. Now I am able to see which students are just going through the motions. This also allows the students to get practice at reading for extended periods of time. Some students will not be able to read at home due to many different circumstances and if I don't allow them time to read in class, they might not read at all on their own time. Giving them independent reading time with books they want to read they are starting to find a love of reading. Of course, not all students are going to love and embrace this time, but it's my job to work with those students and get them there.

This also gives me time to read. I take time sometimes to read along with them. When they see an adult excited about reading and actually reading and completing books, that enthusiasm spreads. Students need role models in so many different areas of their lives and reading is an important one. I keep an updated board that lets students know the title of the book I am reading, and because they see that and see the book in my hands they tend to ask questions about the book. Soon after I normally see a few students checking out that same book.

3. Segmented Class Time
This is one of my favorite new ideas from The Book Whisperer. My class is not segmented into thirds like she suggests, but that wasn't a neat enough schedule for me with 55 minutes. 55 doesn't split well into thirds. My schedule is this:

• 10 minutes whole class novel - right now is Hatchet, next will be A Wrinkle in Time
• 15 minutes mini-lesson - sometimes this comes from the textbook that was adopted for our reading curriculum, sometimes it's a picture book, sometimes it's an article from NewsELA or readworks.org
• 15 minutes independent practice - this is time I use to pull students for extra practice and allow them to read, work on responding to reading, or work on practice sheets
• 15 minutes independent reading time - this is time they read silently and I can work on Status of the Class 

I have set up alarms on my computer that go off at the end of each of these times. It keeps me on track, but also lets me know when time is up. I like that it's a guideline and I can go over a bit if needed or end early if the lesson is finished. The students have gotten used to the alarms as well and know what they mean. I always make sure they get that 15 minutes of reading time and the 10 minutes of novel time. 

Something new that I am going to start doing is Reading Fridays. We will do the whole class novel for 20 minutes on Fridays and then students will have 35 minutes of independent reading time. I love this. This allows my students to get an hour and 35 minutes during school time where they are reading every week. How awesome is that?!

If you have read The Book Whisperer, what parts of it have you implemented?

Book Reviews: Restart and OCDaniel

I have read more this year during the school year than any other school year. I love being able to talk to students about books they would like and recommend books to them. I'm enjoying the middle grade fiction stories. I have been a fan of mysteries in the past and still am, however Realistic Fiction is a genre that has become one of my favorites this year.

Let's start with Restart by Gordon Korman. My students have been recommending Gordon Korman books to me for a few years, mainly the Swindle Series, and I finally decided to give him a try. Restart is about a boy in middle school who falls off the roof of his house, for some reason that is unknown to us in the beginning, and gets amnesia. When he wakes up he doesn't know who he or anyone else is. All he has is what everyone tells him. The reactions from the students at school are mixed as are the reactions of the people in his family. He doesn't understand why some people don't want to be around him while others think he's amazing. He tries to help people but they are skeptical of him. The story is his journey to figure out if who you are is set in stone or if you can change who you are.

I love how this this book deals with a difficult situation in a light way. I enjoyed the fact that I was kept guessing throughout the book until the very end. After reading this book I am definitely going to check out some of Gordon Korman's other novels.

OCDaniel by Wesley King is a book that I was unsure of at the beginning, not because I didn't think I would like the book, but because I wasn't sure if it was a book that would be appropriate for my students. Well, they loved it. It is a great book about a kid with OCD. He doesn't know that he has OCD, he just knows that he has routines that he has to go through each night. The detailing of the routines definitely made me a little uneasy, but was very well written. It is supposed to make you a little uncomfortable. The book has a bit of a mystery to figure out which fit it right into my wheelhouse. I enjoyed reading about the friendships throughout the book and getting into the mind of kids that have to overcome obstacles.

Some of my students were not sure if they wanted to read this book because of the low AR level, however no one turned it down and no one, after reading it, regretted spending time reading the book even though they couldn't test on it. I am proud of them for seeing the value in the book.

Both of these books are great for many reasons, one of which is that they have male protagonists but mass appeal. Both books have main characters that are part of the school football team. I have had a diverse group of students read both of these books and I will continue to recommend them to any students that have not read them.

Cause and Effect/Compare and Contrast

Picture books are so great for teaching different reading skills. This week I used the picture books Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg and Zathura by Chris Van Allsburg.

 

So I started the class reading Hatchet like I normally do and when our novel time was up I asked the students to get out a sheet of paper. *Cue the groans*. After they were ready I told them to title the front "Cause and Effect" and the back "Compare and Contrast". When I told them that we were going to read Jumanji they cheered. They literally cheered. Then I got asked, "So is this based off the new movie or the old one?" *facepalm* I told them that the book came first, then the movie from the 90s, and then the current movie.

We discussed what a cause and effect relationship is and came up with some examples. I explained that the BEcause comes BEfore and that C comes before E. Then I talked about how the Effect comes at the End. Those are just the ways that I have come up with for students to remember. I also tell them that my getting sick from eating too much candy can only happen after I have eaten the candy. I don't get sick and then eat too much candy.

The first few pages I walked them through the cause and effect relationships to make sure they got it down. After that I would read a page and then pause and tell them to write down a cause and effect from that page. If they couldn't come up with something I told them to look at the picture and ask themselves a "Why" question and whatever they came up with would be their cause and effect relationship.

We went through the story talking about it and pausing for cause and effect. They liked the story, but they liked Zathura much better. I agree. Jumanji the book is kind of tame compared to the movie (I actually prefer the movie to both the books).

With Zathura they loved the fact that it starts out with the boys from Jumanji that are running through the park with the game. We came up with a few similarities and differences together, and then I put the responsibility on them to find more. I ended up asking for 10 differences for each book and 5 similarities. One think I noticed is that they want to write things like "Zathura had stars and Jumanji didn't." I told them to be more specific. I was fine with them writing "Zathura had stars" and then coming up with something about what Jumanji had instead.

I will definitely do this with my students next year even though one student said, "You shouldn't because they don't deserve it."

Raise your hand if you love books!

I do! I have always loved reading. I went to college thinking that I would be a reading teacher, however life had other plans and I taught social studies for six years and science for one.

Finally, after seven years, a sixth grade reading teacher position became available and I jumped on it. I am on year two of teaching reading and I absolutely love it. I love being able to justify having a reading day in class. I love being able to talk books with students. I love being able to read middle grade novels and say that it's for my job. This is just incredible.

This blog is going to be my way of reaching out to people and letting people know what I'm doing in my literacy life. I will be sharing plans that go over well in my classroom, books that I'm currently reading, books that I want to read, and articles about literacy that I find interesting. I hope you enjoy the ride!