Catching up

There are so many books I've read in the last few weeks that I haven't posted! I've just been really busy with moving and school and stuff and blogging is taking a back seat for awhile.

Bloomability by Sharon Creech
Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Peter and the Starcatchers, Dave Barry and Ridley Peterson

I can't believe it's been a month since I wrote here! The month of August flew by with moving, unpacking, working on the house, working on classrooms, and starting school.

Peter and the Starcatchers was so good! I bought it used at Ed McKay's (yay for moving back to Greensboro!). I've never really liked used books because they don't seem completely mine, but this one was in good shape. I have simply devoured it! I loved how it explained all the wonderful things about Peter Pan, like flying, Captain Hook, the croc, Neverland, the Lost Boys, and Tinkerbell. It was simply exquisite. Any fans of Peter should definitely check it out! I'm going to share it with my students this week. Yay!

Summer reading?!

I looked at the summer reading list for the 6th graders at my school and I was dismayed to discover that I have only read ONE of the books. Here is the list:

Historical Fiction:
Milkweed by Spinelli, Jerry
The Daughter of Venice by Napoli, Donna Jo

Biography:
The Greatest: Muhammad Ali by Dean, Walter
Rosa Parks: My Story by Parks, Rosa
The Torn Thread by Issac, Anne

Science Fiction:
Whales on Stilts by Anderson, K.T. and Cyrus, Kurt

Realistic Fiction:
Bridge to Terabithia by Paterson, Katherine and Diamond, Donna
Any book from the Gordon Korman Series (Ex. Everest, The Deep, The Climb) or Bloomability by Creech, Sharon

I've only read Bridge to Terabithia! I desperately need to go to the library and get and read these books!

(I also bought Pretties and The Alchemyst with my birthday money from Papa, so I have lots of fun things to read.)

27 - Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

This lovely little book made me think of tons of things to do in my classroom! It is the story of what happens in a vacant lot in a run-down Cleveland neighborhood when a little Vietnamese girl decides to plant some lima beans. The whole community gets involved, turning the trash-filled lot into something beautiful and hopeful and learning quite a few things in the process.

I would love to connect this book to Weslandia by Paul Fleischman and possible one of the Giver books by Lois Lowry, maybe Gathering Blue. There is a strong theme of growth, both of cultivated plants and the people cultivating them. I would also love to start a container garden with my students (what a wonderful Science connection) and grow vegetables and flowers. I'd have to do a lot of research to make that successful and I would probably have to try and get a grant or some donated materials, because gardening isn't cheap. But it would be an excellent unit that could span across a whole school year. Very exciting!

Fascinating!

Click here for an article on the Founding Fathers' faiths.

Recommendations

I received Lucifer's Hammer from my parents for my birthday...yay apocalyptica. I've already started it. I'm starting to wonder if the story that I'm writing isn't about the end of the world somehow. Hmm.

I spent all day today canvassing Greensboro for a job. In talking to one AP who I know personally, I received two more recommendations. First, QBQ! by John Miller. This one is about personal accountability. Second, It's Being Done by Karin Chenowith. This one is apparently about strategies that have actually worked in practice with a variety of minority groups.

I bought QBQ! when I went to the bookstore this afternoon, but I couldn't find It's Being Done. According to the B&N employee who helped us, it needs to be ordered and it will cost $27 I don't have. So, it will have to wait. I also bought Teach Me I Dare You! by Judith Allen Brough, Sherrel Bergmann, and Larry C. Holt. It's also about strategies for working with "disenchanted and disengaged youth"? It should be a useful book with lots of ideas, although privately I'm hoping "disenchanted and disengaged" will be the minority instead of the norm in the classrooms I am considering.

26 - Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich

Another fun summer book by Janet Evanovich. Some people (Mom) think the series has stagnated a little, but it's always fun to read the outrageous adventures of Stephanie Plum. Thanks, Lindsey! (Daddy says thanks, too...he's already read it as well!)

I'd write more, but Mom hasn't read it yet and she'd be mad to read about the funny stuff. Suffice it to say that I enjoyed it immensely.