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.)
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
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!
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!
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
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.
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.
Monday, June 30, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Birthday book and the dangers of bookstores.
My wonderful friend Lindsey brought me Janet Evanovich's Fearless Fourteen! I'm so excited! Since I finished Alas, Babylon this morning, I was worried that I might not have anything to read in the mountains or that I would just have to scrounge something from the shelves here. I can't wait to sink my teeth into this latest summer treat.
Lindsey and Matt and I went to Barnes & Noble today. It's always dangerous. :) I promised not to buy any more books until after my birthday, but I can still look! I added six titles to my list just by browsing, and then when I started looking them up when I got home, I added several more upcoming Star Wars novels to my Amazon.com list because they look interesting. I am especially interested in the one about the Millennium Falcon. Yay!
Lindsey and Matt and I went to Barnes & Noble today. It's always dangerous. :) I promised not to buy any more books until after my birthday, but I can still look! I added six titles to my list just by browsing, and then when I started looking them up when I got home, I added several more upcoming Star Wars novels to my Amazon.com list because they look interesting. I am especially interested in the one about the Millennium Falcon. Yay!
Book and writing groups?
I told a friend of my impending move to Greensboro yesterday, and his immediate response was "We have to form a writing group!" It is true that I am writing a story, and it is true that I need someone to motivate me and to help me occasionally, so that is probably a good thing. It is also quite terrifying. It took a great deal of courage for me to send my story to my mom (who sort of thinks most things I do are great, like any good mom) and to show it to my husband. Showing it to anyone else, even a childhood friend and fellow writer, is going to be so scary! One upside is that we write in a similar genre, if not a similar style.
The same friend also wants to start a book group. He said I should hurry up and catch up to him in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan so that we can read that together. I'm only on the first book, The Eye of the World. He's on book 4, The Shadow Rising, so I have some catching up to do before that will work.
The same friend also wants to start a book group. He said I should hurry up and catch up to him in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan so that we can read that together. I'm only on the first book, The Eye of the World. He's on book 4, The Shadow Rising, so I have some catching up to do before that will work.
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