atychiphobia

It's Monday What are You Reading?

Note: Thanks for  Jen and Kellee from Teach Mentor Texts for inspiring many of us to share what we have been reading.  I will try to join the fun as regularly as possible.

 

 

I had a great reading week this week.  With the exception of a book I haven't finished, I laughed a great deal.Early in the week I finished the Mason Dixon book.  I think this book would be great for readers who like realistic fiction and are trying to transition into chapter books or longer books.  Mason Dixon is basically your average 4th grade boy.  In this story, Mason plays basketball for a terrible team that gets better as the season progresses.

The Flying Beaver Brothers (both books) are a new graphic novel series that I am sure will be very popular.  I giggled several times while reading both of these books.  I will have to admit, just the title, "The Flying Brothers and the Evil Penguin Plan" was enough to make me smile.  The Beaver Brothers form a unlikely hero team that saves their island home from disaster in both books.  I can't wait to see what goofy evil plot is unleashed in the next installment.

The Fouth Stall Part II is the follow up to ... The Fourth Stall.  In this second book Mac and Vince help to solve several problems that are menacing their fellow classmates.  Author Chris Rylander is a genius at dialogue.  Realistic and humorous dialogue combined with not-so-realistc but incredibly funny problems (imagine middle school lockers facing an expanding  rodent droppings problem) make for a highly enjoyable read.  Another bonus for me was the baseball conversations between Mac and Vince.  Even though I am not a Cubs fan, I loved their ongoing trivia war.

Showoff by Gordon Korman is the latest in the adventures of Griffin Bing and his pals.  Like all of the previous books in this series, something crazy happens and Griffin has to come up with a plan.  This time the plan involves Luthor, the gigantic Doberman, becoming a world champion show dog.  It was a fun read and was quickly grabbed from my hands when I shared it with the class last Friday.

I cannot believe that it took me so long to read We Are Not Eaten By Yaks by C. Alexander London.  Besides being one of the most ridiculously awesome titles ever, the author is a fellow Nerdy Book Club member.  I am not happy I waited so long, but maybe it was worth the wait.  Everything about this book appealed to me and I am sure it will appeal to many middle grade readers.  Celia and Oliver, the twins who consistently are able to save the day were wonderfully invented characters.  Who knew that hour after hour of watching TV would help you when you are thrown out of an airplane, confronted by a raving Yeti and captured by Poison Witches?  I am really looking forward to the second book.

On the plan for this week is finishing the wildly thought provoking Switch and a few more:

Later,

Tony

It's Monday What are You Reading?

Note: Thanks for  Jen and Kellee from Teach Mentor Texts for inspiring many of us to share what we have been reading.  I will try to join the fun as regularly as possible.

 

I kind of unplugged from the web last week to get caught up on a lot of other things so this week's "It's Monday What are You Reading" will cover most of the last 2 weeks of my reading and what I hope to accomplish this week.

The three picture books shown above (Ball for Daisy, Little White Rabbit and Me ... Jane) were all new books for me that were also a part of the class Caldecott Mock Vote we finished last week.  I think all three had some very laudable elements to them, but Me ... Jane was by far and away the best book of this bunch.  And I really can't put a finger on why I like it so much.  I was very happy that it won a Caldecot Honor.  And to be honest I was quite surprised that Ball for Daisy won the Caldecott Medal.  It was a fun little story but, I don't think it is even Chris Raschka's best work.  

Theodore Boone: The Abduction is a middle grade mystery that was somewhat entertanining.  I think many of my kids will dive right into it.  However, I did not enjoy it as much as the first Theodore Boone book.  It seemed like Grisham was trying to do way too much with the plot of this one.

The Whisper is the sequel to The Roar, a book I read about two years ago and have been waiting like crazy to see what happes to Mika and Ellie.  The Whisper is a fast paced dystopian novel, which is usually right in my wheelhouse.  However, maybe the waiting was better than the actual book.  By the second half of the story things got a little too ridiculous for me.  However, I know many of my kids who have devoured The Roar will be just like me and want to get their hands on The Whisper.  It will be interesting to see if they have similar thoughts as I did.

Robbie Forester and the Outlaws of Sherwood St is part mystery, part magical realism, part reworking of the Robin Hood story and for me it was all fun.  Four middle school students living in NYC discover that a bracelet connects them with a source of magic that only works when injustice abounds.  These kids end up secretly helping local tennants battle a development company that is trying to take over property in Brooklyn.  At times it might have got a little heavy handed on the moral play that corporate greed is all consuming, but if you don't let that get  in the way, you might have some fun with this book.

I had heard a great deal about the concept of "Presentation Zen", so in a weak moment I downloaded Presentation Zen: Design to my Kindle.  Definitely not a well written book, but it did share some interesting ideas about how slideshows should or shouldn't be designed.  Methinks I need to send this book to the people who are designing professional development PowerPoints for my district.  There is denfinitely no Zen in those monstrocities.

 I got a slew of new books on Saturday and I am having a hard time deciding what to read first.  The four below went right to the top of my TBR stack.

Happy Reading this week.

Later,

Tony

It's Monday What are You Reading?

Note: Thanks for  Jen and Kellee from Teach Mentor Texts for inspiring many of us to share what we have been reading.  I will try to join the fun as regularly as possible.

 

This past week was a busy week of diving into picture books for me and my class.  In the previous post I shared our little project about predicting the Caldecott Winners.  So I read a bunch of new picture books for me to plan for last weeks Caldecott shares.  I also read two novels, one for myself and one to model my goal of reading more mysteries.

The Game of Their Lives was a fabulous book in my opinion.  Keep in mind though the story of a 1950s soccer match between the USA and England that focuses on the game and the lives of a few of the members of the USA team is definitely my kind of reading.  If you are not really into soccer or adult narrative nonfiction then I would stay away from this book.  I thought the author did a great job of building tension in the game sequences even though the reader already knows what the final outcome is.

A few weeks ago, my class wrote reading goals for the winter and one of mine was to read more mysteries.  I love mysteries, but when I was modeling how to write a few reading goals I noticed a glaring absence of mysteries from the last year or so of my reading life.  Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer helped to fulfill one of my goals and my son recommended it to me.  So I did feel a little pressured to want to enjoy it.  Thankfully I did.  I am not the biggest John Grisham fan, but I did really like the escapades of Theo in this opening book of what I imagine will be a rather big series.  I felt the writing would appeal to most kids and the mystery is edgy enough for middle readers to think it is bigger than "who stole my lunchbox", but it was also not too intense or graphic for ten year-olds.  Theo gets accidentally involved in a murder trial that has rocked his small town.  And he helps to make sure that all the evidence needed to keep the trial legitimate gets to the judge.  About the only thing I didn't like about this story is the case/trial is still lingering at the end.

The picture books shown above were are solid in my opinion.  My favorite was Perfect Square.  I loved it the most because it reminded me of the Eric Carle books my own children devoured when they were younger.  I thought the illustrations were amazing and the simplesness of the story was very endearing.  If you are a primary teacher or have young kids at home, you should definitely check it out.

To be honest, I am not 100% sure of what I will be reading in the next 7 days.  I have a few books at home in my TBR stack.  Though I know I won't get to them all.  And due to the long weekend we are having, I haven't gone into our school library yet to browse for any new picture books.  My "big books" in my stack include:

 I am currently reading the second Theodore Boone book.  The Charlestown Connection was a cheap download to my kindle and it sounds like fun to me.  The Whisper is a current ARC that I have which is a follow up to The Roar.  I really enjoyed reading The Roar, so I hope The Whisper does not disappoint.  Hopefully my son, finishes it soon because when he saw it, he begged to read it before me.  

Happy Reading this week.

Later,

Tony

It's Monday What are You Reading?

Note: Thanks for  Jen and Kellee from Teach Mentor Texts for inspiring many of us to share what we have been reading.  I will try to join the fun as regularly as possible.

 

So this past week was not filled with as much reading as I would have hoped but I did read 3 books that were new to me.  One book clearly not meant for my classroom and two that were shared in our class's exploration of what book might win the Caldecott Medal.

The Breach by Patrick Lee is a ridiculous action/sci-fi/romance/time paradox/how many people can die?/adventure story that I wouldn't recommend unless you are a fan of Dr. Pepper 10 or you just want to waste a few hours reading something that you will not even think of sharing with others.  I fit both categories, so this crazy tale was just what I needed this week.  Complete guilty pleasure reading.

Blue Chicken by Deborah Freedman and Swirl by Swirl by Joyce Sidman and Beth Krommes are both delightful picture books most likely targeted for audiences younger than my 4th graders.  Blue Chicken is a fun read about an illustration whose characters come to life and turn the painting into a complete mess.  The artwork is fantastic and my kiddoes think it is definitely Cadelcott worthy.  Swirl by Swirl is filled with stunning illustration that showase spirals in the world of nature.  The text is poetic, but a little scattered in my opinion.  My class was impressed with the art but did not give it as much love as Blue Chicken.

This coming week I plan on reading a new-to-me picture book as we continue to prognosticate the Cadlecott, two mysteries that come highly recommended by my 11- year- old son, and a Christmas present from my wife.  Plus I am starting to read one of my all time faves as a chapter book read aloud to my class. I am looking forward to them all.

Happy Reading This Week.

Later,

Tony

It's Monday What are You Reading?

I decided to join Jen and Kellee from http://www.teachmentortexts.com/ on this Monday recap/review of what has been read in the week before.

This past week was busy for all of us I imagine.  I didn't read as much as I had planned, but I did manage to finish three novels for middle grade students. All three were gift books from students in my class.

I started the week with TroubleTwisters by Garth Nix and Sean Williams.  I was a little disappointed by this book.  Nix and Williams have created a fast paced fantansy that will appeal to many middle grade readers.  But the dialogue was too predictable and choppy in many places.  

My next read was Vaniushing Acts by Philip Margoilin and Ami Margolin Rome.  This is the first book in what I expect to be a series of middle grade mysteries starring Madison Kincaid.  I thought the book was a fun read.  I think most middle grade students would be able to connect with Madison.  I also like the fact that the mystery(ies) Madison helped to solve were a little more serious than a missing backpack or ipod, but not too intense for 10-12 year olds.

My last read of the week was Framed by Gordon Korman.  I loved this book, just like I loved the other books from this series.  Griffin and the gang are trying to solve another problem, but this time the problem is Griffin has been framed for a crime.  There were several times I laughed out loud.  I just can't believe it took me so long to read this book.  I guess that is what happens when the glass gets hooked on an author.  I think Framed was "checked out" since I put it into the classroom library back in September.  Which is why I am glad I got another copy as a gift last week.

This coming week my family and I are heading out of Central Ohio for a quick vacation, so I will be able to squeeze more reading time in than I usually get.  My backpack and Kindle are loaded up with some children's and adult books.  I hope to be able to read them all.

Later,

Tony

Coming Soon

In an effort to become a little more routine about my writing in this space I am committing to a few new regular events as well as joining a group of friends for a weeklong event in January.

1) Inspired by Jen Vincent and Kellee Moye over at Teach Mentor Texts (who seem to have been inspired by Sheila at Book Journey) I will be posting a quick blurb about what I have been reading.  The goal here is not necessarily to review the books and articles, but it will help me track my own reading.  Hopefully it will also help me keep better track of what I am logging on my goodreads account.  I have found that when I finish a book and I am not near a computer, I forget to update my goodreads accout.  Who knows, maybe you might even choose to read something I listed.

2) Colby Sharp wrote a thoughtful piece on his blog about a month ago that caused me to reflect on my role as being "just a teacher."  The tickles in the back of my brain from his post along with some interesting conversations with my principal, a very smart colleague from my school and a mentor on mine have made me wonder why I have tried so hard to be "under the radar" and not regularly share what is going on in my class room.  The students who I work with are awesome, so starting tomorrow I will do a regular Friday post that highlights something one of my students accomplished that amazes me.  Not sure how this will work, but "Stories from Room 226" is not meant to be selfish or showboating, I want these stories to honor students who have shown their love of learning.

3) In January I will be writing alongside some people who I admire greatly.  Frank Sibberson got the ball rolling on making me think about the use of mentor text with students who are composing digital works.  I think she is onto to something really big.  If we are wanting our students to produce authentic work that can be shared on the web, then we probably be thinking deeply about models that will inspire quality work.  It will be exciting to learn from Bill Bass, Katie DiCesare, Troy Hicks, Kevin Hodgson and Franki.  It will also be a little nerve-wrecking to read their "stuff", then go back and read my "stuff" and think "Man, I should have said that!"

Hopefully, openly broadcasting that I will be writing more regularly will hold me accountable to develop a more consistent habit of actually ... writing.

Later,

Tony