Where have you been reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading?

At the moment, I'm reading A Handful of Stars by Cynthia Lord.  Just like her award winning book, Rules, she captures the voice of a 12 year old wonderfully.  The struggles and challenges of being a young girl, being raised by her grandparents, worried about her dog, and trying to navigate friendship in a small town make this book really relatable and fun to read.  

What are you reading? Let me know!

It's Monday! What are you reading?

This week I'm reading The Crossover by Kwame Alexander.  This book won the Newbery Medal this year, and I can definitely understand why! It is written in verse (like poetry) and has a definite hip hop feel to it.  It is told from the point of view of a 7th grade boy who is really good at basketball, just like his famous basketball playing father.  So far I am definitely enjoying this book.  I keep picking it up to read "just one more chapter" and then reading for at least 5-6 chapters.  

What are you reading this Monday?  Leave a comment and let me know!

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July!

Interested in reading about our country's independence?  Here are some great middle grade novels about the Revolutionary War and founding of the USA.

The Fighting Ground by Avi

Night Journeys by Avi

Attach of the Turtle: A Novel by Drew Carlson

Betsy Zane, The Rose of Fort Henry by Lynda Durrant

The Keeping Room by Anna Myers

It's Monday! What are you reading?

I'm still reading A Snicker of Magic and I love it!!  This book is taking me a while to read, but not because it's slow or I'm super busy.  It's taking me a while because I am savoring every page just like it's that delicious ice cream cone from the cover!  

It's been a long time since I've read a book where I want to copy down quotes from every page and hang them up all over my house, but this book is like that.  I love words, but Felicity Juniper Pickle (even her name is amazing!) loves them even more than me, and boy she knows how to pick them.  I think I'm going to have to reread this book with my own little blue notebook.  It's spindiddly!

So what are you reading?  Anyone who leaves a comment will be entered to win a free book (even though it's summer vacation).

Hooray!

Yesterday was the first day of summer vacation, and so it was the first day the summer lending library was open.  As with anything new, I was a little nervous about how much it would get used.  Then I got a text from my principal:

First check out!

I am so thrilled that our kids are excited about books!

Last day of school

Well, it's the last day of school, and that means the first day of summer reading!  I am so proud of all the plans the kids have to read this year.  Having a concrete plan is the best first step possible to make sure those books get opened up this summer!  To help with these plans, I did a display on my windows...

It had a section for students and teachers to write their summer reading goals.

Then it had ideas for places and time to squeeze in some reading, even though we know summers are full of other fun things as well.

The kids that I work with in small groups also made and decorated plans to hang up somewhere important at home.  Somewhere that they will see it every day, like the fridge, their bedroom, or (my favorite) right over the TV.  Parents can really help their kids pay attention to these plans and encourage them to bring a book any time they might have a spare few minutes.  

I made one too!  I've already read 2 books, since making my plan.  I'm one tenth of the way to my goal!