Monday October 21st, 2013

Posted on October 20, 2013 by carriegelson

It’s Monday! What are you reading?

Join Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers and share all of the reading you have done over the week from picture books to young adult reads! Follow the links to read about all of the amazing books the #IMWAYR community has read!

I read many picture books this week. Unfortunately, many were just okay. Yet, many were wonderful. These picture books stood out:

Ralph Tells a Story by Abby Hanlon

Just. Delightful. And then some!!! Oh, do I love this book! I love the quirky teacher – her style, her passion, her celebration of just about everything! I love Ralph’s avoidance strategies. I love Daisy’s ability to see a story in everything. I love that Ralph spends lots of time lying under his desk. And I love the story of the inchworm. Inspiring for little writers? Oh yeah! But also just such a warm representation of a primary classroom. Swoon.

The Crocodile who Didn’t Like Water by Gemma Merino

The illustrations in this story are absolutely charming. Meet a little crocodile that abhors water. He watches his siblings from afar and finally gets enough courage to dive in himself. Cured of his water phobia? Hardly. And it turns out there is a very good reason why not . .

Little Red Writing written by Joan Holub and illustrated by Melissa Sweet

I have seen much #booklove for this title so I will get this out in the open quickly: I, personally, did not love this book. I love Melissa Sweet’s illustrations as I always do. I find the storyline clever and full of possibilities for writing workshop activities. But . . . I worry that this title doesn’t have enough stand alone enjoyment factor as a picture book. Did I read it and feel transported? No. Did it make me laugh? No. Did it evoke emotions? No. Was it just a great story? Not sure. I’m reserving final judgement until I try it out on kids. There was enough to like that I am including it as a title I enjoyed but . . . jury is still out.

Don’t Let the Pigeon Stay up Late by Mo Willems

Not sure how I had yet to read this Pigeon title. Read part of it with a student in a reading conference this week and then nabbed it from her book box when recess started. As always, I am delighted by Willems’ ability to engage the reader to participate so actively in his stories. My students adore the Pigeon!

Toads on Toast written by Linda Bailey and illustrated by Colin Jack

I liked how Mamma Toad schemed to save her little toadlets from Fox and his cookbook full of toad recipes! In the end, we learn that a truly simple and delicious meal can truly save the day (and the toads)! Lots of humour and delightful illustrations.

Bear and Bee by Sergio Ruzzier

Some confusion. A worried bear. A clever bee. A made-to-be-friendship. Sweet and simple. Perfect for story time.

I also read two wonderful nonfiction picture books:

What does it Mean to be Present? by Rana DiOrio and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler

We practice mindfulness in our classroom (read more about the Mind Up curriculum here) so I am very excited to share this title with my students. It highlights with various daily examples what it really means to be present in the moment.

An Eye for Color: The Story of Josef Albers by Natasha Wing with art by Julia Breckenreid

I continue to be impressed with the variety of picture book biographies available to share in the classroom. This title had me stopping numerous times to carefully examine the images in the book. I learned many things about colour and can see this being a wonderful title to share with children of all ages.

Novels I read:

The Thing about Luck by Cynthia Kadohata

A quiet, introspective story about a 12 year old girl, her brother and her grandparents during a wheat harvesting season. Family dynamics are beyond believable and ring with all that is true about relationships that span generations and cultures. And wow did I learn a lot about the seasonal work of harvesters! True, the plot is not fast paced but can see this being a story that speaks to the inner voices of many preteens. A lovely book.

Girl, Stolen by April Henry

I have had a terrible cold all weekend and found this to be the perfect title to read while sick in bed. Certainly suspenseful but calm enough to put down when extra rest was needed. Still, I raced thorough this book in a day and enjoyed learning so much about being blind from the main character. Even though this is a YA title, I can see mature MG readers finding the text and story line easy to navigate and not too upsetting.

Next up from my very large TBR pile? Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord Very excited to begin this title! I also have a number of picture books and nonfiction titles I want to test out on my own children this week. I am finishing my first chapter book read aloud with my class (Marty McGuire Digs Worms by Kate Messner) and think I’m going to read them The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O’Connor next.

Monday July 29th, 2013

Posted on July 29, 2013 by carriegelson

It’s Monday! What are you Reading?

Join Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers and share all of the reading you have done over the week from picture books to young adult reads! These #IMWAYR posts are a great place to “shop” for new titles.

Favourite picture books from the week:

The Hueys in It Wasn’t Me by Oliver Jeffers The second title in The Hueys books by Jeffers. Sometimes an argument becomes bigger than the original source of conflict. This simple little picture book highlights exactly this phenomenon. For anyone who spends anytime with children, this story rings very true!

Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco An emotional historical fiction title set during the American civil war. Touches on themes of war, slavery, racism and survival. Definitely for older readers.

Carmine – A Little More Red by Melissa Sweet An extremely clever alphabetical retelling/fractured tale of Little Red Riding Hood. Wander through bolded words in ABC order and Sweet’s signature artistic style – part collage, part detailed panels and so expressive. Loved the vocabulary and the fresh approach to this classic tale.

A House is a House for Me written by Mary Ann Hoberman and illustrated by Betty Fraser I simply adore Mary Ann Hoberman and her gift for rhyme. And Fraser’s illustrations make me nostalgic for childhood ease. First published in 1978, this title is one long poem about everything that can be a house. All about homes/houses for just about everything. My favourite was no surprise: A book is a house for a story.

The Night Riders by Matt Furie One of my newest favourite wordless titles. This is some kind of adventure into the world of real and fantastical nocturnal creatures and amazing things that happen beneath the light of the moon. One of the best things about the book? The jacket unfolds into a double sided poster of images from the story. Here is a link to Matt Furie’s interview with The Beat (the daily news blog of comics news, reviews, and information) about this, his first book.

Looking for more wordless titles? I just created a Pinterest board with all of my favourites.

Bruno Munari’s ABC First published in 1960, a wonderful graphic ABC book.

Flora McDonnell’s ABC Bright, bold and beautiful. This has inspired some art project ideas . . . A study in letters, opposites and clever pairings. Each page has 2 objects beginning with a specific letter. Some of my favourites? The large giant with a tiny red glove perched on his thumb, a regal tiger with a teapot balanced on his head and a rhinoceros sniffing at a radish. So fun.

Anticipating fall book talks, I am trying to catch up on some graphic novels and early chapter book titles. This week I read two winners.

Violet Mackerel’s Natural Habitat written by Anna Branford with illustrations by Ellana Allen Loved the nature/science/ecology connection. Perfect for my Grade 2/3/4 readers just beginning to read chapter books. And how delightful that Violet names her ladybug Small Gloria.

Bird & Squirrel on the Run by James Burks What fun and absolutely full of silly escapades. Loved the contrast of the pessimistic and optimistic characters. Kids will love this!

I also finished two novels

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater A friend passed on her ARC of this book to me. I had resigned myself to impatiently waiting for September but, I was so thrilled to read it now! Let’s just say this – I am fully just as hooked and intrigued by these Aglionby boys and the character of Blue. Intrigue, mystery, twists, upsets, revelations. This second title has it all.

Drums Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick Wow. This book subtly and not so subtly sneaks right up on you pretty quickly and holds fast. It is at times teary and heartbreaking, other times hilarious and witty and all the while, just plain good. A very human and honest look at a family hit hard by childhood illness and how they navigate the complicated business of hospitals, emotions and changing family dynamics. Stayed up half the night to finish this title. Now I get the Sonnenblick love. I’m in. Thank you to everyone who raved about this title to me. And yes, I am planning to read After Ever After – already requested from the library 🙂

Next up? Maggot Moon by Sally Gardner and some more graphic novels in my pile!

Happy reading everyone!

Wonder Inducing Nonfiction Read Alouds

Posted on July 24, 2013 by carriegelson

It’s funny how one’s focus can change when looking at the classroom library. For a while, I’ve been thinking a lot about the nonfiction titles in my room. Last summer I started to get anxious about whether or not I had enough books in the room that my Grade 2/3s could pick up and read independently. It seemed like my “best” nonfiction titles were books that I needed to read to my students. Which was wonderful because I had some amazing titles to use as we model strategies, but what about when it was independent reading time? Did I have enough titles that students could read by themselves with success? My book shopping focussed on purchasing titles that I knew my students could manage on their own, especially as we built strategies to read nonfiction text over the year. Some of my favourite books that I added?

The Discover More Series by Scholastic
Nicola Davies Flip the Flap and Find out books which include Who Lives Here? and Who’s Like Me?
Laura Hulbert‘s Who Has This Tail? and Who Has These Feet?
A huge array of Bobbie Kalman titles
The Are you a . . . ? series by Judy Allen and Tudor Humphries
The Amazing Animal Series by Kate Riggs

Now, here I am a year later. Again, thinking about the books in my room . . . What is my focus now? That I want some “Oh, wow!” titles to read aloud. I want to make sure that just as I am reading a variety of picture books and some engaging novels, that I have a real variety of excellent nonfiction picture books to read aloud. Sometimes to model/practice a strategy, sometimes to enhance our learning on a particular subject and sometimes just because, the more we read, the more we know and I want my students to be inspired and curious about learning all year long!

I am fortunate to be looping my Grade 2/3 class into Grade 3/4 and so I have a sense of this group of children, what they wonder about and what I think might inspire them. Last year, I noticed that they were intrigued by stories – folklore, Aboriginal tales, stories from around the world and stories about things that really happened. They were very curious about the stories of people and how these stories connected to us in our classroom. It made me realize that I haven’t been reading enough biographies. I also want to focus on places around the world and the wonder of the world around us. Last year, students loved learning about animals from each continent and had endless questions about habitats. I know we love art and books and music. So, I have some sense of what kinds of books I need to share.

Knowing how busy school can get and knowing how I sometimes need a one stop shop when I am planning, I decided to take advantage of the time summer has to offer to amass a huge list of amazing nonfiction read alouds. I was looking for titles that my Grade 3/4 class would enjoy. Some are favourites from previous years and some I have yet to read myself. Thank goodness for the wonderful book bloggers out there that I used for inspiration. So here is my list of 25 “wonder inducing” nonfiction read alouds. A reference for me and one that I am sharing here.

The book I plan to use to launch my year: On A Beam of Light- A Story of Albert Einstein by Jennifer Berne and illustrated by Vladimir Radunsky This book made my own thoughts whirl and swirl and race around my head. It has all the perfect themes of wonder, curiousity and thinking outside of the box.

Based on some picture book biographies I already loved, I grew that list to include:

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Stewart

Balloons Over Broadway: The True Story of the Puppeteer of Macy’s Parade by Melissa Sweet

A River of Words: The Story of William Carlos Williams written by Jen Bryant and illustrated by Melissa Stewart

Manfish: A Story of Jacques Cousteau by Jennifer Berne and illustrated by Eric Puybaret

The Boy Who Drew Birds: A Story of John James Audubon written by Jaqueline Davies illustrated by Melissa Sweet

The Watcher: Jane Goodall’s Life with the Chimps by Jeanette Winter

Me . . . Jane by Patrick McDonnell

Mrs. Harkness and the Panda written by Alicia Potter and illustrated by Melissa Sweet

The Boy Who Loved Math: The Improbable Life of Paul Erdos written by Deborah Heiligman and illustrated by LeUyen Pham

Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle by Claire A Nivola

Who Says Women Can’t Be Doctors?: The Story of Elizabeth Blackwell written by Tanya Lee Stone and illustrated by Marjorie Priceman

Some titles to explore amazing places and the world around us:

Peace by Wendy Anderson Halperin

Redwoods by Jason Chin

Island: A Story of the Galapagos by Jason Chin

The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest by Steve Jenkins

A Rock is Lively written by Diana Hutts Aston and illustrated by Sylvia Long

Sea Otter Inlet by Celia Godkin

Fire! by Celia Godkin

Infinity and Me written by Kate Hosford and illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska

Energy Island: How one community harnessed the wind and changed their world by Allan Drummond

And to learn about creatures great and small:

The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins

Ape written by Martin Jenkins and illustrated by Vicky White

How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum by Jessie Hartland

And a title to be released this fall:

Is This Panama?: A Migration Story written by Jan Thornhill and illustrated by Soyeon Kim

Will I read all of these titles aloud this year? Maybe not. Perhaps interests and passions will take us in different directions. But this list will help keep me on track to make sure I am sharing lots of books that inspire both learning and thinking in my room!

Do you have some other must share nonfiction titles for Grade 3/4 listeners? Would love to hear your suggestions!

I learn so much by reading all of the blog posts that link to the Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday event that KidLit Frenzy hosts. Visit Alyson’s blog to see what books are shared this week.

Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge 2013

Posted on January 4, 2013 by carriegelson

I’ve been inspired by Alyson Beecher at KidLit Frenzy to participate in the 2013 Nonfiction picture book challenge! Link up here to join in!

I love sharing nonfiction read alouds with my class and integrate literature with all of my science and social studies themes so I definitely need to ensure that I am staying current and reading a variety of nonfiction titles. It is also my goal to find more nonfiction titles that my students can engage with independently during book choice time.

According to Goodreads, last year I read 44 nonfiction picture books (some I categorized as information story books) so this year my goal is to increase that to 60 books. While I will try and read recently published books, there are a number of books in our school library that I want to read so I am not limiting myself by publication date. When I can I will include favourites and link to Alyson’s Wednesday nonfiction posts (thanks Alyson!)

What I am most excited about is the opportunity to learn about a variety of nonfiction titles shared via the bloggers participating in this challenge! There is nothing like a reading community to inspire new reading choices.

My ten nonfiction favourites read in 2012 (not just published in 2012) included:

A Rock is Lively by Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long