Monday, July 18, 2016

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?


Books I Loved This Week
I LOVED this book!  The character development is amazing as the plot unfolds between the alternating perspectives of Ravi and Joe.  Save Me A Seat will inspire conversations about bullying, friendship, empathy, and acceptance.  I believe that sharing this book with students will encourage them to reflect how we often make inaccurate assumptions about others.  I am planning to recommend this book as a read aloud for teachers in our upper elementary classrooms.  

I am a huge fan of What Do You Do With An Idea?  Both of the books in this series incorporate many signposts including Again and Again, Tough Questions, Words of the Wiser and Ah Ha Moments.  I can't wait to share What Do You Do With a  Problem? with teachers this fall!  It is an outstanding text to share in our work with the signposts, but I also think it would be a fabulous mentor text to encourage students to reflect on how we persevere through problems.  I highly recommend reading it aloud at the start of the school year.  As a classroom teacher, I know this would be a text that I would return to with students throughout the year.


After seeing a number of reviews for The Storyteller on Twitter last week, I was inspired to get my own copy! There are many possibilities for discussing this text with students!  I plan to share it with teachers at both our primary and upper elementary schools.  It offers connections to the signposts of Again and Again, Ah Ha Moment, and Words of the Wiser.  Even if you are not using the signposts, this book shares a beautiful message about the importance of storytelling.  I know this is a text I would love to share early in the year, so that I can refer to it often in my conversations with readers and writers.


I am grateful for the lovely employee at Barnes and Noble who recommended the Dr. Kitty Cat series to my daughter, Grace.  I can tell she's hooked because she has been walking around the house reading this book unprompted all week.  We already started Book 2: Clover the Bunny tonight.  This adorable series is about a pet vet who takes care of the ailments of other animals.  Dr. Kitty Cat would be an excellent addition to classroom libraries in second and third grade!

Currently Reading


I am halfway through Mystery of the Missing Fox and can't wait to discover who is bothering the new kit foxes at the Wilder Family Campground.  I love the character development in this latest mystery in the Cooper and Packrat series.  I'm anxiously awaiting word on my grant proposal for an author visit with Tamra for our third, fourth and fifth grade students this fall!

Here's a link to my reflections on Chapters 3 and 4 in DIY Literacy!

Up Next


Thank you to Elly Swartz for sharing a copy of Finding Perfect with me on NetGalley.  I can't wait to start reading it!

I was so excited to receive my copy of Sticks & Stones on Tuesday!  I think this book has great read aloud potential, as it's so important to talk with our students about the power of our words to help or harm.

I've seen many reviews of Nine, Ten on Twitter.  I'm looking forward to settling in with this book soon!

New Professional Book Recommendation

I recently finished reading Embedding Formative Assessment this week as part of my work with a cohort of teachers collaborating with the literacy specialists at the Maine Department of Education. Our goal is to craft professional development sessions related to formative assessment that will be offered across the state this year.  This text provided us with a great deal of background knowledge and strategies related to formative assessment.  At our training this week, we received a copy of Outstanding Formative Assessment, which is full of classroom examples that I am looking forward to sharing with teachers this fall!



5 comments:

  1. Thanks for including the formative assessment reads! This is something our district is looking to work on next year! I will check out those titles!

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    1. Embedding Formative Assessment was a great overview of formative assessment filled with strategies and techniques. I'm excited to dig into Outstanding Formative Assessment, as it seems to have more classroom examples, especially at the elementary level. Happy Reading!

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  2. Since becoming a part of the blogging community I've realised just how much professional development and year-round learning goes on behind the scenes, and how being a teacher is a life-long calling, rather than a 9-3 job! Even on summer vacation you guys are already thinking about the coming school year, teachers are seriously superstars. :)

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  3. The Storyteller is on my list, but it has lots of holds at the library. I hope to see it soon. I know about Save Me A Seat & it's on my list, too. So many great middle grade books have come out recently. Thanks for all, plus those you're planning are great, too.

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  4. I'm looking forward to the Sarah Weeks title and now have The Storyteller on my list. It's strange that now that I am retired, I feel no need to read professional books over the summer. I've entered into a waiting phase as I wonder where my fancy will take me next.

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