Well this week I am reading two books. Both of these books are part of The Lunar Chronicle series by Marissa Meyer. "Winter" is the fourth and final book in the series, while "Fairest" is a novella that fits between the third and fourth book. Marissa Meyer mashes up fairy tale characters to create her own gripping fairy tale starring a cyborg named Cinder. I love, love, love this series. I started reading "Cress", the third book in the series, on a Friday night and finished it Sunday afternoon. For a relatively slow reader, reading a 550 page book in that short of time means that this book is one I couldn't put down. If you haven't read this series yet, definitely add it to your "to read" list.
Whatcha reading? Link up and tell me about what you've been reading. Click here for details on how to link up.
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When I saw an instagram post by @msaplusteacher about reading sixty books in 2016 I was intrigued. So I checked out her post on her blog, My Shoe String Life, and decided to give it a try. Basically you make a commitment to take time to read everyday and try to read sixty books in 2016. Although I love reading, sixty books is a daunting task. This year I have read 27 books, which is a lot for me, but no where near sixty. So I decided that I will count both my classroom read alouds and my personal reading. Here are some read alouds/children's books that I am excited to read in 2016: For my personal reading, these are a few of the books that I can't wait to read: What are some books that you are eager to read?
Before the Christmas break I wrapped a bunch of Christmas and winter books up. Each day I randomly picked a student to unwrap our "book present", while the rest of the students drumrolled on their laps. One of the books we unwrapped was "There Was a Cold Lady Who Swallowed Some Snow" by Lucille Colandro. Before reading the book I asked how many students had read the book before. There were about a handful. Then I asked how many were familiar with these kinds of books and almost all of the students raised their hands. As we read the book we kept track of the items she swallowed and would retell our reading partners what the cold lady had swallowed so far. At the end of the partners took turns retelling the story. Then we talked about how the author's craft. We discussed how the author used repetitive phrases and how each of the items that were swallowed helped to create the one large item at the end of the book. Then we went back through the book and to notice how the author used rhyming words. Now that we had our brains thinking like writers, we worked together, using shared writing, to create our own class version of the story. We began by choosing what large item we wanted to create. Students suggested Christmas tree, fancy hot chocolate, gingerbread girl, and gingerbread house. Then we voted. We broke our large item up in the smaller parts that our character would swallow. Then together we created our rough draft. First we filled in the first lines with all of the items our character would swallow. Next, we brainstormed words that would rhyme with the swallowed items. Students brainstormed goofy sentences to use the rhyming words in. Then on my prep, while the students were away at phys. ed, I quickly put together "good copy" of our book. I asked a coworker to take a picture of me and I used my Mimio to draw the items in. _When the students returned they were so excited to see our book. We read the book a couple times together
Then I put them into pairs to create their own books. I handed out the planning sheet and rough draft for students to start. Most students got the planning page done during our class period. The next class period, students worked with their partner to complete their rough draft. The class periods after that students used white letter paper, cut in half, to create their book pages and construction paper to create their cover. Students really enjoyed working on their books and I can't wait for them to share them with their classmates. _Want to try this with your class? Click here to get a copy of the planning sheet, rough copy sheet and a filled in example. What made you smile today?
So it's December. Winter is here folks, at least for us Northerners. So in dedication to this snowy season, just "Let it Go!" and smile. Here's a hilarious Jimmy Fallon lip sync battle featuring Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart. Psst, if you want to "Let it Go", go to 6:24 of the video. Enjoy :)
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I am teacher from Saskatchewan, Canada. I have taught grades 2-6 and currently I am teaching grade 3/4. Teaching often makes me smile and think, "I can't believe I get paid to do this!"
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