Reading + Pinning + Doing (10)

I was having some techinical difficulties...But here it is (a day late)


Reading
To balance Dostoevsky's The Idiot (a dense, slow read), I picked up Why We Get Fat, by Gary Taubes.  I'm not much of a non fiction reader, but I am taken with this book. 

Taubes ideas are somewhat controversial, but Taubes appears to be well-respected in the science community. His thesis generally is that we should cut out/limit as many carbs as possible (carbs drives insulin which drives fat production) including all sugars (yes, even fruits), milk products, breads, beans, rice, etc... He encourages us to eat as many green veggies as possible, along with meats. (This is super simplified btw- his reasoning is much more articulate and based in history and science).

I haven't been able to lose a lot of my baby weight... and have started to be bothered by it more and more.This book deals with the science and history of obesity/fat in the world. In the past, I've blamed a lot of my weight on genetics, and I don't think that's the healthiest mindset (it doesn't really motivate me to change my eating/exercise habits!)

I'm about 50 pages into this book, and I've learned a lot. I'm hoping to become more educated about the science of food, so that I am more knowledgeable about my body and health, etc.. I'm not much into fad diets, or dieting at all, but I realize that I need to try something soon so that I can become more healthy! 

Has anyone out there read this book? If so, what do you think about Taubes' ideas?

With my little one, in heavy circulation this week is... 

To Market, To Market by Anne Miranda (Illustrated by Janet Stevens): This book is lively, and great fun for any preschooler. It starts off with the mother goose rhyme and gives us a literal picture of what it would be like to go pick up a cow, duck, a spring lamb at the store. The illustrations are wonderful- A real hoot! I love it and my daughter asks for it every night. 

 

Pinkalicious by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann: Hmmmm, I don't know if I approve of this book. It's cute, but Pinkalicious loves cupcakes and isn't a fan of green veggies (not a mindset we want to advocate for in our house). But, my daughter loves it. And it is pretty silly that Pinkalicious turns pink! My daughter isn't that into girly things, but maybe this book will do her in.

Potty by Leslie Patricelli: We've had this book for a while. My daughter isn't potty-trained, but we thought that this book would warm her up to the idea (hasn't worked yet). We hadn't read this book for over a month, and when we picked it up this week my daughter started "reading" it. She got all the words spot on on 4-5 pages. My hubby and I were astounded and impressed! This is the first book she has been able to do that with. My little girl is growing up too fast!

Pinning
There are so many great pins out there! Here are some of my favs from the week!

This Alphabet Mat from Teach Beside Me. I would love to make one of these for my little girl! It looks pretty simple.

This Guided Reading Focus Chart by Level from What the Teacher Wants. This is a handy resource for any elementary teacher.

Doing

Staying up too late!! I'm trying to get in bed by 10:30 these days, and it's after 11pm. So goodnight all, have a great week! I'm going to bed!

Have a super week! And please share- I'd love to know what you are Reading, Pinning, Doing??!!

I'm Linking up:

Learning All The Time!!

Mouse Grows, Mouse Learns

Library Loot and Kindle Downloads: Summer Lingers On

I went to the library today, and brought back  a couple of books I thought my students would enjoy.


Anna Hibiscus Book 1 and 2, by Atinuke

This is in our library's Moving Up section. It's set in Africa and the main character, Anna Hibiscus, has biracial parents (a Canadian mom and an African dad) and 2 younger twin brothers. I am eager to read this book because I think it will be a good book to provide basic background knowledge about Africa for some of my students, and I know it will appeal to older students with lower read levels. I think it would work for kids reading at the 2nd or 3rd grade level.


Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword, by Barry Deutsch

This is a juvenile graphic novel and the by line intrigued me, "Yet another troll-fighting 11-year-old Orthodox Jewish girl." That's all I needed! I'll let you know how it reads.


These are the books I recently downloaded on my Kindle:

I've seen Faith: A Novel by Jennifer Haigh on a number of blogs. It looks like a book I would like. Murder and the Vicarage and Tears of the Giraffe I downloaded for the Cozy Mystery Challenge. Hopefully I'll get around to reading these books sooner rather than later!


Kindle announced that library lending will be possible this coming fall. How cool is that? I can't wait!


Hope you're enjoying the heat (if you're in the US), and that you have time to duck into a cool library!


I'm linking up:
Library Loot it at The Captive Reader this week. Library Loot is a weekly event  that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!


Be well! Read on!

On My Nightstand: In the Garden of Beasts

I've been reading In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson.  I'm 18 or 19% into the Kindle version. Nonfiction always seems to take me a while to read. It's fairly interesting so far. Has anyone else read this book?


What's on your nightstand?

Tips for Reading Tutors

My aunt and uncle are literacy heroes (woot, woot) as they have been investing a great deal of their personal time tutoring reading to kids and adults in their local community. I thought it may be helpful for them (and to any other reading tutors out there) to share some tips and links on reading tutoring.

The tutoring experience can be really rewarding to both parties involved. And to make the most it, here some of my ideas:


1) Learn about your student's background. This will help to motivate your student to be engaged in your time together. It may be fairly obvious- but knowing your students interests will help you to know what type of books or reading material to expose them to. Get your student excited about reading and help them find the books that are just right for them!!


2) Learn your student's reading needs. This will help you target your tutoring support to meet your student's needs. While you probably won't give a formal reading assessment on your student, you can tell a lot about someones reading just by having them read to you. Have this checklist in your head as you read with your student (some of this list has been taken from Hopelink) and take stock of his/her biggest areas of need: