Hi friends! This blog is for teachers and families- all for the sheer joy of literacy. When we are enthusiastic about reading and writing our students and our own kids become excited to read and write. I hope that we all can be models for those in our care- how did you show your passion for reading, writing, learning, language, or words today?? It's in those small, daily moments that we teach kids to love literacy.
So, I've been attracted to the new kids books lately at the library. Here's what I picked up this Tuesday:
This is the first time I was introduced to Nikki Grimes' Dyamonde Daniel book series. I can see a lot of my 4/5 struggling readers really enjoying this series. I just read the first chapter and am loving it. I think young urban students would really connect to the characters.
Eloise Greenfield has presented a collection of beautiful poems about The Great Migration of Blacks from the South to the North from 1915-1930. This book could be for elementary students, but if I was a high school history teacher I would use this books as a hook into talking about The Great Migration. The art is lovely as well!
I love Katie Klise's books, and this is no exception. I think young readers would really enjoy Over My Dead Body. Her books always have a lot of artifacts and illustrations- which is especially great for the reluctant reader.
The beautiful cover of this book called to me. It's a little dream-like and fantastical. Kids may not connect to the characters, but they will be swept away by the illustrations and story-telling.
I can't wait to share this for Non Fiction Monday. This fun book is about the invention of bubble gum!
Summer is before us. I saw this book about family day trips in Nor Cal- had to pick it up to see if anything spoke to me for our family of 3!
Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader 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!
To make my blogging more organized, I created a schedule for what I blog about when. Thursdays (today) were set aside as Read Aloud Thursdays. I think I am so ready for school to be out of session, because I posted for Read Aloud Thursday yesterday, and (sadly) I really thought it was Thursday.
Here's my self-imposed blogging schedule (I'll try to stick to it):
Monday: Non-Fiction Monday
Tuesday: Pulse of the School
Wednesday: Literacy at Home/Library Loot
Thursday: Read Aloud Thursday
Friday: Events/Organizations in the Community
Saturday: Day off
Sunday: Teaching Tipster
So because of my absentmindedness I overlooked posting about Library Loot for this week, which I thought I'd share quickly with you all. My small familia took a quick trip to the library yesterday afternoon (it's just a short walk away). As it was 10 minutes to closing (and we already have a massive stack of library books at home awaiting perusal), we checked out just a couple of books.
I'm into Jaime Oliver right now. So when I saw Jaime's America I had to grab it. My sister and her hubby have been into Jaime Oliver's Cookbooks for a few years now. And I always found myself attracted to reading them when I was over at their place. But they can be pricey ($10 bucks for his mag, and $38 for his cookbooks), and they tend to have a lot of ingredients that are hard to find in the US, since he's British. This book is more up my alley- it has food I know I'll love to eat, and I can get most of the ingredients easily.
The more I read Jaime's America, the more I think I need to have it for my own. I love the recipes he's included in here, as well as the book's design and the tone of the writing. I can't wait to try these stand-out recipes over the next few weeks while I have this book checked out from the library:
Southern Red Beans and Pork
Candied Bacon Green Salad (How could I resist it?)
NYC Cheesecake
1 Steak 2 Sauces
Beautiful Breakfast Tortillas
Chili Con Jamie
Blood Orange Granitas
Sweet Tamales 'N' Chocolate
Mexican Breakfast
Bourbon Pecan Tart
Okay, maybe I should limit myself to 3 of these dishes. If I try all of these recipes before the book is due back at the library, I surly won't fit into my just-ordered bathing suit this summer. Some of you know that Jaime Oliver is all about eating fresh ingredients. He's also about moderation. While he's tried to make healthier versions of these American foods, they are by no means low-fat low-cal dishes. So as he tells his readers in the forward, "be sensible about mixing it up".
Here's some recipes that look intriguing, but I doubt I'll be making them anytime soon (where could I even find alligator in the Bay Area?)
Trout and Salad
Beer Butt Chicken
Ham Hock and Green Grits
Old-fashioned Peach Ice Cream (No Ice Cream Maker)
Venison & Creamy Beans
Tuna Tartar
Cajun Alligator
Popcorn 'Gator
Have you all been watching Jaime Oliver's Food Revolution? I've loved it. And it's definitely convicted me about some of my food habits. It's hard to eat any kind of candy or ground meat after you watch it- so beware. It has affected me a lot more than Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal.
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The second book we checked out was for my my hubby: The Information, By James Gleick. I feel like I JUST heard about this book for someone else's recent loot.
From NY Times Review: Drumbeat to E-Mail: The Medium and the Message By JANET MASLIN
“The Information” is so ambitious, illuminating and sexily theoretical that it will amount to aspirational reading for many of those who have the mettle to tackle it. Don’t make the mistake of reading it quickly. Imagine luxuriating on a Wi-Fi-equipped desert island with Mr. Gleick’s book, a search engine and no distractions. “The Information” is to the nature, history and significance of data what the beach is to sand.
I know when my spouse reads a book like this, I always feel like I'm along for the ride!
Here's a quote my hubby shared with me last night:
As the role of information grows beyond anyone's reckoning, it grows to be too much. "TMI," people now say. We have information fatigue, anxiety and glut. We have met the Devil of Information Overload and impish underlings, the computer virus, the busy signal, the dead link, and the power point presentation.
I think I'm hooked, how about you?
I'm linking up to Library Loot: Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader 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!
I love browsing section after section at my library, pouring over book jackets and reviews... pulling books off the shelves, reading a couple of pages, mmmmm, just lovely!
However, with a toddler in tow, I can't aimlessly meander through the library, sporadically reading books I like. I have to be focused or else...
Today, while I was quickly sampling book after book, my industrious toddler put 30 books in her stroller's basket. Whoops. I suppose I took my eyes off her for a couple of seconds. I don't think the librarians were probably too enthused about that little act of cuteness, but come on now, it's literacy awesomeness! My daughter, at a year and a half, knows what to do at the library- We get books. We bring them home. We read and read and read them. We go back and get some more. I love it! This is why we bring our kids to the library! It has to soak in early: Library good. Books good. Reading fun.
So we picked up a bunch of books earlier this afternoon. Even though I have a Kindle, I thought I'd get some adult books too, to preview any books before I buy them. The novels I am usually drawn to are usually labeled HOT PICK- which means you can only check them out for a week, and there's no way I can finish a novel a week these days.
Books to Preview For the Kindle (for me!)
I tend to like dark novels. The premise of The Convent, by Panos Karnezis, instantly drew me in- an abandoned baby was left in a suitcase at the steps of the convent. The book hints that there is a connection between the baby and the Mother Superior's tainted past.
Started Early, Took My Dog by Kate Atkinson- I love detective stories, and this had a well-designed, youthful cover (I am a bit of a sucker for a pretty book). The jacket said it was full of wit and wisdom- we shall see!
Books to Share with My Students:
Over My Dead Body, by Katie Klise: I'm always drawn to her books because her husband was in my teaching credential cohort years back. She writes the books, and her sister illustrates them. I love the playfulness of these books, as well as the doom and gloom of this series. My students are obsessed with ghosts, goblins, and all things scary- so I'm sure it will be a hit!
The Secret River, by Marjorie Rawlings: Beautiful- can't wait to read it!
Ninth Ward, by Jewell Parker Rhodes: A book for young readers about Katrina- I had to pick this up.
Backyard Birds of Summer, by Carol Lerner: This book is for kids. But I got it for my husband and I. We have some crazy loud birds outside these days. I thought this book looked great and would help us to identify our fine feathered friends.
Drummer Hoff, By Barbara Emberly: 70's old school Caldecott winning book about building a cannon. Looks fun! I think this may be more for my toddler than for my students though!
Phew! I'm having a ton of formatting issues with this. So not all of the books got on the list. Sorry about that! Hopefully we'll get to dig into these over the next couple of weeks! I can't wait!
Some of these books will look familiar! I took a trip to the library in last week mid-week to get some choice read alouds books to share with a group of 20 K-1 students at a local after-school program here in Oakland. Here's the stack of books I have sitting in my living room:
I checked out 3 Mem Fox books, and read Boo to a Goose and The Magic Hat to the K-1 students:
This book, Pierre the Penguin, was a hit with the K-1 crowd! Check out my review of this book this coming Monday!
This is Jan Brett's version of the 3 Little Pigs, set in Africa. I'm contemplating is this should be my next read aloud to the K-1 students. What do you all think?
Kevin Henkes is the best!! I got a few of his books to meander through. I'm deciding which ones I want to read aloud to this K-1 after school kids:
I was proctoring the state test this past week for small groups of students (who-hoo! There's nothing more fun than that!). One of the boys was really into dragons, so I picked up this neat Gail Gibbons dragon book for him to read after he finished his test- he liked it a lot. I really like Gail Gibbons books, and kids do too!
Have a great weekend! Read on!
I linked this post up to Library Loot. Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.
I'm trying out this new feature where I report out about what I checked out at the library for the week. If I was one of those super organized moms/teachers, I would visit the library with my toddler weekly. But my visits are not as consistent as they should be (reason being-we have a lot of great books at home and I have a Kindle). Hopefully this new feature will inspire me to take a weekly trip to my local library (only a short walk away!). My social, book-loving daughter certainly loves it- and that's reason enough, eh?
I do love going to the library. I like browsing through the new fiction books, DVDs, and cookbooks. I absolutely love running into neighbors, talking with friendly strangers, and feeling connected to the local community. It really is such a gift that books are made available publicly- for anyone and everyone to access.
My local library- The Dimond Branch, Oakland CA
Here's what I checked out:
For my daughter (17 months):
My First Spanish Word Board Book, by Angela Wilkes My daughter loves these DK board books with real pictures. This book is packed with small images of everyday things, and showcases a lot of the words that she knows (banana, duck, apple, bread, table, book) or has heard often. My daughter also goes to daycare in a home where they speak Spanish only. I thought this books would help me brush up on some Spanish vocabulary, and help her to make a connection to the words she uses at home and daycare. We'll see how it goes...
For my students (elementary):
This spring I began doing read alouds (when you, as the teacher, read a book out loud to your students) weekly. Since I am a reading intervention teacher I usually have specific goals I'm working on with the students (expression, comprehension, teaching reading strategies, etc...) and much of the time I am working through a reading intervention curriculum with the students. I felt these different curriculum were effective on many levels, but weren't fostering a motivation to read (and that needed to change!). Reading a book to the students once a week for 20 minutes has dramatically improved their motivation to read (while building their knowledge about the world and their vocabulary!). Engaging read alouds are essential for many reasons (I could go on forever!), and my students' change in attitude proves it! I usually use read alouds as a teaching tool to focus on particular reading strategies. But sometimes we read a book just for fun!
Owl Moon, by Jane YolenI love Jane Yolen. I was introduced to Owl Moon during my teaching credential program. This book is beautifully written. A daughter and her father go "owling" together. I would use this book to focus on author's craft or visualization.
Mrs. Katz and Tush, by Patricia PolaccoYou'll probably see Patricia Polacco turn up often on this blog. I love her books- and her characters, themes of love, community, and the importance of history, all keep me coming back to her books again and again. And since I love her books so much, my students always do too (funny how that works). I chose this book blindly- I had never read it. But it's simply perfect for this week. There's a Seder in it (Passover is observed this week, I think). What a great way to teach my students about Passover (building their background knowledge) and share a heartfelt story about friendship and community. I'm excited to read this one. Bonus: The setting of this book is my hometown- Oakland, CA.
My little Car, by Gary Soto.Again, I love Gary Soto. I chose this blindly too (well, knowing that i enjoy Soto's writing). Soto stories often convey the life of the Mexican American youth, and my students have always connected to his books. This story I like, but don't love. I would use this to have the students share connections and reflect on the character's poor decisions.
Summer is before us. I saw this book about family day trips in Nor Cal- had to pick it up to see if anything spoke to me for our family of 3!
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