Wonder Wednesday #210 (Breakfast with Books)

Wonder Wednesday - Book Club with Abby Cooper

*We are calling this the book club that almost wasn't.

*I had the wrong date for the first get together and had to tell the readers, it would be a week later.

*For the second date, we had a major snow storm and I had to cancel with Abby because our school had a two hour late start.

*We finally got the author in person on Tuesday, January 30th.  The readers had read either Sticks and Stones and/or Bubbles.  Some of the students even read BOTH books.

*During our book club, Abby signed the novels that the readers had purchased, we shared our comments about the stories, and had the opportunity to ask questions of her.

*She was kind, gracious, and funny.  The fourth graders absolutely adored her and our hour went by so quickly.

*Here is a look at all the fun we had during our "Breakfast with Books"...

 

Music Monday #18 (I'll Be Your Water by Keb Mo)

"I'll Be Your Water" by Keb Mo

*Music Monday is HERE and I'm excited to share a year's worth of musical selections with you.

*I know it is going to be a GREAT year of music, writing, thinking, and sharing.

*I know I have hit the "jack-pot" when  student comes to me and asks if I can use a certain song for our Music Monday selection.  A girl in my class brought this song to my attention.  I didn't know the piece of music.  Knowing the girl like I do, I know a bit of background information about why this song means so much to her.  That is even more meaningful when a song has such a personal connection to a student.  

*Today is our EIGHTEENTH Monday together and that means it is time for our musical selection.

*I truly believe Mondays are my favorite day for our writer's notebooks.  

*Each Monday I present a piece of music to my fourth graders.  I usually present the song via a video so they are hearing and "seeing" the music.  

*After I share the video, we discuss the song/video for a few minutes as a class.  It is always a joy to hear what my young listeners have to say about the song.  

*They then get busy writing in their notebooks.  We start off at the beginning of the year writing for about five minutes.  This will gradually increase as the year progresses.  

*Here are some ideas I give the writers to think about during their writing time...

*Their opinions of the song.

*Their likes and dislikes of the song.

*What the song reminds them of.

*Any connections they may have to the music.

*What they think the message in the piece may be.

*What listeners can learn from the song.

*A fictional story about the music/video.

*These are just some ideas I give to the writers.  They are really free to write anything they would like as long as it connects to the song.

*After our silent reading, we spend a few more minutes sharing out what we wrote.  

*I keep a collection of the videos on our Schoology Site so that my students can always go back and rematch them anytime they wish.

Our Musical Selections for 2017/2018... 

Week #1:  "What I Am" by will.i.am                                                  Click Here for Week One MUSIC

Week #2:  "Hopeful" by Bars and Melody                                         Click Here for Week Two MUSIC

Week #3:  "Somebody" by Lemonade Mouth                                  Click Here for Week Three MUSIC

Week #4:  "Dream Big" by Ryan Shupe                                            Click Here for Week Four MUSIC

Week #5:  "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield                                 Click Here for Week Five MUSIC

Week #6:  "The World's Greatest" by R. Kelly                                    Click Here for Week Six MUSIC
Week #7:  "Candyman" by Zedd, Aloe Blacc                                   Click Here of Week Seven MUSIC
Week #8:  "Thriller" by Michael Jackson                                         Click Here for Week Eight MUSIC
Week #9:  "Clay" by Grace Vanderwaal                                           Click Here for Week Nine MUSIC
Week #10:  "I Don't Know My Name" by Grace Vanderwaal           Click Here for Week Ten MUSIC 
Week #11:  "Brand New Eyes" by Bea Miller                               Click Here for Week Eleven MUSIC
Week #12:  "You Will Be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen         Click Here for Week Twelve MUSIC
Week #13:  "Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka                    Click Here for Week Thirteen MUSIC
Week #14:  "Rise Up" by Andra Day                                          Click Here for Week Fourteen MUSIC
Week #15:  "Carol of the Bells" by The Piano Guys                     Click Here for Week Fifteen MUSIC
Week #16:  "This is Me" from The Greatest Showman                Click Here for Week Sixteen MUSIC
Week #17:  "A Million Dreams" The Greatest Showman        Click Here for Week Seventeen MUSIC

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (1/29/18)

Thanks to Jen and Kellee for hosting this idea on their site.  Here is a link to the site...

                

 http://www.teachmentortexts.com/

Books I Read this Past Week…

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

*Novel Published for Adults (5 STARS out of 5 Stars!)








Books I Will (continue to) Read this Week…

The Immoralists by Chloe Benjamin

*My Novel Published for Adults

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

*My Young-Adult Novel

The Truth As Told By Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor

*My Middle-Grade Novel

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

*My Novel Published for Adults (Audio)

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

How I Heard About It:  I remember seeing this title via different reviews, but never added it to my TBR list.  When I ran across it on my Cloud Library app, I decided to download it and give it a listen.  This was a novel published for adults that I listened to on audio.  

What It Is About:  Arthur Pepper is an old man.  He spent his life with his wife Miriam.  They raised two children.  Arthur and Miriam had a predictable life.  No surprises.  No changes.  Just day to day life enjoying each other's company.  On the one-year anniversary of Miriam's death, Arthur decides to clear out her things and try to get on with his life.  He comes across a beautiful charm bracelet among Miriam's things.  He hasn't seen it before and wonder what all the charms mean.  This bracelet takes Arthur on a grand adventure that leads him to London, Paris, and India.  Each stop of Arthur's journey, presents a new and interesting secret that Miriam had never shared with her husband.  Arthur struggles with all this new found information and wonders if his wife was truly who he thought she was, and why Miriam never shared this portion of her life.  

What I Thought Of It:  A delightful read/listen.  I tend to gravitate toward the more depressing/dysfunctional type stories.  This was a touching story with an incredible cast of characters.    I so enjoyed following Arthur on his journey and discovery of who and what his wife was before she was married to him.  There were a few surprises along the way, but overall this was a strong, solid, well-told story.  The plot didn't need a lot of "stuff".  The characters held the story together and their emotions came bounding off the page.  The theme of family, life, and being true to yourself was one that often made me pause and think of my own life and the moments I want to remember.  

Who Should Read It:   There isn't a reader out there who could take issue with this novel.  The character of Arthur is one that will forever make an impact on the reader's heart.  In my opinion, both the young-adult and adult reader would be the perfect audience for this delightful novel.  Happy Reading!  

Rating:  5 STARS out of 5 Stars

Life Lesson #17 - Be Happy

"Be Happy"

*This is the SEVENTEENTH Thursday of our school year together and that means it is "Life Lesson" Thursday.

*One of the biggest messages I try to share with my students is to make a positive impact on the world.

*This isn't always easy, but I work very hard to spread this theme/lesson/idea each and every day.  

*At this point in the year, this is the perfect video to share with my students.  They are getting a bit negative, tired of school, and just not as focused as they had been.  To me this video lifts them up and shows them how to have a great positive life.  I love the images and the messages.  

*I set aside time during each day for us to work in our writer's notebooks. 

*We talk about what types of writing we can do in the notebook.  Here are some of the possibilities...

-What we notice in the video

-What we wonder about

-Connections we have to the video

-Thoughts, feeling, emotions about the video clip

-Reminders we have from the lesson/message

-Create a fiction story about the video

*Once the video is shared with the writers, we spend a few minutes "talking" about what we observed.

*My writers set up their HEADING in the notebook and we get busy writing.

*During the start-up of the year, I have my students write for about five minutes.  We slowly build our stamina for writing and slowly add time to the writing block. 

*At the end of the individual writing time, we call on a few volunteers to share their actual writing and/or further thoughts about the video we watched and wrote about.

*If there is time, I sometimes share the video clip with my class at the end of the writer's notebook time.  

2017/2018 Life Lessons...
Week #1:  Be a Reader                                                                      This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #2:  Be Kind to Others                                                              This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #3:  Be Safe                                                                             This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #4:  Be Responsible                                                                 This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #5:  Be Brains                                                                           This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #6:  Be a Friend                                                                        This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #7:  Be Life-Changing                                                              This Week's Life-Lesson    
Week #8:  Be Spooky (Halloween Fun Edition)
Week #9:  Be a Bully - NOT!                                                              This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #10:  Be Courageous (to continue on)                                     This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #11:  Be Motivated                                                                   This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #12:  Be Inspired                                                                      This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #13:  Be Merry                                                                          This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #14:  Be a Team                                                                       This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #15:  Be Giving                                                                         This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #16:  Be SHOUTful                                                                  This Week's Life-Lesson

Wonder Wednesday #209 (And the Next One Is)

Wonder Wednesday - Breakfast with Books

*We have had a series of missteps in trying to have our current "Breakfast with Books" book club.

*The readers will be meeting with author Abby Cooper to talk about her two novels; Sticks and Stones along with Bubbles.

*The first date we had, this teacher had the WRONG date and we had to reschedule.



*The second date we had, the Twin Cities had one heck of a snow storm and our school had a two-hour delay so we had to cancel this one also.

*The readers are now waiting patiently for our third attempt to chat with Abby.  She will be visiting our book club Tuesday, January 30th.

*In the meantime, I announced our next book club selection.  I couldn't wait any longer.  It was one of my favorite readers from this past summer.  The readers are going to fall in love with Lorenzo and Marty.

*Today during class, I asked two sets of readers to share their thoughts about our upcoming novel.

*When they got back, I watched the two videos and got a kick out of the differences between the girls  and boys "version".

*There is no one better to promote a book than the young readers themselves.

*Take a look...

Music Monday #17 (A Million Dreams from The Greatest Showman)

"A Million Dreams" from The Greatest Showman

*Music Monday is HERE and I'm excited to share a year's worth of musical selections with you.

*I know it is going to be a GREAT year of music, writing, thinking, and sharing.

*After finding "This is Me" two weeks ago, I have become obsessed with the music from The Greatest Showman.  I listen to the soundtrack all the time.  My students really enjoyed "This is Me" and I heard them singing it often.  I wanted to pick another piece from the movie and knew this song was the one.  It is absolutely beautiful.  

*Today is our SIXTEENTH Monday together and that means it is time for our musical selection.

*I truly believe Mondays are my favorite day for our writer's notebooks.  

*Each Monday I present a piece of music to my fourth graders.  I usually present the song via a video so they are hearing and "seeing" the music.  

*After I share the video, we discuss the song/video for a few minutes as a class.  It is always a joy to hear what my young listeners have to say about the song.  

*They then get busy writing in their notebooks.  We start off at the beginning of the year writing for about five minutes.  This will gradually increase as the year progresses.  

*Here are some ideas I give the writers to think about during their writing time...

*Their opinions of the song.

*Their likes and dislikes of the song.

*What the song reminds them of.

*Any connections they may have to the music.

*What they think the message in the piece may be.

*What listeners can learn from the song.

*A fictional story about the music/video.

*These are just some ideas I give to the writers.  They are really free to write anything they would like as long as it connects to the song.

*After our silent reading, we spend a few more minutes sharing out what we wrote.  

*I keep a collection of the videos on our Schoology Site so that my students can always go back and rematch them anytime they wish.

Our Musical Selections for 2017/2018... 

Week #1:  "What I Am" by will.i.am                                                  Click Here for Week One MUSIC

Week #2:  "Hopeful" by Bars and Melody                                         Click Here for Week Two MUSIC

Week #3:  "Somebody" by Lemonade Mouth                                  Click Here for Week Three MUSIC

Week #4:  "Dream Big" by Ryan Shupe                                            Click Here for Week Four MUSIC

Week #5:  "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield                                 Click Here for Week Five MUSIC

Week #6:  "The World's Greatest" by R. Kelly                                    Click Here for Week Six MUSIC
Week #7:  "Candyman" by Zedd, Aloe Blacc                                   Click Here of Week Seven MUSIC
Week #8:  "Thriller" by Michael Jackson                                         Click Here for Week Eight MUSIC
Week #9:  "Clay" by Grace Vanderwaal                                           Click Here for Week Nine MUSIC
Week #10:  "I Don't Know My Name" by Grace Vanderwaal           Click Here for Week Ten MUSIC 
Week #11:  "Brand New Eyes" by Bea Miller                               Click Here for Week Eleven MUSIC
Week #12:  "You Will Be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen         Click Here for Week Twelve MUSIC
Week #13:  "Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka                    Click Here for Week Thirteen MUSIC
Week #14:  "Rise Up" by Andra Day                                          Click Here for Week Fourteen MUSIC
Week #15:  "Carol of the Bells" by The Piano Guys                     Click Here for Week Fifteen MUSIC
Week #16:  "This is Me" from The Greatest Showman                Click Here for Week Sixteen MUSIC

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (1/22/18)

Thanks to Jen and Kellee for hosting this idea on their site.  Here is a link to the site...

                

 http://www.teachmentortexts.com/

Books I Read this Past Week…

The Problem Children by Natalie Lloyd

*Middle-Grade Novel (4 STARS out of 5 Stars)








One of the Boys by Daniel Malarial

*Novel Published for Adults (Audio)








Books I Will (continue to) Read this Week…

The Immoralists by Chloe Benjamin

*My Novel Published for Adults

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

*My Young-Adult Novel

The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick

*My Novel Published for Adults (Audio)

The Truth As Told By Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor

*My Middle-Grade Novel 

The Problim Children by Natalie Lloyd

How I Heard About It:  This book came to me via #bookexpedition.  That is my Twitter group that came together to share books, discuss books, and advocate for books for both our students and other educators.  

What It Is About:  This is the first of a new series from the wonderful author Natalie Lloyd.  What happens when you take seven siblings, parents away on an adventure, a mysterious grandfather, and an annoying neighbor?  Well, you get a fun, quirky, and adventurous story.  The seven siblings, each born a different day of the week, each have their own special talent and/or quality.  They enjoy life to the fullest.  When their own home goes "kaboom", they relocate to a new house and a new town.  They settle in their grandfather's mansion, which has a life of its own.  The Problim children are excited to start a new life here, but are taken aback when they realize the neighbors aren't so thrilled to have them there.  The more the children try to make this their new home, the more the neighbors, especially one family in particular, try to separate the seven of them and send them all to different homes.  

What I Thought Of It:  I'm disappointed with myself that I let this book sit in my TBR pile for so long.  It was a fun and different kind of read.  There were so many awesome things sprinkled into this story.  It had a bizarre, fun, and rambunctious cast of characters.  There was plenty of action, twists, and turns.  I enjoyed how the seven children stood their ground, celebrated who they were.  The siblings not only fought for who they were, but also fought to defend their family.  Of course when you throw in an evil antagonist, you have an even better reading experience.  I know young readers will really enjoy this story and the ones to follow it.  

Who Should Read It:   Natalie Lloyd sure knows how to write a story for young readers.  There is so much fun, action, humor, and adventure on each and every page.  I could see fourth, fifth, and sixth graders being the perfect audience for this title.  The book could also be shared with middle-school readers.  If you know a reader that enjoys the bizarre, the silly, and the outrageous, then this is the book for them.  The novel will be released on January 30, 2018.  

Rating:  4 STARS out of 5 Stars