Fantastic Friday

Thank you to Mr. Etkin's Ring the Bell Monday blog posts for the idea to let you know what my students are reading each week!   Mr. Etkin, I'm going to try SpinCam next week!

I didn't get a chance to talk to everyone this week about what they finished, but all the kids are either finished or close to finishing their small group books.

JFB Students:

EXCITEMENT OVER USED BOOKS I BOUGHT TO ADD TO THE CLASSROOM LIBRARY

THE PRINCIPAL'S OFFICE BY JERRY SPINELLI SMALL GROUP FINISHED THEIR BOOKS

MANGO-SHAPED SPACE BY WENDY MASS SMALL GROUP IS ALMOST FINISHED.  MUCH DISTRESS OVER MANGO! 

ANYTHING BUT TYPICAL SMALL GROUP ALMOST FINISHED

RULES BY CYNTHIA LORD SMALL GROUP ALMOST FINISHED

MORE EXCITEMENT OVER USED BOOKS I BOUGHT FOR THE CLASSROOM LIBRARY

Tyler finished Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes by Johnathan Auxier.  He also finished Spykids Adventures.

William finished Book 2 of Pendragon, The Lost City of Faar.

William also finished The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger. 

Mira finished Ida B. by Katharine Hannigan

 

 

Reece finished Steel Trapp the Academy by Ridley Pearson.  Here's a video of Pearson reading from it:

 

 

 

Deacon finished Seekers:  The Great Bear Lake by Erin Hunter

 

Emma finished three books in the Camp Confidential Series by Melissa J. Morgan.

 

Jacob finished Super Fudge by Judy Blume

 

Adam finished Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson

 

Cassandra finished Surprise Party by Marilyn Sachs

 

SLE STUDENTS:



OUT OF MY MIND by Sharon Draper SMALL GROUP ALMOST FINISHED

Abbi finished Dork Diaries 3

Carter finished The Strange Case of Origami Yoda

Jake finished Oogie Cooder by Sarah Weeks

Jenna finished What Would You Do If You Had to Choose?

I didn't get a chance to see KME students because they participated in a Walk-a-Thon.  We'll get them next week!

 

Keep up the awesome reading everyone!  

Text to Text Connections

"Sometimes the trail you leave behind you is more important than the path ahead of you."  Tyler's precept that he liked from How to Steal a Dog by Barbara O'Connor.  I love that students are picking up characters' mottos and precepts from the books they're reading.  Way to go, Tyler!  The precepts that we have on my classroom door at JFB are very profound!  Thank you, JFB students and families, for sharing your precepts with us!  KME and SLE - bring yours in, too, and we'll make a wall or door of them!

We're about to learn what Summer has to say.  What are your predictions?  What do you think Summer's thoughts and feelings are going to be like?

Are you making text to text connections between your book group book and Wonder? 
What are they?

 I have some thoughts about the similarities and differences between Via and Catherine in Rules since they are both siblings of a brother with differences.  If you're reading Rules, what are your thoughts about that?

If you're reading Out of My Mind, are you making text to text connections between Melody's mom and Auggie's mom?  Anything else?

While reading Report to the Principal's Office, I've been thinking about the point of view.  I wonder why Jerry Spinelli decided on limited omniscient point of view instead of multiple first person points of view like R.J. Palacio used in Wonder.  What do you think?

Can you find any text to text connections between Mango-Shaped Space and Wonder?  Mia and Auggie have one big difference.  Mia has been able to hide her disorder and Auggie can't.  What do you think about that?  Has that made Mia's life easier than Auggie's?  Why or why not?  The other difference is that Auggie's disorder is physical and Mia's is mental.  Does that make a difference?  Tell me what you think.

Anything But Typical and Wonder are good for making text to text connections as well.  Jason and Auggie are both looking for ways to connect with other people.  Do they have real friends?  How can they tell and why is so difficult for them to have "normal" relationships?

Can you make connections between Joey in Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key and Auggie?  How are they alike?  How are they different?  What about the adults in their lives - are they similar?

Last but not least, does The Strange Case of Origami Yoda have any connections with Wonder?  Are there similarities between Auggie's school and Dwight's?  Do Auggie and Dwight have any of the same problems?

Is anyone reading two of the small book groups?  I think some of you chose another small group book for your independent book this month.  Can you make text to text connections between them?  I think Rules and Out of My Mind have a lot in common because Jason in Rules sounds a lot like Melody!  Also, Anything But Typical would be interesting to read after Rules because it's told from the point of view of a main character who is autistic.  You would understand Catherine's little brother, David, better, since David isn't the narrator.  Also, Joey Pigza and Report to the Principal's Office sound similar to me.

I'd love for you to comment on all this and let me know what you're thinking!

Via - "August Through the Peephole"

 

When hearing the chapter, "August Through the Peephole" by Via, students couldn't resist drawing what she described.  They wanted to make sure you know, though, they weren't being mean by drawing Via's description.  They were visualizing August, and we are curious about what he looks like.  Hearing Via's point of view is fascinating because she's such a perceptive, sensitive person.  We talked a lot about her character traits and what it must be like to be August's sister.  "August is like the sun" is a metaphor she used about how he is the center of the family, and all of them orbit around him.  We talked about how the sun even has a magnetic pull and so does Auggie.  Via has learned to cope without a lot of adult help.  We're reading, though, about how this year, with Auggie going to school, the "cosmos" is shifting.  It's also interesting to hear about genetics and how Via thinks about her own chances of having a child like Auggie some day.  This week we're going to discuss that.  As technology gets more sophisticated, how does that affect us?  What choices will we make when we know more about might happen?  Via is young, and it's hard for her to fully understand the impact of having a disabled child - how hard it must be, but also how much her parents love him.  She also loves Auggie, though, and knows how much worth he has even with his disorder.  There's so much to think about in this book!  Several students have expressed they'd like to hear from the mom and dad. 

 

 

 



Fantastic Friday

STUDENT PRECEPTS, INSPIRED BY MR. BROWNE in WONDER, at JFB



READING ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON AT KME

Not only is our class listening to and talking about Wonder, but each Friday I'll update what books students are finishing independently.  I was inspired to do this by another blogger, David Etken, on Eat the Book blog.  I was reviewing my own books, but I loved how Mr. Etken listed what his students were reading, too.  David Etken's weekly review is called Ring-the-Bell Monday.
 Ring- the- Bell Monday

We're going to call our weekly book list Fantastic Friday.

Here is our finished list this week:

JFB Students:

Maggie read:                  Amrith read:                 
    
Jersey read 2 books:
     

Paige C. read:                      Jacob read:                     Annie read:                
       
William read:
 

Jackson read:               Reece read:                       Neily read:            
     
Tyler read 2 books:

    

SLE Students:

Jenna read:                   Abbi read:                    Alessandra read:     

     
Sarah read:

 

           Jake read:                     Alec read:
      

KME Students:

Cameron read 2 books:                                                Sammy read:   
           
Jack read:


Ali read (for the 11th time):      Cole read:              
  
Bobby read 2 books:
  

Katie read:                    Mrs. Mueller listened to: 
        

Mrs. Mueller read aloud to JFB students:
 

Awesome, everyone!  Keep reading!!!!!!!!!