Wow! The year is over this week - I can't believe it! What an amazing and wonderful year it was! I had so much fun with all of you and loved all the reading we did! It was so fun to see you all grow as readers, writers, and people. I can't tell you how happy I am that this is not goodbye and that I will be continuing on to Columbia Intermediate School with you! I'll also be seeing a lot of you during the summer at our Mock Newbery Club 2014!! So, I'm not going to say goodbye - just, until next time...
We didn't get a chance to take a last Spin Cam of SLE. :-(
40 BOOK CHALLENGE TOTALS
Check out the number of books read this year!
Silly Picture!
100 PAGES = BOOK
GRAND TOTAL FOR 43 STUDENTS: 2,635
AVERAGE # OF BOOKS PER STUDENT: 61
WOW!
Keep reading, everyone, and check the classroom blog often - I'll be putting up book reviews of 2013 books for our Mock Newbery Club throughout the summer, so you can check them out from the library. I'll also be writing up blog posts about our Newbery Club meetings during the summer. Also, anytime you read a book you want to share, comment on the blog!!
HAVE A GREAT SUMMER and READ, READ, READ!! Leave a comment below about your summer reading goals!
Are you interested in participating in the Mock Newbery 2014 Book Club for the 2013-2104 school year? I hope so!! I will be talking about the club at the Parent Meeting for Accelerated 5th/6th ELA on Wednesday evening. If you're interested (this is an optional extra-curricular club and is open to any reader in 5th/6th grade, not just in the accelerated classes), I have a booklet for you where you'll keep track of the 2013 middle grade books you read this year. In the beginning of the booklet, there is a place where you'll record any former Newbery winners or honors you read and the characteristics on which you think the Newbery committee will be judging books. We will be meeting three times this summer. I will be getting parent e-mails for any participants so I can contact you about summer dates. Once school starts, we will meet once or twice a month after school to talk about 2013 books and share reviews and favorites. You can find 2013 books at public libraries, the school library, and book stores. I will have some in my classroom library, also. In January we will vote for our favorites and watch the live A.L.A. presentation and then start all over again! :-) If you're interested in reading more about the Newbery Medal, click on this link: http://www.ala.org/awardsgrants/awards/15/apply
Here are some "buzz" books so far this year (I define a "buzz" book by how much it gets talked about in social media, book websites, bookstores, and book review magazines). Sometimes, however, a book gets chosen for the Newbery that wasn't expected to win, so don't ignore less talked about books. A "sleeper" might be the one! There are MANY new books that come out, but not all of them are Newbery-type books, so I'm only going to feature books for the Mock Newbery 2014 Club that I think may be considered. Don't let that stop you from reading ALL KINDS of new books, though! It's good to read lots of books and review them even if you think they aren't Newbery-worthy, but still lots of fun to read! I'll do one of these posts once or twice a month, so keep checking!
That list should keep you reading for now! Don't forget to pick up a Newbery Club booklet, record what you read, and write a short review for each book so you can remember your favorites! Just check the date published on the copyright page in the front (sometimes the back) of the book. It must be 2013.
A great website for kids' book reviews is Kidsreads.com.
