One for the Guys, One for the Girls

One for the guys...
Star Jumper: Journal of a Cardboard Genius
by Frank Asch

Alex is a genius who can build anything from cardboard boxes and everyday household materials. His goal is to get as far away as possible from his younger pesky brother, Jonathan. So he builds a spaceship. I know what you're thinking - It's all in his mind, right? He's a kid with a great imagination, right? Wrong. He actually builds a spaceship out of cardboard boxes. But it's not as simple as that. As Alex prepares for his journey across the univers, he encounters some obstacles. He continually has to create new inventions (out of cardboard boxes) to overcome these hurdles. This book was different from any other book I've read. Not just the content, but the style of writing. It's not really told step-by-step like many others. It gives us Alex's thoughts as he writes them down in his journal (or really...his writer's notebook). There are lots of cool sketches throughout the book, and I love how the story is told in Alex's own voice. This is the first book in the series - there are three in all. Boys - I think you will like this one.

One for the girls...
Paint the Wind
by Pam Munoz Ryan

Usually I am NOT tempted to pick up books about horses. I have never read any of Marguerite Henry's books, and I have never really wanted to. They just don't appeal to guys! But I love Pam Munoz Ryan. She wrote Becoming Naomi Leon, which I thought was an incredible read. So, with all my trust in Pam, I decided to read this book. I was not disappointed. Maya's parents passed away when she was five years old. Since then, she's been living with her overly protective grandmother. When the grandmother dies unexpectantly, Maya goes to live with her family on her mother's side. She spends the summer living in a teepee on the shores of the Sweet River (in Wyoming). I love this story became Maya goes through some incredible changes. AND there's plenty of action and humor to go along with it (which I was a little surprised about...I didn't know horse stories would be this good). Don't be intimidated by the size of this book. It's 316 pages, but there are BIG spaces between each line and the margins are wide, too - it's not a long book. You don't have like horses to enjoy this book. Trust me.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznik

I've never experienced a book like this. The story is told not only through text, but also through pictures. Brian Selznik has created incredible black and white sketches that capture the action of the story - incredible enough to win the Caldecott Award for this year.

It's 1931 and Hugo Cabret lives within the walls of a Paris train station. You are immediately filled with tons of questions - Where are his parents? Why does he look after the clocks? Why is his notebook so important to him? Why did the old man at the toy booth become so angry when he saw Hugo's notebook? What are the drawings in Hugo's notebook? Why are they important to him? These questions begin your action-filled journey with Hugo. Trust me - you will not want to put this book down. The story was like a puzzle to me - as I read, I continued to gather small clues that I tried to piece together. I love how the story unfolded. Don't let the thickness of the book intimidate you. There are over 200 pages of illustrations, so it's a really quick read. Boys - I think you'll like it. Girls - you'll probably like it, too. If you have a chance to read it this summer, let me know what you think.

The Young Man and the Sea

The Young Man and the Sea
by Rodman Philbrick

I couldn't put it down. I read it all in one day - all 192 pages. But don't be too impressed - the font size is large and there's a nice space between each line.

Skiff is a boy who lives near the waters of Maine - his father is a fisherman, and Skiff has spent his life on the water. Skiff's mother passed away a few months ago, and his dad isn't dealing with it very well. Their boat sank, and Skiff's dad spends his days on the couch - not working or fishing or helping out Skiff. Skiff is resolved to revive the boat, repair the engine, and get his and his dad's life back on track. Unfortunately, the engine will costs upwards of $5000 to repair, money Skiff does not have. Skiff is also being terrorized by the town bully (whom you meet in the first chapter). There are so many things going against Skiff - but he has the resolve and determination to overcome them. I don't want to give it away, but the final few chapters are incredible. Truly incredible. Skiff tells the story, and I loved hearing it being told through his voice.

Belle Prater's Boy

Belle Prater's Boy
by Ruth White

This is one of the best books I've read in a while. I loved Ruth White's Buttermilk Hill, but I think Belle Prater's Boy is even better. It's the early 1950's in a small coal town in the hills of Virginia. Woodrow Prater's mom disappears one day. Since his father is not handling it very well, Woodrow comes down from the hills and lives in town with his grandparents. Gypsy, Woodrow's cousin, lives next door and the two of them become fast friends. Woodrow and Gypsy are two of the most endearing and likable characters I've met in a while. Woodrow is hilarious, compassionate, and loyal. As the story unfolds, you learn more clues about Woodrow's mom and the struggles she faced. You learn more about Gypsy's family - and how she comes to grips with her own past. I really didn't want the story to end, and that's why I'm so glad there is a sequel - The Search for Belle Prater. I know that Naomi and Anna C. have both read this book and enjoyed it as much as I did. I remember Anna C. reading it during our end of the year testing - I watched her laugh and smile as she read (always a good sign).

Hank Zipzer - Niagra Falls, or Does It?

Hank Zipzer - Niagara Falls, or Does It?
by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver

A former colleague of mine always reads this book to her 4th grade class. I now see why. Hank is funny, quick witted, creative, smart, and very true-to-life. At the start of his 4th grade year, Hank's teacher asks the class to describe their summer using a five paragraph essay. Instead of writing, which is extremely difficult for Hank, he decides to create a "living" essay of his family trip to Niagara Falls. When he brings his 3-D model into class, chaos breaks out.

I think a lot of the boys in my class would enjoy this book. It has a boy main character, lots of humor, and is a fairly quick read (only 133 pages). I'm looking forward to reading more in the series - I think there are about 10 books out right now. (And for you parents - yes, the "Fonz" wrote this book!)

A Dog's Life

A Dog's Life
by Ann Martin

This book came recommended to me by Madison (one of our own members of Room 241). I was excited to read something by Ann Martin. Ann Martin wrote all of the Babysitter Club books (which I'm not a huge fan of), but she's branched out and has actually won numerous awards for her writing. She did not disappoint.

Squirrel (the dog you see on the front cover) is born a stray. He is born in an old shed behind a summer house located in the country. He and his brother learn to hunt in the forest and knock over trash cans in order to find food. Their mother teaches them to be extremely wary of humans - which turns out to be incredibly good advice. One day Squirrel is forced to leave his home and this begins his journey. He is constantly on the move, meeting humans, other animals, towns, cities, farms, forests, and all kinds of weather. There is very little narration in the story as Squirrel describes his journey from one place to the next. You really get to see and understand how an animal survives in the wild. It developed a lot of compassion within me for all kinds of animals. If you are an animal lover, you will connect to this book. It wasn't my favorite book of the summer so far, but it was a good read. Thanks Madison!

Room 241 Newscast - May 23, 2008

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What Are You Reading?

In our classroom, we are continually talking about books. Students are always sharing their reading life with their friends - always on the lookout for an incredible book. I was able to do a lot of reading this weekend, so I thought I'd share with you some of my reading life (in hopes that you will share about yours!).

The Shack
by William P. Young
Fiction

A good friend of mine recommended this book to me - it really impacted his life. In the story, a horrific tragedy strikes Mack's family when his daughter is kidnapped. Several years later, Mack gets a mysterious note in the mail from God - inviting him to meet and talk. Not knowing exactly what to think, Mack steps out and accepts the invitation. The rest of the story shows Mack and his conversations with God. It's an amazing dialogue that really challenged a lot of my previous thinking. Mack and God talk about evil, independence, relationships, and forgiveness. It's a book that covers a lot of ideas - I'm looking forward to working through it all. If you'd read this book, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Gossamer
by Lois Lowry
Young Adult Fiction (Fantasy)

I've always loved Lois Lowry. Number the Stars and The Giver have always been two of my favorites. I was finally able to order Gossamer through Scholastic, and it did not disappoint. Littlest One is a dream-giver, and she and Thin Elderly visit an older woman's home each night. Littlest One learns to collect "fragments" by touching objects in the home, collecting memories to bestow to the older woman in her dreams. The older woman takes in an eight year old foster child with a troubled past - and along with the foster child comes the Sinisteeds, who bestow nightmares upon their victims. Littlest One and Thin Elderly decide to stand up against the Sinisteeds and protect the young boy and older woman. I know it all sounds a little strange (my wife put the book down after just a few chapters), but it really puts forth a good message. The boy (John) had a terrible home life, but the older woman loves him unconditionally. It's a story about good being stronger than evil, and love being able to heal pain.

The Year of the Dog
by Grace Lin
Children's Fiction

I've heard great reviews about this book from several blogs, so I was ecstatic when Virginia donated it to our classroom library. Grace is the only Taiwanese-American in her elementary school. It's the Year of the Dog, which her mother explains is a good year to find true friends and to find yourself. Grace sets out to accomplish both. Each story tells a different story from Grace's life. I loved reading about the various traditions her family practiced and the different types of food they ate - so much centered around food! It was also very interesting to see how Grace was pulled between two cultures, and how she dealt with being the only Asian girl in her school. There were lots of strong messages in this story. I recommend it to all my students!

What are you reading? What's on your "to-read" list? Parents, friends, educators, students - please let us know what you're reading by leaving a comment below. As we wind the school year down, this is a great chance for all our blog readers (whoever you may be) to connect to one another. We look forward to hearing about your reading life!

Civil War Timelines

To conclude our unit on the Civil War, we created timelines highlighting the major events of the war. Partners worked together to correctly place events on their timeline, and then describe and illustrate four events. I really enjoyed watching the various approaches partners took to this project - everyone's timeline looked a little different. After everyone was finished, we participated in a "museum walk." We quietly walked around the room and viewed everyone's timeline, leaving our comments, questions, and responses on post-it notes.

Garvin and Anna C. work on adding illustrations to their project.

Rachael and Kelkcee begin adding events to their timeline.

Here is a portion of Taurus and Caroline's project.

Virginia, Charlie, and Kelkcee use post-it notes to respond to other timelines.

Preparing for PACT Writing

In order to prepare for the PACT writing portion, I decided to have the kids analyze and evaluate some student writing samples. I first created a kid-friendly PACT writing rubric, based on the official PACT rubric. I used our classroom language, words we use to describe and talk about the writing process. The four areas in which our kids' writing will be evaluated are content, organization, voice, and conventions. Students can score a 0-4 in each area (except for voice which has a high score of 3). We evaluated one writing sample together, then partners got together to evaluate one on their own. Partners then met up with another set of partners to discuss and defend their evaluations. I learned our students are very tough evaluators! They had extremely high standards for writing. Afterwards, we talked about how this activity would affect our own writing on the PACT test. Many students were able to clearly articulate their own goals for PACT writing. I was extremely pleased with how well our students were able to critique writing AND identify effective writing strategies they could use.

Naomi and Jordan are working as partners to evaluate the writing sample. You can see the writing rubric in front of Jordan.


Here is a group of four discussing their evaluations. Groups had to defend why they gave each sample its particular score.