Tag Archives: Reading

Spring Breaking

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So Spring Break is here, and I have no plans! At least no plans in the way that people mean when they ask, “What are your plans for spring break?” I’m not going on vacation or visiting family or friends! Here is my to do list:

-Sit outside and read.

-Buy cowboy boots.

-Get a car wash.

-Finish crocheting blanket.

-Go for a walk/run everyday.

-Get a pedicure.

Yep, I’ve got plans :) I just felt like I needed a big giant sigh and a nap! So I’m spending my days reading and my evenings with friends, and it is wonderful!

I didn’t make it to the library on Saturday to pick up books for my week of relaxation, so on Sunday afternoon I picked up my favorite book of all time, Anne of Green Gables, by L.M. Montgomery to read while I sat outside on the patio.

Confession: I have read the Anne series countless times. (Like way more than 10xs, all 8 books) I used to reread them every summer from about 5th grade through high school. Now I just pick them up whenever the spirit moves. I love Anne. I love her imagination and passion for life. I love that she is always making mistakes and getting into “scrapes”. I think she is one of the greatest characters ever written…and that is a bold statement! The series follows Anne’s entire life from age 11 (about the age that I first read the series!) through motherhood, and as I’ve grown up I have been able to identify with her in different ways. I feel like she has been a friend and companion to me…so here is to Spring Break with my good friend Anne :)

Ps. My plan was to buy a Kindle over sprint break, but after this discussion on Facebook yesterday I’ve decided to wait and save for an iPad, which seems much more appropriate for a Nerdy Teacher :)

Picture 3

**Is there a book that you reread over and over again?

**Do you have an opinion on eReader options?

Today I fell off the wagon…

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Confession: Hello, my name is Amy, and I’m addicted to buying books.

Today I heard that the Borders near our school is going out of business. “Hmmm, Borders is right on my way home,” I thought innocently to myself, “I’ll stop and see if they have No Talking by Andrew Clements.” No Talking was going to be my next read aloud, but my copy is NO WHERE to be found!

I was on the phone with my mom as I walked into the bookstore, “Don’t worry mom, I’m just looking for one book….unless they have an amazing deal I can’t pass up. I mean how often will Borders have their going out of business sale?” Do you hear the justifying? “Amy, this is like sending an alcoholic to a liquor store!” My mom tried to reason.

In the store I headed straight to the “C’s” to find my book. They had every Andrew Clements book except No Talking…but I continued to browse. At only 20% off, I wasn’t too tempted until I saw this book…

You have to see this book in relation to a normal size book!

It’s a jumbo sized version of Bridge to Terabithia! We just finished this novel unit in reading, and it is my absolute favorite! How could I pass that up!? And, of course I had to buy one for my whole team!  (Don’t worry, VERY soon I will post my Novel Unit for Bridge to Terabithia)

Head out of Borders. Now that I’ve had a taste, I’m thirsty for more…”I’ll just swing by Half Price Books and see if they have No Talking…” I give myself a pep talk in the car. “Just walk straight to the Juvenile Fiction section, see if they have it and walk out. You can do it!” I walk in to the store and there on display is a GIGANTIC Greek mythology POP-UP book! It is like I was being tested! After turning each gloriously interactive page, I sadly set it back in the display…and began walking toward the JF section. I intended to walk straight there, but it was beyond my control, The Children’s Clearance section is on the way…

This will be a wonderful addition to my Greek basket!

This Ancient Greece book will be a great addition to my Greek Mythology basket…and all these hardcover books? Only a dollar each ($.90 with my teacher discount)! Can you tell that I’m working on my non-fiction section?

And look at this….

15 hardcover books for only $22! STEAL. And they had No Talking…SCORE! And you should see all the great books I didn’t buy! Ok, so maybe I have a bit of a problem…

ps: This genre in the Teen Fiction section of the book story caught my eye:

WHAT?! Teen Paranormal Romance  is a GENRE now? And the section was HUGE!

If buying books is wrong, I don’t want to be right :)

It’s all Greek

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We just finished our Greek Mythology unit in reading. This year my kids got so “into” it. I mean the kids usually  enjoy reading the Storynory version of the Iliad and the Odyssey, but my class this year has been consumed by everything Greek. Percy Jackson and the Olympians is the new most popular book in my library, and I have several boys who can’t get enough of the Greek basket in my library (this basket includes Greek Myths and nonfiction books about Ancient Greece). The other day at pickup, the sky was very ominous looking and it was blustery and drizzly. The student I was taking to the car shouted over the the howling wind, “We must have angered the gods!” Gotta love it!

I usually let my kids try hummus at the end of the Greek mythology unit, but last summer I got really into making my own hummus. Naturally, I decided to make hummus with them instead. This was one of the funniest experiences to date. The kids LOVED it. They wanted to taste and smell everything that I put in the food processor, and one of my girls repeated “This is the best day ever!” over and over again with every ingredient. Here is “Greek Hummus” in pictures:

Everyone wanted to try a garbanzo bean…

Put it all in the food processor

Little bit of lemon…

And we mash em’, we mash em’

A little math problem. We have 5 pitas, there are 18 students and 1 teacher in our class. How many pieces should we cut each pita into?

Eat it! Some kids loved it, some kids hated it, one kid said he liked it, then told me later that he “fake liked it”, whatever that means :)

Here is my recipe for Greek Hummus:

  • 1 can of garbanzo beans (chick peas)–drained, but reserve liquid
  • A few squirts of lemon juice (about a table spoon)
  • A good shake of salt (maybe a teaspoon or two)
  • A palm full of cumin (1-2 table spoons)
  • 1 heaping spoon full of Tahini
  • 2 cloves of garlic

Put everything together in your food processor and let ‘er whirl. Add some of the bean liquid until you have a smooth consistency. Serve with pita!

**Note: You know how much I love Picasa…here’s another reason! I used the editing program “Picnik” in Picasa online to pixelate my pictures for obvious privacy reasons. You don’t need to a fancy photo editor to make your student pictures Internet friendly!

Basals are bad. Are basals bad? Bad basals are.

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I’ve been feeling creatively dry lately! Being creative and coming up with new and interesting ways to teach used to be one of my favorite things about teaching. But lately I haven’t been able to do it. I’ve felt “blah” as I plan and work on my curriculum. And now I’ve put my finger on it.

Yesterday after school, I had one of my traditional Friday afternoon conversation with my co-teacher, Kirsten, (she is my lifeline and will be going on maternity leave in *gulp* three weeks!), I realized that a lot of my creative teaching frustration has stemmed from our new reading curriculum.  We just adopted a new reading curriculum with all the bells and whistles. There are mountains of new  materials (leveled readers, ESL resources, vocabulary cards, posters…) the materials have filled two book shelves! As you know, I had decided to go forward with Reading and Writing workshop, but as a team we realized that we might not be ready to make both leaps at the same time. So we are all working together to implement Writer’s Workshop, but we had decided to go ahead and try out the new reading curriculum.

Yesterday, I confessed to Kirsten, I just couldn’t do it. I was taught in college that Basals are Bad, and everything that I read and research about reading instruction tell me the same thing. Don’t get me wrong, there are good things in every reading curriculum, but they do not teach inspire kids to love reading. I love classic literature, but it did not come from my  Classic Literature text book I had to read in 9th grade. It came from late nights curled up under the covers consuming Jane Austen. There are many great stories in our crisp, new 4th grade anthology, but I know that reading a story each week and discussing “cause and effect”, “problem and solution” and “story elements” will not a hungry reader make!

Kirsten was very understanding, and while she is going to stick to the basal for the sake of her maternity sub (she’s right with me as far as inspiring kids to love reading), I am going to forge ahead on my own. I don’t think I’m going to run full steam ahead into Readers Workshop. I was a little idealistic to think I could jump back into teaching with an entire new teaching philosophy and not fall flat on my face, but I will use my beloved novels, independent reading time, and reading conferences, a sort of blend of literacy instruction styles. We’ll see how it goes! I have my work cut out for me this weekend to come up with a completely new realistic plan. Hmmm, I think I feel some creativity seeping back into this nerdy teacher’s veins.

I’m ready to write again

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I’m sitting on my couch, balling my eyes out…I just finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Wow, talk about a powerful piece of fiction. To be honest, for the last two weeks I have struggled with writing, fought against it, and generally just gave in to my writer’s block. That is in part because I was busy camping, spending precious time with my friends and family in Minnesota before heading back down to the land of air conditioning and sweat (Texas). Then I was overtaken by summer. By the sheer delight of getting up in the morning and reading my way through breakfast, lunch and sometimes dinner. But after finishing The Book Thief, suddenly I was ready again, to write. So, I didn’t hold true to my resolution to blog everyday, but I’m OK with that.

My "To Read" pile

So, what has this teacher been up to? I already shared that I’ve been reading my little heart out. I scoured my favorite reading blogs (Check them out here and here) , and made a long list of books I want to read this summer and headed to my local library. On top of that, my dad gave me a bunch of books he has read and recommends. Growing up, I never would have called my dad a reader, but wow, did we talk books this summer! He gave me Drive by Daniel H. Pink and How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer, and I’m excited to read them and be able to discuss them with dad–and he showed me his “To Read” stack of books and it was bigger than mine, who would have thunk!?

My “To Read” books have three piles: We have my Fiction Pile from the library, my Recommendation Pile from Dad, and there is one more pile: my Teacher Pile. This pile includes Write Beside Them by Penny Kittle. I went to her workshop on Wednesday, and WOW, it was awesome! It was exactly what I needed as I plan my own Writer’s Workshop (More about that workshop soon!). I also finished my two books about Reading and Writing workshop and ordered three more from Amazon and borrowed a few from friends:

  • Revisiting the Writing Workshop
  • Revisiting the Reading Workshop
    • by Marybeth Alley and Barbra Orehovec
  • Around the Reading Workshop in 180 Days
    • By Frank Serafini
  • The Daily 5
  • The Cafe Book
    • By Gail Boushey and Joan Moser

So this nerdy teacher will be reading, writing, running, cooking, and relaxing, because it’s SUMMER!