Kellee

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 11/27/17

November 27, 2017November 27, 2017 by Kellee

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a meme started by Sheila at Book Journeys and now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date. It is a great way to recap what you read and/or reviewed the previous week and to plan out your reading and reviews for the upcoming week. It’s also a great chance to see what others are reading right now…you just might discover the next “must-read” book!

Kellee and Jen, of Teach Mentor Texts, decided to give It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? a kidlit focus. If you read and review books in children’s literature – picture books, chapter books, middle grade novels, young adult novels, anything in the world of kidlit – join us! We love this meme and think you will, too.

We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

We’re back!!

Thank you all so much for understanding about our time away. NCTE and ALAN were as amazing as always, but we are happy to be back 🙂

Last Few Week’s Journeys

Ironically enough, while I am at NCTE and ALAN, a conference about teaching English and adolescent literature, I get very little reading done because I am going from about 6AM to 11PM! But traveling to and from the conference then 5 days off when I get back do help on the reading front.

Before leaving for NCTE, I made sure to read This is Not a Valentine by Carter Higgins and Hidden Dangers by Lola M. Schafer because I was lucky enough to spend a dinner with them at NCTE, and I wanted to make sure I’d read their newest. Both are ones I highly recommend though for very different reasons! I love the innocence and sweetness in Valentine and Hidden Dangers is terrifyingly interesting!
Dude by Aaron Reynolds isn’t coming out for a while still, but when I saw a galley, I made sure to check it out, and it made me actually laugh out loud.
Matt de la Peña is having a really big Winter 2017/18! First, let me tell you about Love. At ALAN last year, Matt read the poem that would become Love to us, and I flat out cried because it was such a beautiful love letter to his daughter. I couldn’t wait to read the final picture book, and MAN! it did not disappoint. Loren Long took Matt’s beautiful poem and added art to turn the poem into a picture book about love for all humans. BEAUTIFUL! Miguel and the Good Harmony is a perfect companion to Coco! The movie and book are about passion and family.

I have a tradition of reading the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book on my way to NCTE each year because it comes out right before the conference. This year, the story fit because Greg is going on a family vacation, but as with all DoaWK stories, everything does not go as planned. I just really love these books!
I’m still listening to the Whatever After series, and I finished with book #3 which was a retelling of “The Little Mermaid,” but with a MUCH better version.
My book club is Skyping with Michele Weber Hurwitz on Friday, so I wanted to make sure to read all of her books. Last but not least is her newest Ethan Marcus Stands Up which looks at school and ingenuity and family and friendship. I know my kids are going to love this one!
Emily and the Spellstone by Michael Rubens is a pun-y and adventure-filled story about Emily who gets thrown into quite a predicament when she finds out she is a Stonemaster and has a demon at her beck-and-call. I’ll definitely be reviewing this one here.

I read the first Musnet book a year ago, but I was so excited to learn that there are THREE more of them! I finished the whole series, and I cannot wait to review them!

Ricki

My sister-in-law bought these books for my son’s birthday. We love the Please, Mr. Panda book, so we were very excited to read Thank You, Mr. Panda and I’ll Wait, Mr. Panda. All three books are excellent. My son is currently sleeping with these books in his bed. This is reserved for his favorite books. 🙂

I REREAD If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan for my class this week. We are thrilled to be Skyping with her on Wednesday!

I also read several other books at the conference, but I can’t seem to remember the titles. I promise I’ll remember them for next week!

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee

I’m currently listening to Whatever After #4 which is the retelling of Sleeping Beauty.
I am so excited to read the first and second book in the new Haddix series: Children of Exile and Children of Refugees.
I haven’t jumped into my NCTE/ALAN books yet because I had some books here I needed to read first, but the first two I am going to pick up are Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman and Knock Out by K.A. Holt. I CANNOT WAIT!

Ricki

I am not sure which NCTE book I’ll read first. I am actually interested in spying on other bloggers to see what everyone is reading before I make my decision. 😉

Upcoming Week’s Posts

Tuesday: Ricki’s NCTE/ALAN Reflection

Wednesday: Kellee’s NCTE/ALAN Reflection

Thursday: Ricki’s NCTE/ALAN Book List

Friday: Kellee’s NCTE/ALAN Book List

So, what are you reading?

Link up below and go check out what everyone else is reading. Please support other bloggers by viewing and commenting on at least 3 other blogs. If you tweet about your Monday post, tag the tweet with #IMWAYR!

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 11/20/17

November 20, 2017 by Kellee

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Last Week’s Posts

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

Tuesday: Ten Books We Plan to Read this Winter

We are currently away at:

We will be taking this upcoming week off for conferencing, traveling, and family! We will catch everyone up the week of November 27th. To our US readers: Have a fabulous holiday!

So, what are you reading?

and

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 11/13/17

November 13, 2017November 13, 2017 by Kellee

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

CONGRATULATIONS
Lisa M.
for winning our giveaway of Space Boy and the Snow Monster by Dian Curtis Regan!

Last Week’s Posts

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

Tuesday: Ten Characters Who Would Make Good Leaders

Wednesday: Teaching Guide with Activities and Discussion Questions for Maya Lin: Thinking With Her Hands by Susan Goldman Rubin

Thursday: Aliens Get the Sniffles, Too! Ah-Choo! by Katy S. Duffield

Friday: Teaching Guide with Activities and Discussion Questions for Charlie and Mouse and Grumpy by Laurel Snyder

Sunday: Author Guest Post!: “There’s No Such Thing as Pantsers” by Justin Lantier-Novelli, Author of Don’t Mess with Coleman Stoops

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee

I started listening to the Whatever After series by Sarah Mlynowski after a student recommended it to me. I was on an audio book lull, so when I saw that my library had them all, I started listening, and I really am enjoying them! What a fun take on fairy tales! In each story, Abby and her brother Jonah get transported into different fairy tales and always end up causing a ruckus even when they try really hard not to.
For my teacher book club’s November title, we chose Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina, and it is more than you could have expected from the summary. It is set with Son of Sam and a crazy summer in NYC as the background, but the story is so much more than the setting and historical aspects. It is a story of growing up and family and abandonment and friendship and love.
I then, on a whim, picked up House Arrest by K.A. Holt. I’ve had students recommend it, and I just randomly chose it–wow! I am so glad I did! It is a book that I wish I’d read when it came out, so I could have been recommending it since then. If nothing else, it is going to be a book I recommend highly to so many students going forward. Timothy just wants to help out his family, but after he steals a wallet to buy his baby brother’s medicine, he finds himself on house arrest for a year. This is his journal.

Trent and I had some fun this week reading some new books! I love when Trent is open to reading new stories!

If Picasso Painted a Snowman by Amy Newbold is a fun introduction to some of the best artists ever!
Up! Tall! And High! by Ethan Long is a silly book about adjectives with laugh-out-loud situations.
Boo Who? by Ben Clanton is about fitting in when you are new.
Du Iz Tak? by Carson Ellis is a book that I cannot believe I haven’t read yet. It is so interesting to try to figure out what the bugs are saying and to watch their world transform.
We’re All Wonders by R.J. Palacio is a perfect companion/introduction to Wonder as it is a perfect look at the themes that Wonder shows up.

Ricki

Thank you all for being very patient with me while I moved into a new house. I had a lot going on this week with some major work items due and moving with two kids under four. 🙂 I am happy to say that I’m back in action and looking forward to seeing many of you at NCTE and ALAN!

I read Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds a couple of weeks ago and loved it. I’ve had three students read it since then, and we all are raving about it!

I went to high school with Julia Denos. She was a year above me, and her sister and I were very close friends in middle school. She is just as kind and smart as she seems in interviews and presentations. I think Windows is absolutely brilliant. She captures Somerville so well.

The final installation in Kobi Yamada’s series is a phenomenal ending. I was reluctant to read What Do You Do With a Chance? because I love the first two books, and I was pleasantly surprised by how different and complementary the book is. I am so grateful for this series.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee

I am on #3 of the Whatever After series, and this time, Abby and Jonah are in “The Little Mermaid.”
My 7th grade book club has started up again (here’s info on last year!), and our first author that we’ll be Skyping with is Michele Weber Hurwitz. I’ve already read her Summer I Saved the World…in 65 Days, so I plan on reading her other two novels, Calli Be Gold and Ethan Marcus Stands Up. Looking forward to 12/1 and the Skype visit!!!

Ricki

Moving has really cramped my style. I am halfway through Turtles All the Way Down and embarrassed that I haven’t finished it sooner. I love it thus far!

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday

Tuesday: Ten Books We Plan to Read this Winter

After Tuesday, we will be taking some time off for conferencing, travel, and family. We’ll be attending two of our favorite events of the year!!!

We’ll be back the week of November 27th to catch everyone up. See you then 🙂

(On the 20th, we will still have the linky available for everyone to link up, so please stop by if you plan on doing an IMWAYR post.)

So, what are you reading?

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Author Guest Post!: “There’s No Such Thing as Pantsers” by Justin Lantier-Novelli, Author of Don’t Mess with Coleman Stoops

November 12, 2017 by Kellee

“There’s No Such Thing as Pantsers”

Like every other profession and hobby, creative writing has developed its own lingo or jargon writers share with each other; these are phrases that non-writers would neither understand nor care about. Thank NanoWrimo – the month-long writing contest that takes place every November – for coining one of these terms a few years ago to describe writers who never do any planning for their stories. Imagine deciding to compose your very own novel or short story, sitting down at your favorite typewriter or laptop, starting on a blank screen and just going. No thought. No worry. Perhaps not even a developed idea…

That is the essence of being a Pantser: a writer who doesn’t think, he just writes. Maybe the inspiration came from a dream, or a conversation. Maybe there was nothing but a “Once upon a time.” This theory begs to know where the greatest stories of humanity actually come from: the head or the heart? My theory, however, is that Pantsers don’t exist. Even if a writer cracks his knuckles and begins with nothing, once he’s finished his first draft and knows the story and characters a bit, he’s invariably going to proofread, re-tool, and revise his work. Any narrative needs drafting as part of its process. Whether or not you, as a writer, plan at the very beginning (before you start on page one, line one), or you start planning using your first draft as the catalyst, none of us can write without it. Everyone’s a Plotter (the opposite of a Pantser).

Why is planning so important?

There are many reasons. To compose a story that could speak to millions of people isn’t an easy task. It takes a very delicate blend of art and science. The art, comes from the heart, but the science… science is the product of the mind. I would say that 80-90% of my time is spent in the pre-writing phase. I am a plotter with a capital P. I’m also a drafter, as much as I wish I could crank out that flawless first draft (nobody can). Planning can take many forms and has many benefits, some of which will seem obvious to you and some not-so-much. The type of planning you do is also a direct correlation to what you intend your final product to be.

My personal background is in writing for the screen. I went to college for audio/video production and minored in screenwriting. There are some really great ‘how to’ books I can recommend to teach novelists how to craft that perfect character arc or story arc or secondary plot thread – all of which have their roots in motion picture writing. Let’s face it: screenplays were born out of novels, but that doesn’t mean that novelists can’t learn a thing or two from screenwriters.

Which brings me to my first point about planning. Planning gives the writer the ability to stand back and see the story as a god would, as one big picture. Screenwriters are taught to use corkboards and notecards in their planning. Each card is a scene and the board is divided up into the typical (and formulaic) three-act structure: set-up, rising action, resolution. This simple exercise, which I have used for both my screenplays and novels, helps the writer to visualize the arcs. Where will this scene fit best in telling my tale? Is that scene even needed? Once he’s staring at his board with all the scenes displayed, a writer can ask himself: does this scene advance the plot, subplot, or character development at all? If the answer to any of those questions is yes, then the scene is kept. If it’s no, then it can be scrapped (and to use an industry term: to the cutting room floor).

Planning your story arcs is essential in creating the emotional and logical experience that writers want, need, and expect their audience to get. It doesn’t matter if that audience is sitting in a dark room watching the screen, or curled up in their bed turning pages. But what is a story arc? If you know, great. If you don’t, a story arc is comprised of beats, or plot points. Different events throughout the course of a story have to happen to move the plot forward, or drive the character onto becoming the protagonist the writer – and reader – want him to be. And by planning, the writer can see all possible scenes, brainstorming as many as he wants before choosing the perfect one.

The first plot point is also known as the inciting incident (at least in the screenwriting world). No story – in literature or on film – is complete without one.

Would Luke Skywalker been able to destroy the Death Star without R2-D2 and C-3PO taking that escape pod to Tatooine?

Would Romeo and Juliet have ended up dead (to add a bit of high culture to this mix) if Romeo had never crashed the Capulet’s party?

Of course, the inciting incident is only one instance where planning is needed, but each act in the three (or five) act story structure has major plot points. Writers must plan them to do their stories justice and take the reader along on a wondrous journey.

Planning is important in a single, stand-alone novel, however it couldn’t be more essential when writing a series. Series contain multiple story and character arcs, A plot threads, B plot threads, even C plot threads (truly they can be infinite) that span each book individually, but also continue strands across multiple books. Two great examples of writers who plant seeds for future books as part of their pre-writing stage planning are Stephen King and J.K. Rowling – and it’s no accident that they are two of the most successful authors of all time. If you want to see how to plant ideas for future books in a series, just read Harry Potter and The Dark Tower (in fact, King literally has been planting seeds in all his books, even the non-DT works, for decades).

Still not convinced that planning is important? Think about the horcruxes in the Wizarding World… The very first one was revealed in the second book in a seven book series. Rowling didn’t wing her writing. Her seeds were intentionally planted. She knew what horcruxes were before she started typing line one, page one. The rest of us, her loyal readers, didn’t find out until book six! But we didn’t need to know. She did.

The second reason to plan is more about spring cleaning. The more ideas you get out of your system early in your drafting, the more bad ideas you get out of your system. You can easily put together a dozen versions of the same scene, chapter, or character sketch. And all that brainstorming churns the waters of ideas. Sooner or later, the writer will hit the nail on the proverbial head, and get the perfect idea for some aspect or another of his work.

So if you want to clear away bad ideas, take a step back and look at your book(s) from a 3^rd person omniscient perspective, then I cannot recommend planning more. Pre-writing is necessary to crafting a well thought out, logical, and emotional story filled with three-dimensional characters that your audience can relate to and keep them furiously flipping pages until the wee hours of the morning.

You can follow Justin Lantier-Novelli on Twitter: @jlnovelli. Find him on Goodreads, Facebook, and Amazon. His debut middle grade fiction novel, Don’t Mess with Coleman Stoops, is available in paperback and for Amazon Kindle.

About the Book: Coleman Stoops just had his twelfth birthday, but he’s not getting popular anytime soon. The kids in his grade call him “Stoopy”. He hates the cruel nickname almost as he hates himself for always managing to accidentally play into it. The clothes he wears, the hobbies he loves, and the way he behaves in school all contribute to his eternal low ranking as the butt of everyone’s jokes. Coleman’s a dork, a dweeb, a nerd. He’s the fool of the school.

So when the most popular kid in his class, B. Bradford Woffington III, approaches him with a proposition and a potential girlfriend, Coleman can’t help ignoring his instincts as they tell him not to trust “Trey”. He accepts the boy’s offer and begins the social and physical grooming that will make him fit for dating – gasp! – a real, live girl. No matter what happens though, Coleman can’t shake the sneaking suspicion that there’s something Trey isn’t being completely forthcoming about. What isn’t the most popular kid in school telling him?

Thank you, Justin! Planning is something all teaches struggle with students understanding, so this post is going to be so helpful!

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Teaching Guide with Activities and Discussion Questions for Charlie and Mouse and Grumpy by Laurel Snyder

November 10, 2017 by Kellee

Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy
Author: Laurel Snyder
Illustrator: Emily Hughes
Published October 3rd, 2017 by Chronicle

Summary: In this heartwarming sequel to Laurel Snyder’s beginning chapter book Charlie & Mouse, the two brothers enjoy a special visit from their grandpa, Grumpy. Follow along as they discuss being medium, pounce each other, sing the wrong songs, build blanket forts, and more. Paired with effervescent illustrations by Emily Hughes, this touching, funny celebration of imagination and bonding will enchant readers young and old.

View our post about Charlie and Grumpy book one (with teaching guide) here!

Activities include:

Bedtime Songs

Grumpy doesn’t know the right bedtime song to sing for Charlie and Mouse, so he tries to guess. Using the clues he gave, we can assume he was talking about “Circle Game” by Joni Mitchell, “Hush, Little Baby,” and possibly “Jump in the River” by Sinead O’Connor. Play these three songs for your students.

Which do you like the most? Why?
Which do you think would be the best bedtime song? Why?

After Grumpy guesses, Charlie sings the right bedtime song to Grumpy.

We don’t know what song Charlie sang, but what song would you have sung to Grumpy?

After gathering all of the bedtime songs discussed as a group, have students analyze the different songs (theirs and the three Grumpy mentioned) by having them (in groups or independently):

Identify rhyming words within the songs.
Does the author repeat any words? Why did the author choose to repeat these words?
How does the author supply rhythm in the song?

Infer

There are a few times in the book that the text doesn’t tell you what happened, but you can infer from the illustrations what occurred such as p. 17, p. 27, and p.37. Have students use the illustrations to see how each of these chapters concluded and have them write out what they see in the illustrations.

Rain

In the final chapter, it is raining while Charlie and Mouse say good-bye to Grumpy. Even though the rain seems to be happening because of the mood of the chapter, rain actually occurs because of the water cycle. After discussing the mood of the chapter (see discussion question), share the scientific reason for rain by sharing the water cycle. One activity that could be done to help students understand the water cycle is the “Simple Water Cycle in a Bag” experiment: http://www.rookieparenting.com/what-is-water-cycle/.

Discussion Questions include:

The text never says that Grumpy is Charlie and Mouse’s grandfather, but you can infer he is. What clues from the text and illustration help you know that he is their grandfather?
In the final chapter, the author chose to have it be raining. Why does this type of weather make the most sense for this final chapter? What mood does it set for the chapter?
Using the clues throughout the book, how many days and nights did Grumpy stay with Charlie and Mouse? How did you know?

Teaching Guide Created by Me (Kellee):

You can also access the teaching guide through Chronicle’s website here.

Recommended For:

Teaching Guide with Activities and Discussion Questions for Maya Lin: Thinking With Her Hands by Susan Goldman Rubin

November 8, 2017 by Kellee

Nonfiction Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and was started to help promote the reading of nonfiction texts. Most Wednesdays, we will be participating and will review a nonfiction text (though it may not always be a picture book).
Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other nonfiction books are shared this week!

Maya Lin: Thinking With Her Hands
Author: Susan Goldman Rubin
Published November 7th, 2017 by Chronicle

Summary: In the tradition of DELICIOUS, WIDENESS & WONDER, and EVERYBODY PAINTS!, this is Susan Goldman Rubin’s extensively researched and very accessible biography of civic activist Maya Lin, most famous for her design of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is one of the most famous pieces of civic architecture in the world. But most people are not as familiar with the reserved college student who entered and won the design competition to build it. This accessible biography tells the story of Maya Lin, from her struggle to stick with her vision of the memorial to the wide variety of works she has created since then. Illustrated extensively with photos and drawings, the carefully researched text crosses multiple interests–American history, civic activism, art history, and cultural diversity–and offers a timely celebration of the memorial’s 35th anniversary, as well as contributing to the current, important discussion of the role of women and minorities in American society.

Activities include:

Pre-Reading

Building Historical and Scientific Background Knowledge: To better understand much of Maya Lin’s extensive work, background knowledge of certain historical and scientific events are needed. Before reading Maya Lin’s biography, separate the class into five groups and assign each group one of these events:
1. Vietnam War
2. Civil Rights Movement
3. Chinese-American Immigration
4. Endangered and threatened animals
5. Lewis and Clark’s expedition and the effect on the Indigenous People of Washington State
Have each group create a timeline using an interactive timeline creator that showcases their event chronologically. Within the timeline, the students should not only have important dates but they should incorporate visuals, the impact of each event on history/science, and any other supplemental information/media that will increase the knowledge of their event.

Students then will present their timelines to their classmates to allow for all students to possess knowledge of all five historical and scientific events before beginning Maya Lin’s biography.

Post-Reading

Symbolism: Unlike traditional minimalists, Maya Lin uses symbolism in her work. Begin with working with students on symbolism within familiar stories they know. Show students What is Symbolism? at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vwek28P9Gk then read the Story of William Tell (http://www.mainlesson.com/display.php?author=baldwin&book=fifty&story=tell) and discuss what the apple symbolizes. After this discussion tell students that symbolism in art is the same–symbolism is when a piece of art or an aspect of a piece of art represents something more than its literal meaning.Then, have students analyze her pieces of work for symbols within them. Students should then create a symbolism T-chart showing their found symbolism.Some examples:

The ark shape of the Riggio-Lynch Chapel	Symbolizes that the chapel is a safe place just as Noah’s Ark was.
The water on the Civil Rights memorial	Symbolizes the justice rolling down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream mentioned in “I Have a Dream” speech by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Cumulative Writing Assignment: Legacy
Maya Lin states, “You need to see me whole as an artist. What I’m doing is art, architecture, and memorials.” Have students write an informative essay explaining how Lin has fulfilled her legacy as an artist, architect, and memorial designer. Have students use evidence from the text, as well as other provided resources if you choose, to support their claim.Other resources:
http://www.whatismissing.net/
http://www.mayalin.com
http://www.biography.com/people/maya-lin-37259
http://www.theartstory.org/artist-lin-maya.htm

Discussion Questions include:

From a young age, Maya Lin did not like the color red. Why does she not like the color red? What does red represent to her? The color red was included in the Museum of Chinese in America, however. Why was the color included in this project even though Maya Lin does not like it?
After completing the Vietnam War Memorial, Lin felt like she was boxed in as a “monument designer,” and refused many invitations to complete more memorials. Why do you think the Civil Rights Memorial was the work that she finally agreed to complete?
Maya Lin’s message of sustainability (avoiding the depletion of natural resources to maintain a balance within nature) reaches us through not only her What is Missing? project but through many of her other pieces of work. She states, “A lot of my work is not very glorious. If I succeed, you may never know I was here.” How did Maya Lin’s message of sustainability come through her works?
Susan Goldman Rubin’s chapter titles are very specific word choices. Looking at the titles (Clay, Granite, Water, Earth, Glass, Celadon, Dunes and Driftwood, Wood, and Memories), why do you believe the author choose these words to title each chapter?

Teaching Guide Created by Me (Kellee):

You can also access the teaching guide through Chronicle’s website here.

Recommended For:

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 11/6/17

November 6, 2017 by Kellee

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA!

We encourage everyone who participates to support the blogging community by visiting at least three of the other book bloggers that link up and leave comments for them.

Last Week’s Posts

**Click on any picture/link to view the post**

Tuesday: Books to Read on Halloween

Wednesday: Living Things and Nonliving Things: A Compare and Contrast Book by Kevin Kurtz

Thursday: Miguel and the Grand Harmony by Matt de la Peña

Friday: Quack and Daisy series by Aileen Stewart

Sunday: Author Guest Post and Giveaway!: “The Power of Imaginative Play” by Dian Curtis Regan, Author of the Space Boy series
Giveaway open until Friday!!

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee

I am so glad I reread The Impossible Knife of Memory before hosting a round table with Laurie Halse Anderson. It is brilliant, and rereading definitely allowed for me to be able to get more in depth with it when I am chatting with her.

Ricki

Ricki just moved, so she is away this week 🙂

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee

This month’s Faculty Book Club choice is Burn Baby Burn by Meg Medina, so I started that today.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

top ten tuesday

Tuesday: Ten Characters Who Would Make Great Leaders

Wednesday: Teaching Guide with Activities and Discussion Questions for Maya Lin: Thinking With Her Hands by Susan Goldman Rubin

Thursday: Aliens Get the Sniffles Too! by Katy S. Duffield

Friday: Teaching Guide with Activities and Discussion Questions for Charlie and Mouse and Grumpy by Laurel Snyder

Sunday: Author Guest Post!: “There’s No Such Thing as Pantsers” by Justin Lantier-Novelli, Author of Don’t Mess with Coleman Stoops

So, what are you reading?

and