Ricki – Page 100 – Unleashing Readers

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Professional Books

April 22, 2023May 27, 2014 by Ricki

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish. The feature was created because The Broke and Bookish are particularly fond of lists (as are we!). Each week a new Top Ten list topic is given and bloggers can participate.

Today’s Topic: Top Ten Professional Books

These are the professional books that have molded us as teachers. We tried to limit our list to just ten books each, but we couldn’t stop. So here are the top TWENTY professional books. We did our best not to repeat any texts.

Ricki

1. Making the Match: The Right Book for the Right Reader at the Right Time, Grades 4-12 by Teri Lesesne

If you want to help match students with books, this text is a must-have. It focus on three areas—knowing the readers, knowing the books, and knowing the strategies. Making the Match represents everything I believe about teaching. Even though I felt that I was experienced at matching books with readers, it gave me so many new ideas to try!

2. Readicide by Kelly Gallagher

As I read this book, I kept saying, “YES!” out loud. A fairly quick read, Readicide uses research to prove why we are systematically killing the love of reading in schools. The evidence is overwhelming.

3. In the Middle: New Understandings about Writing, Reading, and Learning by Nancie Atwell

I read this book in college and constantly used the ideas in my classroom. I can’t say enough positive things about the value of reading and writing workshops (both of which are promoted in this text). Atwell made me want to open my own school! This book is chockfull of mini-lessons and ideas for teachers. It is a very practical, useful guide.

4. The English Teacher’s Companion: A Complete Guide to Classroom, Curriculum, and the Profession by Jim Burke

When I read this in college, I had to go out and buy a new highlighter. It was like a bible to me because it had so many ideas. Whenever I felt down or discouraged while teaching, I would flip through this book and feel like I just came back from NCTE. There are so many great strategies and teaching ideas that you will feel reinvigorated every time you open it.

5. Black Ants and Buddhists: Thinking Critically and Teaching Differently in the Primary Grades by Mary Cowhey

This book is written for elementary school teachers, but as a high school teacher, I learned a lot. Cowhey gives real classroom examples of how she promotes social justice, action, and independence in the classroom. I use this text to teach my students who are pre-service elementary school teachers, and they love it.

6. When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do About It by Kylene Beers

This is my go-to book for struggling readers. It is a phenomenal resource and is incredibly helpful for those moments when a student reads a passage, turns to you and says, “I don’t get it.”

7. Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice by Geneva Gay

Geneva Gay’s writing is very well-researched and thoughtful. She gives very useful tools for responding to all of the cultures in our classrooms. I highly recommend this text to teachers. I couldn’t stop highlighting!

8. Commando Classics: A Field Manual for Helping Teens Understand (And Maybe Even Enjoy) Classic Literature

Daria Plumb’s approach to classic literature is accessible and exciting. I love the text sets she provides. They are invaluable for teachers.

9. Reading Ladders by Teri Lesesne

I can’t help but repeat this one from Kellee’s list. It is a fantastic resource for teachers who want to challenge their students while still granting them freedom as they read.

10. Experience and Education by John Dewey

This is where it all began, isn’t it? Written in 1938, this book is lightyears before its time. Dewey is a foundational thinker who changed education today. It is not a surprise that he is continually cited for his good work.

Kellee

1. The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller

I thank this book, and its author, for helping me reform my teaching and focus on what is important.

2. Reading Ladders by Teri Lesesne

Reading ladders have been something I think about constantly when working with my struggling readers (I am a reading coach and taught intensive reading). I find out where the students are and using the idea of Lesesne’s ladders, I work on moving them up.

3. Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage by Paulo Freire

Although Freire’s theories seem like fantasy, they are the utopia that I wish we had here in America’s school system.

4. Teaching With the Brain in Mind by Eric Jensen

This text is important for all teachers to read, so they learn specifically how to reach their students.

5. A Framework for Understanding Poverty by Ruby Payne

This one is specifically important for teachers who grew up out of poverty. It gives a better sense of addressing students living in poverty.

6. Book Love by Penny Kittle

The Book Whisperer for high school. I love that it shows that the same ideas Donalyn laid out can be applied to secondary education.

7. Thrive by Meenoo Rami

I read this right when I was returning from maternity leave, and it was just what I needed.

8. How to Differentiate in a Mixed-Ability Classroom by Carol Ann Tomlinson

If you teach in a mixed-ability classroom, differentiation is key to make sure each student gets the best education. Tomlinson’s ideas can be used within any curriculum.

9. Yellow Brick Roads: Shared and Guided Paths to Independent Reading 4-12 by Janet Allen

I read this in my young adult literature class. It is very practical for class and assessments.

10. The Reading Zone: How to Help Kids Become Skilled, Passionate, Habitual, Critical Readers by Nancie Atwell

The beginning of it all. I am always striving to do as Nancie would do.

What are your favorite professional development texts? Which did we miss?

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Annika Riz, Math Whiz by Claudia Mills

August 8, 2014May 22, 2014 by Ricki

Annika Riz, Math Whiz (Franklin School Friends series)

Author: Claudia Mills

Pictures by: Rob Shepperson

Published: May 13th, 2014 by Farrar, Strous, and Giroux

Summary: (Grades 2-4) Annika Riz loves math more than anything. She’s trying to teach her dog, Prime, to count. She’s determined to beat fellow math whiz Simon Ellis in a Sudoku contest at the public library. She even sleeps under number-patterned sheets. But Annika’s best friends Kelsey and Izzy think math is boring. All they care about is the upcoming school carnival: their principal is going to be dunked in a dunking tank and their class is going to have a booth selling home-baked cookies. But then disaster foils the friends’ cookie-baking plans. Can math save the day?

Review: Each of the books in the Franklin School Friends series tells the story of a different third-grade student with a passion for a school subject. I was excited to read Annika Riz’s story because she is a math whiz—and I love math! Annika looks at the world through math-tinted glasses, and she wants everyone to love the subject as much as she does. She even attempts to teach her dog, Prime, how to count. I found the story to be so very charming. Annika is an endearing character who will resonate with many kids (and adults). Her energy and enthusiasm is refreshing. I suspect that readers will appreciate math much more by the end of this book. This series would be a great addition to elementary school classrooms. Series books are a big step in many students’ journey to becoming avid readers. Most adult readers list series books as a major part of their reading identities, so I am a strong advocate of having these texts available to students.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: Annika looks at the world through a math mind. Teachers might ask students to pick a school subject and show how that subject is important in many of their everyday activities. This would teach students to apply what they are learning in school to their world.

Check out the downloadable curriculum guide for the Franklin School Friends here!

Discussion Questions: How does Annika approach the sudoku contest? Do you think she does a good job preparing for it?; What role do Annika’s friends play in her life? Because the girls have such varying interests, are you surprised they are friends? Why or why not?; Why do the girls decide to make lemonade? Do you think this was a good choice?; In what ways does Annika use math to examine aspects of her world?

We Flagged: “Kelsey loved reading and Izzy loved running the same way that Annika loved math. But Annika didn’t hate reading and running the same way that the others hated math. It was hard when your two best friends hated the thing in the world that you loved the most” (4).

Read This If You Loved: Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, Judy Moody by Megan McDonald, and Ivy and Bean by Annie Barrows

Recommended For:

Claudia Mills is the acclaimed author of fifty early-chapter and middle-grade books, including 7 x 9 = Trouble!, How Oliver Olson Changed the World, and Zero Tolerance. Claudia was a professor of philosophy for over twenty years at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she received many teaching awards, before leaving the university to write full time. She has two sons. To learn more, visit her website at claudiamillsauthor.com.

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

May 15, 2014 by Ricki

Love Letters to the Dead
Author: Ava Dellaira
Published: April 1st, 2014 by Farrar, Strous, and Giroux

Summary: It begins as an assignment for English class: Write a letter to a dead person. Laurel chooses Kurt Cobain because her sister, May, loved him. And he died young, just like May did. Soon, Laurel has a notebook full of letters to people like Janis Joplin, Amy Winehouse, Amelia Earhart, Heath Ledger, and more; though she never gives a single one of them to her teacher. She writes about starting high school, navigating new friendships, falling in love for the first time, learning to live with her splintering family. And, finally, about the abuse she suffered while May was supposed to be looking out for her. Only then, once Laurel has written down the truth about what happened to herself, can she truly begin to accept what happened to May. And only when Laurel has begun to see her sister as the person she was; lovely and amazing and deeply flawed; can she begin to discover her own path.

Review: Fans of The Perks of Being a Wallflower will fall in love with this story. After her sister’s death, Laurel feels broken. I just wanted to reach in the book and give her a big squeeze. As she writes letters to the dead, she grows and learns more about herself. While most high schoolers may not have experienced a loss like Laurel’s, I think every teen will be able to see themselves in her. Her characterization is authentic and honest. I am including several passages (below) from the book. Rather than describe the power of this book, I want you to get lost in Dellaira’s words.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: It may seem a rather obvious assignment for this book, but I think students would truly learn about themselves by writing letters to the dead. I would probably pair this with a mini-research assignment. For example, Laurel knows background information about the people she writes to. She uses this knowledge to make connections to her life.

Discussion Questions: How does Laurel grieve? How does this differ from her parents’ grieving processes?; What commonalities exist across the people Laurel writes to? What specific connections does she make with them?; Do you think Laurel is ready for a romantic relationship? Why or why not?

We Flagged: I can’t help myself. Enjoy the beautiful quotes below. I apologize that there aren’t page numbers, but I wrote the location in the e-book!

“Maybe if I can learn to be more like her, I will know how to be better at living without her.” (Loc 185, 5%)

“I think a lot of people want to be someone, but we are scared that if we try, we won’t be as good as everyone imagines we could be.” (Loc 1651. 43%)

“When we are in love, we are both completely in danger and completely saved.” (Loc 1763, 46%)

“Truth is beautiful, no matter what the truth is. Even if it’s scary or bad. It is beauty simply because it’s true. And truth is bright. Truth makes you more you. I want to be me.” (Loc 1969, 51%)

“I have found that sometimes, moments get stuck in your body. They are there, lodged under your skin like hard seed-stones of wonder of sadness or fear, everything else growing up around them.” (Loc 2153, 56%)

“A friend is someone who gives you total freedom to be yourself—and especially to feel, or not feel. Whatever you happen to be feeling at any moment is fine with them. That’s what real love amounts to—letting a person be what he really is.” (Loc 3117, 81%).

Read This If You Loved: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler, The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

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Author Guest Post!: Why Characters Who “Lose Their Way” Win My Heart by Michele Weber Hurwitz, author of The Summer I Saved the World… in 65 Days

May 8, 2014May 8, 2014 by Ricki

Why Characters Who “Lose Their Way” Win My Heart by Michele Weber Hurwitz

My best friend in eighth grade announced one day that she had planned out her life. After college, she said, she’d have a successful career in marketing, marry either a doctor, lawyer, or dentist, have three kids, two dogs, lots of shoes, and a really nice house. I remember she turned to me and asked, “What about you?” I mumbled something along the lines of hoping to pass the algebra test that week, then went home and asked my mom what marketing was.

My friend was—and still is—a determined, strong-minded person. Resolute, dogged, doesn’t let any of life’s setbacks get in her way. While she was traveling along her planned path, ticking things off her list, I was, to put it mildly, stumbling. At times, careening. Not exactly sure where I was going or what I wanted, it took me a while to figure things out. (Sometimes, I still am.)

Although there were moments I looked at my friend’s smooth road and cursed my bumpy one, I realized something recently, and it has to do with a favorite quote taped above my writing desk:

“Sometimes losing our way is the best and most beautiful route home.”

A bumpy road can be viewed one of two ways: full of aggravating twists and turns, or filled with life lessons. And, if you voted for #2, there’s a bonus: the joy of the unexpected. With all due respect to my friend — who got everything, including a dentist — there’s something to be said for plans that don’t work out. In fact, I’ve learned that when you ‘lose your way’ and go down an entirely different path, although it may be frustrating at first, it often turns out to be a more gratifying journey, and perhaps, the one that was meant to be.

I read a lot of middle grade novels because that’s what I write. Hands down, the characters who win my heart—and stay with me long after I finish the last page—are those who lose their way. The ones who are beset with obstacles they never saw coming. The ones who struggle and fret and feel like they’re never going to be okay, then brush themselves off, get back up, and learn how to navigate the storm.

Characters like Auggie in The Junction of Sunshine and Lucky, by Holly Schindler, who crumbles when she learns her dilapidated home might be condemned, then figures out a creative way to repair not only her house, but change her entire town’s idea of what is beautiful.

Or Delphine in Rita Williams-Garcia’s P.S. Be Eleven, who struggles to make sense of different adults’ conflicting perspectives of what it means to not grow up too fast.

And Zoe in Linda Urban’s A Crooked Kind of Perfect, who dreams of playing a baby grand piano at Carnegie Hall but instead is given an organ. Her quirky family presents even more complications, but resilient Zoe is able to find perfection in the most imperfect situations.

The main characters in my two middle grade novels stumble and lose their way big time.

Calli, in Calli Be Gold, not only loses her way, she feels completely out of place as the untalented member of a super achieving family. But when she befriends a second grade boy with some issues and discovers what she’s good at (helping someone in need), she prompts her family to rethink what it means to achieve.

Nina, the protagonist in The Summer I Saved the World…in 65 Days, is unsure of herself, confused, and somewhat adrift during the summer after middle school. Taking some advice from her eighth-grade history teacher, she decides to do 65 anonymous good things for her family and neighbors each day of the summer to find out if doing good does any good. Can her efforts change things? Maybe…except people react in ways Nina didn’t envision and life in her quiet cul-de-sac gets a little messed-up.

One of my favorite scenes is when a suspicious neighbor with an overactive imagination calls the police after a few of the good deeds, and Nina questions why she even started her project in the first place. Her journey over the summer definitely brings some unexpected twists and turns that she’s forced to navigate.

When I think about why I love books like this, I realize that it’s not only the satisfaction of seeing how these characters eventually work things out, it’s also that Calli and Nina, as well as Auggie, Delphine, and Zoe bring readers like me, and countless others, an important gift: the knowledge that we’re not alone. A connection. That others lose their way too.

When we witness how the characters adapt, overcome obstacles, change, and grow, this gives us the inspiration and hope that we can handle our own problems. If they’re okay in the end, then we will be too.

It’s probably no surprise that I love to walk. I find that it helps my writing immensely. Something about moving around outside loosens up my brain and allows me to think more clearly. For years, I’ve followed the same route in my neighborhood, but lately, I’ve started to turn on different streets. I never fail to see something new and interesting—a strange house, a mysterious garden, a unique-looking person. More often than not, this changes my day.

And always, the route back home is more beautiful.

Michele Weber Hurwitz is the author of The Summer I Saved the World…in 65 Days (Wendy Lamb Books/Penguin Random House, April 2014), and Calli Be Gold (Wendy Lamb Books/Random House 2011). She lives in a suburb of Chicago with her husband and three children. If she’s not writing or walking, she’s mostly likely eating chocolate. Find her at micheleweberhurwitz.com and on Twitter @MicheleWHurwitz

Be sure to check out Michele’s books:

and

Ricki’s Bookish Bucket List

July 20, 2018May 1, 2014 by Ricki

After writing our Bookish Bucket List as one of our Top Ten Tuesday, we learned about Love At First Book’s 50 Bookish Things You Must Do Before You Die . We immediately knew we had to participate. Today, I will post 25 items on my bookish bucket list, and tomorrow, Kellee will post her list! You can also see other lists by checking out Love At First Book.

1. Read all of John Steinbeck’s books. He is my favorite classic author.

2. Visit The Steinbeck House restaurant. Eat and be merry!

3. Read all of the books that match the movies in my Netflix queue. Then, I can actually watch them instead of having them linger in the queue.

4. Continue to attend the ALAN Workshop until I am physically unable to do so (e.g. on my deathbed).

5. Go on a road trip around the country, visiting all of the major famous author’s houses. Attend every tour.

6. Clear out my TBR list. Ha. Ha. Ha. Imagine?

7. Visit my old high school to thank my teachers for helping me love to read.

8. Get Henry (my son) a library card.

9. Sign up for the mommy-baby reading sessions at our library.

10. Read every Shakespeare play.

11. Try to read at least one NYT bestseller book a month.

12. Read more middle grade books.

13. Finish my YA novel and submit it to be published.

14. Be asked by Amazon to be a Vine member.

15. Attend the ALA Youth Media Awards.

16. Write a children’s book.

17. Host a bookish party!

18.Participate in BookCrossing.

19.Write more thank-you notes to authors.

20. Spend more time spreading the word of the blog!

21. Finish color-coding my bookshelves (three down, one to go!)

22. Have my students over for a book-giving party.

23. Name all of my children after great authors.

24. Host more book giveaways on the blog.

25. Become much more active on Twitter. The bookish crowd is awesome!

The Fox in the Library by Lorenz Pauli

July 27, 2015April 24, 2014 by Ricki

The Fox in the Library
Author: Lorenz Pauli
Illustrator: Kathrin Schaerer
Published August 1st, 2013 by NorthSouth

Summary: Fox didn’t come to the library to read a book–he came to catch a mouse! But Mouse offers the fox a book, Fox gets all sorts of creative new ideas. Like eating chickens! Until Chicken points out that chicken bones are dangerous. But then all the animals must band together when the chicken eating, hating-Farmer walks into the library.

Review: I am a sucker for books about bookstores, books, and libraries. I imagine this is the same for all book lovers. The illustrations in this book are bright, and it was very fun to read it to my son. I don’t think you can read too many books about books to kids. They need to understand that there is a world of books out there, and going to the library is cool! Some books lend themselves to silly voices—and this is certainly one of those books. The mouse even mocks the fox for calling the library a “lie-berry.” I suspect that kids won’t ever forget the pronunciation after hearing this book.

Teacher’s Tool For Navigation: This would be a great book to read to children before a trip to the library. It would stir their imaginations and make them excited to discover all of the creatures that may lurk while they visit.

Discussion Questions: How does Mouse outsmart the fox?; What do the animals learn in their trip?; What kinds of books appeal to each of the animals?

We Flagged: “‘Nothing here belongs to you,’ Mouse said with a giggle. ‘You can only borrow things here. And I’ll never be yours. This isn’t the forest; this is the library'” (6).

Read This If You Loved: Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, Wild About Books by Judy Sierra, The Boy who was Raised by Librarians by Carla Morris, Tomas and the Library Lady by Pat Mora

Recommended For:

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We Were Liars by e. lockhart

July 27, 2015April 17, 2014 by Ricki

We Were Liars
Author: e. lockhart
Expected Publication: May 13th, 2014 by Delacorte

Summary: A beautiful and distinguished family.
A private island.
A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.
A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.
A revolution. An accident. A secret.
Lies upon lies.
True love.
The truth.

We Were Liars is a modern, sophisticated suspense novel from National Book Award finalist and Printz Award honoree e. lockhart.

Read it.
And if anyone asks you how it ends, just LIE.

Review: I can’t tell you anything about this book without giving anything way, and I would never do that to you, so let me just say this—this is a book that I will remember forever. It is haunting and sent chills up my spine. I was sucked into the story of this beautifully screwed up family with too much money for its own good.

Teacher’s Tools for Navigation: This would bridge beautifully with The Great Gatsby. There are so many parallels, and I can’t write them here, or I will give away too much of the plot. The figurative language in this title is also stunning. English teachers will go gaga over the pages upon pages of text that can be used for close reading. It made me want to go back to teaching English!

Discussion Questions: What does this story teach us about humanity?; What drives each of the family members?; What does Gat’s character add to the story?; How does lockhart unravel the plot? What makes her an effective writer?; What is the message of this complex text?

We Flagged: “If you want to live where people are not afraid of mice, you must give up living in palaces” (Chapter 40).

Please note: The above quote is from the Advanced Reader Copy. The chapter numbers is included instead of page numbers because the e-reader did not provide page numbers. The quotes may change when the book is published.

Read This If You Loved: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, I Will Save You by Matt de la Peña, If I Stay by Gayle Forman

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