April 2018 – Page 4 – Unleashing Readers

Sports Illustrated Kids: The Baseball Fanbook by Gary Gramling

April 4, 2018 by Kellee

Sports Illustrated Kids: The Baseball Fanbook
Everything You Need to Become a Hardball Know-It-All: Lingo, Trivia, Stats, Skills
Author: Gary Gramling
Published April 3rd, 2018 by Sport Illustrated

Summary: Everything You Need to Become a Hardball Know-It-All!

The next book in the Fanbook series from Sports Illustrated Kids, The Baseball Fanbook has all the nerdy-cool insider knowledge that fans ready for next-level, in-depth stats need to know to impress their friends, family, coaches, and any season ticket holders they may meet. Tailor-made for baseball fanatics ages 8 and up who know the basics of the sport they love, may play it, and are looking to become super fans, this new fanbook is filled with fun trivia, unique lingo, and illustrated behind-the-skills how-to’s. Chapters include Team Tidbits (salient baseball facts about every MLB team), Think Like a Manager (essential strategies to understand), He Reminds Me Of (compares current players to legendary greats of America’s favorite pastime), and much more!

Review: As the 2018 baseball season begins, I knew I had to share this book with you all because I love this resource! I saw the The Football Fanbook, and I was impressed by it, but I LOVE BASEBALL! So I am so happy that there is a baseball version now.

Now, please don’t stop here just because I say I love baseball, so you assume you have to love it also to like this book. One of the things I like about this series is that they are written for all levels of fans. Maybe you don’t get why people like baseball? Check out this book to learn why! Maybe you are a player but really want to learn more specifics about the MLB? Check out this book to find out more! Maybe you are a baseball fanatic that lives and breaths the sport? Check out this book to maybe learn some fun facts you don’t know or as just a fun and entertaining read. It really is written in ways that all types of readers will find something in it.

Although this book is aimed for kids in grade 3 and up, don’t let that make you think it doesn’t include detailed information–it does! Each chapter is focused and full of information and photographs. But at the same time, I will say that it isn’t so overwhelming that younger kids will be turned off either. I’ve used parts of it with Trent this year as the season begins, and as we get ready for him beginning t-ball.

I am also impressed by its text structure. It is set up to be a book that could be read in order or jumped around, which is what I think is the best structure for informational nonfiction books because it makes it so any type of reader can grab it and read it how they’d like. The chapter titles are: 1) Know These Numbers, 2) Obscure Facts, 3) Skills to Master, 4) Run a Team, 5) He Reminds Me Of…, 6) Team Tidbits, & 7) Talk to Talk, and they are pretty self explanatory about their content.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: Like other topic focused books, the best place for it will be in libraries and classrooms for students to read if they want to. Parts of it could be used for math statistics activities or for sports history lessons or for a research resource; however, primarily it is going to be in kids’ hands being read.

Discussion Questions:

Who is your favorite player? Create your own “Reminds me of…” document.
How are statistics such as ERA, WHIP, and batting average determined in baseball?
How has the sport of baseball changed over time?
Using the “Run a Team” chapter, create your own team. First, create it with known players then work on making a team of players you create.
Who is your favorite team? What did they leave out of the team tidbits that you would have included?

Flagged Passages:

“Chapter 3: Skills to Master

Whether you’re eager to snag an autograph or ready to perfect your slide into second, you need to know how to do things the right way — even eat sunflower seeds!”

“Chapter 5: He Reminds me of…

Your grandparents have déjà vu all over again when they see these modern players on the diamond. Which stars of today play like the stars of yesteryear?”

Read This If You Love: Baseball!, Sports history, Fun with numbers

Recommended For:

Teaching Tuesday: The Stress of Teaching and Advice for Remaining Positive

April 22, 2023April 3, 2018 by Kellee

Teaching is unlike any other career. The community expects certain standards of teachers; however, often they are not always respected as professionals. Some teachers feel like they are always being questioned about their expertise. Others feel immense pressure when their pay is linked to test scores. Teachers work long hours, and the career can sometimes feel exhausting.

Despite this, most teachers express pure love for their jobs. For today’s post, we wanted to share some of the ways we practice positivity (or share positivity with our students). Over the years, we’ve learned that focusing on the positive is wonderful for our sustainability and happiness. We invite you to share your approaches or ideas for remaining positive, too.

Kellee

CONFIDENCE & JOY

Each year I pick one word that I am going to focus on professionally (in August) and another personally (in January), and I work very hard on reminding myself of these words. Part of what affected me negatively professionally was always questioning myself, so I focused on confidence professionally. At home, I question myself a lot also but there it is more about how others are being affected, so I chose to focus on joy personally. By having these two words at the forefront of my mind, I am making sure that I am focusing on my happiness all the time.

“It’s going to be okay.”

I have begun repeating this often at work. Sometimes things can seem so devastating and stressful, and we know that stress affects the brain in a negative way, so I have tried to become even more of the cheerleader around my stressed-out colleagues. I remind them, “It’s going to be okay.” Because, you know what? It is. Hopefully this little reminder can help them remove the stress fog and remember that for real it’ll be okay.

Do what you love.

If you are not happy in your current position or your current school and you are past the honeymoon stage (which can be tough), then change. Change is scary (trust me, I know! I’ve been at the same school my whole career), but it is also what will make your life more fulfilled and happier (although at the same school, I’ve taught 6 different things, am the reading coach, and sponsored 4 different clubs). Talk to your administration. Be truthful with them. Ask for help if you need it. Be honest. Move schools if you need to. But remember, you have to be happy at work to be happy in life.

Surround yourself with positivity.

Yes, even at lunch try to focus on the positive. I know that it is the time to vent about the rude kid or the teacher who keeps holding kids into other classes, but this venting session can also lead to a focus only on that negative energy. I know we need to vent and we need a break, but is this negative energy in the middle of the day actually helping or is it hurting? Just ask yourself that.

Schedule YOU time.

Yes, put it in your calendar on your phone with an alarm and a reminder. Get a pedicure, go on a staycation, go on a date, go to happy hour, read in bed… whatever you want to do. But schedule it and make it a priority. And yes, that means not bringing grading home on the weekends! You are important–remember that!

Keep your empathy for students

This and the next one are things I’ve really started to realize since I’ve gotten past 10 years in the classroom: Being a teacher is so much more enjoyable when we listen to our students, when we remind ourselves that they are kids and humans, and when we remember the difference between tough and mean.

Let your students know you are human

We’ve all heard, “Oh, you don’t just sleep here, miss?!?!” But it doesn’t have to be that way. Students should know we are human: I let them know when there is stuff going on in my life that may affect my attitude or interactions with them; I talk about my family, hobbies, life, etc.; and I listen to them when they talk about theirs. This small difference can really help with respect as well. Since my students know me and feel respected by me, they respect me. And we all know respect equals a much easier time in the classroom!

And don’t sweat the small stuff!

🙂

Ricki

Switch the Content

Whenever I feel a lull in my teaching or career, I switch it up. If I am not learning right along with the students, then I am not happy. I love to explore new topics and new ideas with students, and I am constantly seeking their input about what they’d like to learn.

Connect with Colleagues

My colleagues invigorate me. I am a part of multiple teaching social media groups, and I love going to conferences. Each time I attend the NCTE conference and ALAN Workshop, it feels like a shot in my arm. I am jittery with excitement because of the new ideas that I’ve learned.

Read

I try to regularly read the latest articles within the journals of my field, and I pop onto popular teaching websites regularly to try to get new ideas. Every year, I try to improve my practice and hone my philosophies, and I love reading the writing of those in my field.

Research

I love doing research in my classroom. This always gives me a strong sense of purpose. Studying my students (or others’ students) teaches me so much about teaching. This makes me feel fulfilled as I work to improve myself.

Pursue Other Passions

I’ll admit that this often means immersing myself in the newest YA books, but sometimes I take time to paint or pursue a passion that is outside of my job. I try to avoid feeling guilty that I am not doing work for my job 24 hours a day. If left alone, I’d probably spend every waking hour planning and grading.

What are your coping strategies for staying happy and positive while teaching?

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It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 4/2/18

April 2, 2018 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.

Last Week’s Posts

Teaching Tuesday: Teaching Tuesday: Teaching My Son to Read (by Ricki) Part II

Wednesday: Blog Tour with Review and Educators’ Resource Guide!: Bat and the Waiting Game by Elana K. Arnold

Thursday: Guest Review: Miles Away From You by A. B. Rutledge

Friday: Moon by Alison Oliver

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

Last Week’s Journeys

Kellee

Yay Spring Break! And thank you for understanding about last week! My Future Problem Solvers teams did AMAZINGLY! I have one 6th grade team and one 11th/12th grade team that qualified for internationals! I’m so proud of how brilliant they are!

Sunny by Jason Reynolds: Wow. I hope this isn’t the end of this series because each one is such a special treat. Sunny is quite different than the first although readers will find the format and story just as engaging.
Bat and the Waiting Game by Elana K. Arnold: See my review from last week 🙂
Bone’s Gift by Angie Smibert: I’ll be reviewing this next week!
Breakout by Kate Messner: This is a 500 page book that I couldn’t put down and read so quickly! It is so special. I loved the variety of formats within the narrative and the multiple and diverse points of view. It is so applicable for many ages and it brings up issues for conversation in a respectable yet clear way. And it is such a darn good story!
Two Naomis by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich: I can see why my students loved this story! It is filled with family, friend, and school drama that so many different kids can connect to. And we were so lucky to Google Hangout with Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich on Friday (check out my Twitter Thread to see some pictures and my favorite quotes)!

With Trent’s books, I’m primarily focusing on either new books to Trent or me, books we haven’t read in a while, or books he’s obsessed with. Listing all of the books we read in the car or sitting in the living room would be crazy, but I feel guilty about it, so I wanted to just say something 🙂

8 Class Pets + 1 Squirrel ÷ 1 Dog = Chaos by Vivian Vande Velde: Reading this book with my mom and Trent when we visited Baton Rouge during Spring Break is going to be one of those memories that stay with me forever. My mom and I took turns reading, and we read to Trent every day. It is such a heart-filling experience to be able to enjoy a book as a family!
With Easter upon us, we also read a bunch of fun Easter books that I pull out each year. Llama Llama was my favorite–I just think she has such an year for rhythms and rhymes.

Ricki

It’s been a crazy week for me. I’ve been planning an event to have the Get Lit players come to our university, and it sucked my time away. I did finish a few books!

I loved the nontraditional format of Thornhill by Pam Smy. It’s very similar in format to a Brian Selznick book, but it falls closer to the horror/mystery genre. It was a very engaging read and kept me intrigued. The integration of art and prose is wonderfully done—the prose is set in the 1980s, and the art is set in present day.

Your My Little Cuddle Bug by Nicola Edwards is a charming board book that reminded me of a Mem Fox text. It’s a warm and fuzzy type of book. 🙂

Who’s Hiding by Satoru Onishi is a fun, interactive book where kids try to determine which character is hiding, angry, etc. It is a fun take on the search-and-find books.

Hoot Hoot Pop-Up Fun is a pop-up book winner. As a mom of two young kids, I read a lot of pop-up books, and the pop-ups are very clever in this book. We spent a solid ten minutes on the wolf page making the wolf howl and howl.

We also read a book called Shake Dogs Shake Puppies by Carli Davidson. The book is about 400 pages of photographs of dogs and puppies shaking off water. My younger son spends a lot of time perusing this book–even though I think it was intended to be an adult coffee table book.

This Week’s Expeditions

Kellee

The Shadow Throne by Jennifer E. Nielsen: I have 25 minutes left in the audiobook, and I cannot wait to finish it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stung by Bethany Wiggins: This is our next faculty book club choice, and so far I am liking it, but I already know that it is going to be a split discussion because a couple of teachers have told me they really didn’t like it. I look forward to having the conversation. If nothing else, I know that kids adore it. It won the Florida Sunshine State Young Reader Award for grade 6-8 in 2016.
DC Superhero Girls: Date with Disaster: Trent picked this book out at the book store, and he and I are reading it a chapter at a time. This is his first full graphic novel, and as long as I point at the word bubbles, he’s doing a great job following along!
I Love You, Michael Collins by Lauren Baratz-Logsted: After Stung I look forward to picking this one up to read and review.
Upside Down Magic: Dragon Overnight by Sarah Mlynowski, Lauren Myracle, and Emily Jenkins: When I finish Shadow Throne, I am going to start the 4th Upside Down Magic book, and I am so excited! I love this series.

Ricki

I’ll be REREADING Graceling by Kristin Cashore for my class. We are doing Sci Fi/Fantasy this week, and the houses are reading Graceling, Feed, and Unwind. I am excited to hear what they think about the three books.

Upcoming Week’s Posts

Tuesday: The Stress of Teaching and Advice for Remaining Positive

Wednesday: Sports Illustrated Kids: The Baseball Fanbook by Gary Gamling

Thursday: You’re My Little Cuddle Bug by Nicola Edwards

Friday: Secondhand Heroes series by Justin LaRocca Hansen

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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P.S. Please note that IMWAYR’s publishing time has changed, starting with this post, to 2AM ET!