Summer Shelfie List

I was not able to write on Days 2-3 of

Big Time Literacy's Blogging Challenge.

We were out of town with family.

I was so glad to be able to write this post though.

Reading is one of my favorite things to do - EVER.

However, when the summer comes along,

I am very guilty of doing nothing but reading.

I always have a great "to read" list which usually grows

as the summer goes along.

Here are the books I really wanted to read this summer.

My oldest child has to read Gathering Blue for her high school honors English

class this summer.  I have never read it (and, sadly, she is not a big reader), so I thought 

I would read it with her.  She started today - I have not.

A few summers ago, I read Kiera Cass's series, The Selection, 

and fell in love.

My husband got this one for me.  

It was so different from any of The Selection books, but it was

wonderful!

Speaking of The Selection....

I am so sad that this series has ended with this book - The Crown.

I have LOVED this series.

I describe it to people as Hunger Games meets The Bachelor.

OH SO good!!

I kind of saw the ending coming, but loved each moment of it anyways!
I will be rereading this series again!

This book was one a friend had recommended.
I bought it.
It sat on my shelf for - forever.
I picked it up, finally, and read it in a day!
A.MAZ.ING.
Now, I am ready to read the next book in the series,

AND go to the Biltmore.

I do try to make myself a better teacher over the summer as well.
I have been looking/reading this book, The Reading Strategies Book.

I can't wait to be able to implement some of the strategies in it.
I bought this book in order to read this summer since it is the companion to
The Reading Strategies Book.
The day it came in was the day I found out I was moving to second grade, so....

I went home and bought this one.

I guess I need to get busy reading it since school begins soon!

I just can't bring myself to read it yet!

I don't know about you and your school, but 

our school system is making a big shift to writing.

I have been blessed to be part of a system wide book club this summer using 

this next book, The Unstoppable Writing Teacher.

It has had some great ideas and wonderful discussions have stemmed from it.

I think the best thing I like is having talks with teachers from 2nd grade-6th grade.

We really do learn from each other!

As you can see, I do LOVE to read!

What is on your to read list this summer?

Little House in the Big Woods Introduction

Today we begin to read

Little House in the Big Woods.

This is the first book of the Little House series.

The book is full of tales of 5 year old Laura as she lives in a cabin

in the woods of Wisconsin.

Today, the little house has been rebuilt so you can have a look at what it might have

been like for Laura, Mary, Baby Carrie, Ma and Pa to have lived there.

The woods is gone for the most part, but you can get an idea of what it might have been like.

Watch this video.

"Little House Wayside replica". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Little_House_Wayside_replica.jpg#/media/File:Little_House_Wayside_replica.jpg

"Caroline&CharlesIngalls". Licensed under Public Domain via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caroline%26CharlesIngalls.jpg#/media/File:Caroline%26CharlesIngalls.jpg

Life back in those days was a hard life.

STUDENTS: Looking at the video and photographs, what do you see that might show life was hard back in Laura's days?

What do you think it might have been like to live back then?

Do you think you would have wanted to live with Laura and her family?

Favorite Read Alouds

*** For some reason I am having troubles with the links to the books. I will come back to work on it later.  Sorry!***

One of my favorite things each day is the time where my kids come to our library, I sit on the couch with the leader and I read to them.

I love seeing them involved so much in the book we are reading that they don't want to go to the special class that comes next.  

I love seeing them play Little House at recess. 

 I love hearing them beg for me to read to them during DEAR time because they have to know what happened after we stopped yesterday.  

I love hearing them groan when I stop at a cliffhanger - which I ALWAYS try to do.

I love hearing them cheer for Charlie when he FINALLY gets the Golden Ticket - even thought they know he is going to get it!

We cry together.  

We laugh together.  

It really is a great time.  The past two years these books have been our read alouds.  We (as a third grade team) chose 6 books to read to our kids.  We all read the same books at somewhat the same time/pace.  I admit I always get ahead and have read more than these 6 books to my kids - I will add the books I read extra at the end.

Stone Fox

We start the year with this book.  The kids have their hearts broken at the end, and always want to know the rest of the story - which leads to a great writing activity!

Little House in the Big Woods

My kids always love this one and this year they BEGGED to read the next book in the series Little House on the Prairie.  We read this one because I love it and bartering has been ALL OVER our state test in social studies. The kids always get the concept because of Pa!!

Indian in the Cupboard

This winds up being a favorite of the class as well.  They get so wrapped up in the characters. Many have gone on to read some of the others in the series.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

The kids always THINK they know what this is going to be about, but find out that the movie is not always the same as the book - which turns into a great compare and contrast writing activity.  I love seeing them cheer (and sometimes shed tears of joy) when Charlie finds the Golden Ticket.

The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

This is one of my all time favorites.  The kids again get lost in the action, adventure and the language. By the end, they want to go to Narnia to meet Aslan themselves.  It is also great to talk about WWII and how the war affected the children.

Maniac Magee

WOW! What great lessons this book teaches us! The kids are always amazed at how people are treated and how others feel.  Sadly, some of my dears can relate to Maniac a little too much.  

Where the Red Ferns Grow

I will admit I have a hard time with this one.  My kids do as well at times.  We did not get to this one this year.  Even though I have a hard time with it, tears are always shed at the end!

Now, why did I take the time to write all of this?  As a team, we decided we needed to mix it up a bit! The reading teachers have been assigned the task of choosing new read alouds for the team.  I want to hear from YOU!  What are your favorite read alouds?  Which books do your kids enjoy?  Which ones do they hang onto every word?  

This year, I did read the following to my kids between the other books.

Little House on the Prairie

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

The Lemonade War

PLEASE share!!! I need your help and guidance!!!