Okay, it's the first week of school and my reading rhythm has almost stalled completely. I will catch up soon, but having a good start to the year takes precedence right now. I also am going to need to carve out time for writing every day as I am making that commitment to my students as well.
The best part of my reading week this week was pairing each and every student in my class with a book that they are excited to read. Can't wait to do more booktalks to get them thinking about others they would like to read. I also started reading aloud Wonder by RJ Palacio. I can't wait to have the discussions with my students that I know will come from this excellent book.
I am also excited to share Goodreads with my class. They all signed up for an account and had fun exploring and rating books. This week I will show them how to add books to their lists and track progress on the book they are currently reading. I have created a private group for us so I will be exploring to see what I can do with that as well.
Books I Finished:
Shadow by Jenny Moss: This was an interesting fairy tale. Shadow has always been ignored, but can never leave the queen's presence. Then when an uprising happens in the castle, she finds herself escaping with a nobleman and obligated to follow him on a quest that she doesn't really know anything about. This was an entertaining book and I would recommend it to my students that like fairy tales. I like how it twisted a kind of Cinderella story to make it not about the love story but all about the female protagonist.
Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shephard: I have a confession to make. I am a sucker for the teenage soap opera on television. I have obsessed in turn over Teen Wolf, Gossip Girl, Greek, and currently Pretty Little Liars. Since I am completely hooked on this show, I figured I should try reading the books. This book was okay. I think I might have liked it better before watching the tv show. Now I already had the characters entrenched in my brain and found them to be quite underdeveloped in this book. Mind you, I probably would see the character development in the rest of the series, but I was disappointed by this one. I will still recommend the book to my students because I think they will really enjoy it, but I would never say it was literature. At some point I will probably look for the other books in the series but I do not feel compelled to do so at the moment.
Books To Read This Week:
I don't know what I will choose tonight when I go to my shelves. I will probably choose to pick up The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things soon because I am still plugging away at the nerdprintz challenge. I also am still making my way through 10 Things Every Writer Needs to Know by Jeff Anderson. I will be reading Wonder to my students and might start reading Opening Minds. It will all depend on my work load and how I feel this week. I will also continue to listen to Daughter of Smoke and Bone. It will probably be finished within 2 more workouts so that will motivate me to get on the bike and work it!
I love that "Wonder" is getting so much love this week from seemingly-most -teachers who are in the kidlitosphere! Seems like a perfect read aloud indeed for the fourth and fifth graders. :)
ReplyDeleteI am also listening to Daughter of Smoke and Bone. It took a while for me to get into it, but now I am hooked!
ReplyDeleteI wish I could read Wonder to my students (I'm a resource teacher and I only get them for tiny chunks of time). I am recommending it to them all, though!
ReplyDeleteDaughter of Smoke and Bone sounds so intriguing.