Let's Try This Again

I started this blog three school years ago at the end of the 2007-2008 school year.  I've tried since then to make it more and more useful for my students, their parents, and other teachers.  I just go back from maternity leave and getting my blog going again is one of my top priorities!

Danny

If I have to leave this beautiful baby, then I'm glad I get to go back to great schools with hard-working colleagues and my awesome students!  It has been so great to see everyone and to start reading with students and to start talking books! I love it!

We've been doing lots of reading at our house all summer and I have some fun books I can't wait to share with my students.  I will be posting books that I'm reading and that my students are reading every Friday!  This summer we read so many Thomas the Train books I couldn't even begin to count them.  Those are definitely Jordan's favorite right now.  He knows exactly where they are in the library and that's where he goes first thing! 

Danny, Mr. V., and Jordan reading a Thomas book!

Reading at the Chicago Children's Museum at Navy Pier

Every month I am hoping to interview the Reader of the Month and talk to him or her about where he or she likes to read, what genres he or she likes and other fun book-ish questions.  I, personally, love to read anywhere and anytime!  I always have a book with me and find any excuse to read!

Even after four years of working on this blog, it still excites me and I still believe it is a great way to share my love of reading with my students and their families!  I hope this time my students and parents join me in the celebration!

Poetry Fun!

This month on Mrs. Whelan's Hearing News Blog she invited us to write an acrostic poem about our favorite holidays! If you haven't checked it out yet, the poems are really fun to read!

Since we are writing poems, how abou reading some poems? I think poems are great fun. The language is awesome. We can learn a lot about rhyme, alliteration, onomatopoeia, similes, and metaphors from reading poems...not to mention lots of cool new words!

Sometimes I Wonder If Poodles Like Noodles By Laura Numeroff

is a great collection of poems about silly things in life.

Dogku By Andrew Clements

is a book about a sweet dog. All the poems together tell a story but each poem is a haiku. A haiku is a special poem that has three lines. The first line has 5 syllables, the second has 7 syllables, and the third has 5 syllables.

My Dog May Be A Genius By Jack Prelutsky

is a collection of funny poems. Jack Prelutsky is a famous author who has written many books.

Where the Sidewalk Ends By Shel Silverstein

is one of my absolute favorite collections of poetry. I remember reading this when I was young and loving the poems. Shel Silverstein is anothe famous poet who has many different poetry books. This one is my favorite. Some of his poems are icky or gross but I think that's what makes them fun!

Have you read the poems in these books or other poems? Which are your favorite(s)???

**Unfortunately, I was not able to upload with the captions at the bottom...but you can read it here:

“What Are You Reading Good?” comes from a man named Ken Stamatis who’s worked has worked with our district and presented on reading and writing. Mr. Stamatis would always ask his students, “What are you reading good?” This week I would like to talk about what I’m reading good and hopefully you’ll share with me what you have been reading good!

Today, I am wearing my tie-dye t-shirt because one of my 7^th graders just finished reading Schooled by Gordon Korman. The main character, Cap, is a hippie living in today’s world, so the whole class made tie-dye t-shirts. Gordon Korman has lots of great books for kids.

I am also reading The Tale of Despereaux with my 5^th grader. We are still only at the beginning but we’re already in love with the main character, who is a special mouse named Despereaux Tilling. He’s not your average mouse. He can read and talk and has fallen in love with the princess of the castle he lives in. I love to share what I’m reading and hear what others are reading, so, how about you? What are you reading good?!?

It's What Good Readers Do - Background Knowledge

Click below to see my first installment of "It's What Good Readers Do!" This week I'm talking all about background knowledge!

Wordless Books

Have you ever heard of a wordless book? It sounds like an oxymoron, two opposite words next to each other. Books without words? There is such a thing and they are a great way to spark you imagination!

These books tell a story with pictures, it's your job to create the words or the text that goes with the pictures. Sometimes it can be hard because you really have to look at the pictures and create a story that puts all the pictures together. Usually they are lots of fun because you create the story! Here are some great wordless picture books:

Sidewalk Circus By PaulFleischman

Illustrated By Kevin Hawkes

Sector 7 By David Wiesner

The Snowman By Raymond Briggs

The Mysteries of Harris Burdick

By Chris Van Allsburg

You can look for these at your local or school library or wherever you buy books! If you do write your own story for one of these or another wordless picture book, make sure you stop by Mrs. Whelan's blog so you can post your story and read what other students wrote!

2009-2010

The 2009-2010 school year is officially under way! I can't believe we have already made it through the first quarter of this school year. The beginning of the year is always busy, and this year definitely was. Now that we're starting second quarter, I am going to focus on updating the blog again.

I have decided to change what this blog is about a little bit. In the past I posted books I have read and talked about some of my favorite books mostly for middle school students. I will continue to do this from time to time, but I am going to focus more on different kinds or genres of books and also talk about what good readers do. I will also be doing some video blog posts to make this more fun and interactive.

Please feel free to comment or ask questions. Part of reading is being able to talk about what you are reading. I know when I read an exciting part in a book, or a sad part, I can't wait to tell someone about it. I love to hear what you are reading that you like or don't like and what you do that works for you.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you find something worthwhile here at Mrs. Read-A-Lot!

Mrs. Read-A-Lot Update

Hi!  I have not been blogging on Mrs. Read-A-Lot because I wasn't able to access at school with my students.  I decided I am going to try again and see if my students can view it from school and really try and use it with them again.  

Even though I have not been blogging, I have still be reading!  I have read some really great books lately.  Here are some of my favorites:

Graceling By Kristin Cashore

The Year of the Dog By Grace Lin

Love That Dog By Sharon Creech

Seeing Redd By Frank Beddor (Part of the Looking Glass Wars series)

Fly on the Wall By E. Lockhart

I am the Messenger By Makus Zusak

Forever Princess By Meg Cabot (Part of the Princess Diaries series)

I will be back to post some cool stuff about folk literature soon.  I will even have some video!  Should be fun!