Fourth Grade Journey

A Fourth Grade Teacher's Journey Through the World of Books

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

Wonder Wednesday #218 (Picture Book March Madness)

Picture Book March Madness - Week #FOUR

*As you know I love books.  I love novels.  I also love picture books.

*We share picture books each and every day for #classroombookaday.  The class has an extensive bulletin board where we keep track of what we have read together as a class.

*March is a very special time in our classroom.  We celebrate March Madness and we celebrate picture books.  This activity is one of my most favorite things we do all year.

*We begin with 32 picture books.  I pick the books based on my audience and the type of listeners/learners they are.

*Each day I read TWO books to the class.  We discuss our noticings and wonderings.  A discussion about theme is also had.

*The students then head to their iPads and do some voting for their favorite.  I use SurveyMonkey to collect the results.

*This week we wrapped up our 32 books, voted for the "sweet sixteen", and will vote for the "elite eight".
*Here are some images that capture the fourth week of March Madness...






Monday, March 26, 2018

An Inside Look #49 (Author INTERVIEW)

An Inside Look with Sarah Weeks
(Author of Soof)

*This was a new feature I added to the blog during the summer of 2016.  It was a shot in the dark that it would work, but much to my surprise; it took off and over first season I conducted 22 interviews with a variety of authors.

*It has been such an honor to connect with authors and "chat" about their novel, characters, and thoughts about the story.



*I ran a series of interviews for Season #TWO over the summer of 2017.  It was great to get back to these conversations, that I decided to run Season #THREE during the 2017/2018 school year.  

*Thank you to Sarah Weeks for being the Forty-NINTH author that I've had the pleasure of interviewing.  I truly appreciate it.  


*Here are links to the first FORTY-EIGHT interviews…

SEASON #ONE













*I've read most of the Sarah Weeks novels for middle-grade readers.  I even had the honor of Skying with her when my readers read Save Me a Seat.  I was lucky to receive an ARC of her newest work of fiction called Soof.  It was literally a "one-take" read the entire story in a sitting.  I absolutely loved the story and reached out to Sarah as soon as I finished.  

*She was kind, gracious, and giving with her answers to the questions.  It is an honor to post the responses with my "Inside Look" feature.   

*Here is a link to my review of Soof...


*Thank you Sarah Weeks for writing this story for readers and taking the time to share your thoughts with us here on the blog...


Soof
by Sarah Weeks (Released October 9, 2018)


Where did the idea for SOOF come from?  
I find sequels very challenging to write.  I've never written a novel with the intention of continuing the story later on.  Instead, I work very hard to tie up any loose ends, complete each character's story arc and answer questions my readers might have  come up with along the way.  After writing So B It, I received many letters from people asking if I planned to write a sequel.  I always said no, I had told the story I wanted to tell. Then one day, several years after So B It was published, I was visiting a middle school somewhere in the midwest and a boy raised his hand.  "I know you've said you don't ever want to write a sequel," he said, "But just in case you change your mind, I think I have a pretty good idea...."  He was right! His idea was to write a story from the point of view of Aurora - Roy and Ruby's baby and to set it 12 years later so she would be the same age that Heidi had been when she came to Liberty, NY. Several years later, I decided that was exactly what I would do.  Unfortunately, I never asked his name, but I found a way to dedicate SOOF to him anyway .  I hope he reads it someday and knows how grateful I am to him for planting the seed of that idea.


What do you think is Aurora's most admirable quality?
I admire Aurora's honesty.  She knows who she is and she's okay with it.  What I like best about her is that she doesn't quite fit the mold.  I felt that way as a kid sometimes.  Different.  I compared myself to my older brother and sister, who were very good at subjects like math and science and geography - all subjects that I struggled with at school.  I liked writing stories, and making up songs, walking on my hands (I was VERY good at that!) and speaking in foreign accents and made up languages just for fun.  Aurora compares herself unfavorably to Heidi - just as I did with my siblings.  It took me a long time to realize that it was okay to be who I was.  Fortunately, Aurora catches on to that concept a lot faster than I did!


What was your favorite scene to write in the book - without giving too much away, of course?)
I loved writing the scene in Dr. Harris's office.  I found that very amusing - and I was pleased with Aurora's snarky comment about playing Chutes and Ladders.  I am also really proud of the scene that takes place in the woods between Aurora and Heidi.  That was hard to write, but ultimately really satisfying.  When you write a sequel - even if it's set 12 years later than the original book, readers expect to find connections.  Those connections came together beautifully and I cried at the end of the chapter, so I hope my readers will be moved by it too.


What do you think Aurora can offer to other children who are experiencing similar situations to what she went through?  
I hope that kids who worry that their differences might make them seem less valuable or less important in the world than others, will realize that being different from everyone else can be a wonderful thing!  Who wants to fit in, when you can stand out?  There are lots of kids in the world like Aurora, and lots of worried parents like Roy and Ruby. I hope maybe my story will bring them some comfort.  


How did you research Aurora and the circumstances she found herself in?
As I said earlier, I see a lot of myself in Aurora.  So, that part was pretty easy to research.  I had many conversations with a good friend in Tennessee who is a child psychologist and I also reached out to my friend, Cynthia Lord, the author of Rules among many other wonderful books, for some sage advice about how best to understand the complicated feelings a parent of a child like Aurora might struggle with.


Do you and Aurora share any similarities?
Definitely.  We both march to a different drum and we've both struggled with how to live in someone else's shadow.


What was the hardest scene to write about Aurora?
To be honest, I didn't struggle much with how to portray Aurora.  I felt I really understood her and I also really like her.  I struggled more with how to write Ruby, Aurora's mother.  For one thing, I had just finished working on the movie of So B It, and the actress who played Ruby was very much in my head.  She did a wonderful job in the film, but I needed to find my way back to my original inspiration for Ruby in order to tap into her feelings.  Once I got a handle on that, it was much easier to figure out how she would react to Aurora's jealousy of Heidi.  


Who do you think was Aurora's biggest supporter and why?
Aurora had a number of strong supporters.  First and foremost her parents, but also Heidi and Mr. Taylor, her fifth grade teacher.  He's actually based on a real Mr. Taylor, a third grade teacher I met a couple of years ago when I visited a school in Olney, IL- a town whose claim to fame is a population of rare white squirrels.  There was something about him and the way he respected and enjoyed his students that stuck with me. I wanted Aurora to experience having a teacher like that.  I wish I could have seen his face when he read the copy of Soof I sent him and discovered that he had been immortalized.


Why do you think some children, like Aurora, are comfortable in their own skin and willing to stand out, while others desperately try to fit in with the other” kids?   
I think there's a lot of pressure in the world to fit in. And to be honest, there's something to be said for it.  Not that it's better to fit in, but it is easier sometimes.  If I wasn't okay with being a little odd, I might not be a writer.  Sometimes it's that one teacher --like  Mr. Taylor -- who makes you realize that it's okay to be different, or an understanding parent or a friend who's just as quirky as you are. I hope that writing books like Soof, and Oggie Cooder and As Simple As It Seems that celebrate unusual characters will help kids feel okay with being exactly who they are.


What do you think Aurora is doing at the present time? 
I like to think that she and her new best friend, Rosemary are lying next to each other in the back of the old  pick-up truck watching clouds, while Duck digs happily in his favorite corner of the backyard.  Roy's at work and Ruby's in the kitchen making sandwiches  for the girls to have for lunch. The postman is coming up the street with a letter from Heidi, full of happy news about Bernadette and Sophia. Oh, and Lindsey Toffel? Well, I'm afraid she's come down with a terrible case of poison ivy, poor thing.

Music Monday #24 (One Shining Moment by Luther Vandross)



"One Shining Moment" by Luther Vandross


*Music Monday is HERE and I'm excited to share a year's worth of musical selections with you.

*I know it is going to be a GREAT year of music, writing, thinking, and sharing.

*It is ALL about March Madness.  It doesn't hurt that I absolutely love this song.  Such a fun piece of music to use with writers and very timely.  

*Today is our TWENTY-FOURTH Monday together and that means it is time for our musical selection.

*I truly believe Mondays are my favorite day for our writer's notebooks.  

*Each Monday I present a piece of music to my fourth graders.  I usually present the song via a video so they are hearing and "seeing" the music.  

*After I share the video, we discuss the song/video for a few minutes as a class.  It is always a joy to hear what my young listeners have to say about the song.  

*They then get busy writing in their notebooks.  We start off at the beginning of the year writing for about five minutes.  This will gradually increase as the year progresses.  

*Here are some ideas I give the writers to think about during their writing time...

*Their opinions of the song.
*Their likes and dislikes of the song.
*What the song reminds them of.
*Any connections they may have to the music.
*What they think the message in the piece may be.
*What listeners can learn from the song.
*A fictional story about the music/video.

*These are just some ideas I give to the writers.  They are really free to write anything they would like as long as it connects to the song.

*After our silent reading, we spend a few more minutes sharing out what we wrote.  

*I keep a collection of the videos on our Schoology Site so that my students can always go back and rematch them anytime they wish.


Our Musical Selections for 2017/2018... 

Week #1:  "What I Am" by will.i.am                                                  Click Here for Week One MUSIC
Week #2:  "Hopeful" by Bars and Melody                                         Click Here for Week Two MUSIC
Week #3:  "Somebody" by Lemonade Mouth                                  Click Here for Week Three MUSIC
Week #4:  "Dream Big" by Ryan Shupe                                            Click Here for Week Four MUSIC
Week #5:  "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield                                 Click Here for Week Five MUSIC
Week #6:  "The World's Greatest" by R. Kelly                                    Click Here for Week Six MUSIC
Week #7:  "Candyman" by Zedd, Aloe Blacc                                   Click Here of Week Seven MUSIC
Week #8:  "Thriller" by Michael Jackson                                         Click Here for Week Eight MUSIC
Week #9:  "Clay" by Grace Vanderwaal                                           Click Here for Week Nine MUSIC
Week #10:  "I Don't Know My Name" by Grace Vanderwaal           Click Here for Week Ten MUSIC 
Week #11:  "Brand New Eyes" by Bea Miller                               Click Here for Week Eleven MUSIC
Week #12:  "You Will Be Found" from Dear Evan Hansen         Click Here for Week Twelve MUSIC
Week #13:  "Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka                    Click Here for Week Thirteen MUSIC
Week #14:  "Rise Up" by Andra Day                                          Click Here for Week Fourteen MUSIC
Week #15:  "Carol of the Bells" by The Piano Guys                     Click Here for Week Fifteen MUSIC
Week #16:  "This is Me" from The Greatest Showman                Click Here for Week Sixteen MUSIC
Week #17:  "A Million Dreams" The Greatest Showman        Click Here for Week Seventeen MUSIC
Week #18:  "I'll Be Your Water" by Keb Mo                              Click Here for Week Eighteen MUSIC
Week #19:  "The Champion" by Carrie Underwood                  Click Here for Week Nineteen MUSIC
Week #20:  "Can't Stop the Feeling" by Justin Timberlake             Click Here for Week Twenty Music
Week #21:  "Legends" by Sleeping with Sirens                    Click Here for Week Twenty-One MUSIC
Week #22:  "Geronimo" by Sheppard                                   Click Here for Week Twenty-Two MUSIC
Week #23:  "Fresh Eyes" by Andy Grammer                     Click Here for Week Twenty-Three MUSIC

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (3/26/19)



Thanks to Jen and Kellee for hosting this idea on their site.  Here is a link to the site...
                
Books I Read this Past Week…



Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

(Novel Published for Adults)

*3 STARS out of 5 Stars!






24 Hours in Nowhere by Dusti Bowling

(Middle-Grade Novel)

*5 STARS out of 5 Stars!







Books I Will (continue to) Read this Week



In Sight of Stars by Gae Polisher

*My Young-Adult Novel









Breakout by Kate Messner

*My Middle-Grade Novel









Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke

*My Novel Published for Adults









The 11:11 Wish by Kim Tomsic

*My Middle-Grade Novel






Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Wonder Wednesday #217 (Picture Book March Madness)

Picture Book March Madness - Week #THREE

*As you know I love books.  I love novels.  I also love picture books.

*We share picture books each and every day for #classroombookaday.  The class has an extensive bulletin board where we keep track of what we have read together as a class.

*March is a very special time in our classroom.  We celebrate March Madness and we celebrate picture books.  This activity is one of my most favorite things we do all year.

*We begin with 32 picture books.  I pick the books based on my audience and the type of listeners/learners they are.

*Each day I read TWO books to the class.  We discuss our noticings and wonderings.  A discussion about theme is also had.

*The students then head to their iPads and do some voting for their favorite.  I use SurveyMonkey to collect the results.

*Here are some images that capture the third week of March Madness...




Monday, March 19, 2018

An Inside Look #48 (Author INTERVIEW)

An Inside Look with Jacqueline Resnick
(Author of Raffie on the Run)

*This was a new feature I added to the blog during the summer of 2016.  It was a shot in the dark that it would work, but much to my surprise; it took off and over first season I conducted 22 interviews with a variety of authors.

*It has been such an honor to connect with authors and "chat" about their novel, characters, and thoughts about the story.



*I ran a series of interviews for Season #TWO over the summer of 2017.  It was great to get back to these conversations, that I decided to run Season #THREE during the 2017/2018 school year.  

*Thank you to Jacqueline Resnick for being the Forty-EIGHTH author of the third season.  I truly appreciate it.  


*Here are links to the first FORTY-SEVEN interviews…

SEASON #ONE













*Years ago I got to know Jacqueline when I used her novel The Daring Escape of the Misfit Menagerie for my Breakfast with Books Book Club.  The story was always a winner with my readers and we enjoyed chatting with Jacqueline via Skype. I was excited to learn she had a new novel coming out and was even more thrilled when she sent me an ARC.  This is our current Breakfast with Books book club selection.  We are going to Skype with her on March 29th.  

*She were kind, gracious, and giving with with answers to the questions.  It is an honor to post the responses with my "Inside Look" feature.   

*Here is a link to my review of Raffie on the Run



*Thank you Jacqueline for writing this story for readers and taking the time to share your thoughts with us here on the blog...


Raffie on the Run 
by Jacqueline Resnick (Released February 13, 2018)

Jacqueline Resnick Website


How did you come to know Raffie?  
I often draw inspiration for stories from a location: a town, a street, a building, or in Raffie’s case, a subway station. While living in Brooklyn, I spent a lot of time at my local subway station, waiting for my train. I liked to think about the rats who lived there and imagine what their life was like. Slowly, a character grew from those imaginings. He was a young, small subway rat who told amazing adventure stories, but wasn’t quite as brave in real life. His name was Raffie, and I knew I had to write about him.


What do you think is Raffie's most admirable quality?
Can I choose two? I’d like to say it’s a tie between his creativity and his loyalty.


Is there anything you wish Raffie would have changed or done differently in his story?
I wish he hadn’t let Ace the rat get to him so much! I wish he’d known that even though he was small, he was strong in his own ways. But some lessons need to be learned.


What do you think Raffie can offer to children that are experiencing similar situations to what he went through?  
Be proud of who you are and believe in yourself, and you WILL get where you want to go—even if the path looks a little different than you imagined.


How did you research Raffie and the circumstances he found himself in?
That part was really fun! I started out by reading a lot about rats. (The book RATS by Robert Sullivan was one of my favorite resources.) I also did some investigating into the New York City subway system. I learned about underground subway stations that were long ago abandoned (there was even one right by my apartment!), and entire train tunnels that were no longer in use. And my favorite part: I did first-hand research by spending time in subway stations and searching out rats!


Do you and Raffie share any similarities?  
We both love to tell stories. And we both have younger siblings who are our best friends.


What was the hardest scene to write about Raffie?
I find scary scenes the hardest to write. I don’t want to give too much away, but Raffie has a scary, dangerous adventure in an abandoned subway tunnel. That was probably the hardest scene for me to write.


Who do you think was Raffie's biggest supporter and why?
Raffie’s little brother, Oggie, is usually his biggest supporter. But with Oggie missing, Raffie really comes to lean on new friend, Kaz. I love how Kaz proves to Raffie that true friends come in all shapes and sizes. They can be the brother you’ve had by your side your entire life, or the street pigeon you just met.


Why do you think young people and/or animals can be so much more determined than adults to accomplish/reach their goals?  
I think most people are born with an innate sense of faith that things will work out, and sometimes people (or rats!) start to lose that as they grow up. Kids still have that faith that if they just keep at something, it will happen. And you know what? They’re usually right!


What do you think Raffie is doing at this present time?  
It’s daytime as I write this, so I bet Raffie is behind the wall in his subway station home, snacking on some “aged” pizza, and telling Oggie an amazing story!