Life Lesson #23 (Be Brave and Courageous)...

"Be Strong and Courageous"

*It is Thursday and that means it is time for another "Life Lesson" video clip.

*This is one of my favorite video clips that I share with my students.

*The words, images, and music all create quite a powerful message for viewers.

*When I find a video that portrays a young person in such a positive light, I of course want to share.

*I'm always trying to find ways to help my students reach their full potential.  

*Each Thursday I feature a different video with a "life lesson" in it.  

*After viewing the video once or twice, we chat a bit about it as a group.

*I then have the writers record their thoughts in their writer's notebooks.

*They can write their thoughts, reactions, connections, wonderings, learnings, or whatever is on their mind regarding the video.

*Encouragement is also given to reflect on the "message" of the clip.

*After about 5-10 minutes of writing, we listen to a few of the students share what they wrote.

*It is my hope that through these "life lessons", my students can become the best young people they can be.

Life Lessons (2015-2016)...

Lesson #1 - Be Courageous 

Lesson #2 - Be Kind
Lesson #3 - Be Courageous (part two)
Lesson #4 - Be Motivated
Lesson #5 - Be a Buddy, Not a Bully
Lesson #6 - Be Inspired
Lesson #7 - Be Spooky (Halloween Edition)
Lesson #8:  Be Kind (Kindness Retreat)
Lesson #9:  Be Shoutful
Lesson #10:  Be Happy
Lesson #11:  Be a Reader
Lesson #12:  Be Powerful
Lesson #13:  Be Merry
Lesson #14:  Be a Team
Lesson #15:  Be Giving
Lesson #16:  Be Brave (part two)
Lesson #17:  Be Positive
Lesson #18:  Be Dance Like
Lesson #19:  You Can Do It
Lesson #20:  Be a Hero
Lesson #21:  Be a Friend
Lesson #22:  Be Kind (Part Three)

Wonder Wednesday #131 (Unexpected Email)...

Wonder Wednesday - Unexpected Email

*Once again I wasn't sure of what to post this Wednesday for a "wonder".

*Whenever that happens, something always seems to pop up and lands in my lap.


*This past Monday I arrived at school to find an email from a former student.

*It came as a complete shock.  This particular student was a bit of a hand-full when I had him in fourth grade.

*After fourth grade he moved to a neighboring district and I wasn't sure how he was doing or how school was going.

*I have included our email exchanges because I think it shows the power of what we do with kids.  I'm never quite sure if I'm making that positive impact on students that I want to;  especially the "challenging" ones.

Email #1... 

Hello Mr.Andrus! My name is Jack, I was in your 4th grade class.

I am now in 7th grade at P_ _ _  R _ _ _ Middle School in C_ _ _.   I would

really like to thank you for making me interested in reading and all the 

author meets we had over Skype.  I now have a very high reading score on

MCA and its all thanks to you!  I really can't thank you enough for all

the individual time you spent on teaching me to be a good student both at

home and at school!


Email #2... 

Hey Jack,

It was awesome to get your email.  There is actually still a picture of

you walking in the hall hung up here at Prairie View so I think of you

often.  This is one of the best emails I¹ve ever gotten.  I really want

you to know I appreciate you sending it to me.  I¹m so happy things are

going well for you in 7th grade.  I¹m especially glad to know that you are

doing so well with reading.  As you probably remember, I love to read and

love books.  I¹m still Skyping with authors and have actually had a couple

of authors visit us in person.  That was really cool.  It is always my

goal to help kids become the best student and person they can be.  You are

a GREAT kid and I know will do wonderful things in your life.  I can¹t

believe you are already in 7th grade.  Time sure does go by fast.  Thank

you again for this email and I am going to print it and keep it.  It means

a lot to me.  Please say hi to your dad for me.  Take care and remember to

keep reading as much as possible.

Mr. Andrus

PS:  Two books you may enjoy are called The Honest Truth and Some Kind of

Courage by Dan Gemeinhart.  I think you would like them both!

Email #3...

Have you done any authors with your kids that I did with you?  Like Dan Gutman?  He may have been my favorite author of them all.  I also enjoyed the song of the week!   Are you still doing that?  If so I feel it is a great way to send a message to kids.

Email #4...

Dan Gutman was awesome.  I still remember his Skype visit.  I try to do

new authors each year.  One cool guy I had was Phil Bildner who wrote A

Whole New Ballgame and Rookie of the Year (comes out this summer).  He was

really fun to talk to.  Another awesome author was Jory John who wrote The

Terrible Two and The Terrible Two Get Worse.  He was a young cool guy.

You might like those books!

Yes, we still do Music Monday.  My class loves it.  I do some of the old

songs and of course add new ones when I hear a new one that I want to

share with my class.  I¹m glad you still remember that.  I¹m never quite

sure what students remember from class and what they don¹t.  I¹m glad that

you remember it.  Yes, that is why I use the music songs because I want to

send a message to them about life and being a wonderful person.

Thanks for writing back!  Mr. Andrus

Picture Wednesday #25 (This Thing is Heavy!)…

This Thing is Heavy!!!

*Throughout the year I try to use images that are somewhat of an optical illusion.  

*When I saw this on Twitter via Fascinating Pictures, I thought it would be fun to use with my 4th graders.

*I'm not sure where the picture was taken, but it could be on the island of St. Martin.  We were there on vacation once and there is a beach where you can watch the planes just like in the image.  

*Each Wednesday we write in our writer's notebooks about a particular image.

*They can record their thoughts, reactions, connections, likes/dislikes, reminders, noticings, or anything else they would like.  

*Some of the writers choose to write a fiction story based on the picture.

*We write between five and ten minutes and then do a quick share at the end.  

*The photos always lead to lots of conversation and the sharing of ideas.  I try to get them to write first and then we can share what we wrote and what we were thinking.

*The writers are really enjoying writing and talking about these photographs.

Treat Tuesday #131 (Book Release Day)...

Treat Tuesday - Company/Party Chicken

*Last week we had my parents over for dinner.

*My mother has Alzheimer's Disease.

*This was a recipe she use to make when she could cook.



*My wonderful wife pulled out my mom's recipe and made this for myself and my parents.

*It was fun to entertain my folks and reminisce about my childhood and family life.  Of course my mom couldn't add much to the conversation, but I know she was listening.

*This is the perfect meal to serve for your family and/or company.


Ingredients...
*One 3oz package dried beef
*Three large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
*Six slices bacon
*One can of cream of mushroom soup
*One cup sour cream

Directions...
*Arrange beef in bottom of 12 x 9 baking dish
*Place chicken breast over beef
*Wrap chicken breast with bacon slices first
*Sprinkle with a little rosemary
*Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
*Combine soup and sour cream
*Pour over chicken and bake an additional 40-50 minutes
*It will be very brown on top!


Treat Tuesday:  Middle-Grade Novel

Treat Tuesday:  Young-Adult Novel

Treat Tuesday:  Adult Novel

Music Monday #21: Superheroes by The Script…

"Superheroes" by The Script

*I want all of my students to know they can be "superheroes" or "heroes".

*We have talked about the fact that superheroes are made and heroes are born.

*We have used another Script song earlier this year and everyone LOVED it.

*This is one of my favorite songs and I always enjoy sharing it with my students.

*This was our 21st Monday where we featured a musical selection.

*Each Monday I highlight a piece of music to share with my writers.  

*We begin with showing a video that goes along with the musical selection.

*The class will watch the video between 1-2 times.

*After the second viewing, the writers begin to record their thoughts in the notebooks.

*As they write, I play the music in the background (minus the video).

*My fourth graders can record their thoughts, ideas, connections, likes/dislikes, or reactions to the song.  They can also write about the message of the song.  

*I have my students write between 5-10 minutes.  At the end of our writing time, I see if a few of the writers would like to share what they wrote.  

Music Monday Selections (2015-2016)…

Week #1:  What I Am by will.i.am
Week #2:  Proud by Heather Small
Week #3:  Dreamer by Chris Brown
Week #4:  Live Like a Warrior by Matisyahu
Week #5:  Sunshine by Matisyahu
Week #6:  Better When I'm Dancin' by Megan Trainor
Week #7:  Thriller by Michael Jackson
Week #8:  Hopeful by Bars and Melody
Week #9:  Keep Your Head Up by Andy Grammar
Week #10:  The Rainbow Connection from The Muppets
Week #11:  What Does the Fox Say by Ylvis
Week #12:  Hall of Fame by The Script
Week #13:  Clouds by Zach Sobiech
Week #14:  Do They Know Its Christmas by Band Aid
Week #15:  What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong
Week #16:  Am I Wrong by Nico & Vinz
Week #17:  Humble and Kind by Tim McGraw
Week #18:  Today's the Day by Pink
Week #19:  Hold My Hand by Jess Glynne
Week #20:  Fireflies by Owl City

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (3/7/16)…

Thanks to Jen and Kellee for hosting this idea on their site.  Here is a link to their site...

                

 http://www.teachmentortexts.com/

Books I Read this Past Week… 

Paper Towns by John Green

*Young-Adult Novel (4 Stars out of 5 Stars)

My Book Review

Casey KC by Chris Kreie

*Middle-grade novel (4 Stars out of 5 Stars)

My Book Review






The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater


*My young-adult novel (on audio)

*Abandoned this book







Books I Will (continue to) Read this Week… 

After You by Jojo Moyes

*My adult novel

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

*My young-adult novel

The Way Home by George Pelecanos

*My adult novel (on audio)

Casey KC by Chris Kreie…

How I Heard About It:  I feel very honored that I received a copy of this book and was able to read it.  Chris is actually a colleague of mine that works in the same district as I do.  He is a teacher, librarian, and author.  This is his latest novel.  When an author asks me to read their book, it is an extreme privilege for me.  

What It Is About:  Casey is a twelve-year old boy who loves baseball.  You could say his whole world is baseball.  He has a special talent when it comes "eyeing" the ball from the pitcher.  He has never struck out and is quite proud of that record.  When a couple of Kansas City Royals "big-wigs" show up at Casey's baseball game, his life is about to change.  After a visit to the Royal's ball field, Casey's life is about to change.  The team recruits Casey to be their newest team member and their "secret weapon."  The team has had a rough go of it, and the managers of the team believe that Casey and his batting "talent" can change things for the team.  Casey can't quite believe his luck and is so excited to be on this team.  As the season progresses, Casey makes a name for himself and becomes somewhat of a celebrity.  Some of this is positive and some quite negative.  Casey is loved by some team members and not so much by others.  Casey is loved by some fans and not so much by others.  He must decide how he wants his role on the team to be played out.  This decision isn't as easy as Casey would like it to be.  

What I Thought Of It:  To be honest, I wasn't sure how I would receive this story.  I'm not a huge baseball fan and don't know much about it.  I was presently surprised to find that I loved this story and this character right from the get-go.  I was drawn into the story of this twelve-year old and his amazing adventure of becoming a player in the major leagues.  I learned a lot about baseball, but more than that I enjoyed reading about all the "ins" and "outs" of a baseball game.  The cast of characters were solid and added greatly to the story.  It was realistic in the sense there were guys that wanted Casey on the team, and some that weren't so sure.  I kept thinking that I would love to have Casey in my own class.  He is a great kid and taught the adult characters a thing or two.  

Who Should Read It:  As a couple of my tweets and posts on Facebook said, this is the perfect story for the middle-grade reader.  It is action-packed, fast-paced, and full of lots of surprises.  In my opinion, readers in grades four, five, and six would be perfect for this story.  The book may appeal to boys a bit more than girls, but that could also be a generalization.  If you have a reader that is into sports, and especially baseball, then this is the book for them.  The novel could also make for a solid read aloud because each chapter leaves the reader wanting more of the story.  Happy Reading!  

Rating:  4 STARS out of 5 Stars