Friend Friday #143 (The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney)

Hi!  We are Mrs. Peterson's Block 1 Reading Class and we read the book called The Red Pencil written by Andrea Davis Pinkney


We think this book was fantastic because it was written in prose and moved quickly.  


Our favorite part in the story is when she drank Fanta for the first time because it was descriptive.




The character that we liked best was Amira because she was realistic and fun to learn about.  


We think the author wrote this book because she wanted to raise the awareness of the crisis in Darfur.  


We would recommend this book to our friends because it shows an imperfect world and how you can survive through anything.   


Reading to us is very special because we get to chose what I read, learn, and see creativity.  



*Since my fourth graders have moved on to summer, I have to find new "friends" for my Friday posts.

*I'm going to be featuring some teacher friends, colleague friends, and other classes from my building during the summer vacation.

*For the second edition of these posts, my friend Beth and her 6th grade class reviewed a book that I know they enjoyed this year.  

*Thanks to Beth and her awesome sixth graders for taking some time to share their thoughts about this novel with me.  

Trailer Thursday #143 (Student-Trailer #2)

The Terrible Two by Jory John and Mac Barnett

*Book Trailer Created by Brooke (Fourth Grade Student)

*Each student in my class created book trailers (using iTrailer)

*They could pick a book they read, I read to class, or a "Breakfast with Books" selection

*This was their first attempt at creating book trailers

**Here are some other trailers we found to promote this series...

Wonder Wednesday #143 (Reader Reflection #2)

Wonder Wednesday - My Life as a Reader (Part Two)

*Today is the second day of a Wednesday summer feature I'm going to run through these summer months.

*I had each of my students respond to a series of "sentence frames" about their reading life this year.

*I will be posting their thoughts here on Wonder Wednesdays.



Madi Wrote...

*Madi came in as an average reader and it was wonderful to watch her grow and expand her horizons when it came to her reading life.    


Before I was in fourth grade I thought that reading was fun
because it was like I was in the book.  


Now that I'm almost done with fourth grade I think that reading is still fun 
because I still love to get sucked into a book.  


This year I learned that as a reader I can be more kind
because many of the books I read were about kindness.  


To me reading is something magical
because it takes me into a different world.  


As a reader I'm most proud of all the books I read this year
because I've read more this year than ever.   


The best thing about reading is that sometimes it takes all your worries away
because you're going into a different person's shoes.  


To be a life-long reader means to find the perfect book and read it
because you will love it and find happiness.  

Treat Tuesday #143 (Book Release Day)

Treat Tuesday - Mermaid Water

*We were at the first part of the summer and they served this.

*So good, delicious, and perfect for a summer day.

*I looked it up as soon as I got home.  

*Enjoy…




Ingredients…

2 oz (60 ml) Captain Morgan Spiced Rum
1 oz (30 ml) Coconut Rum
6 oz (180 ml) parts Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz (15 ml) Lime Juice
Top off with Pineapple Juice
Splash Blue Curacao
Garnish with Lime Wheels


Directions…

Treat Tuesday:  Middle-Grade Novel

Treat Tuesday:  Young-Adult Novel

Treat Tuesday:  Adult Novel

Music Monday #32: When I See You Again by Wiz Khalifa

"See you Again" by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth

*I can't believe that is is our final music selection for the year.

*These Monday features are one of my favorite writing days we do as a class.

*Last year a student suggested this song to me to use for our final one.

*Then again this year a current student asked if we could do the song.  It must be a great song to use for a final goodbye song!

*This was our 32nd Monday (and final) 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
Week #21:  Superheroes by The Script
Week #22:  Happy by Pharrell Williams
Week #23:  Waka, Waka - This Time for Africa by Shakira
Week #24:  Candyman by Zedd and Aloe Blacc
Week #25:  Something New by Axwell/Ingrosso
Week #26:  Broken Arrows by Avicii
Week #27:  Rise Up by Andra Day
Week #28:  The World's Greatest by R. Kelly
Week #29:  One Call Away by Charlie Puth
Week #30:  Can't Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake
Week #31:  The World is Ours by David Correy & Aloe Blacc

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (6/6/16)

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… 

A Year in the Life of a Complete and Total Genius by Stacey Matson

*Middle-grade novel

*5 STARS out of 5 Stars!

My Book Review

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

*Young-Adult novel

*5+ STARS out of 5 Stars!

My Book Review






Books I Will (continue to) Read this Week… 

Britt-Marie Was Here by Fredrik Backman

*My adult novel

The Vacationers by Emma Straub

*My adult novel (audio)

we are the ants by shaun david hutchinson

*My young-adult novel

The Girl in the Well is Me by Karen Rivers

*My middle-grade novel

The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

How I Heard About It:  I saw a "tweet" from Donalyn Miller that she spent the day reading this book and loved it.  I added it to my TBR list and just recently "borrowed" it via my public library using my 3M Cloud Library app.  I stayed up very late last night reading and woke up very early this morning to finish this incredible story.  

What It Is About:  Dill, Travis, and Lydia are three seniors living in a small town in Tennessee.  As their senior year begins, they each have goals, hopes, and wishes for the year to come.  They are on the same page with some aspects and on completely different "trains' of thought when it comes to others.  Dill is dealing with the fact that his minister father is serving time in prison for a crime that his mother suggests is Dill's fault for sending him there.  Travis has lost an older brother which has sent his father to the bottle and a mother who isn't sure what to do.  Finally, we have the glue that holds these three friends together.  Lydia is ready to get out of town and pursue her dreams at NYU.  She has bigger dreams for herself than living in a small town where not much goes on.  Lydia wants the same for her two "buddies", but they just might be satisfied living in "simple" life.  After a roadside incident occurs, life will never be the same for these three young people and they must learn to not only rely on themselves for survival, but on each other more than they ever thought possible.  

What I Thought Of It:  Donalyn was right.  This novel is all consuming.  I had other books in progress, but once I started this one, I couldn't stop reading until I was done.  This took me late into the hours last night and I was up again at 6:00 AM this morning (a Sunday at that) to finish the story. I'm not sure I have ever loved or felt connected to three characters as much as I did with this novel.  They were three of the most awesome, heart-warming, and real people I have experienced in fiction.  The story line was top-notch and if I'm honest, had me in tears on several occasions.  I couldn't quite figure out why it was affecting me the way it was, but I went with it and enjoyed every word, every paragraph, every page, and every chapter.  I loved everything about this story and find myself wanted to keep reading it today even though I finished it many hours ago.  

Who Should Read It:  As you can tell I LOVED this story so my answer to this question would be EVERYONE should read this novel.  You will NOT be disappointed.  It is "billed" as young-adult, but don't let that stop you adult readers from experiencing the magic of the story.   Happy Reading!  

Rating:  5+ STARS out of 5 Stars