Fourth Grade Journey

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

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Life Lesson #22 - Be a Friend

"Be a Friend"

*This is the TWENTY-SECOND Thursday of our school year together and that means it is "Life Lesson" Thursday.

*One of the biggest messages I try to share with my students is to make a positive impact on the world.

*This isn't always easy, but I work very hard to spread this theme/lesson/idea each and every day.  

*I recently saw the movie Wonder and was reminded of this song.  I've used this "life-lesson" in the past and have always received a positive reaction from my fourth grade writers.  They enjoy the video, the song, and hopefully above all this; the message.  I really encourage all of my students to be friends and/or friendly with each other.  Kindness really is the "theme" of our classroom.  These life-lessons remind us of that goal.  

*I set aside time during each day for us to work in our writer's notebooks. 

*We talk about what types of writing we can do in the notebook.  Here are some of the possibilities...

-What we notice in the video
-What we wonder about
-Connections we have to the video
-Thoughts, feeling, emotions about the video clip
-Reminders we have from the lesson/message
-Create a fiction story about the video


*Once the video is shared with the writers, we spend a few minutes "talking" about what we observed.

*My writers set up their HEADING in the notebook and we get busy writing.

*During the start-up of the year, I have my students write for about five minutes.  We slowly build our stamina for writing and slowly add time to the writing block. 

*At the end of the individual writing time, we call on a few volunteers to share their actual writing and/or further thoughts about the video we watched and wrote about.

*If there is time, I sometimes share the video clip with my class at the end of the writer's notebook time.  


2017/2018 Life Lessons...
Week #1:  Be a Reader                                                                      This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #2:  Be Kind to Others                                                              This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #3:  Be Safe                                                                             This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #4:  Be Responsible                                                                 This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #5:  Be Brains                                                                           This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #6:  Be a Friend                                                                        This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #7:  Be Life-Changing                                                              This Week's Life-Lesson 
Week #8:  Be Spooky (Halloween Fun Edition)
Week #9:  Be a Bully - NOT!                                                              This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #10:  Be Courageous (to continue on)                                     This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #11:  Be Motivated                                                                   This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #12:  Be Inspired                                                                      This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #13:  Be Merry                                                                          This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #14:  Be a Team                                                                       This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #15:  Be Giving                                                                         This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #16:  Be SHOUTful                                                                  This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #17:  Be Happy                                                                        This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #18:  Be a Reader                                                                    This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #19:  Be POWERful                                                                 This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #20:  Be Brave                                                                         This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #21:  Be Positive                                                                      This Week's Life-Lesson
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Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Wonder Wednesday #215 (Picture Book March Madness)

Picture Book March Madness - Week #ONE

 *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.

*We started our voting on Tuesday of this week and will continue for the next sixteen days.

*Here are some pictures of the start-up of Picture Book March Madness 2018...

Our Class Schoology Site Where We Vote For Our Favorite Books

 The Results of Round #ONE

 Each Morning the Readers Pick from Our Collection to Read

We Vote Each Morning as to Which Book We Will Read First

Our 2018 Picture Book March Madness Bracket

Our 2017 Picture Book March Madness Bracket (Results)
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Monday, March 5, 2018

The Girl With More Than One Heart by Laura Geringer Bass

How I Heard About It:  An ARC of this April 17th novel found its way to me via the publisher.  I thought the cover and title were intriguing and was curious to see what the story inside had in store for me.    

What It Is About:  Briana loves both her parents, but has a special bond with her father.  At one time, she was close to both parents, but when her younger brother was born and required more of her mom's time, she found herself spending more and more time with her father.  They "got" each other.  Life went on and Briana and dad spent time together while mom and brother spent time together.  This structure was blown up when Briana's father's heart "shocked out" and left the three family members alone.  Briana wasn't sure she could go on without her dad, but when she felt and heart his "heart" inside of her, she began to life day by day.  Her father would send her messages.  At first she was confused by the words, but then began to rely on them.  After her father's death, Briana's mother retreated to her bedroom, her brother was more of a handful than ever, and her grandfather did what he could, but was no replacement for her dad.  Briana just wants to be a normal girl involved with the school newspaper and spend time with her friends.  This proves to be difficult with the new demands of home.  Will her father's messages be able to reach her own heart and help her navigate her new normal?  

What I Thought Of It:  When I began the book, I was drawn in right away.  I'm a sucker for a sad family story with a middle-grade boy/girl trying to make the best of a horrible situation.  The "voice" from her father was also intriguing to me.  I wondered where the story was going and how Briana's "two hearts" would meld into ONE.  As the story unfolded, the plot slowed down a bit and maneuvered in several directions.  Briana was an enjoyable character to read about and I wanted the best for her.  There were times I was frustrated with the mother's decisions, but I'm sure there was some truth as to how she reacted to the death and dealing with her two children.  

Who Should Read It:   I guess I would say this book would be best suited for a reader in grade five and six.  It would also be appropriate for readers in middle-school.  Female readers may tend to enjoy it more than boys, being that the story centers mostly around Briana, her girlfriends, and the boys they may or may not like.  There is a lot "underlying" the plot and I'm not sure younger readers would get all the lessons and/or themes.  Happy Reading!  
Rating:  4 STARS out of 5 Stars
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The Daring Dreamers Club: Milla Takes Charge by Erin Soderberg

How I Heard About It:  Author, and friend, Erin Soderberg was kind enough to send me an ARC to share with my Twitter #bookexpedition reading group.  I was thrilled to learn that she is coming out with a new series for middle-grade readers.  Look for the first installment at the beginning of June, 2018.  

What It Is About:  In the first edition of this series, we are introduced to Milla.  She is a talented, spirited, and energetic fifth grader who dreams, and writes, about the all the incredible adventures that are awaiting for her to experience.  Her real life, on the other hand, is not so adventurous.  Dealing with some health issues, Milla fears her moms won't be on board to allow her to attend the fifth grade camping trip.  At the start of fifth grade, she learns each student will be assigned to an advisory group with a teacher advisor.  Milla finds herself in a group with four other girls and a first-year teacher.  She encourages the five girls to pursue their dreams and be all they can.  Each girl is quite different from the other, but in the "Daring Dreamers Club" they learn how to achieve their goals and encourage the other girls to be their personal best.  Milla wonders if the overnight trip will be all that she hoped for, or a terrible mistake away from the safety of her home.  

What I Thought Of It:  As I began the book, I started to think of all the girls in my class that would be engaged in this fresh, upbeat, and page-turner of a story.  One thing that always amazes me about talented authors is how each piece of writing they publish can be different from everything else they have written.  Erin's newest book is completely different from her other works of fiction.  The concept for this book (series) is like nothing else I have read and I know that young readers are going to find complete satisfaction in Milla's story.  The writing was spot on, precise, and entertaining.  I enjoyed Milla and her interactions with the other girls.  While I may not be a "princess loving reader", I thought it was cool how each girl connected with one of Disney's Princesses.  I'm glad to know that each new book in the series will be released every six months.  

Who Should Read It:   In my opinion, this is the PERFECT novel for female middle-grade readers.  I can see third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade girls reading it and enjoying all five girls.  If you know of young readers that are drawn to the Disney brand and/or princesses, then this is the book for them.  I'm already trying to gather a group of girls in my fourth grade class to read the book and possibly meet with Erin herself to "chat" about the book.  This is definitely a book/series that will be in my classroom library and one that will be book-talked from year to year!  Happy Reading!  
Rating:  5 STARS out of 5 Stars
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An Inside Look #47 (Author INTERVIEW)

An Inside Look with Cordelia Jensen & Laurie Morrison
(Authors of Every Shiny Thing)

*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 Cordelia and Laurie for being the Forty-Seventh author(S) of the third season.  I truly appreciate it.  


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

SEASON #ONE













*I was lucky to receive an ARC of Every Shiny Thing and was excited to read it.  I so enjoyed the story of the two young girls.  I also loved how part of the story was told in verse and the other half was told in prose.  It was interesting to me that the book was written by two authors.  After finishing, I reached out to both of them and was thrilled when they agreed to answer some of my questions for the blog.  

*They were kind, gracious, and giving with their 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 Every Shiny Thing



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



Every Shiny Thing
by Cordelia Jensen and Laurie Morrison (Released April 17, 2018)


How did you come to know Lauren and Sierra?
We started out knowing one main characteristic for each girl. We knew Sierra would be fiercely loyal to her mom, a trait that was inspired by Cordelia’s experience working with kids who felt deep loyalty to their parents despite difficult home situations. We knew Lauren would be compassionate and have a strong commitment to justice, like many of the middle school students Laurie had taught. Then the girls continued to reveal themselves to us from there!


What do you think is Lauren and Sierra’smost admirable quality?
We especially admire Sierra’s ability to trust and hope for the best in people and Lauren’s sense of justice.



Is there anything you wish they would have changed or done differently in their story?
If we step back from the book and re-read it from our perspective as adults, there are a lot of moments where we’d think things like, “Lauren! Open up to your parents and tell them how you’re feeling!” and “Sierra, Anne wants so much to connect with you! Talk to her!” But we think the girls go on the emotional journey they need to take and make mistakes they learn from, and we like where they end up in the end.



What do you think they can offer to other children that are experiencing similar situations to what they went through?
Both girls get in over their heads in difficult situations and need to ask for help. We hope kids reading the book--especially kids who might be dealing with difficult circumstances with family members and friends--might see that Lauren and Sierra need to ask for help and be encouraged to do the same. It’s also a book about addiction, and we think that’s an important topic for kids to be able to read about, especially if they have people close to them dealing with addiction and haven't read books that tackle that topic. It felt good to us, for instance, to include an AlaTeen scene.



How did you research these two characters and the circumstances they found themselves in?
For Sierra, Cordelia used her background as a counselor to help inform the story, and we got feedback from people who work in the foster care system. In order to develop Ryan’s character and present his school and occupational therapy in authentic ways, Laurie got valuable feedback from sensitivity readers, read a lot about autism and neurodiversity in books and on blogs, and watched YouTube videos posted by teens with autism. Steve Silberman’s book NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity was a really helpful book to start with and one we recommend.



Do you and the girls share any similarities?
Like Sierra, we both tend to be caretakers and sometimes get in over our heads with wanting to help other people and be good friends. Like Lauren, we’re both compassionate and we try to be conscious of our privilege. However, neither of us break rules in the way Lauren does!



What was the hardest scene to write about them?
For Laurie, the very first chapter was the hardest to write because that’s where Lauren’s driving misbelief, that her parents are not doing the right thing by sending her brother to boarding school, gets established. It was hard to walk the line of showing readers why Lauren feels this way while also suggesting that she might not be fully understanding what’s best for her brother. For Cordelia, the hardest scene was the reveal where the reader finally discovers why Sierra’s mom got put in jail. That was loosely based on something Cordelia saw at the mall one day and was a gut-wrenching scene to witness and to write.



Who do you think was their biggest supporter and why?
Sierra’s biggest supporter is her foster mother Anne, because Anne can relate to what Sierra is going through and helps Sierra realize what she needs. Sierra ends up being Lauren’s biggest supporter, both because she is the one person Lauren really lets in and because she ends up recognizing what Lauren needs and doing that even though it’s painful.



Why do you think children, and sometimes adults, cover for their friends when they know in their heart it is the wrong thing to do?
It can be hard for kids and adults to be in situations where it feels like there are two competing right things to do. It feels right to be a good friend, and it’s also right to follow socially accepted rules for what behaviors are moral. It’s tricky when you can’t simultaneously feel like you’re supporting a friend and abiding by those rules. It’s also very hard (for adults, but maybe even more so for kids) to worry that a friend will be hurt or angry because of your behavior or will think you're a "tattletale." Often covering for someone makes that person happy and grateful at least in the short term, which feels a whole lot better than making them mad.



What do you think the two girls are doing as the present time?
We finished major edits on the book about a year ago, so we’ll imagine it’s one year after the book ends, when the girls are in eighth grade. The girls are good friends, but they’ve expanded their friend group and don’t just rely on each other. Sierra is struggling

academically at school because the gaps in her education are making eighth grade difficult, but she now knows how to ask for help when she needs it. Lauren is figuring out healthier ways to volunteer for social justice causes and she’s going to a summer program in D.C. that will connect her with other social-justice-focused kids from around the country.
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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (3/5/18)



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…



 Daring Dreamers Club: Milla Takes Charge By Erin Soderberg

*Middle-Grade Novel (5 STARS out of 5 Stars!)








 The Girl With More Than One Heart by Laura Geringer Bass

*Middle-Grade Novel (4 STARS out of 5 Stars!)






Books I Will (continue to) Read this Week…



They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

*My Young-Adult Novel









The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

*My Novel Published for Adults
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Saturday, March 3, 2018

Life Lesson #21 - Be POSITIVE

"Be Positive"

*This is the TWENTY-FIRST Thursday of our school year together and that means it is "Life Lesson" Thursday.

*One of the biggest messages I try to share with my students is to make a positive impact on the world.

*This isn't always easy, but I work very hard to spread this theme/lesson/idea each and every day.  

*Put this video in a fourth grade classroom (or any classroom) and you have a HIT.  I've used this one many times and the writers always LOVE it and have so much to write about.  Such a GREAT message!  

*I set aside time during each day for us to work in our writer's notebooks. 

*We talk about what types of writing we can do in the notebook.  Here are some of the possibilities...

-What we notice in the video
-What we wonder about
-Connections we have to the video
-Thoughts, feeling, emotions about the video clip
-Reminders we have from the lesson/message
-Create a fiction story about the video


*Once the video is shared with the writers, we spend a few minutes "talking" about what we observed.

*My writers set up their HEADING in the notebook and we get busy writing.

*During the start-up of the year, I have my students write for about five minutes.  We slowly build our stamina for writing and slowly add time to the writing block. 

*At the end of the individual writing time, we call on a few volunteers to share their actual writing and/or further thoughts about the video we watched and wrote about.

*If there is time, I sometimes share the video clip with my class at the end of the writer's notebook time.  


2017/2018 Life Lessons...
Week #1:  Be a Reader                                                                      This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #2:  Be Kind to Others                                                              This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #3:  Be Safe                                                                             This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #4:  Be Responsible                                                                 This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #5:  Be Brains                                                                           This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #6:  Be a Friend                                                                        This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #7:  Be Life-Changing                                                              This Week's Life-Lesson  
Week #8:  Be Spooky (Halloween Fun Edition)
Week #9:  Be a Bully - NOT!                                                              This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #10:  Be Courageous (to continue on)                                     This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #11:  Be Motivated                                                                   This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #12:  Be Inspired                                                                      This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #13:  Be Merry                                                                          This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #14:  Be a Team                                                                       This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #15:  Be Giving                                                                         This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #16:  Be SHOUTful                                                                  This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #17:  Be Happy                                                                        This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #18:  Be a Reader                                                                    This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #19:  Be POWERful                                                                 This Week's Life-Lesson
Week #20:  Be Brave                                                                         This Week's Life-Lesson
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