Friend Friday #28...

Hi!  I’m Logan and I'm reading the book called Spirit Animals #2 and written by Maggie Stiefvater.

I think this book is great because it has a lot of adventures. 

My favorite part of the story is the animals because there are kinds that I didn't know about.  

The character that I liked best is Abeke because she has a bow. 

I think the author wrote this book because she likes animals and wanted to write a story about them.

I would recommend this book to my friends because it has adventures and I think kids my age like reading about animals and adventures. 

Reading to me is great because you are in your own world when you read.  


*Logan was the student in my room who introduced me to this series.
*He was completely engrossed with the first book and couldn't wait for this second book to come out.
*I can remember the day when he walked into the classroom with book #2 already downloaded to his Nook.
*Logan is a passionate reader and makes books a part of his every day life.   

 

Trailer Thursday #28...

ALA Youth Media Awards

*This past Monday was a great day in literature for our youth.

*It is always a joy and wonder to watch the presentation of these awards.

*For today's post, I wanted to honor the award winners and their books.

*I can't think of a better way than via book trailers…

2014 Newbery Award

Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo 

2014 Caldecott Award

Locomotive by Brian Floca

2014 Theodor Seuss Geisel Award

The Watermelon Seed by Greg Pizzoli

2014 Coretta Scott King Award

PS:  Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia

2014 Michael L. Printz Award

Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick

2014 Schneider Family Book Award

Handbook for Dragon Slayers by Merrie Haskill

Mock Caldecott (Second Set of 40 Books) - ROUND Five...

2013-2014 Mock Caldecott Award
*We recently finished our second set of 40 picture books.
*I begin each morning meeting with a picture book.
*We have narrowed our list down from 40 to 10 to 5 to 3 and then to our number one favorite picture book.
*These were the final three and the highlighted title is our GRAND winner of our second set of 40 picture books...    

Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus
The Duckling Gets a Cookie
Where the Wild Things Are

Wonder Wednesday #28...

Wonder Wednesday - ALA Awards

*On Monday, January 27th I was in complete heaven.

*I so look forward to the annual "Youth Media Awards".

*The only negative thing was that I didn't have my students on Monday.  It was a teacher grading day.

*These awards are truly a wonder; as are all wonderful books.

Caldecott Award

*Locomotive by Brian Floca

Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults

*The Nazi Hunters: How a Team of Spies and Survivors Captured the World’s Most Notorious Nazi written by Neal Bascomb

Theodor Seuss Geisel Award

*The Watermelon Seed written and illustrated by Greg Pizzoli

Coretta Scott King Award

*PS:  Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia

John Newbery Medal

*Flora & Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo

Michael L. Printz Award

*Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick

Schneider Family Book Award


*A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin written by Jen Bryant (ages 0-10)

*Handbook for Dragon Slayers written by Merrie Haskell     
(ages 11-13)

*Rose under Fire written by Elizabeth Wein (ages 14-18)

Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal

*Parrots over Puerto Rico written by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore

Treat Tuesday #28...

Treat Tuesday - Slow Cooker 
Ground Beef Lasagna Soup
*Is it a Pasta?
*Is it a soup?
*Or is is just AWESOME?
*Slow Cooker Ground Beef Lasagna Soup is great for a weeknight meal.
*You’ll be a hit with this one!
*A perfect meal for a cold's winter night...


Ingredients...

1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, chopped
10 3/4 oz. tomato soup, canned, condensed
14.5 oz. tomatoes, canned, petite diced
15 oz. tomato sauce, canned
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 beef bouillon cubes
4 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 tsp. basil
1 tsp. parsley
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
8 oz. Ricotta Cheese
8 lasagna noodles, broken into small pieces - UNCOOKED
12 oz. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese


Directions...

-Combine onions, tomato soup, diced tomatoes and tomato sauce and place in the slow cooker.
-Add all of the spices and bouillon cubes to the slow cooker.
-Add water and spread your broken UNCOOKED lasagna noodle pieces all around.
-Crumble RAW ground beef over top.
-Cover. Cook on Low for 7-8 hours or on High for 4-5 hours.
-Approximately half hour or so before done, stir in the Ricotta cheese.
-Serve with shredded Mozzarella Cheese on top and savor the deliciousness!


Treat Tuesday - Middle Grade Novel

The Dogs of Winter by Bobbie Pyron











Treat Tuesday - Adult Novel

The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck

Music Monday (Minnesota Winter Edition)...

Music for Winter Weather

*We have no students today because it is a grading day.

*Since I'm not sharing a piece of music with my students today, I thought I would focus on this "lovely" winter weather we are having here in Minnesota.  

*There are schools that are out of session today due to the cold and windy weather conditions.

*This is is the fourth day this January that MN schools have been closed.  At this rate, we will be teaching in July.  

*Here are some winter, cold, windy, and just plain great songs…

"Cold as Ice" by Foreigner

"Hazy Shade of Winter" by The Bangles

"Frozen" by Madonna

"Snowbound" by Genesis

"Winter" by The Rolling Stones

"Tenth Avenue Freeze Out" by Bruce Springsteen

"Winter Time" by Steve Miller Band

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (1/27/14)...

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…

*Ever since the holiday break when I read so much, I have been in a bit of reading slump. 
*Must be this awful MN winter weather we have been having. 




Books I Will (continue to) Read this Week...

The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Saturday Boy by David Fleming

Surprise Sunday #6 - Picture Book March Madness

Picture Book March Madness

*I'm excited to kick off "Picture Book March Madness".

*This activity will coincide with NCAA March Madness.



*This idea stemmed from a discussion via Twitter with Scott Jones (@escott818) and Jason Lewis (@jasontes5th).  They are both doing this "activity" with their classes.

*Our readers will be reading 32 picture books and ranking them so they can be added to our picture book brackets for March Madness voting.

*I will be kicking this off on Tuesday so we are ready for our very own March Madness.

*Here are the details and picture books we will be using…

March Book Madness 2014

Week #1 (January 27-31) = Read all 8 books in 1st bracket

Week #2 (February 3–7) = Read all 8 books in 2nd bracket

Week #3 (February 10–14) = Read all 8 books in 3^rd bracket

Week #4 (February 17-21) = Read all 8 books in 4^th bracket

Week #5 (February 24-28) = Catch up on books you missed

***After reading each book, give it a star rating…

(1 STAR = Poor Picture Book)

(2 STARS = OK Picture Book)

(3 STARS = Good Picture Book)

(4 STARS = Great Picture Book)

(5 STARS = Excellent Picture Book)

Picture Bracket Stampede! (NF)             Move! (NF)                   Storm is Coming           Crankenstein               Boy + Bot                    Baloney                    Mr. Wuffles                  The Invisible Boy	Text Bracket Book Speak! (NF)           Fireboat (NF)               Do Not Open This Book    Mrs. Biddlebox              A Ball for Daisy            Mr. Tiger Goes Wild       Oh No!                      Carnivores
Author Bracket I Have a Dream (NF)      3 Little Dassies (NF)        Pete & Pickles              That is Not a Good Idea    Chalk                       Bear Has a Story to Tell   A Sick Day for Amos      Unicorn	Illustrator Bracket The Snowflake (NF)       Brave Girl (NF)             Journey                      Otis                         Scare a Bear                The Monsters’ Monster      Extra Yarn                  Art & Max

March Book Madness 2014

Week #5 (February 24-28) = Catch up on books you missed

Week #6 (March 3-7) = Rank your books in each bracket

***In each bracket, rank your books in order from 1-8

(1 = Most Favorite Picture Book in that Bracket)

(2-7 = 2^nd through 7^th Favorite Picture Book)

(8 = Least Favorite Picture Book in that Bracket)

Picture Bracket Stampede! (NF)              Move! (NF)                  Storm is Coming            Crankenstein               Boy + Bot                    Baloney                     Mr. Wuffles                  The Invisible Boy	Text Bracket Book Speak! (NF)         Fireboat (NF)               Do Not Open This Book     Mrs. Biddlebox             A Ball for Daisy            Mr. Tiger Goes Wild        Oh No!                       Carnivores
Author Bracket I Have a Dream (NF)       3 Little Dassies (NF)        Pete & Pickles              That is Not a Good Idea    Chalk                        Bear Has a Story to Tell   A Sick Day for Amos       Unicorn	Illustrator Bracket The Snowflake (NF)        Brave Girl (NF)             Journey                      Otis                        Scare a Bear                The Monsters’ Monster     Extra Yarn                 Art & Max