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

How I Heard About It:  I actually received a free copy of this book during an exhibit visit at NCTE15 here in Minneapolis.  I was drawn to the cover, started talking with the representative, and before I knew it she was giving me the book to take home and read.  Unfortunately I didn't get to it until just this last week.  

What It Is About:  Arthur Bean is in middle-school and is quite a character.  He isn't your typical middle-schooler and is out to prove to everyone how great and wonderful he is.  He refuses to go along with the crowd and follow rules that don't fit his way of life.  He has decided that he is going to be a famous author.  In order to reach this goal, he enters a writing contest that the school is conducting.  Each contest writer is paired with another writer to help each other through the process.  Arthur is assigned to Kennedy who he has a major crush on.  He is also assigned to tutor another student in their class that struggles with school.  Arthur isn't thrilled about this at all.  Added to his plate is a job on the school newspaper, a role in the school play, and keeping up with all the writing assignments from his English teacher.  Arthur handles all of these "roles" during a busy and eventful year with his own personal style and a few comedic outbursts.  

What I Thought Of It:  I loved the book.  I was surprised to find that the book was arranged with letters between himself and his English teacher, emails between himself and Kennedy and Robbie, journal entries about his life and reading he is doing, written assignments he submits, school newspaper entries, and a few other tidbits along the way.  At first I wasn't sure how this was going to work, but ended up loving the format.  Arthur is a one of a kind character and I found myself laughing out loud as they say.  I enjoyed the focus on writing, reading, and being a really good student.  I got through the book in a few readings and enjoyed the experience.  

Who Should Read It:  This would be the perfect book for readers in sixth, seventh, and eighth grade.  They would be able to relate to the story quite well.  Strong readers in fifth grade may also find this an enjoyable read.  The format of the book will be appealing to the middle-school reader.  Adult readers who tend to read middle-grade and/or young-adult books would also find this a satisfying read.  Happy Reading!  

Rating:  5 STARS out of 5 Stars

Still Waters by Ash Parsons

How I Heard About It:  During a recent visit to my local library I ran across this title in the audio section.  I was looking for something new to listen to while driving to and from work.  I was particularly interested in a young-adult story and this one seemed to fit that bill.  I knew nothing of it, but thought I would give it a try.  

What It Is About:  All Jason really wants to do is survive his senior year in high school, survive the abuse from his father, and earn enough money to get himself and his younger sister out of town and away from their dad.  When the "in" kid Michael approaches Jason with a plan and a lot of money, Jason thinks his luck is finally changing.  At first all Jason has to do is "hang" out with Michael and his "crowd."  They aren't Jason's types of friends, but since he is being paid, he goes along with it.  Plus Michael's girlfriend appears to like Jason and he is interested in seeing how far that will go.  As Michael keeps paying Jason, the requirements of their "fake friendship" get deeper and deeper.  Jason begins to doubt whether this arrangement is worth it, but keeps thinking he needs to get his sister and himself away from their life.  When Jason realizes and learns what Michael is truly doing, it might be too late for everyone involved.  

What I Thought Of It:  Overall I really enjoyed listening to this audio story.  The plot was engaging and quite interesting.  There were times when I thought some of the events got a bit far fetched, but I just went with it and enjoy the suspense and mystery of what Michael was up to and how this was going to affect Jason.  Sometimes it was hard to believe high school kids would be able to pull off all the "escapades", but again I tried not to get too caught up in that.  I thought the character of Jason was developed quite well and was a protagonist that was likable and wove his way into my heart.  

Who Should Read It:  In my opinion, I think this would make for a great read for the high school reader.  I know they would enjoy reading about the different types of high school students and how they all relate to each other.  They would also find the "situation" Jason is in to be captivating, entertaining, and just plain fun.  There is lots of suspense and mystery throughout the story which will keep all readers interested.  I also think adult readers would find this an enjoyable read.  The narration of this book was excellent so taking the audio path with this book would also be a recommendation.  Happy Reading!  

Rating:  4 STARS out of 5 Stars

Friday Friday #142 (Booked by Kwame Alexander) - Summer Edition #1

Hi!  We are Mrs. Peterson's Block 2 Reading Class and we read the book called Booked written by Kwame Alexander.  


We think this book was amazing because it was funny, suspenseful, relatable, and taught us new words.  



Our favorite part in the story is when Nick punched Don and Dean because he was bullied by them.




The character that we liked best was Nick because he is dynamic and relates to sixth graders.  


We think the author wrote this book because he wanted to create a book that had a similar theme to the book Crossover.   


We would recommend this book to our friends because it's a page turner.   


Reading to us is fun, entertaining, and magical because it takes us to new places.  



*Since I'm losing my fourth grade readers next week, 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 first 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.  

 

Life Lesson #34 (Make Summer Awesome and Give Back)

"Make Summer Awesome and GIVE BACK"


*It is Thursday and this is our last "Life Lesson" for the year.

*I found this clip last spring and thought it was a perfect one to use for our last Thursday entry.

*Summer is a time for having fun but can also be a time to give back to the community.

*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)
Lesson #23:  Be Brave and Courageous
Lesson #24:  Be Fearless
Lesson #25:  Be a Sportsman/Sportswoman
Lesson #26:  Be Different
Lesson #27:  Thinking Outside the Box
Lesson #28:  Live Your Dream and Share Your Passion
Lesson #29:  You've Always Had the Power
Lesson #30:  Pay It Forward
Lesson #31:  Give a Compliment
Lesson #32:  Achieve Your Goals
Lesson #33:  Be Awesome

Trailer Thursday #142 (Student-Made Trailer #1)

Heidi Heckelbeck by Wanda Coven

*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...

Picture Wednesday #36 (Friends Forever)

 Friends Forever

*We have come to our final Picture Wednesday of the school year.

*This year I shared 36 different images with my fourth graders.

*The writers did some great writing, observing, and thinking about a visual image!

*I love ending on the note of "friendship".  These are some of my favorite ones I've found.    

*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.

Wonder Wednesday #142 (Reader Reflection #1)

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

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



Makiya Wrote...

*Makiya came in as a 4th grader who didn't love to read and struggled a bit.  It was a joy to see the progress she made this year with her reading!  

Before I was in fourth grade I thought that reading was boring
because it was not fun.


Now that I'm almost done with fourth grade I think that reading is awesome 
because there are really good books.


This year I learned that as a reader I love to read
because there are really good books.


To me reading is really fun
because I love books.

As a reader I'm most proud of being better at reading
because I never used to be.  


The best thing about reading is there are some really good books
because there are books like Lemonade War and Wonder.

To be a life-long reader means to always love reading
because you will find that you love reading.