Happy Thanksgiving!

During this time of year I always try to remember to say thank you to students that I work with, colleagues that I collaborate with, my sons: Xavier and Xander, my husband,  Matt, and all of my friends and family.  I think it is important in my opinion that we count our blessings.  I am continuing to read many books and want to showcase a couple of favorites from the last couple of weeks.


The Boy in the Drawer by Robert Munsch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shelley finds a small boy in her drawer who causes a lot of trouble. I read this today to Xander and he really liked it.  He then said to me that it was sad about Shelley having to be an only child.  As I was reading this story aloud to Xander I noticed vocabulary that we had to talk about.  The word trouble-maker really tripped him up. As you are reading this story there are other spots where you can go in talking with children.  Some of the things I did with Xander were to stop and ask him to predict, and ask him to tell me about the characters

Guided Reading: J
Themes: Manners and Conduct
DRA 18/20 range
Lexile 420
Grade Level Equivalent: 3.1



The Canada Geese Quilt by Natalie Kinsey-Warnock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A student I work with brought in this book and said you I had to read it. I am glad that I did because it was a very good story.  I would recommend this primarily for girls. Other details about the story include Ariel's family getting ready for a new baby.  Ariel is very close to her grandmother and they come up with a surprise for her mother.


Guided Reading Level: P
DRA: 38
Lexile 680
Themes: Culture and Diversity, Character and Values



Testing Miss Malarkey by Judy Finchler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book in my opinion makes fun of standarized testing that all schools have to do.  Not sure if I would recommend this book other than to read aloud maybe to older students who do not like taking tests at school.