Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

I can't believe that another year has come so quickly.  Today, I achieved my reading goal for the year which was 150 books.  It felt great to meet this goal!  In 2013, I will have to challenge myself even more because I am always looking for good books to recommend to the students I read with, by own sons, and my nieces and nephews.  During, this holiday season, my nieces and nephews call me "Aunt Diana, The book fairy".  It is so nice for me to see the joy that books can bring to children and adults alike.

Here are some of the books I have been reading over the last couple of weeks:


Tales Of A Fourth Grade Nothing; [And], Superfudge by Judy Blume
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Loved the Superfudge book.
Guided Reading Level Q




Ish by Peter H. Reynolds
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This story is the sequel to Peter H. Reynolds book Dots. In this story, Ramon doesn't think she can draw well until her art teacher encourages her to draw more.  At home her brother is not very nice.  Then Marisol her sister helps Ramon understand why drawing can be so much fun.

Guided Reading Level J
Themes:  Family, understanding, courage

This is a great short read in my opinion.  This would be a good story to discuss in small group.



Squid and Octopus Friends for Always by Tao Nyeu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Cute story about overcoming obstacles.  I think it would be a better read-aloud for preschool students.

For all my teacher friends, I hope you enjoy the vacation week and read.  Merry Christmas and Happy New  Year!

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.

My favorite books from the week 9.23.12

In this post I wanted to list some of the books I read this week to my sons and students.  Lots of them are read-aloud type stories.  Since it is beginning to get close to Halloween I found a couple of those stories as well.  I hope you enjoy some of my picks.


Hop on Pop by Dr. Seuss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Xander loved reading this book to me today.  Great beginner reader!

Guided Reading Level: J



The Littlest Dinosaur by Michael Foreman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book to my son Xander today and he really enjoyed it. The book was about being a hero.  The littlest dinosaur needs to help his family in their time of need and finds an unlikely friend along the way.

Grade Level 3.7
No guided reading to be found
Themes:  Bravery, being a hero


Inside a House That is Haunted by Alyssa Satin Capucilli
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Here is the hand that knocked on the door and startled the spider that dropped to the floor.

Guided Reading Level: J
Word Count 472 words
Grade Level: 1-2

Theme:  Halloween



The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda D. Williams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another great read-aloud story.  This makes me think of Halloween.