A Great Summer Day for Reading July 14, 2013!!!!

Today has been a wonderful, peaceful, relaxing day for me to sit and enjoy reading some good books.  It has also been important for me to be able to reflect on the message that each author has for those that are reading their books.  I feel that is a important to discuss with young readers.  For those of you that use the Daily 5 it made me think about what is the purpose for reading a specific text. This past week, I was co-teaching a Young Authors Camp in Kennebunk through the University of Southern Maine and got to meet a real published author.  Her name was Stephanie Kate Strohm and she is a YA Author.  She has published two books as part of the Pilgrim Series.  The titles of her books are Pilgrims Don't Wear Pink and Confederates Don't Wear Couture.  It was amazing for me to observe how the children responded to her and the aha moment that arose when they realized that if they wanted to they could become a published author.  Stephanie told the students that her books are a good for children older than twelve years old.   I have her books in my "To Read Pile".  Now, I wanted to share with all of you some of my favorites from the last couple of weeks.

Lifesaving Lessons: Notes from an Accidental Mother by Linda Greenlaw
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you Kathy B for giving me this book to read on Friday.  I started reading it yesterday and could not put it down.  Absolutely loved it!  I look forward to seeing you on the 27th.  I also can't wait to talk about it with you and the other Literary Ladies.  For me it was an interesting take on becoming a mother later in life.  This was a book I read for the Literary Ladies Book Club.


The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco
My rating: 4 of 5 stars  (Guided Reading Level M, Grade Level Equivalent 4.6)

I just got this book at the Springvale Library book sale.  It is a great story about a girl and her grandpa.  Her grandpa motivates her to read and you'll have to see if she sticks with it or not.

Bad Kitty School Daze by Nick Bruel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars (Guided Reading Level T, DRA 50, Grade Level Equivalent 4)
Themes: Manners/Conduct, School, Cats, Dogs

I am a big fan of this series. This is the newest one and adds humor to Kitty and baby and little puppy.  Do you think they would enjoy going to school?  You will have to read to find out.



Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting outlook on how a child deals with the loss of a parent due to the September 2001. Once I started reading it I could not stop until I got to the end.  I would encourage parents to read this book before recommending it to younger readers.

The Literacy Cookbook, Grades K-12: A Practical Guide to Effective Reading, Writing, Speaking, and Listening Instruction by Sarah Tantillo

Great resource for my teacher friends. It has a little of everything when you are thinking about planning effective literacy instruction for students.   Sarah Tantillo also has a website that you can go on for further ideas.  I am really enjoying this text and want to stress that it is something that you can go back to over and over for lesson or unit ideas.


I hope everyone has a great reading and writing week.  It is supposed to be another hot week in Maine.

Sincerely,
Diana Pettis

November 25, 2012

I am feeling very blessed during this Thanksgiving break because of the opportunities I have had to catch up with friends and family.  Reading is such an important part of my life and it is my continued hope that I can inspire others to read. One book really spoke to me and the profile is below.


The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book!  It made me think about what the true meaning of Christmas is all about.  Also the old adage came to my mind that one should not judge a book by its cover. Lots of comedy and humor in this book when Charlie's mother talks about the Herdman family.  I am going to use this for a guided reading group in December.  It has 108 pages and I recently purchased it for $1.00 at my school book-fair.


Lexile: 930
Grade Level Equivalent: 5.1
Guided Reading Level:  Not available at this time.
Themes:  Christmas, Humor, Manners


 I also wanted to let my Sanford colleagues know that this week on Wednesday, November 28, 2012, I am going to the television station in town.  The people who run the station are going to be making a video of me reading "Quiet Place" by Don Wood.  It is one of my all-time favorite books.

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.