Preparing for World Read Aloud Day

On March 6th the world will celebrate World Read Aloud Day. It is a tremendous chance to connect great literature to students. I am busy planning what I might want to do for this day! I have a few ideas that might influence my students.

Here I reflect on myself as a reader. These are questions shared by Lit World

 1. I think everyone in the world should read... 
When I was 10: I was in love with so many books at this age. I think my favorite though was from the Mixed-Up-Files of Mrs. Basil. E. Frankweiler. I also did and still loved The Westing Game.

Now: I think right now my favorite book of the moment is Wonder. I think this book has the power to change the world! I love to read so I could probably list 10-20 other books I am fanatic about as well.

2. If I could listen to anyone in the world read aloud to me it would be...
When I was 10: I loved listening to my mom read as a child. I remember her reading to me many times as I feel asleep at night. When I was around this age I was assigned a summer reading novel that I could not stand. My mom spend many summer afternoons reading aloud to me from this book as we both suffered through it. I still to this day wonder if the teacher ever read it before assigning it.

Now: I think I would still enjoy listening to my mom read aloud. She was a preschool teacher for years and I think she reads aloud with so much energy and passion for reading.

 3. When I read aloud, my favorite character to impersonate is... 

When I was 10: I did not read aloud much at this time as I was an independent reader from a young age. I am guessing any read aloud I did was from books at my mom's work to her preschoolers.

Now: I love to impersonate Grover from the book There is a Monster at the End of this Book! I still remember reading this book out loud in high school and again in college as a part of classroom projects.

 4. The genre that takes up the most room on my bookshelf (or e-reader) is... 

When I was 10: I have always loved reading serial novels. I read all of the Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Baby Sitter's Club, Sweet Valley Twins, and Boxcar Children books I could get my hands on.

Now: Now a days as a middle school teacher I read a ton of Young Adult novels. I love being able to discuss and recommend books. I also read almost all of the top and popular books that come out. I am guilty of not reading many classics.

5. The last book I wish I’d written or inspired me to write my own story is...

 When I was 10: This is a hard question. I think at 10 I was to interested in being a kid :-).

Now: I wish I could write a novel as powerful as Wonder about my experience in middle school. It was not the best experience and I was met with many challenges. Luckily most people I went to school with turned out to be decent people who I hope raise their own children to be kinder than they were.

Wonder Party!

This Wednesday 10/10/12 my class had a birthday celebration for August from our class read aloud story Wonder. As a part of our book we made posters to hang in high traffic areas to remind other students to be kind. Here are the posters we made.

What I am Reading... 10/1

It's Monday and Kelly and Jen from Teach Mentor Texts are once again hosting their "What Are You Reading?" Monday blog share/hop.  I am excited this week to share what I am reading as my first blog entry on this blog!

So what am I reading?

I am reading with my students the amazing book Wonder.   We are loving this book in my classroom!  It is our daily read aloud. I read this book last spring and could not wait to read it with my class.  I think it conveys a message every middle school student needs to hear.  I wish I could buy a copy for everyone of my colleagues as well.

On my own I am reading Insurgent.  This is the second book in the series by Veronica Roth.  I am loving this book as well. It is thrilling and captivating.  It is a great addition to the Utopian realm of reading.  I wish it was a little less gory so I could recommend it without any hesitation, but like the Hunger Games I recommend it with caution, especially to younger readers.  I have a student who is reading this series as well and I am very excited for him to finish the first book so we can have book talks together.

I always seem to have trouble just reading a book at a time so I am also reading Stephen McCrainie's second novel Food Fight.  I am waiting for his first book to arrive at my house in the mail this afternoon.  I have only read one chapter, but this book as all of his work is hilarious.  He captures kids so well.  My students love hearing this read aloud complete with sound effects and silly faces.