Fish in a Tree

Today, we began our next read aloud, Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt.  Hunt wrote One For the Murphy's, one of our all-time favorite books and the book we read for Global Read Aloud.  Fish in a Tree was just released last week, and our entire class was so excited to start it!  Here's the summary of the book from Goodreads:

"The author of the beloved One for the Murphys gives readers an emotionally-charged, uplifting novel that will speak to anyone who’s ever thought there was something wrong with them because they didn’t fit in.
 
'Everybody is smart in different ways. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its life believing it is stupid.'
 
Ally has been smart enough to fool a lot of smart people. Every time she lands in a new school, she is able to hide her inability to read by creating clever yet disruptive distractions.  She is afraid to ask for help; after all, how can you cure dumb? However, her newest teacher Mr. Daniels sees the bright, creative kid underneath the trouble maker. With his help, Ally learns not to be so hard on herself and that dyslexia is nothing to be ashamed of. As her confidence grows, Ally feels free to be herself and the world starts opening up with possibilities. She discovers that there’s a lot more to her—and to everyone—than a label, and that great minds don’t always think alike."

Our Favorite Books So Far

Today, I asked students to write down their favorite book they've read so far in sixth grade. Below, I've included the list we came up with, sorted by genre.  Looking for a good book?  Take a peek!

Realistic Fiction

• If I Stay
• Holes
• See You at Harry's
• One For the Murphy's
• Stargirl
• TFIOs
• Deep, Dark, and Dangerous
• The Cake Pop Crush

Realistic Fiction- Sports

• The Contract
• The Keeper
• Underdogs

Historical Fiction

• The Watson's Go to Birmingham
• The Book Thief
• Lions of Little Rock
• Kite Fighter
• All the Broken Pieces

Fantasy

• Heros of Olympus
• The Serpent's Shadow
• Series of Unfortunate Events
• The Boy on the Porch
• Peter Nimble
• The False Prince
• The Runaway King
• Divergent
• Allegiant
• Four
• The Warlock

Science Fiction/Dystopian

• I am Number Four
• The Hunger Games
• Mocking Jay

Non-Fiction

• Driven
• Bomb

Graphic Novels

• Hugo Cabret
• Cardboard
• Ghostopolis
• Bad Island
• American Born Chinese
• Amulet
• Diary of a Wimpy Kid- Long Haul

Our After-Lunch Read Aloud: The Fourteenth Goldfish

After lunch each day, we do a read aloud.  This is different from our ELA read aloud.  It's a little more informal.  Students come in, sit down, and we enjoy a little bit of a story together before they head off to their afternoon classes.

Yesterday, we finished Schooled by Gordon Kormon, and the students decided they wanted to read The Fourteenth Goldfish next.  This book came out just a few months ago, and we got this copy from our Donor's Choose Project.  Thank you again to everyone who helped make that possible!

The Fourteenth Goldfish is another book choice in Global Read Aloud this year.  While we'll be sticking with One for the Murphy's for Global Read Aloud work, we're lucky that we get to read another book that's so highly recommended! 

Here's a synopsis of the book from GoodReads:

Galileo. Newton. Salk. Oppenheimer.

Science can change the world . . . but can it go too far?

 

Eleven-year-old Ellie has never liked change. She misses fifth grade. She misses her old best friend. She even misses her dearly departed goldfish. Then one day a strange boy shows up. He’s bossy. He’s cranky. And weirdly enough . . . he looks a lot like Ellie’s grandfather, a scientist who’s always been slightly obsessed with immortality. Could this pimply boy really be Grandpa Melvin? Has he finally found the secret to eternal youth?

Look What We're Reading!

Since the best book recommendations come from each other, we've created a space in our classroom to share what we're reading!

 I've had my current reading and writing projects up on the board since the beginning of the year, and now it was the students' turn!

Since we've posted them, they've already been conversation starters!  Students have been reading what others are reading, and sharing their reviews with one another.  Our wall will help keep up the reading buzz! :)

Online Scholastic Book Orders

This week, I submitted our very first book orders!  After submitting our book orders, I got our classroom account all set up.  Now, you have the opportunity to order books from Scholastic online! While I will continue to send home paper book orders as well, if you would like to order on line, you may do so by visiting scholastic.com/readingclub and entering our classroom code, which I've included below:

To learn more about ordering books online, click here.

Donors Choose Materials Arrive!!

On Tuesday afternoon, our Donor's Choose Materials arrived. Seven boxes of brand new books were delivered to our classroom, and I couldn't wait to show the students! We needed to sort all of our new books into our classroom library, which was the perfect opportunity to study genres!  

Yesterday, each table group got a box of books, and it was their job to look through the books and classify them by genre.  We spent some time at the beginning of class learning about genres and different types of genres.  Then, using sticky notes, students applied their knowledge to all our new books!

After we sorted through the books, student choose a book that looked really good to preview to the class.  So many students faces lit up when they found certain books.  It was amazing to see.  Some of my favorite phrases that I overheard from students yesterday were:

"I can't wait to check this out!"

"My friend read this and she said it was amazing!"

"Oh my gosh, I've been wanting to read this for forever!"

"I want first dibs on this one!"

"This book is awesome!"

"Can I take this right now?"

Today is the first day students can check out the new books.  I'm so excited to get the students reading all the new books! 

Thank you again to everyone who helped this project become possible.  We are so grateful for all the energy you've added to our classroom!

Thank You

Dear Families,

Today, we got the news that our Donor's Choose project received full funding.  Thank you so much for your excitement, support, and enthusiasm surrounding the project. The students and I are still in disbelief about how quickly the books were funded.  We cannot wait for them to arrive!  

As a thank you to the donors, I posted the following letter on our project page:

Thank you so much for your generous donations.  When I began this project, I would have never guessed how much the community would get involved.  I cannot thank you enough for your time, help, and support.  Your investment in our classroom and our learning means so much to our students and to me.

This year, our classroom has developed a culture of reading.  Our independent reading time is sacred.  Our reading conferences and book talks are revered.  Our reading wish-lists are constantly expanding. Now, with your help, our love of reading will continue to grow.

As I said in the project proposal, I believe that every child is a reader.  Students just need to find the right books to get them hooked on reading.  Your donation will not only provide our students with new books, it will also provide them with new views of themselves, new adventures to partake in, new worlds to explore.

We cannot fully express how much of a difference you have made, but we will try.  Thank you.  You've made our classroom more interesting and more engaging, and you've contributed to our classroom community in ways we have yet to discover.  We are truly lucky to have your support.

Whether or not you were able to donate monetarily, thank you so much for all you do to support our classroom from home.  I feel truly blessed to be able to work with your students each day, and I am so thankful for your help, support, and investment in our learning.

Thank you.  For all you do, and for sharing your student with me.

WOO-HOO!!!!

Our Donor's Choose Project just got funded!!!  We cannot thank the community enough for their support!!

WE ARE SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank You, Mr. Allen!

After receiving a generous book donation last week from school board member Tom Allen, we wanted to express our appreciation.  Students brainstormed different ways we could say thank you, we put together this video:

Thank you Mr. Allen!  We are so appreciative of our new books!

Speaking of books, we are only $139 dollars away from getting our Donors Choose Project funded.  We are so close!  Thank you so much to everyone who has donated.  Your support and investment in our learning means a lot! 

If you're interested in donating, click here.  If you want to read our previous blog post on this, click here.

September Book Orders Due Friday, September 26th

September book orders went home today.  Students had some time to look over these in class to circle books they are interested in.  Book orders are due back this Friday, September 26th. If your student will be ordering books, please pay with a check.  Checks can be made out to Scholastic.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Our First Donors Choose Donation

Before school started, I created a Donors Choose project in anticipation of our Classroom Library.  Donors Choose is a website that allows teachers to propose projects and ask for funds from individuals and companies around the nation who are looking to make a difference.

For our proposal, I talked with teacher friends and librarians and browsed children's literature blogs (like Nerdy Book Club and Mrs. Ripp Reads) searching for recommendations of new, high-interest, and high-quality literature for sixth graders.  After all the research, I put together my ultimate wish-list of 50 new young adult books for sixth graders.  And the community answered.

This weekend, we received our first donation to our project, Making a Marvelous Classroom Library.  On Saturday, a McFarland Community Member donated $500 to our project, and now, we just have $285 dollars to go. We cannot thank her enough. The students are so excited!  We can't wait to get our hands on new and captivating books!

With the goal so close, we would appreciate your help. If you or your friends and family are interested in contributing to our classroom, any amount would make a huge difference.  You can contribute to our classroom by clicking here.

Our First Book Donations!

Today, we received our first book donations!  A member of the school board donated books to the school, and since our classroom was in need, we got to take a look at them!  Five boxes were delivered to our door, and the students spent the first part of ELA sorting through the books, looking for keepers.  We were lucky...almost all the books were keepers!

Students sorting through book piles in table groups

I dumped piles of books at table groups, and students spent time previewing the books with their table-mates deciding what we should keep.  Looking through all the books generated a lot of interest! The excitement in the air was tangible... the students were laughing at how much energy I had going from table to table looking at the books.  There were some gems in there!  I've been keeping an eye out for the Artemis Fowl books, and sure enough, several were found in the boxes!  We also found copies of books in the Percy Jackson series and the Maze Runner series.  Today felt like the best treasure hunt ever!

I am going to stamp and file the books, and then students will be able to check them out from me.  Many were already writing titles down on their book wishlist....my goal is to get the books in their hands as soon as possible!

New additions to our classroom library!

If you have any books laying around at home (even just a few), we would love to take them off your hands!  It was awesome to see the students so excited about new books today...hopefully it's a feeling we'll have again in the future soon! 

Making a Marvelous Classroom Library

Someone once told me that every child is a reader, they just need to find the right book.  My goal this year is to help students discover books that will ignite and keep ablaze their passion for reading.

As this is my first year teaching in McFarland, our classroom library is a work in progress.  I've carted every single young adult book I own to our classroom.  I've ransacked my teenage brothers' rooms asking to borrow their favorite books from middle school.  I've searched through piles of books at thrift stores, and I've begged and borrowed from family and friends.  We have a good beginning, but we could use your help!

Our class needs engaging, exciting, and current young adult novels at their finger tips.  If you have any young adult novels or relevant picture books at home that you would feel comfortable donating to our classroom, we would love to accept your donations!  During the course of the year, if you are looking to contribute to the classroom in some way, books would be a welcome gift.

I believe the best books serve as a window and a mirror.  They allow us to learn about diverse people, places, and times, and yet, they also grant us a glimpse of ourselves.  Books teach us to reflect, to think, to emphasize, and to learn.  Middle school isn't just about meeting standards.  It's about growing.  And that is exactly what the books in our classroom library will help us do.

Thank you so much for your time, support, and consideration.  I look forward to the reading ahead!