Student Voices

Student Voices: Top Ten Author Lists by Two of Kellee’s 2017-18 Middle School Students

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Our Top Ten Favorite Authors by Duda V. and Angelina D. (6th grade)

Rick Riordan
Rick Riordan is the author of many series like Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus. He is in the process of writing The Trials of Apollo series as well. His writing brings mythology to the modern world with hilarity. With twisting plots and schemes and a lot of hair-raising action, it leaves readers begging for more.

J.K. Rowling
J.K. Rowling is the author of the ever popular Harry Potter series which is most definitely well-known with theme parks, movies, games, and its own official website, her books are without a doubt well-loved and appreciated. Popularity however is not the reason we put her on our list. She has created a world intertwined with ours, full of magic we can only dream about. Not only have we watched the characters grow, but we have grown with them.

Caroline Carlson
Caroline Carlson is the author of the hilarious series The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates. It centers around a girl who wants to become a pirate but her parents don’t want her to. Caroline has created a fantasy world where piracy is normal yet still illegal. The series includes three books, each one demonstrating a sense of bravery and adventure as well as hilariousness that I’m sure will make you laugh your head off!

Chris Colfer
Chris Colfer is the author of the bestselling series The Land of Stories. It’s a fictional series about the adventure of two twins, Alex and Connor. Chris Colfer has written six books in the series, and they all take place in a world that Chris Colfer has created around fairy tales like Little Red Riding Hood and Sleeping Beauty. Chris Colfer books are amazing!

Ally Carter
Ally Carter is the author of several series including Embassy Row, Heist Society, and Gallagher Girls. Her books are thrilling and have a unique take on the classic good guy/bad guy scheme with the bad guys being more an antagonist than a villain. Even with all the adventurous moment, she still finds time to add sweet moments.

Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the author of the Series of Unfortunate Events, thirteen books with witty definitions and a plot that has readers on the edge of their seats. However, we did want to add that we don’t agree with his recent comments. We just think that his series is amazing.

Neal Shusterman
Neal Shusterman is an amazing author who has written many series including the Unwind Dystology and the Dark Fusion series. He also wrote Scythe which is about Citra and Rowan and the challenges they have to overcome. Neal Shusterman is a New York Time Bestselling author, winner of the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, Golden Kite Award for Fiction, and more. Many of his books are fascinating because of his unique writing style.

Dan Gemeinhart
Dan Gemeinhart is the author of multiple books including Scar Island, Some Kind of Courage, and The Honest Truth. His writing is heartfelt and gripping. He uses a perfect mix of emotions and plot guaranteed to have readers anxious for the next page.

Gordon Korman
Gordon Korman is the author of multiple series including Masterminds, Swindle, Hypnotists, and so many more series and stand alone books. He is also part of the 39 Clues series. His work is action packed and full of gripping moments. His books are always real page-turners.

Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle is the author of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes which is a collection of short stories. The stories are about the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes who goes to solve cases that are usually murder cases. The book was originally published in 1892 and has been turned into movies and TV shows.

Top Ten Amazing Authors You May Not Know But Should by Duda V. and Angelina D. (6th grade)

David Liss
David LIss is the author of Randoms, a 2017-18 Sunshine State Young Reader book. SSYRA books are chosen in Florida and recommended for kids and often show up in schools. Despite not being really well known, he should be. If you enjoy thriling sci-fi novels, his books are for you. And don’t worry, it is just the first of an epic series.

Sayantani Dasugupta
Sayantani Dasgupta is an Indian American author who has written The Demon Slayers, Bengali Folk Tales, and The Serpent’s Secret. She is a physician-scholar in addition to a writer. The Serpent’s Secret is about Kiranmala, a regular sixth grader until her twelfth birthday. Sayantani Dasgupta is an amazing author who can make you feel like you are in the book yourself.

Joseph Bruchac
Joseph Bruchac is the amazing author of Wolf Mark as well as so many others. With a twisting plot and well-written details, it is every bit as good as expected, as are his other books. There are no words to describe it!

Adam Rex
Adam Rex is the author of The True Meaning of Smekday, the book Home was based on. Despite this fact, many people do not know that. If you have ever watched a movie based on a book, you know that they never get the details right (but it is a bit fun to see the changes). Adam Rex’s writing is funny and well-thought out and planned.

Julia Keller
Julia Keller is an American novelist that has written many adult books and her newest is for young adults, The Dark Intercept which is the first book in a series. The Dark Intercept is a personal favorite; it is an amazing book about two worlds, Old and New Earth, and the mysteries about New Earth, the world that Violet Crowley’s father has created. Julia Keller has won awards including a Pulitzer Prize, and she is an amazing author that writes science fiction, adventure, crime, and many more.

Lynne Jonell
Lynne Jonell is the author of Emmy and the Incredible Shrinking Rat and other titles. Her writing is fun and mysterious and it increases with the plot. What starts as a seemingly realistic fiction book is soon easily classified as pure fantasy.

Firoozeh Dumas
Firoozeh Dumas is the author of It Ain’t So Awful, Falafal, which was a 2017-18 Sunshine State Young Reader Award book. Firoozeh Dumas has also written many other books including Funny in Farsi and Laughing without an Accent. Ain’t So Awful, Falafel is a funny book about Zomorod (aka Cindy) that just moved to Newport Beach. Firoozeh has been nominated for many awards including the Turber Prize for American Humor. Her books are hilarious because of her unique style of writing.

Soman Chainani
Soman Chainani is known for his series The School for Good and Evil. The story revolves around best friends, Agatha and Sophie, who face challenges and overcome them. The series consists of four books (right now), and I appreciate it for its sense of magic, friendship, and love. Soman has created a world full of fantasy with fairy tales including Cinderella and King Arthur. This series isn’t too well known but after you read the first one, you can’t stop reading because of the magic it brings.

Suzanne Nelson
Suzanne Nelson is an author that writes heart-taking, loveable, and amazing books. She has written many different books including Macaroons at Midnight and Cake Pop Crush. Both of these books feature delicious recipes in the end as well. Suzanne Nelson has been able to create books that can make you understand that love can be a beautiful thing because her books are mostly about love and sweetness. Suzanne Nelson is an author that is just as amazing as any author you already know and love.

J.J. Howard
J.J. Howard is an author that writes books that have challenges and love between two characters including her book Pug and Kisses which features an adorable pug. The books are amazing realistic fiction stories because it displays real life trouble, mostly love problems, which can be overcome with happy endings. J.J. Howard is an amazing author who writes books that will bring a smile to your face.

Thank you to my wonderful students, Duda and Angelina, for sharing your favorite authors!

Student Voices: Advice for Picking Books by Four of Kellee’s 2017-18 Middle School Students

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Reading Non-Fiction Books Are Not as Horrible as You Might Think! by Lorenza M. (7th grade)

At the beginning of the year, Mrs. Moye announced that our next unit would include reading an informational non-fiction book. I was a little disappointed because in my mind non-fiction meant huge, boring books that my dad likes to read. However, I was proven wrong.

Our first task was to choose the book we wanted to read. We had countless books to pick from that covered a vast variety of topics. I’ve always been interested in medicine and the human body, so I chose The Book of Blood.

In the weeks to come, I became obsessed with my book. I learned more from reading that book than any anatomy lesson I’ve ever had in science. I also made it my life’s goal to tell all my friends and teachers the nastiest facts about blood.

Our final project for the unit, after we finished our books, was to created a presentation about the topic we learned. From watching my peers’ presentation, I learned about plenty of topics I had no knowledge about, and it was super fun sharing what I’d learned with my class.

Reading a non-fiction book taught me never to judge a book by its genre, and neither should you! The book I read for this unit was one of the best and most resourceful books I’ve ever read, and I plan to continue reading non-fiction books even if I don’t have to.

Dos and Don’ts When Picking Out a Book by Clara A. (8th grade)

DOs

  • DO get out of your comfort zone!
    • Reading different genres exposes you to different situations, types of characters, and points of view. Plus, you won’t know if you like a certain genre if you have never tried it.
  • DO ask someone for recommendations.
    • There are many books in the world. You won’t read them all, so ask for help. Your friends probably know great books that you’ve never heard of.
  • DO read the next book of the series as soon as possible.
    • If you read the 2nd book of the series a long time after reading the 1st book, it may be very confusing if you don’t remember the 1st book.

DON’Ts

  • DON’T judge a book by its cover!
    • While the saying may be cliche, it is true. Saying a book is bad because it looks bad is similar to saying a jacket does not keep you warm just because it has a bad design on the front. It just isn’t right!
  • DON’T not read a book just because you don’t know the author.
    • If you don’t read Long Way Down because you don’t know Jason Reynolds, then you are missing out on a great book. And that is just one example. There are many authors you don’t know that have great books.
  • DON’T judge a book by its movie.
    • There are so many great books with horrible movies (ex. City of Ember). Many directors have to change the book’s details, and this ends up making the movie worse than the book! Trust me, books are always better than the movie!

If You Liked… by Tulsi M. and Stanley T. (8th grade)

  • If you like Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan, you’ll love The Young Elites by Marie Lu.
  • If you like Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, you’ll love Warcross by Marie Lu.
  • If you like Scythe by Neal Shusterman, you’ll love Renegades by Marissa Meyer.
  • If you like Rescued by Eliot Schrefer, you’ll love Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby.
  • If you like Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan, you’ll love Magnus Chase by Rick Riordan.
  • If you like The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, you’ll love Dear Martin by Nic Stone.
  • If you like the movie Tarzan, you’ll love Rescued by Eliot Schrefer.
  • If you like the movie 9/11, you’ll love The Memory of Things by Gae Polisner.
  • If you like the T.V. show Steven Universe, you’ll love Upside Down Magic by Sarah Mlynowski, Emily Jenkins, and Lauren Myracle.
  • If you like the T.V. show Star Wars: The Clone Wars, you’ll love Star Wars: Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston.

Thank you to my wonderful students, Lorenza, Clara, Tulsi, and Stanley, for sharing your advice!

Student Voices: Top Ten Book Lists by Four of Kellee’s 2017-18 Middle School Students

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Top Ten Books That We Love That Should Be More Popular by Morgan M. and Jordan K. (6th grade)

Evermore by Alyson Noël
Evermore is a teen romance novel with action!

Scar Island by Dan Gemeinhart
Scar Island is a realistic fiction book with a great plot twist that is going to make you gasp!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Cinder is the classic Cinderella story plus action, action, action!

The Future of Us by Carolyn Mackler & Jay Asher
This book is about how our future is already being planned by technology that doesn’t even exist yet.

Illusive by Emily Lloyd-Jones
Illusive is a futuristic novel that gives a sampler of a possible Earth future.

Doll Bones by Holly Black
This book looks creepy and is, and it is even more adventure!

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
City of Ember is a futuristic sci-fi book that gives the idea of how some things could go wrong.

Two Naomis by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich & Audrey Vernick
A very cheerful book with plot twists. I recommend it highly!

Ponies of  Chiconteague by Catherine Hapka
This book is a realistic fiction story about girls and their love for horses.

Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier
A graphic novel that celebrates Dia de los Muertos and sisterhood.

Top Ten Books We Can’t Wait To Read by Vanessa W. and Alexandra N. (7th grade)

 

Bears of Ice by Kathryn Lasky
It is a fiction book about animals, and it is by an author that we really like.

The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer
I (Alexandra) read The Wishing Spell, and it was really good!

Orphan Island by Laurel Snyder
This book has an interesting concept and many people have recommended it to me (Alexandra).

Stung by Bethany Wiggins
This book has an interesting concept and many people have recommended it to us.

Frost by M.P. Kozlowsky
I (Vanessa) learned about this book from a book path and have wanted to read it ever since.

The Selection by Kiera Cass
So many people have recommended this book to us, so we need to read it!

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
I (Vanessa) bought this series, and I cannot wait to read it.

Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
We watched the movie and now want to read the book.

The Thing about Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
We find this book summary interesting, and we plan to read it soon.

The Girl Who Could Not Dream by Sarah Beth Durst
This book is an SSYRA book for next year, and we have read and enjoyed other books by this author.

Top Ten Books That Need a Better Movie by Morgan M. and Jordan K. (6th grade)

City of Ember
Problems: casting, plot

Maximum Ride
Problems: animation, plot

Allegiant
Problems: plot

Maze Runner
Problems: casting, plot

Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Problems: invention of a character, plot

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
Problem: plot

Spiderwick Chronicles
Problem: details incorrect

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Problem: details incorrect

Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters
Problem: plot (way off!)

Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief
Problems: Everything!, casting, storyline

Thank you to my wonderful students, Morgan, Jordan, Vanessa, and Alexandra, for all their book lists!

Student Voices: (Mostly) Fifteen Word Book Reviews by Five of Kellee’s 2017-18 Middle School Students

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Samia R.’s Fifteen Word Book Reviews (6th grade)

House Arrest by K.A. Holt
This book is really easy to read and has a strong message about sibling devotion.

Breakout by Kate Messner
This book is written in multiple formats which was different and also fun to read.

Masterminds by Gordon Korman
This book has the perfect mix of action, mystery, and action, and it’s really good.

Some Kind of Courage by Dan Gemeinhart
It’s emotionally attaching and makes you want to finish it the day you started it.

Booked by Kwame Alexander
This is a novel in verse and also deals with real important real life issues.

Posted by John David Anderson
This book is about five friends struggling to fit in at school and finding themselves.

Kimchi and Calamari by Rose Kent
This book is about a boy who feels he’s between two cultures because he’s adopted.

Skink No Surrender by Carl Hiassen
This fun book mixes action and mystery perfectly and will definitely keep the reader hooked.

The Summer of May by Cecilia Galante
This book is touching and funny and also so emotionally, so it is really good.

The Wig in the Window by Kristen Kittscher
This book is about two friends who find a mystery and try to solve it.

Vasudev M.’s Fifteen Word Book Reviews (6th grade)

Legend by Marie Lu
This is a dystopic, suspenseful book that has a mix of action, romance, and mystery.

Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan
A book with twists and turns that keep you on the edge of your seat.

The Young Elites by Marie Lu
Has a mix of romance, action, and science fiction. This book is centered around loyalty.

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan
A book that shows that a group together during the most desperate times can prevail.

Warcross by Marie Lu
A book with a mix of action and romance that demonstrates loyalty, friendship, and determination.

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan
A mix of action, romance, and humor, and has many twists that keep you interested.

The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan
A fast-paced action-packed book with a pinch of humor and romance. It is well composed.

Rescued by Eliot Schrefer
An adventurous book that shows friendship and determination teaches you to do the right thing.

Champion by Marie Lu
An action-packed book that has suspense and romance. This book has many unsuspected twists.

Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan
A clever book based off of Greek Mythology that has action, suspense, and humor.

Ariana M.’s and Mariana S.’s Fifteen Word Book Reviews (7th grade)

Rescued by Eliot Schrefer
We love this book for a myriad of reasons. First, it opens your eyes to a lot of things that kids are in the dark about like palm oil and how to treat orangutans. When you read Rescued, you fall in love with it because you feel like you’re in the story, too, and fall in love with the characters.
(Kellee’s note: This book review was written before they decided to do fifteen word book reviews, so this is just a regular review.)

Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
This book teaches you about the struggles of family and how sometimes sisterhood can be tough.

Brave by Svetlana Chmakova
Teaches you that you aren’t alone even when life gets hard, you’ll have a friend.

Real Friends by Shannon Hale
This book shows the importance of having true friends and to have confidence in yourself.

Explorer: The Lost Islands edited by Kazu Kibuishi
This collection of stories show you that not everything is as it seems and that teamwork is very important.

Emily P.’s Not-Fifteen Word Reviews of her favorite SSYRA books 2015-2018 (8th grade)

The Mark of the Dragonfly by Jaleigh Johnson
This book is amazing! It is so action-packed and so interesting. I must admit, it was a slow start, but it took off. Piper and Gee make my heart melt and the sisterly love is so sweet!

The Testing by Joelle Charbonneau
This dystopian novel had me on the edge of my seat the whole time. Cia is so clever and sweet, and Tomas and her are such a power couple. The whole series is absolutely amazing.

The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart
This sad, sad book is so heart-wrenching and so good. Mark’s story may be sad, but I wanted to keep on reading to make sure he and Beau were okay.

Frenzy by Robert Lettrick
This book is definitely my type of book: thrilling, funny, and fast-paced. I couldn’t stop reading, and the twists and turns throughout the book were really confusing to my emotions.

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
Ada’s story gives me hope, but reminds me of the terrible people in this world. So many turning points will make you never want to stop reading. You’ll fall in love with so many characters, especially Ms. Susan.

Thank you to my wonderful students, Samia, Vasudev, Ariana, Mariana, and Emily, for your reviews!

 

Student Voices: Reflections on Mrs. Moye’s Advanced Reading Class by Five of Kellee’s 2017-18 Middle School Students

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In continuing the reflections shared on Friday, here are some students’ reflection posts on taking Advanced Reading with me:

Favorite Activities in Mrs. Moye’s Class by Daniel U. and Ian B. (6th grade)

  • Book Trailers: We made a whole presentation about a book we read and liked. Mrs. Moye gave us recommendations of where to make the presentations and helped us prepare to type our ideas and thoughts about the books. We also added images and music, and we presented it to the class. It was a fun experience making the presentation and watching all of them and learning about new books.
  • In-Class Book Clubs: Mrs. Moye gave us a choice of what book we wanted to read with a group then set up dates for our book club meetings where we talk about the book. In between meetings, we write questions to discuss with our group. This was great because you get to socialize and get to read a great book and discuss it with others.
  • Passion Research Project: We made a presentation about a topic that connected to Rescued, the book we read. We used different websites to get our information that we turn into a presentation with images. Then we presented it to the class who jotted down facts and new things that they learned from each presentation.
  • Affixes: We learned how to use different word parts such as prefixes, suffixes and roots, and how to use them to define unknown words by breaking down words. This makes passages easier because the different meanings of word parts help us understand words that we may not know. When we break them down while reading, we can figure the passage out.
  • Novel Study: We read Rescued by Eliot Schrefer as a class, answered questions about the book, and we did focus questions every week while we were reading. Then we went on a field trip to the Center for Great Apes!

Why I Decided to Stay in Advanced Reading for Three Years by Maria N. (8th grade)

I decided to stay in Mrs. Moye’s class for all three years of middle school because not only is it a great learning experience, but it is also fun. Mrs. Moye’s class has taught me things that I didn’t learn in other classes and that made me feel very smart. Word parts were also a need to know in her class, and they helped so much when I didn’t know a word on tests. Her class was also fun because we got to laugh, smile, and cry over amazing books. I made friends that I will forever be thankful for. I not only made great friends, but these friends like books just like I do. Mrs. Moye gave us many book options that my friends and I could read, including reading the same book if we wanted to or we could read books that are completely different. So many options. I am so thankful for Mrs. Moye’s class.

Why I Decided to Join This Class in 8th Grade by Haruna R. (8th grade)

I decided to join this class because I heard a lot of good things about it. When I heard that it was about reading books, I got more interested in it. I also knew a lot of my friends were in it, and they told me there are so many books to read. When I first came into the class, all I saw was books. I saw so many series that I love, and we got to check out books with no specific due date. Mrs. Moye is very flexible about turning in and grading work. She also makes the class fun. I like to read books as a class and in book clubs. We also had a field trip to The Center for Great Apes which was a great experience, and we could connect the book we read to the field trip. Mrs. Moye has read so many books, so whenever I read a book, I could talk to her about it. I could also ask questions about the book. Mrs. Moye also recommends books and talks about books she has read, so we can read it if we want. There is never a time when I ran out of books to read. Mrs. Moye encourages us to read and tells us about books that she enjoys. We use Goodreads to keep track of what we read and what we want to read. You can discover new books on the website, too, and can even narrow them down by genres. Overall, Mrs. Moye’s reading class has been wonderful, and I will miss it very much!

Why I Didn’t Leave Advanced Reading by Amanda C. (8th grade)

When I saw my schedule the summer before 7th grade, I was so upset to see that I was taking a reading class. I hated reading! It was boring, and there was never any good books to read. When the first day of school rolled around, I was dreading the very though of going to first period. I assumed that I was probably going to get assigned a whole book to finish by the end of the week. The teacher was probably mean, too. But I was wrong. Mrs. Moye turned out to be so sweet and had such a passion for reading. And no, I didn’t have to finish a book by the end of the week. In fact, Mrs. Moye let her students read whatever they wanted. She had a huge classroom library with every kind of book you could think of, including books even SHE hasn’t read yet. We got to do research projects, make book trailers, and we even had a debate unit! I had a lot more fun in her class than I thought I would. And while we did all of these things, the most important thing I did was find a love for reading. By loving to read, my vocabulary has gotten so much larger, and I’ve found some great friends through reading and the class. I’m going to miss walking into Mrs. Moye’s class every morning because her classroom is somewhere I feel safe and joyful. Thanks for everything, Mrs. Moye! <3

Thank you to my wonderful students, Daniel, Ian, Maria, Haruna, and Amanda, for sharing the joy you got from my class! I have the same joy teaching you all! XOXO

Kellee’s End of Year Student Survey Results, Students’ Favorite Books, and Top Checked Out Books 2017-18

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Another school year is in the books! This was a special year. I’ve now been teaching advanced reading for 3 years, so there were 5 kids who were in my class for all 3 years of this elective. I’ll never forget all of my students, but these 5 will always be special because of that.

End of Year Survey

At the end of each year, I give my students a survey to help me grown and learn as a teacher but also for them to reflect on the year. Here are some answers from the survey:

I need to reflect on this one because most of the kids who chose the same or less are 8th graders. I saw a huge drop for my readers between 7th and 8th grade. Why?

Does my classroom library benefit students? How did it benefit you this year? 

  • I think that your classroom library does benefit students. It benefited me because there’s a lot of books. So many different types books makes it easier for me to find something that interests me. It also benefited me because having books in your classroom makes it easier to find books when I can’t buy some or can’t go to the school or public library.
  • I think that it does because students are able to have a wide selection of books.
  • Yes! Your classroom library benefited me this year by allowing me access to multiple books. It exposed me to multiple genres, authors, and adventures.
  • I definitely believe that it benefits students because since you’re usually here and we can kind of get some help on what to get by telling you our interests and things that we like to read about. Then you can help us find a book and it makes students feel like they have somewhere to go when they’re wondering what book to read.
  • Yes, by having a reading class that has an actual private library is very good for getting students to read because of this easy environment to get to books. By having this library situated right in the classroom allowed me to instantly check out another book anytime I’m done with one, allowing me to read more and more instead of having to plan about when to go to the library and having that planning becoming potentially postponed resulting in less reading.

What would you say to someone that says that a classroom library is a waste of money?

  • I would say it is not. It’s not because the teacher is helping students and providing them with books to help them in their classes.
  • It is really not. Being a in classroom full of books pushes the students to read more. Also, since the library is inside the classroom all the books are titles students are interested in.
  • It’s not a waste of money it is a preserve of knowledge.
  • I think that a classroom library as cool to have because kids have interesting books right at their fingertips since it’s in their classroom.
  • I would say they have to learn to appreciate the love of reading kids have because without a library in a classroom kids will have a harder time being encouraged to read.
  • I would, politely, tell them that they’re wrong. Classroom libraries help people get books easily. Students can find things that interest them in classroom libraries. Besides, you learn things while reading books.
  • I would have said that it doesn’t matter, the more books the more learning. The learning can improve students in their language.

Do you like how the classroom library was organized? Explain.

  • Yes because it was very quick and easy to find a book by just looking up the last name of the author.
  • I liked how the classroom was organized because it made things easier to find. For example, if an author wrote two series that are completely different genres it would be much harder to find because they wouldn’t be in the same place. But since you organized it in alphabetical order you could see all the different series written by the same author.
  • Yes because I can find books by my favorite author or genre.
  • Yes, it’s because not only is there a system given to us to find books of our interest, we could also stroll around the class searching for books that are there in a shelf organized by genre and finding books that we mostly likely wouldn’t find as fast in the systems.

What do you think the benefit of taking advanced reading is?

  • It helps me read more and it makes me be a completely different (in a good way) person.
  • You can find authors that you can follow for the rest of your life.
  • I think the greatest benefit of taking advanced reading it that we are really pushed to read more, and that improves our progress in language arts and all other subjects.
  • You’re vocabulary definitely expands because once you read enough books, you start to see a bunch of new words and you’ll get to learn what they mean as you read.
  • It helps with close reading and deeper thinking.
  • The benefit of advanced reading is that you get to read more for pleasure.
  • You learn more and it helps you become a better reader and writer and helps you a lot, I believe, in the real world.

What have you learned about yourself through the assignments in this class?

  • That I can do more than what I am capable of doing. I’ve learned a lot about myself for the past 3 years in this class.
  • I have learned that I need to stay more focused, and that I should pay attention to the news more often about other countries.
  • I learned that I actually enjoy non-fiction books even though I don’t read them often. When we did the non-fiction unit I enjoyed learning about animals and the Titanic.
  • I learned that nobody is perfect and that we should always strive to be a better person instead of flawless.
  • I have learned that I still have a lot of books I can’t wait to read.
  • I’ve learned about myself that I am a bookworm. I didn’t think I would be, but I am.
  • I’ve learned that I can be a very determined and hardworking person. 
  • Some things that I have learned about myself through the assignments is that I could do many things that I really didn’t enjoy in other years and now I do them nearly everyday now. Also I learned about things that I didn’t think I was good at and now that I know how to use them they are easy to use.

What was your favorite assignment or activity we did in class? Why?

  • The Rescued book was my favorite because of what Raja had went through, how it has to do with real events, and the Center for Great Apes.
  • Book trailers because I was able to tell people about a book that i really like and recommended it to many people.
  • I’d say book clubs because we get a chance to step into an unfamiliar genre that we aren’t used to reading but we get to read it along with our classmates allowing us to discuss details about the book, identifying the facts of it whether the book is more interesting than we think.
  • I think the nonfiction unit we did was very fun because it showed me that there are interesting nonfiction books and that not all of them are just boring facts.
  • My favorite assignment we did in class were word parts because it helped me a lot when I’m reading other books with a hard vocabulary.

Favorite Books My Students Read This Year

My students read A LOT this year! 1,514 books read by 41 students in my Advanced Reading class. That is an average of 37 books per student! I am so proud of them!

Here are the titles they listed as their favorites on our end of year survey
(click on either image to enlarge):

If you don’t have any of these, you definitely should get them:

Top Checked Out Books from my Classroom Library

Yearly, starting with 2012-2013 (and excluding 2013-2014), I have shared the most popular books in my classroom library:
2012-2013
2014-2015
2015-2016
2016-2017

From 2011-2013, I taught an intensive reading class with students who had not been successful on the state reading test; however, since 2014, I switched to teaching advanced reading, an elective that students choose to be in (and I still get to work with my striving readers through being reading coach–a win/win!). Students from all intervention reading classes as well as my class use my classroom library.

1. Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier
2. See How They Run by Ally Carter
T3. Ghost by Jason Reynolds
T3. Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
T3. Take the Key and Lock Her Up by Ally Carter

 

T6. All Fall Down by Ally Carter
T6. The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart
T8. Drama by Raina Telgemeier
T8. The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi
T10. Double Down by Jeff Kinney
T10. Smile by Raina Telgemeier
T10. Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm

T13. House Arrest by K.A. Holt
T13. How to (Almost) Ruin Your Summer by Taryn Sounders
T13. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
T13. Prince of Elves by Kazu Kibuishi
T13. Scythe by Neal Shusterman
T13. Swing It, Sunny by Jennifer L. Holm
T13. The Crossover by Kwame Alexander
T13. The Girl in the Well is Me by Karen Rivers
T13. The Stonekeeper’s Curse by Kazu Kibuishi

Happy summer to all of my fellow teachers, and here’s to another awesome school year in the books!

Teaching Tuesday: My Classroom After Parkland

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For weeks I’ve known I wanted to write this post as tomorrow marks a month since the Parkland Shooting, but I had to figure out how I wanted to word all of my thoughts. I hope that I am able to articulate and say what I mean.

I love teaching. I love teaching so much that I asked to go back to part-time teaching even while I had to do a full-time reading coach job. Because teaching makes me happy and fills my heart. Part of my job as a teacher is my students being a part of my life and I, theirs. I am one of their adults. So many of us refer to our students as our kids because that is just what they are to us, our children.

The shooting in Parkland has put a lot of fear into our hearts. My fellow teachers are scared. My students are scared. And although there is so much I think should change, this is not a political post, so I am not going to get into the lack of mental health help and gun control laws in our country. I instead want to share what I discussed with students in the days after to help them process the fear.

First, I talk to them about it. Yes, I sit down with my students as if they are my peers to talk to them about this because I may be the only adult that does. I acknowledge the horror of what happened, and I answer any questions about it that they want to ask; however, I reiterate over and over that until something comes from a credible and reputable news source, we can’t assume it as true (this is an important lesson for kids period).

Then, I share with them how much I care about them and that I am always there for them. I make sure every single one of my students hear this. I want to remind them that I am one of their adults, and I am open to hearing them. I want to make sure if they have no one else to talk to that they know I am there. This is a multi-purpose. One, to help them process the mass shooting that happened only two hours from our house in a town that two of our teachers are from. Two, to make sure if any of my students feel outcast or that no one cares, they will hear that I do. Because I do.

That’s when we start talking about fear. Fear to me is a passive emotion. It is a chain reaction that leads to us being immobile and inactive and anxious. That is not what we need right now. Fear is what we’ve felt after Columbine. After Sandy Hook. After Virginia Tech. After too many school shootings. And nothing has happened because fear makes us immobile.

We also talked about media coverage and its impact on their fear. Without the constant coverage and social media postings, would they feel as fearful as they do? Probably not. They are a generation of constant connections, so it is our job as their adults to help them deal with the constant bombardment of information and how it affects them, so I felt it was important to talk about this as well.

Then, to help move past the fear I needed them to know that the tragedy is just that, a tragedy, and that it isn’t a norm. They brought up the 18 school shootings before Parkland in the U.S., so I talked to them about what those included, but then I asked them to guess how many car accidents there are every year.  The answer? About 6.3 million accidents occurred in 2015, and over 37,000 people die in car accidents yearly in the U.S. (http://branlawfirm.com/many-car-accidents-usa-per-day/). But we are prepared because of this danger. We prepare appropriately by having air bags, wearing our seat belts, and making our cars safer. That is why we do lock down drills because until there is no threat, we need to be prepared, but that doesn’t mean we need to be scared. We are preparing for something that is very unlikely to happen. This part of the conversation is almost too logical which is why I made sure to talk about the emotional aspects first because I didn’t want to downplay the impossibly horrifying thing that happened in Parkland, but I also needed to help them get past the fear. Being scared isn’t a way to live, and if we are going to be scared of this, there is so much we’d need to be scared of also. Instead let’s be prepared and alert, yet live life to the fullest.

This is where I used the survivors as an example. Although I am sure that students who experienced the horrors that they did are definitely filled with fear, the ones we’re still hearing from have instead grabbed onto a more active emotion: anger. I am so proud of the productivity they have found in their anger and how they’ve made their voices be heard. If my students want to be angry, be angry. Just make sure it is a productive anger and an anger that doesn’t go away over time unless they feel that issues have been fixed.

And after that, classroom life goes on. Little things have changed: I now lock my door all the time again, more gates have gone up around my school, construction sounds make students jump, fire drills now are something everyone fears, and I am consciously smiling and saying hi to all students I see to make sure they hear a positive voice that day. But overall, classroom life goes on. However, I hope that the anger that my students feel, and so many teachers and students feel, leads to productive changes in our society and that this mass school shooting doesn’t lead to immobility, anxiety, and inactivity like the ones in the past.

**See my my other post on my school’s solidarity with Parkland to see my school’s walkout**