Recent Changes

11. Create a Character Scrapbook from Scholastic.
10. Write a blog post from a character's point of view or post a book review for the class blog.
book trailer. Check out these great trailers by a middle school class in Amherst, NY.
8. Create a Glogster EDU page on your favorite book series.
7. Create a Twitter account for a character on Fake Tweet Builder.
4. Create a VoiceThread about your book and have your students (or classmates) comment on it.
3. Use Fakebook to make a page for a character from a book.
iPod or iPad[[#|iPad]] apps (like
1. Create a graphic novel using this site of the book.
What ideas can you add?

put my to readTO READ list so I did!
I have read these great books since the Spring 2012 semester and highly recommend them.
Wonder by R. J. Palacio
Nerd Camp by Elissa Brent Weissman
Dr. Fowler's Read List 3-12-1211-26-12
The Mockingbirds and The Rivals by Daisy Whitney
Dear Dumb Diary by Jamie Kelley (series)
Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver
Wonder by R. J. Palacio Read it and LOVED IT!
Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
Stay with Me by Paul Griffin
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**Nerd Camp**
by Elissa Brent Weissman
On the Bright Side by S.R. Johannes
My Own Worst Frenemy by Kimberly Reid
Cat Girl's Day Off / Kimberly Pauley \
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend / Emily Horner.
{http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327936168l/10734210.jpg} BluefishTitle: Bluefish
Author: Pat Schmatz
I'll Be There / Holly Goldberg Sloan. with music for each character on the author
A Smidgen of Sky by Dianna Marie Winget
Pieces of Georgia by Jen Bryant
Invisible Lines by Mary Amato
Small Persons with Wings by Ellen Booraem
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
Drama by Raina Telgemeier
A Whole Lot of Lucky by Danette Haworth
Glitch by HEATHER ANASTASIU
Son by Lois Lowry
Everything I Need to Know I Learned From a Children’s Book by Anita Silvey
The Gryphon
Chronicle Books, 2001
At last, best-selling author Nick Bantock brings us a new volume in the Griffin and Sabine story - a tale rich in the artistry, mystery, and surprise that makes the original saga so beloved. As the remarkable fates of Griffin and Sabine are gradually revealed, we are introduced to Matthew and Isabella, long-distance lovers who find themselves entwined not only in each other's lives, but also in a perilous and alluring intrigue. More....
{http://www.nickbantock.com/Alexandria/images/Alexandria_Cover3_130x130.jpg}
Alexandria
Chronicle Books, 2002
Alexandria will continue to delight the 3 million readers who fell in love with the epistolary romance of Griffin and Sabine. Awash with gorgeous artwork, the mystery of Griffin Moss and Sabine Strohem now entwines Matthew Sedon, an archaeologist steeped in Egyptian antiquity, and Isabella de Reims, a student in Paris whose vision holds the key to a new reality. More....
{http://www.nickbantock.com/Catalog_Images/Morning_Star_cover_130.jpg}A Girl Named Digit by Annabel Monaghan
Small Medium at Large by Joanne Levy
Nine Lives by Beth Balmanno
Unwind by Neal Shusterman
The Morning Star
Chronicle Books, 2003
The mystery that began with a single enigmatic postcard reaches its dramatic conclusion in The Morning Star. The final destination on a journey across fabled landscapes and the uncertain terrainFuture of the human heart. More... Us by Carolyn Mackler
Picture Books I want
I Broke My Trunk! (An Elephant and Piggie Book) by Mo Willems
Interrupting Chicken by Ezra David Stein
Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett
**Private I. Guana**, by Nina Laden
This is not my hat by Jon Klassen
Hello! Hello! by Matthew Cordell
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Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons
by Eric Litwin
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When Blue Met Egg
by Lindsay Ward
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Press Here
by Hervé Tullet
Balloons over Broadway by Melissa Sweet
This list from this irreverent article was one I wanted to be sure to save.
Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, by Mo Willems

2. They may have never finished a book since elementary school, not even one that was assigned.
1. They don't know that reading can be fun. (and that it can include graphic novels, [[#|audio books]], and YA fiction!)
your classroom. Also, check out this blog post. We get to be better readers by--wait for it--READING! Not by dissecting every chapter, doing endless vocabulary lists, and regurgitating answers to factual, silly questions.
Check out these great blogs about reading--
The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller

Reading for Older Students
that older studentstudents do not
5. They are not interested in reading stuff like Shakespeare, Nathaniel Hawthorne, or Beowulf, no matter how interesting I think they are.
4. They are worried about understanding what you assign them to read.
of their friends.[[#|friends]].
2. They may have never finished a book since elementary school, not even one that was assigned.
graphic novels, audio books,[[#|audio books]], and YA
Read this article about making everyday a read aloud day in your classroom.
Check out these great blogs about reading--

Graphic Novels
are the next[[#|next]] big thing Random House. Lots of kids in middle grades and upper elementary love these kinds of books! Use the SQUISH series to grab boys' interest.
Babymouse by Jennifer Holm
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Bluefish, by Pat Schmatz, published by Candlewick.
BookSpeak: Poems about Books, by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Josee Bisaillon, published by Clarion.
published by Walden[[#|Walden]] Pond.
A Butterfly Is Patient, by Diana Hutts Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long, published by Chronicle Books.
The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred, by Samantha R. Vamos, illustrated by Rafael Lopez, published by Charlesbridge.
The Friendship Doll, by Kirby Larson, published by Delacorte.
The Great Wall of Lucy Wu, by Wendy Wan-long Shang, published by Scholastic.
+ Bray. Read it and loved it!
Hound Dog True, by Linda Urban, published by Harcourt.
Read it and loved it!
Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai, published by Harper.
from a Single[[#|Single]] Word, by
Me...Jane, by Patrick McDonnell, published by Little, Brown.
Read it and loved it!
A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness, published by Candlewick.
Okay for Now, by Gary Schmidt, published by Clarion.

In my next life, I think I want to be a children's librarian or own a bookstore. I have been getting so much great information about Young Adult, Juvenile, and Picture books from my Twitter friends and from reading blogs that I am beginning to do more presentations like this!
We don't all look like this when we read, but I like it!
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Picture is from
http://whatwillmatter.com/2011/12/worth-seeing-beautiful-paintings-depicting-the-gift-of-reading/

“The Invention of Hugo Cabret” by Brian Selznick
The Running Dream by Wendelin van Draanen
by Will WeaverHisWeave
His Eyes by
Bluefish. By Pat Schmatz. Candlewick, 2011. Grades 7 and up.
Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen by Donna Gephart.
Powerless by Mathew Cody
The Way We Fall by Megan Crewe
Kimberly Pauley \
A Love Story Starring My Dead Best Friend / Emily Horner.
{http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327936168l/10734210.jpg} BluefishTitle: Bluefish
Author: Pat Schmatz