It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 1.13.14

This weekly post comes from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.  It's a great source to find new books to use with your students.

This week started out as a reading week.  With two snow days, it was a great opportunity to read.  But the reality sat back in.  Going back to school really cut into my reading time.  But also gave me a great opportunity to talk about the books I read!

Here's a few of the books I read this week:



Doug Unplugged by Dan Yaccarino
4/5 stars
Very cute story about a boy robot who "unplugs" for the day and goes out to see the "real world".
CCSS connections - Use with kids to closely read a few sections of the story - talk about what he learned from the computer, and what the "real world" was able to teach him.  Students will need to use the text and illustrations to make their inferences.  Where did Doug learn more - in the "real world" or when he was plugged into a computer?  What does that tell us?
Use with Kg-2nd grade



Xander's Panda Party by Linda Sue Park
4/5 stars
Great story to use to teach including everyone.  Use at the beginning of the year to start developing the sense of community in the classroom.
Use with Kg-1st grade


Fairy Tale Comics edited by Chris Duffy
5/5 stars
This is a must have!  I love this book.  Kids love this book.  Famous cartoonists have come together to illustrate individual fairy tale stories.  Told in a graphic novel/comic book format, kids will love listening to the classic tales and looking at the different ways they are illustrated.
My favorite part - in the "Little Red Riding Hood" story, I cracked up at the part when the huntsman punches the wolf in the stomach and Granny comes flying out of the wolf's mouth!  That was a new version of the story for me and seeing the way Granny flies out of the mouth is classic.


Super by Matthew Cody
5/5 stars
This is the sequel to Powerless.  I loved Powerless.  It's a great novel for reluctant readers.  It draws everyone in.  This is the sequel, and so often sequels just don't measure up.  This one did and surpassed the original.  It is full of nonstop action, thrills and mysteries.  There were some unanswered questions at the end so I sent a Tweet to the author and sure enough - the third installment, Villainous, is due this fall!!!  Can't wait, it's on my TBR list already!


The Sasquatch Escape by Suzanne Selfors
4/5 stars
This is a new series and would be a great book for advanced 2nd graders - 4th graders.  Ben is staying with his grandfather for awhile.  Living in a small town proves to be boring.... until Ben sees a dragon flying in the sky.  That's just the beginning.  Next, is finding the escaped sasquatch.  Young readers will enjoy this fantasy and Dan Santat's illustrations make this read even more fun.

Currently Reading:
              

Happy Reading!