Monday, May 12, 2014

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 5.12.14

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 has been a really slow week for reading.  Lots going on everyday, and I'm rereading A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd with the 4th grade students so that has taken up a lot of my reading time!

Here's the short list!

Picture Books

The Highest Number in the World
The Highest Number in the World by Roy MacGregor
5/5 stars
I love a good sports story.  Throw in a good central message, and I'm hooked.  Gabe (short for Gabriella) is a HUGE hockey fan!  But when she can't get her hockey idol's number for her team jersey, she's ready to quit.  I love that Gabe's feelings are acknowledged by her wise grandmother whose advice just maybe saves the day!

Informational Texts

Barbed Wire Baseball
Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss
5/5 stars
My Goodreads summary:  Fantastic account of one man's experience of baseball in the World War II era. Author tells the story of Zeni, his experience with baseball growing up and meeting Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Then, Pearl Harbor happens and Zeni's baseball life is stopped when he ends up in an internment camp. However, he does not stop his love of the game even when living behind barbed wire. This is his story of what he does to play baseball behind the wire. The author includes great notes and information in the back.


Middle Grade

Lost on a Mountain in Maine
Lost on a Mountain in Maine by Donn Fendler
4/5 stars
This book is perfect to hand off to fans of the Hatchet series.  This is a true story that is told to the writer, Joseph B. Egan, by the young Donn Fendler.  Donn was lost on a mountain in Maine for nine days.  This is his story.  The book jumps right into the story and at first it's a little confusing.  But after a little you get the feel of the story - both language, vocabulary and an understanding of what is happening in the book.  It's amazing what Donn goes through during these nine days.  Throughout the book, the writer adds footnotes that gives some background or further understanding of what Donn is talking about.  Since this happened many years ago, there is a certain amount of vocabulary that could potentially be confusing to readers today.  Knowing pants were called dungarees.  Donn's frequent exclamation of when things go wrong - Christmas! - is definitely not one used today!  Quick, fascinating read.  Perfect for 4th graders and up.

Professional Reading

No More Summer-Reading Loss (Not This, But That)
No More Summer Reading Loss by Carrie Cahill, Kathy Horvath, Anne McGill-Franzen, Richard Allington
4/5 stars
I learned some new insights, thought about how I can change things, and have some starting points.
Check out my review on Thursday.

Can't wait to see all the other new reading this week!

8 comments:

  1. I really enjoyed Barbed Wire Baseball. Such a great example of engaging nonfiction.

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  2. Glad to see you read Barbed Wire Baseball. It's not only a sport story but the historical perspective is important too. Have a great reading week.

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  3. I am really interested to read your review of No More Summer Reading Loss. I will have to stop back on Thursday to hear your thoughts! It looks very interesting. :) It seems like you had a great reading week! Wishing you the best next week!

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  4. I'll look for Barbed Wire Baseball, have seen it talked about so positively in several places, Michele. And thanks for telling about Lost on a mountain in Maine. Sounds like it will be popular with those who love Hatchet.

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  5. Barbed Wire Baseball is one of my favorite nonfiction books. It is so intriguing!! I'm glad you liked it as well.

    Happy reading this week! :)

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  6. Seems like there's quite a lot of baseball books published recently - will definitely look for this one. Thanks for sharing about Lost on a Mountain - would resonate with a lot of Paulsen's fans. The Highest Number in the World also looks cute! :)

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  7. I am reading one of these professional titles Not This But That as well. (The one called No More Independent Reading Without Support) I am interested in this one about summer reading loss. Glad you are finding it worthwhile. My students just did reviews of The Highest Number in the World. Here: http://curiosityracers.com/2014/04/29/the-highest-number-in-the-world/

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  8. Great list of books! I will definitely look into Lost on a Mountain - I have a lot of Hatchet fans! I'm intrigued by No More Summer Reading Loss. I've also seen the book Carrie mentioned - No More Independent Reading Without Support. I need to step up my professional reading over the summer!

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