Summer Reads #8: The Crossover

Wow! Summer is flying by WAY too fast! I have two more weeks before I report back, so we are nearing the end of the "Summer Reads" series. I do, however, have plans to continue sharing books, just maybe on a biweekly schedule instead. It all depends on how crazy the beginning of school is. I'll start biweekly and then go from there.

Also be on the lookout because I want to actually start posting about other things. Like what activities I'm doing in the classroom and actual teachery things. ::GASP:: Don't count on it yet, though. This is year two at my new school, so I should have a better grasp at life and be able to manage more. Plus my boys are getting old enough that they can play on their own and let me lay on the couch and be a lazy bum work mostly in peace!

Anyway, that's not why you're here. Just giving you a heads up that hopefully I'm legitimately getting back on track as far as blogging goes. And who knows, maybe I'll even start making new products again one day!

Oh, PS. I kind of got carried away on the Kwame train, so this is a little more than a single book review. You might call it more of an author review. Enjoy!

I am SO excited to share today's book today because Kwame Alexander has quickly become one of my favorite authors! Like, for real. I stalk him on Instagram and Facebook (and he follows me back on Instagram, so basically I'm amazing!), and I was even given a chance to read his latest book that came out last week (more on that in a minute). He's a Virginia author, which is part of why I love him, but his poetic structures are POWER. If you have kids that claim they hate poetry, get his books in their hands. I swear most of them will change their mind at least a little!

Click on the book to purchase from my Amazon affiliate link!

The Crossover was the 2015 Newbery Medal winner. It's narrative poetry, without feeling forced, following twin brothers that have mad basketball skills as well as a respect for family and education. With a former basketball star for a father and an assistant principal for a mother, these boys are as well rounded as they come. This book has it all: humor, vocabulary (the word "pulchritudinous" shows up, for Pete's sake), love, family drama, and even some tears. Seriously, after talking about it, I want to read it again.

Then, as if it couldn't get better, he has another book, Booked, along the same lines but about soccer that is on the Virginia Reader's Choice list for middle school this year (Crossover was on it last year).

Click on the book to purchase from my Amazon affiliate link!

AND if you're a high school or higher middle school teacher, he just came out with a brand new book last week that I was able to score an advanced copy of. It's called Solo, and it's about a guy graduating from high school whose father is a rock star that is in and out of rehab, ruining his entire life. He even crashes Blade's graduation IN THE MIDDLE OF HIS SPEECH! Blade decides to take a trip to Ghana to find himself. It's an amazing book, although the content makes it more appropriate for older students. I'd say if you teach middle grades, preview it and just know your students.

Click on the book to purchase from my Amazon affiliate link!

AND because, like I said, he has quickly become of my favorite authors, there is apparently going to be a PREQUEL to The Crossover, and of course I'm not stalking his pages to see when that's coming out. That would be too much...

So moral of this post is BUY ALL THE THINGS. Kwame is amazing!

I'm BAAACK!!!

Wow, that was TOUGH staying away from blogging entirely (especially going into Bloglovin once a week to mark almost 200 posts as read without even glimpsing at the titles), but I can definitely say that I am refreshed and ready to go!

Today was our first day back from Spring Break, and it's crunch time for us. We have 3 1/2 weeks before SOL testing begins, and there are only 8 1/2 weeks left of school. Eek!! I have so much left to teach and review!

Right now, I'm working on context clues with my 3rd and 4th grade students. I bought this book a few years back, and it's great! The book focuses on eight different strategies to help, so I went through and made copies of the ones my students tend to struggle with the most. They have already shown some growth, but we still need to practice a LOT.

In 5th grade, I began a poetry/figurative language focus before break. I bought Kathleen's (Middle Grades Maven) Poetry Analysis booklet that has been the perfect review. The kids are really enjoying the poems, which are just the right level for them. And the questions really get them to think more in-depth about what the poem is trying to say. They still can't label most of the figurative language on their own, but I'm just excited that they can usually explain what the author meant by it!

On the blogging end, I'm going to start getting everything ready for my big giveaway (right now I'm sitting at 850 followers - wow!) and hope to post it by the weekend. I've already got some amazing blogger friends signed up to help, but if you would like to join me in the celebration, the form is here. I will, of course, list your blog and hopefully send some new followers your way!

Writer's Workshop - My Favorite Minilesson

I'm participating in my first Workshop Wednesday to talk about my favorite mini-lesson for writer's workshop. I have made attempts to start writer's workshop before, but I could never quite devote enough time to make it work. However, I have a great writing mini-lesson that I really enjoyed!

I had to buy this book when I was doing my Master's, and it's become a go-to book for writing. TONS of great ideas. You really do HAVE to have this book!

Anyway, one of the ideas in there is to show students this poem "Love Song for a Jellyfish" by Sandra Hochman (I found a link to it here, but it's also in the book. I typed it up in a flipchart to show the kids). After we read the poem, we discuss how strange it was that the author chose to write a love song to a jellyfish. Then we use the poem as a model to create our own "love song". I challenge the students to pick an object (I'm very firm that they cannot pick a person, and I prefer that they avoid pets as well), something that cannot love them back. Then I model brainstorming using a web and listing descriptions, characteristics, uses, etc. that show why or how I love this item so much (i.e. my favorite book has many dog-eared pages and discoloration. If I wrote about an eraser, I would write that it fixes my mistakes.) I spend a lot of time walking around and helping students brainstorm because that's the BIGGEST part of this. I stress that if they can't come up with anything, they should probably choose another item that they feel more strongly about.

After students have enough ideas to move forward, I don't give them rules for how to organize the writing. Most follow the model of the Jellyfish poem, but some have made acrostics. I even had a child one year change it up and write an apology to a jack-o-lantern. I WISH I had a copy of it to share with you. Actually I wish I had any to share, but we did this about two months ago in one of the classes I push into. The students never cease to amaze me with how creative they can be and what interesting poems they make. It's a very fun lesson, and I've done it with 3rd and 4th grade.

Follow the link to Jessica's blog to check out more ideas for writing minilessons!