"Again! Again! Again! Again! Again!

The other day I watched my niece and nephew. Hannah is 3 and Levi turns two this Thursday. Yes, he is a two year old boy. He LOVES trains and trucks. Once I got them into their pajamas I let them pick a book to read. Hannah picked a pink book, she loves pink, “I like purple now!” and Levi chose Smash!Crash! by Jon Scieszka. I read, and when I finished he said “again, again, again” It is a great book but five times is tough. I got him I’m Bad! By Kate & Jim McMullan. It is a cute story about a hungry T-Rex that loves him mom.

Far from organized chaos!

Wednesday was our first real book club of the year. It was LOUD! It was interesting to watch two different groups of boys try to blend into one. The fourth graders were really trying to say hey we run this show, and the third graders kept saying we don’t care what page you got to because we finished the book. Truthfully, I picked a book too challenging for the group. Silverfin by Charlie Higson is a great adventure, but would be better for fifth grade and above. It proves that even though they read above grade level not all books at their level is appropriate.

My goal all along has been to let the boys run the discussion and let them have the freedom to go where they want. Well, that will change a little next month. Our next book club is going to be controlled. I plan on having them pair up with someone they don’t know well to talk briefly about favorite parts. (Yes, I know there are better ways to talk about books, but that is what they always want to do first!) After that sharing I am going have different guys ask some discussion questions. Hopefully, this will create an environment where all the guys have fun.

Comfort Zone

My friend Carol has a wonderful post on pouring beer at Taste of Colorado. It is funny how we find ourselves in places way outside of our comfort zone. Carol writes about how she is a poor beer pourer, but a proficient writer. Well, I am great at pouring beer, but writing a blog is WAY out of my comfort zone. I do it so that I will become a better writer, and writing teacher. With that said, I want to comment on a couple of books.

The first is Alvin Ho, Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look. There are not many books where the main character completely shuts down at school. Alvin is a selective mute, but only at school. I laughed through this book. Alvin is a boy that is afraid of everything. He prepares himself for all the scary things in life with a PDK, a Personal Disaster Kit. There are steps on how to deal with substitute teachers, girls and bullies. His brother Calvin helps him add a list on how to make friends. I don’t want to give away the ending, but this is a great boy book.

The second book is Bad Kitty Gets a Bath by Nick Bruel. This is a chapter book/graphic novel about the loveable (not really) Bad Kitty. Chapter 3 is very much like the TV show Dallas. Remember the year Bobby died, but we find out the next year that it was all a dream. Yes this entry dates me!

The third book is Gym Shorts Baseball Bats by Betty Hicks. My librarian told me that this is anew series. It is a great story of friendship, and how we sometimes have to admit that our friends are better at things then we are.

The last book is The Retired Kid by Jon Agee. Who knew life is so hard for kids. Brian just can’t take it anymore, so he retires to Florida. He soon finds that taking about hip replacements are not fun either.

A good laugh helps the soul.

A Fun New Reading Year

We had our first Guys Read meeting yesterday after school. It was a packed hour. There were numerous new “guys”, so we did brief introductions. Name and favorite book. Well for third and fourth graders that was not enough. They needed to included their favorite series. One of our new members had an orthodontist appointment at 4:40, so we voted for our next few books before he left.

By a landslide The Young Bond Series, Book One: Silverfin (A James Bond Adventure) (Young Bond) by Charlie Higson was picked as our next book. I can’t wait. It looks like a fun series.

After picking our next books we had a very brief discussion about Homework Machine. At first many did not like it, but once they got in to the style they really enjoyed it. A few were upset that Belch was destroyed, and Harrison could not understand why they just didn’t do the homework. He is smart like Brenton. Go figure!

The Boys of Steel The Creators of Superman by Marc Tyler Nobleman

I corresponded with Marc this past spring about how excited I was to see a book coming out about the history of a great super hero. He offered to come by my school and talk to the kids. He thought my Montclair was in New Jersey. Maybe when he is in Denver he can still stop by.

Well I received my book in the mail on Monday. It was worth the wait. The story is engaging. At times I felt like I was reading a kids version of Kaviler and Clay, but non-fiction! It is unfortunate that there are still way too many teachers like the one Jerry had.
The illustrations are retro fun.

We went to Boulder the other day for lunch and the farmers market. Of course we ended up at the Boulder Bookstore as well. I got a few books. Some for gifts, some for me, and some as possible Guys Read Book Club books.

Elephants Never Forget by Anushka Ravishankar is a special tale about a baby elephant that lives with the water buffalo. This is the gift book. I bought a few copies!

For me I got Frankenstein Takes the Cake by Adam Rex. The poem The Sphinx Ain’t All That-Yeah, You Heard Me will be my poem for Poetry Friday! I laughed out loud when I read Ducks Don’t Wear Socks by John Nedwidek, so I bought it too! It reminds me of New Socks by Bob Shea.

The four books I picked for Guys Read Book Club are:
One Small Step by P.B. Kerr
Mariah Mundi The Midas Box by C.P. Taylor
The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett
The Alchemyst The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel by Michael Scott

I read a few other books this summer as possible book club selections. We meet again on the 20th, so I will post our list.

17 Takes

I have written before that I do not like to read sad books aloud with kids because, well, I don't want to cry. I get teased by friends. On Monday NPR had a piece on EB White. They ran a part form old interview with Mr. White. The original interviewer asked him to read the ending of Charlotte's Web. It took 17 takes before he could read it without crying! See I'm not a freak.

A Moose, A Hammock and a Couple of Books!

We spent a wonderfully relaxing long weekend in a cabin next to Michigan Reservoir in North Park Colorado. Recently at Jazz in The Park someone had a portable hammock. Yes, I got one for the weekend. It was nice to lay back and read a couple of books.

The Sea of Monsters was a fun read. I enjoyed the continuing adventures of Percy Jackson. I imagine a cruise ship is full of evil! I didn’t really like the third Benjamin Bartholomew Piff book. It seemed forced. However, the boys in my class really enjoyed it.

Summer is coming to an end and as usual I only made a dent in the stack of books I wanted to read. I will keep at it and maybe start next summer with a whole new stack.

Jeremy Fink and The Meaning of Life

Wednesday was our final summer Guys Read Book Club in the Park. We discussed Jeremy Fink and The Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass. I was worried at first that the new third graders would not enjoy the book, but I was wrong. They did, and really enjoyed it. It was fun listening to them talk about life. Innocent eyes refresh old teachers!

I enjoyed Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life. As parents dropped off their boys they commented on how much they enjoyed reading the book. It reminds us what we are supposed to do.

Our next get together is the first week of school, and we will discuss the Homework Machine by Dan Gutman. They are excited to pick our autumn books.

Towards the end we talked about what books we had read this summer and movies. The favorite movie was the spoof Meet the Spartans. Yes, I saw it too. Very Guy. Very Bad!

Loss

Loss. There are many boys’ books out there about the death of a pet. I confess I hate them. They make me very sad. It will get worst now because our little Westie, MacLeod, died during the night. He was not the healthiest of dogs, but he was happy. He was diabetic which led to constant cold etc. He died in our arms. We will miss him.

Happy Summer

I’m back. When I started my blog I thought it would be easy to make numerous posts. It is, but it takes discipline to actually keep up with them. Here is a little information about since my last post.

There was money left from the grant, so we went on a field trip to The Bookies to spend it. Each book club member got $25.00 to spend on books. It was fun to watch them pick. They read back of covers, asked questions and narrowed choices. They really wanted to choose the correct books. It was a wonderful afternoon.

My principal asked if I would continue the Guys read Book Club during the summer. A few parents had approached her to see if I would be willing to do it. We meet once a week at the local park. It is great park in the shadow of a historical building. The first book for the summer was Here Be Monsters by Alan Snow. Ethan enjoyed the humor. All year long at least one boy spilled, but once we went outside NO ONE spilled. BOYS!

Oprah's Book Club?

Last week we had a mini-book fair at school. It was fun and very successful. I overheard some parents discussing a book they were going to buy for their second grader. One mother said “this book is one the books that they read in Guys Read. When they finish he (refereeing to me) put a guys read sticker on it. It’s like having an Oprah Book Club sticker on it.”

I got the stickers a few years ago when Jon Sczieska’s Guys Read Book first came out, and decided to just use them. I guess they are having some impact.

The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff: You Wish

Last night was our monthly Guys Read Book Club. The “guys” discussed The Misadventures of Benjamin Bartholomew Piff: You Wish by Jason Lethcoe. A few finished the book in two days. I tried to get them to not just talk about their favorite parts, but they are eight and nine so….. After the initial discussion they did go deeper. There were comments about how sad it was that his parents died, and how that would “suck”. I was surprised that no one picked the battle and the boomerangs as their favorite parts.

We talked about when the book was written and what plane crash Ben’s parents were in. I asked them “Why did you like this book so much? Why is it your favorite?” Chris answered “He writes like Dav Pilkey. He makes you want to read more and not put the book down.” I don’t think a boy can give a better compliment to an author!