The book I chose to read was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  Once I started reading this book I found it hard to put down.  At this point I am about halfway through this book.  The story, although very sad, is captivating and you become very attached to the characters.  Although the book is narrated by Death the story focuses on young Liesel Meminger and her life growing up in Nazi Germany.  Liesel is forced to leave her family and go live with foster parents in Molching, where her life is far from easy.  The novel gives you a look at the horrors and sorrows of war through a young girl’s eyes. Despite the creative identity of the narrato
r the story and characters are very real. I have read book about the holocaust and learned about WWII in history classes but this book was different that anything I had read before.  I think this story does a good job humanizing people on both sides of the conflict.    I think the purpose of this book is to show what life was like for civilians during this terrible war.  I enjoy the characters that Zusak creates, all of them are flawed but none are without their merits.  This book is definitely geared to older children, I would not recommend it to anyone in a younger grade.

I read Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai.  I really enjoyed this book, once I started reading it I could hardly put it down.  It was a moving story that showed the struggles of moving to a new country through the eyes of an intriguing young girl.  I really enjoyed how the author used poetry to paint a vibrant picture of Ha’s year.  The book was set up like a journal with each journal entry written in a poem format.  Using only simple lines the author managed to create rich characters and objects deep with symbolism. Usually it takes me a long time to read and understand poems, but as I read this book I was so wrapped up in the story I forgot I was even reading poetry.  I would love to share this book with a class.  It shows the hardships that refugees faced through the eyes of a narrator that any child could find relatable.  She also, for the most part, uses simple words that anyone can understand.  It is not difficult to read but is still interesting and meaningful.  I think this book could make almost anyone to enjoy reading poetry.  I think a good activity for a class would be for students to write some journal entries of their own in poetry format.

 

Cento work:

Lines taken from Inside Out and Back Again, by Thanhha Lai

Right after midnight

Moonlight turns us silver

Like ghosts from our willow

I wake before dawn

Every part of the rainbow surrounds me

Smelling of meadows and tasting sweet

 

I am reading the Origami Yoda series by Tom Angleberger.  So far I am loving it. It is a funny and sweet story with intriguing characters.  It is easy to get sucked into this story, I found myself wondering along with the children if origami Yoda is real.  This book is written as a collection of stories gathered and narrated by Tommy, a boy who is trying to find out the truth about origami Yoda.  I feel like this book paints a pretty accurate picture of 6^th grade.  This book is full of problems that children can relate to such as how to avoid embarrassment, what to do if you like someone, and how to own up to your mistakes.  Despite the humor Yoda’s could be applied to a variety of real world situations to help children deal with the social aspects of school.  I really like how this book is laid out.  I enjoy how you get to listen to a variety of children as they talk about their own experience with origami Yoda. The different narrators keep the story interesting by changing up the voice and tone of the story every chapter.  I also like how there are doodles on every page which makes the story seem more real and gives children something to look at without being a picture book.

I think this book would be well liked by a wide spectrum of children.  It is written in a way that it would be just as intriguing to the science minded as the fantasy lover. With the range of different narrators it would be easy for almost any child to find one they could relate to.  The themes of this book of friendship and faith in the unexplainable are ideas that children in any grade can enjoy.  Another great plus to these books are the inclusion of star wars references, because who doesn’t love star wars?

This book series has great resources related to it.  The author has a website filled with fun activities and discussion boards.  My favorite activity he has on his site is instructions to help children make their own origami characters.  Children can submit their creations to him and he will upload pictures on his website so everyone can see their work.  This seems like a fun lesson to try in a classroom to engage children with the reading.

 

Chapter two of Donalyn Miller’s Reading in the Wild focused on how to select good reading material.  She had many great ideas for how to help your students choose books that they will enjoy.  I thought it was smart that she always gave students lots of options in their preview stacks when they asked for her for help choosing a book.  That way they still got to practice their decision making but they had her help getting there.  I really likes how she talked about abandoning books.  I remember throughout my elementary experience picking books I didn’t like but stubbornly refusing to give up on them and thus creating lots of frustration on my part.  It is good for students to know that it is ok to leave a book they dislike or are having trouble reading.  Miller also gives lots of good tips on how to create excitement over books.  The idea of having a drawing to win first reading rights for a new book would create lots of enthusiasm for students reading that book.  I’m glad Miller was not strict about Lexile reading level for her students because sticking to one level greatly limits a child’s reading options.

I think Miller’s book Reading in the Wild is very educational.  It is filled with good ideas about how not only to teach reading, but how to make students love reading.  She really focuses on how important it is for students to have books that interest them.  She also shows the importance of giving students time to read in class.  Teaching reading is a huge responsibility.  As a teacher they way you teach literacy could affect the way your students view reading for the rest of their lives.  I want to make my students excited about reading, I want it to be an activity they enjoy and choose to do even outside of school.

This book not only gives me good ideas on how to turn students into readers but how to help myself become a better reader.  Miller makes me see I should be bringing a book with me everywhere I go, and that I should really make reading a habit of mine. I think it is helpful for a teacher to be a reader so that their love of reading can rub off on their class and so they always have good books to suggest to their students.

It seems challenging finding books for all of your students to read.  You have to know a student well enough to know what kind of topics interest them, you also have to know what level of reading they are up to, and you have to have hundreds of suggestions ready because each student will read multiple books throughout the year.  Another challenge that she brings up is catching students in the act of fake reading.  You can’t just yell at a student to read, in order to stop them from fake reading you have to dedicate time and effort into find good material for them, helping them set goals, and watching them to make sure they aren’t slipping back into the habit of fake reading.