I chose to read The War that Saved My Life, Kimberly Bradley. This is a Newbery award wining book and is about a girl named Ada and her little brother during World War II. Ada is a handicap girl who has a cleft foot which prevents her from walking. Eventually she moves to the countryside where she learns how to walk with crutches and teaches herself how to ride a horse. Ada’s little brother is named Jamie who is six years old. He was raised by his nine year old sister Ada until Mrs. Smith took them in when they moved to the country, where she became their caregiver during the war. Ada is very intelligent, because she teaches herself how to read and write, she is also very brave and catches a German spy while she is out riding one day, and ends up becoming the village hero. I would use this book in my classroom if I was to teach about World War II. Before I even taught the lesson, I would have the students read this book, then we would discuss the book after the class had read it though. Then I would use class time to teach my students about the history of World War II. I like this book because it is very insightful and gives a child’s perspective about how the war effected her life.

The book I chose to read for my series book, was King and Kayla and the Missing Dog Treats. I really enjoyed reading this book and I  thought it was cute, that each book is a different mystery to solve. I would definitely recommend this book to my students, who enjoy reading mystery books, because it is a quick and easy read. The central characters are King who is a dog and has his own dialogue throughout the book, and Kayla his owner.  They both enjoy solving mysteries together. I believe first and second graders would enjoy reading this series, because it is easy to read and follow along. This book is not very complex, so if I had more advanced readers in my class I would recommend a more advanced mystery book such as Nancy Drew. The way I would use this book in a classroom, would be, I would  read the book out loud to my students, and then set up a mystery in my classroom for my students to solve that is similar to the series book.

 

My biggest take away from chapter one in Reading in the Wild, was encouraging students to read and carry books wherever they go outside of school. I believe that this is a great way to get students to read more, if they keep a book with them at all times. A few ideas I had not thought of, were encouraging my students who did not have time to sit down to read for 30 minutes a day to read, I could learn there schedules and help them pick gaps throughout the day where they can read a few minutes here and there. Another idea I liked from the book is using a reading itinerary, instead of a reading log. I really liked this idea, because it gave students the opportunity to fill out the amount of time they read that day, but they were not forced to read for 30 minutes. The itinerary encourages students to keep track of all the places they read throughout the week and how many minutes they spent reading that day. I am most excited to recommend books to my students, when I start teaching them to read, that fit there reading levels and then asking them if they enjoyed my book recommendations. I am honestly most afraid of dealing with a difficult student who refuses to read inside or outside of class and what I should do to get them to read more.

The story of “Little Red Riding Hood,” has been around for many years, and there are many versions of it that are told all over the world. The main themes that all these stories share are, do not talk to strangers, do not give out your information to someone you have never met, and obey your parents when they say do not talk to strangers, because it can lead to bad situations or even death. There are also struggles that some of these stories address such as listening and following directions, to stay out of trouble.

In Tim Seibles version of “Red Riding Hood,” Bugs Bunny runs into Little Red Riding Hood and calls her out for walking around at night all alone. Bugs Bunny says to her, “This is a tough neighborhood, mutton chops— you gotchur badgers, your wild boar, your hardcore grizzlies and lately, this one wolf’s been actin pretty big and bad.” he is warning her that she should not be wondering around at night on her own, because she is walking around in a rough neighborhood. Bugs Bunny is basically saying that, he is surprised her mother never told that it is dangerous to be out alone at night especially if you stand out wearing bright colors. I agree with Bugs Bunny I think it is dangerous for woman and especially children to be out at night alone. I personally never go out at night alone unless I have a friend with me. I have learned that if I have a buddy with me it can illuminate putting myself in dangerous situations, such as running into the sleazeballs of the world, such as bugs Bunny in this version of Little Red Riding Hood. This story addresses the dangers of what could happen if a woman wonders around at night all alone.    

Italy/ Austria: Little Red Hat, I really like this version of Little Red Riding Hood, because it had an ogre in it, instead of a wolf. I think the theme in this version is to read between the lines. Little Red Hat is so naive in this story and she ends up eating her grandmothers teeth, drinks her blood and eats her jaws. She does not listen to what the ogre is saying when he whispers what she is actually eating. I think that if you do not understand what someone is saying, you should ask them to clarify and not assume that you think you know what they want. For example, if a teacher gives directions to her students, and a few students do not understand, then they should raise their hands, and tell their teacher to maybe re word the directions so everyone understands, instead of just assuming. Little Red Hat did not clarify with the ogre when he was telling her that she was actually eating parts of her grandmother, because he kind of whispered it from the other room, so she just did what he told her to do, since she was really hungry. I think that Little Red Hat, is really ignorant or blind in this story, because how would someone not be able to know the difference in taste between blood and wine. She drinks her grandmothers blood and believes that it is wine. She either has never had wine before or she is just really ignorant. This story I believe addresses, the importance of listening carefully and reading between the lines, like the ogre flat out tells her exactly what she is eating, yet she is a young ignorant girl who does not listen very carefully to warnings.