Think-Alouds

I use Think-Alouds all the time! I find that it really helps my young readers in knowing that we all think about the stories we read differently! Although they do think about it as working on comprehension it really is. They are all eager to share their thoughts with the group! It adds a lot to my class!!!

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

Number the Stars is told from the point of view of ten-year-old Annemarie Johansen. The story is set in the city of Copenhagen, Denmark in September 1943, the third year of the Nazis being in Denmark. Annemarie has a best friend Ellen, who is Jewish, walk home from school together everyday as they live in the same building. On one of their walks home they are stopped and questioned by a German soldier. Mrs. Johansen and Mrs. Rosen (their mothers) are worried and ask the girls to take a new way to school. The girls stat to notice shops being closed down... (the shops are ones owned by Jewish families). As more shops are being closed, Ellen's mother and father leave town, but Ellen stays with Annemarie. After Ellen's family leaves the Germans come looking for them by knocking on Annemarie's door. Annemarie's father lets the Germans search the apartment, and they wonder why Ellen's hair is brown. Annemarie's father thinks fast finding a baby picture of a daughter they once had, who had brown hair...

This book is very intense, and hard to put down! I don't want to ruin it all for you, but it takes the reader all the way to the end of the war. I'd say this book is perfect for upper elementary and up.

GROUP:

So I feel like I have reached everyone in my group except for Amanda... am I right?

Amanda can't find you!!!! Help:)

AA

The Boy Who Burned too Brightly

I first read this book when I was working on my Talented & Gifted certificate a few years ago. I thought it was a clever story with a lot of parallels about what we do when someone is different.

The book starts of with the main character being born, and from the beginning he is different. When he starts school the teacher says he is is not like the other kids... (he won't just sit there & work). He ends up getting a diagnoses similar to one a child with ADHD might get.

I would not read this book to a whole class, but would recomend it to someone who has trouble fitting in, or who feels different... I guess if I did read it to a class it would be high school age. It is a great book for all teachers to read as well.

YA Picture Book

The Tale of Willie Monroe, Retold by Alan Schroeder Illustrated by Andrew Glass

I picked this book because it is somewhat like a comic in ways. It has ridicules characters and an even more ridicules story line. The first time I read it to a group of 5th graders and we laughed so hard... I would like to think it was because of the accent I used:)

Anyway if you need something light, with goofy pictures, and want to laugh... check it out!

Realistic Fiction

Out of the list on page 103, I have read two... Holes & Hatchet. There are some I remember others reading throughout my teenage years, but for some reason or another I never read them. So would I agree with the list... no as I have not read much of what's on it. I guess I have my own list of books I read: anything by Judy Blume, The Secret Life of Algernon Pendleton, The Dealings of Daniel Kesserich... is all I can really remember.

Yes, I remember all to well my adolescents... I wish I could forget sometimes!!! I feel that many of these book lists could help with parents and teachers who see problems at home or in the schools. It makes it safe and okay to talk about things... why didn't these lists exist when I was a kid going through these things? Maybe if parents read these book with their kids?

I never knew it had a name, but I do a similar exercise with my class as the one at the bottom of page 153 with almost every book I read! It's great to look at a book before you read & think about all the other parts we over look, or things we do look at, but are miss leading.

Survey

For this assignment I gave my friends daughter, who's in high school, the survey to hand out to several of her friends. I did this because I work with young children, and I really wanted to see what teenagers are into. The results really surprised me!!

For the movie portion of the survey I got results anywhere from Alvin & the Chipmunks to Step Brothers. The Alvin & the Chipmunks really surprised me because I always thought of this as something elementary kids would like, but to each their own. I was really excepting the results of movies like Step Brothers, Scary Movie, Pineapple Express, and Mean Girls because I think they portray adult topics which many teenagers want to be apart of... not that I agree.

Magazine's are something of the past I think because I had several put down, "I do not read magazines". Hmmm... I really don't either. Seventeen magazine, one my sister liked when she was in school, is not one that surprised because it is directed toward that age group. Video games was another one that some did not partake in either, and all the games they did play really varied depending on the game system had at home.

I am really impressed with the book choices made by the teenagers, but did see a theme in Harry Potter as well as Twilight... of corse. I had 5 that did not have any favorite books, which is sad, but I think I would have said the same thing when I was that age.

TV programs really opened my eyes as I do not watch TV. TV shows mentioned were 16 in pregnant, addicted, glee Sports Center, Modern Family, Phineas & Ferb, and many more. The ones I listed are ones I have never heard of before; Wow, am I way out of the loop? I did get happy when I saw one teenager put down none, but then again most their answers said, "None".

Since I do not work with this age group it is hard for me to really compare it to how well I know teenagers, but I'd have to say not to well. As I slowly get older and reflect upon my favorites, they are way different. I'd say my picks would have been: Sound of Music, None for magazines and video games, book would have been "The Secret Life of Algernon Pendleton", & for a TV show Friends.