writing workshop

What Are You Reading

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What have you read lately…

For fun?
That your students loved?
That changed the way you teach?
On the web?
That you couldn’t put down?
That made you want to write?

Can’t wait to read your comments!


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26 thoughts on “What Are You Reading

  1. I’m reading The Winter of our Disconnect by Susan Maushart. Great read about what happened to a mom and her three kids when they went cold turkey on screens for 6 months. I am also enjoying reading samples of books on my Kindle to decide if I eventually want to buy them.

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  2. Read a bunch that captivated my sense of who I am as a teacher – The Opposable Mind by Roger Martin and ‘Because Digital Writing Matters by Troy Hicks, Danielle Devoss, Elyse Eidman. These put into perspective the whole notion of the 21st century and what it means to engage those learners.

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  3. @Jennifer-Try A Mango Shaped Space, by Wendy Mass & The Curious Incident of The Dog In The Nighttime, by Mark Haddon. And ps-I loved the Hunger Game books too. Many on the staff read them. They created the biggest talk I’ve seen in a while.

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  4. I recently read Rules by Cynthia Lord, which I loved!!! After reading it, I was drawn into reading books with autistic characters, so I then devoured Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko, and yesterday I finished Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine. I loved all three of these books, and I am on the lookout for more books like them! I, too, read the Hunger Game series and couldn’t put them down. Great reads!
    I am currently reading There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Louis Sachar to my class. I read this book every year. It’s such a great book for many reasons- it’s funny, the short chapters make it easy to find a stopping point, Louis does a tremendous job on characterization which leads to many in-depth conversations, it’s a book about bullying so we have lots of conversations about how it feels to be bullied and how to stop bullying, and the kids LOVE it!!! I highly recommend it as a read aloud in 3rd-6th grades!
    I recently finished Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin- a great chick lit book! 🙂
    I’m currently reading Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli and Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.
    Keep posting books you’re reading! I love getting recommendations!!! 🙂

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  5. For Fun: Bossypants by Tina Fey…hilarious read for mommies.

    To Students: Among the Betrayed

    Professional: Cafe by The Moser Sisters

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  6. I just finished reading aloud How I Went From Bad to Verse by Dan Gutman. the book is from the Zack Files series. It went well with our end of year poetry unit ,and we finished it just before our big event – Poetry Cafe!

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  7. Hmmm..
    For Fun: (Adult) The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
    For Fun: (Mid/Upper Grades) The first book in the Bartimaeus Trilogy by Jonathan Stroud
    Book students have loved: A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz,
    Loved: Where She Went by Gayle Forman and Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum.
    To Write: A Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan
    Professional: rereading books by Kelly Gallagher

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  8. My fourth graders and I are loving Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper. There are several other books that I would love to read with them before we finish the year on June 22…I may read the first couple of chapters of each to plant some seeds for summer reading. Loved reading all the replies to this post. Thanks!

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  9. I just finished What I Saw and How I LIed, by Judy Blundell, last year’s National Book Award winner. It was a book that surprised all the way through, an interesting book about integrity. It would be good for an older young adult book group. I like books that help students discuss feeling different and also recently read Junkyard Wonders by Patricia Polacco. I think it would be a good read aloud for all ages. And-I too, like others above, loved Mockingbird.

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  10. Love That Dog and Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech are truly amazing texts to teach poetry – they get the students thinking creatively and understanding that poetry is more than just rhyme.

    Another good read for fun/read aloud is “The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School”.

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  11. Every spring I read Love That Dog and Hate That Cat by Sharon Creech right before we do our poetry unit of study. They both get my 5th graders thinking, imagining their own poetry.

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  12. I just finished a perfect middle school novel- THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z by Kate Messner. Loved it so much that I immediately started SUGAR AND ICE, also by Messner.

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  13. Love this question too! Love getting new book ideas!

    Picture book: This Plus That by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and I’m a Shark by Bob Shea

    Chapter book: Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine and just finished A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

    Professional book: Catching Readers Before They Fall by Pat Johnson and Katie Keier — a free book that I recently won from Stenhouse!

    Audio CD for the drive to work and back home: Friendship Bread by Darien Gee

    Personal: Happiest Toddler on the Block by Harvey Karp

    Blogs, emails, oh my! When I think about it and put it in writing — this is a lot of reading!

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  14. I am reading City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare–reading it for fun, but also because my Battle of the Books kids read the first of the series this year and most really liked it.

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  15. I’m listening to “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand in the car; re-reading “Fahrenheit 451” when I blow dry my hair Reading “Because of Winn-Dixie” to my class; and I’ve changed my teaching after watching Salman Khan on TED talks discuss using video to teach concepts.
    Great question — I’m enjoying reading everyone’s responses.

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  16. I finished The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton–my kind of read–mysteries of the past to make the present right.. Right now, since I can’t get my book club read, I am reading The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. I’m into mice right now, and my grandchildren are reading Because of Winn Dixie and Mercy Watson to the Recue all by the same author! I guess we’re all into Dicamillo!!!

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  17. I’m reading The Book of Awesome.
    Life is really hectic finishing this school, the writing is really good, and reading 2 or 3 pages encourages me to look at life differently!

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  18. I’ve realized that I am so out of the loop on all of the classic children’s literature! I recently read Stargirl (Jerry Spinelli), and did a one-chapter read aloud as part of a writing mini-lesson. The kids loved it so much they begged me to read the whole thing aloud to them!

    I’m currently reading Al Capone Does My Shirts. Gennifer Choldenko gives the storyteller such a strong voice!

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  19. I love, love, love that you asked this today, Ruth! I have had The Tension of Opposites and the way you used it as a mentor text on my mind for the past two weeks because I just read and fell in love with Camo Girl by Kekla Magoon. I want to write a book like that. Kekla Magoon is my Kristina McBride

    Professionally, I have been re-reading Getting to Got It by Betty K. Garner. It is the most refreshing book I’ve read about intervening to help struggling students. It gives me hope!

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  20. Oh my, where to start. For enjoyment, I just finished “Divergent.” a great new dystopia book…I couldn’t put it down. I’m currently reading a professional book, “Nonfiction Reading Powers.” I continually use “Reading Powers” and can see this book quickly becoming dog eared. Inspirational teaching books that I read this year would have to be “Of Primary Importance” by Ann Marie Corgill and “Conferring” by Patrick Allen….phenomenal reads. The Slice of Life Challenged me to write and think like a writer more then any other book has…a hands on approach, thank you!

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  21. I could not put down The Lost Hero. I’m one of the people who LOVE reading young adult fiction; I find it actually is promoted a lot more. An additional benefit is that I can find books to add to my classroom library that I know my kid’s love!

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