Bk: The Hunger Games Series

Suzanne Collins definitely has some of my students reading, and I thank her for that. I've only read the first two in her Hunger Game series. I found the first one excellent for my older readers. The second one was more difficult to get involved in, but I think it is because she is somewhat awkward in how she covers backstory. Once that was over, though, the story picked up pace. Unlike Horowitz's books, though, Collins apparently reworks the same theme and format with each Hunger Games. This may keep my students enthralled, but I think I'll pass on the last of the series.

A New Take On Same-Sex Schools for Girls

Ok, we learn something new every day, don't we? The online magazine Slate recently posted that, contrary to recent studies, girls really do not do better in same-sex high schools, and they have a peer-reviewed article in Science to prove it. Now having taught in a high school, and having struggled to get my many of my girls to add (anything!) to the conversation (rather than keeping their hands folded in their laps) while the boys in the room couldn't keep their hands down, I had every reason to believe those "other" studies. But I should argue with Science? I think not. Time to reread that article and see what I did wrong with those high school girls...

CADERS (Early Readers): A Crook Took Our Books! (for oo/ew)

        A Crook Took Our Books!

This 8-page story practices the oo/ew sounds. It is appropriate for a second grader.

(Check back to November 14th for explanation of CADERS readers.)


 Directions for creating this 8-page booklet:

1. Click on story title above, then on link that opens under it.

2. Run off story that opens. (If your printer prints double-sided, print only on one side.)

3. Take every other page and turn it upside down. All pages will still face upwards, but every other one will be upside down.

4. Run in copier, double-sided.

5. Fold in middle. Result is 8-page booklet, using only two sheets of paper.

6. If making more than one copy, set copier to "sort."

Ferlazzo's Predictions for Education in 2011

Larry Ferlazzo offers interesting insights on education. Before 2011 closes out, I thought we might want to take a look at his predictions for the year. How many actually occurred? Hmm, well, how about next year? The ideas are still good...

CADERS (Early Readers): Cage (for practicing silent e)

             Cage


This 8-page story, Cage, practices the silent e rule. It is appropriate for mid-first grade (or any time a child is practicing the silent e). It also practices digraphs (ch, sh, th, wh) and blends (br, st, cr, etc).

(Refer to last year's November 14th posting for description of what CADERS readers -- once called Berenson Books -- are all about.)

Directions for creating this 8-page booklet:

1. Click on story title above, then on link that opens under it.

2. Run off story that opens. (If your printer prints double-sided, print only on one side.)

3. Take every other page and turn it upside down. All pages will still face upwards, but every other one will be upside down.

4. Run in copier, double-sided.

5. Fold in middle. Result is 8-page booklet, using only two sheets of paper.

6. If making more than one copy, set copier to "sort."

Book: We the Animals

Justin Torres's debute novel, We the Animals, tells his childhood with two brothers and two very broken parents. Such stories remind us all of the diversity of families we live among. An excellent and engaging literary piece, he has passages that require repeated rereading.For example, it opens with the following:

We wanted more. We knocked the butt ends of our forks against the table, tapped our spoons against our empty bowls; we were hungry. We wanted more volume, more riots. We turned up the knob on the TV until our ears ached with the shouts of angry men. We wanted more music on the radio; we wanted beats; we wanted rock. We wanted muscles on our skinny arms. We had bird bones, hollow and light, and we wanted more density, more weight. We were six snatching hands, six stomping feet; we were brothers, boys, three little kings locked in a feud for more.

Sounds like a typical house with three loud and thrashing boys, yes? But in my ego-centric way, I think of such a household through my own eyes -- a mom, a grown-up, a female. Torres allows us a wonderful brash glimpse of one boy's view. A literary romp through a young man's coming of age...

CADERS (Early Readers): 1, 2, 3 I'm In the Army (for studying ar, er, ir, or, ur)

      1, 2, 3  I'm In the Army

Here's an 8-page story for practice with the r-controlled vowels -- ar, er, ir, or, ur.

(Refer back to November 14th for a description of CADERS readers.)

Directions for creating this 8-page booklet:

1. Click on story title above, then on link that opens under it.

2. Run off story that opens. (If your printer prints double-sided, print only on one side.)

3. Take every other page and turn it upside down. All pages will still face upwards, but every other one will be upside down.

4. Run in copier, double-sided.

5. Fold in middle. Result is 8-page booklet, using only two sheets of paper.

6. If making more than one copy, set copier to "sort."