Monday - Reading Time!

Check out Jen & Kellee at Teach Mentor Texts for more great reads!

I love a long weekend!  But hey, who doesn't?  I love them because I have an extra day to do something I want to do.  Not dishes or grocery shopping or planning for school, but something for me.  This weekend I chose reading!  Or maybe, reading chose me.

Saturday morning found my oldest two kids and I at the library.  Here is my week ahead (both came highly recommended):

City Dog, Country Frog by Mo Willems

Clementine by Sarah Pennypacker

Last week, from my last library stack, I read another Mo Willems book.  Can I Play Too?  This may be my favorite Mo Willems book ever!  It's tough to choose just one because I love them all, but as I read it to my kindergarten class and saw them actually rolling on the floor with laughter, it was hard not to be swayed!  In this story Elephant and Piggie decide to play catch, which is fine until their friend Snake asks if he can play too!  It's just hilarious, as you can probably imagine.

Currently, I'm reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  I sort of feel like a late-comer to this book.  I was interested in reading it after hearing a lot about it, but I wasn't really in a rush to seek it out.  I figured I'd get to it over the summer.  However, I accidentally knocked it over on the shelf at the library as I was looking at another book.  I figured it was meant to be!  I have to say, I CAN'T PUT IT DOWN!  My favorite quote:

          "...we should be remembered for the things we do.  The things we do are the   most important things of all.  They are more important than what we say or what we look like.  The things we do outlast our mortality.  The things we do are like monuments that people build to honor heroes after they've died.  They're like the pyramids that the Egyptians built to honor the pharaohs.  Only instead of being made out of stone, they're made out of the memories people have of you.  That's why your deeds are like your monuments.  Built with memories instead of with stone."

          ~ Auggie, page 65

I'm also reading books with my children right now.  My daughter, the first grader, is into Junie B. Jones.  We are currently reading Junie B., First Grader Aloha-ha-ha!  I have to say, so far, I have enjoyed this one more than the others we have read.  My son, the third grader, is reading Percy Jackson The Lightening Thief.  He checked out both the book at the movie at the library this week...I guess he's interested in this one!  And, last but not least, my three-year-old is in love with Max and Ruby.  This week we have been reading Max's ABC's and her all-time favorite, Max's Bath.

Professionally, I am in the middle of a few good books.  I just got Mentor Author, Mentor Texts by Ralph Fletcher.  I'm also reading Katie Wood Ray's Writing Workshop: Working Through the Hard Parts (and They're All Hard Parts.  I'm gearing up for seeing both of these great author's at the All Write Conference in June!

  

I'm also looking forward to Thursday's Chalk-A-Bration!  Don't miss the chalk poems on Betsy's blog Teaching Young Writers.  Drop by to read, link your own chalk poem or do both on May 31st!  I can't wait!