#WhalesForACause

Dear Vineyard Vines, Simon and Schuster and First Book,
     Last week my 6th grade Reading Ambassadors worked hard on designing these #WhalesForACause. I especially like Evan's (see above), who chose to include the titles of many of his most recent favorite books written by authors he loves.  And Izzy's creation who went above and beyond to glue a horn on her whale.  Her favorite author is Adam Gidwitz.  Is it a coincidence that his new series is called The Unicorn Rescue Society?
     Thank you for donating books to kids in need. If you ever need recommendations, now you know who you could turn to.
Sincerely,
Stacey Rattner, Leaping Librarian and her Reading Ambassadors
Castleton Elementary School
Castleton, New York

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This is Zach's.  Can you tell he's a dairy farmer?

 

Books and authors in Evan's whale: Me and Marvin Gardens by Amy Sarig King, The Vanderbeekers of 141 St by Karina Yan Glaser, Slider by Peter Haut, The Someday Birds by Sally J Pal and Booked, The Crossover and Rebound all by Kwame Alexander.

Is it Friday yet?

Things I learned this week (and it's only Thursday):

• Being a perfectionist is not good for my health, at least it seems that way.  Our third annual Mrs. Yager's class, "World Feast" was Tuesday night.  My job, after video taping the kids in front of my makeshift green and blue screens during the week, was to put them all together into one video.  Did it not go as smoothly as I liked last weekend?  Yes.  Did I put in more hours than I'd like to admit?  Yes.  But, in the end was it worth it? Absolutely.  The whole FEAST was amazing.  The food, the costumes, the trifolds displaying their research, the energy in the library. Fourth grade "alumni" returning. What a culmination of a month's worth of work.  BRAVO! Lesson learned (one that I will never learn, really): Do not leave things to the last minute.  This time it really did not take just a minute to do.

 

• Jason Chin likes to exercise his IMAGINATION.  We had a great Skype today with Caldecott and Sibert honor winning illustrator/author of Grand Canyon.  It was optional for 4th graders to join us during their lunch (more than a third of the grade showed up) along with Mrs. Roe's second graders and a few fifth graders.  Boy is he talented and so sweet and calm.  "Nonfiction captures my imagination," he said.  He also shared that when he sketches while he is doing research (i.e., at the Grand Canyon), it is an attention strategy that helps him hold on to his memories.  When you sketch you are spending so much time looking that it will stick in your memory.  Wow.

• I'm not as opposed to reading an ebook as I used to think I was.  Lately I've been falling asleep with my iPad on my lap. Not the best thing since when it falls off the bed at 2:43 am, I am suddenly woken up with the crash.  But, I am a night owl and always go to bed after my husband.  That said, reading an ebook (Thank you Netgalley) allows me to sneak into bed without turning on a light and disturbing him. So far, I've only been the one stirred when the iPad slips down the covers. 
• Sleeping at school is so much fun!  The PTO sponsored a ReadOver/SleepOver Friday night.  Nearly 90 second and third graders came for a Jigsaw Jones event with special guest, James Preller.  Yes, the energy was high for an author visit but the kids still loved it.  Shhh...a couple of them even said it was better than the gym part.  Really?!  Jimmy was a good sport.  Look at him leaping at 9pm!

• Make sure others proofread your work (and I'm not talking about just grammar).  I sent home an invitation to a REBOUND party I'm throwing next month.  I wrote, "Bring a basketball or 1988 treat."  What would you think that meant?  At least one boy has already said, "I'm bringing my basketball!"  Oops! I meant basketball TREAT.  Maybe I need to move the party into the gym.

• I'm super stoked about TXLA18. The workshops. The book creators. The books. The Texas sun. Old friends. New friends. However, what conclusion did I come to this week?  I'm going to need to take off AFTER the conference.  While everyone else will be refreshed and tan, I am going to be 200% professionally refreshed but it will come with a huge serving of exhaustion.  Don't get me wrong--this North North Texan cannot wait to step into Bluebonnet country.
• Melissa Stewart rocks.  There I was at our first grade morning program today that was all about robots and one of the kids shared her book. The second grade teacher turns to me and says, "Oooh, Melissa Stewart!"  That's because last year she taught 4th grade and we did our Sibert Smackdown together.  Then, I share Melissa's newest book about seeds with a third grade teacher and she loves it. "This is a great book to use in our science unit.  Wow! Seeds travel!" she exclaimed. Even her hydroponic Herbie liked the book!

• Your "look" is everything, right? Well, goodbye blue glasses; hello cat eyed clear ones. Now I'm ready to rock and roll!  Speaking of rocking and rolling...We're getting ready to plan for Matthew Cordell's visit and HIS new book ROCK-N-ROLL SOUL by Susan Verde.  That's next week...

Now...maybe I can get a few pages in before my bedroom floor does....

REBOUND

It's what we've all been waiting for! The prequel to The Crossover! Some spoiler alerts--Beware (especially, if you haven't read The Crossover)! No matter what, you will want to get your hands on this book ASAP--Comes out April 2!

To prep for the REBOUND ride:

Turn up your Michael Jackson (PYT, Man in the Mirror), LL Cool J, Miles Davis, Luther Vandross and of course, Horace Silver on your record player,
Search your local convenient store for a pack of Now and Laters (it wasn't too hard),
Grab yourself some KFC (or better yet, Grandma's fried chicken),
Slip into your Jordache,
Lace up your skates,
Indulge in a winning Krispy Kreme (and chocolate milk if your stomach can handle it),
Take a sip of sweet tea or grape soda,
Practice your free throws,
Root for the Washington Bullets (they don't exist anymore but pretend you are when you cheer for the Wizards)
And put aside a good few hours to read this champion of a book.

Jordan and Josh Bell of The Crossover fame are back but this time as their ancestors.  Yessir. We find out who each one was named after (Jordan, his great uncle and Josh, his grandfather) and even some other relations who I will opt not to mention at this time.  The visual learner in me had to sketch a family tree so I could get the whole Bell family straight.

Here is the story of Charlie "Chuck" Bell, Josh and JB's dad, as he is coming of age in 1988. Before.  Before basketball was his life. Before marriage. Before kids. Before it all.

March 9, 1988 Charlie's dad dies and he cannot shake the grief.  He had yet to learn to "own the sadness...[and not] let it own [him]." That summer, Mom decides to send him to stay with his grandparents in D.C. (pair this with Jason Reynolds's As Brave As You). At first this seems like an awful idea but when his basketball star cousin, Roxie, pulls him into a game, he hardly turns back. Basketball becomes his thing again. Then just as life is looking up, his game is on, he's gotta go back home.  With an ending that had my mascara running as I pulled tissue after tissue from the box, and had the need to get "all hugged up" REBOUND is a high ranking winner on the hardwood.

P.S. It's hard to believe that Kwame's still got game. I'm not sure how he does it with everything else going on but lucky for all of us and our students, he scored another one with REBOUND.  Book birthday is April 2. We are on vacation then so will be celebrating in Castleton a week later with all the aforementioned foods, basketball decorations and more.

PPS. There are even some comics in it, too!

PPSS. Oh, how I LOVE the orange cover!  You know there's a REBOUND bus, right?