Book Trailers

In Jen Malphy's class today she shared some of the book trailers that her students have created.  Making trailers is a great creativity opportunity.  They are also just a lot of fun to watch.  You can visit the book trailers on her site and learn how to help students make their own.  There is another fantastic place to see book trailers.  Mr. Schu Reads posts tons of engaging trailers.  I love stopping by his blog just to see the amazing trailers he finds.  Mr. Schu is so excited about books and reading and he finds all kinds of fun trailers like this one

E-Reader Fun

Today I had the opportunity to learn more about my new NookColors and how to use them effectively in school.  Jen Malphy is doing an excellent job teaching all about e-readers.  It was really helpful and I finally got a lot of questions answered.  She has a ton of great resources on her ereadersintheclassroom wiki.

I was not really sure if I would enjoy reading this way, but I am definitely getting used to it.  One night awhile back I needed to sit waiting alone for a long time and I looked all over my car for a book.  I figured I was out of luck, but suddenly realized I had about 40 books in my backseat in the Nook.  Fabulous "Duh!" moment.  So far I have read several picture books and two full length novels and it is starting to feel natural to hold this funny device.  I don't really think I will ever completely lose my love for paper books, but I am enjoying the e-readers and really look forward to using them with my students.  I think they will love reading on them and creating books to put on them.  I can't wait to get started!

Back from Vacation

Vacation was wonderful!  I had almost no opportunity to indulge in online activity because of our remote location.  There was plenty of time for hiking, swimming, laying on the beach, and of course - reading.  We stopped by a few places that had book exchange corners. I loved grabbing something random to read and leaving behind something I didn't need anymore.  Those little corners are always a fantastic find and just make my day.  They are like a little present out of the blue.  It inspires me to start a corner like that in our staff lounge at my school.

Recently I saw that some people are super serious about "little libraries" as they call them.  Little Free Library seems to have a great idea for supporting reading anywhere and everywhere.  Maybe I will do something like that too in the future.  People have so many fun ideas.

My School Shoes

I am so excited about Pete and his school shoes.  Last week I finally met Pete the Cat.
He is truly rockin' in those shoes.  Hopefully I can find a great pair myself.  School is just around the corner and I know my students are going to have a blast getting to know Pete.  People sure seemed to love him at this library visit.

10 For 10 Inspiration

Okay, I have to admit that the 10 for 10 Picture Books event also had something to do with starting a blog. Cathy from the blog Reflect and Refine and Mandy from the blog Embrace Learning want to know which ten picture books we cannot live without.  I started thinking about my list about a week ago and it keeps changing.  It is quite a challenge to narrow the list down to just 10 because there are so many fabulous books for children, but I will give it a shot.

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle - this book is the earliest book I can remember as a child.  It seems to delight children over and over again.  With the little holes to play with and the bright beautiful illustrations, this book is always a winner.



2. The Happy Hocky Family by Lane Smith - no matter how many times I read this book, I howl and so do the kids.  Lane Smith's humor is quite cracked and sometimes I am not even sure why we are rolling on the floor, but there we are.





3. Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton - who can resist this great competition between these tough guys?



4. Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell - this biography is fantastic.  The illustrations are gentle like Jane and the mix of real drawing and photographs with the illustrator's work is perfect.



5. Here's a Little Poem by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters - it is stretching definitions to consider this a picture book since it has a few too many pages, but I just wouldn't survive without some poetry.  Children love the No-No Bird (a child stomping his feet and throwing a tantrum) because they have all seen or done the very same thing and the poem about ice cream is a winner too.



6. Sitti's Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye - is a truly beautiful story of family and place.  This explores the relationship of a young girl with her Palestinian grandmother.  They don't speak the same verbal language, but the language of love does the job.




7. No David! by David Shannon - absolutely hilarious - enough said.





8. We are in a Book! by Mo Willems - Elephant and Piggie may be simple characters, but they are sly and silly too.  I love this book about books and reading and so does almost every child that has the good fortune to meet this book.

9. Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco - we have a heartwarming and beautiful tearjerker here.  It is a great way to see some parallels with the Jewish and African American experiences.  Beyond that, it is a fantastic example of community.




10. My People by Langston Hughes and Charles R. Smith Jr. - the photographs are fantastic and of course the poetry is too.  I love seeing the beauty and joy in the faces of his people.  You can't help but smile in response.

Here I Am

I am here.  Is anyone else?  I heard about a 15 Minutes a Day Challenge and decided that writing a blog might be more fun than filling those pages in my notebook.  Even if nobody else visits this blog, I am hopeful that I will learn something and be better able to teach students about blogging.

I cannot remember a time when reading hasn't been a huge part of my life.  As far back as my memory goes, I have had books around me.  They have been friends, lifelines, comic relief, educational and often pure escape.

On this blog I hope to share a bit about the many books I am reading and some of the cool lit things that I stumble across on the Internet.