Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper is a book on our 7th grade Battle of the Books list. It was a new addition last year so I was excited to read it this summer. I decided to snag the audiobook from my library so I could listen to it on my car ride to the All Write conference in Indiana. The drive was about 7 hours round trip so Sharon's words and Sisi Aisha's voice rode along with me. Loved this story! I found myself happy to get stuck in Chicago traffic on my drive back because it meant a better chance of finishing the book before I got home. Highly recommend experiencing the book this way. 

Happy Reading!

Book Totals

Today was the big day: totaling up our reading records from first and second semester! 

My first block read 584 books, averaging 19.6 books per student!

My second block read 894 books, averaging 27.1 books per student. 

I love the excitement with which they jump in to count their titles and how even my struggling and often resistant readers are surprised and proud of their number. They are always surprised at how many books they have read. It's one of my favorite moments. I can't believe I went years without having my students keep track of their reading!

Dear Students 2014

Dear Students,

In the fall, you wrote letters to me. You shared the basics: who your 6^th grade teacher was, how many books you thought you read last year, and anything you thought I should know about you. You all mostly kept it safe. You weren’t sure what to expect of seventh grade. In my eight years of teaching, I have welcomed almost one thousand 12-year-olds to their first day of seventh grade. Saying hello on the first day may seem scary, but for me, it’s saying goodbye that’s the hardest.

In the fall, I left you to welcome my own child into the world, but I still thought about my kids at school – you all. I wondered what you were reading, what you were writing, and most importantly, what was going on in your lives. When I came back, you wrote me another letter. You updated me on what happened in your lives – there were many changes. Some good, some not so good. You were celebrating achievements – making sports teams, dancing on national television, welcoming new members to your family. You were experiencing heartache, too – divorce, cancer, and saying goodbye to loved ones. There were big changes, and you faced them with bravery.

But now it’s my turn to write you a letter. To let you know how proud I am of each and every one of you. You grew as readers, and you grew as writers. Most importantly, you grew as better people. You may not have seen it in yourself. But I did. Always remember that you have a lot to do in this world. So do it big.

And always remember what Coltrane taught us – you may be dropped in the middle of somewhere you think you don’t belong, but you are not your past. You are not your mistakes. You can make a difference.

And remember what Jeffrey taught us – that when we face the scariest battle, we can get through it with family and laughter.

Remember what Staples taught us – a person’s exterior can just be a mask to protect a scarred life.

Always remember what Luis Urzua taught us – no one gets left behind.

And please, please, remember what Zach Sobiech taught us – never give up when all seems lost. Smile, smile, smile. And you’ll go up, up, up.

This year, we laughed together and we cried. We questioned and sometimes we didn’t get along. But that happens in every family.

I hope you keep writing me letters. When I get emails or tweets from former students, the memories of that classroom community, of that year, come flooding back. Because each group that sits in these seats together is forever linked through the stories we shared in books and in our own writing.

Take care of yourself, and take care of each other.

And don’t forget to DIVE IN to a good story every once in a while.

 

With love,

Mrs. Walsh

Favorite YA Character March Madness Tournament

When I first heard about doing a book spin-off of a March Madness Tournament from my Choice Literacy newsletter, I was all over it! 

Here's how it went down: 

1. Kids nominated their favorite YA characters. I compiled their list and was able to use every one of their nominees with one to spare (mine! Harry Potter anyone?) to create a 32-character bracket. 

2. Instead of worrying about seeds, I entered the names into a randomizer online and went straight down the list for the match-ups. They ended up being pretty good match-ups! I then created two divisions (blue and gold for our school colors).

3. To try to help with the vote tabulations, I created quizzes for the match-ups in my Socrative classroom so my students who participate in BYOT could vote electronically. Students without devices just voted on post-its! Results from Socrative print out in a nice spreadsheet! Kids could see the match-ups on a Google Presentation (like PowerPoint) I created and displayed on the Smartboard.

4.  I promoted our match-ups to the characters' creators on Twitter and received some responses, which motivated my students!

5. Finally, after 4 rounds, and MANY close calls, it came down to two: Katniss and Jonas (love!!). Kids voted, and even our literacy leaders -- our librarian and principal -- got in on the final vote action.  When the winner was announced, the cheering would rival any NCAA stadium crowd. It was book heaven.

Want to know the winner? Who would you have voted for? Comment with your vote to know our winner! :)

Bad Island by Doug TenNapel

Synopsis from Doug TenNapel's website:

Something on this island is up to no good . . .

When Reese is forced to go on a boating trip with his family, the last thing he expects is to be shipwrecked on an island-especially one teeming with weird plants and animals. But what starts out as simply a bad vacation turns into a terrible one, as the castaways must find a way to escape while dodging the island's dangerous inhabitants. With few resources and a mysterious entity on the hunt, each secret unlocked could save them...or spell their doom. One thing Reese knows for sure: This is one Bad Island.

My Thoughts:
Sometimes graphic novels are the gateway into a love of reading for some of my non-readers. I really enjoyed TenNapel's other graphic novels, Ghostopolis and Cardboard so when I came across this at the library this weekend, I had to grab it for a Spring Break afternoon read. It would require some scaffolding for struggling readers because of the split narratives, but overall it's an interesting story. I would definitely recommend starting with Cardboard though if you're first starting with TenNapel's works.