What Are You Reading? (December Edition)

A narrative (about an imagined experience) by one of my most favorite first graders. (I'm the one with the red hair and the big hips on the left.) One of the first things I see every day when I get to work - a reminder of why I do the work I do (especially on days when that work is really hard).

From our professional piles:

Content-Area Conversations by Douglas Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Carol Rothenberg

(Andrea) I am trying to educate myself more on how ELL students learn English as I work closely with our ELL/Bilingual Coordinator.  What I am discovering is that these practices, especially when it comes to language, are best for ALL of our students.  

Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller
(Andrea and Barb) New book from THE Book Whisperer.

They Say I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein
(Carrie) They Say I Say is a resource recommended to me by a colleague who excels in promoting high level, academic writing and discussions within her sophomore English classroom. This compact  book provides a set of resources meant to promote argumentative rhetoric within the classroom. Most helpful includes a set of templates focusing on sentence starters, transitional phrases, avoiding logical fallacies, and incorporating persuasive techniques in student writing. A great resource for unpacking the argumentative writing standards.

Motion Leadership in Action: The Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy
Motion Leadership in Action: More Skinny on Becoming Change Savvy
(Jaimie) Michael Fullan is a “guru” in educational leadership.  These two books are so “skinny,” (hence the title), that you just have to read them.  They’re fast, easy, and packed full of insight.  

Student-Centered Coaching at the Secondary Level by Diane Sweeney

(Heather) Our district is having a group of educators in different coaching positions participate in a book group.

Self-Paced Phonics: A Text for Educators by Roger S. Dow and G. Thomas Baer

(Heather) Yes, I am reviewing for the reading test so I can get my masters.

Falling in Love with Close Reading by Christopher Lehman and Kate Roberts

Close Reading of Informational Texts by Sunday Cummins

(Barb) Both of these present close reading as something that "real" readers do. Both advocate for an authentic purpose for close reading and annotation and interrogation of a text that results in text-dependent thinking (without text dependent questions).

From our children's and young adult piles:

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laina Taylor
(Andrea) Actually this isn’t entirely true. It isn’t in my pile. I am listening to the audio version when I go for walks.

Planet Middle School by Nikki Grimes
(Barb) Novel in verse about a self-described middle school "tom boy" who is struggling to understand what it means to like boys, want to wear make-up, and be a basketball star. Recommended for grades 6 - 8, especially for struggling readers.

Etched in Clay by Andrea Cheng
(Barb) Historical fiction novel in verse about Dave, a slave who made pottery in North Carolina shortly before the Civil War. Poems are written from multiple viewpoints including Dave, his owners, his owners' wives, and Dave's family. Highly complex but would make a cool mentor text for writing narratives or for use in a history class.