What I Have Been Reading - June 27, 2016

Despite it being summer, I am still staying pretty busy. I am taking 6 hours of graduate classes in summer session 1. So the next two weeks will be pretty busy as I finish final projects and papers. I still have been reading in the month of June. I have been tracking what I am reading in 2016 on Goodreads. I am currently at 54 books, so I am on track to meet my 100 book goal for 2016. The majority of what I read is Young Adult/Teen Fantasy books. This week I am linking up with Unleashing Readers for #IMWAYR.

Now that it is summer, I have been trying to make a little more effort to read actual adult fiction. A friend of mine recommended Modern Mrs. Darcy. Every summer, Anne Bogel does a summer reading challenge broken into different categories. She also had a post earlier in June with "Hot New YA books." Between the YA list and the summer reading challenge, I have picked some books to add to my library request list. Here are a few books that I recently finished:

Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield

This was a  modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. I actually listened to this one on audio and really enjoyed it. It was fun trying to anticipate what the modern spin on the plot would be. Pride and Prejudice is one of my all-time favorite books. I actually want to re-read it now.

Mystic Summer by Hannah McKinnon

This was just a super-easy read that would work well for the pool or the beach. A sweet story and easy to read. I did appreciate that the main character was a teacher.

Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

This is Sophie Kinsella's first YA novel. You may have read her other Shopaholic books. I have read a couple of them, but it has been years. This was a fabulous book though. It was probably one of my favorite reads in 2016 so far. It dealt with bullying, mental illness, the ups-and-downs of being a teen, and family dysfunction, but all with so much heart and humor.  I laughed through the entire book.

These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shankar and Kelly Zekas

This was nothing deep, but I enjoyed it. It is sort of a mystery set in Victorian England, but involves characters who discover they have X-men like powers.  It was an enjoyable and easy to read plot line.  It reminded me a little of The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason, but not done quite as well.

I have been thinking over the past week that I want to reflect back more on my favorite reads from 2015 to now. So my next couple posts will probably focus on sharing some of my favorite reads from the last 1-2 years. What are you reading this summer?

What is Mrs. Walker Reading? #IMWAYR 10/12/15

It's Monday which means it is time to link up with Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers for #IMWAYR.  I haven't linked up in a few weeks so I am glad to share what I have been reading.

When I last linked up I was still listening to The Red Queen and The Fairy Tale Detectives on audio. I finally finished both of those books at the end of September. I really enjoyed both books.  I still like The Land of Stories better than The Fairy Tale Detectives, but I do think they will make good selections for a fractured fairy tale literature circle. I plan to read more of the books in The Fairy Tale Detectives series eventually.  I tried to start reading Rump by Liesl Shurtliff, but honestly I wasn't enjoying it so I never finished it. I may consider using it in my literature circles, but I haven't decided.

When I read through some of the #IMWAYR posts back in September, Cheriee at Library Matters wrote a review mentioning The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series and The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates. Both series intrigued me, so the last two audio books I have listened to have been Magic Marks the Spot and The Mysterious Howling. Both books are read by Catherine Kellgren on the audio. I believe she is the one who does the audio for the Bloody Jack series as well. She really is one of my favorite audio book performers. She does such a great job with all the different accents and voices.

Audio Books

The Mysterious Howling is about a young girl who finds herself governess to three young children raised by wolves.  I look forward to reading the next book in the series.  Really the plot in the book is not super exciting or deep, but the narrator is absolutely fabulous.  I think this would make great read aloud to teach students about how a speaker or narrator can have a different point of view from the main characters. There is really a lot of great sentences and vocabulary in this book as well, which also makes it great for read aloud.

Magic Marks the Spot is just pure fun.  It this book, the main character is a young girl who really wants to be a pirate but instead her father tries to send her to finishing school. She runs away to be a pirate to have her own adventure.  I love the Bloody Jack series, so I am happy that this series is more appropriate for my 5th graders. I plan on getting both the The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series and The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates series for my classroom library over time.

Books Read

I just finished Curtsies and Conspiracies this weekend. I then started Waistcoats and Weaponry last night.

I am thoroughly enjoying this witty series on a finishing school that secretly teaches its students espionage. I highly recommend the series for a fun read. Most of my 5th graders might not be quite mature enough for them, but 6th and 7th graders would be for sure.

What are you reading?

It's Monday! What are you reading? September 14, 2015 #IMWAYR

It's Monday which means it is time to catch you up on what I have been reading. I will be linking up with Unleashing Readers and Teach Mentor Texts for #IMWAYR.

Honestly, this week was so incredibly busy with grad school that I mainly started two new audio books. I mentioned in my post last week that I was interested in reading some of the novel fractured fairy tales to possibly look at doing a round of literature circles with my students using these fairy tale spin-offs.  I was first inspired after reading A Tale Dark and Grimm.  This book has a wonderful sense of voice, which would make it a great read aloud for older students. It would also make for a great lesson on narrators. Overall though, it moves a little slow for me to just sit and read.  I started getting bored about half way through.  I did use this book as an introduction to a lesson on voice in my middle school Speech and Debate class this week (with 7th and 8th graders). I still think it is maybe a little too dark for some of 5th and 6th graders, but I may just use it as a choice in my literature circles.

On audio, I began The Fairy Tale Detectives (A Sisters Grimm novel). This book reads better to just sit and read independently.  It has a more smooth and engaging plot.  I am still working through it, but I think this one will make a great choice for my literature circles to use along with The Land of Stories.

The other audio book I began is The Red Queen. I am really enjoying this one so far. Amazon describes it as Graceling meets The Selection.  I would say this is actually a pretty apt description. It also has aspects that remind me of The Hunger Games.

What are you reading right now? I also am finally trying to do better about documenting my food and workouts at my personal blog Balancing the Backpack. You can read about my meal plans for this week HERE as I try to get back in a routine now that school has started.

It's Monday! What are you reading? 9/7/2015 #IMWAYR

Where does time go? I am always amazed when time slips away from me and more than a month has gone by since I last blogged. I wish I knew what happened to August. It was filled with the getting ready for "back to school" craziness. I was setting up my classroom, conducting conferences with parents, and helping our new middle school teacher get settled. There are many positive things about working at a small school, but one of the unique responsibilities is having to wear a lot of hats.

Anyway, I have been reading over the last month. I am excited about choosing lots of good read alouds this year to share with my students. This week we will be talking about setting reading goals and making our lists of books we would like to read.  We also will begin a discussion of the different genres so they can think about making goals around different genres. I look forward to sharing my own reading goals and what I am reading with my students on a regular basis.  One of my goals this year is to make more of an effort to read more biographies.  I read a lot of nonfiction for grad school, but in my spare time I will always be a fiction lover.  However, I think reading more biographies will broaden my horizons as a reader. So if you have any recommendations of good biographies, I'd love suggestions.

I am going to link up with Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers for #IMWAYR to share my latest reads.

Lady Almina and the Real Downtown Abbey

I just listened to the audio version of this book after a good friend recommended the book.  I love the show, and I love history.  This is basically the history of the Highclere Castle in biographic form following Lady Almina, who was lady of the castle around the time Downtown Abbey is set. It was a highly enjoyable read, and the audio version is well done. Lady Almina's husband was also an Egyptologist who was one of the ones who found the tomb of King Tutankhamen, so the history in general in the book was very interesting.

Serafina and the Black Cloak

A couple weeks ago I read Serafina and the Black Cloak.  I thought it was an interesting story with a mix of history, fantasy, and mystery.  With thinking a lot about genre as I was preparing my lessons for this week, it got me thinking that some of my favorite books are the ones the mix genres or the lines between them are blurred. I think this is a book many students might enjoy.  It almost made me think of Brandon Sanderson's The Rithmatist, but for a younger audience and with a female protagonist.

A Tale Dark and Grimm

I have been wanting to read this book for awhile and finally got around to picking it up at the library.  It is a fun read and would make for a great read aloud for 6th to 8th graders.  It would also make for a great selection for a lesson on voice. I love fractured fairy tales and books with a fun spin on fairy tales.  This book uses a lot of wit and humor to tell a different version of Grimm's fairy tales, but makes sure to ensure the tale is "dark and grim." Throughout the entire book, the narrator warns you that it is not safe for little kids and they should turn away. I am actually teaching a grades 5/6 split class this year and have some young fifth graders, so I'm not sure I would use it as a read aloud for this group of kids.  I may do a round of literature circles though using fractured fairy tale novels such as A Tale Dark and Grimm, The Wishing Spell (The Land of Stories), and The Fairy Tale Detectives (Sister's Grimm series). There is also a new novel called Rump about Rumpelstiltskin. I need to read Rump and The Fairy Tale Detectives first though to see what I think. For my higher readers, I also could use Cinder because those books are at a higher level but still pretty clean and appropriate.

What have you been reading? Hopefully you found some time over this holiday weekend to relax and maybe get some reading in.

My Introduction to Steampunk Novels

I love historical fiction.  Historical fiction is where I began my love affair with books.  I love a book that lets me escape and challenges my imagination.  Honestly, sometimes realistic fiction is my least favorite genre of fiction - sometimes it is too real, hits too close to home.  Later on, I discovered Fantasy novels and fell equally in love.

I am always reading young adult and teen fiction. So, I recently have read a few Steampunk novels.  I may have found a new genre to love.  It's a little bit alternative history, a little bit fantasy, a little bit science fiction, and even often a little bit 19th century Victorian Romance. Here is the definition of Steampunk from Wikipedia.

If you have read a lot of Steampunk, I would love to hear some of your favorites! Here is what I have read recently:

Boneseeker by Brynn Chapman

I reviewed that one in this post.  It was an easy summer, on-the-plane read, but I didn't love it.

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross

This book is the first book in the "Steampunk Chronicles."  It is ranked high on lists of steampunk books. Here is one Steampunk list I found on Goodreads.  I finished this book over the last week. The main character finds out she has special strength and abilities, but is struggling because she has black outs.  She ends up meeting a group of other people who have special abilities.  The story is sort of a mystery meets Xmen meets Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. It was a fun story, and I'm sure I will read the rest.  However, I'm not sure I would rank it is high as many do on Goodreads. This one I would recommend for 8th grade and up or more mature 7th graders.

Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger

I am half way through this now, and I love it!  It is fun and engaging. The plot and the characters are unique.  There is a lot of satire and wit as well, which I always love in a book. The main character is 14 and too tomboyish for her parents.  She is more interested in climbing and inventions than being a lady. So she gets sent to finishing school, except the finishing school secretly trains girls to be assassins and spies. This one to me seems like you could even let 5th and 6th graders read it, especially if they were a little more mature.  This book reminds me a little bit of the Mysterious Benedict Society, primarily because you have a group of kids away at school having their own adventures. It also reminds me of The Scandalous Sisterhood of Prickwillow Place because of the wit and humor about the role of girls and women in history.  If you have not read The Scandalous Sisterhood, it is worth reading.

A couple other Steampunk books I read last year were The Clockwork Scarab and The Spiritglass Charade by Colleen Gleason.  Both of these are enjoyable reads.  I would highly recommend them. I would probably go 7th grade and up for these two. They are about the female offspring of Stoker and Holmes, and they solve mysteries.

What steampunk books have you read? Any must-reads you recommend? I would love to find some appropriate for 5th and 6th grade as well.

What I have Been Reading - July 20

I love summer!  It is a time for sleeping in and naps and books and Netflix.  Need I say more?

I have been meaning to link up for #IMWAYR for a couple weeks now.  Earlier this month we went on vacation to California where we went on a bike ride through wine country and went whitewater rafting. I have been slowly returning to the world of productivity since I returned.  What have I read recently?

Adult Audiobooks I recently listened to:

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

I really enjoyed listening to this book.  It is a dystopian novel about a group of musicians and actors who travel from town to town in a post-civilization, dystopian setting.  It almost reminiscent of a traveling carnival or circus around the Great Depression or early 1900's. Most dystopian novels focus on years or decades after civilization has fallen.  The structure of this novel flashes back and forth between pre-fall and twenty years after a plague has killed most of the planet. It deals with bigger issues of humanity and the meaning of life.  It asks questions like: What is the role of beauty and art in humanity and civilization?  The book was very well written and very unique.  I would highly recommend it.

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

I will first say this book is very long.  It will not be a light, easy read.  The audiobook was 26 discs. The novel is about a teenage boy who loses his mom under tragic circumstances and finds himself on this crazy path of loneliness, stolen art, drugs, and complicated relationships.  The book started slow in my opinion and took awhile for me to get into it, but once I did I was determined to finish. Like many long novels, at times it felt some sub-plots went on for too long.  However, overall I would recommend reading it. It is another novel that deals with greater issues on the role of beauty and love in life.  There is also a romance with the joy to be found in beautiful objects and a respect for the history of things.

Books I read:

Flora and Ulysses by Kate Dicamillo

I have been meaning to read this book for many months, and I am so glad I did.  This was the first book in a very long time to make me repeatedly laugh out loud.  The last book that made me laugh out loud was Beauty Queens by Libba Bray. I absolutely love juvenile novels with a great sense of voice and wonderful humor.  Kate Dicamillo did a fabulous job creating fun, unique characters who each have a wonderful sense of voice.  I absolutely intend to use this book as a mentor text next year.  This book alternates between a superhero squirrel's point of view and a little girl who is a self-proclaimed cynic.  It will be such a great text to use to discuss writing about small moments, voice, point of view, imagination, plot, etc. 

Graceling by Kristen Cashore

I borrowed the ebook of this novel from the library and read it on my Kindle app while I was on vacation.  I enjoyed this teen novel.  This is a fantasy novel where some in the land are given graces, which are special abilities.  The main character Katsa has been raised to believe she has the grace of being able to kill others, so her uncle who is a king uses her as an assassin and an enforcer. She meets a love interest in the novel and goes on your typical journey of self-discovery and good versus evil.  It was an easy, fantasy read and overall pretty enjoyable. 

Boneseeker by Brynn Chapman

This book is about a girl who is a scientist and finds herself in the middle of a love story and a mystery.  She is the daughter of Sherlock Holmes.  It was a fun, easy on-the-airplane read.  I do love the idea of heroines solving mysteries in a time period where women had limited roles.  If you are looking for a contemporary spin-off of Sherlock and Holmes with young heroines though, I think The Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason is a lot better novel. 

What have you been reading?

What I am Reading June 8

It is Monday, so I am linking up again for #IMWAYR.  I already am enjoying summer.  I have much more time to read when my schedule is more relaxed.

This week I read:

1. The Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

I enjoyed this story that linked history to the present.  As a reader, you were able to follow the parallel stories of a foster child and an elderly lady, who had been an orphan from the past who was shipped west on the orphan train. I do think they could have developed Molly's character (the foster child) more.  Molly learns about Vivian's story by helping her clean out her attic and ends up doing an oral history project on her for a school project. This book definitely made me want to incorporate more oral histories into my classroom.  Oral histories could offer a great day to give students opportunities to think like historians.

2. Asylum by Madeleine Roux

I wanted to read this book because I enjoyed Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  I have been very intrigued with the idea of photo text ever since I read Wright Morris' The Home Place for a class during my Master's degree.  I love the idea of juxtaposing photography with a fictional story to see how the visual and the verbal narratives interact.  Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children is a much more successful photo text than Asylum.  Asylum has an interesting concept for a plot and was an easy read, but the story is very flat with not much development of the characters.   The main character goes away to a summer college prep program for high school students.  The students are housed in an old mental asylum turned dorm.  It turns into a somewhat suspenseful mystery.

3. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

I am almost done listening to Shadow and Bone on audio.  This book I am actually really enjoying.  I generally enjoy plots that are fantasy but use historical settings you recognize.  The setting of this story is a historical Russia that is war-torn but magic plays an important role.  An orphan girl finds out she has a long dormant power and could be the secret to saving the world.  She is swept away to the palace where she finds herself in the middle of politics.  I always enjoy fantasy stories with history, magic, and a little bit of romance. I look forward to reading the next one when I finish this one.

Any good summer reads you recommend?

Texts and Lesson Ideas for Teaching Multiple Points of View (Common Core Reading Literature Standard 6)

Point of View has always been one of my absolute favorite skills to teach.  Helping students to see events from multiple points of view is a vital skill to so many learning milestones: reading abstract plots, building empathy, understanding narrators, building a conceptual foundation to history, and my list could go on.

This summer I am doing some planning for next year for grades 5 and 7, so I decided to start searching for text and lesson ideas by standard.  Standard 6 of the Reading Literature standards focuses on point of view. As you look at the wording of the standard of each grade, you can see that the concept just builds a little each year. My goal is to work on some lesson units for my store with lesson ideas by standard for middle school.

Grade 5 RL 6 - Analyze multiple accounts of the same event or topic, noting important similarities and differences in the point of view they represent.

Grade 6 RL 6 - Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.

Grade 7 RL 6 - Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.

Grade 8 - Analyze how differences in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.

Some great examples of picture books to use as a mentor text that include multiple points of view:

Voices in The Park - This is a simple story with four differ points of view on a walk in the park.

The Pain and the Great One - This is one of my favorite books to teach with because most students can relate to the idea of an annoying sibling. A brother and sister each describe one another and how they annoy each other.  This is also a great story to teach making connections.

The Day the Crayons Quit - This is a great humorous story told from the point of view of a box of crayons to explain why they have decided to quit.  I love following up this book with writing activities where students write from unique points of view.  I have a unit for this book in my TpT store for upper elementary.

Hey Little Ant - This story is told from alternating points of view between a little boy and an ant.

Teaching point of view by looking at unique points of view:

Teaching fractured fairy tales is always a fun way to teach about point of view and writing from unique perspectives. You can find many great examples of great fractured fairy tales if you search on Pinterest.

Two Bad Ants is a great book that gets kids thinking how life would be from the point of view of an ant. Getting students to write from different perspectives always produces some of my favorite writing pieces of the year.  Ask your students to write from an object's point of view or the antagonist.  Here is a lesson for using Two Bad Ants.

Some other lessons and resources from Read Write Think on point of view:

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/wolf-analyzing-point-view-23.html
http://www.readwritethink.org/parent-afterschool-resources/activities-projects/explore-point-view-fairy-30148.html
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/spend-shoes-exploring-role-265.html

Some other links I found:

Suggestions of kids and young adult novels with multiple points of view: http://thestylinglibrarian.com/2013/05/27/styling-librarian-children-books-with-multiple-points-of-view/

Suggestions of kids books on point of view: http://www.teachingkidsbooks.com/3rd-4th-grade/point-of-view

Lessons on point of view from Read Write Think for middle school students:
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/teaching-voice-with-anthony-167.html
http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/story-writing-from-object-30917.html

Resources of suggestions of short stories and lesson ideas for teaching standard 6 focusing on literary elements such as irony: 

My favorite short story from this list that I would use to teach irony and point of view is The Ransom of Red Chief. After having students read this story, we always put the kidnappers on trial to see if they were really guilty.

http://www.elacommoncorelessonplans.com/literature-reading-standards/exemplars-g-9-10/short-story-guides-lessons/teaching-irony.html
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/high-school-english-lessons/41476-short-stories-to-teach-point-of-view/
http://www.brighthubeducation.com/high-school-english-lessons/40339-short-stories-to-teach-irony/