Goodreads Challenge 22/85: Henry Huggins

Henry Huggins by the prolific children's writer Beverly Cleary is a cute book.  I read it to evaluate its appropriateness for my class.  Written in episodic form, this book presents clever situations written in very simple language.  I think it would be more appropriate for a third grade class than my fourth graders.

Goodreads Challenge 21/85: Maniac Magee

Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli is a Newbery Award-winning book and comes up on every list of books that kids should read.  I totally agree!  This book tackles some pretty major issues, including racism, homelessness, and family.   It does so with complex characters, clever situations, and plenty of humor.

I mentioned the book to Santino after I had just read it.  He picked it up to read a few pages and didn't put it down until he finished two hours later.  That's a pretty good endorsement.

Maniac Magee is another book I'm considering for my class. I think they'll love it, although they will need a lot of help with some of the more serious angles.

Goodreads Challenge 20/85: The Witches

Roald Dahl is so fun to read.  The villains are really revolting.  The good guys have heart.  The Witches is particularly fun to read because it makes you wonder about all those ladies wearing gloves and hats!

In my grand search for a class set of books for my kids to read, this tops the list.  Parts of it are difficult--when the Grand High Witch talks, she has a thick accent that is played out in the spelling of her speech. But I think my kids are up for the challenge, especially for such a fun book.  This book also gives nice contrast to Stuart Little, which we just finished.  Mice play an important role!

Goodreads Challenge 19/85: The Death and Life of the Great American School System

Being entrenched in the world of No Child Left Behind, I had a difficult time reading The Death and Life of the Great American School System.  Not difficult--depressing.  Under the behemoth of NCLB it's really hard to be hopeful about the future of public education.  Everyone who is worried about their child's test scores should read this book and re-think their priorities.

Goodreads Challenge 18/85: Dead Until Dark

I love the series True Blood and decided to read the book from which it came, Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris.  If you like vampires, Dead Until Dark (book 1 of the Sookie Stackhouse mystery series) is fun, but non well-written.  Not as bad as Twilight, not as good as anything by Anne Rice.  I'd say that in this case--it's better to see the movie than read the book.  If you're a fan of the show, maybe read this book just to compare it.  I probably won't read any more in the Sookie Stackhouse series unless I get laid up sick in bed for several weeks and need instant gratification through the Kindle.

Goodreads Challenge 17/85: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

I've been looking for a classic of children's literature for my kids to read in a couple of weeks.  My goal is to get them used to reading chapter books.  Right now we're reading Stuart Little.  The chapters are fairly short, and there are only 15 of them.  The kids love reading a chapter book together!

Anyway, Santino recommended From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg for my class.  It's a really clever book, smart protagonists, and full of wonderful detail and surprises.  I think it's a little too advanced for my kids, though.  It's not just the level of the vocabulary.  There are numerous tiers of references in this book, from New York landmarks to classic works of art.  And certainly this would be a great opportunity for my kids, but the book is just a little too long.  If it were about 60 pages shorter, I would do it now.  Maybe we can read it at the end of the year, by which time they will have worked up their stamina for reading longer books.

Yeah.  I think that's a worthy goal to work for.

Goodreads Challenge 16/85: The Hound of the Baskervilles

Guess who the most significant character is in The Hound of the Baskervilles?

It could be Dr. Watson, who embarks on the adventure through most of the book by himself, relating his findings to Sherlock Holmes (presumably stationed in London) via diary entries and letters.

It could be Sir Henry Baskerville, who has inherited a great fortune and responsibility in the form of Baskerville Hall and all the charitable holdings and ambitions of his uncle Sir Charles Baskerville.

Or--could it be Sherlock Holmes himself, considered to be one of the great literary characters of all time?

No--the most significant character in this story is the setting, the moorlands of Devon.  The lands of Dartmoor pose threats to the villagers and add suspense to the story.  Peat bogs, rocky tors, and Bronze age stone huts control the direction and tenor of this story.  I've traveled to Bath twice, which is just northeast of Devonshire, and I'm sorry I missed out on visiting this Bronze age treasure.  I'll put it at the top of my list for the next time.

As you read this book, you can't hep but be reminded of the movie An American Werewolf in London.  "Stay on the road, keep clear of the moors."  So true, so true.

Everyone should read this story, where the location becomes a formidable force in the direction of the plot.

Goodreads Challenge 15/85: Everwild

I am ever so wild about the "Skinjacker" series by Neal Shusterman.  Everwild takes us towards the west (but not west of the Mississippi) as our ghostly heroes gather troops for the final battle.  Special guest stars include the original Ferris Wheel in Chicago, the Hindenberg, and Graceland.  Child ghosts called "Afterlights" take sides as the forces of good (led by the Chocolate Ogre) shore up their battlements against the forces of evil (led by Mary Queen of Snots).

Did I mention that Santino forced me to read the Everlost books?  The plot of Everwild takes so many twists and turns, that by the time you get to Memphis at the end, you really can't put the book down until you finish.  I stole (or should I say jacked) a few minutes of time this morning at 6:00 am before school to read a tumultuous chapter, highly climatic, lots of karma dealt out--and finally I screamed out, "Ahhhhh!  I can't believe they did that!!"  (I won't spoil it here.)  And Santino said, "See Mom??!!! See why I wanted you to read these books?  And I had to wait a WHOLE MONTH for you to read it!!!"

The Skinjacker series is fun to read--it takes a refreshing look at death, ghosts, and the afterlife.  What's the biggest problem?  The third book in the series, Everfound, comes out May 3.  Santino has pre-ordered it on his Kindle, but that just means the book is in a purgatory ghostlike state for the next three months.  Kind of like the Afterlights in Everwild.  Until then, we can only dream about the Chocolate Ogre.

Goodreads Challenge 14/85 Esio Trot

When I first saw this Roald Dahl title, Esio Trot, I thought it was about an Italian boy named Esio!  Turns out it's "tortoise" spelled backwards.

Anyway this is a cute and clever story, although its main throughline of deception makes it a little dodgy as a children's book.

Goodreads Challenge 13/85 Stuart Little

Last August, Anne and I went shopping at the Scholastic Warehouse in Duarte.  It's exactly what you think it would be:  tall Kafkaesque stacks of books towering above you, begging to be taken home.  If you are a book addict, this is not the place for you. A trip to the Scholastic Warehouse will put a dent in your wallet and also your shelving at home.

Anyway, we really scored when we found the book Stuart Little by E. B. White for $1.  Not to miss an opportunity, we bought a class set for the school.  What a perfect lesson for the kids--read the book, then watch the movie to see what's missing from the book.

Like the mouse, Stuart Little is a whisp of a book that fit easily in my small backpack.  So I brought it everywhere, read it in doctors' waiting rooms, whipped it out in lines at Target.  It's perfect for choppy reading, too.  Each chapter contains its own little story about the adventures of a mouse entrenched in the world of humans.

Stuart Little is clever and well-written.  My students will certainly enjoy it, especially when we make the side-by-side comparison to the movie.  Thank you for another winner, E. B. White!

Goodreads Challenge 12/85: Everlost

Ooohhhhhhh Neal Shusterman, my life was so drab and dreary before I found you.  I admit it--he is definitely my new literary addiction.  Even his mediocre books (e.g. The Eyes of Kid Midas) are fun to read.  Santino encouraged--no, forced--me to read Everlost by Mr. Shusterman because he wanted to talk about it.  I can see why--Shusterman makes so many references to modern culture that it's hard to avoid thinking about it.

Everlost is a ghost story for kids.  Where kids are the ghosts.  It's a great treatment of the afterlife, or in this case, purgatory.  In the land of Everlost, more than kids can become ghosts, though.  Buildings, pieces of furniture, toys, and even food can make it to the eternity of the afterlife--as long as those items were well-loved.

Poor lost souls permeate the pages of this book, and there are also a lot of Percy Jackson moments.  It's time for the next installment.

Step aside, Stephen King--Neal Shusterman has taken your place!

Testing First, Learning Second

It's time for a rant about testing again.

Fourth grade math is tough.  Kids have to learn double digit multiplication, long division, negative numbers, decimals--conceptually there are many difficult standards to cover during the year.

We've been plugging through the material, and many of my kids have been struggling with double digit multiplication.  Sometimes they forget to regroup (we called it "carrying" in the stone ages), occasionally they forget to multiply the tens place (the second row), and usually they forget to plunk down that zero in the one's place on the second line.  Whatever the problem, they need lots of reteaching and practice.

Double digit multiplication was Chapter 6.  Right now we're doing fractions in Chapter 9.   However, I've been reviewing multiplication continually through every chapter since the sixth.  Anyway, I gave the kids a quiz last week on multiplication.  Ten of the kids failed!  The rest (18) passed with flying colors.

I told the kids who failed that we would review and review, and then they could retake the test and replace their score.  In the meantime, the advanced kids can get extended enrichment lessons.  Then--I looked at our testing calendar.

According to the the school district's testing calendar, we have to administer a quarterly math test in two weeks.  That test will not include double digit multiplication (they were tested on that in November).  They will be tested on geometry, long division, fractions, and decimals.

First--if my kids are struggling with multiplication, do you really think they've mastered long division?
Second--we haven't even started decimals!

Misery loves company, though--the other fourth grade teachers are in the same boat.

But no worries!  We'll cram all of that in next week.  Forget about mastering multiplication.  Don't worry about understanding the concepts.  We'll gloss over the material on decimals and cross our fingers.  Taking the school district's mandated tests is much more important than mastery of the mathematics standards.

Hang on tight--it's going to be a bumpy ride.