Finally! Jake's class is about to celebrate its 100th day of school by bring in the 100-thing collections they've been gathering all year. Jake's collFinally! Jake's class is about to celebrate its 100th day of school by bring in the 100-thing collections they've been gathering all year. Jake's collection is cool--a scrapbook of 100 memories. But, then he leaves home without it. All around him a children with their collections of paper clips, pennies, and buttons. Jakes feels horrible. Luckily his principal helps him put together a substitute collection and the day is saved. And the next morning he brings in his project, with one addition--the photo he took of the celebration--so that he now has a 101 Memories Book.
I used this in a reading tutoring session with a second grader who's good at math. We had fun counting the crayons and other collections in groups of ten. But what I liked best about the book was Jake's amazing teacher, who makes every day special for his students. ...more
An odd thing happened to me as I read on in The Secret place, a murder mystery which takes place in a posh Dublin boarding school for teenage girls. IAn odd thing happened to me as I read on in The Secret place, a murder mystery which takes place in a posh Dublin boarding school for teenage girls. I found I really didn’t want to know who dun it. To be fair, I had a pretty strong hunch who the killer was. The architecture of the book and the similarities of her closely bonded characters to those in The Likeness had me on the scent much earlier than usual. But I think that when the author falls in love with her characters as much as French does, it skews the book. I had to remind myself that even those these young women were amazing, it really wouldn’t be a good thing for the murderer to escape detection. Still, kudos to her for getting it so right about how close friends can be at that age and how far they’ll go to protect each other. ...more
A little Tracy Kidder, a little Frank McCourt. Brooke Hauser follows immigrant teens through a year at the International High School at Prospect HeighA little Tracy Kidder, a little Frank McCourt. Brooke Hauser follows immigrant teens through a year at the International High School at Prospect Heights as they learn how to speak English and how to eat pizza in the cafeteria. (Hint: not with a spork.) Their tales are heart-wrenching (the Tibetan boy who crossed the border in a suitcase) and inspiring (the Chinese girl whose step-mother kicked her out of the family home the day she arrived in New York but who graduated with honors and a place at Drexel University.) The book left me with a profound respect for the students' hard work and their teachers' dedication. I finished New Kids yesterday and I've already talked it up to my husband, my sister, and two people at church....more
Juanito has spent his childhood following his campesino parents as they work the fields of California. But now Juanito is eight and Mama Lucha has decJuanito has spent his childhood following his campesino parents as they work the fields of California. But now Juanito is eight and Mama Lucha has decided it's time for him to go to school. Juan Felipe Herrera uses his poet's palette of words to show how it feels to go to school for the first time, especially when English is your second language. ...more
Loading...
