Happy Birthday & Fiction Friday - Chapter 2

Here is a fun fact for you -- Mr. AND Mrs. B have the same birthday! Yup, no kidding! We turned 32 today! Actually, the truth be known, the M-to-the-R-to-the-S doesn't turn 32 until late tonight where I turned 32 while I was sleeping.  We're both working today, but tonight we're headed to our favorite Japanese steakhouse to celebrate. I can't wait! I thought about doing a birthday giveaway, but I think I am going to hold out for 100 followers. I'm only 8 away! So if you're blogstalking - click the "Follow" button so you can have a chance for a fun giveaway soon! Anyhoo... on to Fiction Friday!!

The Teaching Thief just released Chapter 2 of her Fiction Friday linky party! I even found a book or two I need to add to my reading repertoire. Last week, I highlighted some historical fiction and a fantasy book, so this week I'd like to focus on a couple of my realistic fiction faves:

Jeffrey "Maniac" Magee was orphaned at age three following the tragic death of his parents. He's sent to live with his Aunt Dot and Uncle Dan who, unfortunately, do not care much for him. He runs away and later finds himself in the town of Two Mills, Pennsylvania where there is a boundary between the white West Enders and the black East Enders. Maniac meets a few new friends and encounters a few challenges along the way. Through these challenges, Maniac begins to learn more about identity and family.

There are some really heavy themes in this book: race/racism, homelessness, and individuality, just to name a few. I read this aloud to my fourth graders and sparks a lot of great conversations that lead to appreciating one another's differences and not to judging a person based on their circumstances.

Another book that's not-so-serious is...

Evan is a money-minded fourth grader and brainstorms a plan to make money over the summer by opening a lemonade stand. While he is people-smart, his sister, Jessie, is the math-brain of the family and decides to open up shop for herself. And so the lemonade war begins! This book is chock full of economic concepts and is the perfect supplement to your economics unit! Better yet, this book is a series (which I didn't know until today!). This book is the first, followed by The Lemonade Crime and The Bell Bandit. Check them out soon!

Allrighty, it's time I get off here and make a call to the lovely (note the sarcasm here) student loan people. I was denied loan forgiveness and I want to know why! Sigh... teachers should just get all their debt forgiven. Amen?!

Don't forget to link up your blog on my Bodacious Blogs page if you haven't already! All are welcome! Have a great day!

Show Me Sunday Linky!

My friends at the 3-6 Free Resources have started a great linky party focusing on great instructional websites. You can grab their badge and participate in the fun!

Check out 3-6 Free Resources!!

 I love having my kids blog on this website. It's safe, easy, and KidBlog accounts are completely free. I'm especially excited to use KidBlogs in the fall because MANY of my bloggy friends also use this. I can't wait to get a collaborative project started!!

 This is relatively new to me as one of my new co-workers recently introduced me to this site. Students can go on and play games that reinforce classroom learning. As students complete the activities and games, they earn points for prizes you set up on your class's Scootpad page. It's going to be fun exploring this site with my students in the fall!

 I love ClassDojo as a part of my classroom management. I've blogged on it before, so you can check out my post here.

  FreeRice is a great way to help your students boost their vocabulary. Students are given a word and they guess the meaning. If they get it right, grains of rice are donated to families who do not have enough food to eat. You can also play using math facts, geography, and other subjects!

 This site allows students to create word clouds to provide a fun and unique way to practice spelling, vocabulary, or even a way to discuss theme or characterization in reading. 

There so many more that I could write about, but I'll go ahead and end it here. I want to go read and see what others have put up. :) Have a wonderful Sunday!

A Little "Light" Reading

One of my favorite blogs to stalk, the Clutter-Free Classroom, is hosting a linky party about our summer reading plans, plus there's a contest for a $15 gift certificate. Woot! I just gotta link up!

Click the pic to go directly to the Linky Party & Contest!

Here's what I'm reading currently:

I am a huge Rick Riordan fan and have read the other Kane Chronicle books, so I had to get this downloaded to my Kindle. This is a great read for upper elementary grades and is FULL of Egyptian history and myth!

I plan on re-reading these two books and begin to map out what Daily 5 is going to look like in my classroom. I'm very excited because I'm going to a district where everyone does D5! It's going to be a great learning experience!

Here are a few I plan on reading this summer:

I really want to beef up my writing instruction next year, and this is a book

I keep seeing in the "blogosphere". It's got to be good!

This is another one I've heard buzz about. I've heard excellent things about Debbie Diller, so I look
forward to learning more about doing small groups more effectively. 

Ok, now it's your turn to link up and share your summer reading plans! Have a faboo Friday!!

Linky Party!!

Lorraine over at 4th Grade Froggies is hosting a linky party for all those teacher bloggers out there who teach 3rd, 4th, or 5th grades. Head on over to Fabulous Fourth Grade Froggies and link up! 

As for my little blog, I'm sorry I've been AWOL over the last few days. We're on spring break and I think I've been enjoying myself a little too much! Are you on Spring Break right now? Post a comment to tell everyone out there how you relax and rejuvenate!

Josh