Monday, February 20, 2017

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR 02/20/17


It's Monday! What are you reading? was started by Sheila at Book Journey and was adapted for children's books from picture books through YA by Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee of Unleashing Readers. You can visit either site for a round up of blogs sharing their weekly readings and thoughts or search Twitter for #IMWAYR.



Last Week's Posts

      • Diverse Books for Children: Love. We could all use a little more LOVE in the world. Come share your love-themed posts or find some great recommendations with #diversekidlit! 

      Young Adult



      The House on Mango Street (1990) by Sandra Cisneros. Every single one of the incredible vignettes in this book could be a mentor text for writing. (For years with my third graders I used both "Papa Who Wakes Up Quiet in the Dark" and "Laughter.") We are winding down our reading and analysis unit of this book in seventh grade, and it has spurred so many important and thoughtful conversations - about identity, about stereotypes, about the struggles of being an adolescent, and more. I am looking forward to reading my students' final analysis papers!


      The Surrender Tree: poems of Cuba's struggle for freedom (2008) by Margarita Engle [Newbery Honor book]. This powerful novel-in-verse is the first in Margarita Engle's series about Cubans and Cuban history. It covers the 1850s to 1899 and includes several of the wars fought for Cuban Independence from Spain. We have been listening to the audio book and then reading it aloud, which forces students to slow down and really savor the words, language, and rhythm of this book.

      Happy Reading!

      8 comments:

      1. I only recently read The House on Mango Street and really enjoyed it.

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      2. I think I have used House on Mango Street as a mentor text every semester that I've been a teacher! So many amazing pieces there. Are you familiar with Lindsey Rose's work with her 5th graders in Chicago? They wrote a collective essay inspired by "Those Who Don't" that was published in the Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-elementary-children-violence-chicago-0728-20140725-story.html

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        1. Thank you so much for this! We are actually working on a collective class project (based on this book and our study of family history), so the timing is perfect.

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      3. These both sound good. I have them in my Media Center but haven't read either. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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      4. I actually haven't heard of either of these books! :'( Going straight on the library website to order both!

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      5. I used House on Mango Street often as a mentor text, Katie. It is full of gems. My students were especially inspired by her piece about her name. And I love The Surrender Tree, illuminating the history that we didn't know before.

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      6. House on Mango Street is a timeless classic - I've shared so much of this book with my students, and always with success.

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      7. Great choices, Katie. The House on Mango Street is on my TBRR (To Be Re-read) list. I'm a huge fan of Margarita Engle's books, but I haven't read The Surrender Tree yet. Will add that to my stack.

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