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Wonder
The wonder that is Wonder has hit Versailles Middle School in rural Ohio. All students in fifth through eighth grades have met Auggie and have heard his story.Our experience started one day last...
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Happy Birthday, Auggie!
Versailles Middle School has completed reading Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Even though the reading is over, the lessons and discussions continue.On October 10, sixth grade students celebrated Auggie's...
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Mal and Chad
Meet Mal. He's the cutest boy genius ever!Meet Chad. He's the funniest doggy companion ever!Meet Stephen McCranie. He's the bestest graphic novelist ever!Mal and Chad: The Biggest, Bestest Time Ever is...
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Stephen McCranie Skype Visit
My students have gobbled up the first and second books in the Mal and Chad series by Stephen McCranie. We are awaiting the third book, Belly Flop, as I type. We should get the newest book in the...
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Book Tree 2012
Last year I showed my students a picture of a book tree I had seen on the Internet. It didn't take long before we had our own book tree built in our classroom. We did the same this year.Each holiday...
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The False Prince
I first "met"Jennifer Nielsen when she graciously created a video for our middle school promoting our book fair and The False Prince."The False Prince is the thrilling first book in a brand-new trilogy...
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The Runaway King
It is appropriate that I should come back to my very neglected blog with Jennifer Nielsen's The Runaway King. The last book I posted about back in January *hanging head in shame* was The False Prince,...
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Ghetto Cowboy
"You never know what someone will do with his life once he finds himself."From G. Neri's website:"When Cole's mom dumps him in mean streets of Philly to live with the dad he's never met, the last thing...
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Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library
Wait a second. The Crossroads? Why is this post titled "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" yet The Crossroads cover is here?Good question! I loved reading The Crossroads by Chris Grabenstein. What a...
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Happy New Year...of Reading!
What better way to come back to the blog than to share the good Nerdy news...the 2014 Middle Grade Nerdies Announcement!Before I list the winners and link to the Nerdy Book Club website, I'd like to...
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Flora and Ulysses
cynic malfeasance tentative inadvertently obliged mundane smug heinous eradicate deplete literal envision treacherous vanquish stout capacious foreboding immensely perpetually...
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A Snicker of Magic
It’s about words. It’s about ice cream. It’s about magic. It’s about family. It’s about Felicity Juniper Pickle and Jonah Pickett. It’s about Frannie Jo and Mama. It’s about Miss Lawson. It’s about...
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World Read Aloud Day 2014
It has been exactly three weeks since World Read Aloud Day 2014. It's time to recap the wonderful visits that took place on the first Wednesday in March of this year.Nan MarinoAt 8:30 in the morning,...
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Friday Reading Squiggles
What fun! Last Friday, each sixth grader received a paper with a squiggle. A squiggle is nothing more than a random scribble that the students then turned into a picture or symbol about the book they...
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The Vanishing Coin
New drawings by Eric Wight? Yes, please! The illustrator of the popular Frankie Pickle series makes a return in a new series authored by Kate Egan and Magician Mike Lane. The Magic Shop series looks...
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Legend
The following book talk has been submitted by sixth grader Jaden P.Legend by Marie Lu is a dystopian book like The Hunger Games and Divergent. This book takes place in the future where everything is...
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The Candymakers
The following book talk has been submitted by sixth grader Lydia G.The Candymakers by Wendy Mass is a book about four kids: Logan Sweet, the candymaker's son; Miles O'Leary, a boy allergic to rowboats...
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Summer 2014 Bookaday
It's here! Summer! Reading! Bookaday!Here's a quick look at some books I have read so far this summer! Remember, you can get updates on Goodreads and Twitter as well.My first read this summer...
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Reading Quote
*Thanks to Augusta Scattergood for sharing this quote from Raising Readers on her Facebook page. Happy Reading!Mrs. TP.S. Reading is like breathing chocolate air!
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Death by Toilet Paper by Donna Gephart
It is sometimes quite hard to leave characters in their stories once I close the covers of a book. I feel invested in their lives; I have celebrated their successes and have sympathized with their...
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My Brother's Shadow by Tom Avery
"When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature." --Ernest Hemingway Characters. Some have a way of needling through to my heart and...
View ArticleLiterary Pumpkins
The Worch Library announced their annual Pumpkin Decorating Contest recently. Hearing that the seventh and eighth grade category was severely lacking pumpkin entries last year, I decided to issue a...
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Dear Hank Williams by Kimberly Willis Holt
March 17, 2015Dear Tate P. Ellerbee,I just now finished reading your story. I’m a sucker for stories like yours. I think if we would ever meet someday that we would become great friends.You love your...
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2015 Nerdies - Middle Grade Ficition
Happy New Year!The 2015 Nerdies in Middle Grade Fiction have been announced. Follow the link to read...
View ArticleWorld Read Aloud Day 2016 - Part One
World Read Aloud Day is one of my favorite days of the year. To spread the joy of World Read Aloud Day this year, each of my eighth grade classes paired with younger readers to share reading...
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