Happy Birthday to Margaret Petersen Haddix!

I've started having my "Social Media Team" create videos for author birthdays and we post them to Instagram. Here'e the one they created for Margaret Petersen Haddix.

Happy Birthday

They were so excited to do it because we just finished reading one of her older books, Running Out of Time. If you scroll down on the post, you'll see that she replied - they were over the moon!

I've been reading this treasure to my 4th graders for years and, as time goes by, I have to explain more and more about the 1990's to my students, but it's always worth it.

Haddix is well-known for both her Missing series and her Shadow Children series, all of which I recommend for young adult and middle grade readers. 

Be sure to visit her website. Her bio is interesting and kid-friendly, there's great interview in which she talks about herself as both a reader and a writer, and much more. 

Our class is in the middle of Dear Mr. Henshaw right now, so I was delighted to see a link on her site that says "Writing a Report? Here's some quick information about me." I laughed out loud.

Happy Birthday, Doreen Cronin!

My "Social Media Team" posed for this birthday wish for one of our favorite authors - Doreen Cronin.

Edit: Boy, were they excited to see her reply!

Happy Birthday, Sid Fleischman!

When I taught 4th grade in California, we read this book every year in conjunction with our Gold Rush unit. Now that I teach in Washington, I can't break the habit and guess what? My students love the book just as much as my California kids, and I love having the opportunity to share the history of my hometown with them.

Thank you, Sid Fleischman, for a well-told tale that stands the test of time and...geographical location.

Tomie dePaola St. Patrick's Day Trio

Tomie dePaola is known for sharing tales from both his Irish heritage and his Italian heritage. I admire his love for his roots and have enjoyed many of his books over the years. (I'm a Strega Nona fangirl!)

In class, I've been reading St. Patrick's Day books during snack time since the beginning of the month. We've had the opportunity to read not one, not two, but THREE of his St. Patrick's Day books.

First, we read Jamie O'Rourke and the Big Potato. Jamie O'Rourke is known far and wide as the laziest man in Ireland. His long-suffering wife, Eileen, does everything that is necessary for them to survive. When Eileen's back goes out, Jamie is faced with the reality of having to provide for them. Let's just say he doesn't handle it in the conventional way :)

Later, we read Jamie O'Rourke and the Pooka. Jamie is back and still the laziest man in Ireland. Eileen goes on a trip and leaves Jamie to contend with the daily chores, and he responds by deciding to stay in bed the entire time she is gone. As we all know, the best laid plans... and his pals show up to whoop it up in Eileen's absence. When Jamie wakes the next morning, the whole house is clean and he decides to try his luck again and discovers a pooka has been doing his chores. Hmmmm, how will Jamie respond to this good news?

These girls 😍 Both of these books are illustrated in dePaola's trademark style, using a St. Paddy's palette.

To top off our week, we read Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland, dePaola's retelling of the life of St. Patrick. We learned about his life from the time he was captured to be a slave until his death. Be prepared to explain religious vocabulary - most of my students didn't have a frame of reference for missionary, bishop, patron saint, etc...

We had a great follow-up discussion the next morning during our Morning Meeting about how brave he was and what it means to be brave. I showed them this video and asked them to look at what people were writing on the signs. We talked about how bravery is not just about risking your life for something you believe in, but we are brave whenever we do something we know is right even though it frightens us or makes us uncomfortable.

I'll bet your local library has these on the shelves!

If you're looking for a fun, easy prep St. Paddy's math activity, head on over to my TPT store! I've got Lucky Charms math packs for bother upper and lower elementary classes.

Looking for more St. Patrick's Day book suggestions? Click here.
And here
And here
And one more

The Littlest Leprechaun

We've started reading a St. Patrick's Day book a day to get in the spirit of the Emerald Isle. I use my "legendary" Irish accent for the dialog, which amuses my 4th graders ;)

Most of my books aren't new to me, so it was nice to find this one. The Littlest Leprechaun by Brandi Dougherty. As teachers, we often read aloud the same books year after year, and it's always nice to read something new to freshen it up for our own sakes.

This St. Patrick's Day tale is different from all the others I own because it doesn't focus on humans trying to catch leprechauns and how tricky leprechauns can be. Instead, we get the fun of having a window into a delightful little leprechaun village.

It is a story about Liam, the youngest leprechaun in a family of busy, hard-working leprechauns. All he wants to do is find a way to be helpful in his village, but very time he tries to help someone, it turns out that he is too small to do the work they are doing.

Of course, Liam's size eventually proves to be a blessing when Clover the unicorn gets into a jam. The whole village, with the exception of "the grumpy leprechaun," learns that even the littlest leprechaun is valuable to their village.

Michelle Lisa Todd's illustrations are darling! Filled with all the St. Paddy's colors, they make the reader wish to be right there on the page with leprechauns.

If you're looking for a fun, easy prep St. Paddy's math activity, head on over to my TPT store! I've got Lucky Charms math packs for bother upper and lower elementary classes.

Looking for more St. Patrick's Day book suggestions? Click here.
And here
And here
And one more

Author Visit: Lynn Brunelle

Our school Science and Maker Fair is coming next week! Our PTO sponsors it and runs it, so as teachers we just get to enjoy it :) They wanted to get the students excited about it, so they invited local author, Lynn Brunelle, to visit and share some of her love for science with our students today.

We had so much fun with her! She shared her books with us, including her soon-to-be-released Turn This Book Into a Beehive. I found out that she used to write for the Bill Nye show (fangirl alert)!

She did some simple, interesting experiments with the students, which reminded me how much they enjoy simple things. We often feel the pressure to provide rigor and push them beyond their current grade level requirements, but she didn't use a single piece of expensive equipment, she just brought:

• eggs
• Ziploc bags
• hairdryer
• rubbing alcohol
• candle
• match
• food coloring
• vegetable oil
• corn syrup
• roll of toilet paper
• pencil
• ping pong ball
• water
• narrow-necked glass jar

With this relatively short list of have-at-home materials, she helped the children complete 8 experiments.

My class says they particularly liked these two experiments best:

Egg Sucking Bottle

Density Tower - she only did 4 layers with the water, rubbing alcohol, corn syrup and vegetable oil, but you'll get the idea.

Follow this link to see all of Lynn's books, and be sure to look for her on YouTube!

The Sign of the Beaver

Our class is finishing up our historical fiction genre study and this is the book I've been reading aloud to them during lunch each day. I've been using this in my 4th grade classes for years and every time I read it, I remember all the reasons I enjoy it so much. By time we reached chapter 3, this year's class was completely engrossed and silent as I read (not a state in which they typically exist ;)

1. Elizabeth George Speare - this author has historical fiction chops! This novel won 3 awards: a Newbery Honor Citation, the Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, and the Christopher Award. She also received the Laura Ingalls Wilder (pause here for appropriate fangirl dance) for her "enduring and distinguished contribution to children's literature." Other well-known works are The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Calico Captive, and The Bronze Bow.

2. This story absolutely entrances children. I'm never sure how each class will respond, after all, this was published well before 9 year-olds began dressing and behaving like celebutantes. But Speare is a master storyteller who does not indulge in protracted descriptive paragraphs that young readers typically skim or ignore. Using direct language sprinkled with some vivid figurative language, she crafts a tightly woven story of friendship, prejudice, and growing up. Readers will be holding their breath to see how things turn out for our hero, Matt.

Twelve year-old Matt is left in the Maine territory to watch over his family's new home while his father returns to Massachusetts to fetch the rest of the family - mother, sister, and brand new baby.

While he waits, and the expected 6 weeks turn into months, Matt is robbed, has a life-threatening accident, and discovers that the nearby Native Americans - the clan of the Beaver - have been watching him and saved his life. He and the chief's grandson are forced to spend time together and grow from grudging companions into true friends.

The events have led to interesting discussions in our class about differences in lifestyle between then and now, attitudes toward Native Americans (called Indians throughout this novel) at the time, the instinct for survival, and honoring our responsibilities.

If you haven't read this book, check it out of your local library today! It will be well worth your time.