The Otis books have become a new favorite of mine. I am ashamed to say that before Read for the Record Day I had not read any of the Otis books by Loren Long, but now they are not only read and loved by me but the students at Gwin Oaks as well.
The praise and love of picture books continues. The Otis books have become a new favorite of mine. I am ashamed to say that before Read for the Record Day I had not read any of the Otis books by Loren Long, but now they are not only read and loved by me but the students at Gwin Oaks as well.
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The students at Gwin Oaks were so fortunate to have 2 fantastic visits with Kate Messner in one day. Kate Messner is the author of several books including Capture the Flag, Eye of the Storm, and the Marty McGuire series. Our morning with Kate started off with the 4th and 5th graders. They read Eye of the Storm and Capture the Flag in their classroom book clubs. To prepare for Kate's visit they discussed and wrote questions about her life as an author, characters, and plot choices. During the visit Kate shared her writing process. Students were shown one of her manuscripts as well as how she develops her stories. She even shared the cover for her new book Manhunt. She also put a lot of minds at ease when she explained the purpose of the green duffle bag in Capture the Flag. Her answer to this was surprising, but also funny. The students who read Capture the Flag loved it so much that I bought copies of Hide and Seek, the next book in the series, so they could read it for the next book in their book club. After the 4th and 5th grade Skype visit ended 2nd graders came down for their time with Kate. They all read the 1st Marty McGuire book in their book club. They were thrilled when Kate showed them the title for the newest Marty McGuire book, Marty McGuire Has Too Many Pets and also when she was able to answer the questions they wrote in their book clubs. The highlight of the visit for all of the students though was definitely when Kate admitted she actually kissed a frog, now that's dedication to research. Thank you Kate for taking the time to talk and share your writing and stories with my students.
We continue to celebrate Picture Book Month at Gwin Oaks. Today's book trailer that was shared with students on the morning announcements is The Dark by Lemony Snicket. This is also the book that my Mock Caldecott group listened and evaluated today. Today during my read aloud for our Mock Caldecott I read That is Not a Good Idea to Mr. Sena and Ms. Anderson's 2nd grade class. They LOVED this book. They may be a little biased though since they are already huge Mo Willems fans. This is just one of the reasons I love Picture Book Month, the opportunitiy to discuss books I love with students During Picture Book Month we have a Mock Caldecott. This year students in Ms. Anderson and Mr. Sena's class are reading and evaluating 15 books on the Gwin Oaks Mock Caldecott list. Before we started I shared last year's Caldecott winner, This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen with not only the Mock Caldecott Club but with the entire school on Book Trailer Thursday. It was a perfect way to kick off Picture Book Month. Yesterday my students had the pleasure of Skyping with Megan Frazer Blakemore, author of The Water Castle. They read her book as part of our Mock Newbery and wanted to talk to her about the characters, setting, plot, and her life as an author. The students learned so much about her and her book. Some of the facts about her they found most interesting were that she was a librarian and that it took her 5 years to write Water Castle. They were also loved having their questions about the book as well as learning that her favorite Newbery book is When You Reach Me. Thank you Megan for taking the time to talk to our Mock Newbery Club. Even though Halloween has ended, I couldn't resist sharing the new Sacredy Squirrel book. I love Scaredy Squirrel and his apprehension to try new things, but then how he ends up enjoying it in the end. Although this book has only been out for a few months it has become just as beloved as the other Scaredy Squirrel in our library. This month students at Gwin Oaks Elementary will celebrate Picture Book Month. We will hold a Mock Caldecott, you can see the books chosen here. We also will be connecting with classes in other states and our own to talk about picture books. And of course the students will read, read, read. This is going to be a fun month. Let the reading begin. Watch this short video about Picture Book Month Many authors and illustrators will celebrate picture book month. Watch this video to see what Picture Book Month means to them. |
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