Hello,
I mentioned our Sunflower Award earlier in the school year and gave a list of book titles we are reading for this. Our winner for 2016 is:
The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. (2015)
Ada was born with a club foot. Her mother is ashamed of her twisted foot and does not let Ada out of the apartment, so for ten years, Ada has been stuck there. War comes and the British children are being sent to the country to be safe. Ada’s younger brother Jamie is to go to the train station. Ada knows that her life is bad enough now with a mother who treats her cruelly, and without her brother, it will be worse, so she sneaks out and joins him. They are placed with Susan who does not seem to want them, but she does her duty to feed and clothe them and take care of them. Ada sees a pony in the pasture and learns to ride, so finally she is able to move like the wind rather than crawl around. Over time the children and Susan bond and learn to love each other.
Parts of this story are difficult to read since the children’s mother is really very cruel to Ada. Ada’s resourcefulness and grit help her get through it and the story ends well for the children.
This book won a Newbery Honor this year along with other awards and is a New York Times bestseller.
Our runner up came in very close, just a couple of votes between the two. I actually did not get a change to read it myself, but my adult reader loved it and a couple of my student readers were having difficulty choosing between it and our winner.
The runner up is:
Diary of A Waitress: the Not-so-Glamorous Life of a Harvey Girl by Carolyn Meyer
Years ago Judy Garland was in a movie about The Harvey Girls and told the story of young girls who helped settle the West by working in Harvey Restaurants along the railroads. You may have seen this movie at some point. This is another story of a girl who decided to become a Harvey girl. It is a view of a historical part of our country that we hear little about. I kept trying to read it, but both copies of our book were out for the students to read. Now, I can finally get a copy again and finish the book!
Have a great week.
Audrey
Currently Reading:
I, Q: The White House by Roland Smith
The Last Boy at St. Edith’s by Lee Gjertsen Malone
The Centurion’s Wife by Davis Bunn and Janette Oke
Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl (Audible)
The Intrusion of Jimmy by P. G. Wodehouse
The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell (Audible)
It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas
Monday, May 16, 2016
Monday, May 9, 2016
Old Magazines
Hello,
Every now and then I am asked “How long should I keep magazines issues?” or “What do I do with old magazines?”
There is a general rule for magazines as to how long to keep them. The rule is to keep them for 3 – 5 years, then discard. For the most part, this is a great rule. However, I offer some exceptions for you.
1. Certain periodicals such as Cobblestone and Faces are great resources for the curriculum, so I would keep them around like a textbook or other resource. We have copies of Cobblestone from when it was first published in 1980. Some people would also include National Geographic in this list, too.
2. There may be certain magazines that are popular with your students and they don’t care how old it is. Magazines like American Girl, Radio Control Car Action, Ranger Rick, and others just stay around here until they fall apart. We actually mend these until it is hopeless.
What can you do with old magazines? It used to be that children made posters and projects using pictures from magazines, but I seldom see this happening any longer. Children tend to get the pictures they want from the internet these days instead of magazines. Look for art projects or other activities using magazines and recycle them in your school in this way, or just discard them from the computer and put them on a table with a sign that says “FREE”. We do this here and they disappear quickly. I also put our weeded books out for free and they disappear, too.
On another note:
Someone also gave me another idea. He asked if I had ever done a post to highlight SDA authors. I have not, so I am asking you for your ideas on this. What SDA authors do you know or use in your school? What books have they written? Do they answer letters, or visit schools, or SKYPE? We can put together a list of authors for a reference.
Have a great week.
Audrey
Currently reading:
A New Song by Jan Karon
The Indiscretions of Archie by P. G. Wodehouse
The Obsession of Victoria Gracen by Grace Livingston Hill
The Last Boy at St. Edith’s by Lee Gjertsen Malone
Every now and then I am asked “How long should I keep magazines issues?” or “What do I do with old magazines?”
There is a general rule for magazines as to how long to keep them. The rule is to keep them for 3 – 5 years, then discard. For the most part, this is a great rule. However, I offer some exceptions for you.
1. Certain periodicals such as Cobblestone and Faces are great resources for the curriculum, so I would keep them around like a textbook or other resource. We have copies of Cobblestone from when it was first published in 1980. Some people would also include National Geographic in this list, too.
2. There may be certain magazines that are popular with your students and they don’t care how old it is. Magazines like American Girl, Radio Control Car Action, Ranger Rick, and others just stay around here until they fall apart. We actually mend these until it is hopeless.
What can you do with old magazines? It used to be that children made posters and projects using pictures from magazines, but I seldom see this happening any longer. Children tend to get the pictures they want from the internet these days instead of magazines. Look for art projects or other activities using magazines and recycle them in your school in this way, or just discard them from the computer and put them on a table with a sign that says “FREE”. We do this here and they disappear quickly. I also put our weeded books out for free and they disappear, too.
On another note:
Someone also gave me another idea. He asked if I had ever done a post to highlight SDA authors. I have not, so I am asking you for your ideas on this. What SDA authors do you know or use in your school? What books have they written? Do they answer letters, or visit schools, or SKYPE? We can put together a list of authors for a reference.
Have a great week.
Audrey
Currently reading:
A New Song by Jan Karon
The Indiscretions of Archie by P. G. Wodehouse
The Obsession of Victoria Gracen by Grace Livingston Hill
The Last Boy at St. Edith’s by Lee Gjertsen Malone
Monday, May 2, 2016
50 Books All (Adventist) Kids Should Read
Hello,
I love lists. I love checking things off my list. I particularly enjoy lists of books to read. If you do an internet search for books all kids should read, you will find hundreds of them and most of them will be different. It is just someone’s opinion. In looking over the lists, I would see many books that aren’t books we want in our libraries, so I decided to begin to create one for Adventist Schools.
Nearly two years ago, I send out a request for ideas of books that kids should read or be familiar with and I got some book ideas from you.
I have listed the books in a table with the title, author, grade level, and if they are Adventist published or not. I had hoped for 50 and actually got 52 and more.
Title Author Age/Grade SDA
1 The Very Hungry Caterpillar Carle, Eric Pre K – 2 N
2 Ramona the Pest Cleary, Beverly 3 – 5 N
3 Anne of Green Gables Montgomery, L. M. 5 – 8 N
4 My Side of the Mountain George, Jean Craighead 5 – 8 N
5 Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl Frank, Anne 6 – 8 N
6 To Kill a Mockingbird Lee, Harper 7 – 8 N
7 Swift Arrow Edwards, Josephine Cunnington 4 – 8 Y
8 My Bible Friends set Degering, Etta B Pre K - 2 Y
9 Messiah Thomas, Jerry D 6 – 8 Y
10 Little Women Alcott, Louisa May 5 – 8 N
11 Girl of the Limberlost Porter, Gene Stratton 7 – 8 N
12 Childhood of Famous Americans – at least a few Various authors 3 – 5 N
13 The Cay Taylor, Theodore 3 - 7 N
14 Johnny Tremain Forbes, Esther 5 – 8 N
15 Sam Campbell’s books Campbell, Sam 5 - 8 N, Y
16 Joseph Fivash, Terri 7 – 8 Y
17 The Hiding Place Ten Boom, Corrie 7 – 8 N
18 The Miracle Worker Gibson, William 5 - 8 N
19 The Adventist Girl series books Various authors 3 – 6 Y
20 Where the Red Fern Grows Rawls, Wilson 5 - 8 N
21 Caddie Woodlawn Brink, Carol Ryrie 5 – 8 N
22 Jungle Thorn Youngberg, Norma 5 – 8 Y
23 Nyla and the White Crocodile Youngberg, Norma 5 – 8 Y
24 Hatchet Paulsen, Gary 4 – 8 N
25 Any book by Eric B. Hare Hare, Eric B 5 - 8 Y
26 Snow Treasure Mcswiggan, Marie 5 - 8 N
27 Treasures of the Snow St. John, Patricia 4 - 8
28 The Witch of Blackbird Pond Speare, Elizaabeth George Speare 5 – 8 N
29 Treasure Island Stevenson, Robert Louis 5 – 8 N
30 Swiss Family Robinson Wyss, Johann David N
31 The Secret Garden Burnett, Frances Hodgson 4 – 8 N
32 Pollyanna Porter, Eleanor H. 4 – 8 N
33 The Chronicles of Narnia Lewis, C. S. 5 - 8 N
34 Little House series Wilder, Laura Ingalls 3 – 8 N
35 Red Scarf Girl Jiang, Ji-li 5 - 8 N
36 Clever Queen Hare, Eric B 5 - 8 Y
37 Heidi Spyri, Johanna 5 – 8 N
38 Harold and the Purple Crayon Johnson, Crockett K - 2 N
39 Ramona the Pest Cleary, Beverly 3 – 5 N
40 Where the Sidewalk Ends Siverstein, Shel 3 – 8 N
41 Bridge to Terabithia Paterson, Katherine 5 – 8 N
42 Bud, Not Buddy Curtis, Christopher Paul 5 – 8 N
43 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Blume, Judy 4 – 6 N
44 Esperanza Rising Ryan, Pam Munoz 5 – 8 N
45 I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World Yousafzai, Malala 5 – 8 N
46 Frindle Clements, Andrew 3 – 8 N
47 The Boxcar Children Warner, Gertrude, Chandler 2 - 4 N
48 Mr. Popper’s Penguins Atwater, Florence 2 – 5 N
49 Island of the Blue Dolphins O’Dell, Scott 5 – 8 N
50 Julie of the Wolves George, Jean Craighead 5 – 8 N
51 The Year of the Book Cheng, Andrea 3 – 6 N
52 Red Butterfly Sonnichsen, Al. L. 5 – 8 N
Thank you to those who helped create this list. I hope you enjoy it!
Audrey
Currently reading:
A New Song by Jan Karon (Book 5 of the Mitford series)
The Indiscretions of Archie by P. G. Wodehouse
The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell (Audible book)
It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas
I love lists. I love checking things off my list. I particularly enjoy lists of books to read. If you do an internet search for books all kids should read, you will find hundreds of them and most of them will be different. It is just someone’s opinion. In looking over the lists, I would see many books that aren’t books we want in our libraries, so I decided to begin to create one for Adventist Schools.
Nearly two years ago, I send out a request for ideas of books that kids should read or be familiar with and I got some book ideas from you.
I have listed the books in a table with the title, author, grade level, and if they are Adventist published or not. I had hoped for 50 and actually got 52 and more.
Title Author Age/Grade SDA
1 The Very Hungry Caterpillar Carle, Eric Pre K – 2 N
2 Ramona the Pest Cleary, Beverly 3 – 5 N
3 Anne of Green Gables Montgomery, L. M. 5 – 8 N
4 My Side of the Mountain George, Jean Craighead 5 – 8 N
5 Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl Frank, Anne 6 – 8 N
6 To Kill a Mockingbird Lee, Harper 7 – 8 N
7 Swift Arrow Edwards, Josephine Cunnington 4 – 8 Y
8 My Bible Friends set Degering, Etta B Pre K - 2 Y
9 Messiah Thomas, Jerry D 6 – 8 Y
10 Little Women Alcott, Louisa May 5 – 8 N
11 Girl of the Limberlost Porter, Gene Stratton 7 – 8 N
12 Childhood of Famous Americans – at least a few Various authors 3 – 5 N
13 The Cay Taylor, Theodore 3 - 7 N
14 Johnny Tremain Forbes, Esther 5 – 8 N
15 Sam Campbell’s books Campbell, Sam 5 - 8 N, Y
16 Joseph Fivash, Terri 7 – 8 Y
17 The Hiding Place Ten Boom, Corrie 7 – 8 N
18 The Miracle Worker Gibson, William 5 - 8 N
19 The Adventist Girl series books Various authors 3 – 6 Y
20 Where the Red Fern Grows Rawls, Wilson 5 - 8 N
21 Caddie Woodlawn Brink, Carol Ryrie 5 – 8 N
22 Jungle Thorn Youngberg, Norma 5 – 8 Y
23 Nyla and the White Crocodile Youngberg, Norma 5 – 8 Y
24 Hatchet Paulsen, Gary 4 – 8 N
25 Any book by Eric B. Hare Hare, Eric B 5 - 8 Y
26 Snow Treasure Mcswiggan, Marie 5 - 8 N
27 Treasures of the Snow St. John, Patricia 4 - 8
28 The Witch of Blackbird Pond Speare, Elizaabeth George Speare 5 – 8 N
29 Treasure Island Stevenson, Robert Louis 5 – 8 N
30 Swiss Family Robinson Wyss, Johann David N
31 The Secret Garden Burnett, Frances Hodgson 4 – 8 N
32 Pollyanna Porter, Eleanor H. 4 – 8 N
33 The Chronicles of Narnia Lewis, C. S. 5 - 8 N
34 Little House series Wilder, Laura Ingalls 3 – 8 N
35 Red Scarf Girl Jiang, Ji-li 5 - 8 N
36 Clever Queen Hare, Eric B 5 - 8 Y
37 Heidi Spyri, Johanna 5 – 8 N
38 Harold and the Purple Crayon Johnson, Crockett K - 2 N
39 Ramona the Pest Cleary, Beverly 3 – 5 N
40 Where the Sidewalk Ends Siverstein, Shel 3 – 8 N
41 Bridge to Terabithia Paterson, Katherine 5 – 8 N
42 Bud, Not Buddy Curtis, Christopher Paul 5 – 8 N
43 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing Blume, Judy 4 – 6 N
44 Esperanza Rising Ryan, Pam Munoz 5 – 8 N
45 I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World Yousafzai, Malala 5 – 8 N
46 Frindle Clements, Andrew 3 – 8 N
47 The Boxcar Children Warner, Gertrude, Chandler 2 - 4 N
48 Mr. Popper’s Penguins Atwater, Florence 2 – 5 N
49 Island of the Blue Dolphins O’Dell, Scott 5 – 8 N
50 Julie of the Wolves George, Jean Craighead 5 – 8 N
51 The Year of the Book Cheng, Andrea 3 – 6 N
52 Red Butterfly Sonnichsen, Al. L. 5 – 8 N
Thank you to those who helped create this list. I hope you enjoy it!
Audrey
Currently reading:
A New Song by Jan Karon (Book 5 of the Mitford series)
The Indiscretions of Archie by P. G. Wodehouse
The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell (Audible book)
It Ain’t So Awful, Falafel by Firoozeh Dumas
National Parks Display
Hello,
I had a brilliant idea and I just wanted to share this with you since I only have brilliant ideas a very few times each year!
Since 2016 is the centennial of the National Parks program, I am getting a display ready that will last through next December. I am putting up a map of the National Parks in the library. I bought some pins with colored flags and we will mark each park that someone in our school has visited. I’ll write names or initials on the flag of the pin. I’m trying to decide how to verify an actual park visit. Maybe I’ll have a short form for students to take home and have parents sign, or maybe it isn’t necessary. Still thinking about that, so if you have any thought or ideas for me, please let me know.
I also bought a couple of books about the national parks and I’ll have them in a prominent area for students to check out. My map has been delayed, so I can’t show you what it looks like, so look for that coming in a week or so.
If this sounds like something your school would enjoy working on, I’d like to encourage you to do it along with me.
Have a great week,
Audrey
I had a brilliant idea and I just wanted to share this with you since I only have brilliant ideas a very few times each year!
Since 2016 is the centennial of the National Parks program, I am getting a display ready that will last through next December. I am putting up a map of the National Parks in the library. I bought some pins with colored flags and we will mark each park that someone in our school has visited. I’ll write names or initials on the flag of the pin. I’m trying to decide how to verify an actual park visit. Maybe I’ll have a short form for students to take home and have parents sign, or maybe it isn’t necessary. Still thinking about that, so if you have any thought or ideas for me, please let me know.
I also bought a couple of books about the national parks and I’ll have them in a prominent area for students to check out. My map has been delayed, so I can’t show you what it looks like, so look for that coming in a week or so.
If this sounds like something your school would enjoy working on, I’d like to encourage you to do it along with me.
Have a great week,
Audrey
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)