IT'S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING? --CLASSROOM EDITION

So, I thought it would be more fun to share a few of the books we read in our classroom this week. Every book on this list is a MUST-HAVE, CAN'T-DO-WITHOUT book!

Thanks to Jen and Kellee for hosting IT'S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?

In read aloud, we are reading Capture the Flag by Kate Messner. This is the perfect pick for 4th graders. They love the story and are excited about the mystery. We have had fun talking about the characters!  The setting of an airport is perfect.

I launched this week's Writing Workshop with a new picture book that I fell in love with immediately. Laugh-Out-Loud Baby by Tony Johnston is one of my new favorites.  This is the story of a baby who laughs out loud for the firs time The whole family comes to celebrate.  The language is amazing and the illustrations by Stephen Gammell are incredible. This book ranks right up there withThe Relatives Came for me. I loved the author's note at the end of the book that talks about the tradition of celebrating a baby's first laugh. This book was a great book for writing workshop. It is also a great book to read when you need a smile. A definite new favorite!


We also read A Bus Called Heaven by Bob Graham. I love all of his work and this is the newest one of his I've found.  We have been talking about what it means to be a leader and this book invited great conversation about what it meant to be a leader.  I had shown this video clip earlier in the week and talked about leadership around that. This book naturally invited a conversation around what it means to make a difference, to be a leader. It was great talk. I loved what the kids said about being a leader and about making a positive difference.

I also shared another old favorite that I LOVE. All the Places to Love by Patricia Maclachlan is one of my all time favorite picture books and I love it every time I share it with a new group of children.  It is one of those books I could read a million times, no doubt!  The conversations around the book is always a rich one.

And I shared  Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs: As Retold by Mo Willems. We had a great time with this book. They were thrilled to have the new hot-off-the-press book and loved the humor and the way the story was told. And of course, we had fun finding the pigeon. Mo Willems just doesn't let us down--whether we are 5 years old, 10 years old or much much older.