What happens to good intentions?

So that box of wonderful books I intended to read?  Didn't happen.  I could give you a gazillion reasons why.  But really, I got caught up in the holidays, and in researching writing (as in writing middle grade or YA lit.)

I have always wanted to be a teacher.  Always.  I played teacher when I was 8 years-old.  I made floor plans of my classroom.  I created classroom schedules.   I "taught" my stuffed animals.  I even made attendance sheets.  But...

I have a secret.

I also wanted to be a writer.  My closet was filled with boxes of spiral-bound notebooks containing all of my stories.  Most of them were fanfic stuff, written before I even knew what fanfic was all about.  As soon as I got into books (about 3rd grade), I got into writing, too.  I was so inspired by the stories I read, that I wanted the stories and characters to continue.  So I continued them.  Now, series books were not exactly abounding when I was young.  There were the Little House on the Praire books, The Boxcar Children, the Chronicles of Narnia, and the "Fudge" books by Judy Blume.  My favorite was Madeleine L'Engle's Time Trilogy.  But those were about it.  Regardless, books were my inspiration, so I wrote and wrote and wrote.

Years later as a young college student, I devised this plan to teach during the school year, and write during the summer.  Great plan, right?  For someone who had NEVER ACTUALLY TAUGHT  in a classroom.  But for someone who was always thinking on the practical side, this was a logical course of action.  I figured my chances of gainful employment were greater with teaching than with writing.  And given the knowledge I had back then, I was probably right.

It's been 21 years since I graduated from college.  I've been teaching since 1998, and have been teaching at my current school since 2001. It's a unique school -- awesome environment, incredible staff -- but a lot of hard work, and not a lot of summer break.   I am happily married, and have two amazing children.  But I still have this dream of writing.

A few things helped my dream re-surface:

1. One of my students mentioned a girl's ability to fight as a quality worthy of marriage.  I blogged about it here.  It made me think about girl characters in books.
2. I was an avid reader in elementary school.  Someone very close to me is not.  This person has amazing reading comprehension skills, but is still developing fluency and reading stamina.  Some books are too long for this person, even though this person is able read it.  Just something that made me go hmmm.
3. I found out that the author of one of my current favorite reads, Divergent, is only 24 years-old.  Her name is Veronica Roth, and when I poked around her blog, I was totally inspired.  She had so many great tips!
4. I started looking up other favorite authors, and was also inspired by Jessica Day George, author of Dragon Slippers.  This inspired me, too.  She is a mom!  Like me!  It also took her nine years and 187 rejections.  (That was totally frightening -- but inspiring nonetheless).

My husband and I talked, and he has always known this dream of mine.  Our first Christmas as a married couple, he gave me a blank journal, "To write your ideas for your book," he told me.  I still have that book, but it never really got filled.  I realized I need to make the time if I want this to happen.  However long it takes.  This Christmas, he gave me a software called Scrivener.  I love it.  I'm actually using it, playing around, hashing out ideas, characters.  Maybe it will become something.  Who knows?

But I'm not giving up my day job. :)

Active Readers and Other Oxymorons

Active readers.  That may sound like an oxymoron to some. You know, like "jumbo shrimp", "pretty ugly", or -- if you know my Filipino family -- "Filipino vegetarian" (you gotta know my family to really appreciate that one).

Active would most certainly imply the exertion of some sort of energy. Readers bring to mind those in a sedentary state -- pensive, but motionless. Take a look at this group of children:

They are all reading. Every. Single. One. Better yet: they are all actively involved in their reading. They read eagerly, discuss the events in their books, and share with each other their enthusiasm for what they've read.

I LOVE that my class -- my wonderful full-inclusion mix of a class with autism spectrum disorders, learning disabilities, and typical kids growing all together --has learned to love reading in whatever manner they can. Some read through pictures, others retell stories we've read together, others practical inhale the books they read.  They didn't all start out this way. To be honest, many of the kids in my class were reluctant readers. Oh, I still have a few of them, but they have ALL learned to find a book or magazine in my class that they enjoy. And I'm ok with that. I feel like I've planted a seed, and it has started to grow before I expected it. I'm so excited!

Some of My Favorite Read Alouds

Everybody loves a good book -- even kids.  One of the things we always talk about in class is how books are like movies in your head.  I love it when my students clap at the end of a good book, the same way we clap at the end of a good movie.  This happened recently when we just finished the book, Holes by Louis Sachar.  Before that, they applauded when we finished Number the Stars by Lois Lowry.  And before that, they cheered, sighed, smiled, and clapped for Frindle by Andrew Clements.

I have a few books that are my "go-to" read alouds each year.  My goal is for all my students (those who already love to read, and those who struggle with reading) is to learn that books are fun!  Reading is fun!  

Here are some of the ones I use to get my students interested...

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

For the past few years, I have begun our read aloud for the school year with Harry Potter.  There are so many reasons I love Harry Potter:  the plot, setting, and characters are so vivid and rich.  Many of them have already seen the movie, so it is a great book to do a lesson on contrast and comparison.  The 2 main reason I love it is because 1) it is easy to get hooked, and 2) it is the beginning of a series book.  And in case you're wondering...I only read aloud the first book in a series.

Read about Harry here...

Frindle by Andrew Clements

I am a HUGE Andrew Clements fan.  All his stories have a child who does something pretty incredible (with the minor help of an adult in some fashion).  He has captured the school experience from a child's point of view, and it is total fun.  Frindle is a great way to teach students about the power of words.  It is also one of the few books we've seen that explains cause and effect so clearly.  Every year we've read this, the kids laugh, question, create words, and cheer!

Learn about the power of words and Frindle here...

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry

One of the things I try to do is make sure I vary the genres we read from. I also try to make sure we read stories where a girl is the main character.  Until recently, that was not always easy to find.  Every year we have read this, I have had at least 1 student ask me if it was made into a movie.  Lois Lowry does such an amazing job of crafting this story in a way that you assume it was made into a movie.  I mean, seriously -- a girl who helps her family with a covert activity to hide her best friend from the Nazis??  The students are riveted the whole way -- and are even amazed to learn of the true events that inspired the tale. 

Read about Number the Stars here...and about the Danish Resistance here

Holes by Louis Sachar

As much as I love series books because they hook a student into wanting to read more, I admire stories that leave you feeling as satisfied with the one story as if you'd read a whole trilogy.  I stand amazed at the way this story is woven with a back story until it comes full circle.  Like I said above, my class clapped when we finished, and one girl said, "I have a new favorite book!"

Read about Holes here...

Gregor the Overlander by Suzanne Collins

Yes, that Suzanne Collins (author of The Hunger Games).  I, personally, think the kids in my class are too young for the themes in The Hunger Games (just my opinion).  However, if you want something a little more appropriate for a younger audience -- Gregor the Overlander is it.  Think of it as Chronicles of Narnia with a twist.  We are reading it right now, and I'll let you know what they think when we're done.

Learn more about Gregor and his adventures here...

So this is by no means a comprehensive list. It pretty much takes us from the beginning of the school year to Winter Break.   I also realize that most of the books feature boys as the main character.  I'll post later about my favorite books with female protagonists.

 In the mean time, what are your favorite read aloud books?  Please feel free to share them with me!