Green River Reads

Sadly, I had to remove the post about our “Endpaper Artists” from the blog. I included some beautiful pictures drawn by our kindergarten class, but found that the pictures took too much of my blogspace. This made the blog log too slowly which was frustrating to us all. I’m debating about upgrading my blog to get more power. I’d like to say I’m sorry to the artists for removing their beautiful works of art.

Green River Reads was born 4 months ago when I got the idea to start a blog to enable us to have a conversation about the books we were reading. What started as an experiment has become a very rewarding and interesting project. In the past 4 months I have found I like the blog for these reasons:

- It was a way for me to have a conversation with you.

- It is a way to provide links for use in class, in school and at home.

- It is a place to showcase your work.

- It is a way for us to have an interactive experience and explore new technology.

- It is a way for you to give me feedback. Thanks for all the nice comments you have sent.

 I’d like to know how you feel about the blog after using it for the past few months. What would you like to see on the blog? How would you like to use it? I welcome your thoughts.

The address for this blog will go home with report cards. I hope that families will sign on at home, feel free to add comments and link to our great learning resources.

The first in what I hope will be a series of Enola Holmes mysteries, The Missing Marquess is a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Enola Holmes is the younger sister of Sherlock Holmes and just as clever. If you liked the puzzles and codes in Chasing Vermeer and The Wright 3 you may also enjoy the clues in this book.

Was it by chance that Scholastic Book Club recently offered these books? At any rate, I’ve ordered a copy of The Wright 3 and The Missing Marquess for our library. I look forward to your opinions.

A lovely student of mine has recently been reading books from the series “The Saddle Club.” I offered to look for a list of the books so that she could keep track of which books she has read and which she wants to check out. This is a system which has worked well for others reading “The Boxcar Children” or “The Baby-sitter’s Club” series.

While I didn’t come up with just the list I was looking for, (still working on that), I did find some really fun websites for fans of the books. I have added a categories of links on the right entitled Book Websites. It will be fun to add sites here. Please add your comments here about websites you would like to see included, books you hope have websites and any other thoughts you have about this. I hope you will enjoy this section.

It’s in the air. The snow storm we have waited for all winter is on it’s way.  So, tell us about your favorite books about snow, books to read on a snowy day or valentine’s day favorite books.

 For me, there is no question. My favorite “snow” book is Snowy Day, by Ezra Jack Keats.

I have just finished reading Adele & Simon. Set in Paris, the book follows Adele as she picks her brother up from school and tries to keep him from loosing his things. She does not succeed. The book reminds me of two of my favorite picture books. Madeline by Ludwig Belmelmans features famous places in Paris for the background pictures and this book is very similar. The dense illustrations which one has to search to find the missing item remind me of  Where’s Wallace by Hilary Knight.

The book is beautifully illustrated and a lot of fun to look through. I would recommend this book to those who like to find things in hidden pictures, beatiful illustrations and a funny story. 

Bookshelf is the place where we can write about books we are reading or want to read. This is a place for book reviews written by us. Share your thoughts about the books you are reading and read the thoughts of others.

Yesterday was a big day for librarians. It was the day the winners of the Caldecott Award and the Newberry Award were announced.

David Wiesner won the Caldecott Award for his book “Flotsam.” You can see the book if you click the title.

Susan Patron won the Newbery Award for “The Higher Power of Lucky.” You can see the book if you click on the title.

Blogs are wonderful tools for sharing ideas. Green River Reads is a way for me, the librarian/ technology teacher, to share ideas with students, teachers, parents, administrators and other interested parties. I will post ideas in this area. If you wish to comment, click on ”comments” and leave your comment. I’m looking forward to the conversation. 

 You may also notice the blogroll in the right hand column. There are many links to resources we use to support our learning in the library.