What Are Your Reading Today? It's not a secret

I dropped by Mrs Kay's literacy class (Mrs. Callahan's homeroom) today and talked books with Haley and Luka.


Paxton and Cameron stopped by too.

The Book Covers.

Preview and Review

Have you visited the newest attraction in the library? Come by the Preview and Review shelf to look at books being published later this spring and summer. After you read these preview copies write a review for fellow students and the publishers. (See Mrs. Johnson or Mr. Cox for forms).

Sailing the Unknown

Would you dare to sail a ship where no one had gone before? In 1768 an eleven year old boy did with a world famous explorer.

When I say "explorer" what names come to your mind?  How about  James Cook?  He traveled all over the globe in the 1700s - an interactive map will show you the routes.  Many times he and his crew didn't know what they would find or the best route to take.

The library has a new picture book about his adventures from 1768 to 1771. We learn more about the adventures aboard the Endeavor through the journal entries of the youngest crew member, eleven year old Nicholas Young.  The author, Michael J. Rosen, used research to imagine the perspective Nicholas would have on the real historical events the crew encountered.   All kinds of activities and information are available here: http://bit.ly/11yitmk

 Take a preview here (click on the images to look inside the book).   The illustrator, Maria Pritelli, paints the scenes as well as text features (maps, cross sections).

****BE SURE TO READ THE COMMENT TO THIS POST FROM AUTHOR MICHAEL J. ROSEN.****

Just in case you haven't seen it here is a short video about the most common text features from a social studies unit.

Read Everything and Decide

Children's Book Week is coming up in May.
Check out the newest display of finalists for the Children's Choice Book Awards (this is like the national version of our Iowa Children's Choice Award.)

Read as many of these as possible and vote by May 9th.

Here is the link to vote: http://www.bookweekonline.com/voting