It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 3.21.16

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is an opportunity for everyone to share their book journeys: where we've been for the week and where we plan to go next. To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? with a kidlit focus, jump over to Jen Vincent's blog, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee Moye's blog, Unleashing Readers.

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It's spring break here on the Oregon coast. We started out our break at our local public library. Here's the Vine of our visit today:

https://vine.co/v/id3BiPXOIQF  

I'm spending my break trying to get our house super cleaned, walls painted before new carpet is installed (lofty goal), and get our taxes taken care of. I'm struggling with paint colors - I'm kind of a neutrals person and we have limited access to paint options that don't break the bank. As a family, reading is a big part of what we do...the break just gives us time to begin and end our days in our leisurely manner with books. :)

I misplaced my copy of Circus Mirandus and found it buried under one of the piles I cleaned up. This book is on the priority to finish this break. 

I'm also excited to begin reading books I checked out from the library: Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty and Fake Mustache by Tom Angleberger.

I am also in the middle of a couple of professional learning networks in my district that focus on literacy. I'm reading portions of the books that are part of the PLNs this week, too. 

The Reading Strategies Book by Jennifer Serravallo is a part of a district wide book study that started out as a Facebook post by a good friend of mine. As more and more of our schools are going toward Daily 5 structures, I'm appreciating this book as a resource for what teachers can be teaching to address specific skill needs. Joyful Literacy Interventions by Janet Nadine Mort is the book utilized by our district kindergarten cadre. Our district has adopted an inquiry based model for full day kindergarten and this book addresses the balance between inquiry and explicit literacy instruction. I mentor a 2nd year kindergarten teacher so this helps drive (and helps me better understand early literacy) feedback and support I provide.

It's a busy week, but I'm appreciating the time to enjoy my husband and daughter, clean, organize, read, write, and reflect. 

How about you? What are you reading?

 

It's Monday What Are You Reading? 1/18/16

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is an opportunity for everyone to share their book journeys: where we've been for the week and where we plan to go next. To learn more about It's Monday! What Are You Reading? with a kidlit focus, jump over to Jen Vincent's blog, Teach Mentor Texts, and Kellee Moye's blog, Unleashing Readers.

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I always have the plans to post. I really do. My reading life seems to be really slow right now - slow in that I am not finishing a lot but starting plenty of books. I'm actually going to address this in a later blog post and really try to write my way to or through the issues I'm having in my reader life.

One issue I have that seems appropriate to bring up right here is that because I'm slow in my reading right now, I feel like I have nothing to offer in my blog posts. And then, one of my Twitter pals, Stacey H. (@libraryjo92), posted tweeted this link to her blog today:

 

I checked out her Monday post and felt comfort knowing that there's at least one other out there that had a slow down in her reading life. It's just a reminder that we life happens - this isn't a contest. It's about sharing where you are, celebrating what you've read, planning for what you are going to read, and garner support from your tribe when you struggle.

Here's where I'm at - I'm STILL reading Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley. It's an incredible book and I carry it with me where I go right now so I can sneak in a moment here and there. 

This past week I finished listening to Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan. It was incredible - there were a number of times that I had lump in my throat. I loved it so much that I will be purchasing a copy of it to donate to a classroom in one of the schools where I mentor. 

The next book I will be listening to is Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. 

 

Thank you Stacey H. for your short post and for tagging me in your #IMWAYR tweet. You motivated me to post my own. :)

 

Have a GREAT reading and writing week!