Reading Teacher Writes

Sharing a love of literacy with fellow readers and writers


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IMWAYR: More of the Same…and Different

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link up and share your reads from this week!

I ended up handing 1968 and Lila Greer, Teacher of the Year to colleagues this week, but wow! Such amazing books! Since I was born in 1968, it was interesting to read about all the happenings that year (besides my birth – LOL!). Our school’s TOTY is a top 10 finalist for Indiana now, and we are so happy for her!

This week I’m reading some more of the same…great books! Oh, HAPPY EARTH DAY! Amil and the After is a reread for me, and doesn’t have to do with Earth Day, but I love it! (Have you read The Night Diary yet?) The picture books are new to me and I shared them today at school. Fox is particularly haunting, but necessary for nature to move along.

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?


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IMWAYR: Testing Week, So I’ll Read As Much As I Can

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link up and share your reads from this week!

It’s state testing week, so I’m reading in between tasks and unpacking the new house. I got a special delivery from First Book at school with some wonderful titles. I’m still catching up from last week’s reading, too.

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?


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IMWAYR: New Spaces, New Books

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link up and share your reads from this week!

We moved! I love my new spaces: the great room, the guest bedroom, the office I’m sitting in now…all of it! New spaces brought new books (to me) this week.

Libro.fm: I’m listening more now while I clean and unpack. These two wonderful books are not long, but they are wonderful and written by my friends. Louder Than Hunger by John Schu, narrated by Jeff Ebner and John Schu is a much needed title for our middle grade school library, with a fictional character based on a real life story. (I love “based on a true story” books!) Glenn Burke, Game Changer: The Man Who Invented the High Five is a new picture book from Phil Bildner, read by Torian Brackett. I love that the Glenn Burke story is now a picture book to go along with A High Five For Glenn Burke (2019), also by the author. I love both these titles!

Physical Books: New-to-me books include graphic novels I received from Publisher Spotlight (Thank you!) and I cannot believe I hadn’t heard of these before. They are going to the library as soon as possible.

One more graphic novel I borrowed from the school library — I’ve had it on my list for a while. I loved Saving Sunshine by Saadia Faruqi and Shazleen Khan.

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?


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IMWAYR: Cleaning Instead

I’ve been cleaning out my basement and closets instead of reading physical books, but I did finally get to the bookstore to pick up Finally Heard by Kelly Yang. I love that Kelly brings us into a child’s world and then also shows the reader the caring adult views and actual research about social media and its effects on humans. Kids, it’s true. You really don’t understand! (Read this, especially if you teach or have children!)

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link up and share your reads from this week!


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Slice of Life March Challenge: Day 18

House Showings and New Floors

The number of house showings are fabulous, but we need that one offer…

The construction people started on my new floors today at the new house. I’m impressed! Gorgeous! I cannot believe that I will live in the home…soon! I’ve never had hardwood floors before, or a walk-in closet, or big bright windows all over the first floor. I can’t wait to settle in.

By the way, I do NOT recommend moving when the weather cannot make up its mind. Mother Nature! Hey! Is it winter? Spring? Spinter? Fall? Who knows? Saturday was 63 degrees and today was 37. Someone with higher powers has to figure this out!


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Slice of Life March Challenge: Day 17

I blew it again! This past week has been so hard: our school is transitioning and I needed to plan with the team, there are two schools in our district closing, so I need to lead the library closings, and we started the house showings – whoa! I haven’t been home to do anything but touch-up cleaning in between the visitors. I hope this house sells soon!

Anyway, I’m failing at this challenge again, but I wanted to write as much as possible, so here I am. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! May the luck of the Irish be with you all.

We are watching the Selection Shows tonight, getting ready for March Madness basketball. This is a fun time of year when we get to see which teams are matched up for the big tournament. Go teams! (Men: Purdue; Women: Notre Dame and Indiana)

Have a great week! I wish you the chance to read and relax!


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Slice of Life March Challenge: Day 12

Read Alouds Work!

I went to school today with hope for the future as I met with my reading group students. My goal was to work on a three-part assignment and start our read aloud, Unstuck, by Barbara Dee. This book published recently and I was so grateful that Ms. Dee wrote about a seventh-grader with a perfect, complicated story in her head, but couldn’t write it on paper. Writers Block.

The beginning of the story chronicled the main character, Lyla, talking to the reader (1st person POV – my students told ME) about a wonderful fantasy that she was going to write…but never wrote a thing on her paper. My students and I found it funny that the opening scenes were exactly like what happens in “real school” life. I love that my students are also in 7th grade and writing narratives for our third quarter ELA project – this is the perfect read aloud for them.

Write on!


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IMWAYR: Read, Then Write.

I’m participating in the Slice of Life March Challenge, as you can see, so I haven’t read much this past week. I really like the ideas from Caffeine for the Creative Mind by Stefan Mamaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield, published in 2006 by HOW Books.

I read the latest HGTV Home Magazine last night, looking for ideas for my new home. I also started Sona and the Golden Beasts by Rajani LaRocca. I love everything she writes!

It’s Monday! What are YOU reading?

It’s Monday! What are you Reading? is a weekly blog hop hosted by Kellee and Ricki of Unleashing Readers. The original IMWAYR, with an adult literature focus, was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is now hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.

Head over to Unleashing Readers to join the link up and share your reads from this week!


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Slice of Life March Challenge: Day 11

Hello! Here are my 10 sentence starters from yesterday’s post:

  1. Mom! I’m huun-greee!
  2. Just one more minute, please.
  3. I’m busy!
  4. When she saw him the next day, she knew she got it right.
  5. She checked the time again, just to make sure.
  6. Did you find it?
  7. Well, hello there!
  8. There were only two more hours until…
  9. Fine! I’ll tell you!
  10. I’m at peace.


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Slice of Life March Challenge: Day 10

Back at it! I took this book out of the school library because it was back in a corner in the “T” (Teachers) section and hasn’t been used in years. Caffeine for the Creative Mind: 250 Exercises to Wake Up Your Brain sounded like something I could use (besides coffee). Published in 2006 by HOW Books, Stefan Mamaw and Wendy Lee Oldfield got me thinking.

Here’s page 235…

Wait! I cannot use, “Once upon a time…?” The premise that a character has to DO something is one that we tell our students all the time. Students always write plot: “And then…and then…and then…” but their characters are not developed (sixth-graders), so the reader never really wants to read more and the story sort of dies on the second page. We try motivating our students by reading those “First Line Fridays” book openings, where we find the best lines from library books to check out and encourage our writers to pen something of their own.

Tonight I’m writing opening sentences. I’ll see if I can find something cool to share with you tomorrow.