https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii en-us 2021-08-24 23:46:09 UTC 2023-09-26 13:03:26 UTC hello@padlet.com cmlatriano https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1694592341 This book immediately stood out to me on the display table at my local public library. Colorful and imaginative, the main character in this book and the story is inspired by David Bowie and his lyrics! How cool is that! This is definitely a book middle school students would appreciate and relate to. I think many middle schoolers would see themselves in this book. This book would be a great mentor text to teach students how to analyze characterization and character development. I will also provide this as a resource for the teachers at my school who teach the Notice and Note signposts reading strategies, as this provides many great examples of the contrasts and contradictions signpost.]]> 2021-08-24 23:58:59 UTC https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1694592341 cmlatriano https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1694622259 I love a good book about punctuation! This book teaches how important punctuation is and how each form of punctuation serves its purpose in a fun, lighthearted way. It reminds me of a mix between "Eats, Shoots, and Leaves" and "The Day the Crayons Quit". I love the postcards each form of punctuation writes to Mr. Wright's class while on vacation. They cleverly demonstrate what each form of punctuation does in a sentence. This would be a great book to use with an elementary ELA class that in learning about how to use punctuation in their writing. It would add a bit of fun and humor to a lesson that could be dull and boring. ]]> 2021-08-25 00:15:42 UTC https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1694622259 cmlatriano https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1694644407 This is a wordless picture book that tells a story through images rather than words. In this book a girl uses her marker to draw a door to an adventure. It reminds me a little of one of my favorites as a child, "Harold and the Purple Crayon," but with a bigger and deeper message. There are so many possibilities for wordless picture books like this one. This could be used in a writer's workshop to help early writers craft a story, using the images as inspiration. This book is also great for emerging readers who can "read" this book learning to make inferences along the way. For older readers, this would also be a great book to just start a discussion among students who will certainly have very different interpretations about what is happening in this book. Students can debate and practice their argumentation skills by defending their theories and interpretations using text evidence.]]> 2021-08-25 00:25:59 UTC https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1694644407 cmlatriano https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1694647695 This is a really sweet story about a family who has emigrated from India. Fatima, the main character, is having a hard time adjusting, while her sister Appa seems to be thriving. The family decides to do something quintessentially American: take a family camping trip. There Fatima gains confidence as she learns how to build a tent and a fire. 

This is a great book to promote diversity and inclusion in the library. It would also be a great book to feature during Asian American Pacific Islander Month. It also would be a good mentor text to teach the "Tough Questions" and "Contrasts and Contradictions" signposts in either elementary or middle school ELA classes]]> 2021-08-25 00:27:25 UTC https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1694647695 cmlatriano https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1694655625 Lift as you climb is a biographical book about the civil rights activist, Ella Baker. This book would be great for 8th-grade social studies as the civil rights movement is heavily covered in its curriculum. This could be added to a text set of other picture books about civil rights activists, such as "Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer", "Through my Eyes" by Ruby Bridges, "Opening the Road: Victor Hug Green and His Green Book", and several others. Students could use this and other biographical books as a springboard for research into Civil Rights era activists

For elementary school this would also be a good addition to a book display for Black history month or a read-aloud during this time. Students could discuss what qualities it would take to be a Civil Rights leader like Ella Baker and what they think it means to "Lift as you Climb".]]> 2021-08-25 00:30:37 UTC https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1694655625 cmlatriano https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1702055099 My five-year-old picked out this book, which is part of a series called Dino-Sports. This is a fun book that combines drag racing, Baja racing, and stock car racing with dinosaurs, of course. The illustrations are clever, especially the sponsor decals: "Primordial Soup" instead of Campbells Soup. It was fun to look at all the little details in the illustrations. The text is written in a rhyming style, that my son loved to try to predict. This would be a great book to recommend to dinosaur obsessed littles who love sports and a bit a silliness in their books.]]> 2021-08-28 16:20:17 UTC https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1702055099 cmlatriano https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1702062359 The Proudest Blue is a beautiful story about sisterhood, pride, and strength, all of which the hijab symbolizes in this story. This not only is a great book to promote diversity, empathy, and understanding, but it's writing offers a lot to study for a Middle School ELA class. Teachers could use this book to introduce symbolism and also figurative language. "Asiya's hijab isn't a whisper. Asiya's hijab is like the sky on a sunny day. The sky isn't a whisper. It's always there special and regular." This book is filled with similes and metaphors that are accessible to students beginning to study figurative language.

This book is co-written by an Olympic medalist in fencing and the first woman to wear a hijab in the Olympics. Students could use this book as a springboard to research about Ibtihaj Muhammad.]]> 2021-08-28 16:35:34 UTC https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1702062359 cmlatriano https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1702067263 The images in this book are so adorable! This is about a little rabbit who just didn't like all the books his rabbit friends and family were reading. He just didn't find them interesting until he found a lost book that led him on an adventure. This book is great to show students how everyone can love reading if they just find the right book. I could see this as a good "first day in the library" read-aloud that could easily lead into a lesson on how to find a just right book. Students and teachers could also share stories of a book that helped them to love reading.]]> 2021-08-28 16:45:07 UTC https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1702067263 cmlatriano https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1702070641 Thunderboy Jr. is a book about a little boy who is named after his father, but he hates his name. He wants his own name, and maybe one that is just a little more ordinary. As Thunderboy contemplates what his new name should be, we learn all about who he is and what is important to him, including aspects of his Native American culture.  

This would be a good book to feature during Native American Indigenous People month, and would be a good read aloud to discuss the importance of culture and identity.

This could also be a mentor text for a writing activity in which students write about their own names as a beginning of the year, get-to-know-you kind of activity. ]]> 2021-08-28 16:52:52 UTC https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1702070641 cmlatriano https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1702071342 This a great picture book for elementary readers and secondary readers alike. There are many great themes to explore in this book: determination, goal setting, hard work, and believing in oneself. This would also be a great book to use to discuss growth mindset.

This is another reat book to support the notice and note signposts, particularly "Words of the Wiser". I could add this to a list of picture book resources for the signposts, which are reading strategies widely taught in my school.]]> 2021-08-28 16:54:25 UTC https://padlet.com/cmlatriano/h6dss38jut17yvii/wish/1702071342