https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh Made with charm en-us 2018-10-07 18:33:08 UTC 2025-04-09 14:49:09 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Bigthunderstorm.png brandibrown04151 https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290074298 Peter Hatcher is struggling in fourth grade. He has a little brother who runs the family because, although adorable, he is a lot of work and trouble.  This is especially true when he tries to fly at the playground and eats Peter's turtle, Dribble.  

This book is ideal for 4th grade readers.  While being funny, it shows how not everyone thinks life is fair and how, when you are patient, it all turns out okay in the end.  Obstacles build character.  Read 8/31/2018]]> 2018-10-07 19:31:33 UTC https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290074298 brandibrown04151 https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290075712 Summer has arrived and Sheila Tubman is going on vacation to a house at the beach. Unfortunate for Sheila, she is forced to come to terms with fears she has and lies she has told. This book definitely gives a flashback in time to the way life used to be, through a child's eyes, even if she is spoiled and unruly.

This book is ideal for 4th grade readers.  It shows that not everyone thinks life is fair and how you have to own the things you say and overcome your fears in new environments because crying and complaining doesn't fix anything. Read 9/1/2018]]> 2018-10-07 19:42:24 UTC https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290075712 brandibrown04151 https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290077960 The Hatcher family moves to Princeton and this time around, its all about 2 brothers developing their relationship as they get older, new friends, creating a worm business and... a little sister is added to the family.  Eventually the boys agree their little sister isn't so bad, after all and she can actually be pretty funny.  

This book would be ideal for 4th graders but due to Santa references and learning where babies come from, this is a book from a 6th graders reference and most suitable for an older group, such as 6th graders.  There are some crucial topics about life in this book so it provides a safe observation of how to deal with potential conflicts in life.
Read 9/2/2018]]> 2018-10-07 20:00:57 UTC https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290077960 brandibrown04151 https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290080414 Peter Hatcher's family spends 3 weeks of the summer next door to his rival, Sheila Tubman.  Fudge decides he will marry his brother's enemy, at 5 years old. Peter gets his first crush at the library and there is a budding romance between their grandparents.  Now, Peter will never escape Sheila Tubman. 

This book is ideal for 5th grade readers.  It is witty and funny.  It is a good end to the Fudge series. Lessons are learned about overcoming grudges and realizing that family is the most important. 
Read 9/3/2018]]> 2018-10-07 20:23:04 UTC https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290080414 brandibrown04151 https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290083990 This is a story full of symbolism that reflects what happens when those with good intentions spark a revolution then their power goes to their heads and fall out that eventually occurs.  This is portrayed in farm animal style when a drunken farmer is run off his own farm by the Old Major, a pig, convincing the rest of the animals to join them in the revolt against the "laws of nature".  The pigs, Snowball and Napoleon designate themselves as the new leaders but they each have their own agendas that don't align.  This causes chaos on the farm.  

This book is for older high school students with some understanding of politics, history and the role of symbolism in literature.  Animal Farm is a metaphor for the fall of the Soviet Union and Joseph Stalin so a frame of reference for the student would be crucial to understand the relevance of the book. Animal Farm would be a good book to use across multiple subjects.  Read Fall 1998  
Re-read 9/8/2018]]> 2018-10-07 20:50:56 UTC https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290083990 brandibrown04151 https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290088216 This is a story told from the perspective of an 8 year old girl, Scout Finch, growing up with her attorney father in Alabama during the depression. The town turns against the Finch family when Atticus, Scout's father, takes on the task of defending a trial where the odds are already stacked against him. This is a story that brings prejudices and hypocrisy to the forefront. Scout is learning what race means in the old South and Atticus is the perfect example a father could set for a child in the fact that he does what he knows in his heart is right, no matter what the consensus is amongst the masses.

This book was such a staple in my upbringing and I was blessed to have it introduced to me via a required reading.  It set the foundation of me learning to think for myself and not follow the attitude and assumption of the masses but to not only come to my own conclusions but to confidently own and defend those decisions.  These are the learning points I would pass along to my future students.  Every person should read this book at least once, not to shine a light on racism, but to allow others to experience through the thoughts of a child to feel and show compassion.  Read 1999
Re-read 9/8/2018]]> 2018-10-07 21:27:01 UTC https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290088216 brandibrown04151 https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290097700 Wonder is about a young boy named August who has been homeschooled up until 5th grade and it is time that he attends a traditional school.  This story chronicles attending school, the struggle to make friends and overcoming the adversity that comes from dealing with bullies due to a facial deformity.  

This book is full of teachable moments of empathy, inclusion, acceptance, and redefining social norms towards those who are different. This is definitely a book to share in the teenage years when everyone is still fighting to find their place in the world. Read 9/30/18]]> 2018-10-07 23:07:36 UTC https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290097700 brandibrown04151 https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290098395 This book chronicles the life of a dog, Ellie. Ellie is a German Shepherd that is raised up and trained as a K-9 Search and Rescue dog that searched for missing people. Wally(training person) is the most notorious always going missing and leaving pieces of clothing everywhere.

Teachable moments from this book would be about loving the life you have, persevering through the tough times and making the most of it because you only have 1 chance at it. Read 9/29/2018]]> 2018-10-07 23:15:29 UTC https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290098395 brandibrown04151 https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290099802 Wings of Fire is about a Sand Wing Dragon, Sunny, being kidnapped by 3 Night Wing Dragons  and taken to Princess Burn, another Sand Wing Dragon who wants to become the queen dragon but first has to defeat her sister, Princesses Blister and Blaze. 

I don't see any real teaching points in this book other than to offer another genre of books to keep students engaged in reading. Read 9/30/2018]]> 2018-10-07 23:29:21 UTC https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290099802 brandibrown04151 https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290105393 This is a story about British school boys stranded on an  island in the Pacific and the events that transpire when young boys try to govern themselves.  Imaginations run wild that leads to the sacrifice of a sow and her head on a stick as an offering the to "beast" the children have created.  Chaos ensues, there is fighting and death at the hand of Jack and his hunters.  All of the madness stops, immediately, when Ralph runs into a British Naval Officer on the beach as he is fleeing for his life.  

Teaching points would include the discussion of human emotion and actions when there is no structure of order and discipline... what people are willing to do when there are no foreseeable consequences.
Read 1997 Re-read 9/6/2018]]> 2018-10-08 00:34:26 UTC https://padlet.com/brandibrown04151/vt6krf8o73rh/wish/290105393