Lincoln Staff members are reading for book club once again. I was so happy to introduce my colleagues to one of my favorite books this year, The War That Saved My Life by Kim Brubaker Bradley. We met yesterday during lunch to discuss our thoughts and reactions to the first half of the story. Here are a couple comments:
"The first part of the book made it hard to put down. I had a range of emotions from sad, to joyful, to anxious for what is to come."
This is my favorite book we've read so far this year.
"I can't wait. I want to keep reading but I have to stop at 160. Not fair, not fair!!!!!"
"Looking forward to reading more and discussing...I almost cried in just the first few chapters! "
I'm making connections between Ada and several of our students who have experienced trauma in their lives. They are learning how to have trusting relationships with people.
I've never thought about World War II from the viewpoint of people living in England.
I can't wait for the sequel to come out. Why do we have to wait until the fall?
Thank you, Kim Brubaker Bradley, for sharing this wonderful story with the world.
Last week we celebrated Read Across America Week at Lincoln School. This week is always the favorite week of teachers and students. The planning starts months earlier by staff members in order to have a week full of reading memories .
This year's theme was "Reading Madness". Each day we had a dress up theme tied into sports. Since the NCAA playoffs always have a bracket, we wanted to have a book bracket. We wanted all students in the entire school to experience the same books each day, and we chose to do this through a competition of picture book read alouds.
Several weeks ago I went to the public library and spent a couple hours reading sports themed picture books. We also wanted the books to show diverse characters, so I needed to call on some help. I contacted my Twitter friend @ajhueySTL and she gave me some great suggestions. I chose the books we were going to use, and then I started reserving as many books as I could through our public library system. They were great to work with, and they made my job so much easier. We were able to check out one copy of each book for the grade level partners to share.
Each morning the books of the day were announced during our school-wide morning assembly. I gave a very short book buzz to give the kids and teachers a quick background. It also helped that our committee leader came dressed up as something crazy that went along with the books. The teachers read the books during the day, and they had the kids vote on their favorite. We used Google Forms to collect student votes and add up totals.
The next day I'd rev up the crowd during morning assembly and announce yesterday's winner. It was so exciting for the kids and teachers. Winning books went head-to-head in order to choose the final two. We had a hectic round of voting on the last day to choose the winner. The video below shows the excitement from our kids when the winning book was finally announced at our Pep Assembly. The cheering and excitement continued even after I stopped filming.
Our Book Bracket was so much fun. The kids enjoyed it, and it was fun to see everyone so excited.
Time and common experiences are two factors that are important when building relationships. As a remedial reading teacher, I have the opportunity to grow with teachers and students of all grade levels in my school. Literature can serve as “windows or mirrors” for readers, and it provides a springboard for discussion and reflection. This year I have used the power of books to forge relationships between readers.
In the fall I approached the principal with the idea of offering voluntary book clubs for the teachers. Each month a new title is chosen, and teachers can jump in and out of the book club whenever they choose. These experiences have given teachers opportunities to share their thoughts.
I love seeing posts on social media from book club members such as:
“”The War That Saved My Life” is so good! I want everyone to read it so we can talk about it!”
“This is the fourth book I’ve read in four weeks! I’m so thankful for other co-workers turning me into a wild reader again!”
“I’m a reader! Who am I? Seriously?! Thanks for turning me into a reader this year.”
“...it has brought us closer as a faculty and opened up the opportunity for people to get to know each other better.”
