Twilight

Meyer, S. (2005). Twilight. New York: Little, Brown and Co.

     The modern fantasy book of choice was Twilight by Stephanie Meyer.  This saga has been my absolute favorite series of the modern fantasy genre.  The targeted audience is for teens and young adults.
     Twilight is the first book in the Twilight saga series.  In this book, Isabella Swan moves to Forks, Washington from Arizona to live with her father.  Bella is a human teenage girl that is trying to adjust in her new school, when she notices the Cullen family.  The Cullen's family are all very beautiful.  The reason being they are all vampires.  The major theme of the modern fantasy novel is romance and love.  Two of the main characters have an unique relationship that readers "have" to keep reading to find out.  The novel is told in Bella's point of view, so she uses first-person point of view.  Vampirism is the most apparent symbol in the story.   By reading the story, you will find out that the Cullen's aren't the only vampires in the town of Forks, Washington.
     Teaching 5th grade reading and writing, I couldn't use this novel.  I would recommend upper middle and high school teachers use this modern fantasy novel in their classroom.  They could use this novel to work in groups on researching a character.  Students would analyze characterization and its importance in novels.  Each group would make a poster of their characters name, physical characteristics, personality traits, relationships to other characters and miscellaneous information about the character. 
     I recommend classmates in my graduate class to read this book and the rest of the series. Stephanie Meyer even produced the series Twilight in movie theatres!  However, I agree with the quote from class last week that books are better than the movies. tlg
    
    

Jumanji

Van Allsburg, C. (1981). Jumanji. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

     Jumanji is another one of Chris Van Allsburg's children's book that has a great story and vivid illustrations. Jumanji not only won a Caldecott Award in 1981, but also won The National Book Award in 1982. In 1996, Jumanji was made into a film.
      In this children's book, the characters Judy and Peter find a board game under a tree in the park and decide to give the boring game a try! The kids found out that the game Jumanji was nothing boring about it! During the game, they saw stampeding animals from a jungle in their living room! The story is enhanced by Van Allsburg's great artwork.
      Alike his award winning book The Polar Express and his young adult's picture book The Sweetest Fig, I am completely impressed with the illustrations again. In Jumanji, he conveys pictures of a normal and quiet living room that was taken over by wild animals.
     After reading this story, "the big idea" would be a great skill to teach using this book in the lower grades.  Using chart paper, the teacher could write down the main events that happened while students are retelling the story.  This story is great for determining the important events.  To expand the lesson, inferencing would be great to go into as well.

The Polar Express

Van Allsburg, C. (1985). The polar express. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

     The Polar Express is one of my all time favorite picture books.  Every Christmas, my mother would read this picture book to my sisters and I and it was something that I always looked forward to.  This children's book won a Caldecott Medal in 1986. 
    In this award winning book, the character of a young man tells the story of when he was younger how his belief in Santa came to real life on Christmas Eve. His friends would tell him that there wasn't a Santa, but he still believed in him. He knew Santa was real when the Polar Express took him to the North Pole!  The little boy wanted a small gift from the North Pole and that was a bell on Santa's sleigh. 
     Not only the story is great but with detailed and colorful illustrations draws readers into the Christmas spirit.  The illustrations make everyone feel as if they are in the story!  Aside from the illustrations, there are many activites teachers can implement using this children's book.  One great skill to go over with students is imagery and metaphor/similes throughout the book.  As a whole group, identify the examples of imagery Van Allsburg uses in his book.  Also, have students identify the metaphors and similes throughout the story.
   

Kitten's First Full Moon

Henkes, K. (2004). Kitten's first full moon. New York: Greenwillow Books.

      Kitten's First Full Moon is a great picture book for young students. This picture book won a Caldecott Award in 2005! In this book, a kitten makes a mistake when thinking the full moon was a bowl of milk. She goes through a lot of trouble to get to that "bowl of milk", but ends up upset and tired.
       Not only is the story great in this book, but the illustrations are phenomenal!! Kevin Henkes is the illustrator of this book. Done in a charcoal and cream-colored palette, the illustrations are created with thick black outlines, curves, and changing expressions that are full of nuance. My librarian at the elementary school I work at recommended me using this picture book for my class.
     Kitten's First Full Moon would be a great read aloud for primary grades. A great activity for kids to show the pictures in the book to the students first and have them narrate their own story based on the illustrations. For more fun, students can pick a page in the book and draw the illustrations using the grayscale pens (gray and black).

The Sweetest Fig

Van Allsburg,C. (1993). The sweetest fig. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
   
         The Sweetest Fig is a young adult picture book that has an unforgettable theme, as well as illustrations. Chris Van Allsburg is not only the author of this children's picture book but also the illustrator. After reading this book aloud to my students during an inferring lesson, he not only kept my 5th graders engaged throughout the story, but kept me engaged as well!
       Monsieur Bibot is a fussy dentist who seems unhappy throughout the book. He had been payed with figs after he did dental work on an old woman. Bibot was sure those figs weren't special like the woman said, but one night he decided to eat one for a snack. When he went to bed that night, Bibot realized the fig had the power to make his dreams come true. Afterwards, he was so ready to eat the second fig when his dreams were controlled. His dog had a different plan.
       This book was such a great read aloud for my students. We made inferences throughout the story using textual evidence and prior knowledge to draw an inference on what happened. The students enjoyed The Sweetest Fig as much as I did! I recommend others to read this book to your class! tlg

So You Want to Be President?

St. George, J. (2000). So you want to be President?. New York, NY: Philomel Books.

          So You Want to Be President? is a children's picture book that I found so interesting, yet hilarious! Not only does this picture book have great illustrations, but also tons of information about past Presidents of the United States. This picture book was one of The Caldecott Medal award winning books!
         In this book, I learned about the 42 presidents that have been in office from 1789-1993. Not only does this book tell readers about the good things about being president, but also tells the bad things about being President of the United States. Later in the book, I learned what kind of person the job of a president needs! The author compares presidents by size, habits, occupations, hobbies and martial statuses to add comedy in this picture book. David Small is the illustrator of this picture book! He used political cartoons with a lot of color in this book! This made the book so engaging to me!
        I highly recommend others to read this book and use it in the classroom! Often times I use picture books in my 5th grade Reading class to teach basic comprehension skills to model fix-up strategies! This book would be a great informational book to learn more about the U.S. presidents, as well as teaching reading skills. I know my Social Studies teacher would definitely like the integration of the subjects. I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I have!:) tlg

Introduction..

     My name is Taylor Gates.  I teach 5th Grade Reading and On-Demand Writing at Pembroke Elementary School.  The school is located in Pembroke, Kentucky in Christian County.  This is my second year as a teacher and I absolutely love it! I am also an advisor for the Kiwanis Kids in my school.  I have 35 kids that stay after school to do community service projects! 
     Unfortunately, I commute 50 miles one way to school each day!  But it is totally worth it!  I have lived in Princeton, Kentucky my whole life and I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.  My family and friends are very important to me.  I have 2 sisters, Nacy and Meredith, and each has 2 daughters of their own (Brylee, Belle, Addie and Chloe).  Family full of GIRLS!!:) However, the first boy in my family is on his way...(like 2 weeks!)  I love to spend time with my nieces and so excited to FINALLY have a nephew!  So say a sweet prayer for my sister Meredith and baby Gates!
     I have some hobbies and reading is one of them!  Throughout the school year, it is so hard to find time to read.  My favorite reading time is during the summer while laying by the pool.  I purchased a Barnes & Noble Nook about 2 years ago and I LOVE it!  Like many other girls, romance novels are my favorite.  Yes, all of Nicholas Sparks!  Other than reading, I also like to run.  Going to the gym and running on the treadmill is a perfect way to end my school day.  It is perfect for winding down from the chaos some school days can be!  Lastly, I love college sports!  Watching college basketball and college football takes up a lot of my down time.  During the fall, I LOVE to sit at home on a Saturday and watch college football all day!
     Now that you know a little bit about me, I am excited to start reading books for this class!  I am always ready to find resources to help in my classroom:)  tlg