Book Review: Star Wars: Jedi Academy, The Phantom Bully

Star Wars: Jedi Academy, The Phantom Bully

Jeffery Brown
Published by Scholastic, 2015
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I absolutely love this series.  My father introduced my sister and I to Return of the Jedi when were little and mostly we were taken by the Ewoks (what 7 year old girl wouldn't be!) but as I got older and watched the series again and again, I fell in love with the story and characters.  There was even a point during my middle school years where I tried to write Star Wars books.  They were awful and the evidence has been destroyed, thankfully.

When I discovered Jeffery Brown's series about a young Roan who is not admitted to flight school, like he wanted, but is requested to join the Jedi Academy instead, I was pulled in right away.  Roan struggles with being the new kid at school and not only trying to fit in, but to catch up.  In each book he has had to deal with typical middle school issues: fitting in, bullying, stress from school, girls, friendships, difficult teachers.

In this third installment, Roan should be having a great year.  He has a maybe girlfriend and they're starting their individual studies.  Unfortunately, Roan's advisor is non other than Mr. G, the teacher who has had nothing but negative things to say to him from day one...and he'll working with him one-on-one for the entire school year.  Plus someone is messing with him and he's pretty sure it's Cronah, but no one can prove it, so Roan will just have to figure out a way to deal with it.  Plus, there's a new girl at school and she's spectacular at everything!

Once again, Jeffery Brown has created a highly engaging story for our more reluctatnt readers (or for those not so reluctatnt readers who just love love love Star Wars).  With the mixture of graphic novel and diary entry format, the story is highly accessible for many readers.  It's an excellent middle grades books that focuses on what kids are dealing with in school--just with wookies, droids, and mastering The Force thrown in there as well.

I'm excited to read more about Roan's adventures in the future!  Check out more reviews about the other Jedi Academy Books here and here.

Image Source: Goodreads

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Sunday Status: The Water Knife and Pieces of Why

Sunday Status is a weekly (ish) post where I let you know what I'm reading and what I'm thinking about it as I go along.

It's been a month!  I've been out of commission for the past month or so as I struggled to get ahead of my school work and back on track.  I'm still not there, but I'm getting there.  So I have a couple of reviews that I need to write as I start to get back into my reading and writing routine.  

The Water Knife

by Paolo Bacigalupi

Publisher: Knopf, 2015

Source: purchased

I've been waiting to read this and started it a few weeks ago, but have had a difficult time really motivating myself to read much of anything, much less something so heavy.  However, I'm finally getting into it and it's terrifying.  Set in a future where water is like gold and the southwestern states are basically in war with one another over the rights to what water there is, I've met three characters who are all tied to this water war in their own way.  

I love post-apocalyptic books, but I'm afraid that this is just way too real!  I will finish it, but I'm terrified of what I will find when it's over.  I'm hoping that there will be some bit of hope at the end, but I'm not so sure that will happen and I'm only about 50 pages into a 400 page book!  

Pieces of Why

by K.L. Going

Publisher: Kathy Dawson Books, 2015

Source: student suggested

A student of mine wrote about this book in her responses recently and I responded that I was curious about the book and she let me borrow it.  So far I'm finding it really interesting as we following Tia who has just learned the truth about her father's incarceration, and she's reeling from it.  With her best friend by her side, though, she might be able to work her way through all these emotions and find out the real truth.

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Book Review: In Defense of Read Aloud

In Defense of Read-Aloud: Sustaining Best Practice

by Steven L. Layne

Stenhouse Publishers, 2015

Source: Purchased

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

I recently read Steven Layne's book Igniting a Passion for Reading and felt so in tune with what he was saying that I picked up In Defense of Read- Aloud and found myself in the same spot.  Only this time it's the middle of the school year and I'm thinking--crap! I did all of this wrong.  How to fix it?

I love reading aloud to my students and I have always tried to pick quality books that are newer and hopefully not many students have heard of or read before.  After reading Igniting over the summer, I already knew I was going to schedule read aloud time into my routine.  I believe I have been pretty successful at keeping up with this routine and following it.  We're reading Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin and my kids love it! They have begging to find out what happens to Rose Howard and her dog. However I've realized how incorrectly I'm going about this.

"Incorrect?" you ask. "It's a read aloud.  Just read it.  Aloud.  Done." Since I'm pretty confident in my ability to read books aloud and pull kids in, I thought I was doing great.  But I've realized that I haven't really been utilizing it to its full potential.  Instead of really using read alouds as a teaching tool, I've been using them as just "this a time to enjoy a book being read to you, kids." Sure we discuss ideas that come up and I stop to ask questions, but I never thought of planning those around my other lessons. I am embarrassed to admit that it didn't cross my mind earlier.  

I agree with so much of what Steven Layne says about reading aloud to kids--of all ages. There are so many books I want to share with my students, but they won't necessarily choose them, or they might be too difficult for them.  Problem solved with the read aloud.  

Teachers, please read this book--or any other Steven Layne book.  He's brilliant and hilarious and his writing comes across in an easy style that makes you believe he might be your best friend--or at the very least a good friend.  It's easy reading, but with so many ideas and content packed in that you're left wondering what it is you've been doing with yourself all these years of teaching!  Reading his work will make you think more about your habits and your expectations.  You'll start looking at the structure of your class and how you can incorporate some or all of his ideas.  

Images: Goodreads

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Thursday's Teaching Moment: Some November Love From Your Fellow Teacher

I posted these at the beginning of the school year and I decided that it was a good idea to repost later on to remind myself of some important ideas.  We need some pick-me-ups.  Here are reminders about what we're doing.

This may be one that I need to post in multiple places.  Just as a reminder.

So many children out there don't have a champion.  If I can be that for one child, I will feel as if I've accomplished something in life.

Just a reminder of why I do my job.  They need me.  They need consistency and love and boundaries and support.  

Finally a reminder of why education is so vital.  It's the only way we can change our world for the better.  

Winter break is almost here.  If you teach in the United States, then it's almost Thanksgiving.  A little time to recuperate and spend time with our loved ones before we return to our classroom of children who need us.

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What to do during a "Reading Slump"

Yep, I've hit it.  I have three books I'm reading at the same time and none of them (despite not being bad books) are getting read.

Part of this is a lack of time.  I haven't been able to read with my students this week because I needed to conference with quite a few of them during our silent reading time, and then I had to check in book totals for our school wide Read-A-Thon. It was fantastic, by the way, and we had popcorn parties to celebrate reaching and exceeding our goal of 1000 books as a school.

At home I'm either crawling into bed as soon as I put my daughter to bed, or staying up and grading or planning.  And it's only just now November.

I've come up with some plans for the next few days/weeks to get me out of this slump.

1) Forge my way through my PD book (which is actually quite good, and funny for a PD book, so why am I having a difficult time here?).  Steven Layne is a great writer and his books on reading are not stuffy and sleep-inducing.  I am really enjoying In Defense of Read Aloud and I will finish it.

2) Abandon all other books. I am finding nothing wrong with either of the books I'm reading in addition to Steven L. Layne's but I just can't find myself wanting to read.  Sad day.  So even though I've barely made it through Next Stop Nina by Robin Raven and Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman, I need to put these to the side and revisit them when I'm in a better book place.  I feel like I could enjoy them much more if I attempt to do so in the future.

3) Forget my TBR pile.  It's there and it will never get smaller.  Just accept it.  I will jump around and find another book to read. Even if it isn't on my list! Here is my fall 2015 list (I already know it'll never be finished by the end of 2015).

Meghan's fall-2015 book montage

Meghan's fall TBR books »

4) Choose something easy and fun.  No deeply moving titles that will have me sobbing into spine.  I need fun and exciting and possibly uplifting.  I just got this book in my Scholastic Order for the classroom.  Maybe I need to read it before I put it out for my students.  Star Wars Jedi Academy by Jeffery Brown is a quick read and I'll enjoy it.  Or I could jump into The Son of Neptune.  Rick Riordan is great about creating an exciting story that builds and builds and then he slips in something new just at the right time.  A great story teller.

  

5) Re-evaluate my order of books.  Just a week or so ago I posted about the books I'm looking forward to reading by the end of the year (check out that post here).  Maybe I should try one of those after I read one of the above mentioned books.  I WILL be reading Winter as soon as it arrives at school.  I've got a reading day planned for my kids! :)

 

Hopefully my slump will not last long.  Before I even attempt any of this, I have to finish up my work for a class I'm taking and then get some grading done too!  One more hour of nap time left.

Top Ten Reasons I Love Fall

Who doesn't love fall?  When I was younger I always imagined that I would get married in the fall and walk down an aisle of red, yellow. and orange leaves that crunched as I lightly tread towards my beloved.  Then I became a teacher and although I briefly thought of getting married in the fall, I scratched that idea off my list because there was no way I was going to plan a wedding while I had to grade and plan for classes.  Nonetheless, Fall is still my favorite time of year!  Here are some reasons why.

1) The colors

In the spring you get flowers and green green grass, but in the fall you get beautiful combinations of yellow and orange and red.  Plus, during the good part of fall (the warmer months) there is still a lot of green to throw into that combination of colors.


2) The leaves

So raking them isn't really a lot of fun (especially when you have as many trees as we do in our neighborhood) but I love the way a yard looks with a layer of leaves covering it.  My husband disagrees and as soon as the leaves really start to fall, he'll be out there raking them up every weekend until it freezes over.

3) The crunch 

I love the sound of leaves crunching underfoot.  You kick your feet through them and stomp on them.  My two year old loves to do this too and it makes me so happy to watch her seek out paths with a large pile of leaves.

4) Apples 

I love apple pie and apple crisp and apple cider and apple cake and anything else you can make with apples.

5) Pumpkins 

Now, I don't like eating pumpkin.  What I do like is decorating them.

6) Halloween

 I love Halloween and love dressing my daughter up in whatever she wants to be.  I wish we had more trick-or-treaters, but even if we didn't, we'll go out to some random events and I'll get to see all the different costumes and it'll be a grand time!

7) Fires.

It's been a few years since we used our fire pit because our daughter never stops moving and I can just see her jumping around and toppling into it...so we'll wait a few years to try that out again.  I miss it thought.  Sitting outside with the flames throwing heat out at you, sizzling the cold away. Perfect!

8) Thanksgiving

The food.  Family.  That's all I have to say.

9) Reading inside 

I love being inside when I know it's cold outside--especially if I have a good book to read.  I'm warm and it's cool outside and I can see the leaves falling to the ground like magic carpets floating down to earth.

10) Cozying up with a good book

This would actually be the best part of any season, so it might be cheating, but we all know the best part of any day is the time you get to read!