Summer Reading Love

Ahhh…summer reading.  It feels so decadent to just laze about reading any book of my choosing! I was so excited to find that We Read, We Blog, We Teach is doing a book study on The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller.  Head over and follow their blog so you don't miss anything!

This book has been on my “To Read” list since it first came out, but I have just haven't gotten to it yet.  I had already picked it up and began devouring it before I found the book study, so now I will slow down and pace myself so I can share and collaborate with all of the other fabulous teachers out there!

Other Professional Books on My List

Creating Innovators by Tony Wagner

I am so excited to read this book!  I was actually at the school interviewing for our third teammate last week and I snagged it from a table in my principal’s office.

Drive by Daniel Pink

  

This one has been on my reading list for my role as Personalized Learning Lead Educator.  It looks great, and I heard great things about it from some amazing teachers at a training last week.

Visible Learning for Teachers by John Hattie

Snagged this one from my principal too.  My teammate read it and has recommended it several times over the past few years, so I’m excited to dig into it as I begin thinking about the coming year.

Poetry Mentor Texts by Lynne Dorfman and Rose Cappelli

Our fabulous literacy resource teacher/instructional coach has a passion for writer’s workshop and she’s awesome about building our professional libraries with resources for literacy.  This is just one of the many writer’s workshop books that she purchased for our grade level.

The Dream-Keepers by Gloria Ladson-Billings

This is actually the 2^nd edition. I read the 1^st edition years ago, and in this one she revisits the teachers from the 1^st edition and has included some new ones as well.  This one was a gift from the hubster.  I started during the school year, but just couldn’t get back to it once school was in full swing.

I'm sure that I will also have lots of reading for my STEM classes this summer, but I will have to wait until next week to find out all the details!

Children’s Lit.

The Sister’s Grimm (books 8 and 9) by Michael Buckley

My kids and I have become obsessed with the show Once Upon a Time.  We’re not big TV watchers, but it has become a Sunday night ritual.  It has also lead to an obsession with all things fairy tale, especially fractured, for all of us.  I started this series this spring because I was so brain-dead at the end of the day but I really wanted a fun, light read before bed.  I read the 7^th book in one afternoon/evening the day after school let out.  So I must finish books 8 and 9 because I need to know how it ends!

Who Done It? by Jon Scieszka

This one I plan on reading with my middle school son and 9 year old twins. We are huge Scieszka fans, and they are all little bibliophiles, convinced that they will be the first to solve the mystery based on their superior knowledge of children’s/YA literature and authors.  Game on kiddies!

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

I have read so many fabulous reviews of this book, and it was also one of the new titles for Battle of the Books for this year. I will definitely be doing something with it for the Battle of the Books team, but I also want to use it in my classroom too!

Walls Within Walls by Maureen Sherry

I originally picked this up for my middle schooler, who promptly turned his nose up at it and deemed it "elementary," so it's been collecting dust.  It looks like a fun read, so I'm adding it to my summer list before adding it to my classroom library in the fall.

Other books begging to be read:

States of Mind by Brad Herzog

The hubster got this book for me years ago.  I love that it is comprised of vignettes from across America and his reflections, a mosaic of sorts.  I’m geared up for a vicarious summer road trip!

The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester

My inner nerdy English major, who secretly wants to be a history junkie, wants/needs to read this book.  I hope it is all that my mind has built it up to be.  Even if it doesn’t quite rise to that level, I’m sure it will be a good read!

One Big Table: A Portrait of American Cooking by Molly O’Neill

And it's one big book!  It totally outweighs The Complete Works of William Shakespeare - seriously - it weighs a ton! This was a gift from my children.  What can I say, they know my love for reading and food, but I think their real motivation lies in being the recipients of all the yumminess within.  Each chapter opens with a history of food in America. Each recipe that follows tells who the recipe is from, where they live, and a backstory on either the cook or the recipe.  Love it!

All this talk of books is making me want to grab a cup of tea and curl up with one of my many books, but first I’m off to see what's on everyone else’s summer reading list.  Follow me on over to All Things Elementary and check out the Professional Reading Linky Party!