Summer Readin'

Summer's here and I've been a reading fool!  I miss reading so much during the school year.

And since most of what I've read has been kids', I'm linking up with Teach Mentor Texts for the weekly linky:

Coincidentally, the books I read last week are all about immigration.  I didn't plan it; it just happened.  Weird.

The Weight of Water by Sarah Crossan is written in verse.  In it,  Kasienka and her mother immigrate to London from Poland.  Her mother is convinced that she will be able to find Kasienka's father and reunite their family.  With her mother completely focused on her own problems, Kasienka is left to try to fit in with her new classmates with no one to talk with.  Her escape is the school pool.  When she's in the water, her problems seem to float away - at least for the moment.

The Weight of Water is a coming-of-age story that deftly handles issues of immigration, alienation, and first love.  I love novels-in-verse like this one (and so do my kids) because they are quick and easy to get lost in.  Sarah Crossan writes Kasienka's story concisely but with compassion for a young girl's determination to figure out where she belongs. 

Here I Am by Patty Kim is a picture book about a little boy and his family who moves from his home to a busy American city.  This wordless picture book follows the boy through his first months in his new home - full of new sounds, sights, and a language he doesn't understand.  His isolation is apparent in the pencil and watercolor sketches.  As is his journey into acceptance and love in his new home!  Lovely - and anyone who knows me, knows I love the challenge of a wordless book for my students.  I can't wait to get a copy of Here I Am when it is release later this summer!

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai many people have already read.  I am late to the bandwagon on this one, but it was just as good as I expected!  This 2012 Newbury Honor book follows Ha as she and her family must leave the only home they've ever known - Saigon.  Beautifully written - like The Weight of Water - in verse, I know that I will reread this one time and again.  I can't wait to recommend this to my class next year!  (How's that for positive thinking!)

Ivan's Great Fall: Poetry for Summer and Autumn from Great Poets and Writers of the Past by Vanita Oelschlager I reviewed yesterday here.  Great poetry picture book.


Here's a peek at what I'm reading next:

I'm also reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown.  I have no idea how I missed it when it came out?!?!  Loving it so far!  I can't wait to get my hands on the new one!

What are you reading?  Have you read any of these great books?

All the Way to America & a freebie!

All the Way To America:

The Story of a Big Italian Family and a Little Shovel

by Dan Yaccarino

Last year my Social Studies curriculum was changed.  The most challenging but fun part of the new curriculum for me has been teaching immigration.  Up until a year ago, I taught American History from Indians through the Civil War.  I loved it and was disappointed when the wars especially were taken from my list!  I also wondered how to teach history, but not sequentially.  Now I would have to pass by all of the {super fun} war stuff and skip from colonial studies to immigration. 

At the beginning of the year, I sadly packed up my "Schoolhouse Rock" videos, my scripts, props, and costumes for plays about the Boston Tea Party and Paul Revere, the "Liberty's Kids" videos (goodbye Ben Franklin as played by Walter Cronkite ~ *sniff*), and bravely went on a search for new videos, plays, songs and books to help me make Immigration come alive for my students.  I'm not going to lie; it was a bust.  My heart wasn't in it, there was a lot of upheaval at my school, and I just didn't do a great job.

So this summer, I have recommitted myself to my students and the curriculum and have spent hours on the internet and at the library searching and developing great lessons.  Recently I came across this book on the New Book shelf at the library.  It's really cute and will be a great introduction for my students.

All the Way to America is the true story of the author's family beginning with his great-grandfather who immigrated from Italy through Ellis Island to start a new life with a shovel and advice from his mother: "Work hard, but remember to enjoy life, and always remember your family."  The story continues by following four generations of the Yaccarino family and the shovel that has been passed down through the years.  It is a great discussion starter, and hopefully it will make my students question where their families have come from!  I Loved it!  

There is also an All the Way to America blog!  It's not so popular yet, but I thought that would be a great authentic audience for my students to share the stories of their families at the end of the unit! Can't wait!

My school and students are very lucky to have a well-stocked library.  As soon as I read this book, I knew it would be a great springboard into the novels available in my library and the school's.  I made this quick activity that the students can do during library class to explore some of the books we have just waiting to be read!  You can download the activity for free by clicking this link or the picture.  If you download it, please let me know what you think.  I hope you can use it and your students love exploring these books!

Buy All the Way to America at Barnes & Noble