And We’re Reading

Oh, how I love a class that loves to read!

How Fast Do You Read?

Source: Staples eReader Department

If you want to see how fast you read, click on the eReader above and take the timed test. After reading a selection from H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, you’ll answer three comprehension questions and then receive your score. My favorite part is shown after the score page. That’s where you’ll discover how long it will take you, on average, to read such books as Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, or Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.

Of course, I was most interested in how long it would take me to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (five and a half hours).

How fast do you read?

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**Special thanks to Lee Kolbert for sharing this on her blog: A GeekyMomma’s Blog**

Literature Map

If you’re looking for something new to read, try this website:

Literature Map

You simply enter the name of your favorite author into a box like this:

And, after you click “continue”, you receive a “map” that looks like this:

Each name in the resulting map links to another Literature Map, so the odds that you’ll find something new to read are really good!

How Many?!

I have just one question for my seventh grade lovelies…have you stopped by the seventh grade website today? Did you see……

Let’s Try This Again

While we weren’t able to meet at the Walnut Creek Library last week, we did manage to have a great time sitting in the café at Barnes and Noble. Well, if you’re willing to try again, so am I!

So, come join me at the library this Wednesday, December 29th, after 10:30. I’ll be sitting in the teen section upstairs. Just look for the big purple couches.

Let’s have a conversation about what you’ve been reading!! I can’t wait!!

Let’s Talk About Books!

Come join Mrs. Bailey and me at the Walnut Creek library Wednesday, December 22nd. We’ll be there after 10:30 and will stay at least until lunch. You can find us in the teen section upstairs, most likely. So, let’s talk about books…what you’ve been reading, what you’ll be reading, and get some ideas of what you can read next!

Walnut Creek Library

One Hundred Books!

Congratulations to my Seventh Grade Lovelies!! As of this evening, you’ve read one hundred books!!! That’s…wait for it, wait for it…AWESOME!!! (and now I’ll wait while y’all imitate the teacher…)

One hundred books is a fantastic achievement in September, and I think that deserves something special. How about some extra silent reading time tomorrow?! Sound good?

I thought you’d agree! 🙂

Your Reading Reminder

Just a quick reminder that our Summer Read-Off for middle school ends Tuesday at 8:00 A.M. Be sure to log in all the books you’ve read before then. I’ve just finished updating the pages that have been submitted in the last week or so. And let me just say…I’m loving my new seventh grade class before I’ve even met ya!!! Check out the current totals here:

Summer Read-Off

Do you have a favorite book that you read over the summer? Why don’t you tell us about it! Leave a comment here telling us the name of the book (and author’s name if you know it), a little about it (without giving away the ending), and what you really loved about the book.

If you’ve never left a comment on a blog before, simply click on “Leave a comment” below the title of this post. You’ll need to enter your name and email address, but you don’t need to add anything for “Website.” If you are a student, please only use your first name and last initial. You can use your school email address or a personal address.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone on Tuesday!

My Reading List

As I shared in my previous post, I have decided to join in on the 48-Hour Read-A-Thon in order to get myself back into reading. I wanted to share with you the books I will be reading this weekend. I’ve already started the first two, The Book Whisperer and The Magician, both of which I highly recommend. When I finish with those two, I’ll move on to The Book Thiefand Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life.

In case you’re wondering about my fancy bookends, those are the “just in case” books for this weekend (as in, “just in case I finish all four books I’ll have more reasons to continue lounging around enjoying my read-a-thon!”) Those books are:

• The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima
• The Time Travelers by Linda Buckley-Archer
• The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Time to get back to the couch. That’s where my books are!

Happy Reading!

48-Hour Read-A-Thon

I have a confession to make. I have not read nearly enough books this summer. I’ve written much more than I’ve read, and that’s great…but it’s still not enough. So, when a blog post about a weekend read-a-thon came across my blog feed, I jumped at the chance to spend some quality time with some of my best friends: my books.

The rest of this blog post is cross-posted from my Notes From McTeach blog:

It’s quite simple. Just take time away from other activities like television-watching or internet-surfing and devote that time to reading. I can do this! Will you join me?

Here are the guidelines from the Unputdownables blog:

If You’re In:

1. Choose a few books that you will attempt to finish this weekend (Friday evening through Sunday night).
2. Post your TBR Read-a-Thon books on your blog so your readers can see what you are attempting for the weekend.
3. Challenge your readers to read along with you! (It’s OK if they don’t, but might be fun if they want to choose at least one book to participate with).
4. Join the discussion all weekend long at #bookblogchat on Twitter.
5. Post updates on your blog about what you are reading and what you have finished (full reviews can come later, but this will let your readers know what you are reading so they can either read along or look forward to your reviews!)
6. Visit other blogs that are doing the read-a-long. Post comments and follow your fellow bloggers.
7. Make sure you sign up here with Mr. Linky with a link to your first post so we can follow your progress!
8. *If you don’t have a blog but want to participate: Sign up with Mr. Linky, just don’t add a website (or you can link to your Twitter or GoodReads page).*

If You’re Not In, but Want to Support:

1. Check out the blogs that are participating below in the Mr. Linky list.
2. Visit those blogs and leave comments and encouragement
3. Add to your own TBRs as you see what others are reading!

And here is my reading challenge for this weekend:

• The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller (I’ve started it, but plan to finish it)
• The Magician by Michael Scott (I’m surprised I put it down to write this post!)
• Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life by Wendy Mass
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

It’s tempting to add another twenty books to this list, but I need to keep the list manageable for this slow reader! Now, I wonder what would make the best snacks…

For my students, if you would like to participate, please enter your book lists as a comment here on this blog. Let’s start talking about what we’re reading!