I Was Tagged...

I'm also writing a real post today, but my friend, Treasure, tagged me to do this little survey. Since Hannah seems to be relatively entertained with her pacifier right now, I thought I'd get this out of the way. :)

One Word Tag:

1. Where is your cell phone? bed
   
2. Your significant other? Jeremy
   
3. Your hair? blah
   
4. Your mother? helpful
   
5. Your father? opinionated
   
6. Your favorite thing? sleep
   
7. Your dream last night? Palin
   
8. Your favorite drink? Pepsi
   
9. Your dream/goal? thin
10. The room you’re in? bedroom
    
11. Your ex? none
12. Your fear? snakes
    
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? house
    
14. Where were you last night? home
    
15. What you’re not? motivated
    
16. Muffins? poppyseed
    
17. Where you grew up? Oregon
18. The last thing you did? lunch
    
19. What are you wearing? jammies
20. Your favorite TV? Ellen
    
21. Your pets? Molly
    
22. Your computer? crummy
    
23. Your life? new
    
24. Your mood? crabby
    
25. Missing someone? Lisa
    
26. Your car? Sebring
    
27. Something you’re not wearing? socks
    
28. Favorite Store? Target
    
29. Your summer? busy
    
30. Like someone? love
31. Your favorite color? blue
    
32. When is the last time you laughed? today
    
33. Last time you cried? yesterday
    
34. Who will/would re-post this? Erin?
    
35. Bath or shower? shower
    
36. Holiday? Christmas
37. Writing utensil? pen
38. Vacation activity? relaxing
    
39. Bedding preference? warm
    
40. Pet peeves? mumbling
    
41. Cookies? chocolate
    
42. Eggs? yuck
    
43. Favorite thing to do on a rainy day? movie
    
44. Your biggest strength? organizing
45. Favorite thing about school? co-workers
    
46. Most awesome gift received? Hannah
    
47. Neighbors? noisy :)
    
48. What do you collect? shot
    
49. Oldest kept item from childhood? bear
    
50. Greatest indulgence? chocolate
    
51. Your house? rented
    
52. Fruits or vegetables? Fruit
53. Quiet or loud? Quiet

Children's Classics

I've decided to participate in this monthly "meme" from Jennifer at 5 Minutes for Books. (Thanks should go to my friend, Jen, who mentioned these blogs on her own blog.)

Anyway, the idea is to respond to this simple prompt:

• Would you recommend the book? To whom?
• If you wouldn't recommend it, why do you think it's been so popular?
• Has your child recently discovered a classic author? What is his or her perspective on the differences in classic and contemporary children's writing?
• Have you recently shared a childhood favorite with your own child? How did you each respond to it?

As always, picking just one book is really hard, so I've decided to pick two books. One of which was my absolute favorite as a child and the other one being a book that I have recently discovered and that has become an absolute favorite to share with my 4th grade class each year.



When I was a kid, I absolutely loved reading Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. In fact, I still have the original copy that I received as a gift when I was probably 8 years old. I keep it in my classroom and show the well-worn, much loved, tattered book to my students each year. They think its funny that a book they enjoy reading so much, along with its sequels, is a book that I enjoyed reading so very long ago. (I'm not really sure that at 27, I'm that old, but too them, me being 8 years old was soooo long ago).

I would definitely recommend this book to any child who is struggling to find a book that they can relate to. I really feel that there is something in this book for every kid. Most children, around 4th grade, are dealing with siblings, either older or younger. For me, I was dealing with older siblings and reading this book made me so thankful that I didn't have any younger siblings to deal with.

I do use this book, each year, as a read-aloud with my students, right at the beginning of the year. It is so much fun to listen to them laugh as I read the tales of Peter Hatcher and of course his little brother, Fudge. In the weeks following, they simply devour all of the sequels to this book. I can't keep them on the bookshelves of my classroom. My husband and I have talked about how we can't wait to be able to share this favorite of ours with our own little girl, when she is old enough. (Right now we just can't wait for her to make her appearance in October!)

While this isn't the most classic of literature, and it doesn't take a lot of work to read, this book is great just for introducing kids to larger chapter books and the great genre that is realistic fiction.

The other book, which I have just recently (a few years ago) discovered is The BFG by Roald Dahl. Oh My Word! Where was this book when I was a kid? Oh right, it's a fantasy book and when I was a kid, I hated anything that wasn't realistic fiction. Another teacher at my school suggested I read this book to my class. I wasn't really sure that it would be a good fit, as it is pretty lengthy and my class, at the time, suffered from ultra-short attention spans. But, I decided to give it a try, and boy, I was not disappointed. I'm not really sure who laughed more while we read it out loud, me or the kids?

As always, Roald Dahl does a fantastic job of weaving a story together. We learn about Sophie, a young orphan girl in London, who mistakenly witnesses a giant (The BFG) blowing dreams into a house across the street. Since giants aren't supposed to be seen by "human beans," as the BFG refers to them, he snatches her up and wisks her away to Giant Country. A dreary place where the BFG, along with 8 or 9 other giants live. We learn that the BFG is a rare giant, as he is kind and gentle. The other giants, well, let's just say they're less than "refined."

The challenge in reading this book comes in navigating the language of the giants. They speak English, but it certainly is confusing. For example, they don't say, "Am I right or wrong?" Instead they say, "Am I right or am I left?" The only food available to the giants are "snozzcumbers" and the only beverage would be "frobscottle," which causes "whizzpoppers." Needless to say, the kids got a kick out of this book, and each class I have shared it with since can't wait for read-aloud time. I even had one student, this past year, who after we read The BFG, was so into books by Roald Dahl, that by the time the year had ended, he had read all of Roald Dahl's books, including his autobiography, Boy.

If you're looking for other fantastic, middle-grade, chapter books, make sure to stop on over to 5 Minutes for Books, and check out the other great suggestions. Happy Reading!!!

21 Questions

I don't have a lot on my mind today, so I "borrowed" a meme from my friend Jen.

21 Questions to Break the Silence

1. I've come to realize the last person who held my hand...
was my husband, yesterday, as we wandered through Kohl's looking at really cute baby clothes.

2. I am listening to...
the radio, B-93, our local country station. I also can hear the guys down the hallway (I'm at school) who are replacing the carpet in the classrooms. And, if I listen real closely, I can hear the song that has been stuck in my head since Saturday. I won't tell you what it is, as I'm trying to get the song "un-stuck."

3. I talk...
when I have something to say, when the phone rings, or when I accidentally talk to myself. Truly, I probably talk to myself more than I should, but I tend to think out loud, which is fine when you're by yourself. When other people are around, apparently it can really annoy them.

4. I am dating...
my philosophy of writing paper, my multi-genre project, and the quilt I'm making for our little girl. I guess you could say I'm also dating the baby's room. All of those things are consuming all of my time.

5. My best friend(s)...
have been around a long time. They tend to have a similar sense of humor and care about me, no matter what.

6. My car...
is a messy, white Hyundai Elantra. This thing could really use a good cleaning, in AND out. It also takes about $30 more to fill it now, then when I bought it. Oh, the good old days of getting a full tank for around $10. I miss those days.

7. I hate it when people ask...
why we haven't bought a house yet. It really isn't any of their business in my opinion. We'll buy a house when we're good and ready. For now, our duplex is working out just fine. I also hate it when my students ask if whatever assignment I have given them is going to be graded. Does it really matter? You should always do your best, no matter what.

8. Love is...
the answer to all of the problems. Our former pastor put it best when he said that the answer to everything is simple, "love wins." If you're willing to love, things will be okay. You have to make the choice to do it.

9. Marriage is...
what keeps me going when I feel like I can't. Knowing I have someone to walk alongside me forever makes life so much easier.

10. Somewhere, someone is thinking...
about Abraham Lincoln.

11. I'm always...
moving my toes.

12. I have a secret crush on...
no one. My husband knows that I love him more than anyone else. Besides, my crush on Tim McGraw is hardly a secret at this point. :)

13. My cell phone...
keeps me entertained during my boring graduate class.

14. When I wake up in the morning...
I usually hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. Other times I am able to wake right up and start watching the news. Most of the time, I wake up to the dog reminding me that I should probably take her out or wake Jeremy up and have him take her out.

15. Before I go to bed at night...
I set two alarm clocks, just in case I sleep through one of them. I also try and read a little bit of whatever book happens to be on the floor next to my bed. Usually I fall asleep during this time and wake-up when Jeremy is taking my glasses off and turning off my lamp.

16. Right now I am thinking about...
The fact that I'm supposed to be working on the two projects that are due next week for my graduate class. At least I'm thinking about doing them, right?

17. Babies are...
about to enter my life. Well, one baby, but still. I'm sure our life will be turned upside down and a period of adjustment will definitely happen, but we're still really excited to become parents in October.

18. Today I...
will work in the school office until 11am, then go to class until 3pm (eating lunch in the car on my way to class), then tutor a student until 5pm. After that I'll finally go home and think about what we should have for dinner.

19. Tonight I will...
probably work on these two projects for class and watch last night's, "The Next Food Network Star."

20. Tomorrow I will...
work in the school office until noon, tutor two students, and then go home and work on stuff for class.

21. I really want...
the temperature outside to become more comfortable, the next couple of months to go well, for this stupid class to be done, and to be a good mom.