Slice #16: Doubling Up With It's Monday! Here's What I'm Reading

This month, I have committed to writing every day through the community at Two Writing Teachers. All are welcome to the March Slice of Life Challenge! It's not too late to join in or comment or just read... Many of my posts will be at my personal blog, Just Write, Melanie, but the posts that relate explicitly to learning will be on both blogs. 

Jen Vincent at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye and Ricki Ginsburg at Unleashing Readers cohost It's Monday! What are You Reading? weekly on their blogs.  To see what others are reading and recommending each Monday, or to participate, be sure to head over to these blogs.

Warning: This could be an expensive post to read. I read some really good books this week.

I picked up Firebird by Misty Copeland because I loved the pictures on the cover. I also loved the message contained in this book about perseverance, goal-setting, hard work, and possibility. It is a wonderful title for a classroom collection about growth mindset. It is also a wonderful book for teaching figurative language, as it is full of metaphors and similes.





Speaking of metaphors, Wings by Christopher Myers is perhaps the consummate book for teaching metaphors. If you haven't read this incredible book, find it. (Linda, do I have you to thank for the recommendation?) For me, Wings has it all. A powerful message about acceptance, social responsibility, the power of educators to help and hurt, as well as powerful language structures and gorgeous pictures. Some books humble me as an aspiring author. This is one of them.

Draw What You See by Kathleen Benson is a biographical account of Benny Andrew, an African American painter. Readers will be inspired to read more about Benny Andrews, who illustrates this picture book. Every picture will inspire a conversation about the historical experiences of minorities, the power of art, and the techniques of artists.  You can also find wonderful interviews about his work on youtube. Additionally, it is another wonderful title to add to a collection of books that emphasize and celebrate perseverance, growth mindset, and following your dreams.

I don't think there's enough to say about The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. I. love. this. book. I sat down and read it in one sitting on Saturday morning. Then, I started reading it out loud to my husband and 16 year-old daughter. The power of this book to hook them in with the song, the voice, the plot, and the issues is testimony in and of itself. They laughed, but then I watched them experiences the anger that I had as well, as events unfold. This is a truly incredible book on many levels. I can't wait for more people to read it.







Happy Slicing and Reading,