Sunday, March 15, 2015

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,

18 comments:

  1. I read this with my Amazon cart open...my husband will bill you later. Those look great and I'm always looking for mentor texts. I can't wait to read Crossover!

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  2. Had to laugh as I read the comment above after coming back to this post from my Amazon cart! My cart is really just a growing wish list right now, but someday...Thanks for these wonderful titles to add to it. I can't wait to read all of them--I'd been eyeing Firebird, but the others are new to me. I love the emphasis on growth mindset and perseverance.

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  3. Yes, I shared Wings a few weeks ago, Melanie. It is wonderful! And now I must get Draw What You See-sounds great. I have a student who is studying drawing for her unit! Happy you finally read Crossover. It is beautiful, isn't it? Thanks for all!

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  4. Draw What You See sounds like a must! Crossover-right?!?! I read that in an hour, and crashed our librarian's book talks with older kids so I could insist that they read this book. Great titles here.

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  5. Draw What You See sounds like a must! Crossover-right?!?! I read that in an hour, and crashed our librarian's book talks with older kids so I could insist that they read this book. Great titles here.

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  6. Hmm- I love what you read, but your post reminded me of two things. Firstly, I was going to do an IMWAYR slice today, but did not. Also, my students wrote their IMWAYR Padlet and I need to put it on our class blog. Thanks for adding to my TBR list- the only one I have read is Crossover.

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  7. Hmm- I love what you read, but your post reminded me of two things. Firstly, I was going to do an IMWAYR slice today, but did not. Also, my students wrote their IMWAYR Padlet and I need to put it on our class blog. Thanks for adding to my TBR list- the only one I have read is Crossover.

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  8. I ordered The Crossover for our school library before the medals were announced, but apparently not early enough, because it is on backorder...grrrr. Firebird is on my list already, but now I have two more to add. Thanks!

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  9. Thanks for the fabulous recommendations. Your critiques have convinced this reader to invest :)

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  10. Yep, this could be an expensive post to read. These all sound like such good books. You can see what I read this week here.

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  11. Mondays are always expensive for me, LOL. Adding Draw What You See to my Amazon cart right now. I cannot get enough books about art, and I'm always looking for books about African-American achievements that aren't solely focused on slavery or civil rights to share with my son (who gets very tired of having his only experience in school of learning about African-Americans focus on slavery, civil rights). And thanks for the reminder about Wings. I meant to add that to my list after reading Linda's post and then forgot. I'll fix that right now. (Heck, might as well add that one to my Amazon cart too, right??)

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  12. I will be blowing my book budget after reading your post:) Thank you for sharing these books!

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  13. Just got a notification from Amazon that Crossover would be delivered tomorrow! Woo hoo!

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  14. Just got a notification from Amazon that Crossover would be delivered tomorrow! Woo hoo!

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  15. We just shared Firebird at a PD session - What a powerful book about learning. Thank you for telling us about Wings - It is on order now :)

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  16. I haven't read the other two, but absolutely loved Firebird and Crossover. Thanks for the great titles. I will have to get them too.

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  17. The Crossover made its rounds in my house. I read it and then it went to my daughter and then to my son and then to my husband. I also loved Firebird. Incredible illustrations.

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  18. Hi Melanie, I am reading The Crossover with my book club sometime in June, and I can't wait to get my hands on it. I own a copy of Firebird and I can't wait to read it. I featured WINGS several years ago, I believe, and was truly drawn to its power and beauty. :)

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