Book Recommendations on Overdrive

I had quite a few parents ask me for book recommendations at conferences.  So I compiled a list of books that I've enjoyed that are available on the school's Overdrive library. This can be accessed by all students on the Randall Library Portal.  Have fun reading! 

Title	Author
Moon Over Manifest	Vanderpool
Anne of Green Gables	Montgomery
When You Reach Me	Stead (also other titles by this author)
Frindle	Clements (also other titles by this author)
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler	Koningsburg
Three Times Lucky	Turnage (has sequels)
Because of Mr. Terupt	Bugea (has sequels)
The Candymakers	Mass
Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry	Taylor (also other titles by this author) (has sequels)
Brown Girl Dreaming	Woodson (also other titles by this author)
Dead End at Norvelt	Gantos (has sequel)
Fever 1793	Anderson
The Mighty Miss Malone Bud, Not Buddy	Curtis (also other titles by this author)
Kira Kira	Kadohata
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz	Baum
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane Because of Winn-Dixie Tiger Rising	DiCamillo
Spy School	Gibbs (also other titles by this author)
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library	Grabenstein
Liar, Liar Hatchet	Paulsen (also other titles by this author)
Fish in a Tree	Hunt
Who is or was…..	This is a series that has many authors b/ it is a set of biographies.
One Crazy Summer	Williams-Garcia (also other titles by this author) (has sequels)
Counting by 7s	Sloan
The Evolution of Culpernia Tate	Kelly
Bridge to Terabithia	Paterson
Tuck Everlasting	Babbitt
Lily’s Crossing	Giff (also other titles by this author)
Bloomability Ruby Holler	Creech (also other titles by this author)
Sarah, Plain and Tall	MacLachlan (has sequels)
Hoot	Hiaasen (also other titles by this author)
Where the Red Fern Grows	Rawls
Al Capone Does My Shirts	Choldenko (has sequels)
Becoming Naomi Leon	Ryan (also other titles by this author)
The City of Ember	DuPrau (has sequels)
On My Honor	Bauer
The Lemonade War	Davies (has sequels)
Alvin Ho, Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things	Look  (has sequels)
The Name of This Book is Secret	Bosch (has sequels)
Small Steps	Kehret
Inside Out & Back Again	Lai
A Single Shard A Long Walk to Water	Park
Fair Weather The River Between Us A Long Way from Chicago On the Wings of Heroes	Peck (also other titles by this author)
Belle Prater’s Boy	White
A Dog’s Life	Martin (also other titles by this author)
The Scavengers	Perry
So Far from the Bamboo Grove	Watkins
A Night Divided	Nielsen
The Giver	Lowry (has sequels)

Bridges Math: Problem Strings

In math class we often do what are called Problem Strings. Problem Strings are a group of problems, that start at a base problem, and then work to harder problems that are connected to one another. Problem Strings maintain a brisk pace and tight focus, emphasize a specific computational strategy or model, prompt students to make connections between problems in the sequence to develop the strategy or gain a particular insight about an operation, and promote the collection of efficient computational strategies. Math in these PS is not like the math you or I were taught in school. They are meant to teach mathematical strategies around number sense and connections, not just a machine to plug in numbers and spit out an answer (like an algorithm). They really are meant to make math easier, and allow the individual math student to have strategies that work for them.

Here are a few examples:

Bridges: Surface Area

One lesson we worked on this week was around surface area of rectangular prisms. Students used rectangular prisms with a volume of 24 cubic units to determine the surface area and make observations about the relationships between the shape of the prism and the amount of surface area. We had excellent conversation about why they are so different! Ask your child!

Patricia Polacco

We have been reading the wonderful stories of Patricia Polacco. We have loved reading about Patricia as young child, including about her birthday (Some Birthday), her yearly family reunions (When Lightning Comes in a Jar), her Rotten Red-Headed Older Brother, her Babushka's way of helping her overcome her fears (Thunder Cake), and about her favorite teacher that taught her to read in the 5th grade (Thank You, Mr. Falker). Check our her website to see all of her wonderful books, and ask your child which story they like best so far.

Here is the requested recipe for Thunder Cake.

Social Studies Text Online Access

Our social studies text book allows student access to see many resources on their website.  The TCI website allows students, or parents, to see the text (in English and Spanish), have the text read to you, play review games, answer question, do flashcards, etc.

Here is the link for students to have online access to TCI Social Studies Alive!
TCI Student Access
To sign in you will see this page.

Your Teacher username is the name of your teacher, either Godfrey or Shorette. 

Student username is your first name with your last name initial attached like, TomP, or JenniferL.

The password is 111111, six ones. 

US State Practice

Here are some games kids can play to help practice their US state knowledge. We will be working on this all year.

http://www.sheppardsoftware.com/USA_Geography/USA_GL_click_1024.html

http://online.seterra.net/en/vgp/3003

http://www.abcya.com/USA_geography_puzzle_map.htm

http://www.yourchildlearns.com/mappuzzle/us-puzzle.html

http://www.ilike2learn.com/ilike2learn/unitedstates.html

Daily Schedules

Godfrey Schedule

Shorette Schedule