Teaching Theme with Mentor Text

Our district invested in some picture books for all ELA teachers to use as mentor texts.  Our students were able to put these books to good use by finding the theme.  What a great experience!

Book Review: The Red Kayak

Did you ever make a decision to tell the truth about something even though you knew it would end up bad? When I say end up bad, I don’t mean that you decided to be honest with your sister and tell her that you “borrowed” her Uggs but they got ruined because you walked through snow in them.  When I say end up bad, I mean that you have to tell a truth so big that people’s lives will be ruined, your best friends will end up in jail, and everyone will know that you’re the one who snitched. Have you ever had to tell a truth like that?

Me neither...but in The Red Kayak, by Priscilla Cummins, the main character, Brady, faces that kind of a decision. This suspenseful book follows the lives of Brady and his best friends in a small fishing town in the Chesapeake Bay.

The story starts right away with a tragedy. Even though it’s really sad, starting out like that makes it hard to put the book down!  Brady, the main character, gets pulled out of school to get in his boat and look for Ben, his three year old neighbor who went for a kayak ride with his dad. They find the kayak and discover that Ben -- this adorable little 3-year-old with a shock of blonde hair -- drowned. I’m not gonna lie, this book made me cry.

As the town is trying to deal with this tragedy, Brady starts to realize that this accident might not have actually been an accident -- and that his best friends, J.T. and Digger, might have had something to do with the tragedy. Brady works hard to find the truth and make the right decision, all along knowing that the right decision isn’t always the easy one. But will he do the right thing?

This is the kind of story that will make you laugh and cry, but it will also make you think… it will make you think about what it means to live life above the line, and it might even teach you a thing or two about yourself. Read The Red Kayak! And when you finish it...let me know how you liked it -- and whether you think Brady made the right decision or not.

"The Outsiders" Day

This week we finished reading and watching the movie for "The Outsiders."  We had popcorn and dressed up like Greasers or Socs... It was a lot of fun! 

Students also designed cars as if they were at a drive-in movie. 

Check them out below: 

Congrats to our FIRST place winner! 

Second Place! 

Third Place!

Runners Up... 

Check the student's next blog and see how they recast the cast from "The Outsiders." 

Mr. Schwarz's - Six Word Memoir

     Have you ever been bored?  In school? At home?  Or maybe, even when you are hanging out with friends?  I know I used to be bored!  I'll never forget my 6th-grade math teacher, Mrs. Stack.  Mrs. Stack told the class SEVERAL times she has NEVER been bored.

What!? Never?  How is that possible?  She told us she always found something to do and was always learning new things.  I didn't want to be bored anymore, so I decided to change. What if I took up Mrs. Stack's advice and tried learning new things?  I decided I would give it a shot. Guess what?!  It was just what I needed.

I learned that curiosity cured my boredom.  Now I am always trying to learn new things, and become the best version of myself!  This changed my life!

This led me to my SIX WORD MEMOIR:

“Curiosity saved me from being bored.”

A Six Word Memoir

Memoirs

Mrs. Hernandez's Childhood Book

One of the first book/poem I read with my mom was Los Zapatitos de Rosa by Jose Marti. My mom actually recited this poem to me almost every night.  In Cuba, students had to learn and memorize many poems and quotes for school.  

The poem is about a privileged little girl hands over her beloved pink shoes to a poor, sick child she meets at the beach. For one moment the youngsters' different worlds meet and mesh, each one's fantasy becoming the other's reality. Marti's poem depicts a world of contrasting images: wealth and poverty, sickness and health, joy and misery. 


I still enjoy reading this poem because it teaches a great life lesson to children, to share and value the things we have, and to understand that there are others kids less fortunate.

--Mrs. Hernandez 

My Childhood Book -

Green Eggs and Ham
By: Dr. Suess

      It is difficult for me to forget Mrs. Casper, my pre-school teacher.  She was the first teacher in my life that made me love reading!  She did this by taking the words on the page and bringing them to life.  The one book I will never forget is, "Green Eggs and Ham" by, Dr. Suess.  I'll never forget when Mrs. Casper read these words to us,

"Do you like green eggs and ham?

I do not like them, 

Sam-I-am. 

I do not like 

green eggs and ham." 

   Who likes green eggs and ham I thought? Not me!  That sounded so disgusting to a pre-schooler.   But sure enough, Mrs. Casper was ready for us to not only read the book but to experience the book.  She paused the book, left to go to the little kitchen in the back of the room, and came back with a platter of food.  And you guessed it, she brought us green eggs and ham.

I instantly fell in love with reading!

- Mr. Schwarz