| Author |
Message |
MommyVictory
SISter Elle (1575)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 09:10
I teach fourth grade gifted students and a large part of that curriculum is reading novels. As a result, I get many notices of new books, etc.
The latest book I have found is called
SAVVY
which is published by Dial books, but being promoted by Walden Media, the same people who put out many other books to movies such as Holes, Bridge to Terabithia, Because of Winn Dixie, and the up and coming Journey to the Center of the Earth. Their goal is to stick as close to a plot line of a book while making it entertaining in movie format at the same time. (They have missed sometimes in my opinion.) None the less, it has encouraged my students to read before the movie comes out. After Journey to the Center of the Earth in August they will be putting out a movie I can only say is well anticipated by students: City of Ember.
Click on the Savvy link for a free download of the first chapter which also has a audio file you and your children can follow along with. It promises to be a great book.
|
 
Ashley Wren
Big SIS (4779)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 09:25
My son LOVES to read...
and he reads the classics too.
(Gulliver's Travels, Swiss Family Robinson...)
i will totally check this out.
Thank you for taking the time to tell us about it!
xo,
aw
|
MommyVictory
SISter Elle (1575)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 09:42
You are welcome...I love YA books more than "grown up" novels. I guess I never grew up.
|
sunni08
Style Maven (587)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 09:43
Oh cool thanks! My daughter is only going into first but her and I love reading and I am trying to start reading novels to her.
|
magpie
SISter Elle (1853)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 09:46
Thanks! My youngest just finished 4th grade, but reads more like middle school level, and it is getting hard to find things that are challenging enough for him without the books being inappropriately mature. I need Dave Barry, Rick Riordan, and Brian Jacques to write faster, lol! This sounds like something my Danny might really enjoy, though, so I appreciate the heads up.
|
MommyVictory
SISter Elle (1575)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 09:58
FYI, if you join Walden Media, they occasionally send notices of free Sneak Preview tickets that come out the week before a movie's release in certain markets. It just depends on where you live. For some reason, whenever they come out, I have other plans.
|
 
julie99
Vogue SISter (3984)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 10:09
Thanks! We will definitely check it out. Like someone above, my daughter is entering 3rd, but reads on an 8th grade level. I taught English in a past life, but I taught secondary and some of the books she CAN read aren't appropriate content-wise for her.
I would love any other suggestions you might have. She reads a chapter book almost every day. She's hard to keep up with as far as keeping books available for her to read.
|
MommyVictory
SISter Elle (1575)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 10:15
City of Ember and it's sequel and prequel are both excellent.
Island of the Blue Dolphin
Surviving the Applewhites
Flight to the Mushroom Planet
A Lion to Guard Us
A Cricket in Times Square
Trumpet of the Swan
Maniac Magee (It is about segregation, but I think would be okay.)
Sign of the Beaver
Give her another year or so and she can read Tuck Everlasting, Where the Red Fern Grows, A Paradise Called Texas (I only say that because people/dogs die in those books.)
That is all I can think of right now.
|
spazzgirl
Style Maven (618)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 11:50
getting the kid to read in our house is like pulling teeth!
And he only reads grown up books or young adult sometimes and hates all things that kids like (wizards, mythical worlds, adventure)
He reads Tuesdays with Morrie, The Life of Pi, The Tao of Pooh....very strange.
Oh and Maniac Magee, anything by Jerry Spinnelli has been read a million times.
I'm jealous of all your little readers.
|
MommyVictory
SISter Elle (1575)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 12:31
See if he likes Sign of the Beaver. There is nothing fanciful about it. It is a realistic fiction about a boy in early America whose father builds a cabin in Maine and then leaves him there to go get the rest of the family from Massachusetts, but takes MUCH longer than anticipated. They made a really crummy movie about it. Don't watch it.
|
magpie
SISter Elle (1853)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 12:45
Spazzgirl, how about "My Side of the Mountain," an oldie but a goodie. I read it as a child and suggested it to my oldest when I realized he was a little genius, which is what your son sounds like. It's about a boy who runs away from home and ends up living in the Catskills in a hollowed out tree. Sounds a bit weird, but it's a Newberry winner, and it stuck in my memory for 30+ years as one of the most fascinating stories I read as a child.
|
MommyVictory
SISter Elle (1575)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 17:31
Let's add to your list, Spazzgirl with Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
Here is a brief quote from Wikipedia:
Brian Robeson is stranded alone in the Canadian wilderness after the pilot of the single-engine Cessna plane in which he is traveling suffers a fatal heart attack. Brian is forced to crash-land the plane and escapes just as it sinks in a remote lake.
|
 
CatherineS
Fashion Plate (329)
|
# Posted: 11 Jul 2008 17:33
Thanks so much!! My oldest son is going into 5th grade this year, and reads at a 12th grade level... we have the hardest time finding books that will interest him but that are appropriate for him. I'll definitely check this out!
:)
|
nattansmom
Fashion Plate (433)
|
# Posted: 12 Jul 2008 21:12
I have to echo what everyone else has said! My 7 yo is entering 2nd grade but is testing at a 5th grade reading level. He reads everything! We went to the public library for suggestions but the books they suggested were not proper content for a 7 yo!!! We've got a few lined up for the rest of the summer from the recent book fair but we are always looking for appropriate suggestions!
Thanks so much.
Trish
|
lorwilb
SISter Elle (1679)
|
# Posted: 12 Jul 2008 21:16
Hey guys, I am the Director of Education at Sylvan Learning Center and we sponsor a free website: http://bookadventure.com/
Kids and parents can go on and choose grade level and interests and get a list of age appropriate books or ones that are at his/her actual reading level and are about different topics. There are games and comprehension quizzes as well. Check it out!
|
kentgirl
Style Maven (539)
|
# Posted: 12 Jul 2008 23:27
Oh what a great thread!!
You are welcome...I love YA books more than "grown up" novels. I
guess I never grew up.
Totally me too!! I get kind of embarrassed when I am around other women who are into reading because they are reading the latest and greatest adult books and I want to talk about Harry Potter or Twilight! ha ha!
Thanks! My youngest just finished 4th grade, but reads more like middle school level, and it is getting hard to find things that are challenging enough for him without the books being inappropriately mature. I need Dave Barry, Rick Riordan, and Brian Jacques to write faster, lol! This sounds like something my Danny might really enjoy, though, so I appreciate the heads up
Oh man - my son is the SAME way! He is going into 6th but is at college level and it is so hard to find books that are long enough but are appropiate for a child. I'll have to check out Dave Barry. He read all the other books by Rick Riordan and Brian Jacques. He got to meet Rick Riordan in person! And after meeting him in person and hearing how he started writing the books I became a fan of his too. I want to read them this summer. I am going to make a list for all these suggestions for him because he has no new books to read.
He is excited for the thrid Christopher Paolini book that I think is due to come out in August or September!
|
HeatherJ
Model SISter (2307)
|
# Posted: 12 Jul 2008 23:36
I am the Director of Education at Sylvan Learning Center and we sponsor a free website: http://bookadventure.com/
Kids and parents can go on
This site looks great. I'm excited to see what my son and I can find for him to read!
|
lorwilb
SISter Elle (1679)
|
# Posted: 12 Jul 2008 23:40
This site looks great. I'm excited to see what my son and I can find for him to read!
so glad!! It goes up to 8th level, I believe
|
MommyVictory
SISter Elle (1575)
|
# Posted: 13 Jul 2008 00:12
I just wanted to throw something out there...I have a wikispace that is designed for my students to respond to books they have read in my class. I could open a discussion page for your children to share books that they have read and give their opinions. We could leave the response times open like this place or we could plan a "discussion time" like my daughter participated in a few years ago with a group who read the Series of Unfortunate Events where there was an active monitor and there was a set post period where kids knew there would be other children posting at the same time as they are. Let me know what you think.
The current threads are dedicated solely for my students to respond for assignments, though your children are free to respond to the questions, but they might find them a little boring as they are questions designed for school.
I won't set up the new discussion page until I hear from you. If you want to preview what we did, you are more than welcome. If you want to sign up, it is free. You can also let me know you want to join so your children can get an invitation to post.
|
lorwilb
SISter Elle (1679)
|
# Posted: 13 Jul 2008 00:17
For those of you that are teachers....the bookadventure.com site also has stuff for you to use in the classroom. I send out little packets all the time to teachers.
|
kentgirl
Style Maven (539)
|
# Posted: 13 Jul 2008 02:22
I think my son would love this! I was also looking a while ago for sites that children could submit book reviews to. Does anyone know if something like that exists or does bookadventure.com have something like this?
|
MommyVictory
SISter Elle (1575)
|
# Posted: 13 Jul 2008 12:13
You know we could set up a whole new wikispace just for that. What do you think? We could come up with a cute name for it and it would be a reading space just for kids that WE monitor.
|
kentgirl
Style Maven (539)
|
# Posted: 13 Jul 2008 12:47
Oh I like that idea. No cute names come to mind right away but it would be a great resource and then the kinds can write their own reviews, their likes dislikes, rate the books etc. Plus with all the movies that seem to be coming out more and more based on books it would be a good place to compare the books to the movies.
Keep me posted!
|
MommyVictory
SISter Elle (1575)
|
# Posted: 13 Jul 2008 13:26
I will get it started next week.
|
MommyVictory
SISter Elle (1575)
|
# Posted: 1 Aug 2008 21:48
Okay, sorry it took so long to get this going...there has been a family illness that began right about the time I said I would create the page.
The site is up, if you are still interested in having a place for your child(ren) to share about books they are reading in a safe environment, please PM me and I will give you the details.
Annemarie
|
SassySasha
Favorite SISter (12760)
|
# Posted: 4 Aug 2008 21:19
My son was tested last year in the 3rd grade and he is on a 6th grade reading level..he has a peer group in Middle School that is a little book club hee hee .. it is too cute and he LOVES to write stories .. so what else do I need to know he is on his way to the 4th grade NEXT WEEK ..yikes ..
My 4 year old can read already too ... they love to go to books a million more than me ..
|
kentgirl
Style Maven (539)
|
# Posted: 12 Aug 2008 20:39
Hi all - We had this thread a while ago and the site is up! My son is anxious for other SIS kids to come and post their fav books and discuss other ones.
So check it out!
Here is MommyVictory's message and instructions:
I put up a page that you can start using today. http://avidreadersclub.wikispaces.com/page/notify/ home
You do need to sign up at the wikispaces .com website, but it is free. Next you need to ask me to join the page, but after that you can add information to the page at will. I will be monitoring the page for appropriate content, of course and you as a member may also edit as you feel fit. Please share this site with your friends with children.
You may PM me here or at wikispaces if you have any questions.
Annemarie
|
lostinadream
Big SIS (4291)
|
# Posted: 12 Aug 2008 22:23
You are welcome...I love YA books more than "grown up" novels. I guess I never grew up.
I think that's a teacher thing. I teach third grade. I love book orders, because I always get new books for myself. LOL.
|
