touch blue is incredibly touching

I finished touch blue by Cynthia Lord today, and I can honestly say that a book hasn't touched my heart like this since I read Out of My Mind.

Touch blue is a simple story with little embellishment. The setting is Bethsaida, a small island in Maine. The main character is Tess, an eleven year old girl. The setting is truly an integral part of Tess. Her dad is a lobsterman, and Tess loves to fish with him and wants to go into the family business someday (her uncle is a lobsterman, as well). The island is so small that there is only one school with one teacher (Tess's mom) teaching all twelve grades.

The twist in the beginning is that the state of Maine plans on closing this island school because of low attendance numbers. That leads the islanders to come up with a plan; bring some children onto the island who need homes, offer them those homes, and then the school will have a high enough enrollment to keep the school open.

The story focuses on the particular child coming to Tess's family, a boy named Aaron. For me, the entire story hinges on the concept of belonging -- where do we belong? Throughout the story we find Tess questioning where she belongs, but more importantly, Aaron, a child who has been uprooted from his own family and at least 2 foster families, questions where he belongs. And finally, there is the question of whether these two belong in the same family. Much to ponder about belonging.

Another integral part of Tess is her belief in superstitions. In fact, each chapter starts with a superstition that Tess has. It's hard to know whether Tess's superstitions stem from the fact that she comes from a fishing family or because she's a typical pre-teen just trying to make sense of life.

Aaron, and his giftedness with music is another delight in this story. His music allows him to express his different moods, but it also allows him to connect with others on the island. In addition, the music serves as a backdrop to some delightful humor at times.

The characters of Tess and Aaron, as they try to find the answer to the question of where they each belong, are characters who will be staying with me for quite some time to come. I shed a few tears at the end of the story (I won't spoil the story and tell you why).

I plan on reading touch blue again because I loved the story so very much! I most definitely will be adding this to my list of possible read alouds for my 5th grade students this year. It is just that good!!! Cynthia Lord has delivered another very lovely, touching story.

Last Read Aloud of the Year

How can it possibly be that time of year already?!! This week, I started my final read aloud of the year with my students. For me, the first read aloud of the year and the last are the ones I feel the most pressure to choose the perfect book to share with my students. In the beginning of the year, the pressure is to find a book that will allow us to start to build our reading community from Day 1. At the end of the year, the pressure for me is to find a book that embodies all the wonderful qualities of writing we've celebrated all year long during this special time together. It is also a gift of language from me to them to lift them up as readers as they leave our 5th grade classroom and head to middle school.

After much deliberation, our final read aloud is Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper. Not only is it beautifully written, but the characters, especially the main character Melody, are so vibrant and well-developed. In addition, the conversations about students who look different from the typical student, and the assumptions we make because of those appearances have already been very meaty, and we've only read for 5 days!!

Bill is a HUGE fan of Countdown by Deborah Wiles. He is currently using Countdown as his measuring stick for his opinion about Newbery hopefuls. I loved Countdown, also, but for me, Out of My Mind is my current Newbery measuring stick. What's fun about that is I have helped develop a community of readers who really loved my passion for When You Reach Me, and especially loved that we were reading it together when the Newbery was announced this year. So, when I told them how strongly I felt about Out of My Mind, they were immediately open to the experience and the story. Most of them are already in love with Melody because Draper has given her such a great "voice".

The message that I take away from this experience is that children are really influenced by our passion about books. Rather it is our first read aloud, a read aloud in January, or our last read aloud, we need to be committed to what we are reading and really love the story and writing ourselves.

So, what is (or will be) your last read aloud? It's always fun to share good titles!! :)



*for my full review, check here

Thinking about Read Alouds - Year 2

Let me clarify the "year 2" part of this title. I've actually been thinking about read alouds and trying to make the best possible choices for my students for the last 26 years. :) It's just that this is the second year I've put my thinking into the written word.

I wrote my thoughts about read alouds this year for the Choice Literacy website. Brenda Power, the editor of the Choice Literacy weekly newsletter, The Big Fresh, has generously given me the ability to link readers of our blog to my article at Choice Literacy. This way, anyone who might be interested, is welcome to check out my thinking about books to read aloud with my 5th graders this coming year.

I have already realized I'll need to write a second article with some revisions mid-year. I unintentionally left out two of my very favorite authors and their newest books -- Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis by Barbara O'Connor and James Preller's newest, Bystander. I'm sure that there will be more I want to add as the year progresses, as well.

After you read the article, I'd love to have you stop back here and share your thoughts. Thanks, and here's wishing many magical moments of read aloud for all teachers and their students!

Thinking about Read Alouds

Someone recently asked me what I'll be reading aloud to my 5th graders this coming school year. I wasn't exactly sure, but that question got me thinking, and I have made a list of possibilities, and the reasons I might choose them. Please check out my list, and then leave your read aloud thinking for this year in the comment section. We'd love to hear from you!

Karen's list of possibilities:

1) City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau -- The movie is coming out this fall, and it would be great to read the book to children so they can experience the story as Jeanne DuPrau meant it to be, before they see it as a movie. Plus, it is also fun to get kids psyched for a movie that originated from a quality children's book.

2) No Talking by Andrew Clements -- The reason to love this book is that Clements really knows how to write books that kids can relate to -- the problems and settings are all ones with which they are familiar. I read this to my class last year, and they loved it!! They had fun trying some of the no talking activities the students in the book experience. The one downside I see to this book is that because Clements is such a commercial name, I might have a lot of students who have already read this book themselves. While I am a huge advocate of re-reads and don't shy away from books that might have been read by a few, when I'm choosing a read aloud, I want to choose a book that most children have not already read themselves.

3) Leepike Ridge by N. D. Wilson -- This book is a great action adventure / survival book. Boy trapped in an underground cave with a dog, water rising in the cave, boy encounters a dead body, boy is saved by a man who has been living underground for quite a while, secret chambers underground, treasure hunters who are bad guys -- what is not to like?!!

4) Kids in 5E & 1 Crazy Year (review) by Virginia Frances Schwartz -- A huge thank you to Bill's sister for sharing this title with him! Anytime a book can talk about the impact of a writing workshop on an entire classroom community, I'm a fan!! I'd love for my students this year to see the correlations between the kids in 5E and themselves.

5) The Gollywhopper Games (review) by Jody Feldman -- What a fun, fun book to share with children! Years ago, I used to love to read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to my students. They would get lost in the enjoyment of the fantastical world of the Wonka Chocolate Factory. The Gollywhopper Games is just like that, but updated and better. What a fun, entertaining book to read with an entire class! And the challenges throughout the book would be great to try to solve together.

6) The Magic Thief (review) by Sarah Prineas -- While I can't wait to share this new fantasy with my class, I don't think it will be my first read aloud. The second book in this series should be coming out sometime in 2009, so I'd like to time this read aloud for closer to that time. I think many children will be very excited to know they could get their hands on the next book in a timely manner. The Magic Thief is such an accessible fantasy book for children. It has the big book look without all the difficulty of big book fantasy. I really like this book!

7) How to Steal a Dog OR Greetings from Nowhere (review) by Barbara O'Connor -- Here is an author that knows how to write a fabulous book with wonderful characters. I will definitely be reading one of these great books because I want to make sure my students are introduced to this author. I think my kids need to know about an author whose next book is titled The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis!!

8) Along Came Spider (review) by James Preller -- That's right, the same James Preller that wrote the Jigsaw Jones mystery series. Only this time, the mystery is how children that don't fit a "typical" child's profile manage to survive school among some of the cruel children. This book is a fabulous opportunity to talk with kids about differences, and how to celebrate them instead of taunting them.

9) Dog Gone (review) by Cynthia Chapman Willis -- Most kids love animals, and this is the perfect book for them. What do you do when the dog you love may be a dog gone bad, and is starting to kill the neighbors' livestock? What do you do when your mom died six months ago, and you can't accept that fact, and didn't even attend the funeral? The main character in this book has to work through these two problems, as well as some others. I envision great conversations about the line between right and wrong, and why that line can be blurred for some people at times.

10) Love That Dog / Hate That Cat (review) by Sharon Creech -- I've read an ARC of Hate That Cat, and loved it! Reading these two books together could lead to some great discussions about sequels. In additon, both stories are entirely written in verse, which is a new favorite genre for me. Also, the inferring skills that readers have to use to make sense of the text could make for interesting thinking and conversation.

Well, there you have it -- my thinking about possible read alouds as of August 12. I'm going to make a quick disclaimer, and say this list does not include all the many picture books I read to my students for a variety of reasons.

So, what do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Have some other suggestions? Drop us a note, and let us know what you think.

Happy read alouds to all!!