Free to Read: Week Two WRAD14 Challenge

We are in week two of the WRAD Blog challenge and I had so much fun with this post. I liked being able to ask my daughter the questions and see what her reply would be. Even though we will be moving into week three tomorrow, I plan to ask my students some of these questions and post their answers.

My daughter, Audrey is six years old and in first grade. She loves to read, often getting in trouble at school for reading the book in her desk instead of paying attention, but that’s a whole different story…

 

Here are our answers to the questions for this week. My reactions to Audrey’s answers and in italics.

1. I think everyone in the world should read…

Me: … WHATEVER THEY WANT! (Sorry for shouting, but I feel a might strongly about this.) It breaks my heart when students don’t get to read the book they want to read. Yes, we should encourage them to branch out and grow as readers, that’s why they can check out more than one book at a time. We did away with Accelerated Reader at my school several years ago (Yay!) but some teachers have started using a free online quiz program that is similar. And some of the same problems, when those classes come from checkout, have already started. I had one 1st grader, who is a strong reader, checking out Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems. I asked her if she wanted the second book Knuffle Bunny Two. It had been turned in recently and was right behind me on the bookcart, (I like to be helpful like that 😉 ).

“No thanks, there isn’t a quiz for it”.

“Are you sure, it’s really good!”

“No, I have to met my quiz goal”.

Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

 

Audrey: … nonfiction. Because you can learn from it, and you can learn stuff you don’t know.

This reply kind of surprised me because we mostly read fiction picture books at bedtime. She does like to read my magazines after school and checkout nonfiction. Guess we need to beef up the nonfiction books at home!

 

2. If I could listen to anyone in the world read aloud to me it would be…

Me: … someone British! I love accents, so maybe Sir Patrick Stewart. His voice is so “engaging”  (Trekkies did you see what I did there? 😉 )  For the most part, I can listen to almost anyone, if it’s a good story. 🙂

Audrey: … my mommy, because she can read really good. (I really think that, hey… you don’t have to type that!)

 

3. When I read aloud, my favorite character to impersonate is…

Me: …animals and regional accents.   I love to read Three Little Gators by Helen Ketteman, I may not have a perfect east Texas accent but it’s funny and the kids laugh.  I also enjoy saying “Affirmative” when reading the delightful Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman.

Audrey… puppies! (Put an excite mark, because I LOVE puppies)

4. The genre or author that takes up the most room on my bookshelf (or e-reader) is…

Me: …science fiction. I have always loved science fiction (and fantasy to a lesser degree). I love the classics from the Golden Age of Science Fiction with authors like Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, and Anne McCaffrey.

Last year, I read Wool by Hugh Howey and it blew my mind! I still think about it and have read several books by other authors set in his Wool Universe. I think it got picked up to be made into a movie, but read it first! I also really liked his Molly Fyde series. Currently, I have been reading a lot of young adult dystopian novels, here are some of my favorites: (links are to the first book of each series)

The Giver series by Lois Lowry
Divergent Trilogy by Veronica Roth
The Hunger Games Series by Suzanne Collins
The Frost Chronicles by Kate Avery Ellison
Maze Runner Series by James Dashner
Matched Trilogy by Allie Condie
Unwind Dystology by Neal Shusterman
The Uglies Series by Scott Westerfeld
The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
The Taking Series by Melissa West
The Testing Series by Joelle Charbonneau

I could go on and on, even just compiling this list I kept finding series I haven’t read yet and need to add to my must read list!

Audrey: … books about puppies.

 We are reading our way through the Puppy Place series right now, can you tell! And yes we do have a dog so she isn’t starved for puppy love.

 

5. My favorite part about reading aloud or being read to is…

Me: … performing for the audience. I love seeing the students’ reactions, when they laugh at the right parts, or wait in suspense for me to turn the page and the gasp of the reveal. Two years ago for the 2012 Global Read Aloud, I read The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate with a 4th grade class during their lunch time, for the whole month of October. Now that I’m not a classroom teacher I don’t get the chance to read aloud entire novels so this was a real treat for me. I loved having them beg for me to keep going, which sometimes their teachers would graciously allow us to do. I miss that part of being in the classroom, I developed a special bond with that homeroom by sharing that book with them. When it won the Newbery we were so excited and not surprised, it is a wonderful book.

 

Audrey: … hearing mommy make the different voices, it sounds so realistic.

That makes me feel good, I love reading aloud to Audrey and I hope she will not outgrow this feeling anytime soon.

 

Well that’s it for this week.  I need to get on Twitter and finalize some WRAD plans, it is getting closer!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *