Celebrating Read Alouds!

Thank you to Ruth Ayres for the opportunity to focus on celebrations every week! 

Please join us!

We are reading aloud Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. If you don't know this book, get it...get it NOW.  It's about a sixth grade girl named Ally who struggles with school. Every word rings true!

Read alouds are one of my favorite things about teaching. Sharing good books with students is powerful...but it's more than that. This book, this story, is helping our classroom become a community. As we share the struggles and successes of Ally and Albert and Keisha, we think about our own struggles and successes. Yesterday we read a chapter called, Misfit Lunch. We watched the video from the Rudolph Christmas special, Island of the Misfit toys.

We talked about negative and positive connotations of the word misfit. I shared how I felt (and feel) like a misfit and I love it! In one class, students shared their own misfit stories. The vulnerability they showed by sharing their own struggles brings us closer together. I beam with pride when I think about how brave they are to share these stories and how kind their classmates are when hearing and responding. One student identifies closely with Albert. I've watched him come alive when I read the parts when Albert is present. Students who struggle with reading feel like they've found a kindred spirit in Ally. 

They are rooting for her to succeed!

This is what I want people to know about "kids today". They are kind and empathetic. They are thoughtful and creative. All they need is a safe place to take a risk and to be themselves... it's really what we all need. A world where we can be authentically ourselves and loved because of it.

If you are looking for a good book, please take some time to read Fish in a Tree. Lynda Mullaly Hunt weaves together a story that has touched our hearts. As classes ended yesterday, I heard, "Pleeeeaaasssseee!!!! One more chapter!!!!" Music to my ears.

I celebrate good books.

I celebrate sharing good books.

I celebrate reading good books together.

Here is some of our thinking about the book. Students jot or sketch as I read aloud and here are some I'd like to share...