Hey there! Just wanted to let folks know that our reading list is published on a blog in case anyone wants to check out books the book club has read in the past :).
http://salkbookclub.blogspot.com/
I've found that I get really cool ideas to try out in my classroom at nearly every book club discussion. Sometimes they are related to the book we are reading and sometimes they are related to a comment that another of our awesome teacher colleagues makes as a by-product of our book discussion :). So even if you don't finish the book you can provide me with inspiration just by mentioning something you already do in your class or that you are thinking of doing in your class :).
Thanks for being inspiring :).
Cherith
http://salkbookclub.blogspot.com/
I've found that I get really cool ideas to try out in my classroom at nearly every book club discussion. Sometimes they are related to the book we are reading and sometimes they are related to a comment that another of our awesome teacher colleagues makes as a by-product of our book discussion :). So even if you don't finish the book you can provide me with inspiration just by mentioning something you already do in your class or that you are thinking of doing in your class :).
Thanks for being inspiring :).
Cherith
On Sat, Sep 6, 2008 at 10:58 AM, Pauline David wrote:
Dear all,
Last week (although now it seems ages ago!), Ling, Marcel, Sonia, Jake, Cherith, Keisha, Betsy, Jenna, Jason, Katherine, Rhonda, Jennifer and I met to discuss A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray. We had a spirited discussion about our own personal reading preferences in terms of historical fiction vs. fantasy and also about whether we thought we would have enjoyed this book if we had read it as middle schoolers. Thank you so much to everyone who attended!
The suggestion was made that we alternate this year between professional texts and young adult titles, rather than sticking only with professional texts during the year and Y.A. over the summer. Please think of any book recommendations you may have, especially for Y.A. you think it would be fun for us to read together, and let me know your suggestions!
Our next book will be education-related: The Students are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract by Ted and Nancy Sizer. As many of you probably know, Ted Sizer is a big name in school reform. He founded the Coalition for Essential Schools, held faculty positions in education at both Harvard and Brown, and is the author of many books about schools and education. You can read more about him here. This book's premise is that schools often approach character education as a separate component of the curriculum, yet students learn their big lessons about character, integrity, etc. by the everyday modeling we do as adults in schools. It's a short book (only 160 pages!) but, if previous Sizer books are any indication, it should be highly thought-provoking and lend itself to some good discussions.
If you'd like me to order you a copy of the book to be delivered to school, I am happy to do so -- depending on where I can get copies (Amazon says they only have a few copies left), it will cost somewhere between $11-13. Let me know via email by Tuesday if you want me to order you a copy, and I will place the order Wednesday.
As for our next meeting date, I suggest we meet either Wednesday, October 15 or Thursday, October 16 at 4 PM. If you're interested in attending and have a strong preference for either day, please let me know as soon as possible. We'll nail down the exact date a week or two earlier.
Hope to see you at our next meeting,
Pauline
