Week 7: Children's Fantasy - Bailey School Kids: Vampires Don't Wear Polka Dots

-



The Bailey School Kids was a really popular book series when I was growing up and it makes my heart so happy that they are being republished! Students were drawn to the older books because the characters were relatable and the books were short. The newly published ones are being made into graphic novels which is even more exciting!

Third graders at Bailey Elementary School were getting a new teacher because the class clown and troublemaker, Eddie, drove their other teacher nuts! The principal comes in to introduce their new teacher, Mrs. Jeepers. She had moved from Romania into the creepy house in the neighborhood and had a strange accent. With her glowing green eyes and matching brooch, the group is convinced that she's a vampire! 

The book refers to Miss Viola Swamp, which is a character in Miss Nelson is Missing. I read it every year on the first day of school and my students and I make a list of student behaviors that made Miss Swamp show up. I refer back to that lesson the rest of the school year and ask them which teacher they want: Miss Swamp or Miss Nelson? 






 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week One: A Children's Book with a SEL theme

-
Image
       Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson is a  wonderful  story for teaching SEL in any  grade from  Kindergarten through upper elementary.  The story is about a little girl, Maya, who is new to the school. The students can tell by her appearance that her family doesn’t have much money. Maya ends up sitting by the young girl who is narrating the story. Maya smiles, but the girl doesn’t smile back. As the weeks go on, Maya continues to reach out to her classmates at recess; they continue to shun her.  One morning, Maya didn’t show up. The teacher, Ms. Albert, holds a lesson about kindness. The narrator realizes she missed out on the opportunity to show kindness to Maya.       One of the moments that spoke to me was when the teacher introduced Maya and asked the class to greet her; most of the class didn’t. This situation speaks volumes about their classroom culture.  If  the teacher had established clear expectations about acceptance from the beginning of the school year ,  the entir
Read more

Week Three: Boys & Books - Novel

-
Image
  Ungifted  by Gordon Korman is a great book for anyone, specifically boys in grades 4-7. The main character is Donovan Curtis, a smart-aleck middle-schooler voted Most Likely to Wind Up in Jail. We meet him in detention for broadcasting over the PA system when he was in the office awaiting sentencing for a spitball war. Donovan’s two best friends, the Daniels, help him escape detention which leads to an epic event. “I cocked back the (tree) branch and unloaded a home run swing. The impact vibrated up through my arms to my brain stem, and into every cell of my body. The branch shattered in my hands. I have to say that this was the best part of it for a guy like me—the split second the tomato hits the car; the very brief flight as I drop from the edge of the roof to the pool; the instant that the balloon lifts the toupee and the sun’s rays glint off that shiny bald head. Or in this case, the go-o-ong! Sound from the statue’s bronze behind. The payoff. It was usually downhill from there.
Read more

Week One: YA Novel with a SEL Theme

-
Image
 Lose your memory. Find your life.      Restart by Gordon Korman is a realistic fiction about a middle school-aged boy named Chase Ambrose, who develops amnesia after falling off his roof. The book begins with him in the hospital  unable  to recognize anyone, including his  family,  and  most  astoundingly, himself. Chapter two introduces a new character, Shoshanna Weber, and  is told  from her perspective. She explains how her twin brother, Joel, was sent to a different school, similar to that of a boarding school, due to being bullied by Chase Ambrose and his two friends, Aaron and Bear.       As Chase tries to return to life as it was, he starts to question who he is.   He knows that he’s a jock, but why would that make other students run when they see him coming?  At lunch on his first day back to school, Chase mistakenly sits at a table with Brenden Espinoza instead of with his football team. Brenden invites him to join the video club and eventually helps fill in the gaps that Ch
Read more