Wonder by R.J Palacio

I have just read my favourite book of 2012 and it's called Wonder by R.J. Palacio.  Wonder is a story of 10-year-old Auggie Pullman and his trials and tribulations of going to school for the first time after being home-schooled K through 4.  Auggie is a regular happy kid in many ways. He loves Star Wars, his dog Daisy and his family.  He is nervous about going to school and wonders if he should just stay home.  Auggie has a syndrome known as mandibulofacial dysostosis which means due to a mutant gene he was born with facial abnormalities.  He has had 27 operations in his short life and likely will have more.  

 

Wonder takes us through Auggie’s Grade 5 year at Beecher Prep School.  Auggie is a lovable character you will not soon forget.  Wonder is told from Auggie’s perspective for the most part, but also through the eyes of his sister, and his friends.  In reading Wonder, I experienced all the emotions a great book allows including crying, laughing out loud, pure joy and great sadness.  I was inspired by Auggie and his family and truly believe in this quote from Auggie’s mom. 

            “But I really believe, and Daddy really believes, that there are more good

people on this earth than bad people, and the good people watch out for

each other and take care of each other.” (p. 279 Palacio c.2012.)

 

I would recommend Wonder to students in Gr. 6 and above. It’s a great book for youth and adults and is beautifully written by first time novelist R.J. Palacio.  Thank you Mr. Rosenau for introducing me to this wonderful book.  I have now purchased a copy for our library and look forward to sharing this great novel with all of you.

January ~ Conspiracy 365

The first of Gabrielle Lord's 12 book series, January Conspiracy 365, gets your adrenaline flowing right from the first page.   Fifteen year old Callum Ormond is chased by a dying man who is screaming his name.  This man has secret information he wants to pass on to Callum. Callum wants nothing to do with him.  We soon learn he better listen to the clues to help him get through the next 365 days. 

Be it capsizing boats, bad guys chasing him or trying to solve the mystery that caused his father's death, Cal is constantly on the run.  This adventure is fast paced, gritty and mysterious.  The first book ends with the reader wanting to grab February Conspiracy 365 and keep reading.  I look forward to discussing this book in our first book club of 2013. 

PS - Take note of the page numbers while reading....It's all part of the countdown to December 31st.

Mrs Martineau's Winter Reading Challenge

Shadow by Micheal Morpurgo - Loved it!

Hi Randerson students, parents and staff. I hope you are having a wonderful holiday break and enjoying time with family and friends.  I was thrilled to have some quiet time today to sit on the couch and read <3.  My 12-year-old daughter was reading Insurgent, a book she got for Christmas, my 11-year-old daughter was playing on her new guitar while I read Shadow by Michael Morpurgo. 

I highly recommend this book for students Gr. 4-7.  It's the story of a young boy Aman and his mother who endure great pain, suffering and hardships while forced to flee their home in Afghanistan.  While hiding in a cave in the mountains they befriend a stray dog whom Aman names Shadow.  This story is told mostly in flashbacks from the point of view of Aman. Matt, Aman's best friend and Matt's Grandpa also weigh in on the story from their perspective.  It is a story of courage, perseverance and determination. It's a story of friendship and the power to believe and its a story of the love of a dog and a boy. 

This is now the third book I've read by Michael Morpurgo ~ Kensuke's Kindgom, Butterfly Lion and now Shadow.  I really like his style of writing, his storytelling and his great character development. Michael often has added features at the end of his books that give background on the characters, setting or muse for his stories. With Shadow, I was very interested in reading about the real Yarl's Wood immigration removal centre in Bedfordshire, UK and how in 2010 the UK Government ordered it closed. I also enjoyed learning about army sniffer dogs, and the important role they play in saving lives.    Happy reading!  I'll see you in 2013!

SD#68 Teacher-Librarians Book Share

Teacher-Librarians from across our district meet regularly to discuss, learn and share with each other. One of our favourite things to discuss is books we love.  Here is the latest list of book recommendations from your TL's

 

Book Title	Author
If You’re A Monster and You Know it	Ed and Rebecca Emberley
There Was An Old Monster	Ed and Rebecca Emberley
A Cat in a Kayak A Cat Adrift A Seal in the Family	Maria Coffey & Eugenie Fernandes
The Girl in Red (intermediate students)	Aaron Frisch
Legend of the Animal Healer (series)	Lauren St. John
A Porcupine in a Pine Tree	Helaine Becker & Werner Zimmermann
Dalen and Gole: Scandal in Port Angus	Mike Deas
I like Myself	Karen Beaumont
Out of my Mind Heart of a Samurai A Sick Day for Amos McGee Sparrow Girl	Sharon Draper Margi Preus Philip C Stead   Sara Pennypacker
The Astonishing Secrets of Awesome Man	Michael Chabon

iPads ~ Discovery and Exploration at Every Step

Last year Randerson was fortunate to be one of the pilot schools for a technology strand of learning.  For six weeks we had iPads in the school and as previous posts show, they were a huge success.  Student engagement was tremendous, creativity shone and teachers and students were learning together. 

It was through this success that teachers at Randerson opted to pursue iPads for our school.  We were able to purchase 9 iPads for Randerson through Mr. McKinlay's milk program, Project Succcess initiatives (technology and inquiry strands) along with backing from student support services. I'm excited to say the iPads are now ready for use.

I would like to thank Mr. Rosenau and Bob Martineau for putting in countless hours in getting the iPads ready for use.  Thanks to everyone at Randerson for their support of this technology initiative.

                                                                                   Challenges amd Triumphs:
                                                                                    iTalk for iPads
We will be blogging about our successes and challenges as we move forward.  One challenge we encountered while loading apps was how to get iTalk on the iPads. In the app store iTalk is only available for iPhones and iPods.
Solution: We downloaded the iPhone/iPod app to the iPad.  It still works it is just a lower resolution on the screen.  In the bottom right corner press 2x to increase the size of the visual for the app.

Day one of iPads
The students were so excited to embark on discovery through iPads.  A grade one student came up to me and said " Mrs. Martineau we have it all figured out, first I do one page then my friend does the other page. We are good at sharing."   One thing I love about iPads is how they naturally lead to a collaborative working environment.