And the winner is...House of Hades by Rick Riordan! Some students voted for it because Hunger Games, its opponent, had won before and they wanted to see a book win for the first time. In order to showcase the diversity of reading interests for my sixth graders over the years, here is the list of... Continue Reading →
Yes, it's two of the sixth graders' all time favorites: The House of Hades and Hunger Games. Both novels have loyal followers. The contest will be decided this Wednesday, March 28, 2018. Stay tuned!
Our novel competition is heating up! This week we said goodbye to some favorites.The remaining books will face off on Monday. These are four very different books, which makes for an interesting matchup. Here they are: Matilda by Roald Dahl vs. House of Hades by Rick Riordan Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins vs. Walk... Continue Reading →
To find out about this contest in my sixth grade classroom, go here. Here are the results of Round One, paired with their new opponents for Round Two, which takes place tomorrow. Good luck! Matilda by Roald Dahl vs. The Maze Runner by James Dashner Frindle by Andrew Clements vs. House of... Continue Reading →
Every year in March, to coincide with basketball's March Madness, my sixth graders participate in Novel Madness to choose their favorite novel of all time. They brainstorm their top sixteen favorites, then pair up to create persuasive speeches. Here are this year's top 16: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate Hunger Games... Continue Reading →
The turning of the old year into the new is always accompanied by a time of reflection. The past year, 2017, was a terrific year for me. In June, I completed my twentieth year of teaching with a great class, then got another great class come August. In July, I celebrated my 60th birthday by... Continue Reading →
This is a picture I took after school yesterday of the hallway outside my classroom. A little more than an hour before this, the walls teemed with pharaoh portraits, 3D pyramids covered in Egyptian symbols, cartouches with the kids' names in hieroglyphics, an art prep project of watercolored bug jars, Mesopotamia posters, Model Novel paragraphs,... Continue Reading →
As you know, my latest novel, ALOHA SPIRIT, is finished and being queried to agents. Time to begin researching novel #6! For both UNDER THE ALMOND TREES and ALOHA SPIRIT, I used women in my family as inspiration. There are several other interesting stories in my family tree, and I want to see which one interests... Continue Reading →
I love to cook. When I wrote Under the Almond Trees, it was important to me that the family had a special almond recipe. I used almond cake throughout the novel even though I had never even tasted it! This summer I vowed to remedy this lack and bake an almond cake. I found several... Continue Reading →
