Word

As promised, here is my lovely door :)  Look at all of these fabulous words!  I totally forgot about "polychromatic" and "bumfuzzle."  So funny.  I gave this same assignment for the weekend, but I'm thinking this following week to have a vocabulary quiz on what they come up with :D  Can you think of anything more student-centered?  (Well probably...now that I think of it...)

Friday was awesome.  I handed out the Scholastic book order form, which I know takes you right back to your own elementary experience.  We shared what we thought looked really interesting and worth buying, and one item for sale is...

This book teaches the reader how to create their own catapult to chuck (small) pumpkins!  WHAT!  It tied in nicely to something we talked about, which was the increase for STEM jobs available (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics), as featured on CNN Student News on Friday, September 26th.  Some other interesting reads for kids this month in October:

From School Library Journal

"Grade 6–10—Thomas wakes up in an elevator, remembering nothing but his own name. He emerges into a world of about 60 teen boys who have learned to survive in a completely enclosed environment, subsisting on their own agriculture and supplies from below. A new boy arrives every 30 days. The original group has been in "the glade" for two years, trying to find a way to escape through a maze that surrounds their living space. They have begun to give up hope. Then a comatose girl arrives with a strange note, and their world begins to change. There are some great, fast-paced action scenes, particularly those involving the nightmarish Grievers who plague the boys. "

"World's Scariest Prisons will explore the most terrifying prisons of all time. From the Roman Coliseum to the Bastille, the Tower of London to Alcatraz, World's Scariest Prisons will captivate young readers! Each prison will receive its own photo-intensive overview as well as a sidebar, a break out fact box, and a quote. Each prison profile will be followed by a feature spread that explores high-interest topics such as prison slang, prison clothes, and prison food, as well as little known details about kids in prison, famous escapees, and ghost stories. World's Scariest Prisons will be equal parts informative and fun. Perfect for reluctant readers, the text will be simple and engaging." (amazon.com)

"Torrey Grey is famous. At least, on the internet. Thousands of people watch her popular videos on fashion and beauty. But when Torrey's sister is killed in an accident -- maybe because of Torrey and her videos -- Torrey's perfect world implodes.

Now, strangers online are bashing Torrey. And at her new school, she doesn't know who to trust. Is queen bee Blair only being sweet because of Torrey's internet infamy? What about Raylene, who is decidedly unpopular, but seems accepts Torrey for who she is? And then there's Luis, with his brooding dark eyes, whose family runs the local funeral home. Torrey finds herself drawn to Luis, and his fascinating stories about El dio de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.As the Day of the Dead draws near, Torrey will have to really look at her own feelings about death, and life, and everything in between. Can she learn to mourn her sister out of the public eye?" (amazon.com)

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There were some other really creepy books that sounded suspenseful and intriguing, but I can't remember the titles!  It seems that a new fad in juvenile literature is post-apocalyptic scenarios.  That makes me think of the book Empty; I almost read it in it's entirety during one of my substitute-teaching days.  

   In other news, highlights from my week:

"Ms. McAlpin, I'm sad."

"Why is that Alaina*?" 

"I have to go to the dentist today."

"Oh, you don't like the dentist?"

"No, I do.  But I have to miss your class for it."  

D'awwww. 

*name has been changed