It's Monday....Linky!

Happy Monday to all!! I hope everyone had a GREAT weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather if you are in Texas...now for some really cold weather tonight!!! Texas you never cease to amaze me...that's why I LOVE you so:)

Today I am linking up with Teach Mentor Texts for It's Monday! What are you Reading? YA and It's Monday! What are you Reading for adults with Book Journey. This is a GREAT linky for me because I don't have to do too much thinking...LOL. I just have to tell what books I'm reading. Although this week is a little harder for my adult book because I just finished a book and need to decide which book I will start next.

Here we go...

This week I am still trying to finish "Ghetto Cowboy" by G. Neri. It is a current Texas Bluebonnet nominee, so I really want to finish it. It is a great book! I think my kids struggled quit a bit with it because of the dialect, but overall they liked it. Another thing that said quit a bit was that it was weird...I can understand that because the main character is going through things that my students are unaware of.  

This weekend I finished reading "Crazy Love" by Nicola Marsh...it was a good love story, which I'm known to be a sucker for. This week I have decided to re-start "Tell No One" by Harlen Corben. I have heard he's a great author and have honestly never read anything of his. If any of you have read his work, let me know what you think.

Tonight I am also linking up with The Reading Tutor/OG for Mentor Text Monday- Nonfiction Text Features.

Before becoming a librarian this year, I taught for 9 years, with the last 2 being in 4th grade. I believe 4th grade is one of the hardest, craziest years for children, teachers, and parents alike. To top it off, Texas got a new standardized test 2 1/2 years ago that was a game changer for teachers and students. While nonfiction text features were on the previous test as were other topics, I don't think anything could have prepared any of us for what we got. I realized after the first year, Texas wasn't messin' around. Yes, I was furious and still am, but I also quickly jumped on board to help my students be as successful as I possibly could and one way I did that was by pulling out EVERY nonfiction book I could get my hands on. My students read nonfiction books and passages EVERY SINGLE DAY. After I while, they got used to it, but they also got bored, so I decided I had to change that up some too. The only way I could do that was by finding the most interesting topics I could find, which is what I still do today. I found that kids liked learning the history of things. So, for this weeks nonfiction text features, I chose several books (in no particular order)

1. Pop! The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy...

This book is neat because it follows a story format. It doesn't have many NF text features, but it does have real pictures with captions at the end.

2. Hot Diggity Dog: The History of the Hot Dog by Adrienne Sylver

this book is great because it is different than most NF books. It has several text features, although they are a little different than what most students might be used to. The following are the NF text features included in this books:

Text Features: 

recipes (not a text feature, but different)

pictures with captions

labels

Although it uses comic type pictures, I still think it a good book to help switch things up with your students. 

3. Chocolate: Riches from the Rainforest by Robert Burleigh

I LOVE chocolate...who doesn't love chocolate (don't answer that if you don't) I know my kids LOVED chocolate (I mean, I wouldn't know because I NEVER gave my kids candy). Just because I didn't give them the chocolate I sure did let them read about and learn. This book has a lot of great information in and some good text features as well...

Text Features:

illustrations with captions

timeline (ish)

steps (not a text feature, but helpful)

glossary

My final book for the nonfiction text feature mentor text linky is 

4. How Sweet It Is (and was): The History of Candy by Ruth Freeman Swain

Another book about something yummy, so the students are bound to be interested...

(again, I DID NOT give them candy :/)

This book only has a couple text features, but the ones it has are good and interesting!

Text Features:

timeline

recipes

I hope you have enjoyed the books this week....

In Library News:

I finally tried library centers....stay tuned tomorrow to see how that worked out for me!

I hope you all have a great night! Make it lovely and I'll be back tomorrow!