Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor Book Review

Shiloh by Phyllis Naylor

Goodreads Summary:

When Marty Preston comes across a young beagle in the hills behind his home, it’s love at first sight9 and also big trouble. It turns out the dog, which Marty names Shiloh belongs to Judd Travers who drinks too much and has a gun9 and abuses his dogs. So when Shiloh runs away from Judd to Marty, Marty just has to hide him and protect him from Judd. But Marty’s secret becomes too big for him to keep to himself, and it exposes his entire family to Judd’s anger. How far will Marty have to go to make Shiloh his?

My Thoughts:

First of all, here’s another book that I can’t believe I’ve never read until now! 🙂

Shiloh has stolen my heart. Marty has stolen my heart. And the 2nd book is in my classroom, and the 3rd book is checked out by a student. Sad face.

I’m not sure if I’ve ever read a book that had such a kindhearted character like Marty. Lots for kids to learn from him. Even with the lies that he ends up telling, he lets you in on his guilt which confirms that lying isn’t a good thing.

I can’t wait to read the next two books in this trilogy!

5 out of 5 stars

App full of awesome!!

Best invention since sliced bread. And I love sliced bread. 🙂

REMIND 101

Have you heard of it? Your parents can sign up to receive text messages from you.

Great things about it:

1. Parents won’t see your cell phone#. This I don’t care about because I give my parents my cell#. 🙂

2. You can send 1 text to ALL of your parents! Love, love, love.

3. You can schedule a text message to be sent at a later time. LOVE!

I am in love with this app. I mean I still love my husband, too, but…

So far I have 11 out of 17 parents signed up for it. Hoping to get 5 more in the next week-1 parent has no cell#, but she works at our school so she’s already in the loop. 🙂

Go NOW to REMIND 101 and sign up today. Your life just got easier. You’re welcome. 🙂

 

A Long Time and a Read Aloud

Has it really been over 2 weeks since I posted?????????? This ALWAYS happens when school starts. It’s my most difficult and demanding time of the year! 🙂

I have so much to tell you, but I don’t want you to get bogged down in a post that reads like a novel…….

So for now I will just say:

I. LOVE. 6TH. GRADE. AND. TEACHING. THE. SAME. STUDENTS. ALL. DAY. AND. ALL. SUBJECTS.

SO. FAR. (Disclaimer here) 🙂

Our 1st read aloud (novel) of the year is How To Eat Fried Worms.

The kids love it. Very short chapters. Very disgusting. Winner.

And I would LOVE to have them eat some worms after we finish it. You know-the sour gummy worms. But maybe covered with something that looks like dirt??? Fun stuff!

Stay tuned for more updates to what is shaping up to hopefully be the most fabulous year EVER!

What’s your first read aloud for the year??

The Real Reason Behind CCSS

There’s been a lot of talk about the common core standards. Rigor. New levels of thinking for our students. Rigor. Getting our students ready for college or a career. Rigor.

I’m putting a new spin on all of this. MAYBE the makers of the common core standards just wanted to shake things up a bit with us teachers!

I mean- think about it. How much have YOU discussed the standards? How many times have you had to REREAD a standard to REALLY understand it?

Maybe this “close reading” of texts begins with a “close reading” of the standards. Maybe they just wanted us to see how students feel during a first reading of a complex text.

For example, look at this 6th grade math standard below!

I may just be speaking for myself here, but without prior knowledge, multiple close readings, and many discussions, along with quite a bit of research, I wouldn’t have any idea what the new math standards say. I still don’t. Teehee. 🙂

So think of how our students must feel sometimes. Especially our struggling ones.

All I’m saying is that I’ve developed a new appreciation for what I expect my students to do each and everyday in my classroom.

And maybe THAT is an underlying theme or goal of what common core is all about.

August Currently

 

 

You can link up with Farley for the August Currently Linky Party.

Check out what everyone else is CURRENTLY doing! 🙂

 

Listening: I’m telling you my computer is running hot lately I’ve been on it so much!!

Loving: Got nails put on (LOVE) and a new hair cut (LOVE)!

Thinking: Oh. My. Gosh. The clock is ticking. I’ve been reading and researching and thinking all summer. BUT do I have written plans? No. Outline? No. I’ve got to get to it! 🙂

Wanting: Went to the beach last week. I want to go again. Enough said.

Needing: Seriously. I need some super powers to get it all done. There’s so much that’s new for me this year. That’s a whole other blog post. 🙂

Must haves for back to school: DIET PEPSI!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND MORE DIET PEPSI!! AND SOME MORE!! DID I MENTION DIET PEPSI???

How are you on this fine first day of August?????????

History Timeline

This will go at the beginning of our history timeline that we will construct together throughout the year!! All around the room! 🙂