I had a nice summer. I spent most of my time working at DePaul, but that’s okay because I like my job. I taught two summer courses: Intro to Elementary Education and Intro to Middle School Education. Both groups of students will be spending this academic year in classrooms with mentor teachers in high needs Chicago Public Schools while continuing to take classes at DePaul. At the end of the year they’ll earn their master’s degree and licensure. It’s great that we have dedicated individuals going into the classroom at the time when so many people are running in the other direction.

One of the best things I had them do was read a novel appropriate for 4th through 8th graders. They answered questions about the book and author, and then created a technology response. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that most of them hadn’t had time to read a book for pleasure in several years. I also know it’s not an exaggeration to say many of them were NOT excited about this assignment. They had a lot of assignments to complete and it was just another thing to do, but they ended up absolutely loving the books they read. This of course was music to my ears—and I am sure they weren’t just pretending to like the books. Their reactions were too genuine, and the tech responses they made were too full of creativity and love.

The big winners were books by Jason Reynolds (Long Way Down) and Kwame Alexander (Crossover, Booked)

Others they highly recommended for the 4th-8th grade crowd:

– Stunt Boy
– The Stars Beneath Our Feet
– Lily and Dunkin
– New Kid
– Dragon Hoops
– Turtle Boy
– Roller Girl
– Dear Martin
– Dear Justyce
– Hurricane Season
– Step Up to the Plate Maria Singh
– Bird in a Box
– Finding Langston
– Patina
– Efren Divided
– Displacement
– Invention of Hugo Cabret
– Wonderstruck
– Epic Fail of Arturo Zamoras
– Pet
– Go with the Flow
– Benefits of Being an Octopus
– A Field Guide to Getting Lost
– Rules
– The Schwa Was Here
– Other Words for Home
– Absolutely Almost
– I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
– The Thing About Georgie
– Stargazing
– Starfish

We talked about Rudine Simms Bishop’s mirrors/windows adage that kids need books to be mirrors where they see themselves and windows where they see other experiences/worlds. It’s great if we as teachers have our old favorites, but we also need to be aware of books that have been published more recently and reflect today’s world. Many of the books listed above are great examples that definitely serve as mirrors and windows, and they are enjoyable to read as well.