The Death (and Further Adventures) of Silas Winterbottom: The Body Thief

The Death (and Further Adventures) of Silas Winterbottom: The Body Thief

By: Stephen M Giles And you thought your family was strange. If you enjoyed reading The Series of Unfortunate Events and the 39 Clues series, this is the book that will take you one step further into just how mixed up and crazed families can be. Three cousins with completely unique and different backgrounds are sent an invitation including $10,000 from their wealthy uncle to spend time with him on his secluded island estate. A dream vacation... until you throw in crocodiles, mysterious tunnels, kidnapping, and a mad scientist. Then you have a real adventure! Oh, lets not forget to add that the uncle is dying and he will choose one of the three cousins to inherit everything...a bit of competition is added. This book was a fun roller-coaster read! Each chapter took me in a different direction and even a few loops turning the plot upside down and twisted at the end. I fully enjoyed watching the characters evolve while their uncle plotted against them right up to the very end of the book. I'll put this on my must read book list in the classroom.

Have you found any good books this summer?

I've spent all summer on the lookout for good/great books. I'll post my reading list soon, but wanted to give you a chance to share books that you feel are worth searching for!

Linger is the sequel to Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater released 7/13/10

Hambric, hammock...HAPPINESS!

If asked how I spent my summer, I will have many adventures to share. If asked about one of my favorite days, I'll let this photo speak for me...

An ARC (advanced reader's copy) of Bran Hambric the Specter Key, by Kaleb Nation, arrived this afternoon! It took me no time to grab a glass of ice water and head for the hammock. I'll save my review for a later date, not wanting to give away any spoilers, but I had to share how easily I was lost in the land of Dunce and magic.

I was happy but also scared, stressed, relieved, sad, surprised, shocked, and nervous while reading the adventures that Bran was on. I didn't have time to catch my breath from the beginning celebration to the missing bit of magic on the last page.

I did stop once to tweet Kaleb and say, "NOOOOOO!" after reading page #139.

Well done Kaleb! I think I'll start over tomorrow- the hammock calls for more Hambric.

teacher6th avatars

Avatars are a great way to share yourself on-line without giving out too much personal information (like your photograph). Sue Waters, from the edu blogger, shared some great sites to help create your own avatar.

http://theedublogger.com/2009/11/29/creating-and-uploading-your-comment-avatar/

I had fun creating the different avatars trying to stay true to my photograph...not easy!

Let Out the Creative Beast

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Let Out the Creative Beast

View more presentations from Betsy Streeter.

Newsworthy & Fun

What: Face-2-Face meeting with Kaleb Nation

When: June 8th, 2010 2:00

Where: Undisclosed Border's Bookstore, LA, California

Why: Chance to meet Kaleb in person and get books signed

After many tweets, emails, and even a phone call, the promise over Skype to meet during the summer became a reality. Kaleb and teacher6th (that's me) along with teacher6th's family sat on the balcony of Border's Bookstore soaking in the California sunshine.

Topics of conversation included information about Bran Hambric the Farfield Curse and the soon to be released sequel. Kaleb shared his excitement steming from his new YA book he has just begun. He also shared how awesome he thinks the students at OMS are and can't wait to see more creative projects.
"Write what you are excited about," was his advice to any inspiring young author. He also stressed the importance of reading and note-taking to use as background knowledge during the writing process.

After autographs and book signings, photographs and hugs, Kaleb and teacher6th parted ways- until they meet again... luckily Twitter, Facebook,Skype, Blogtv, and http://www.kalebnation.com/ and http://www.branhambric.com/ is available!

End of year...

The last day of school brings excitement and joy- from both students and teachers.
A break from homework, tests and getting up early.
A chance to relax...
So, what will you miss?
Friends@ lunch time and between classes,
Uninterrupted reading time during S.S.R.,
Encouragement from teachers and students,
Projects that made you say "Wow!"
Skype and Twitter messages on the large screen.
Winning contest celebrations.
Until next year,
Memories of 2009-2010
school year will linger with us.
Have a great summer!

Mrs. Duff

Origami Yoda Creations

Join us as we create our own Origami Yoda finger puppets:

Directions from Tom:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TA4VJbqFQuw

Origami Yoda Home Page:
http://origamiyoda.wordpress.com/

We Reached our Reading Goal!

At the beginning of the school year, I challenged my reading class to read 40 books during the 2009-2010 school year. A difficult, but not impossible goal.

I challenge myself to read 75 books starting January 1st, 2010 to the end of the school year.

20 minutes a day was reserved to use as S.S.R. (sustained silent reading).
Students were encouraged to read from a number of different genres. All this was kept track in a reading notebook. I also tracked mine on our class blog, listing books that may interest other readers. Additional reading time was needed to reach our goals.

This weekend was tally time... after checking notebooks, I found many students had reached either my 40 book goal or a personal goal of their own.
The most read this year was 51-way to go!
I reached my 75 book goal on May 25th! It wasn't easy but was a lot of fun and entertaining.

5th Graders visit OMS

Welcome 5th graders!

The halls were deserted before 1st period Friday-the 6th graders had a day off to give the 5th graders a chance to visit their classrooms and learn about life as a 6th grader.
After a meet and greet in the auditorium, students met with a sixth grade teacher.

"These desks are big!"

"Do you know my brother?"

"Do we get recess?"

Between testing, tours of the building, meeting teachers, and lunch (recess too), students and teachers both were able to learn a little about each other.

Next school year is looking promising.
Thanks for visiting OMS-we will see you soon!

Speak Like Yoda Day

"have fun in reading, want to...hmmmm?"
"believe we can do this, I can't...yes"
"easier then it looks, it is"

Thanks to our new read aloud, Speak like Yoda Day at OMS was officially launched. After a quick music video featuring Weird Al and "YODA" students were writing and talking like Yoda. It was hard to believe that the very day we started "The Strange Case of Origami Yoda' by Tom Angleberger,

it was Speak like Yoda Day across the nation. The force was with us!

Tom sent us a signed origami Yoda hand puppet, and we are looking forward to making our own origami Yoda finger puppets as soon as we finish the book.

For a fun laugh out loud read, we highly recommend this book to anyone that has lived through 6th grade or hope to in the future.

"not to speak like Yoda, we dare you"

Mississippi River Aquarium & Museum Trip

What a day! The sun was shining, the lunches were packed, and two yellow school buses headed to the Mississippi River via Dubuque.

This trip completed an environmental unit taught in all subject areas concentrating on oceans and rivers. Groups were shown the different aquatic animals and plants that make up our amazing water habitat along the Mississippi River. The environmental impact pollution and erosion has on all of us was shared. Students and chaperons enjoyed the picnic lunch and time to just relax in the river breeze.


Special thanks goes out to Northeast Iowa Charitable Foundation for making this trip possible!