On My Bookshelf: When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

Basic plot: 12-year-old Miranda walks home from school with her best friend, and only friend, Sal, each day to the apartment building where they both live. Walking with Sal makes it a little easier to get past the group of teenage boys hanging out on their stoop and the crazy old man at the mailbox. But after one of the boys punches Sal, he doesn't want to walk home or do anything else with Miranda. And so Miranda makes some new friends: Annemarie, recently "dumped" by her best friend Julia, and Colin who suggests they get a job at a local sandwich shop. She even befriends Marcus, the boy who punched Sal, who tries to explain the concept of time travel to her, the subject of her favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time. But then Miranda starts receiving mysterious notes from an unknown sender who seems to know things about Miranda before they even happen. After a truck hits Sal and the crazy old man, Miranda starts to piece together the meaning of the notes, who might be sending them, and why.

Why I liked it: The simplicity of the characters in When You Reach Me was refreshing. Miranda and her friends are in sixth grade, still young and fairly innocent. The author doesn't push them into the maturity and drama of many other characters/novels targeting this age group. I also liked the relationship between Miranda and her mother, who trusts her daughter, but not too much. Miranda's mother isn't a "helicopter" parent, nor does she try to be Miranda's friend. She is a good mix of laying down the law and spontaneous fun.

Classroom application: This would be a good addition to an upper elementary/ middle school classroom library and a perfect recommendation for students like Miranda who love A Wrinkle in Time. The novel could also be used as a fiction pairing with a unit or set of readings about he possibility of time travel. Interested students would also enjoy Ray Bradbury's short story, "A Sound of Thunder."

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of When You Reach Me for yourself, you can find it on Amazon here.

Note: The Literary Maven is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

#2ndaryELA Twitter Chat Topic: Interactive Notebooks

Brynn Allison, The Literary Maven & Kristy, 2 Peas and a Dog are hosting #2ndaryELA on Twitter every Tuesday evening from 8 - 8:30 PM EST (we are trying out the half hour chat). #2ndaryELA is a weekly chat for secondary English Language Arts teachers focused on a topic. Every Sunday, we will post the topic and questions on our blogs to allow you to prepare for the upcoming Tuesday evening's chat. Thank you to everyone who joined us last week and we hope that you will join us again.

Looking for the recap? Click on the image below.

On Tuesday, November 3, our #2ndaryELA chat will focus on interactive notebooks in the ELA classroom.

The Format:
8:00 Intros: What and where do you teach? Include a link to your blog if you have one. #2ndaryELA
8:05 Q1: Have you tried interactive notebooks in your classroom? Describe your experience with them. Share any photos you have. If not, what is holding you back? #2ndaryELA
8:10 Q2: How and why do you use interactive notebooks in your classroom? What questions do you have about using INB in your classroom? #2ndaryELA
8:15 Q3: How do you manage all the supplies (scissors, glue, colouring pencils) required for interactive notebooks in your classroom? What supplies do you recommend? #2ndaryELA
8:20 Q4: How do you assess student output in their interactive notebooks? How do you avoid it becoming just a creative journal? Share any assessment methods you have found or created. #2ndaryELA
8:25 Q5: Share some resources for using INB in the classroom that has helped you grow in your teaching practice (e.g. TPT products, blog posts, Pinterest ideas). #2ndaryELA

The Directions:
1. Log into Twitter on Tuesday from 8-8:30 PM EST.
2. Search for tweets with the hashtag #2ndaryELA in the search bar. Make sure to click “All tweets.”
3. Introductions are for the first 5 minutes.
4. Starting at 8:05 (@literarymaven or @2peasandadog) will post questions every 5 minutes using the format Q1, Q2, Q3, etc. and the hashtag #2ndaryELA.
5. Respond to questions using the format A1, A2, A3, etc. with #2ndaryELA.
6. Follow any teachers responding and who are also using #2ndaryELA.
7. Like and respond to other teachers' tweets.

You can schedule your responses to the questions ahead of time using a scheduler like TweetDeck or HootSuite (but don't forget to use A1, A2, etc. and #2ndaryELA). Links are encouraged, so be sure to use a link shortener like tinyurl, bitly, goo.gl or ow.ly Just visit one of those links and paste your long link to shorten it for Twitter. Using images is also encouraged when relevant.

New to chats? Here are the rules:
1. Stay on topic & stay positive!
2. Please do not post or promote paid products unless specifically asked.
3. If you arrive late, try to look through other posts before beginning.
4. Feel free to just read, like, and/or retweet.
5. Always use our hashtag #2ndaryELA, including in your replies to others.
6. Make sure your twitter feed is set to public. (Also keep in mind that Twitter is completely public – that means students, parents, and administrators can and will read what you tweet.)

Be sure to spread the word to any teacher friends who might be interested in joining us as well. We look forward to chatting with you Tuesday evening!
Get caught up on past chats here: