What is Reading?

Read our students' responses, then tell us what you think reading is by leaving a comment....

"Reading is thinking." SS

"Reading is thinking." NL

"Reading is thinking." CL

"Reading is thinking." GC

"Reading is thinking." EP

"Reading is thinking." AH

"Reading is thinking." LN

"Reading is thinking." AL

"Reading is thinking." JE

"Reading is thinking." ES

"Reading is thinking." GC

"Reading is thinking." KH

"Reading is thinking." LN

"Reading is thinking." KN

"Reading is thinking." JL

"Reading is thinking." Anonymous

"Reading is thinking." Anonymous

Kapeesh?!

Former Student Book Recommendation

Here's a recommendation of a book, sent by Will, a former 5th grader. Thanks, Will!

Book Recommendation
By: Will H

Magyk

Septimus Heap, the seventh son of a seventh son, disappears the night he his born, pronounced dead by the midwife. That same night, the baby’s father, Silas Heap, comes across an abandoned child in the snow- a newborn girl with violet eyes. The Heaps take her into their home, name her Jenna, and raise her as their own. But who is this mysterious baby girl, and what happened to their beloved son Septimus.

Andrew - Book Summary

The Twenty-One Balloons Summary
By : Andrew B.

The book I read for my Newberry award was the Twenty-One Balloons. The author is William Pene du Bois. The Twenty-One Balloons is a story about Professor William Waterman Sherman, a college professor that is tired of teaching for 40 years, sets out on a balloon-house adventure for pleasure. While he is flying, a seagull rips a miniscule hole in his immense balloon so he slowly descends. Sharks are snapping at his feet while he throws things overboard to make the balloon ascend. His balloon gets stuck in a palm tree. What he doesn’t realize until he meets civilization is that the land is Krakatoa, a mysterious volcanic island. There he meets Mr. F. a citizen of the Krakatoan government. He then shows around the island where he discovers many things he wouldn’t expect. The volcano erupts so everyone had to flee including Professor Sherman who doesn’t have a parachute so he lands in the Atlantic which is where the story started. That is my summary of The Twenty-One Balloons.

Andrew - Book Recommendation

The Kingdom Keepers is a book about a boy named Finn Whitman who has a “dream” in Disney World where he meets Wayne, an employee who knows about the Overtakers, Disney villains who are led by Maleficent or so it seems. During his second dream he meets two other DHI’s who are called Philby and Charlene. With them, he encounters robotic pirates and their leader, Blackbeard, who seems almost too real. When the pirates see them, they jump in to cars from the Buzz Lightyear ride and he realizes – too late – that the lasers are real and he gets zapped and Wayne immediately shows them a red button. When they push it they go back to the real world and wake up.


* * * *

In an Indian tepee . . . . . .
It started to feel cold in the tent and we heard someone circling it. Someone cackled “I know you’re in there Finn Whitman”. Maleficent looked in the tent and said “Where are you, sweetie?” We were invisible! Suddenly Charlene bolted from the tent and then Philby too. Then I said “Run”. Maleficent started to chase us and then she yelled “Finn, I am one of the weakest in the Overtakers. I am just one of the errand runners. There are many more powerful than me . . . . . . .

Dominic - Book Recommendation

Castaways of the Flying Dutchman
Book by Brian Jacques
Review by Dominic F.

In this exciting book, an orphaned boy, Neb, washes up on a ship and is forced to work in the gallery for the cook. On the ship he finds the captain and the rest of the crew to be horrible. When the captain curses the heavens an angel comes and the captain and crew are forced to sail the ship forever and not age.

Years later the boy has not aged and comes across a town. The boy has a serious problem -- the town is going to be destroyed for limestone. In this stunning adventure there is adventure around every corner.