Peter and the Starcatchers

Peter and the Starcatchers is a prequel to the Peter Pan stories and explain why Peter can fly and why he lives in Neverland. I think these books are well written and exciting. There is lots of adventure in the book and they are very clever. I would highly recommend the series. There are two more books after Peter and the Starcatchers and I enjoyed both of those as well.

Be a Patriot Reader

I’m sure you already know that reading is the most important thing your child can do during the summer to be ready for the next school year. Reading is the most important factor on whether a child is successful in school. Reading is the language of learning! How many minutes your child reads greatly influences how well they read. The more your child reads over the summer (or is read to!) the better!

To encourage our students to read during the summer, I’m issuing a Patriot Reader challenge to all Forbes elementary students. Students should keep track of and record on the calendars how many minutes they read. Reading to your child or having an older sibling reading to them counts! Please initial each day they read and remind your students to be honest in recording their minutes.

At the end of the summer, students should calculate their total minutes read and return the calendar at the beginning of the next school year to receive prizes. The real prize is that your student will be a better reader, but we are offering some motivational prizes to get kids excited. The list of prizes is below and can provide encouragement to your child to keep reading.

Level I – Patriot Reader = 1100 total minutes or 20 minutes a day 5 days a week

Prize – Become a Patriot Reader and be invited to a donut party at the beginning of next year and 1 ticket in the prize drawing*

Level II – Honor Patriot Reader = 1650 total minutes or 30 minutes 5 days a week

Prize – Receive each of the level one awards plus be invited to a snow cone party and receive 2 tickets for the prize drawing*

Level III – Super Patriot Reader = 2200 total minutes or 40 minutes 5 days a week

Prize – Receive each of the level one and two awards plus receive a prize from Mr. Rencher and 3 tickets for the prize drawing*

Level IV – Ultimate Patriot Reader = 3300 total minutes or 60 minutes 5 days a week

Prize – Receive each of the previous levels prizes plus a Patriot Reader T-shirt and 4 tickets for the prize drawing*

*Prize drawings will include CD player, camera, soccer ball, basketball, ipod shuffle, camp chair, scooter, pogo stick and a Wii.

For a copy of the summer reading calendar, click here.

Rangers Apprentice: The Battle for Skandia

This book is the finale of the mini series. This was my favorite book so far in the series, probably because Erek and Halt are the two main characters instead of Will. Erek and Halt banter back and forth and there is lots of action in this book.

Ranger's Apprentice: Icebound Land

Book 2,3, and 4 of the Ranger's Apprentice series are one continuous story. If you start book 2, you've got to read 3 and 4 to find out what happens. This is a book that I really enjoyed. There is lots of action and adventure. One of my favorite characters in the series, Erek, is introduced in this book.

Ranger's Apprentice: The Burning Bridge

This was a better book than the first one in the series. It made me a fan of this series. I thought the character development was better. It introduces some new characters as well.

Sent

This book is the second book of this series from one of my favorite authors, Margaret Peterson Haddix. It is a fascinating book about time travel. It is very thought provoking and interesting read. I would recommend it for older readers (4th grade and up).

Crucial Conversations

As a part of the Principal's Academy I am attending, we are studying this book. I've read it before and it's a fabulous book. It's about how to get along with others and work through potentially tricky confrontations. It's helping me to become a better leader. I'd recommend it to everyone!