Characters with Character: Reading Conduct of Life Stories

Wintry weather has come to New Jersey!

 We're chasing the chill away with heart-warming conduct of life stories... reading that entertains us 

and gives us something to think about 

after the books are back on the shelf.

Listening and Learning: El Deafo by Cece Bell. In this funny and moving graphic memoir, author-illustrator Cece Bell shares the story of her adolescent hearing loss and her experiences with a powerful but awkward hearing aid. The Phonic Ear helps Cece hear—but it also sets her apart from her classmates. After overcoming many challenges, she finds much longed-for friendship and discovers her place in the world.

El Deafo Reading Road Trip Video 

featuring Morgan, Ava, Lily, Sadie, Avery, and Kate.

El Deafo Reading Road Trip Author Interview.

Winter Reading from Snow Hill: Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea. Seven narrators—new girl Jessica, bossy Alexia, prankster Peter, brainy Luke, quiet Danielle, outcast Anna, and reluctant student Jeffrey—share stories from their fifth grade school year. Rookie teacher Mr Terupt makes the classroom a disciplined-yet-fun place… until the snowy day when an accident changes everything.

Because of Mr. Terupt Video Project 

featuring Reese, Kyra, Eva, Cloe, Isabella, and Jule.

A Novel in Verse: Hidden by Helen Frost. Years after Darra's father steals a minivan with Wren hiding in the back, the girls meet at summer camp and begin to work through what happened during those life-changing hours and days—and the impact it had on their lives. Told from alternating perspectives, Hidden explores memory, blame, and the power of friendship.

Hidden Video Project by Anna, Casey, and Julia.

Strength and Self-Reliance: Everything on a Waffle by Polly Horvath. In a small fishing village in British Columbia, Canada, eleven-year-old Primrose Squarp chronicles her experiences and misadventures in the months after her parents are lost in a typhoon... a time when the only constant in her life is enjoyment of a restaurant that serves every menu item on a waffle.

Overcoming Challenges: Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio by Peg Kehret. Celebrated author Peg Kehret describes her childhood battle with polio and her efforts to overcome the ongoing effects of the disease.

Courageous Historical Fiction: The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine. In 1958 Arkansas, twelve-year-old Marlee befriends new girl Liz. Suddenly, Marlee’s bold and brave friend stops attending school, and rumors fly that Liz is an African-American passing herself off as white. Together, the two girls confront prejudice, integration, and dangers that their friendship could bring to their families.  

Convincing and Captivating: Wonder by R.J. Palacio. Ten-year-old Auggie Pullman, born with severe facial deformities, is venturing from the isolated safety of home schooling to enter fifth grade at Beecher Prep in Manhattan. Auggie wants to be treated like an ordinary kid. His classmates, however, can’t get past his unusual appearance, and he endures hurtful taunting and ridicule at his new school.

Wonder Video Project by Ben, Luc, Henry, and Charlie.

Wonder Reading Road Trip Interview Session 

featuring Christina, Abigail, Caroline, Sophie, and Mrs. Cifrodella.

At first, Wonder is told from Auggie’s point of view, but then the story shifts to include his classmates, his sister, and others, creating a moving portrayal of what it means to be different-- and a community’s journey to compassion and acceptance.

Wonder Reading Road Trip Video 

featuring Kylie, Amelia, and Bettina.

Page-Turning Realistic Fiction: Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen. In alternating chapters, teenagers Bryce and Juli describe how their perspectives have changed over the years—thoughts and feelings about themselves, each other, and their families. Flipped is funny and thought-provoking, a comedy of errors about two characters figuring out who they are and who they want to be.

We're warming up with winter reading... 

Let's make some cocoa, find a comfortable chair,

and get our mitts on a Reading Road Trip book!

Reading Science: Inventors and Innovators

Here at Lafayette, we have reading down to a science: we're checking out biographies and fiction about inventors and innovators, creating collaborative projects, and sharing book recommendations with classmates.

Who Was Alexander Graham Bell? by Bonnie Bader. Mr. Watson… Come Here… I want to see you! These are the first words Alexander Graham Bell spoke into his newfangled invention. The inventor dreamed of creating a device that could transmit speech electronically: the telephone forever changed the way the world communicates.

Who Were the Wright Brothers? by James Buckley. To dream, to fly, to soar higher! As young boys, Orville and Wilbur Wright loved to play with simple machines and mechanical creations. As young men, they worked with bicycles and motors. As adults, the brothers worked together to build and fly the world’s first successful airplane.

Video Celebrating the Wright Brothers' First Flight,

Featuring Ella and Ella as Orville and Wilbur!

Who Is Jane Goodall? by Roberta Edwards. Off to Africa! Young Jane Goodall loved animals and wanted to study them in their natural habitats. At age twenty-six, the British scientist traveled to Africa and began her ground-breaking observation of chimpanzees.

Who Was Jane Goodall? Video Project by Kathyrn, Sydney, and Mia.

Who Was Leonardo da Vinci? by Roberta Edwards. Inside the Mind of a Renaissance Man: Leonardo da Vinci was a gifted painter, a talented musician, a devoted scientist, and an inspired inventor—a fascinating man who lived at a fascinating time—Italy during the Renaissance.

Who Was Leonardo da Vinci? Video featuring Lilly and Ryan.

Who Was Ben Franklin? by Dennis B. Fradin. Let’s Go Fly a Kite! Ben Franklin was a man of many talents. An author, a printer, a publisher, and a statesman, he was also an avid scientist and inventor. With the help of a kite, he famously discovered that lightning is electricity. 

Who Was Steve Jobs? by Pam Pollack. The Apple of Our Eye: Steve Jobs, co-founder of the multinational technology company, turned a youthful obsession with computers into a successful business and a fascinating life story.

Who Was Steve Jobs? Interview by Lila, Ella, Sophia, and Zoya.

Who Was Steve Jobs? Poster by Sarah.

Who Was Thomas Alva Edison? by Margaret Frith. A Light-Bulb Moment! One day in 1882, Thomas Edison flipped a switch and illuminated Manhattan with incandescent light— forever changing the way we work and live. Edison produced thousands of inventions, including the phonograph and an early version of the movie camera.

Who Was Marie Curie? by Megan Stine. Nobel Prize Winner: Polish-born Marie Curie partnered with her scientist husband to perform pioneering work in physics and chemistry. Together they discovered two elements and advanced the study of radioactivity.

Who Was Marie Curie? Video Project by Sadie, Josie, and Lily.

Who Was Marie Curie? Diorama Project by Emily E.

Detail of Emily's Who Was Marie Curie? Diorama.

Detail of Emily's Who Was Marie Curie? Diorama.

Back in Time with Thomas Edison by Dan Gutman. Time-Travel Adventure! Thirteen-year-old Robert "Qwerty" Stevens uses the time machine he finds in his back yard to visit Thomas Edison's workshop in 1879. Qwerty helps the famous inventor develop the electric light bulb but needs his sister’s help to return to his own time.

Phineas L. MacGuire… Erupts! by Frances O’Roark Dowell. Science and Friendship: Disaster nearly strikes when fourth-grade science whiz Phineas MacGuire is forced to team up with the new boy in class on a science fair project.  His partner’s quirky personality may jeopardize the assignment, but then Mac decides to do some investigating….

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm. Science Can Change the World… But Can It Go Too Far? Ellie doesn’t like change: she misses fifth grade; she misses her old best friend; she misses her dearly departed goldfish. One day, a strange boy shows up—a bossy boy who looks a lot like Ellie’s grandfather, a scientist who has always been obsessed with eternal youth.

The Fourteenth Goldfish Video Project by Ellie, Emily, and Sarah.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. Science Fiction Classic: Assisted by three otherworldly women, Meg Murry, her brother Charles Wallace, and their friend Calvin O’Keefe embark on a journey through space and time in search of Meg’s father, a physicist who disappeared while working on a secret government time-travel project.

Without a doubt, inventors and innovators transport us to other times and places. Walt Disney was an American entrepreneur and film producer. A pioneer of the animation industry, he introduced numerous developments in cartoon production:.

Who Was Walt Disney? Video Project by Oliver, Jack, Jackson, and Devon.

Benjamin Franklin once said, Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. No doubt about it, Reading Road Trippers are involved, and we’re learning a lot about invention and innovation!

Where will Reading Road Trip takes us next? 

The experiment continues…. 

Sharing the Story: Memorable Memoirs

This winter, Lafayette School is taking a snow-covered stroll down memoir lane.  A memoir—from the French word meaning memory—is a collection of life stories written in first person voice. The memoirs are piled high on LMC shelves, so let’s grab our Reading Road Trip shovels and dig into the genre!

Our Top Story:  Where did the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and other Lafayette favorites find creative inspiration?  In Boy: Tales of Childhood, Roald Dahl shares childhood memories, including tales of summer vacations in Norway and anecdotes about life at English boarding school.

A Multi-Story House: In 26 Fairmount Avenue, a favorite author-illustrator shares heart-warming stories and humorous adventures from a childhood year in Connecticut.  The illustrated Newbery Honor-winning memoir covers a lot of ground: hurricanes and home life, Snow White and school life... and memorable moments with Nana Upstairs.

26 Fairmount Avenue Illustration by Natalie B.

That’s Our Newbery Medal-Winning Story, and We’re Sticking to It: In Dead End in Norvelt, Jack Gantos remembers the summer of 1962—when he was twelve years old, grounded, and assigned to help an elderly neighbor with a strange task. The autobiographical novel is packed with plot twists, history lessons, and Girl Scout cookies!

A Moving Story:  In Small Steps: The Year I Got Polio, Lafayette favorite author Peg Kehret describes her childhood bout with polio and her courageous efforts to overcome the ongoing effects of the disease.  Take a look at a RRT author interview, produced by Shannon and Georgia:

Lafayette's Mrs. Ferrone feels a personal connection to Small Steps: her aunt had polio.  The BSI coordinator and Reading Specialist shares, "We watched Aunt Gerry bravely deal with this disease... Her disability never dimmed her spirit, just as Peg Kehret bravely faced life and met polio head on."

Randi, Summer, Molly, Annie, and Amy 

produced another Small Steps author interview: 

Small Steps Sketch-a-Scene by Jane B.

Small Steps Plot Project by Kaitlyn F. and Molly R.

Small Steps Project by Sara R.

A Likely Story:  In Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Mostly True Stories about Growing Up Scieszka, Jon Scieszka describes what it was like growing up in a house with six brothers during the 1950s. From comic books to Catholic school, from summers at the lake to babysitting on the homefront, Knucklehead is full of Scieszka chuckles!

We’re gazing out the big LMC window, and it looks like it might snow... again!  If there is wintry weather tomorrow, we’re going to make cocoa, grab notebooks and sharpened pencils, find comfortable chairs, and begin to write our memoirs.  But that’s another story!