Read Aloud Books discussion

It is hard to pick the last read aloud of the year. So i chickened out and had the class vote. They chose The London Eye Mystery by Siobhan Dowd. A very good last book.

I did the same thing and ended up having to read the SADDEST book eVeR!!! Marley a Dog Like No Other. Fortunately, I got to read more often than expected so I will get to do another one, One that I pick for the VERY last book of the year.

Me? Where the Red Fern Grows. And it's way better than I remember. What's with all the sad dog books for this time of the year?? Maybe cuz it's cathartic to have a vicarious goody-bye before a real one.

finished Red Fern today. Awwww. I'd forgot about all the religious talk, but it was okay. I'm more comfortable than I was as a brand new teacher making respectful space for such conversations. A kid at the end insisted we needed to understand, "why DID god let that happen???" and another kid, "seems like god was only fair to Billy's mom, but not to Billy." gosh, life IS tough and unfair sometimes.

and my own, personal message from the ending: even though it always hurts a lot to say good-bye, it's still worth it to love well. even when you know there's gonna be an end in nine months--it's worth it to love those kids well.