From the Pages to the Screen

With the holiday movie season fast approaching, there are some new movies that have come out that are based on children's books and there seem to be more and more every year. Last year there were movies such as City of Ember and Coraline, this year the movies, Where the Wild Things Are, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and The Vampire's Assistant are all based off of popular children's or teen books. When we watch movies that are based on books, there always seems to be several differences between them. What is your opinion about books that are made into movies? Do you feel that they are generally better or worse than the books that they have came from?
If you were a big movie producer and you needed to find the next great Hollywood blockbuster, what book or book(s) would you want to make a movie based on it? Why would you chose it and what makes you think it would be a hit with kids?

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Independent Reading

During reading class, we are working on building stamina during our independent reading time. We are currently up to 20 minutes. Why do you think that it's important to be able to build stamina while you are reading independently? I have been keeping a journal of the books each of you have been reading and am noticing that some of you are changing books quite often. Starting at the new nine weeks, I will be holding reading conferences with you to discuss some of your strategies during reading and you will be setting reading goals as well. Tell me, what have you been reading during this time? What is one thing that you can make a connection with as you are reading your current book?

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