We are currently reading the second book in the Hank Zipzer series. As you can guess, Mr. Cole really likes the Hank Zipzer books. I think many of the kids agree with him. 


We are currently reading a book in the Hank Zipzer series by Henry Winkler.  Personally, I really like the Zipzer series. They make me laugh a lot.  Hank Zipzer is a very realistic character.  He is smart, funny, creative, and he has a learning disability.  In this book, Hank learns strategies for being successful with his disability.  He also has a lot of fun (and gets into a lot of trouble).  You can learn more about the Hank Zipzer books right here.


Although it isn't really an author study, it could be called a genre study.  We have been looking at personal narratives. We've read many personal narratives with the children, and then we've attempted writing some ourselves.
A personal narrative is a short story that is true.  It is a personal reflection on an event that has taken place in
the life of the writer.  If you look along the wall leading to third grade, you will find many personal narratives
written by our gifted authors. We hope you enjoy them. 


Our first author study is Andrew Clement.  We are reading aloud Frindle. Andrew Clement has written many books. He has also written about himself:

I was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1949 and lived in Oaklyn and Cherry Hill until the middle of sixth grade.  Then we moved to Springfield, Illinois.  My parents were avid readers and they gave that love of books and reading to me and to all my brothers and sisters.  I didn’t think about being a writer at all back then, but I did love to read.  I'm certain there's a link between reading good books and becoming a writer.  I don't know a single writer who wasn’t a reader first.

Before moving to Illinois, and even afterwards, our family spent summers at a cabin on a lake in Maine.  There was no TV there, no phone, no doorbell—and email wasn’t even invented.  All day there was time to swim and fish and mess around outside, and every night, there was time to read.  I know those quiet summers helped me begin to think like a writer.

During my senior year at Springfield High School my English teacher handed back a poem I’d written.  Two things were amazing about that paper.  First, I’d gotten an A—a rare event in this teacher’s class.  And she’d also written in large, scrawly red writing, “Andrew—this poem is so funny.  This should be published!” 

That praise sent me off to Northwestern University feeling like I was a pretty good writer, and occasionally professors there also encouraged me and complimented the essays I was required to write as a literature major.  But I didn’t write much on my own—just some poetry now and then.  I learned to play guitar and began writing songs, but again, only when I felt like it.  Writing felt like hard work—something that’s still true today.

Then a professor who taught at a nearby college saw some of my writing and liked it enough to invite me to teach creative writing at a series of summer high school workshops she had organized.  And that was when I learned how hard it is to be a teacher, and also how rewarding and fun it can be. 

If you would like to read more about Andrew Clement, click here.