Every Friday, we eagerly await a new surprise visitor. Who will it be next week? Check back to find out!!
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We were really surprised when Lucas' mom showed up since her clues were so tricky! Who would have guessed that she accidentally swam with sharks and that she attended 2 years of school in England! We enjoyed the 2 books she read, both of which won The Caldecott Medal! The first book, Many Moons, by James Thurber, was about a sick princess who only knows one thing that will make her better, the moon. The second book was one of Lucas' favorites, Casey At The Bat, by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, which was actually a classic poem about the 19th century baseball player. We were really excited to hear 2 great books!
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We couldn't believe that this week's mystery reader was Estes Hills 3rd grade teacher, Mr. Simmons! Many of us had Mr. Simmons last year and even those of us who didn't have him were equally as thrilled! He read a fun Halloween book called The Witch Has An Itch by Donna Guthrie. Some of us became characters in the book, which was really cool. We really appreciate him taking time out of his busy schedule to visit! |
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We were definitely stumped this week after receiving the Mystery Reader clues! We were even more confused when the Mystery Reader showed up in a spooky costume...who could it be! It didn't take long for us to realize that this scary guest was Silja's mom! We loved her entrance and enjoyed the book she chose since it was perfect for Halloween. She read The Most Haunted House, a fun pop up book with a surprise twist at the end. Our Halloween guest could not have been more perfect! |
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Once again, we were very excited that Ben's mom was our mystery reader this week! Ben's mom snuck in to surprise us and we absolutely loved the book she brought! The Adventures of Hershel of Ostropol, retold by Eric Kimmel is a wonderfully enchanting compilation of Yiddish folk tales that are not only witty but involve a humorous prankster that we couldn't get enough of! |
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Our original reader had something come up so we were especially surprised when one of our favorite teacher's, Ms. Dale showed up as our mystery reader! Ms. Dale read 2 really fun Thanksgiving themed books. The first one, Twas the Night Before Thanksgiving, by Dav Pilkey, is a humorous story about a class that visits a turkey farm before Thanksgiving...they sure didn't want those turkey's to become a Thanksgiving meal! |
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Julian's mom, who also works at Estes, joined our class today with some great books that made us eager for snow this winter! She first read Snow Day by Lester L. Laminack, a fun book about preparing for a snow day...we especially enjoyed the surprise twist in the end! She also read one of Julian's childhood favorites (despite his slight embarrassment) called Good Night, Good Knight by Shelley Moore Thomas. It's a cute story about a brave knight who gallops from his crumbly tumbly tower to battle dragons. Finally, she left us wanting snow more than ever when she read The Biggest Snowman Ever by Steven Kroll. Mice friends team up to win a snowman contest and learn a lesson along the way. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!!
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Some of our clues this week were that our guest was short, not a parent of a camper, and wears glasses. We guessed teachers, staff, and even Santa! We were pleasantly surprised when Carolyn showed up! Carolyn helps us with writing every week so we knew she would be a great reader. Carolyn read Raising Dragons by Jerdine Nolan. This book was one of Carolyn's kids favorites growing up and it was a great story about a girl who discovers her true calling...raising dragons! You would love it too!
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Our mystery reader brought a perfect book to top off our surprise readers of 2008. Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins by Eric Kimmel is about the holiday-hating, hill-dwelling hobgoblins, who are bound and determined to ruin yet another Hanukkah. Of course, the hobgoblins  never expected someone as clever as Hershel of Ostropol showing up. Using his wits and a few props--pickles, eggs, and a dreidel--Hershel manages to outwit all the creepy critters and break the spell. Since we read a Hershel book with another mystery reader this year, we were wickedly entertained by this great holiday story! |
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Brandon's dad surprised us all, even Ms. Virginia and Ms. Coleman since they thought Brandon's mom was coming! We definitely enjoyed the  book he read, The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups, by David Wisniewski. "Don't jump on your bed!" "Don't bite your nails!" These are just some of the rules kids hear all the time from parents...but now, thanks to this great Top Secret book, we know the real reason parents make up do these things. Do you want to know the real reason we have to brush our teeth...well you'll just have to read the book to find out! |
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What a fun surprise this week! While our teacher, Ms. Coleman was out, we never would have guessed that the mystery reader was her mom! And...she brought a perfect book to get us ready for the inauguration next week. So You Think You Want To Be a President by Judith  St. George was a lighthearted, hilarious story that basically proved that anyone can be president! Even a tiny man (Madison) or an old guy (Reagan) are cut out for the job! Not only did we laugh a lot, but we learned real facts about presidents that most people don't know! |
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Eva's dad was a great reader and brought two excellent books. Seabiscuit was about the life and racing career of Seabiscuit, an undersized and overlooked race horse whose unexpected successes made him a hugely popular  sensation! We also enjoyed hearing lots of funny poems from Jack Prelutsky's It's Raining Pigs and Noodles. We laughed out loud at tons of zany poems and drawings. We definitely recommend checking out some of his hilarious poetry...sure to tickle your funny bone!! |
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 We were pleased to welcome Ms. Lloyd to our classroom during our school's African American Read-In. Over 30 high school students and adults from the community came in to read students fantastic stories written by African American authors. This nation wide campaign helps make literacy a significant part of Black History Month. We even got to play a part in the funny book she read. |
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 Emma's dad definitely had her fooled! One of his clues was that he once worked for the CIA. Little did we know that CIA meant Culinary Institute of America! While he isn't a spy, he definitely knew how to be sneaky! We really enjoyed the short story he read called Mystery Yarn. The story is one of 6 stories in the book Homer Price by Robert McCloskey. The stories are all about a young boy named Homer who has many unusual things happen to him. In the story we read, Homer's Uncle Telly and the sheriff both save string. Whoever becomes the World's Champion String Saver is supposed to win the hand of Miss Terwilliger in marriage. But what does Miss Terwilliger think of this little agreement? This is definitely a fun and suspenseful story you must read! |
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Ellison's dad brought some of her favorite books to our class today! Both were lots of fun to read and  we especially enjoyed some of the stories he shared about reading the books to Ellison and her sister. We first read The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf. This classic story was about a mellow bull named Ferdinand who soon becomes a fighting bull in Madrid. "Ferdinando," as we called him (following  our reader's funny inflections) was a great story about the historical tradition of bullfighting, but also a lesson in nonviolent tranquility. We also read I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato by Lauren Child about 2 siblings, one of which is tricked into eating her dinner. Both books are surely worth reading soon. |
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Our class has never cracked up as much as we did when Ben's aunt, who joined us all the way from England, read a story from Eric Kimmel's book, The Jar of Fools. The |
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Kevin guessed it right...his dad was our mystery reader this week! To start, Kevin's dad shared an Intramural Football Magazine from his years playing there, which he had found when searching for the book to read today. The cool part was that he played at Yale at the same time as Eva's dad! And, just this morning, when he found the magazine,  Kevin's dad spotted Eva's dad in a picture! What a small world! For our read aloud, we had to be really good listeners since the book, Solv-A-Crime by A.C. Gordon, is a compilation of short mysteries that we had to solve. The clues were tough sometimes but we are being the sleuths that we are, it wasn't too hard to figure them out! We didn't want to stop reading them since it sure is fun to be a detective! |
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Boy do we love storytellers with English accents! Erin's dad read us two books by British authors, since Erin's  originally from England. The first book he read, The Day I Swapped My Dad For Two Goldfish by Neil Gaiman, is a silly story about a boy who decides to swap his dad for goldfish, but has to figure out how to swap him back when his mom finds out. One of  the best parts of the story were the amazing illustrations! We also read some freakishly funny rhymes by Roald Dahl in his book Dirty Beasts. Full of people-eating, people-pricking, -stinging, -soiling creatures, we all enjoyed hearing one of our favorite author's at his best! |
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Amy's mom read some great stories from a collection  called Favourite Irish Fairy Tales. It was perfect since St. Patrick's Day is next week...and even more perfect since she is from Ireland! We definitely love hearing stories about different cultures and countries! |
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Who would have known that Sidharth's dad is fluent in 6
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Hunter's mom came ready to quiz us on our North Carolina knowledge. We read T is for Tarheel by Carol Crane when Ellie's dad came, but we never took the quiz.  This time we did and we did better than we would have thought! Hunter's mom also read How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning by Rosalyn Schanzer. This was a fascinating book, which tied in nicely with the Electricity and Magnetism unit we are studying. Who knew Ben Franklin did so much in his lifetime!? |
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Once again, we learned so much about a student's family and culture. Justin's mom came in with a really special treat. She read 2 books by author Mari Takabayashi.  Justin's mom is from Japan and actually knows the author. Ms. Takabayashi actually wrote our class a letter! How cool! The two books she read were entitled I Live in Tokyo and I Live in Brooklyn. Not only did  we learn about the customs and daily routines for someone our age in Japan, but we also learned about how different our lives and customs are from the characters in the stories! |
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Welcome to the world of Beautiful Martina, the Cuban cockroach who doesn't know coffee beans about love and marriage. Explore essential ingredients of this |
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Hunter's grandparents joined us this week, along with  her little brother, Luke. The first book was by hilarious author Dav Pilkey. Dog Breath is about a dog, Hally, who lives with the  Tosis family. Bad things happen when poor Hally opens his mouth and unleashes his goldfish-killing tree-deleafing horrible breath. We also enjoyed hearing some of the spooky stories in More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz. Hunter's grandfather sure knows how to keep us on the edge of our seats! |
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Since we have been doing a lot of service projects lately, Ellie's mom read us a book that fits in with this theme of  helping others. Mrs. Cohn teaches second grade at Estes, so many of us knew her already! The Quilt Maker's Gift, by Jeff Brumbeau, tells the story of a greedy king, who with the help of a generous quiltmaker, learns to find happiness by giving his possessions away. I think we can all learn something about the joy that comes from selfless acts. It felt good just hearing about kindness in the book! |
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Even Kees didn't know it was his dad...well, he may have had a little bit of an idea when one of the clues mentioned the mystery reader traveling all over the world for work. When his dad arrived, we found out that he has actually traveled to almost 30 countries. Wow! He even tried to name them all. He read 2 tall tales from the book, American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne. He didn't just read them, he had us jumping out of our seats with his powerful voices! We loved how the author described the characters and the story with lots of exaggerated details! |
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We had a mystery reader first today! Julia's mom read us a story that she actually wrote herself. It's the Little Things is a story about a 4th grade boy who has difficulty making friends. After many failed attempts, the character finally figures out how to fit in, but more importantly, he realizes the importance of kindness. I think we all found many parts of the story all too familiar and appreciated the lesson in the end! Julia's mom asked if anyone would be interested in illustrating her story. Could we become famous illustrators? Maybe!! |
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Ellison had no idea it was here mom who was coming  today. The peanut butter on everything clue definitely threw her off! The first book she read was about a cat who spent the day in Amsterdam. The second book was a perfect selection since summer is right around the corner! Lottie's New Beach Towel by Petra Mathers is the the simple story of a day at the beach with absurd little twists. The story is about a chicken named Lottie and her friend Herbie, a duck who has a boat and wears a hat labeled "Capitano." When he picks her up from the shore for a boat ride and the motor "gets tired and goes to sleep," they sail back with the help of the beach towel, of course. This quirky story is a great lesson about friendship and a funny take on how one thing leads to another. |
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Who would have known that this week's mystery reader has met lots of famous people...not even Lucas! We really enjoyed Perseus Retold by Warwick Hutton since many of us have read the Percy Jackson series, which is based on this Greek mythological story. As Lucas' dad read the story, most of us made lots of connections to the Percy Jackson series! It was really fun to find out what inspired many of the things in the series! |
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Milana's mom was Winnie the Pooh at Disney World and loves Billy Joel! We were so excited to hear her read 2 books this week. The first book was one that we have been |
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One of our clues this week was that our reader lived 5,000 miles away. This sure stumped us! Ben's grandmother was visiting from Israel and we were so excited that she came to our classroom! She read Excalibur by Carol Heyer, which retells the story of how King Arthur came to possess his sword Excalibur. It was a really fun storytelling experience!
It's always exciting when our mystery reader brings a book about things we are learning in class! Ellie's dad brought a book called T is for Tarheel: A North Carolina Alphabet by Carol Crane. The best part about it was that many of the places mentioned in the book were places that many students had visited. Since we are learning about North Carolina, it is always fun to make connections with what we are learning!
What a fun surprise for Hunter's birthday...her mom! And she came with cookies too. We couldn't get enough of the hilarious book she read Winkle's World by Lara Jo Regan. The book is about a tiny dog, named Winkle, who is definitely unlike most dogs you see! She also read one of her and Hunter's favorite books, The Most Thankful Thing, by Lisa McCourt. This book was really special since it is about the special relationship between a mother and daughter. We hope this was special gift for Hunter's birthday!
The other book, Thank You Sarah, The Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is actually based on a true story about a very brave and persistent woman who helped make Thanksgiving a National Holiday. We hope Ms. Dale can visit again soon! 
story entitled, "Wisdom for Sale," drew on traditional Jewish folklore, and related the antics of the people of Chelm, who were thought--perhaps incorrectly--to be a town of fools. While the story was quite long, our reader's mesmerizing storytelling kept us on the edge of our seats. This elaborately contrived fantasy, full of the kind of humor 4th graders love, will surely not be forgotten! 
languages! Yes, 6! We learned this incredible fact and more when he came to our classroom! He first read Zathura by Chris VanAllsburg. What a fun adventure with great illustrations!
waiting to hear for a really long time. Eggbert,the Slightly Cracked Egg by Tom Ross is a fun book about a cracked egg, named Eggbert, who cannot seem to find his place in the world. This is a great book 
about self acceptance and appreciating differences. Milana's mom also read Pirates Don't Change Diapers by Melinda Long. This hilarious tale is the sequel to Long's book, How I Became a Pirate. We laughed out as she read the story of loud Jacob, supposed-to-be babysitter, who is distracted from keeping an eye on his snoozing sister by the boisterous, baby-wakening arrival of Captain Braid Beard and his men. A definite must read!