KIDS SAY (AND CREATE) THE DARNDEST THINGS . . .

One of the joys of my work is the creative response from kids. 

1)  This web site for How to Survive Middle School was created, I assume, by a student:  http://htsms.weebly.com/index.html.  To say I was impressed by the effort would be an understatement.

2)  Found out How to Survive Middle School is on the Battle of the Books list for Chicago Public Schools, grades 4-6.  Love how educators make reading fun with events like Battle of the Books. 

Here are some of the things kids have said about the Battle of the Books in Chicago:

"We all felt so excited that we almost fainted!" 

"All the books I read helped me understand more about the world."

"I came to the U.S. two years ago.  I was a very slow English reader.  Now I can read a book in a day!"

3)  And the extraordinary educator, Deb Tyo from Ohio, sent me this video invitation created entirely by her 6th grade students.

To fully appreciate this short video, you need to know four quick things:

• When I graduated elementary school, the math award I received was a dictionary (that I still use today).
• There is "an unfortunate hula hoop incident" in my book, Olivia Bean, Trivia Queen.
• The upcoming title for my 2014 middle grade novel is Death by Toilet Paper
• To celebrate World Read Aloud Day, an annual event created by LitWorld, I will be one of many authors Skyping into classrooms to read and interact and have some fun.  For a list of authors available to Skype with students on WRAD, check out Kate Messner's blog post.

Now, onto the FUNtastic video, created by Deb Tyo's inventive students:

What do you think?  Should I Skype with these kids on WRAD?  You betcha!  And I think I'd better bring my hula hoop, too.