Thursday, July 10, 2025

Fortunately, Unfortunately with Grade 2

Thanks to https://ideafm.org/ for the idea and the image.

In second grade, we read Fortunately by Remy Charlip, a story that follows Ned through a series of problems and resolutions, and talked about plot structure. 

Then we wrote our own version as a class ... the kids much preferred coming up with the "unfortunately" parts!


Mrs. Cipalone's Class

One day, I was in California for a conference. 

Unfortunately, I got lost and was late for the conference.

Fortunately, I ended up in Disneyland.

Unfortunately, I landed in Animal Kingdom, and a tiger scratched me 10 million times.

Fortunately, there was a cast member there to save me.

Unfortunately, I had to leave.

Fortunately, I got to stay at a hotel.

Unfortunately, they don't have food there.

Fortunately, there were a lot of restaurants nearby.

Unfortunately, I don't have any money.

Fortunately, a teenager gave me money.

image from pinterest.com
Unfortunately, Mr. Crabs stole the money somehow.

Fortunately, I called the police.

Unfortunately, they didn't come on time.

Fortunately, they did find him.

Unfortunately, they lost their money too because Mr. Crabs stole it!

Fortunately, Mr. Crabs used the money to give us food.

Unfortunately, they wouldn't give him food because he didn't have enough money.

Fortunately, Spongebob came and made food.

Unfortunately, the restaurant closed.

Fortunately, the police drove us to a new restaurant that was open.

Unfortunately, someone vomited on Spongebob.

Fortunately, we all went back to Disneyland.


The End



Mrs. Gallagher's Class

One day, there was a girl named Sienna. 

Unfortunately, she got stuck in quicksand.

Fortunately, she could jump.

Unfortunately, she just made it worse.

Fortunately, someone saved her in a hot air balloon.

Unfortunately, lions and tigers were chasing her.

Fortunately, the lions stopped chasing her.

Unfortunately, the tigers were still chasing her.

Fortunately, she went into a cave and blocked the entrance.

Unfortunately, it was a bear's den.

Fortunately, she dug a path out of the den.

Unfortunately, she landed in a tiger pit.

image from amazon.com
Fortunately, she got out of the pit.

Unfortunately, she ran into a snake pile.

Fortunately, the snakes were not venomous.

Unfortunately, she fell off a cliff.

Fortunately, Superman saved her.

Unfortunately, Superman fell.

Fortunately, there was a trampoline.

Unfortunately, they bounced to outer space.

Fortunately, she landed on a planet.

Unfortunately, the planet was toxic.

Fortunately, Darth Vader saved her.


The End



Mrs. Chittim's Class

One day, a girl named Malorie jumped into an airplane. 

Unfortunately, the airplane crashed.

Fortunately, it landed in a lake.

Unfortunately, she couldn't swim.

Fortunately, there was a boat.

Unfortunately, it broke in half.

Fortunately, there was another boat next to it.

Unfortunately, she fell out of that one too. 

Fortunately, she made it to land.

image from youtube.com

Unfortunately, there were venomous monkeys. 

Fortunately, she stayed alive. 

Unfortunately, she had to go to the hospital.

Fortunately, the best doctor in the world was there.

Unfortunately, he was sick.

Fortunately, his twin brother was there.

Unfortunately, he was sick too.

Fortunately, there was another doctor.

Unfortunately, the doctor got grossed out by her injuries.

Fortunately, there was another doctor to help.

Unfortunately, she was too old to do the surgery.

Fortunately, after all that time, Malorie already healed.

Unfortunately, it was hard to walk because something was still wrong with her legs without having surgery.

Fortunately, she had crutches.


The End




Mrs. Smorol's Class

One day, Poppy went outside to go play soccer. 

image from etsy.com

Unfortunately, she got hit with the ball.

Fortunately, she dodged it.

Unfortunately, she landed on the ground.

Fortunately, she was okay because she landed on grass.

Unfortunately, she was cheating in her soccer/football game by accident. 

Fortunately, she apologized for cheating.

Unfortunately, no-one forgave her.

Fortunately, it was time for everyone to go home.

Unfortunately, the next day at school, Poppy fell at recess.

Fortunately, a teacher caught her.

Unfortunately, she had to go home because she broke her arm.

Fortunately, it healed after five days.

Unfortunately, nobody had accepted her cheating apology yet.

Fortunately, she said sorry again when she got back to soccer.

Unfortunately, a giant spaceship landed in the soccer field.

Fortunately, the aliens were nice in space.

Unfortunately, the aliens ruined the soccer field by accident.

Fortunately, the people who did not accept Poppy's apology apologized for not accepting the apology because they saw that things can happen by mistake.

Unfortunately, a dragon went to space and attacked all the aliens.

Fortunately, they went into a portal to Minecraft. 

Unfortunately, the creepers were chasing them.

Fortunately, when they saw the Chicken Jockey store, they all ate dinner together and became friends.


The End





Mrs. Ricci's Class

One day, a bear fell down off a tree.

Unfortunately, he got hurt and was bleeding.

Fortunately, he was dreaming. 

Unfortunately, when he woke up, he chased a boy who was trying to go to the pool. 

Fortunately, the boy could run faster than the bear.

Unfortunately, he ran into nasty bad dirty water, and a shark chased him. 

Fortunately, he found land. 

Unfortunately, there were crocodiles on the land.

Fortunately, his mom was there to help him to run away.

Unfortunately, he almost got pinched by the crocodile teeth.

Fortunately, they escaped.

Unfortunately, they escaped via the water, but there were still lots of sharks. 

Fortunately, he dug a tunnel on the ocean floor. 

Unfortunately, there were rats.

Fortunately, a plane in the sky could see what was happening and tried to save them.

Unfortunately, there were too many sharks for the plane to be able to save them.

Fortunately, there was a boat that was able to save them.

Unfortunately, the sharks flipped the boat.

image from cnn.com

Fortunately, another boat came for them.

Unfortunately, the sharks tried to eat the boat.

Fortunately, the sharks all fell asleep.

Unfortunately, the crocodiles were friends with the sharks and came out to the boat and started moving it.

Fortunately, another plane came and saved everyone.


The End


Tuesday, July 8, 2025

TBR #2

Picked up more possible Mock Caldecott contenders, as well as a stack of possible Mock Sibert readalouds, at the library. What are you reading? Post below and get a paw when we get back to school!




 

Telling Fibs (posted a year late)

Fibonacci, a mathematician who lived during the 1200s, developed a number sequence named after him. Each number is added to the previous number to get the next number: 0 1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 and so on. 


Author Greg Pincus invented the “Fib” form of poetry, in which each consecutive line has the same number of syllables that appear in the Fibonacci sequence.

During spring 2024, third graders (who are now going into fifth!!!!) wrote their own poems using this pattern: 





jump
jump
down there
on the street
I broke my bones oh
no, no, I think I need a cast
- R.F.


Library
books
are
so good
also books
are really awesome
and we need to use computers
- C.M.


tree
top
cocoon
open up
fly around soaring
butterfly butterfly fly fly
- M.P.


Reading
read
read
read. I
love to read.
All my knowledge in
a seed. My great future awaits.
- N.G.


Nightmare
Bird
went
on my 
head, started
to poke, and I bleed.
I woke up and started to cry.
- Z.R.


Baseball Time
I
can
playball
with my dad
when he comes back from 
school and his meeting around 10.
- D.S.


Treasure
Look!
Look!
Searching.
Please help me
search for the treasure!
Hooray, we found the treasure now!
- K.P.


Doggy
My
dogs
are so
cute. One is
named Roxy (she's cute)
and another one named Charly.
- J.R.


Fire!
Fire!
Oh no!
There is a - 
what?! Fire!!!! Run, run fast!
Danger! Danger! Oh no, run run!
- A B. 


The Park
Walk.
Walk.
Sidewalk.
Ooh, the park!
Let's walk to the park.
There are so many things to do. 
- O.C. 


Milkshakes 
Fruits. 
Blend. 
Milkshakes. 
They are good and sweet nutritious. 
Blend all the sweet fruits together.
- E.C.


Cat.
Lap.
Cute cat.
A cat nap.
Cat nap on my lap.
My cat likes to take a good nap.
- C.P.


Different Pets
Dogs,
cats
are cute
and friendly. 
A tarantula?
Are you sure about that? Maybe
a hamster or guinea pig? They are cute and cuddly.
- E.S.


Day at the Beach
Waves.
Life.
People
relaxing.
Sand castles near me.
I love the beach next to my house.
- B.M.


Dogs
Dogs
sit,
do tricks,
like to eat
lots and lots of treats.
I buy treats to eat together.
- G.W.


I
love
cars. I
like how they
move. I want to go
vroom in a very fast sedan.
- H.L.



Tuesday, July 1, 2025

TBR #1

Picked up some possible Mock Caldecott contenders at the library. What are you reading? Post below and get a paw when we get back to school! 




Monday, June 30, 2025

Best Reads of T3 2024-2025

I have been cranking through RICBA nominees and Mock-Caldecott-buzz picture books. Here are my favorites from the past three months. All images and summaries from Goodreads. 


Picture Books



When a turtle in a bear suit claims he is a “for-real” bear, he must prove himself to another turtle who just so happens to be a for-real bear expert. Hilarity ensues as Bearsuit Turtle proves he can climb trees, hibernate, and do other for-real bear stuff . . . like riding bikes, eating ice cream, and smashing pumpkins.

But when Bear-Expert Turtle reveals a secret, Bearsuit Turtle has to admit a truth of his own. Whether or not these two turtles are for-real bears or experts, they just might become for-real friends.



After an awful day at school (including a tragic but plausibly deniable mishap with a pudding cup), Izzy wants to be left alone. But it's Friday, and that means making tortillas with Lito. As the mistakes pile up, they come tumbling out of Izzy—and Lito surprises her by saying everyone makes mistakes, and if she makes a tortilla out of her mistakes, he will EAT it. Suddenly, the whole family is confessing and getting mistakes off their chests with a feast of mistacos!


Llewellyn the bunny and his friends dream of many things. Some of their dreams are small, like learning to ice skate, visiting a friend, or acting in the school play. And some of their dreams are big, like going to the moon, or becoming a ballet dancer or a wildlife photographer. Their dreams feel so precious that the bunnies place them in jars for safekeeping.

But when a storm comes and destroys their collection of jars, Llewellyn and his friends wonder: what's the point of dreaming if everything could be lost?


The only thing better than playing make believe is playing make believe with your favorite grown-up! Especially when that grown-up’s imagination is as big as yours, and you both get to make all kinds of funny sounds. 









What does it feel like to lose someone you love? For one little boy, it’s like he has a hole in his life. It’s in the bottom bunk, where his little brother, Matty, used to sleep, and it’s on his brother’s chair at dinner. It follows him everywhere until the day he decides to really explore it.

Inside the hole he confronts his grief—the sadness, the anger, and the truth of how much he misses Matty. His friend is waiting when he climbs out, and when she asks, “Do you want to tell me about your brother?” he’s surprised to find that talking about Matty is a comfort.




Every Monday, Mabel wakes up early and peeks out her window to make sure she didn’t miss the one thing she’s been looking forward to the whole week. She drags her chair down the hallway, past her big sister and Mom and Dad, out the door, and waits. 

What is Mabel waiting for every Monday? According to Mabel, it’s the best thing in the world. But no one else in her family seems to understand…until they see what’s honking down the street!






Chapter Books




Down at the bottom of the tall buildings of NYC, Magnolia Wu sits inside her parents’ laundromat. Magnolia has pinned every lost sock from the laundromat onto a bulletin board, in hopes that customers will return to retrieve them. But no one seems to have noticed. In fact, barely anyone has noticed Magnolia at all.

What she doesn’t know is that this is about to be her most exciting summer yet. When Iris, a new friend from California arrives, they set off across the city to solve the mystery of each missing sock, asking questions in subways and delis and plant stores and pizzerias, meeting people and uncovering the unimaginable. (RICBA 2026 nominee)



Sage's thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn't predictable. 







Emma McKenna can’t wait for third grade at the brand-new Curiosity Academy. She’ll have a cool teacher who wears high-tops and science earrings. She’ll meet interesting classmates from all over Peppermint Falls. Best of all, she’ll get a fresh start after last year’s talent-show disaster left her with that awful nickname. It’s going to be the best year ever!

Then Lucy walks into Mrs. Z’s room.
Lucy, Emma’s best-friend-turned-enemy.
Lucy, who gave Emma that nickname and spread it all over school!
Emma’s fresh start is doomed . . . unless she can make friends before Lucy ruins everything. (RICBA 2026 nominee)



Nonfiction



Discover why the world’s first Black Grandmaster Maurice Ashley thinks that chess is one of the best skills in life. Follow him on a journey from Jamaica to New York to the world stage where he has taught thousands of young people the life philosophies of the game. Part biography, part skills, and fully oozing with passion. (RICBA 2026 nominee)



Based on a true story, the author humorously recounts the time his grandfather got stranded with a friend on Surtsey, a brand new volcanic island in Iceland. The adventurers face epic challenges like molten lava, melted eyeglasses and scant supplies before finally getting rescued. Graphic novel-like layouts and spirited text invite readers to search for the one thing that's not actually true in this thrilling yet light-hearted tale of adventure. Endnotes include information about volcanoes, Icelandic culture and Norse mythology. (RICBA 2026 nominee)