September Wrap-Up

Being the first of the month and a Friday I am gracing you with my presence for the September Wrap-up of the blog. I have a little announcement to make with this and that is that I'm not going to be posting only on Friday's anymore.  I'll be posting whenever I feel like it. But Rebecca and I have come to the agreement that if one of us has a post scheduled on a day the other can't post.  That way nobody will have to worry about posts being more than once a day.  So expect to see me more!





This post is probably going to be a super long one because we have a lot to talk about.  For starters I believe there are some contest winners that need announcing!!! This month we had 3 contests going and the lucky winners for each are:

250 Followers Winner is jmspettoli

$60 CSN Giftcard winner is brandileigh2003

Winter's Passage Ebook winner is Anthi P

So congratulations to all of you and we will be contacting you soon.





This month for giveaways I think we have something exciting coming up but you'll have to wait and see as far as that goes!





Now, our poll is closed and the book that you have chosen for us to review is The Hollow by Jessica Verday.  We have a new poll up now so be sure to vote on that for our next joint review which will be happening next month.  All of the books are quite different this time round so be sure to get your vote in!!!





As far as reading goes the books I read this month were

Brainjack by Brian Falkner

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Fallen by Lauren Kate

The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

The Hollow by Jessica Verday

Frostbite by Richelle Mead

so expect to see reviews of these very soon! If I haven't already reviewed them. And The Hollow won't be reviewed for a little while yet.





The books that Rebecca read this month are



Green Witch by Alice Hoffman
Heartless by Sara Shepard
The Tarot Cafe Volume One by Sang-Sun Park
Winter's Passage by Julie Kagawa
Deathnote Volume 5 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
The Strange Power by L.J Smith
Nightwalker by Heather Graham
Wanted by Sara Shepard
D.N.Angel by Yukiru Sugisaki
The Possessed by L.J Smith
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde by R.L Stevenson
The Passion by L.J Smith
The Dark Divine by Bree Despain
Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey
which she's reviewed all of already!


One thing I think you should expect to see this month is some changes to the layout.  As I'll be more active in the blog you can see some more bits and pieces relating to what I'm reading.  Overall, we won't be changing too much too soon though.


Thats it from us so have a great October everyone!

Jekel Loves Hyde by Beth Fantaskey

Title:  Jekel Loves Hyde





Author: Beth Fantaskey





Published: Penguin Books, 2010





Pages: 282





First Line: "I buried my father the day after my seventeenth birthday."





Summary: Jill Jekel has always obeyed her parents’ rules – especially the one about never opening the mysterious, old box in her father’s office. But when her dad is murdered, and her college savings disappear, she's tempted to peek inside, as the contents might be key to a lucrative chemistry scholarship.  (Taken from Goodreads)





Review: I really loved Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey and when I discovered Jekel Loves Hyde I thought it would be amazing. 


 The story line is a really interesting one.  Having just recently read The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and getting really interested in chemistry again I was all for reading Jekel Loves Hyde.  Unfortunately what I thought would be a murder mystery with some chemistry mixed in and a retelling of a really good book, wasn't exactly that.  But I still thought those parts of the book were really amazing and interesting.


I really really really tried to get into Jekel Loves Hyde but I just couldn't , the relationship between Jill and Tristen kind of ruined the book for me.  It was quite painful and I found that I had to keep putting it down because it frustrated me to no end. 


It took me a really long time to read Jekel Loves Hyde.  Mostly because I kept putting it down and it was really hard to pick it back up again.


Don't let my review deter you too much from reading Jekel Loves Hyde however, to be honest I'm just tired of romances that go around and around in circles.  If you like forbidden romances then I'm sure you'll enjoy reading Jekel Loves Hyde.


Beth Fantaskey is a wonderful writer, I just didn't enjoy Jekel Loves Hyde so much.  I will definitely be reading Beth's next book as she is talented.  It's just that one can't love every book we read.


Source: Library

October Teachers' Planning Guide

Teaching Tip: Lesson Plan Ideas For October

Thinking of Lessons for October? October events / themes you will want.



1. On October 1st Henry Ford introduced the Model T.

2. On October 2nd Mahatma Gandhi was born.

3. October 4th through the 10th is Love Your Pets Week and World Space Week.

4. On October 6th Thomas Edison introduced motion pictures.

5. On October 11th Eleanor Roosevelt was born.

6. October 11th is Columbus Day and Canadian Thanksgiving.

7. On October 14th Dwight D. Eisenhower was born.

8. October 16th is World Food Day.

9. October 11th through the 17th is Teen Read Week.

10. October 19th is What's Your Invention Day.

11. October 24th is United Nations Day.

12. On October 26th Hillary Rodham Clinton was born.

13. On October 27th Theodore Roosevelt was born.

14. October 31st is Halloween.

15. October is National Book Month, Scientist Appreciation Month, International Dinosaur Month, Children's Health Month, and Energy Awareness Month.



This Week in History

1779: John Adams negotiates Revolutionary War peace terms with Britain.

1916: The first Native American Day was celebrated.



Inspiring Teacher Quote

"A teacher is a compass that activates the magnets of curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom in the pupils. "

Terri Guillemets



Source: Weekly Tips for Teachers

Issue 533: September 27, 2010  http://www.teachnology.com/newsletters/533.html 

This newsletter is brought to you by teachnology.com, the online teacher resource center.



October Themes, Lessons, Activities, Tips:http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/octoberthemes.htm

Not Really Anything to do with books (but kind of distantly)

I haven't really been reading much lately so I thought I'd make this post about something a little different.  I chose this topic because I've been feeling a little bit nostalgic about the old disney animated movies.  So I want to talk about them.


I have two absolute favourite disney animated films.  The first one is Beauty and the Beast. I think I love this one so much because Belle loves books and I love books so I can really relate to her in that way.  I also think it's a really sweet and amazing story.  It is a good example of why we shouldn't judge others based on their looks.






My second favourite is The Jungle Book.  I think it is because it has a really strong theme of friendship and I really like stories about friendships.  I also think the Jungle Book is hilarious so thats always helpful.  The songs in the Jungle Book are really catchy and awesome too.

So my question for you  is what is your favourite disney animated film if you have one?

Autumn/Fall October Seasonal Teaching Theme Units





SEASONAL HOLIDAY THEME PAGES-LESSONS-ACTIVITIES FOR TEACHERS:










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The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Title: The Dark Divine





Author: Bree Despain





Published: Egmont USA, 2010





Pages: 372





First Line: "Blood fills my mouth."





Summary: Grace Divine, almost seventeen, learns a dark secret when her childhood friend - practically a brother- returns, upsetting her pastor-father and the rest of her family, around the time strange things are happening in and near their small Minnesota town.





Review: Rebecca: The Dark Divine drove me absolutely crazy.  I hated it so much but I also really liked it.





Scarlett: I just really liked it.  There were moments when I got so sucked into the book that I lost track of time because I just had to keep reading.





I had to keep reading too because the relationship between Grace and Daniel was so intense that I needed to get to the end of the book to find out what was going on.





I adored Daniel, I have a thing for bad-boys but Daniel is just one of the greatest bad-boys I've had the pleasure of reading about.  As for Grace, she seemed nice enough.  Jude was a bit of a cutie too.





One thing that did put me off though was the whole family had that really wholesome religious family and well it kind of put me off a little because thats not what I like to read.





I have to admit that I'm a big fan of 7th Heaven and The Divines reminded me a bit of the Camden's so it was actually quite nice. Plus it's something different, it's not every day that you read a book with a religious family as the main characters.





I actually had part of the book spoiled for me so I'd been putting off reading it for a really long time but I actually think that the clues were all there from the start so it wouldn't have taken me very long at all to figure out what part of the big secret was.





I agree, I didn't have it spoilt for me but I paid attention and the clues were there subtly but it's not a huge cliffhanger.  But I'm still not about to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it yet.





I have to say that I don't think I want to read the next book in the series just because I'm really happy with how the first one ended.  I don't want anything to change. I was so happy at the end of the book that I just feel like Grace and Daniel's story should end right there.





I loved the way The Dark Divine was written and well not everything was resolved in the end so I'd like to find out more about the other parts.  In fact, after we've finished our book discussion I feel the need to pre-order The Lost Saint.





I think I might read The Lost Saint one day but right now I'd like to let things finish as they are.  But I do applaud Bree Despain on her fine writing skills.  I started out reading a chapter a day and I ended up sitting down for a couple of hours just so I could finish it because I needed to know what would happen and I actually couldn't rest until I finished it.  I stopped reading at one point and went to bed and ended up dreaming all about what the end of The Dark Divine was going to be.





Wow, I think it had more of a subtle effect on me.  I liked Grace and I liked Daniel and I liked Jude and I just loved seeing how all of the characters played off of each other.  I do admit I did shed a couple of tears at various parts of the book though because they were just so sad.





Yeah, I did think some parts were quite sad.  I just got more frustrated than anything. But in the end I was happy for the most part and think that I was wrong in putting off reading The Dark Divine for so long.





This has to be the longest discussion of a book I have ever seen. But I have just one tiny last thing to add and that is the cover is absolutely gorgeous.  Divine almost!  I've seen the cover for The Lost Saint too and that one is just as awesome.





Yeah, I basically wanted to read this book because the cover was amazing and the premise sounded so incredible.  I love mysteries.





I think it's safe to say that we both enjoyed The Dark Divine and if anyone hasn't read it yet then they should definitely do so immediately.





Definitely!  A huge thumbs up to Bree Despain for her awesome book!

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Title: Graceling



Author: Kristin Cashore


Published: Harcourt, 2008


Pages: 471


Summary: In a world where some people are born with extreme and often-feared skills called Graces, Katsa struggles for redemption from her own horrifying Grace, the Grace of killing, and teams up with another young fighter to save their land from a corrupt king.


Review: I'm more of a science fiction fan but occasionally I enjoy a bit of fantasy.  I started out reading Graceling for a change and it started out a bit slow and I wasn't all that interested in it.  I wanted to give up but Rebecca, who adores this book, told me that I should keep going to give it a chance.  I'm glad she told me to because with Graceling the more I read of it the better it became.

The whole idea of Graces is something new and unexplored within the fantasy world and it just happens to be fascinating.

I loved Katsa and I loved Po.  I even loved Bitterblue.

Graceling is just a really awesome book and I think that everyone should read it at least once.

October Planning Calendar for Teachers







October, 2010

Sep 15, Wed - 

Oct 15, Fri
National Hispanic Heritage Month

TeachersFirst's Resources for National Hispanic Heritage Month



Oct 01, Fri - 

Oct 31, Sun
International Dinosaur Month 

TeachersFirst's Dinosaur Resources



Oct 03, Sun - 

Oct 09, Sat
National Fire Prevention Week 

TeachersFirst's Fire Prevention and Safety Resources



Oct 03, Sun - 

Oct 09, Sat
National Bullying Prevention Week 

TeachersFirst's Resources for Bullying and Cyberbullying



Oct 10, Sun - 

Oct 16, Sat
Earth Science Week 

Browse TeachersFirst's Earth Science Resources



11, Monday
Columbus Day 

TeachersFirst's Resources for Columbus Day



Oct 23, Sat - 

Oct 31, Sun
Red Ribbon Week 

TeachersFirst's Red Ribbon Week Resources



31, Sunday
Fall/Halloween 

TeachersFirst's Resources for Fall and Halloween 
Source of October Planning Calendar at:  http://www.teachersfirst.com/calendar/ 



TeachersFirst.com • The web resource by teachers, for teachers.
Resources for October Themes  http://www.mrscjacksonsclass.com/octoberthemes.htm

October Theme Units

October Theme Units 
 
Source: edHelper.com

P.O. Box 25286

Alexandria, VA 22313-5286
For More October Themes, Lessons, Ideas, Activities, Resources:



Autumn/Fall Themes, Lessons, Activities, Crafts, Resources

Fall In Your Classroom

Here are great ideas to pull fall into your classroom.

1. Take a nature walk. Enjoy the environment.

2. Use leaves for crafts and decoration.

3. Fall bulletin boards.

4. Hang Fall related items. Create a forest in a jar.

5. Pumpkin seed counts. Pumpkin seed graphing activities.

6. Calculate carbon footprints.

7. Plant a class tree.

8. A lollipop tree countdown to Halloween.

9. Have a harvest festival. Invite local farms and farmers.

10. Collect a leaf everyday from a tree. Make a leaf color changing poster.



Fall Teaching Guide: http://www.teachnology.com/themes/holidays/fall/



Weekly Tips for Teachers Issue 531: September 13, 2010

About Weekly Teacher Tips

This newsletter is brought to you by teachnology.com .



More Autumn/Fall Teaching Themes, Lessons, Activities, Crafts, Resources:

http://mrscjacksonsclass.com/autumnfall.htm

The Passion by L.J. Smith

Title: The Passion





Author: L.J Smith





Published: Simon Pulse, 2008





Pages: 224





Series: Book 3, Dark Visions





First Line: "A dog barked, shattering the midnight silence."





Summary: May contain spoilers!  Nearly escaping from the evil Mr. Zetes, Kaitlyn Fairchild and her psychic team are dismayed when Gabriel defects to the Institute, and Kaitlyn pretends to betray the group as well in an effort to save her friend.



Review:  This book drove me a little crazy.  I took a while to read it because it really frustrated me.  I liked this book, it just happened to annoy me too.


There were so many cringe-worthy moments that I just couldn't believe were happening.  The characters interactions were so painful at times I felt like throwing the book away.


The story line was actually pretty good. It was really really interesting and it kind of felt like L.J Smith had saved the best and most interesting parts until last.


The ending was good.  I won't spoil it but I was really happy with the ending because what I wanted to happen actually happened.


The Dark Visions trilogy is a pretty good read so if you don't mind frustrating characters then I think you might enjoy this series.




Source: Library