Squawky Momma Bird {SOL 5.23.17}

I heard her before I saw her.

The telltale "yip, yip, yip, yip, yip, yip, yip" I have heard many, many times.

Up the road from where I was walking last night, I saw her -- long twiggy legs carrying her swiftly away from the shoulder of the road across to the other side. Once there, she sat down on in the gravel, fanned her tail, stuck her right wing out at an awkward angle and began to shake. As I approached, she got up, ran about 20 feet up the road and repeated her broken wing act.

The "her," in this case, is a bird called a Kildeer. Kildeer are known for protecting their nests (which they build on the ground in grass or gravel) by distracting a predator with a high pitched yip and pretending to be injured. Their goal in this act is to draw a predator away from the nest, thinking the adult bird is an easy target instead.

I had no intention of harming the nest, yet the momma bird insisted in yipping at me until I moved way past them and up the hill.

When my daughter was younger, she rightfully called this bird the Squawky Momma Bird. The sound the Kildeer makes is rather obnoxious and persistent. The name has stuck after all these years.

She is one determined momma. Very protective. Very smart. Very clever.

But then again, most of the moms I know are.

Running Out of Books {SOL 5.02.17}

I have a problem....

I am running out of books for my some of my students to read.

Not all of my students, just a few of the higher level girls.

(The boys seem to be happy with a constant diet of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Big Nate or Goosebumps.)

These girls have read everything I've got. Pax. Hour of the Bees. Fish in a Tree. The Red Pencil. Wish. The Last Fifth Grade. Raymie Nightengale. Land of the Forgotten Girls. The Seventh Wish. The War That Saved My Life. Almost Home. Mr. Lemoncello. Echo.

And more.

You see, we are nearing the end of our second year together. We looped together from fourth grade to fifth grade so they lost out on having access to a new teacher's library. They were high readers in fourth grade and even higher in fifth.

Now I'm finding that not only do I not have new book recommendations for them, many of the books that are available for them at their reading level are not "appropriate" for fifth-grade girls. (LOVE and other things like that.)

I've tried to encourage them to reread a few of their favorites and they have. But it is killing me not being able to put new books into their hands.

Suggestions?