Books, Movies and Music

One of the things I love doing in my classroom is playing music (low in the background) while students are working independently.  I think it creates a great tone for the classroom and it really increases student engagement.  It also goes a long way in making my classroom a place where students want to be.   One of my new favorite Pandora mixes is "Film Scores."  Students have a great time guessing what movie the music comes from.  And it makes the days activity feel much more epic.

I bet you're wondering where books come into this.  Well, as you can tell from my previous posts I am focusing, for the moment, on books that have been made into movies.  One of my favorite film scores (which comes from a great movie, which was inspired by a great book) came on. What was it you ask?  The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.  And even better, from a reading teacher's perspective, not all the books have been made into movies. 

I loved these books as a child (I also really love the cover of this edition-it's the one I own). I think it was one of the first series that I really got into.  Each story is short enough to be read quickly but has enough detail and adventure to be a thrilling read.  Most of the stories center around a group of 4 siblings who travel to an alternate world, through a variety of means (most famously through the wardrobe) and after defeating the existing evil, become rulers of that world.

The series is:
The Magicians Nephew
                                     The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
                                     Prince Caspian
                                     The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
                                     The Silver Chair
                                     The Horse and His Boy
                                     The Last Battle
There is some debate on what order these books should be read in since the publication order does not match the chronological order.  My opinion is the order doesn't really matter-all the books are wonderful and worth reading in any order you can. 

Making your day a little bit more epic....that's kids stuff.