The Top Ten Ways To Ruin The First Day Of School (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
I read this book aloud to my students and, for the most part, we had a lot of good laughs. Since we live in Vietnam, many of the U.S. references (and there were A LOT), were not contextually challenging for us. There were many times I had to show clips of The Late Show, image search football fields, and stop to explain jokes. Because of this, we actually learned a lot from the book.I am giving the book three stars however, because it seemed as though it would only be appropriate for students in the U.S. who grew up in the late nineties and early 2000s. References to Limp Bizkit, Hell's Angels, and Madonna might even be irrelevant to student in the U.S. today and can take some time to explain. In all, my class enjoyed the story and were excited when it was time to read. I am relieved we have finally finished, as it took much longer than I had anticipated with the added explanations. If you think you or your students will be able to follow the culture behind this story, give it a read. Tony Baloney is indeed an outrageous kid! I read this book to my fifth graders this year and they LOVED IT! It's very engaging, funny and great to use to make inferences, predictions, and there are great vocabulary words to discuss. The kids asked me every day if we were reading it. Unfortunately the book is out of print (why I have no idea because it isn't that old) but I did find it as an ebook through Scholastic and it only cost $6.99. That way I could also project the book as I read it and the kids followed along. Fun story! I will for sure use this one again!
What do You think about The Top Ten Ways To Ruin The First Day Of School (2004)?
funny story, read to my students at the beginning of the school year. a bit outdated for them.
—benthe_brouwer
RL 690. Recommended by a non-reader!
—embracesarcasm
