Genre series: Mystery

Some of my favorite mystery authors, books, and series are:

Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz (www.anthonyhorowitz.com)

Michael Buckley

The Sisters Grimm series, N.E.R.D.S. series

Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

39 Clues series 

Sammy Keyes Mysteries by Wendelin Van Draanen

Brixton Brothers series by Mac Barnett (www.macbarnett.com)

The Clockwork Three by Matthew J. Kirby (www.matthewjkirby.com)

Genre series: Historical Fiction

Some of my favorite historical fiction authors, books, and series are:

Gary D. Schmidt

Wednesday Wars, Okay for Now, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy

Rodman Phibrick (www.rodmanphilbrick.com)

The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, Freak the Mighty (Realistic Fiction)

Laura Ingalls Wilder

Little House series

I Survived... series by Lauren Tarshis (www.laurentarshis.com)

Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan

Number the Stars by Lois Lowry (www.loislowry.com)

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm (www.jenniferholm.com)

Genre series: Science Fiction

Some of my favorite science fiction authors, series, and books are:

Scott Westerfeld (scottwesterfeld.com)
Leviathan trilogy, Uglies trilogy, Midnighters trilogy

Suzanne Collins (www.suzannecollinsbooks.com)
The Underland Chronicles (Gregor the Overlander - Fantasy), The Hunger Games trilogy (6th+)

Margaret Peterson Haddix (www.haddixbooks.com)
The Missing series (Found), The Shadow Children series (Among the Hidden), Running Out of Time

Marie Lu (marielu.org)
Legend trilogy (6th+)

Kristen Landon (www.kristenlandon.com)
The Limit

James Dashner (www.jamesdashner.com)
Maze Runner series (6th+), A Mutiny in Time

Eoin Colfer (www.eoincolfer.com)
Artemis Fowl series, Supernaturalist, Airman (Historical Fiction), The Legend of Spud Murphy (Realistic Fiction), Half-Moon Investigations (Mystery)

Cinder by Marrisa Meyer

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle (www.madeleinelengle.com)

Genre series: Realistic Fiction

Some of my favorite realistic authors, series, and books are:

Wendy Mass (www.wendymass.com)
Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life, Every Soul A Star, A Mango-Shaped Space

Andrew Clements (www.andrewclements.com)
Frindle, No Talking, The Report Card

Jerry Spinelli (www.jerryspinelli.com)
Stargirl, Maniac Magee, Crash

Gordon Korman (www.gordonkorman.com)
Everest trilogy, Titanic trilogy, Sixth Grade Nickname Game, On The Run series (Mystery)

Roland Smith (www.rolandsmith.com)
Peak, Storm Runners trilogy

Gary Paulsen (www.randomhouse.com/features/garypaulsen)
Hatchet series, How Angel Peterson Got His Name (Memoir)

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper

Sand Dollar Summer by Kimberly K. Jones

Holes by Louis Sachar (www.louissachar.com)

Story Problems

Ahh, the dreaded story problem!  Hopefully this video will help dispel some fears of story problems.

***If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments

Mayan Multiplication

This is a fun method to use for multiplying - it's the way the Mayan people did multiplication hundreds of years ago.  It works best with smaller digits.

**If you have any questions, please post them in the comments

Multiplying Decimals

This shows how to multiply 2 numbers when both have decimals in them.

**If you have any questions, please make them in the comments

Multiplication: Whole Numbers and Decimals

This video shows how to multiply whole numbers with numbers that have decimals in them.

***If you have any questions, feel free to post them in the comments

Estimating Decimal Products

This is a quick overview of how to round decimals and estimate the product to get an educated guess of what the answer should approximately be.

**If you have any questions, please make them in the comments

Multiplication Patterns with Decimals

This shows patterns that make multiplying decimals by 10, 100, or 1000 super easy.

**If you have any questions, please make them in the comments