Sagie the Bookworm | Episode 104

In this episode, a young reader shares her personal story time with books, while expert Lauren Moseley provides insights on literacy development. Discover practical tips and strategies to promote reading in kids and encourage lifelong learning. Tune in for fun stories and helpful advice!

As an Amazon Associate, I receive a commission for any links you use to buy products recommended. 

Sagie the Bookworm, a rising 5th grader, shares her love for reading and how she became a bookworm. She credits her reading journey to her parents, teachers, and even a tutor. Sagie discusses her summer activities, including dance camp to aid her track journey. She recommends the book IRL by Jenny Goebel - https://amzn.to/3HSiqRU, describing its plot about a girl in Alaska. Sagie also talks about her reading habits, including using the "five finger rule" to choose books, and her involvement in a book club.

Get these books for an enriching reading experience:

Dada Jimmy Fallon - https://amzn.to/44rb9Bh
Beautiful by Stacy McAnulty - https://amzn.to/4lgmE4f
IRL by Jenny Goebel - https://amzn.to/3HSiqRU

As an Amazon Associate, I receive a commission for any links you use to buy products recommended.  

Transcript

TD Flenaugh: 0:00

TD, how do you make your kid into a bookworm? Well, today, we have a special guest who is a young child and a bookworm. She's here to tell them, tell us about their reading journey. And of course, we have our also resident master educator Lauren Moseley, you don't want to miss this episode for the latest tips and strategies to get your kid to love reading. Hi. Thank you so much for joining the Falling for Learning Podcast. We have this podcast to help parents and caregivers with having the resources, strategies and tools needed to make sure that their children are on track for learning and to stay on track for success.

Sagie the Bookworm: 0:49

Welcome, hi. My name is Sage. You could call me Sagie the bookworm, though,

TD Flenaugh: 0:56

love it. Okay? Sagie the Bookworm, tell us the grade that you just completed, because I know we're in our summer months.

Sagie the Bookworm: 1:04

I just completed grade four, and I'm going to grade five.

TD Flenaugh: 1:08

Ooh, okay, upper grades. So we you're calling yourself a bookworm. So how did a self How did you become a self professed bookworm, like What made you start loving to read?

Sagie the Bookworm: 1:23

What made me start loving to read is sometimes when I was in first or second or second grade, I used to go to the park down the street from me, and I used to sit in a tree where the trees cut down. Now I used to sit in a tree and reading just made me love. Reading

TD Flenaugh: 1:43

love is so a special place to read, right? Okay, hmm, who do you credit when teaching you how to read? Was it just like one person or a lot of different people?

Sagie the Bookworm: 1:56

So when I was I started reading in pre K for I think so I was so there's this tutor. Her name was Miss Harley Hartley. And I also had another tutor named Miss barber that helped me a lot, helped me along the year to learn how to read in the in 2020,

TD Flenaugh: 2:19

okay, all right. Um, we jumped right into business. I'm gonna take a step back and just ask you, like, how's the summer going?

Sagie the Bookworm: 2:29

It's going, it's going pretty well. I'm going to, I'm going to camps and Houston fine and Houston fine art, fine arts. ARCU, architectural camp.

TD Flenaugh: 2:42

Hmm, so you said camp, so more than one camp. So this week, we're on a Friday. What did what camp did you do this week? Next? PD, see, okay, tell us more, please.

Sagie the Bookworm: 2:57

So it's a dancing camp, and I'm doing dance, so it could help with my track journey and because, and then I also like, did I also like dancing, because it's a pretty fun camp. You get a a fun Friday field trip, Friday every, every week. So,

TD Flenaugh: 3:19

so what field trip did you go to?

Sagie the Bookworm: 3:22

We went to the Evergreen Pool today. Evergreen Pool.

TD Flenaugh: 3:27

What makes it evergreen? Is it green? Or what does that mean? It's a location.

Sagie the Bookworm: 3:31

It's a location. I have no idea, but it's not actually green. It's not actually

TD Flenaugh: 3:36

okay. I'm not from your area. So I was like, Okay, let me, let me know. Okay and

Lauren Moseley: 3:44

I don't think a green pool is good anywhere.

TD Flenaugh: 3:49

It was like, Green Eggs and Ham, like, just food coloring. I don't know. Who knows. Okay. So Sagie the Bookworm? Can you tell me? Like one thing that was like, what was the best thing about the dance camp this week?

Unknown: 4:04

The best thing about the dance camp was this week was learning, learning the techniques and moves and the structure that I needed to have to do it.

TD Flenaugh: 4:17

Okay, techniques, structure, okay? And then I just have to go back. You told me that you're on a track journey, and this dance camp is strategically chosen to help you. What do you like to do for track? Tell me about that. What's your goal?

Unknown: 4:36

I do three events. I do long jump, triple jump, and sprints.

TD Flenaugh: 4:43

Okay, long jump, triple jump and sprints. Yeah,

Unknown: 4:49

my dad, he was a he was number one, two in the country, two in the country. I'm trying to. My track journey after him.

TD Flenaugh: 5:02

Alright, nice. Oh, wow, that is so just great to hear like you are taking up that responsibility, like that challenge, and carrying on your dad's legacy. Oh, I'm sure, I'm sure they're already very proud of you, already. Okay, so one thing I think is interesting to know about is like, you're going to tell us about a book that is particularly interesting to you right now, but can you tell us like, like, one of the first books you remember maybe someone reading to you, or that you read yourself,

Sagie the Bookworm: 5:43

okay? Dada, Jimmy Fallon,

TD Flenaugh: 5:47

say it again.

Sagie the Bookworm: 5:49

Da da, Jimmy Fallon

TD Flenaugh: 5:51

dada, Jimmy Fallon,

Sagie the Bookworm: 5:53

yes,

TD Flenaugh: 5:56

are you looking for it?

Lauren Moseley: 6:00

I just heard Jimmy Fallon on a podcast talking about this very book as being a book that he wrote just because he wanted his kid to Say Dada.

Unknown: 6:09

The story of it was my mom and dad. Of course, they were competing. Who is she gonna say? Mama or dad? At first, there was no mama. Jimmy Fallon, so my dad bought the Dada Jimmy Fallon, and she was like, jet Dada, Wolf, dada, moo, so

Lauren Moseley: 6:37

I don't remember, did you actually say dad first?

Sagie the Bookworm: 6:41

I did say dada first

Lauren Moseley: 6:42

Jimmy did it. He did it. That was his whole goal in writingwriting that book.

TD Flenaugh: 6:48

We're definitely going to put it in the show notes, like, check it out. If you need your kid to say, dada first, you're in that race, right? He is a we know he's into races, and he won that race as well. Wow. Okay, and can you think about so that's what they were reading to you, correct? So do you have a book like this? Is a book you read by yourself that you really liked like, you know, as you're learning how to read, like, one of your early books that you read,

Sagie the Bookworm: 7:25

oh, so I know it. It was called, it was called Beautiful. It's actually right there.

TD Flenaugh: 7:32

You want to grab it. Grab it. Let's see it. I want to see this book.

Lauren Moseley: 7:39

She's got books ever. She's got books in her bed.

TD Flenaugh: 7:41

She does. She's calling her, Yes, Beautiful, okay, can you tell us who the author is?

Unknown: 7:47

The author of beautiful is Stacy McAulty.

TD Flenaugh: 7:52

Okay, again, we're gonna put in the show notes. We have a resident book professional here, a book expert. Say, you the bookworm. Good. Okay, so we know a little bit about some of the books that you like, but can you tell me, before we get into this, my last question that I'm going to get you into the book where that you were here to talk about. But how do you choose a book like, how do you know which book to read?

Sagie the Bookworm: 8:20

So what I do is, it's just this thing. I take the book, right that I that in it, the title looks interesting, okay, the title, I flip to a random page. I read that page, I read this page, uh huh. Then I then I say, Hmm, and then I flip to another page, then I put another page, and then I do the same thing, read the back, see if it's a five, five finger rule, if, if there's if there's on one page, if there's three fingers, if there's three words that I don't know, I should I could do it. But if there's one word I I don't know, do it. But if there's five words I don't know, don't do it. Okay.

TD Flenaugh: 9:03

So this is the independent reading tips. Yes, absolutely. Who taught you that? Do you know who showed you that? Or just what you do?

Sagie the Bookworm: 9:13

I know who showed me that her name was Miss, Miss laritson.

TD Flenaugh: 9:19

Oh, I love this. Oh my gosh, sage, I just love this, right? Because, as teachers, we would have, like, said these things, but to hear that you've internalized that and you use that, it really helps you love it. Okay, so sage, let's get into the book that you like to read, like this book that you are here to tell us about. Yes, the rewrite method and the rewrite method workbook are your go to resource for helping kids to learn to fall in love with writing. It has the tips, tools. Resources, strategies and skill building activities to help kids fall out of writing, fit and into loving to write. Get your book set today. You okay, tell us the title. Oh, go ahead. So

Sagie the Bookworm: 10:30

this book is called IRL. The I stands for in the R sells for real and then the L stands for life in real life. And the book is a this. This book is about loose this girl named Lucy. She moved to Alaska. She moved to she moved to Alaska in dang it and set and then she went to the school. It was, it was cold. Oh, God, I just

TD Flenaugh: 11:02

It's okay. You don't have to remember everything, no pressure, um,

Sagie the Bookworm: 11:07

just give us the gist when combined, secondary, okay, secondary. But since the worlds are flow frozen during the during the school year, during the winter, they have to, oh, my shoot, my free, okay, there, yeah, so, so it's freezing, right? But then it becomes spring, so they're gonna do the first thing, but the location is a grave site. She

TD Flenaugh: 11:38

comes of the school is a grave site. Yeah,

Sagie the Bookworm: 11:42

she goes home, and she comes back the next day, right again. She meets this guy named Connor, and then he saves her from falling the tree. Then she feels like a whoosh in her heart, and then she falls. She fell on her and everything. And then the guy picks her up, and then she comes back the third day with her mom. And everything disappears when her mom's there, but when her mom leaves and says, I don't see nothing, everything comes back.

TD Flenaugh: 12:13

Okay. Can I pause you for one second? Sage, are you going to be doing like for the audience? We want to know, are you going to be doing spoil, spoil alerts? Because if they want to read this book, I want them to, like, pause it. So you're giving spoils. It's up to you.

Sagie the Bookworm: 12:34

I'm giving like, short summary,

TD Flenaugh: 12:38

short summary. But are you going to give us, like, the the ending, or you're gonna it's up to you. I'm leaving it up to you if you want to spoil spoil, but I just want the audience to know if you're gonna spoil your spoils, you could pause and watch the rest later, or whatever, because sage is going to give us all the tea. Okay, so if he's giving it all All right, sage, keep going.

Sagie the Bookworm: 13:04

After a mom comes the third day, she comes back for the fourth day. Then she brings the computer, right? The computer, she shows her classmates and says, Yeah, this is a school. Then she finds this guy. His name is Harold, this old man. He was actually Connor's younger brother, and Connor died 20 years ago, so and then he called, and then he Harold says, Yeah, everybody, every, every kid. I mean, 1212, 11 kids and one teacher died for a fire in winter, pine secondary. And then, then he, then he says, but only, but apparently there was 13 who died. But there was only 1212. Remains found, and then

Lauren Moseley: 14:01

he gets all quiet. You're making it very creepy. I

TD Flenaugh: 14:03

don't know if I can. Yeah, she's so good at this. It's so good stories. I want to hear more. I'm like, leaning in, like,

Sagie the Bookworm: 14:15

and and then she comes back with the computer, right again, yeah, the school, school in the middle of the night, sewing machine. Shirts off. She turns it off. She unplugs it right? She's like, I'm so scared. But then she realizes that the 13 students is her. They want her to come join the dead.

TD Flenaugh: 14:38

She's the number 13.

Lauren Moseley: 14:42

That's such an unlucky number, too.

TD Flenaugh: 14:45

And today is actually Friday the 13th. This is when we're filming. It won't come out until, like, a couple weeks. But this is Friday the 13th. Dun, dun, dun. Okay, we love it. We love this. So is this typical of the type that you read? Sage like thrillers, lot of horror? I read horror book stories, books. Did anyone so I'm just gonna ask, because I know there's some parents out there, or maybe even teachers out there that might be like, that's too much for the young kid or whatever. Did anyone like try to say, don't read that. It's not good. Or what, what do you think?

Sagie the Bookworm: 15:28

Well, if you could, if you say, well, sometimes people say it's too scary. I think it's good for for a little for young minds to say for young minds to learn mystery books so they can figure it out on their own and take a pause. Every time you read a chapter, there's a mystery in every chapter. Let's say I'm on chapter I'm I already finished the book, but I'm on chapter three. Right? Reading, reading, reading, reading, when finished chapter three, right? Yeah, take a thing. I take a moment. What was mystery? Let me figure it out. Read chapter four. Finds it out. Oh, my God, I was right. Yes,

Lauren Moseley: 16:16

I felt great. Yeah. Mysteries are for critical thinking. I love it. I love it.

Sagie the Bookworm: 16:23

Yes,

TD Flenaugh: 16:26

That is awesome. I again so excited to have you on. Has there been something that maybe someone has done to make you question how much you like reading, or have you just been encouraged for reading?

Sagie the Bookworm: 16:45

Well, some people say some so there was this one kid, he said, readings for nerds. And I said, Well, being a nerds good on my part. So, I mean, like they so, I mean, like, thank you. But then it for a second. I was like, I read a little too much. I was like, then I just ignored it the next, then I just ignored it. So, I mean, like,

TD Flenaugh: 17:06

I love that. I love it, Sage. So just doing what you like to do, um, do your parents or someone still read with you? Because I know you read a lot by yourself. Do people still read with you? Or just really, it's by yourself?

Sagie the Bookworm: 17:20

Well, some it's really about myself, but my mom's a bookworm too, and when I was seven, we read, we read almost all the Harry Potters together. I'm a big Harry Potter fan. I am Hufflepuff.

TD Flenaugh: 17:38

Okay, all right, yes, good. So your mom, you guys both had a book, or you guys were just reading one book together?

Sagie the Bookworm: 17:49

Well, no, we were reading one book together. Nice. I was seven, so I couldn't like,

TD Flenaugh: 17:55

okay, she was reading a little bit, and you were reading a little bit, but she was reading mostly, probably maybe. Okay, nice.

Lauren Moseley: 18:03

Now. TD, I was talking to Sage the other day, and she told me she does have multiple copies of some books, because for that reason, so when you're reading with someone right then you say you like to have a copy, and then someone else can have their copy. Is that why you got two books? Remember?

TD Flenaugh: 18:20

Well, so for Right Back at You and IRL, yes, I got it so me and my best friend could read it together. Oh, so did you guys, like, read aloud together? Or did you just, like, I read chapter two and then I'm talking to you about chapter two, or you did both?

Sagie the Bookworm: 18:38

We haven't. We haven't read it. We haven't run it yet, together yet. Okay, that's the plan on my own, because she's because she's at a sleepover camp right now. So,

TD Flenaugh: 18:47

okay, she's at a sleepover camp. You're doing more day camps, yeah,

Sagie the Bookworm: 18:51

and then, um, but I have been in a book club with her. It was two other girls and me and her, and we both so what was happening so on one day, on one day, we went, we went, trapped. Okay, I read this one, you read that one. I read this, you read that one, you read that one. I read we all just read on our own. Then we just did a report, then we talked about each other. Then, bing bada, boom, done.

TD Flenaugh: 19:21

Tell me who, like, how did it come about that you guys had a book club?

Sagie the Bookworm: 19:26

Oh, so we, um, so it was like a project of third grade that we kind of extended into the summer. Well, not the whole third grade class, just us. Oh,

TD Flenaugh: 19:41

you sound like you'd be a nice friend, a fun friend to be around. That's nice. And they

Lauren Moseley: 19:46

extended it into the summer that says, so much. Yes,

TD Flenaugh: 19:52

that's amazing. Okay, and then you did say you did a book report. Is this the school part, or that you guys that did the book report? Or that extended into summer.

Unknown: 20:02

School work, that's the school part. But I have a book report that I do on my own.

TD Flenaugh: 20:07

Okay, do tell, do tell,

Sagie the Bookworm: 20:10

no, I just got it. So I'm trying to, um, about, I'm about to, like, try to fill it out as much as I can over over the summer, to see how many books I can read.

TD Flenaugh: 20:20

So is that with it, like the library, or from your school, or you just found it online, or what? I love it.

Sagie the Bookworm: 20:25

There's this book store, I'm right down the My other friends, okay, street. It's called good on paper. It's kid friendly. You could try out the books. It lets you sit in there, and they don't call it technical ordering, and that's right down, down the street. So me, my friend, me and my friend go together.

Lauren Moseley: 20:52

They don't accuse you of loitering. If you sit there and read like for an hour, read the whole book, it's fine. I'm gonna have to go check that out. You have, you have an extend. We could tell you're a bookworm. You're, you know, you have an extensive vocabulary. You know you're talking about extending things into the school year and also loitering. So yeah, and then, like the sleep away camp, Her friendships are around reading.

TD Flenaugh: 21:20

Yeah,

Sagie the Bookworm: 21:22

great. Um, my friend, my friend, Arden, she likes to read me. Like, sometimes at recess, we read together. Sometimes we do a book race, see how many books we could finish during the week, or how many chapters or pages. And then we have to make sure. Then we have to make sure that we know what the chapter is and we say it. We're like, I know this. I know

TD Flenaugh: 21:48

Yeah, you can't just say you read it. You gotta say. You gotta prove you read it. I got that.

Sagie the Bookworm: 21:53

You can't just be like

TD Flenaugh: 21:55

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, Like accountability. I heard that. Yeah,

Lauren Moseley: 22:03

right, right. I love it.

TD Flenaugh: 22:07

Oh, my goodness. Do you have a question? Oh, go

Lauren Moseley: 22:11

Question about the IRL book is, is that a ahead, please. series, or is it that just one book, or is there a series of IRLs? This book just came out in May. Okay, who's the author?

Sagie the Bookworm: 22:26

Jenny go Bell, okay,

TD Flenaugh: 22:31

well, I want to also say I, I was intrigued by the book too, because, you know, it says that they're in Alaska, and I grew up in Alaska. Yes, I grew up in Alaska, but, but, um, unlike that book, we actually didn't, they didn't ever shut down the school for anything. We went out to recess when it was like 20 below, 30 below, yeah, and this is I credit. I credit this to me becoming a teacher because I've never adjusted to the cold, and I actually say that I have cold phobia. And so instead of being outside for recess, I wanted to help my teachers, so I helped them grade, put up bulletin boards, decorate, organize, anything but going outside in the cold so and

Lauren Moseley: 23:22

in the book, they when, when it's cold, they have online learning, right? So that's maybe an element of you know, technology is it?

TD Flenaugh: 23:30

Maybe

Lauren Moseley: 23:30

and learn online, and the kids don't have to become popsicles at recess.

Sagie the Bookworm: 23:37

I used to do that. I used to say, when I was in third. Can I go to the can I go to the office? I don't like the bugs. I'm I have an extreme fear of bugs. And I used to say, I don't like the bugs. She said, No, but whatever.

TD Flenaugh: 23:53

At least you tried

Sagie the Bookworm: 23:56

My teacher, he said, I have some students come help me. I did some students get grade? Well, this was two times clean up my room and grade. So the first time was with Miss shorten. She said, Come help me grade. And I helped her grade and did everything. But then I then it was Mr. Banner, he said, he said, Come clean up my room. Come help me clean up my room. Not come clean up my room, but he said, and I said, All right, and I bring, and there were some friends with me too, nice. I didn't

Lauren Moseley: 24:28

want to about the big kids. They could grade, they could clean, they could do all kind of

TD Flenaugh: 24:32

stuff. That's awesome. So, oh yes, so you teach first grade now, and you taught older kids in the past?

Lauren Moseley: 24:42

Yes, so for first graders, it's it's time for recess. I want everyone to go out and run and burn off all that first grade energy. But yeah, those older kids can do so much.

TD Flenaugh: 24:54

So for you Sage, I want to ask you, because I teach in Los Angeles and. I'll tell you why I'm asking you this question. But does this happen in your school? Like, do you have to stay in sometimes because of the weather?

Sagie the Bookworm: 25:09

Yeah, of course.

TD Flenaugh: 25:11

Yes. Okay, so what kind of weather keeps you inside?

Unknown: 25:16

Rain, thunder, rain, thunder.

TD Flenaugh: 25:20

So not if it gets too hot, too hot, too hot. Okay,

Sagie the Bookworm: 25:25

it was 107 and she said, Let's go outside. But the other teacher was like, Nope, no,

TD Flenaugh: 25:30

too hot. Yeah, too hot. Okay, yeah. So I'm gonna tell you, because in Los Angeles, the kids can't go out if it's a little drizzly - not like thunderstorm, like a little speck of water, and they're like, nope, staying inside. They said the kids could run and slip. And I guess people Sue out here. So maybe they'll be like, they'll get sued or something. I don't know. I don't know that part, but the kids can't play. And so if it's too foggy, like, we had fires so it was smoky, so they're like, you can't go outside. It's too smoky outside. And sometimes, but usually it doesn't happen where it's too hot. We don't usually get to 107 in Los Angeles, but every once in a while it's like, maybe a little bit too hot, but it's not very often at all.

Sagie the Bookworm: 26:25

Okay, so that's about the fog, if it's smoky, because sometimes you get the house, right? The house or the restaurant wrap up. Well, not restaurant, the house. They have barbecues, the smoke, yeah, even if so I have, I use a nebulizer when, like, my my lungs get blocked up. Yes, yeah, if you have what, I don't know what I have, but if you need a nebulizer, a inhaler or whatever, yeah, you can't say inside, you go out. If there's smokes, go out. At this moment, hold your breath.

TD Flenaugh: 27:03

Is that what happens at your school? I'm sorry. I don't mean to laugh, but is that what people say?

Sagie the Bookworm: 27:13

Okay, stay just try to stay away from the smoke, or just hold your breath when you pass, when you're passing by, and we're like,

TD Flenaugh: 27:20

oh, okay, so it's not smog in the air. There's someone who is barbecuing nearby in heaven. Okay, so it's a little isolated. Not, not to say it's okay, I'm just saying it's a little bit more isolated than, like, just smoke everywhere, like outside, yeah, because of the fires. Yeah, my, we call it. They call it the wildland fire. Some people call it, but, but, yeah, but I understand

Lauren Moseley: 27:50

barbecue ribs, that's different.

TD Flenaugh: 27:53

Well, I hope you're, you're okay, but you, you have you, you able to keep it with you. You're a nebulizer. We have a lot of kids here in LA that have asthma and stuff like that. So I know what you mean.

Sagie the Bookworm: 28:09

I know it's a big machine, so I cannot carry it around

TD Flenaugh: 28:13

Absolutely. Yeah,

Lauren Moseley: 28:15

yeah, that'd be difficult.

TD Flenaugh: 28:17

But, like, listen to your body, right, if you could stay away from the smoke, but if you you know, if you're like, surrounded by it, then you could maybe go to the nurse's office or something, advocate for yourself.

Sagie the Bookworm: 28:27

I'm always fine, because I just like to stay away from it or staying in a closed area. Great.

TD Flenaugh: 28:34

Smart. Okay, well, sage, I really enjoy talking to you today, me and Miss Mosley really enjoyed talking to you. Thank you for sharing all of your wisdom and experience with reading. What makes you love reading, and I hope we are listening to the wise words of Seiji the bookworm, and doing something today to help your give your kid a competitive advantage. Tell them, bye. Sage, nice to meet y'all.

Lauren Moseley: 29:10

That was great. Thank you, sage,

TD Flenaugh: 29:14

thanks again for supporting the falling for learning podcast. New Episodes go live every Saturday at 5pm you can watch us on youtube.com at falling for learning, or listen on all major podcast platforms such as Apple, Google, Audible, Spotify and much more for more resources, visit falling in love with learning.com we really appreciate you. Have a wonderful week. You.