Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Something Big


Something Big
by Sylivie Neeman
illustrated by Ingrid Godon
Enchanted Lion Books, 2013
Review copy provided by the publisher

Little One wants to do something big. But he's not sure what that big thing might be, and Big One is having a hard time helping him figure it out. They go for a walk by the ocean for inspiration. It's hard to do something big when you're still small. But at the end of the walk, Little One does something small that actually turns out to be a big thing.

I used this book to start our conversations about what we could do to promote peace for the International Day of Peace on September 21. We watched the video of the international music group, Playing for Change, singing together from all around the world. (It's on the public blog on my class' website. You can watch it here.) We talked about how small things can often be big. Each musician is doing a small thing, but together, what they are doing is big. Huge, even. We brainstormed topics like helping others, caring for the environment, anti-bullying. And we talked about our own personal experience with peace -- when and where we feel it and how it feels.

Today, as we continue our work, we will talk about the situation in Syria, about the president's speech, and about the Russians' peaceful proposal. We'll talk a bit about 9/11 and think about those who responded to that crisis with no other thoughts in their hearts but to help. I'll read aloud Gandhi: A March to the Sea, which I mentioned in my 10-for-10 post.

Between now and Friday, September 20, my students will be composing short narratives on the theme of peace. These narratives might eventually become poetry, fables, narrative nonfiction, songs, comics, digital presentations, posters, and more. The assignment is a narrative with peace at its heart. We'll decide the container for the narrative after the writing is well on its way. And we'll find a way to share them with the world.

What will you do for the International Day of Peace?


Tuesday, September 10, 2013

And the Winners of MR. TIGER GOES WILD Are....

We have the winners of the copies of MR. TIGER GOES WILD that was released last week!
I used random.org to choose 3 comments at random. I decided that I would go by comment number as long as that commenter shared their "going wild" story.  

Congratulations Evie, Lisa, and Gail !!

Please email me with your mailing address so we can get you your prizes!






Books that Invite Conversations About Growth Mindset



Two professional books that have impacted my teaching in the last several years are Choice Words by Peter Johnston and Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck.  A recent post by Clare and Tammy at Assessment in Perspective reminded me how important this thinking has become in my day-to-day work with kids.   These books have been huge influences on the ways in which I talk to children and the awareness I have of their mindset about their learning.  I am amazed that even by age 8, many of our students seem to have a fixed mindset about learning and sometimes it takes lots of time to change that.  Some also have a narrow view of what it means to be a learner.   I think that no matter what our children's school and learning experiences, the messages they get from TV shows, books, etc. play on a very archaic idea of what it means to be a learner and what it means to be in school.

This year, I began our year by showing the kids Caine's Arcade.



I showed this at 9:30 a.m. on the first day of school to set the stage for the year.  Kids were glued to the clip and fascinated by Caine and his arcade.   I followed up the clip with a conversation about the reason I chose this clip. I told the kids that I thought Caine was an amazing learner and it was so evident in this piece.  Then we talked about all of the ways he was a learner and what it means to be a learner.  Since that first day of school, kids have asked to watch the Caine's Arcade clip again and many have watched it at home with families.  It was my favorite way ever to kick off a school year as I can already tell it will be an anchor for so much of our talk about what it means to be a learner.

Interestingly, this first conversation was amazing, but when we talked later in the week about classroom learning, their thoughts fell back to "It needs to be quiet," "We need to listen to the teacher," and "We shouldn't copy from other people."

So, I am in the process of collecting books that will continue the conversation about being a learner and growth mindset.  I am on the lookout for books that will help us to have conversations around this idea, not only during these first few weeks of school, but throughout the year. Often, I think that the books we share early in the year share our thoughts with students.  They come to know us through the books we share. But the community isn't strong enough early in the year for all students to bring their own thinking to the group yet.  So, it is important that this isn't only a beginning of the year conversation. I'm gathering those books I have and I'm looking for new books to add to my collection so that this conversation is ongoing.

Here are a few of the books I've collected so far:

I've always read The OK Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal early in the year to talk about goals and the things we are still learning.

Someday by Eileen Spinelli is another favorite for this conversation.  In this story, a little girl sets out her long-term goals and then tells us what she is doing today to help her get there.

Today I Will: A Year of Quotes, Notes, and Promises to Myself is a great collection of quotes and notes by Eileen Spinelli. Many of these will be great conversation starters about agency, identity and learning.

Beautiful Oops! by Barney Saltzberg is a great little book that celebrates mistakes and reminds us that often, a mistake leads to something wonderful!

Thank You, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco is a book I've always loved but have never really thought about the message it gives kids about learning and growth mindset.

Walk On!: A Guide for Babies of All Ages by Marla Frazee is a book I've loved for years and one that I've often used when teaching kids how to discover themes in books. But it also has huge invitations for talking about learning and growing.

Everyone Can Learn to Ride a Bicycle by Chris Raschka is a new one that I am excited about. It is a simple story of learning to ride a bike. But the messages that everyone can learn and grow is a big one.

Monday, September 09, 2013

Fairy Tale Comics


Fairy Tale Comics: Classic Tales Told by Extraordinary Cartoonists
Edited by Chris Duffy
First Second, on shelves September 24, 2013
review copy provided by the publisher

From the same editor who brought us Nursery Rhyme Comics: 50 Timeless Rhymes from 50 Celebrated Cartoonists, we now have this fabulous collection of Fairy Tale Comics!

17 different artists, 17 different stories from the Brothers Grimm, Charles Perrault, Bre'r Rabbit, 1001 Nights, and Japanese, English and Russian Folktales.

Readers in my classroom will recognize the work of Raina Telgemeier (Drama and Smile) and Charise Mericle Harper (Fashion Kitty versus the Fashion Queen). Probably 6 of the 17 stories will be familiar.

So, it's safe to say that this book will introduce readers (in a fun way) to many new graphic artists and many new fairy tales! Win-Win!

Saturday, September 07, 2013

A New Puppy!

Last night, we got a new puppy.  He is a 12 week old Havanese.  He is VERY cute and VERY energetic.  Our almost-14-year-old daughter is taking much of the responsibility and she chose the name. (This is the part where you understand how a new puppy fits into a blog about reading...)  He is named Arnie, after her very favorite book Arnie, the Doughnut (Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut) .  When Ana was in elementary school, she checked out ARNIE THE DONUT every week for years.  We bought her a copy, but she still liked to check out the book.  And she continues to read it a few times a year. She was thrilled to see a new ARNIE book out-even though she is 14, this character continues to bring her joy! Lots of it. And since Arnie becomes a doughnut dog, it seemed even more perfect! So, what better name for a puppy that will also bring lots of joy.




Our older dog, Chloe, is not quite sure about him yet...




Friday, September 06, 2013

Poetry Friday: If, for some reason...

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/


If, for some reason, you missed the debut of this article at The Poetry Foundation, it's not to late to check it out:

All Good Slides are Slippery by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Chris Raschka

You read that right -- Lemony Snicket. He created a collection of poems that children "might like," and Chris Raschka illustrated the collection with happy, splashy paintings. Fun, fun, fun!

From the introduction:

"The poems contained in this children’s poetry portfolio are not made for children. Poetry is like a curvy slide in a playground — an odd object, available to the public — and, as I keep explaining to my local police force, everyone should be able to use it, not just those of a certain age."
"If you are a child, you might like these poems. Of course, you might not. Poems, like children, are individuals, and will not be liked by every single person who happens to come across them. So you may consider this portfolio a gathering of people in a room. It does not matter how old they are, or how old you are yourself. What matters is that there are a bunch of   people standing around in a room, and you might want to look at them."


We're gathering in the "room" (aka blog) of Laura at Author Amok for the Poetry Friday roundup this week. See you there!

Thursday, September 05, 2013

The 14 Fibs of Gregory K.


The 14 Fibs of Gregory K.
by Greg Pincus
Arthur A. Levine Books (on shelves September 24, 2013)
review ARC compliments of the publisher

There is so much to love about this book! 

First of all, the main character's favorite thing to do in his free time is...WRITE! Gregory K. and his friend Kelly get together after school to write, they trade notebooks and read each other's work, then write some more.

The second great thing about this book is Gregory's math teacher, Mr. Davis, a teacher worthy of a spot on our 100 Cool Teachers in Children's Literature list! When Gregory is in danger of failing math, Mr. Davis doesn't make him do more math, he plays to Gregory's strength and has him keep a math journal. Brilliant!

The third great thing is that there's lots of PIE in this book...along with the pi.

Here's the deal with Gregory and math -- he's the only person in his family who doesn't eat, sleep, breathe and live for math. And here's the deal with author Greg Pincus -- he tangles his character up in so many problems, the reader just about can't believe things will ever work out for him.

This is a fabulous debut novel!! More, Mr. Pincus, MORE!!

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Happy Book Birthday to Mr. Tiger Goes Wild by Peter Brown!


Mr. Tiger Goes Wild is Peter Brown's newest picture book!  I have become a HUGE Peter Brown fan over the last few years and was very excited to see a new book coming out. Today is the books BIRTHDAY so we are having quite the celebration!

MR. TIGER GOES WILD  has lots of the same characteristics I love about Peter Brown's writing.  A great story with a character you come to love and understand early in the book.  The illustrations invite revisiting over and over and the message is a fun one. This is the story of Mr. Tiger who wants to go a little wild, do something out of the box, get out of his usual routine and have a little fun. Who can't relate to a story like this?

We have all gone wild a bit in our lives. We've done things out of the norm or a little out of our usual comfort zone.  Me? I am pretty much a rule follower--I don't necessarily agree with every rule and I am opinionated and mouthy about those I don't love, but I tend to do what I am supposed to do.  But sometimes what you are supposed to do gets boring and I think we all need to have a little fun by going a little bit wild, just like Mr. Tiger.

As I was preparing for this blog post, I was thinking about times in my life that I've done something a bit out of the norm.  It seems that I have lots of little things throughout my life so I tried to think back to the first experience I could remember of going a bit wild--doing something out of the box.  Lucky for me, I've always had friends who helped me get out of my comfort zone--who had ideas that I never would have attempted or who have gone along with an idea I've thrown out there that I was never actually serious about.  I have out of the box ideas but often just throw them out as a joke. I've always had a friend or two two who see my amusing ideas as real possibilities.

My first experience of a time I "went wild" was in Kindergarten.  It was late in the year in Kindergarten and classroom jobs were posted.  It was my turn to get the milk. Getting the milk was one of the best classroom jobs.  With a friend, you took an empty crate to the school refrigerator in the hallway (very far away from the Kindergarten room) and counted out the milk for snack time.  Each of us had a choice between chocolate and regular each day so the milk helpers were responsible for counting out the correct number of each kind, putting them in the crate and carrying the crate back to the classroom. It was one of the few jobs that took us outside of the classroom.

Well, on this day, I was with one of my more adventurous friends.  And the routines of Kindergarten were getting a little boring.  "Wouldn't it be funny," I thought, "to fill the crate with ALL of the milk in the refrigerator instead of counting only the 12 chocolate and 9 white that we needed for our classroom?"  That would certainly break up the routine and make for a little fun. As soon as I thought the idea out loud, my friend loved it, so we got to work.

As five year-olds, it took a lot of work to get ALL of the milk out of the refrigerator--every last carton. We were so focused on the work of following through with our idea, that I don't think it ever occurred to us in the very long time we were gone, that this might be a bad idea.

But I do remember the look on the teacher's face when she discovered us, me stretching my arm as far as I could, to reach those last few cartons in the refrigerator. When I saw her face, it hit me that this idea was probably not a great one. It was then that I realized for the very first time, that we were probably going to get in big trouble.

But my teacher seemed so flustered that she didn't have time to reprimand us when she found us in the hallway working hard to fit hundreds of cartons of milk into a small crate. Instead she sent us back to the classroom, canceled the milk portion of our snack as it was clearly too late for that, and waited for the day to end.  Her look was not one of anger, but one of relief, disbelief and exhaustion.  No anger at all.  Looking back, I am sure the teacher was alarmed at the two of us being lost and was thrilled that we hadn't run out of the building or something. And I am sure someone had to put the milk back.

I hardly ever got in trouble when I was little. No real reason to.  My parents were very good at understanding me and realizing that most of the naughty things I did were well-intentioned.  And I wouldn't say I got in trouble with the milk either.  But it was clear that I had misbehaved a bit.

This story comes back to me often as a teacher.  As a teacher of elementary children, I know that kids often have ideas that seem fun to them, that do not seem so amusing to me.  My idea was hysterical to the 5-year old me.  I couldn't imagine it wouldn't be hysterical to everyone else. My plan was to bring joy and laughter into the classroom by carrying hundreds of cartons of milk back in.  I think this story comes back to me lots to remind me that often, these kids do something "wild" and it is just them playing and learning how to have a little fun without hurting anyone. I think my teacher's non-angry response was important. She definitely wasn't happy but she kind of got it--no harm done.

And because I'm a rule follower,  I think we all need okay excuses to go out of our comfort zone.  Since Kindergarten, I've planned lots of events that invite people to go a bit wild.  I was Pep Club president in high school and that role allowed me to organize things like Punk Day and other Spirit Days.  I also look for excuses to go a little wild in an okay way.


Me (far right) on "Punk Day" my senior year in high school.  Don't think any of my high school friends photoed here read this blog but if they did, they would verify that we definitely found ways to have fun and go a little wild every day in high school:-)  On an unrelated note, I am realizing that this is how I wear my hair to yoga class so it stays out of my eyes but it seemed to be a better look when I was 17....

An excuse to go a little wild in college when I signed up for the Dance Marathon. Each hour had a new "theme" so I had an outfit for each hour.  (Tacky Tourist maybe?)  As you can see, my husband (then boyfriend) Scott, was not as comfortable going wild by dressing up each hour.



The story of my Kindergarten milk idea has come back to me often lately because I worry that in schools, with this stressful testing environment, we have taken away lots of the excuses to do something "fun".  I loved school my entire life--from preschool through college. I loved it because we had lots of fun in between and along with the learning. We learned lots but also had built in ways to do things out of the routine on a pretty regular basis.  So we understood that learning and fun went together. And that little breaks in our learning actually made the learning part easier.  I worry that we've forgotten how important the fun part is when it comes to learning.  I am hoping this book reminds us of that a little.


GET A COPY OF MR. TIGER GOES WILD!
You will definitely want to get your hands on a copy of this book as soon as you can!  It will be a fabulously fun read aloud for all ages. And I am sure it will be one that is read over and over and over by students. It is one to just enjoy and also one that will naturally lead to lots of discussions--one of being who you are and one of going a little wild sometimes is certainly an okay thing!

And now, for some exciting news on how you can WIN a copy of the book. A Year of Reading has been given 3 copies of Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, courtesy of Little, Brown and Company!  So, if you would like to be considered for one of these 3 prizes, leave a comment on this post sharing a story of a time you've done something a little wild. You can blog about it and leave us the link or you can share the story as a comment.  Winners will be announced on 9/10 so you have a full week to think about this and share!
(Note:  Books cannot be shipped to PO boxes, and will ship to US residents only). 

And there is even another chance to win:


A.....Scavenger Hunt!
To celebrate the release of Peter Brown's Mr. Tiger Goes Wild, we have a blog tour scavenger hunt for you! Visit all the blogs listed below to collect 7 letters/characters. Unscramble the letters/characters to unlock the secret phrase. Each blog is giving away three copies of Mr. Tiger Goes Wild courtesy of Little, Brown Books and Jen Vincent at Teach Mentor Texts has a Mr. Tiger Goes Wild prize pack to give away. 


Franki at A Year of Reading
Jen at Reederama
Katherine at Read, Write, Reflect
Laura at LibLaura5
Colby at SharpRead 


And our letter is.....

And if you haven't read all of Peter Brown's books, now would be the perfect time to discover their brilliance! A few favorites include The Curious GardenCreepy Carrots! and YOU WILL BE MY FRIEND! (Starring Lucille Beatrice Bear). And don't forget to check out his blog.  If Peter Brown isn't already one of your favorite authors and illustrators, he will be soon!


Thanks, Peter Brown, for another amazing book!!






Monday, September 02, 2013

August Mosaic


Hmm...it's always interesting to observe the patterns that emerge each month. Apparently, August was about food. Fully one third of these photos document food or restaurants. There's the scallops from Skillet, biscotti and coffee and DeLucas and cheesesteak in Pittsburgh, the coffee house in Urbana, peanut butter sandwiches from Krema, eggplant salad (made with the eggplant grown in the community garden), and Jeni's on Mohawk.

And it's not every month that dinosaurs show up not once, not twice, but THREE times.

Between the tomato hornworm caterpillar (found in the community garden) that I unsuccessfully tried to keep alive for my students to see, and the exhibits at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, it was a great month for insects, too.

You can click on the mosaic to enlarge it, or visit the set on Flickr.


Sunday, September 01, 2013

It's a Chalk-A-Bration!

I have loved the idea of Chalk-A-Bration as soon as I read about the idea on Betsy's blog, TEACHING  YOUNG WRITERS.  for months and was determined to make time for it each month.  This Friday was the perfect day to begin. My third graders had been in class for 8 days and we had already started our Friday morning tradition of POETRY FRIDAY!  I figured Chalk-A-Bration would be a natural extension.

It was perfect for so many reasons!

-Chalk-A-Bration was a great way to begin connecting online with my class this year.  They could see immediately that we were part of something beyond the classroom walls.

-I showed them Betsy's blog and shared her idea of Chalk-A-Bration. I talked about how much I loved the idea--so much that I wanted to try it. That we get ideas and build on ideas by learning from and with others.

-They realized that others would see their work and that chalking on the playground would be a fun way to surprise others with fun words and illustrations.

-They LOVED the word Chalk-A-Bration and it served as a great word study discussion for the day.

-It was 15 minutes of joyful literacy!

Kids had great ideas for chalking.

Many kids had fun chalking bright, happy pictures!


Others decided to use a favorite line we read in our readaloud this week. "Make Like a Sponge!" was a funny line used in The Trouble With Chickens when the chickens were annoyed that J.J. Tully would not go out in the rain.

Others chose favorite lines from poems they enjoyed during our Poetry Friday! reading. This one --"My backpack weighs a thousand pounds." (Prelutsky)


Inspirational phrases were also popular!

And we had to share our love of books and reading!



We loved our first Chalk-A-Bration and can't wait until next month!




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