Geisel Award Winning Books

I love the (Theador Seuss) Geisel Award books.  And award specific to beginning readers is fabulous!  I think for those of us that have worked with very young children, we know how hard it is to find great books that young children can read and can enjoy. So this award is one of my favorites.

This year, I had to purchase two of the winners. I read a lot in 2014 but I didn't read much for beginning readers.  Of course, I already had the new Elephant and Piggie (Waiting is Not Easy) book that won the award. (I imagine every Mo Willems book is the perfect example of what makes a good Geisel Award winner.)  And both of these new titles will be good for my 3rd grade classroom too!

You Are (Not) Small is the winner of this award this year and it is a picture book. I don't think this book was even on my radar before it was announced as a winner last week.  But I ordered it right away and I loved it! It is a fun story that has lots to say in a fun way. I love when a simple books gives a powerful message.  For me the book was about perspective and identity and acceptance.  The illustrations are fun and the characters are quite engaging--and quite adorable. I know my 3rd graders will like the story and I love that the themes are accessible.  Younger children will love this one as well.

I hadn't read a new Mr. Putter and Tabby book in a long time.  Honestly, I didn't realize Cynthia Rylant was still writing these.  But when I saw  Mr. Putter and Tabby Turn the Page--a book about reading--was a Geisel Honor, I was thrilled!  I had kind of forgotten about this series and I can think of a few kids who these books would be perfect for. I am hoping that having the award winner in the classroom might get some kids reading these.  This new one was quite fun.  Mr. Putter and his neighbor take their pets to story time at the library.  This is a typical Mr. Putter and Tabby book with some fun humor sprinkled throughout. I enjoyed it and am glad to have rediscovered the series.
didn't realize that Cynthia Rylant was still writing these.  So I was happy to see this new one,

I think all of the Geisel award winners and honors are great for K-3 classrooms.  If you haven't kept up on this award, it is a fairly new one. You can find all of the past award winners and honor books on the award page.  Definitely a list worth checking out if you work with young children.

Math Monday -- Math Ditties and Tricks

I saw this graphic on Lester Laminack's FB page and started thinking about the ditties and tricks we teach. When are they a good support, and when does a learner spend so much time on the trick that they might as well just learn the fact or concept?

The one above is catchy and fun, but we don't teach all of those concepts in the same grade. So, by the time a student is learning to find the mean, and therefore might be ready for the rhyme, one would hope that they had already internalized median, range, and mode.

You know that trick for the nines table in multiplication that you can do with your hands? ("Holding both hands in front of you, number the digits from left to right so the left pinkie is 1. Then bend down the finger you want to multiply by -- so if you're multiplying 9x4, bend down the fourth finger. The fingers to the left of the turned-down finger are the "tens" digit of the answer (3), and the fingers to the right are the "ones" digit of the answer (6)." description found here) Kids love knowing that trick, but if you have to put your pencil down and hold both hands in front of you to solve a multiplication problem, you might as well just learn the facts.

What are your favorite tricks or ditties to teach as you help your students internalize the fact or process?

What tricks or ditties drive you crazy because they have become more important than the underlying fact or concept?

It's Math Monday! Join Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning for the Math Monday link up!

Poetry Friday -- Found Poem

In a recent Brain Pickings article about Mark Strand, this quote stood up in front of me, shot its sleeves, straightened its tie, and announced, "I'm here. I understand that your OLW for 2015 is notice? Well, I've arrived to wallop your brain with a new take on attentiveness."


We’re only here 
for a short while. 
And I think it’s such a lucky accident, 
having been born, 
that we’re almost obliged to pay attention. 

In some ways, 
this is getting far afield. 
I mean, we are – 
as far as we know – 
the only part of the universe that’s self-conscious. 
We could even 
be the universe’s 
form of consciousness. 

We might have come along 
so that the universe could 
look at itself. 

I don’t know that, 
but we’re made of the same stuff that stars are made of, 
or that floats around in space. 

But we’re combined in such a way 
that we can describe 
what it’s like to be alive, 
to be witnesses. 
Most of our experience is that of being a witness. 
We see and hear and smell other things. 

I think being alive is responding.

--Mark Strand, quoted in CREATIVITY: THE PSYCHOLOGY OF DISCOVERY AND INVENTION
(line breaks are mine)


Wow. Just...wow, right?

When you click over to the article, there is a for-real Mark Strand poem at the end, and as you read or scroll through to get to it, don't you admire how Maria Popova uses art from children's books to illustrate her post?

Liz has the Poetry Friday roundup today at Elizabeth Steinglass. I hope to be able to make the rounds this week. Life has expanded my one square inch to give me a smidge more breathing room than last week!

Anybody else feeling like this?

Hugh MacLeod at gapingvoid.com

3 Professional Books I am Reading

I have been doing a lot of professional reading lately.  I am reading three professional books that are really helping me think about how best to teach reading to my students.  No matter how much I know and understand about teaching reading, there is always more to learn.  I am excited about these three books because they are really helping me tighten up my instruction by helping me understand some subtle things about comprehension.  I think these books are all amazing no matter what level you teach.  The ideas in these books cross levels and ages of our readers.

I am revisiting Debbie Miller's amazing book Reading with Meaning.  Debbie Miller's work is brilliant  She is one of the people whose work has been most influential in my teaching over the years. Her work with first graders, her books, and her videos have all helped me to see what is possible in a joyful classroom where children's talk and thinking are valued and built upon.  It is clear that Debbie Miller is intentional about all that she does and that is the reason her students are so sophisticated in their understandings. I read her first edition of Reading with Meaning several times but have not dug into the new edition until recently. WOW! What an amazing read. Whether you read Debbie's first edition or not, this book is a must read.  Even though I teach 3rd grade, I learn so much from Debbie about how to scaffold comprehension work with my 8 and 9 year olds.  I remember watching one of her videos when I was teaching 5th grade and how I wished that my 12 year olds could talk and think in the sophisticated ways her 6 year olds did. Miller teaches me over and over that children at all ages can understand with depth but it is our job to provide the right experiences.  Her generous sharing of the way she thinks and plans helps me to revise my teaching.

A book that is new to me is The Comprehension Experience:  Engaging Readers Through Effective

 Inquiry and Discussion.  This book was recommended by Sharon Taberski at last year's Reading Recovery Conference. Since that time, it has been recommended by our director of literacy and some reading teachers in our district.  It is a dense book--not an easy read.  So I bought it and ending up setting it aside. I picked it back up over winter break and dug in.  WOW! This book is incredible. The book looks at comprehension research over the years and reminds us of the things that we know about teaching comprehension (instead of assigning comprehension). The thing I love most about this book is that it shows the subtle changes that a routine can have that really impact a child's understand of what it means to be a reader. Are we predicting to be "right" or are we predicting as a way to dig deeper into the story, knowing that our predictions will change?  Are we connecting to share or to help understand a character?  The subtle differences in the ways we decide to introduce a book are made visible in this book. I am about half way through and it is definitely a MUST READ if you are a teacher of reading.

Finally, I just bought a copy of Reading Projects Reimagined by Dan Feigelson.  I have been hearing about this book but wasn't sure about the idea of projects in the reading workshop. But the "reimagining" in the title is what this book is all about.  This book is really about conferring with readers in ways that deepen their understanding, about listening to readers so that we can build on the things they are thinking about. The projects that Feigelson describes are ways that students make their thinking and discoveries visible--not the projects I think about when I hear the word project. Another MUST READ for sure as it is a book that is already impacting the ways in which I approach a reading conference with a student.

3 MUST READS for sure!  I have to say that I tend to read professional books in the summer, but there is something about reading them with real students in mind that often makes them more powerful. Had I read these over the summer, I may not be returning to them now. I think when I read them with an eye on the challenges I am currently facing as a teacher, they are more powerful reading experiences. 

January Mosaic

Row 1: A fabulous discovery just west of German Village -- Scioto Audubon Metro Park!

Row 2: More Metro Park and Helen Winnemore's.

Row 3: Chocolate chip scones (made by Mr. Mary Lee), Antonio's Pizza, and a mini chocolate croissant made for the Food for Thought program that featured the pastries of certified French pastry chef Michelle Kozak of Pâtisserie Lallier.

Row 4: More pastries (locals, you can find Michelle at the indoor Worthington Farmer's Market every Saturday), the insides of my KitchenAid getting its grease repacked, tracks in the snow.

Row 5 and 6: I was startled to see this little snow man walking his dog on the edge of my review mirror! Alter HS in Kettering hosted a Pink Out event that benefitted Casting for Recovery. I took the court between the JV and Varsity games to do a little casting and then talk about the program. Afterwards, my chauffeur and I ate a lovely dinner at The Winds Cafe in Yellow Springs. (I forgot to take a picture of my scallops. They were de-LISH!)


You can see all the photos in this set on Flickr here.

Math Monday -- Patterns

It's Math Monday! Join Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning for the Math Monday link up!

Today I'd like to share one of my favorite brain games. It's a game that, now that I think about it, reinforces many of the Standards for Mathematical Practice.* I think I'll teach it at indoor recess today!

It's the game SET. 

I have 4-6 decks of SET cards, but I was thrilled to find SET dice on sale at United Art and Education this past weekend.

You can play one free game per day online here, or you can play a multiplayer game in realtime here. There is also SET for iPhone and iPad.

In the game of SET, players must find combinations of color, shape, shading, or number that are either all alike in some way, or all different in some way. On the game board above, you can see that I made a SET with all purple, all solid, all three, all diamonds. I also made a set with all the same color (purple) and shading (solid), but all different number and shape. I have a set with all the same shading and shape, but all different color and number, and another with all the same number, shape and shading, but all different colors.

It's a great game. If you haven't played it yet (or recently)...what's stopping you?!?!

*CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP1 Make sense of problems and persevere in solving them.

CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP2 Reason abstractly...

CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others.

CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP6 Attend to precision.

CCSS.MATH.PRACTICE.MP7 Look for and make use of (patterns and) structure.

Poetry Friday -- The Best of It

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Heinz-Eberhard Boden

The Best of It 

by Kay Ryan

However carved up
or pared down we get,
we keep on making
the best of it as though
it doesn't matter that
our acre's down to
a square foot.

(the rest of the poem is here)

My acre is feeling like it's down to more like a square inch, but I'm making the best of it.

Paul has the Poetry Friday roundup at These 4 Corners.

NCTE Book Awards

NCTE announced its book awards this week.  I love both of the lists.  I've always loved the Orbis Pictus Award. I've watched it for years and have discovered so many amazing nonfiction books through this award and list each year. This year, I had read many books on the award list, but have several that I'll add to my TBR stack.  

This year, I was part of the Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children committee. It is an honor to be part of this committee during its first years. I never had the opportunity to study under Charlotte Huck at Ohio State but I feel that I learned from her through her writing and through others I knew who knew her. What a legacy! And I so love the premise of the new Charlotte Huck Award.  From the NCTE website, "The award commemorates the work of educator Charlotte Huck and her focus on the importance of bringing books and children together in significant ways. " It goes on to discuss the criteria--below is the first bullet.

• Fiction for children that has the potential to transform children’s lives
• Fiction that invites compassion, imagination, and wonder
• Fiction that connects children to their own humanity and offers them a rich experience with the power to influence their lives
• Fiction that stretches children’s thinking, feelings, and imagination

Isn't this what children's literature is all about? Isn't this what matters?

The experience I had on the committee, learning from so many amazing people, thinking about this award was incredible. Definitely a great way to start 2015. If you have not seen the award list, you can find it here.

I Am Jackie Robinson by Brad Meltzer

I'm so glad I decided to participate in the Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge hosted at Kidlit Frenzy.  It is a great reminder to keep up with my nonfiction reading in 2015!

The newish picture book biography series, "Ordinary People Change the World" by Brad Meltzer's a perfect nonfiction series for elementary students.  We have the first few books in our classroom and I've noticed that several kids are picking them up on their own to read during independent reading time.  They are great stories and are very accessible to young children.

These books look simpler than they are.  I read the newest title, I Am Jackie Robinson this weekend and realized how packed the book is.  The focus of the story and the theme of all of the books is one about heroes.  So the story focuses on the things Jackie Robinson did to change the world.  The stories is an engaging one for kids and the illustrations make them books that kids will pick up even without our nudging.

From a nonfiction reading standpoint, I plan to use these books to teach lots of mini lessons.  The page layouts, the ways the talking bubbles share details that go beyond the main text, the timeline at the end of the book, and other features all make these books a new favorite nonfiction series for me.

I love this new edition and am looking forward to the next book in the series--I Am Lucille Ball coming in July.

This short clip tells a bit more about the series: