Poetry Friday -- Ways to Reappear

 

image via Unsplash

Ways to Reappear

In the dawn

Down a path

Through tall pines

Come to

With a grin

In a flash

Down to earth

In a spotlight

In a shadow

Without a plan

Without speaking

On your porch

On your threshold

In the garden

In the pool

In a library

In the corner

In the background

Come out

On a limb

At a moment's notice

In envelopes

In secret

Without words

Without a doubt

Seeking identity

Through dense fog

Down this path

In the dawn

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021 

after Ways to Disappear by Camille Rankine

"Ways to Disappear" was the Poem a Day from Poets.org on Wednesday, June 2. Camille Rankine writes about her poem: “There are so many ways a person can become not a person in someone else’s eyes. They can be erased through violence of gaze or word or action, by the individual, by the media, by the state, so that their humanity dissolves into nothing in the other’s view, and they vanish. In plain sight, and not there at all.”

Big truth in these times, in this country.

I began to think of possible ways for a person to reappear. If we can erase a person, surely we can also work against that erasure, really see those around us, and make sure they know they've been seen.

The poem is also about losing one identity and reappearing with a new identity. 

Process notes: I found the photo on Unsplash after I wrote the poem. It was a little eerie how well the image matched my words. 

I borrowed the first word in every line from Rankine's poem. Lots of times I used the first two words. To give the poem a more optimistic feel, I changed "gone" to "come." The lines are specific and personal but at the same time broad and general. As in Rankine's poem, the lines sometimes seem connected, but mostly can stand alone. The word "seeking" stood out to me as a turning point, and from there I diverged from Rankine's poem, reversing the pattern of the first three lines, and ending where the poem started.

Margaret has this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Reflections on the Teche. Watch for the signup for July-December roundups next week! Yikes! 

Text Sets: Professional Books for Summer Learning

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. 

Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!  

 This week, I'll be sharing some professional books I am excited to dig into this summer. It's been such a great year for professional books and I am looking forward to time in the summer to really spend time with some of the newest professional books I've discovered. Summer is such a great time to relax, refresh and renew our teaching energy.  Professional books always help me with that and summer is my favorite time to dig into these. 

I read En Comuninidad this year and was able to hear the authors speak.  This is an area that I haven't learned enough about and these brilliant authors invited me into this learning.  My next read in Translanguaging will be Rooted in Strength which is brand new.  Such an important topic for all of us to learn about. Thanks to these authors for putting these incredible books out in the world.  

I was able to hear Dr. Detra Price-Dennis and Dr. Yolanda Sealy-Ruiz talk about their new book, Advancing Racial Literacies in Teacher Education last month. It is definitely an area that I need to learn more about. And I've learned so much from Dr. Detra Price-Dennis about Black Girls' Literacies that I am looking to the upcoming book on the topic by Dr. Price-Dennis and Dr. Muhammad. (Black Girls' Literacies is due out in early to mid June). 

I loved Steph Harvey and Annie Ward's book From Striving to Thriving and am glad to see these two have written another book on a similar topic (with two other coauthors). Intervention Reinvention comes out in June and I know I'll learn so much about supporting all readers. And I just received my copy of Trusting Readers this morning.  I worry we have come so far away from trusting our learners and the focus on independent reading and trust got me excited about this book right away. I think we all need this one in order to talk against deficit language narratives in literacy teaching. 

I preordered Start Here Start Now: A Guide to Antibias and Antiracist Work in Your School Community long ago and can't wait to dig in. I have learned so much from Liz Kleinrock on social media that I am so glad to see a book by this author!  

And one I am very excited that we are now able to preorder Reading and Teaching with Diverse Nonfiction Children's Books (The preorder link just went live this week--woohooo!)  I have been hearing about it on social media for months and it is a topic I need. These editors are incredible experts and the list of authors (listed on the preorder page) is just WOW! This book is a summer must-read for sure! 

Happy Reading!

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Text Set: Reading and Writing Different Books on One Topic

  Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!  

This week, we'll at books with similar topics or ideas written by different authors. As writers, studying pairs or sets of books across a topic or idea can really help writers see craft moves the author makes and how the authors approach ideas differently.  As readers, studying books on similar topics helps readers think about the difference between topic and theme. It is helps readers talk about the author's choices and how that impacts the bigger meaning of a narrative.

Our children are living through an important time in history. These three books, Outside Inside, And the People Stayed Home and Keeping the City Going each capture some of what life has been like during this pandemic. Each book approaches the topic a bit differently and the bigger messages are different.  Each of these books can be studied for craft, big idea, and more. Reading them all within a few days of each other will invite critical conversations.

Both The Camping Trip and Fatima's Great Outdoors are about a camping trip. Both have these of family.  But there are lots of differences and writing moves. The Camping Trip is a great mentor for writers who are looking for a mentor for writing graphic novels. Both books give readers lots to consider and to talk about.

Writing about a person you love can be done in so many ways. Me & Mama and I Dream of Popo capture the relationship and love between a child and someone in their life.  The writing, the craft and the focus is different but the feeling is similar.  Both capture every day experiences woven into a different format.

Home is In Between and Amira's Picture Day are two stories of children living between two cultures--the celebrations and challenges told in two very different ways. I love how both of these stories capture the experiences in such different ways.

Picture book biographies about the same person provide great mentors for readers and writers. Malala's Magic Pencil and Free as a Bird are two books about Malala. When readers read several books about the same individual, they can discuss why some biographies include different information than others. As writers, they can study the details writers choose help create a message about the person being written about--they often highlight one important characteristic.

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous independent children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

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Text Set: Immigration Stories

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. 

Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates! 

Reading across a topic so that an idea doesn't become a single story is important. When we think about immigration we have to make sure to think about immigration as broadly as possible when we think about time period, reasons for immigration, representation and more. I was hesitant to put this text set together because even with 6-8 books, this list is still very limited.  But I am hoping these books create a starting point or fill in gaps to the stories you have.

Home is in Between and Lailah's Lunchbox are two picture books that share experiences of children who have immigrated. Both show some celebrations and challenges with an eye toward the experiences of young children.  Even though these are fiction picture books, both are based on the authors' experiences and the author's note is a critical component in each of the books.

These are two very different books but the language and word choice was what made me put them together on one slide. Dreamers is a beautiful book that can be read and also studied as a writer. Six Words Fresh Off the Boat is a collection of 6 Word Memoirs that capture the experiences of people coming to America. Six Words Fresh Off the Boat is not written for children, but many of the 6 Word Memoirs can be shared with children.

The voices of children are highlighted in these books.  While Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees spans decades of people journeying by boat, Hear My Voice focuses on the current crisis of children being detained at the US Border.  Hear My Voice is a brand new, bilingual book   with powerful words and illustrations. All proceeds from Hear My Voice go to Project Amplify.

Their Great Gift is filled with poetic language and powerful images that celebrate immigration. The photos show the diversity and experiences of immigrants. While other books focus on different time periods of immigration, this book focuses on the 21st century.

Wishes and Two White Rabbits both focus two very different journeys that families take to find safety. Wishes releases next week and is must-have new picture book. Much of the story in both of these books is told in the illustrations.

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous independent children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

Text Set: Books for Earth Day

 Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates! 

I'm not a big theme teacher. I don't usually pick books because of a holiday or an event or a celebration.  But recently, I've discovered so many great books that match the Earth Day theme that I figured..Why not?  These books would definitely fit into this week if you are looking for texts to share for Earth Day. But they are also incredible books to use any time during the year for a variety of reasons. 

Having just won the Caldecott Medal, We are Water Protectors is a perfect book to share this week as we think about taking care of our Earth. I would pair this book (now or anytime during the year) with other books about water access and water protection. A connected book my 5th graders learned a great deal from is Young Water Protectors by Aslan Tudor and his mother. Water is such an important issue and there are so many other books to add but these are two of my favorites. 

I discovered Zonia's Rain Forest this week and love it so much. This is the story of Zonia who lives in the Amazon Rainforest. It is a beautiful story that celebrates all the beauty and wonder of the rainforest. And it also addresses threats. I remember rainforest units of the past that never acknowledged the people of the rainforest. This book does that and the back of the book gives us more information about the Asháninka, the largest Indigenous group living in the Peruvian Amazon. 

 

I have always had several books about Wangari Maathai in our classroom library. I love her story and the way she cared for the Earth. Mama Mita is one of my favorites but I think her story is one that needs to be explored through several books.(So look for the other picture book biographies about Wangari.)  This month, I discovered a book I could pair with the stories of Wangari. The Wisdom of Trees: How Trees Work Together to Form a Natural Kingdom. This nonfiction book is incredible and I learned so much. The combination of poetry and short informational blurbs work together to explore the connectedness of trees. It is packed with information that was new-to-me. There is more information at the end of the book, including information about the future of forests and ways we can help.

Plastic. So many problems caused by plastic. These are two very different books that focus on the impact of plastic in our world. The Last Straw is a poetry/nonfiction text that highlights ways kids everywhere are working to help the problems caused by plastic. And this book is filled with fabulous features at the end--timelines and more. Ocean Soup is more of a narrative that focuses on the impact of plastic on our oceans. The combination of these books helps readers understand how big the problem of plastic is as well as what we can do. 

I love books that have stand-alone pages. These books are both made up of two-page spreads that can stand alone for readers. Each two-page spread is essentially its own infographic. Each page gives readers so much information and it is all organized in ways that make the information accessible. What a Waste focuses on trash and recycling and Our World Out of Balance focuses on climate change. Both books include ways readers can help.

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

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Text Set: Short Texts for Grades 3-8

 Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. 

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As teachers, we are always looking for quality short texts. Short texts are great for mini lessons, read aloud, book clubs and more.  I've been finding so many great new publications with short pieces that I wanted to share them. The books I'll share this week are best for grades 3-8. I haven't necessarily read these books cover to cover and that is part of the beauty of these books--they offer short, stand alone pieces. When I get books like this, I usually do a pretty intense preview to get a sense of features and format. Then I read a few to get a sense of what is in the pages. I then dip in and out of them when I am looking for something specific.

I love Wonder Women of Science, a new book filled with women in science. The subtitle, "Twelve Geniuses Who Are Currently Rocking Science, Technology, and the World" says it all. This book shares the stories of incredible women and their journeys to the work they do now. Each 10-20 page piece has facts, photos from childhood, and more.  Readers learn about the people behind the science as well as a bit of science.  There is so much to each one of these mini-biographies.

These two books focus on stories of people taking action.  In Our Future, the author gives us a two-page spread about each activist, telling us a bit about their work and their motivation for the work.  Illustrations, photos and quotes are part of this book. In Muslim Girls Rise, each two page spread tells the story of one Muslim woman and the change she is creating in the world.  Both books focus on current issues. being addressed. These books show how much you can learn from short texts.

The short pieces in Drawn Across Borders: True Stories of Human Migration start with a drawing.  Artist and author George Butler observed people migrating and captured many in drawings. From Syria to Kenya, Butler records human stories through art and writing. Each story is unique and the visuals can also be studied independent of the text.  An incredible book.

Poetry is always a great choice when looking for short texts. The poetry by poet Naomi Shihab Nye gives readers so much to think about. Everything Comes Next is a newer anthology that included past and current poems by the author. Honeybee includes poetry as well as short paragraphs/pieces that can be used independently.

There is nothing like a great short story and these two books are filled with incredible short stories. Both edited anthologies, Ancestor Approved and Once Upon an Eid include the voices of many authors. The stories have depth and most can be read in one sitting.  Not only do these books provide fabulous short texts but they may also introduce readers to Indigenous and Muslim authors who may be new to them.  Short texts are a great way to discover and fall in Leo with new-to-you authors

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous independent children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

Text Set: Research-Books that Invite Readers to Learn More

 Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

If we want our students to understand that research can be about so much more than Googling an answer to a single question we have, we have to help them recognize their own curiosities. We also want them to know that often, the more you learn about a topic, the more you want to learn. There are several books that give readers just enough information to want to know more. This week's list features books that invite readers to learn more.

Go Show the World introduces readers to several Indigenous people who have impacted our world.  This is a picture book format so each person is introduced with an illustration and several Ines of text. At the end of the book, the author shares a short biography about each person introduced.  Using this book as a springboard for discussion about which people you are interested in learning more about, now that you know a little bit, could be powerful.

Many readers have people they love to read about. For me, I love to read about Jane Goodall. I tend to buy almost any book that comes out about her.  Books like yesterday's and the updated version of Enough! introduce readers to people they may be interested in learning more about.  The people featured in this book are featured because they changed America by protesting in some way.  So, readers learn a bit about people (who they may want to learn more about) as well as the issues they stood up for (which they may want to learn more about.) in this book.

Picture books are a powerful and effective tools for introducing young readers to times in history that demand more study and understanding.  Unspeakable shares the horrific events of The Tulsa Massacre and readers may want to learn more about this time in history.   Readers will leave with an understanding of this tragedy along with questions that would require more learning.

This book, by the author of We Are Grateful introduces readers to several Native American Truths in We Are Still Here. Traci Sorrell teaches readers about times in history that is often left out of history classes.  This book covers so much and each truth is a big topic on its own. Readers will definitely want to dig deeper to understand and act.

Poetry naturally invites engagement and curiosity. These three poetry books (Bravo, Shaking Things Up and Voices of Justice) introduce us to people who have shaped our world.  The poems and illustrations are powerful and give us just enough to want to know more. These poems can be used independently or as part of the entire anthology.

Follow @TextSets on Instagram for next week's Text Set!

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

 

Text Set: The Power of Studying One Idea Across Multiple Texts

 Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

Studying one idea across multiple texts is something we do so often as readers.  We can show our students the power of doing this when building understanding/learning something new. When we read across several texts about a single topic, we build knowledge, examine perspectives, build on first understanding, change thinking as we learn more, and ask more questions. When we think of standards, when we read across texts, we practice synthesizing, we are learning true research and we learn to support our thinking with evidence. This week's text set explores books to use to study the idea of protest marches across several pieces of short text.

Both of these books are fabulous for starting the learning about Marches. They both have basic information. Sometimes People March share many reasons for marching with good information at the end of the book. In We March, we better understand the experience of being part of a march though simple text and illustrations. Both will be good to set the stage for more learning about marches.

Marching for Change takes a close look at 3 different marches. These marches are 3 that students may know about and the book gives detailed information about each one.  There are photographs that will help readers connect to a visual. This book can be included in the research by reading about one march or all three. 

These two books take a close look at two different marches that may not be as well known to students.  Starting with the basics of marches and then getting to the specifics of different marches with these books will help children build understanding. Readers of All the Way to the Top may go on to read more about activist, Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins current work. These books provide two ways to learn more--learning more about a specific march (The Teachers March) and learning more about a single person's role as an activist. Both ways of learning about marches and protestors are important to bigger understandings. 
 

Together We March can provide weeks of mini lesson work. The book explores 25 different protest marches. The introduction is one that will add to the study of marches in this text set. Then readers can read more about marches they may know about and discover less known marches to build initial understandings.  Each short piece provides a great deal of new information that will help readers build on, grow, and change their thinking. 

Children's participation in marches will most likely be of interest to young readers and these two books that look at the children's march of 1963. Let the Children March looks at the whole of the march while The Youngest Marcher focuses on the youngest child who was arrested for protesting. These books focus on two stories about a single historical march and the important role of children. 

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous independent children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

Text Set: Keeping Track of Characters

 Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. 

Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

Knowing and keeping track of characters is important for readers at all levels.  There are many ways to think about character, but one challenge readers sometimes have is keeping track of characters across a book. Keeping track of characters requires readers to know characters and to slow down and think about them. This week's text set will focus on books to support conversations on ways to keep track of characters across a text. 

When we talk about keeping track of characters across a text, I love to begin with books that have two characters who have a strong relationship. Often in books with 2 main characters, the two characters have similarities and differences and those differences often become important to the story. Using books such as Ginger and Chrysanthemum and Ling and Ting start great conversations about stopping to think about each character individually as we read. Sticky notes on the cover with things we learn about each character as we read is one way to make this thinking visible.

Making sure to include nonfiction in conversations around characters is important. This fabulous nonfiction picture book--Game Changers: The Story of Venus and Serena Williams-- would invite conversations that build on the work in fiction. Keeping track of people in a story requires that you pay attention to the details about each character.  Connecting the strategies readers use for fiction to nonfiction is important. 

I like Salma the Syrian Chef as part of this study on keeping track of characters because Salma is clearly the main character but she has several people who support her.  These characters are typically flat characters who help the main character solve her problem in different ways. As readers move into more complex texts, flat characters and those in supporting roles become more and more important. These characters are often hard to keep track of because readers don't get to know them well.  Charting these new characters as they come up is a good way to keep track of characters when there are several. 

One of my favorite graphic novels, The Cardboard Kingdom, is one that is filled with interesting characters. Not only are there many characters to keep track of but they also have fictional characters they portray in their play throughout the book. So, to understand each character, you need to know both of the characters identities.  This is a more complex book and probably best for grades 3-6. 

Operation Frog Effect is perfect for middle grade readers to think about characters and keeping track of different characters by knowing them well. This story is told from several perspectives--students in a class- and each is a different writing style, a different font, etc. Hearing from characters in their own voices makes this perfect for this conversation and learning. 

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

 

Poetry Friday -- Writing From a Mentor Text

photo via Unsplash

Here is the version we know and love. At the same time I was using this as a mentor text, my students and I were delving into "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost. I think I understand WCW's poem better for reading it alongside Frost, and I think the two poems can be a text set.

This Is Just To Say
by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten

the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

Here's my version:

This Is Just To Say -- I'm Retiring
by Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

I have taught
many decades
mostly in
this district

and now
you are probably
planning
for next year

Remember
this work is important
so energizing
and so necessary

Yup. I'm done. I have eaten the plums and they were delicious. Spring break begins tomorrow, and after next week, forty more days of being a teacher. It still seems a bit unreal.

I'm looking forward to hosting the First Friday of Poetry Month here next week. I'm really sorry about the hassles of this blog's endless loading. I've tried everything I can to fix it. Thanks in advance for your patience.

Susan has this week's Poetry Friday roundup at Soul Blossom Living.

Text Set: Word Study and Vocabulary

 Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

We want to have joy and inquiry at the heart of our word study and vocabulary work. This week, I'll share a set of books that will celebrate words in various ways. Word study cannot happen without understanding the power and impact of words. 

The Great Big Animal Search Book is a fun book, and at first glance I had no idea all that was in here connected to words and vocabulary. This is a giant search book with really fun illustrations and so many facts about animals. It is a book readers can spend hours and hours with. AND it ALSO introduces readers to a variety of collective nouns (a WADDLE of penguins, a HERD of cows). Such a great way to discover the fun in collective nouns and to explore new vocabulary in the process. 

The Invisible Alphabet gives readers a unique way to think about words. This book is full of words that are invisible--things you don't see (such as AIR).  Reading through this book and then playing with other types of alphabet lists you could create based on a unique category like invisible would be great fun!

I love Ambitious Girl and they way that it takes a single word--ambitious-- and defines and expands on the definition through the whole of the book. Thinking deeply about the perfect word and all that it can be in descriptions and actions is worthy of conversation. 

This book could be used throughout the year for so many things. Just as the previous book explored one word, Dictionary for a Better World explores and deeply digs into several words using poems, quotes, and more. And each word fits under the topic umbrella of a better world. I want young readers to go beyond a dictionary definition of a word and to really think beyond a one-phrase definition. This book invites readers to think about powerful words in a variety of ways to build understanding. Discussing each word as well as its inclusion in the book's theme will add to any word study conversation.  

Of course you'd have to spend weeks with Have I Ever Told You Black Lives Matter before you brought it into word study. The book is powerful and says so much. The fact that there are only words and no illustrations is powerful. The way the words are set on the page is powerful.  So many Black voices are shared in this book.  A perfect book for talking about the power of words, the word we remember, the power of quotes, whose words have power, whose words do we study and remember, etc. could all be important conversations using this book as an anchor. 

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

You can find a downloadable pdf of this list at frankisibberson.com.