Thoughts on Teaching & Learning: Summer Reading

Over the past several weeks, I have found myself doing a lot of reflection trying to get this online teaching right.  I keep meaning to get my thoughts on paper but then get caught up in the day-to-day work of teaching in this pandemic era.  I know if I can catch my breath, there is a lot to learn and reflect on during this time. So, I decided that every day in May, I will share my thoughts on Teaching and Learning.  This is Day 10.

As we go into our last full week of school/remote learning, I am thinking about Summer Reading. In the classroom, I always dedicate a lot of time these last few weeks helping students create a summer reading list.  And I always do the same. We preview books, we share titles, we read reviews, we visit websites, we take recommendations from others.

For the past several summers I've participated in Donalyn's summer #bookaday and I spend time counting the days and thinking about books I'll start with.  Summer is always a great time for me to catch up on so much reading and I make it a priority.

But I am finding that I am not reading as much these days. When this stay-at-home started, I figured I'd read a book a day.  I have plenty of books at home and plenty of time.  But I've really been struggling with reading. I've managed about a book a week most weeks but those are mostly read in spurts.

When I talked to my students about their reading, I am finding similar things. They are missing reading as much as they did, but they are not able to read as much.  And without being in school--having access to our classroom library, the school library and our amazing  public libraries, they are a little lost.  

We've spent some time over the last few weeks talking about this-how and what are we reading during this time. And I've noticed that for so many of my students, reading habits are changing. Some students aren't making the time for reading and are in a reading slump. But others are discovering new things.  Students who would never reread a book are now rereading books they have at home. Books they love.  Students who were adamantly opposed to eBooks have given them a second chance and realized that checking out and reading an eBook from the library is better than not having new books to read at all. My own 20-year old daughter has discovered audiobooks during this time at home. 

I'm wondering about these reading habits--which ones are just getting us through this crisis and which ones will stick. And I'm wondering how best to help my 5th graders think about summer reading during our last week together.   I'll still share some books and some sites for finding new books, but I think much of our talk will be around our habits and how we might have to build new reading habits during this time.  

As I think about summer #bookaday, something I've been committed to for years, I wonder how that might work this year.  Typically, I pick up a stack of books each week from the local library, but this year, that is not possible. So, I am rethinking what "counts" as reading. We are so lucky to have hundreds of authors reading their books aloud online. Does watching a video of that "count" toward my bookaday?  And I've never reserved picture book eBooks from the library--is that even a possibility? If so, I need to learn how to do that. And I wonder how I might build audiobooks into my life with so little driving (I typically listen to audiobooks on the drive to work but am wondering how I build those into my life at home.)

This week, when we talk about summer reading, I want my students to think about options.  Temporary options--through this crisis.  know my summer reading life may not look like it has in the past and I have to assume theirs won't either.  And I don't know what it will look like--if libraries will open, if I can learn to love eBooks, if I will stick with summer #bookaday.  I know as readers, many of us are talking about our changed reading habits during this time.  As adult readers, we know that we are still readers, and that we'll get our "normal" reading lives back. I want my students to know that too, 

So, I think this year, as we prepare for summer reading, I'll continue to talk to kids honestly about their changing habits and the reading challenges so many of us are facing during this pandemic. I'll throw out some resources and hopefully help them expand on the possibilities. Rather than creating a summer reading list, maybe we'll talk about building in some new habits as readers --or at least building in the habit of trying new things as readers as we navigate this pandemic.

Jacqueline Woodson Marathon

"Sometimes, when I'm sitting at my desk for long hours and nothing's coming to me, I remember my fifth grade teacher, the way her eyes lit up when she said, "This is really good." The way, I -- the skinny girl in the back of the classroom who was always getting into trouble for talking or missed homework assignments -- sat up a little straighter, folded my hands on the desks, smiled and began to believe in me."

According to Jacqueline Woodson's website, none of the four books I read during my Jacqueline Woodson Marathon are autobiographical. It's probably just unavoidable, though, to find bits of truths from the author's life in each one.

For instance, the opening quote could be Lonnie (aka Locomotion) or Frannie (in Feathers) talking. Although she was born in Columbus, Ohio, Woodson has lived in Brooklyn since she was 7 years old. City life features strongly in all four of the books I read. She speaks ASL, which is important in Feathers, as Frannie's brother Sean is deaf. Music is very important to Jacqueline Woodson, and the music and lyrics of Tupac Shakur are central to the plot of After Tupac and D Foster. Woodson sometimes sits on the stoop to write. The narrator and her friends Neeka and D in After Tupac and D Foster spend hours (in all weather) on the front stoop. And if she couldn't write, Woodson admits to a desire to play for the NBA for the Knicks. One of Neeka's brothers in After Tupac and D Foster goes from basketball crazy to a basketball scholarship to Georgetown over the course of the book.

Locomotion

by Jacqueline Woodson

G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2003

review copy: public library

"Lonnie's voice was in my head." This novel in verse is told in the voice of a fifth grade boy who is in foster care. His sister is in different foster family. Writing poetry is lifesaving for Lonnie. This book would be interesting paired with Love That Dog by Sharon Creech.

Peace, Locomotion

by Jacqueline Woodson

G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2009

review copy: provided by the publisher

"This book started out being about one kind of peace and then became about the many ways we search for and eventually find peace." In this book, Lonnie writes letters to his sister in an attempt to keep safe the memories of their childhood (both before their parents were killed in the fire and now that they are living in two different foster families). Both Lonnie and his sister Lili are becoming more and more a part of their separate foster families and they have to find peace with that. One of Lonnie's foster brothers comes home from the war without part of one leg -- he has to find peace with his new body. Lonnie's new friend Clyde struggles to be accepted for who he is -- another way of finding peace.

Feathers

by Jacqueline Woodson

G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2007

review copy: public library

"...I wanted to write about the many ways people find Hope in the world." This book has a complicated mix of themes: race, organized religion, the holiness of living without organized religion, false assumptions, bullies, and, in a surprise plot turn, mixed-race adoptions.

After Tupac and D Foster

by Jacqueline Woodson

G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2008

review copy: public library

"I think Tupac was an amazing activist..." Two strands are woven in this book. First, there is Tupac Shakur -- his music, his lyrics, his life (and his mother's life) as an activist for disenfranchised black youth. And then there is family -- tight city neighborhood family, foster family, families that include a gay brother who is wrongly jailed for a crime he did not commit.

As a middle class white woman who grew up on a small rural town, I read Jacqueline Woodson's books from the outside looking in. The worlds she writes about are as foreign to me as another country. She writes with language I do not hear in my everyday life, and the urban world in which her characters live is far different even from the small city in which I now live. Reading these four books made it abundantly clear to me how few books there are in my classroom library or in our school library that are written from anything but a white middle class world view. After Tupac and D Foster is a bit too YA for my 4th grade classroom, but the other three are on my to-buy list.

POETRY MADNESS

April was a month of POETRY MADNESS in the Riverside Library.  We started out by looking at 64 poetry books from the library.  Rotating from one table to the next, students chose a poetry book they loved. The top 16 books made it to our Poetry Bracket.  

Then, each week, we looked at the challenges on the board--reading poems, sharing thoughts and voting on which book we liked best in each challenge. Each week, a few books moved to the next level of the bracket while others were knocked out.  Until we were down to just two books. The two books in our final challenge were LOOSE LEASHES by Ron Schmidt and Amy Schmidt and SCARUM FAIR.  LOOSE LEASHES came out the winner and the kids were thrilled. This has definitely become the new favorite poetry book in the library this year.

I definitely learned (again) that kids LOVE funny poems.  They like the others if we introduce them but left on their own, they are drawn to poems that are mostly fun.  I was amazed though by how many kids stuck by their less popular choices.  It as fun to see individual students find poetry books and poems that struck them for some reason--not understanding why everyone didn't see what they saw in the poem.

The process was a good one and the talk around poetry was different because of Poetry Madness. Every week, kids would come into the library, eager to see which books had won, which were left. There was informal talk about the books--they knew titles and poems.  

My favorite moment of the whole month of Poetry Madness happened on Friday when the last group of 2nd graders was examining the chart.  Many were cheering about Loose Leashes. Others were looking back at the books that didn't make it, talking about the ones they wished had gone farther in the bracket. One second grade boy said, "I don't know why, but I really wanted STEP GENTLY OUT to win." I said,"Oh, I loved that one too. Why did you like it?" He said, "I don't know. I guess when I read it, I felt peace."  Everyone nodded and agreed.  What an insightful comment. It was then that I realized that the small conversations around Poetry Madness had made a difference to lots of kids. 

In the midst of Poetry Madness, we also celebrated POEM IN YOUR POCKET DAY. Since we had spent so much time looking at 64 great poetry books, it was fun to see the variety of poems that kids chose to carry around that day.  It has been nice to see them talking about poems and poetry books so naturally and happily.

Books I Am Adding to My Classroom Library: Part 1 New (to me) Series Books

Last year was my second year in 3rd grade. It took me a while to figure out the kinds of books that would best support 3rd grade readers. It took me a while to learn what kinds of books hooked 3rd graders. It took me a while to catch up on series books that were a good match for third graders. By the end of last year, I felt that my classroom library was solid.  I had lots of great picture books, some lots of great nonfiction, good graphic novels and many series that could hook readers.  But I am always looking for new books.  Books for 3rd graders are not so long so kids tend to read through a book or two a week. And I believe in choice so I need to give kids a menu of options every day as reader.  So keeping the library updates is always important.

Here are some of the new series that I'll add to the classroom library this year. I'll get a few in the series to see how kids like them and then add to the basket if they are a hit.

Phoebe Green

Puppy Pirates

Phoebe and her Unicorn

Race the Wild

Dino-Mike

Wow! Surprising Facts About Animals (Wow! Books)

The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred

The Cazuela That the Farm Maiden Stirred
by Samantha R. Vamos
illustrated by Rafael López
Charlesbridge, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher







This book is The Happy Nappy Bookseller's pick for the Pura Belpré Award.*

I agree.

First of all, the illustrations are gorgeous. They pop with the happy bright colors you can see on the cover.

And the story is fun, fun, fun. It's a cumulative tale with a nod to "The House That Jack Built." In this case, though, arroz con leche is cooked. The story is told primarily in English, but the Spanish is included in a way that makes the reader pay attention and use context and story pattern clues. (There's a glossary in back if you really get stuck.)

The book starts, "This is the pot that the farm maiden stirred." On the next page, "This is the butter that went into the CAZUELA that the farm maiden stirred." So, you see, cazuela is pot.  On the next page, "This is the goat that churned the cream to make the MANTEQUILLA that went into the CAZUELA that the farm maiden stirred." So, mantequilla is butter, and you can see how the story accumulates not only ingredients and animals but Spanish words.

Maybe I won't have read the Newbery this year, but I'm pretty sure I've read the Pura Belpré!


Fuse #8 also liked this book a lot.
An interview with the author here.


*This award is named after Pura Belpré, the first Latina librarian at the New York Public Library. The Pura Belpré Award is presented annually to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth. It is co-sponsored by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), and REFORMA, the National Association to Promote Library and Information Services to Latinos and the Spanish-Speaking, an ALA affiliate.

Books I Could Read A Million Times: The Movie Version

If you haven't heard, DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS, the Scholastic DVD, came out last week.  I ordered a copy knowing it would be good to have for the library.  I don't order many DVDs these days but this seemed like a must-have.

I planned to show this to a few classes during Book Fair week since the library is pretty much taken over by book fair merchandise. I ended up showing it to almost every 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade class and I loved it EVERY SINGLE TIME!

This is a great DVD--as would be expected from Mo Willems.  The DVD includes an animated version of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, Knuffle Bunny, and Leonardo the Terrible Monster.  There are also some extra fun clips that I will get to later.  I don't ever remember liking a movie or animated version of a story as well as I liked the original book but Mo Willems brings great fun to this DVD.  The laughs and giggles from kids of all ages--kids who know and love the books-were contagious. Teachers would pop into the library to see what all of the great giggling was about.  The whole DVD is a real treat.

And I watched it many, many times this week and did not get sick of it at all--I looked forward to watching it even after I had already seen it 10 times.  (Thus, the reason it is being added to my Books I Could Read a Million Times list--the first item that is not a book!)

Here are some things I love:
-There are little added bonuses--surprises at the beginnings and ends of each story that add to what we already love about the characters.
-Mo Willems and his wife and daughter do the narration of Knuffle Bunny which makes it quite fun.
-Jon Scieszka plays the role of the bus driver and I couldn't think of a better person to do this--there is an added part to the book where we get to know the bus driver a bit better. Jon Scieszka is great at the part!
-There is a live retelling of the Pigeon book. Mo Willems reads it to a group of children in a library. It is quite fun.
-A favorite among some classes were the "You Yell" version of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.  Yes, the story is told and the group needs to yell the "no" each time the Pigeon asks to drive the bus. Kids had a ball with this.
-There is also a Spanish Version of the books on the DVD as well as discussion questions.

This DVD is packed and I was sad to see it end during each class. I don't think there was one set of kids who did not ask to see the stories again. I agreed--it is one of those DVDs that you can't watch enough.

I am going to make this one available for student check out. We don't have many DVDs that are available for our students but this one would be such fun for kids to be able to share with families. It was such a fun 1/2 hour that I can't not share the fun with our families. Our school is filled with Mo Willems fans that I might even need a few more copies..... An added bonus will be that Leonardo the Terrible Monster will be loved by more children now that they know the book better.

Really, if you are a teacher or librarian, if you need a baby gift or a gift for a Mo Willems fan you know, get this DVD. It is really the best animation of children's books that I've seen.  And I might just watch it a million times--I love it that much!

New Drawing Books by Chris Hart

Some of you may know Chris Hart from his drawing books for older kids and adults and his Manga work.

I have been wanting to add good drawing books to the library collection at our school and I've also wanted to keep some on hand in the library for kids who would like to give some things a try while they are in the library. I've had trouble finding books that are good for younger children. SO many are not beginner drawing books.  As a classroom teacher, I learned how powerful how-to types of books are and I am finding that cookbooks, craft books, and drawing books are checked out often.  So I was thrilled to find a series of 3 new drawing books by Chris Hart:  DRAW A CIRCLE, DRAW ANYTHING; DRAW A TRIANGLE, DRAW ANYTHING; and DRAW A SQUARE, DRAW ANYTHING.  I plan to create a basket of drawing books that can be used in the library and if kids seem to like them, we'll get several copies for checking out.

These books are wordless. Students use the visuals to learn to draw a variety of things. And they draw everything beginning with one simple shape.  A few words from the author at the beginning of each books let them know that if you can draw the shape, you can draw anything!  These books make drawing very inviting and doable for young children.  Flipping through them even make me think I might be able to draw some of the things.  And there are SOOO many things you can draw in each of the three books.  The final picture on each page is colored in so artists could get some ideas on how to color it when finished--looks like colored pencils which I'll add to the basket with these books. 

For classrooms, these would be great for indoor recess.  A few of these books with colored pencils would be a great indoor activity that kids would love.

I WANT MY HAT BACK, REVISITED

So, I know I already blogged about how much I LOVE LOVE LOVE I WANT MY HAT BACK by Jon Klassen.  But I had more to say about this book, so I thought I'd blog about it again:-) I forgot, in the last post, to add it to my BOOKS I COULD READ A MILLION TIMES list.  But it DEFINITELY goes there.  In four years, this one has been one of my all time favorite read alouds in the library. It is actually better every time I read it.

For those of you on Twitter, you know there has been a lot of great discussion around this book.  We have been talking nonstop for days about various ideas around this book. If you want to go back and see some of our conversations, you can search #hatback.  The Twitter conversation has reminded me how important social networking is to my reading life.  So many thoughts and ideas because of the smart people I talk to on Twitter. Here are some things I've learned because of this ongoing #hatback chat.

SPOILER ALERT--if you haven't read the book, this might change your reading a bit so you may want to read this after you read the book. (The book is quite the bargain on amazon right now, so if you don't have it on order at your local independent book seller, you can order it there.)

I Love  Books that Invites Similar Patterns in Response
It was funny reading it aloud to classes. A pattern I notice is that kids look at me like I am crazy when I tell them this is a funny book and then start reading--because it is not funny right away.  Then there is an abrupt change in attitude where everyone in group looks shocked, looks at others, and starts laughing, collectively.  It was pretty much a pattern in every class. One 3rd grade class asked me to reread it when they came back to the library this week. On the second read, kids started laughing on the first page. And they couldn't stop laughing. I found myself doing the same thing--the book seems to get more amusing every time I read it.  I think part of this is the anticipation of the ending. But part of it was also noticing things about the bear after you know the ending. Noticing how hysterical the lead-up really is.  Brilliant, I think.

Bill Prosser at Literate Lives reviewed the book as one of his recent posts and shares my exact reaction when reading the book. I find some of the best books to be like this--they elicit very similar responses in almost everyone who reads them (with the exception of a reader or two here or there:-)


Getting Books You Love into the Hands of Others
Colby Sharp and I share a book shopping habit.  In one tweet, Colby said, "I just got back from the library. Placed #hatback cover out #teambear." I always thought  I was the only one who did this.  Going into a bookstore or library and putting a book I love face out on the shelf so others can find it easily.  I love this and love the whole idea that when we love a book, we want to share it.  We want to share it with people we know but we also want everyone to find it.

Not loving a book that the rest of the world loves...
I know what this feels like when you just can't love a book that everyone else in the world loves.  You want to like it, you really do, but you can't.  You keep going back to it--trying to love it, but you can't. We all have books we don't get or don't agree with the world about. This is what happened this week on Twitter.  Jen (@mentortexts) just didn't see the humor. Her insights and empathy for the rabbit actually sparked some great discussion. And the conversation invited Jen to revisit the book and write about her love/hate relationship with this book.  I think this conversation has reminded me, that it is these differences as readers that help us all read more thoughtfully. What would  there be to talk about if we all had the same exact thoughts when we read a book?

I've had a similar issue with the wordless picture book FOX AND HEN TOGETHER. Everyone in the world, except for me, loves this book. It has received starred reviews from many reviewers. There are sequels and fans everywhere. But the book disturbs me. I can't get over the idea that Hen is kidnapped by a "bad guy" and then somehow stays there to live happily ever after.  For any 80s General Hospital fans out there, you may remember a similar storyline when Luke and Laura fell in love.  I just can't get past that connection no matter how many times I've revisited the book. I get sad every time. But, others' insights have helped me understand a bit of what I missed on my own.  Again, the importance of that community of readers.

Sometimes a book is meant to be just plain fun.
Kids at school have been talking about I WANT MY HAT BACK and I've shared some of my conversations around the book with a few classes. When I mentioned that some people really felt sorry for the rabbit, the looks on their faces were of pure sadness for that reader. They looked at me with eyes that said, "It was just a funny book, Mrs. Sibberson."  I don't think this is one of those books that will change the way they live their lives. I think they get that this book is just silly and they love that.  I've already heard adults saying things like, "Oh,  I can use this book in my inferring unit." Sometimes as a teacher, we forget that some books are just really about joy and fun. This book was a big reminder to me about that.

Rethinking Book Crafts....
I don't like crafts around books. I am all about deep reading and thoughtful response. But who would not want to make a red pointy hat with rabbit (or bear) ears sticking out?  Wearing one would be such a fun reminder of the book. A literary joke all day long.

In terms of other crafts, I agree wholeheartedly with Lucy Calkins when she says she has never finished a book and had the desire to go make a diorama when she was finished. I have used her words over and over. But really, if someone asked me to make a diorama or a board game to go along with I WANT MY HAT BACK, I am thinking it would be fun. I already have ideas.

And, I never got past page 60 in the Twilight series. So I never understood the shirts.  TEAM EDWARD/TEAM JACOB. Seeing them in stores and on teens never made much sense to me. I didn't get it. But I am thinking I would LOVE to wear a TEAM BEAR shirt.  Lots of others would too. Until then, I am happy to have a #teambear twibbon on my Twitter photo. If you have not already done so, you may want to hop over to Twibbon and support #teambear. (Thanks, Teresa! @trkravtin)  Really, there is only one person I know of who is on the fence about #teambear.

I still don't think we should ever assign crazy book extensions and I don't really think they help students understand books much better. But I do think there is something about literary jokes that we don't embrace enough in schools.  School is a great place for literary humor that kids can be part of.

How Our Thinking About a Book Changes When We Share it with Kids
Some books just beg to be read aloud and some books cannot be fully appreciated until they are shared with young children. I remember when DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS won the Caldecott Honor, some people didn't see the brilliance. I remember asking, "Have you read it to young children?"  Mo Willems understands young children so well that every one of his books is fun to read aloud. Although I love them as much as the kids, Willems books beg to be shared with kids. I have had this experience over and over--a book I read on my own is merely OK, but it moves up to my favorites list once I share it with kids. Authors of kids books know young children well. And sometimes it takes sharing some of these books with children to see the brilliance.

So, it's been a fun week or two thinking about I WANT MY HAT BACK with Twitter friends. I imagine the fun will continue for a while.  It is definitely one of my favorite picture books of the year for so many reasons.

Classroom Library-Some Photos and My Thinking Behind Them

Lots of my time this summer has been in the classroom thinking through my classroom library. It is not how I want it and I think I will be reorganizing through the first few weeks of school. But here is where I am right now. I am still working on the picture book section but that might come along with the kids once we start the year.  I'm not thrilled with where they are and how they fit on the shelves so I'm not sure how they'll work yet.  But the other sections seem to be coming along slowly. I always forget what a big job this is!

I had to do a lot of weeding moving from 4th grade to 3rd grade. Many of my books were just too complex to take up space and I needed to make room for more transitional books. I think I still have more to weed but will wait til I spend a few weeks getting to know the kids.

I have a large built in shelf that I am using for fiction--mostly series, favorite authors and chapter books.  There is a good variety and this is the largest part of the classroom library and the first thing you see when you walk in.  (5 of these across). This age is critical when it comes to finding authors, characters and series you love so this space is dedicated to that.

I've created baskets of authors who have both picture books and chapter books.  I am hoping students will find authors they love from primary grades. I also want to let them know that level doesn't matter --when you love an author, you love their work, regardless of level.  Doreen Cronin is funny whether they are picture books or chapter books. An important message at this age,  I think.

The Nonfiction section of the library is near our meeting area. It takes up a corner of the room. The books are organized into baskets by topic, series and author. There are also some random baskets/sections and a whole area of picture book biographies.

I've been working this year to find more nonfiction authors that I love and that my third graders will love. I am trying to create author baskets so that we come to know and love nonfiction authors in the same way we love fiction authors. There are so many great nonfiction authors I don't know well--so glad to be discovering them!

I've also spent time thinking about nonfiction series books that might be good for 3rd grade.  I know how important fiction series are for transitional readers. I am thinking the same is true for nonfiction when it comes to understanding text structures, organization. I have discovered so many great nonfiction series and am trying to make them visible to kids in the classroom.

Newbery Talk in the Library

We are lucky to have a great public library system and wonderful children's librarians at our Dublin Branch!  They have so much to offer our students and the kids love to see them when they visit the public library.  This week, Miss Tamara from the Dublin Library is coming in to talk to students about possible Newbery titles.  Today was the first day and I love to hear her thoughts and to listen in on the conversations .  She shared possible winners and some new books that probably wouldn't win but were fun anyway!  Students are most excited about learning about new books to read.  I did learn about a few books I didn't know about.  One I've added to my TBR stack are TRAPPED by Marc Aronson.

Our 5th Grade Newbery Club has also been busy reading books from our 2011 titles.  We've really just done free reading of lots of new books and especially of some that are getting some Newbery buzz. This group has been meeting since last January (they started as 4th graders and continued on this fall.)  This week I asked members to vote so that we could create a short list that kids could focus on over the next month or so.  Here is our Riverside Newbery Short List. I think they did a fine job--some great titles here!

INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai

BIGGER THAN A BREADBOX by Laurel Snyder

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE by Jessica Day George

THE ROMEO AND JULIET CODE by Phoebe Stone

HIDDEN by Helen Frost

SMALL AS AN ELEPHANT by Jennifer Jacobson

THE UNWANTEDS by Lisa McMann

A DOG'S WAY HOME by Bobbie Pyron

Thank Goodness For the Public Library!

Starting next week, each of my 25 students will become a member of a literature circle group, or mini book club, that meets once a week. The groupings are based on my understanding of each child as a reader and as a social being in this class. Each group met last week to chat about what they've been reading independently and what they might like to read with their group. They gave me their ideas and I spent hours last weekend on the Columbus Metropolitan Library website and at the Northwest Branch gathering books.

A group of three boys wants to read graphic novels. I picked Akiko by Mark Crilley (graphic novel version) for them. I think they can read a book a week and there are five books, so that gives me some time to find what will come next. I'm thinking Hikaru No Go by Yumi Hotta, but CML doesn't own it, and I haven't read it all the way through. I may have to buy three copies and the game Go.

A mixed gender group of four included both graphic novels and pets on their wish list. I am ordering multiple copies of Travels of Thelonious by Susan Schade from the library, and I will join this group in reading this book for the first time. It is a graphic novel hybrid (part graphic novel, part novel novel) and it has animals for characters. Thelonious is a chipmunk (apologies, Thelonious for originally saying you were a mouse). I wonder if we will make connections to Despereaux as we read?

A big group of six asked to read mysteries. A-Z Mysteries are perfect for them, but I'm not sure who's read which titles. I was glad to find that Ron Roy is continuing past the 26 books in the series with A-Z Mysteries Detective Camp. Northwest Branch had six copies of this title! Perfect!

A group of four capable readers wanted to read Mary Pope Osborne books, but not necessarily her Magic Tree House books. I have copies of Revolutionary War on Wednesday and the accompanying nonfiction research guide, and copies of Osborne's Tall Tales from which they can choose.

The last group is the literature circle that's been meeting weekly all through 4th grade and continuing this year in 5th grade. At the beginning of the year, I had them go back to my shelves of multiple copy sets of novels and pick the ONE they wanted to be sure the group read in 5th grade. We laid them out, counted them up, and found that we have a book a month for the rest of the year! This is exactly the process my adult book club uses to set our yearly reading agenda. Here's what they chose: Time Cat by Lloyd Alexander, The Last Treasure by Janet Anderson, Wringer by Jerry Spinelli (that's what we're reading now), Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan, The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett, Love, Ruby Lavender by Deborah Wiles, and The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg. (That last one is my pick. A farewell present to some extraordinary 5th graders who will hopefully continue to be extraordinary no matter what middle school brings in the way of pressures to be ordinary.)

Again, I say, "Thank goodness for the public library!" I couldn't have provided all of these resources without the ability to BORROW most of them!

Books About Books and Reading

A while back, I mentioned my collection of books about books and reading. I think it's really important to talk to kids about their identities as readers--experiences, tastes, behaviors, etc. I find that books are often a great jumpstart for kids--a way to help them begin to think about themselves as readers. So, over the years, I've collected mostly picture books to help me start these conversations in the classroom. I've also found poetry, excerpts from other books, etc. I also have some novels that are about literacy but I find that short text works best to start lots of great conversations. Below is a list of my current favorites. If you have any to add, let us know in the comments and we'll try to compile the list. We could try for "100 GREAT CHILDREN'S BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS AND READING"! (I also have books that start conversations with kids about writing, but I don't have that list as organized! I'll try to share that sometime soon too!) 

One of my favorites to use with kids is excerpts from Anna Quindlen's book HOW READING CHANGED MY LIFE. So many great experiences around books and reading! Here are others: Picture Books SOUPER CHICKEN by Mary Jane and Herm Auch WOLF by Becky Bloom BOOK by George Ella Lyon TOMAS AND THE LIBRARY LADY by Pat Mora THE GIRL WHO HATED BOOKS by Manjusha Pawagi AUNT CHIP AND THE GREAT TRIPLE CREEK DAM AFFAIR by Patricia Polacco THANK YOU, MR. FALKER by Patricia Polacco READING GROWS by Ellen Senisi LIBRARY LIL by Suzanne Williams THE LIBRARY by Sarah Stewart THE DAY EDDIE MET THE AUTHOR by Louise Borden THE LIBRARIAN OF BASRA by Jeanette Winter THE OLD WOMAN WHO LOVED TO READ by John Winch JAKE'S 100TH DAY OF SCHOOL by Lester Laminack Poetry GOOD BOOKS, GOOD TIMES by Lee Bennett Hopkins THE BOOKWORM'S FEAST by J. Patrick Lewis PLEASE BURY ME IN THE LIBRARY by J. Patrick Lewis Books From Which I Use Excerpts HOW READING CHANGED MY LIFE by Anna Quindlen LIFE IS SO GOOD by George Dawson LOOKING BACK: A BOOK OF MEMORIES by Lois Lowry AMELIA HITS THE ROAD by Marissa Moss QUOTATIONS FOR KIDS by J.A. Senns * * * * * * Here's a link too good to keep in the comments: A Notes from the Windowsill annotated bibliography of book-books by Wendy E. Betts. THANKS!

Discovering the Possibilities of Stopmotion in Grades 2-5

I introduced Stopmotion Animation to several classes in grades 2-5 this week during library time. One of my goals this year is to give kids lots of possibilities for creation. I want them to see how things are created and invite them into the creation process. With lots of new tools, our students will have lots of new ways to communicate their learning. As part of a district grant that we received last year, we were able to put FRAMES on our entire laptop lab in the library. Since kids have had so much success on PIXIE, we thought FRAMES was a great way to expand their work to animation. I think that if our students can see how different forms of media are created, they will become much more critical users of information, which is so important.

FRAMES has turned out to be a great tool for introducing animation to kids. It is easy to use and kids can see the process for creating animation and then they begin to watch animation a bit differently. Because the program FRAMES has a camera feature, and I am working with our art teacher to create a claymation project with 4th graders, I figured it was a good time to introduce the tool to lots of kids.

I have done a lot of reading on Kevin's blog and have been inspired over the year by the things his kids do with animation. He has so many great ways to work with kids in creating stopmotion. I've followed his reflections carefully and need to revisit them.

I started the lessons this week by showing kids several examples of stopmotion. I've been collecting interesting "mentor" pieces to show kids at various stages of the process and picked a few to show them the variety of things stopmotion could do. Some of the clips I shared included:

You Tube Frog and Toad Claymation

Mary Lee's "Setting Up My Desk Area"

Lego Build It Together

A Sample from the Parkway Film Festival

The Making of Frog and Toad Explained (via Kevin's blog post)

I showed a few examples with Post-It notes and I showed my daughter's stopmotion so they could get a sense of how many photos something like this takes. (Hers took 18 photos for this 3 second movie.)

This time around, sharing these were to let kids know many of the things that can be done with this. We will most likely revisit some of these later to look more closely at craft, message, etc. Today was just an invitation in.

Kids jumped in realizing how the things they've seen recently were made with this technique. Many kids mentioned a scene in iCarly in which Spencer creates a stopmotion movie.

Following the samples, I showed them, in just a few minutes, the basics of how to create stop motion with photographs in FRAMES. That meant teaching them to use the camera, demonstrating me taking several pictures of myself with slight changes and then playing the results. The total length of the lesson was about 10 minutes which included examples of Stopmotion as well as the intro to FRAMES.

My best teaching has always happened when I throw a few basic ideas out to kids and let them play. I can then use student work and discoveries in future lessons. I find that if I am too focused on product at first, kids produce things that look like mine. In order to let them explore and find new ways to use the new tools I've been introducing, I want to give them lots of play time with little direction so they are free to figure things out and open up possibilities for everyone. Just as I expected, this 10 minute minilesson really gave kids a way into this type of creation. Kids jumped right in and had a ball. And, they came up with things I would never have thought of. It was fun to watch different classes and different ages approach the same introduction. I learned so much watching different kids' spin on the software.

Kids came up with such great ideas and kids began to build on each other's thinking. The younger kids immediately began to do what they do best--tell stories using props such as puppets, magnetic sets, etc. Some students used legos to try to capture the sequence of building. Others used board games to try to capture the moves on a strategy game. Others found some of the dramatic play toys that we have in the library and began retelling old favorites using stopmotion. Others used books, objects sitting around the room, a train set in the building toy area of the library, their own faces, and more. They were able to see so many possibilities in the 20 minutes they had to play. Many left with plans for their next visit and many asked to come in and add to their creations during lunch. My hope is that these eventually become possibilities for them to share their learning. When they need to share or present information, this gives them a new way to synthesize their learning. A new way to share their thinking with others.

So often, as teachers with new technology, I think we are hesitant about introducing something that is new to us. We feel the need to learn it well first. But I think that might be holding lots of us back from getting our students' hands on these new tools. I learned the very basics of FRAMES--just enough to invite them to give it a try--in about 10 minutes. Then as kids played and I watched, I learned so many more about the tool as they discovered them. I think it was a richer experience than it would have been had I known the entire program well because the kids were in charge. Except for the few things I knew, they had to problem solve to figure out the others. I also think that because I didn't have much experience with it, kids were able to go off and try a variety of things rather than only the 1-2 things I shared. They knew it was open tinkering time and I think that is critical.

Even as I write this, I am amazed at how much kids did in just 20 minutes. I can't wait to see where they go next and what they do when I introduce ideas such as storyboarding, clay animation, etc. It will be interesting to hear their conversations about the things they notice outside of school--times when photos are manipulated, etc I didn't realize how much they would learn from this one tool.

Kevin Hodgson will be doing a session for teachers on digital storybooks at our Dublin Literacy Conference later this month. He is also doing a parent/child session on stopmotion that is getting huge response. Looking forward to learning more from him and the other speakers then.

4 Professional Books on Nonfiction/Inquiry

It is funny how fast my pile of to-read professional books is getting lately. I am just finishing TEACHING THE NEW WRITING and will review it soon. I have also just added BLOGS, WIKIS, PODCASTS, AND OTHER POWERFUL TOOLS FOR CLASSROOMS by Will Richardson to my shopping cart. I am on a huge learning curve when it comes to technology and what that means for our elementary classrooms. So I have added a huge new topic to my professional reading life. But I do have a few books that I have ordered and spent some time with that I want to read over the next several weeks. These are the books that I am hoping will help grow my own thinking. I find that much of my professional reading comes from online sources lately. I get lost finding articles and blog posts so I haven't committed the the professional "book" reading that I've done in the past. Thank goodness it is summer so I can catch up on a few. These are the 4 on top of my stack right now. I am looking for ways to create a great library environment next year-one that invites inquiry, collaboration, and student ownership of learning. So my focus for the next few weeks is connected to that specific goal.

I am also excited to read COMPREHENSION AND COLLABORATION: INQUIRY CIRCLES IN ACTION by Stephanie Harvey and Harvey Daniels. I am excited to see how the thinking of these two experts have come together when thinking about small-group projects around inquiry. I worry that we have gotten so far away from students' own questions in school. I love that this book is for all levels. Early in the book, the authors say, "This book is for everyone who teaches because the big ideas and processes of education, the really big ones, truly do apply to all learners. From Pre-K to college, we are in the business of teaching thinking. And that's something we are never done with: we don't start children off thinking in the primary grades and then assume we're finished. Nor do we hold off on thinking until middle school, give them a couple good years of instruction, and then shut down, figuring they're now ready for anything." We teach thinking all year, every year: we teach students how to listen, view, read, gather, and engage with information; we make sure students acquire cognitive strategies, weigh ideas, develop judgement, and build knowledge; and just as important, we help them to remember, care choose, and take action." Can't wait to read more!

Another book that is connected a bit to the one above is SCIENCE AS THINKING: THE CONSTANTS AND VARIABLES OF INQUIRY THINKING by Wendy Ward Offer. I was excited to receive this book when I did a workshop with the PEBC in Colorado last week. I learn from every single piece that any of the teachers associated with them write. The work is amazing and has influenced so much of what I do with kids. In the library position, I am thinking hard about kids taking charge of their own learning and creating a place in the library where this is possible. From what I can tell after a pretty lengthy preview, the author uses a workshop model for her science teaching. The blurb on the back hooked me immediately. It says, "Inquiry is how we learn about the world. Every day we ask questions, gather evidence, make observations, and draw conclusions. SCIENCE AS THINKING shows how powerful instruction can connect the natural curiosity students bring to class to the science curriculum. No matter what my content, I have always learned a great deal from science teachers--inquiry is their content and I am excited to learn more from this book.

Finally, I would like to spend more time with NONFICTION MENTOR TEXTS by Lynne Dorfman and Rose Cappelli. I loved the authors' first book, MENTOR TEXTS and was even more excited about this one--focusing on nonfiction. So much of our students' world is filled with information. Nonfiction is such a key to the ways they gather and communicate information. This book focuses on the writing of good nonfiction with the use of good mentor texts. I am thinking that this will help me in several ways. The tie in to 21st Century Skills is key. If we want our kids to be able to synthesize and communicate information, having great models for this type of communication is key. This book is packed--with not only lessons and booklists, but also so much to think about when it comes to communicating information. I can't wait to dig in.

I love the new Lucy Calkins Series "WORKSHOP HELP DESK". I love the size and focus of these little books. I picked up the first four and am amazed at how much they have packed into each one. The one that I am most anxious to read is "A QUICK GUIDE TO BOOSTING ENGLISH ACQUISITION IN CHOICE TIME" by Alison Porcelli and Cheryl Tyler. I have always believed in Choice Time and have seen how much students learn when given time to explore, inquire and discover. I love the idea of this book--the fact that it focus on this time as a way to boost English acquisition. Like I said, I love the focus of these books. A way to look deeply at a very small topic. The photos throughout the book were the first things to draw me to this book. The play factor is huge and I am hoping to build more time for this into the library next year.

Still Learning to Read: Setting Up the Digital Classroom Library

This is one of a series of blog posts that continue the conversation around Still Learning to Read--teaching reading to students in grades 3-6.  This series will run on the blog on Tuesdays starting in August 2016.

School starts in a little over a week. My classroom set up is coming along (of course there is always something to do when it comes to setting up a room!)  This weekend, I worked on revising and updating the digital classroom library that will start our school year.  For kids to make intentional decisions, they must have choice.  I used to introduce a few sites for reading at a time and built over the first few months of school but last year I created a page on our Weebly with all of the sites kids could read. This year I revised it a bit by adding new sites and getting rid of those that were outdated or no longer active.

The Reading page of our Classroom Weebly is here.  I've found that Weebly is an easy website for young children to navigate because of the design and the visuals.  I am certain it will grow and change as the year goes on and I have no idea which of these sites kids will be most interested in this year (every class is different). But this is where we'll begin so kids know that digital reading is an option during Reading Workshop. They'll also have access to these sites at home by accessing our website. 

These are the sites that my 3rd graders can access from our website:

A few years ago, our class created a Symbaloo of Authors We Love.  We created this one day when we were playing with Symabaloo and it's become a great resource.  This Symbaloo links to many authors that kids love. It DEFINITELY needs updated and it seems like a good project for us once the year is started.  

Kidsreads is one of the best sites I know for kids to learn about books, authors, and series.  The website is packed with book reviews, announcements for new books and author interviews and it is perfect for middle grade readers.

Wonderopolis is a favorite source for shared reading and independent reading.  If you don't know this site, you should spend lots of time exploring!  There is a new wonder posted each day along with an article sharing the answer and more.   The site is searchable so kids can find past wonders that match their current interests. 

LivBits is a new addition to the Weebly this year.  Olivia has videos, Instagram post and more sharing her thinking about books, authors and reading. These are great videos by a reader close to my students' ages.  Love this site!

SI Kids, the Sports Illustrated site for kids has a variety of great reading material for kids.  The site is full of articles, videos, interviews and more and is easy for kids to navigate.

DOGONews is a kids's news sites. Articles are accessible to kids and most are about topics they are most interested in.  There site also includes book reviews "for kids, by kids".

Pebble Go is a membership site that is one of the best nonfiction sites I've seen for primary readers. There are several categories of nonfiction and kids learn to navigate for information in an authentic way.

Toon Book Reader shares early graphic novels with kids. We have many of the hard copies of the books in our classrooms.  Readers can choose to read on his/her own or to have the books read aloud. There are options to change the language from English to Spanish, French, Russian and Chinese also.

Friends with Fins is one of our favorite video sites for informational videos.   I know that learning from videos is important to digital reading so sites like this are critical for my students.  Watching videos to learn (as opposed to for entertainment) is new to many of them. The focus of this is on Ocean Conservation and the videos are the perfect length for middle grade readers.

I could spend all day on ZooBorns. The site focuses on baby animals in zoos around the world.  Each day there is an update about some baby animal somewhere in the world. So it is fun site to check in with on a daily basis. Or, readers can search by animal or zoo which adds to what is possible.  The photos on this site are fabulous!

Big Universe is another site that our school subscribes to for nonfiction reading. Students have an account and can read ebooks on a variety of topics.  They can log their reading, add books to their to-be-read shelf and more.

NewsELA is a site filled with news articles, text sets on current issues and more. There is so much to explore here! 

Animals for Smart People is another site of informational videos by author, Jess Keating.  These are a perfect length and the visuals she includes are supportive to understanding the topic.

Smithsonian TT Junior has daily news, photos audio and video. This has a good variety of interesting information for readers.

We discovered Emily Arrow last year and created a Padlet of her videos. This became one of our most popular sites as Emily Arrow is the best and the way she interprets books through song is fabulous!

I feel like this part of my "classroom library" set-up is as important as the bookshelves in my room. Knowing sites that are accessible to my middle grade readers and expanding what they "count" as reading is an important early-in-the-year message. I feel like we'll be off to a good start.

Are there any other sites you include in your digital classroom library?

(You can follow the conversation using the hashtag #SLTRead or you can join us for a book chat on Facebook starting September 1 by joining our group here.)

Our new edition of Still Learning to Read will be released on August 15 but you can preview the entire book online at Stenhouse!

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