Poetry Friday -- The Roundup is Here!

Flickr Creative Commons Photo

boiling water

tea leaves understand

relax

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017

Welcome to the Poetry Friday Roundup! Have a cup of tea and relax. Leave the madness of the world behind for a few minutes while you peruse the offerings in the roundup. My poem today is a pre December-Haiku-a-Day #haikuforhealing from this past week.

A note about next week's roundup. Lisa at Steps and Staircases will be hosting the roundup. Her blogging platform is Tumblr. She shares this information: 

"Hello poetry friends! The topic/prompt I want to suggest for the December 8 Poetry Friday Roundup is either/and: Respond to "When Life Gives You Lemons..." or write a poem using an object/making a drawing, as Amy Krouse Rosenthal did with a lemon drop. (picture below) If your poem can be expressed visually through a picture or drawing -- like Amy Krouse Rosenthal's "When Life Gives You Lemon Drops"-- I would love to post everyone's visuals. No matter what/how you choose to express yourself, I wanted to share Amy's Lemon Drop poem and her Instagram Project 1,2,3. This is only a suggestion. I look forward to reading all of your submissions!"

When participants go to Lisa's Tumblr space, they should click the "SUBMIT" button at the top of the page to leave their link or their visual. Thanks for being flexible with a different kind of roundup next week.

Also, watch for the Call for Roundup Hosts post, which goes live tomorrow, 12/2. It's time to gather hosts for January - July 2018!

Amy Krouse Rosenthal: A Beauty Salon

Amy Krouse Rosenthal was the one with the yellow umbrella on that night back in August of 2008 (8/8/08 at 8:08 PM) when she beckoned the lovely and made a cool 18th thing with the folks who showed up. She didn't just make that 18th thing. She made her way into our hearts.





It seemed more than a coincidence when hubby and I were in Chicago recently, that a yellow umbrella shone out when I took one of my many requisite shots of "The Bean."

And when I learned from Lisa (Steps and Staircases) about an exhibit at the Carrie Secrist Gallery in Chicago (through August 12), Amy Krouse Rosenthal: A Beauty Salon, I knew we would have to go.

It was amazing. Inspiring. Heart-wrenching. And lovely beyond words.

Thank you, AKR, for all the good you did and all the beauty you brought to the world. You left far too early. We'll do our best to continue to beckon the lovely and make amazing things with/in/of our lives.

Thank You, Amy Krouse Rosenthal

http://www.whoisamy.com

As many of you, we were heartbroken when we read Amy Krouse Rosenthal's piece in the New York Times last week, You May Want to Marry My Husband. Chronicle books had a short tribute on their site this week. And others, like Malcolm Mitchell, have shared the ways she impacted their lives.  We are joining the world in sending love and prayers to Amy and her family.

Amy has given us all so much over the years. She has given so much to children, teachers and the world.  When I reflected on Amy's impact on our worlds, I searched her name on our blog. She has been the focus of 26 blog posts over the years.  We love her work and celebrate it here often. Her visit to our school in 2011 is one none of us will ever forget.  As preparation for that visit, her work inspired our 4th graders to do something to make a difference in the world.  We were lucky to have her at our Dublin Literacy conference that same year. 

I keep looking back at the list of children's books that Amy has written over the years. She brought love and joy and kindness to all of her work  Each book amazing in its own way.  Each one teaching readers important life lessons in a playful way.  In Duck! Rabbit! she taught us how to see things from different perspectives, In The OK Book, she reminded us that you don't have to be the best at everything you do, and in The Wonder Book she celebrated the magic of wondering.  The list goes on and on.

And, if you have not read her adult book, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, it is a must-read.  This books says so much and the creative way in which she puts it all together is brilliant.

For me personally, Amy's Beckoning of Lovely Project (inspired by the video 17 Things I Made) is what I think of every time I think of Amy.  For me, this project is the anchor that ties all of Amy's work together and the message is the reason we all love her so much. It is a project I go back to a few times a year when I need to remember what it is that is important in this life.  In all of her work Amy teaches us all to celebrate life and all that is part of life--all that is good in this world. This project was all about that.

We are heartbroken by the news of Amy's illness and cannot imagine a world without Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  We are grateful for all the ways that Amy has impacted our lives and the ways we have been changed  because of her work over the years.  We are better people because of Amy.

Amy's website says, "Amy Krouse Rosenthal is a person who likes to make things."  We think that making the world a better place is what she does best.  Thank you, Amy.

The "Pair Share" Tub in My Classroom Library

I started building the "Pair Share" tub one year when I had a group of students who were crazy about partner reading. I wanted to give this social approach to reading a little more depth, a little more meat.

Rather than letting pairs always read one book together, I found pairs of books that went together in obvious or subtle ways. Then, when students wanted to partner read, they also had books that were partners! They could read each of the two books together and talk about them as they went, or they could sit side by side, each reading a different book, and compare their thinking after reading. They could also create an (optional) small project to share their reading and thinking with the class. Because the "Pair Share" books are picture books, this partner reading is a short term break from a reader's typical 5th grade reading goals, but also serves to honor a Wide Reading goal in a fun way.

When I received a review copy of Fab Four Friends, I knew I had the perfect book to pair it with for the "Pair Share" tub!

Fab Four Friends
by Susanna Reich
illustrated by Adam Gustavson
Henry Holt and Company, 2015

Starting with John Lennon, Susanna Reich gives the reader a glimpse into each of the Beatles' (amazingly similar) Liverpool, England childhoods, right up to the point when they create or join the band. The book ends in 1963, with the "Fab Four" close friends on a still rising path to stardom. Today's youngsters (and anyone of an age and geographic background to have grown up on Johnny Cash and John Denver instead of John Lennon *points finger at self*) might have the impression that the Beatles' success happened suddenly, even magically. This book clearly shows that the Beatles' success was actually a lucky convergence of the the childhood dreams and hard work of four working-class city kids from not-so-ideal home lives.

The book includes a helpful glossary (I didn't know what Scousers were, nor what a skiffle band was), and sources for the direct quotations in the book. (Yay! A children's biography without fake dialogue!) There are also book and web sources for further exploration. And if you want a more thorough, Fab Four Fan review of the book plus author interview, click over to Jama's Alphabet Soup.

John's Secret Dreams
by Doreen Rappaport
illustrated by Bryan Collier
Hyperion Books for Children, 2004

I'll pair Fab Four Friends with John's Secret Dreams. This book takes a totally different approach, both in the writing and the illustrations. The focus is entirely on John Lennon, so the reader gets to see both his and the Beatles' entire lifespans. The illustrations are dreamy, impressionistic, and accompanied by snippets of song lyrics -- a definite change of style for Bryan Collier, but perfect for the topic. I was worried that today's students wouldn't have enough background knowledge of the Beatles or their music to understand how the lyrics work with the text and the illustration, but I should never second guess -- the details in the illustrations pull a reader in and slow them down to think, and the change of font and size for the text and the lyrics clearly sets them apart. Every page is an opportunity to make connections (and to wish for a soundtrack).

It's even interesting to compare the backmatter of the two books. Rappaport includes a Selected Discography, paying homage to how important the music and lyrics are to the book. And with a publication date of 2004, it's historically interesting that she does not list specific websites, simply cautioning the reader to be careful about sites that aren't official Lennon, Beatles or history of rock and roll websites, "...for information and and lyrics may be inaccurate."



Here are the other pairs in the "Pair Share" tub (because I know enquiring minds will want to know!):

Dreaming Up: A Celebration of Building by Christy Hale
The Story of Buildings by Patrick Dillon

The Great American Dust Bowl by Don Brown
The Dust Bowl Through the Lens by Martin W. Sandler

Sacred Places by Philemon Sturges
If You Lived Here: Houses of the World by Giles Laroche

Love, Mouserella by David Ezra Stein
Postcards From Camp by Simms Taback

The Lion and the Mice by Rebecca Emberley
Mouse and Lion retold by Rand Berkert

Cecily G. and the 9 Monkeys by H.A. Rey
The Journey That Saved Curious George by Louise Borden

A Call for a New Alphabet by Jef Czekaj
Al Pha's Bet by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Maybe a Bear Ate It by Robie H. Harris
The Woods by Paul Hoppe

The 13 Nights of Halloween by Guy Vasilovich
Little Goblins Ten by Pamela Jane

The Tiger Who Would Be King by James Thurber (illustrated by Joohee Yoon)
Louis I: King of the Sheep by Olivier Tallec

Picture Books 10-for-10: Fairness

Thank you to Cathy (@cathymere) at Reflect and Refine and Mandy (@mandyrobek) at Enjoy and Embrace Learning for inventing and now hosting the FIFTH annual Picture Book 10 for 10 event. It's always fun to see what books everyone chooses and how much we all spend!!

I've shared my beginning of the year favorite read-alouds for community building with so many teachers that it's time to find a new group of books to use! Thank you #pb10for10 for helping me find 10 titles that will get my students and me thinking about issues of fairness. I'm excited to have a mixture of contemporary fiction, historical fiction, folktales, music, and nonfiction. I'll supplement these books with poetry on the same theme.

I found this image without attribution on another blog. This will be our first "text" to "read" and discuss as we think about fairness and justice.

It's Not Fair!

 by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

This book will continue our discussions about fairness and equality.

Big Red Lollipop

by Rukhsana Khan

illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Sometimes we don't want to share, or take more responsibility 

because we are older.

But it's important to remember that what comes around, goes around.

Each Kindness (Jane Addams Award Book (Awards))
 by Jacqueline Woodson
illustrated by E.B. Lewis

This book will help us to connect fairness and empathy.
Hopefully we will never miss the chance to be kind
to someone in our world.

The Little Hummingbird
 by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

Is it fair that the hummingbird is doing all the work?

Tops & Bottoms (Caldecott Honor Book)
 by Janet Stevens

Is it okay to make a situation more fair by using trickery? 

The Red Hen
 by Rebecca Emberley
illustrated by Ed Emberley

If you've done all the work, is it fair to keep all the rewards for yourself?

Freedom Summer: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Freedom Summer
 by Deborah Wiles

illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue

With this book, we'll begin to connect fairness and Civil Rights. I'm hoping to read aloud the Kindle edition of Wiles' Revolution (The Sixties Trilogy)

Through My Eyes
 by Ruby Bridges

Is it fair for children of all race, color, ethnicity and religion to go to American public schools?

Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation
 by Duncan Tonatiuh

I'm a new fan of Duncan Tonatiuh after hearing him speak at the CLA Monday Workshop last year.
This book will broaden students' understanding of desegregation
to include the struggles of Hispanic families.

We Shall Overcome: The Story of a Song
 by Debbie Levy
illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton

The story of this classic Civil Rights song will give us the "So What Now?" in this picture book unit. What will we do to work towards more fairness in our classroom, our building, our community, and our world?

Celebrate! CLA's 2014 Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts!

Celebrate this week with others by visiting Ruth Ayres Writes.

This week, we are celebrating another great list of Notables from the Children's Literature Assembly of NCTE. Great work, Committee! Great books, Authors!

 2014 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts 

www.childrensliteratureassembly.org 

Ah Ha!, by Jeff Mack, published by Chronicle Books. 

Counting by 7s, by Holly Goldberg Sloan, published by Dial. 

Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, by Chris Grabenstein, published by Random House. 

Etched in Clay: The Life of Dave, Enslaved Potter and Poet, by Andrea Cheng, published by Lee & Low Books. 

Exclamation Mark, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld, published by Scholastic Press. 

Forest Has a Song, by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, illustrated by Robbin Gourley, published by Clarion Books. 

Gaby, Lost and Found, by Angela Cervantes, published by Scholastic Press. 

Hold Fast, by Blue Balliett, published by Scholastic Press. 

Journey, by Aaron Becker, published by Candlewick Press. 

Knock Knock: My Dad’s Dream for Me, by Daniel Beaty, illustrated by Bryan Collier, published by Little, Brown and Company. 

Light in the Darkness: A Story About How Slaves Learned in Secret, by Lesa Cline-Ransom, illustrated by James E. Ransome, published by Disney/Jump at the Sun Books. 

Little Red Writing, by Joan Holub, illustrated by Melissa Sweet, published by Chronicle Books. 

Look Up! Bird Watching in Your Own Backyard, by Annette LeBlanc Cate, published by Candlewick Press. 

Martin and Mahalia: His Words Her Song, by Andrea Davis Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney, published by Little, Brown and Company. 

Navigating Early, by Clare Vanderpool, published by Delacorte Press. 

Nelly May has Her Say, by Cynthia DeFelice, illustrated by Henry Cole, published by Margaret Ferguson Books/Farrar Straus Giroux. 

Prisoner 88, by Leah Pileggi, published by Charlesbridge. 

Sure Signs of Crazy, by Karen Harrington, published by Little, Brown and Company. 

The Beatles Were Fab (and They Were Funny), by Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer, illustrated by Stacy Innerst, published by Harcourt Children’s Books. 

The Candy Smash, by Jacqueline Davies, published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children. 

The Day the Crayons Quit, by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, published by Philomel Books. 

The Language Inside, by Holly Thompson, published by Delacorte. 

The Lightning Dreamer: Cuba’s Greatest Abolitionist, by Margarita Engle, published by Harcourt. 

The Long, Long Journey: The Godwit’s Amazing Migration, by Sandra Markle, illustrated by Mia Posada, published by Millbrook Press. 

The Matchbox Diary, by Paul Fleischman, Illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline, published by Candlewick Press. 

The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp, by Kathi Appelt, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 

This Journal Belongs to Ratchet, by Nancy J. Cavanaugh, published by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky. 

When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders, by J. Patrick Lewis, illustrated by Jim Burke, R. Gregory Christie, Tonya Engel, John Parra, and Meilo So, published by Chronicle Books. 

Words with Wings, by Nikki Grimes, published by WordSong. 

Zebra Forest, by Adina Rishe Gewirtz, published by Candlewick Press. 

2014 Notable Childrens’ Books in the Language Arts Selection Committee Members: Patricia Bandré, chair; Shanetia Clark, Christine Draper, Evie Freeman, Dick Koblitz, Jean Schroeder, and Barbara Ward 

Books that Invite Conversations About Growth Mindset

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

2013 CLA/NCTE Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts

2013 Notable Children’s Books in the Language Arts

The charge of the seven-member national committee is to select thirty titles each year that best exemplify the criteria established for the Notables Award. Books considered for this annual list are works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry written for children, grades K-8. The books must meet one or more of the following criteria:

• deal explicitly with language, such as plays on words, word origins, or the history of language;
• demonstrate uniqueness in the use of language or style;
• invite child response or participation. In addition, books are to:
• have an appealing format;
• be of enduring quality;
• meet generally accepted criteria of quality for the genre in which they are written.

43 Cemetery Road: the Phantom of the Post Office, by Kate Klise, illustrated by Sarah Klise, published by Houghton Mifflin.

A Leaf Can Be, by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Violeta Dabija, published by Lerner.

and then it's spring, by Julie Fogliano, illustrated by Erin Stead, published by Macmillan.

Bear has a Story to Tell, by Philip Stead, illustrated by Erin Stead, published by Macmillan.

Book of Animal Poetry, edited by J. Patrick Lewis, published by National Geographic.

Cat Tale, by Michael Hall, published by HarperCollins.

Chopsticks, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Scott Magoon, published by Disney/Hyperion.

Each Kindness, by Jacqueline Woodson, illustrated by E.B. Lewis, published by Penguin.

Encyclopedia of Me, by Karen Rivers, published by Scholastic.

 

Endangered, by Eliot Schrefer, published by Scholastic. 

 

Forgive Me, I Meant To Do It: False Apology Poems, by Gail Carson Levine, illustrated by Matthew Cordell, published by HarperCollins. 

Hades, Lord of the Dead, by George O'Connor, published by Macmillan.

His Name Was Raoul Wallenberg, by Louise Borden, published by Houghton Mifflin.

House Held Up by Trees, by Ted Kooser, illustrated by Jon Klassen, published by Candlewick. 

I Have the Right to be a Child, by Alain Serres, illustrated by Aurelia Fronty, published by Groundwood.

I Lay My Stitches Down, by Cynthia Grady, illustrated by Michele Wood, published by Eerdmans.

Lions of Little Rock, by Kristin Levine, published by Penguin.

Moonbird, by Phillip Hoose, published by Macmillan.

No Crystal Stair, by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson, illustrated by R. Gregory Christie, published by Lerner. 

Obstinate Pen, by Frank Dormer, published by Macmillan.

Sadie and Ratz, by Sonya Hartnett, illustrated by Ann James, published by Candlewick.

See You at Harry's, by Jo Knowles, published by Candlewick.

Snakes, by Nic Bishop, published by Scholastic. 

The One and Only Ivan, by Katherine Applegate, published by HarperCollins.

Unbeelievables, by Douglas Florian, published by Simon & Schuster. 

Unspoken, by Henry Cole, published by Scholastic.

 

Walking on Earth & Touching the Sky, by Lakota Youth at Red Cloud Indian School, illustrated by S.D. Nelson, published by Abrams.

Water Sings Blue, by Kate Coombs, illustrated by Meilo So, published by Chronicle.

Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, published by Random House.

Z is for Moose, by Kelly Bingham, illustrated by Paul Zelinsky, published by HarperCollins.

Tracy Smiles, Chair; Donalyn Miller, Patricia Bandre, Yoo Kyung Sung, Barbara Ward, Shanetia Clark, and Jean Schroeder.