Self-Esteem Week: Valuing Ourselves

Zero
by Kathryn Otoshi
KO Kids Books, 2010

Zero feels empty. She doesn't think she counts, like the other numbers. Seven encourages her to remember, "It's what's inside that counts most," and "Be open. You'll find a way."

Zero realizes that she can bring value to the other numbers when she counts WITH them by leading the way before 1, 2, and 3, but also in combination with them to make all kinds of bigger numbers than they could make on their own.

When Zero is open to her true value, she feels whole, rather than empty.

Come back tomorrow for more picture books that build self-esteem!

On the Running Blog: Guest Post by Paul Hankins

I asked Paul Hankins to write a guest post for my Reading Teachers Running blog since he has been such an inspiration.  As always, Paul is amazing and whether you run or not, his post is worth the read.  You can find it here.  

Self-Esteem Week: Everyone Counts

One
by Kathryn Otoshi
KO Kids Books, 2008

Blue is a little blue because Red picks on him. But along comes One, with a new message for the colors: Everyone counts!

Next time Red comes along, Blue stands up for himself and doesn't let Red roll over him. All the colors (now numbers) take a stand and tell red, "NO."

Blue is pretty special. As Red is rolling away, small and defeated, Blue calls out, "Can Red be hot...AND Blue be cool?" And One chimes in "Red can count, too."

ONE is a simple book with a big message: "Sometimes it just takes One."

I'm not sure how I missed this book 4 years ago, but I was glad to spot it at NCTE at the Books for Children Luncheon. I didn't sit at Kathryn Otoshi's table, but this title was one of my first purchases when I got home!

All this week, I'll be featuring books to build self-esteem.

Poetry Friday -- Teaching

TEACHING

I teach,

I watch.

They fall,

I catch.

I lift,

they soar.

I brood,

they hatch.

They spread,

I gather.

I pair,

I match.

I teach,

I watch.

They fall,

I catch.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Robyn has the roundup today at Read, Write, Howl.

'Tis the Season

Glitch (The Aldo Zelnick Comic Novel Series)
by Karla Oceanak
illustrated by Kendra Spanjer
Bailiwick Press, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

There's definitely more than a little GLITCH in Aldo's plan to get more presents for Christmas this year!

Pete the Cat Saves Christmas
created and illustrated by James Dean
story by Eric Litwin
Harper, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

In this take-off of The Night Before Christmas, Pete the Cat leaves the beach where we left him in his Pete the Cat and His Four Groovy Buttons, and steps in for a sick Santa to save Christmas.

It's Christmas! (I Can Read Book 3)
by Jack Prelutsky
illustrated by Marylin Hafner
Greenwillow Books, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

A dozen very accessible poems cover Christmas from the decorating to the present of a sled in a year with no snow.

Adventures in Cartooning: Christmas Special
by James Sturm, Andrew Arnold, and Alexis Frederick-Frost
First Second, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

Santa's nostalgic for the olden days when kids got toys for Christmas instead of electronics. With the help of the dragon and the knight from the first book, Santa delivers a book to all the children that makes them want to turn off their screens and draw comics...and of course, that is the book you just read!

Kid Conversations

Hugh MacLeod, Gaping Void.com

I got the new Time for Kids iPad app, and we were looking at one of the articles (projected on the IWB). In it, we learned about a tiny dinosaur skull that was found in the field in the 1960s, put in a drawer at Harvard, taken out of the drawer again in the mid '80s, but only truly DISCOVERED as something amazing and new just recently.

I added this to my "All of the science has not been discovered yet" speech I give every time I get the chance. I don't want kids to give up on a career in science because they have some kind of perception that the field of science is a thing with boundaries. If they are curious about the way something in our world (or out of it, or within it) works, they have the beginnings of a career in science.

I thought of "Science is not finished" again yesterday when my new family doctor told me about a recent study that purports that too many cancers are being detected by mammograms. "Too many?" I asked, incredulously. Seems that not all of the tiny cancers they are finding are malignant, and some of them could actually be "cleaned up" by the body's own immune system, if given time. All well and good, but until we can tell the difference between the cancers, I'm going to remain happy that mammograms are finding lots of cancer early. And I'll pass this bit of "yet-to-be-discovered" science on to the next generations.

I'll end with this, overheard as we passed a line of tiny kinders giving themselves a hug with one arm, finger pressed to lips with the other, listening to their teacher give "When we get back to the classroom" instructions. I'm sure it will be in (or the inspiration for) a poem that I have yet to write. B said,

"I remember being that little, but I don't remember growing."

Nonfiction Notetaking Part 2

I wrote last week about the ways in which I was rethinking nonfiction and my plans for December. This week was a good one in terms of nonfiction and kids are coming around to enjoying it a bit more than they used to.

We started the week with what I call a "Check It Out! Circle". Kids sit in a circle and I hand each one a book (this time a nonfiction picture book).  For one minute, the child previews the book in their hand and then (when the timer goes off) passes it on to the person on their left. This continues until all students have seen all books. So by the end of 25 minutes, every child has previewed 25 books.  I insist that kids are quiet during this time and that they do this independently because I want them to really immerse in the book for a minute. I want them to find books that they just aren't ready to pass on to the next person, books they want to go back to.

We also spent time on web reading. Just having time to check out all that is available on websites like Wonderopolis and The Weather Channel was worthwhile for the kids. Navigating a site takes strategy and they learned this. They wrote a blog post about their favorite nonfiction sites (classroom blog).

After the Check It Out! Circle, we talked about a few things. We talked about books we wanted to revisit and we talked about things that surprised them. They were surprised at how many times they thought a book was not interesting when it was handed to them, and then they realized that it was interesting. They were also surprised that some nonfiction sounded like a story.  A bit more nonfiction reading is happening because of this and kids are realizing that these books are often worth reading beyond skimming.

The other big thing I started this week was a nonfiction read aloud. My hope was to take our note taking routine from our regular read aloud time and give kids time to think about note taking in nonfiction. My kids are comfortable taking notes on their thinking when it comes to fiction so I figured nonfiction read aloud would help them transfer these skills and ideas.

I had planned on reading The Mighty Mars Rovers: The Incredible Adventures of Spirit and Opportunity (Scientists in the Field Series) but I decided to start with something a little shorter to see how it went. I started with the first section of the book Extreme Scientists: Exploring Nature's Mysteries from Perilous Places (Scientists in the Field Series) from the same Scientists in the Field series. We are learning about weather and Hurricane Hunter seemed like a perfect read aloud. I am so glad i stared with something a bit shorter. In 2 days, we've only read 5 pages but the talk has been fabulous.  The talk is around the content, the vocabulary, our reading strategies and their note taking.  I started by showing them examples of various kinds of notes and we are using the document camera to share the kinds of notes kids are taking. Since drawing is huge in the classroom, we focused on a few paragraphs and really thought about what a good drawing might look like--what would we include?

The kids moaned earlier this week when I told them we'd be reading aloud a nonfiction book but they are totally glued to the book already and the questions they have about weather and clouds because of the talk are going to lead them right into the content of our standards.

Really, I learned so much from Kate and Chris in their NCTE session on note taking that my whole stance was different. I learned a lot about my thinking and the ways I might record it right along with my students. I am thrilled with the conversations we've had in only a few days. I am excited to see where our next week goes!

Staring a New Trimester-Goal Setting in 4th Grade

This week seemed like a perfect time to set goals, revamp a few things and move forward in our workshop.  Our elementary schools works on trimesters so our first set of report cards went home this week and we are at the beginning of our second trimester.

My class is filled with readers. They read lots, talk about books, etc. But many seem stuck in a genre or series right now. This is typical and not necessarily a bad thing but I wanted to talk to kids about expanding their lives as readers. So we had a few conversations about ways readers can expand their reading lives a bit. My thinking was that we'd have the conversation and it would revolve around tastes as readers and it would get some kids thinking beyond the kinds of books they had been reading since August.

Boy, was I pleasantly surprised. The kids definitely talked about tastes as readers and the need to find more authors and series they loved. But they also decided that finding one author or series and knowing it well was a way to expand your life as a reader. Then the conversation turned a bit and they started talking about the ways in which they think when they read. They decided that one way to grow your life as a reader was to change the ways you think while you read. They also talked about changing the habits of your reading life.  It was a fascinating conversation.

The next day, after kids did a quick write of their personal goals, they summarized a goal in a talking bubble that is posted in our room for the next several weeks. One thing I have learned as I started my life as a runner, was how important it was to make my goals public.  They seemed bigger once I did so I thought posting them in a semi-formal way made sense. (And the self-portraits make me happy:-)

We also formed reading groups based on goals.  We had groups set based on goals and kids chose the groups they thought met their goals. Then I looked at assessments and decided on some groups. I met individually with each student this week looking at the groups they had signed up for as well as the new ones I put together. I shared some general assessment information and the things I thought they could use some support with. Then together, we decided on a few groups and they signed up. These conversations were great and the kids were so smart about themselves.  It is always amazing to the kids that I have noticed what they are doing. I also love the conversations that happen after I meet with a child. Sometimes hours or days later, a child approaches me and says, "I was thinking about the groups I signed up for and I think I want to add one. I could really use help on finding evidence in the text to support my thinking. Can I sign up for that one too?".

So we are set for the next several weeks. We have great things in place and great places to go. I love the time of year when the conversations become honest because trust is part of it.

November Mosaic -- NCTE12

This month's mosaic is all NCTE and Las Vegas. You can view the set on Flickr here.

Happy Birthday #nerdybookclub !!!

Happy Birthday to the Nerdy Book Club! We can't imagine life without NBC so we wanted to thank the founders by celebrating with a dance. Who knows, maybe someday we'll become Nerdy Dance Club....
Thanks Donalyn, Colby and Cindy!