Poetry Friday for Christmas

One of my family's most beloved Christmas Eve traditions was Mom reading us the Christmas story from the Bible and Dad reading us THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS. I can still hear his voice when I read it.

Here are my favorite parts:

A Visit from St. Nicholas
by Clement Clarke Moore

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The moon, on the breast of the new-fallen snow,
Gave the luster of midday to objects below;
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As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew
With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.
.
.
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And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
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“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”

Gifts for Book Characters

Thank you Gregory at GottaBook for another fun holiday diversion -- gifts for book characters. (This, along with elfing yourself.)

My favorite recent read is CASTLE WAITING by Linda Medley, a 450+ page YA graphic fairytale. Here are gifts (too bad I couldn't think of cool office supplies for all of them!) for some of the characters in CASTLE WAITING:

Jain -- her very own happily ever after
Rackham -- a subscription to GQ
Simon -- a collection of early readers -- UNLEVELED, of course!
Chess -- a membership at Gold's Gym...as if he needs it!

And for the Solicitine Nuns -- nothing! They have it all already: intelligence, wit, cunning, compassion, beauty...and BEARDS!

(I hope that was enough of a tease to let you know you MUST read this book!)

Cool Office Supplies

I figure most people who read this blog love books AND cool office supplies. I just found a great site for fun journals, file folders, pencils and more. It is called See Jane Work. If you love office supplies, I would check it out. Also a great place for small gifts!

(Mary Lee, I know you are still home recovering--don't spend too much time on this site or you'll go broke!)

Levelmania Continues

So, as reported on Blog from the Windowsill, some kids are not allowed to check out books from the school library that are above or below their "level". UGH! I am trying to get the actual blog link because I really don't want to believe this craziness! The stories about the leveling disaster don't stop. Choice is so important to our newest readers. I agree completely with the title of the post about this: "as if I didn't feel enough like smashing my head into a wall". My feelings exactly. I will let you know if I get the link to the blog that reported this newest leveling disaster.

Boys and Literacy

Ralph Fletcher, author of BOY WRITERS: RECLAIMING THEIR VOICES and Tom Newkirk, author of MISREADING MASCULINITY: BOYS, LITERACY, AND POPULAR CULTURE were interviewed on New Hampshire's Public Radio. You can listen to the interview on the site. Such a hot topic these days.

Go Elf Yourself!

You know you want to be a dancing elf, and now you can!

Mary Lee's an elf! Franki's an elf! Bess the Dog is an elf!

Happy Craziness to all, and to all a good night!

DIBELS, Reading Fluency, and More

Doug at Borderland has a great post about DIBELS, fluency and more. I think for any of us who work with kids, we need to think hard about the messages we give our kids about reading. By administering some of these tests and then teaching TO them, what are our kids learning about what it means to be a reader and a learner? Doug has a great post about lots of this and links to much of the research that tells us what some alternatives are for more authentic, informative assessments. Ken Goodman's paper on DIBELS can be read online and shared with colleagues. His book, THE TRUTH ABOUT DIBELS is also a must read on the test and the harm it is doing. Several experts in the field are part of this book.

Merry Christmas: Graphic Novel Style

MANGA CLAUS (Honor, Loyalty, Tinsel): THE BLADE OF KRINGLE
by Nathaniel Marunas
artwork by Erik Craddock
Razorbill (a division of Penguin Books), 2006

One of Santa's elves, a disgruntled laundry room worker, wants to share some "cutting edge spells" with Santa. You've got to give it to Santa, he has made time on December 23rd to meet with Fritz, even though it's obvious that Fritz is not one of his top-notch elves. Their discussion is interrupted when Santa has to leave to attend an emergency on Assembly Line #47.

Fritz's eyes land on a Ninja nutcracker, a lightbulb goes "Bing!" over his head, and he hatches a plot to make Santa realize that he needs him for more important things than laundry.

Unfortunately, the magic that brings the Ninja nutcracker to life manages to spread to the teddy bears, and the Ninja teddy bears are on the brink of destroying the hydroelectric power plant that powers everything at the North Pole. Santa does indeed need Fritz now -- Fritz must bring Santa the two swords that the Samurai gave Santa a century and a half earlier.

The swords transform Santa into the buff Ninja teddy bear slasher seen on the book's cover, and as expected, he triumphs over evil, and the plant is repaired in time to complete orders for Christmas. In a surprise move, Fritz is promoted from laundry to Special-Effects Coordinator.

I won't spoil the ending, but after you read it, you'll understand why this book is paired with Jon Agee's SMART FELLER FART SMELLER on Amazon.

A fun holiday book for anyone who is a little over all the saccharine of the season.

(Too bad it wasn't a Cybils nominee. I would have definitely included it in my top five in the 8-12 year-old sub-category.)

More fun than anyone should have on a treadmill

Synchronized treadmilling.

Teaching and Learning in a Digital World

It is hard, but not impossible, to be a tail-end Baby Boomer (a Digital Immigrant) teaching Digital Natives. It takes work, though.

I've already embraced multiple digital and nondigital tools for composing in writing workshop. I still have a ways to go (see sidebar for great writing tools).

I'm pushing myself to read and value graphic novels.

I am half-a-step behind Monica in moving towards blogging with my students.

Podcasts like these tantalize me with possibilities for my classroom.

And there's a whole world of E-books just waiting to become another option for reading, and teaching readers. (Thank you, Wrung Sponge, for these links.)

I'll never catch up to the Natives, but I'll die learning, and that's a good thing!