No Talking by Andrew Clements

I was excited to see this new book, NO TALKING out by Andrew Clements. Since I teach a multiage class of 3rd and 4th graders, Andrew Clements' books are usually perfect choices for read aloud. I love the school issues that his books address and the issues are always so well handled for this age group.

In this new book, the 5th graders have always been a chatty group. The teachers have even named them "The Unshushables". Another issue with this class is that the boys and girls don't get along. So, these two issues become the anchor for a no talking contest between the boys and the girls.

One of the things I enjoyed was reading about various teachers' reactions to the contest that caused a bit of unpredictability to their days and lessons. It was so interesting to read about the ways the adults in the building handled the problems. Andrew Clements seems to really have teachers figured out. The diversity of reactions was interesting and very realistic.

I am not sure I will read this one aloud. It is a good one but some of his others may be better for read aloud. I liked it because I thought the talking issue was a really good one that would be interesting to talk to kids about early in the year. But, I didn't feel like I got to know the main characters as well as I knew the main character in some of his other books. It is definitely one I'll add to my classroom library. The whole fun and challenge of not talking makes for a pretty quick, fun read. Since it is boys against girls, it will easily be enjoyed by both genders. I'm not sure which of the two issues (talking at school or gender issues) would be more of a focus for 3/4 graders but both would make for interesting talk.

Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel

I just picked up a copy of ELLIE MCDOODLE: HAVE PEN, WILL TRAVEL by Ruth Barshaw. I had it on my list of books I wanted to read and saw it at the bookstore yesterday. So glad I picked it up!

I have always been drawn to books that were like journals. Much of this book is Ellie McDoodle's sketch book. Ellie McDoodle is a great character. She is fun and honest.

The plot is one that lots of kids (and adults:-) can probably relate to--Ellie is forced to go camping with relatives that she does not always enjoy. She "observes" these relatives on their trip, and she lets us know (quite often) how very annoying they all are. The trip continues and Ellie learns that she actually enjoys time with her family and they aren't really that annoying.

Fans of the AMELIA'S NOTEBOOK series by Marissa Moss will enjoy Ellie. Ellie's sketchbook is fun and detailed. So much thinking goes into her sketches and notes. The book is chapter book length and seems perfect for kids in grades 3-5ish. It seems like it can span the upper elementary grades pretty easily. Lots to love for many ages.

I remember reading about this book on the Class of 2K7 website. So many great books are coming out of that group of authors!

The author, Ruth McNally Barshaw, has some great websites for readers. Her author website is full of great info. She also has a great blog about the process of creating the books--what a fun read! I am always on the lookout for great books to serve as models for kids' own writers' notebooks. This is one I'll add to my collection.

Sounds like Ellie McDoodle might be a series--I couldn't find information on any future books about Ellie, but it seems like the perfect book to be the first in a great new series.

NEA Report #2

I am starting to get some idea of the enormity of this event. There are 350 in the Ohio delegation. We are housed in two hotels. Here is a glimpse of our caucus this morning. Today's caucus was more of a briefing. The rest of this week we will be hearing about/discussing Ohio's positions on various items that will be covered that day in the Representative Assembly.



We met a woman from California as we left the convention center after registering. There are 1800 (EIGHTEEN HUNDRED!) members in the California delegation. They are housed in 10 (count 'em -- TEN) hotels!!

Tomorrow we will have our first day of the Representative Assembly where we'll see all these people in the same room at the same time.

Because we all had the afternoon free today, it was like touring with a small city's worth of other teachers. Here are the highlights:

Great interpreters throughout the city. These are at the Visitor Center.

Christ Church.

Elfreth's Alley. Our nation's oldest residential street.

Betsy Ross' house.

Liberty Bell. Worth the half-hour wait in line and having our bags searched before going in.

Independence Hall.

New Professional Resource on Adolescent Literacy

I had to share this new professional book published by Heinemann... ADOLESCENT LITERACY: TURNING PROMISE INTO PRACTICE is edited by Kylene Beers, Robert Probst, and Linda Rief. It is an amazing collection of the best new thinking about adolescent literacy in this critical time.

I am not usually a big fan of edited books where lots of people write short pieces but this one is AMAZING! I have been reading about adolescent literacy for years and this book is an opportunity to hear so many experts in the field talk about their latest thinking on the topic. So many great voices all in one book--lots of my favorites as well a few people whose work I wasn't familiar with before I read their chapters.

In my role as Curricular Support Teacher, I am always looking for short articles/pieces to share with teachers. This is a great resource since every single chapter would serve as a great conversation starter or anchor for a study group. Every chapter has so much to think about.

An amazing book that I keep going back to already. I find myself telling others about various chapters often and I haven't had the book all that long! I think I will have to buy a few extra copies of this one--it is such a great compilation of the best and most current thinking in adolescent literacy. A must have.

NEA Report #1

Uh...nothing to report. Got here. Went to a reception for all the Ohio reps. Great food.

Today is our first caucus meeting. I'm still not clear about exactly what we'll do for 2 hours.

Then we have our only big block of free time for the week, so Roomie and I are off to hit the pavement, see the sights and find us a for-real Philly cheesesteak sandwich. Lots of history...except for the sandwich...we're going for fresh for our sandwiches.

Poetry Friday--POEMS IN BLACK AND WHITE

Sorry this Poetry Friday Post is late!
But here it is:

A fun new poetry book that I found at Cover to Cover last week when we visited with Lisa Yee. I am looking for anthologies for my classrooms--books kids can study and think about how collections go together.

POEMS IN BLACK AND WHITE by Kate Miller is unique in that all of the poems are about things that are black and white. The illustrations, of course, are black and white. The variety of topics makes it fun--First Steps (baby's first footprints), A Fly in February, The Cow, Bowling, Tic-Tac-Toe, and more. It is an anthology with good variety in the way the poems are written, their tones, and the topics.

A New Friend for Moxy and Clementine

Just Grace
Still Just Grace
by Charise Mericle Harper
Houghton Mifflin, 2007

When Mindy, at propernoun, said she loves Grace more than Clementine, my eyebrows shot up (left higher than right). How could this be possible?

How?

1. There are whole chapters in Just Grace that are lists. Like the first chapter. "I Did Not Get To Be."
2. There are adorable sketches and comics sprinkled about in the text.
3. Grace's nemesis, Sammy Stringer, is obsessed with poop. What are the chances that I'd come across another poop-filled book?
4. Grace has the superhero superpower of empathy, just like Clementine.
5. Don't worry, Grace is not a rip-off of Clementine, but Grace does solve problems in unique ways that threaten to become worse problems, like when she makes a life-size cardboard Crinkles (her neighbor's cat) with photography and cardboard and glue. She takes pictures of cardboard Crinkles in different places around town and makes postcards and sends them to her neighbor to cheer her neighbor up. Except her neighbor thinks they are ransom notes from the person who stole Crinkles. Except Crinkles wasn't stolen, he was...

...well, you better read it yourself.

Grace is a fun girl character with a unique voice. This book would make a great mentor text (take note, Literacy Teacher) because of the super short chapters that are almost like notebook entries and the chapters that are lists. I'm thinking that my beginning-of-the-year 4th graders next fall will be relieved to see that they can satisfy their inner doodler by adding sketches and mini-comics to their writing and get away with it. I was already planning to start read aloud with Clementine, and Just Grace will make a great compare/contrast second book.

NEA N-E-1 ?

Are you going to NEA RA in Philadelphia?

Me, too!

All of the librarians had KidLit drink night at ALA, how about we have one at NEA?! (This is my first-ever rep. assembly, so I have exactly NO idea how realistic that suggestion is...)

Blogging Continuum of Skills

Here's a perfect example of my spot on the continuum of blogging skills that exist in the blogosphere:

Alkelda the Gleeful, at Saints and Spinners, has become an iTunes affiliate site. (That's cool and new -- I had only ever heard of Amazon affiliates.)

She's going to use the money she earns to buy a goat through Heifer International. (Barbara Kingsolver would approve!)

She has this little linky thing on her blog that takes you right to iTunes. (Another linky thing on her blog, the one where we got to vote for the patron saint of potty training, gave me the idea for the surveys for our 5 Things Meme.)

But wait! Look at this! When you go to iTunes, you find a playlist that Alkelda herself has put together and which you can buy in part or in whole! Hand-picked tunes! (The purchase of which helps buy a goat!)

I'm in awe. I'm in heaven: I'm learning!

(The July Carnival of Children's Literature will be at Saints and Spinners. Something makes me believe that it will be accompanied by fireworks! And music for sure!)

Welcome Katie!

We are pleased to announce the birth of a new blog, Creative Literacy, authored by Katie, a primary teacher at Franki's school. Katie is also the mother of three boys, known on her blog as Mo, Larry and Curly. Her blog's mission is "Nurturing the lives of primary readers and writers while searching for my own reading and writing identity."

Last Saturday morning, Franki and I met Katie at Caribou Coffee to answer some of her blogging start-up questions. Because I am just a little ahead of Franki on the technology end of blogging, that makes me the "blogging guru" in her eyes. But the thing I love about blogging is that there is a huge continuum of blogging skills/abilities/tricks. I'm nowhere NEAR the high end of the continuum with my skills. (Just ask Tricia, who this week taught me to make a link in comments using html code!) But it is enough for me that I am even ON the continuum. I know that what we do with our blog is an approximation of what could be done, but right now, I can do most everything I want to, and when I need to know how to do more, I know where to go for help. (In teacher lingo: scaffoding.)

Katie was bemoaning the amount of time she already found herself devoting to her blog, and to finding and reading other blogs. In my eyes, this is not wasted time. It may not yield a product as visible as a weeded garden, a clean house, or a knitted sweater, but it is time spend MAKING something, rather than just consuming -- watching TV, shopping, etc. And invariably, blogging leads to LEARNING as well.

I think as teachers, we must MUST MUST keep ourselves on some kind of learning curve. It doesn't matter what we are learning to do, we need to keep learning. The craft of our teaching will automatically improve if we can share with our students not just the memory of, but the real and present joy of learning.

Welcome to the party, Katie!