BIG News

Ginormous made it into the new edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. I remember hearing my students (one in particular...you know who you are) use this word for the first time four years ago.

Here's my prediction for a word that will be added some time soon, based on 1. my inability to break my students of saying it, even after two years of intensive interventions, 2. the efficiency of this word compared with the "correct" version, and 3. I broke down and used it myself. The word? VERSE, vb., meaning to compete with someone in a game or sport. "I'm going to verse him in chess." The roots of this word are in the preposition VERSUS, as in Army vs. Navy. (The correct/clunky/inefficient way to say "verse?" "Go against." How does "go against" relate to versus? On the other hand, it is clear to see how "verse" relates to versus.) Other words in the dictionary around VERSUS include, as a reminder that language is a living, changing thing: versatile and version.

For other new words that made it into the dictionary, see USA Today's AP story.

Happy Birthday

Today is the birthday of E(lwyn) B(rooks) White.

I celebrated by reading Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little, which I loved as much or more than Franki said we would!

Simply Sarah

Simply Sarah: Patches and Scratches
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, illus. Marcy Ramsey
Marshall Cavendish, 2007
Review copy courtesy of the publisher

Simply Sarah: Anyone Can Eat Squid
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, illus. Marcy Ramsey
Marshall Cavendish, 2005

Simply Sarah: Cuckoo Feathers
by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, illus. Marcy Ramsey
Marshall Cavendish, 2006

In a move that was quite revolutionary (for me), I read the three books in this series out of order. (I know. Amazing.) But because of that, I can say that they all stand alone quite nicely, and unlike some other early reader series books (Magic Tree House comes to mind), the way Naylor weaves in the common background information never feels formulaic.

I did have a disturbing sense of de ja vous as I started Patches and Scratches. Sarah is a spunky little girl of an unspecified age (maybe it's in there, but I can't recall it) between 2nd and 4th grade. She lives in an apartment in a big city (Chicago), her mom is an artist, and she has a little brother and a friend who lives on another floor in the apartment building. Her father is not the building manager, but Mr. Gurdy, the man who lives in a room in the basement of the building, does feature prominently in this book. In the book Cuckoo Feathers, the problem centers around pigeons. Echoes of Clementine?

Maybe Clementine-ish. There's nothing in any of the three books of the Simply Sarah series that has the flash and splash of the Clementine books, but the writing in the three books in this series is more consistent and even. (I liked the first Clementine book a WHOLE lot and the second one so-so. The same was true for my 5th graders.)

The basic premise in all three books is that Sarah wants to be anything but ordinary. She wants to be special. In all three there is a satisfying plot twist and things work out in the end...but definitely not the way Sarah or the reader thought they would work out. I think this structure of the text will support beginning readers who need to learn to pay attention to clues in the text as they read so that they can modify their predictions as they go along.

There's a lot going on with the characters in these books, but it is all woven very naturally into the story, so that it doesn't seem like the laundry list that I'm going to make it into: Sarah's father is out of the picture -- he is overseas building bridges and we only meet him through his weekly phone calls. Sarah's best friend Peter is black, and he lives with his grandmother. Sarah's two newest friends, Mercedes and Leon, live in the apartment building across the street. Mercedes is Leon's cousin. She was born in Mexico, and is now living in Chicago with her aunt, uncle and cousins. Mercedes and Leon attend Catholic school via a school bus; Sarah and Peter walk to their neighborhood public school. One of Sarah's friends at school is Tim, who is Chinese. In Anyone Can Eat Squid, Sarah comes up with the idea that saves Tim's family's Chinese restaurant from closing. Like I said, as a laundry list, it seems like a bad case of "what other element of diversity can we include?" But when you read the books, it comes off quite naturally.

I give Sarah a stamp of approval, and nominate her to be a part of the new Spunky Girl Character Club along with Clementine, Moxy, and Grace.

Children's Authors at NCTE

I know lots of bloggers are planning on attending the NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Convention in November in NYC. It is always a fun time with lots of authors and great talk about reading, writing, and books. Children's authors are always a highlight. Some of the major authors who are speaking have been announced on the website--thought you might be interested. Some are children's authors, some YA, some adult, some professional:

Jonathan Kozol at the Opening Gala
Amy Tan at the Friday Kickoff
Andrea Davis Pinkney and Brian Pinkney at the Books for Children Luncheon
Rudine Simms Bishop at the Elementary Get Together
Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson at the Middle Level Luncheon
Esmeralda Santiago at the Secondary Luncheon
Gregory Maguire at the Secondary Section Get Together
Ishmael Beah at the College Section Luncheon
Jerry Spinelli at the ALAN breakfast
Allen Say at the Children's Literature Assembly Breakfast


There are lots of others but these are some of the sessions that are being highlighted. Check it out!

Hirschi and Mangelsen: Great Partnership

There's a Tom Mangelsen gift shop in the Denver Airport. Lucky me -- my flight (back in June) was delayed 5 hours, so I had plenty of time to shop!

I found two books, one new and one newish, written by Ron Hirschi and illustrated with Mangelsen's photographs.

Lions Tigers and Bears: Why Are Big Predators So Rare?
Boyds Mills Press, 2007
recently reviewed at A Chair, A Fireplace and a Tea Cozy

My nonfiction collection needs to be updated and I need to get back to a better ratio of fiction:nonfiction read alouds. This book is a good start on both goals.

This book has seven short chapters, each about a different big predator: cougar, polar bear, lion, cheetah, tiger, grizzly bear, and killer whale. In each chapter, Hirchi paints a picture with words that describes the animal in its habitat. He tells how the animal lives, and how it has come to be threatened by humans: habitat loss, over-hunting, pollution, global warming. He also tells what is being done and what can be done to protect the dwindling populations of these magnificent animals. And who better to show us (as opposed to telling us about) these gorgeous creatures than Tom Mangelsen. Along with Jim Brandenburg and cloudscome, he is my favorite nature photographer.

Searching for Grizzlies
Boyds Mills Press, 2005
with drawings by Deborah Cooper

This book is a combination of factual information about grizzlies in the main text, and the story of the grizzly "hunt" (armed with cameras, camping equipment, and fly fishing gear) told on faux journal pages. The book is also illustrated with photos, as well as "journal" sketches of wildflowers and birds and animal tracks. There's a lot to look at, and something for every reader. It's a book to go back to again and again. I can imagine lots of discussions about nonfiction reading strategies with this book. Some might read the main text first, exclusively. Some might do the same with the journal-y text. Some might "read" the pictures first. And, of course, for some, there might be a new strategy for each page, depending on what caught your attention first.

DOGKU by Andrew Clements

What a fun book this one is! I am always looking for picture books that can be read and reread--noticing different things. DOGKU by Andrew Clements is a story of a dog, told in Haiku. An absolutely adorable dog finds a home in this great picture book. Each page tells a part of the story in Haiku. To add to the fun, the blurb on the inside flap, as well as parts of the author blurbs, are told in Haiku. The author's note has a little info on the Haiku.

This is a fun story with great illustrations by Tim Bowers. It is also a great sample of writing that can be used in writing workshop minilessons--a story told in many haiku poems is a unique format that kids could have fun with. You can't help but fall in love with the dog and what a clever title!

NEA -- Final Report

The NEA Representative Assembly really was like being at the Grand Canyon -- my "snapshots" can't do it justice. The Grand Canyon gives the awe of natural beauty; the NEA RA gave me the overwhelming sense of awe that I am one of so many people who believe in public education.

Like the Grand Canyon, the NEA RA is huge. The 3.2 million members of NEA elect 8-9,000 representatives who come together in July to take care of the business and set the policies of the organization. We dealt with/debated/decided 95 new business items, and amendments to the bylaws and constitution. There were both radical conservatives and radical liberals in attendance. Everyone had the right to speak, and for the most part, the radicals balanced out the radicals and we wound up somewhere in the middle.

I encourage you to visit the NEA website to view short videos of the eight presidential candidates' speeches. In the sidebar on the same page, you can also check out NEA's day-by-day description of the action, view the amendments and new business items, and view slide shows on different topics throughout the week.

NEA Report #8 -- Philly Food

I don't want to give the impression that the NEA RA (Representative Assembly) was all work and no play. And I certainly don't want you to think that we survived on bread and water! Finding good food in Philly was part of the fun of the week!


The Reading Terminal Market across the street from the Convention Center is like our North Market...only on steroids! It has been open since 1893 and is home to more than 80 merchants, two of whom are descendants of the original standholders from a century before. This market has Thai, Mexican, Amish, gourmet, and local foods (just to name a few). There are fresh flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, crafts, wines, and cookbooks (just to name a few more). What a great asset to the thriving downtown of Philadelphia!













Yes, we ate the requisite Philly Cheesesteak. The governor of PA visited the convention and he told us what makes the Philly Cheesesteak the Philly Cheesesteak. (He had been mayor of Philly before becoming governor.) 1. Stringy, fatty meat. Many people try to improve on the Philly Cheesesteak by using good meat, but that nullifies the authenticity. 2. Cheese Whiz. Again, don't bother with real cheese, because it won't melt right and get down in the cracks of the stringy meat. 3. Don't drain the fat off the onions. Yup, to be a REAL Philly Cheesesteak, it needs to be greasy. The ones we ate were authentic in every way. And I'm sorry, Philly, but I like the fake version I get at Cap City Diner!














Even though we worked really hard for the 5 days of the Representative Assembly, we somehow found the time to make it over to the Reading Market in the mid-afternoon for a still-warm cookie, or some to-die-for candy!


The best meal of the week was at La Fontana Della Citta. I had the best arugula salad ever, and great creme brulle. The Eggplant Parmesan was good, but not the best ever.

On the first day we were in Philadelphia, the day we did all our sight-seeing, we had lunch at Soho Pizza. I had a typical slice of pepperoni, along with an experimental slice of broccoli/spinach. YUM! Whoda thunk? But it worked. I may try to replicate it here at home!

One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II

I just found this powerful new picture book at Cover to Cover. ONE THOUSAND TRACINGS by Lita Judge is based on a family story. Following World War II, this American family helped families in Germany who were suffering after the war. Many families sent tracings of their feet with letters asking for help finding shoes for family members. They organized others to help too and were able to help hundreds of families during this difficult time.

The illustrations are amazing--beautiful paintings with actual artifacts from the author/illustrator's grandparents' attic. Real photos, letters asking for help, tracings of feet on a variety of paper are all part of the illustrations and end pages. The author's note adds a bit more information.

Although this book is powerful, I think it can be read to young children too. Often, books like this are too much for young children. But this book focuses on the good that one family did and how their help made such an impact on others. It is told from a child's voice which also makes it appropriate for children of all ages. I am adding it to my stack of books about people who have made a difference in the world.

NEA Report #7--The rest of the candidates

NEA invited ALL of the presidential candidates to speak at the Representative Assembly. NEA always invites all of the candidates. (1/3 of NEA members are Republicans.) This year, for the first time in NEA history, a Republican candidate accepted that invitation, and he received the same enthusiastic Team NEA welcome as the other candidates:

Mike Huckabee was a great storyteller, and he made us laugh with the one about the Harvard student who got the only A+ in Harvard history for his one sentence essay utilizing the concepts of Religion, Royalty, Sex and Mystery.* He also told us about growing up in a patriotic home.** When he spoke about education, though, he was very serious. He equated education with national security, and talked about the importance of health care for children. One of his passions is to make sure that art and music are mandatory parts of the curriculum, and he illustrated this point with a story from his childhood about the importance to him of the guitar he received one Christmas.

Barack Obama spoke about the "these kids" syndrome -- in which the more we talk about the kids who are failing in our educational system (or who are being failed by it) are spoken about, the more they increasingly become someone else's problem. He would have us remember that they are OUR KIDS and we need to do whatever it takes to help them succeed. "Our Kids" was then one of his catch-phrases throughout his speech. He called No Child Left Behind "one of the emptiest slogans in American politics," pointing out that what we really left behind was the money to fund it, along with common sense.

Joe Biden didn't claim that he'd be The Education Parent, he pointed out that his family is the Education Family -- his wife is a teacher, and he teaches a law course every Saturday. He scoffed at an earlier candidate's promise to select a teacher as Secretary of Education (Who? I can't remember now...). He said, "How about a teacher living in the White House and sleeping with the president?!?" He spoke on all of the main issues: education is more than just the teachers, it is also the Education Support Professionals (ESPs), keep art and music, drop out rate/access to college, importance of preschool, and teacher pay/retention.



*"My God," said the Queen. "I'm pregnant! I wonder who did it?"
**"My father laid on the stripes, and I saw stars!!"