Sunday, May 24, 2009
Sign-Up Sunday
Tried and tried and TRIED to find a way to participate in Mother Reader's 48 Hour Book Challenge, but it's just not going to happen this year. June 5 is our (teachers') last day of school, June 6 I'm fishing in a charity fish-a-thon for Casting for Recovery (Ohio), and June 7 I'm going to be busting to get two PowerPoints ready for a conference in Michigan June 11-12. I'll do my best to get around and comment on your posts and cheer you on.
I've got the Kidlitosphere Conference on my calendar (October 16-18) and I'll sign up and get the hotel room as soon as more details become available.
Got IRA on my calendar for 2010. Looks like I'll miss one day of state testing. Hoping that won't be a problem...
Last I knew, IRA was going to be in LA in 2010. I was tickled pink to learn that it will be in Chicago instead. My savings account breathed a sigh of relief.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
GETTING TO KNOW MO WILLEMS
Rhyming Stories
by Eve Feldman
illustrated by Tuesday Mourning
G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2009
review copy provided by the publisher
There are 13 short stories in this picture book, and when I say short, I mean SHORT -- each is only 3-4 words long. Each story rhymes. And each story depends on the pictures. For example: "Bike Spike Hike". This is the story of Billy, setting off on a bike ride. He hits a spike, gets a flat tire, and winds up having to hike rather than bike.
In the story, "Dream Beam Scream!", Milly is walking along the back of the sofa, then along a balance beam. The story ends with her jumping for joy as she holds the first place trophy. My students pointed out that the end of the story would be totally different if, in the final picture, Milly had fallen off the beam and she was screaming with sadness at losing. The stories depend on the pictures!
Because of the rhymes, these are great stories for making predictions. I also think this would make a fabulous mentor text for students who want to play around with rhyme, but who have a hard time making rhyming poems that make sense. Maybe rhyming stories would be just the ticket!
Here's my favorite story. It's about a dragon that gets a little out of control, feels remorse, and allows Milly to ride on his back while he flies: "Flame Blame Shame Tame".
Friday, May 22, 2009
Poetry Friday
by Tracy Vaughn Zimmer
from STEADY HANDS: POEMS ABOUT WORK
Everyone knows
the teacher's tasks:
creating bulletin-board displays
writing challenging tests
preparing perfect lessons
instructing, demonstrating, explaining.
But not everyone knows
the teacher's secret torments:
a lesson that knotted understanding
a bright kid who refuses to be inspired
flames of words thrown in frustration --
all heavier
to haul home
than the papers, projects, and lessons
bulging out of her bag.
I dedicate this poem to all the teachers who are finishing up the school year, completing final assessments, recording data, working on report cards, and going to camp (that would be me and my team yesterday and today). Thank you to Tracy Vaughn Zimmer who got our job right in her poem.
The Poetry Friday Round Up today is at Susan Writes.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
How Weird Is It?
by Ben Hillman
Scholastic, 2009
Your students know and love Hillman's other three books (How Big Is It?, How Strong Is It?, and How Fast Is It?), right? Well, then, you're going to have to have this newest book in the series!
How else will you know about weirdnesses like Sleepy Bacteria, Odd Eats, Bird Magnets and Superdense Space Stuff?
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Genghis Khan and Rumi
by Demi
Mashall Cavendish Classics, 2009
(first published as Chingis Khan in 1991 by Henry Holt and Co.)
review copy provided by the publisher
Rumi: Whirling Dervish
by Demi
Marshall Cavendish, 2009
review copy provided by the publisher
First of all, these two books are classic Demi -- beautiful rich colors, detailed pictures, plenty of gold.
The similarities pretty much end there. Genghis Khan is the story of "the greatest conqueror of all time," a military genius, a heavyweight thug. Rumi is the story of "the greatest mystical poet who ever lived," a simple man, a lover of learning who saw God in everyone and everything.
The stories of these two great men intersected in the early 1200's. Rumi's first home was in Afghanistan, but his family was forced to flee to Turkey when Genghis Khan and his Mongol army were conquering their homeland.
Rumi's story tells of his meeting with a great teacher, Shamsuddin, and the three years he spent learning from him. One day after Shams disappeared, Rumi began twirling around and he didn't stop for 36 hours. Those who perform this dance are now known as whirling dervishes.
Genghis Khan had an amazing childhood. Before he could walk, he was strapped onto a horse and taught to ride. When he was four, he practiced archery while riding horses at top speed. At 5, he was responsible for herding large numbers of camel and goats. When he was 6, he took part in the yearly hunt. At 9, his father died and he became the leader of the Yakka Mongols. He went on to become the "supreme master of the largest empire ever created in the lifetime of one man."
What a fabulous pair of books to compare and contrast two of the greatest men of the 11th Century! They just about couldn't be more different, and yet both live on in the stories of their lives.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Bird, Butterfly, Eel
story and illustrations by James Prosek
Simon and Schuster, 2009
I knew that birds and butterflies migrated, but I had no idea, until I read this book, that eels do, too.
The story begins in the summer, when bird is raising a nest of babies and butterflies eggs are turning to caterpillars, cocoons and new butterflies. The eel has been in the pond for many years and is eating and storing energy for her upcoming journey.
The bird flies to Argentina for the winter, the butterfly flies to Mexico, and the eel swims out of the pond into the creek and then the ocean and eventually to the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda. The barn cat, who is in all the pictures at the beginning of the book when the animals are being introduced in their habitats near the farm (pond, meadow and barn), lays at the window watching it snow.
Spring comes, and bird, butterfly and eel's babies return to the farm.
One of the best things about this book are the illustrations. For most of the book, when Prosek is telling about their differences, each animal gets its own page. But three times during the book (fall, winter and spring), when the animals are similar in their readiness to migrate, in their winter homes, and upon return to the farm, the page is split horizontally into three sections and the animals are shown together. The only illustration I would quibble with is the map that shows where each animal goes for the winter. Instead of doing separate illustrations of the continents (main idea) and the location of the pond (detail), Prosek stretched the northeastern United States, shrank South America, and made it one illustration. Artistic license, I guess. The rest of the book is so beautiful that it can be forgiven.
This is a book that could be included in a study of migrating animals, habitats, Colonial America (didn't they eat lots of eels? didn't you ever wonder about the life cycle of the eel?), similarities and differences, nonfiction with a circular text structure, or just because it's beautiful!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Twitter Mosaic Mug
Friday, May 15, 2009
A Vision for School Libraries
The question our team was to help answer was supposed to be: How can the MS/HS library program and facilities be improved to support student learning and achieve the ISB Vision for Learning?
But somehow it changed in a meeting with school officials this afternoon to: Does a school need a library when information can be accessed from the classroom using Internet connected laptops?
The new question is uncomfortable, messy, and incredibly important and not restricted by any means to one particular school. It is one to which all library people need a clear and compelling answer.
As a school librarian, this is an uncomfortable question. But it is one worth thinking about. What is the new vision for libraries with things changing so quickly. And he didn't give us an answer--instead he asked for others' thoughts.
In response to Doug Johnson's question about libraries, David Warlick responded on his blog. Such a smart answer. Warlick gives us a lot to think about. But the one part I keep coming back to is his ending:
In my classroom, I always tried for a coffee-shop feel. I believed that the feel of people gathering to chat about books with people they liked, to have smart discussions and to learn with friends was what I was going for. It helped me create the environment that I wanted. I have a similar vision for the library. But now, I have this new vision of a "Kinko's for Kids" to add to my coffee shop vision. I love Kinko's--like a playground of fun tools to help you create what you have in mind. And I love the idea of it even more than a coffee shop vision by itself. Can you imagine a Kinko's and a coffee shop coming together? A coffee-shop feel. But with all the tools you need right at your fingertips. A great place to get together with friends to think, talk, learn and create. I guess I always had creation in my vision but this "Kinko's for kids" idea gives me a better vision for what it is we might be trying to create.