Apple Crisp is on the Menu Today at the Alphabet Soup Kitchen

Jama Rattigan, at jama rattigan's alphabet soup, is hosting a potluck for National Poetry Month. Here's how she describes her yummy project:

"I've set the table, chilled the wine, hired a string quartet (don't worry, some jazz musicians will be joining us later), and am ready to enjoy a month's worth of poems written by some of the wonderful folks I've met through Poetry Friday.

I've been hooked on PF ever since I first started blogging in 2007. Every week, I look forward to seeing what beautiful, inspiring, funny, or thought provoking poems these friends will post. Whether they've written the poems themselves, or have chosen the work of others, I'm grateful for the momentary glimpse into their emotional lives.

I thought inviting them to the alphabet soup kitchen for a potluck would be the perfect way to celebrate National Poetry Month. I asked each to share an original poem and a favorite recipe, and they all, without hesitation, enthusiastically agreed (further evidence of their overall awesomeness). They came through for me in a big way, even sharing recipe photos. Friends, this is going to be a supremely delicious month -- a bountiful, nourishing feast for body, mind, and spirit!"

Today, it's MY turn to share the spotlight! Head on over to alphabet soup and enjoy a helping of apple crisp. Thanks, Jama, for inviting me to your feast! It's an honor to sit at your table with

the other (real) poets!

Moving Toward My Vision for the SMARTBoard in the Library

I see huge possibilities for creation and collaboration if this took is always available to students. Because the size of the board is so large, it is so much more natural to collaborate and problem solve around it than around a keyboard. I can see so many ways that kids can collaborate in their creations. Creation demands collaboration and it seems that the SMART Board can really support those goals.

But, as I said, patience is key. I have to spend lots of time setting up possibilities for the students and inviting them to try different things. This week, my goal was for students to understand that the SMART Board was really just a giant/touchscreen computer and that anything they could do on the computer, they could do on the SMART Board. So, we tried several of our favorite things on the SMART Board--Pixie, Tumblebooks, Pages, etc. One of the things we did with a few classes was a collaborative story. After spending some time looking at the new episodes in the Exquisite Corpse, kids took turns adding to a story. Wouldn't it be fun to have an ongoing story that several kids/classes added to like Jon Scieszka's Exquisite Corpse? I could see an ongoing story like that in the future--watching kids collaborate around writing was fun. As expected, when given the choice to use these tools on the SMART Board independently, the collaboration and conversations were amazing to listen to. As I assumed, the tool almost demands thinking together.

This week, we'll try some Stopmotion editing on the SMART Board with a few groups of 4th graders. I see them huddled around the laptop screen deciding on their next editing job, but the SMART Board should make it so much easier for everyone to be part of the decision-making.

This week, I was thrilled to look over and see 3-5 kids using the board on their own for various purposes. Since it is new for so many of them, learning the basics of how to move an object, how the pens work, how to get the keyboard, etc. are all happening as they explore on their own. I am working hard to help kids see that this is not a teacher tool-that the board is one that can be used for a variety of reasons and that they can use it independently of me. I adamantly believe that for these tools to be worthwhile in the classroom, kids need to be using them to create and collaborate. This will take a while, I know. My thinking is that for the next several weeks and for the first several weeks of next school year, kids will see many of the possibilities of the SMART Board. Then they will take it from there, realizing when the tool will support what they are trying to do.

And, of course, I'll utilize our SMART Board Team. I am hoping to meet with them in the next few weeks to determine where to go next with the board.

Other blog posts on the SMART Board in our library:

http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2010/04/poetry-and-smart-board.html

http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2010/04/poetry-and-smart-board-part-2.html

http://readingyear.blogspot.com/2009/05/smartboards-in-readingwriting-workshop.html

Poem #18 Sunday Night Teacher Haiku

Sunday inertia

last week. This week: momentum

means completed list.

State Test Simile Poem

My students are

as confident as racehorses

in the starting gate.

Our teacher is

as nervous as a donut

in the teacher's lounge.

My students are

as sharp as a box of

#2 pencils.

Our teacher is

as hardworking as a house painter

with a one-inch brush.

On Wednesday afternoon,

we'll all be

as relieved as a gymnast

who sticks the landing.

by Mary Lee Hahn, copyright 2010

BONUS: NEW SIMILE BOOK IS AS PERFECT AS THE PETALS ON A PETUNIA!

Muddy As A Duck Puddle and Other American Similes

by Laurie Lawlor

illustrated by Ethan Long

Holiday House, 2010

review copy provided by the publisher

This book has it all -- it's an ABC book of 26 uniquely American similes, and there's an explanation for each one in the back of the book, including the part of the country from which it hails!

Here are a few from the book that can be used to describe an elementary school before the state tests: Our testing coordinators are "Busy as a stump-tailed cow in fly-time" trying to find spaces and translators and cds for all of the ELLs in our building -- students who speak Twi, Farsi, Arabic, Spanish, Korean, Bengali, and Russian. Our teachers are as "Jittery as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs." We really, really need to meet AYP this year. No matter the outcome of the tests, we all believe that our students are just as "Fine as frog hair." These state tests are but ONE isolated measure of our students' growth this year, and no matter what the tests say, we know to the core of our collective being that our students have grown in their learning, understanding and knowledge this year. (Plus, we're not finished teaching after this week, so the learning will continue!!)

Poem #16--Google Search Story Poem

Children learn
to write poetry
the same way they learn
to ride a bike:
follow the rules,
break the rules,
get silly and have some fun.

by Mary Lee Hahn, using Google Search Stories, copyright 2010

A big shout-out to Gregory K. at GottaBook for introducing us to the way-cool fun of Google Search Stories, and another one to Elizabeth at Tiny Reader for the inspiration to use it for my poem-a-day challenge. The perfect diversion for the middle of the month slump!

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast this week.

Here's a reprint of a bunch of the Kidlitosphere (and other assorted) NaPoMo projects that I'm following (or at least trying valiantly to follow):

Gregory K. is once again hosting 30 Poets/30 Days with previously unpublished poems by favorite children's authors.

Tricia Stohr-Hunt is interviewing 30 children's poets, beginning with Mary Ann Hoberman, the US Children's Poet Laureate. The Poetry Makers list is stellar!

Jone MacCulloch shares Thirty Days, Thirty Students, Thirty Poems: original poems by students.

Jama Rattigan is posting original poems & favorite recipes by some of the Poetry Friday regulars.

At A Wrung Sponge, Andromeda is writing a "haiga" (photo and haiku) each day. Her photography is simply stunning. The haikus are amazing, too!

Kelly Fineman at Writing and Ruminating will continue the Building a Poetry Collection series she began last year -- selecting a poem a day in a kind of personal Poetry Tag (see Sylvia Vardell's version below) and providing analysis. I call this The University of Kelly Fineman because I learn so much in each post!

Sylvia Vardell is inviting poets to play Poetry Tag. She will invite poets to "play" along by offering a poem for readers to enjoy, then she will "tag" a poet who shares her/his own poem THAT IS CONNECTED to the previous poem in SOME way—by a theme, word, idea, tone-- and offers a sentence or two explaining that connection. What a creative idea!

Laura at Author Amok is highlighting the poets laureate of all 50 states this month...well, all the ones that have a poet laureate... Fun Fun!

Laura Salas is posting a children's poem per day from a poetry book she loves.

Lee Wind is publishing many new Teen voices during April for National Poetry Month. GLBTQ Teen Poetry.

Bud the Teacher gives a picture prompt every day during April and invites readers to post the poem it inspires in the comments of his blog.

ORIGINAL POEM-A-DAY CHALLENGE

Checks these blogs daily for new original poems by the following people:

Susan Taylor Brown

Jone MacCulloch

Elizabeth Moore

April Halprin Wayland

Liz Scanlon

Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

If I missed your project, please let me know and I'll add it to my list!

Which of the Top Hundred Have YOU Read?

Reading is breathing.

We couldn't live without it.

We've got books in our veins

and stories in our souls.

Our life work is to

make readers,

coach readers,

cheer readers,

tempt readers,

help readers,

guide readers,

read alongside readers.

by Mary Lee Hahn, copyright 2010

Thanks to Teacherninja for this great meme!

So...which of Betsy Bird’s Top 100 Children’s Novels have you read? The titles of the books Mary Lee's read are blue. The ones Franki's read are red. The ones we've BOTH read are purple.

100. The Egypt Game – Snyder (1967)
99. The Indian in the Cupboard – Banks (1980)
98. Children of Green Knowe – Boston (1954)
97. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane – DiCamillo (2006)
96. The Witches – Dahl (1983)
95. Pippi Longstocking – Lindgren (1950)
94. Swallows and Amazons – Ransome (1930)
93. Caddie Woodlawn – Brink (1935)
92. Ella Enchanted – Levine (1997)
91. Sideways Stories from Wayside School – Sachar (1978)
90. Sarah, Plain and Tall – MacLachlan (1985)
89. Ramona and Her Father – Cleary (1977)
88. The High King – Alexander (1968)
87. The View from Saturday – Konigsburg (1996)
86. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Rowling (1999)
85. On the Banks of Plum Creek – Wilder (1937)
84. The Little White Horse – Goudge (1946)
83. The Thief – Turner (1997)
82. The Book of Three – Alexander (1964)
81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon – Lin (2009)
80. The Graveyard Book – Gaiman (2008)
79. All-of-a-Kind-Family – Taylor (1951)
78. Johnny Tremain – Forbes (1943)
77. The City of Ember – DuPrau (2003)
76. Out of the Dust – Hesse (1997)
75. Love That Dog – Creech (2001)
74. The Borrowers – Norton (1953)
73. My Side of the Mountain – George (1959)
72. My Father’s Dragon – Gannett (1948)
71. The Bad Beginning – Snicket (1999)
70. Betsy-Tacy – Lovelae (1940)
69. The Mysterious Benedict Society – Stewart ( 2007)
68. Walk Two Moons – Creech (1994)
67. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher – Coville (1991)
66. Henry Huggins – Cleary (1950)
65. Ballet Shoes – Stratfeild (1936)
64. A Long Way from Chicago – Peck (1998)
63. Gone-Away Lake – Enright (1957)
62. The Secret of the Old Clock – Keene (1959)
61. Stargirl – Spinelli (2000)
60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle – Avi (1990)
59. Inkheart – Funke (2003)
58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase – Aiken (1962)
57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 – Cleary (1981)
56. Number the Stars – Lowry (1989)
55. The Great Gilly Hopkins – Paterson (1978)
54. The BFG – Dahl (1982)
53. Wind in the Willows – Grahame (1908)
52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret -- Selznik (2007)
51. The Saturdays – Enright (1941)
50. Island of the Blue Dolphins – O’Dell (1960)
49. Frindle – Clements (1996)
48. The Penderwicks – Birdsall (2005)
47. Bud, Not Buddy – Curtis (1999)
46. Where the Red Fern Grows – Rawls (1961)
45. The Golden Compass – Pullman (1995)
44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing – Blume (1972)
43. Ramona the Pest – Cleary (1968)
42. Little House on the Prairie – Wilder (1935)
41. The Witch of Blackbird Pond – Speare (1958)
40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz – Baum (1900)
39. When You Reach Me – Stead (2009)
38. HP and the Order of the Phoenix – Rowling (2003)
37. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry – Taylor (1976)
36. Are You there, God? It’s Me, Margaret – Blume (1970)
35. HP and the Goblet of Fire – Rowling (2000)
34. The Watson’s Go to Birmingham – Curtis (1995)
33. James and the Giant Peach – Dahl (1961)
32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH – O’Brian (1971)
31. Half Magic – Eager (1954)
30. Winnie-the-Pooh – Milne (1926)
29. The Dark Is Rising – Cooper (1973)
28. A Little Princess – Burnett (1905)
27. Alice I and II – Carroll (1865/72)
26. Hatchet – Paulsen (1989)
25. Little Women – Alcott (1868/9)
24. HP and the Deathly Hallows – Rowling (2007)
23. Little House in the Big Woods – Wilder (1932)
22. The Tale of Despereaux – DiCamillo (2003)
21. The Lightening Thief – Riordan (2005)
20. Tuck Everlasting – Babbitt (1975)
19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Dahl (1964)
18. Matilda – Dahl (1988)
17. Maniac Magee – Spinelli (1990)
16. Harriet the Spy – Fitzhugh (1964)
15. Because of Winn-Dixie – DiCamillo (2000)
14. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Rowling (1999)
13. Bridge to Terabithia – Paterson (1977)
12. The Hobbit – Tolkien (1938)
11. The Westing Game – Raskin (1978)
10. The Phantom Tollbooth – Juster (1961)
9. Anne of Green Gables – Montgomery (1908)
8. The Secret Garden – Burnett (1911)
7. The Giver -Lowry (1993)
6. Holes – Sachar (1998)
5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler – Koningsburg (1967)
4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe – Lewis (1950)
3. Harry Potter #1 – Rowling (1997)
2. A Wrinkle in Time – L’Engle (1962)
1. Charlotte’s Web – White (1952)

2 Books I Could Read a Million Times

I lucked out this week with 2 books I could read a million times.

And I wasn't quite expecting it. It has been a while that I've found books that I enjoy more each time I read them. But I am definitely adding

My Garden by Kevin Henkes

and

Chester's Masterpiece

to the list of BOOKS I CAN READ A MILLION TIMES. I read these to the younger kids in the library and they LOVED them!

I have always loved Kevin Henkes. I love Lilly and Chrysanthemum and so many of his others. I am still getting used to the fact that not all of his books are about great little mice. It always throws me a bit to see something new and different from Henkes. But I loved the look of MY GARDEN and it was a cute story when I read it, so I added it to my plans for last week. Most of the books on my BOOKS I CAN READ A MILLION TIMES list, don't actually make the list until I've read them to lots of kids. It is in the reading them to children, that I actually realize how amazing they are. I love every single page of MY GARDEN. This story is about a little girl who dreams of her own garden. She has such great ideas for her garden--planting jellybeans, plaid flowers and invisible carrots. The illustrations are stunning in the way that the colors contrast with the white background. This is such a happy book. I loved reading it to kids each and every time. Their eyes--thinking about the possibilities of a child's dream garden--was quite fun!

And, CHESTER'S MASTERPIECE by Melanie Watt may be my favorite Chester book yet. If you know Chester, you have to love him. In this newest book, he steals author Melanie Watt's writing supplies and attempts to write a book without her. With red marker in hand, Chester claims to need no help from Melanie Watt. I love that we have learned what to expect from Chester. If we've read his other books, it is fun to see how these predictable things play out in this newest book. The kids were so happy to see a new Chester book. And it was more fun to read aloud than I had imagined.

Poem #14--After the Concert

From across the gym,

I see my student pick up

his friend's little brother

and start swinging him

around and around.

I step towards them

to intervene

but

change directions

and head to the door.

I'm off the clock.

by Mary Lee Hahn, copyright 2010

The Children's Baking Book

I received a review copy of THE CHILDREN'S BAKING BOOK from Dorling Kindersley this week. I cannot keep enough kids' cookbooks in the library. The kids love them and they are often checked out. My challenge is finding cookbooks with things that kids can actually make on their own. At first glance, this one looked like a great one.

Each recipe is on one two-page spread. The set-up of each spread is the same--a large photo of the item to be made, a list of ingredients and tools and step by step instructions paired with photos. There is also information for some recipe variations for each recipe. Recipes are usually 5-7 steps. The recipes are easy enough for kids to try but not so simple that they don't take some work. Included in the book are cookies, doughs, cakes and pastries. The first few pages give some tips on how to use the book and each section includes a section-specific page of tips. The directions are written simply and clearly and the photos help with the explanations.

(The only thing that is a little tricky is the fancy cursive font used in the ingredients and tools list.)

I gave the cookbook to my 10 year old last night. She woke up this morning wanting to bake. We told her that she needed to pick something she could do on her own. She has never baked anything completely on her own but she bakes with me once in a while and she has attended some great baking camps at our local bakery, OUR CUPCAKERY. So, she has a bit of experience. When she began putting sticky notes on all of the recipes she wanted to try, we laughed--there were more marked than unmarked. And I had to agree--there were many recipes that I want to try. These are definitely recipes meant for people of all ages.

Ana chose to make "Simple Sponge Cake". We agreed on the recipe but I knew she would need a bit of help. As I said, the directions are simple, but not easy. Patience in waiting for the cake to cool before she could add the filling was the biggest problem she had. Really, I didn't have to help much at all. Measuring the butter, and a few little things were all that were needed. And the cake was beautiful and delicious! (But I must admit, I didn't let her use my new mixer...)

I love this cookbook. I think I am going to have to purchase another one so that we have one at home and we have one in the library for the kids at school. I think Ana will be making lots of the recipes in the book and I feel confident that she can do them on her own AND they'll be things we can all enjoy. If I can talk her into the pizza dough, maybe she can start making dinner once in a while.

This is a great book. Great recipes and she knew that she made something good--not a little kid recipe. She worked hard but made something that we all enjoyed. Enough sophistication to the recipes with enough support for kids her age to be able to be successful. A perfect combination!

Poem #13--Definito

I never intended for my students to write a poem a day with me, but one student's idea took hold: we're writing a poem a day about each other.

Each day, we draw a name and everyone writes a poem about that person. That person writes a poem about me.

At the end of the year, we'll have a book of poems about all the members of the class. A collection of memories. Handmade heartfelt gifts to each other.

I've taught a few short forms so far: 15 Words or Less, Haiku, Limerick, Acrostic, Chain, and Free Verse. 6 forms; 6 tools in their poetry-writing toolbox. Today, after a discussion of line breaks in Free Verse, one student asked if he had to write in the form I taught. "Of course not!" I replied. "Pick the form that works for what you want to say!" And that student went off and wrote a fabulous acrostic that captured the essence of his friend.

Here's a new form for me, and one I might teach my students -- the Definito. Heidi Mordhorst invented this form back in November. It has 10 lines in 3 stanzas -- 4 lines, 4 lines, and 2 lines, ending in the word being defined.

I had blood drawn today, which is a tricky proposition since only one arm can be used, and the key vein in that arm endured chemotherapy 12 years (YAY!) ago. Only the best phlebotomists are successful drawing blood from me. Today's phlebotomist was a real pro, and this poem is his definition of what makes a true phlebotomist.

It's about the needle

and it's about the tourniquet.

It's about the alcohol

and it's about the tap-tap-tap on the vein.

It's the difference between

drawing blood as a PART of your job

and drawing blood

AS your job.

Stick-meister:

Phlebotomist.