May Mosaic

I originally thought I'd go for all flowers this month. You know, the old, April showers bring May flowers sort of thing. But although May did bring on lots of beautiful blooms (it seems like everything is a couple weeks early this year), it was good for more than just that. May brings Teacher Appreciation week, and our wonderful PTO went all out this year, including decorating the front walk with "thank you" in dozens of different languages -- perfect for our school. May brought the new/old cabinet for the kitchen (and hopefully June will bring the time for the floor, walls, and new appliances!!). COFF donated $1000 to CFR, and my Champion ran the Race for the Cure in celebration of me. My "Time With Teacher" in the raffle at our school's Carnapalooza was a river exploration program at Highbanks. My young friend and I didn't catch the water snake, but we were suitably impressed by it. Worthington has their flower baskets hung from all the light poles in Old Worthington. These baskets are a measure of my summer: right now the vines only come to the bottom of the baskets. By the middle of August, they will be touching the ground and it will be time to go back to school! We finish the month with The Hosta Guy's dog under the van at the farmer's market, the spices I used for chicken curry, and Captain Flint (our favorite barista at Stauf's) in "Treasure Island."

As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth

As Easy As Falling Off the Face of the Earth

by Lynne Rae Perkins

Greenwillow Books, 2010

review copy provided by the publisher

Fair warning: I'm going to gush.

This is my favorite novel so far this year, hands-down, no competition.

I can't wait until Saturday for Mother Reader's 48-Hour Read -- I'm seriously considering rereading this book as my first read of the marathon. (And if you saw the pile of novels I need to tackle for the Notables, you'd have a much better appreciation of the enormity that statement.)

You read for plot? This book's got plot in spades -- one outlandishly unbelievably impossibly possible event after another. This book is one long series of unfortunate events that could really happen. (But maybe not in the same chain, to the same person...or could they?)

You read for characters? This book's got a full cast, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would be Del. I love Del. Who wouldn't? He drops everything to drive Ry across the country to get back home, and then flies in a duct taped airplane with him to an island, and sails with him to another island, only to have some rotten luck with a windmill, but luckily he's taught Ry everything he needs to know in order for complete his mission on his own and live the rest of his life wide open for possibilities the way Del does.

The real reason I love Del? I'm married to him. To a man who can drive all night without sleep, find a way to fix anything (and who'll drop whatever he's doing to fix that thing for whoever asks), fly an airplane, sail a boat (while singing sea shanties), and admit (most of the time, at least begrudgingly) when he's wrong. My point here is not to gloat, but to let those of you who believe that Del is an over-the-top created-by-an-author kind of character know that men like that exist.

Another reason I love Del? I've got a little Del in me, too. I've got a couple of summit photos to prove that prior to arthritis and back problems, I was a rock climber. I've swum two open water swims, driven around the U.S. on my own, learned to make bobbin lace, and baked over 100 cupcakes in 3 days straight. I've had an interesting life. I HAVE an interesting life. And if there's nothing else this book makes you want more than to start over again at page one and reread it, it makes you long for (or proud of) an interesting life.

What else do I love about this book? The dogs. (They crack me up. Especially their conversation in the cargo hold on the way back home.) The chapter titles. Carl's driving. The description of the smell of the air in Florida. The scene where Everett's methane tank explodes. The way this book has stayed with me even though I finished it (for the first time) a week ago.

What are you waiting for? Go get a copy and start reading. Now!

Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton and Tom Lichtenheld

Shark vs. Train

by Chris Barton and Tom Lichtenheld

Little, Brown and Company, 2010

Competition has been a big problem in my classroom this year. For a few of the kids, it's always a race to the door when they're called to line up, with no tolerance for someone getting their place back in line once the order is set. The drama of the soccer field at lunch recess lasts well into the afternoon, and both Connect 4 and Battleship were put away during indoor recess season because of constant (loud) bickering about who won or whose turn it was to play. Grades on papers are not seen as a reflection of one's hard work and progress in learning, rather they are numbers with which to "verse" one another.

Sigh.

I'm adding Shark vs. Train to my stack of beginning-of-the-year books so that we can start the year next year with a conversation about how ridiculous competition can be. (Yes, crazy me -- four days left and I'm thinking about next year already!!)

The set-up to the story is two little boys (sorry, guys, but yes, it's mostly your problem...) diving into a toy box and coming up with a shark and a train. The two toys go head-to-head in some situations where the winner is obvious -- in the ocean or on railroad tracks -- not so obvious -- roasting marshmallows or eating pies -- or downright tricky -- playing hide-and-seek or trying not to get shushed in the library.

In this book, the escalated competition is preempted by a call to lunch. Hopefully, in my classroom next year, it can be preempted by a humorous look at competition from the first day.

BONUS EXTRAS:

How the book came to be -- a peek behind the scenes by editor Alvina Ling at Blue Rose Girls.

7-Imp's chat with the author and illustrator.

Chris Barton's blog.

Tom Lichtenheld's blog.

Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature

Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature

by Sarah C. Campbell

photographs by Sarah C. Campbell and Richard P. Campbell

Boyds Mills Press, 2010

Here's another great pick for your mathematics library -- a book about Fibonacci Numbers that is easy to understand! Campbell's photos of single garden flowers whose petals follow the Fibonacci sequence, along with clearly stated text make this a book that can be shared with even very young children. (I'm thinking of Jone's Kindergartners who wrote Fibonacci poems.)

You can feel Campbell scaffolding your understanding as she moves you from flower petals to the spirals in the bracts of a pinecone, the disc flowers in a sunflower, and the sections on the outside of a pineapple. (Who knew these spirals all go both ways?? -- obviously, not me!)

This is a fascinating book that will have you looking closely at the world around you to find patterns and counting to see if you can find another example of a Fibonocci number in nature.

Sarah Campbell's blog and website.

Author interview by Elizabeth O. Dulemba (and links to other blogs on Sarah's Feb/Mar Blog Tour.)

Franki's review of Wolfsnail: A Backyard Predator by Sarah C. Campbell.

For Good Measure by Ken Robbins

For Good Measure: The ways we say how much, how far, how heavy, how big, how old

by Ken Robbins

Roaring Brook Press, 2010

Franki already reviewed this book along with other great new nonfiction, but it deserves its own spotlight.

All I had to see was that it was by Ken Robbins, and I bought it. I LOVED his book, Food For Thought (reviewed in September 2009). For Good Measure also has stunning photography paired with the interesting facts in the text.

What I love most about For Good Measure is the way Robbins tells the history of the words we use to name our units of measure. Some (many, actually) come from Latin, such as inch (uncia), mile (mille passus), and pound (pondus means weight; libra was the real unit of measure; libra pondo meant a "libra of weight," and although we now call the unit "pound," we still abbreviate it lb. for libra). Others come from Old English (1 fathom is 6 feet, or the distance from finger tip to finger tip of a man's outstretched arms; fæthm meant "outstretched arms," and if we can't fathom why BP is not being held more accountable for the oil spill, it means we can't wrap our arms around the idea.) And still others come from the object that was used to measure them: a rod is 5.5 yd. or 16.5 ft. and "was originally a stick used to prod the oxen that were plowing a field."

I also love the big organizing ideas that Robbins uses: yes, he goes from smallest to largest units in each category of measurement, but he also points out things like "Smaller units of length are mostly based on parts of the body. Longer units of distance are mostly based on actions," and time is "the interval between one event and another -- between one winter and the next (a year), one heartbeat and the next (a second.)"

I read this book aloud to my math class last week. We were just finishing up our unit on measurement -- perfect timing! They loved it! They were engaged by the photographs and fascinated by the facts in the text. This book is a must for every nonfiction collection.

Poetry Friday -- Hurdles and Sprinting and the Finish Line

There are two ways to pass a hurdle: leaping over or plowing through... There needs to be a monster truck option.
- Jeph Jacques

photo by kevin.roberts

"Hurdlers are sprinters with a problem. They're not satisfied just to sprint. Anybody can sprint, some not as well as others of course, but anybody can sprint. Not everybody can run hurdles. There's an extra dimension involved. Hurdlers would make a good subject for a thesis in psychology - they are of a persuasion that just needs an extra dimension."
-Denny Moyer

photo by Ambrosio Photography

IF

by Rudyard Kipling

Especially this part that comes right at the end:

"...If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run...")

Just a few more days to the finish line, and we're sprinting and jumping hurdles, and trying to

"...keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs ..."

You can find the poem in print at Poets.org

Tricia has the round up this week at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

Fun New Wordless Book

Chalk

by Bill Thomson

Marshall Cavendish, 2010

review copy provided by the publisher

I'm always on the lookout for new wordless books for my collection. They are great for limited English speakers and for small group work on making inferences.

This one tells the story of some children who find a gift bag full of chalk hanging from a playground dinosaur's mouth on a rainy day. The first girl draws a sun on the sidewalk, and lo and behold, the sun comes out.

The kids try out one fun possibility after another, but things get a little out of hand, until someone gets the idea to draw the rainstorm they started out with so that the chalk drawings wash away.

The kids carefully hang the bag of chalk back on the dinosaur's mouth and walk on (with a final, wary glance back -- reminiscent of JUMANJI).

Cheryl Bardoe at Cover to Cover

I went to hear Cheryl Bardoe speak at Cover to Cover yesterday. I am on a mission to find more great nonfiction for kids and I picked up Cheryl's newest book MAMMOTHS AND MASTODONS: TITANS OF THE ICE AGE
a few weeks ago.


I loved it immediately and think the topic, writing and visuals will appeal to kids. As I have said before, I think it is really important that we have lots of nonfiction that kids could read cover to cover. To build stamina for nonfiction and to immerse themselves in topics they love, reading lots on a topic is important. This is one of those great books that upper elementary/middle school kids could read from cover to cover. This book is the story of a recent discovery of a fully frozen baby mammoth. Because the mammoth was so well preserved, scientists learned a great deal from the discovery. This book is the story of the work that the scientists did and the things they discovered that might help us in the future. The book is filled with photos, illustrations and diagrams and is packed with information about mammoths and their disappearance. "Lyuba' as the baby mammoth has been named, is part of a traveling exhibit at the Chicago Field Museum.

There are several articles about the baby mammoth and the traveling exhibit in Chicago:
USA TODAY
DAILY HERALD
ABC NEWS

Bardoe's first book GREGOR MENDEL: THE FRIAR WHO GREW PEAS, is another book that I love. A great biography about the worlds first geneticist. This biography explains the experiments that Mendel did with peas in a way that children can begin to understand concepts related to genes. Told in narrative, we learn a great deal about Mendel's passion for nature as well as his scientific contribution to the world.

So glad I was able to hear Cheryl Bardoe yesterday. She has a gift for writing about complex topics in a way that makes them accessible to kids. If you have not visited her website, she has great resources for teachers.


An aside: To highlight Cheryl Bardoe's books, Cover to Cover had a digital frame on the check-out counter. The books were highlighted on the frame. It caught my eye immediately and I began to think about what a great tool this would be for the library. A frame can hold so many pictures and the images are so easy to change and update. I think I will buy one to use to highlight new books, certain books by an author, etc. Just another way to highlight books for kids--this digital frame idea seems brilliant to me!

2 New Early Chapter Books

I am always looking for good early chapter books. I think kids move from Henry and Mudge to Harry Potter too fast and often lose interest in reading because of it. I am always thrilled when I find great books that help kids build the stamina they need to get through longer books. I also like these books to recommend for teachers looking to add chapter books to their primary classroom read aloud time. Finding books that are easy enough and appropriate for young children, while also giving them real issues to talk and think about is not always easy. These two do both of those things.

LAYLA, QUEEN OF HEARTS by Glenda Millard is one that I just discovered. I like it because it has a bit of depth that you don't often find with earlier chapter books. This is the story of a friendship between Layla and Miss Amelie. Because Layla's grandmother has recently passed away, Layla has no one to take to Senior Citizens' Day at school. With the help of her neighbors, she finds a new friend, Miss Amelie. But Miss Amelie is often very confused and forgetful. Layla isn't sure that Miss Amelie will be able to make it to Senior Citizens' Day after all. The thing I like about this book is the way that it focuses on the relationship between the two characters and the kindness they show to each other. I think it is often difficult for young children to begin to understand the things that often come with aging and illness. This book puts these things into a story that children can understand. I love the characters in this book. The author focuses on the good in each character and the ways in which they support each other. They will stay with me for a while.

And, if you've ever wished your doll would come to life (and who hasn't, really?), you'll want to read THE VERY LITTLE PRINCESS by Marion Dane Bauer. I am a big fan of Bauer and this is a very different kind of book for her, I think. Marion Dane Bauer often deals with hard, real issues in her books. She does so in this one, but cushions it in a tale about a doll coming to life. I so love that. I love this book. It is a short read. About 120 pages. The basic story is like many others--a girl who finds a doll who comes to life. I love this kind of a story--any little tiny people who come to life. But this one is about more than that. It is about pain and loneliness, friendship and abandonment and about living today to its fullest. It is amazing to me that Marion Dane Bauer could pack such big issues into such a fun book. I shouldn't be surprised. She is an amazing author. Again, this would make a great read aloud or a great book for talking about.

(The title of this book is The Very Little Princess #1--could it be that there will be MORE of these coming soon?)

Encyclopedia Mythologica: GODS & HEROES

Gods and Heroes

by Matthew Reinhart and Robert Sabuda

Candlewick Press, 2010

review copy provided by the publisher

Did you catch that byline? ROBERT SABUDA.

Yeah. This is a popup book. Probably the most amazing popup you've seen to date. And timely -- aren't your students nuts over Percy Jackson and Greek Mythology?!?!

I sat down with my friend Lisa who has taught her fifth graders to make popup books for many years.

The first thing she pointed to was Robert Sabuda's name and said, "Well, all you have to see is his name and you know it's going to be extraordinary."

The first double page spread is Egyptian mythology. Anubis practically jumps off the page into your lap with his jackal-head mask, his palm outstretched, and his ankh held high.

There is information on most corners, and under that text is another popup and more information. (On some corners, there are two layers of small popups! Astounding construction and design!)

On the second spread, Olympus rises from the clouds and the reader quite naturally wants to find each one of the Olympians.

Jason and the Argonauts float out of the third spread, representing the Mortal Champions of the Old World. (There is a flip book of Herakles' Labors that is like no flip book you've ever seen...)

Next, Thor the Sky God lowers his enchanted hammer as the reader learns about the Norse myths.

Pele pops out of a volcano to introduce Eastern Mythology.

Finally, Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent of the Aztec Empire writhes off the page to bring the myths within 10,000 years of the present.

More quotes from Lisa:

"Wow. Wow."

"Sabuda is not just a popup guy, he's a true paper engineer."

"This is not a book that readers will "use up" in one quick look. The popups draw you into the text and you want to keep reading and discovering."