Making Lemonade

Good thing our phone was on the fritz a couple of weeks ago. That meant we didn't have Internet access on a Tuesday night when all my work depended on getting online. Needed to pay bills. Little stuff like that.

We packed a book to read (him), a computer (her), and went to Scotties, the nearest Free Internet With Your Cup of Coffee joint that we could think of.

I was (more than) just a little tired and crabby about not being able to work at home in my jammies and then fall right into bed. As we walked into Scotties, my ears went, "Is that LIVE music?" and the crabby started to leak right out of me. Four old guys were playing 1940's-60's tunes on electric guitars that were amped but not cranked. They sounded like my childhood guitar teacher, Rudy Schlichenmayer. They sat slouched over their guitars in a wide half-circle so they could watch each other and riff off each other. When they sang, their voices sounded like the records my parents used to play. My crabbiness left me. I started noticing that they weren't really all that old, now that I'm on the near side of old myself. They were probably in their 60's. They obviously liked each other and enjoyed getting together to have a public jam session.

I got my work done. We checked the schedule. They play every Tuesday night. I'll be there whenever I can.

Poetry Friday -- Butterflies

One of the Butterflies

by W. S. Merwin

The trouble with pleasure is the timing

it can overtake me without warning

and be gone before I know it is here

it can stand facing me unrecognized

while I am remembering somewhere else

in another age or someone not seen

for years and never to be seen again

in this world and it seems that I cherish

only now a joy I was not aware of

when it was here although it remains

out of reach and will not be caught or named

or called back and if I could make it stay

as I want to it would turn to pain.

I took the pictures. (It's the same butterfly, showing off her outer and inner beauties.) I found the poem at The Writer's Almanac and couldn't figure out a way to divide it. Hopefully the copyright police will allow me this rare indiscretion.

The roundup today is at Picture Book of the Day, hosted by Anastasia Suen.

Happy Friday! And, hey, don't let your happiness get away from you like a butterfly that doesn't sit still for a picture -- pay attention to your happiness and enjoy it NOW, while it's right there in front of you!

3 Picture Books for Young Readers

THE BOSS BABY by Marla Frazee is hysterical.  The story starts out with these words, "From the moment the baby arrived, it was obvious that he was the boss."  The story goes through those typical things new parents go through dealing with the demands of a new baby 24/7.  The illustrations really make the book what it is. The baby is dressed like a top executive--in a suit and tie. He sets up his office in his bouncy seat and "calls meetings" from his crib.  You will LOVE this baby!

I bought KIKI's BLANKIE by Janie Bynum because I immediately fell in love with Kiki the monkey.  She is ADORABLE.  And she LOVES her polka-dot blankie. (My favorite page is when she is using it as a beach towel, laying out wearing sunglasses.)  Kiki never goes anywhere without her blankie and then she loses it. She has to have courage to get it back.  She so loves her blankie! This would be a fun companion book to Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems.

I found out that the author of DEAR TYRANNOSAURUS REX, Lisa McClatchy, lives in Columbus.  I had so many kids looking for books with dinosaurs this week in the library, that I am sure this will be a popular one.  It is a cute story of a little girl who sends a letter to the dinosaur in the museum, inviting him to her birthday party. The book is actually her letter.  She tells him all of the great things that will happen if he comes. Each page begins with, "If you come to our party...". I think this would be a great mentor for writing.  Each page uses the repeated phrase to give a detail about the birthday party.  The ending is a fun surprise!

THE ROBIN MAKES A LAUGHING SOUND: A BIRDER'S JOURNAL by Sallie Wolf

A colleague at work shared THE ROBIN MAKES A LAUGHING SOUND with me and I ordered it right away. I loved this book for lots of reasons--even though I know almost nothing about birds and I am not a bird-watcher.  Our library overlooks a courtyard and it would be a great place for bird watching if I can figure out how best to set up feeders to attract them. Until then, I am picking up great bird books for kids. This one may be my favorite.

The intro of the book is a note from the author, telling us that her 7th grade teacher introduced her to bird watching and describes some of the work that she did in that class. She has been hooked ever since.  The rest of the book is a birder's journal. It is filed with poems, sketches, observations and more.  The pages are made to look like a real journal--with some things taped in, etc.  There is a variety of writing and I can see kids learning so much from this book--both as a writer and as a scientist.

When I was in the classroom, I always looked for great books that showed how writers worked in the real world. This is a great example of a "writer's notebook" to share with students if you use notebooks in your classroom. It might invite kids to try new things in their own notebooks.

Another Great Song Book--IF YOU'RE A MONSTER AND YOU KNOW IT

Now that the kids in the library are totally excited about books they can sing because of PETE THE CAT, I am on the lookout for new books with downloadable songs.  I so love the work of Rebecca and Ed Emberly that I was excited to see IF YOU'RE A MONSTER AND YOU KNOW IT just in time for the Halloween season.

This is a new version of the classic song, "If You're Happy and You Know It."  But it takes on a fun twist asking kids to do things like "smack your claws" and "twitch your tail".  Just as with other books that are coming with songs these days, there is a fun song that can be downloaded for singalongs or just listening.  It is at Scholastic's site along with other information on the book.

As with their other books, the illustrations in this one are bright and colorful and set against black.  I think if I put bright paper out, kids will have a great time trying to create some of their own monsters using Emberly's art as a mentor.

A PIG PARADE IS A TERRIBLE IDEA: Great Mentor Text For Persuasive Writing, but More Importantly, A GREAT, FUN READ ALOUD

I have been waiting patiently for my copy of A PIG PARADE IS A TERRIBLE IDEA by Michael Ian Black. Since I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED CHICKEN CHEEKS, when Bill at Literate Lives shared this new one, I ordered it right away!

A PIG PARADE IS A TERRIBLE IDEA by Michael Ian Black is a crack up! This book would make for a great fun read aloud. This is a great book about all of the reasons that a pig parade is a bad idea--my favorite reason is that "pigs absolutely refuse to wear majorette uniforms". There are many, many reasons that the authors give us, but that one was my personal favorite. The humor is quite sophisticated and I will have to try it out but I am pretty sure it will make my BOOKS I COULD READ A MILLION TIMES list.

I could see using this book in writing workshop as a great mentor text for persuasive writing. (If you do use it for writing workshop, please, please, please make sure to read it aloud to your kids a few times first--just for the fun of it.) The authors begin the book with a great lead about thinking that maybe a pig parade might be a good idea. Then they go through point by point and explain why this is a terrible idea. At the end of the book, they summarize again why this is so bad. When I did units with upper elementary kids on persuasive writing, finding great examples was often a little bit difficult. I'd find a few things online and lots of op ed pieces, but there weren't many great picture books that kids could study to learn about persuasive writing. This book is one of the best pieces of persuasive writing I have seen. Readers are clearly convinced by the last page, that a Pig Parade is definitely a terrible idea!

The Marshmallow Challenge: Starting a Yearlong Conversation about Communication, Creation and Collaboration

Last week was the first week that I saw classes in the library. I have been thinking hard about where to begin this year and about the big goals for the students. Because this is the 3rd year I've had with these students, I have an idea of where they are when it comes to the way they use the library. I have worked over the past few years to focus on the tools in the library and about building independence. This year, kids will be checking out themselves so that we are freed up to do more work with students as they dig into their learning.

After looking hard at our state Library Guidelines and thinking about the skills our students need to be literate in the 21st Century, I wanted to move to a new level of what kids could do in the library. I continue to refer back to NCTE's definition of 21st Century Literacies as I think and plan.

When I watched the TED Talk on The Marshmallow Challenge, I knew it was the activity I wanted to kick off our year in the library with. So, this week, every 3rd, 4th and 5th grade class participated in the Marshmallow Challenge. Each team of 3-4 had 18 minutes to create a structure using the materials included with a big rule being that the marshmallow had to be on top. I had several goals when I decided that it was worth counting out so many pieces of uncooked spaghetti.

First of all, I want the library to become a schoolwide community. One challenge that is different from the classroom is that not all members of the library community are in the space at the same time. So I need to connect their conversations in different ways. I knew that if I did this with all 3rd, 4th and 5th graders, it would become a topic of conversation on the bus, at dinner tables and at recess. From what I heard from the kids, I was correct in my thinking. I will also expand on the conversation by creating a display in the library highlighting some of the things that each group created and learned.

I also want the library to continue to be a place where kids can create--we'll build on the work with film-making that we did last year, do more content-connected projects, etc. and I want them to have thought hard about collaborating and problem solving.

So, every 3rd, 4th and 5th grade class spent the first 18 minutes of their library time this year participating in THE MARSHMALLOW CHALLENGE. ( I let them use tape on the base which may be against the official rules, but I think that was the only difference.) I learned so much from watching the groups. I know that if kids are going to use the library in the ways I hope they do, collaboration is key. It was interesting to watch them share ideas, deal with frustrations, and stay focused (or not) on the task.

The powerful piece was the conversation kids had afterwards. The challenge is designed so that groups MUST collaborate. There is not enough time to not collaborate. So the conversations following the Marshmallow Challenge about collaboration were key. It seems that many young children think that collaboration is about being nice, being a team player. But I think when I look back at the work in 21st Century Literacies, I want more than that for our kids. I want them to problem solve collaboratively--to listen to others' ideas, build on people's thinking and to be able to create ideas and projects together that they could not possibly create on their own.

So, following the activity, each class talked about collaboration. They shared the things they did that felt collaborative. Just as I used to do in Reading Workshop, we had a 2-column conversation. I asked them to answer these two questions: What does collaboration look like? What does collaboration sound like? These initial conversations were amazing. Kids really thinking about the kind of collaboration they did and how they might improve it next time. Did they listen to others' ideas or just try to push their own? How did they deal with frustration? How did they include teammates? What did they do when another teammate became frustrated. Kids said things like,

"When something messed up, we didn't complain. We laughed and fixed it."

"It is better when you talk before you work.

"We learned from our mistakes and to combine ideas to make something we like."
“Wh learned to learn from our mistakes and to combine ideas to make something we all liked
This led right into a conversation about creating because they quickly realized that so much of collaboration comes from problem-solving when things don't go well. We also talked about creation and the fact that trying things that didn't work forced them to think about a new way to do something. So many kids are so worried about doing things the right way and not making mistakes that I loved this part of the conversation.

Follow-Up
For the classes I've seen a 2nd time, I did a quick 15 minute follow-up activity using Marbleworks. Kids were again assigned to a team of 3-4 and we talked about setting challenges or goals for ourselves. For the last few years, kids have been doing lots of great exploration with many of the building toys and games. Although I think free exploration time is important, I also want to bump it up a bit since it hasn't happened naturally. I want the toys to be a source of independent hands-on research. So, I gave kids a challenge--"In 5 minutes, create the tallest structure you can with only 8 pieces." The 8 pieces threw them a bit but they quickly took on the challenge. We discussed the difference in free play and committing to a challenge and they talked again about having to dig in and try new things when something didn't work. Then they brainstormed other challenges that kids might try with Marbleworks. (Build a track in which the marble goes through all of the pieces. Build the lowest structure you can that works and used 8 pieces. Create a track that takes exactly 45 seconds for the marble to travel on.) I will add these challenges and spaces for kids to add new ones to the area around the Marbleworks--inviting others to think differently about the way they design. I think this piece will be key when it comes to research--asking your own questions, finding answers, documenting work over time. For young children, this step will help them understand more text-based research.

I'm glad that we started the year like this. Yesterday, I developed the 180+ pictures that I took and will add those to a wall display near the door, along with quotes from the kids on what they learned about collaborating and creating. I am hoping that conversations will begin to happen across classes and that kids will see things in the pictures that spark new thinking and talk. I have always believed that it is these yearlong conversations that make a difference to student learning and this one on creating and collaborating will be one we add to every week throughout the year.

August Mosaic

No, I didn't forget to do my monthly mosaic, it's just that August kind of galloped away from me, what with school starting so early this year.

My favorite images of the month are of the little boy taking pictures at the British Car Show in Dayton (click on mosaic once or twice to enlarge). He was so passionate! He'd take a picture, look at the image he'd captured, say, "Yes!" to himself, and find another shot to take. It killed him that he couldn't see inside the Rolls, but his dad helped him out with that one. I wanted to ask him what he would do with or make with his pictures. I imagine him at home at the computer sorting them, organizing them, writing about them, maybe making a mosaic with them!

The view outside my classroom window is going to be interesting this year. I'm near the southeast corner of the building, and we're getting several new classrooms and teaching spaces added to the northeast corner. First, they built a road on the green space outside the window leading to the staging area for their materials (and the storage place for the topsoil they scoured to build the road). Luckily, they left our two sweet gum trees. At the end of last week, they poured the cement foundations. It's just a little disruptive to have the arm of the backhoe swinging around outside your window when you're trying to teach...

No, that's not our new puppy. Perhaps in a year we will have a pup from that breeding pair. (It's an English Shepherd -- a herding dog that looks a lot like a robust Border Collie, but with a calmer disposition and an upright herding style.) In the meantime, we help out the breeder by doing temperament testing to help her place the pups in the right homes. Here's a video I made of two of last year's pups tussling.

This was a good month for photographing insects! For one thing, I got a new camera that allows me to get lots closer (and do fun stuff like miniaturizing and fisheye-ing.) But the camera's nothing if the subject's not there! The cicada was on the school building, the butterfly was on my car, and the katydid was on our porch wall. How about those red eyes?!?!

Poetry Friday -- Okay, I Won't Complain

photo by Fouquier

ONE TIME MY DAD
by Richard E. McMullen

One time my dad said to me, I don't
see why people complain about how hard they work
or how tired they are. Nobody works hard but
farmers, miners, lumberjacks and foundry workers.

(the rest of the poem is at at The Writer's Almanac)




Here's hoping you have an enjoyable Labor Day weekend, whether that means a long weekend of rest, or a long weekend with a long to-do list (sigh).

Susan has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Susan Writes.

Mr. President Goes to School

Mr. President Goes to School
by Rick Walton
illustrated by Brad Sneed
Peachtree, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

Whenever I start getting overwhelmed by all the paperwork and meetings and soothing of petty quarrels on the playground that my job entails, I think of the mountains of work the President has to face day after day for four years (and with hostile legislators and press corps thrown in for extra measure), and somehow, I can face another day of lunch duty or another set of papers to grade.

In Walton's humorous look at an overwhelmed President, the way he manages to survive the demands of nutball splinter groups (the National Gopher Society), uncooperative cabinet members (can you believe what the VP did to the ping pong table?!?), and quarreling world leaders ("It's the Sticks and Stones issue again sir. What should we do?") is to put on a disguise, walk a few blocks from the White House, and rejoin his kindergarten classroom. It is there that he remembers everything he learned that will help him to do his job: "It's hard to solve problems when you're hungry," "Polite people always raise their hands," and the hokey pokey is what it's all about.

When Mr. President returns to work, he and the grumpy leaders of Bulrovia and Snortburg sit crisscross applesauce on the carpet, take turns talking nicely, eat cookies and milk, and do the hokey pokey. (Headlines the next day read, "Hokey Pokey Leads to Okey Dokey.")

If only it were that easy.

And yet...isn't it?

I nominate Mrs. Appletree, the teacher who reminds us that we really did learn all we need to know in Kindergarten, if only we would have the courage to live by those simple rules, for our Cool Teachers in Children's Literature.