Why I Love Elephant and Piggie

Should I Share My Ice Cream?

Should I? Shouldn't I?
Should I? Shouldn't I?
Elephant struggles so hard with this moral dilemma. He ponders so long that his ice cream melts, and his eyes well with tears as he whispers, "I blew it."

I can be such an elephant sometimes. I wish I could be more like Piggie, who doesn't have to think twice about what to do.




I Broke My Trunk!

"There is more to my story."


Amen. Isn't EVERY story a "long, crazy story" when you tease out all the details? (or tease your reader/listener with all the details...look at Elephant's eyes on page 43. Is that a knowing look to the reader, or what?!?!)

Poetry Friday -- Daisies

The daisy follows soft the sun
By Emily Dickinson


The daisy follows soft the sun,
And when his golden walk is done,
Sits shyly at his feet.
He, waking, finds the flower near.
"Wherefore, marauder, art thou here?"
"Because, sir, love is sweet!"

We are the flower, Thou the sun!
Forgive us, if as days decline,
We nearer steal to Thee, —
Enamoured of the parting west,
The peace, the flight, the amethyst,
Night's possibility!



Light and dark, day and night, love and rejection, summer and winter. And, ahh...Emily Dickinson...



Tabatha has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at The Opposite of Indifference.

MAKING LEARNING WHOLE by David Perkins

It's just incredible to me, the way my professional learning has changed in the past 25 years. I've always gone to conferences and read professional books, but this blog and Twitter have changed the playing field dramatically.

I was in a booktalk this week that was born on Twitter -- a tweet went out from the All Write conference (during Jeff Anderson's keynote, as best I remember) about this book:



Making Learning Whole by David Perkins
Jossey-Bass, 2001

Maria (@mariacaplin and Teaching in the 21st Century) was "attending" All Write long-distance by following the tweets, and she suggested that we get together and discuss this book. I dropped it into my Amazon cart using the Amazon app I downloaded (I think this was also during Jeff's keynote -- Jeff, I PROMISE I was listening!!), we read the book, invited others, and wound up spending a delightful morning with Cathy (@CathyMere and Reflect & Refine) chatting about the book, teaching, workshop model, and technology tools.

Here are a few of my take-aways:

1.  Perkins frames his thinking around the game of baseball and these seven principles:
• Play the whole game.
• Make the game worth playing.
• Work on the hard parts.
• Play out of town.
• Uncover the hidden game,
• Learn from the team...and the other team.
• Learn the game of learning.

2.  Our booktalk fit his principles exactly:
• We played the whole game, from the conference, to the tweets, to the reading, to the meeting, to the discussing, and now, to the blogging.
• We made the game worth playing by playing together. It's worth playing because we will use our new thinking and learning in our classrooms in the coming year.
• We played out of town. We met at Maria's house (and if you know where Maria lives, you are laughing out loud right now -- she takes out of town to a new level), hoping to sit on the dock of her pond to chat. It was too hot and humid, so we enjoyed the comfort of her kitchen table.
• As I write this post, I'm uncovering bits and pieces of the hidden game of our booktalk. Part of the hidden game was that we were doing what the book suggests without having to think hard about it. Our own learning is whole. We just need to make sure we figure out lots of ways to do this for our 1st, 4th, and 5th graders. I'll share more of what I saw as the hidden game in a minute. On to the next principle.
• Learn from the team. We did that by meeting -- three people from two districts and three different buildings and levels. We'll learn from other teams as we take our learning back to our grade levels, and from the comments here and on Twitter.
• The last point -- learn the game of learning -- wraps back around, for me, to the one about the hidden game. Read on...

3.  Here's what I learned about the game of learning:

• We didn't get started right away talking about the book. We needed time to socialize (and enjoy the fabulous cranberry coffee cake). THE SOCIAL PIECE IS HUGE.
• Our conversation was not sequential and organized.  AN EXACT AGENDA IS NOT NECESSARY.
• Almost as important as our conversation about the book was our talk and play with Evernote, and our sharing about how we keep track of anecdotal information about our students (conference notes, reading status, artifacts, etc). UNEXPECTED LEARNING IS AS VALUABLE AS WHAT'S IN THE LESSON PLAN.


It's a great book and I highly recommend it, but as you can see, the journey of the booktalk is a large part of what made the book so valuable for me...and it will likely stay anchored in my thinking more than other books that I've read on my own and that have no bigger story attached. (Yet another example of the hidden game/the learning about learning!)

BIG BROTHERS DON'T TAKE NAPS by Louise Borden

Louise Borden has a great new picture book for young children. BIG BROTHERS DON'T TAKE NAPS is quite a fun read and the fact that Louise Borden and Emma Dodd have teamed up for this one make it one of my new favorites.  Louise's words capture the wonderful relationship between brothers and Emma Dodd's colorful illustrations bring the joy of the relationship to life.
This story is told from the "little" brother's point of view.  He tells about all of the things his "big" brother can do such as writing his own name and riding the school bus.  And he shares one very big thing that big brothers don't have to do--take naps!

The book follows these brothers through fun activities like creating Halloween costumes, making phone calls, passing down clothes that get too small, and more.  The relationship between the brothers depicted in both the words and the illustrations is a wonderful one--they truly have fun together.

The book is perfect for young children as it shares lots of things they will recognize about their own sibling relationships. And the repeated phrase "Big brothers don't take naps." will be one that young children will want to join in to read.

The book ends with a little surprise....I will give you a big hint.....the "little brother" will soon become a big brother too:-)  This book will make a great read for young children, especially those with older siblings or a younger sibling on the way. A great gift for a young child in a family expecting a new baby:-)

READICT for the iPad: Annotation Tools for Reading

I recently downloaded the new app called READICT for my iPad.  It is a new product by Diigo which sold me on it right away. I am interested in annotation and reading tools that really expand what we can do as readers, writers and researchers.

I became hooked on Evernote last year and have used it for research, notetaking, and bookmarking ever since.  I know I have underutilized it and should spend some time learning all that it can do.  But I have really worked to use it in a lot of situations to get a feel for what is possible with notetaking, research and annotations.

I also began using a Kindle awhile ago and am fascinated by the annotation capabilities. Not only am I able to highlight and add notes while I read, but I can see what other popular highlights are if I would like to.  I can set the Kindle to mark passages that are highlighted by a number of people who have also read the book.  It is funny how differently you read when you know someone highlighted a passage.  The Kindle also lets you access your highlights and notes on your amazon account-it can be accessed online.

All of these new ways to annotate seem to give so many new possibilities for thinking about and collaborating around books and online texts. I see huge implications for book clubs, research projects, and strategy work.  Although we are still merely reading a text, these tools allow us to read a text at a deeper level and to share our thinking on a more global level if we want to.

The ways all of these tools allow us to collect readings, annotate, and save notes changes things for me as a reader a bit. And I think apps like this have huge implications for our kids. It is impossible to use apps like this as a reader and then ask our students to read and research in the same ways we always have.  There are very few reasons I can think of for me to ask my students to write down web addresses, keep notes on index cards, or print our articles with the tools available to them.

I have learned that, as a literacy teacher, I need to experience the new tools of literacy in order to think about how to keep literacy learning authentic for our students. It has always important to me to understand my own reading in order to teach well. Adding the new tools that readers use has been an important part of my own learning. I have to admit, it is not always easy.  I tend to want to fall back and rely on the tools I am used to. But I find that small steps help. Last year, when I worked on a paper for a class, I promised myself to only use Evernote to take and keep notes. When I attended November Learning, I did the same thing. I forced myself to use Prezi for one presentation last year which was a great learning experience.  These three promises gave me the opportunity to see what these tools were about with a short-term commitment. So this is how I approach tools of literacy and creation that I know make a difference in what is possible.  I have usually found that with a short time commitment, I fall in love with the tool and find all kinds of uses for it.  I hope to do the same type of thing with Readict. I'll play around with it and then find some project that I'll try using the app.

Readict serves as both a reader and an annotation tool.  The Readict site advertises it with these words:
"Readict is for those who take reading seriously. IT is an iPad reading app that integrates highlighter and 'read later' functionalities to provide efficient and effective reading experiences." I played around with it this week and I see it as a great tool.

I am able to add my own sites/blogs etc. to my reader and these get refreshed each day so that I can access new posts. I can browse the sites to choose the ones I want to go to:

I can add posts to my reading list--those I want to read later or those that I want to hold onto. It is easy to do so with one click. I can then access those later in my Reading List.  (I am not yet sure if the Reading List can be organized in any way. I need to play with that.)

I can use tools such as the highlighter to mark up articles that I am reading. The notes and highlights are saved when the post/article is placed in my Reading List.  This week, I tried to use the tools on a post from Wonderopolis to help me think about ways that students might use this app and online annotation tools in general to support their reading and research.

Readict also allows you to add notes while you read. You can add them to a certain spot, just as you would a sticky note. When you get to the note symbol on your page, you can open your note up. There is quite a bit of space for notes and you can add as many as you read during your reading.

I see huge implications for tools like Evernote, Readict, etc.  Not only are the social bookmarking tools but they give us the ability, as literacy teachers, to help our students track their thinking, save thinking, and share thinking with online tools.  The strategies they use for online reading are most likely very similar to those they use in other reading so having these tools available to them opens up so many opportunities to build understanding.

I think as a literacy teacher, I need to really pay attention to productivity tools that give kids new ways to read with more depth and understanding. I am excited about this one!

THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE-WOW!

Sometimes you read a book and know you are experiencing something amazing.  This is what happened to me after reading the new multimedia book for the iPad called THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE by Moonbot Studios. I heard about this book on Twitter from Jeremy Brueck. If you are not familiar with his work, his site, Raised Digital is a great resource for ebooks for children. Then I learned from this post that the creator is an ex-Pixar designer.  I knew it had to be good.

Here is the thing--there are lots of apps and ebooks being published and it is important to really think about whether the book is good for the glitzy technology or whether it is truly a good story.  I am loving all of the new ways creators are using media to tell stories but many of the new ebooks for kids that I see are of pretty poor quality. Either they are books that have been quickly transformed to an app or they are books created by technology companies who don't always know about child and literacy development. So I was thrilled to see this one. I figured that Pixar people understand story and that is the most important thing, right?

THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS LESSMORE is an incredible story that seems to change things when it comes to what is possible with multimedia storytelling. First of all, it is a great story. I sighed when I finished and I watched other people sigh at the end too.  It is a great story about the power of books and reading and the art (without the animation) is pretty incredible.  The animation and the multimedia effects make the book and the story even better.

I have been paying attention to how using new media draws the reader in and I am amazed at how intuitive this new book is.  I worry when it is the games and outside activities that pull a reader in--so much interaction that doesn't even go along with the story.  But in this book the interaction adds to the story.  Each page of the book gives the reader something that adds a new layer of meaning to the story.  And the way the visuals and the text works, the reader just knows what the interactive invitation is on most pages. It is done that well. Just as Mo Willem's books like DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS invite readers to naturally jump in and participate, yelling out to the pigeon, this multimedia book does the same thing for readers of all ages by inviting readers to interact in a variety of ways. That intuitiveness is important to me.

After I fell in love with the book, I invited (forcibly) several friends and family members to read the book on my iPad. It was too good not to share!  Then, I sat back and watched.  What fascinated me was that I saw the same thing over and over and over.  Whether it was Mary Lee, my 11 year old daughter or my husband, the pattern of the experience was somewhat similar.  Everyone was at first fascinated by the art and the "cool" effects.  They wanted to try everything and touch every page.  But as the story continued, each reader seemed to quiet down a bit. Each reader was immersed in the story and with where it was going.  The animation and interaction continued to be important, but the story took over and they stopped saying, "wow" and "cool" out loud.

Mary Lee enjoying the story:-)

Every interaction in this book is purposeful. There are no games to play and no unrelated actions.   Even the music is connected to the interactivity and adds more meaning to the story. I had not seen that in an ebook before.  (and from what I understand, you can turn off the voice so you can read the words yourself, but still keep the background music on--I need to check that feature out!)  And there are new things to be discovered upon rereading the book.

This is a great story for readers of all ages. It is not short--takes about 15 minutes to read.  It is a picture book that young children can enjoy and one that older readers will experience with depth.  I cannot WAIT to share it with my students in the fall. It is well worth the $4.99 if you have an iPad. From what I understand, it will also be published in several ways and the short film has already won a ton of awards. If you don't have an iPad, I would find a friend who does, and purchase this app for them so that you can experience it yourself! Or I would buy an iPad. This book seems worth an iPad purchase--especially as we watch to see how the concept of books, storytelling and literacy evolve over the next few years. This will be one of the first things I purchase for our iPads at school and I have already ordered a connector so that we can experience the book together on a large screen or Smartboard.

Lots has already been written on this app and it has really changed what is possible with storytelling. So very exciting! You can read more:

Flying Books: The Future of Publishing Has Arrived

Book App Review: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore

And even more fun is the Morris Lessmore site which has lots of information on what it took to actually create this app. As the site says, this is "old fashioned and cutting edge at the same time." So true!

Find a way to experience this story ASAP!

PRESS HERE by Herve Tullet

It's not magic -- it's the power of your imagination!





Press Here
by Herve Tullet
Chronicle Books, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

This book will make you smile. When you rub the dot and it changes color on the next page...when you clap over the dots and they grow...when you tilt the book and they all slide to the other side.

There's an app for that -- your IMAGINATION!!

Poetry Friday -- Roundup is HERE!

A Warm Summer in San Francisco
by Carolyn Miller


Although I watched and waited for it every day,
somehow I missed it, the moment when everything reached
the peak of ripeness. It wasn't at the solstice; that was only
the time of the longest light. It was sometime after that, when
the plants had absorbed all that sun, had taken it into themselves
for food and swelled to the height of fullness. It was in July,
in a dizzy blaze of heat and fog, when on some nights
it was too hot to sleep...

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

I know the feeling: 

"...I felt tears 

come into my eyes, absurdly, because I knew
that summer had peaked and was already passing
away."

I mark the passing of summer by the length of the vines in the baskets along High Street in Worthington,

and in the march of blooming things -- the Queen Anne's lace has joined the chicory, which will soon be replaced by goldenrod and tall purple ironweed; and I saw my first mimosa tree blooming this week. 

As the seasons turn and the pages on the calendar flip, let's take a minute to slow down and enjoy a variety of poetry. Leave your link in the comments and I'll round up the posts throughout the day. Happy Friday! Happy Poetry Friday!

*    *    *    *

Father Goose starts us off today with his Cozy Morning Cats. (Mine is watching the morning come to life from the windowsill!)

Kelly Polark returns to Poetry Friday (welcome back, Kelly!) with a poem inspired by a reunion.

Myra at Gathering Books shares a moving tribute to a Philippine poet.

Diane has a quartet of Poetry Friday posts: at Random Noodling, she's thinking about what gets in the way of writing poetry; she continues her poetic story of WWII at Kids of the Homefront Army; Kurious Kitty's Kurio Kabinet highlights a book of camping poems by Kristine O'Connell George; and at Kurious K's Kwotes, she has a quote about the efficient use of language in poetry.

David Elzey visits us from camp -- Vermont College of Fine Arts "camp" where he is a "counselor" this year. He created a writer's toolbox version of The Quartermaster's Store. (Here's a bit of the original for reference.)

Gregory K. at Gottabook has a poem after my procrastinatin' heart -- an original, of course!

Tanita reminds us of a great truth today: we are not our bodies. (Welcome back to PF, Cuz!)

At The Poem Farm, Amy has an original about a cherry tree (and a post that will make your mouth water!)

Steven Withrow's original story/riddle poem will get you thinking...and unthinking!

Madigan at Madigan Reads reviews Margarita Engle's newest verse novel, HURRICANE DANCERS. She's thinking possible Newbery contender!

Nancy shares one of her student's poems today -- about clouds.

Carlie wrote an original summer poem -- about the laundry on her clothesline!

Laura Salas links us in to Sylvia Vardell's video clips of the ALA Poetry Blast, and it's not too late to take part in this week's 15 Words or Less poetry.

Katie at Secrets & Sharing Soda reviews Hot Potato: Mealtime Rhymes.

Pentimento shares Bedtime Story For My Son by Peter Redgrove.

Tara is having a Chelsea Morning with Joni Mitchell today.

Maria at Teaching in the 21st Century advocates for Poetry Friday in the classroom. I second that!

The Write Sisters are on the same wavelength as Tanita (see above) with Homage to My Hips and the advice to get over it and "Just. Jump. In!!!!"

The Stenhouse Blog is sharing a poem about...SNOW?!?!?

Rasco From RIF tells about a very famous Swiss story (told in verse)...that I've never heard about until now!

Elaine is toasting marshmallows over at Wild Rose Reader today! YUM!!

At Blue Rose Girls, Elaine shares an original poem about swimming that doesn't require baring one's "mighty hips" (see The Write Sisters, above) or otherwise worrying about body image (see Tanita's post way up above).

Tricia has a poem for her mom.

Tabatha pops in from her blog vacation with a bit of Harry Potter-ness.

Janet highlights MIRROR MIRROR by Marilyn Singer.

Heidi's forgiven her lateness -- she took the whole family to the midnight showing of HP 7.2 last night. Her post is a meditation on incantations -- one in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Professor McGonagall's in HP.

And something that feels like saving the best for last -- Karissa, at the Iris Chronicles, introduces us to the poet Pamela Johnson Parker, who "finds so many connections between literature, art, poetry, and life. If you are a Wizard of Oz fan, you will enjoy this poem."

SIDEKICKS

Sidekicks by Dan Santant
Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

Here's another great stand-alone graphic novel that will be a welcome addition to my classroom library.

This is the story of an aging superhero, Captain Amazing, who's going to audition for a new sidekick. (Captain Amazing lives in Metro City, where he belongs to the Society of Superheroes. It's a little like the Imagine Nation in THE ACCIDENTAL HERO.)

This is also the story of the faithfulness of pets. Captain Amazing's dog (Roscoe), hamster (Fluffy), chameleon (Shifty), and his cat (Manny), all have super powers of their own and all are all willing to do whatever it takes to help/cover for Captain Amazing.

The contrasting background in this graphic novel is used mostly for nighttime scenes, but there is one sequence in sepia that is a flashback. It will be interesting to introduce my fourth graders to another way color change in the background is used (most often it denotes dream sequences).

Peanut allergies have an important part in this story. I'm thinking that there are plenty of kids out there who will be heartened by the fact that even a superhero can have a peanut allergy. (Think kryptonite...)

POSTCARDS FROM CAMP by Simms Taback

I am a huge Simms Taback fan.  I love so many of his books-his art always draws me in.  JOSEPH HAD A LITTLE OVERCOAT is the one that seems most loved by children and I can see why.



So, I was thrilled to see a new book by Simms Taback this is a little different from his others--POSTCARDS FROM CAMP.

This is a book told in postcards between a father and a son.  The son, Michael, is at camp and is not quite enjoying himself (he HATES it!) and the father is providing the encouragement he needs to stick it out.  The book is hysterical and I think this is one that older elementary students will enjoy.  The postcards (and a few letters enclosed in envelopes) get more complex as the book goes on. The actual front of the postcards are hysterical in themselves (a few Michael has created himself) and they each tell their own story.  Michael's father's postcards seem to give different messages to his son.  The letters from Michael are often pleading, often relaying terrible camp stories while the letters from his father often look naively on the bright side.

This book has so much potential. Ever since THE JOLLY POSTMAN was published years ago, there have been lots of books filled with letters. But they never quite meet my expectations.  Until this one.  The storyline is fun. The text and illustrations definitely work together and I can see kids spending lots of time reading and rereading these postcards.  In terms of minilesson work, this would be a great book to use with strategy work--so much reading between the lines is needed to understand what is really happening!

This may be my new favorite Simms Taback book!