Gorging on Graphic Novels

The hottest books in my classroom in the first six days of 4th grade?

Graphic novels.

Maybe it's because my students have never had access to such a wide variety.

Maybe it's because my students have never so obviously been "given permission" to read graphic novels.

Maybe it's because lots of my students didn't read over the summer, or aren't fluent in English, and they need the support of the pictures in a not-babyish book.

Or all of the above.

Did you see Terry Thompson's (author of Adventures in Graphica, tweeting @terrytreads) guest post on The Book Whisperer Blog last week? He very concisely talks about how graphic novels are perfect for motivation, scaffolding, and versatility.

Each day this week, I'll be reviewing one or more new graphic novels that will be going into (or are in) my classroom library.


Luz Sees the Lightby Claudia Dávila
Kids Can Press, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

Luz is a spunky chica who learns the hard way that she needs to make better choices for the Earth. There are blackouts in her city that cause her to realize how dependent she is on electricity. She really wants a pair of expensive imported sneakers, but she has to abandon that dream along with frequent car rides to the mall. As she becomes more enlightened (as she "sees the light") she becomes a neighborhood activist, working with her friends to turn the vacant lot in their neighborhood into a beautiful garden.

Maybe it's a bit didactic, but how many spunky chica main characters do YOU have in your classroom library??? (Me, neither. Now I have one.)

Recommended for readers in 3rd-6th grade, and a perfect tie-in for a science unit on energy.

Tourism Sunday: Belgian Places and Food

BRUSSELS, MONS, BRUGGES, GHENT, ANTWERP

Visit this photo set on Flickr for more details.

BELGIAN FOOD

Visit this photo set on Flickr for more details.

August Mosaic

Glimpses of August -- food, BIG dog, BIG bug, a trip to the West Side Market in Cleveland, fun with Central Ohio bloggers at Cover to Cover, a peek into my classroom.

Coming tomorrow -- the last of the photos from Belgium (food and places).

Poetry Friday -- Ode to the First Weeks of School

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Catrina Steams

Well, I’m a steamroller, baby
I’m bound to roll all over you
Yes, I’m a steamroller now, baby
I’m bound to roll all over you
I’m gonna inject your soul with some sweet rock ’n roll
And shoot you full of rhythm and blues

The rest of James Taylor's lyrics are here.

James Taylor with hair sings it here.

James Taylor without hair sings it here.

Commentary: It's the end of the first full week of school. Need I say more? 

...I didn't think so.

Looking forward to the long weekend.

Tricia, at The Miss Rumphius Effect, is rounding us up, in spite of being in her sixth day of no electricity. Talk about being steamrolled! And Irene-rolled, too! 

THE JEWEL FISH OF KARNAK by Graeme Base

Years ago,  I was obsessed with Graeme Base's THE ELEVENTH HOUR. It was a fun mystery with a code that needed to be solved.  My family and I spent hours working through the text and pictures to determine the answer to the mystery.  My students (at the time 4th graders) were also hooked and many spent days working on the puzzle.  I can see the same thing happening with Graeme Base's new book THE JEWEL FISH OF KARNAK.

Graeme Base's newest picture book takes place in Ancient Egypt.  Two thieves named Jackal and Ibis are caught stealing.  The only way that they can be pardoned by the Cat Pharaoh is to find and bring back the golden Jewel Fish of Karnak that was stolen by the Crocodile Prince.  It sounds easy enough and they don't have many rules to follow. The Cat Pharaoh does let them know that it is important that they (#1)  do not take anything else and (#2) do not let the Jewel Fish get wet.

All goes well enough and the two thieves take the Jewel Fish and get away.  However, they do take a few extra treasures with them when they go. I won't give away the whole ending (that is not really the ending), but the Jewel Fish is lost and the thieves must confess to the Cat Pharaoh.

Just as in THE ELEVENTH HOUR, it seems the fun begins after the last page because the Cat Pharaoh sends them to find the fish.  This is where the reader comes in.  The challenge is for the reader to use the codes and puzzles throughout the book to find the fish. When the fish is discovered, it can be turned in to the Cat Pharaoh on Graeme Base's website for a reward.

I can see a few kids digging into this book and working hard to find the solution.  I have lots of readers who love codes and who love to read about Ancient Egypt.   I plan to share Graeme Base's book trailer (available on his site) with students sometime this month. I think the trailer will definitely hook them!

Pearl Verses the World: Another Great Novel in Verse

I love novels in verse. I have seen so much power in books written in this format over the past several years. Often, these books are powerful but the format allows for deep reading. Because there is not as much text as in a "regular" novel, kids who struggle with grade level text and kids who struggle with stamina to get through an entire book, can build that stamina, confidence and fluency with novels and verse.  And, they almost always invite great conversations.

Pearl Verses the World by Sally Murphy is a perfect example of why I love great novels in verse.  Pearl is a young girl who lives with her mother an grandmother. But her grandmother is suffering from dementia and no longer recognizes Pearl or her mother.  Pearl's mother is the sole caregiver and the grandmother's illness is taking a toll on everyone. Pearl is trying to make sense of it all. She desperately wants her grandmother back and her grief and feeling of loss is part of the book.

This is a quick read.  (only 73 pages) But it is a hard read.  Pearl is the one telling the story and she is having a hard time.  Her life is difficult right now and she is struggling. School is hard, her teacher doesn't appreciate her poetry and her grandmother's illness weighs heavily on her at all times.  I came to love Pearl very early in the book. She is genuine and honest.  She is dealing with real problems and is handling it all in very real ways.

New Learning Tools in the Library

This is my fourth year in the school library and I think I am finally finished moving shelves and big furniture. For the most part, at least.  It took me about 2 years to get the space to really work for the students. I am lucky to have a very supportive principal, an amazing library aide, and a wonderful custodian. They've all been hugely instrumental in recreating the space with me. This year, there are not many big changes.  I felt like the space was working--lots of spaces for different groups of students. Lots of spaces for different types of work.  So, this year, kids will come back to the space they know (and hopefully love).

We do have some new learning tools in the library that I am very excited about.  They aren't all in yet but here are the things that I think will open up new possibilities for students this year in the library.

I am most excited about my VuPoint Magic Wand Scanner.  I attended a workshop in August and Sara Kajder (@skajder) was the speaker.  She shared this tool during the talk. Luckily, my Internet was up and I believe that I purchased it before she was finished talking about it! This is a portable scanner. One that doesn't need to be housed in one spot or connected to anything. It works like a camera but is more of a scanner. (It is battery operated with a camera card so that photos can be easily moved.)  I can imagine scanning student work that I want to keep in an assessment folder. Students can scan writing or art that they might want to add to a blog post.  They can scan things to plug into presentations.  So many possibilities of what we can do with this tool--helping to put anything kids do in some digital format. (You can read a little bit more about this one on my husband's technology blog.)

Our library has several different building toys. I believe strongly that a library needs many tools for learning and building tools are definitely a learning tool. My hope is to add more challenge-based options for students who want to use these tools this year.  A friend mentioned Flexeez in a recent blog post and once I saw what could be done with them, I ordered them. The box didn't seem to hold much when it arrived but these little pieces can create some very cool things. They are flexible and that allows for a different type of building. I can't wait to see what kids create with these!


I also have a very inexpensive Document Camera, the IPEVO Point 2 View.  I wanted a document camera that kids could use.  And when I tried it out, it works out great. I want to work with students on quality work, quality presentations, sharing information, etc. this year.  I also am pretty sure that with access to this, kids will think of ways to use it that I haven't thought of yet.  It is pretty portable so there are lots of possibilities.




We have a five Kindles in the library. I am not sure where we are going with eReaders but I think it is important that kids have access to the many tools people use to read.  I want students to experience reading in a variety of ways and to know what is possible. So, I purchased two Color Nooks this summer. I loaded them with mostly picture books, thinking that these would be used mostly for that. I want kids to have access to various ebooks and the Color Nook seemed like the smartest purchase for picture book reading.

We have 4 iPads and 2 iPod Touches on the way.  Our goal this year is to get lots of the technology that has traditionally been stored in the library out to classrooms so that students have access to the tools they need all day.  So, we will add some new technology tools for use mostly in the library. I need to work with our Technology Specialist about apps for both the iPods and the iTouches but I am thinking most of the apps we purchase will be production type tools that allow students to create things. I want them to have access to various ways to create. And of course, I will add a QR code reader.   (I also have 2-3 Wacom Bamboo Tablets that I am hoping kids find ways to utilize with draw programs, etc.)

And last, but definitely not least, may possibly end up being my very favorite learning tools is the Dry Erase Table that is currently on order. I've cleared out a corner of the library to create a type of "production area". This will be the area where kids will have space to film, think together, etc. The green screen is housed on a wall in this area and the cameras, flip videos, iPod touches, etc. will also be stored here.  The dry erase table will be a tool for collaboration. This will be a space where small groups can think, plan and design together.  When I envision an learning community, I think that this piece is key--a place to think off of one another's thinking, a place where it will become evident that what we can do together is often stronger than what any one person can do individually.

Those are the new tools that kids will see in the library over the next few weeks.  I know it will take a while for the newness factor to wear off and I know students will need a time to see what these tools are about but I am certain that each of these tools will add new invitations for learning to students.

Poetry Friday -- National Dog Day

August 26 is National Dog Day. To honor the day, J. Patrick Lewis kindly sent this poem. And wasn't it serendipitous that just recently we met Brutus Winston Buckeye in Selby Park as we set out walking to the Worthington Farmer's Market?

How Big?

You were a kid, 

             I was your pup,

I got bigger

             As you grew up.

When you were four,

             I was just two.

I was already 

             As tall as you.

Now you are twelve,

             And I am ten.

I'm still as big 

             As you are, Ben. 

You are my owner,  

             But I am in charge.

You are my captain, 

             I am your barge.

You are a prince,

             But I am the king.

I am the boss

             Of everything. 

You’re the conductor,

             I am the train.

You’re a great kid, 

            And I’m a Great Dane!

J. Patrick Lewis, ©2011

Here's to our canine friends: to the slobber, the barks, the whines, the drifts of hair in the hallway...and to the the tails thumping the floor, the adoring looks, the readiness for play, the leaning on our leg.

Don't let today, National Dog Day, go by without patting a dog on the head, or rubbing a dog on the belly, or scratching a dog behind the ears. It'll lower your heart rate and it'll make the dog's day!

Irene has the Poetry Friday Round Up today at Live. Love. Explore!

New Books in Favorite Series

Binky Under Pressure
by Ashley Spires
Kids Can Press, 2011
Review copy provided by the publisher

Maybe you have to have a fat cat who is set in his routines and ways, and who is totally committed to the art of napping, for the character of Binky to be hilariously funny. For the rest of you, he is just really funny.

Binky's pretty sure he lives in a space station. His adventures in the first two books have revolved around protecting the space station from aliens (bugs), and have been complicated by his love for his humans and for his stuffed mouse, Ted.

In this newest book in the series, his humans have the nerve to bring another cat into the space station...er, house. Except Gracie, the foster cat, turns out to be Binky's boss! She's a Captain, and she's there to give him a performance test and evaluation. Binky's under pressure.

The Busy Beaver
by Nicholas Oldland
Kids Can Press, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

This is Nicholas Oldland's third picture book featuring the beaver, moose and bear. These stories are a fun way to expand students' understanding of fables beyond the familiar Aesop's.

The book starts, "There once was a beaver who was so busy that he didn't always think things through." Beaver works up a huge mess and is felled by a tree he is busily felling. Beaver reflects on what he's done and mends his ways (and his friendships and the forest.)

Ninja Cowboy Bear Presents: The Call of the Cowboy
by David Bruins and Hilary Leung
Kids Can Press, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

In their first book, Ninja, Cowboy and Bear learned that they each have different strengths, so none of them can be "the best." In the second book, they realized that they each like to play in different ways. And in this third book in the series, Cowboy has to learn that his noisy rambunctiousness has a time and a place...but not when bear is birdwatching, or when Ninja is reading.

*   *   *

All three of these are going into the "New Favorite Series" tub in my classroom for the first day of school today!

Names

Names are on my mind at this time of the year. Or I should say, names are IN my mind at this time of the year, because, until the first day of school on Thursday, that's all most of my students are to me -- a list of names. Names to put on name tags, on charts, on die cut birthday cakes. Many of my students have names that are tricky for a native English-speaker -- names with lots of consonants or with the accent on an unusual (for me) syllable, and all have names that come packed with family and cultural history.

I have a collection of picture books that I use at the beginning of every year to talk about names:

My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

My Name is Bilal by Asma Mobin-Uddin

My Name is Sangoel by Karen Lynn Williams and Khadra Mohammed

This year, I have a new book to add to my list of favorites:

My Name is Elizabeth!
by Annika Dunklee
illustrated by Matthew Forsythe
KidsCan Press, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

Elizabeth loves her name, but she doesn't like it when people call her names other than Elizabeth. Lizzy, Liz,  Beth, Betsy...none of them will do. She asserts herself in a LOUD double page spread, and the people in her world get her message and call her Elizabeth. (Or as close to that as the baby can get!)

I can totally relate to Elizabeth. I've always been Mary Lee, never Mary. And I, too, have learned to advocate for the name that encompasses my identity.

Because of my own sensitivity about my name, I work extra hard to get my students' names just right. I look forward to Elizabeth helping with that conversation this year!

The New York Times agrees that this will make a great back to school book.

Betsy (Elizabeth) Bird reviewed the book on Fuse 8.