Poetry Friday -- Education

To David, About His Education

by Howard Nemerov

The world is full of mostly invisible things,
And there is no way but putting the mind's eye,
Or its nose, in a book, to find them out,
Things like the square root of Everest
Or how many times Byron goes into Texas,
Or whether the law of the excluded middle
Applies west of the Rockies. For these
And the like reasons, you have to go to school
And study books and listen to what you are told,
And sometimes try to remember.

Read the rest of the poem here, at The Writer's Almanac.

I struggle with the idea of keeping "the grand confusion of the world / Under (my) hat... / and teach(ing) small children to do this in their turn."

In my opinion, "the grand confusion of the world" is all of the good stuff in the world -- all the mystery and wonder and magic in the world. And instead of teaching my students to quantify and qualify and categorize all of their fresh amazement about this incredible world that is so new and wonderful to them, I try to teach them to savor learning, to even savor the feeling of learning. For example, we started long division yesterday, a particularly perfect time to teach a child to stay in a place of patience with themselves and the process, rather than giving up and feeling defeated on the first try. 

Here's another example. Yesterday, for the 28th time in my teaching career, we decorated cookies. And while it wasn't "the mean annual rainfall / On Plato's Republic," I do believe that what I teach in this afternoon spent away from papers and books and standards and curriculum is just as important: 

slow down, 

pay attention to the details, 

sing along to the music, 

share, cooperate, compromise, 

wash the spoon after you lick it, 

enjoy the one you made for yourself but 

make three times as many for others.

Kate has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Book Aunt.

11 Science Experiments that Failed by Jenny Offill

Reading visuals is something we've been working on in the library. Charts and graphs seem to be extremely challenging for some students to make sense of, so that is a current focus. With the idea of reading expanding, our students need to have experiences reading various types of visual information and putting that information together with text.

As part of this thinking, I read 11 SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS THAT FAILED by Jenny Offill and illustrated by Nancy Carpenter to our 5th graders.  I love this character an have loved her ever since she appeared in the book 17 THINGS I AM NOT ALLOWED TO DO ANYMORE by the same author. In this new story, wonder is the key.  The little girl in the story is full of curiosity. She has lots of questions about the world and works to answer them.  For each question she has (such as "Can a person live on snow and ketchup alone?), she shares her hypothesis and tests her theory.  We had a ball reading the questions she had as well as the ways she went about finding out the answers.

This was a great book for so many reasons.  I am finding that lots of our students think that the way to find answers to their questions is to "search it up".  If something isn't answered in a Google search, students suggest finding a book or asking someone. This book started a great conversation about questions that can't be answered in that way--questions that require active research.

During the 2nd read of this book, we talked about the ways in which the narrator of the book could have recording what she discovered in her experiments.  We talked about ways she could keep track of her data and what her charts and graphs might have looked like. For example, students suggested that when trying to determine whether her dog enjoyed being covered in glitter, she could have charted the time it took for the dog to shake the glitter off for several consecutive days.  They described the chart that could be created to connect that information.  We had a great time thinking about the possibilities for this scientist.

Following these conversations, I challenged kids to create charts to keep track of data around questions they had.  Several students moved forward with this challenge creating charts to determine average time needed to play 4-Way Countdown, tracking strategies when playing Mancala, and more.

After three library classes, I can already see the interest in charts and graphs changing and found this book to be a great one to start these conversations. Whether you are looking for a book to start great conversations around science or just looking for a fun read aloud, I'd recommend this book.

Newbery Talk in the Library

We are lucky to have a great public library system and wonderful children's librarians at our Dublin Branch!  They have so much to offer our students and the kids love to see them when they visit the public library.  This week, Miss Tamara from the Dublin Library is coming in to talk to students about possible Newbery titles.  Today was the first day and I love to hear her thoughts and to listen in on the conversations .  She shared possible winners and some new books that probably wouldn't win but were fun anyway!  Students are most excited about learning about new books to read.  I did learn about a few books I didn't know about.  One I've added to my TBR stack are TRAPPED by Marc Aronson.

Our 5th Grade Newbery Club has also been busy reading books from our 2011 titles.  We've really just done free reading of lots of new books and especially of some that are getting some Newbery buzz. This group has been meeting since last January (they started as 4th graders and continued on this fall.)  This week I asked members to vote so that we could create a short list that kids could focus on over the next month or so.  Here is our Riverside Newbery Short List. I think they did a fine job--some great titles here!

INSIDE OUT AND BACK AGAIN by Thanhha Lai

BIGGER THAN A BREADBOX by Laurel Snyder

TUESDAYS AT THE CASTLE by Jessica Day George

THE ROMEO AND JULIET CODE by Phoebe Stone

HIDDEN by Helen Frost

SMALL AS AN ELEPHANT by Jennifer Jacobson

THE UNWANTEDS by Lisa McMann

A DOG'S WAY HOME by Bobbie Pyron

Nerdy Book Club

(This post is cross-posted on the Nerdy Book Club blog, and is part of an ongoing series of confessionals/testimonials/proclamations by members of the NBC -- the Nerdy Book Club.)

My name is Mary Lee Hahn, and I’m a member of the Nerdy Book Club. I could tell you the entire story of my membership, from my bookish childhood to the present, but instead, let’s pretend there’s a bookmark in my story and let’s open to one particular spot. Let’s start with last week.

Last week I finished listening to Monsters of Men in the Chaos Walking series.

If you are a member of the Nerdy Book Club, the above sentence will tell you volumes (pun intended) about me. You can empathize with the emotional rollercoaster Patrick Ness has taken me on over the past few months as I listened to all three books in the Chaos Walking series. You’ll know exactly when I cried, and you’ll know what moral and philosophical issues we could talk about into the night.

Two of the readers I most admire in the world recommended this series to me, and recommendations are one of the hallmarks of the NBC – if it weren’t for the joys of convincing another reader to fall in love with our (new or long-beloved) favorite books, there would be no CLUB in the Nerdy Book Club. Not only do we read, we talk about books, blog about books, and tweet about books. Now that I’ve completed Ness’ series, I’m connected to those two readers (and all the NBC readers who’ve read the series) in deep and complicated ways. We share a reading history.

Books build connections between readers and readers build connections between books. After finishing Monsters of Men, I needed to listen to a book that would heal my soul. On my Audible.com bookshelf was Charlotte’s Web, read by E.B. White – the perfect antidote for a dystopian future on a fictional planet: the cycle of life and friendship, anchored in the concrete details of Zuckerman’s farm. That’s another benefit of membership in the NBC: the knowledge that books can heal us. And did you notice what kind of shelf I went to in order to find my next read? It was my audio shelf. As a card-carrying member of the NBC, I have many shelves for my books: audio, e-book, poetry, cookbooks, adult, professional, and classroom, to name a few.

Not only do I have shelves, I have piles. Most NBC members do. There’s a To-Be-Read pile…and another, and another and another.

Time to stop writing and read. I finished Charlotte’s Web today, and I’ve already downloaded my next listen – Caleb’s Crossing by Geraldine Brooks. Now…which TBR pile should I tackle…


Mary Lee Hahn teaches 4th grade in Dublin, OH. She has belonged to the Nerdy Book Clubs know as the Cybils (she’s a round two poetry judge this year), the NCTE Notables, and the Central Ohio Kidlitosphere Bloggers. Ten years ago she wrote Reconsidering Read-Aloud. These days she blogs with Franki SIbberson at A Year of Reading, and writes occasionally for Choice Literacy.

A Day in the Library: How We Spend Our Time

I have been thinking hard about the choices our students make in the library.  I am in year four in the library and I've worked to build quality choices for students once we've finished the lesson and check out.  A big goal for students in their use of the library is to find tools and resources that match their need. As the tools of learning expand and grow, I want our students to see how many options there are for learning and to discover the tools that best support them as learners.  

This graph was a Google Doc form that I filled out during each class over the course of a day in the library. I will look more closely at choices over time but wondered how kids were spending their time when given the choice.  I found the results very interesting.

There seem to be enough quality choices in the library at this point that kids are all choosing well.  There seems to be something for everyone and I try to introduce new options every so often.  We have spent time as a school talking about the importance of quality educational games so I wasn't surprised to see that so many kids chose to play one of these on the day I observed.

I was thrilled to see the number of kids who chose reading during this time.  Reading Online covered all reading that wasn't traditional book reading--so ebooks, websites such as Tumblebooks, researching a topic, etc. all fall under that category.

And I loved to take the time to see what kids are creating with the variety of tools we have available. From creating a new story about The Pigeon in a blank book stapled together by library volunteers, to creating a book trailer, kids are working to create project and to learn new tools. I am amazed at how quickly kids can envision what a tool can do- they don't hesitate to think about all that is possible and then to problem solve to figure out how to make it work.  One second grader taught herself to add video to a Pages project on the iPad while another learned how to create stop motion on the iPad this week.

This was just a first step in looking at the choices in the library and how they work to meet the goals we have for our students in the library.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I decided to join Jen and Kellee at TEACH MENTOR TEXTS, Katherine at READ, WRITE, REFLECT and others for this meme this week.

It has been a slow reading week.  I've had lots of evening events, meetings, etc. Add that to getting ready for the holidays and I have had very little time for reading.

Last week, I finished
SPARROW ROAD by Sheila O'Connor.  As you probably know, I am working to get through a few more of the books on Anderson's Bookshop Mock Newbery list before January.  I still have lots of 2011 books I'd love to get to but I'm not sure how many I'll have time for.  With that said, I am so glad that I made time for SPARROW ROAD. This was definitely one of my favorite middle grade novels of the year. It is the story of Raine and her summer at Sparrow Road. Raine's mother decided that the two of them will be spending the summer at Sparrow Road, an artists' retreat.  Raine is not thrilled about the idea but quickly makes friends and tries to solve the mystery of the people who used to live there. This is a story of friendship, family, loss, and acceptance.  Definitely one of my favorites of 2011.

I read a few picture books this week.
GOOD LITTLE WOLF by Nadia Shireen is a fun picture book about a good little wolf who meets a big bad wolf.  The big bad wolf tries to convince the good little wolf to be bad. A fun book with a surprise ending.

I am always looking to add to my wordless book collection. This week, I picked up HOCUS POCUS by Sylvie Desrosiers. This is a fun wordless book that has a Tom and Jerry feel. The format is more of a graphic novel format and the story is a fun one.  Many of the wordless books I have tend to have a more serious tone but this one is pretty fun so I am glad to add that variety to my collection.

HUGS FROM PEARL by Paul Schmid is another fun picture book that I'm anxious to share with students. Pearl loves to give hugs but the problem is, she's a porcupine and her hugs tend to cause her friends pain!  Not to worry, Pearl comes up with a great solution.

I also picked up GIANT POP OUT FOOD (Chronicle). Who doesn't like a good pop-up book?  My first graders have doing lots of reading like writers--really looking at books and thinking about what the writer did and how they might try something similar in their own writing.  I thought this series of books might stretch them a few of them a new direction by giving them a new type of writing to try.  Or they just might enjoy the fun riddles and pop-out illustrations.

I am currently reading the middle grade novel THE AVIARY by Kathleen O'Dell.  This is one from the Anderson's Mock Newbery list. I don't know that I would have picked it up had it not been on Anderson's list and I am really enjoying it.  Hoping to finish this one this week.

After that, I imagine I'll read another from Anderson's list--maybe LUCK OF THE BUTTONS or THE APOTHECARY....

IMHO

Poetry Friday: Your Day Today

Have a ____ Day
by Lou Lipsitz

Have a nice day. Have a memorable day.
Have (however unlikely) a life-changing day.
Have a day of soaking rain and lightning.
Have a confused day thinking about fate.

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


No matter what kind of day you have today, no matter how many ups and downs and wanderings with no crumbs to follow, I hope it includes some time spent with poetry!

The Poetry Friday roundup today is at Read, Write, Howl.

Numbers and Letters

City Numbers
by Joanne Schwartz
photos by Matt Beam
Groundwood Books, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

I'll admit, I'm a little surprised to be reviewing this book. Photographs of numbers around you in the city? Big deal. The book starts with 000. Not much of a surprise. Next up is... 1/2 ?? Hmm... Then 1, and... 2nd (second). That's exactly how long it took me to be hooked -- as soon as I wasn't sure what was going to happen on the next page, I was eager to see what number came next and where it was found. (Each two page spread has the photo on the right, and on the left, the number, in digits and words, and the location and media. 2nd is "Printed on paper, pasted on steel. Electrical box." Besides cardinal and ordinal numbers, the book includes decimals, percents, prices, and one iconic number: 007 ("Double-O Seven").

Two things happened when I read this book.

1. I said to myself, "I can do that." And then a half a heart-beat later, I said, "I'm going to do that!!" Here is my theme for my photos in 2012: I am going to look for numbers in my environment in all varieties of  media, location, and form. Suddenly, I feel reinvigorated to continue my personal Project 365 for a fourth (FOURTH!!!) year.

2. I wanted to get this pair's book City Alphabet and see what they did with letters and words in a similar format. I will not limit myself to numbers next year, I will also look for words and letters. Maybe. Maybe I need to be patient and stay focused on one theme at a time...hmm...stay tuned for a decision on that one.

E-Mergency!
by Tom Lichtenheld and Ezra Fields-Meyer
Chronicle Books, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

Which letter in the alphabet is used with the most frequency?

E!

What happens when E comes down the stairs too fast and breaks her leg?

An E-mergency! E is taken away in the ambulance and A assembles the rest of the alphabet to discuss how they will proceed without the letter E. "Someone is going to have to take the place of E while she gets better. O, you're the obvious option because you're so well-rounded."

This is a VERY punny book. If you don't get that from A's choice of replacement letters, check this out:




I can't wait to share this book with my students. I'll put it under the document camera and we'll study every page for visual and verbal puns. And we'll all laugh when we solve the mystery of why E is not recovering: Who is STILL using Es, even though they've been forbidden so that E can rest and recover??? (oops--so that E can rost and rocovor...)

EDITED TO ADD (in the voices of my students)


This book was really funny!
We enjoyed the book!
The pictures were funny!
The book was really good!
We figured out who was using the letter E!
E never learned her lesson!
The letter O is used for E in this book and that makes the words hard to figure out sometimes.
It's funny that the characters are letters and they sometimes do what their letter says (like...P)!!
The letters sometimes spell funny words like ROAD when they were getting ready to go on a trip or EGGS and OJ when it was breakfast time.
I like how O fills in for E. If that really happened, our names might change!

Friends and Family

Friends: True Stories of Extraordinary Animal Friendships
by Catherine Thimmesh
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

The first thing you'll do when you pick this book up is look at all  of the CUTE photos of unusual and extraordinary animal friends -- monkey and macaque, giraffe and ostrich, capybara and squirrel monkey...and my favorite, the toad and mouse.

Then you'll go back and enjoy the rhyming text.

A friend connects...

A stretch, a slight strain, 

a balancing feat,

friends go to great lengths 

in order to meet.

(Asian camel and Vietnamese miniature pig)

No matter

who has

a snout

or a beak,

connecting with friends

is something friends seek.

(giraffe and ostrich)

Finally, you'll want to know the story of how each pair of animals became friends, and you'll go back to the nonfiction paragraph below each poem to find out more about the animals, where in the world, and how they became friends.

Little Treasures: Endearments from Around the World
by Jacqueline K. Ogburn
illustrated by Chris Raschka
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

Jacqueline Ogburn, author of A Dignity of Dragons: Collective Nouns for Magical Beasts, seems to be the kind of person who loves words, and language, and quirky terms.

In Little Treasures, Ogburn has collected parental terms of endearment in fourteen languages. There are three or four terms from countries as far-flung as Uganda, the Slovak Republic and Argentina. The borders of many countries are dissolved by including terms that Russian-speaking or Arabic-speaking or Hindi-speaking people use. For the non-English languages, there is a pronunciation guide, and for the languages that do not use the Latin alphabet, the term is written in the alphabet of the language, and the pronunciation guide includes a Latinized version of the term.

Through it all, Chris Raschka's illustrations emanate love and joy and playfulness. You'll want to pick up your own "little coconut candy," your own "habibi/beloved," your own "Knuddelbaerchen/little huggy bear" and snuggle and cuddle and call them whatever it is that YOU call your little one.

There are no little ones in my house (well, not counting the cat...), but I can't wait to take this book to school and see if my students can add to this list. One my mom calls me, "pumpkin," is in the book, but "sugar plum" is mine, all mine!

What are YOUR favorite terms of endearment for your children, and what were YOU called as a child?