It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This week, I've done mostly professional reading. I have been in a little reading rut when it comes to fiction--so much going on that I haven't had huge chunks of time to read.  And I found out last week that I'll be teaching 4th grade next year. I am really excited about getting back to the classroom and have lots of professional reading to catch up on over the next few months.

My big reading this week was the professional book WHAT READERS REALLY DO: TEACHING THE PROCESS OF MEANING MAKING by Dorothy Barnhouse and Vicki Vinton. I'm about halfway through and I am LOVING this book.  It is amazingly brilliant and am so happy to be reading it.  I have been enjoying learning from Vicki on her blog, TO MAKE A PRAIRIE and am sorry I didn't read this new book the moment it was released. (I received a review copy months ago but didn't have time to get to it until now.)  Look for a review on this book soon. 

I also read a blog post I loved GIVING STUDENTS OPPORTUNITIES TO SHARE THEIR THINKING AND STRATEGIES at TWO REFLECTIVE TEACHERS.

This week, I was able to listen to three Choice Literacy podcasts while running. (A big breakthrough as a runner as I shared on my running blog:-) I guess this isn't really reading but I consider it like an audiobook so I'm including it here. I never listen to the podcasts I do myself but I have wanted to listen to a few that Heather and Brenda have done. I read the transcripts but hadn't had time to listen to the interviews. So I listened to Oral Language and Understanding with Ellin Keene, Vocabulary, Comprehension and the Common Core with Dough Fisher and Making the Most of Small Groups with Jennifer Serravallo.

And, since I am focusing on my thinking/learning more than just reading, I'll share one last thing. Last week was my birthday. I turned 48. I was feeling old so I went back and revisited this Jane Fonda's Ted Talk that I loved on The Third Act.  I think that although she is talking to people closer to her age, there are lots of great messages to all of us about different stages of life. 

I did download GRACELING and hope to start that soon. It came recommended from several Twitter friends so I am sure it is great. Looking forward to it.

Treasures -- an acrostic poem

Two generations, in a time-honored
Relay, passing the baton of
Existence --
All of the
Stuff which seems
Unremarkable, but which defined, made
Real, connected the
Elder runner to the past in the present. Now it all
Stands ready to meet a new future.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012



Poem #22, National Poetry Month, 2012

While I was home, I took all of the glass out of the china cupboard, carefully hand washed it all, then videotaped Mom telling the story of each piece. We had just finished when one of her friends came to  visit and told me I must see the "exquisite" teacups in the high cupboards in the kitchen. This led to another whole tableful of dishes with stories to be recorded.

I'm sure I'll be writing again about those family stories, about that sense of connectedness to the women in my family...through the dishes that have been saved...passed on (where else?) in the kitchen of my childhood home.

Cathy, at Merely Day By Day, is joining me in a poem a day this month. Other daily poem writers include Amy at The Poem Farm, Linda at TeacherDance, Donna at Mainely Write, Laura at Writing the World for Kids (daily haiku), Liz at Liz in Ink (daily haiku), Sara at Read Write Believe (daily haiku), Jone at Deo Writer (daily haiku)...and YOU?

Rhubarb

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Janerc

RHUBARB

Such a waste.
Leaves the size of elephant ears
discarded.
All that plant energy
composted.

And what's saved?
The tart stringy stem.

When chewed raw,
sour enough to make a knot
where jaw
meets ear.

Stewed for hours
with shocking amounts of sugar,
served with ice cream.

Savor the flavor
of spring.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012


Poem #21, National Poetry Month, 2012

Cathy, at Merely Day By Day, is joining me in a poem a day this month. Other daily poem writers include Amy at The Poem Farm, Linda at TeacherDance, Donna at Mainely Write, Laura at Writing the World for Kids (daily haiku), Liz at Liz in Ink (daily haiku), Sara at Read Write Believe (daily haiku), Jone at Deo Writer (daily haiku)...and YOU?

Chant of the Computer-Weary

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by newfilm.dk

CHANT OF THE COMPUTER-WEARY

update

download

Internet

code

password

fire wire

USB

load

keyboard

network

charger cord

mouse

sunshine

fresh air

out of the

house

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

Poem #20, National Poetry Month, 2012

Finally got the Internet issues resolved...this poem is a tribute to the joys and hassles of the connected life. I've got a lot of catching up to do tomorrow!




Cathy, at Merely Day By Day, is joining me in a poem a day this month. Other daily poem writers include Amy at The Poem Farm, Linda at TeacherDance, Donna at Mainely Write, Laura at Writing the World for Kids (daily haiku), Liz at Liz in Ink (daily haiku), Sara at Read Write Believe (daily haiku), Jone at Deo Writer (daily haiku)...and YOU?

POETRY FRIDAY -- What to do if You are a Domino

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Tafkabecky

WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE A DOMINO

          Think in
black and white.
Fan before each player.
Clack authoritatively on the table.
Demand order.

          When
used to stand awkwardly in long lines,
play along. Then
choose a random time to fall. Cause
chaos.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012


This is actually yesterday's poem...Internet access is spotty for me right now, so today's poem will appear when it appears. Dominoes...

I had a fun time with this poem -- it surprised me by wanting its rhymes to be at the beginnings of lines, instead of the ends. And the idea that dominoes embody both complete order and complete chaos...I can totally relate!

Diane has the Poetry Friday roundup today at Random Noodling. I'll visit posts as soon as I am Internet-able!

Three For Earth Day

Get Outside: The Kids Guide to Fun in the Great Outdoors
by Jane Drake and Ann Love
illustrated by Heather Collins
Kids Can Press, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

This guide is organized first by season, and within each season by these categories of activities: Nature Lover, Outdoor Fun and Games, Snug Inside, and Look to the Sky.

Kind of sad that the sort of "mucking about inventing our own fun and games" stuff we did when I was a kid needs categories and step-by-step instructions, but we need whatever it takes to get this generation of kids outside!

This is a good book for kids, but also a good book for Environmental Club leaders (me), Girl Scout Leaders, Day Camp Leaders, Home Schoolers, and parents.

Energy Island: How One Community Harnessed the Wind and Changed Their World
by Allan Drummond
Frances Foster Books/Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

This picture book is good for many ages. The main text is embedded in engaging illustrations, but the sidebar information about energy is good for 5th grade and up.

The Danish island of Samso is very windy. This book chronicles the long process the residents of that island went through to make the transition to being almost completely energy-independent by harnessing the power of the wind.

Meadowlands: A Wetlands Survival Story
by Thomas F. Yezerski
Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

This gorgeously-illustrated picture book reminds me of A River Ran Wild by Lynne Cherry. They both are environmental histories about places in nature that humans came really really close to completely destroying...but didn't...and the slow and hopeful recovery process. Both have border illustrations that extend or elaborate on the main illustration or information on the page.

West on I-70

4/18

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Chedder

WEST ON I-70

The horizon circles me

like a coyote

warily

watchfully

remotely

The road shoots me

like an arrow

impassively

relentlessly

directly

Pikes Peak greets me

with a nod

discreetly

solemnly

distantly

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

4/17 Song of Smart

4/17

SONG OF SMART
(inspired by Opening Minds, by Peter H. Johnston)


Smart is not a have / have not --
it grows.

Smart is not a can / can not --
it grows.

Increase and build and grow your smarts
Don't give up on the hard parts
Make a plan and plan on change
Risk mistakes -- they grow your brain, 'cause...

Smart is not a have / have not --
it grows.

Smart is not a can / can not --
it grows.

Smart takes work, don't get me wrong
And work builds brains, makes your mind strong
Work is fun, it makes you YOU
Become -- grow -- learn, it's what we do, 'cause...

Smart is not a have / have not --
it grows.

Smart is not a can / can not --
it grows.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

4/16 Haiku

4/16

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Len Blumin

Fox, hawk, meadowlark,
Big sky, wide open landscape:
Welcome committee.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012

A Trip to the Ocean

I didn't get to go to the ocean for spring break, so I'm taking a virtual, book-based trip in this post!

At the Boardwalk
by Kelly Ramsdell Fineman
illustrated by Monica Armino
Tiger Tales, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

Our Kidlitosphere pal Kelly Fineman takes us on a day-long rhyming visit to the boardwalk. We start with a jog in the morning fog, we eat plenty of yummy treats, play lots of games, and ride lots of rides. Oh, to be a kid again!

Three by the Sea
by Mini Grey
Alfred A. Knopf, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

Three friends are living happily by the sea until a (sly shyster of a) Stranger shows up and sows seeds of discord. The friends ride out the storm in their friendship, and when the Stranger leaves, they plant some of the real seeds he leaves behind. In spite of the problems the Stranger caused, some of the change he brought turns out to be for the best.

Water Sings Blue: Ocean Poems
by Kate Coombs
illustrated by Meilo So
Chronicle Books, 2012

I've never spent much time at the ocean, so without much experiential background, I wasn't sure I'd find a way into these poems. It was actually the gorgeous watercolor illustrations that drew me in, but the poems kept me there. Why bother with direct experience -- Kate Coombs teaches me about the ocean through her poems! And what a rich and varied collection this is! I'm not going to take it to school just yet. I'm going to keep Kate nearby as a mentor author. Not only will she be teaching me about the ocean, she'll teach me about writing poetry.

In the Sea
by David Elliott
illustrated by Holly Meade
Candlewick Press, 2012

I was thrilled to see that David Elliott and Holly Meade have another book in their IN/ON THE... series (On the Farm, In the Wild). This (my humble opinion) is the best of the three, both in poetry and illustration. David Elliott is another of my poetry mentors. He writes short, but ever so strong. I love this:

The Urchin
Spiny.

The Sardine
Tiny.

The Mackerel
Shiny.

The Shrimp
Briny.