I will be writing more about all that I learned at All Write this week--what an amazing few days of learning with friends! Such a great conference. I promised to post my slides on my Slide Share account. I did that this morning so here is the link to those. They sometimes miss things or cut things off when loaded to Slideshare but the links to every site and video are included so they should include the info people wanted. Hope it is helpful. I have posted all 3 sessions--Digital Reading, Digital Writing and Planning Minilessons.
http://www.slideshare.net/Franki22
And for those who asked, my upcoming book on Planning Minilessons should be available from Choice Literacy in early fall.
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
Poetry Friday -- Mentor Texts
I'm at the All Write conference in Warsaw, Indiana.
I sort of lost track of time and forgot it was Friday.
Oops.
But Ralph Fletcher saved me.
At Ralph's session on mentor texts, he invited us to use the first two lines and the last two lines of his poem, "The Good Old Days" to write our own poem.
Here's my quick-write:
THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Sometimes I remember
The good old days
Getting my bike out of the little building
In the cool of the early morning
Snatching the ripest cherry tomateos from the vines
Before I headed to swim practice
Biking on the gravelly streets
Squinting into the sun
Throwing my towel on the still-wet grass by the pool
And diving into the shockingly cold water
Windmilling my arms to the end of the pool and back
Again and again until I was exhausted
I can't imagine
Anything better than that.
Amy at The Poem Farm has the Poetry Friday roundup this week, but I can't seem to link to her yet. Use the schedule in the sidebar to find her.
Oh, and speaking of the schedule, there are three spots open on the July-December PF Roundup schedule. If you want one of those three spots, leave a comment here.
I sort of lost track of time and forgot it was Friday.
Oops.
But Ralph Fletcher saved me.
At Ralph's session on mentor texts, he invited us to use the first two lines and the last two lines of his poem, "The Good Old Days" to write our own poem.
Here's my quick-write:
THE GOOD OLD DAYS
Sometimes I remember
The good old days
Getting my bike out of the little building
In the cool of the early morning
Snatching the ripest cherry tomateos from the vines
Before I headed to swim practice
Biking on the gravelly streets
Squinting into the sun
Throwing my towel on the still-wet grass by the pool
And diving into the shockingly cold water
Windmilling my arms to the end of the pool and back
Again and again until I was exhausted
I can't imagine
Anything better than that.
Amy at The Poem Farm has the Poetry Friday roundup this week, but I can't seem to link to her yet. Use the schedule in the sidebar to find her.
Oh, and speaking of the schedule, there are three spots open on the July-December PF Roundup schedule. If you want one of those three spots, leave a comment here.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Summer Solstice
Today is the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year (in the Northern Hemisphere). Today, the reason for the season has nothing to do with any kind of human construct. It's all about our planet, it's 23.5 degree tilt, and its yearly trip around our amazing star, the sun.
Solstice seems like the perfect day to spotlight three books by Molly Bang about the sun.
In 2004, Molly Bang wrote My Light, a celebration of the sun and a description of how we can transform sunlight into electricity.
In 2009 (with Penny Chisholm), Bang gave us Living Sunlight, one of the clearest explanations of photosynthesis (down to the molecular level) that you'll ever read. Again, a celebration of our sun.
This year (again with Penny Chisholm), in Ocean Sunlight, Bang celebrates the sun's role in sustaining life on our planet, specifically, in the habitat of the ocean.
She begins by reminding us what we know about photosynthesis on land, and how every food chain begins with plants harnessing energy from the sun. Then she asks us to think about food chains in the ocean:
Solstice seems like the perfect day to spotlight three books by Molly Bang about the sun.
In 2004, Molly Bang wrote My Light, a celebration of the sun and a description of how we can transform sunlight into electricity.
In 2009 (with Penny Chisholm), Bang gave us Living Sunlight, one of the clearest explanations of photosynthesis (down to the molecular level) that you'll ever read. Again, a celebration of our sun.
This year (again with Penny Chisholm), in Ocean Sunlight, Bang celebrates the sun's role in sustaining life on our planet, specifically, in the habitat of the ocean.
She begins by reminding us what we know about photosynthesis on land, and how every food chain begins with plants harnessing energy from the sun. Then she asks us to think about food chains in the ocean:
"All ocean life is part
of food chains, too.
And every ocean food
chain starts when plants
catch my light.
But where
are the ocean's plants?"
Where? In the billion billion billion phytoplankton drifting in the oceans! A microscopic pasture that feeds larger and larger organisms, all the way up to the whales.
That's interesting and mind-boggling, but then she takes it to a whole new level...to the dark dark bottom of the ocean. How do the animals there get to participate in a sunlight-driven food chain when they have no light? They recycle all the "junk" that floats down from the surface. And how do the nutrients created by the life forms on the bottom of the ocean get up to the phytoplankton on the surface? The sun. The sun causes the currents that stir the oceans.
The sun. It always comes back to the sun. Life on earth, the water cycle, food chains, photosynthesis, oxygen and carbon dioxide, consumption and production.
Happy Solstice.
Take a minute today to appreciate our sun.
Monday, June 18, 2012
IT'S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?
Back to IT'S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING! I love this tradition created by Kellee and Jen at TEACH MENTOR TEXTS. My reading list grows every Monday when I read about everyone else's reading!
I read some great books this week. I am trying to focus my reading on new 4th grade titles as well as series that I may have missed in the last few years.
I am a huge Lisa Graff fan and was thrilled to discover her new book DOUBLE DOG DARE. I love Lisa Graff because she is a brilliant middle grade author. She understands the age she writes for and she is able to tackle difficult subjects in a way that makes them accessible to middle grade readers. She combines the perfect combination of serious issues and humor to write great books. In this book, a new student moves in. A battle for the news anchor job begins and each of the people wanting the job agree to "double dog dares". The dares are fun and kids will love to read about the dares, and how each turns out. Embedded in the funny story about dares are issues of moving to a new town, friendship, family, divorce and more. This is a perfect book for 4th and 5th graders--one that will hook them from the very first chapter.
A series book that I read this week (recommended by Tony Keefer) was THE CHAMELEON WORE CHARTREUSE: A CHET GECKO MYSTERY by Bruce Hale. I was not familiar with this series and was happy to find a new one that might engage some 4th graders. I enjoyed the book and will definitely include a basket of these in my classroom. I am not a huge middle grade mystery fan but this is a good mystery series. The word play in this book was my favorite part. Clever language makes the story fun to read.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Poetry Friday Roundup is Here
HOW TO BE A POET
by Wendell Berry
(to remind myself)
(to remind myself)
i
Make a place to sit down.
Sit down. Be quiet.
You must depend upon
affection, reading, knowledge,
skill—more of each
than you have—inspiration,
work, growing older, patience,
for patience joins time
to eternity. Any readers
who like your poems,
doubt their judgment.
ii
Breathe with unconditional breath
the unconditioned air.
Shun electric wire.
Communicate slowly. Live
a three-dimensioned life;
stay away from screens.
Stay away from anything
that obscures the place it is in.
There are no unsacred places;
there are only sacred places
and desecrated places.
iii
Accept what comes from silence.
Make the best you can of it.
Of the little words that come
out of the silence, like prayers
prayed back to the one who prays,
make a poem that does not disturb
the silence from which it came.
We'll have to delay our practice of the middle part of Mr. Berry's poem as we share and enjoy our poems via electric wire, communicating quickly, gazing at screens.
Leave your links in the comments. I'll round up periodically, and in between times, I'll find some silence and write some poems.
If you're interested in hosting a Poetry Friday roundup in June-December 2012, the place to sign up is here. There are only six dates left, so don't delay! (Yes, I'll go back later today and add the blogs and links for some of the ones that are incomplete. Bad planning to do the roundup and the call for hosts on the same Friday...)
* * * * * * * * *
Steven Withrow, at Crackles of Speech, shares an original poem about his Maine Coon Calico, Muffin.
Lucky for us, Tara, at A Teaching Life, continues to investigate and explore the new Poet Laureate's poetry.
Meandering is the mode of the day with Robyn Hood Black, at Read, Write, Howl.
Violet, at Violet Nesdoly / Poems, meditates on the meaning of a metronome.
Charles Ghinga (Father Goose) has an original moon poem for us this week.
Book lovers and independent bookstore lovers, head over to Jama's Alphabet Soup for a wistful remembrance of bookstores and booksellers.
Julie Larios, at The Drift Record, shares a poet with us, rather than a poem. Check out his rakish pose. (Some whimsical eye candy for Jama's blog?) And definitely follow the link to the new book on Frost and his poems. I'm predicting that sales will jump today.
Douglas Florian, at Florian Cafe, treats us to another poem from his baseball collection POEM RUNS.
Iphigene, at Gathering Books, has a "remembering home" poem that reminds me a bit of Jama's. Just a bit.
Check it Out. That's Jone's blog and what you should do. On Wednesday, Jone interviewed Susan Taylor Brown. ( I have serious office envy.) Today, Jone is sharing an original "Lily" poem by Susan.
Linda, at TeacherDance, has written an original Father's Day poem for her husband, a great father and grandfather.
We have another meandering post from Renee, at No Water River. She takes us from bales of hay, to a dairy farm in Iowa, to a "plowboy" farmer who loves cowboy poetry, to a silly rendition of a classic poem about a dairy cow. MOO!
Laura, at Author Amok, writes in response to current events in Syria.
Tabatha, at The Opposite of Indifference, shows us a different side of the Boogieman.
Katya, at Write. Sketch. Repeat., found a fascinating book/poem connection.
Ed DeCaria has a new gig writing baseball poetry for The Hardball Times. He uses one by Marianne Moore to convince readers that baseball and poetry can harmonize, and he follows that with an original sudoku haiku.
Diane triples with her Poetry Friday posts every week! She has FOUR offerings this week:
At Random Noodling I have Rita Dove's poem "Daystar." Kurious Kitty celebrates Father's Day with a poem by Peter Markus from the anthology, Fathers. And, over at Kurious K's Kwotes' is a quote by Peter Markus. The Write Sisters has a father poem by Seamus Heaney, "Digging."
Lucky for us, Tara, at A Teaching Life, continues to investigate and explore the new Poet Laureate's poetry.
Meandering is the mode of the day with Robyn Hood Black, at Read, Write, Howl.
Violet, at Violet Nesdoly / Poems, meditates on the meaning of a metronome.
Charles Ghinga (Father Goose) has an original moon poem for us this week.
Book lovers and independent bookstore lovers, head over to Jama's Alphabet Soup for a wistful remembrance of bookstores and booksellers.
Julie Larios, at The Drift Record, shares a poet with us, rather than a poem. Check out his rakish pose. (Some whimsical eye candy for Jama's blog?) And definitely follow the link to the new book on Frost and his poems. I'm predicting that sales will jump today.
Douglas Florian, at Florian Cafe, treats us to another poem from his baseball collection POEM RUNS.
Iphigene, at Gathering Books, has a "remembering home" poem that reminds me a bit of Jama's. Just a bit.
Check it Out. That's Jone's blog and what you should do. On Wednesday, Jone interviewed Susan Taylor Brown. ( I have serious office envy.) Today, Jone is sharing an original "Lily" poem by Susan.
Linda, at TeacherDance, has written an original Father's Day poem for her husband, a great father and grandfather.
We have another meandering post from Renee, at No Water River. She takes us from bales of hay, to a dairy farm in Iowa, to a "plowboy" farmer who loves cowboy poetry, to a silly rendition of a classic poem about a dairy cow. MOO!
Laura, at Author Amok, writes in response to current events in Syria.
Tabatha, at The Opposite of Indifference, shows us a different side of the Boogieman.
Katya, at Write. Sketch. Repeat., found a fascinating book/poem connection.
Ed DeCaria has a new gig writing baseball poetry for The Hardball Times. He uses one by Marianne Moore to convince readers that baseball and poetry can harmonize, and he follows that with an original sudoku haiku.
Diane triples with her Poetry Friday posts every week! She has FOUR offerings this week:
At Random Noodling I have Rita Dove's poem "Daystar." Kurious Kitty celebrates Father's Day with a poem by Peter Markus from the anthology, Fathers. And, over at Kurious K's Kwotes' is a quote by Peter Markus. The Write Sisters has a father poem by Seamus Heaney, "Digging."
Doraine, at Dori Reads, has a post full of laughter and joy.
At Writing the World for Kids, Laura has some thought-provoking lyrics, and lots of people took part in her 15 Words or Less prompt for this week. (I need to get back in the habit of participating...)
Debbie shares a J. Patrick Lewis cat poem with fun plays on words this week at her blog Debbie Diller: A Journey in Learning.
Amy, at The Poem Farm, says goodbye to a beloved pet bunny.
Donna, at Write Time, wrote a Father's Day poem for her sons (about their father) that will bring tears to your eyes.
At Mainley Write, Donna feels the tug of tides in her original poem.
Andi, at A Wrung Sponge, had an urban fox sighting just after reading a poem about urban foxes in a new book by Marilyn Singer.
Marjorie, at Paper Tigers, shares a poem from Talking with Mother Earth/Hablando con Madre Tierra, a collection of poems by Salvadoran poet Jorge Argueta.
Liz, at Growing Wild, has an original poem about the summer swimming pool that is simply PERFECT!!
Anastasia shares THE CONSTRUCTION CREW by Lynn Meltzer (Author) and Carrie Eko-Burgess (Illustrator) at Booktalking.
Need a poem for Father's Day? Sylvia has a list of poetry books about fathers at Poetry For Children.
Carol, at Carol's Corner, is trying hard to savor the last year before both of her boys leave the nest. Her poem choice today is perfect for savoring and noticing small moments.
Elaine is sharing an original memoir poem at Wild Rose Reader today. More savoring!
Pentimento shares a poem about the long healing that comes after the loss of an infant.
Rena, who is On the Way to Somewhere, shares an original poem about a sock monster.
(Now it's time for lunch, and then I'm going to make the birthday cake for my mom's 85th birthday tomorrow. I'll be back to round up a few more posts when the three chocolately layers are cooling!)
Ruth has arrived at her motel after a day of traveling and shares with us a poem about having two homes. Even her blog's name seems to be a comment on the theme of place -- There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town.
Janet, at All About the Books with Janet Squires, shares a Lee Bennett Hopkins anthology about the wonders of museums.
Lorie Ann Grover writes, "At On Point I have Memory's Shimmer, and at readertotz we have How Doth the Little Crocodile."
At Writing the World for Kids, Laura has some thought-provoking lyrics, and lots of people took part in her 15 Words or Less prompt for this week. (I need to get back in the habit of participating...)
Debbie shares a J. Patrick Lewis cat poem with fun plays on words this week at her blog Debbie Diller: A Journey in Learning.
Amy, at The Poem Farm, says goodbye to a beloved pet bunny.
Donna, at Write Time, wrote a Father's Day poem for her sons (about their father) that will bring tears to your eyes.
At Mainley Write, Donna feels the tug of tides in her original poem.
Andi, at A Wrung Sponge, had an urban fox sighting just after reading a poem about urban foxes in a new book by Marilyn Singer.
Marjorie, at Paper Tigers, shares a poem from Talking with Mother Earth/Hablando con Madre Tierra, a collection of poems by Salvadoran poet Jorge Argueta.
Liz, at Growing Wild, has an original poem about the summer swimming pool that is simply PERFECT!!
Anastasia shares THE CONSTRUCTION CREW by Lynn Meltzer (Author) and Carrie Eko-Burgess (Illustrator) at Booktalking.
Need a poem for Father's Day? Sylvia has a list of poetry books about fathers at Poetry For Children.
Carol, at Carol's Corner, is trying hard to savor the last year before both of her boys leave the nest. Her poem choice today is perfect for savoring and noticing small moments.
Elaine is sharing an original memoir poem at Wild Rose Reader today. More savoring!
Pentimento shares a poem about the long healing that comes after the loss of an infant.
Rena, who is On the Way to Somewhere, shares an original poem about a sock monster.
(Now it's time for lunch, and then I'm going to make the birthday cake for my mom's 85th birthday tomorrow. I'll be back to round up a few more posts when the three chocolately layers are cooling!)
Ruth has arrived at her motel after a day of traveling and shares with us a poem about having two homes. Even her blog's name seems to be a comment on the theme of place -- There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town.
Janet, at All About the Books with Janet Squires, shares a Lee Bennett Hopkins anthology about the wonders of museums.
Lorie Ann Grover writes, "At On Point I have Memory's Shimmer, and at readertotz we have How Doth the Little Crocodile."
Poetry Friday Call for Roundup Hosts
It's that time again. Six months have passed since last we queued up to host the Poetry Friday roundups.
If you'd like to host a roundup between July and December 2012, leave your choice(s) of date(s) in the comments. I'll update throughout the day to make it easier to see which dates have been claimed.
Who can do the Poetry Friday roundup? Anyone who is willing to gather the links in some way, shape or form (Mr. Linky, "old school" in the comments-->annotated in the post, Jog the Web, or ???) on the Friday of your choice. If you are new to the Poetry Friday community, jump right in! If you've never participated, but you'd like to get started, choose a date later on so that we can spend some time getting to know each other.
What is the Poetry Friday roundup? A gathering of links to posts featuring original or shared poems, or reviews of poetry books. A carnival of poetry posts.
How do you do a Poetry Friday roundup? If you're not sure, stick around for a couple of weeks and watch...and learn! One thing we're finding out is that folks who schedule their posts, or who live in a different time zone than you, appreciate it when the roundup post goes live sometime on Thursday. (I'm rounding up today, so that post will appear this afternoon. Stay tuned.)
How do I get the code for the PF Roundup Schedule for the sidebar of my blog? I'll post it in the files on the Kidlitosphere Yahoo group, and I'd be happy to send it to you if you leave me your email address. Speaking of the the Kidlitosphere Yahoo group, I'll set up reminders on the calendar there. Plus, I'll send the schedule to Pam to put on the Kidlitosphere Central webpage.
Why would I do a Poetry Friday Roundup? Community, community, community. It's like hosting a poetry party on your blog!
And now for the where and when:
July
6 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference
13 Jone at Check it Out
20 Tara at A Teaching Life
27 Bibliophile at Life is Better With Books
August
3 Rena at On the Way to Somewhere...
10 Violet at Violet Nesdoly / Poems
17 Andi at A Wrung Sponge
24 Dori at Dori Reads
31 Sylvia at Poetry For Children
September
7 Katya at Write. Sketch. Repeat.
14 Diane at Random Noodling
21 Renee at No Water River
28 Marjorie at Paper Tigers
October
5 Laura at Writing the World for Kids
12 Amy at The Poem Farm
19 Irene at Live Your Poem...
26 Linda at TeacherDance
November
2 Donna at Mainely Write
9 Ed at Think Kid, Think!
16 Anastasia at Booktalking
23 Mary Lee at A Year of Reading
30 Betsy at Teaching Young Writers
December
7 Robyn at Read, Write, Howl
14 Jama at Jama's Alphabet Soup
21 Heidi at My Juicy Little Universe
28 Carol at Carol's Corner
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Egghead
EGGHEAD
by Karla Oceanak
illustrated by Kendra Spanjer
Bailiwick Press, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher
Aldo Zelnick is ESTRANGED from his best friend Jack in this fifth book in the Aldo Zelnick Comic Novel series.
The series is alphabetic, and we're up to the letter E. (My reviews of the other 4 books are here.) Aldo's laziness gets the best of him in this book -- his refusal to put forth enough EFFORT to do well in ESPAÑOL...even to accept Spanish as worth the effort...understandably causes a rift between him and his best friend, Jack, a native Spanish speaker.
I wasn't as patient with Aldo as his parents and his other friends were. I didn't like this completely EGOCENTRIC side of Aldo. But he came through in the end, even sacrificing his Halloween candy, which, if you know Aldo, was a huge sacrifice.
There were lots of fun subplots in this book -- Aldo is reading A WRINKLE IN TIME, and he even makes a "Bacon Boy" (his own original comic character) cartoon retelling of the book. It is raining through most of the book, and Aldo and his friends build dams in the gutters, just like I did when I was a kid. And, because Aldo is doing a report on EINSTEIN and dressing like him for Halloween, there are lots of fun Einstein facts and science EXPERIMENTS woven into the story. (Make sure you don't miss the nod to EDWARD Gorey on the last page of the book!)
Next up in the series are FINICKY (looks like Aldo might need to start eating more healthily) and GLITCH (looks like a take-off on the Grinch).
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
IT'S A TIGER!
I was thrilled when I found a review copy of IT'S A TIGER in my mailbox from Chronicle Books. The book is written by David LaRochelle and illustrated by Jeremy Tankard. I immediately recognized Tankard's illustrations as he is an illustrator whose work I love (Me Hungry!).
This is a fun book that would make a great read aloud, especially for primary students. In the spirit of WE'RE GOING ON A BEAR HUNT, the narrator takes us through a jungle. We don't go looking for a tiger, but soon into the journey, readers spot a one and must run from it. Readers are instructed to follow the narrator past vines, up a ladder, and onto an island in order to escape the tiger. But at every turn, the tiger seems to appear.
This book is due to be released in August. Right in time for the beginning of the school year! Young readers will love the surprise and the predictability of this book. The illustrations make it an enjoyable kind of scary and the ending is a treat. Definitely a great read aloud for primary classrooms. Kids will be dying to join in this journey!
Sunday, June 10, 2012
GIANTS BEWARE! A Fun New Graphic Novel
I bought a copy of GIANTS BEWARE by Rafael Rosado and Jorge Aguirre at our Selections Book Fair. I hadn't seen it but it was a hit with the kids. The cover grabbed my attention immediately and I knew it was a graphic novel that I wanted to read. I read it last week as one of my #bookaday books and I LOVED it. It might be my new favorite graphic novel. It is perfect for middle grades and middle school. This is the story of Claudette, who lives in a town safe from evil. The town is walled in and no one can go out and one main reason is the giants. But Claudette isn't afraid and she wants to fight the giants rather than hide behind walls. She convinces (slyly and a little dishonestly) her brother and her best friend to accompany her on her journey to slay the giant. I love this book for so many reasons:
1. I love the characters. I love the way they are drawn and I love the development of each of the characters' personalities.
2. Claudette is a funny heroine--a female fighter at heart. She is definitely one of my new favorite characters.
3. The graphics are engaging--I have trouble with graphic novels because I don't often spend enough time with the visuals. This book makes that part easy to do. Lots to look at and make sense of throughout.
4. I love Marie's hair. Marie is Claudette's best friend and she is an aspiring princess.
5. The humor is brilliant. And surprising. Throughout the book, there were these great lines that made me laugh out loud.
6. The combination of scary adventure and fun is perfect for middle graders.
A great read and I am hoping to see more Claudette books sometime soon!
Friday, June 08, 2012
Poetry Friday: Directions
DIRECTIONS
by Connie Wanek
First you'll come to the end of the freeway.
Then it's not so much north on Woodland Avenue
as it is a feeling that the pines are taller and weigh more,
and the road, you'll notice,
is older with faded lines and unmown shoulders.
You'll see a cemetery on your right
and another later on your left.
Sobered, drive on.
Drive on for miles
if the fields are full of hawkweed and daisies.
Sometimes a spotted horse
will gallop along the fence. Sometimes you'll see
a hawk circling, sometimes a vulture.
by Connie Wanek
First you'll come to the end of the freeway.
Then it's not so much north on Woodland Avenue
as it is a feeling that the pines are taller and weigh more,
and the road, you'll notice,
is older with faded lines and unmown shoulders.
You'll see a cemetery on your right
and another later on your left.
Sobered, drive on.
Drive on for miles
if the fields are full of hawkweed and daisies.
Sometimes a spotted horse
will gallop along the fence. Sometimes you'll see
a hawk circling, sometimes a vulture.
(the whole poem is at The Writer's Almanac)
Today is a traveling day, and this poem seems apt. Especially the part about the horizon (you'll have to read the whole poem).
Happy Friday! Happy Poetry! Jama has the roundup this week at Jama's Alphabet Soup, and as usual, it is drooliciously wonderful!
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