The Poetry Friday Anthology

The Poetry Friday Anthology: Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core
compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong
Pomelo Books, 2012 -- official release date September 1

The PFA by the numbers:

218 previously-unpublished poems by
75 poets.
36 poems for each grade level K-5 -- one for each week of the school year.
5 quick tips for each poem: bringing the poem to life, ways to read the poem with your students, open ended discussion prompts, a specific language arts or poetry skill that fits the poem, and a connection to another poem in the anthology or a different poetry book.
6 grade levels, all sharing poetry on the same theme every week throughout the year. The Week 1 poem in each grade level is related to the theme of "School." Week 8, where you will find my poem (squee!!!) "Bluejay Sings Two Different Songs," has the theme "In the Air." Week 26, K-5, is "Nonsense" week. Let's plan ahead for that one!
PLUS lots of poetry resources, and a special nod to Poetry Friday in the Kidlitosphere.

Teachers, you will want this book. You will need this book. You will USE this book.



Three cheers for Poetry Friday -- on the blogs, in the book, and coming soon to classrooms across the country!!

As for the roundup...I'll put together an informal one HERE. Don't worry about sending me links. I'll do a Google blog search and find you!

Where do You Get Your Ideas: Options for the Writing Studio

In your writing studio, there are always going to be those days when (or those kids for whom) "I don't have anything to write about" is the song of the day.

Because I personally know how helpful it is choose a photo from my iPhoto as a writing prompt, I will have a basket full of pictures cut from magazines and catalogs for students to choose from if they need a visual prompt.

I will share the strategy of picking a random word from the dictionary as a way to get the writing ideas flowing.

And I will introduce these two resources:

StoryWorld: Quests and Adventures: Create-A-Story
by John and Caitlin Matthews
Templar Books (Candlewick Press), 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

This is one set of cards in a series that includes cards that help you write a story that has fairy magic, is a legend of the sea, or is set in a haunted house. There is also a basic storytelling box.

Each card has an illustration of a character, a setting, a creature, or a prop on the front. On the back is a bit of information about the front of the card, and some open-ended questions to get the writer or storyteller thinking and imagining. The set comes with an instruction booklet that emphasizes that there is no right or wrong way to use the cards. They can be used by one person or a group; they can be used one at a time, or in combination; they can be used for acting, as well as for writing...the possibilities are endless.

The Scary Places Map Book: Seven Terrifying Tours
by B.G. Hennessy
illustrated by Erwin Madrid
Candlewick Press, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

Each of the seven terrifying tours in this book (The Ghostly Galleon Cruise of the Seven Seas, Land of the Mythical Monsters, Roundup of the Western Terror-tories, Tour of the Wicked Woods and Witchfield Village, Trip Through Transylvania, Sleepwalking Tour of Nightmare House, and Museum of Haunted Objects) begins with some information about the setting and directions for the tour.

There is a labeled cut-away diagram of the Ghostly Galleon to go with the Ghostly Galleon Cruise, and the maps for the Sleepwalking Tour of Nightmare House and the Museum of Haunted Objects are labeled cut-aways of the house and museum. Every map is gridded with numbers and letters around the edges, and of course, they each have a map key, including a scale that matches the map (1/2 Hercules Strides for the Land of Mythical Monsters map). Here is a sample of the directions from the Land of Mythical Monsters:

• Begin the tour at Athena's Temple (E3). Look for the peak of Mount Olympus to the west (G4, H4).
• Follow the footpath from Athena's temple southwest for 3 Hercules strides to Heras Secret Garden (J3).
• Then travel east 2 Hercules strides for a stop at the Stables of King Augeas, site of Hercules's big cleanup (G2). Then head southeast 1 1/2 Hercules strides to Nemea (E1). Watch for the famous lion.

Even if a writer did not want to tell the story of the tour in the book, each of the maps gives him/her a rich setting with which to begin a story...or a mentor text for their own imaginative maps and tours!

Hopefully these two resources will help some of our writers get "unstuck" this year!

It's Monday! What are you reading? FLYING THE DRAGON

Thanks to Jen and Kellee at TEACH MENTOR TEXTS for hosting IT'S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Flying the Dragon
by Natalie Dias Lorenzi
Charlesbridge, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

This book hooked me by page 9, after two short chapters.

Throughout the book, the chapters alternate between Hiroshi and Skye, cousins who, at the outset of the book, have never met. Hiroshi lives in Japan with his parents and Grandfather. Skye lives in Virginia with her Japanese father (Hiroshi's father's twin brother) and her American mother.

Hiroshi is focused on competing in the upcoming rokkaku kite battles. "A member of the Tsuki family had always won the master flier title ever since Grandfather had first entered as a boy." This is the year that Hiroshi will enter the competition on his own.

Skye is focused on securing a spot on the All-Star soccer team.

And Grandfather needs cancer treatments that are available in the United States, not in Japan.

So Hiroshi, his parents, and Grandfather move to Virginia to live in a house down the street from Skye's family. No rokkaku kite battles for Hiroshi, and no All-Star team for Skye, unless she can pass into the advanced Japanese language class after Japanese Saturday school.

Natalie Dias Lorenzi is an ELL teacher. She gets the conflicts of language and culture spot-on perfect, both for Hiroshi, who is struggling to learn English, and for Skye, who is struggling to learn Japanese and accept her family's culture.

This interaction between Hiroshi and his ELL teacher broke my heart. I have had conversations like this so many times. Times when I know that there is a wealth of information and intelligence locked behind the barrier of language:

" 'I like kites.' 

But he wanted to say so much more. He wanted to tell Mr. Jacobs about the kite battle he had to miss because he'd moved to America. He wanted to explain that the dragon kite was the first one he had made himself. Well, mostly himself--Grandfather had helped a little. He wanted to say that grandfather was a rokkaku champion and Hiroshi's best friend. And that he hoped Grandfather would get better soon so they could keep flying kites together. 

'Yes,' Hiroshi repeated. 'I like kites.' "

One of the things I love best about this book are the believable ways that both Hiroshi and Skye grow and change. I love wise, wise Grandfather, and his role in bringing Hiroshi and Skye together.

I am in awe that this is Lorenzi's debut novel. I wish there were a William C. Morris Award, not just for YA authors, but for middle grade authors as well.

I've already picked my first read aloud for this year, but I'm pretty sure this will be my second. Check it out -- you'll be glad you did!



Author's website: Natalie Dias Lorenzi | Author
Author interview at Read, Write, Repeat
One of Jama Rattigan's amazing Book Birthday posts at Jama's Alphabet Soup

10 for 10...plus two more!!

I know, I know.
#pb10for10 was on August 10th.
But what if I want to add two more books to my list?
Books that the UPS guy just delivered?

Can we please have a PLUS TWO day on August 12th, where everybody gets to add just two more books to their list?

Seed by Seed: The Legend and Legacy of John "Appleseed" Chapman
by Esmé Raji Codell
illustrated by Lynne Rae Perkins
Greenwillow Books, on shelves August 21
review copy provided by the publisher

Just in time for Johnny Appleseed's Birthday (September 26) comes this picture book that takes us back to the

"...quiet, tree-bough-tangled world,
the world before the cement was poured
and the lights turned on..."

Codell doesn't give us the same-old same-old cutesy Johnny Appleseed story. She identifies and elaborates on not just the apples, but 5 examples he planted for us:

Use what you have.

Share what you have.

Respect nature.

Try to make peace where there is war.

You can reach your destination by taking small steps.

This book is all kinds of perfection, from Codell's beautiful writing, to Perkins' gorgeous illustrations. I think we'll be adopting Chapman's five examples in Room 228.

Cat Tale

by Michael Hall (author of My Heart is Like a Zoo, which I reviewed in 2011)

Greenwillow Books, on shelves August 28

review copy provided by the publisher

This book will wind up living on my Word Study shelf, but I won't tell my students that when I share it with them.

I will introduce this book by asking the students, "What do you notice?"

"From word to word

they find their way,

Lillian, Tilly, and William J.

They pack some books

and kitty chews.

They choose a spot.

They spot some ewes."

What do you notice?

...Later in the book:

"They flee a steer.

They steer a plane.

They plane a board.

They board a train."

What do you notice? What do you predict will happen next?

The three cats' crazy romp through a tale filled with homophones and homonyms gets completely tangled up...but then, with the help of a purple whale, they make it back home again. Fun, fun, FUN!! (And did I mention, visually stunning, with art that "consists of acrylic painted textures and paper cutouts that were combined digitally.")

PW Starred Review

10 for 10 -- Picture Books for the First Weeks of School

I've used the same set of picture books (including these books about names) to start the school year for several years now. It's not a bad set, in fact, it's a GREAT set, but I challenged myself to pick 10 different picture books to start this new year in a new position, and to think about what I'll be saying to my students (through these books) about my hopes for them, and for our year together.

1. Choose kind.
Little Bird by Germano Zullo

2. Make friends, not enemies.
Enemy Pie (Reading Rainbow book) by Derek Munson

3. Be faithful to your friends.
Otis by Loren Long

4. Work hard to solve your problems...but don't forget to think about what your solution might do to others.
Stuck by Oliver Jeffers

5. Live in this moment. Be present.
You're Finally Here! by Mélanie Watt

6. Be yourself. No matter what.
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems

7. Be persistent. Believe in yourself. Follow your dreams.
Learning to Fly by Sebastian Meschenmoser

8. Know yourself. Be yourself. Follow your dreams. (And a special note to myself: make sure your "dance academy" has room for everyone.)
Brontorina by James Howe

9. Make memories, because memories make stories.
Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran

10. The world around us is amazing, awe-inspiring, and diverse. It is there for us to notice, learn about, and appreciate.
The Beetle Book by Steve Jenkins

Thank you to Cathy, at Reflect & Refine: Building a Learning Community, and Mandy, at Enjoy and Embrace Learning for sponsoring this 10 for 10 Picture Book event for the third year. Be sure you hide your credit cards and then go look at all the fabulous lists!

10 Books in Which Characters are Eaten #TeamBear

We love August 10--one of our favorite book holidays. Thanks to Cathy (Reflect and Refine) and Mandy (Enjoy and Embrace Learning) for organizing 10 for 10 Picture Books. Visit their sites to see everyone's lists!

Many of you may remember the ongoing conversation that many of us had around the brilliant book I Want My Hat Back (E. B. White Read-Aloud Award. Picture Books) by Jon Klassen. (SPOILER ALERT but I can't imagine we have any readers who haven't read this book...)  There seemed to be some controversy and unhappiness around the bear eating the rabbit. There were also some issue around whether the bear actually ate the rabbit. I was one of the first #TeamBear members. I was #teambear from the first reading and I never waivered. I was so much #teambear that I was shocked that a #teamrabbit even existed. A few readers (you know who you are...) seemed to think it was just too mean of the bear to eat the rabbit.  So, I decided to use this opportunity to further prove that readers have no reason to be upset with the bear for eating the rabbit.  After all, the rabbit did steal his hat.

Here's the thing. I DO think that the bear in I WANT MY HAT BACK ate the rabbit. AND I think it was justified. AND I think it was no big deal. I don't think eating something in a picture book is the same as killing it off.  I think it is just a temporary swallowing thing to make a point. (And if you've read EXTRA YARN by Jon Klassen, you know that the rabbit is alive and well after the eating!)  Through this #hatback experience,  I realized that books in which the characters get eaten make me laugh.  That is the point.  No need to feel badly for the characters.

So, today's list is 10 of my favorite books in which a character gets eaten. And mostly things are okay. It is even actually funny. Eating characters is just a thing that happens in books sometimes.  I am sharing it in hopes that this list will convince a few of you #teamrabbit members to join #teambear instead:-)  We always welcome new members.

(I Want My Hat Back is clearly my #1 on this list!)

Arnie, the Doughnut by Laurie Keller is one of my favorite books in which the characters get eaten. Actually, Arnie does not get eaten but is shocked to find that many of his friends in the donut shop know they are going to be eaten and are OK with that!  They are happy to be donuts that will be eaten an enjoyed by someone.

And then there is Beware of the Frog by William Bee.  There is some eating in this book because the Mrs. Collywobble's guard frog eats anything that causes danger to the old lady. How can a guard frog that eats giants not be funny?  If anything tries to get into the house, the frog just eats him up.  There is some other eating going on in the book but all of it is justified, and quite amusing.

And there are so many versions There Was an Old Lady (Classic Books With Holes) in which the things eaten are just fine at the end. Depending on the version you read, the lady at the end explodes or hiccups or something. It is then that we find out that everything she swallows is just fine!

I'm The Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry is a new favorite with our younger readers. This one is more reality-based, but still quite fun:-)

Let's not forget Little Red Riding Hood: By the Brothers Grimm  in which the wolf eats Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother (and in some versions, he also eats Little Red Riding Hood).  But the woodsman frees them both with one swing of his ax:-)

Pierre: A Cautionary Tale in Five Chapters and a Prologue by Maurice Sendak is possibly my absolute favorite book in which people get eaten.  The book is only a favorite when the words are sung by Carol King.

Do you see how no-big-dealish eating Pierre was? How he actually emerged a better person? How the lion actually HELPED him by eating him?  (just as I am sure the rabbit emerged better after being eaten by the bear....)

If you remember, there is some eating going on in Pinocchio (Little Golden Book)  When Gepetto goes off to find Pinocchio, he is eaten by a whale. Later, when Pinocchio goes off to find Gepetto, he too is eaten and the two are reunited in the whale's stomach. They are quite clever in making the whale sneeze so they can escape and live happily ever after.

I remember reading The Fat Cat: A Danish Folktale by Jack Kent when I was little. I loved this book and the way that the cat grew and grew.  This one is a classic and the illustrations make it pretty amusing.  This cat goes around eating everyone. He is just really hungry. But not to worry, someone releases them and after a few large bandages for the cat, it seems that everyone is okay after the ordeal.

And my new VERY favorite may be a new one that Mary Lee shared with me.  It is called Bear Despair (Stories Without Words) by Gaeten Doremus (isn't that the best title ever?).  It is a wordless book (even more to love about it) and I am excited about adding it to my collection of wordless books. This is the story of a bear whose teddy bear is stolen. And  the bear has to get it back--so there is some eating going on. The illustrations in this one are great and I am sure kids will love it.

(And I am not saying whether there is any eating going on or not , but Jon Klassen has a new picture book coming soon called This Is Not My Hat .  Really, how can it not be great???)

Poetry Friday -- The Real Work

The Real Work

by Wendell Berry


It may be that when we no longer know what to do
we have come to our real work,

and that when we no longer know which way to go
we have come to our real journey.

The mind that is not baffled is not employed.

The impeded stream is the one that sings.

This poem goes out to all the teachers who are in back-to-school mode, and especially to all the teachers who read OPENING MINDS by Peter Johnston for #CyberPD (I missed the third post AND the final thinking, so I'm counting this poem as my contribution to both. If you read the book, you'll understand how this fits.)

I will carry this poem in my writer's notebook and in my heart this year.

It defies all logic, but I'm hoping for a year full of bafflement, knowing that my mind will be suitably, passionately, diligently employed...and that I, an impeded stream, will be singing.

Yes, I know it is Thursday. Tomorrow is the 10 for 10 Picture Book event. So I'm bringing you Friday a day early. You have a problem with that?!?!

Violet has the Poetry Friday roundup tomorrow at Violet Nesdoly / Poems.