Notice and Note (with DON'T FEED THE BOY)

Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading

by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst

Heinemann, 2013

After I finished reading NOTICE AND NOTE, I challenged myself to look for the signposts in everything I read/viewed for the rest of the summer--children's books, adult books, movies, TV shows.

I discovered that it's hard...at first. The way I was trying to capture my thinking was the first barrier I had to hurdle. I took a picture of the N+N reading log in Penultimate on my iPad and I tried to jot my thinking with the stylus my brother gave me. The image of the log kept moving around when I was trying to write. Annoying. There has to be a way to lock an image in Penultimate, but I wasn't patient enough to find it.

Low tech was the way to go. I jotted the signposts on a scrap of paper that I used as a bookmark and grabbed some small sticky notes. Each time before I read, I glanced at the list of signposts.

But it was still hard. I read more slowly and looked back at the signposts often, asking myself, Was that one? Was that one?

Then, on page 19, I read, "Whit had heard the story a thousand times." and it was literally like a lightbulb: Memory Moment! Clear as day! At that point, I was able to relax into the reading and trust the author to lead me from signpost to signpost. Over the course of the book, I found all 6 signposts. At each one, I paused in my reading to think about what that signpost told me about the characters (alone or together) or the themes. I think I enjoyed the book more than I would have if I had just read it straight through, and I know for sure that if I sat down and had a conversation with someone about this book, I would, using my notes, have lots to say that I would never have...um...noticed or noted if I hadn't used the signposts.

This is only my first experience using the signposts, but it makes me super excited to teach the signposts to my fifth graders and watch what happens to their ability to write about and talk about their reading.

There is one additional signpost that I will teach my students. One I have learned to notice and note on my own -- the signpost of The Storm. So often, a storm in the story mirrors or foreshadows the action in the plot (change or trouble).

Don't Feed the Boy
by Irene Latham
Roaring Brook Press, 2012

First of all, how did I not read this book last year when it first came out?!?! All I can figure is that it got lost in the shifting sands/priorities of my TBR pile. If you missed it, too, get a copy and read it! These are characters you will love!

Whit has lived his whole life within the confines of the zoo where his mother is the director and his father is in charge of the elephants. He has been "home schooled" and nannied there. He craves change.

Whit meets Stella, a daily visitor to the zoo, and begins to learn about friendship in his first interaction with a member of his own species who is also his own age. Stella needs change in a way that is far more desperate and necessary than the change Whit seeks.

Both characters have parents who don't understand them, but just as their need for change is very different, the level of "bad" or BAD parenting that each character experiences is quite different.

Throughout the book, facts about zoos and zoo animals are woven. I wish I had read this book when it first came out. I could have handed it to my student who was almost exclusively a nonfiction reader in fourth grade and for whom TIGER RISING was his first independent grade level appropriate fiction novel. He would love the blend of fact and fiction in this book. He would likely also benefit from Whit's musings on what Stella's facial expressions meant, and the times when Whit came to  realize that Stella was joking with him. Ah, well. Better late than never! I'm sure there are students who will be in next year's class who will enjoy imagining a life spent within the walls of a zoo.

My NOTICE AND NOTE notes:

p. 19 "Whit had heard the story a thousand times." MEMORY MOMENT
p. 86 "Each time Whit broke a rule, it got easier." AGAIN AND AGAIN
p. 106 " 'Rodney, the truth is, I hate the zoo.' " AHA MOMENT
p. 144 " 'Dad, is there anything I can do?' " AHA MOMENT, CONTRAST/CONTRADICTION
p. 145 "Whit's mind played back all sorts of scenes of Millie's daily life..." MEMORY MOMENT
p. 161 " 'Guns are terrible things...' " WORDS OF THE WISER
p. 165 "As they turned to go, a drop of rain hit the top of Whit's ear." STORM = CHANGE
p. 168 "Whit wondered if that was what it was like for Stella's parents." TOUGH QUESTIONS
p. 171 "Whit thought he remembered the day Millie painted that one..." MEMORY MOMENT
p. 183 " 'But some things don't make sense no matter how many times you turn them over in your mind.' " WORDS OF THE WISER
p. 211 "Whit understood for the first time why more people come to the zoo than to all other sporting events combined." AHA MOMENT
p. 235 "How was it possible that they wanted the same thing but it wasn't the same at all? AHA MOMENT, TOUGH QUESTIONS
p. 263 (I'm not going to quote this one, it would give too much away!) AHA MOMENT
p. 266 "Rodney didn't say "awesome" or "cool" or any other words like them. CONTRAST/CONTRADICTION
p. 271 "A week later, on the second Monday of the month, it began to rain." STORM=CHANGE
p. 273 (Another one I can't quote.) CONTRAST/CONTRADICTION

#CyberPD--Who Owns the Learning?, Ch 3-4

Who Owns the Learning?: Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age
by Alan November
Solution Tree (May 21, 2012)
I'm reading the Kindle Edition

"As long as you're asking what's next, you'll get there. 

But never be content with where you're at."

In Chapter 3, Alan November describes the job of Student Scribe. He says that this job is "low-hanging fruit," but I'm having some trouble imagining it in my 5th grade classroom. At least the way he describes it. My students aren't typically taking notes throughout the day. But maybe they should be...in some way, shape, or (developmentally appropriate) form...

I can see the Scribe being responsible for a daily blog post for our class blog. And I like the idea that this is a place where "Every voice speaks with the same volume." The idea that the habits/skills that are a part of this job will contribute to lifelong learning and instill a sense of LEGACY in students is powerful. But was November reading my mind when he commented that part of the challenge with this job is getting past the fear of letting go of control?!? :-)

Discussion Question #3: "Do you think students will work harder on material that they prepare for that audience than they will when doing work for their teachers?"

I'm having a hard time answering this with an enthusiastic "Yes!" Blogging kind of flopped for me last year. My invitation to my students to join me in my Poetry Month project kind of flopped. My Columbus Dispatch Reader group is in the process of flopping. Where is this mystical, magical motivation? Does it have to do with audience and control? If I don't take charge, these things won't get done/get done correctly/well/on time...right? And where, exactly is this audience? As bloggers, we all know that it takes nearly as much energy to be a good audience as it does to be the ones creating the content to be consumed. I guess that's the part where I arrange for my class to partner with another class in the district (uh oh...there's that control issue again...) and/or my students link up with other classes through our Twitter feed.

Discussion Question #4: "How can teachers model sharing knowledge with a global audience?"

Easy peasy, this one. Blogging and Twitter and my Wikimedia Commons project for Poetry Month come immediately to mind. I've had photos from my Flickr photostream used (with my permission and with attribution) in a magazine and an online city guide. Just recently this Poetry Friday poem got picked up though a key word search "high plains" by High Plains Public Radio for their website. Got this one covered.

On the other hand, Chapter 4, Student as Researcher, was the chapter that showed me where my gaps are. I need to learn to do better Internet searches so that I can teach my students to be smarter researchers. I dipped into this a bit with my Poetry Month project. I no longer allow students to drag to their desktop any ol' image they find on any ol' Google Image search. This year, I taught my students to do an advanced image search for images that are licensed to be used/modified, and to give attribution for the image when it is used in a project. I have informally taught bits and pieces of analyzing a website and/or its address, but with the information and resources November has given me, I will be much more methodical (and informed) about this in the future!

ALL of the Discussion Questions for Chapter 4 are ones that I want to return to and reflect upon.  #1--I need to teach my students to design basic and advanced searches. #2--Yes, students should be taught search strategies in every discipline. #3--How to implement the role of student researcher in my classroom needs lots of thinking and planning. #4--Designing assessment items that required students to access the web...hmm...sounds very Common Core to me. And very exciting!

So much in Chapter 4 to think about and learn about! This chapter really got me excited!

Jill Fisch (My Primary Passion) is hosting today's conversation about WHO OWNS THE LEARNING? Thank you to her, and to Cathy (Reflect and Refine) and Laura Komos (Ruminate and Invigorate) for bringing us together to have these important conversations.

My Dad Thinks He's Funny by Katrina Germein

I happened to see My Dad Thinks He's Funny  by Katrina Germein while visiting Cover to Cover around Father's Day. It isn't a new book but it looked fun.  I'm so glad I picked it up because it will be perfect for minilesson work in Writing Workshop. I love the format of this book to show young writers how authors let us get to know a character by telling details--not with adjectives necessarily but by telling stories. In this very predictable book, a child is talking about how his dad THINKS he is funny (with the implication that he really isn't:-). On each two page spread, there is a little example of this.  One such example is..."Whenever I say, 'I'm hungry,' Dad says, 'Hello, Hungry. Pleased to meet you.'" Kids will love the humor and the illustrations add to the fun. This is a perfect example to kids about including examples that let their reader really know their characters when writing. I can see using it early in the year for some notebook play.  This is a fun book that kids will remember.

20 Ways to Draw a Tree by Eloise Renouf

It is that time of summer when I am thinking hard about those first messages I want to give my new students about the classroom they'll be entering.  Peter Johnston's words have lived with me for years and as I think about routines and classroom organization, I am always thinking about the subtle messages these things in schools give to our young children. So, I was thrilled to discover a new book called 20 Ways to Draw a Tree and 44 Other Nifty Things from Nature: A Sketchbook for Artists, Designers, and Doodlers. I was immediately drawn to the title and checked it out.  I love so much about this book and am thrilled that there are others in the series.

I am not an artist and I don't actually pay much attention to visuals. I've only started to a little bit recently as the world is made up of more visuals.  So this book is all the more fascinating to me. I guess I never realized how many different ways there are to draw a tree or a leaf or a bird or a flower.

So, back to why I bought this book. I want my students to get the message right away that there are lots of ways to do things. That there are not "right' and "wrong" answers and that there are so many ways to problem solve and to think about things. So many ways to approach things. So many amazing ways to see something and so many ways to think about something. And I think this book gives that message.   Although this book is designed to help you experiment with drawing (and I imagine it will invite lots of kids to do just that), it will also give the messages I want them to get when they walk into our classroom.

I'm not quite sure how I'll use the book--whether I'll figure out a way to make it some sort of invitational wall display or whether we'll do some playing with it the first few days of school or what. But I know it will serve some purpose during those first few important weeks of school. And I can see kids going back to it throughout the year and just looking at it. There is so much to see. Such an amazing book!

Poetry Friday -- The Joy of Language

A visual poem today, celebrating the joy of language.





"...but do they bubble and froth and slobber and cream with joy at language?"

Keri has the Poetry Friday roundup today at Keri Recommends. Happy Friday!

#CyberPD--Who Owns the Learning?, Ch 1-2

Who Owns the Learning?: Preparing Students for Success in the Digital Age
by Alan November
Solution Tree (May 21, 2012)

I'm reading the Kindle Edition

My brain is going in two different directions as I read this book. 

1. (the young side of my brain) Well, duh. You long ago gave away sole responsibility for hallway and classroom displays. Why not take the next logical step and do the same thing with learning and teaching?

2. (the greying side of my brain) I don't know enough about all of these digital tools! When will I have time to learn them all before I teach them to my students??! I don't have access to enough iPads or laptops to make this work! (answer from young side: Quit hyperventilating. You know very well that all you need to do is turn students loose with technology and they will figure it out. And weren't you paying attention? You can do all of this...or at least get started...with just one laptop and one iPad. That's do-able.)

Questions for Discussion, Chapter 1

"2. What first steps might you take in building a learning community where your students take on more responsibility for contributing to the learning of the class?"

• Reinvent my classroom jobs to include Scribe and Researcher. I wonder if I could have my Researcher monitor/add to the class Twitter feed throughout the day?
• Resurrect my class wiki and turn it over to the students to manage. Learn just enough about podcasting and screencasting to teach my students (if they even need to be taught) and give it over. Frankly, the biggest barrier I felt/imagined was the amount of time it would take ME to manage the wiki.
• Start a class blog that goes out to the world.
• Don't grade -- don't even offer extra credit points for -- any creative project that contributes to the learning of the whole class. Remember, "Students teaching students is a powerful method for building learning and driving creativity and innovation."

Questions for Discussion, Chapter 2

"1. As an educator, can you name some specific types of lessons or topics that would be particularly well suited for student tutorials?" 

Short answer: Yes. Lots of them. 

New thinking: Perhaps the next step after a guided lesson with students who are struggling with a topic is to ask them to create a tutorial. 

Here are a few possible Language Arts tutorials (guided lessons I taught with small groups) I can think of off the top of my head:

• making plurals with nouns that end in vowel-y and consonant-y (word study)
• cause and effect (reading nonfiction)
• summarizing (reading fiction and nonfiction)
• revising a poem for line breaks (writing)

Cathy (Reflect and Refine) is hosting today's conversation about WHO OWNS THE LEARNING? Thank you to her, and to Jill Fisch (My Primary Passion) and Laura Komos (Ruminate and Invigorate) for bringing us together to have these important conversations.

(A note about my post -- I deliberately did not read anyone else's posts before writing mine. I'm anxious to see how my thinking is the same as and different from everyone else's!)

THAT'S A POSSIBILITY by BRUCE GOLDSTONE

Bruce Goldstone is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.  I was thrilled during a recent visit to Cover to Cover when Beth shared his most recent book with me, That's a Possibility!: A Book About What Might Happen.   I love books that support concept development and understanding of difficult vocabulary. This book is a great picture book that does both things well!

Bruce Goldstone takes the idea of probability and explains it over and over in ways that kids can understand-flipping a coin, rolling dice, getting a certain prize out of a gumball machine. Using white background and amazing photographs, each page is an engaging visual with so much to think about.  And he embeds the confusing words that go along with probability and possibility throughout the book: possibility, probability, certain, impossible, possible, likely, odds, etc.

I'm thinking about using this somehow at the beginning of the year as part of some kind of interactive all display but I'm not sure--it certainly invites conversation and thinking.  I am sure this book will be read again and again by my students this year.

Early Chapter Book: Joe and Sparky Get New Wheels

As I've mentioned before, I've been reading lots of books to prepare for my move to 3rd grade in the fall. I've been focusing on series books but I also know that many of my readers will need more support that the popular series chapter books provide.  This week, I found an easier beginning early chapter book series Joe and Sparky published by Candlewick and read Joe and Sparky Get New Wheels by Jamie Michalak.  I'm so glad to have discovered this series--I think it will be perfect for some of my incoming students!

Joe and Sparky are pretty fun characters who are fun to read about. In this story, this turtle (who likes to hide in his shell) and giraffe (who loves an adventure) go out of their cageless zoo on a car ride adventure.  It is full of fun surprises.

The sentences are simple so transitional readers should have lots of success with text. This book supports young readers in lots of ways. The humor is sophisticated enough to keep readers engaged. The characters stay true to character and there is lots of inferring to do. There is lots of picture support but also lots that has to be comprehended from text only.  Readers have to hold onto the plot of the story in a very minimal way so this book is perfect for readers new to chapter books.

I am excited about this series and hope to pick up a few more. My test for books like this is my own engagement--if I enjoy the characters and story well enough to stay engaged, I am set and I truly enjoyed these characters and their adventure. So I am confident, this is a great series for my students. 

June Chalkabration!

A Chalk-ku for Eastern Colorado

uncommonly cool...
gentle rain sprinkling down...
not ever enough...

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2013




2:30 PM and still only 76 degrees.

Only enough rain to get the street wet; not enough to make it through the trees and get the whole driveway wet.

Average YEARLY precipitation in Burlington, Colorado is 16.5 inches. They put the d-r-y in arid out here.



Betsy's hosting the monthly Chalkabration at Teaching Young Writers. Go check out the chalking others have done today!

June Mosaics (plural)

What a month.

(...but aren't they all, when we stop to think of it?!)

I had my fortune told in a cup of Arabic coffee. Can you see the tiger's face? That's really lucky and rare! And see how there are several paths/options/choices that come together and are open at the rim of the cup? Also very propitious.

I weeded in the school land lab one cool morning after a rain, and caught the cup plant, an Ohio Native, doing what its name implies.

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams. Yum. Cherry Lambic Sorbet, if I remember correctly, and something lemony, though I can't find the exact one on the website. I do see Juniper and Lemon Curd and Lime Cardamom, both of which I HIGHLY recommend! :-)

We are loving having Natalie's Coal-Fired Pizza and Live Music at the end of our block! Will likes takeout best, pizza boxes being a particular favorite of his. We thoroughly enjoyed Juanito Pascual playing flamenco guitar music live at Natalie's...without Will.

I got a set of lenses for my iPhone camera (macro, wide angle, fish-eye and telephoto -- from Photojojo) and have had lots of fun playing with them. The macro is my favorite: text on a book cover and 3 of the sweet peas. There's my back garden beds with the fisheye. Then a couple more garden flowers and a homemade cinnamon roll with the built-in lens.

Can you spot mom's cat Mellie in the next picture? She's disappearing behind the microwave in a space barely wide enough to store an onion. In the next picture she reemerges with a look on her face as if to say, "What? I didn't do anything!"

Next are the pictures of a play space that makes me want to be 8 years-old again. I featured these pictures with my review of James Preller's Pirate's Guide to Recess.

That grass seed (macro lens on my phone again) is on Buffalo Grass, a short prairie grass native to Colorado that can survive without irrigation. That's why it does so well in mom's gravel alley!

Next is the turtle who walked up the driveway one morning last week, and who I featured yesterday with Kay Ryan's poem TURTLE for Poetry Friday.

The last few are: my poem and collage for Summer Poetry Swap, a Little Leaf Linden in bloom, a feather (hope is the thing with), an outrageously yummy BLT, a toad who didn't have the same good luck as our turtle in making it across the street, and sky, sky, sky, sky, sky...what there's most of in Eastern Colorado. Those last 5 were taken within about an hour of each other. Just before sunset and just after.

(You can view this set of photos on Flickr here.)



I had the great good fortune to spend the day at the Denver Botanic Gardens a week ago Saturday with Carol of Carol's Corner. We strolled and chatted and lingered and sniffed; we ooh-ed and ah-ed (and awe-ed). It wasn't the first time we had met on the other side of our blogs (in that other real-er life, as it were), but after spending all of April trading poems back and forth, it was more like meeting up with a neighbor from down the street than a neighbor from the blogosphere. The time we spent in the gardens, in the brilliant Colorado day, and in each other's company healed both of our souls in ways our souls needed healing. I am grateful that we had that time together. I took too many pictures for one mosaic, so here are three -- one all of pink and purple, one of the various parts of the Botanic Gardens proper, and one of the magnificent rooftop children's garden.

All of the Botanic Gardens photos can be seen by viewing my Flickr photostream, or my Flickr sets.