10 for 10: Books that Might Be on The Bear's Bookshelf #hatback

We have participated in August Picture Book 10 for 10 since it started in 2010. It is one of our favorite annual events, even though it is sometimes a little bit expensive! (The creators have rated this event D for Dangerous for your wallet:-) #pb10for10 was created by Cathy Mere of Reflect and Refine and Mandy Robek of Enjoy and Embrace Learning.  You can visit their blogs and get a link to past Picture Book list as well as this year's list.  And make sure to follow the hashtag on Twitter.

This is a great day---I am planning to spend a few hours browsing all of the great book lists that are always part of this event! Thanks, Cathy and Mandy!

This year's blog post/booklist came out of our evening chat at the Choice Literacy Writing Retreat. After a day of hard work and writing, we started talking about PB10for10. And how could the conversation not somehow turn to I WANT MY HAT BACK?  So, the idea for our 2013 lists was created.  My list this year includes 10 picture books that would be on The Bear's bookshelf.
You'll want to visit Jen's blog (Teach Mentor Texts).  Her post includes books that might be on the Rabbit's bookshelf.

You see, I am 100% #teambear and Jen is 100% #teamrabbit. When we talk, we realize that we each think both characters are a bit misunderstood and that knowing what is on their bookshelf might help readers understand them a bit better. So, because we have spent YEARS talking about these two characters, we feel that we know them well enough to know what might be on their bookshelves.  Because it is a picture book events, we have focused only on the picture books, although we are certain that both characters are both avid readers of many types of books.

And you see, no matter how long we've talked about this book, there are always new ways to talk and think about it!

#teambear

10 PICTURE BOOKS that would be on The Bear's Bookshelf

The Cat in the Hat (Beginner Books(R))by Dr. Seuss..... because he was the first book character to make wearing a hat seem so cool, right?

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt and Bossy Bear by David Horvath....because both characters like things "just so".   It is very stressful for either of them to think outside of their plans. Not because they are not kind, but because they like life to go as planned:-)

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! by Mo Willems....because doesn't everyone have a little temper tantrum now and then?  One that takes up an entire two-page spread?

When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry... (Scholastic Bookshelf) by Molly Bang...because everyone could learn better ways to deal with their anger.

Arnie, the Doughnut (Adventures of Arnie the Doughnut) by Laurie Keller.....because had the Rabbit asked nicely not to be eaten, maybe The Bear would have thought of a better solution.

The Meanest Birthday Girl by Josh Schneider...because Anthony has become one of The Bear's favorite new characters.  His solution seems comparable to eating his friend.

Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes...because Lilly loved her purple plastic purse so much that she made some bad choices. Lilly is easily forgiven for her mistake.

Who Took the Farmer's Hat? by Joan Nodset...because sometimes it helps to know that similar things have happened to others.

Hat by Paul Hoppe..because in this story a little boy imagines all the terrible things that could happen if he keeps a red hat that doesn't belong to him.

10 for 10: 10 Picture Books That Are New To Me

Here are my offerings for the 2013 edition of 10 for 10 Picture Books. Thank you, Cathy at Reflect and Refine and Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning for hosting this fabulous event again this year! 

I hemmed and hawed and futzed and browsed and stewed and flip-flopped about the theme of this year's list. I finally decided that I just needed to DECIDE, and Maria gave me my unifying theme: 10 picture books that are new to me. I went to my Summer #bookaday shelf on GoodReads, and here are the 10 most recent picture books that I've read!

FICTION

Unicorn Thinks He's Pretty Great

by Bob Shea

Disney-Hyperion (June 25, 2013)

from the public library

I didn't love this book when I first read it, but it generated THREE reviews from the Dispatch Readers. Definitely has kid-appeal and clearly I need to take another look!

Take Me Out to the Yakyu

by Aaron Meshon

Atheneum Books for Young Readers (February 19, 2013)

purchased for my classroom

Did you every find the perfect book for last year's student?
That's this book, which features baseball in Japan and the US.
I'm hoping I have another student this coming year or in the future for whom this will be as perfect as it would have been for last year's student!

Max's Words

by Kate Banks

illustrated by Boris Kulikov

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (August 8, 2006)

purchased for my classroom

How did I miss this book? It will be perfect for launching word study!

NONFICTION

Daredevil: The Daring Life of Betty Skelton

by Meghan McCarthy

Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books (June 4, 2013)
purchased for my classroom

I love Megan McCarthy's style, and Betty Shelton is the kind of person I want all of my students to know about. She had a big life full of adventures. She didn't let convention get in her way.

Gandhi: A March to the Sea

by Alice B. McGinty

illustrated by Thomas Gonzalez

Two Lions (April 2, 2013)

from the public library

This biography-in-freeverse of Gandhi focuses on one critical event in his life and in the history of India. Interesting to compare India under British rule to the American Colonies. Thomas Gonzales' illustrations (remember 14 Cows for America ?) are gorgeous.

No Monkeys, No Chocolate

by Melissa Stewart and Allen Young

illustrated by Nicole Wong

from the public library

Charlesbridge Pub Inc (August 2013)

Told in a "House That Jack Built" sort of way, readers learn about the interconnectedness of all kinds of factors that result in the link of monkeys to chocolate.

The Price of Freedom: How One Town Stood Up to Slavery

by Dennis Brindell Fradin and Judith Bloom Fradin

illustrated by Eric Velasquez

Walker Childrens (January 8, 2013)

purchased for my classroom

We can't provide children with too many examples of people who

stand up for good in the world, can we?

On a Beam of Light: A Story of Albert Einstein

by Jennifer Berne

illustrated by Vlidamir Radunsky

Chronicle Books (April 23, 2013)

purchased for my classroom

Beautifully written, beautiful illustrations, and the inspiration to 

attend to one's imagination.

WORDLESS (or almost wordless)

Bluebird

by Bob Staake

Schwartz & Wade (April 9, 2013)

purchased for my classroom

A heartbreaking testimonial to the power of friendship.

Have you ever used a wordless book as your read aloud? Try this one.

Just sit in front of your students, turn the pages, and let them talk.

The Hole

by Øyvind Torseter

Enchanted Lion Books, coming August 27, 2013

review copy provided by the publisher

Enchanted Lion always has the most interesting books.
They publish books from around the world.
THE HOLE was originally published in Norway.

The covers are heavy cardboard, the pages are stiff cardstock, and there's
a hole
punched
all the way
through the book.

This is such a fascinating book that I'm going to give it a full-sized review on Monday.
If you're curious, come back for more!

Poetry Friday: The Space Between Breaths

by Hugh MacLeod at GapingVoid

The Space Between the Breaths We Take

Movie ticket, untorn;

popcorn box full.

Swimmers crouched;

pool still smooth blue glass.

Clean sheet of paper;

pencil, freshly sharpened, hovering.

Bus brakes hiss;

driver grasps the door handle.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2013

My ophthalmologist asked me a very predictable and seasonal question last week when I was in for my yearly eye checkup: "Are you ready for school to start?" His wife is a teacher, and our conversation turned to the difference in pacing between a teacher's year and an ophthalmologist's. He drew the difference in the air with his hand -- ours like a roller coaster and his like I-70 in Eastern Colorado. He can't imagine living with the ups and downs of starting over again each year. And I can't imagine a career that stretches like a flat line from horizon to horizon. 

As if he were reading my mind, Hugh MacLeod sent me a 'toon to illustrate this: "New beginnings are why we breathe." If every new breath is a new beginning, teachers are living in that space between two breaths -- that space between when our "imaginary class" becomes the real students who'll live with us in our classrooms for the next nine months. That space between when the plans that are on paper come alive and grow into the living, changing curriculum that we will chase and try to pin down for the rest of the school year.

In my poem, I tried to capture other "spaces between," other moments filled with some of the same potential that teachers are living in for the next few days or weeks.

***ANNOUNCEMENT***

For Poetry Friday next week, on August 16th, we'll be visiting a new space, on Tumblr! Lisa invites you to Steps & Staircases. You can submit your contribution here: http://stepsandstaircases.tumblr.com/submit

In addition, Lisa also invites you to share something "close to your heart," sort of as another common side dish at our poetry potluck. It doesn't need to be poetry, it can just be something current you're really enjoying and would like to share with others. Thank you for participating!


Renee is hosting the Poetry Friday roundup today at No Water River.

Classroom Library-Some Photos and My Thinking Behind Them

Lots of my time this summer has been in the classroom thinking through my classroom library. It is not how I want it and I think I will be reorganizing through the first few weeks of school. But here is where I am right now. I am still working on the picture book section but that might come along with the kids once we start the year.  I'm not thrilled with where they are and how they fit on the shelves so I'm not sure how they'll work yet.  But the other sections seem to be coming along slowly. I always forget what a big job this is!

I had to do a lot of weeding moving from 4th grade to 3rd grade. Many of my books were just too complex to take up space and I needed to make room for more transitional books. I think I still have more to weed but will wait til I spend a few weeks getting to know the kids.

I have a large built in shelf that I am using for fiction--mostly series, favorite authors and chapter books.  There is a good variety and this is the largest part of the classroom library and the first thing you see when you walk in.  (5 of these across). This age is critical when it comes to finding authors, characters and series you love so this space is dedicated to that.

I've created baskets of authors who have both picture books and chapter books.  I am hoping students will find authors they love from primary grades. I also want to let them know that level doesn't matter --when you love an author, you love their work, regardless of level.  Doreen Cronin is funny whether they are picture books or chapter books. An important message at this age,  I think.

The Nonfiction section of the library is near our meeting area. It takes up a corner of the room. The books are organized into baskets by topic, series and author. There are also some random baskets/sections and a whole area of picture book biographies.

I've been working this year to find more nonfiction authors that I love and that my third graders will love. I am trying to create author baskets so that we come to know and love nonfiction authors in the same way we love fiction authors. There are so many great nonfiction authors I don't know well--so glad to be discovering them!

I've also spent time thinking about nonfiction series books that might be good for 3rd grade.  I know how important fiction series are for transitional readers. I am thinking the same is true for nonfiction when it comes to understanding text structures, organization. I have discovered so many great nonfiction series and am trying to make them visible to kids in the classroom.

Coming Soon! 10-for-10 X 2

Franki and I will both have 10-for-10 posts on Saturday, August 10. (more about the 10-for-10 Picture Books event here)

Between now and then, it's the usual mad scramble to be ready for the school year.

Solve It Your Way....then share it with the world

Today, please take a minute to visit Solve It Your Way!  and think about joining us this year as we celebrate all of the ways we solve problems. As an elementary classroom teacher, I've been facilitating math and science problem solving for as long as I can remember. The power of student learning has always been most evident during the share sessions--when students shared their thinking and their learning about the process of problem solving.

Early on in my science teaching, I found that my students were just going through the motions of science. So many "activities" took kids through the steps of answering a question but took all the mess and fun out of problem solving. So often the mess figuring out how to solve the problem, how to collect data and how to organize data was all part of a predetermined template. I learned early in my teaching career that if I took those templates away, kids created things well beyond what I could have imagined and became amazing scientists and mathematicians.

This year, I decided it would be fun to grow our classroom activity a bit and invite others into the rich conversations we will hopefully have. On the first day of each month, I'll post a new question at SOLVE IT YOUR WAY!. It will be a science/math question with lots of ways in for elementary students who are interested in some fun problem solving at home or in the classroom. You can share student work by linking to the post before the next question is posted. You can include individual student work, classroom charts, tables, graphs, photos, videos, slideshows...anything that comes from the problem solving. Checking back periodically, you can see how others outside of your classroom are approaching the problems.

 There is more information on the blog. And our August question is already posted! Please take a minute to visit the site and think about how your students might join in the conversation this year!

 You can also follow us on Twitter! @solveityourway

July Mosaic

July flew by out the windows of an airplane and various cars: Colorado (photos 1-9), Kansas (10-11), Illinois (12), Maryland (15-20), and the Hocking Hills in S. OH (21-29). Brief glimpses of home can be seen in 13 (cat-in-the-box), 14 (107 point final word winning move WWF), 30 (baby eggplant in the school's plot of our community garden).

Click to view the set a bit larger, or go over to Flickr to check them out.

The Power of Habit...in the Classroom

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business is one of those books that I can probably read over and over and over again in my lifetime. It was the one book I read during my concussion because when I was allowed to read in 10-15 minute spurts but unable to commit to a story, this was the perfect genre for me. I'm not even sure how I came across the book, but the idea of habits became instantly fascinating to me, especially at a time in my life when I had to give up most of the habits I knew so well.

At the Choice Literacy Writing Retreat last week, Brenda Power talked a lot about our writing habits and I began to reflect specifically on those and how the things I learned in The Power of Habit related to my life as a writer. The time at the retreat gave us all time to refocus on that aspect of our life.

When I got back home, I didn't have much down time before the work on my classroom began and I found myself realizing that after 25+ years of teaching, there are lots of habits built into what I do in getting ready for a new school year. This can be a good thing and it can be limiting. The thing this year is that after reading The Power of Habit, I am aware that I do have habits as a teacher and I imagine I have them during all times of the year. Just as Choice Words by Peter Johnston really pushed me to pay close attention to every word I speak in the classroom with children, I think The Power of Habit is making me very aware of those things I do without even thinking. Some of them make my teaching life very efficient.

Some of them are things I understand about young readers and learners that make my teaching work. My habits around setting up a classroom library are fascinating. The whole family is actually involved in those (although it is my habit, not theirs!). The ways in which I rethink, reorganize, label, replace, weed, etc. is pretty habitual each year. But there are other things I do every year that do not seem quite as purposeful.

 I am planning to monitor myself for those things I am doing to get ready for my year when my brain seems to be in auto-pilot. It is those things that deserve some thought. Am I doing them because I've always done them or because they are the right decision for this group of children right now? When you revisit a book like this at different times, different things stick. Because I revisited the book during the writing retreat, I was really able to look closely at my writing habits. But because it was fresh in my mind when I went into school to work the next day, my habits of teaching started to become clear to me. I think many of my habits of classroom teaching work well. I believe there are things that become habitual in a way that makes me efficient and effective.

But I also think that when my brain goes into auto-pilot, I just need to be aware--it will be my clue this year to make sure it is a habit that makes sense. Just a quick time to ask myself--does this still make sense or is it something I haven't rethought in a while--a habit I need to change? I think sometimes in our classrooms routines become habits as teachers and I am suddenly quite aware of that and looking forward to paying attention to those habits of language and routine in the classrooom.

 After reading Choice Words, I found myself reflecting constantly in the classroom, asking myself the same questions over and over. This year, I've created a little list of questions to keep in mind this year. 

What are my habits as a classroom teacher?
Which of those are good habits? Which are not?
Do I have habits in the ways in which I talk to students?
Do I have habits in the ways I set up the room?
Do I have habits that work?
Do I have habits that give students the wrong messages about learning?
Do I have habits I need to rethink?
Why do I do this? Is it something I've always done?
What would happen if I changed this habit?
What triggers this habit?

As someone who has remained a classroom teacher for 27 years, I know how important it is to stay thoughtful and purposeful. The Power of Habit has helped me to see why this is so important as a teacher. Habits matter and I think they do us lots of good. But if I am not aware of them, they can be the thing that keeps me from moving forward as a teacher and from looking at the group of children in front of me. Being aware of the power of habit in the classroom may help me change and grow in ways that better meets the needs of my students. Being aware will help me see those "things I've always done" in a new way and continue to grow and learn as a teacher.