New Poetry Books for a New Year, part 2

The Pet Project: Cute and Cuddly Vicious Verses
by Lisa Wheeler
illustrated by Zachariah OHora
Atheneum Books for Young Readers (April 2, 2013)

review copy purchased for my classroom library

The character in this book wants a pet, but her parents, "...very scientific folk..." insist that she does research according to a scientific plan -- formulating a query, collecting data and observations, and presenting her results.

Our character has a research notebook, seen at the bottom of the page when she takes her study "...in the field." Her first destination is the farm. Her poems about the cow, chicken, pony, dove, and sheep reveal the reasons none of those will be her pet-of-choice.

"The farm was interesting, and yet,
I still have failed to find a pet.
Sure of what I have to do,
I'll take my research to the
farm
zoo."

After her zoological expedition, she goes to the woodland, does a "home study," a "controlled environments" study, notes some "inconclusive investigations" and finally comes to a conclusion about the kind of pets that are perfect for an owner like her, someone who is definitely not into the maintenance a pet requires, and rather quite forgetful, as well. Her choice?


"...They need no care.
They need no fuss.
They're not aware
that they're in us.

These beasties who are hard to find
are everywhere...and they're all
mine!

I go to Mom and Dad with hope:

"May I have a..."

  Can you guess?*

Such a fun book. You will want it for your poetry collection, for your science class, and for your persuasive writing unit!




*microscope

New Poetry Books For a New Year, part 1

Seeds, Bees, Butterflies, and More!: Poems for Two Voices
by Carole Gerber
illustrated by Eugene Yelchin
Henry Holt and Co. (February 5, 2013)

review copy provided by the publisher

This book is destined to become a favorite on Poetry Fridays in my classroom! My students have nearly worn out Mary Ann Hoberman's "You Read to Me, I'll Read to You" books of poetry for two voices. Now we've got another from which to choose!

Carole Gerber, a local Central Ohio poet and a fellow The Poetry Friday Anthology (Common Core K-5 edition): Poems for the School Year with Connections to the Common Core poet has written a collection of 18 poems about the natural world. The color-coding and the left/right alignment of the two parts will be familiar cues to readers of Hoberman's poems, but because Gerber's poems are not as formulaic as Hoberman's, this book will also make a great mentor text for students who want to try to write poetry for two voices.

These poems will be perfect for life science units on plants, animals, and food chains/webs. For example, in the poem "Seedlings," you will find the science vocabulary "coat," "germinate," "roots," and "sprouting." Told as a mask poem, from the points of view of two seedlings, this is a poem about that first moment when baby plants lift their heads above the dirt. Turn the page and the same scene is replayed with an excited seedling in conversation with a rabbit. That one doesn't end so well for the seedling!

The combination of fun poems and bright, happy illustrations by Eugene Yelchin make this one a sure deal!

My Summer Reading Door

The Door

I will apologize in advance for the lighting on these pictures.  It was the best I could do with the way the light was in the hallway. I hope between the dark photos and the captions, you can make some sense of them.

Lots of people have picked up on Donalyn Miller's idea for kicking off the year by decorating their doors with Summer Reading.   I wasn't planning on decorating mine as we don't do it as a school but then @LauraKomos shared her door display on Twitter and I was instantly reinspired!  Instead of doing the work I needed to do, I switched gears and went to my Goodreads account to see what I had read since summer began. I was surprised at how many books I had read and the thought of creating a door display sounded fun.

My hope in this door is for it to be a conversation starter. Many of the books I read this summer were in preparation for 3rd grade so the door will also serve to introduce students to new series and characters they might read in 3rd grade.

I struggled a bit with how to organize the door because I did not want to separate chapter books from picture books. 3rd grade is such a transition year and I know the pressure some kids feel to read books that are too hard for them --carrying around fat chapter books to look cool may begin at this age!

I decided to sort the books in a way that would hopefully start some conversation or jump start some of my minilesson work. I sorted by how I found/why I chose the books.  I like the way it turned out and am anxious to see what kinds of conversations it starts.

Books I Found When Reading Book Reviews

Books Recommended by Friends

New Books by Favorite Authors

Some Great Nonfiction

New Series Books I Discovered

New Books with Favorite Characters

Professional Books I Am Revisiting to Get Ready for the School Year

I have 3 tall shelves full of professional books.  They take up a lot of space and there are times when I wonder why I keep them. Friends sometimes ask why I keep them--haven't you already read them? they ask.

Today, I remembered exactly why I have kept so many professional books.  My classroom is nearly finished and I've attended lots of professional development over the summer. I've learned about Common Core and new things that will be in place this school year.  The children come on Wednesday and these next few days are the days that I have to really think and plan those first few days of school.   I have the pacing guides and curriculum standards.  I know the routines that I'll put in place. The room is set up and I have the books and resources organized so students have the learning tools they need.  But these next few days are about getting my head in the game, remembering what really matters in those first few days. These books will help me do that.

I spent about 20 minutes in front of my three shelves this morning scanning the shelves for books I needed to revisit over the next few days.  Books that will help me take my time and do the right things during these first few weeks of school.  I won't read these books cover to cover but I'll pop in and out of them as I plan for the first 2-3 weeks of the school year.  Digging in will help the planning be more smooth and it will help me be more intentional about each of these first few days.

These are the books I am digging back into a bit as I think and plan for this most important week of the school year.

What's Most Important?

These are the books I revisit to reground myself. These three books are probably the most important books I've read--books that really help me think about the language I use with children and the messages (intentional and unintentional) I give them by the things I say and do.  It is easy to forget these things in the chaos of the first few days--when I don't know the kids and they don't know me.  But they are listening closely and I am setting the stage for what learning means in this classroom so I need to reread pieces of this to remind me how important it is to stay true to the language I believe in.

Choice Words and OOpening Minds: Using Language to Change Lives by Peter Johnston
I'm not sure how I taught before I read Choice Words but I have revisited this book more times than any other professional book I own. So important!  His new book, Opening Minds is just as important and I need to revisit it in order to build more of that into my early days this year.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carolyn Dweck
This is the most important idea I need to carry around with me, all day, every day.


Those First Few Weeks of Literacy Workshop
Setting up workshop routines never gets easier. The only thing that makes it easier is the realization that it's always hard and there is always a day when I think to myself, "I'm not sure I can do this!". So, I have to think carefully about the routines I put in place right away, the conversations that begin our year together and the tools we have for learning.

Launch an Intermediate Writing Workshop: Getting Started with Units of Study for Teaching Writing, Grades 3-5 by Lucy Calkins and Marjorie Martinelli
Although I won't use this unit lesson-by-lesson, it will help me hear Lucy's words about launching.

Significant Studies for Second Grade - Reading & Writing Investigations for Children (04) by Ruzzo, Karen - Sacco, Maryanne [Paperback (2004)]
Series books will be important to early third grade readers so I want to revisit the unit of study in this book on series books that is so brilliantly thought out.

Smarter Charts K-2: Optimizing an Instructional Staple to Create Independent Readers and Writers by Marjorie Martinellis and Kristi Mraz
I've been rethinking charts since I read this book. Then I had the opportunity to interview them and did even more rethinking.  I am definitely not being as thoughtful about charts in literacy as I can/should be so I want to think about this during these first few days.

Don't Forget to Share: The Crucial Last Step in the Writing Workshop by Leah Mermelstein
Share is a piece of the workshop that I often let go and I know better! This book helps me to remember that share is another teaching opportunity and it will remind me how to make it purposeful for the students.

From Ideas to Words: Writing Strategies for English Language Learners by Tasha Tropp Laman
(This is one I haven't had time to read yet but it is on the top of my pile and I need to dig in a bit before Wednesday!)

Math Learning
I have a stack of professional books about math teaching pulled from my shelves.  Just as the routines and conversations are important in literacy workshops, they are just as important in math workshops.  These books will help me think about how to make those happen during the first few days.

Number Talks: Helping Children Build Mental Math and Computation Strategies, Grades K-5 by Sherry Parrish
This routine is amazing and I need to dig in and think about how it will look different in 3rd grade.

Math Exchanges: Guiding Young Mathematicians in Small Group Meetings by Kassia Omohundro Wedekind
This is an amazing book on small group instruction in math.  I won't be starting groups immediately but hopefully in the first 2 weeks so I want to revisit this one to remember the big ideas Kassia shares.

So, I'm off to plan!  There are many other books on my shelves that I will revisit as the year goes on but these are the books I pulled today to help me be ready for the first few days with a new group of children.

Any other books that I need to revisit during these first few weeks of a new school year?

Poetry Friday -- Fly Fishing

Sun on the Mad River, by Mary Lee Hahn

Fly Fishing

The small stream
and its bank-side buffer of trees
winds through corn fields.

Do not be tricked --
the current's pull is swift.
Step slow and steady. Don't trip.

Cast with patience.
Relax and find a kind of grace
in the rhythm, in the day.

Driving home, watch --
today you might catch
not a fish, but a glimpse of a fox.

© Mary Lee Hahn, 2013



Lisa has the Poetry Friday Roundup today at Steps and Staircases. Click on the submit button to send in your link. Also, Lisa asks that we 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."

Two Picture Books from France

Brief Thief
by Michael Escoffier
illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo
Enchanted Lion Books (April 12, 2013)
Review copy provided by the publisher

A pair of underwear left on a branch are swiped for a wipe and then discarded. A conscience engages and berates. The item is cleaned and re-treed. The owner returns, retrieves...and shocks the reader with a surprise ending!

Click here for two Dispatch Reader Kid reviews.

Me First!

by Michael Escoffier
illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo
Enchanted Lion Books (August 27, 2013)
Review copy provided by the publisher

By the same pair who wrote BRIEF THIEF, we have another fun character who is self-centered and impetuous. There is no conscience in this story, except maybe in the form of the Mother Duck, who seems to realize that a "business as usual" attitude on her part will allow circumstances to moderate her fourth duckling's bossy "Me first!" behavior. As with BRIEF THIEF, there is a very fun surprise ending.


Both of these books were originally published in France, and are brought to readers in the United States by Enchanted Lion Books.

The Hole

The Hole

by Øyvind Torseter

Enchanted Lion Books, coming August 27, 2013

review copy provided by the publisher

This was the 10th book I featured in my 10-for-10 Picture Books post on Saturday. It's too good to sit at the end of a list. It needs its own post.

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

What you notice first when you pick up this book is that the covers of are heavy cardboard, the pages are stiff cardstock, and there's 

a hole 

punched 

all the way 

through the book.

When you open to the first page of this nearly-wordless book, you see that the hole is in the wall of an empty apartment. On the next pages, a mouse-ish creature moves into the apartment, carrying cardboard boxes of belongings. He opens the box labeled "kitchen," cooks himself an egg, and it's not until he sits down to eat (on a box-chair at a box-table) that he notices the hole in his wall. When he goes through the door that's beside the hole to see what it looks like from the other side, it's not there. It has moved to another wall. When he walks back into the first room, the hole is now on the floor and he trips over it. The hole keeps moving! He gets on his computer and calls someone to see if they will come look at this hole, but they tell him to bring it to them. He empties out one of his moving boxes, and spends several pages chasing down the hole until he finally has it in a box, which he tapes up securely.

Except when he leaves his apartment, the hole is part of his front door. And as he walks through the city, the hole is the mailman's whistling mouth, part of a sign, a wheel, a stoplight, an eye...

He winds up at some kind of high-security scientific place where he puts on shoe covers and gloves and takes the box with the hole into a sealed laboratory. The scientists run all kinds of test on the hole, but in the end, they just put it in a jar in a drawer. And the character goes home.

And the hole, of course, is still there, in the sky now. And then on his wall again. But he doesn't see it. But we do. And we wonder.

I can't wait to read this book aloud to my students. I can't wait for their surprise when the hole moves around. I can't wait to hear what they will say about the nature of the hole -- what it is...what it could mean.

I can't wait for all of those moments in a classroom that you want to put in a box or a jar or a drawer and save forever, but you can't because they're magic and cannot be captured and held.

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.