3 New Picture Books!

I picked up 3 great new picture books last week.

Alphablock is going to be my new go-to Baby Gift Book!   It was on display at Cover to Cover and it became an instant favorite for me!  It is this amazing chunky little alphabet book!  The design of this book is amazing as each letter is cut out as a page of its own.  The text is predictable and the illustrations are more detailed than I realized at first glance.  Really, a pretty perfect book for home and school. The images on the Amazon page will help you see the inside pages.

Outfoxed by Mike Twohy is one that was on my Goodreads "Want to Read" list.  I picked it up at Cover to Cover and laughed out loud.  I am trying to read more books with humor as they are not always my faves. This one is quite hysterical and I know my students will love it.  (Even my daughter, who is 14, laughed when she read it to herself on the way home from the bookstore.)

Fossil is a new wordless book from Bill Thomson, author of one of my favorites--Chalk !  I was happy to see this from him and know that kids will make some connections between the two. This one is similar to Chalk with some important differences. Definitely one I am glad to add to my collection of wordless books.

New Books Coming in January

Here are some books being released in January. These are the books I am most excited about this month!

Poetry and Picture Books

Poem-mobiles: Crazy Car Poems

Baby Bear Angel Island

Henny

I am Abraham Lincoln (Ordinary People Change World)

Middle Grade Novels

Winter Sky

Seven Stories Up

Marty McGuire Has Too Many Pets!

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

Graphic Novels
Lunch Lady and the Schoolwide Scuffle

Adult Fiction

Still Life with Bread Crumbs: A Novel

The Invention of Wings: A Novel

My First Read of 2014

Thanks to a Facebook post by the amazing Kate Messner,  I discovered the new book Handle With Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey (Nonfiction - Grades Prek-4) by Loree Griffin Burns.  It was a great first read of 2014!

I have been struggling with pulling my science teaching together this year as it's a new grade level and new content.  I love teaching science when it is authentic and kids are involved in real world issues and thinking. But it always takes a little while for me to find the right resources when starting a new grade level.   I have worked to add some great books to my collection lately--books that really share the work of real scientists.  My students believe that all information comes from reading and as much as I want them to see the power of nonfiction reading, I want them to understand that real research is about discovery and often happens out in the world.

When Kate posted about Handle With Care, I knew I had to have it. First of all, it was recommended by Kate so it had to be good!  And, it looked gorgeous from the cover.  It also ties into our science study on life cycles.  And it seemed to offer a unique story instead of the typical "life of a butterfly" type story.  In this book, the life cycle info is embedded in the story of a butterfly farm in Costa Rica.

The book begins in a museum, where a mysterious package arrives filled with pupa! The the author/photographer team take us back to the butterfly farm where they began. Readers learn about the importance of the farm, what it takes to keep the caterpillars safe and healthy, and information on the life cycle of this butterfly.

I love so much about this book. First of all, I love stories of science/research that are new or behind-the-scenes. Important work by important people. I love how this book embeds the important work of so many people. I love how the content and vocabulary is embedded in an engaging, current science narrative.  And the pictures are not only gorgeous, but they are full of information. (The endpages deserve their own award:-)

I love that the author and photographer share a bit at the end about their research process at the end of the book and in the "about the author" blurb.

But what I  love most is that this book is accessible to younger readers than most books that include this kind of complex information. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Scientist in the Field series but they are a bit too intense for my 3rd graders. This book does a similar thing in that it explores the life and work of real scientists on real projects, but it does so in a way that allows younger children to engage without making it too simple for older readers to also learn from and enjoy.


It wasn't until I finished this book that I realized I already LOVED this author. She has written my very favorite Scientist in the Field book  (and the one that hooked me on the series), The Hive Detectives: Chronicle of a Honey Bee Catastrophe (Scientists in the Field Series) . And she also wrote Citizen Scientists: Be a Part of Scientific Discovery from Your Own Backyard, another of my favorites.

Other Great Books by Loree Griffin Burns

I can see this book in every K-5 classroom. The photos will engage the youngest readers and the information will captivate students of all ages.  I think I'll read this one aloud to my students. It is still not easy to find compelling nonfiction read alouds for 3rd graders but this one is EXACTLY what I look for!  I am sure they will all want to read it independently too. And I think they'll be as excited as I am to discover this amazing science writer.  Anxious to introduce my students to Loree Griffin Burns with this incredible book!

Sunshine Awards!

Winter Sunshine by Mary Lee Hahn

SUNSHINE AWARDS

The rules:

Acknowledge the nominating blogger.
 Share 11 random facts about yourself.
 Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger has created for you.
 List 11 bloggers. They should be bloggers you believe deserve some recognition and a little blogging love!
 Post 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate to answer and let all the bloggers know they have been nominated. (You cannot nominate the blogger who nominated you.)

My first nominating blogger was Vicki Vinton! Three cheers for Vicki: one for her book (with Dorothy Barnhouse) What Readers Really Do: Teaching the Process of Meaning Making, one for her blog, To Make a Prairie, and one for her boundless enthusiasm for learning and wondering.

Next, I was nominated by Julianne Harmatz (To Read, To Write, To Be) a new "friend in my head" who I can't wait to meet at NCTE 14.

Then, this whole Sunshine thing went viral under a new name on Twitter--PLN Blog Challenge--and I was nominated by @KirstenFoti (My Life as a Middle School English Teacher).

Thank you all! 

Here are my 11 random facts:

1. I have swum in three one-mile open water swims.

2. Lynne Cox and Diana Nyad are my swimming heroines.

3. I wanted to be an architect when I was in high school. Or a classical guitarist.

4. When I was in middle school one of my hobbies was re-reading sad books on Sunday afternoons.

5. Once when I was a kid I got trapped in the middle of a goathead patch with no shoes on.

6. I love to listen to audio books on the way to work and back.

7. My favorite constellation is Orion. 

8. I have dressed as Orion for Halloween many times. (People think I'm the Big Dipper...sigh.)

9. I love caramel more than chocolate.

10. I'm a pretty amazing baker.

11. I don't love the beach or hot weather.

Here are my answers to a few of Vicki's 11 questions:

What did you learn from your mother?

I learned to love trying new foods, to eat lots of vegetables, to be creative, and to be an avid reader.
Where do you write?

At the kitchen table, at my desk, in the park, on the porch, at the library, with my students, in voice memos on my phone, in a journal, on my computer, on scraps of paper...
Where do you find joy in your classroom or work?

I find joy when the classroom routines are well enough established that my students begin to function independently and I can follow as much (or more than) I lead.

What do you do to recharge?

Swim, walk, garden, bake, travel, fly fish.

Here are my answers to a few of Julianne's 11 questions:

What is your next challenge?

Getting more of my poems published!
What technology has made your life better?

Air conditioning. I lived in Ohio without it for about 10 years, and I hope I never have to go back. I don't deal well with heat. (And, of course, pencils, computers, smartphones, the Internet, etc...)
Why teaching?

It's what I'm really good at. I realized this when I taught swimming lessons in high school and college.
How have you grown in the last year? How do you know?

I am a better teacher. I have a new principal who challenges me (in a good way) and a great team who has supported each other through a whole boatload of changes this year. I have tweaked my best practices to make them better and added new tools to my toolbox. I jumped into Bring Your Own Device with both feet and continue to learn new ways to integrate technology into my classrom.

And here are my answers to a few of Kirsten's 11 questions:

Barnes & Noble or Amazon?

Barnes & Noble occasionally, Amazon compulsively, and our local independent children's book store as often as possible.
Paper books or ebooks?

Paper books AND ebooks AND audio books.
On a scale of 1(weak) -10 (hardcore), how intense is your addiction to Twitter?

Before #nerdlution, I would have said 1 on an ordinary day and 8 at conferences. Now I'm probably 4 and 8.

How many hours of sleep do you average a night? Do you wake up thinking educational thoughts in the wee hours of the morn?

I need my 8 hours. I pretty much sleep from 9p-5a every night. And yes, I often wake up thinking about teaching, think about it during my morning walk, and think about it in the shower. One of the reasons I like listening to audio books between home and school is that is shuts work out of my brain for 40 minutes a day!

Here are the bloggers I'll nominate to carry the sunshine to new corners of the blogosphere:

@AnnieWhitlock A Year of Writing
@JenSchwanke Going Big
@TonyKeefer Atychiphobia 2.0
Deb Tyo @ChocolateAir  Chocolate Air
@Katsok Read, Write, Reflect
Ann Hagedorn Read...Write...Talk
@ColbySharp SharpRead
PatrickAllen @ColoReader All-en-A-Day's Work

Ann Marie Corgill @acorgill AM Literacy Learning Log
Kara Newhouse @Rogueanthro Rogue Anthropologist

Donalyn Miller @donalynbooks Donalyn Miller

And here are my 11 questions:

1. What's one thing you're going to make this year?
2. iOS or Android?
3. What's your favorite new organizational trick?
4. Where were did you grow up and how has that place made you who you are?
5. What is your favorite junk food?
6. Who is your hero?
7. What superpower would you pick?
8. Where would you travel next if you could?
9. What frustrates you most?
10. What's one favorite memory of childhood?
11. What's your favorite instrument in the orchestra?

ML's Thinking Ahead to 2014--I'm Not Calling These Resolutions, Either

Franki's thinking ahead post threatens to makes me feel like an underachiever, but I refuse to go down that road. Sometimes we lead, sometimes we follow, and sometimes we cheer from the sidelines. It's all good.

When I look forward to 2014, I don't see so many obvious signposts. I see (or want to see) fairly calm water and steady paddling. I see more poems written, more exploration with art, a greater focus on the books I want to read rather than keeping up with the books "everyone" seem to be reading. There is no particular map, because I want to be more open to the moment at hand.

Which brings me to my One Little Word. My very first OLW. A word that seems selfish compared to the active words others have chosen, like MAKE and WONDER and CHOICE.

My One Little Word is BREATHE.

I met my OLW on New Year's Eve.

We were due to leave for our traditional New Year's Eve dinner in an hour and a half. True to my "cram-it-in-get-it-done" mentality, I decided that I had time to make the cheesecake for New Year's Day dinner before we left.

And I would have, if it hadn't been for the smoke. My cheesecakes always leak a little between the bottom and edges of the springform as they bake. There's always a little smoke as this "juice" burns off the foil on the bottom of the oven. This year, for whatever reason, there was a LOT of smoke. The smoke alarm went off. The cat ran panicked to the basement to hide and cover his ears. We opened all of the windows and brought fans up from the basement. AJ grabbed the ladder and yanked the wires out to turn the smoke alarm off. I pulled the foil out of the oven (spilling much of the "juice" on the oven floor) and put fresh foil in.

Moments later, there was even MORE smoke, boiling thick and black out of the oven vent. Apparently, it was not a good idea to leave all of that "juice" under the new foil.

This time, I turned the oven off and scrubbed as much of the charred blackness off the oven floor as I could, being careful not to burn the rag or my hands. Then I turned the oven back on, put the cheesecake back in, and texted our friends to tell them we'd be late.

All the while, I was beating myself up. Why had I thought it would work to get the cheesecake made on such a tight schedule? The house smelled HORRIBLE and it was all my fault. WE would smell like smoke. I terrorized the cat. I spoiled the group's New Year's Eve dinner plans because we'd be late. It was all my fault. I was a failure.

AJ talked me down. Advised me (not for the first time) to just BREATHE. It was done. I couldn't go back and change it. It would all work out. It wasn't that bad. It was kind of funny, actually, if I would just let myself laugh. Even the advice to BREATHE was funny, because all we could smell was cheesecake smoke.

But the cheesecake smoke made me realize that I needed the word BREATHE in my life for an entire year. I need a year of slowing down and focusing on the moment at hand, not getting myself all worked up about what's ahead, or all wrought up about how the things behind me played out.

I need to be right here, right now.

BREATHE will help me to stay in the moment, take joy in the now.
BREATHE will help me to celebrate being alive.
BREATHE will help me focus in a sensory way on this amazing world
in which we live.
BREATHE will help me listen more and talk less.
BREATHE will remind me of cheesecake smoke and make me laugh,
all year long.

Celebrate!

Check out all the celebration posts at RuthAyresWrites.com -- thanks, Ruth!

This week, I'm celebrating all the learning that comes from even a casual, intermittent relationship with FaceBook and Twitter.

I'm celebrating Paul Hankins, who posted his illustrated note taking of TED talks. I followed Paul's link to the talk and found the free (FREE!) TED app (iTunes / Android).

Then I took my first illustrated notes as I watched/listened to Diana Nyad (one of my swimming heroines, in close second place behind Lynne Cox) tell about her history-making Cuba to Florida swim. At age 64.

It was so much fun that I made an amendment to my #nerdlution: I will watch 1 TED talk per week and take illustrated notes. I'm hoping that these notes yield up some poems in their own time, but I'm not going to make that part of the goal.

Taking these illustrated notes got me thinking (along with Steve and Julieanne and Vicki and Fran) about how we and how our students read and respond to fiction vs. nonfiction. This blending of right-brain note taking with left-brain information processing might be something that will help students move past the WOW of random facts in nonfiction to making deeper connections between ideas and texts. It occurred to me that I had stumbled into this blending by accident when I introduced the option of using a common craft video as the presentation tool for my students' upcoming persuasive essays. It will be fun to see how that turns out in the upcoming weeks.

Yes, today I celebrate the fact that I don't have to commit hours to the fire hoses of information known as FaceBook or Twitter to find ideas that will become thought-changers or game-changers.

Poetry Friday--Comic Strip Edition

(Click to enlarge the strips.) 

Betsy has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at I Think in Poems. Betsy's a Poetrina if I ever met one!

December Mosaic and Cybils Finalists!

Row 1: Impromptu wine and cheese party, just the two of us, on a Saturday afternoon after errands; CFR did charity gift wrap at the Worthington Orvis store three weekends this month; sunset, Worthington Mall after my wrapping shift; toenail surgery.

Row 2: Birthday scarf; birthday cake (featuring buttercream layers and ganache coating--yum!!); there's always one, isn't there?; winter view from the window of Room 228.

Row 3: More Orvis wrappers; ginger at North Market; December flooding in our easement; more Orvis wrappers.

Row 4: Pre-flight tradition at the airport--headed to Mom's for Christmas; sunrise from our back windows in Burlington; the Italian Panettone my brother made (with just a LITTLE butter--yum!!); playing Sequence with Mom.

Row 5: We took Mom's cats to the vet and the 3-legged clinic cat, Tres, supervised the ear cleaning and fur mat removal.

Row 6: One more of Tres; we picked out new glasses frames for Mom; view of Columbus from the plane window; illustrated notes from Diana Nyad TED talk (more on that in another post.


We've been blogging 8 years, and I've been doing these monthly mosaics for 5 of those years. I make a Flickr photoset (this one is here), then go over to the Mosaic Maker at bighugelabs.com and make the mosaic.

We've been blogging 8 years, and I'm pretty sure one or the other or both of us have been involved in the Cybils every year since their inception in 2006. Franki was a first-round judge in nonfiction this year. The Cybils finalsits have been announced!

Happy Birthday to Us!

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by Will Clayton

On January 1 of every year, we celebrate our Blog Birthday! As you can tell from our blog's name, we never really expected to blog for so long--we were planning on blogging "A YEAR OF READING." But today, we celebrate A Year of Reading's 8th Birthday and we love our blog more and more each day!

Birthday Celebrations are an opportunity to give back, we think.

This year, we are celebrating in a different way. Last year, we committed to paying things forward because we so love being part of this blogging community. This year, we are going to pay it forward in a different way.

Franki received a gift from Tammy and Clare for Christmas. The gift was a donation to Birthday Wishes, a nonprofit that we didn't really know much about. But the more we read about the nonprofit, the more we loved the cause. We loved the fact that a gift of a donation, in Franki's name was given. So we thought about how we could embrace that feeling on our blog in 2014. Here is what we decided:

Every month, on (or close to) the first of the month, we'll be be donating $25 to a nonprofit that benefits children or literacy or something we care about. We'll donate the $25 as a way to pay things forward. We'll tell you a little about the charity and why we chose it.  But this donation will also be a way to honor those people we feel privileged to know in the blogging community--some who has really made a difference for one of us in the past month.  The donation will be made in that person's honor.

So, to kick things off, we are going to donate $25 to Birthday Wishes in honor of Kevin Hodgson. Kevin has always inspired us with his blog. His energy is contagious and his teaching and writing inspire us every day. But we picked him this month, because he's been such a tireless #nerdlution cheerleader for all of us trying out this 50 day challenge. He's written songs, poems and more to support others as they meet their goals. If you don't know Kevin's blog, you'll want to!

Thinking Ahead to 2014--I'm Not Calling These Resolutions

Well, 2013 was not a great year in terms of meeting any of my goals. A ridiculous concussion with a unique healing-turned-into-migraine-cycle, followed by drugs that didn't really help, made for a pretty blah year in terms of getting things done. It was a real bummer as I spent 2012 working hard to get in shape (Couch to 5K and Yoga) and read lots.  So, now, at the end of 2013, I am kind of back to where I was a few years ago. But when I look back, I learned lots.  I am not good at slowing down and the Concussion Year forced me to do that (since I had nothing else to do).

I realized that the goals aren't really so important.  Having a time in my life that I couldn't read, work or exercise was fascinating.  I really had nothing to do as I don't have many hobbies not related to reading, work or computers.  So, it forced me to take a break and to think about what I love and how I want to spend my time.  During my first week of the concussion rest, I told a friend that I thought God was telling me I needed to rest.  She said, "He has been trying to tell you that for a while. You just weren't listening."  Good friends say what you need to hear, I guess.

Anyway, going into 2013, I am just celebrating the fact that I can read again. And I can exercise again. And I can work a lot again. And I can write again. I do love work.  But I did learn that I also love rest. And I learned that I haven't been taking care of my own learning.  And I learned that I got so busy that I didn't even realize it.  And I realized that once I had to quit all of the ongoing projects I was involved in, it was okay.

As you can see from the list below, it isn't so balanced. I am really committing to a year of my own professional learning and that seems to take up most of my space here.  Visually, it looks unbalanced but I feel like I need a year like this while still fitting the other important things in.

Reading
So, this year, I want to read. I want to read more for me. I think I got so caught up in reading the newest books for my students, in reading the books that might win awards, in reading the books I thought I should, that I stopped reading YA and Adult Fiction that I love. I want to make a bit more time for that. My life is better when I'm reading.

And I want to use the library more. I am really bad about buying books I then don't really need.  I love owning books but clearly have too many.  When we got married, my husband told me that buying books was never something that would be a problem--you could never own too many books.  Well, he had no idea what that could become and I find myself with lots of books that I've read but don't necessarily need or want to own.  And the number of books I own is getting to be overwhelming to say the least.  So, I am going to try to use the library more often. It is right next door to my school and they have a great collection so there is really no excuse not to.

Fitness
Our #runteacherrun Facebook Group has grown to over 200 members! I haven't been very active on it this year as I've lost so much running time.  And I was never great at running anyway. But I do want to get back to it.  The Facebook Group started a challenge and I think I'll join.  With some modifications.  Here is their challenge:

2014 Run Teacher Run Challenge- join me?
*Run or work out at least 14 times a month in 2014.
*Post at least 14 times on run teacher run.
*Run at least 4 "real" or virtual races in 2014. (Or create your own with friends!)
*Run at least 400 miles in 2014. (Or create your own workout equivalent to miles.)
*Encourage 4 teacher friends to run/workout and join us here in this group!

I'll modify in a few ways.  I definitely want to work out at least 14 times a month in 2014 and I want to post at least 14 times on the Run Teacher Run page. I'll also encourage others to join the group.  In terms of races, I am going to try for 1 race or virtual race. I am not a big fan of races so one seems like plenty to me.  And I am not going to set a mile goal. I am a very slow runner (15 minute miles--slower than walking). I think my goal will to be to keep track of my mileage in 2014. That's all. Just to begin that habit.

I also started a membership to My Yoga Online. I love going to the yoga studio and we are lucky to have a few great ones and lots of great teachers here. But, some days, I just don't have the time for the driving, set up and 1 hour class. My Yoga Online has all different classes that I can do at home with my membership. If I add this as an option, I should be able to fit in 3 yoga classes a week.

Professional
My own learning is going to be a goal for 2014.  I have been in the classroom for 27 years and it is easy to burn out of this job without constantly learning, changing and growing. I have been so lucky to be part of lots of professional groups of people who are committed to learning and growing as educators.  Over the last several years, I've done lots of consulting and fit in my own learning when possible. When I had my concussion and had to cancel lots of my consulting work, I realized how much my own learning just kind of tagged along with my consulting work. I very seldom went to conferences over the last few years without presenting, etc. And I missed just being places as a learner. I love the consulting work and learn so much from that, but I realized in 2013, that I had lost my balance. Here is what I have planned for 2014.

I plan to attend several conferences over the year . A balance of topics and types of conferences. At some, I'll be presenting a bit and at others I'll attend with no responsibilities.  Here is what is on my professional conference plan.

OETC -Ohio Educational Technology Conference--I'll attend this one for one day and do a one hour session on digital learning at the conference. The rest of the day will be dedicated to my learning.

The Dublin Literacy Conference is one of my favorite days of the year. I'll be doing a session with Tony Keefer and Katie DiCesare.  I love this day. (Last year, my concussion was new so I was a little woozy during my presentation with Tony.  I am hoping to do my part a little better this year!)

I've been busy with my NCTE work over the last several years and because of that I've missed our state OCTELA Conference. This year, I'll be able to attend for a day and do a one hour session. This has always been one of my favorite conferences and I'm looking forward to getting back to it.

MRA will be a conference that I attend just for me and for fun. Driving with colleagues, having the weekend of learning is always a treat. 

I'm looking forward to the second part in our yearlong Literacy Connection study.  Ruth Ayres' visit in the fall was a highlight and I am looking forward to her April session! 

I'll be doing a few sessions at this year's All Write conference, one that I was SO SAD to miss last year because of my concussion.  This is definitely a favorite for so many reasons.  

Last year, I attended a Choice Literacy Writing Retreat and it reminded me of how much I love to write and that I wanted to dedicate more time to different types of writing.  It was an amazing few days and it changed me as a writer. Looking forward to another writing retreat.   I'd also love to participate in Kate Messner's Teacher's Write this summer too:-)

ISTE is one that I am thinking about attending. It isn't a conference I'd attend every year but one I'd like to attend once in a while and it is in Atlanta this year. If I can get organized to get there, I'm planning on it.

And of course, I can't wait for NerdcampMI!  Nerdcamp was one of my favorite days in 2013--from the moment we got in the car until the moment we got home, we had a great time. The team ran an amazing day and I'm looking forward to one that is a day and 1/2 this year. 

I'll be speaking at this year's Ohio Innovative Learning Environments Conference. This is an amazing week of learning and I'm excited to be part of it.

NCTE!!! Of Course!!


I'm also planning on revisiting professional books to really dig into the classroom piece a bit.  With 4 years out of the classroom and a year in 4th grade, it is taking me a little while to learn what works in a 3rd grade classroom. Now that I've had some time, I want to tweak a few things and learn a bit more as this age is so different than 4th.  

I'll also be finishing the NCTE book I am writing with Bill Bass. This is a great learning experience.  The book is on Digital Literacy: What's Essential? and it is really helping me think through what I understand about literacy and the ways tools are changing things.

I'll be teaching a few Choice Literacy Online Workshops (The Tech Savvy Literacy Teacher and Text Complexity in Grades 3-5). I just started these last year and I love the online learning format.  I love how groups come together online to learn around a topic and I love thinking about these topics with other educators.  

Word for 2014

So, I have always been fascinated by people who have a word for the year.  I haven't really had one of those as I could never think of the right one.  But I think I have one for 2014.  I was looking for one and have been pondering my need to "get things done", plan ahead, etc.  I never seem to just enjoy what I am doing as I am always worried about or thinking about what's next or what I don't have done or how behind I am.

Nerdlution has been good for me. Even though I have been on a 10 day nerdlution-vacation.  It helped me see that I do need breaks and balance.  And that I have to be careful not to think too far ahead.  Mary Lee posted this link to the #nerdlution Twitter group this week and it said a lot to me.  So my word for 2014 is going to be TODAY.  I am going to try really really really hard to not stress about all that is coming my way and enjoy each day whether it is a day full of work, rest, friends, exercise, whatever.  I love my days but so often I get caught up on what's next or what I didn't get done, that I don't enjoy the day or what I am currently doing as much as I should.  Each day is different and TODAY seems like a good word for me for 2014.

Birthday
And I will turn 50 in 2014.  I have been telling everyone and saying I'm 50 for a while so as not to be too shocked when it actually happens.  (See why TODAY is such a good word for me!)