Making the World More Beautiful

I have always loved the book Wanda's Roses. I love Pat Brisson but I love the message of a little girl working to make her community brighter. And I love the way the whole community brings something to the project.  It is a book I read every year.

Two new books have been recently released that follow a similar theme and I am very excited to add them both to our classroom library next year.  I love these two books because both are based on true stories and real communities.

Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell is written in honor or Rafael and Candice Lopez "and all the quiet leaders in our neighborhoods."(From the author's note.)  I love the power of this story and the way art they helped transform East Village near downtown San Diego.  I love the story, the author's note and the illustrations.

Luis Paints the World by Terry Farish takes place in Lawrence, Massachusetts.  The author states in the Author's Note that she worked as a librarian in Lawrence in 2003 and followed the work of young artists and others to design a mural for peace.

The stories are similar in theme but the vibrant personalities of each unique neighborhood comes out in the stories.  Some connecting threads in the two books are how people come together in a community and how communities can be transformed by art.

Poetry Friday by the lake at dusk

ripples

nudge the shoreline

chuckling

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016

Carol has the Poetry Friday Roundup this week at Carol's Corner. There is one more hosting slot available on the July-December 2016 calendar. Is December 16 calling your name? Claim the date here.

Connecting With Other Writers in this Digital Age

I have been doing a lot of thinking over the last several years about how digital tools have changed our reading and writing workshops. One thing I realize over and over again is that what is possible in our literacy workshop has expanded for our students.  One way I notice this is the ways that we can connect with and learn from other writers in Writing Workshop.


Learning from texts by authors of some of our favorite picture books is always an anchor for our writing.  This is the beginning of a board we had up for a bit this year as we were learning from authors such as Cynthia Rylant and Lester Laminack.  Baskets of mentor texts and mentor authors are so important in our Writing Workshops. This is the way we learned from other writers long before digital tools came into play and is still critical.

But digital tools have allowed even more when it comes from connecting with and learning from other writers.  First of all, we can study each other's writing in more ways and kids can do that more independently now. It used to be that we could study student writing in the midst of Writing Workshop, during mini lessons or share time.  But because our students have blogs and access to sharing in Google, they always have other students' writing to read and study. And because so many students around the world have blogs, these are always accessible to our students.  They can read and study other students' work during writing workshop, at home or whenever. It is fairly new that our young writers have access to this many other young writers as they learn and grow.

We can also use digital tools to collect student writing and other texts.  Tools like Padlet can help us collect a piece of student writing that we'd like to look at along with other connected pieces. This Padlet is one we created when we were learning about Slide Design. Several students' slides became part of this Padlet and we used it over several days to study the craft moves students mad to create slides in informational writing. Students also had access to this Padlet online anytime. Having the ability to use tools like Padlet to connect students to other students' great leads, powerful sentences, slides, etc. expands what is possible in our workshops. Whether students are creating digital or more traditional texts, these digital tools can help us collect and revisit pieces worth studying.

And of course we can learn from authors around the world. Melissa Stewart has an amazing website with Video Mini-Lessons for writing informational text. The power of learning from someone who is a published author and whose books are used as examples changes writers in the classroom.

And we have amazing writing teachers like Ruth Ayres creating videos we can use with our students. My kids talked about Ruth Ayres like she was in the classroom because they learned so much from her quick videos.  She is brilliant at the way she teaches young writers.  And I love the way I can pick and choose lessons that my kids need.  She shows so many pieces of her own writing throughout the videos and it is just another way we can mentor to another writer because of digital tools.  If you have not seen her videos, this is one of our classroom's favorites.

I know I've shared some of these resources here before but when we look at them together, it is clear how much more is possible when it comes to connect with other writers and learn from mentor texts in this digital world.

Books We Recommend

At the end of the year, my 3rd graders created a Google Slideshow of books they recommended to classmates for Summer Reading as well as for next year's 3rd graders. They have some great recommendations so I thought I'd share it here.  I loved the variety in their choices.

Enjoy!

An Important Conversation Around Censorship

"We don’t serve only our own children. We don’t serve the children of 1950. We don’t serve the children of some imaginary land where they are protected from the headlines. We serve real children in the real world. "  

                                                         Kate Mesner

There is an important conversation around censorship going on in the Children's Literature community. If you haven't followed it, it is definitely a conversation we all need to be part of and one that needs to continue.

Phil Bildner, author of many books including A Whole New Ball Game and Marvelous Cornelius was uninvited to a school district where he's been speaking since 2007.  This article at CBLFD states that last year during his visits as Bildner was recommending books to his audience, he included George in his book talks. During the second half of his visit he was asked not to mention the book and he was accompanied by an administrator for that part of his visit.  The Intellectual Freedom Blog of ALA had a follow-up post along with some information from the Assistant Director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom.

Later the same week, Kate Messner's book Seventh Wish was released. This is a middle grade novel about Charlie, a twelve-year old whose older sister has a drug addiction.  Kate was also uninvited to a scheduled school visit. This was due to the content of her book.   Another article about the issue is here. 

There has been a huge follow-up conversation on social media and one that we all need to be aware of. 

Speak Loudly and Speak Loudly are two important posts on the topic by Teri Lesesne

Kate Messner has two follow-up posts here and here that are worth reading.  Kate Messner is a pro at writing about hard issues in a way that makes sense for middle grade readers.  I am so thankful we have authors like Kate who have somehow figured out how to write perfectly for this age level.  

Pernille Ripp has a must-read here.

Katherine Sokolowski has a follow-up post on censorship here.

There is a lot to work through in this conversation and I am glad that it is happening. I think our biggest job as teachers and librarians is to read widely.  To know the books written for all students.  And to have to have these conversations globally and locally.  

Poetry Friday: The Bright Side

Photo via Unsplash

Blessings
by Ronald Wallace

occur.
Some days I find myself
putting my foot in
the same stream twice;
leading a horse to water
and making him drink.
I have a clue.
I can see the forest
for the trees.

All around me people
are making silk purses
out of sows’ ears,
getting blood from turnips,
building Rome in a day.
There’s a business
like show business.
There’s something new
under the sun.

Some days misery
no longer loves company;
it puts itself out of its.
There’s rest for the weary.
There’s turning back.
There are guarantees.
I can be serious.
I can mean that.
You can quite
put your finger on it.

Some days I know
I am long for this world.
I can go home again.
And when I go
I can
take it with me.

This poem, shared a few weeks ago on The Writer's Almanac, cracks me up. Ronald Wallace turns all of these common sayings upside down and inside out, changing them from negative to positive.

It's all in how you look at the world, isn't it? Change your lens, change the world.

Now do me a favor and go back to the title and the first line. Do you know which saying he flipped? I'm thinking "occur" was originally "happens." And are you thinking what I'm thinking about the word he changed into "blessings?"

Cracks. Me. Up. Every time.

Carol V. has this week's Poetry Friday Roundup at Beyond LiteracyLink. Join Carol in her spring garden to celebrate the vibrancy of poetry.

There are TWO slots left in the July-December Poetry Friday Roundup Host schedule. Check it out here if you want to host the weekly poetry party!

We Write For You

A must watch video.

Interview With A Rick Riordan Reader

When I received these two books as review copies, there was no question in my mind about what I would do next -- I handed them first to B. and then to M., both huge fans of everything Rick Riordan has written.

I had a lunch date with M. last week, and we chatted about how her reading life has developed this year, and about these two books.  Previously, I have watched series books launch a reading life, but I have never seen an avid reader tear through series after series the way M. has in the past few months. 

Me: How did you become such and avid a Rick Riordan reader?

M: First I watched all the Percy Jackson movies. Then I saw T. reading The Lost Hero (in the Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan) and she recommended it.

Me: What are some topics and themes in these books that keep you coming back for more?

M: I like the action, the cliffhangers, the things that surprise you. There's a little romance, but not too much.

Me: So, Percy is Greek mythology, and the Kane series is Egyptian mythology, right? What's Demigods and Magicians about and who would you recommend it to?

M: I'd recommend it to people who read all of the Rick Riordan series. It switches between the Kane stories and the Percy Jackson stories and connects them at the end.

Me: Do you learn lots about mythology from reading these books?

M: You learn a little mythology, but mostly they are good stories. There should be Kane movies.

Me: What will you read next?

M: Next up is The Magnus Chase -- it connects to one of the books -- it's Greek mythology for sure, but there are new characters.

Me: Tell me a little about your reading habits. How do you plow through these long books so steadily?

M: I read for a long time whenever I read. On the weekends I read. I read before dinner, and I read after dinner. I watch a little TV with dinner, but I'd rather read than watch TV.

Me: Have you always been a series reader?

M: No, this is new. The closest has been when I read Rump, Jack, and Red.

This amazing reader will eventually come to the end of the Rick Riordan series (maybe...he's incredibly prolific!!) and will need to find other books to fill the gap left in her reading life. She has great resources that will serve her well: her family uses the public library, and she has friends who are readers who will recommend books to her. What would I recommend? The Inkheart series by Cornelia Funke, or The Mysterious Benedict Society series by Trenton Lee Stewart.

The Newly Elected NCTE Vice President

Three cheers for Franki! 

One cheer for a currently practicing elementary school teacher 

leading the National Council of Teachers of English!

Another cheer for an advocate for children's literature leading NCTE!

And a final cheer for an extraordinarily passionate professional 

who has a seemingly boundless amount of energy. 

When she's not fine-tuning her own craft as an educator, 

she's working with others to share her passion and vision.

Poetry Friday -- That Moment

That Moment When Summer Arrives, 
Whether or not the Solstice Has Occurred

The peonies are blown.
Rain knocked the petals off
the last poppy
and laid the daisies down on the lawn.
The first fireflies
sparkle the humid night.
You can smell
the grass growing.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016


Jone has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Check it Out.

The call for roundup hosts July-December went up yesterday. You can find it here.