HUE Animation for Maker Space or Genius Hour

Hue Animation Studio
by Hue Animation
Kit comes with HUE HD camera with mic; the HUE Book of Animation, a 60-page full color book; a mini stage with background and 'green screen' and stop motion software with sound effects, printable activities and backdrops.
Review kit provided by Hue


Stop motion animation couldn't be easier than it is with the Hue studio. Once you've got the software installed, you plug the camera into your USB port and...get creative!

The first time I fiddled with the camera, I experienced firsthand one of the basics of stop motion animation -- the more pictures you take with smaller movements of your character, the better your movie turns out! The Hue software makes this easy by providing the image of the picture you just took on the left and a ghost image of that picture on the right. I took the pink box completely out of the screenshot below to show this ghost image, but when you're shooting your movie, you use the ghost to determine how far/what direction to move the object for the next shot. The on-screen tools are very intuitive, and the project autosaves on your computer. It's easy to create a QuickTime of the final movie so you can share your work. This is a tool with lots of "stretch." You can get good results in a short amount of time, or you can go crazy with creativity (including backdrops, sound effects, and an actual storyline) and get fabulous results.

I predict that stop motion animation will be a hit in Genius Hour this year. In less than 15 minutes, I will demonstrate the basics to my students and then I will be able to step back and watch what they create using objects from around the classroom (or that they bring from home), making scenery, writing/acting out stories, or just fiddling around the way I did for this test movie. My process:

1. I grabbed the button box where I gathered all the loose buttons I found in the laundry room/sewing area of mom's house. 
2. I chose a place to film that had decent light without a glare. 
3. I set the buttons free. 

I didn't know when I started what those buttons would do once they were free, so just like when I start writing with only the very smallest of a seed idea, I had the experience of surprise that comes with following my creativity wherever it chooses to lead!

PSA -- For Teachers Who Are Writers

Creative Nonfiction is working on a project to recognize the work that teachers do. They are hosting an essay contest -- "We're looking for stories from the widest possible variety of perspectives and experiences with the theme 'How We Teach.' "

The winning essay will receive $1,000, and the runner up receives $500; all essays will be considered for publication in a special "How We Teach" issue of the magazine in spring 2017. The deadline for submissions is August 29, 2016

Details of what they're looking for are below. You can find the complete guidelines on their website, here.

How We Teach

For the spring 2017 issue of Creative Nonfiction magazine, we’re looking for original essays about teaching—whether in a traditional classroom or online; in summer camp or college; in preschool or in a prison; in the woods or in a workshop.  

We welcome personal stories as well as profiles, and we’re open to a very wide range of experiences and circumstances. Above all, we are looking for narratives—true stories, rich with scene, character, detail, and a distinctive voice—that give insight into what it means to teach.

Poetry Friday -- Today's Lesson

today's lesson 

persistence, by chicory 

(if mown, bloom low)

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2016

Margaret has today's Poetry Friday roundup at Reflections on the Teche.

Continuing to Study Issues of Race and Diversity

A few weeks ago, I committed to studying to learn about the race issues in our country.  I know that many of us have this same goal--to better understand what is happening so that we can work to create change.  Over the last few weeks I have read several articles that have helped me in different ways. Some are articles that helped me understand the issues from different perspectives. Others are pieces that help me think about my role in schools and as a teacher. I so appreciate everyone who has written and/or shared pieces thoughtfully and intentionally on social media. I think one thing we can do is to share pieces that we think will help others move forward in their understanding. It is sometimes a bit scary, as we know everyone in our feed may not agree with our stance. But I've decided that I am too committed to working toward change to worry about that anymore. Here are the things that I thought were worth sharing, not necessarily because I agree with them wholeheartedly but because they made me think beyond my current level of understanding.

I, Racist by John Metta at Those People

Dear White Parents of My Black Child's Friends: I Need Your Help by Maralee Bradley at Scary Mommy

How Silence Can Breed Prejudice:  A Child Development Professor Explains How and Why to Talk to Kids About Race by Brigitte Vittrup at The Washington Post

Reflecting on Police Shootings: Author Kwame Alexander Focuses on Next Generation at NPR

A Former Officer Explains Why Racist Police Violence Occurs Even When Cops "Aren't Racist" by Colleen McMahon at RawStory

 What Writers of Color Say We Should All Read Now by Laurel Hertz at Star Tribune

How Marginalized Families are Pushed Out of PTAs by Casey Quinlan at The Atlantic

On Race, Our Behavior Proves Us Liars by Leonard Pitts, Jr. at the Miami Herald

What I Said When My White Friend Asked For My Black Opinion on White Privlege by Lori Lakin at Good Black News

10 Books I Wish My White Teacher Had Read by Crystal Paul at Bustle

What Kids Need to Hear About Race and Violence-but Many Schools Won't Touch by Valerie Strauss at the Washington Post

Why I'm a Racist by Jeff Cook at The Huffington Post

11 Children's Books that Teach the Importance of Understanding Privilege by Ni'Kesia Pannell at Romper 

Two White Women Launch "White Nonsense Roundup" to Unburden People of Color by Egberto Willies at Egbert Willies

Let's Step Up by Anne Lee at Nerdy Book Club

Empowering Educators With a Model for How to Moderate Difficult Conversations in the Classroom by April Hall at International Literacy Association

The Sugar-Coated Language of White Fragility by Anna Kegler at Huffington Post

Michael Jordan: "I Can No Longer Stay Silent" at The Undefeated

In the End, Love Will Win, But We Will Need an Education First by David Kirkland at New York Slant.

A BLOG SERIES: Still Learning to Read: Continuing the Conversation

In 2003, Karen Szymusiak and I wrote the book Still Learning to Read (Stenhouse). We believed strongly that children do not stop learning to read after their first few years of school. We have learned, over the course of our teaching, that grades 3-6 are critical years in our students' reading lives--that they have so much more to learn as readers once they've started to make sense of text.

Next month, the 2nd Edition of Still Learning to Read will be released by Stenhouse.  So much has changed in the 13 years since we wrote. Although our beliefs about learners remain the same, there are things we have learned and changes we have made to our teaching.  We feel that this edition of the book captures our new learning as well as the current issues teachers are dealing.

One thing we know is that we'll never stop learning about readers in grades 3-6.  We are fascinated by them and feel grateful to have the opportunity to learn with and from them.  This year, I will be teaching 3rd grade again and I know that I will learn new things about transitional readers every day. So in order to continue the conversation around literacy learning in grades 3-6, I will be starting a blog series called "Still Learning to Read: Continuing the Conversation".   This series will run every Tuesday beginning August 2.  Each week, I'll capture some moment in the classroom--it may be a conversation with a student, a book that we shared, some student work, a chart we created.  It will just be a moment that I learned from. This series will help me chronicle my year of learning and to invite you into the conversation.

To celebrate the release of the new book, Karen and I will be hosting a Stenhouse Twitter chat focusing on the First Six Weeks of School.  The Twitter chat will be on Monday, August 1 at 8:30. Follow the hashtag #SLTRead for this chat an our yearlong conversation around readers in 

grades 3-6.

We are also planning to run a Facebook group so if you are interested in talking about the book with others online, we invite you to join.

Learning about readers in grades 3-6 has been my passion for most of my teaching life.  I am excited to be able to expand the conversation and learn more about this incredible stage in a reader's life!

Look for the first post in the series next Tuesday, August 2 . I'll be sharing my process for

 thinking about changes to room set-up this year.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I've been reading a lot this summer and have not shared much of my reading on the blog yet. So, for today's It's Monday! What Are You Reading? (Thanks to Jen and Kelly for hosting the roundup!) I thought I'd share some books that I thought were must-reads for different reasons. 

Picture Books

Let Me Finish!

I have quite a collection of books about reading and I am happy to be adding this new picture book!

Barnacle is Bored

This book made me laugh out loud.  A funny book about a barnacle with nothing much to do.

This is My Dollhouse

A great story about a girl who has a fabulous dollhouse that she has created from a cardboard box.  I love the whole idea of creation behind this story.

The Cookie Fiasco and We Are Growing! (September 20)

These are the first two books coming out in the new "Elephant and Piggie Like Reading" series. They are both fabulously fun and perfect for young readers!

Middle Grade Novels

The Poet's Dog (September 13)

A new book by Patricia MacLachlan. I loved this book--the characters, their stories, the relationships. It appealed to me as an adult reader and think it would be a good read for upper elementary students.

Nine, Ten: A September 11 Story

In this story of September 10 , we get to know several characters will be impacted personally by the events of September 11.  This is very well done for middle grade students.

Save Me a Seat

A book told in two voices--one character just moved to a new school from India.  Joe, has been at the school his whole life but still feels like he does not belong.  A powerful story with lots to talk about.

As Brave As You

I love Jason Reynold's YA books and was thrilled to see his new middle grade novel.  I loved this book--it is a quieter story but his characters make this book what it is. They will stay with me for a very long time.

Wish (August 30)

Barbara O'Connor does it again. She writes the perfect middle grade novel every time.  This is the story of Charlie, a stray dog and a wish.

The Girl Who Drank the Moon (August 9)

I have been looking forward to this book for months, ever since Donalyn Miller recommended it. It is one of the best middle grade/middle school fantasies I've read in a long time. I loved everything about it--the characters, the issues and themes, the plot, the writing.

SaveSave

Poetry Friday -- String Theory

STRING THEORY
by Ronald Wallace

I have to believe a Beethoven
string quartet is not unlike
the elliptical music of gossip:
one violin excited
to pass its small story along
to the next violin and the next
until, finally, come full circle,
the whole conversation is changed.

(read the rest of the poem here)

Chelanne has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Books4Learning.

{DIY Literacy} #cyberPD

Better late than never, right?

#cyberPD nearly passed me by this summer, but in the spirit of Tuesday's Big Gulp-O-Reading, I read the whole book in one day.

Because I haven't kept up with all of the conversations for the past several weeks, my big take-away is likely redundant:

THIS BOOK IS BRILLIANT.

Summer is winding down. The IDEA of being a teacher again in a few weeks is switching back over to being a REALITY. This book cushioned me as I fell from Summer Mode back into Teacher Mode.

Even though I've been at this gig for decades now, what I love+hate most about it is that every year is new. I never feel like I've got this down pat, like I know where I'll start and exactly how I'll proceed through the year, or like I'm the expert I should be after all this time and practice.

But this book makes me feel like I'm going to do a better job this year than I've ever done before.

At the same time they make me realize that I haven't been doing enough to support learners by even more finely slicing and layering my lessons than I ever thought possible, Kate and Maggie never make me feel like a failure. Instead, their book does for me what my work with it will do for my students -- it will lift me/us to the next level (and the next and the next and the next).

As Franki said in the foreword,  "The ideas are sophisticated, but Kate and Maggie make teachers feel like "we can do this!"" They believe that teachers who are readers and writers themselves have at their fingertips the steps and moves that become the strategies that will help each child learn at his/her level. I love this focus on turning inward and accessing what I already know as the expert reader and writer in the classroom. And this book has given me the ways to make my years of experience into clear and concise tools that will bring my learners along with me.

Summer Reading at its Best

Wolf Hollow

by Lauren Wolk

Dutton Children's Books, 2016

I almost couldn't read this book. The tension and conflict from the very beginning nearly did me in. But the language and the characters kept me going. I was not at all surprised to find that Lauren Wolk is a poet.

Maybe this could be a read aloud in 5th grade. It's a hard story, but the stories on the news aren't much better. Perhaps it would give us a safe way to talk about the wolves out there, about honesty, about the choices we make, about how we can't control what happens...but we can try.

Whew. Just thankful that it's summer and I could curl up on the couch for four hours straight and read this all in one gulp. I feel like going right back and rereading it for the beautiful language.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR

Go to Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers
for the It's Monday! What Are You Reading? Round-Up!

I did a pretty good job on my TBR pile from last week. I finished 3 of the 5 and added one I hadn't planned on.

FINISHED 

SURPRISE ADDITION

My Goodreads review:

Ms. Bixby is A Year of Reading's 147th 100 Cool Teachers in Children's Literature.

She is the teacher we all want to be. Not exactly her. We don't all need to run out and put a pink stripe in our hair. But we all want to be the ones who really SEE our students; who really HEAR them; who really KNOW them...and make a different difference in each of their lives.

KEEP YOUR EYE OUT FOR THESE

I got a big envelope full of goodies from Enchanted Lion Books last week. Editor Claudia Bedrick does an amazing job bringing international books to the US market. All of these books are coming out this fall, and you'll want to watch for them. 

The Happy Hunter

A reprint from the 1960's, this book by Swiss author/illustrator Roger Duvoisin gives us a character with a mentality we need in today's world.

Chirri & Chirra

The first in a trilogy by a famous-in-Japan children's bookmaker.

A Most Mysterious Mouse

From Italy, a cat who dreams of the perfect mouse...and when that mouse finally appears, the cat's life is changed forever and for the better.

Have You Seen My Trumpet?

Have You Seen My Trumpet? comes to us from France. Fans of Michaël Escoffier's two other word play books in this series -- TAKE AWAY THE A and WHERE'S THE BABOON? -- will want to check this one out. After a few spreads, readers will get the pattern, but there's still a fun surprise waiting in the end!

What Color Is The Wind?

First published in France by Belgian author Anne Herbauts, this book explores a myriad of ways to describe wind. Depending on who the blind boy asks for a description, color might be a smell, the sun, or time. Even the book itself is part of the exploration. It is "Created through embossing, debossing, die-cuts, lamination, and a variety of surfaces..." The fact that it's a paperback is also part of the experience of explaining wind. 

This is a fascinating book you'll want to get your hands on...literally. 

The most amazing of all of the Enchanted Lion books was this one -- 

Pinocchio: The Origin Story by Allesandro Sanna.

Allesandro Sanna is the Italian author of The River, a visual memoir of his life on Italy's Po River. From Sanna's inspiration for this story, to the gorgeous and mysterious illustrations, this is a book to savor. It gives a new and deeper meaning to the idea of an origin story!