Exploring Identity

Thunder Boy Jr.
by Sherman Alexie
illustrated by Yuyi Morales
Little, Brown and Company, 2016
review copy from the public library

Thunder Boy just wants a normal name. He knows his name is special. "I am the only Thunder Boy who has ever lived." Except for the fact that he shares his name with his dad. He wants his OWN name. He thinks of the things he's done in his life (wonderful disconnects between the words and pictures for savvy readers/viewers) and comes up with all kinds of possible names, from the fierce Not Afraid of Ten Thousand Teeth to the silly Mud in His Ears. In the end, his dad gives him a new name that is all kinds of perfect.

I Am NOT a Chair!

by Ross Burach

HarperCollins, February 14, 2017

review copy provided by the publisher

Giraffe keeps being treated like he's a chair, and he just can't get the words out when he has the chance to explain that he's a giraffe, not a chair. He tries building a chair so that others can clearly see he's not a chair, but that doesn't work. And when giraffe decides that he will stand up to the NEXT animal he sees...and that turns out to be a lion...it doesn't turn out quite like he'd planned, but he is able to tell everyone the next day. You can use the last page to teach irony. Now that Giraffe has let everyone know what he isn't, he needs to be more aware of those around him!

Poetry Friday -- Education is Not a Business

photo via unsplash

Education is Not a Business

The child lines up his teddy bears
to teach them ABCs.
He guides them gently in the task,
"The way Miss Smith taught me."

"We learn to share, hold hands in line,
protect and help and hug.
At story time in the media center
we find our place on the rug."

The profits from our nation's schools
aren't measured with nickels and dimes.
Our future's there within those walls --
let's polish them 'til they shine.


©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017



This is a poem for Laura Shovan's Annual February Writing Project. The words/phrases for this poem

worldview
help
shareholders
safer
protections
dishonest
media
replace
business
Messiah

originated here.

Penny has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Penny and Her Jots.

Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History

Frederick Douglass: The Lion Who Wrote History
by Walter Dean Myers
illustrated by Floyd Cooper
HarperCollins, 2017
review copy provided by the publisher

Frederick Douglass helped to write history, and his story is one that can inspire young people follow in his footsteps, becoming strong readers and effective speakers in order to change the wrongs they see in their world.

When Frederick Douglass realized that his owner wanted to prevent him from learning to read in order to keep him in his place, and when he listened to the owner's children speaking clearly and directly, using all the right words, "He knew that reading could make a difference in how a person lived."

Douglass' eloquent speaking ability was utilized by the abolitionists. "Here was a man who could actually tell people what it was like to be a slave." Douglass also became a writer, a leader in urging Lincoln to enlist black soldiers in the Union Army during the Civil War, and the consul-general for the U.S. in Haiti.

Nonfiction Mentor Text (and a GREAT man)

Muhammad Ali: A Champion is Born
by Gene Barretta
illustrated by Frank Morrison
HarperCollins/Katherine Tegan Books, 2017
review copy provided by the publisher

This book has a unique text structure, making it interesting for study as a mentor text.

Rather than beginning with Muhammad Ali's childhood, this picture book biography starts with a series of dated snapshots of Ali's key fights -- his surprise first win over Sonny Liston for the world heavyweight championship in 1964, his rematch and win over Liston in 1965, his defeat of George Foreman in 1974 when he won the world heavyweight championship for a second time, and the 1978 fight with Leon Spinks when he became the first boxer to win the world heavyweight championship three times.The word POW is prominent in each spread, along with famous quotes by Cassius Clay (aka Muhammad Ali).

If that isn't enough to hook the reader, this sentence does it, "And he owed it all to a stolen bicycle."

A page turn after that, the reader is taken back to 1954, beginning again at the very beginning, and learning how it happened that a stolen bicycle really did lead to a boxing gym and an early mentor and a dream that became a reality.

This book is a fabulous introduction to an iconic athlete who was also a humanitarian, social activist, and positive role model for those diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

Poetry Friday -- Cold

image via unsplash

Confronting Icy Water is Directly Linked to Revolution

Standing at the edge,
I brace myself for the harsh truth,
the cold shock that awaits.

My commitment pushes me
to dive deep, invisibilizing below the surface,
rewriting the liberation of my body.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2017





I am joining Laura Shovan's Annual February Writing Project. The words/phrases for this poem originated here.

Carol has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Beyond Literacy Link.

A Year of Reading's Bucket List

This blog began as an extension of our conversations about possible contenders for the Newbery and Caldecott Award winners.

Our "year of reading" has turned into eleven years of reading, writing, teaching, and poetry.

Last weekend, we checked an item off our lifetime bucket lists -- we went to ALA Midwinter and saw the Youth Media Awards announced LIVE instead of streaming on our smartboards in our classrooms!

We were about 5th in line, and right behind us was Jules Danielson of Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, who's been blogging just about as long as we have. It was so cool to meet her (and her family) in person!

In addition to seeing the book awards announced, 

we were there to cheer and congratulate OSU's own Dr. Rudine Simms Bishop on the Coretta Scott King - Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement.

This year, we had both read the Newbery winner and many of the Newbery and Caldecott Honor books.

It was another great Year of Reading in 2016, and we came home with suitcases full to the brim of ARCS so that we can begin our 2017 Year of Reading!

Still Learning to Read: A Great New Early Chapter Series

 

This is one of a series of blog posts that continue the conversation around Still Learning to Read--teaching reading to students in grades 3-6.  This series will run on the blog on Tuesdays starting in August 2016 and continue through the school year.

Having the right books for our readers is one of the most important things we can do.  Third grade is a little tricky because kids are at so many different stages as readers.  And if we want kids to read independently every day, we need lots of books that are right for them. So I am always looking for good early chapter books that support readers who are just learning to read longer books.  This week I received two books in the new Agnes and Clarabella series (Agnes and Clarabelle and Agnes and Clarabella Celebrate!) from the publisher.  This is a fun new series about 2 friends and t is perfect for our transitional readers.  

This book is perfect for the beginning of the year 3rd grader  who is just starting to read chapter books. There is so much that I love about these books:

I feel in love with both characters. They have very distinct traits which is good for our young readers when thinking about what to expect from characters we love.

• There are 4 chapters in each book and each chapter is its own little story. That is perfect for readers just learning to read longer books. Holding onto one story over time is often challenging so this is a perfect transition.
• There is enough sophisticated humor that kids will love these books no matter what--I laughed aloud a few times.
• There are chapter titles. I think that is important for young readers so they can use the titles to think about what's coming up.
• The illustrations and font size are perfect. Lots of white space on a page so text is not overwhelming for readers.  I also like that many sentences start on one page and finish on the next.  This is something new for lots of transitional readers and this book handles it well.
• The books are small and they feel like a chapter book but there are lots of visual supports for readers. 

So happy to have this new book! Can't wait for more books about these characters!  

*These are part of "Read and Bloom" based on the cover. There seem to be 3 other books/series in this collection that I'd like to check out--Stinky Spike, Wallace and Grace and The Adventures of Caveboy. I am hoping they support readers in similar was--if so they will be perfect for 2nd and 3rd graders!

(Our new edition of Still Learning to Read was released in August!  You can order it online at Stenhouse! You can follow the conversation using the hashtag #SLTRead.)

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Poetry Friday -- Social Activisim

Here We Go -- Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong of Pomelo Books have knocked another one out of the ballpark.

Like their first Poetry Friday Power Book, Just You Wait, this interactive verse novel/optional poetry writing course is full to the brim with anchor poems, response poems, and mentor poems. There are Powerplay activity pages for brainstorming, and Power2You Writing prompts that encourage poetry writing.

Here We Go features four characters who are dealing with timely issues: being an immigrant, being a Muslim, surviving family tensions, dealing with fake news, trying to do good in the world.

This is the right book at the right time. I'm hoping the characters in this book will help me encourage my 5th graders to look beyond the school walls and the boundaries of their neighborhood and find their own ways to make the world a better place. Thank you, Janet and Sylvia for using poetry to start the most important conversations we could possibly have with our students.

Check out Irene Latham's extensive review of Here We Go for more details about the book.


Violet has the Poetry Friday Roundup at Violet Nesdoly | Poems.

Two Picture Books About the Refugee Experience

The Journey
by Francesca Sanna
Flying Eye Books, 2016
review copy from the public library

Stepping Stones: A Refugee Family's Journey
by Margriet Ruurs
illustrated by Nizar Ali Badr
Orca Book Publishers, 2016
review copy from the public library


Both of these books depict the refugee experience through art that begs to be examined over and over again. I hope that means that readers will go back to the story over and over again as well, deepening their understanding of this huge worldwide issue of war, displacement, refugees, immigrants, migrants...people who have lost one home and are starting over again in another place.

Both of these books were born out of the author's desire to tell the stories of real people, but both are very careful to make their books not just The One Story of Refugees, but a possible outline of some of the steps and emotions of the journeys of many.

Stepping Stones is written in Arabic and English, inviting a more personal connection for children who rarely (if ever) see their language in print in a book in an American library or classroom. The inclusion of Arabic is yet another stepping stone provided by this story.

Still Learning to Read: A Reading Conference

This is one of a series of blog posts that continue the conversation around Still Learning to Read--teaching reading to students in grades 3-6.  This series will run on the blog on Tuesdays starting in August 2016 and continue through the school year.

One common thing I see with intermediate readers is the ability to read and decode words without knowing what they mean. I want readers to begin to have lots of strategies for figuring out the meaning of words they don't know so often, after some conferring on the topic of words in context, kids go off and track their thinking about unfamiliar words. In this conference, a student is sharing the words she did not know when she first got to them in her reading. Then she tried the strategies she knows and we chatted. On the sticky notes, she took her best guess at what the word meant after trying some things.

Our conference around these sticky notes were to find patterns in her strategies--what works some of the time? She discovered that sometimes, if you read on, the author gives you a clue about the meaning of the word. She also found that sometimes, there is a word that you know inside of a word (for example, trail was in trailing) and sometimes, the way the sentence is worded gives you a little clue.

The goal of this work is not to figure out all of the correct definitions of the words she didn't know. Instead it is to help her become aware of her process. I want her to recognize when she gets to an unfamiliar word. I want her to get into the habit of stopping and thinking instead of merely reading on. And I also want her to begin to own and practice some strategies that readers use when this happens. Of course we'll move on from there but these things must be in place for her to own this part of her reading life.

(Our new edition of Still Learning to Read was released in August!  You can order it online at Stenhouse! You can follow the conversation using the hashtag #SLTRead.)
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