Tried and True

Cowboy and Octopus
by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith

review copy compliments of an impulse purchase

"Oh, goody! A new one by Jon Scieszka!" I thought, as I picked up a copy from the display. I thumbed through it. I wasn't amused. The illustrations looked weird, and not at all Lane Smith-ish. But then I remembered my experience with Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus. I didn't fall in love with that book until I read it to children. So I bought Cowboy and Octopus, and last week I read it to my fourth graders.

It's hysterical. The illustrations are perfect. The kids were rolling on the floor laughing, and I would have been, too, but I was wearing a skirt. The chapter? story? where Cowboy hits Octopus on the head with a hammer is my favorite. I had to go back and reread it before the kids got it. Octopus says something like, "I'm going to hold all these pieces together and when I nod my head, you hit it." Bad sentence construction results in hilarious confusion over "it."

I think the kids liked the scary tooth fairy Halloween costume the best. Or maybe the page with the photographs of the beans. "Those are real beans!" someone said, and not a half a breath later came, "Beans, beans, the musical fruit..."

Scieszka should win a Pulitzer Prize for his ability to channel his pre-teen self and the accompanying sense of humor.

**Edited to add this from Fuse #8, via bookshelves of doom:



I also read aloud Those Shoes. (I reviewed it here.) It, too, was a hit. I held up the book, and just based on the cover, my students knew pretty much what the story was about. They'd all been there, wanting something they couldn't have, or not having what everyone else seemed to have and feeling left out. They were surprised by, but completely satisfied with the ending, and they were sure that the main character had done the right thing by giving Those Shoes that didn't fit him to his friend whose feet were smaller than his.

The next day, a student in another class came to school wearing a pair of way-cool orange sneakers. I was holding the recess door as the students came in from lunch recess, and as the end of my line passed by me, this kid was leading the next line of students. I complimented his shoes, which caused the last few kids in my line to turn around and look. I looked at my kids and they looked at me. I pointed and said, "Those Shoes!" and they nodded and replied, "Those Shoes." So in one day, this book went from story to insider lingo for a coveted article of clothing. Not bad. Not bad at all.

I also finished Clementine last week. (Last year's 5th graders loved her, too.)

Last week was a darn good read aloud week in my classroom. How to Steal a Dog (review here) is up next.

Tap Dancing on the Roof-Poetry Friday

Tap Dancing on the Roof
SIJO (Poems) by Linda Sue Park

I am TOTALLY in love with this new poetry book by Linda Sue Park. From the inside flap, I learned that sijo is a type of poem that originated in Korea. It is "kind of" like haiku, but not quite. It has a fixed number of stressed syllables and is usually 3 or 6 lines. The big fun is that there is some unexpected twist or joke at the end of each one.

In Tap Dancing on the Roof, Linda Sue Park shares sijos on many topics--October, pockets, long division and breakfast. Each poem is a short thought about something with a little surprise at the end. "The first line introces the topic. The second line develops the topic further. And the third line always contains some kind of twist--humor, irony, an unexpected image, a pun, or a play on words." Such fun! This is a semi-small square book. It is illustrated with mostly black and white drawings with splashes of color. Everything works together perfectly. (The book ends with a great author's note and some tips for writing Sijo.)

I am anxious to share this book with my class. They had SOOO much fun with Haiku once I shared DOGKU by Andrew Clements that I am pretty sure they will have fun with this one too--I am anxious to see what they do with the twist endings. I am all about finding books that help my kids really have fun with words and language. That's was why I was so excited when I found this new one!

Poetry Friday round-up is Amox Calli--enjoy!

Three Months From Today

Christmas.

The catalogs have started to come. The displays are starting to edge out Halloween and dwarf Thanksgiving.

And the Christmas books are rolling out, beginning with
Great Joy
by Kate DiCamillo
illustrated by Bagram Ibatoulline
review copy compliments of Candlewick Press

This is a simple story of a girl who wonders about and worries about the organ grinder and his monkey who show up on the corner of the street below her window. She questions her mother, Where do they sleep? How do they stay warm?, but her mother is too busy getting the girl's angel costume ready for the Christmas play to give her a satisfactory answer. On the way to the church for the Christmas play, the girl puts a coin in the organ grinder's box and invites him to come to her play. The story holds its breath when the little girl takes the stage to deliver her angelic lines. She surveys the crowd, but does not see the organ grinder. When he enters the church, she shouts, "Behold, I bring you tidings of Great Joy!"

Like I said, it's a simple story. It's a story that mirrors the story of the Nativity -- of the poor outcasts who are invited to be witnesses to the Great Joy. Of the angel who invites all to share in the joy.

The illustrations are what gives this book layering and depth. The setting is WWII. You can see it in the cars, the hair and clothing styles, the fact that there are no young men in the church. The girl's father is in the Navy. His picture is on the dresser. (Is his absence the reason Mother is distracted?) Every picture in this book glows, is radiant, is luminous. Every face in this book is a particular face, every person seems to be caught mid-gesture. After the story is over, you can't help yourself -- you go back and look at the pictures, again and again.

Jonathan Kozol's Partial Fast Against NCLB

I am a huge Jonathan Kozol fan. I had no idea that he has been on a partial fast since July as a way to protest NCLB reauthorization. I read about it this week in the Boston Globe.

I am currently reading Kozol's new book, Letters to a Young Teacher. Like of all of his books, it is quite powerful--whether you are a new or experienced teacher.

CYBILS--Graphic Novels

And Mary Lee is a part of the Graphic Novels nominating committee! (She is becoming quite the expert on this genre that I still don't quite feel comfortable with as a reader.)

For those of you who weren't around for CYBILS last year, it was quite a fun thing! Bloggers choosing award winning books in several categories. The CYBILS list is still one I go back to for great titles. I would highly recommend spending some time on the site as we get ready to go! A really fun thing to be a part of!

Cybils in One Week...and counting...

Poetry Panels have been announced.

Franki is judging. Go Franki!

Blog Reading Blues

I am so pathetically behind in blog reading. How far behind am I, you ask? I just went to Bloglines for the first time in I Don't Know How Long, and I was stunned by the bloggy productivity of you all!

The King of All Bloggy Productivity goes to Sam Riddleburger with 87 posts since the last time I checked Bloglines! It's mind boggling...the alternative Harry Potter endings, the Rubik's Cube solving, the juggling video (great music, and I love the slo-mo at the end), the reviews of obscure books...All I can say is, WOW!

The Candy Blog (82 new posts) just barely edged out Fuse #8 (80 new posts) for first place. Good thing I looked, The Candy Blog has a contest going on -- she's giving away candy! Go check it out! No Video Sunday for Fuse this week, but good for her -- she gets a vacation!

In second place, with 65 posts, is Two Writing Teachers. They have so many great ideas for writing workshop that it almost gives me hives (but in a good way -- in a "stick your neck out and try something new" way).

In a close third, is Jen Robinson, with 56 posts since last I checked Bloglines. Wow, Jen! You've been busy! I can't wait to read The Puzzling World of Winston Breen, and your new photo is smashing! (Dang! You even added another post while I was working on this!)

Blogs in the 40's (number of posts, not necessarily age) are Mentor Texts (45) and Miss Rumphius (44). I love Literacy Teacher's (Mentor Texts) posts about her read alouds. Tricia (Miss Rumphius) has been tagged for a writing meme that you might want to try. (Not me, not now, I'm too busy reading blogs!)

Blogs in the 30's include Big A little a (39 -- Weekend Reviews, Everyday Etiquette, The Edge of the Forest, The Cybils -- come up for air, Kelly!), A Wrung Sponge (37 -- how does she do it with two little boys and her 365 photo project and her school library and her typing classes?), and Robin Brande (30 -- sorry I haven't been back for Tuesday Book Club. School happened. Reading has declined. Paper grading and assessment scoring has increased. The snake training story is a hoot. I DID have time to read that!)

Everybody else who's in double digits, you have my deepest admiration!

Read Roger (28)
Tea Cozy (27)
ReadWriteBelieve (26) (That is some freaky geekery!!!!)
Chicken Spaghetti (26) (Love the news from the coop!)
WildRoseReader (22)
GottaBook (22)
Educating Alice (19)
Mother Reader (17) (I have the same blues you do!)
Liz in Ink (17)
Hip Writer Mama (15)
Read, Read, Read (11)
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast (10) (But add to that a hundred important Robert's Snow emails!)

And you, I know what happened to your life! Keep plugging. You'll be able to come up for air in a month or so:

Creative Literacy (5)

If you didn't find your blog in this post, it's not because I don't read your blog, it's because I've come to the end of the hour that I allotted for doing this penance. I'm going to Bloglines as soon as I post this, and I'm going to click the "Mark All Read" button and start over again fresh.

Those Shoes

Those Shoes
by Maribeth Boelts, illustrated by Noah Z. Jones
review copy compliments of Candlewick Press

I'm not much of a fashion maven anymore. I like what I like, and I buy what fits comfortably. It's my money, so I get to decide when I say I can and can't have something.

But I certainly remember what it was like to want and what it was like when Mom tried to explain away my hunger with talk of need and price. I remember my desire for a shirt with a little alligator on it, for a particular pair of lime green pants, for go-go boots.

Maribeth Boelts captures the struggle between need and want perfectly in Those Shoes. Jeremy wants more than anything a pair of black high-tops with two white stripes. Everybody has them. Everybody except him and his friend Antonio. When Jeremy's shoes fall apart, the guidance counsel0r gives him a pair of shoes that close with velcro and have "an animal on them from a cartoon I don't think any kid ever watched."

Grandma takes Jeremy to shop for the shoes he wants so desperately, even though she's told him, "There's no room for 'want' around here -- just 'need'...and what you need are new boots for winter." Grandma has to sit down hard when she sees the price of the black high-tops with two white stripes. Jeremy holds out hope that they will find a pair in a thrift shop, and they do, but they are too small for Jeremy. He buys them anyway, with his own money, hoping and believing that they will stretch. (Sounds like a dozen or more ill-purchased pairs of jeans in my lifetime!)

Jeremy tries and tries, but he can't make the new shoes work for him. Then he notices that Antonio's feet are smaller than his and he knows he has a way to make his friend happy.

In the end, it snows, and when it's recess Jeremy gets to leave his velcro cartoon shoes in the hall and change into his new snow boots. (Thank you, Grandma!)

In spite of my remembered desperate childhood fashion wants, there are some huge differences between me and Jeremy -- I never wore clothes until they fell apart at school, I was never given a pair of shoes by the guidance counselor (or some equivalent because we didn't have such a thing), and we didn't shop at thrift shops. So I'm wondering if perhaps I only understand this story in a very surface sort of way. And as I look back at the illustrations, I wonder about the other story this book might tell. Jeremy is black and lives with his grandmother. There are blacks and whites and Asians (and a girl) who have those shoes, but Jeremy who is black, and Antonio, who has a Hispanic name, don't. The guidance counsellor appears to be white. Maybe I'm making too much of this. Maybe it's reality, get over it. Maybe it's just a story about wanting versus needing and getting versus giving. See what you think.

Poetry Friday

Here's a possible cure for the AYP Blues in my Monday Poetry Stretch poem. I'm not sure, however, that the politicians would go for this as a proposed solution for NCLB...


The Tables Turned
by William Wordsworth

Up! up! my Friend, and quit your books;
Or surely you'll grow double:
Up! up! my Friend, and clear your looks;
Why all this toil and trouble?

The sun above the mountain's head,
A freshening lustre mellow
Through all the long green fields has spread,
His first sweet evening yellow.

Books! 'tis a dull and endless strife:
Come, hear the woodland linnet,
How sweet his music! on my life,
There's more of wisdom in it.

And hark! how blithe the throstle sings!
He, too, is no mean preacher:
Come forth into the light of things,
Let Nature be your teacher.

She has a world of ready wealth,
Our minds and hearts to bless—
Spontaneous wisdom breathed by health,
Truth breathed by cheerfulness.

One impulse from a vernal wood
May teach you more of man,
Of moral evil and of good,
Than all the sages can.

Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:—
We murder to dissect.

Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves;
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.


I found this poem at Poetryfoundation.org.
Round-up this week is at ReadWriteBelieve.

Monday Poetry Stretch

The Monday Poetry Stretch at The Miss Rumphius Effect is blues poetry. Tricia listened to blues music to get in the mood to write. The recommendation from The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms is "think of something that depresses you."

I started to write a self-serving, whiney poem about too many meetings that each generate more work to be done and yet eat up all the time in the day in which that work might actually get done.

Then I decided to write about something far more important and exponentially more depressing. I've got...

The AYP* Blues

No child left behind, brother
No child left behind
No child left behind, sister
No child left behind

Why measure progress with one test
And call it accountability?
The bar's so high it can't be reached
In some parts of the city.

Poor child left behind, brother
Poor child left behind
ELL child left behind, sister
ELL child left behind

Let's tell our leaders what we need:
a model based on GROWTH.
Measure each child's yearly learning
And see who GAINS the most.

No child left behind, brother
No child left behind
No child left behind, sister
No child left behind


*AYP stands for Adequate Yearly Progress. It is part of No Child Left Behind. The name is misleading. AYP does not really measure progress, it measures the ability of children to get a certain score on a single test. Children take the test whether or not they are fluent (or even proficient at a basic level) in English. The bar is the same height for children who have had all the advantages of an affluent home life, and for children whose only two meals of the day are the free breakfast and lunch they receive at school. Researchers are able to predict with 95% accuracy which schools will not make AYP based on such factors as poverty levels, and number of English Language Learners (ELLs).

A more sane approach would be to measure student learning with a pretest at the beginning of the year and a posttest at the end of the year. Teachers should be required to make sure that every child achieves a year's growth in a year. This would actually be more challenging for teachers in schools that easily meet AYP. Their students are already so close to the bar that it's no stretch to make it over. If they had to make a year's gain in a year's time, those students would really have to stretch for once.