God Bless the Experimental Writers

Flickr Creative Commons Photo by J. Paxon Reyes

God Bless the Experimental Writers

by Corey Mesler


for David Markson

"One beginning and one ending for a book was a
thing I did not agree with."

          --Flann O'Brien from At Swim-Two-Birds


God bless the experimental writers.
The ones whose work is a little
difficult, built of tinkertoys
and dada, or portmanteau and
Reich. God help them as they
type away, knowing their readers
are few, only those who love to toil
over an intricate boil of language,
who think books are secret codes.
These writers will never see their names
in Publisher's Weekly. They will
never be on the talk shows. Yet,
every day they disappear into their
rooms atop their mother's houses,
or their guest houses behind some
lawyer's estate. Every day they
tack improbable word onto im-
probable word, out of love, children,
out of a desire to emend the world.


This poem has been used in its entirety with the permission of the author. His website is here. Next time you're in Memphis, visit his bookstore and buy a few books!

I chose this poem for everyone who is starting a blog and/or starting the Two Writing Teachers' Slice of Life Challenge for March. Yours isn't exactly the same kind of experimental writing as in this poem, but it IS a grand experiment, isn't it?!?! Have fun! Good luck! Cheer ME on next month when I'm writing a poem a day!!

Dori has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Dori Reads.

February Mosaic

I am continuing my Numbers and Letters Project for my version of Project 365 this year.

1st Row: 2 (2 hands, child reading 2 versions of CORALINE), 7 (Food for Thought at the Old Worthington Library), Food for Thought

2nd Row: 1/2 (Food for Thought--Macaroon), 11 (Tweet Peeps before the Reading Recovery Conference), G

3rd Row: 11,13, 57

4th Row: I, Hand of Buddha, 9

5th Row: 5, 4, B

6th Row: P, H, X

7th Row: S, M, J

8th Row: Snowdrops, 1 (first dandelion!), Pete the Cat

9th Row: Bottles, Plate and Cup, Playing for Change

Z is For Moose

Z is For Moose
by Kelly Bingham
illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
Greenwillow Books, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

Zebra is putting on a production of the alphabet. Everything is going just fine ("A is for Apple/B is for Ball/C is for Cat") when suddenly Moose breaks in -- "D is for Moose." Moose keeps asking if it's his turn through E, F, G, H, I, J, and K. Anticipation builds on L, and then...

"M is for Mouse."

Moose goes ballistic, completely wrecking the set for N, O, P, and Q. Just like Melanie Watt's Chester, Moose takes his red crayon to R and S, and then Zebra protects T-Y with his life.

Good ol' Zebra finds a way to include Moose in the end!

I loved this book immediately and shared it with my students when the F&Gs came a few months ago. When I got my Horn Book Magazine this week, I was pleased to receive a confirmation of my opinion. The book received a starred review from Horn Book!

Zero the Hero

Zero the Hero
by Joan Holub
illustrated by TomLichtenheld
Henry Holt, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

My students and I loveloveLOVED E-Mergency by Tom Lichtenheld and Ezra Fields-Meyer!!

When I put the poster for Zero the Hero on the chalkboard, excitement was instantaneous.

E-Mergency was a funny look at the way the letters of the alphabet work together (and how our words suffer when the E cannot be used). In Zero the Hero, ("A Book About Nothing"), Zero has all the trappings of a hero -- mask, cape, and pointy boots -- but he doesn't seem to be able to do anything amazing (mathematically speaking) all by himself.

"The thought gave Zero a hollow feeling inside." So he runs rolls away. Without Zero, the other numbers realize they are severely limited. Then, when the Roman Numerals capture the Counting Numbers...well, Zero can finally be a true hero.

James Preller Author Visit: An Amazing Day

We hosted James Preller at our school on Friday for a K-5 Author Visit. It was a great day to be the librarian at Riverside. A great day for kids and teachers!

James Preller has many books and I love all of them.  One of my favorites is JUSTIN FISHER DECLARES WAR. I think it was when I read this book that I realized how well Preller understands kids at this age.  What I learned today, is that he understands kids and people of all ages.  It is a gift and his writing shows that.

James Preller had every group of students engaged, thinking and laughing. He told stories of his life and stories of his writing. He told us about his family and he shared his first ever book with us.  He talked to us about the ways in which his real life plays into his writing by sharing specific examples.

As a K-5 librarian, it is sometimes difficult to find an author who really meets the needs of all K-5 students. James Preller certainly does. He has books for all ages and he has an amazing rapport with students of all ages. The Kindergarten classes had a ball and the older kids left saying, "Wow, that was great."

We really kept the visit simple and about reading and Preller's books. All of the kids in the school knew James Preller's work and I love the fact that they can grow up with his books. Our primary kids had a great time with A Pirate's Guide to First Grade. Talking in pirate talk is really pretty fun and kids had a ball with that. But the book is about school and literacy and lots of things so the book was a great anchor before his visit. During his visit, our 1st grade classes wore construction paper pirate hats. They were amused and had a fun time listening to his reading of the story in their hats (which was much, much better than mine--I guess I need to learn to talk from the back of my neck or something or other that Preller advised.). (If you do not know about Construction Paper Crayons, they were quite a hit for a few classes who decorated their hats. Thanks to our wonderful art teacher for sharing this great new type of crayon!)

We had lots of classes read Jigsaw Jones and I am sure they will all be checked out for the rest of the school year.  I believe strongly in series books for transitional readers and this is a perfect beginning mystery series. Now that the students have some insights into Jigsaw, they'll read them a little differently.

With our older kids, James shared some of his work around Six Innings and Bystander.  Our 5th graders just finished Bystander and were interested in all he had to say about bullying and being a bystander, about standing up instead of staying silent.

I bought many copies of each of Jimmy's books for our library. I imagine they will all be checked out tomorrow. I imagine they will be checked out all year as our students look for the books they know a bit more about.

The author visit was one of the best for lots of reasons.  James Preller is genuine. He is a great guy and very sincere. He let kids know who he was as a person and as a writer. And I think this visit really had an impact on their lives as readers. For our students, meeting James Preller was about meeting a rock star.  But it was also about reading and books and understanding the life of a writer better. The day was a joyful one and I would highly recommend James Preller as an author visit for elementary and middle school students. It was really a perfect day.

James Preller visited Bailey Elementary School a few years ago and Bill has been raving about the visit ever since. I can see why.

(I interviewed James Preller a few months ago for a Choice Literacy podcast. You can find that podcast here.)

It's Monday: What Are You Reading?

So, I haven't had time to read lots lately. But, the things i've read have been such fun. Here are some highlights!

I read Polly Horvath's new MR. AND MRS. BUNNY-DETECTIVES EXTRADINAIRE BY MRS. BUNNY.  It is absolutely HYSTERICAL. I LOVE Polly Horvath--I have ever since I read EVERYTHING ON A WAFFLE years ago.  I picked this one up on a whim because I was in a reading rut.  I found myself laughing outloud early in the book and quickly fell in love with both Mr. and Mrs. Bunny. I decided I was hooked when I read this:

"Yes, you do that," said Mrs. Bunny, who wanted to get back to her fitness routine. She didn't like Mr. Bunny around for this.  He tended to make remarks.

HAH!

There are many surprising lines like this and I laughed aloud throughout the book. I have no idea if kids will catch the humor but I am pretty sure they will.

Even without the humor, this is a fun story and I highly recommend it. This book received several starred reviews so lots of people love it. A must-read, I think!

And, thank goodness for the CYBILS. I quickly ordered a few of the winners that were announced last week. It is always fun to discover new-to-me books and I thank the CYBILS for recognizing some great books I may have missed.  I read the nonfiction picture book winner,  I FEEL BETTER WITH A FROG IN MY THROAT: HISTORY'S STRANGEST CURES by Carlyn Beccia. This is a fun book that I am sure kids will love.  The book tells of various cures used throughout history and examines those that do/do not really work. I read it cover to cover and learned lots.

I also read HAVE FUN, ANNA HIBISCUS! How have I missed this character?  WOW! I love this character--I love her like I love Clementine and Roscoe Riley. She makes me smile. I ordered every Anna Hibiscus story after I read this one!

Since I am trying to start this running routine, I am also reading a few books to keep me thinking about that.  HEALTH AT EVERY SIZE is a good read. Lots of interesting information about lifestyle changes. I like that one but I am LOVING WHAT I TALK ABOUT WHEN I TALK ABOUT RUNNING by Hakuri Murakami.  A great reflective, memoir-type book about running, writing and life. I am anxious to read more of this one this coming week.

Visit TEACH MENTOR TEXTS for the whole round up of IT'S MONDAY-WHAT ARE YOU READING?

Dublin Literacy Conference 2012 Slides

This weekend, I gave a session on Comprehension in a Digital Reading Workshop. Below are the slides from the session.Dublin Literacy Conference 2012

View more presentations from Franki22.

The handout included these reflective questions for teachers about our workshops. They are questions I am using to think about digital texts across workshop routines.

What role do digital texts have in your reading workshop?

Read Aloud

Do I choose to read aloud only texts from traditional books or do I share digital texts, audio books, blogs, etc. during read aloud?

Do we use web resources such as author websites and book trailers to help us dig deeper into the book we are reading?

Do I read aloud from websites and blogs?

Independent Reading/Reading Conferences

Do we use online resources for book previewing and book selection?

Do I limit students' independent reading to traditional books or do they have a variety of options for their reading time?  Do I place equal value on reading on e-readers, reading websites, etc. as I do on reading novels?

Do I help my students use online tools to support their lives as readers? Do I value annotation tools, bookmarking tools, RSS feeds, etc. as part of my readers lives? Do I model these tools in minilessons?

Do I introduce digital pieces and discuss digital reading when conferring with students.

Have I updated my reading interview to include questions about digital reading?

Reading and Writing Minilessons

Do I use digital texts or pieces when teaching minilessons?

Do I rely completely on traditional text or do I use film clips, blog entries, podcasts, etc. when planning minilessons?

Do I share process in my minilessons? Do I tend to share process only as it relates to creating text-based pieces?

Do I share my own writing process?  Composing in several types of media?

Shared Reading

Have I reflected on the resources I rely on for Shared Reading?

Do I include web reading and viewing when thinking about Shared Reading experiences?

How can I include a variety of texts for students to process through together?

Content Reading

Have I found sources for content reading that go beyond textbooks and traditional text?

Do I rely on newspapers for talk around current events or do I tend to focus more on sites like DOGONews and other sites that combine text and video?

How am I supporting the importance of visual information in the content areas?

What We Did At #Dublit12

by Hugh MacLeod at Gapingvoid.com

Poetry Friday: Testing

Revolution for the Tested

by Kate Messner

Write.

But don’t write what they tell you to.
Don’t write formulaic paragraphs
Counting sentences as you go
Three-four-five-Done.
Put your pencil down.

Don’t write to fill in lines.
For a weary scorer earning minimum wage
Handing out points for main ideas
Supported by examples
From the carefully selected text.

Write for yourself.
Write because until you do,
You will never understand
What it is you mean to say
Or who you want to be.
Write because it makes you whole.

And write for the world.
Because your voice is important.
Write because people are hurting
Because animals are dying
Because there is injustice
That will never change if you don’t.
Write because it matters.

And know this.
They’ll tell you it won’t make a difference,
Not to trouble over grownup things,
Just fill in the lines
And leave it at that.
Tell them you know the truth.
That writing is powerful.
Just one voice on the page
Speaks loudly.
And not only can a chorus of those united change the world.
It is the only thing that ever has.

Read.

But don’t read what they tell you to.
Don’t read excerpts, half-poems,
Carefully selected for lexile content,
Or articles written for the sole purpose
Of testing your comprehension.

Don’t read for trinkets,
For pencils or fast food coupons.
Don’t even read for M&M’s.
And don’t read for points.

Read for yourself.
Read because it will show you who you are,
Who you want to be some day,
And who you need to understand.
Read because it will open doors
To college and opportunity, yes,
And better places still…
Doors to barns where pigs and spiders speak,
To lands where anything is possible.
To Hogwarts and Teribithia,
To Narnia and to Hope.

Read for the world.
Read to solve its problems.
Read to separate reality from ranting,
Possibility from false promise.
And leaders from snake oil peddlers.
Read so you can tell the difference.
Because an educated person is so much harder
To enslave.

And know this.
They’ll say they want what’s best for you,
That data doesn’t lie.
Tell them you know the truth.
Ideas can’t be trapped in tiny bubbles.
It’s not about points
On a chart or a test or points anywhere.
And it never will be.

Copyright 2010 ~ Kate Messner
(Poem used with permission of the author. Kate's website is KateMessner.com, and the poem can be found on her blog.)



Nuff said, right? Do what you need to do or are required to do, but don't ever forget what reading and writing workshops are really about.



Jone has the roundup this week at Check it Out. I won't be able to tour the roundup until maybe Sunday, or probably next week, seeing as this is Dublin Literacy Conference weekend. I'll be hanging out with Pete the Cat, Bob Shea, Sharon Draper, James Preller, Donalyn Miller, Ruth Ayres, Bill Kist, Bill Bass and lots of Tweet Peeps, Blog Friends, and Kindred Teaching Spirits.

Noticing

My favorite classroom phrase these days is, "What do you notice?"

For awhile, I was zooming right ahead to, "What are you wondering?" But I realized that before you can wonder, you usually have to notice.

This is a graph that Environmental Club students studied after a dusting of snow:

from SnowCrystals.com

What do you notice?
Do you have to understand before you notice, or can your noticing lead to understanding?



More and more, our content learning begins with one or more images that are rich for noticing. These images and noticings build background knowledge and vocabulary for the entire spectrum of my diverse class of learners.

Ohio’s Native People in the 1600-1700s

from One State, Many Nations

What do you notice? 

As you notice, can you compare and contrast?

White Settlement Patterns in the Ohio River Valley During the 18th Century

from One State, Many Nations

What do you notice?

As you notice, can you infer any causes or effects? 

Why are so many of the settlements named Fort Somethingorother? What is a fort? Why did the settlers need forts to protect themselves? 

As I'm reading aloud, I ask students to notice evidence of the author's craft, times when the author defines an unusual word later on in the text, or actions that can tell us about a character's personality.

All of this noticing leads naturally to questioning, wondering, predicting, and connecting.

It's amazing that one of the smallest questions can yield the biggest rewards in terms of student engagement and student thinking.

That's what I've noticed, at any rate. What are you noticing?