SNEAK PEEK: LOOK WHO'S LEARNING TO READ

I am a HUGE fan of Shelley Harwayne. She is the person whose work keeps me grounded in what is right for children. I have been a fan since before she became principal of The Manhattan New School in NYC and before she wrote LASTING IMPRESSIONS, GOING PUBLIC, and others. Shelley ALWAYS makes decisions that are best for children.

Anyone who has heard Shelley Harwayne speak to teachers in the last several years, knows that she is now a grandmother. Being a grandmother has Shelley thinking and learning about early childhood education. She has learned much from her grandchildren that she shares with us in her upcoming professional book LOOK WHO'S LEARNING TO READ.

In this upcoming book, Shelley does what she does best and reminds us all of the things that are best for children. This time, she takes a hard look at what parents, grandparents, day care workers--anyone who spends time with young children--can do to support literacy development in ways that make sense for the child.

LOOK WHO'S LEARNING TO READ is a huge resource for parents and teachers. Shelley talks about many things that are important in literacy development and gives authentic ideas for working with children age 0-6. She includes thoughts about reading aloud, rhyming, the alphabet, singing, writing, sight vocabulary, and more.

The book is also filled with great booklists--favorite read alouds specific to age groups. Shelley includes titles of books that will be loved by young children and recommends both fiction and nonfiction.

It is so nice to see someone who knows literacy and learning so well give us a book that focuses on this important time in a child's development. With these high-stakes times, many parents are buying crazy programs for even our youngest children. Shelley reminds us that the most authentic literacy experiences are the ones that are important.

This is a great new resource for teachers of Pre-K through 1. But is is also a great addition to any baby gift. It will be a book that parents will go back to over the first 6 years of their child's life--finding new books and new ways to help their young children fall in love with reading.

Keep your eye out for this one from Scholastic in July!

SNEAK PEEK: 2 New Books by Louise Borden

Primary teachers are going to want to keep their eyes out for these two new books by Louise Borden. It isn't often that we have two new books about school released by Louise at the same time! This is quite exciting!

Off to First Grade is a new book focusing on the beginning of first grade. Louise has created a unique type of alphabet book focusing on different children in a first grade classroom on the first day of school. Each child tells a bit of getting ready for their first day of school (teacher, principal and others also give their take on this great day!) Children will be able to see themselves in the stories shared. The book begins with Anna:

At last,
it is August 26th
on our calendar.
It's a big day!
The day
I start first grade
at Elm School.
Mrs. Miller will be my teacher.

The story is great from A-Z! The illustrations by Joan Rankin are a perfect celebration of such an exciting day! I can imagine this being read over and over and over in first grade classrooms everywhere.

The Lost-and-Found Tooth is one in the series of school stories written by Louise Borden and illustrated by Adam Gustavson (Good Luck, Mrs. K,, The Day Eddie Met the Author, The John Hancock Club, and others). Each book introduces us to great new characters and Louise always manages to write a book about school that matches the experiences that our children have. This new one, focuses on second grade and the losing of teeth! Such a great story for many ages, but it is always fun to have one that talks specifically about those things specific to the grade you are teaching.

Both are due out July 1--just in time for school!

SNEAK PEEK: THE SANDMAN by Ralph Fletcher

I have been long awaiting this new picture book, The Sandman by Ralph Fletcher. He is one of those authors that writes a variety of things--poetry, picture books, novels, writing books for kids) so I always look forward to a new one from him.

This is a totally different kind of book for this author. It is a kind of fantasy that explains the story of the Sandman--the one that sprinkles sand over children to help them sleep. A dragon's scale is the key to this magical sand! A great story that is a very satisfying read.

You can tell by the cover that the illustrations are quite fun--the cover has a bit of a sparkle and the inside illustrations are just as perfect for the story.

As always, Ralph Fletcher uses great language in his work. Lines like "Looking down, he saw a gleam of light at his feet. A dragon's scale!" and "A great wave of sleepiness came over him." are found throughout the book.

I like this book for lots of reasons. First of all, it is a great story to enjoy as the great story it is. For fans of Ralph Fletcher's work, this is a great addition to the stack that kids already love. From a writing perspective, this is a great model for children-- a believable fantasy that could easily serves as a mentor text for some students. As always, Ralph Fletcher has written a book that is amazing on many levels. A great new fantasy that you'll want to check out!

This book is scheduled to be released on May 27!

SNEAK PEEK: Keep your eye on this new author!

Amjed Qamar is the author of Beneath My Mother's Feet, a coming-of-age story set in modern-day Pakistan (reviewed here yesterday), which will be in stores on June 17. The book has received, and is very deserving of lots of early attention: a Kirkus starred review (May 15, 2008 issue), Junior Library Guild Selection (April-September 2008 catalog), a Book Sense nomination, and a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick (Fall 2008). How lucky for us that this rising star of an author lives in our very own community!

Tell us a little about your childhood in India and Columbus, Ohio.

I spent most of my childhood growing up in Columbus, OH. My parents immigrated from India when I was a baby. I attended school in Columbus during my elementary and middle school years and then went on to attend high school in Westerville when we moved there. I loved school and reading. I must admit I was a quiet child growing up and was more of listener than a talker.

How is your children's experience growing up in the U.S. different than yours was?

Interesting question. My children have a lot more opportunities than I did growing up. Mostly because I was limited in what I was allowed to do because my parents were quite protective. I never played sports or did after school activities; my children today are active in team sports, enjoy taking other classes, and doing things with their friends that I couldn't do at their age. Also, they have traveled around the world. Since the time my parents immigrated when I was a baby, I'd not been on a plane until after I got married. My kids have been on boats, planes, trains, rickshaws, horses, and camels!

What advice do you have for teachers with Muslim children in their classes?

This question was tough to answer because growing up as the only Muslim child in my most of classes, I can honestly say that I never had any issues in school or with the teachers. MY teachers were amazing, wonderful people. You have to understand I loved school and idolized my teachers. They were all supportive and I can't recall any instance where a teacher did not support me. On the flip side though, teachers are probably more aware that most issues that do arise, or any insecurities, or uncomfortable situations that come up generally involve your peers, friends, and fellow classmates. But I find that given today's climate, kids and people in general, especially in our community, are amazingly sensitive, aware, and open-minded.

Who were your female role models when you were growing up?

My mother was my biggest role model and influence. She struggled to raise five kids through a lot of adversity, economic issues, family issues, language barriers, her own education limitations, but she never gave up. She has been through a lot and she made me realize the importance of education.

Also my teachers, and yes, Oprah too. I watched that show nearly everyday after school since it came on. She was like the big sister I never had.

How typical in present-day India and Pakistan is your character Nazia's struggle to choose her future, rather than following the traditional path of an arranged marriage?

Most families in Nazia's situation just don't have the funds to send their daughters on to further their education. Generally, there are several kids in a family and the sons do get priority in this regard because they are the ones expected to gain employment and care for their families. As people pass on what they've learned from one generation to the next, and people are open to it, then the realization that educating women is vital does spread. Pakistanis are working hard to inform and educate people in this regard, opening more schools, creating more awareness, and generally providing more opportunities for women. Women who are educated in Pakistan hold high positions, are very successful in the fields of business, law, medicine, education, arts and media. When this success is filtered down to the less fortunate, then it has more wide-spread benefits. As a regular traveler to Pakistan, I have seen this first hand and am so proud!

Tell us the story of how this book came to be written and published.

This book took about a year to write, a year to edit, and it spent another year in line to be published. The story had been in my head for a very long time--I lived in Pakistan for five years, and I always seemed to remember the children the most. I saw such fortitude in their eyes, and such joy over the smallest things, and I wanted to honor that. I wanted to let the world know that in Pakistan I saw families who worked hard, women who were independent, and girls who were head strong. There females were capable, self-assured, and bold individuals living with dignity in a Muslim country, defying most western stereotypes and myths. If I conveyed even a small portion of this strength in Nazia, then I feel satisfied.

Can you give us a "sneak peek" of your next writing project?

The next book is set in the United States and deals with the balancing act some teens face when trying to align home life and high school.

SNEAK PEEK: Beneath My Mother's Feet

Beneath My Mother's Feet
by Amjed Qamar
Simon and Schuster
in bookstores June 17, 2008
Ages 12+
ARC provided by the author



We don't typically review YA books at A Year of Reading. We also don't typically meet authors of new and already highly-acclaimed books in the hallways of our school! When Amjed introduced herself to me and told me a little bit about her book, I knew I had to read it. I curled up on the couch with it on Mothers' Day and I was hooked immediately. It turned out a little ironic to read it on Mothers' Day (see review for details), but I am convinced that this book deserves every bit of praise it has already garnered. This is a book you must read, and Amjed Qamar is a new author to keep your eyes on.

Nazia is a modern-day Pakistani girl living in Gizri colony, a working class neighborhood in southern Karachi. She is 14 years old, loves school, and is promised in marriage to her cousin back in the village where her father's family lives. Nazia's mother is focused on preparing Nazia's dowry for her wedding, and Nazia's friends tease her for being "a good beti, a dutiful daughter." These traditional mother-daughter roles are soon put to the test when Nazia's father is injured in a construction accident and Nazia's mother takes her out of school to help earn money by cleaning houses.

Things go from bad to worse when Nazia's dowry is stolen, her father loses the rent money, and the family winds up homeless. This shift of fate gives Nazia (and the reader) the opportunity to meet strong and capable women whose lives expand her understanding of the power that women have, even in a culture that seems to be all about the fathers, uncles, and brothers.

Through it all, Nazia's mother works to keep her children with her and to keep Nazia's wedding on track. Nazia, in helping another servant child attempt to escape his fate, discovers the inner strength she needs to choose her own path as well.

This is a well-paced story filled with the sights, sounds, smells, and flavors of a variety of levels of status in modern Pakistani culture. However, Nazia's struggle to choose her own path in life is, at its core, the common story of every girl on the brink of her future, every girl who must break her mother's heart by choosing a way of her own and not the one her mother has hoped and planned for all her life.

Beneath My Mother's Feet has received much early acclaim:

• Kirkus starred review (May 15, 2008 issue)
• Junior Library Guild Selection (April-September 2008 catalog)
• Book Sense nomination
• Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers Pick (Fall 2008)

This is Amjed Qamar's first book. She lives in Dublin, Ohio with her husband and two children. Tomorrow, we will feature an interview with Amjed.

Sneak Peek Week

We had so much fun with Graphic Novel Week last week that we are going to do another theme this week:

Sneak Peek Week

The name says it all. New books and new authors every day this week.

Meme of Five

We've been tagged three times this week for The Meme of Five, but we couldn't fit it into Graphic Novel Week, so here are our fives. In lieu of tagging, we have included a bit of a roundup of the ones we've seen around the Kidlitosphere. If we missed one (especially if we missed yours) let us know!

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

FRANKI'S FIVE:

What were you doing five years ago?
Of course, Mary Lee has a diary that tells her exactly what she was doing on this day 5 years ago. I will just have to try my best! 5 years ago, I was just finishing up my first year teaching at Eli Pinney--we opened the school that year and it was a great year of teaching and learning. We were also in the midst of the adoption process and were waiting to bring our youngest daughter home.

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
buy a few birthday and retirement gifts
get a few sets of handouts ready for summer work
pull a presentation together for this week
make cookie dough
laundry

What are five snacks you enjoy?
(I am going for the unhealthy ones--treatlike snacks)
My new favorite: DOVE Ice Cream Bars
chips and salsa
those really cheap vanilla cream cookies that you can by anywhere
DOTS
Doritos

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
(not in order of action folks!)
1. Buy books for kids and adults who don't have them and for children's hospitals
2. Put money into schools for girls in places where it is hard for girls to get an education
3. Do something to get rid of testing and punishment of schools for test scores..
4. Buy a house somewhere warm and calm
5. Hire a few people to live here (or close) to do the things I don't like to do (laundry, weeding the yard, etc.)

What are five of your bad habits?
1. I ask a lot of questions.
2. I overbook myself.
3. I don't exercise enough.
4. I eat junk food.
5. I make piles everywhere.

What are five places where you have lived?
(be careful--this may be just too exciting..)
1. Ohio--Youngstown
2. Ohio--Howland
3. Ohio--Bowling Green
4. Ohio--Hilliard
5. Ohio--Dublin


What are five jobs you’ve had?
1. Bob Evans hostess
2. Bob Evans waitress
3. Desk and Night Clerk (college)
4. worker at Hot Sam's Pretzels
5. TEACHER:-)


MARY LEE'S FIVE:

What were you doing five years ago?
Five years ago on May 16, my students were baking cookies (5 groups, 5 different recipes) for the "World Premiere" of their multi-media project "Social Issues in the World." (I know this because I have a 10-year diary that I've been keeping for 7 years now.)

What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
1. Walk in the Race For the Cure. (It did NOT rain!)
2. Get gas. (Found some high test for under $4/gallon!)
3. Pick up watches. (7 got new batteries and one got a new band. I now have 17 working watches! And now you know one of my obsessions. Other women go for shoes. I go for watches.)
4. Pick up my new glasses.
5. Grading, grading, and more grading, then maybe start report cards?

What are five snacks you enjoy?
1. Potato chips. Especially with onion dip.
2. Cheetos.
3. Hubs peanuts.
4. Jeni's ice cream.
5. Pam's cheddar popcorn. (I also like grapes, apples, veggies, Bill's guacamole with corn chips, Cheezits, dark chocolate, peanut M&Ms, Chex Mix...well, you get the idea...)

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

1. Fully fund Ohio's Casting for Recovery program.
2. Buy enough lobbyists to get NCLB fixed or nixed.
3. Save the Arctic from oil drilling.
4. Travel.
5. Buy a house with enough shelves for all our books and enough wall space for all of our art.

What are five of your bad habits?
1. Procrastination.
2. Sloppy handwriting.
3. Taking laundry out of the dryer, laying it in a neat pile on top of the dryer, and then not folding and putting it away for a week.
4. Taking on yet another project.
5. Speaking before thinking.

What are five places where you have lived?
1. Burlington, CO
2. Denver, CO
3. Aachen, Germany (only six weeks, but that counts, doesn't it?)
4. Dallas, TX
5. Columbus, OH

What are five jobs you’ve had?
1. Babysitter
2. Lifeguard
3. Cashier at Ben Franklin's
4. Nanny
5. Teacher

OTHER FIVERS:

Wild Rose Reader
The Miss Rumphius Effect
Welcome to My Tweendom
Read. Imagine. Talk.
A Wrung Sponge
Big A little a
Check it Out
Greetings From Nowhere
HipWriterMama
jama rattigan's alphabet soup
Jen Robinson's Book Page
MotherReader
My Breakfast Platter
Read Write Believe
Read, Read, Read
Shelf Elf
The Reading Zone
Two Writing Teachers
Wizards Wireless

Graphic Novel Week--Learning to Read These Things

So, I have participated in Graphic Novel week because I think that these books are huge and important right now. I find them fascinating and I am pretty sure that we could do some amazing work with kids using these. I also think that this may be just the kind of book that those kids who have never bought into reading, may love.

But, I am not a reader of Graphic Novels. I have read a few--I am a huge Babymouse fan. I have read some great nonfiction GNs (To Dance: A Ballerina's Graphic Novel). But, really, I haven't stretched to many others. As I have been reading Mary Lee's reviews this week, I decided I needed to give them a better try. So I purchased HIKARU NO GO #1 after I read Mary Lee's review of it earlier this week. She said that three of her boys-who were very different readers-- were totally hooked. So I decided I had to see what made the series so addicting.

Well, I picked #1 in the series up last night and found that ML was right--it is Manga. It opens on the left side, you read from left to right, etc. Totally threw me. Wanted to take it back to the store immediately. I was talking to my friend and colleague Josie this morning--showing her the book, telling her how much I did not want to read it. We were trying to figure out why Mary Lee seemed to be able to read these, but we could not. (We know she is very smart but we thought that we should be able to figure out how to read books that her 4th graders were reading.) So, we emailed her to ask what her trick was. Here is what she said:

Slow down.
Read differently.
Spend time on the pictures.
Watch it like TV or a movie with subtitles.

Good advice, I must say. So, I tried again, listening to her advice. I think the "SLOW DOWN" and "SPEND TIME ON THE PICTURES" were the two things I was not doing. Slowing down is really not in my personality and I soon realized that I had just been speeding through the words and ignoring most of the pictures.

You will all be happy to know that I am now on page 41 of this book and am enjoying it a lot! There is really nothing about it that would have drawn me to it--but I put my mind to it and followed Mary Lee's advice. I think it was a turning point for me. I am pretty sure I am going to get through the book and I think I am going to like it. Then I think I will get through more Graphic Novels that are more complicated than the ones I have been reading.

I am writing this because I know there are a lot of us out there who are not yet comfortable with this medium. I am one of them. I am writing to share Mary Lee's brilliant advice--that seems very obvious, I know. And to tell you that it is worth doing. As adults, we get into reading the kinds of books we enjoy and are comfortable reading. As reading teachers, I always think that it is worth it to put ourselves in a position where our reading is hard--to experience what the kids often experience with new genres, etc. I think it is worth doing because it is a big thing and our students will be reading them. How can we recommend books and talk to our students about books that they love if we don't know them and have no experience with them? And people are talking about them and I hate to be left out of conversations about books!

But, what I am learning is that these books are pretty cool. A pretty interesting and different read. The most important thing I am learning is why people are so drawn to them. I am starting to understand and that is worth a post, I think!

I plan to add a few more titles with Mary Lee's guidance to my 48 Hour Read Stack!

Graphic Novel Week: New From Scholastic

Magic Pickle: The Original Graphic Novel!
by Scott Morse
Graphix, May 2008
already out in this series:
Magic Pickle and the Planet of the Grapes
Magic Pickle vs. the Egg Poacher

Dr. Jekyll Formaldehyde creates a superhero pickle who fights against the Brotherhood of the Evil Produce. Food puns abound and footies get fried off of pajamas. Kids who play with food and kids who believe that a magic pickle is operating out of a secret lab under their bedroom floor will enjoy this book.

(Detailed review here; Scott Morse's blog here.)

Knights of the Lunch Table: The Dodgeball Chronicles
by Frank Cammuso
Graphix, July 2008

Arthur King is the new kid at Camelot Middle School. His science teacher is Mr. Merlyn and he manages to open the "busted locker...that nobody can open. The one with the rhyming graffiti on it...this kid, Terry White, had that locker." A working knowledge of the Arthurian legend definitely adds to the fun of this book, but anyone who's been the new kid at school, the underdog up against bullies, or the victim of an evil school principal will celebrate the triumph of Artie and his new friends against the Horde and Mrs. Dagger. And you've gotta love a magical locker with a cute grin that produces sandwiches with the crusts cut off.

(Frank Cammuso's website here.)

Graphic Novel Week: Hikaru No Go

Hikaru No Go, Volumes 1-11
by Yumi Hotta
published by Viz Media

Three boys in my classroom are completely absorbed by this series. All three are very different readers. One is a very capable reader who, up until Hikaru had been plowing through the Warriors series at an amazing rate. He is an avid member of our school's chess club. Another, a good reader, has had a hard time finding and staying committed to books this year. He is a beginning member of our school's chess club. The third is one of my reading success stories for the year -- now a pretty good reader, but one who still needs the picture supports that a graphic novel offers. Hikaru No Go has been the right book(s) at the right time for all three boys in three very different ways.

Hikaru No Go ("Hikaru's Go") is a native manga series -- originally published in Japan, it reads right to left. In the story, Hikaru finds a bloodstained Go board in his grandfather's shed. (Go is an ancient Asian strategy game.) The spirit of an ancient Go master, Sai, who hasn't played Go in a really, really long time (not since he possessed a Go player back in the Edo period in Japan) inhabits Hikaru's mind. Hikaru doesn't know anything about Go and, in the beginning of the series, has no desire to learn. It's the perfect set-up for the reader to learn about Go right along with Hikaru. At first, Hikaru lets Sai play through him, but eventually, Hikaru becomes a good player on his own.

Besides reading the books, this trio has started playing Go every chance they get. They began on a 9x9 board (a grid) that one of them drew on paper, using "stones" that he cut from two colors of scratch paper. They have progressed to using the grid of a checkers board and the half-marbles that previously were used for Mancala. Rumor has it that one of them is getting a real Go board soon, and they are looking into playing Go online.

In writing workshop and in enrichment time, two of them have been working on a detailed report about Go, and the third has created a very basic beginner's guide to getting started in the game. As they teach their friends to play Go, they are bringing new readers to the series.

These books were in my classroom all year last year and they never caught on. They may never be quite the hit they've been this year for these readers. But they've more than paid their rent for their shelf space in my classroom!

Graphic Novel Week: Interview with Terry Thompson

Yesterday, we reviewed Terry Thompson's new professional book for teachers, ADVENTURES IN GRAPHICA: USING COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS TO TEACH COMPREHENSION, 2-6. Today, we have an interview with the author about the book and his work in this area. Enjoy!


FRANKI: Are you a comic book/graphic novel reader yourself?

TERRY: I get asked this a lot, and the answer surprises many people. The common assumption is that I have stacks and stacks of comic books and that's all I ever read. Though I'm a huge fan of DC Comics' Nightwing and Green Lantern series, graphica is only a small slice of what I read. This mirrors the theme in my book about how comic books and graphic novels should supplement (not replace) the variety of literature our readers experience. Graphica shuffles into the "to be read stack" on my night stand about every 4th or 5th book.
When I read graphica, I have to admit that prefer graphic novels over comic books. Since I'm not one who can wait an entire month to find out what happened after the cliffhanger ending of an issue, when I do read comic books, I prefer to have all the issues of one story arch at the same time. Since lots of plot lines in comic books span several consecutive issues, I have to wait a few months before my stack of issues includes the entire story.

FRANKI: Tell us about the word GRAPHICA.

TERRY: Funny you should ask. A friend of mine jokes that I made it up! When he first saw the book, he wrote me an email and said, "Is graphica even a real wordica???" In actuality, graphica is a rarely used industry term that does, in fact, refer to the comic/graphic novel format. I chose to use it for the book, because I felt the medium really needed a more definitive word that encompassed all that it can offer. Because the term 'comics' can refer to comedians or comic strips in the funnies, and 'graphic novels' limits us to only one type of format within the medium, I brought the word graphica out of hiding to give us a common term for the medium as well as a mutual frame of reference for the literature it refers to.

FRANKI: When did you start seeing the value in using graphica?

TERRY: In chapter one, I tell the story of my experience with Bradley and how a single comic book that I picked up at the local comic book store literally transformed him as a reader right before my eyes. That was the moment that I realized I needed to learn more about the medium and what it could offer my students instructionally. Between that research and trying graphica with other struggling readers, it didn't take long for me to realize that I'd landed on a potential gold mine of literature that - before then - had never dawned on me as a way to support my teaching.

FRANKI: Do you find that most kids understand graphica more easily than many adults? Or are there students who have difficulty with it?

TERRY: Yes. And yes. I think that one of the aspects that draw kids to graphica is that it inhabits a childlike world of art work, movement, and themes. Since many of our kids are used to being stimulated visually (videos, games, computers), the format seems to speak to them in a way that traditional literature doesn't - and they take to it with relative ease. On the other hand, while most of the adults I've worked with embrace graphica as valuable, they admit that they don't always 'get it' - it's almost like how the kids are the only ones who can hear the reindeer bells in the Polar Express. Almost. With that being said, though, we have to remember that graphica is just like any other literature we offer our students. Most of our students will take to graphica, but some won't - and we need to allow for that. It's just like working with other genres and mediums. Kids are different and they take to various types of reading differently. Whether they're finding the artistic representations of meaning difficult to navigate or they simply have a preference for more traditional types of literature, there are kids out there who will have difficulty with graphica. And that's ok. We don't live in Stepford.

FRANKI: What are the biggest gains you've seen kids make when graphica is part of their reading?

TERRY: When kids read a lot of comics and graphic novels, I've noticed their ability to describe their mental images in clearer detail and in a way that better supports their ability to make meaning. Because the artwork is such a clear example of what good readers do when they visualize, the act of visualization on the part of readers of graphica appears more precise and fluid. I'm also noticing that these readers seem to be making gains in stamina. Since the illustrations support the text and the students are interested and motivated, they'll read for longer amounts of time than they might read traditional text. The effects seem to be playing out in that they have an increased endurance for reading - even when they're reading traditional texts. However, the biggest gains of all have been in students' increased levels of motivation to read. I've seen tons of passive readers become active about the task of reading - simply because they had a sincere desire to read the medium.

FRANKI: You talk a lot about transferring skills learned in comic books and graphic novels to other types of text. Can you explain this?

TERRY: Certainly. I call this 'translating the transfer' and, to me, this is the most valuable payoff that using graphica instructionally can offer. Teaching with comics and graphic novels offers visual representations of many of the invisible comprehension strategies we use when we read. For example I mentioned earlier that the artwork in the panels of a comic book can be a terrific example of what it means to visualize while reading. For many of our students, this is an 'in the head' process - but seeing the skill visually on the page, accompanied by the text, can ground this important but invisible comprehension strategy. As we use graphica to make the invisible act of comprehension visible, we can 'translate' for students how they can 'transfer' this learning back to traditional texts. Continuing with our example of visualization, I might remind a reader of graphica who's struggling to make mental images in a chapter book to try to imagine the reading like a comic book panel in her head. What colors would you see? What action would be happening? What characters are present? Who would be talking? What are they saying? How are they saying it? What types of onomatopoeia might be occurring? How will your mental image change as you continue through the text and create the next panel. In this way, graphica can serve as a scaffold to make comprehension strategies more tangible to our students who might otherwise struggle with them. All we have to do is show them how.

FRANKI: How do you suggest that teachers who are not readers of this type of text become comfortable with it?

TERRY: I think it is so important that teachers of reading be readers themselves. If we expect our students to read graphica (or any other genre or medium), then it is important that we have had experiences with it as well. In the same way that I'd propose that someone new to teaching poetry explore some more grown up offerings of the genre, I suggest that teachers new to graphica take some time to read selections that are more geared to seasoned readers. In this way, their processes of making meaning will be more authentic. Jumping in feet first and having a personal experience with graphica is an excellent way to get more comfortable with it. In no time at all, navigating the medium will be second nature to them - and this will only fortify their instructional use of it. To adults who are new to graphica, I often suggest the classics like Will Eisner's groundbreaking graphic novel A Contract With God or Art Spiegleman's two part graphic novel series Maus. Sid Jacobson's graphic adaptation of the 9/11 report is amazing, and several adults I've suggested it to have contacted me afterwards to tell me what a life changing experience it was for them (and it truly is amazing). Additionally, graphica is written in so many different genres that new readers might also do well to find a selection that matches their favorite like romance, memoir, science fiction, and - yes - even super heroes!

FRANKI: Have you learned anything new about the topic since you completed your book?

TERRY: In the book, I talk a lot about how motivated kids are to read graphica and how just making them available will create readers out of many of our resisters. As the manuscript went into the final copyediting phases, I settled on a new and important understanding that I wish I could have included in the book. I've noticed that, while that motivation to read comics is powerful, it can wane if students aren't introduced to graphica that meets them where they are. First impressions are everything. If readers are given a selection of graphica during their first encounter with the medium that is too challenging or doesn't fall within their zone of interest, some readers will decide immediately that comics are yet another type of text that they can't enjoy. This seems doubly difficult when the student was really looking forward to reading the medium. In these cases, the reader's excitement isn't enough. If we want to ride that wave of enthusiasm effectively, we have match students with graphica that is manageable for them and encourage them to monitor whether the selection is just right for them or it needs to be abandoned for a better choice. The popularity and nuance of being a graphic novel isn't enough. If we don't meet the reader's enthusiasm to take on graphica with appropriately matched selections, we may see that wave crash all too soon and its potential to make a difference lost to us unnecessarily.

Graphic Novel Week: ADVENTURES IN GRAPHICA by Terry Thompson

I just received my copy of ADVENTURES IN GRAPHICA: USING COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS TO TEACH COMPREHENSION, 2-6 by Terry Thompson. I mentioned it a while back--looking forward to its release.

This is a much needed book--one I have been waiting for for a while.

One of my favorite lines in this new book is, "So, it all started with a struggling reader and a comic book, and I've been hooked ever since." Terry Thompson realized long before many of us, how to use graphic novels and comic books to meet the needs of all of his readers, especially those who struggle.

There is so much to love about this book. First of all, it is VERY comprehensive. Thompson includes everything from definitions of the types of graphica to classroom examples. This is by far, the most comprehensive book I have seen for teachers of reading on the topic. He has found ways to use graphica to teach so many important reading skills. He fits graphica into all components of the literacy block--guided reading, lit circles, shared reading and read aloud. He talks about the actual teaching and also gives ideas for making comics accessible to students and for helping keep them from getting wrinkled, ruined, etc.

Much of this book will help teachers use graphica with all of their students. But he does have specific tips and thoughts for working with boys, girls, and English Language Learners.

One of the things that I find the most powerful is the way that Thompson talks about comprehension with comics and graphic novels. He shares great ideas and strategies for using these to help students with higher level comprehension skills. Then he talks pretty specifically about how to use what they learn in this medium to transfer to other formats of text. He understands the draw of comics and how to use those well, but then to expand the learning to other types of text.

Another thing that makes this book so amazing is the resources that he helps us with. As an elementary teacher, and a non-graphica reader, it is hard for me to determine which books are appropriate for my elementary students. Thompson gives us many resources--websites, titles and publishers--that are appropriate for readers in grades 2-6. He also provides a selection guide to help teachers think through specific characteristics of this medium when selecting text for students.

Like I said earlier, this book is very comprehensive and I am thrilled to have it. This is an area that I have wanted to think more about lately. Before ADVENTURES IN GRAPHICA, I'd find a bit of info here and a bit more there, but I had trouble pulling it all together and figuring out how to best us these in my teaching. This book pulls it all together for me plus gives me so much more.

On a side note, rumor has it that this book is SOOO popular that it was seen on at least one runner at this year's Boston Marathon. See below:

Graphic Novel Week: Jeff Smith and Scott McCloud

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in May, Mershon Auditorium was predictably only about 2/3 full. The mix in the audience was a little heavy on the 20-50 year-old "cartoonhead" men (Smith's term, not mine), with some kids aged 8-12 (mostly boys, parents in tow) mixed in, and a sprinkling of other
assorted artsy/librariany/teachery/
dragged-along-for-company types.

Scott McCloud tried valiantly to stick to his list of questions, but luckily the conversation was mostly free-flowing.

On Jeff's early years: Jeff Smith moved to the Columbus area in kindergarten, and lived in Worthington growing up. He never really wanted to make comics as a youngster, because that seemed as exotic as wanting to be a movie star.

When did he realize there was an artist behind the comics he read: He knew it all along, at least theoretically, because Walt Disney himself introduced The Wonderful World of Disney every Sunday and we all knew that Disney himself was responsible for all the drawing of every Disney character in comic books and film...

How he got started drawing comics as a kid: "I tried to make up characters," as he believes all kids do. (I did. Mine were an ant and a snail.)

Jeff "really did roll up comics and stick them in my back pocket."

His first hero was Pogo.

His first drawing of the Bone cousins was when he was about 6. He drew a character that looked like a phone receiver (some folks in the audience could remember those). The name Phone Bone came later, borrowed from Mad Magazine's Don Martin, whose generic character name was always "Mr. Phone Bone." Smith has met Don Martin, who was pleased with the hidden tribute to his work in Phone Bone's name.

Interesting tidbits for writing teachers: Because the early Bone comics went back to print so frequently, he had (and took) the opportunity to change things he didn't like. By the time all of the Bone comics were collected in the 1300 page black and white book, he had done a ton of revision!

The inspiration for his characters can be found in his life: Thorn's gestures and mannerisms are those of Vijaya, his life partner, and the Bone cousins are all manifestations of different facets of Smith's own personality.

The serialization of Bone in the early years meant that Smith got lots of feedback from readers as he went. He saw that interaction with his readers as vital to the development of the plot.

How have things changed for him since Scholastic came into the picture: "Look -- there are women and kids in this audience." Smith talked at length about the acceptance of comics in mainstream culture in the last five years.

Insider trivia: Check for similarities between Smith's dragon and Doonesbury's Zonker.

What does he read besides comics? The Odyssey, Moby Dick, Huck Finn, Arthurian legends, classical fairy tales...stories that start off seeming like kids' books but that turn dark and complex. All of that reading took place pre-Bone, however. He doesn't read fiction now because he wouldn't be able to enjoy it. Now that he writes extended fiction stories, he feels he would spend all his energy figuring out how the author had constructed the story.

Who was his intended audience for Bone? None. There were no intentions. He wrote Bone "For myself. For adults. For grownup 'cartoonheads.' " BUT...it's the book he would have wanted to be able to read when he was 9 -- a "big story in comics." He's thrilled that parents and kids around the globe have claimed Bone for a new generation. And the reason Scholastic got the color version deal is that they really "got it." They knew it needed to be a book on the shelf. (Oh, btw -- book 8 will be out in July!)

The pivot question: Desert island. One collected works: Walt Kelly, Charles Schultz, or Carl Barks? After a bit of hemming and hawing -- Walt Kelly.

***
Boneville website
Jeff Smith on Wikipedia
Scott McCloud here and here

Graphic Novel Week

Elsewhere in the Kidlitosphere it's all about Vampires this month, in honor of FirstSecond's Vampire Month.  

Here at A Year of Reading, we are going to veer off on our own tangent by celebrating Graphic Novel Week, with or without the vampires.  

Here's the line-up:

Saturday, May 10 -- Jeff Smith and Scott McCloud will give a talk at Mershon Auditorium as the opener to Smith's exhibit "Before Bone" at the OSU Cartoon Research Library.

Sunday, May 11 -- Mary Lee will report on Saturday's event.

Monday, May 12 -- Franki will review Terry Thompson's new book Adventures in Graphica: Using Comics and Graphic Novels to Teach Comprehension, 2-6.

Tuesday, May 13 -- Franki's interview with Terry Thompson.

Wednesday and Thursday, May 14-15 -- Mary Lee reviews several new graphic novels and ponders how graphic novels have impacted the reading of her students this year.

Friday, May 16 -- Will Graphic Novel Week and Poetry Friday converge?  Stay tuned to find out!

Poetry Friday -- Pick My Chin Up Off The Floor

Flabbergasted

I have witnesses.
Eight teachers from Tennessee
spent the day observing
in my classroom.

They heard her say it.

They heard the fourth grader say
"Hypothetically speaking..."
as we discussed
the characters
in
Greetings From Nowhere.

I'm still dumbfounded.

But I have witnesses.
It really happened.




The roundup is by writer2b at Findings.

The Fish Who Cried Wolf

The Fish Who Cried Wolf
by Julia Donaldson
illustrated by Axel Scheffler
Arthur A. Levine, 2008
review copy compliments of the publisher


Awhile back we read a bunch of "cry wolf" variations, so I had high hopes for this book.

This is the story of Tiddler, a plain little fish who tells very colorful tall tales. He's late for school almost every day, but he has a great excuse each time. One day, he's so distracted thinking of his new story that he fails to notice the fish net that scoops him up. The fishermen throw him back because he's just a "tiddler." Tiddler is lost in the ocean, but he follows the trail of his stories to get back home again. Not quite a "cry wolf" story, but thought I'd withhold judgment and see what the kids thought.

They couldn't get over how similar the book is to the movie "Finding Nemo." The characters, the plot line, everything. I don't know the movie, so I asked, "Coincidence-similar, or plagiarism-similar?" Similar enough to feel like plagiarism was the verdict of the 10 year-olds on the jury.

And then someone said, "And there isn't even a wolf in it!" *sigh* We had to have yet another discussion about idioms and figures of speech. After we cleared that up, they went on to express their dissatisfaction that the story bills itself as a "cry wolf" story with the title, but it doesn't really follow the formula. (Whew! It wasn't just me!) Then we started brainstorming better titles. The winners were: Tiddler's Tall Tales, The Tale of Tiddler, and (although it was suggested rather sarcastically I think it does reflect their irritation with the apparent extravagant borrowing from "Finding Nemo") Lying Nemo.

So here's a book with great potential that was a bit disappointing, but still sparked a lively conversation!

What To Do About Alice?

What To Do About Alice? How Alice Roosevelt broke the rules, charmed the world and drove her father Teddy crazy!
by Barbara Kerley
illustrated by Edward Fotheringham
Scholastic Press, 2008
review copy compliments of the publisher



Barbara Kerley's website
Classroom activities for What To Do About Alice

***
Check out reviews at:
Big A little a
Becky's Book Reviews
Wild Rose Reader
the excelsior file
7-Imp

***
The topic of my minilesson in reading workshop was "Pay Attention to the Way the Character in Your Book Changes." I led off with Crash, by Jerry Spinelli, and my already-familiar story of staying with that book only because I knew Jerry Spinelli HAD to make Crash, one of the most despicable characters (my opinion) in children's literature, change by the end of the book, and I wanted to be there to see it.

Then I showed them the way Pam Muñoz Ryan clues the reader in to her main character's changes in Paint the Wind by making each section of the book a faster and faster gait of a horse, beginning with walk and ending with gallop. I told them that both of the main children characters in Ryan's book are not very nice to begin with, but that the author shows you their family situations and you understand why they are like that. And they both do change.

Next, I shared The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, which I was in the midst of listening to at the time. I told them about the annoying character Constance Contraire, whose very name even means "always irritating," and how the characters in the book are in the same place as the reader in wondering why she's that way and when she's going to change. (She never does change, and for myself and all the other readers like me who didn't put together the numerous clues we were given, the author explains why at the end of the book. Clever author!)

I ended the minilesson by sharing the story of an amazing, strong-willed, unusual character who doesn't change: Alice Roosevelt, in What To Do About Alice, by Barbara Kerley. We wondered at this remarkable woman's life-long resistance of the status quo, and were amazed by how fully she lived her life from childhood through old age -- always on her own terms.

Then I sent them off to read and to pay attention to the ways their characters did and didn't change.

Later that day, during read aloud (Greetings from Nowhere by Barbara O'Connor), the topic of characters who change and don't change came up again. But that's another story for another post. Stay tuned.

Cardboard Genius

Star Jumper: Journal of a Cardboard Genius
Gravity Buster: Journal #2 of a Cardboard Genius
Time Twister: Journal #3 of a Cardboard Genius
all by Frank Asch
all from Kids Can Press
(2006, 2007, and 2008 respectively)
all copies compliments of the publisher

Alex is a genius inventor whose journals will someday be worth billions, or so he says. His inventions are all made of cardboard and silver duct tape and stuff he collects "from the street on garbage day" and keeps in plastic bins under his bed. Best of all, most of his designs require only the amount of energy in two AA batteries.

The most amazing thing about this series is that you completely believe in Alex and his inventions. How could you not? He throws around science facts about string theory, creates complicated equations, draws detailed diagrams of amazing inventions like a space ship, a duplicating machine, an oxygen generator, and an Atom Slider (so his cardboard spaceship can pass through the spaces between atoms).

It's almost as much fun to believe in two kids from Frogcreek, PA who have a Magic Tree House as it is to believe in Alex and his inventions. It's MORE fun to believe in Alex and his inventions than it is to believe in Harry Potter -- what's the big deal about a character who can learn spells and swing around a wand? That's pure magic. All fantasy. Alex is a character from our world who has a pesky little brother, a little bit of a crush on Zoe Breen, and, oh, yeah, the most incredible scientific mind in the history of the human race.

In the three books of the series so far, Alex has created Star Jumper, a spaceship; a new, improved version of the Star Jumper which includes a Gravity Buster anti-gravity device so it won't get sucked into black holes; and a Time Twister to take care of the space-time warp that Einstein explained in his Theory of Relativity.

What's next for Alex? Well, when we leave him at the end of book three, Jonathan and the castle he made have been Micro-Blasted and are sealed in a mayonnaise jar that has holes punched in the lid (and it appears that Jonathan was not making up an imaginary playmate named Merlin!). Alex has defeated the Time Cops of the future by using a time paradox to his own benefit, and Alex and Zoe (and Jonathan in his jar) have been in outer space for 9 days looking for a suitable planet on which to land the Star Jumper.

These books would be perfect for 3rd-6th graders who are doodlers and inventors and superhuman geniuses in the disguise of a normal kid. There are about 144 pages in each book, with words like "prototype" and "parallel universe" and "genius of my caliber," and small but important illustrations every few pages.

A Year of Reading in the UK

2008 is The National Year of Reading in the UK. Everything Starts With Reading.

Good ol' Google Alerts.

Poetry Friday -- Work

THE TUFT OF FLOWERS
by Robert Frost

I went to turn the grass once after one
Who mowed it in the dew before the sun.

The dew was gone that made his blade so keen
Before I came to view the leveled scene.

I looked for him behind an isle of trees;
I listened for his whetstone on the breeze.

But he had gone his way, the grass all mown,
And I must be, as he had been—alone,

"As all must be," I said within my heart,
"Whether they work together or apart."

But as I said it, swift there passed me by
On noiseless wing a bewildered butterfly,

Seeking with memories grown dim o’er night
Some resting flower of yesterday’s delight.

And once I marked his flight go round and round,
As where some flower lay withering on the ground.

And then he flew as far as eye could see,
And then on tremulous wing came back to me.

I thought of questions that have no reply,
And would have turned to toss the grass to dry;

But he turned first, and led my eye to look
At a tall tuft of flowers beside a brook,

A leaping tongue of bloom the scythe had spared
Beside a reedy brook the scythe had bared.

The mower in the dew had loved them thus,
By leaving them to flourish, not for us,

Nor yet to draw one thought of ours to him.
But from sheer morning gladness at the brim.

The butterfly and I had lit upon,
Nevertheless, a message from the dawn,

That made me hear the wakening birds around,
And hear his long scythe whispering to the ground,

And feel a spirit kindred to my own;
So that henceforth I worked no more alone;

But glad with him, I worked as with his aid,
And weary, sought at noon with him the shade;

And dreaming, as it were, held brotherly speech
With one whose thought I had not hoped to reach.

"Men work together," I told him from the heart,
"Whether they work together or apart."


It's the season of change in our corner of the public school world: retirement parties, grade level changes, voluntary and involuntary transfers, next year's class lists. We've worked together; now we'll work apart.

After 8 years of looping from 4th to 5th grade, spending two years with each group of children, I have come to rest in 4th grade. I'm not quite sure yet how I feel about that: I'm not a sprinter; I do better with long distances and a slower steady pace. As "the looper," I've had an extraordinary amount of autonomy. I've always worked at the edge of my grade level. Together, but slightly apart. This year we tested a couple of models of instruction that required exceptional collaboration and cooperation. Intensely together. (And amazing results.) It was good to come in from the edge.

It's also the season of achievement testing. I can't seem to step far enough back from the testing to see whether the tests are helping us to work together or driving us further apart. I'm not even sure I know who the "us" is -- building? district? state? nation?

But most of all, it's Friday. And no matter what kind of chaos in my life has prevented me from blogging all week, I find that, increasingly, I always have time for a Poetry Friday post. Bloggers work so very far apart, and that, I think, makes the work we do together all the more invaluable. I am SO looking forward to the "tall tuft of flowers" your "scythe" will spare!

The round up this week is at Big A little a.

GREETINGS FROM NOWHERE: Read Aloud Discussion

You know those days when you wish there was a video camera in the room because the kids are SOOOOO SMART? Well, today was one of those days. We finished reading GREETINGS FROM NOWHERE by Barbara O'Connor yesterday. (If you have not read it, run out and buy it today!) After we finish a read aloud like this, we often spend a few days lingering. Today, we started out brainstorming the questions we'd like to linger with and then got into groups and pondered these things. This was a list of questions that we had some ideas about but that we knew we could think more about. I bopped around from group to group and the conversations were amazing. The depth of their thinking and the understanding they had of the relationships in the book was amazing. Here are the questions they are discussing:

Why did Clyde Dover change his mind about Aggie staying?
Why is he title Greetings From Nowhere?
What is the theme?
What did they mean about the parade (Dorothy's mother in the wrong parade, it's been a great parade, Harold)?
Who is the main character?
Why did Kirby keep the poodle pin and then give it back?
Why did Loretta decide not to visit the other places?
What did Kirby feel when he left?
What is Willow and Aggie's relationship?

This book has really been a powerful read for our class. The kids really connected with Aggie and Kirby. They could have talked for hours today. And we'll talk more tomorrow.

One of my students came in today and said, "I googled that book trailer that you showed us about GREETINGS FROM NOWHERE and showed my mom. Now she wants to read it!"

One of Those Weeks

Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels.
- Faith Whittlesey

Poetry Friday -- Simile and Metaphor Poems

There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality.
- Pablo Picasso

As I was thinking of the smartest ways to use my language arts times in this last week before testing, I decided to postpone limericks in favor of simile and metaphor poems. There is bound to be at least one question on the state tests about similes and/or metaphors. Hopefully my students will be better able to identify them now that they've had to struggle to create them.

Back in February, one of Tricia's poetry stretches was to write a metaphor poem. I copied her example poem (and the revised version by Elaine) to show my students the difference between similes and metaphors.

As they worked on their poems this week, I started to wonder if metaphorical thinking is right at the edge of where 4th graders' brains are developmentally. This was REALLY HARD for some of them. I also think that beginning poets probably must write a full measure of cliches and clunky metaphors before they learn to create elegant ones.

Here are a few of the best of our simile and metaphor poems this week:

FRIENDS
A friend is like a mystery
still to be discovered
wanting to be figured out

A friend is like a book
always very clever
waiting to be read


(untitled)
A hand is like an open basket
xxxwaiting for you to put things in
A foot is like a walking racket
xxxstomp, step, skip, jump in.
A nose is like a high up mound
xxxthat you can climb and then slide down
A mouth is like a funny clown
xxxwhich makes us laugh and never frown
Your eyes are like a fire
xxxburning with desire
Your mind is like a climbing wire
xxxwith every reach you go higher


METAPHOR POEM
A friend is an open hand
A friend is a happy land
A friend is a pot of gold
A friend is someone I can hold
A friend is a beautiful flower
A friend has a lot of power


HAMSTERS
My hamster is
as smart as an inventor,
as friendly as a dog,
as fast as a race car,
as smart as a mouse,
and as active as an athlete.


A YEAR
A year is
A 365 day journey
A long event
A book of friends
A roller coaster ride through time
But once a year on 6/29
It's my day of fame --
Hooray!

EDITED TO ADD:  Check out this poem I wrote in 2011 that has a metaphor, a simile and an idiom...all in the same poem!

The round up is at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

Summer Reading Resources for Kids and Teachers

It is that time of year that we are all thinking ahead to summer. Part of that is thinking ahead to our students' summer reading. This week's issue of THE BIG FRESH from Choice Literacy is on that exact theme. Lots of free resources are included in the newsletter (others are for members.) NCTE also has a link to Summer Activities as part of Read-Write-Think. This is a site and the Summer Activities link is a great one to share with parents too.

New Baby Shower Favorite

In a Blue Room
by Jim Averbeck
illustrated by Tricia Tusa
Harcourt Children's Books, 2008
review copy compliments of the publisher



I've never had the joy nor the frustration of coaxing a child into sleep. Never raised one from the ground up, as it were. I have chosen to work with 9 and 10 year olds during the daylight hours of their 4th grade year of school. I leave all the rest of the hours of every day to their parents and the rest of the years of their school lives to teachers with more patience for tots and/or teens than I have been dealt.

That said, I do love to give books at baby showers that I hope are destined to become sleep time favorites -- usually Mem Fox's Time For Bed, or the old standard, Good Night Moon.

In a Blue Moon is my new baby shower favorite. Slowly and gently, page by page, Mama settles Alice until it's time for the light to be shut off and the room to turn blue in the pale light of the moon. The book begins with Alice jumping on her bed and ends at a whisper with only a few words on each page. The book is what it needs to do -- soothing, quieting, calming. I daresay Mama is feeling much better by the end as well.


*****
Author interview at Tales From the Rushmore Kid
Reviews at ShelfElf, and 7-Imp.

NCTE

I just got back from Washington D.C. As part of the Executive Committee, I have 4 meetings a year. This trip included meetings as well as participating in NCTE's Advocacy Day. It was a great few days. I thought you'd all be interested in the updates and info from NCTE.

This is my 2nd year participating in Advocacy Day. This year, I was able to meet with a few people in my senator's offices. We had great conversations about some of the issues we are facing in literacy education. NCTE has declared April as Advocacy Month. Their website is full of lots of things that we, as teachers, can do to support what we know is right for kids. One page that I find especially helpful is this one on NCTE's position statements on certain things that Congress is dealing with.

If you keep up with the NCTE Inbox Blog, there is a great post about why it is important that as teachers, we write to Congress.

On another note, NCTE recently released a thoughtful statement on 21st Century Literacy--Toward a Definition of 21st-Century Literacies. Lots of people in the literacy and tech worlds have responded to the thinking, including this post by Karl Fisch. This is a focus for NCTE this year and is evident in the 2008 Conference theme: Because Shift Happens: Teaching in the Twenty-First Century as well as other events. NCTE will be sponsoring a summer institute on the topic in Indianapolis. The speakers and program look great so far!

Nonfiction Monday -- Sisters & Brothers

Sisters & Brothers: Sibling Relationships in the Animal World
by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page
Houghton Mifflin, 2008
review copy compliments of the publisher



We've been paying close attention to the ways nonfiction texts are organized. Some present the information by comparing similarities, while others contrast differences. Some use a time line to lay out the facts in chronological order. Most use some form of topic (usually the title or subject matter of the book) -- subtopic (often page-by-page) -- and detail (more and more the details are found in the back of the book) structure.

"Sibling relationships in the animal world" is the topic of Jenkins and Page's newest collaborative venture. The illustrations are classic Jenkins -- gorgeous and captivating cut- and torn-paper collages. Each page or spread has a sort of tab of torn paper, either at the top or bottom, on which can be found the subtopic for that page. In addition, each page has a statement, phrase, or question in large font near the illustration that summarizes the details or draws the reader into the paragraph of details about that animal's sibling relationships. For example, on the page with the New Mexico whiptail lizards, the tab is "Sisters," and the large font phrase reads, "Girls rule!" The reader is hooked into learning about an animal species that is entirely female. Only girls are born in New Mexico whiptail families, and the species reproduces without males.

In the back of the book is a paragraph of general information about each animal featured in the book: its size, what it eats, and where it lives.

This is a great book for any classroom or collection serving animal lovers, and an excellent mentor text for a study on the organization of nonfiction text, both for readers and for writers.



The Nonfiction Monday round up is at Picture Book of the Day.

A Side Note

I love going to professional conferences. One of my hobbies. I like the learning, the people, the books. But, I have also found that I love the jewelry! It seems that teacher conferences are a great place to find jewelry. I am not talking about teacher jewelry. I am talking about really nice jewelry by great artists. In Connecticut, I met the woman who owns Purple Umbrella. This company sells jewelry by women artists from around the world. I loved so many pieces. I bought this necklace designed by Ayala Bar(which just happened to match the jacket I was wearing at the time!).

But my FAVORITE jewelry designer is Karen Spector of Karen Spector Designs. We are SOOO lucky to have her right here in Dublin. I became addicted to her jewelry years ago and have built up a nice, fun collection. Karen Spector was at our Dublin Literacy Conference, selling her jewelry. Karen, our other friend named Karen, picked a 50% off ticket out of the basket and as you can see here, she is VERY excited about her sale item! (I am sure I will soon find out whether this Karen actually reads my blog by her reaction to this lovely photo!) That is Karen Spector, the brilliant designer, in the background.

Lucky for all of us that are local, Karen Spector is having an open house this week! I love these open houses. I always find a piece that I love--especially when I am not shopping for anything in particular. I think I am in the mood for earrings...

So, jewelry shopping at a teacher conference is great, but shopping just to shop is also quite fun! So, if you are local, and you have never experienced the fun jewelry of Karen Spector, you might want to put this Thursday, April 24 on your calendar and join in the fun! Seriously, if you do live local and want to see all of Karen Spector's amazing designs, think about going. If you need directions, call 766-5848. Look forward to a post about my new purchases later this week or this coming weekend!

Just Who Will You Be? by Maria Shriver

So, I seem to get some type of self-help book at this time of year quite often. This week, while I was in the D.C. airport waiting for my flight home, I saw Maria Shriver's new book JUST WHO WILL YOU BE. After I read the first page, I had to have it:

Not long ago, I was whining to my teenage daughter, "I don't know what I want to be when I grow up!" She took me by the shoulders, looked me dead in the eye, and said, "I hate to break it to you, Mom, but this is it for you. You are all grown up! You're cooked!" I jumped out of my chair. "Not so!" I shot back. "You may think I'm over but I'm not done yet! I'm still a work in progress and I'm writing my next act now." ....When she left, I wondered, "Is she right? Is this really it? Am I cooked? Am I over?"

I bought the book and read it over dinner in the airport. It is a small book--a gift size book, so a very quick read. I always like these little books--the ones that come out of graduation speeches. Sometimes I am in the mood for an inspirational graduation speech--but don't have any graduations to attend. These speeches don't quite say anything new, but they remind me of things I know and often help to reground me. And the fact that Maria Shriver is a mom with brutally honest teenagers is comforting as well.

Maria Shriver, it seems, has always worked to live up to others' expectations of her--something I have been thinking about myself lately. When do we stop building our resume and start making decisions based on what others want from us. Maria hits this as well as many other little things that lots of us, as working 40+moms work through on a daily basis. And it is nice to know that we are not alone in this struggle. It is nice for someone else to remind us what it is that is important and real in life. A nice, quick read from a writer I always enjoy.

If you can't think of anything nice to say...

...your mother and/or your conscience would tell you not to say anything at all. Then again, you might try one of these pithy (snarky?) quotes in your next difficult review:

I have read your book and much like it.

Thank you for sending me a copy of your book. I'll waste no time reading it.

This book fills a much-needed gap.

These quotes are all by Moses Hadas. They and others can be found at The Quotations Page.