Text Set: Word Study and Vocabulary

 Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

We want to have joy and inquiry at the heart of our word study and vocabulary work. This week, I'll share a set of books that will celebrate words in various ways. Word study cannot happen without understanding the power and impact of words. 

The Great Big Animal Search Book is a fun book, and at first glance I had no idea all that was in here connected to words and vocabulary. This is a giant search book with really fun illustrations and so many facts about animals. It is a book readers can spend hours and hours with. AND it ALSO introduces readers to a variety of collective nouns (a WADDLE of penguins, a HERD of cows). Such a great way to discover the fun in collective nouns and to explore new vocabulary in the process. 

The Invisible Alphabet gives readers a unique way to think about words. This book is full of words that are invisible--things you don't see (such as AIR).  Reading through this book and then playing with other types of alphabet lists you could create based on a unique category like invisible would be great fun!

I love Ambitious Girl and they way that it takes a single word--ambitious-- and defines and expands on the definition through the whole of the book. Thinking deeply about the perfect word and all that it can be in descriptions and actions is worthy of conversation. 

This book could be used throughout the year for so many things. Just as the previous book explored one word, Dictionary for a Better World explores and deeply digs into several words using poems, quotes, and more. And each word fits under the topic umbrella of a better world. I want young readers to go beyond a dictionary definition of a word and to really think beyond a one-phrase definition. This book invites readers to think about powerful words in a variety of ways to build understanding. Discussing each word as well as its inclusion in the book's theme will add to any word study conversation.  

Of course you'd have to spend weeks with Have I Ever Told You Black Lives Matter before you brought it into word study. The book is powerful and says so much. The fact that there are only words and no illustrations is powerful. The way the words are set on the page is powerful.  So many Black voices are shared in this book.  A perfect book for talking about the power of words, the word we remember, the power of quotes, whose words have power, whose words do we study and remember, etc. could all be important conversations using this book as an anchor. 

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

You can find a downloadable pdf of this list at frankisibberson.com. 

Poetry Friday -- A Poetry Challenge

My students love Poetry Friday. They've never experienced it the way we did it in the past -- browsing for a book on the tall white shelf full of poetry, sitting with a partner or two, heads bent over the book, looking for just the right poem, practicing until it could be said just right, then standing in front of classmates to read with loud enough and expressive voices...and getting the feedback of laughter for the funny poems, or sighs for the beautiful ones, and always the finger snaps of appreciation.

Poetry Friday these days is flying through the interweb to a breakout room, pulling up Irene Latham's or Amy LV's rich online resources, choosing a poem, practicing, then flying back to perform from separate squares in the Google Classroom.

Last Friday, several groups chose the same poem on Irene's site. Hearing the poem over and over again gave us a chance to think about the meaning of the title in relationship to the poem. Maybe you saw it? The poem is called WHY RIVER SMILES IN WINTER, but the poem is mostly about the snow. We wondered why the river was smiling, and figured it was kind of sneaky, greedy smile, since it is gulping the fair snow. A casual "We would love to know why you chose that title" resulted in an explanation and an invitation to join Irene for her last winter poem which uses Sleigh Ride by Winslow Homer for inspiration. (Thank you SO MUCH for your generosity, Irene!) One student took the challenge with me. Here are our poems:

picture via wikimedia commons

Sleigh Ride
By: J.L.
For: Irene Latham

Here we go, very fast
Off to make the good times last.
Our sleigh is zooming,
Our fun is blooming,
Out on our wondrous Sleigh Ride.

No need to hide,
No need to cry,
As we ride our worries away.
Here we go,
Happy today.
Out on our wondrous Sleigh Ride.

SLEIGH RIDE

shhh
say the runners
sliding through the snow

smack
say the reigns
asking horse to go

ching ching
say the bells
on the harness and the sleigh

flap flap
say the wings
of the crows that show the way

peekaboo
say moon and clouds
thanks for coming out to play


© Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

Linda B. has a TIMEly post at TeacherDance for our Poetry Friday Roundup, and be sure to check in with Susan at Soul Blossom Living to share your NPM project and logo. She'll be doing the NPM project roundup this year because of some tech issues Jama's having. 

Text Set: Metaphors

 Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

When we think about teaching metaphor, it has to be about more than naming a metaphor and far more than knowing the difference between a metaphor and a simile. Metaphors help us think about bigger meanings in text. They help us understand at a deeper level.  This week, I'll share a set of texts that starts this bigger conversation about metaphors.

I have been using Marla Frazee's book Walk On: A Guide for Babies of all Ages for years.  This is the perfect introduction into metaphor because it is scaffolded so well. I read the book first and discuss with kids what it is "about". Then we go back and visit the author's note at the beginning of the book--"To my son Graham, off to college" and think about what the author was REALLY saying. What is "walk on" a metaphor for? Because the text is so simple, readers can go back into each line to discuss the intended meaning of each line within the bigger metaphor.  

If You Plant a Seed by Kadir Nelson is another great book based on the metaphor of planting a seed.  This is a very accessible metaphor for young readers so going page by page and discussing intended meaning will help readers see how to gain deeper understanding of an author's message through metaphor.  

Lift has a graphic novel feel and is an immediately engaging story. Once children understand the possibility of metaphor in text, this is an easy transition to discussing the two (or more) possible meanings of the title word "lift" in this story. With some examination, children should see the idea of lifting people in ways beyond the literal one. 

This powerful new picture book, Standing on Her Shoulders celebrates women who have made a difference in our world.  The title is explored throughout the book as we are introduced to various women who have paved the way for so many.  Each page helps us understand what it means to stand on someone's shoulders.  (At the end of the book, you learn more about each woman introduced throughout.) A fabulous book for so many reasons.  

Short films are such a powerful way to explore metaphor with students. A new favorite for me is Pixar's Float by Bobby Rubio. The metaphor of float can mean different things to different people and the author has his own reasons for using it which you can find in several online articles and interviews. 

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

You can find a downloadable pdf of this list at frankisibberson.com. 

Poetry Friday -- Momentum

photo via Unsplash

Momentum

When you take your foot off the gas pedal

and roll to a stop in front of your house.

When you stop pumping your legs on the swing

and enjoy the ever-shortening trips back and forth.

When you stand still on your skates and just roll

feeling every pebble and sidewalk crack under your wheels.

When you sit at your desk and stare at the ceiling

and let go of the task at hand.

When you know there is a mountain of work to be done

and you deliberately choose not to do it.

Since when did loss of momentum

become equated with some kind of failure?

Today I will reclaim loss of momentum

as a form of pleasure.

I will savor the slow down and the pull back

the drifting and the regathering of strength so I can begin again

later.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021 (draft)

(totally a Lamipofri...but I like how it flowed out!)

Heidi has the Birthday Edition of the Poetry Friday roundup this week over at my (her) juicy little universe.

Text Set: Middle Grade Graphic Novels

frankisibberson.com. Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

This week's Text Set is a set of Middle Grade graphic novels. I try to keep up with my middle grade graphic novel reading because so often I am working with a reader who loves graphic novels.  And graphic novels are often so important to a reader's growth--these are the books that help many readers fall in love with reading.  The books I'll share are perfect for independent reading and they'd also each make for a  fabulous middle grade read aloud if projected on the screen. Each graphic novel in this Text Set features strong characters. Enjoy! 

Twins by Varian Johnson will have wide appeal for readers. It is realistic fiction and a great story of sisters.  The two twins in this book are figuring out how to have their own identities as they grow up.  I love that this book can also introduce readers to middle grade author, Varian Johnson. Or it can support readers of Varian Johnson who want to try a graphic novel!  

We don't see many books about the impact allergies have on children. This brand new graphic novel Allergic by Megan Wagner Lloyd does a great job of showing that and of telling the story of a child severely allergic to dogs and the grief that this causes. Many kids will see themselves in this book. 

Snapdragon by Kat Leyh is a story with a bit of witchcraft and creepiness! A fun story for readers of fantasy but also for readers who love a good character. Snapdragon and her friend Lu are characters with depth and the various storylines offer some complexity.  Some characters are queer and trans, and that is not the focus of the story. It is just a part of who they are within a story about bravery, friendship and more.  I especially appreciated the adult characters in this story and their relationships with the children.

Witches of Brooklyn by Sophie Escabasse is another fun fantasy featuring witches.  (This is the first in a series.) After being forced to move in with an aunt she's never met, Effie grows to love her aunt and her partner.  She also discovers that they are not actually herbalists (as they claim) but they are witches.  This graphic novel has just the right amount of magic and fun mixed in with themes of family and growing up.  In an interview, the author talked about the aunts and this is what she says, "I also wanted to show old people that are really fun to hang out with. Old people that anyone would love to have as friends and/or family. Tired of the “youth or nothing” philosophy. I like the age gap between my characters. It was important for me to show different generations sharing and living things together. " I loved this book even more when I read this! You can read the full interview here.

Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte is the story of Cici who has just moved to the United States from Taiwan.  Although she is settling in, she misses her grandmother terribly and tries to figure out how to have her grandmother visit for her upcoming birthday. She thinks she can afford the trip if she wins the cooking contest! However it isn't as easy as it seems. Cici learns so much in the process!

This week's books were linked at Cover to Cover Children's Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous children's bookstore to support, this is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio!

You can find a downloadable pdf of this list at frankisibberson.com. 

Poetry Friday -- Perspective

 

photo via Unsplash

Perspective

All my life you've been a dipper.

Just this morning, though,

as I wondered whether you were telling me

to pour out

or scoop up

you changed into a giraffe

your long curved neck

reaching across galaxies

so you could nibble on the juicy gibbous moon.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

Obviously, that photo was not taken in Ohio, but it was the one I could find with the correct orientation of The Great Giraffe, as this constellation is now known (to me). 

The big ideas here are

    1. Look up

    2. Notice

    3. Wonder

    4. Be willing to think differently about everything you've been taught

Kat, at Kathryn Apel, has the Poetry Friday Roundup for this week.

    

Text Set: Thinking about Main Idea Across Genres

 Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

This week, I'll share some books that support beginning conversations around main idea as readers. The concept of main idea is often tricky for young readers and they latch on to one idea instead of reading across an entire text. Hopefully this set of books will help. 

I think the book Me and the World is a great one to introduce the idea of main idea to readers. This is a book filled with incredible infographics about the world. It is one of those books that readers will spend hours with. One challenge for readers is sometimes that main idea is a big idea that spans the ENTIRE text and is an idea that weaves through lots of a book. So, to start with a book with a more obvious main idea will make the idea accessible. Readers can discuss the title as well as detailed patterns they notice in the ways the information works together under a big idea.

Woke: A Young Poet's Call to Justice is a poetry anthology and is another great book for exploring main idea. The book begins with a message from Jason Reynolds and then an introduction by author Mahogany Browne. Discussing these, and the idea of woke is a great way to start this conversation.  Then exploring the ways each poem fits the bigger idea--how does each fit under the main ideas shared in the introduction--will help build understanding that every single piece in an anthology fits the bigger idea of the entire text.

Following Woke, Cast Away by Naomi Shihab Nye is a book that will expand the conversation. In this book the author begins by asking us "How much have you thrown away in your lifetime already? Do you ever think about it? " Each poem fits under the big idea of things we "cast away" and the author looks at this literally and sometimes metaphorically which will add to the conversation and understanding of main idea a bit more.

We Are Kind weaves together two ideas--ways to be kind and how we feel when we are kind.  Discussing the main idea and what the author is telling us about kindness will be a great entry way into the specifics of main idea-- a main idea that goes beyond the single word of kindness. This simple text gives readers so much to explore and discuss.

Our Favorite Day of the Year is a perfect book to use to discuss main idea (after enjoying it and discussing the book on its own of course!).  Often, young readers choose one idea to focus on and decide that is what the book is about. So, this book is a great one to discuss that. In this story, a classroom full of children spend the year celebrating various holidays. Discussing each snippet against the title will help young readers see that each of the holidays fit under a bigger main idea --that the individual holidays were details that helped the author share the main message.

You can get a downloadable pdf of this list at frankisibberson.com.

Poetry Friday -- Remote Teaching

photo via Unsplash

Each day

I thread the needle of my heart

and stitch together

my quilt-square students

into a tapestry

of joy

and learning.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021

The WORK of teaching online does not relent. It's brutal. But I never could have imagined how deeply connected I would be to my students (and they to each other) without ever being together in person. There is joy every day. The joy of a student who has finally mastered the steps for long division, the joy of their creativity in creating websites, the joy of our little inside jokes (for example, the "Loading Loading Loading" song we sing). 

I'm joining the Poetry Sisters' metaphor challenge today, and I look forward to tomorrow, when I'll read through the Poetry Friday roundup at Karen Edmisten* before I go and get my second COVID shot.  

Text Set: Studying Intentional Layout in Informational Text

 Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

One more week of Informational Text Mentors--This week we'll look at the intentional ways authors and designers set up a page in order to support reader's understanding. With more and more visuals in our world, looking at layout as a reader and learning to make intentional decisions about layout as a writer is key. 

We'll start this week's Text Set with a non-book example to study.  If you don't know Nicholas St. Fleur (https://www.nicholasstfleur.com), you'll want to check him out! (Thanks to author Melissa Stewart for introducing me to his work!)  Nicholas St. Fleur has created several increidble infographics for The NY Times for Kids print publication. He ha a few samples on his website. These are perfect for exploring the idea of intentional design and layout.  Thinking about decisions the creators made, what is most important, how the images and words work together and how size and font changes are all important ideas to bring up to begin this study. And while you are at it, explore the rest of this author's site. His dinosaur book is another worth exploring! 

When How We Got to the Moon arrived in the mail, I screamed, "Every page in this book is a mini lesson!"  And it's true. The visuals in this book are incredible and every single page can be studied for layout decisions. Many of the pages are stand-alone and make sense without reading the rest of the book. And each page is PACKED with so much information. Choosing a few pages to explore together, comparing the different decisions John Rocco makes on different pages based on the purpose/big idea of what he wants readers to understand is key.  

Who Got Game? Baseball Amazing But True Stories by Derrick Barnes (author of I Am Every Good Thing and Crown!) is filled with  short information pieces about baseball. There is more text to this than in the other examples so it will give readers and writers something different to explore.  There are a variety of text sizes, text boxes and visuals set up in ways that the text and visuals work together to share information.  The fonts are something else to take a look at --change of font and color is done with purpose. 

I like Whooo Knew? The Truth About Owls because the pages have similar layouts with some differences based on needs of the reader. The left side of the page poses a question about owls. Then there is a main paragraph answering the questions. Several visuals connect to the answer and the layout of these is different depending on what is being communicated by the visuals. A smaller detail is often included in a talking bubble near the edges of the page.  (And if you do get this book, make sure to take off the book jacket and look at the reverse side of the cover for a fun surprise!).

Firefighters' Handbook and Astronaut Handbook (both by Meghan McCarthy) are engaging for readers as they give so much information in different ways. There are detailed diagrams, how-to pages with important vocabulary. Q and A and more. This book is designed to flow together even though there are so many different layouts.  There are similarities and differences in the two books too that are worth exploring.

You can find a downloadable pdf of this list at frankisibberson,com. 

Poetry Friday -- Prioritizing

 

image via Unsplash

It's good to be back. I got overwhelmed by online teaching and a couple of other projects that landed on my plate. I felt like something had to give, and that something was Poetry Friday. All of my writing energy needed to be directed to the other projects. The time I spent on Saturday mornings with a cup of tea and the Poetry Friday roundup would be better spent on those projects or on school work.

Thank goodness for snow days. We've had the Gift of Time three Tuesdays in a row, and my pressure valve is back to a more livable level. (The house is also just a wee bit cleaner, too.)

And thank goodness for Lent. Although neither of us is particularly religious, a friend from college and I have been using Lent as a time to set goals and cheer each other on. My goal for this year is to write a small poem every day. One haiku, one acrostic, one Golden Shovel. Just a few words. But I want to -- I NEED to -- recover my writing life...and my connection to this Poetry Friday community. Hopefully, this Lenten recharge will give me the boost I need to do a Poetry Month project in April.

Yesterday, Audre Lorde was featured in the Google Doodle, and coincidentally, was featured in my daily ancestor acknowledgement. I explained "intersectionality" to my students for the first time in my career. Then we went on to watch the episode of QED With Dr. B "What is Race?" to provide common language and baseline information for next week when we tackle our social studies standards about culture, cultural diversity, and mainstream culture. I have to get past my fear of making mistakes in these conversations, because the conversations are too important NOT to have.

Your silence will not protect you. -- Audre Lorde

Talking openly with your

students about race is necessary. Silence

is fear, and fear will

keep you frozen. You will not

grow without risk, and neither will they. You can't protect

them from hard truths, so invite them to explore and learn along with you.

©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021 (draft)

Ruth has this week's Poetry Friday roundup at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town.

The Power of Subtitles for Readers and Writers

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

I must be in my usual school year cycle as I can't seem to get through January/February without thinking about informational readers and writers--a perfect winter genre study. This week's Text Set focuses on the Power of Subtitles for Readers and Writers! Subtitles can help readers in so many ways. And when writers create thoughtful titles and subtitles, they have to think deeply about their text's message.  Let's look at different ways authors use subtitles, how those can help readers understand big ideas and how writers can use subtitles to think more deeply about they big idea. 

Bionic Beasts: Saving Animal Lives with Artificial Flippers, Legs and Beaks and The Oldest Student: How Mary Walker Learned to Read are great to introduce the idea of subtitles to reader and writers. If I were to name what these writers do, they use their subtitle to further explain the main title of the book. The title gives a HINT about the book and the subtitle goes on to give you more detailed information.  Young writers can try this with titles for their own writing.

Some titles don't really tell the reader wha the topic of the book is. Instead, they set the stage for letting the reader know of some important idea in the book without revealing the topic. (This subtitle is so small on the cover, that you don't even notice it at first, so that you focus on the main title.) That's what Not My Idea:A Book About Whiteness does. Then the title goes on to reveal the topic in very straightforward language. Readers have a topic and and an important idea to think about before they begin to read. Writers might try this by writing the subtitle first and then thinking about an actual title that captures a message without giving away the text's topic.

This text is actually the home page of a favorite website. The Kids Should See This is a site with incredible videos, as you can tell by the subtitle.  In this example, the title gives a hint into the topic but the subtitle gives more specifics. Including texts other than books is critical in text sets so that young readers and writers see how these same craft moves are used in multimedia texts.

Hello, Crochet Friends!: Making Art, Being Mindful, Giving Back: Do What Makes You Happy is a book with a VERY long subtitle but every word is important. Jonah Larson is a world-famous crochet expert and the topic of the book is crocheting.  But the book is more than that as the subtitle(s) explains. Crocheting is about so much more for Jonah. This book's  subtitle sets the stage for readers and the double colon can give writers something to play with. As writers, giving a title like this a try could help writers expand their thinking around their topic.

These two books (Kamala Harris: Rooted in Justice and Exquisite: The Poetry and Life of Gwendolyn Brooks) pair well when talking about titles and subtitles. Because they are both biographies and they both use a strong word/phrase to capture what is important about the person in the book. One uses the word/phrase as a title. The other uses it as a subtitle.  Playing with a single word or phrase that sums up a big topic is a great way to push thinking as writers. As readers, finding evidence of this characteristic through the book will help them read more deeply. And as an author, the decision about which to make the title and which to make the subtitle would also make for interesting conversation!

Poetry Friday -- Rita Dove via NCTE

 

From the NCTE Inbox Newsletter, a poetry event that is free and open to the public:

Join NCTE and the Library of Congress for A Conversation with Rita Dove

Join NCTE and the Library of Congress on Wednesday, February 24, at 4:00 p.m. ET for a conversation with former US Poet Laureate Rita Dove and NCTE member Melissa Alter Smith. Dove will discuss her own approach to writing, share and discuss specific poems, and dedicate ample time for Q&A. This event is free and open to the public. Rita Dove won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987 for her third book of poetry, Thomas and Beulah, and was US Poet Laureate from 1993 to 1995. She received the National Humanities Medal from President Clinton and the National Medal of Arts from President Obama—the only poet ever to receive both. Her many honors include a 2017 NAACP Image Award (for Collected Poems: 1974–2004), the Heinz Award in the Arts and Humanities, and the Academy of American Poets’ Wallace Stevens Award. She is the Henry Hoyns Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Virginia. Her eleventh collection of poetry, Playlist for the Apocalypse, is forthcoming from W. W. Norton in the summer of 2021. Melissa Alter Smith is the creator of the #TeachLivingPoets hashtag and teachlivingpoets.com. She is a National Board Certified high school English teacher in Charlotte, NC. She is the 2017 District Teacher of the Year, an AP Reader, and an NCETA Executive Board member. Smith is also the coauthor, with Lindsay Illich, of Teach Living Poets. This text opens up the flourishing world of contemporary poetry to secondary teachers, giving advice on discovering new poets and reading contemporary poetry, as well as sharing sample lessons, writing prompts, and ways to become an engaged member of a professional learning community.

Franki's Weekly Text Set--Informational Writing: Strong Introductions

 This week, I started a new Instagram account (@TextSets). Each week, I'll share a set of 5 books (one each day) that go together in some way and can be used for literacy learning.  This week, I shared 5 informational books that had strong introductions that young writers could learn from.

I think it's important that young writers study strong text, name what they see and give things a try. These five books can help writers pay closer attention to strong introductions and invite them to try something new when drafting or revising.

If you'd like a downloadable version of this list, you can find it here. 

The books in this list are either nonfiction or based on a true story--so they share information in some way.  They are on a variety of topics and use a variety of strategies to engage readers right away. Each book brings some unique craft to the conversation but there are also things that several writers in the text set do (set of 3, strong word choice, etc.).  This text set is designed to give young writers five or more new things to notice and try when studying introductions.

All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys' Soccer Team is an award-winning nonfiction book that has so much to teach young writers. Author, Christina Soontornvat sets the scene on the first page of this book in a way that puts readers right on the soccer field as she introduces us to the story and to Thailand simultaneously.

Young writers will love trying out an introduction like the one in Swish: the Slam-Dunking, Alley-Ooping, High-Flying Harlem Globetrotters by Suzanne Slade. The "It all started with..." is something everyone can have fun with. Listing in threes is a strategy this writer uses effectively twice in this short introduction. Writers may also use this introduction to learn to play with the rhythm of their words or onomatopoeia as part of their writing.

Sound: Shhh...Bang...POP...BOOM! by Romana Romanyshyn is a fun book that shares a great deal of information.  The contrast the first sentence of this book sets up is brilliant. The white space on the page can help writers actually see the contrast and how it works to engage readers. This sentence sets the stage for what is to come in the book in an engaging way. This book can invite writers to play with a strong one sentence introduction in which a contrasting idea engages readers with the topic. 

The Cat Man of Aleppo by Irene Latham and Karim-Shamsi-Basha is based on a true story and writers can learn so much from it.  Even though it isn't a nonfiction text, writers of nonfiction can learn so much from this lead. In the first few sentences of this book, the author shares all of the things to love about Aleppo. By using this repeated language, the reader is able to get to know the setting quickly Writers may want to try to set the scenes for their informational writing.

Adelita: A Sea Turtle's Journey by Jenny Goebel is another well crafted informational book. This book gives writers a perfect mentor for using strong adjectives and adverbs effectively.  The author chooses words carefully to give readers a powerful image while sharing important information.  

Poetry Friday -- An Egg for Breakfast

 

image via Unsplash

What I'm pondering as I eat my humble breakfast:

A Quiet Life
by Baron Wormser

What a person desires in life
is a properly boiled egg.
This isn’t as easy as it seems.

(read the rest here)

Poetry Friday -- Time Traveler

 

For the Poetry Sisters' monthly challenge, I searched up my birth year on Merriam Webster's Time Traveler site.

From the list of words that appeared in print for the first time that year, I chose a handful that all relate to food: tzatziki, arugula, crudités, chicken of the woods, cordon bleu, and soul food.

There is no poem yet, but there is a scribbly draft in my notebook, jotted while waiting on camera between small group reading conferences yesterday afternoon.

This morning I'm thinking about the phrase, "Time Traveler." It was fun to be whisked back all those decades in just a few clicks and poke around leisurely in the linguistic past. 

The time I'm traveling through right now, though, feels like a river in spate and I'm barely clinging to the edges of a raft I'm constructing even as I plummet through the rapids, between the boulders, and under the overhanging branches that appear without warning. I'm struggling, but still afloat. Barely. 

Poetry Friday -- Just This One Thing

 

Amanda Gorman

That is all, because she is all that.

Laura Shovan has this week's Poetry Friday roundup at her blog, Laura Shovan.

Poetry Friday -- A Poem for The Week After

 

Photo via Unsplash

A List of Things That Will Set You Free

– Joyce Sidman

Feet.

Wheels.

Wind.

Sunshine.

Words.

Music.

A voice.

A touch.

Caring.

Not caring.

Saying to yourself:

I am too old to do this.

I am too young to do this.

I am too smart to do this.

It’s not my fault.

It is my fault, and I will fix it.

I can do this.

(poem used in its entirety with Joyce Sidman's permission)

This is the poem I chose for our weekly poem this week. It was a poem that I needed in The Week After (which turned out to be another Week Of), and I was curious to see what my students would take from it.

On the first day, we dug into reactions and noticings, and they were stumped initially by the two halves of the poem. They noticed that the pairs in the first half seem to go together (except for caring/not caring), while the second half tells how to react to things. 

On the next day, when we read for meaning and craft, one student argued that the pairs of words in the first half in fact don't go together. I suggested that perhaps we could let the title of the poem help us think about the pairs, and that unlocked their thinking. Feet/wheels set us free by letting us go places; wind/sun set us free with happiness; words/music set us free with the ability to create; voice/touch set us free by making us feel better; caring/not caring set us free by giving us the choice to help. In the second half, each of the statements also set us free to choose, and that last one..."accepting that it's your fault frees you from guilt, and when you fix it, you are truly free."

As for Joyce Sidman's craft moves, they noticed the uniqueness of the spacing and the pairs of single words ("there are no unnecessary words"), and "the way it looks forces you to read it in a certain way."

For myself, I keep going back to those last three lines. Everything that's happened in our country recently...as a white liberal woman, what is my fault (or complicity)? How will I help to fix this rift in our country? And oh that last line, which exudes the confidence I don't really have, but into which I must lean.

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

The Reality of Living in Historic Moments

Last Thursday, my students weren't ready to talk about the takeover of the Capitol. So we got on with our day.

Truth be told, I wasn't ready either. I had too many big emotions and I wasn't sure how to keep myself objective. I didn't want to cause more harm. (Plus lots of other head-in-the-sand excuses. I won't list them all.)

But, as a trusted and valued colleague pointed out to me, I hadn't explored exactly WHY my students were reluctant to talk. So on Friday, I asked them, and between their answers and the information I've been gathering, I'm ready. 

It's my responsibility to help my students develop the skills to understand and process whatever Historic Moments come their way in the next weeks or years, and I'm ready.

Here's my plan for now:

I made time for these conversations. I found 15 minutes each day I could label "Reading the World." Now that there's a small chunk of time ready, we can take on these Big Ideas a little at a time. I don't feel pressured to do everything all at once.

Using a three-column chart, we'll explore the variety of Historic Moments in which we've been living (BLM, police brutality, the election, the take-over of the Capitol, pandemic, online learning, etc.), what makes it easier/safe to talk/think about these moments (based on their comments last Friday, a strong classroom community), and what makes it harder/scarier to talk/think about these moments (my family supports the other candidate, personal connections to the moments).

Dig into fact vs. opinion, objective vs. biased.

Look at kid-appropriate sources for current events: 

CNN10
Newsforkids.net
DOGO news
NewsELA
Time for Kids

Consider this question deeply: Why is history important? (Understanding the response of white police to white rioters vs. white police to peaceful Black protesters, understanding the implications behind the Confederate flag in the halls of the U.S. Capitol, etc.)

Think about: What can we do?

Here are a couple of helpful resources I've found:

Spot the Difference on Woke Kindergarten

Educator's Playbook from University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education

Pear Deck blog post and free template

What is your plan moving forward in discussing the reality of living in historic moments?