Poetry Friday -- Roundup is HERE!

A Warm Summer in San Francisco
by Carolyn Miller


Although I watched and waited for it every day,
somehow I missed it, the moment when everything reached
the peak of ripeness. It wasn't at the solstice; that was only
the time of the longest light. It was sometime after that, when
the plants had absorbed all that sun, had taken it into themselves
for food and swelled to the height of fullness. It was in July,
in a dizzy blaze of heat and fog, when on some nights
it was too hot to sleep...

(read the rest of the poem at The Writer's Almanac)

I know the feeling: 

"...I felt tears 

come into my eyes, absurdly, because I knew
that summer had peaked and was already passing
away."

I mark the passing of summer by the length of the vines in the baskets along High Street in Worthington,

and in the march of blooming things -- the Queen Anne's lace has joined the chicory, which will soon be replaced by goldenrod and tall purple ironweed; and I saw my first mimosa tree blooming this week. 

As the seasons turn and the pages on the calendar flip, let's take a minute to slow down and enjoy a variety of poetry. Leave your link in the comments and I'll round up the posts throughout the day. Happy Friday! Happy Poetry Friday!

*    *    *    *

Father Goose starts us off today with his Cozy Morning Cats. (Mine is watching the morning come to life from the windowsill!)

Kelly Polark returns to Poetry Friday (welcome back, Kelly!) with a poem inspired by a reunion.

Myra at Gathering Books shares a moving tribute to a Philippine poet.

Diane has a quartet of Poetry Friday posts: at Random Noodling, she's thinking about what gets in the way of writing poetry; she continues her poetic story of WWII at Kids of the Homefront Army; Kurious Kitty's Kurio Kabinet highlights a book of camping poems by Kristine O'Connell George; and at Kurious K's Kwotes, she has a quote about the efficient use of language in poetry.

David Elzey visits us from camp -- Vermont College of Fine Arts "camp" where he is a "counselor" this year. He created a writer's toolbox version of The Quartermaster's Store. (Here's a bit of the original for reference.)

Gregory K. at Gottabook has a poem after my procrastinatin' heart -- an original, of course!

Tanita reminds us of a great truth today: we are not our bodies. (Welcome back to PF, Cuz!)

At The Poem Farm, Amy has an original about a cherry tree (and a post that will make your mouth water!)

Steven Withrow's original story/riddle poem will get you thinking...and unthinking!

Madigan at Madigan Reads reviews Margarita Engle's newest verse novel, HURRICANE DANCERS. She's thinking possible Newbery contender!

Nancy shares one of her student's poems today -- about clouds.

Carlie wrote an original summer poem -- about the laundry on her clothesline!

Laura Salas links us in to Sylvia Vardell's video clips of the ALA Poetry Blast, and it's not too late to take part in this week's 15 Words or Less poetry.

Katie at Secrets & Sharing Soda reviews Hot Potato: Mealtime Rhymes.

Pentimento shares Bedtime Story For My Son by Peter Redgrove.

Tara is having a Chelsea Morning with Joni Mitchell today.

Maria at Teaching in the 21st Century advocates for Poetry Friday in the classroom. I second that!

The Write Sisters are on the same wavelength as Tanita (see above) with Homage to My Hips and the advice to get over it and "Just. Jump. In!!!!"

The Stenhouse Blog is sharing a poem about...SNOW?!?!?

Rasco From RIF tells about a very famous Swiss story (told in verse)...that I've never heard about until now!

Elaine is toasting marshmallows over at Wild Rose Reader today! YUM!!

At Blue Rose Girls, Elaine shares an original poem about swimming that doesn't require baring one's "mighty hips" (see The Write Sisters, above) or otherwise worrying about body image (see Tanita's post way up above).

Tricia has a poem for her mom.

Tabatha pops in from her blog vacation with a bit of Harry Potter-ness.

Janet highlights MIRROR MIRROR by Marilyn Singer.

Heidi's forgiven her lateness -- she took the whole family to the midnight showing of HP 7.2 last night. Her post is a meditation on incantations -- one in Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Professor McGonagall's in HP.

And something that feels like saving the best for last -- Karissa, at the Iris Chronicles, introduces us to the poet Pamela Johnson Parker, who "finds so many connections between literature, art, poetry, and life. If you are a Wizard of Oz fan, you will enjoy this poem."

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Thanks to Kellee (Unleashing Readers) and Jen (Teach Mentor Texts) for hosting It's Monday! What Are you Reading! Check out their blogs for the round up!

2016 is such a great year for books!  I've read so many great books. Her are some of my favorite recent reads:

Lily and Dunkin by Donna Gephart is an important read for everyone. This is a great story about two teenagers.  Lily Jo McGrother, born Timothy McGrother, is a girl.  Duncan Dorfman is dealing with bipolar disorder and other issues in his life.  This is a great story about friendship, kindness, understanding and change.  As a teacher this was an important book for me as it not only helped me understand what transgender teenagers might be experiencing, but it also helped me understand the challenges that parents face too. This book seems perfect for middle schoolers-I'd consider it a young YA book.  

The Seventh Wish by Kate Messner is another must read.  Kate Messner is one of those authors who can write about hard issues in a way that is perfect for middle grade and middle grade students. In this book we get to know Charlie who catches a magical fish who will grant her wishes.   As the story progresses, we learn that Charlie's college-age sister is dealing with heroin addiction.  Charlie wants desperately to make a wish that will make things better for her family.  Kate Messner does a great job of dealing with not only the issue of drug abuse but the effect it has on families.  

The Wild Robot by Peter Brown was worth the wait! I am a huge Peter Brown fan and love all of his work. When I heard he was writing a middle grade novel I was thrilled.  I got a copy of the book the day it was released and read it in a few sittings.  Roz, a robot, lands on an island and builds a life for herself there with the animals. I can't name exactly when I fell in love with Roz but I did and I was totally drawn into her story.  This book is one that has such powerful messages and is one that begs to be reread.  Totally brilliant book and very unique. I can't think of another book that does what this one does.

The Firefly Code by Megan Frazer Blakemore is my favorite kind of book--a dystopian fantasy. Most of these that I read are YA but this one is perfect for middle school. Mori and her friends live in Old Harmonie, a perfect world that is protected from pretty much everything.  A new girl, Ilana, moves into the neighborhood and things start to change. This is a book that engaged me throughout and I think it will be hugely popular in 5th and 6th grade classrooms. I am hoping there is a sequel coming to this one. (It was a coincidence that I read it soon after I finished The Wild Robot but some good discussions could happen for kids who read both of these novels!)

Guest Reviews

A former student sent me these reviews of a couple of new books I passed along to her to read.

Letters from Rapunzel

Review by Eye Red Abook

When you open the pages of Letters from Rapunzel, you will be entranced into the average world of, you guessed it, Rapunzel! This young tween is despairing because of her Homework Club and of her father’s clinical depression “Evil Spell," so she writes to a Post Office Box number to confide her troubles to an unknown stranger. This is a hilarious and heartwarming tale that should now be in your hands, as you sit, spellbound, on the davenport, reading.

Into the Wild

Review by Fan Tasy

Imagine a world in which you are doomed to repeat, over and over, the same old fairy tale, and you have to be the same character. This is the world Julie encounters as she tries bravely to retrieve her mother, Rapunzel, her adopted brother, Puss-in-Boots, and her adopted grandmother, Gothel. This fast-paced tale has twists and turns every way you look, so beware. The Wild bites, even harder than Julie knows.

Still Learning to Read: Books I've Handed to Kids Recently

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

It is always around this time of year when I find that handing a book to a child can make a difference for the rest of the year.  This is the time of year when I know readers well enough to chit chat books on the way to lunch or at recess. This is the time of year when I start leaving a book in a child's book bin that I think they might like.  There is something about a young reader knowing that you thought about him/her specifically when you saw a book.  There is something about handing a child a specific book that strengthens a relationship.  This week, I noticed myself informally handing books to children in informal ways.  This is one of the most important jobs I do--so I have to know lots of books. Always. It seems that every year my kids have different tastes as readers, so I can't just recommend the books I've always recommended.  It is always a personal act--the act of recommending a book.  These are some of the books I've handed to kids (or ordered for kids) this week.

So many of my kids have become Raina fans. Raina's name comes up like she is a student in our class!  A few of us  were chatting informally as they came in the other day about them.  They especially love Smile and Sisters.  This week, I pulled out the Babysitter's Club Graphix. (I seem to only have #!--my other 2 have disappeared since last year so I had to reorder!)   Kids were thrilled to know about more books that Raina illustrated and there is a list of people waiting to dig into this series. (I love this kind of recommendation because it builds on what they love (Raina) but also introduces them to a new author that they might fall in love with (Ann Martin). 

One of my students had fallen in love with the Zita books  (By Ben Hatke) and was more engaged when reading them than I'd seen her all year. I remembered that I had received a review copy of Mighty Jack by the same author, earlier this month and I mentioned it to her and left it at her table the next day. She loved it and passed it on to another reader in the class who she thought would love it.

The Little Shaq books went around my room early in the year but they seem to be making their rounds again. Last week, I had a conversation with a student who was reading the 2nd book. We checked and were THRILLED to find out that the 3rd book in the Little Shaq series (Star of the Week) was due out THIS WEEK!  It should arrive today and was the talk of the room.  Not only did I get to hand a book to a child but this also built some awareness for those "hot off the press" books. 

The Treehouse Books were popular in my room last year and I realized they were published about a year earlier in Australia than they are here.  Lucky for Amazon, I can get copies of the books that are not quite published in the US yet which I think is the case with The 65 Story Treehouse which should arrive this week so one of my readers can read this last book (so far) in the series.

I bought the first two books in the new Super Happy Party Bears series after Ann DiBella recommended them on Facebook. I love having new books, doing a quick share in the morning before we start our day and handing them off to the first readers! Kids always love to be the first readers of new books so this is a fun way to hand books to kids.  I need to read this one as soon as I can get it back as it seems like a fun read for 3rd graders.

We visited the Columbus Zoo on a field trip a few weeks ago. My kids aren't reading much nonfiction yet so I picked up two of Jack Hanna's Wild But True books and gave them to a few of the first kids to walk in the room the next morning. I always love to hand books to kids in the morning as they start a buzz in the classroom with lots of kids curious about the books.

My students know me well enough now to know that they don't have to love any of the books I recommend to them. They know that they own their reading and that when I recommend a book, they are not obligated to read it. But, they also know that I think about them and their individual tastes and needs as readers and that matters. Knowing my kids as readers and combining that with what I know about books is one of my most important roles.  And one of my favorites:-) 

(Our new edition of Still Learning to Read was released in August!  You can order it online at Stenhouse! You can follow the conversation using the hashtag #SLTRead or you can join us for a book chat on Facebook that began this week by joining our group here.)

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave

What's On My Wonderopolis iPad

The $500 mini grant from The National Center for Family Literacy (NCFL) and Better World Books that I was awarded (announcement post here) purchased an iPad intended for using Wonderopolis to teach nonfiction reading skills. So far, the iPad has done a little of that, but SO much more! In the spirit of Wonderopolis' goal to "engage children’s natural curiosity and transform it into a lifelong love of learning" the iPad has become a reading/writing/math/reference tool in our classroom.

This is the first in a series of posts about how I use a couple of iPads, a couple of iPods and a Kindle in my fourth grade classroom. We'll begin with What's On My Wonderopolis iPad.

Here is the first screen. Book Creator and Comic Book are composition apps. Story Builder and iSentence are primarily for my ELLs. Pages, Keynote, Explain Everything, and Whiteboard are also composition apps. I don't know how to use Dropbox, but it was on the school's iPads, so I included it. BrainPop, Discovery News, The Weather Channel, and the Kindle app are all reading/viewing apps. (Poetry Tag Time by Janet Wong and Sylvia Vardell, Poems I Wrote When No One Was Looking by Alan Katz, and What I Do When I Could Be Sleeping by Greg Pincus are the most popular books in the Kindle.) NineGaps and Long Division are math apps. More on the Reading Folder later. i-nigma is a QR code reader. And Wonderopolis, Storynory, and Animal Facts (wild-facts.com) are bookmarked on the first screen for easy access. They are also reading/viewing apps.

On the second screen, there are reference apps. Merriam-Webster, the bookmark for Merriam-Webster's Word Central website, Google Earth, Google Translate, iMovie, Videos, Motivational Poster, and Comic Life. There are folders for word games, more math apps, science apps, FlipBook, and two new ones I just got for my ELLs and most struggling spellers: Word Wizard and Montessori Crosswords. (As I'm describing these pages, they don't seem very organized, but I set them up to somewhat mirror the school's iPads, and then tucked my extras in where they seemed to make most sense.)

Page three is off limits to the students and so far they've been good about leaving the utilities and my apps alone. They'd rather follow the rules than lose iPad privileges! Along the bottom of each screen for easy access are Maps, Camera, Google, Safari, Photos and Music. What's in Music? All the songs I collected to go with BabyMouse: The Musical, the poems from Hip Hop Speaks to Children and Poetry Speaks to Children, and some Bach, Glenn Miller, LA Guitar Quartet and Playing for Change.

In the Reading folder are iBooks, Charlie Brown Christmas, Peekaboo Forest (I love Charley Harper's art!), The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, and Sports Illustrated for Kids (we get the print version for our classroom library). In iBooks we have two books by Scott J. Langteau: Sofa Boy, and The Question; Scaredy Squirrel and Scaredy Squirrel Makes a Friend; and Yellow Submarine. If you click on "Collections" at the top by the "Store" button and choose PDFs, you'll find two new Stenhouse professional books I ordered recently as eBooks -- I See What You Mean (2nd Edition) by Steve Moline and Opening Minds by Peter Johnston.

The Word Games folder holds WordSquares, WordFu, wurdle, and Chicktionary.

The Math folder has Math Bingo, Rocket Math, Slice It, MathBoard, and SET.

The Science folder has iBird Plus, pUniverse, and Star Walk.

In my next post, I'll tell you about the QR codes my students created. The QR code reader is one of the hottest apps on the iPad and the iPod Touch (the one with the camera) right now, and my students are finding QR codes everywhere!

Poetry Friday -- The Grace of the World

Vermont, 2015

The Peace of Wild Things

by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief.

(read the rest here, and take a few moments to listen to him reading the poem)

Impeachment, global warming, violence, mass extinctions, greedy corporations. But also Greta Thunberg...and art that has lasted 44,000 years...and the peace of wild things. These all give me some kind of hope for some kind of future. Plus, for the short term, we've got a Poetry Friday Roundup Schedule for January-June 2020!

For the even shorter term, head over to Liz Steinglass' blog right now for this week's Poetry Friday Roundup!

3 New Series Books!

There are some great new series books out in late 2016 or early 2017.  These are a few I recently discovered!


The Bad Guys by Aaron Blabey

I was looking forward to the new series The Bad Guys and was able to read the first book over winter break. What a fun book!  A few bad guys, led by The Big Bad Wolf decide they want to change their reputations and become Good Guys.  In this first story, we meet the characters and follow them as they rescue dogs from the local dog shelter.  The humor in this book is sometimes laugh-out-loud funny.  It is a clever concept with pretty funny lines throughout.  There is a lot of visual support so this will be a good series for transitional readers and beyond. The second book in the series is due out in February!

King and Kayla and the Case of the Missing Dog Treats by Dori Hillestad Butler
I was happy to see that the author of The Haunted Library has a new book/series out. My 3rd graders are HUGE fans of The Haunted Library series.  King and Kayla is an early mystery series--great for readers new to chapter books.  I think mysteries are hard for young readers but this one is perfect. A perfect mystery (missing dog treats), some clues and great visual supports.

A Boy Called Bat by Elana Arnold is more of a middle grade novel that is set to become a series according to a blog post I read recently.  The main character in this series is Bixby Alexander Tam (BAT). In this story, BAT's mother, a veterinarian, brings home a baby skunk. They need to take care of it until the shelter can keep him and release him back into the wild.  But BAT wants to keep the skunk as a pet.  BAT is a great new character.  He is on the autism spectrum which makes this series unique. It is a great series and I think a lot of kids will love this one. Looking forward to the next in the series already!


SaveSaveSaveSave

Poetry Month -- On the Farm

On the Farm
by David Elliott
illustrated by Holly Meade
Candlewick Press, 2008

This is a great book of poetry for the youngest readers. The short poems and bold pictures make it inviting. Likewise, the familiarity of the farm is a perfect fit.

The poems take the reader on a tour around the whole farm -- up by the house, through the barn, into the meadow and pasture, and out to the corn field. The collection ends with a couple of non-farm animals -- the turtles at the pond and the rabbits in the tall, unmowed grass. Perhaps the subtle message is that the farm is good for both domesticated and wild animals; for both cultivated and wild plants.

Here are a couple of my favorites from this collection:

THE BARN CAT

Mice
had better
think twice.


THE BULL

Knows what he likes --
cows and corn.
Knows what he is --
muscle and horn.

The Gift of Imagination

Are there still children who love to play with the box as much as they love to play with the item that came in it? I hope so!

I know for sure that there are still children who will create a dollhouse and dolls from scraps of paper, because there's one in my fourth grade class.

Here are a few books for those who have the gift of imagination, or for those who would blow the dust off theirs and bring it out to play.

Sea of Dreams
by Dennis Nolan
Roaring Brook Press, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

In this gorgeous wordless picture book, a light comes on in the sandcastle the little girl leaves to the tides on the beach. As the waters swirl around the castle, a family escapes in a boat, survives a wild ride in a storm, and eventually washes up again to settle with a family of gulls. The girl comes back to the beach and makes another sandcastle, watched over by a gull. And as the sun sets and the tides wash around the castle, a light comes on in the tower window...

A Few Blocks
by Cybèle Young
Groundwood Books, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

Ferdie doesn't want to go to school. "Not now," he said. "Maybe never..." But Ferdie's sister Viola knows how to get him moving. She holds out his coat and says, "Ferdie, look! I found your superfast cape! Quick -- put on your rocket-blaster books and we'll take off!" At this point, the black and white pencil sketch illustrations turn into full color 3-D paper sculptures...for as long as Ferdie's imagination stays engaged. Then Viola must come up with another imaginative scenario. In the end, Viola gets tired of having to be the one that provides the impetus to get Ferdie to school...but he comes through, and the two find the strength to walk the final block to school.

Inkblot: Drip, Splat, and Squish Your Way to Creativity
by Margaret Peot
Boyds Mills Press, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

With a very few supplies (don't forget the apron -- India ink is permanent) and the easy-to-follow directions in this book, you could be the first inkblot artist on your block!

Not only are the directions clear, but the chapters progress nicely from the most basic to the most complicated designs/techniques. Spattered throughout the text (yes, pun intended) are short bios of "Inkblot Heroes," including (you guessed it) Hermann Rorschach, and others such as Victor Hugo, Justinus Kerner and Stefan G. Bucher.

The chapter on the Inkblot Sketchbook journal is the one that tugs at my imagination most strongly. Surely I've got a spare blank book somewhere on my shelves...I've got the ink, and I've got an apron...

Poetry Friday Roundup -- Happy New Year!

Ahhh...the party is over,
the guests have gone,
we've cleaned up (and found the party favor/bookmark we meant to include yesterday -- thank you to Franki's teen for creating it for us),
and it's quiet again.

We got a couple of inches of fluffy snow in the night, so even the natural world is looking like a blank slate, like a new year fresh with possibilities.

Please leave us a link and a little bit about about your Poetry Friday entry in the comments. We'll be rounding up throughout the day.

Hopes, Wishes, Prayers & Resolutions

Ruth, from There is no such thing as a god-forsaken town, gives us the Kenyan National Anthem as a prayer for the country of her childhood.

Liz, a Texan at Liz in Ink, shares an Irish poem that says much about Iowa.

Becky, at Farm School, gives us a companion poem to the one above, from Liz. (Be sure to check out the sidebar graphics!)

Laura, from laurasalas, has some poetry resolutions.

Sherry, at Semicolon, has a poem for the new year, and for every new day.

MotherReader gives us a New Year wish and a New Year blessing.

Karen, of Karen Edmiston, is Burning the Old Year with Naomi Shihab Nye.

Originals

Cloudscome, at a wrung sponge, shares with us an amazing first sonnet.

Elaine, Wild Rose Reader, wrote a poem about a pencil writing a poem! (You were too subtle about tooting your own horn, Elaine! Thank you for the correction, Tricia!)

Susan, from Wizards Wireless, writes about reading aloud to her son.

Stacey, one of Two Writing Teachers, wrote her poem the day after her wedding. (Be sure to enlarge it and check out the font on the title!)

Laura, at laurasalas, had a great picture this week for 15 Words or Less Poems. Go add one!

Jone, of MsMac and DeoWriter, has two frosty haiku for us today.

Children and Parents

Susan T., from Chicken Spaghetti, has a poem and a meditation on the swiftness of childhood.

Christine, at the simple and the ordinary, has another poem about childhood.

HipWriterMama is wondering how children turn out the way they do.

Sheila, at Greenridge Chronicles, shares a mother and child poem that's also about the river and the sea.

Jenny, from Little Acorns Treehouse, is *travelling* to Pennsylvania with her children this week.

Sarah, at The Reading Zone, used Dylan Thomas for her first Poetry Friday with her students.

Poets and Poetry

Jill, from The Well-Read Child, joins us for the first time for Poetry Friday! Welcome, Jill! We promise not to make any assumptions about you based on where you're from!

Sara, at Read, Write, Believe, savors poetry. How about you? Do you gobble, or savor?

Marci, at World of Words, features a Cybils Nominee.

Tricia, from The Miss Rumpius Effect, keeps us thinking about math with three poems from Sandburg.

Jules, at 7-Imp, shares a favorite from Deborah Keenan, and a bonus extra at the bottom of her post.

Mitali, at Mitali's Fire Escape, ponders her newfound Readergirlz Diva fame.

Little Willow shares some fragments of How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird, newly translated and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein.

Gregory K., at GottaBook, offers us an invitation to fib!

Freed from the poetry nominations panel for the Cybils, Kelly Fineman lists her top ten poetry books for 2007.

Sylvia also has a list of her top poetry books of 2007.

Annamaria, at Books Together, shares lots of gargoyle-y goodness, along with a gargoyle poem.

The Cole Mine is in with a poem by Maya Angelou.

Winter

Ahoy, S/V Mari-Hal-O-Jen, and welcome to your first Poetry Friday! Hopefully, Key West will warm up very soon!

RM1(SS) (ret), The Old Coot, shares with us The Man from Snowy River by Banjo Paterson.

writer2b, at Findings, brings us Frost's The Road Not Taken, and some personal connections to that poem.

Elaine, at Blue Rose Girls, is relearning winter, like the poet in her poem.

TadMack, from Finding Wonderland, is enjoying the dark, the solitude, and her tea.

Passionately Curious, a second grade teacher, has a snow poem for today.

Suzanne, at Adventures in Daily Living, has a poem about a cat who tracks in snow.

Food

Jama, from jama rattigan's alphabet soup, has quite a bubbly pot on the stove for us!



Here's a New Year wish for you and for our world, from The Dixie Chicks' song, "I Hope":

There must be a way to change what's going on
No, I don't have all the answers, but
I hope
For more love, more joy and laughter
I hope
you'll have more than you'll ever need
I hope
There'll be more happy ever afters
I hope
We can all live more fearlessly
And we can lose all the pain and misery
I hope, I hope

And a reminder to appreciate every moment of this beautiful life you've been given, from Kenny Chesney's song, "Don't Blink":

Best start putting first things first
Cause when your hourglass runs out of sand
You can't flip it over and start again
Take every breathe God gives you for what it's worth

Don't Blink
Just like that you're six years old and you take a nap
And you wake up and you're twenty-five
And your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don't blink
You just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads
Next thing you know your "better half"
Of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink






Some Poetry Friday Trivia from 2007:
In May this year, Poetry Friday got it's official button. Suzanne is kind enough to provide the code for using the button as a link to the week's roundup, Susan has a list of links to all the Poetry Fridays from 2006 and 2007, and Susan T. wrote an article about Poetry Friday for the Poetry Foundation.

My To-Read List

It is one of those times of the year where my Next Read stack is getting way too big. I just can't decide what to read next. I have pretty much set aside my adult novels--the ones I was hoping to finish this summer. And I am trying to read some new children's books. But even with that goal, there are many OLD children's books that I need to catch up on. I haven't read MISS SPITFIRE or any books in the Percy Jackson series or the Warrior series. I am not sure how to catch up. I guess it is something you never do as a reader--catch up on all the books you are dying to read. I worry about students who don't have a next read stack--those kids who have no idea what to read next. I have trouble prioritizing my Next Read Stack but I ALWAYS have several piles of books waiting to be read.

As of today, here is what I am hoping to read soon:

I picked up a copy of OPERATION YES by Sarah Lewis Holmes at the Book Fair. I read the first chapter aloud to several classes and I am totally hooked. I can already see why Mary Lee added Miss Loupe to our Cool Teachers list. I am thinking that this book would make a great read aloud for 5thish grade.


ICE by Sarah Beth Durst--I received a review copy of this book and am SOOO excited about it. I LOVE this author and have loved her books (INTO THE WILD and OUT OF THE WILD) I so love what Sarah Beth Durst does with fairy tales. I want to read this one when I have time to totally lose myself in it.

THE STORM IN THE BARN by Matt Phelan
I am not a great reader of Graphic Novels but am very excited about this one. I have heard amazing things about it and have been waiting for it to be released. I love Matt Phalen--decided he was on my favorites list when I read WHERE I LIVE. I also LOVED his snowflake that was part of Robert's Snow. I am excited that he has a new book out and that it is a graphic novel.

And I am thrilled that Katherine Paterson has a new book out. THE DAY OF THE PELICAN looks as wonderful as all of her books. She has been one of my favorites for as long as I can remember.

I visited Cover to Cover yesterday and was reminded at how BUSY this time of year is for new books. It is always exciting when there is lots of time to read. This is the time of year that I have the most trouble prioritizing my Next Read Stack. The time of year that the pile gets bigger and bigger and bigger..BUT, I do love my pile!

Still Learning to Read: Some Favorite Resources for Nonfiction Reading

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

It seems like this time of year, my kids are ready for longer, more in-depth nonfiction than they were early in the school year. They are moving beyond books with isolated facts to picture book biographies, etc. I think 3rd and 4th grades are a little tricky for nonfiction as we want them to grow as nonfiction readers but much nonfiction is a little too easy or too hard for this age. As my students are building stamina as nonfiction readers, I want them to have access with text that are a little longer and go more in-depth. I love the Scientists in the Field series but those are a bit much for most 3rd and 4th graders. So I've been looking for something in between what they have been reading and books like Scientists in the Field.

I just discovered a great new series that seems perfect for this age. I have loved Suzi Eszterhas's books for years and her Eye on the Wild Series is perfect for 3rd graders. I recently discovered a new series she has called "Wildlife Rescue Series". I read Koala Hospital recently and can't wait to hand it off to some kids who are interested in animal rescue. These books seem perfect for kids ready to move to more in-depth nonfiction. They are organized in a way that each 2-page spread gives information on one part of the topic. The language is perfect for this age. There are of course amazing photos that draw readers in. And the books are packed with information around the topic. I am anxious to get the other 2 in this series and I certainly hope she is writing more!

I also discovered that Suzi Eszterhas's website has grown and has many great resources for kids and teachers. Her blog is filled with great posts about animal rescue and more. I also discovered that you can also read samples of the work Suzi Eszterhas does for magazines such as Ranger Rick, National Geographic Kids and more. This is a great resource of informational text.

I also discovered a great video about Suzi Eszterhas on Ranger Rick's website.

I continue to be on the lookout for great nonfiction for kids--books, magazines, videos are all important to our readers. Some other great resources for great nonfiction for kids who are ready for more sophisticated nonfiction are listed below:

Nonfiction Picture Book 10 for 10

If you do not know the fabulous annual Picture Book 10 for 10 event created by Cathy Mere and Mandy Robek, visit their Google Plus site now. Each February, Cathy and Mandy ask readers to share 10 nonfiction books they love. Many are organized into categories. This is a great resource for finding great new nonfiction for your students. (And as Cathy reminds us, turn off your One-Click Amazon button before you visit!)

Highlights Magazine

Mary Lee Hahn shared with me the amazing resource that Highlights Magazine is. Each issue has a few nonfiction articles that are the perfect length for intermediate readers.

Wonderopolis

Wonderopolis continues to be one of my favorite sites for nonfiction reading for intermediate readers.

Zooborns

Zooborns is a favorite site in our classroom. I am noticing that about mid-year, kids are spending as much time with the text as they are with the adorable photographs. This site is engaging and has such interesting information on baby animals. I also love that it can be searched in various ways (by zoo or by animal).

Melissa Stewart's Website

Melissa Stewart's website is always one of my go-to sites for nonfiction. The number of nonfiction books Melissa Stewart has written is amazing and her blog is a great additional resource. Information into her writing process as well as videos make this one of my faves. Spend some time on her blog --it is a great resource for teachers and has great posts for students.

Livbits

If you don't know Livbits, her videos. Olivia is a 9 year old who packs a lot of information into a short video.

Friends With Fins

Friends with Fins is another video site that has great informational videos about ocean conservation. I love the variety of formats Jaclyn uses to share information with viewers.

Jess Keating

Jess Keating is another favorite author for this age. Her book Pink is a Blobfish and upcoming book What Makes a Monster are both highly engaging nonfiction titles for readers in grade 3-6! Jess also has a video series Animals for Smart People which are short videos packed with information.

SaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSaveSave