Much Ado About Nothing

There's a summer tradition in Columbus -- Actors' Theater performs three different plays throughout the summer in German Village's Schiller Park...for FREE (donations are encouraged). We saw Treasure Island earlier in the summer, and got a wonderful dose of Shakespeare last night with Much Ado About Nothing, performed in the round.

We started out sitting back there by the light/sound table, thinking we were on enough of a hill that we'd be able to see. Our picnic dinner from Whole Foods was spread and we were enjoying curried turkey salad and cranberry tuna salad (and looking forward to the Laceys), when a hoard of chickie-booms planted their chairs in front of us, effectively blocking the view. It was then that we decided to take the usher up on a seat on the stage.

This was our new view!  Much better!

A little bit of truth in advertising about me and The Bard. I don't go to Shakespeare Camp, like Sara Lewis Holmes does. I don't spend all of June brushing you up on your Shakespeare, like Kelly Fineman does. (Nor has The Old Spice Guy made a video response to any of my tweets, like he did for Kelly...)

In fact, on the way home from the play, I wondered aloud how it's possible that I can't understand half of the lines in Shakespeare, and yet I can perfectly follow what's going on in the story?!?! (It does get easier in the second half. It's like your ear gets tuned to Shakespearean English.)

I didn't get any pictures from the first half of the play, because I hadn't figured out how to silence my new camera, and what with sitting at the edge of the stage, I couldn't have all that beeping and booping. 

Needless to say, Don John was evil and meddling, Beatrice was sharp-witted and strong-willed, Benedick was so set against marriage that even the dullest audience member had to know he'd be hooked by the end of the play, and Hero was sweet and demure and so pure that when Claudio spurns her at the altar...

...you want to get up there on the stage and smack him upside the head!

Here's when Benedick and Beatrice fall in love...but only because they each have been tricked into believing that the other is in love with them.

Now the "cops" have captured the meddlers that Don John hired to convince Claudio that Hero was not a pure woman. This little guy played Boy as well as "cop." In the program, his bio tells that this play "marks his professional debut, though he has appeared in a number of church Christmas pageants and school plays.  Favorite roles include the title character in the Gingerbread Man, 2nd Billy Goat Gruff and 3rd Angel From the Left. When not onstage he enjoys fried chicken, the Wii game system, and Cub Scouting. He begins fourth grade in the fall." (could he be in my room, please?!?)

This is the part when Dogberry (little guy's dad in real life) tries so hard to convince everyone that it should be written in the record that he's been called an ass. 

And then all the tangles get untangled and all the right people get married and the evil meddler is dispatched, the end.

But not quite the end. On the drive home, I checked to see if Kindle has Much Ado About Nothing. For less than a dollar, I downloaded it wirelessly to my iPhone Kindle (there's an app for that), and now I'll be able to go back and find my favorite lines and parts while they are fresh in my mind.

Poetry Friday -- Visual Verse

Last week, when I had a chance to spend the day in Denver visiting friends, Carol and I browsed the children's book section of Tattered Cover pointing to books we'd read, heard about, wanted to read, and loved dearly. Both of us were trying hard not to spend too much money, and the talk must have satisfied some kind of need, because we each only bought one book. Carol got Out of My Mind and I bought a 2005 Ed Young book that I had somehow missed.

The minute I opened Beyond the Great Mountains, I knew I had to buy it. You've made flip books with your students, haven't you? Check this out inside:

When the pages lay flat, you can read the poem -- each line is on the edge of the page. Open a page and you find the illustration and the Chinese characters (ancient and modern) that echo the image.

This book could be a mentor text for writing about a beloved place or person, or even about oneself. Research findings might be written poetically and illustrated symbolically. So much to love about this book!

Here is an excerpt from the Author's Note:

"Once, I asked a Western artist to use Western symbols to describe his concept of the word leisure. He immediately chose to describe it with a person floating on his back in water. The Chinese mind chooses to be less literal--for instance, one can place a moon between two panels of a doorway to show a state of mind by which one not only notices but also admines the quiet beauty of a moonbeam peeking in through that sliver. I think of this as visual verse. Rather than showing a particular instance of the idea, it reminds us that ideas are bigger than a single instance."

You can find a conversation with Ed Young at Chronicle Books.

The Poetry Friday roundup is at Irene Latham's blog, Live. Love. Explore!
Along with a Happy Poetry Friday, I'll make the name of her blog my wish for you today!

Sassy

Sassy: The Birthday Storm
by Sharon Draper
Scholastic, 2009
review copy purchased for my classroom

Sassy: The Silver Secret
by Sharon Draper
Scholastic, 2010

review copy purchased for my classroom

I'm thinking about starting the year in my fourth grade classroom with a unit of study on series books, so I'm gathering up a couple of books from a lot of new series this summer.

Franki reviewed the first book in the series, Sassy: Little Sister is NOT My Name!  I love Sassy for many of the same reasons: she's a spunky girl with a personality all her own. She's got this great "Sassy sack" that her grandmother made for her -- a purple, silver and magenta bag with lots of pockets and compartments that holds everything Sassy needs -- and it's as much a character in the books as Sassy is!

In The Birthday Storm, Sassy and her family go to Florida to visit their grandmother for her birthday. A hurricane changes all the birthday plans and makes it necessary for the family to help save a nest of sea turtle eggs on the beach.

In The Silver Secret, Sassy has to find her own way to shine in the fourth grade program because she has a terrible singing voice! She makes a fabulous stage manager and she even has a chance to let her "silver secret" -- her piccolo playing -- out of the bag to save the performance when one of the singers gets sick.

Let's Help Rebuild Her!

Andrea Ross of Just One More Book was diagnosed with breast cancer on October 6, 2009.  On October 3, 2010 she will run in Canada's version of The Race For the Cure.

In 8 days, she's raised over $2000. Let's give her a boost and see if we can get that number over $5000. It won't make up for all she's been through this year, but she and her family will know that there are bunches of Kidlitosphere friends who are throwing confetti for her first year and cheering her on as she begins her "me-ternity."

You can read Andrea's story here.
Go here to help her raise money for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

Bogus

Bogus
by Karla Oceanak
illustrated by Kendra Spanjer
Bailiwick Press, 2010
review copy provided by the publisher

Aldo Zelnick is back with his second sketchbook filled with cartoons, rock-candy words starting with B (amusing illustrated glossary in the back of the book), and a mystery that's worth $1000 to solve: what happened to the ring he thought was bogus, but which has turned out to be quite valuable?

In Artsy-Fartsy, the first book of this alphabetic "comic novel" series (I reviewed it here), we met Aldo, his family and his friends. We found out how Aldo came to be writing and drawing in his sketchbook, and we fell in love with him, even though he's a little bit chubby, a little bit lazy, and he'd rather play video games than do anything else...except eat!

In Bogus, Aldo (somewhat reluctantly and very realistically) learns to put the needs of others before his desire for a giant flat screen TV. In book three, Cahoots, (out later this year) it sounds like Aldo is up for some more character-building when he has to spend time on his cousins' farm with no technology and lots of chores!

My fourth graders last year LOVED Artsy-Fartsy and were disappointed that Bogus would come out after they'd left my class. This new group is going to have two books in the series to devour and a third to look forward to by the end of the year!

Just for fun, you can follow Aldo Zelnick on Twitter: @AldoZelnick.
You can also check out his website: AldoZelnick.com.

2 New Games for the Library

I have been building our board game collection in the library over the last few years. Buffy Hamilton's recent mention of adding new games to her library this year inspired a quick shopping trip! Her post reminded me that I wanted to add some new games to our library too and I was near one of my favorite local toy stores.

When I think about my big goal for the K-5 library, I want kids to see it as a place for learning, thinking, exploring, discovering and creating. I want them to know that there are lots of tools for these things and that the library has a variety of tools to support the different learning they might do. Books, laptops, Legos, puppets, board games, cameras, magazines, and ipods are some of the tools available to kids in the library. I want them to think about which tool will support their learning and have access to a huge variety. I want them to see the library as a place that will support them with whatever tool it might be that they need and I try to fill the library with the best learning tools for elementary students.

In terms of games, some of the popular games that we have in the library are BANANAGRAMS, SCRAMBLED STATES, SET, and COUNTDOWN. Each of the games we have in the library supports learning in a different way. Some are strategy games, others connect to books. Some connect to specific learning that K-5 students do. Along with more strategy games (which I believe you can never have enough of!), I hope to pick up the new DON'T LET THE PIGEON DRIVE THE BUS board game as well as a FANCY NANCY board game for the younger kids. Some of the fourth graders asked about learning to play GO this year and having GO Tournaments, after reading HIKARU NO GO.

I picked up two new games that I am excited about today. The first is MULTIPLAYER PENTAGO. We have two of the regular (2 player) PENTAGO games in the library and they are a huge hit. If you don't know Pentago, it is a great visual strategy game for two players. Kids of all ages loved this game and after the first few days, I never won a game! This new 2010 version, is the same game but is made for more than 2 players. The board is colorful and up to 4 players can play this one. The 2 Pentago games were almost always in use so I am sure the kids will be excited about the new challenges and fun that this one provides. I also just discovered that you can play Pentago online--with a friend or against the computer. That will be another way kids can enjoy this great strategy game!

I also picked up SQUARE UP. It looked like a good game and I trust the Parents' Choice Award when it is on a game. This is a pattern/puzzle game in which two players race to slide cubes in order to match a given pattern. Although this is designed to be played with two players, it looks like there are ways for individuals to play and learn.

I also like to have some puzzles in the library. Most are either strategy puzzles or puzzles that go with books. I think puzzles encourage collaborative work in a way that other tools don't. When I saw the CRAZY CHEESE MATCHING PUZZLE, I thought it would be a great thing to put on a table during Student/Parent Walk-Through Day. I love to put things out that encourage parents and children to explore together. I think families could have fun with this one.

I don't have a huge budget for games but I do want to add a few more quality games this year. I would love to hear what other librarians are putting in their libraries in terms of games.

IN PICTURES AND IN WORDS: An Interview with Katie Wood Ray

If you have not had a chance to read Katie Wood Ray's new book, IN PICTURES AND IN WORDS: TEACHING THE QUALITIES OF ILLUSTRATION THROUGH ILLUSTRATION STUDY, it is a must read. As always, Katie has given us new things to think about when it comes to our writing classrooms. Her message is always about student ownership, teaching with intention and giving students the tools they need to be decision-makers in their writing.

I have been thinking a lot about what writing is today. There are so many ways to communicate messages. I worry that when we talk about 21st Century Literacy, we think that the inclusion of technology tools is the goal. Really, I think it is bigger than that. I think it is about expanding our definitions of writing to composing, but in a way that includes what we know about the process of creating. Two people who have helped me think through this are Bud the Teacher and Kevin at Kevin's Meandering Mind. I think we are just beginning to think about what this all means for young children. How can we expand the possibilities for our students while using what we know about early literacy? I think what Katie has done in this book is brilliant. When I think of the talk around visual literacy and composing, Katie has nailed this idea for young children. As always, Katie's work is about helping kids be intentional about their work, and sharing possibilities with children so that they can make wise decisions about whatever it is they are writing/drawing/creating. I was struck as I read this because I see the transfer of conversations with our youngest writers being very powerful. What they can learn through illustration study will help them create meaningful pieces no matter what the tools or format. To me, that's the key.

I had a chance to interview Katie about her new work. Her insights are brilliant, as always!

Franki: Your focus in all of your writing on helping students be intentional is one of my favorite things about your work. Students as decision-makers is key and I love the focus on illustrations for this one. Do you see illustration study as a separate unit of study or something that would be part of every piece throughout the school year?

Katie: Both. It certainly can stand alone as its own unit of study - we've studied it in Lisa Cleaveland's classes for years as its own study. But what happens is, after that initial study, talking about the illustrator's decision making becomes just a natural part of how books are studied in writing workshop, and it becomes a part of every future study as well.

Franki: How did you get interested in illustration study?

Katie: These last few years, spending so much time conferring with kindergarten and first grade writers, I just realized how much thinking there is that goes into the composition of a picture - especially for some children. I would marvel at it, really. And then more and more I began to think about what it would mean to get behind that thinking, name it and support it, and help them engage in it even more deeply. The desire to do that led me to study illustrations much more carefully, much as I did when I was first learning about the written craft of language. The more I studied illustrations, the better able I was to help children imagine new possibilities in their composition work around pictures.

Franki: How do you see illustration study supporting all students as writers?

Katie: When teachers teach into the composition aspect of children's illustration work, children are gaining valuable experience with all the processes of composing - planning, drafting, revising, editing. To experience this kind of compositional thinking in a parallel context no doubt supports the same kind of thinking in a different context - with written text. Also, as I try to make the case in the second half of the book, children can be introduced to many key qualities of good writing in the context of illustration study.

Franki: What have you found about students that struggle with writing? How does illustration study support them?

Katie: For many of them, it gives them a way to more fully express their meaning (as it does with all writers), and this can be very liberating for them. There is this idea that language is something you can either get right or wrong, and most children and adults don't have this same idea about illustrating, so this is what is so freeing about it. Of course, some children don't feel very confident as illustrators either, and in this case, they have to be supported to celebrate and understand the role of approximation in learning both illustrating and writing.

Franki: You brilliantly mention 21st Century literacies early in the book. Explain how you see illustration study as fitting into the bigger goals of 21st Century Literacy.

Katie: I believe that if the teaching focus is on composing - making meaning with whatever tools you have at your disposal (written text being just one of those tools) - we do a much better job of preparing children to make meaning in a world where tools and means for communication will likely be changing throughout their lives, as they have throughout ours. It's all about composing, really, and illustration study is just another avenue for teaching into this valuable thinking process.

Franki: How do you think a study like this is different for young children (K/1) than it is for older children (2nd/3rd)?

Katie: I just think it would get more and more sophisticated as children move along in their development, much as a writing study grows and gets more sophisticated with children over time. For example, Kindergartners and 3rd graders might both be studying how to write engaging informational text, but the study of it and the products students produce will be more sophisticated the further along in their development children progress. I also believe that as children develop and move through school, illustration study can eventually move out of picture books and into other kinds of texts in the world that are a mix of the visual and the verbal - magazines, newspapers, websites, etc.

Franki: You include 40+ Techniques Worth Teaching in the book. Can you talk about these - why you think they are important, how you think teachers might use them, etc.?

Katie: They're important because in naming them, they will help people see so much more in illustrations than they might currently see, because once you start noticing, you can't help but notice more and more. And of course, every illustration decision you can name and articulate its use becomes a meaning-making possibility you might offer a child. In teaching, I'm a strong believer that knowledge is power, and this section was written to empower teachers. By naming all these techniques, I hope I created a valuable resource for teachers to grow their own knowledge base about the decisions illustrators make when they compose with pictures. I also tried to show how these decisions have very direct parallels to the decisions writers make when they compose.

Franki: I love the section on design and layout. Often we are quick about that piece of writing when working with kids. Why do you think that is an important part of the whole process - one worthy of time and intention?

Katie: Design is everything in the world of texts these days. We know that readers respond not just to the meaning of texts, but also to the look of them. Just think about how many have so totally designed what their email messages will look like - something as simple as that. Unfortunately I'm not one of those people (mine are kind of blah), but I love when I get a message that has nice color and a pleasant font, and a little meaningful symbol or saying tagged to it. Layout and design are just so critical.

To read more about Katie's book,

Patrick Allen at All-en-A-Day's Work has a great interview with Katie.

A book review is up at Enjoy and Embrace Learning

Katie will be presenting on her new work at NCTE's Annual Convention in Orlando in November.

Poetry Friday -- What We Need

What do you need every day? Right now I'm wishing for faster, stronger Internet so that I can do the very visual, image-based Poetry Friday post I had planned. Grrr... Next week, I guess.

In the mean time, what do I need every day? A cup of tea. Moments of quiet. Classical music. Thankfulness, friendship, love, and fresh air. An apple whenever possible, but bing cherries or blueberries will suffice when in season. And of course, books.

What We Need

by David Budbill

The Emperor,
his bullies
and henchmen
terrorize the world
every day,

which is why
every day

we need

(Great cliffhanger, eh? You'll have to click here to find out what Budbill says we need! I think you'll agree...)

The Poetry Friday Roundup is at Language, Literacy, Love this week.

Reading Brings the World to Our Doorstep

Bamboo People
by Mitali Perkins

Charlesbridge Publishing, 2010

review copy provided by the publisher

It's one thing to read about the current conflict in Myrnmar (formerly Burma) in the news, but it's another when the world comes to life through the characters in the book you're reading. If middle school students could read this book at the same time they are studying some of the historic conflicts in US history -- the Civil Rights Movement and race issues, the removal of native peoples to reservations -- they might better understand the warning about history repeating itself.

Chiko, son of a doctor, is hoping to become a teacher. When he answers an ad for a teaching job, he is conscripted in the Burmese army. Chiko's story is contrasted with that of Tu Reh, one of the ethnic minorities on the other side in the conflict. Their stories intersect. Choices must be made. Both boys grow in understanding and compassion.



Boys Without Names

by Kashmira Sheth

Balzer + Bray (HarperCollins), 2010

review copy provided by the publisher

Middle schoolers studying migrant labor or homeless issues in the US could read this book and expand their study to include child labor and third world sweatshop industries.

Gopal's family moves from rural India to Mumbai to escape debt. They become separated from his father and Gopal wants to try to earn money for their family. He meets someone who promises him a factory job, but who drugs and kidnaps him to work in an attic sweatshop with 5 other boys making beaded frames. Through storytelling, the boys learn to trust one another enough to escape from their cruel boss.

Do You Know Adora Svitak?

I had the opportunity to hear and to meet Adora Svitak at BLC10 last week. (She is pictured here with Meredith Melragon.) Adora is a 12 year-old girl, committed to making sure kids have the voice they deserve. I think as teachers, Adora is someone we need to know. Her work and message are important. Adora spoke in Ohio this winter but I was unable to hear her talk. I did get to watch her TED Talk. WHAT ADULTS CAN LEARN FROM KIDS and I so loved that I got to hear her in person. Adora gave the closing keynote on the first day of BLC10 and her message was powerful. She is working to help everyone, especially educators, see the need for students as real leaders. She began her talk by asking us what we think of when we think of leaders. She then went on to show us the definition of leadership and reminded us that nowhere in the definition does it say that leaders need to be adults. Instead, leadership is the ability to guide, direct and influence people. She continued with her beliefs about why kids can and do make wonderful leaders. She told us about FREE THE CHILDREN, KIDS VS GLOBAL WARMING ALEX'S LEMONADE STAND, and the DAYFINDER app created by a 15 year old.

Adora also told us about an exciting TEDx conference that will be held on September 18--TEDx REDMOND: Power to the Students . Adora is hosting this conference and it sounds amazing. Take some time to learn about the speakers at TEDx Redmond. I plan to spend some time today learning about these amazing people. This talk resonated for me because if you saw my slides from my Literacies for All Session, you know that one of the things I am most excited about these days is the voice that children have and the difference they make in the world. I believe this time in the world is amazing because kids have the tools to be given the global voice they deserve. They are finding passions and doing things that matter. It is something I believe strongly in and something I am committed to. I don't think it is enough to have kids collect pennies or winter coats for a cause teachers determine matters. I agree completely with Adora when she asks us to question the quote, "Children are the leaders of tomorrow." She asks, "Why shouldn't children be leaders today?"

Adora is also a writer. She has published several books and articles. She wants kids to love reading and writing and has created pieces to help do that. I picked up DANCING FINGERS: SELECTED POEMS AND WRITING INSPIRATIONS FROM TWO SISTERS, a book that she wrote with her sister, Adrianna. The introduction to the book begins with these words, "Adora and Adrianna Svitak believe that age should not be a limiting factor when it comes to expressing creativity and imagination through writing and music." This is a book of poetry--but it is more than an anthology. The book is filled with poems written by Adora and Adrianna, but it is also an inspirational book for writers. The book is divided into sections such as Animal Poems, Poems about the wild, Poems inspired by olden times and more. Each section has inviting readers to try different things in their writing. Then the sisters share poems of their own. An amazing book packed with great writing and great inspiration. I am looking excited about adding this book to our school library. Adora also has a book called FLYING FINGERS: MASTER THE TOOLS OF LEARNING THROUGH THE JOY OF WRITING when she was seven.

I feel honored to have heard Adora speak, to have met her in person, and to know more about her work.