Souvenirs From Belgium

I brought you chocolates from Belgium!

Oops! I ate them all before we left Europe!

Oh, well, push back from your computer so you don't drool on the keyboard, and enjoy vicariously:

(Click on the mosaic and/or on each image to enlarge. You can also visit these pictures on Flickr.)

THE ONE AND ONLY STUEY LEWIS by Jane Schoenberg

I am so excited to have discovered THE ONE AND ONLY STUEY LEWIS by Jane Schoenberg. It looks like this is going to be a new series that will be perfect for transitional readers!

Stuey Lewis is a 2nd grader. He has an older brother named Anthony, a best friend named Will, and a wonderful teacher named Ginger/Ms. Curtis.  Each of the 4 chapters in this book is a story about Stuey, and he is a pretty funny guy. In the first chapter, Stuey starts 2nd grade and is very worried that he is not yet a great reader.  In the second chapter, Stuey, plans his annual Halloween Caper, which even his big brother, Anthony, is in on (it is a surprise:-). In the third chapter, Stuey starts to play on a soccer team. And, in the fourth chapter, the school year ends.

The four chapters follow the sequence of the school year but each also stands alone. I love this for transitional readers.  Such a great comprehension support when each chapter stands alone. There are also a few key characters throughout the book that readers will come to know more and more with each chapter.  I LOVED this book and think it is a great addition to the books out there for this age level. I can't wait for more stories about Stuey Lewis to come out. (The author's website indicates that the next Stuey Lewis book is due out this spring and will focus on Stuey Lewis's third grade year:-) I am hoping that this author writes lots of books about Stuey's adventures in 2nd and 3rd grades. He is a great new character!

17th European Conference on Reading, Mons Belgium

I've attended conferences. I've presented at conferences. (I've even helped to plan conferences.) So at the same time that there was nothing new about attending and presenting at the 17th European Conference on Reading in Mons, Belgium, it was like no conference I've ever been involved with!

I met teachers (mostly professors) from Germany, Iceland, Scotland, Russia, Finland, Taiwan...Pennsylvania, and Kansas.

The opening session was given in French, with simultaneous translation (earphones) in English. I felt like I was at the United Nations!

I attended some sessions based on interest (great session on teaching inference to deepen reading comprehension given by 3 presenters from...Kent State University in Ohio!), and I attended other sessions to compare and contrast information (for example, sessions dealing with using children's books given by presenters from Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan; sessions on digital literacy given by presenters from the US and from Canada, Brazil, and Australia).

The session I attended that best captures the flavor of the conference was one I chose based on interest in the topic, but which was a complete stretch in terms of the language/cultural divide: "The pedagogy of reading: a cross-curricular and multicultural approach" chaired by Tatiana Galaktionova of Russia, and presented by Liliya Mishkina, Svetlana Savvina, and Irina Kozlova of Russia. At the beginning of the session, they asked how many English speakers were in the audience, and as there were a handful of us, they presented in both Russian and English.

The first part of the session was about using a "Reader's Portfolio" as the content for Computer Studies lessons -- teaching about word processing by having students complete a reading passport and reading biography; learning about spreadsheets and graphing while keeping track of books read; creating pages for reading response and reading logs. The next part of the session described an approach that used children's literature as a way to encourage students to engage more deeply in reading. Finally, the third presenter told about a cross-curricular study that was based on Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tales.

At the end of the session, the presenters called for questions. Here's a move I'll try the next time I present -- when there were no questions, they were prepared with questions for the audience! The first presenter asked what else we would suggest be included in a digital reader's portfolio. I suggested an audio or video clip to capture the reader's fluency at several different times in the school year. Well, I guess that having an English-speaker who not only understood their presentation, but was willing to interact with pertinent ideas made some kind of impression -- when the next two presenters asked their questions, they addressed them directly to me! What are some examples of children's literature used in the classrooms in the US? Quick -- explain a classroom filled with 500-1000 children's books and a literature-based reading workshop in a soundbite that translates to Russian!! I fared better on the last question. When asked about cross-curricular studies in the US, I explained that content standards and testing have made those kind of interdisciplinary studies hard/impossible in many places in the US (mumbles of agreement sounded from around the room).

After the session, I stepped across the aisle to ask a Russian participant a question about the role of choice in Russian reading classes. (From the presentations, choice seemed to be limited to choice from a list, or no choice at all.) She understood my question, but didn't have enough English vocabulary to answer it, so while she went off to get a translator to help, I chatted with two teachers from Finland about choice, reading workshop model, and standards.

Big take-away from this session and from the conference: Teachers around the world are more alike than they are different. Also, even if we don't realize it, we are involved in a global conversation about

• diversity -- how do we teach TO differences as resources
• literacy -- critical, multilingual
• literature -- comprehension, for social understanding, for cultural understanding
• teaching in a Digital Age -- digital literacy balanced with text-based literacy, teaching our students (as much as possible) using the digital tools with which they are familiar/comfortable

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) definition of literacy

2 GREAT NEW ABC BOOKS

I love unique ABC books and I recently found two that I can't wait to share with kids!

CAVEMAN ABC STORY by Janee Trasler is a fun story about a Caveman and his pet(s). It begins with the letter A, when the Caveman and his pet Squirrel find an "ACORN". But the word on the 2nd page is "BEAR" and you know what that means. The author takes us through the letters of the alphabet, using one word for each letter, to tell us a story of the caveman.  First of all, this is a fun, unique ABC book in that it tells a complete story with only one word per letter/page. 

APPLE PIE ABC was similar in format, but relied on phrases rather than single words to tell the story.  (It would be fun to pair these two.) Not only is CAVEMAN ABC STORY a fun concept, but the illustrations are colorful and fun. This is definitely a book that kids will want to pick up.  And it is a great book for new readers--it will support picture reading, word work strategies, storytelling and more.  A MUST HAVE, I think:-)

The other new ABC book I love is IF ROCKS COULD SING: A DISCOVERED ALPHABET by Leslie McGuirk (I learned about this one from Bill at Literate Lives.)  Author, Leslie McGuirk began a collection of rocks years ago when she noticed rocks that looked like letters. This book showcases her collection in Alphabet Book format. Not only has Leslie McGuirk found rocks that look like every letter of the alphabet, but she's also found rocks that look like objects that begin with each letter of the alphabet. So, on the "T is for Toast" page, we get to see the rock that is shaped like the letter T as well as the rock shaped like toast (which is displayed on a plate with a knife and butter:-).  This is an amazing book once you understand that these are real rocks that the author found. This would be a fun one for beginning readers. I can also see it as a tie-in to any landforms/erosion/weather type of unit that teachers do in Science--how did these rocks become these shapes?

Poetry Friday -- Time Does Not Stand Still

TIME DOES NOT STAND STILL

It's been said before
(a million-million times)
but it bears repeating:
time is a river that does not
(cannot)
stand still and wait for me.

--I remember the exact moment I learned to float on my back in the cold blue water of the swimming pool. I lay there looking up at the cloudless sky, sun on my face, roar of water in my ears. Floating. I floated until someone came and stood me up and told me that swimming lessons were over.--

Today I will try floating
on the river of time
instead of thrashing my arms and legs against the never ending current,
instead of racing to beat it to some place where no finish line exists.


© Mary Lee Hahn, 2011




It's good to be back, after two weeks in Belgium. Simultaneously, it's hard to be back, after two weeks in Belgium.

It's impossible not to think about time when you're in a place where the 1800's are recent history. The image above is the remaining fragment of the original city wall of Brussels. The river of time has clearly moved on and stranded it there in the midst of modern life.

It's impossible not to think about time when the new school year wakes you up and leaves you sleepless in the cricket-dark of the early morning.

Karen is hosting today's Poetry Friday round up at Karen Edmisten: The Blog With The Shockingly Clever Title. (I love writing that!) Many thanks to Kate and Libby for rounding up my scheduled PF posts the past two weeks while I was away!

Tugg and Teeny: Jungle Surprises

Tugg and Teeny: Jungle Surprises
by J. Patrick Lewis
illustrated by Christopher Denise
Sleeping Bear Press, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher

I love this series (and I tell why here)!

The first first book had three stories that were all arts-themed. The second book in the series has three mysteries. In the first story, the friends solve the mystery of Teeny's missing lucky writing hat. In the second, the animals figure out how to tell Zig and Zag (the zebras) apart. (Look closely in the last illustration for the clue you need!) Finally, the pair figures out what kind of a bird has "polka dot wings and a wiggly tail."

This is a great series for beginning chapter book readers.

10 for 10 -- Folk and Fairy Tale Variants

First of all, can I just say how much I love the number TEN?
I love it almost as much as I love the magical numbers THREE and SEVEN!!

SOOOoooo...for this year's 10 for 10 Picture Books event at Reflect & Refine and Enjoy and Embrace Learning, I have chosen 10 Favorite Folk and Fairy Tale Variants -- TEN books that might feature the magical numbers of THREE or SEVEN (3+7 does = 10, after all!!).

These first two are

Yummy: Eight Favorite Fairy Tales by Lucy Cousins
This one's the anchor for the set -- 8 familiar fairy tales, told in short form, with big, bold illustrations. Good for reference, good for students who've gotten to 4th grade without knowing some basic fairy tales, good for ELL students and other readers who need that picture support. A big, thick picture book.





Fairly Fairy Tales by Esmé Raji Codell
This book follows a pattern of asking the reader about three fairy tale elements or characters from familiar stories ("Red hood? Yes. Wolf? Yes. Grandma? Yes.") followed by something that might not fit the story ("Shampoo? NOOOOO!") and an illustration that shows how it might ("Well, maybe." -- and we see Little Red's Grandma's Beauty Salon, serving wolves, with the woodcutter as the shampoo guy.




*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Next, we've got a pair of books that riff on the same variant -- in both these books, the Dish and the Spoon run away, with different results.

And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel

The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon by Mini Grey

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

These two give us the world of fairy tales in poetry form:


Mirror Mirror  by Marilyn Singer












You Read to Me, I'll Read to You: Fairy Tales by Mary Ann Hoberman

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What would fairy tales be without princesses? Here are two that give us, first, a very non-traditional look at princesses, and second, a mashup of lots of familiar princesses, all in the same story.


The Secret Lives of Princesses by Philippe Lechermeier











There's a Princess in the Palace by Zoë B. Alley

*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

Here's that magic number THREE! Three osos/bears, and three dassies/pigs:



Rubia and the Three Osos by Susan Middleton Elya











The 3 Little Dassies by Jan Brett












Last year, I shared 10 Picture Books I've Loved for More Than 10 Years. It was fun to gather another 10 to share this year. I can't wait to see everyone else's lists!

10 for 10--Picture Books that Celebrate Words!

I LOVE this day and hope is becomes an annual tradition FOREVER! Thanks to Cathy at REFLECT AND REFINE and Mandy at ENJOY AND EMBRACE LEARNING for creating this wonderful event! It is totally impossible for me to come up with my Top 10 picture books so I didn't even attempt it.  Instead I have must Must-Haves (at the moment favorites) that celebrate words.

I have learned over the years, that word play takes me a long way with kids.  If I want them to think about words and word choice in writing, if I want them to pay attention to new words they see and hear, and if I want them to discover the power of words, they must first have fun with words. So, I am always looking for new books that help kids celebrate the fun in words. I often use these books in the first six weeks of school to start various conversations about words that we'll come back to. Each of these books is fun and playful and invites kids into the joy of word play. Most of the books listed are natural invitations for children to play with words in lots of ways!


Mr. Putney's Quacking Dog by Jon Agee is a fun book about a man who has all sorts of animal (and other) friends.  Each page serves as a type of riddle for readers.  The wording of the riddle give readers a clue into the answer to the riddle and each requires that readers put together two words. This is the perfect level of humor and word play for young and middle grade readers.  The language play is very accessible to them.



This Plus That is Amy Krouse Rosenthal's newest book and is such fun!  Rosenthal puts words into equations to help define the word a bit. The equations become a riddle for the reader and kids definitely leave this book wanting to try word equations of their own.

Chicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black is a book about bottoms.  The illustrations and words work together to describe animals trying to get to the honey at the top of a tree. But the main words in the story label the "bottoms" of each animal. A new word is used to label each animal's bottom (derriere, patootie, etc.) This is a fun book and a great way to begin conversations about synonyms and word choice.  (The video of Michael Ian Black reading this one aloud is quite fun!)

Animal Soup by Todd Doodler is a lift-the-flap book. It is a another book that combines two known words to create a new word.  Doodler asks the reader a question that requires combining two animal words and the reader lifts the flap for the answer.  A fun read for young children and a great way to begin discussions about word parts with older kids.

Q is for Duck is an old favorite.  It is an alphabet book but it is a little bit tricky.  The book follows a pattern telling readers things like "Q is for duck". When the reader turns they page, they realize that "Q is for duck" because "a duck quacks." Readers love to work to figure out how the letters relate to the word given.  A fun game for readers to play and the text is great for new readers.




I love the way that Liz Scanlon thinks about pockets in the book A Sock is a Pocket for Your Toes.  Who could have thought of a sock being a pocket for your toes? This book is full of ideas like this and it is great fun looking at how authors can play with words in unique ways.

Had I known about Beach is to Fun:  A Book of Relationships by Pat Brisson when I was in elementary school, analogies might make far more sense to me!  This is a book of analogies and the comparisons follow the rules of good analogies. It is fun for readers to discover the way these analogies work. When I've used this book with 3rd-5th graders, they beg to go off and try to write their own analogies around a topic.  So different from my attitude about analogies after being introduced to them on a multiple choice bubble sheet!?

Mirror Mirror: A Book of Reversible Verse  by Marilyn Singer is simply brilliant!  In this take on classic fairy tales, the author plays with Reverso and actually completely reverses the words in one poem to create another, very different poem about the same story.  This is a fun read and the idea of Reverso is discussed at the end of the book.  This is a great book to include with fairy tale reading too!

Every time I read DOGKU by Andrew Clements to a group,  I have several students begging to try to write a story in Haiku. That is what the author does in DOGKU. This is a picture book story about a lost dog who finds a new home.  But each page is written in Haiku. Even the author blurb and other features in the book are written in Haiku. A fun way to write and enjoy a story!


I just found is One Foot, Two Feet by Peter Maloney. The book appears to be a simple counting book but the paired words are really "exceptional plurals". The illustrations are shown with cut out frames and the words are show the various ways that we turn singular words into plural words.