It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?  So, as I often say, it is hard to keep up with a blog about reading when you have no time to READ!  This week (or month for that matter) has not been a great one for my reading life. Report cards, NCTE, Thanksgiving holiday, etc. have all kept me from reading much. But I have read two things that I love so I thought I'd share. (For more It's Monday! What Are You Reading? posts, visit Kellee and Jen's blog, Teach Mentor Texts.)

I felt like I won the lottery when I was handed an ARC of James Preller's new book (the first in a new series--HOME SWEET HORROR (SCARY TALES SERIES).  I had heard about this series as I am a huge James Preller fan  (because he is one of the best author visits ever). But I didn't know the arcs were available yet.  So I was thrilled to get one when I had asked for books appropriate for 4th grade at his publisher's booth at NCTE.  This was the first on my stack that I read when returning from NCTE.  I actually took it out of a child's hands so that I could read it over Thanksgiving break.  And I loved it.  When I was a librarian, I learned just how much kids loved scary stories. And I learned how few scary stories there are for elementary kids.  I could not keep enough copies of Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark in the library.  And even those, I believe, are a bit much for 3rd-5th graders. Except for Mary Downing Hahn's books (which are perfectly scary for this age), there isn't a lot out there.  So, I am very excited about this new series and I am even more excited now that I read the book. This is an early chapter book--120+ pages with great black and white illustrations.  Terrifyingly wonderful illustrations, by the way by Iacopo Bruno.  The text is large enough that it isn't intimidating. And the book are really quite scary. Dead people, ghosts, true terror.  These aren't pretend scary books--they are scary books meant for readers who actually want to read scary books.  (Sometimes scary books for young kids are fake-scary and kids know this.). But Preller, as always, knows this age group well. He knows how to make the books really scary but still perfect for upper elementary kids.  The ARC says grades 2-5. I am not so sure about Grade 2 although I have had 2nd graders who love scary stories.  But for fans of truly scary stories, this is going to be a great series. And I love that the length and difficulty make it more accessible than other scary stories out there.  Me, I am not a fan of scary stories--they scare me and I have nightmares. Every since Amityville Horror, I've pretty much given up on reading them.  But I will read these because they are just the right level of scary for me and because they are really engaging. It looks like 2 of these are coming out at the same time (Book 2 is called I SCREAM, YOU SCREAM).  Hoping James Preller is writing fast-right now-so that he gets lots of these out fast. Not sure how librarians are going to keep enough copies of these for readers.  This series is not due out until July and I do hate to write a post about it this early, but I figure we are all looking for new scary books for elementary kids so I figure you'll remember this one. Or you'll preorder it right now.  (You can read more about these books on James Preller's blog.)

The other book I read was I HATE READING: HOW TO GET THROUGH 20 MINUTES OF READING A DAY WITHOUT REALLY READING by Arthur and Henry Bacon was one that was recommended to me on Twitter.  Maybe during #titletalk. This is a fun picture book that is really a "how-to" book.   Written by two brothers, it is a guide for getting through those dreaded 20 minutes of required reading time. Filled with reminders and tips, these brothers have all kinds of tricks up their sleeves. A fun read filled with humor and fun.  How I've missed this book for 4 years is beyond me!

A big part of my reading this week was during my NCTE12 Roundup. Little did I know when I offered to pull posts together, what a great experience it would be. I was so lucky to read all of these posts as I added them to the round up.  Whether you attended the convention or not, the posts are definitely worth reading--so much to think about. My thinking is that the conversations we started at NCTE12 will last all year!

#NCTE12--Roundup

Before I even left NCTE this year, there were blog posts up reflecting on all of the learning and thinking that was part of the week. I was amazed that people could get their thoughts together so quickly. I am not there yet. I am still catching up on laundry, trying to transition back to school, enjoying the holiday weekend, etc. I have not had time to reflect on the amazing experience that #ncte was. But I knew that there were blog posts  going up faster than I could read them. Each was something I'd want to revisit once I caught my breath and could think again.  So I offered this roundup on Twitter. If I missed your post and you'd like it added, just let me know!

NCTE's annual convention is always a great energizer for me.  It seems to come at the perfect time in the school year and I always come back reenergized and I am always rethinking something.  But it is always tricky when someone asks me what I learned...because it isn't so much what I learned but what I came away thinking about.  Years ago, I'd go to NCTE's annual convention (I think I've been going for about 20+ years now, skipping only one--the year we adopted Ana :-) and I'd try to get caught up on everyone's thinking.  It was really my only chance to hear what my heroes like Ralph Fletcher, Lucy Calkins, Georgia Heard, Stephanie Harvey, Shelley Harwayne, Sharon Taberski, etc. had been thinking about all year.  But now, with social networking, I no longer have to wait until NCTE's Annual Convention to catch up on everyone's thinking. I have Twitter and blogs and Facebook and more to help me connect to people all year long. So, I realized that the NCTE experience has changed a bit for me. Instead of "learning something new," it has become more than that.  NCTE's annual convention is the time that we connect in person with all those people we learn with throughout the year. We continue conversations we've been having over Twitter and we start new ones.  We meet old friends for the first time and we make new friends who we immediately follow on Twitter. It is a time to connect and reconnect, a time to refocus our conversations.

I love love love when my friends meet my other friends. I love when all of my friends become friends.  I am always amazed that my friends don't know each other and I am always confident that they will love each other when they do meet. How could they not? I have great friends.  And NCTE networks all of our friends with each other and we get to meet our friends' friends.  What could be better? And what could energize conversations for the year to come any more than that?

Kudos to Sandy Hayes,  NCTE President and NCTE12 Convention Chair.  She did an amazing job putting this year's convention together. We learned and we laughed.  So, whether you attended NCTE12 or not, there is a lot of thinking being shared on blogs about new learning and thinking (and fun)! Below are some of the blog posts about the convention. Learn from them. Follow the bloggers on Twitter. Subscribe to their blogs.  Connect in some way so that you can continue to learn with them until NCTE13 and beyond :-)

Katherine Sokolowski has 2 reflections about the convention--NCTE 2012 and Lessons from NCTE 2012. I am always amazed at how quickly and thoughtfully Katherine can reflect on her learning. She may win the prize for first one to blog after the convention!

And if you missed the amazing Nerdy Book Club party in Vegas, you can read about it on the Nerdy Book Club Blog! Definitely a fun time!

Tony Ramono reflected in his post Vegas, NCTE12, and Sir Ken Robinson. I didn't get out of the hotel/conference center much at all so I was laughing at his section on what you might see in Vegas.

Kate and Maggie share some thinking on notetaking from an amazing session I was able to attend on Sunday. Smart thinking--lots to reflect on--In Which Our Hero Uses Colored Pencils to Save the World (of Note-Taking).  

Katie at Catching Readers Before They Fall shared her thinking in a post called Be the Change--Reflections on #NCTE12. (Just so you know, Katie ran 9 miles every morning before starting her NCTE days...impressive, very impressive).

And Pat at Catching Readers Before They Fall reflected on a session she presented (one that I couldn't get to so am so happy to be able to learn from her here!) Her post Storytelling Part 1-includes her own storytelling!  And Storytelling Part 2 shares another! Thanks, Pat!

And if you missed it, Monday night's #engchat was focused on reflections from #ncte12.  You can find the archives here. It was an amazing conversation and lucky for me, I participated from the airplane--thanks to Southwest for offering $5 Wifi!

Troy Hicks reflected on NWP and NCTE in his post Mentoring Matters.  I so love the key theme that Troy pulled from the weekend.

And Rose focused on the Important Things about #NCTE12 in her post at Mentor Texts with Lynne and Rose.

And Joanne Levy from The Class of 2K12 reflected --again another powerful theme of Books and Community in her post.

And at THEDIRIGIBLEPLUM, the NCTE12 reflections are in the form of 17 Word Reviews. Such fun and so much power in so few words!

Karen at Literate Lives shared her NCTE12 learning complete with How to Make a Braided Scarf!  Great pictures show the energy of the convention.

Mr. Wyzlic shares his whirlwind days at NCTE12 and ALAN.  Brian gives us fun and thoughtful read complete with photos!

Kellee shares her experience at Teach Mentor Texts--Kellee's exclamation points and smiles make it clear how much she enjoyed NCTE12 and ALAN!

Jen (also at Teach Mentor Texts) has included 2 videos in her NCTE12 Recap post. I would highly suggest you follow everyone featured in her first video and make sure to take time to watch her ending video (#notmyhat).
And at Always a First year Teacher, the post How The NCTE Conference Helped Me Get Past My Manufactured Fears, is both reflective and empowering.

At YA Love, Sarah shared her learning as well as a link to her presentation.

Kristin at Children's Literature Crossroads reflected at NCTE 2012: Friends, Books, Networking and Nerdybooklovers --she had a ball and learned lots.

Sherry at Library Fanatic shared her first experience at NCTE/ALAN! I'm guessing by all she shared she will definitely be at NCTE and ALAN every year!

Mrs. Heise at Heise Reads and Recommends shares her highlights (and she has lots of them!) of NCTE and ALAN.  Another post that captures the pace and fun of this year's convention!

Sarah at The Reading Zone reflected on her trip, complete with Tweets from some sessions she attended!

Kristin (@FirstGradeThinks) shared slides from her session, Integrating Technology with Thoughtful Comprehension Instruction in the Elementary and Middle Grade Classroom.

Leslie at Healigan's Second Home shares her experience in two posts, Teacher Finds Home at NCTE 2012 and Teaching is art, learning is personal.  One powerful line in Leslie's post said exactly what I've been thinking about this year's convention: "I will trust my instincts with more confidence than I have allowed myself before."

Tony at atychiphobia shares the awesomeness that was NCTE12 for him in his post NCTE12 > Vegas.

Gail at Blogwalker posted her reflections at Back from NCTE 2012 Convention. She summarizes great learning from several sessions.

Gary at What's Not Wrong posted his reflection in a post called "Glimpsing the Future". He says, "It's an exciting time to be in this profession!"

Noel at Passion Tea Lemonade starts off her recap in a nonlinear way in her post A Series of Fortunate Events (ncte2012). She has a few good conference tips along the way!

Cathy at Reflect and Refine writes English Teachers in Vegas? She reflects on connections as well as powerful things she is thinking about after convention.

Chris at Thinking about Learning and Teaching shares Part 1 of her NCTE/ALAN reflection here. Lots of great learning and big ideas to ponder!

Cynthia at Teaching in Cute Shoes shares in NCTE: My (Incomplete) Recap. This post is complete with key leanings from great people as well as (of course) cute shoes!

Beth at A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust posts Bookish Teachers Invaded Las Vega for NCTE--filled with photos and fun!

Mrs. Bennett at Used Books in Class posted You shall know us by our shoes and Meeting Jon Scieszka, Rock Star. Both are fun reads packed with NCTE learning!

Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning posts NCTE 2012--Post, Ignite Style--great title and packed with top 20 things about her NCTE experience!

Ann Marie at AM Literacy Learning Log not only shares her NCTE learning but we also get to watch while she cashes in her big winnings!

Cindy at Charting by the Stars posts My Big Vegas Winnings shares her highlights:-)

Mary Lee here at A Year of Reading tells about NCTE the way she explained it to her students. Her November Mosaic of photos is comprised entirely of pictures from NCTE and Las Vegas.

Poetry Friday Roundup is HERE!

Happy Thanksgiving!



Welcome to the feast of Poetry Friday Posts:
(leave your link in the comments and I'll round up the old-fashioned way)

April Halprin Wayland at Teaching Authors is thankful for a whole host of angels.

Renee LaTulippe at No Water River is hosting a poet-a-palooza with an interview and FIVE poetry videos from around the world.

Snow is falling and Robert Frost is evoked at Charles Ghinga's Father Goose blog.

Steve Peterson at inside the dog... shares a poem about change.

Winter is on its way in Matt Forrest's poem at Radio, Rhythm and Rhyme.

Linda Kulp at Write Time took the Teaching Authors' challenge and wrote a "Thanku."

Just for a change of pace, Myra Garces-Bacsal shares a book of pirate poems at Gathering Books.

Carmela Martino at Teaching Authors is thankful for her colleague and friend Esther Hershenhorn.

Laura Purdie Salas spotlights Michael Hall's CAT TALE and brings us this week's 15 Words or Less Poems inspired by pumpkins.

Linda Baie at Teacher Dance is in the midst of change -- specifically, a move to a new house -- and finds a deep connection to Ralph Fletcher's book MOVING DAY.

Yum. Jama's sharing some more peanut butter poems at Jama's Alphabet Soup.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

I'm not quite caught up with the first round of linkers, but Jama mentioned the peanut clusters so it seems appropriate to stop here and describe the disaster that is my kitchen right now. (This by way of apology for the lack of inspiration in this roundup post.)

We'll start with the counter, then, where there are 25 candy bags, loaded with peanut clusters, awaiting the graham cracker toffee that is chilling on the card table in the garage. These 25 bags will join the 25 that are complete, and that will mark about the halfway point of the yearly candy making craziness/fun.

The rest of the counter, sink and stove areas bear the evidence that I very nearly spent too much time yesterday afternoon trying to find inspiration for this roundup post and came dangerously close to not having the roasted brussel sprouts (with bacon and toasted pecans) ready to take to our evening feast. Lordy, what a mess!

And now let's consider the kitchen table before me. The cornucopia flower arrangement was delivered last Wednesday, just before I left for the airport to go to NCTE. It is a bit past its prime here and there, but by golly, I'm going to pretend it's fresh for a few more days. Just about the entire rest of the table is covered with piles -- a couple are AJ's, but most are mine: NCTE pile, CYBILS pile, school pile, TBR pile, to-do pile...and the button that needs to be sewn on my jacket sleeve.

Behind me are the bags full of books from NCTE, plus a school bag filled with papers to grade and lessons to plan.

Thanksgiving is a time when every one of my plates is too full...and for this bounty of food, I give thanks. And for this bounty of work that I love, I give thanks. And for a table and a counter to hold my messes, I give thanks. For too much to read, I give thanks. For the tradition of Poetry Friday and for the community of bloggers who join the weekly party, I give thanks.

Now then. Back to the roundup.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

Joy Acey imagines "Thanksgiving in the Barn" at Poetry for Kids Joy.

Black Friday, anyone? Violet Nesdoly has a shopping list for poets!

Laura Shovan at Author Amok gives thanks for yoga, football (and the halftime show!), words, and time.

Random acts of poetry epitomizes The Opposite of Indifference. Brought to you by Tabatha.

Matt Goodfellow at Poems and things! has two poems for us today, a chestnutty one and rain snake one.

Diane Mayr has posts up at Random Noodling (a rant I agree with COMPLETELY), KK's Kwotes (a cautionary quote for poets who are tempted to rush), and The Write Sisters (art that dances on our heads and holds our PJs).

At Growing Wild, Liz Steinglass serves up three dishes and a delicious-looking pumpkin pie.

Sylvia shares a Week 13 poem from The Poetry Friday Anthology at the PFA Blog, and information about a 12/12/12 e-book give-away.

Carol is contemplating necessity and wealth at Carol's Corner. She's raking leaves and letting Black Friday pass her by.

Thank you, Ruth (at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken town), for Neruda and Cold Play in the same post. For a beach and stars and a fugitive ode to laziness. I think I'll let the rest of today's work go untouched and instead get some sand in my shoes.

Gregory K. at GottaBook has a timely poem -- "The Day After Thanksgiving."

Author Susan Taylor Brown shares her debut as an illustrator of Haiku Diem.

Lori Ann Glover at On Point has an original haiku today.

Lucky Jone! She got to attend a writing workshop led by Oregon's Poet Laureate! Two of the poems Jone wrote that day are shared at Check it Out.

Dorothy Parker is waiting for you at Douglas Florian's Florian Cafe.

Julie Larios at The Drift Record shares a poem by Jack Gilbert titled "Horses at Midnight Without a Moon."

Little Willow shares Emily Dickinson's "The Cricket Sang" at Bildungsroman.

Ramona at Pleasures from the Page has written a trio of "thankus," inspired by the bloggers at Teaching Authors.

Poetry Friday -- YAM

YAM

by David Guernsey

The potato that ate all its carrots,
can see in the dark like a mole,

(the whole poem is at The Poetry Foundation)

I don't know about you, but my favorite part of Thanksgiving is the side dishes. Yams? Green bean casserole? Mom's cranberry jello salad? BRING THEM ON!!

Happy Thanksgiving a week early! See you back here next week for the roundup. This week, head on over to Anastasia's Booktalking blog.

Visuals in Nonfiction

I See What You Mean: Visual Literacy K-8
by Steve Moline
Stenhouse, 2011

It is definitely going to be worth the two weeks we spent in reading workshop looking at the structures of nonfiction (description, sequence, compare/contrast, cause/effect) and in writing workshop looking at and trying out the visuals that support those structures. There's an excellent chart in Moline's book that we have used as a reference guide over and over again. He gives examples of diagrams and maps (description), timelines and flowcharts (sequence), tree diagrams and Venn diagrams (compare/contrast).

I knew it was going to be worth the time when, as we discussed the Poetry Friday Anthology poem of the week last Friday, someone said, "That poem's a sequence." YES! And when the new copy of American Girl magazine came, and the three readers brought it to me to say, "Look! Here's a diagram!" And then, of course, when the new Scaredy Squirrel came, we found nearly EVERY kind of visual we had studied!

Don't you love it when that happens?!?

Scaredy Squirrel Prepares for Christmas: A Safety Guide for Scaredies
by Mélanie Watt
Kids Can Press, 2012

Here are pictures of our hallway display and some of the students' work. They had a lot of fun with this. As you see, they could use their life and their interests. I'm hoping that when we do more nonfiction writing, they remember that they don't need to do research to write nonfiction!

Some of the students had lots of fun with expanded/exploded diagrams.

(see map of Snoopy's Doghouse below -- this diagram goes with that map!)

Instrumental

Flickr Creative Commons photo by Jana Obscura

Startled, I silence my alarm
Get up and feed the cat
Turn off the porch lights
Turn up the heat
Fill the teakettle and light the burner
Check email
Decide on cereal for breakfast

And still
I cannot for the life of me
Decipher the phrase that was in my head
Just before the alarm went off:

This is the kind of test with mandolins in it.


© Mary Lee Hahn, 2012




Ed DeCaria has the Poetry Friday roundup this week at Think Kid, Think.

Getting Ready for NCTE!

We'll be posting infrequently as we get sub plans ready, finish report cards, polish our presentations and pack, so you won't see much of us here on the blog in the next two weeks, but maybe we'll get a chance to say hello in person at NCTE! See you in Vegas!!

LEMONADE IN WINTER by Emily Jenkins and G. Brian Karas

The book Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money struck me as a very cute story. Two siblings stuck inside during a cold winter day decide that it is the perfect day to have a Lemonade Stand! Their parents warn them that on a cold day, no one will want a cold drink. And there is really no one outside to buy the drinks. But the children are determined and they make their lemonade, limeade and lemon limeade. They buy the ingredients and decide to charge 50 cents per cup.

The story is a fun book to add to my math picture book collection. It is a fun story with a great plot. The characters are quite adorable in the way they carry on on such a cold, winter day. Their enthusiasm is quite contagious.

The money counting part of this book is quite fun. There are lots of opportunities to count quarters and there are some pages that show the math behind figuring out total sold.  There is also a final page with more math explanations.

I think this is a perfect book for primary students who are learning about change. Teachers can create some great problems around this book to help kids understand the concept of money. I plan to use it with a small group of kids who need a little bit of extra help with counting money. Quarters are a perfect place to start when counting change and we can build from there.

So glad I took the time to read this book once Beth at Cover to Cover suggested I did!

October Mosaic

Fall colors, Fairfield County Fair. Other than that, October was a blur of schoolwork.

Photos can be seen full size on Flickr.

Poetry Friday -- Writer's Notebooks

What's in My Journal 

by William Stafford

Odd things, like a button drawer. Mean
Things, fishhooks, barbs in your hand.
But marbles too. A genius for being agreeable.
Junkyard crucifixes, voluptuous
discards. Space for knickknacks, and for
Alaska. Evidence to hang me, or to beatify.

(the whole poem is at The Writer's Almanac)

There's even room in my journal/writer's notebook for a bizarre gigantic "Siamese-Triplet" heirloom tomato.

Here's to all the bits of this and that which go into a notebook, and all of the brilliance which (sometimes) comes out!

The Poetry Friday Roundup is in Maine this week, hosted by Donna at Mainely Write.

Finicky

Finicky (The Aldo Zelnick Comic Novel Series)
by Karla Oceanak
illustrated by Kendra Spanjer
Bailiwick Press, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

It's hard to believe we're already to the sixth book in the Aldo Zelnick series! I have a student who is waging a one-man boycott of our school cafeteria over the very same issue that moves Aldo and his friends to protest -- no more pizza day on Tuesdays!

This volume is sure to please food lovers and finicky eaters alike, and the feast of words that begin with F fairly overflows!  Aldo and his fellow endomorph of a dad get a little more serious about their health and weight, and Aldo serves up a steaming banquet of remorse when his protests get a little out of hand.

Another must-read for Aldo Zelnick fans, and also for the Nate the Great and Wimpy Kid crowd.

WHY SCHOOL by Will Richardson

I just finished Will Richardson's new ebook, Why School?: How Education Must Change When Learning and Information Are Everywhere (Kindle Single) .  Will Richardson is someone I have been learning from for years. I've read his books, I read his blog regularly, I follow him on Twitter, I've watched his Ted Talks and I was able to hear him speak in person this summer.  I have learned so much from his groundedness about teaching and learning combined with his knowledge of technology and connected learning.

Why School is a must read for educators and parents, I think.  I love this book for a lot of reasons. First of all, it is not about school bashing or teacher bashing but pushing us to think about where we are going with school. Richardson believes in public education and the institution of school but knows things have to change.

I also like that Richardson ends the book with some very concrete things we, as individual teachers can do to move things forward and to give our students the school experiences they deserve.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from WHY SCHOOL. I have 59 things highlighted according to my Kindle notes page but thought these would help you get a sense of the message Richardson conveys in this book. 

"I’m suggesting that this moment requires us to think deeply about why we need school. Or to ask, more specifically, what’s the value of school now that opportunities for learning without it are exploding all around us?" 

"Right now, we are at the precipice of two very different visions of what modern education should look like — two very different answers to the “why school” question. One bodes well for our children, and one bodes not so well, as I’ll explain."

"I contend that our focus on passing the test is not nearly enough any longer. I insist that the “test” doesn’t come close to capturing what our kids need to know and to be able to do at this moment of rapid and radical change, and that the longer we wait to start a conversation around doing school “differently,” instead of simply “better,” the more we’re putting our kids at risk."

"Just imagine the learners they could become if we made these skills the focus of our work; if, instead of passing the test, we made those ever-more important skills of networking, inquiry, creation, sharing, unlearning, and relearning the answer to the “why school” question. Imagine what our kids could become if we helped them take full advantage of all they have available to them for learning."

It is a great read.  And if you are going to NCTE's Annual Convention next month, Will Richardson will be speaking there.   (Did I mention that this book is only available in a Kindle Edition with a great price of $2.99?)

And my friend sent me a connected article that is worth a read too!

National Geographic Kids EVERYTHING DOGS

I picked up the newest book in the National Geographic Kids Everything series this week. The newest published in October is National Geographic Kids Everything Dogs: All the Canine Facts, Photos, and Fun You Can Get Your Paws On! . My kids gravitate toward books that have a magazine type set up when it comes to nonfiction. They love the visuals and the ability to read the pages that interest them without reading the entire book. However, so many of these books are not reader-friendly and kids often merely browse the pictures.

When I saw this book, I was excited about the possibilities. I don't think I have any others in the series but I will be purchasing some soon. This is a great series for middle grade readers. It has the set up they love and an organization that makes sense. There is also a great deal of text and organizational features so kids will dig in, read and learn.

The Table of Contents is extensive letting readers know what they are in for.  Each two-page spread focuses on a different topic about dogs.  There are dog diagrams and tables explaining dog behaviors. And the photographs are absolutely adorable.  I like the combination of things kids have probably already read about (breeds of dogs) and new information (dogs with jobs).  This book is packed with information that is accessible to kids. There is not only a great deal packed on each page, but I also see this as a book that will invite further reading.

It looks like National Geographic Kids has about 10 of these titles. I will have to pick up a few more as the format and topics will be perfect to encourage more nonfiction reading.

Declaration of Interdependence

Declaration of Interdependence: Poems for an Election Year
by Janet Wong
cover illustration by Julie Paschkis
PoetrySuitcase.com, 2012

With just a little over a week to go until election day 2012 (Tuesday, November 6, in case you missed the memo), we might be starting to feel a bit like the speaker in Robert Frost's poem, "After Apple Picking:"

My instep arch not only keeps the ache,
It keeps the pressure of a ladder-round.
And I keep hearing from the cellar-bin
That rumbling sound
Of load on load of apples coming in.
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking; I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.

As annoying and pervasive as the campaigning might seem, let's never forget that voting is one of the most important acts of American citizenship. Running for office is the other. This is OUR country. Let's do our best to get it right, whether we're the ones in charge, or the ones in charge of "hiring" the leaders.

Let's take the pledge that is the lead poem in Janet Wong's DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE:

LIBERTY 

I pledge acceptance
of the views
so different,
that make us America

To listen, to look,
to think, and to learn

One people
sharing the earth
responsible
for liberty
and justice
for all.


There are twenty poems in Janet's gem of a book. Twenty kid-friendly ways to think about and talk about democracy, elections, voting and citizenship. Rather than tuning out the divisiveness of the elections in this last week before the big day, why not engage students in conversations about the ways we need to work together for our country, and ultimately for our world?

Visit The Declaration of Interdependence blog for more poems and thought-provoking writing prompts.

And for today's Poetry Friday roundup, visit Linda, at TeacherDance.

Format, Not Genre

We are working hard in fifth grade to be more specific in our identification of genre. Knowing that a book or story is fiction or nonfiction just isn't good enough anymore! We have identified the qualities of fantasy and science fiction, historical fiction and realistic fiction, and more. 

One of the first hurdles we had to cross was that "graphic novel" is NOT a genre. We have seen graphic novels that are fantasy, science fiction, biography, memoir, and mythology. So a graphic novel is a FORMAT for presenting a story, rather than a single GENRE.

The same is true for wordless books. It might be a fun informal assessment to give a group of students a stack of wordless books and ask them to sort the books by genre!

Here are two you could include in your stack -- one fantasy, and the other historical fiction.

The Night Riders
by Matt Furie
McSweeney's McMullens, 2012
review copy provided by the publisher

In this fantasy, Frog and Mouse go on a journey together. They meet a scary dragon who turns out to be friendly. Dragon and his underground video-game-playing friend join Frog and Mouse and their journey takes them all the way to the ocean.


One of the best things about this book is the dust jacket -- it unfolds into a big poster with the characters on one side, and parts of the setting on the other!

Unspoken: A Story From the Underground Railroad
by Henry Cole
Scholastic Press, 2012

The silence of a wordless book is perfect for UNSPOKEN. When the girl discovers a runaway slave hiding in the outbuilding, she keeps his secret.

Henry Cole uses well-chosen details to evoke the setting (both time and place), to build suspense, and to give the story a satisfying ending. For those with background knowledge about the Underground Railroad, such images as the lantern, the Big Dipper, and the quilts will resonate. This gorgeous wordless book belongs in classrooms at all levels. It will prompt great discussions, and perhaps some will want to try to write the story with words.