Reading Through Life

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2012-03-12T18:25:00.000-07:00

Newbery Challenge: This week the big finish was with The Trumpeter of Krakow which wasn't half bad. It had a bit of mystery, adventure, royalty, alchemy, and love. It still might not hold the attention of modern day elementary students, but it was better than many we have read so far.

Caldecott Challenge: I quite enjoyed So You Want to be President. It was filled with random facts about presidents and the presidency. The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship was amusing. The Glorious Flight was entertaining and educational too. White Snow, Bright Snow made me wonder if we would get snow this month since the calendar in that book said March. The illustrations weren't my favorites. Drummer Hoff was certainly bright and bouncy, but a bit strange. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble was fun. The final one I read this week was Marshmallow. That bunny is really adorable.

STEMS Books: I was lucky enough to go to a STEMS resource afternoon to look at all kinds of great books. All the Water in the World is fantastic. I also liked Friends: True Stories of Extraordinary Animal Friendships. It reminded me of A Friend Like You by Askani which I like a smidge better. I saw a lot of other great books, but didn't get to read them all. I did order many of them so will get to them later this year.

Picture Books: We had a big treat when Linda Urban read Mouse was Mad to my first grade class. I finally read The Goodbye Cancer Garden which was really an excellent view of the journey of a mom with cancer and how her family works through the treatments together. Rhyming Dust Bunnies, Nothing but the Truth, and Listen to My Trumpet were part of World Read Aloud Day celebrations. Cheech the School Bus Driver was one I buzzed through while window shopping. It was okay. Invisible by Katja Kamm was a rather unique and quite bizarre little book. Things become invisible as they pass into a background that matches them. A Few Blocks was quite creative artistically. Brother Sun, Sister Moon was just beautiful. Crafty Chloe made me smile and The Fantastic Flying Books of Morris Lessmore was just a neat experience.

2011 Nerdy Nominees: Roots and Blues: A Celebration was worth the wait. I love Arnold Adoff. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children was creepy and it completely sucked me in. How to Save a Life had me a little conflicted because I was getting tired of some of the teen voices and that doesn't usually happen. Maybe it is because I have two teens in my home, but I wanted a break. Eventually though, the voices ceased to bother me because the story took over.

In honor of Women's History Month, I read Amelia to Zora: Twenty-Six Women Who Changed the World. Amazing women and well written.

Two more books this week were Kristy's Great Idea (Babysitter's Club Graphic Novel) and The Three Weissmanns of Westport (adult fiction). I liked the graphic novel, but the Weissmanns was another one where certain character voices became annoying.

For the coming week, I plan to read Vanished by Sheela Chari, Hitty (for Nerdbery), and the new Marty McGuire. I will also read Delirium by Lauren Oliver. Other than that, I will likely hit a few Caldecotts too. I never realize how many books I read until I post this, then I am a little shocked at the number. I wonder if the trend will continue. I so love to read.

World Read Aloud Day Continues

2012-03-08T11:58:00.003-08:00

The fun and learning just keeps rolling on here at our school. Today two of our fifth grade classes got to visit with author Michael Scotto. He shared about his chapter books and read one of his picture books to us.

We will have to watch the book trailer for his chapter book sometime soon. It sure makes me want to read the book.

Next, one of our Pre-K classes had a great visit from some students at Cooper Elementary in Burlington, WI (led by @pageintraining). They read us these really funny books:

Then, one of our first grade classes was lucky enough to visit with Michael Scotto too. They had a fun time listening to his book and asking a ton of questions.

We even saw a picture of his very own tornado dog.

World Read Aloud Day just keeps going, and going, and going, and going. Tomorrow another Pre-K class will have a Skype visit with some 5th grade students that will read with us. On Monday, second grade will visit with the author of the I Spy books, Jean Marzollo, and by then, all of the grades will have had a visit of some kind. I love it when there is an event that gets us trying new things and working with people from other places. These kinds of visits get us pretty excited about reading.

World Read Aloud Day is Finally Here!

2012-03-07T09:14:00.006-08:00

For WRAD we started off our day with a poem on announcements. One fifth grade class also got to Skype with Alan Silberberg. That was a real treat. He read from Milo: Sticky Notes & Brain Freeze and even read the beginning of a book that hasn't yet been published. It seems like this new book is going to be pretty awesome. I wish I had caught a picture of the kids laughing. They had a wonderful time.

I will keep adding more pictures and information as the day goes on. It should be a great day!

Just finished sharing Dust Bunnies and Elephant & Piggie in the lunchroom to first through fifth grade as they came through. Fun times. One of our subs even helped and she was an awesome reader.

One of our first grade classes got to meet Linda Urban. She has written some excellent chapter books and this very fun picture book called Mouse was Mad

Her read aloud was really fun.

The kids had a great time making mad faces at the beginning and happy faces at the end just like mouse.

Some of our first graders read aloud to book characters.

One of our 3rd grade classes even got to visit with Mr. Sharp's class in Michigan. We talked about our favorite books and had some fun read alouds too.

The final Read Aloud activity of the day was when our whole fourth grade Skyped with Mr. Schu's first and second graders. We read poetry to them and they read Elephant & Piggie to us. It was a lot of fun. Whew.

I love, love, love World Read Aloud Day!!! And the fun is just beginning. Some of the classes weren't able to Skype today, so we have more tomorrow, Friday, Monday & next Wednesday. Thanks to all the authors, teachers, and students that read with us today. We loved meeting you all.

It's Monday! What are You Reading?

2012-03-05T12:08:00.000-08:00

Whew! It's been quite a week. I had an exhausting event on Friday and Saturday to prepare for, but recovery was nice as I was able to just read for most of Sunday and catch up.

Newbery Challenge: I finished Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon which was the 1928 Newbery winner. I actually enjoyed this one, but am really not sure that young children would be the right audience. I liked the cultural aspects that I learned throughout the story of this boy and his pigeon in India. This seems to give an authentic picture of life near the Himalayas.

Caldecott Challenge: It was a slow week for the Caldecotts. First I read Blueberries for Sal the 1949 winner, which is one of my all time favorites. The pictures are fabulous, but it is just such a wonderful mother-love story and a great view of the natural world. Interesting too was that I read a New York Times post about the lack of such views in recent children's literature just this week. The second Caldecott I read was If I Ran the Zoo. See my not so positive review here.

2011 Nerdy Nominees: I have slowly been chipping away at these over the past few months. I really enjoyed the ones I hit this week - Graphic novels Hera: The Goddess and Her Glory and Feynman. Feynman got a little complicated, but as he seemed to point out often, we don't always have to understand everything. I also got to experience Elephant Scientist another fabulous book in the Scientist in the Field series.

Seuss books: In my classes I shared Hooray for Diffendoofer Day, And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street, There's a Wocket in My Pocket, and I Can Read with My Eyes Shut. All of these were met with smiles and laughter.

Random Non-fiction: The Boy Who Bit Picasso is a great introduction to the man and his art told through a child's perspective. I loved it. Black and White: The Confrontation of Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth and Eugene "Bull" Connor was intense. It reminds me of how bad things have been for some people and how courageous some people have been in the face of injustice. Finally, I did read one adult book What Remains: A Memoir of Fate, Friendship and Love. It was a little like reading a People magazine, but with more depth.

Random fiction: I read quite a few family books. Sunday is for God is a look at a family and their typical Sunday routine. It is a quiet, peaceful, and homey book. I was finally able to read The Great Wall of Lucy Wu and I really loved it. It is a family book. It is a growing up book. It is a wonderful middle grade novel. And the last one I read of the week made me cry. A New Year's Reunion: A Chinese Story shows a father coming home for the New Year celebration. This is happy, but it is also sad because he is a migrant worker and this is the only time of the year that he is with his family. The pictures are beautiful and the story more so.

For this coming week I plan to start The Trumpeter of Krakow for the Newbery Challenge, I will read some more Caldecotts, and I mean to read a few more 2011 Nerdy Nominees like Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, How to Save a Life, and Roots and Blues: A Celebration among random books that come my way. I am also looking forward to hearing a lot of good readers on World Read Aloud Day so I will get to experience some books that I am not necessarily expecting. Have a great week reading!

It's Monday! What are You Reading?

2012-02-27T10:23:00.000-08:00

It is hard to keep all of the books straight. I don't know what I would do without Goodreads. I am happy I don't have to deal with spiral notebooks full of titles anymore. Here is what I got to read this past week.

Newbery Challenge: I finished Smoky the Cowhorse and started Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon. Smoky was kind of slow going for a long while, but then towards the end the storyline picked up and it seemed like all sorts of things were happening. I am enjoying Gay-Neck a lot more already. I seem to gauge how much I like a book by the speed I read it. When I love a book, it just flies by.

Caldecott Challenge: The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is the only one I recorded reading. Love that book!

2011 Nerdies Book Award Nominees: I finally read some graphic novels I had been waiting for. Page by Paige written by Laura Lee Gulledge was great. The artwork was clever AND beautiful. I also appreciated seeing Paige's struggle with her own creativity and personality. Even at my age, I am still wondering who I am. There was a similar flavor with Level Up by Gene Luen Yang. What a common quandary - what am I going to be when I grow up? The last one of these that I read was a picture book - Prudence Wants a Pet by Cathleen Daly. Simply adorable.

The only other book that I managed to squeeze in was Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews. I have to say that being published anywhere near The Fault in Our Stars by John Green was not helpful to this book. Me and Earl is definitely a different kind of book. I am still processing this one. This was a bit of a ramble about a hard time in a teen's life. He narrates using a screenplay type of format alternating with traditional writing since he enjoys making movies. He portrays himself as a bit of a cold fish and so I had a hard time connecting with him. I appreciated the honesty of someone frustrated with the process of watching someone die.

For the coming week, I have some professional reading to do, some caldecotts, finishing Gay-Neck, Feynman, Hera, and a few other 2011 Nerdies Book Award Noms. I would like to finish off that list and keep trucking with some 2012s soon. I am also going to be reading a lot of Dr. Seuss this week - always fun!

Stuffed Animal Sleepover

2012-02-23T17:31:00.000-08:00

Our LMC had its first Stuffed Animal Sleepover. The big brown bear just had to read Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do you See? The owl read Owl Moon. A seahorse found a non-fiction book about Sea Horses and the rabbit found The Rabbit Problem. The beanie babies had fun dancing with Elephant and Piggie on the Internet. I think they had a great time at the science table too. Check it out.

Squish Inspires Science Exploration!

2012-02-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

Through the wonder that is NetGalley, I was able to read an ARC of Squish: The Power of the Parasite. Squish, ever the superhero, is battling his way through problems. As I laughed my way through this rather unique graphic novel, it occurred to me that my students would likely LOVE the opportunity to see microscopic organisms. I tracked down a great site Nikon MicroscopyU that has some wonderful microscopy video of a wide variety of organisms that live in ponds.

Cool Amoeba Video

I set up a laptop at a table and the kids have been having a blast watching amoebas, parameciums, nematodes and many other fun critters zipping around. Kids love to see them zooming or oozing around.

I couldn't get any real pond water and super powerful microscopes, but I contacted a fourth grade teacher that is doing a unit with microscopes. She had extras!! She loaned me three small microscopes & I put salt, glitter, and poppy seeds in well slides.

With some nature items and a few magnifying glasses, now we had a really cool place to hang out and explore stuff. I added some non-fiction and it was ready to go. Thanks to inspiration from Matt and Jenni Holm, we have a great new spot in the library.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2012-02-20T20:54:00.000-08:00

Newbery Challenge: I started Smoky the Cowhorse and am making steady progress.

Caldecott Challenge: I managed to read five books for this challenge in the past week. Make Way for Ducklings has always been a favorite and I still love that feisty mama duck. She is just awesome. Prayer for a Child is all sweetness and nostalgia filled. Chanticleer and the Fox is fun and fablish. The Egg Tree was also a trip down memory lane as I thought of Easter one year on a cousin's farm hunting eggs and the times I have made eggs with my children for an egg tree of our own. Finally, Ox Cart Man was a fun way to look at seasons. All in all a pleasant Caldecott week.

I did manage to finish the Ellen Degeneres book, Seriously...I'm Kidding, but was unfortunately underwhelmed. The books that actually knocked my socks off this week are potential 2013 award winners. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate was a fantastic story told by a gorilla. I am not generally an animal story fan, so this is saying something. The other wower was The Mighty Miss Malone. Christopher Paul Curtis has created another living breathing charming character that just pushes right into your heart.

Younger Books: Hot Hot Roti for Dadaji by F. Zia was fun and I loved seeing the interactions between grandfather and grandson. Henry and Mudge and the Bedtime Thumps and Babymouse Burns Rubber were two series books that did not disappoint.

History: Breaking Stalin's Nose was a fantastic look into the past. I appreciated the combination of text and pictures that told a story of two days in the life of a child of communism. The story is compact and powerful. I really appreciated seeing the author in a video on Mr. Schu's blog too. It made the story come alive. Another really fascinating piece of history was the book Drawing from Memory by Allen Say. I loved this memoir especially since it had such a variety of illustrations including his early artwork, comics, and other bits and pieces.

Last, but not least, I finished Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley which won the Printz and the Morris awards. I found it intriguing and certainly well done, but it wasn't exactly my typical type of story. Because of the mysteriousness of the storyline, I was pulled along throughout, but it took a long time for me to really care about the characters.

All in all, a busy reading week. For next week, I will finally, finally, finish Me and Earl..... I have it on the computer upstairs and it has been where my daughter has been working on her school project every evening, so I wait. I will also finish Smoky the Cowhorse. I am planning on reading the Great Wall of Lucy Wu and several other middle grade novels and a passel of Caldecotts again. I am going to finally read some Kashmira Sheth books too because she is coming to visit in April. With a lot going on in my life, I am not sure if I will get as much time to read this week, but I will eek out as many reading minutes as I possibly can. ;)

Skype Visit to Romania

2012-02-19T19:29:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I had the good fortune to be able to read with Cristina Milos's class in Bucharest, Romania. I had a fantastic time with her students. They were really sweet and listened so nicely. I loved visiting with them and I hope to meet with other classes around the world in the future. Reading aloud with students is a privilege and I can't think of many things I enjoy more. Cristina made a video of our time together on their wiki.

Coming soon is another day for reading aloud. LitWorld is promoting World Read Aloud Day. Many other people and organizations are joining in to spread the word such as School Library Journal, Shannon Miller and John Schumacher at Change the World Story by Story and Donalyn Miller. I hope thousands of people get involved and read aloud on Wednesday, March 7th. I know I am looking forward to having authors Skype with our students, meeting other classes online, and even having our superintendent come to read with us. It should be a fabulous day!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2012-02-13T17:38:00.000-08:00

I am taking the easy way out today. I am putting in screen shots of my Goodreads page. I am super tired, but didn't want to skip this so here is my compromise.

I had a few favorites. I had been looking forward to Bitterblue and was not disappointed. It is another great fantasy and I liked it waaaay better than Fire and almost as much as Graceling. Stick was seriously intense, but quite well done. Kepler's Dream was a surprisingly engaging family mystery. The pictures in Naamah and the Ark at Night were fabulous. Hippo & 11 Experiments got some chuckles out of me. I really enjoyed Redwoods. I learned a lot of super interesting facts. Nothing Like a Puffin was a really bright and fun book that explained puffins by showing what they are NOT like.

I also read to a group of children in Romania on Friday morning and had a blast with them. I shared some Jack Prelutsky, Sugar Snow (a Laura Ingalls Wilder picture book), the Oneida book from above and Punk Farm. Here is a video on their wiki. If you are interested in reading with them, I would highly recommend it. It was a great experience.

For the coming week, I am finishing Seriously...I'm Kidding for real. I only have 2 chapters left. My attempt at Me and Earl and the Dying Girl was stymied when I could no longer open it on my NookColor. I will finish it this week on my computer - not nearly as comfortable. I am also planning to dive back into the Newbery and Caldecott challenges. Smoky the Cowhorse is up next and I have a pile of Caldecotts. It should be fun. :)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2012-02-06T20:27:00.000-08:00

Middle Grade Novels
These are the two chapter books I finished this week. Both of them were wonderful. I loved the people I met. These were characters I wish I could meet for real. Foster almost convinced me that cupcakes should be my favorite food. Close to Famous reminded me that just because some things are easy for us, they can be very hard for others. It made me really think hard about what might be going on inside some of my students.

Raine and the wonderful tumble of people she meets were real and quirky and inspiring. I appreciated that she had honest feelings dealing with her family and kept working at the relationships even when it got hard. The personalities in Sparrow Road were very fun.

I took a break from Newbery, but will resume soon. As for Caldecotts, I only read one - Alphabatics. It was okay. The crazy gyrations of the letters morphing into things were kind of fun, but it didn't really hold my attention.

I have had a super busy time the past week, so most of the rest of the books were what I read whenever I was stuck shopping and I stopped in at a bookstore for a few minutes waiting for other people. My favorite of those was Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Kassen. I really can't wait to read that one to my students. They will love it.

I am in the middle of three books right now and so hopefully I will finish them up in the coming week. I'm reading Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Seriously...I'm Kidding by Ellen Degeneres, and Kepler's Dream by Juliet Bell. All are good in their own way and it is always hard to figure out which one to pick up. I need to start my next Newbery and get a few more Caldecott's under my belt this week, but I have no idea if I can carve out that much time. Here's hoping!

Digital Learning Day

2012-02-01T09:08:00.000-08:00

Created by Peter Reynolds for Digital Learning Day

Today is Digital Learning Day in Wisconsin and we are active all over school using technology to enhance and transform instruction. Announcements were unchained from the standard location when our principal and two students used a laptop and UStream rather than our bulky camera that is pretty much chained to one room. Students have been using technology throughout the day posting on blogs, researching, and creating. It is exciting to see all the things that the teachers are trying today. The challenge for our staff was to integrate one new technology tool. In some ways, today doesn't look a whole lot different than a typical day since our building uses digital learning every day. The only thing is that today we are pushing ourselves to go beyond our comfort zone. Hopefully, I will have more to post as the day progresses. Happy Digital Learning Day!

Update:
It ended up being a busy day for me helping to make sure things went smoothly around the school, but it was really awesome to see people using some of the things they saw at the Technology Petting Zoo last week. Playaways were checked out and the iPad cart was buzzing all over the school with kids videotaping themselves and each other, using new apps, and experimenting and creating. Some classes were posting or commenting on blogs for the first time and both teachers and students had a high level of excitement about many of these experiences. I loved having a part in it and hope to see continued growth with both staff and students. I have ideas about what to do next time too. I would like to do something like Sarah's Digital Learning Fair with students teaching and demonstrating. Something to look forward to next year.

2012-01-30T20:46:00.000-08:00

I hardly have a moment to breath much less type up a post, but I am going to rush through it in light speed and get back to my other work.

This past week was a slow week for novels, but a really quick week for picture books. I was tearing through those.

Newbery Challenge: This week I finished Tales from Silver Lands and Shen of the Sea. Neither of which will be living in my heart forever. Enough said.

Caldecott Challenge: Nine Days to Christmas and They Were Strong and Good were also not high on my list unfortunately. I liked Nine Days to a certain degree, but They Were Strong and Good had some serious problems culturally. It really showed how far children's literature has come.

Best Book of my Week: Wonder by Palacio - the characters were fantastic and she did a wonderful job with the changing points of view. Loved it.

For the rest - a list.

Big Wig - fun facts about hair - a Nerdy Nominee

Flying Beaver Brothers and the Fishy Business - fun graphic novel

Worst of Friends - a little fiction in with what looks like a non-fiction book

Tales for Very Picky Eaters - hilarious early reader

Babymouse the Musical - all-time favorite Babymouse

Babymouse Cupcake Tycoon - cute

Race the Wind

The Clever Boy and the Terrible, Dangerous Animal

It's a Big World Little Pig!

See Me Run - very cute

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - excellent non-fiction

The Man in the Moon

Time to Sleep, Sheep the Sheep

Mustache

Dinosaur vs the Potty - hilarious and pretty adorable

Pinkalicious, Purplicious, and Goldilicious - now I know why they keep checking it out - fun stuff

Starry Night Hold Me Tight

Love, Mouserella

This coming week I am finishing Sparrow Road and will just be reading a hodgepodge of Newberys and Caldecotts while having fun with lots of random books too.

Technology Petting Zoo

2012-01-27T21:24:00.000-08:00

This week flew by so quickly. I feel like I have been on a roller coaster. I had a crazy week at school, but in the midst of it all, I did have the chance to put together a technology petting zoo on Thursday.

Quite a few teachers were able to stop by. It is something I have been wanting to do ever since I saw Sarah's example on her blog Page in Training. I shared the NookColors, iPad apps including how to create and store video, some online comic creators that I learned about in my Digital Storytelling for Kids class, our Playaways, how to make google forms, and our computer microscope attachment. I had fun showcasing these neat tools that we have available to us.

One teacher has already put the google forms to use in a big way by creating a survey today. Love it! Others got ideas for what they would do on Digital Learning Day Feb. 1st. One teacher and I set up a Playaway with her room sound system to use with the whole class. One teacher used the iPad cart today that hadn't used them yet this school year. Hopefully I will be able to do some more things like this. I had a lot of fun and I hope the staff members did too. Most of all, I hope that learning will be positively affected by these types of events.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2012-01-23T17:47:00.000-08:00

What I Read this week:

For the Newbery Challenge I finished The Dark Frigate (1924) and got started on Tales from Silver Lands. I did enjoy the pirates and ship adventures, but am struggling a bit to get through the tales.

With the Caldecott Challenge, there were many more titles this week. I giggled through Madeline's Rescue, King Bidgood's Bathtub, Finders Keepers, and Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears, reminisced with The Rooster Crows: A Book of American Rhymes and Jingles and Wee Gillis, enjoyed visiting islands with The Little Island and Time of Wonder. I also read Many Moons (rather silly characters) and Freight Train (fantastic concept book).

A few newer books caught my eye like Shoe-La-La! which was a silly romp with pink and sparkles. I also stumbled upon two very sweet books Hug Time and one of my new favorites Plant a Kiss by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Peter Reynolds.

Petunia Goes Wild was another fun book too. I laughed and laughed through the newest Bink and Gollie: Two for One. Those two friends are just fantastic and so full of life. I smile the humongous smile with them.

I didn't manage to read many non-fiction books this week, but the ones I did read were wonderful. I especially enjoyed Never Forgotten. It's an amazingly powerful book that will stay with me for a long time. The other non-fiction book I got to read was on the Nerdies list - A Butterfly is Patient and had beautiful illustrations.

For next week:

I want to dig in to some of the books that I learned about during the Youth Media Awards today - starting with Close to Famous and Tales for Picky Eaters. I will finish Tales of Silver Lands and start Shen of the Sea. If I get a chance, I will also read read Stick by Andrew Smith (YA). And of course, I will keep trucking along with the Caldecotts.

Have a great week of reading!

Writing Workshop with Kate Messner!!

2012-01-19T21:47:00.000-08:00

So excited to see Kate Messner's blog today. I have been doing a happy dance and my dog thinks I have gone mad. I cannot wait to show my students tomorrow. They will be super excited about it. To win the signed book is really cool, but getting a free writer's workshop series is extremely and amazingly awesome. Big smiles keep popping out on my face. That just made my week.

I am also loving the cover art of Marty Mcguire Digs Worms! A little squirmy and a lot of fun. :)

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

2012-01-16T00:04:00.000-08:00

I have had a fantastic week of reading. I read picture books, chapter books and managed to get in some non-fiction too.

Picture Books

I was able to read a few more Nerdy nominees. First, I read Stars by Mary Lyn Ray and illustrated by Marla Frazee. The pictures were simply beautiful and worked so well with the pictures. I wanted to go lay out under the stars after this one if it wasn't so blasted cold out. Later in the week I was able to enjoy A Dog is a Dog by Stephen Shaskan. This one was cute, funny, and super engaging. I can't wait to share either of them with my students. I know they will both be crowd pleasers. I still have 22 Nerdy Nominees to go, but I am whittling down that list a few at a time.

I also worked on my Caldecott Challenge by reading Cock a Doodle Doo by Berta Hader. This is an old fashioned little story about a little chick. It was okay, but not fabulous. I did enjoy Seven Simeons: A Russian Tale by Boris Artzybasheff quite a bit more. The illustrations were delicate and quite interesting. The story also had such a pompous king that I just had to giggle all the way through. Laura (@liblaura5) has a fantastic video review of this book. Animals of the Bible edited by Helen Dean Fish, was a little dry and quoted the King James English version. Not my favorite though I did appreciate seeing the Daniel in the Lion's Den story that I haven't thought of for quite some time. I would definitely have given Seven Simeons the award over Animals of the Bible if it had been my choice. The Ageless Story by Lauren Ford was another one that really wasn't one of my favorites. I found it an interesting book, but only in a kind of historical way.

I also read Postcards from Buster: Buster and the Dance Contest by Marc Brown shows a group of Hmong girls getting ready to compete. It is a very short book with not a lot of detail, but it is great because there are not many picture books that show Hmong characters in a contemporary setting.

Non-fiction
I read A Little Peace by Barbar Kerley. I love the pictures of people from all around the world and the message of making the world a better place. It went well with Me...Jane and Jane's message to young people.

America is Under Attack: September 11, 2001: The Day the Towers Fell was emotionally charged, but I appreciated the way the story is delivered for children. The harsh facts aren't ignored, but the book isn't sensational. Stories are shared about actual people. Some were survivors, but others are not. The book is an excellent introduction to a horrifying part of our history.

Newbery Challenge
I finished The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle by Hugh Lofting. Wild animals that talk, a shipwreck, and many other adventures keep this book lively. It reminded me in some weird way of Pippi. Here is someone who has a little something extra and adventures at the drop of a hat and doesn't worry much about what will happen next. I found this infinitely more enjoyable than Story of Mankind.

Young Adult
The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner was a great book for my Friday evening read. The main characters were very engaging and believable. It also made me want to read Of Mice and Men again.

By far the most phenomenal book of the week though was The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. One of those I will need to think about for a long time. I will likely read it multiple times too. It brought laughter and tears and some deep thinking.

For next week:
Newberys: I will finish up The Dark Frigate and start Tales from Silver Lands
Caldecotts: Just keep reading, just keep reading
Nerdy Nominees:
Big Wig: a Little History of Hair, A Butterfly is Patient & Page by Paige
Some good non-fiction

Happy Reading!

Newbery Challenge

2012-01-10T17:08:00.000-08:00

I am so excited to be reading for the Newbery Challenge. There are so many people participating and sharing neat things like this:

which is a lot of fun - Thanks @liblaura5!

I finished Story of Mankind - the very first Newbery book, but haven't been able to start Dr. Dolittle yet. I am hoping to get that one tomorrow. The Story of Mankind was a bit of a challenge. I enjoy history, but usually in smaller doses. Of course, because it was a challenging book, I feel pretty great about finishing.

This challenge should be a lot of fun since so many people from the Nerdy Book Club are participating and discussing the challenge on Twitter at #nerdbery. It's not too late to join us. To find out all about the challenge, stop by Mr. Schu's page Watch.Connect.Read. by clicking on the Newbery badge on the right side of my blog.

It's Monday! What are you Reading?

2012-01-09T00:01:00.000-08:00

Sheila over at Book Journey started

This led Jen and Kellee over at Teach Mentor Texts to start

We went back to school so I have not been reading as much this past week, but I am still hard at work on my reading goals for the year.

This past week I read the very first Newbery Award winner - The Story of Mankind by Henrik Willem Van Loon. Whew that was a long book. It wasn't that there were so many pages, but it was a history book that was almost like a textbook. I couldn't just zip through like with a novel.

I have also been reading books from the Caldecott Award list. Swimmy and Frederick are cute books by Leo Lionni and inspire me to make a collage. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by Wanda Gag totally reminded me of my childhood when I had read it. I have never noticed how much Snow White is like Goldilocks before though. A Story, A Story by Haley was a fun Anansi story that also reminded me of another story - Tar Baby. One Morning in Maine was wonderful and had the character Sal from Blueberries for Sal. I didn't know McCloskey had written more about her. I read a nursery rhyme book called Four and Twenty Blackbirds and it had some of the grimmest nursery rhymes I have ever seen. The final Caldecott of my week was Barkis, an adorable dog book. The story was just okay, but the dog was cute.

I also read one book from the Nerdies nominations - a historical fiction book called Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. This book is emotionally challenging as it shows the struggle and journey of several families from Lithuania as the Russians take over their country and send them off to work camps. It was a part of history that I never knew and Sepetys did a fabulous job.

One of my favorites of the week was Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac. This was a wonderful fantasy and I am not even sure when or where I heard about it, but I am glad I picked it up. I felt like I could see the surroundings of this Slovakian story. Bruchac drew me right into the midst of the story.

For the coming week, I will be quite busy at school so I am not sure what I will get done, but on deck I have The Voyages of Dr. Dolittle (for Newbery Challenge), Animals of the Bible, Madeline's Rescue, and a few others (for Caldecott), and Stars (for Nerdies).

I wish you a fantastical week of reading!

On an Exciting Ride

2012-01-08T13:40:00.000-08:00

I have just begun to discover what kind of wild ride I am going to be on for the next few weeks. I have joined a collaborative learning environment called Digital Storytelling for Young Learners. This workshop will be lead by some amazing people from all over the world. As I see other students signing on from Istanbul, Argentina, Japan, Greece, New Zealand, and many other countries, I feel excitement because we are truly working together globally. We are sharing from our classrooms and from our wide variety of backgrounds and I will be happy to learn with and learn from so many teachers.

I am getting ready to go play in the digital sandbox that the moderators have set up for us. It has all sorts of fun new toys for me to play with like Comic Master, Story Bird, and Creaza. All of these toys or tools are useful for digital storytelling.

I hope to learn a lot and bring some of these great tools to our school.

It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

2012-01-01T21:58:00.000-08:00

Sheila over at Book Journey started

This led Jen and Kellee over at Teach Mentor Texts to start

With this meme, the aim is to get people to reflect on the reading they did during the past week, and to also make a reading plan for the coming week. Sheila had a great idea and Jen and Kellee tweaked it with a kitlit focus. It's a great way to see what other people are reading, but I really like that this might just get me to make a plan for the week.

This past week was chock full of reading and it would take pages and pages to talk about all of the books I was able to sink into so I will do this in list format first.

Poetry:

The Great Migration - Journey to the North by Eloise Greenfield

Guykyu: A Year of Haiku for Boys by Bob Raczka

Diamond Willow by Helen Frost

Won-Ton: A Cat Tale Told in Haiku by Lee Wardlaw

Lemonade: and Other Poems Squeezed from a Single Word by Bob Raczka

Hip Hop Speaks to Children

Picture Books

Itsy Mitsy Runs Away by Elanna Allen

Lost and Found by Shaun Tan

Tia Isa Wants a Car by Meg Medina

My Uncle Emily by Jane Yolen

Just in Time Abraham Lincoln by Patricia Polacco

Flight of the Dodo by Peter Brown

Monkey Truck by Michael Slack

Tell Me the Day Backwards by Albert Lamb

Blue Chicken by Deborah Freedman

The Bippolo See and Other Lost Stories by Dr. Seuss

The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward

The Story of Babar: The Little Elephant by Jean de Brunhof

April's Kittens by Clare Turlay Newberry

Be Gentle with the Dog Dear by Matthew BaeK

The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter

Charlie is Broken by Lauren Child

Rainy Morning by Daniel Pinkwater

The Sea Chest by Toni Buzzeo

Monday is One Day by Arthur Levine

Mei Li by Thomas Handforth

Andy and the Lion by James Daugherty

The Happy Day by Ruth Kraus

Once a Mouse by Marcia Brown

Non-fiction

Meet the Dogs of Bedlam Farm by Jon Katz

Lincoln Tells a Joke: How Laughter Saved the President by Kathleen Krull

Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom by Sue Macy

Just a Second by Steve Jenkins

The House that Baba Built by Ed Young

Middle-Grade Novels

Jefferson's Sons by Kmberly Brubaker Bradley

The Trouble with May Amelia by Jennifer Holm

Pie by Sarah Weeks

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Graphic Novels

Around the World by Matt Phelan

Babymouse: Rockstar by Jennifer Holm

Babymouse: Mad Scientist by Jennifer Holm

Binky Under Pressure by Ashley Spires

Babymouse: Heartbreaker by Jennifer Holm

The Eternal Smile: Three Stories by Gene Luen Yang

Nursery Rhyme Comics

Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King

Addie on the Inside by James Howe

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Ashes by Ilsa Bick

I love vacations. :)

Since we will be back in school, the plan for the coming week is to finish The Story of Mankind and read a few Caldecotts. Going back to school will slow down my reading significantly, but it will be great to be with the kids again.

New Year - New Goals

2012-01-01T18:20:00.000-08:00

I have been reading New Year blog posts all day. So now it is finally time to set some of my own goals.

Reading
1. Read 650 books as part of the Goodreads Reading Challenge

2. Participate in John Schu's Newbery Challenge (read all Newbery award books by Dec. 2013)

3. Read all of the Caldecott books (including honors) as part of the Caldecott Challenge at LibLaura5 with Laura and Anna at AtoZ Library

4. Finish the last 29 Nerdy Award Nominees that I have not yet read

5. Read at least twice as much non-fiction this year than last (about 50 books)

School Related
1. Arrange for Skype Author visits for every grade level

2. Read more non-fiction with every grade level using some of the info from Passport Nonfiction from Sarah and Amy

3. Have my first Technology Petting Zoo like @pageintraining

4. Collaborate and connect with teachers, librarians, and students beyond our district

Personal
1. Complete a graduate class Library Services for Children and YA

2. Remain calm and at peace as much as possible in spite of son's graduation from High School

Yikes. As I sat here, the list just grew and grew. This is not a list of resolutions, but a hopeful list of things to accomplish over the next twelve months. Here we go. Off on another adventure. Happy New Year!

2011 Favorites

2011-12-30T17:43:00.000-08:00

This year I believe I read more books than I ever have in one year. I think I will top out at about 550 books. I still have one more day though so it's not a final number yet. It's true that around 300 of them were picture books, but more than 200 of them were novels or narrative non-fiction so it's still a lot of pages. Whew.

This whole reading frenzy was inspired by Donalyn Miller. She has this great reading challenge called Bookaday on Goodreads. I happened to see Bookady and think maybe I could read 365 this year since I know I did it once in Jr. High (seriously - I wrote them all down). I laughed though because I noticed that there was a guy on there who was aiming for 2011 books this year. I even called my daughter over and said, "Look at that - he's got to be crazy." By now I have come to discover that yes, he is crazy. Crazy about books. And, I have come to appreciate all that Mr. Schu does to promote reading and books.

During this reading challenge, I have read some simply amazing books and as most Nerdybookclub members seem to do, I must share some of my favorites.

Picture Books

Me...Jane - the text and illustrations fit together so well. I loved the mix of created illustrations with actual photos from Jane's childhood and it had a quiet feel. Beautiful.

Blackout - pictures are great, but I also enjoyed the message of taking a time out to reconnect with each other.

Press Here - just absolutely fantastic for many ages. The interactivity of it is so fun for little ones.

I Want My Hat Back - hilarious and a great way to get people interacting since some things are left to the imagination and readers don't always agree about what happened. Plus, the eyes of the animals are just a hoot as one of my students demonstrates above.

Queen of the Falls - the pictures are fabulous and the story (based on a real person) is a jaw dropper.

Pete the Cat: Rocking in my School Shoes - My kids adore this - the song adds so much, but Pete is just too cool. I wrote about him earlier in the year here.

Middle Grade Novels

Wonderstruck - Selznick has done it again with a weaving of stories that pulls the reader along. The excellent illustrations really move the story.

Bigger Than a Breadbox - a bit of magical realism that touches the heart of any reader, but particularly a reader that has experienced the separation or divorce of parents. Beautifully done.

When Life Gives You OJ - unique storyline and I fell in love with the Grandpa even though he is seriously cranky.

Ghetto Cowboy - a part of urban life that I did not know was possible and characters that touched my heart.

Friendship Doll - great historical fiction following a Japanese dolls' interactions with people on a tour of the states prior to and through WWII. Great for the history, but the doll was convincingly learning and growing while also affecting the people around her.

A Monster Calls - powerful message for anyone dealing with grief. Gives me shivers when I think about it.

Non-Fiction

Over and Under the Snow - loved learning about this fantastic other world full of creatures under the snow. Also especially loved being able to talk to Kate Messner about writing this book. See post here.

Amelia Lost - I appreciated learning that Amelia was not perfect. This was a more well rounded biography than those I have read in the past.

Heart and Soul - just beautiful and it is wonderful to see US history from the African American perspective.

Poetry

Hidden - fantastic novel in verse that has strong characters, a mystery and hidden messages.

Every Thing on It - unbelievable luck that there were still more Shel Silverstein poems out there for us to enjoy.

Graphic Novels

Zita the Spacegirl - feisty and fabulous main character.

Amulet: The Last Council - enough action for anyone and gorgeous illustrations.

Anya's Ghost - reminds me of something Neil Gaiman would do. Fantastic and seriously creepy. (YA)

YA

Divergent - LOVED IT! Action, adventure, and strong characters all together in a dystopian world. Excellent!

Under the Mesquite - another great book dealing with grief - this time through verse. I appreciated that it was based on the author's own struggles. Beautiful.

It's a long list, but I was wowed by a lot of books this year and there are even some I am leaving out to keep the list shorter like Balloons Over Broadway, Grandpa Green, Perfect Square, Breadcrumbs and Inside Out and Back Again. I just have to stop at some point though.

It's Monday. What Are You Reading?

2011-12-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

Sheila over at Book Journey started

This led Jen and Kellee over at Teach Mentor Texts to start

With this meme, the aim is to get people to reflect on the reading they did during the past week, and to also make a reading plan for the coming week. Sheila had a great idea and Jen and Kellee just tweaked it with a kitlit focus. It's a great way to see what other people are reading, but I really like that this might just get me to make a plan for the week.

During the past week, I have had the chance to read some hilarious picture books. I finally got my hands on A Pet for Petunia by Paul Schmid and loved it. Petunia is adorable. I also got to read Baxter the Pig Who Wanted to be Kosher by Laurel Snyder. It was fantastic and educational (in a good way). A Runaway Wok: A Chinese New Year Tale was entertaining and the board book Welcome to the World looks like a very nice book for little ones. They always seem to enjoy looking at the faces of real babies. One final picture book was Oops by Arthur Geisert that totally reminded me of a Rube Goldberg experiment gone awry. It wasn't my favorite, but was fun.

I was also making an attempt to catch up on some non-fiction reading so had several on my list. Reading Jim Henson: The Guy Who Played with Puppets, The Case of the Vanishing Golden Frogs, Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature, and Can We Save the Tiger? helped to make a dent in my TBR pile. Swirl by Swirl was my favorite of the bunch. I loved the illustrations and the text weaving throughout.

Anya's Ghost was the only graphic novel that I got to read, but wow it was amazing and creeptastic. It was one of several young adult books that I was lucky enough to read. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray was simply hilarious on audio. Libba Bray does a phenomenal job with the characters. My Name is Not Easy was the most serious and challenging book of the week, but was also quite moving. Daughter of Smoke and Bone was one of my fantasy-adventure jaunts that certainly kept my attention and left me waiting for more with a seriously annoying cliff hanger.

My only two middle grade reads were Liesl and Po which was an excellent fantasy and The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales, which contains some rather bizarre short stories that are very intriguing.

Now for the week ahead. I am in the middle of Jefferson's Son by Kimberly Bradley and am finding it fascinating. It is definitely a book to make a reader wonder many things. I am also in the middle of Wisdom's Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock. I am going to try to finish both of those. Then I will plan to read a bunch of picture books and those below:

Diamond Willow by Helen Frost

Ashfall by Mike Mullin

Koyal Dark, Mango Sweet by Kashmira Sheth

Wheels of Change: How Women Rode they Bicycle to Freedom by Sue Macy

Dragon Castle by Joseph Bruchac

How They Croaked by Georgia Bragg

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos

Around the World by Matt Phelan

I am excited to be reading so many great books over vacation and being able to fit in more than one book a day is fantastic. Happy reading!

The Nerdy Book Club

2011-12-25T14:06:00.000-08:00

Enjoying My Nerdy Book Club Gifts

I have had such a great time learning, laughing, and reading so far this year with the Nerdy Book Club. This group of readers gravitated toward each other on Twitter and have gathered members rapidly. Within a month or two they have gone from talking about books on #titletalk and daily on Twitter, to organizing the First Annual Nerdies book award, creating a group blog, starting a Cafe Press Store for getting Nerdy t-shirts and other fun stuff, and contributing pictures of favorite reading spots to make a fun video. I can't wait to see what the new year has in store with this very creative and extremely enthusiastic bunch of readers. I'm so glad that I get to be involved! Now I'm going to get back to my book.

Reading Stacks!

2011-12-18T12:20:00.000-08:00

I am eagerly anticipating my winter break. Of course I want to spend time with my family, but I also have a plan - a reading plan. I have a stack of books from my own school library, a stack from the public library, and some from my son's high school too. I have gathered them and ordered them from all over. Some from the public library are still yet to come on loan from many miles away. A lot of them are sitting in our office waiting for me to get out of school on Thursday and begin my winter reading break. Here are some of them. Oh, and the knitting I hope to get to while I listen to a couple of audio books.

Not surprisingly, many of them are on my TBR list based on recommendations from Twitter friends. Some of them will also be read as a result of the Nerdy Book Club and in particular the very first Nerdy Book Club Awards. I tried to read many of the nominations before voting, but there were simply too many fabulous books to get through in a short time so now that I will have some extra time, I think I can catch up.

Next year, I hope to be better prepared. This summer I signed up for the 2011 Reading Challenge, but half of the year was already gone. This coming year, I will be in it for the whole year and so hopefully I will not be so far behind. I look forward to a fantastic year of reading and anticipate reading more books than ever before.

So I hope you are making your reading plans. I wish you many wonderful pages.

Kate Messner & Our Skype Visit with Update

2011-12-11T18:39:00.000-08:00

Our third grade was very lucky and had the opportunity to visit with Kate Messner recently. We had all read her picture books Over and Under the Snow and Sea Monsters First Day, and a lot of us had read Marty McGuire. We really enjoyed getting to talk to her and ask lots of questions about her writing process. She shared about some of her favorite books she read as a child (Ramona books and Judy Blume books), where she got her ideas for the books we had read, and about carrying around a notebook to jot cool ideas down. We found out that the new Marty McGuire will be published in the spring and we cannot wait to get our hands on it.

After the visit, we wanted to figure out a way to say thank you. The students that are happy to be in front of a camera have spoken for all of us in the video below. We hope you enjoy seeing their response to Kate. If you or your class are interested in Skyping with Kate or with other authors, she has a fantastic blog post explaining how it all works and which authors do this: Authors Who Skype with Classes or Book Clubs (for free). This was our schools' second Skype author visit. The first was Tom Angleberger of Origami Yoda fame with our 4th & 5th grade - and he was a hoot. We would like to make virtual author visits a regular occurrence because we learn so much and they are extremely fun. Thanks again to Kate Messner who made our day.

P.S. I forgot to add the video messages of one of my classes. They let me know it when I showed them the video above. Sooooo, here are their messages too.

Technology Conference

2011-12-07T18:10:00.000-08:00

My brain is extremely full, but in a good kind of way. After attending SLATE (School Leaders Advancing Technology in Education) this week, I have many ideas of things I would like to do. Narrowing them down and seeing which ideas are actually the most logical to work on will take awhile. It is fun to meet and talk with so many people that are excited about teaching in innovative ways. I’m a bit overwhelmed, but am enjoying thinking about and imagining the learning that could happen in our classrooms because we went to this conference. These kinds of events are meant to be transformative and I hope that this truly will be for me and the others from our school district that attended.

We had keynote speakers that talked to us about the big picture. We are educating our students in a rapidly changing world and we need to prepare them for a job market that has also changed. They will need the skills of collaboration, critical thinking, creativity, and communication along with content knowledge. We have a big job ahead of us.

I was able to see nice examples of digital student portfolios using collaborative wikis with teachers from the Kiel Area School District. That got me thinking about how digital portfolios could be used in our own school, but also about how it may help my own teenager as she moves towards job and college applications.

I was fortunate enough to be in a session with Tammy Lind @taml17 learning how to use mobile devices to share student work. I already had Evernote on our iPads, but had not considered the many amazing uses of that app. I took advantage of it throughout the rest of the conference.

The next session I was able to attend was the iPad App Shootout and wow - they (Marion University instructors) had some amazing apps to share. The most awe-inspiring one was the Tour Wrist and the 123 Sculpt was way cool. There were too many to mention here, but they supplied a list of favorites.

My final session was with a high school French teacher, Cecilia Schoultz @profhutch who is a technology leader in her school. She gave us many excellent suggestions for encouraging technology use in our schools. Her presentation was fantastic and her information may be found here.

Our closing keynote speaker also gave us a lot to think about. Things are definitely changing and we will have to take advantage of those changes and move forward. We will create our future as a district.

Another big benefit of this trip was getting to spend a lot of time eating, shopping and relaxing with my fellow LMC directors and talking technology AND books. I am glad I was a part of this, but am also very glad to be back in my very own living room with holiday lights and my dog curled up in my lap as I get ready to do a little reading. Good-night.

Thankfully Reading Results

2011-12-01T19:11:00.000-08:00

I have to say that I was not able to read nearly as much as I had hoped for the Thankfully Reading Weekend, but I had fun with my family and made a significant dent in my NaNoWriMo novel in addition to stealing a little time to read a few books.

The first book in my weekend was Sugar and Ice by Kate Messner.
I stole minutes every chance I could to sink into this fun middle grade novel about a young figure skater struggling with her priorities. Claire must balance helping out at her family's Maple farm, school, skating and her friendships. Since I have spent many hours watching my daughter skate and prepare for competitions, I truly enjoyed this novel. It was a nice escape when I needed a little quiet time.

The second book I was lucky enough to read was Seaglass Summer by Anjali Banerjee. Seaglass Summer tells of a young girl spending part of the summer with her uncle, a veterinarian, while her parents visit family in India. She has been waiting and waiting for this opportunity because she wants to be a vet when she grows up. Her eyes are opened as she sees the many messy and difficult things that a vet must do. Poppy has pluck and I had fun watching her learn.

The final book of my weekend was The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy. Since I was reading a galley from Netgalley, I wasn't able to see the illustrations, but the story was unique and very entertaining. I enjoyed the Dickens allusions and the wonderful old inn where the story takes place. Skilley is a cat of refined tastes. Mice do not interest him, but the fabulous Cheshire Cheese, now that is another story. Skilley and his new mouse friend, Pip, work together in spite of some dangerous enemies in their way. Reading this book was a wonderful way to while away my Sunday.

While I didn't get to nearly enough books over the weekend, I enjoyed every moment I could manage to carve out. I have a wonderful pile of books waiting for me now. I'm off to read a few.

Thankfully Reading Weekend 2011

2011-11-25T20:28:00.000-08:00

As a Thankfully Reading participant, my first challenge is to write about a book that I am most thankful for from any time in my life. This should be an easy task, but there are so many books that I am thankful for that I am having quite a difficult time focusing in on just one.

I think back to the early books like The Very Hungry Caterpillar that helped me learn and practice my own early reading strategies. I remember books like those in the Ramona series that showed how my little sister was not the only pest in the world. I remember Are You There God it's Me Margaret that assured me that I was perfectly normal and that growing up was tricky for everyone. The Hobbit completely blew my mind and Gone With the Wind made my little heart break. Robin McKinley and Anne McCaffrey both managed to show me that women can be strong and intelligent despite what most literature displayed.

There have been so many wonderful books in my past, that narrowing it down to one that gets my thanks is just impossible. If I have to name the book that has shown up repeatedly in my life that I am thankful for, it would be Little Women. I first read a children's version of it in elementary school. I read it over and over again. Then, in middle school, I read the real deal. I have read it many, many times and always cry over Beth, am annoyed by Amy and Meg, cry with Jo and adore Marmee. The way the family cared for each other touched me in the midst of my difficult years. I really related to Beth, since I was painfully shy myself, and I longed to be more outspoken like Jo. We owned the book, so it was available to revisit and I lived with the Marches anytime I felt lonely. I am thankful that Louisa May Alcott wrote that and many other books that were childhood and teenage friends of mine. She brightened many a day for me and helped me in my quest to overcome my shyness and to deal with my temper (the one area of myself that was very much like Jo).

Balloons Over Broadway

2011-11-13T21:01:00.000-08:00

Balloons Over Broadway by Melissa Sweet is a wonderful way to learn the history of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. In addition, the book is a fantastic work of art itself. Melissa used unique collages to illustrate the text. The illustrations really fit in well with the picture she paints of Tony Sarg, the puppeteer that engineered the giant balloons in Macy's parade. He was an inventor that used anything around him creatively to solve problems. I loved learning that the parade grew as a way to honor the traditions of the immigrant staff members of Macy's and allow for celebration. Mostly it was just fun to see the way Sarg invented whatever he needed and kept trying things that might have seemed impossible to other people.

Here is a video showing how the modern balloons are inflated before the parade. In the book, it said they used sandbags to restrain the balloons, but now they use nets.

In the video below, you get to see how they test out the balloons and practice moving as a group.

A sample of some typical things seen in a Macy's Parade

It was cool to learn that Tony Sarg also had two apprentices. One, Bill Baird, went on to create the puppets seen in the movie The Sound of Music (video clip on YouTube). The other was Jim Henson, who created The Muppets.

Here's is the latest incarnation of The Muppets opening during Thanksgiving week.

Thankfully Reading Weekend

2011-11-12T21:56:00.000-08:00

Here is an opportunity, or excuse as it may be, to read, read, and read over the Thanksgiving holiday time. The Thankfully Reading Weekend invites you to read a little or read a ton, but read as much as you can. I have never participated before, but it appears that the main point is to make time for reading. In Jen's words, it is "an excuse to do an insane amount of reading over the long Thanksgiving weekend!" Happy reading!

Friendship and Hope for A Changing World

2011-11-08T21:56:00.000-08:00

I love this video from D-PAN (Deaf Professional Arts Network). I hadn't ever heard this song, but it would be great to show at school when discussing friendship or at the beginning of the year.

I had completely forgotten about D-PAN though I have seen some of their work in the past. Obviously a lot of their work focuses on the deaf like the video Waiting on the World to Change, but beyond that, the material speaks to respect for others regardless of our differences. You can see that in the powerful video Beautiful with the music of Christina Aguilara.

I can't help but think of the book The Deaf Musicians by Pete Seeger and Paul DuBois Jacobs when I watch the combination of music and signing. It would be a great text to pair with the videos. Many hearing people don't associate music with the deaf or hard-of-hearing, so this book and the videos can be quite an eye opener. In 2007, Tony Evans wrote a review of the book on the blog Deaf Echo, and closed with this,

"I do hope that many of his admirers and fans see this book, read it, and reconsider deafness and what being deaf means today. At the very least, I hope they’ll understand that the interpreter standing on stage at any concert or artistic function isn’t there to distract, or to be annoying, but to help those of us who want to attend to share in the arts."

I am fortunate that my aunt thought to post one of D-PAN's videos because it was a great reminder of the wonderful work that they are doing and the positive message that they provide for us all. I hope you take some time and experience the art of D-PAN.

10 Cool Things I Learned on Twitter This Week

2011-11-06T18:59:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Colby Sharp's post in combination with my appreciation for Twitter, I felt that I must also share what I have learned on Twitter recently.

1. @MrsBMG-shared that Toontastic was free this weekend - so I got a great app I've been wanting - FOR FREE!

2. @langwitches- shared a copyright article by Wesley Fryer that included memory device for teaching wise way to search for audio (and other additions to presentations) Harry Potter Can Fly:  H = Homegrown  P = Public Domain  C = Creative Commons  F = Fair Use

3. From the same copyright article I was led to a fantastic site, digccMixter, that has links to places that provide audio for use in presentations, videos etc....

4. I read and participated in more great discussion around the picture book I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen at #hatback (particularly with @colbysharp, @mentortexts, and @PaulWHankins)

5. @pageintraining and @MarciaDressel provided much needed #NaNoWriMo encouragement and @maureenjohnson shared advice for how to survive

6. I was unsurprised but happy to learn via @the1stdaughter that @Patrick_Ness won the Galaxy National Book Award for A Monster Calls.

7. Twitter has led me to Picture Book Month and #picturebookmonth is chock full of ideas that I can't wait to use in my library. I will likely have my students recommending their faves in the coming weeks.

8. @Tamara_Jaimes Tweeted "Following familiar authors gives kids (&me) a peek into the writing process of the best writing mentors. It's instant credibility!" Made me think I might need to show a few author tweets at school. Hadn't thought to do that.

9. @JensBookPage led me to great article by Mo Willems (@The_Pigeon) about why we need books. His article even helped me with writing hints for my NanoWriMo book.

10. I got to find out about many new and old books to add to my To Be Read pile through #Fridayreads and #bookaday and of course #Titletalk. There are so many awesome people on Twitter that love reading and literacy.

Twitter is an awesome tool and is a whole lot of fun. I am loving how it influences my teaching and my library while providing more than a few laughs. Thanks to all of you wonderful Tweeters busy teaching and learning with each other.

November is National Novel Writing Month

2011-10-25T18:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I am now going to make an attempt at writing a novel. Pfffft. I am shaking my head at myself. Unbelievable. I start a blog and all of a sudden I am jumping into a novel. Way crazy, but it should definitely be a learning experience. Notice I didn't say a wonderful or fabulous learning experience.

I heard about this event, affectionately called NaNoWriMo, on NPR a few years ago and thought it might be a fun experiment someday when I have a lot of time. Right.

Here is the official press release about this bizarre insanity they describe as Novel Fever. There are six days left before the craziness begins. We will have one month to write a complete novel of at least 50,000 words. My courageous daughter has just decided that she wants to join too. Wahoo! Wish us luck.

Crazy Time of Year

2011-10-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

I realized that I haven't posted for awhile. It is really a crazy time of the year for me. Last week was my first full marathon, I had an evening class to attend, I had a workshop to teach aside from several after-school meetings, and we celebrated Read for the Record (see my student blog here). This week, I am volunteering at a local high school one evening, teaching a class one evening, setting up our book fair, and going to a cross country meet on another evening.

So when am I going to get to read books?!? Hopefully, I will always have a book with me for those few spare moments in between events. I have a few Babymouse books waiting in the wings along with the sequel to Killer Pizza and The Fourth Stall. It will be a miracle if I read them all, but maybe this is my lucky week.

Dot Day Pictures

2011-09-28T07:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, time has gotten away from me. I was planning on posting some pictures a long time ago. We had a great time with our Dots. I hope you enjoy seeing some of our pictures. We sure had fun making them.

Dot Week

2011-09-18T15:04:00.000-07:00

We had a great time celebrating the book The Dot by Peter Reynolds. Around 300 students used their creativity to design dots. We had little dots, big dots, and all different colors of dots. You can see some of the fun in the slideshow below.

I will post a few pictures tomorrow. I had some great fifth grade students give up their recess and come paint huge dots to put up around the school. On the official Dot Day we all took home a "dot" that looked suspiciously like a pompon to remind us to use our creativity and make our mark.

I am so glad that I found out about Dot Day because it is a wonderful way to encourage creativity and reaches out to the artist in all of us. I send out a huge thank you to Peter Reynolds. He knows that a lot of us get caught up in that thinking that tells us we just can't draw or we just can't ... (fill in the blank with whatever you might be afraid to try). He reminds us to go ahead and make that first mark and see where it takes us. Be bold! Be brave! And above all - have some fun! We did.

Dot Day Here We Come

2011-09-05T18:33:00.000-07:00

Have you heard of International Dot Day? It is scheduled for September 15. I had read the book, The Dot by Peter Reynolds many times in the past, but didn't know there were activities connected to the book until recently. I am looking forward to celebrating and exploring our creativity next week in honor of this special day.

If you want to be involved, please visit this page for some great ideas and videos of students that will inspire you. Another great inspirational place is Mrs. Molishus' page. She has samples from previous years, suggestions, and fun activities to use.

Go forth and make your mark!

Pete the Cat and Penny Dreadful

2011-08-30T21:53:00.000-07:00

Just as I suspected, Pete the Cat was a hit tonight at our Open House. I wore my red tennies in his honor and bought the Nook version of the book. Parents and students wandered through the LMC and tried out the Nook Colors. They loved to hear the story of Pete and his colorful shoes. The greatest part was when the singing would start. Their faces would light up and there were smiles all around. I am getting super excited about sharing Pete with my classes next week .

It's getting late, so I am off to bed to curl up with Penny Dreadful by Laurel Snyder .

I am almost finished and it will be the perfect way to end the day. This book has an old-fashioned sweetness to it, but isn't icky sweet. Penny comes from a wealthy family and is rather bored in her beautiful well-kept home. She wishes for some kind of change and certainly gets it. Her father abruptly leaves his job. Now with a limited amount of money and a load of bills, they move to a ramshackle old house in the country with a crew of quirky tenants.

I really loved when Penny and her friend were talking about fiction and non-fiction. Penny's life seemed a lot like the fiction book she had just been reading. Her friend's response is that she should read more non-fiction (biographies about scientists, explorers or magicians) because they were "...more interesting. Less like real life." I am off to read and snooze.

Yoda and Darth

2011-08-25T08:49:00.000-07:00

A desolate space landscape with many moons awaits its moment of glory.

A battle has begun in our LMC. Origami Yoda and Darth Paper are using all of their power and skill in the ultimate showdown!

The kids loved Origami Yoda and I am sure that there will be a waiting list for Darth Paper Strikes Back! by Tom Angleberger

The Friendship Doll

2011-08-24T23:01:00.000-07:00

I just finished a very satisfying book called The Friendship Doll by Kirby Larson. It was a bit like Hitty and Edward Tulane in that it followed a doll on its life journey touching many other lives on the way, but it was quite unique too. The characters were very rich in personality. It also provided snapshots of history along the way. The book tells of a handmade doll from Japan that is a member of the Ambassadors of Friendship. In 1927, Japanese children sent 58 dolls to the United States in a gesture of friendship to American schoolchildren. The dolls were sent all around the country. This book highlights the journey of one specific doll and her impact on many different people along the way. I look forward to sharing it with my students.

I am also eager to try the craft suggested by Valerie on her site Jump Into a Book. She provides excellent photos and a tutorial for making origami friendship dolls. It looks like a lot of fun and I will just have to make time to do it soon. I am sure many students will enjoy that activity too.

Pottermore!!

2011-08-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

This looks like it could be a ton of fun! Click here for the website.

Origami Yoda

2011-08-19T18:52:00.000-07:00

Tonight is an Origami Yoda night. When the book first came out I made a little Origami Yoda finger puppet, because who can read the book without trying that? But I decided I wanted to make a larger version for my library at school. The first one I made tonight followed the instructions found in the book which I found on the author Tom Angleberger"s Blog. There's even a video to show people how to fold that one at the Star Wars website.

Not content to do the easier version in a larger size, I felt the need to make the cover version in a larger size. Yikes. That one is not for the faint of heart. I was getting just a little frustrated with all of the crazy folds. I don't know if I he's correct way, but Yoda is mostly recognizable, so to my mind, he is close to being done.

When I finish my tweaking, Darth Paper will be coming to life. I just read that book last night and of course had a blast.

Okay, I just finished Darth Paper. Wahooo! I am not sure Darth is too pleased to be at our house. He seemed a bit put out when my daughter said, "Oh, he's so cute. I want to hug him." He's about 2 feet tall and is probably pretty sensitive about that. And on top of that, I forgot to bring home paper for his lightsaber. He is likely feeling vulnerable. Poor guy.

Book Trailers

2011-08-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

In Jen Malphy's class today she shared some of the book trailers that her students have created. Making trailers is a great creativity opportunity. They are also just a lot of fun to watch. You can visit the book trailers on her site and learn how to help students make their own. There is another fantastic place to see book trailers. Mr. Schu Reads posts tons of engaging trailers. I love stopping by his blog just to see the amazing trailers he finds. Mr. Schu is so excited about books and reading and he finds all kinds of fun trailers like this one

E-Reader Fun

2011-08-15T19:21:00.000-07:00

Today I had the opportunity to learn more about my new NookColors and how to use them effectively in school. Jen Malphy is doing an excellent job teaching all about e-readers. It was really helpful and I finally got a lot of questions answered. She has a ton of great resources on her ereadersintheclassroom wiki.

I was not really sure if I would enjoy reading this way, but I am definitely getting used to it. One night awhile back I needed to sit waiting alone for a long time and I looked all over my car for a book. I figured I was out of luck, but suddenly realized I had about 40 books in my backseat in the Nook. Fabulous "Duh!" moment. So far I have read several picture books and two full length novels and it is starting to feel natural to hold this funny device. I don't really think I will ever completely lose my love for paper books, but I am enjoying the e-readers and really look forward to using them with my students. I think they will love reading on them and creating books to put on them. I can't wait to get started!

Back from Vacation

2011-08-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

Vacation was wonderful! I had almost no opportunity to indulge in online activity because of our remote location. There was plenty of time for hiking, swimming, laying on the beach, and of course - reading. We stopped by a few places that had book exchange corners. I loved grabbing something random to read and leaving behind something I didn't need anymore. Those little corners are always a fantastic find and just make my day. They are like a little present out of the blue. It inspires me to start a corner like that in our staff lounge at my school.

Recently I saw that some people are super serious about "little libraries" as they call them. Little Free Library seems to have a great idea for supporting reading anywhere and everywhere. Maybe I will do something like that too in the future. People have so many fun ideas.

My School Shoes

2011-08-10T06:29:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about Pete and his school shoes. Last week I finally met Pete the Cat.
He is truly rockin' in those shoes. Hopefully I can find a great pair myself. School is just around the corner and I know my students are going to have a blast getting to know Pete. People sure seemed to love him at this library visit.

10 For 10 Inspiration

2011-08-09T22:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, I have to admit that the 10 for 10 Picture Books event also had something to do with starting a blog. Cathy from the blog Reflect and Refine and Mandy from the blog Embrace Learning want to know which ten picture books we cannot live without. I started thinking about my list about a week ago and it keeps changing. It is quite a challenge to narrow the list down to just 10 because there are so many fabulous books for children, but I will give it a shot.

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle - this book is the earliest book I can remember as a child. It seems to delight children over and over again. With the little holes to play with and the bright beautiful illustrations, this book is always a winner.

2. The Happy Hocky Family by Lane Smith - no matter how many times I read this book, I howl and so do the kids. Lane Smith's humor is quite cracked and sometimes I am not even sure why we are rolling on the floor, but there we are.

3. Shark vs. Train by Chris Barton - who can resist this great competition between these tough guys?

4. Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell - this biography is fantastic. The illustrations are gentle like Jane and the mix of real drawing and photographs with the illustrator's work is perfect.

5. Here's a Little Poem by Jane Yolen and Andrew Fusek Peters - it is stretching definitions to consider this a picture book since it has a few too many pages, but I just wouldn't survive without some poetry. Children love the No-No Bird (a child stomping his feet and throwing a tantrum) because they have all seen or done the very same thing and the poem about ice cream is a winner too.

6. Sitti's Secrets by Naomi Shihab Nye - is a truly beautiful story of family and place. This explores the relationship of a young girl with her Palestinian grandmother. They don't speak the same verbal language, but the language of love does the job.

7. No David! by David Shannon - absolutely hilarious - enough said.

8. We are in a Book! by Mo Willems - Elephant and Piggie may be simple characters, but they are sly and silly too. I love this book about books and reading and so does almost every child that has the good fortune to meet this book.

9. Mrs. Katz and Tush by Patricia Polacco - we have a heartwarming and beautiful tearjerker here. It is a great way to see some parallels with the Jewish and African American experiences. Beyond that, it is a fantastic example of community.

10. My People by Langston Hughes and Charles R. Smith Jr. - the photographs are fantastic and of course the poetry is too. I love seeing the beauty and joy in the faces of his people. You can't help but smile in response.

Here I Am

2011-08-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

I am here. Is anyone else? I heard about a 15 Minutes a Day Challenge and decided that writing a blog might be more fun than filling those pages in my notebook. Even if nobody else visits this blog, I am hopeful that I will learn something and be better able to teach students about blogging.

I cannot remember a time when reading hasn't been a huge part of my life. As far back as my memory goes, I have had books around me. They have been friends, lifelines, comic relief, educational and often pure escape.

On this blog I hope to share a bit about the many books I am reading and some of the cool lit things that I stumble across on the Internet.