Raising Readers and Writers

I relish winter break. I completely disengage from the hustle and bustle of school and focus on enjoying my family and doing the things I like to do…baking, cooking, reading, and visiting family and friends. I don’t mean at all to imply that school isn’t enjoyable for me. I thrive on the challenges provided by my work, but sometimes it’s nice to take a break and rejuvenate. So, tonight, I’m enjoying a cup of tea and the last bit of red velvet cheesecake from dinner. I’ll be up early tomorrow morning to bake my son’s birthday cake (who has turned 17 in a blink of an eye!) and preparing my lesson plans for next week. Oh, and I should probably hit the treadmill to make up for eating cheesecake at 10:00 at night. I thought that I would share some of the good books I was able to read over break. I know that I always enjoy getting ideas for books from other blogs that I read.

Our book group read The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. We had read Garden Spells (her debut novel) this summer by the same author and thought we would like this book. It was a light read and very enjoyable, although we all agreed that we liked Garden Spells better. In this story, Josey finds Della Lee Baker hiding in her closet, the place where Josey likes to hide to eat candy. (Each chapter is named after an old fashioned candy). Della Lee, in a fairy godmother-like way, brings Josey out of her shell and helps her become the person she always yearned to be. The book is full of quirky southern characters and has a surprise ending that has the reader cheering for Josey.

The next book I read was Rainwater by Sandra Brown. It was recommended by bookreporter.com. This book is not typical Sandra Brown, which is what drew me to it. It’s her first historical fiction novel and she even said in the beginning of the book that she was hesitant to show it to anyone because it was so different from her usual fare. You can read more about it here. I absolutely loved this book. It was a quick read that swept me back to the depression and I found myself in the Texas boarding house with Ella and her son, who has autism, although they didn’t know to call it that back then. I highly recommend this book.

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf was my next read. I always enjoy an author’s debut novel and this one did not disappoint. This was another recommendation by bookreporter.com. I started reading this book on our drive to Cleveland, and once again, I was plucked right down in the middle of the book. In this story, 2 young girls, who are best friends are discovered missing early one morning. One of the girls, Calli, has not spoken for over 3 years and part of the mystery is discovering the reason for her selective mutism. The reader is kept guessing in this page turner as each chapter is told from a different character’s perspective. Interestingly, each chapter is told in first person except for those narrated by Calli. Her’s are told from the third person perspective. I could not put this book down and finished it in one day. I’m looking forward to more of her books.

I had heard so much about The Maze Runner by James Dashner, that I had to read it next. In this book, Thomas wakes up in an elevator and doesn’t remember anything but his first name. He arrives at “The Glade” where other teenage boys, who’ve also lost their memories, live. The Glade is surrounded by a maze that is inhabited with Grievers, monsters whose stings bring about horrors no one can talk about. The boys’ sole purpose is to solve the maze and escape from their isolated world. A new boy had been arriving every 30 days, but this routine was disrupted the day after Thomas’ arrival when a comatose girl appears in the elevator with a note that is a mystery to everyone. Her arrival marks the beginning of of the end in the Glade, which causes more disharmony among the “gladers.” Unfortunately, the reader does not find out until the very end of the book whether or not the boys escape The Glade. I’m not usually a fan of science fiction and maybe that is why I was a little disappointed in the book. Others loved it though, so if you are a fan of dystopian fiction, you might want to pick it up. I think that many 6th through 8th graders would enjoy this book especially if they enjoy books in this genre.

Last but not least, are the new cookbooks I received. I know that most people don’t read cookbooks from cover to cover, but if I have the time, I find it very relaxing to sit down and peruse through a cookbook, imagining all of the wonderful things I can make. Three new cookbooks have been added to my collection. They are:
Perfect Recipes for Having People Over by Pam Anderson

Rose’s Heavenly Cakes by Rose Levy Beranbaum

Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg MD and Zoe Francois

Hmmm…wonder why I never lose the weight I think I am going to lose!

So those are my reads for winter break. If you read some great books over break, please tell about them in the comments. It’ll be fun to share new ideas. Happy Reading!

Oh by the way…thanks to all the comments encouraging me to submit my article to Choice Literacy. I have been sitting on the revision for about 5 weeks. After a few tweaks, I sent it in this morning. Brenda Power responded about an hour later telling me that she liked the revisions and she would be publishing it soon!

Squeals of delight could be heard as my kids discovered Here comes  the big mean dust bunny! sitting on the chalkboard tray yesterday morning.  Cruz begged me to read it just as it was time for him to leave for the ELL teacher.  He only relented when I promised we would read it as soon as he came back.  As we sat down to do our minilesson on nonfiction conventions an hour later, Cruz reminded me of my promise to read the new book.  The table of contents lesson was going to have to wait.  We had to read this book!

The rhyming dust bunnies are back!  Ed,Ted, Ned, and Bob are joined by the Big Mean Dust Bunny this time.  Just as in Rhyming Dust Bunnies, Ed, Ted, and Ned are rhyming away, this time to maybe cheer up the grumpy dust bunny.  He wants to smash them.  Again, as the three of them rhyme, Bob, comes up with words that don’t rhyme.  Right away, my kids wondered if he was warning the others about an upcoming danger…namely the cat.  Well, don’t you know, they were right on.  And the cat?  It’s Big Fat Cat, another familiar Thomas character.

The kids LOVED this book.  Laughter filled the room and their questions, predictions and inferences were bouncing all over!  These 6 year-olds never cease to amaze me.  We added this book to our Jan Thomas basket.  I know it will be well-loved just like the others.

We’ve just finished our second day of school.  I love beginning first graders.  They are so eager and ready to learn.  They say whatever is on their minds and they go with gusto until they drop (which is around 12:30).  I know that within a month, they will quit asking to go home after lunch and they will be able to get through the afternoon without their eyes drooping shut. 

Today was an amazing day with my young learners.  They are already showing me their thinking  as we read several books aloud.  We started the day with First Grade Here I Come by Nancy Carlson.  Henry isn’t sure he really likes first grade.  It’s just not kindergarten.  However, as he tells his mother about his day, he realizes that he really does like first grade and there are many positive things happening in his classroom.  This book gave us the opportunity to talk about how first grade is different from kindergarten and how much more we can do now that we are older.  Later in the morning, we read I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry.  In this story, Squid brags about how much bigger he is than all the other animals in the ocean, until he comes across a whale.  The kids loved this book and their conversations told me that they were thinking about the author’s words.    What was most exciting to me was the way they talked back and forth about their thinking.  They’ve only been in first grade for 2 days and they already are learning that talking about books deepens their understanding.  (I’m thankful to the kindergarten teachers who set the foundation for these conversations).

As all teachers know, the first few days in the lunch room can be daunting.  Today, we ran into a snag as the older kids were coming in to eat and some of the little ones from next door were just getting through the lunch line.  I offered to take the kids who were done eating back with my class.  I walked into my room and pulled I Know An Old Teacher  by Anne Bowen, illustrated by Stephen Gammell.  In this hilarious story which mimics the I Know An Old Lady stories, the teacher offers to take the class pets home for the long weekend.  Much to their dismay, her students discover that she is eating each of the class pets.     I looked up and saw kids who didn’t know each other hugging and laughing as they shared their disgust over the teacher’s antics.  The end was especially enjoyable exciting!  I sent the book with our after lunch guests so their teacher could read it to the rest of their class.  They were so excited to share it with their classmates and their teacher.  I knew we had taken the first steps in learning that books give us the opportunity to connect with others.

Our final read aloud was The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill.  In this story, Mean Jean is the queen of recess.   The other kids don’t swing until Jean swings; they don’t bounce until Jean bounces, and they don’t jump until Jean jumps.  That is until Katie Sue comes to school.  Not knowing Jean’s reputation, Katie Sue runs outside and plays without a worry in the world.  The other students watch to see what happens.  Jean tries to no avail to boss Katie Sue around, and in the end, Katie Sue invites Jean to play with her (which no one else had ever thought to do).   This book gave us the opportunity to talk about how we want to be treated in our classroom and how we should treat others.  It was the beginning of our class promise.  Again, we had a lively conversation.  I was able to show the kids how books can be used to learn life lessons.

As I reflected at the end of the day, I thought about all the different ways we connected with books.  I know that this is the time to fosterbuild an environment that honors conversations as we read, write, and learn together.  It is the glue that will bind us into a strong first grade learning community.

You know, Amazon gets me every time when I order a professional book.  If I add “$whatever amount,” to spend $25.00, I can have free shipping.  They’re geniuses!  I just got a new box in the mail with Will Richardson’s book (which I will talk about later…there is so much to think about) and 2 books by popular authors for first graders. (I added these to get to my $25.00 goal; however, I went way over $25.00!)  I know my kids will love these books and I’ll be adding them to the baskets in my room for the beginning of the year.

Scaredy Squirrel was a hit in my room last year and I was happy to see this title.  I thought it would be a great book to start the year off when many of the kids would still be thinking about going to the beach or pool.  Melanie Watt has the wonderful ability to tap into what kids fear (probably some adults too), but she does it in such a fun way.  Scaredy Squirrel wants to go to the beach, but he thinks it’s much safer to just stay at home where everything is familiar.  There aren’t any pirates, or sea monsters or falling  coconuts at his home in the trees.  So, he being the resourceful squirrel that he is,  decides to create his own beach at home.  However, as he lies beneath his flashlight sun, he realizes that he’s missing the most important part…the sound of the ocean.  He knows he has to overcome his fear and trek over to the real beach to get a seashell, so that he can hear the roar of the waves at his “home beach.”  Of course you know that he will face his fear and maybe find out that the beach isn’t so bad after all.

Part of what I love about these books is the variety of illustrations Melanie Watt uses.  She mixes maps, step by step “how to” instructions, labels, and insets within her humorous cartoon drawings.  Kids will see that authors don’t necessarily have to be writing nonfiction to use these traditional nonfiction conventions.  I can imagine that many of my young writers might try some of these techniques in their own writing.

Next, Jan Thomas’ A Birthday for Cow is one that will be added to my Jan Thomas basket.  I discovered her a few years ago and love her simple readable text.  My early readers always feel successful because they can go back and read her books  themselves after we’ve shared it in class.  This book is a fun one because the calendar on the end pages tells the reader that it’s Cow’s birthday.  Pig and Mouse are so excited to make him the best birthday cake ever.  (Right away, I can relate to Pig and Mouse…I’m already thinking about the birthday cake I would make).  However, Duck has other ideas…he thinks Cow would love a turnip!  A turnip?  If he can’t add the turnip to the batter, maybe he could stir the batter with it or just add it to the top instead of candles.  Pig and Mouse are adamant…no turnips!!!  Well, you can guess, Cow is estatic when he sees what his friends have prepared for him and the kids will be rolling on the floor when they see the expressions on the faces of Mouse and Pig after Cow gobbles down the …turnip. 

This seemingly simple book has a lot going on besides the simple words in the text.  The reader knows immediately that Duck is pretty sure  Cow will not want a cake for his birthday just by the look on his face and the way he says, “Cake?”  There is much to infer from the expressions on the characters’ faces, the size of the text, and the variety of punctuation used.  I can see us going back to this book over and over.

One more thing…the turnips.  I can’t let an opportunity go by without trying something new.  Since I have never even tasted a turnip, I am pretty sure that many of my students won’t have either.  I guess I’ll be shopping in the produce department the night before I read this book!

I am a die hard fan of Gooney Bird Greene.  I loved Lois Lowry’s first book and used it a lot in my classroom for writing workshop.  Her newest book, Gooney Bird is So Absurd, is wonderful.  Gooney’s teacher, Mrs. Pidgeon, begins each day reading poetry to her second grade classroom.  She introduces her students to couplets, limericks, haiku, free verse, and poems for more than one voice.  What makes these poems extra special, is that they were written a long time ago by Mrs. Pidgeon’s own mother.  Her students then get to try all of these poems during their writing time.  Gooney Bird, always a little different from the rest of the class, wears green ruffled underpants on her head (calling them a two-ponytail hat) to keep her brain warm.  It must work, because she always comes up with some good poems. 

You get the idea that Lowis Lowry has spent some time in the classroom.  Each of the students in Mrs. Pidgeon’s class is recognizeable as a student in my own room.  There’s the kid with marker all over his hands, the little Japanese-American girl with a lisp because she’s missing her 2 front teeth, the boy who shouts out, the extremely studious child, and many more. 

Lois Lowry uses a lot of wonderful vocabulary that I can see adding to my “Interesting Words” chart- words like “savor” and   ”slurping through the slush.”   I also think that my students will find the antics of Gooney Bird and her classmates hilarious.    It is evident that both Lowry and Mrs. Pidgeon have respect for the students in this classroom.  Catastrophe strikes when a not-so respectful sub appears one morning.  A master story teller, Lowry creates a tug-at-your-heart ending that is very poignant.  I don’t know if kids will have the same reaction, but adults reading the book will understand the impact of the last poem.  It’ll be a great conversation to have with your students, especially the message that our best writing comes from our hearts.

I received an ARC of The Magician’s Elephant when I visited Cover to Cover last month.  It’s due to be released at the beginning of September, just in time for the new school year.  I love Kate DiCamillo’s books.  Her writing shows a breadth of topics and genres, and each one has touched me for different reasons.  Her newest book does not disappoint.  In this story, an orphan of the late 1800′s, Peter Duchene, asks a fortune teller if his sister is alive.  He is thrilled when the fortune teller tells him that she lives.  You see, he’s been told by his guardian (a very sad, strict, former soldier friend of Peter’s father) that she died at birth.  However, he’s perplexed when the fortune teller  reveals that an elephant will lead him to her.  He knows of no elephants except those in India or Africa. 

In another part of the city of Baltese, a magician desperately wanting to impress his audience with an unforgettable trick, is surprised when an elephant comes crashing through the ceiling.  He is as surprised as his audience.  Unfortunately, the appearance of the elephant brings bad luck to several characters, including the magician.  We also meet a young girl named Adele who lives in an orphanage in another part of the city.  The Countess Quintet, is worried that all of the fuss surrounding the elephant is ruining the social season.  So she decides to move the elephant to her spacious home.  All of these separate stories eventually meld and bring these characters together.

This story is filled with sad, haunted characters, yet there is still an element of hope expressed.  One character, especially, is described as having the soul of a poet.  Leo Matienne , a police officer and neighbor to Peter, liked to ask, “What if? Why not?  Could it possibly be?”  Even though Leo and his wife are childless, the reader knows without a doubt that they love eachother very much and would make wonderful parents to some needy children.  You will find yourself hoping that they will find a way to provide a loving home for Peter and his sister, should he find her alive. 

Filled with hope, despair, magic, dreams and wonder, this story is as endearing as her others.  You will find yourself transported to another time.  Fourth grade teachers will be able to use this book as another example of fables in their classrooms.  In my opinion, it would work best as a read aloud.  The story is a little dark and there are many places where you can stop for discussion.   I think a sophisticated upper elementary reader would enjoy this as an independent read.

The Black Book of  Colors by Menena Cottin and Rosina Faria intrigued me right away.  It’s a concept book about the colors of the rainbow, but it’s written from Thomas’ point of view.  Thomas is blind and he describes the colors using his other senses (taste, touch, smell).  His descriptions will give children a whole new way to experience colors.  (Brown crunches under his feet like fall leaves.   Sometimes it smells like chocolate, and other times it stinks.)  What makes this book so different, it that every page is pitch black.  The text is written in white, with raised braille text about the type.  On the right side are raised illustrations in glossy black.   The raised illustrations invite you to sit, explore and imagine, while you feel the images.  The Braille alphabet can be found at the back of the book.

Even though this book was written for younger children, I could see using it for all levels.  My own 2 kids (14 and 16) thought this book was really cool!  Children are given the opportunity to experience the world from a different perspective.  I can also see kids using it as a mentor text as they think about colors using their senses.  I wonder if there isn’t a way to work with the art teacher to create our own Black Book of Colors.  There are so many possibilities with this book.  This is another one I can’t wait to share with my new group of kids.

Although published in 2005 by the Chicago Children’s Museum, The Skin You Live In by Michael Tyler and illustrated by David Lee Csicsko was new to me.  It was one of the books recommended by some of the other teachers who went to Cover to Cover with me.  What a great book!  As soon as I looked at the bright, vibrant illustrations, I knew I had to have it for my diverse group of kids.  Michael Tyler’s poem tells young readers how wonderful they are, no matter what color their skin is.  (It’s whatever you do skin, be happy it’s you skin.  You can’t live without it—I’m glad it’s me too skin!)  Food is used to describe different shades of skin color (Your coffee and cream skin, …your marshmallow treat skin, …your butterscotch gold skin,…).  And he tells children what their skin is not…(It’s not dumb skin or smart skin, or keep us apart skin; our weak skin or strong skin, I’m right and you’re wrong skin.)

This books will be great to use at the beginning of the school year as we begin to learn all about each other.  I will also be able to use it to talk about friendship, treating others respectfully, things that scare us, diversity, and many other topics.  I’m glad that I was introduced to this wonderful book.

I am a true believer of giving my students the gift of time to develop as readers and writers.  Well, today, I gave myself the gift of time to renew my spirit.  I took the time to meet friends for breakfast, work in my vegetable garden, read a good book, pick fresh herbs to use when I made dinner, and read my weekly newsletter from The Sisters.  It was a wonderful feeling to give myself permission to relax and do only those things I wanted to do today.  I think it’s important that we give ourselves those kinds of days once in awhile to rejuvenate and refresh!  After I finished our book club selection, Barefoot by Elin Hilderbrand,  I checked in with Friday’s newsletter from The Sisters.  I was delighted to see them recommend a website that gives suggestions of books similar to one you’ve already read.  It’s called This One Next.  You just type in the title of a book  and/or author you liked and it will give you a list of comparable books.  What a find that was!  You can also get ideas for music and movies too!  I’m sure I’ll be checking out this website often this summer.  If you’ve read some good books this summer that have helped you feel rejuvenated, share them in the comments section for others to see!  Happy Summer!

I just got back from the Columbus Area Writing Project’s Retreat at Kenyon College.  Since participating in CAWP two years ago, I always look forward to returning for the retreat to do some writing and reading just for me.  One of the things I most look forward to is my visit to the college bookstore and once again, I wasn’t disappointed.  Because, once again, I went along with Robin, one of the co-directors of CAWP who owns more books than I do!  She put this gem in my hand and I knew right away that I had to have it.  Where do I begin with Wabi Sabi?  It’s a beautiful concoction of prose, poetry, and collage.  Wabi Sabi is a cat who lives in Kyoto Japan and begins to wonder what her name means after friends from another country inquire.  Her master answers, “That’s hard to explain.”  And so, Wabi Sabi goes on a quest to discover the meaning of her name.  In the Japanese culture, Wabi Sabi means finding  beauty in simplicity, the imperfect, and the ordinary.  Through her visits with other animals, each of who give her a peek into the meaning of her name, she discovers that she is truly pleased with the name her master gave her.  The reader holds the book vertically to view full page spreads of striking collages, which look real enough to touch.  In fact, my friend put her hand on one of the pages to see if she could feel the picture.  Haiku, written in English and Japanese, along with a sparse text are interwoven on each page.  The author even translates the  Haiku written by the great Japanese poets, Bosho and Shiki, at the end of the book.

I will use this beautiful book in a variety of ways with my students.  My first graders will love the beautiful illustrations and we will talk about all the things Wabi Sabi encounters in her travels.  I will even ask my students at the beginning of the year to find out what their names mean and how their parents picked their names.  It will be great for community building.  I will also use this book to prompt my fourth and fifth grade  writing project students to write about their own names.  How do they feel about their names?  How did they get their names?  How does their name affect them?  I will also use it as a mentor text to study haiku and ways to use collage to support the meaning of your text. 

I can’t wait to show this book to my new students next year.  I know that all of them will love it!