creative literacy

Keeping Kids Connected

2012-01-14T15:01:00.000-08:00

Digital reading and writing has changed me as a learner. On June 24, 2007, I started my journey into blogging and for months before that I was glued to the screen of my computer inspired how other teachers, book lovers and writers could alter my thinking, energize me to begin more self-reflection and connect me with endless learning.

A Year of Reading and Amick's Articles were some of my first mentors as I began to reflect and blog on my own. The writers behind these blogs (Franki, Mary Lee and Sarah) helped model for me how to create my own voice and share ideas and books that meant something to me. They helped me feel apart of the reading and writing club. And then when I connected with them and others I began to feel like there were people out there who might even read what I have to say. I was gifted some identity. Then, I began connecting to others by linking to their thoughts, responding to other's posts and collaborating in events and now this series.

My point in all this is that digital reading and writing has kept me connected as a learner. So, knowing the excitement and energy I receive from the digital world, I think we owe it to our students to think about how we can keep kids connected as well. In my previous posts on digital reading and writing, I shared how embedding mentors into our best practice and using mentors authentically in digital writing deepens learning and invites risk taking. Today, I want to end this series of posts with how we can invite kids into playing with the possibilities of connecting school learning to home, providing access to digital mentors and inviting sharing with each other.

After all of the embedded work I have being experimenting with digital mentors in the classroom, I have been anxious to find a way to keep kids coming back to these. Knowing how kids need us to come back to the paper anchors we create in the classroom, these digital anchors need to be at kids fingertips as well. So, I played with a resource called Weebly that has allowed me to create a place that we access at school and home. Weebly has allowed me to customize a webpage that holds the learning we experience at school, the digital places we visit and easily embed video, pictures, and documents that are accessible to kids at home. So, in short, here are the top 3 reasons Weebly is working for us:

1. Weebly is allowing us to connect the learning we share at school to children's own homes.

Last year, I posted about the need for connected learning vs. homework. I shared my strategies as a parent for keeping connected with my own children as well as opportunities I provide my students for connecting school to home. Weebly has allowed me to open up our classroom to not only my students but to our parents as well. I have organized pages according to themes and subjects with each page reflecting the big messages kids are learning about through pictures, video and links. Just this week we read an e-book on Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears as well as sang a rhyming song (just the first verse ) about the states of matter on the scholastic site. My students began asking me immediately to please add them to the web page. I know they will come back to the link at home or during their computer choice at school.

2. Weebly has allowed me to scaffold for students. I am specifically thinking here about how the blog page feature. Helping first graders understand blogging has been much easier this year as we all have participated in commenting and posting once on a whole class blog page that is embedded on our webpage. It has allowed me to teach commenting with scaffolding and ease with one posting page instead of multiple pages that will appear later when kids are on their own kidblog page. We can study a comments made, make observations about what kids are writing, and note when a comment may need some depth. I also use the webpage as a scaffold for introducing digital sites (when I am organized) especially math games I embed during our choice time. I have the games organized on a symbaloo linked to our math page. So, when I am ready to study a new math concept and find a game that compliments some of our thinking, I add it to it and navigate kids through our webpage as I introduce it.

3. Weebly encourages sharing. Again, the blog page comes to mind when I think about the sharing kids are experiencing at home and school. This fall I introduced my students to creating stories using pixie software. As students created these digital stories, I have uploaded them to the blog for everyone to comment. What I like about the weebly blog page is that anyone can comment. Kids, parents, grandparents, and anyone with our password can log in and comment using a first name. It has been encouraging to see many family members get on and support our learning community. Weebly also allows me to share the videos and pictures of learning in action. The images allows parents and readers to feel apart of the our community and better understand our work.

My hope is that I can help guide even our youngest readers and writers to experience the excitement of connecting to learning outside the classroom. I know that using digital tools will support the 21st century skills and prepare them for their future. Maybe these little steps will help kids to see the importance of sharing, connecting and collaborating. Every little bit helps:)

Taking a Risk with Blogging

2012-01-10T13:38:00.001-08:00

In my last post , I asked the questions:

What are the goals I have for my readers and writers?

How can digital mentors support these goals?

I want to continue with these goals by sharing my experiences using kidblog in the classroom knowing how the tool has allowed me to expose students to a deeper understanding of audience, sharing, publishing and connecting as readers and writers.

In Kevin's post, Considering Mentor Texts: Teachers as Mentors and Creators, he states:

What we need to be doing is constructing our own mentor text collections, even as we keep an eye out for what others are doing. This means, too, that we teachers need to be sharing our worlds of exploration with our colleagues, and with the world. Don’t keep your work hidden inside of your classroom. Use the tools of the modern publishing age to share out your expertise, and together, we can begin building a database of mentor texts in the digital age. And push the limits of what technology can do.

I too agree that we need to be in the practice of constructing our own mentor text. Beginning to introduce primary children to the notion of blogging gave my students and I many opportunities to do this. While immersed in blogging my students had time to read many blogs, explore and study mentor posts/ picture books, publish and share.

Immersing in Blogging:

Sites like National Geographic for Kids hosts a main blog with many posts surrounding different topics. I used this site to begin to introduce my kids to reading blogs as a class. We used the You are here posts that follow Ava through Australia before skyping with a parent who travelled to Sydney to help us build background. We also used the dogeared posts to help us study kid book reviews before writing some of our own. This site also has other kid blogs called green scene, news bites, and hands on explorer that might work as mentors for what you are studying or thinking about in the classroom.

I also started to bookmark kid blogs I found while surfing, many of them kids who are home schooled and blogging about what they are learning and loving. These blogs gave my students ideas for writing about what they love when posting.

Finally, I introduced my kids to an introductory type post we read here and my second graders introduced themselves to the world of blogging. My first graders (who blogged with Cathy's class last year about books we love) used a picture we made on pixie to help in our introductory posts after Cathy and I created mentors for the kids.

Exploring Mentors:

As kids began to post about what they know and love, I used began to use their posts as mentors for each other just as I would do with their written pieces in workshop. Students would compose new ideas on the blog and I invited them to share at the end of workshop. It was time they needed to play with ideas and blogging. My friend Lauren and I were talking about how kids have to be trusted to go out there and just blog. Yes, we have assessments we need to give and standards we need to teach but we have to strike a balance between play and performing for the teacher, a notion that Troy hits on his his post about the tension to allow students freedom in the classroom vs what we as teachers feel like we need to teach. Often kids best work is produced in a play -like atmosphere. I know Bud Hunt would agree as he writes about the need for purposeful play here.

Kids then chatted about what ideas they had after reading each others posts. They also began to comment often with ideas that reflected their "reading like a writer" thinking. We didn't leave our study of picture books when crafting and writing on the blog. Books like Sophie Peterman tells the Truth (where Sophie points out the stinky truth about babies) inspired Maddy to write the truth about hugs. Another student, Grace, began a series of short fiction stories about different animals in our blog all inspired by a book called Baby Animals (I can't find online). We kept charting and thinking about ideas as we blogged.

I also ventured into using the blog as a place for publishing. Books of poetry including: Toad by the Road, Lizards, Frogs and Polliwogs, Animal Poems and All the Small Poems and Fourteen More inspired lots of discussion after a spring visit to the Metro Park. My students were fascinated with loads of life science we witnessed including salamanders, toads, vernal pools and food chains that they had hands on time to learn about with our park naturalist. I decided to study the non-fiction poetry to compliment their learning.

Publishing and Sharing:

While publishing on the blog, we were able to use an option called revisions (at the bottom of the edit window) which allowed us to go back to look at a student's the piece overtime. This function was powerful for students to see the before and after of a student's poem in process. It helped deepen the questions students posed during share, it allowed me to infer more deeply about student process and gave students opportunities to explain the decisions they made when reviving and editing their piece.

Grace's piece about the food chain in the wetlands is one example of how the ease of publishing and sharing on the blog deepened her work. After sharing her first posts publicly, she was encouraged and guided by her classmates to reread so that her piece made sense, add description and end her poem. She was able to do this with help from the mentor poems we had read as well as the other poems written by her classmates.

One of the most exciting parts of the publishing process on the blog was the ability to comment and read students thoughts about each others pieces of writing. Commenting on the blog helped bring kids who would have never verbally raised their hand or told their partner about their thoughts, the ability to share in writing. It also allowed everyone to easily access each others pieces allowing kids more opportunities to comment. It allowed kids to take risks.

Thinking back about the goals I have for readers and writers, there really is nothing more powerful than playing and take new risks. This is when kids learn. This is when kids grow.

Embedding Digital Mentors

2012-01-03T16:52:00.000-08:00

When my principal first asked me to consider collecting my thoughts on the work I have done integrating digital reading and writing in my classroom last spring, I began to think about how much of what I had experimented with was embedded into my practices that support student learning. When we can define our beliefs about student learning and teaching we begin to reflect on what is important to our own practice. The Digital Learning Collaborative state their beliefs about learning so clearly and simply:

Learning takes time.

Learning is a social practice.

Learning with technology should be embedded with sound instructional practice.

This third belief is what I want to concentrate on throughout the post. My beliefs about my own best practice have evolved over the years as I have learned more and taught more. For me, reading, writing and math workshop guide the learning that happens in my classroom. I want to begin with sound practice because I often think when working with technology, teachers feel like learning has to be about the tool. I know I have forgotten this simple premise and at times and needed others to remind me that embedding digital practices does not mean kids need to be able to use a tool perfectly. I think we can get caught up in kids knowing a tool rather than understanding how the tool can help us, share, collaborate or deepen our work around an instructional goal we have for our students. As teachers, we sometimes receive pressure and messages to try new tools without really understanding why and how it can help us or our students in the classroom. So, I think we have to constantly think about why and what we want our kids to be able to do and look thoughtfully for tools and mentors that will compliment our goals for students.

So I decided to share with you in this first post how digital mentors are assisting in my goals for the readers and writers in my primary classroom. When thinking about digital mentors, I am thinking about digital places where students can read, write and learn to support their work in workshop.

What are the goals I have for my readers and writers?

How can digital mentors support these goals? ( I will share 2 in this post and the rest in the following post)

1. I want my students to enjoy reading traditionally and digitally. After reading this article, Why Books Are Better Than E-Books, in the NY Times, I was a little disheartened about the work I am doing in the classroom to teach children about the value of digital reading. I know the value of children reading picture books as they turn the crisp pages anxious to see the next bright and beautiful image. Students sitting side by side a friend or a parent reading and talking about a picture book is irreplaceable. But, I also know that as a teacher I have to be a leader in teaching children how to read and access information online. Reading digitally has created an excitement for learning, allowed my students to easily come back to information, books or videos we explored at school, and read, share and comment on each other's ideas through the use of online reading and writing tools like blogs, wikis, etc.

Being able to read and think about the work that we do in the classroom only benefits students by deepening their learning.

I take time to introduce students to reading the same picture books we enjoy in the classroom online. Sites like Tumblebooks, AOL Kids, Toon Book Reader, Speakaboos and You Tube, National Geographic Kids , Pebble Go and Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears have supported the primary fiction and non-fiction reading we are exploring in the classroom. I love Tumble books because books like Duck Rabbit, Scaredy Squirrel, Diary of a Spider and Biscuit are all books kids can access and listen to on the site. AOL Kids features great books that I use for shared reading in the classroom. It has rhyming and song books that young kids need to hear again and again, it also has the entire Arthur series if you have Arthur fans in your room. Toon Book Reader features the graphic novel series for young readers and allows students to read the book on their own or have it read to them. Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears allowed us to read (ebook) and think about how real scientists live in Antarctica this week as we begin to think like scientists. I love this site because it offers stories for students about authentic issues in multiple forms and multiple levels ( texts though 5th grade and I would even use above). They have text only articles, text and picture print out books and e-books each with suggested grade level formats. So, I can introduce a text using the e-book, then later print out the same book for kids to add to their book bins. With three desktop computers in my classroom, children rotate turns during the independent portion of workshop allowing time for them to enjoy exploring and reading these sites. If I can lead them to smart places to read online, my hope is that they come back to explore these at home ( tools for how to help kids link to learning at school will come in later post) maybe alongside or more than the television character sites or online games.

2. I want my students to know authors. In the classroom, I have a number of strategies for helping my kids get to know authors. I place pictures of picture book authors on the baskets that line our bookshelves, I read the inside flap of a book sharing as much as I can about the person behind the story and I treat authors as movie stars when I talk about their ideas, craft and the messages they send in their writing. Then we create charts where we study what authors teach us in their books so students have a visual to help them remember what they can try in their own writing. I also think it is important to search for digital pieces that help us get to know authors. Book trailers, book introductions and readings and animated video featuring characters are all ways we can find more digitally about authors we love. A video of an author , I think can offer a more intimate and relatable way to show kids the person behind a book. As teachers we have to search for and introduce kids digitally to their favorites. Like, Bob Shea a picture book author that my kids love has a number of digital pieces that help us know him, why he writes and offers kids more to enjoy based his work with the Dinosaur vs. Bedtime series. After showing my students this video, I asked them to think about what they learned about Bob Shea.
Listening to him share why and who he writes for, seeing him in his living room and hearing his book, only helped my kids understand audience, purpose and the authenticity of a writer. This is a video I share in writer's workshop to help kids begin to identify their own audience and purpose for writing . Another digital mentor that kids not only enjoy but show them how authors create many stories from one idea are the dinosaur animated clips at Dinosaur vs. Disney. After showing these clips, I invite kids to think about the stories they have been writing and imagine more. When using the "making a movie in your mind" strategy to think back and more about a topic, kids can imagine more with a single idea. Alyssa for example wrote about the time she lost her tooth, then created 2 more books around this topic: putting it under her pillow and finding out what the tooth fairy brought the next day.

So much of the work I have been exploring using digital mentors has been embedded in my workshop. Whether a clip that introduces kids to thinking about a point I am making in mini lesson, or a place where kids can go to read deeper independently, kids are being introduced to places where they can think deeper. In my next post, I will continue to think about how digital mentors have made their way into our classroom supporting students sense of wonder, research, publishing and sharing.

Mentor Text Series: Week of January 8

2011-12-28T16:48:00.000-08:00

Though I have been away from writing for awhile, I haven't stopped thinking about what works for kids as learners. In fact, this fall, I began collecting my thoughts about how primary classrooms can begin to embed and embrace digital reading and writing for primary learners. Tony Keefer and I shared some of our thinking at NCTE and I am excited to dig deeper in January with some amazing leaders and thinkers in the tech and workshop arena. Beginning the week of Jan.8th, I will be blogging alongside:

Bill Bass at Mr. Bass Online
Troy Hicks at Digital Writing, Digital Teaching
Kevin Hodgson at Kevin's Meandering Mind
Tony Keefer at Atychiphobia and
Franki Sibberson at A Year of Reading

We are excited to initiate conversations around mentor texts in the digital writing workshop. We hope you will join us by reading, commenting and sharing your thinking. We are all smarter together. Looking forward to learning with all of you!

Traditions

2011-12-27T14:10:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine noticed that I haven't blogged since August. With the move to a new home over the summer and fall, I have to tell you it was hard to keep up. Blogging has taken a back seat to keeping up with organizing a new home space, taking care of my family and my students. I didn't realize how much I have missed it until my husband and I began talking about the changes that our family has undergone in the last 6 months. We reflected on the pros and cons of our life. My biggest complaint was the time I have lost writing and thinking with others through blogging. So, I am excited but a little anxious (hoping I can keep up with my personal goals for writing 3x a month) about coming back to writing, reading and learning with you.

I thought today, I would share some of the beautiful representations of tradition made by my first graders this year. After reading books like Every Friday, The Relatives Came, My Forever Dress and The Hat that Clara B. Wore my students were able to think about what tradition means in the character's lives as well as in their own lives. We had much discussion about tradition and

I invited students (and their parents) to post pictures of their family traditions in a google presentation doc.

This google doc allowed me to introduce students to a new tool for technology, allowed students to collaborate and witness a document being built over time and also allowed them to easily share and explain their traditions visually to one another using our projector.

After sharing and talking about our traditions, I asked students to think of a (picture) symbol that would represent a tradition that was meaningful to them. For example, Surabhi created a traditional Indian dress to represent her tradition of dressing up on special occasions, Jason choose a tray of cookies to represent his tradition of making cookies for Santa, and Tiya chose a diya (clay lamp filled with oil) to represent lighting lamps on Diwali. All of their symbols uniquely representing the special tradition celebrated with their family.

I modeled how to sketch and plan their symbol on paper and then introduced them to embossing on heavy gauge foil (an idea I grabbed from Family Fun magazine) with wooden pencil like rods. The students later colored their embossed symbols in with colored sharpies and then wrapped them up as a gift for their family.

I think you might agree that their creations were amazing. My class this year has embraced opportunities for showing what they know by drawing, building and creating. I have found myself looking for new ways to meet their needs as writers, readers, mathematicians and scientists where they can use their ideas and their hands to create. It is challenging me to build new traditions for the students in my classroom.

August 10 for 10 Picture Books

2011-08-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

I haven’t had as much time as I would like to blog this summer but I wouldn’t miss August 10 for 10!! So, thanks to Cathy and Mandy for hosting this great event.

This summer I thought I would share 10 books I am adding to my own classroom library and think a little about why they will work for my primary kids.

Here goes:

Brownie and Pearl Take a Dip by Cynthia Rylant

Brownie and Pearl Take a Dip is the fourth in Cynthia Rylant’s series for early readers. In this third book, Brownie (an adorable little girl about the same age as primary kids) and Pearl (her brown and orange pet cat) prepare for a swim in the small blue pool. Brownie gets her suit, Pearl gets her beach ball and they both put on their sunglasses. Brownie takes a dip and so does Pearl but she doesn’t last long.

These two characters are perfect for first graders. Last year I noticed a number of girls wanting to hold on to this series in their book bins. The text on each page is short and a bit repetitive. This book and many others in the series like: Brownie and Pearl Step Out and Brownie and Pearl Get Dolled Up, Brownie and Pearl See the Sights make up one of my newer baskets of series picture books in the classroom library. And coming in Sept: Brownie and Pearl Hit the Hay.

Blue Chameleon by Emily Gravett

I love this book because it has so much versatility. It could be a color book, a label book (that tells a story), or even a book about finding a friend. It is one of those books to read at the beginning of the year because everyone could read it after read aloud. It is also a book you could easily pull out and study pattern and repetition in as writers. And, I would pull this out later in the year to discuss what the book is really about. Emily Gravett is a genius.

A Rainbow of Animals by Melissa Stewart

I am always on the lookout for strong non-fiction titles for primary readers. I often am looking at the pictures/photographs, the amount of text, the organization of the book when deciding on whether it would be a beneficial primary read. This book of animals organized by their colors according to the rainbow. It has crisp colorful photographs with just the right amount of text for emergent and transitional readers. I love it!

The Adventures of Max and Pinky : Superheroes by Maxwell Eaton III

The notion of bravery in first grade drives much of what we do throughout the year and especially in the in first month of school. So, I am looking for “superhero” stories everywhere I go. (I happen to find this book while surfing the shelves at half price books.) In their superhero adventures, Max and Pinky transform into superheroes after trying many superhero outfits. Mighty Max and his stubby sidekick (Pinky is so confused about what a stubby sidekick is) save whales, battle snow monsters until, yep, Pinky is upset with his title and quits. Will their superhero friendship survive? This book of course embraces kids being able to do anything but also made me think about how often upset feelings happen in the classroom. Pinky and Max can help model how friendships do overcome.

No One But You by Douglas Wood

I loved this book the moment I read the first page which reads:

There are so many things in the world,

So many important things

To be taught

To be shown.

But the best things,

The most important ones of all

Are the ones no one can teach you

Or show you

Or explain.

No one can discover them

But you.

The book places you (the reader) in many places and moments where noticing and wondering are of the essence: dangling your toes into a pond, blowing the seeds of a dandelion, and embracing the softness of a puppy. I love how it enables you to feel truly in charge of your learning when so much of student learning is often controlled by what we as teachers do or have to do in the classroom.

A Ball For Daisy by Chris Raschka

One of the first studies we think about as readers and writers in the classroom is a study about pictures. It is crucial that young readers and writers really take time to think about how pictures help us understand a story and about how we as writers create pictures can help the reader understand our thinking. I have used titles like The Zoo by Suzy Lee and How to Heal a Broken Wing to help us study pictures.

A Ball of For Daisy by Chris Raschka is a wordless picture book that I enjoyed reading this summer. It is about a dog and her ball. It has lots of opportunities for predicting and thinking solely using the pictures. Chris also uses multiple frames on a page to show the passing of time thus allowing us to help kids think about how they could do the same.

I Spy with My Little Eye by Edward Gibbs

My students love I Spy books. They also love the Spot 7 series books. I think it is because of the simplicity in these finding books. We as teachers feel guilty when kids want to sit with these for hours but really we have to make sure they get time to do just that: sit and be with a book they enjoy. We can balance with our objectives and curriculum and expectations but I also think they should sit and be with books they love, even books that they may not be reading continuous text. We want them to think and enjoy reading. This book: I Spy with My Little Eye is a perfect primary think and read. It is repetitive and very predictable: both great things for our early readers and even the readers we think should be doing more. I think it will make all kids happy.

Sparkle and Spin : A Book About Words by Ann and Paul Rand

Ok, this book was a book given to me in my district’s word study curriculum. It is very old but so great for introducing kids to thinking about the power of words and what they are. I am thinking it would be a great read before asking kids to think about their favorite word. A great way to start the year with thinking about the importance of words in many contexts.

The Little Hummingbird by Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas

Last fall I heard Ann Marie Corgill share this title during our NCTE presentation and I am just getting to purchasing it. It is the story (based on a South American tale) of a little humming bird bravely carrying water droplets attempting to douse a forest fire while her animal friends run from the raging fire. It sends the message to all kids that there is strength and dignity in bravely standing up for what you know is right.

Fish Wish by Bob Barner

Lastly, I read Fish Wish this summer and realized it might have some possibilities in our study of patterned text during writing workshop. As writers, we look hard at pattern books for ideas, structure, endings, beginnings and craft. I am thinking kids might love to begin their pattern books like Barner, “ If I were a ________.” And then imagine and share why. This book has a structure that kids can emulate in their own writing.

School Shopping 2: Word Play and Practice

2011-07-27T17:15:00.000-07:00

I was unpacking lots of goodies today that I purchased from Resources for Reading and Really Good Stuff.

First the blue cylindar shaped supply bin (of which I bought five for the tables around the room) will hold the pencils, scissors, glue sticks and colored pencils for each table. The white trays, tactile letters, large letter stencils and blue polymer molding stuff are all for word play. I always need sturdy industrial strength magnets (yellow) and I bought 3 bags of colored magnetic counters because the kids always love to sort, pour, pretend with little trinkets. Lastly, I am trying the Ticonderoga triangular shaped first write pencils for students who may still need help with their pencil grip (seem to always have a few).

Last year I purchased letters and strings for my word play and practice. I often find myself looking for fun things that kids can use when playing with letters and exploring words. I also have tried to set up some areas designated for play and exploration with words.

I used this stand with magetic white board last year. This year, I found a small tray with dry erase capability. I like it because it has a little depth to the tray top so it can contain plastic letters, polymer sand, playdough, etc. It also folds up nicely to fit under my white table.

I am thinking about placing a basket of books at the end of the table that engage kids in word play. I like How to Build An A and Animal Soup. I think a few alphabet books would be great and Ook the Book for later on when we think about rhyme and notice patterns in words. I will also have our name chart (student's pics and names) close by or possibly handy so kids can make and talk about each other's names.

For now, let the thinking continue for room set up and new ideas.

Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan Shea

2011-07-25T17:44:00.000-07:00

Last week I sat down with my science curriculum to map out some science units. My goal was to come up with 3 big ideas that will encompass the more specific targets that are laid out in earth, space, life, physical and technology strands of science. I came up with 3 themes for these that I think will help kids understand that curriciulum targets aren't just a one day learned in isolation kind of thing. ( I think I've struggled with this for years thinking I had to do magnets for 2 days and then matter for 3 days, etc.)

The first idea we will be exploring will be change. I want to introduce kids to wondering about changes inside and outside ourclassroom. As I begin to map out some paths we might take, I am beginning to collect picture books that will help us think about change. One that I love for primary kids is called Do You Know Which Ones Will Grow? by Susan Shea.

Why? It is filled with pattern and ryhme . It teaches kids about living things that change and grow and then asks if non-living items (like cars, watches and cupcakes) can grow. It has lift the flaps and great pictures. It is a great science read aloud and will fit in nicely with our pattern book study we dive into at the beginning of first grade.

Other great reviews about this book can be found at :

Carol's Corner and

100 Scope Notes

If you have books to share that work for science read alouds, feel free to share!

School Shopping: Blank Books

2011-07-09T06:54:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July has come and gone which means that the summer is about half gone. My writing life feels the same. So I decided to jump start myself with some quick posts about books, ideas and changes I want to make in my own classroom for next year.

After attending the All Write Consortium this summer in Indiana, I have some ideas for organizing reading and writing assessments that I have always felt messy about. I found these blank books at Star Beacon here in Columbus yesterday and I think they may help me and my kids keep track of student goals and my conferring notes. Listening to Ann Marie Corgill and Debbie Miller at All Write, I was reminded of how important it is to document student process. I think these little blank books will be perfect for jotting conferring notes and setting goals for kids. In the past, I kept my notes with me in a single notebook, but I really like the idea of each student having their own journey of learning and goal setting in their own hands( how nice to be able to have the kids reread the notes or a few words we set in a goal together because they have their little blank book with them). I know they are small enough to fit in a folder and a book bin (and they were very reasonable 17.95 for 20 blank books). These are also the kind of books you could just make yourself if you had the time.

On to more thinking about the classroom, books and our new home. Hoping to close next week and pictures to follow. Happy Saturday!

A Time of Change

2011-06-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

I have taken a break from frequent postings over the past couple months as my family slowly packed and moved out of our home. We are blessed to be staying with family (my sister, brother in law, neices and nephew) as we patiently wait for news about our next home. "Camp DiCesare" is what our living situation has been termed by a neighbor and I think the name fits. Needless to say, you can imagine the change we are all bravely (and some generously) experiencing.

So I started thinking about the way each one of us feels about change. Reaction to change seems to depend on so many possible variables. Some of us dive into new places, circumstance and situations unafraid. While others need some support, time or comfort when something is new. We all have different comfort levels for change in our lives and even in the classroom. Next year, I will not be changing grade levels (staying with first) but I will be thinking about the many changes I will adopt in my teaching.

Some of the changes I am thinking about are subtle, like changing my room set up and the size of my whole group space on the floor. I want to condense it so I can use the whole space more wisely. Other subtle changes include switching book baskets that aren't as loved and replacing them with newer books or series.

Larger changes that I am thinking about are the "bigger picture changes" that reflect my beliefs and the messages I want to send in the classroom and home to parents. One of these bigger changes is fine tuning my curriculum night presentation so that I can effectively share with next year's parents what is most important for young learners: (using pictures of students) working together, listening to each other, sharing, noticing the world around them and teaching them how to ask questions and search for answers. Sending these messages helps the families understand what I believe in and what will be most valued in the classroom. Another change I am thinking about is modeling and providing more opportunities for kids during reading workshop share. This time is trickier for me than writing workshop share. With writing workshop share, I can often find and ask kids to share writing that demonstrates an idea introduced during minilesson (while engrossed in a unit of study). Kids are excited to share and take turns well as I keep track of who and what is shared in my assessment notebook. With reading workshop share (I am a little less organized) I find myslef asking for volunteers to show how they've tried a strategy or reflected on some reading behavior or choice but I am less able to make my way around the room because I often grab a group of kids for guided reading, a book share or a student for aconference. I find often it is the same kids volunteering. This winter I read a great post called Share Time written by Katie Keier and Pat Johnson on their blog: Catching Readers Before They Fall (also the name of their book) about ideas they use for student sharing during reading workshop. They talk about the three structures they use for young readers during share: selected students, partner shares, or "whip around the circle" shares. I am hoping to use their ideas to help me think about and change up my reading workshop share next year.

For me, change is what pushes me to grow and search for answers. When I am frusterated by change, reflecting on what I'm supposed to learn or how the change will help me, brings me closer to accepting and embracing change as an opportunity.

On the List for the Weekend

2011-05-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day!!

I hope all you mothers do something for yourselves today.

My first graders and I finished a poetry unit this week and will celebrate our poetry during our spring family night this week. With the craziness of life (in and out of the classroom), I began to question myself towards the end of this poetry unit. I started to wonder, did I teach them anything? Did my conferring help kids dig deeper? Did I use mentor texts that were simple enough for kids to begin to enjoy and find ideas for their own poetry? Were my mini lessons on track with what most kids needed from day to day? (I could go on with the questions.) Feeling frantic, I opened their workshop folders and began to read and dig deeper into the creating they had done over the past few weeks and then... I began to smile. Really, they had, and most of their best work as poets came when I wasn't hovering over them worried about what they were or weren't getting. Their best pieces came when I let them go.

Maeve found inspiration from a poem in a collection of poetry edited by Georgia Heard called Falling Down the Page. The poem Maeve connected with was called On the Menu for School Today. She wrote a poem called On the List For the Weekend and I think I am hoping you get a chance to read it and do something you want to do today!!

Today

2011-04-17T04:27:00.000-07:00

I have been spending the last couple weekends beginning to sort through clothes, books and kitchen non-essentials. There seem to be three options as I sort: give away for reuse, throw away or pack. Yes, pack. Just recently we sold our home. We feel very blessed to have buyers who feel they can make our space their own but of course are feeling the sadness of saying goodbye and stress of preparing for what next. I can easily get caught up on the worries and obsession of "what next." This omgosh feeling of what next only takes me down the path of being less present to my students and my family. I begin to concentrate way too much on me (which I feel I uncomfortable with but know there needs to be balance with all aspects of my life).

Today, as I was cleaning out our book room, I found a book of meditations from my mom that I read years ago. As I flipped through, I came to a page marked by a small picture of my goddaughter when she was in second grade. On this page I began to read,

Do not be in such a hurry to move on.

Relax, breathe deeply. Be. Be in harmony today . There is purpose and meaning in today.

There is importance in today-not so much in what happens to us, but how we respond.

Let today happen. We learn lessons. We work things out, we change in a simple fashion: by living our life fully today.

I am taking these words to heart as my family prepares to move and I prepare end of the year activities with my students. I want to be present so that I can remember what is most important: today.

Connected Learning Instead of Homework

2011-03-09T15:42:00.000-08:00

MaryLee and Franki are hosting a literacy event this Thursday in honor of Share a Story Shape a Future 2011 Event : Unwrapping the Gift of Literacy.

I'm sharing my thoughts about how to connect learning from school to home (doesn't connected learning sound better than homework).

What is homework? I think when we stop to really think about the words separately: home work or mixed around: work at home, the terms feel, well a little uninviting. Who wants to do work at home? When I get home, I want to relax (though I don't most the time ), laugh with my family, unwind and talk about my day with them. I want my student students to do the same and (because they are primary kiddos) share a book they have been loving in the classroom. I also know the realities of after school activities, sports, music lessons, etc.. These take up time for kids (and parents). So as a parent and a teacher I am often thinking about (1)what is realistic for kids to do at home, (2)what will they be motivated to do do at home after a long day at school, (3) how can I help them discover or further discover what they love and (4) how can I help connect their learning at school with what they explore at home. I came up with some short story examples of what I am noticing to be effective ways to provide connected learning (my new word for homework) for my own kids at home and classroom.

As a parent I find the best way I can support connected learning begins after I have conversations with my kids: Just last week, I was chatting with my 5th grader about his day and the next thing I knew he was on you tube exploring the visiting musician, Baba Jubal who had inspired him that day. He couldn't stop talking about the rhythms he was learning with other 5th graders for a school program where he would play a drum he created in art class. He wanted to know more about Baba Jubal and googled him finding another school's performance and music created by him. This was fascinating to me that from this brief, "What did you do today?" exploded into the 5th grader teaching me everything he was excited to be learning about with Baba Jubal.

What did you read today? led to a great conversation with my 4th grader about how much he enjoys the newest issues of Sports Illustrated for Kids. He explained to me how the magazine has changed since our subscription at home ended. He asked me what happened to our subscription (it ran out and I just renewed) because he had been missing getting his favorite reading at home. Fortunately, he has not missed out in the classroom as many of the other kids bring in their magazines in for all to enjoy. This was an opportunity for me to think about how I could keep him satisfied at home with these same resources he is enjoying in the classroom. My 5th grader joined in and began talking about how he reads SI for kids online every so often during reading workshop. So we hopped online and found the SI Kids Blog and other new options for reading that matched his interests.

What are you writing about? led my youngest son taking me to his class blog where I had an opportunity to see the piece he has been working on about a toy boat. His told about the boat he made of legos that he was inspired to create after reading Randall de Seve and Loren Long's Toy Boat. He writes to his readers:

My toy boat is awesome because it is made out of legos. I tied a rope around my toy boat. when I got the rope. I got the rope on the day befor chrisrtmas eve. I pulled it around the house.I got the idea from the book, Toy Boat by Randall de Seve. My rope is 5 feet long and my toy boat is one and a hafe feet long.

After reading this with him, I realized that his is inspired by books. He loves creating things at home after being inspired, and then has opportunities to write about his ideas and share them with others (including me).

As a teacher I want to find ways to connect students (and parents) with our learning at school:

Connecting Readers:

Reading Bags:I often tell parents who ask about homework that the best "homework" they can do with their kids is to read and talk with them about learning. To support reading at home, students bring home a book of their choice each night. Kids often take books out of my hands after I read them aloud and place them in their reading bag for the evening. I'll be honest and tell you that I don't use a formal reading log with such young readers. Instead I just want them concentrating on sharing and loving the book in their bag.

Reading Online: Many of the books I share and read in class, I am beginning to find online in one way shape or form. So as I introduce the kids to a book trailer or youtube video of a story, I link it to our class web page (which I have modeled and used in class throughout the year) so kids can access learning at home. Many of my students share how much they get online and read these at home. They are now in the habit of making sure anything I show up on the projector is linked to our web page because they know they can go home and think about it again.

Connecting Writers:

Blogs : Our class blog works as a way encourage students to continue their ideas for writing at home because their posts are accessible online with their username and password. One way I support kids independence with learning is to share posts by other kids who are finding ideas and writing at home. I think we have to show and share with our kids at school about how learning is a ongoing and lifelong. One student started to post at home about the books he checked out of the library, another student shared what she loved about her sister, both inspiring new ideas for writers to think about at home and school.

Connecting Visuals of Our Own Class Learning:

Kids love to see pictures and video of all the creations, celebrations and happenings in the classroom. This

this year, I have been using posterous host all of our small group play performances, pictures of kids

enjoying activities in math and content areas and communicating to parents about what is happening at

school. This has been yet another place for kids to read, watch and talk with their parents about the

learning in our classroom. It doesn't feel like a traditional place for homework but rather a fun place to

connect conversation about our classroom to home.

Ultimately, I want my own children and students to begin to understand how to seek out what they love. My

wish is that they begin find books they want to read and they write about topics that interest them. I hope I

can provide conversations and connections that help kids become lifelong learners.

What have you been reading and writing?

2011-02-21T07:33:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I have had time to breathe and more importantly, blog. February is a great month but always busy with quite a few family b-days, snow days and our annual Dublin Lit Conference. I have to admit that I get a little down because of the cold weather here in Ohio that often lingers through March. To help myself stay out of the dumps, I decided to join Franki's e-reader challenge and have a good book to look forward to as well as think about the pros and cons of reading digitally. I have Across the Universe on my iPad and I am LOVING IT. Today I just joined the e book club on good reads.

To keep upbeat in the classroom, my students and I have been studying authors as mentors this month and I choose someone this year that I love: Bob Shea. I was a little leary of picking a picture book author who has mainly published fiction because I think fiction is hard to teach young kids to write but I let go of those fears knowing my purpose for this study was for kids to really look at Bob's craft as a writer. I was happily surprised as my kids noticed so many interesting crafts like repetitive language that we also studied in our pattern book study at the beginning of the year and new observations like how Bob uses different colors for different character talk in Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime. Thinking about the decisions Bob makes in his books and naming these has helped my own students think purposefully about the decisions they are making in their own stories. I showed my students Bob Shea as he shares who and why he wrote Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime in this youtube video. This video had many kids thinking about why they were writing their stories and who they were writing them for.

During the last days of the study, we studied Race You to Bed for the purposes of thinking about (what I call "wow" words) precise language or words that help he reader experience the story and the writer share exactly what he feels. My students and I have been talking all year about how we learn new words in conversations, listening to stories, reading together and reading on our own. We have a nice list of words that we have caught during these times throughout the year (like when Ava helped us think about the word blended as she shared a story about how her dog Buckeye blended into the darkness of her bedroom). We also have words that students have tried in their own writing that have "wowed" us. Long story short, after kids noticed words like zip, splash and how sometimes words like "scratch an itchy rash to bed" really work together to make us feel the story, I invited kids to try writing "wow" words in their own pieces. Just noticing words helped their own awareness and begin to understand how they can strengthen their writing.

Now that it is the end of the month, I am honestly, still feeling too busy and unsettled. But, I have a book to look forward to along with satisfaction and peace that blogging brings to me when I can. I miss writing and sharing when I can't. I think that is a good thing.

Characters Outside of Our Classroom

2011-02-05T12:16:00.000-08:00

Who are your favorite characters?

My first graders have been reading books about their favorites and last week I promised we would paint our most loved friends. It wasn't surprising that Elephant and Piggie made it up to the bulletin board. It is one of the baskets of books that is always empty because kids always want these in their own book bins. I am very excited for the newest in this series, I Broke My Trunk, out next week !

Bossy Bear is another favorite of many of the boys. He is an overly bossy character who demands things his way but is challenged to change after making a friend, turtle. Turtle tells Bossy Bear that he is bossy but he doesn't have to be!

You may be able to make out Fancy Nancy at the end of the bulletin board. She is loved by some of my girls. They enjoy hearing the picture books in her series and often check out the little paperback (I can read) readers from our library.

Also featured under Nancy, is the Gingerbread Girl. Before a small group of students performed the Gingerbread Man play for the class, we read just about every version we could find ( The Gingerbread Boy, Gingerbread Baby, Gingerbread Friends as well as watched the movie on Speakaboos. The kids have become very familiar with the characters in these stories and many of the girls have loved the spunky phrase repeated by the Gingerbread Girl:" Run, run with a leap and a twirl, you can't catch me, I'm the Gingerbread Girl!"

Amelia Bedelia's picture book stories have been the favorite of one of my transitional readers. She often will sit and read aloud to a small group of kids (pretending to be teacher) at recess or free choice time. I have yet to read one of these as a read aloud because I know at the beginning of the year, many of my kids would need some scaffolding and talking through some of Bedelia's confusions. Ameila Bedelia's First Valentine will likely be read next week as the holiday approaches and we begin to know more about other student's favorite characters.

The last character that has made it up to our bulletin board thus far is Mouse from I Miss You Mouse by Greg Foley. Mouse is a kind friend and character in Foley's picture book series. This series is another perfect for first graders. It is a small amount of text with pictures and flaps that grab the reader. Once read aloud, these books also live in kid hands.

These are not all of our favorites but are certainly a strong representation. What characters are your kids loving?

Cat Secrets by Jeff Czekaj

2011-02-02T06:27:00.000-08:00

It seems like sometime since I have posted about a new favorite book that has grabbed my readers and my writers. So today I want to tell you about a book that Franki told me about. This book is called Cat Secrets by Jeff Czekaj.

When I purchased it, I noticed that Jeff Czekaj had written another book I blogged about last year called Hip and Hop Don't Stop, another fun book about friendship. Check out his website and blog!

Cat Secrets is a fun and interactive book ONLY for cats. So, you can imagine the laughter that erupts after reading aloud "Stop! Stop reading right now. This book is for CATS only!" And then you can imagine the meows as you read, "Okay, if you are really a cat, let's hear you meow." Hopefully you are beginning to understand how this book hooks readers. I noticed too, after reading it during a writing workshop lesson, that it inspired lots of writers with ideas for their own book of secrets. We have many versions of Dog Secrets in process. Don't leave without checking out the trailer for the book. I can't wait to show it to my kids tomorrow!

Happy 100th Day!

2011-02-01T08:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, we celebrated the 100th day of school. This is such a an exciting day for us because we have shared 100 days together as learners.

It is a day for reading about characters like Jake from Jake's 100th Day of School who learns about and receives compassion from his principal when he leaves his 100th day collection at home.

It is a day when we can ask kids to think about 100 and how to build, count and create 100.

It is a day that each of us has special ways we like to join with our students in sharing in the excitement of learning.

This year, we decided to read to 100 people for the 100th day of school. It seemed like perfect timing as we had recently finished publishing stories in writer's workshop and needed to have a share celebration. Just asking my students about how as a class we could read to 100 people was great thinking. After discussing (and physically counting 5 bears for each of the 20 students in our class) how to read to 100 people, we were off to read with third grade, second grade and K classes in the building. Some students were nervous to read (and just talk) with someone new, so we talked through their fears. Afterwards, I heard one student say, "Mrs. DiCesare, I am not shy anymore!" I was amazed at how different children took away different learning in this simple act of sharing a story.

Hoping you'll share some 100th day favorites and that you have an exciting 100th when your day comes!

iPad Apps for Kids in the Classroom

2011-01-17T13:30:00.000-08:00

My sister and her family came home with an iPad this weekend. So, when she mentioned that my 9 month old nephew loved playing the piano app, I had to see how little Brody interacted with it. Today when he came to visit, we handed him the iPad and he started playing and singing. I think it is pretty amazing after having interacted with it for just a day.

This had me thinking about adding apps to my iPad and iTouch for my kids at school. My students have different needs and interests so I have found a few that I am thinking will help kids with specifics they need to practice. I have also found some universal apps that work for young kids in general.

Fine Motor Needs: I have a few students who are still mastering the fine motor capabilities needed to form letters correctly. I like the app iwritewords. It is an app that truly focuses on letter formation (handwriting). It has uppercase letters, lowercase letters, number or word options for kids to practice. Once an option is chosen, a small crab appears on the screen with a series of bubbles following that prompt the student to touch the screen and follow the path of the letter. The letter name is announced and some type of praise (not a huge fan b/c gets a little annoying hearing "good job" and "that's great" over and over again) After tracing the path of the letter, it becomes a little square that you can help dance to the bottom right of the screen before another letter appears. Here is a video of a kiddo playing with the word option. I think teaching kids to draw and write about things that happen to them is best practice for emergent writers, this app is an option for my kids who need fine motor practice.

Word Practice: ABC Magnetic Alphabet: This app is like a small blackboard that you can drag magnetic looking letters onto. My fifth grader can't get enough of it as I am typing. He has written silly notes to his brothers and is using the picture icons to write silly sentences. I am thinking of using this as an option for practicing the high frequency words we have in our study.

Letter Play and Learning: Interactive Alphabet I think is my favorite. It has entertained everyone in my family (young and old). My first impression was that it was just a bunch of abc flash cards but to me it feels more like a game. You can begin with any letter and each letter has something for you to play with on the screen. The music is upbeat and inviting and each page is read to you. For example: "N is for Noodles, /N/ Noodles."

Then, you can touch the chopsticks on the screen and move the noodles up and down. Once you play with one letter, you want to know what you will find with the next one.

Stories:

Really, great stories (at a good price) would be the most universal and loved app for young readers in the classroom. Stories with pictures and narration support the literacy needs of all our kids. Here are a few options I have found...

Tales2Go: This app allows kids access to many categories of audiobooks. It is filled with classics including The Gingerbread Man, The Three Billy Goats Gruff and Caps for Sale. I am using it as an option for my students as they come in to read in the morning. Having the fairytales at their fingertips has been a great as small groups of my students are performing fairytale plays for one another this month. They can re-listen to the tales their friends have performed .

Josh and Emma Go To the Beach: This app is the story of two kids who spend time finding treasures at the beach. The story is filled with questions that guide the reader to play with the pictures on the pages. At the end of the story, the reader can touch the treasures and count them back into the bucket. The book has an auto-play and speech option.

Wheels on the Bus: This app has probably been the most popular with the kids who have picked up the iPad this week. It can be sung to you in many languages and also has the option for you to record yourself singing or reading it. I think the interactive part of this app is most inviting. You actually use your finger to make the bus move, open the doors, move the wipers an touch the people to move up and down.

Kids are interested in new, fun and interactive learning. The iPad is all that and more. I have been bringing my family iPad in to share with my students and they are loving it. Wouldn't it be nice if every classroom could own at least one?

Trying to Know Ourselves

2011-01-15T13:06:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about how important it is to know yourself. Or maybe, it is more the importance of being able to think and reflect about why we do the things we do. Then I started thinking, why am I having these thoughts? Maybe it is because I have some people pleasing flaws that steer my mind to obsess over if what I said or did in a situation. I sometimes overly worry, was I too harsh or hurtful? Most of the time my words/actions aren't overly anything because I am often harder on myself than I need to be. Maybe it is because of a conversation I had today with a friend who is trying to figure out how to be more balanced. As she shared her thinking, I thought about how I am often stopping to evaluate my priorities to feel more balanced. I have to weigh what I need with what my family needs with what my students need with, yeah, the list goes on... Or, maybe it is because I am trying to write about word learning in the classroom and I can't stop thinking about how important it is to share assessment data with kids. Sharing what I find out about my students from assessments even in the context of a simple conversation can help my kids become more aware of what they know (or need to know). All of these thoughts (I am hoping) connect to the story I want to share next.

Last night we visited old friends who have younger children, a little boy (Jonah, 4) and a little girl (Reese, 5). Before walking in their home, I reminded my two boys (one son was at soccer) who are 8 and 11, about how big they might seem to the younger kids. I asked them to give the younger kids some of their time and to play with them. After hearing a game of Hungry Hungry Hippos finish up, I decided to see how it was going in the play room. As I was walked in, I saw little Reese look up at my oldest son, who is towered over this petite Kindergartner and say with the sweetest voice, "Can you read?" I watched my son's eyes connect with mine first confused (because the 11 yr old was thinking, duh, of course I can read) then as I smiled he got it. He looked back at her and at the twinkle in her eye able to wisely smile back appreciating her amazement. "Yeah, I can." he said. In that moment I was amazed at little Reese and her appreciation for reading. She knows its possibilities and that she wants to be a reader. I know this because I could hear the wonderment in her voice and knew she understood the magnitude of reading just in the mere fact that she asked this deep question.

This little one is beginning to ask smart questions that will help her know herself and what a good habit to be in. She reminded me of how important it is to keep asking questions of myself and of others when it comes to trying to know myself each day. In first grade, we also have been in the habit of trying to know ourselves. We end the day with time to think and elaborate (if time) on a question that you might want to reflect about. "What went well for you today?"

(photo from Creative Commons by Ken Bosma)

Game Night

2011-01-08T16:39:00.000-08:00

Over the holiday, we spent lots of time playing games. Our new favorite is Quirkle. I think it fits our family because the kids and adults can play independently (this is nice because in the past our second grader has had to team up when he isn't understanding a game). While it is a game of pattern building with either color or shape, to win it requires lots of strategy to acquire the most points. It takes a little under an hour to finish the game. I also like the game because we are not sitting on the laptop, touches or ipad all night. Don't get me wrong, I love to be on line reading and the kids love their music and apps but this is helping to keep us talking, thinking and laughing with each other too.

Creative Literacy's Noteworthy Posts for 2010

2010-12-31T07:34:00.000-08:00

This morning I was flipping the channels between a couple morning news programs and enjoying their highlights from the year. It occurred to me that I could learn a bit about myself by looking back at the many blog posts I have shared this year.

So I started to reread my own year. I found when I looked at each month's post titles, there was a theme in my thinking during that time. June and July included posts about new books and new ideas as I was thinking for the upcoming school year. April and May were much about wondering as I immersed my students in writing, exploring and researching their wonders. And, Augustand September seemed to be about reflecting on my students and their needs as the school year began.

So, I was inspired to share my own Noteworthy Posts for the Year. Now, for me, the criteria for "noteworthy" depended on the amount of conversation about the post (comments) and my own feelings about the ideas in the posts. So hopefully you will find something that will be noteworthy or new for you. Here goes:

Winter 2010: Reading and Blogging

Looking back at the winter months, many posts included (surprise) books. But, the most loved video I shared during Right to Read Week was Gotta Keep Reading. The kids in the classroom danced and sung it for days. There was also a post I wrote in response to a student who wanted some advice on blogging. Click here for my 5 tips to Better Blogging.

Spring 2010: Wondering

Last Spring, I was busy preparing for a visit from Samantha Bennett, author of That Workshop Book. To prepare for her

coaching and observation, I plunged into a unit of wondering with my students. The kids painted and wrote about their own Heart Wonders and they filmed some wonders they had during our science study of living things. All of this work helped me to uncover some big ideas that I took away after a day with Sam Bennett including:

-Teaching is an incredibly complex endeavor. No one has nailed it. There are always ways to get better for students.

-Everyone does the best they can until they know better; then they do better.

-We are smarter together.

-The rest is here.

Summer 2010: Books and The Book Whisperer

This summer

I read Donalyn Miller's, The Book Whisperer. Posting about this fabulous book inspired teachers at my school to read it and begin book talks about what messages are most important to send to kids. There were many comments from bloggers too about grabbing this great read before the end of summer. I love this book and visit this post for the big ideas I took away from Donalyn's book.

Another big post this summer, Ten Picture Books Boys Can't Live Without, was a blogging event created by some blogging friends to invite a ton of sharing about our favorite picture books.

Fall 2010: Thinking and Reflecting on Tech

This fall I embarked on a year long learning journey with a community of learners in Powerful Learning Practice. This opportunity for embedded professional development had helped me extend my learning of web 2.0 tools but more importantly the importance of sharing my learning, developing my own PLN and creating authentic ways to incorporate tech integration in my own classroom. Here are some noteworthy reflections from the fall:

How Blogging Has Changed Me

Kids and Tech: Resources for Home and the Classroom

Using Kidblog to Share Student Stories Online

Remembering Moments Instead of Stuff

2010-12-30T10:41:00.000-08:00

Each morning I spend time reflecting to an inspirational quote written in response to a gospel reading for the day. It is a routine I have come to rely on that reminds me to keep life simple. Sometimes I am reminded to be thankful, to think of others instead of focusing so much on my needs, to take action when I feel passionate about something, to question, to not take my self so seriously, and very often to trust. Today, I read the words of Terri Mifek, a spiritual director for Franciscan Retreat and Spirituality Center that embraces all faiths in Prior Lake, Minnesota. She writes...

"Contrary to what the advertising world would have us believe, we don't need big houses, expensive cars and positions of power to enjoy life. We don't even need to be liked by everyone or receive accolades for our work. Watch any child occupied with making an imaginary meal or catching a butterfly and they will show you what it means to be fully alive."

Her words initiated my thoughts about all the happy moments that I had over the holidays like watching my son, Jack, win Risk when playing for the first time, feeling the excitement of hugging, talking and reconnecting with family from Georgia, and watching my husband entertain the boys by trying to balance a ketchup bottle on his head. I also thought about how working with 6-7 year olds is a blessing. Their natural curiosity and enjoyment of life in the purest of situations helps keep me grounded everyday. But, like 6-7 year olds I can forget. I forget about what really matters in the midst of stress. For today, I am glad that I was reminded to appreciate moments rather than stuff.

Out of Sight

2010-12-29T10:40:00.000-08:00

I spent about an hour and half last night at the bookstore. My trip to Cover to Cover had been on my mind ever since holiday break started last Thursday. I love to have time to read and think about the books that I plan to buy. After reading through more than 38 books, I left the store with 9. I am very happy with my purchases. Today I want to share a book that reminded me immediately of Cathy's post titled: Oh No! Scissors in Writer's Workshop. This book is called Out of Sight.

Out of Sight is a large hardback (11x16) book that is filled with pop-ups. I know, you are probably thinking that pop-up books are a disaster because kids are prone to ruining them. That thought entered my mind when I first opened this book, but I quickly let it go once I started turning the pages. The book is filled with flaps creatively designed to make you think about the animal and non-fiction information revealed underneath. Just flipping through it had me anticipating the many opportunities for discussion and conversation about how the book is organized and why illustrators made the decisions they did for each flap.

I think this book will be a great mentor text for kids creating their own non-fiction books. Kids who love to use scissors will begin to turn their wheels with how to create flaps. And, couldn't the flaps work well as a bulletin board during a non-fiction study. There are endless possibilities for this book.

After sharing it with some friends, I couldn't help observe one reader jump on her phone to look for an answer that was posed under one flap: Can you name all 8 species of bear? She and another friend started a 5 minute conversation about all they knew and could find out about species of bear. It was fascinating and powerful. I am anxious to see what happens when my students get their hands on it. Don't worry, I am already thinking about reminding them about how to handle pop-up books.

Happy Holidays!!

2010-12-23T06:47:00.000-08:00

Free greeting card created with Smilebox

Brazil

2010-12-14T15:50:00.000-08:00

Last post, I mentioned I was headed to Brazil to celebrate with my bother and his soon to be in-laws in beautiful South America.

My sisters and I opened the window curtains in our hotel bedroom to stare out at this amazing view. Isn't it breathtaking? It has been so interesting to look out the window each morning to something new... Sunday: a sea of umbrellas and people loving the beach, Monday a couple of cruise ships were making a stop inland, and each night the strip is lit and alive with the traffic of taxis.

On Monday, we ventured up Sugar Loaf Mountain and then took a train up to see Christ the Redeemer. The weather has been gorgeous (in the 80's) and the people have been wonderful. I feel like our time here is flying by and I am trying to enjoy moments and actually experience the trip (if that makes sense). I think I could have spent all day on Sugar Loaf.

Today we boarded a plane for Curitiba, Brazil where the wedding will take place this Friday. We landed in the rain but are hoping for some sun by the end of the week. Missing all my friends, students and of course family at home!

Are you playing today?

2010-12-08T18:51:00.000-08:00

I am drawn to learning. I have almost this addiction to reading, connecting and finding out as much as I can about what I need to grow as a teacher. Because of this, I experiment with ideas that I hope will help my students grow in the classroom. Right now, there is buzz about the importance in collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking and creativity ( Framework for Learning in the 21st Century). I know, haven't these areas of learning been important all along? Yes, but often in the age of standardized testing, we can lose sight of these crucial pieces of authentic learning. Balance is important in so many areas of life and education.
This week, enjoy the pictures of kids observing, problem solving, thinking and creating while playing.

Aiden brought in some balls of sap that his sister found on a tree outside. The kids pulled out the magnifying glasses and had great talk about what the balls were made of, what color they were and what they felt like as they squeezed them between their fingers .

Lucy created a pattern book with the stencils we pull out to trace for play.

You'll also notice the beetle creation thoughtfully crafted by Ben using the straws and connectors.

These moments remind me of the importance of choice when kids have opportunities to create, talk, think and play. I am also amazed how the play has evolved for some students. Many kids are grabbing their writing tools to draw and write, some want to get on the blog and others are choosing to set up games ( like Candyland or Guess Who).

I hope you are enjoying some time today playing with something of your choosing. I am headed to Brazil this week to celebrate with my family as my brother and new sister-in-law are married in Curitiba. Looking forward to playing and experiencing Brazil...pictures to come!

Kids Using Kidblog to Share Creations

2010-12-05T18:45:00.000-08:00

I am just figuring out that I can share quicktime movies made by the kids here. Check out some of the stories kids have created about their past as we venture into understanding past and present in SS. I am not taking nearly enough time to reflect on how the kids have learned to create using software on our computer, export their creation as a movie and then upload it to the blog (yes, they were uploaded onto kidblog and shared with their classmates who commented on their creations). Two out of three of these kiddos have completely worked independently on this. I have been investing lots of time in using Pixie software with First Grade because it so easily allows them to create their own picture and text. They enjoy the time using the paint tools and they have felt empowered to try out lots of ideas using Pixie...not just these prompted stories about their past. They constantly surprise me with what they can accomplish when introduced to new tools for technology.

me

when I was little

when i was little

Writers And Their Tools

2010-12-05T15:57:00.000-08:00

One of the most exciting aspects of a primary writing workshop is learning to use and play with the tools that writers need to help them compose, change and fix up their ideas. Different kids have different tools of choice. Some kids love the colored pencils, others always go for the crayons and still others grab the markers. We always have on hand an abundance of post- it tape, scissors, staples for the staplers and scotch tape.

Today, a writer learned to use the scotch tape with some help from me as I was conferencing. He was working on a story about his friend who had a bloody ear and was anxious to share it with the other kids. As he was planning his pictures for the next page in his story, he was stuck. Though his words about the story were new to the subsequent page they were an extension (detail) of a similar idea he had already drawn. He was baffled. "What should I draw?" I used the opportunity to help him realize his words really fit with what he had already drawn on the page before. I showed him how to use the scissors to cut his words off the picture-less page and tape them down to the page before. I was tempted to just do it for him as I knew I needed to conference with more kids but I stopped myself. He skipped to the cupboard to get the scissors and tape. I realized how tricky it was for him to even get the tape off of the small grooved blade. I gave him a few pointers and he practiced until he got it on his own. He was smiling and excited at his success. Then, I helped him line up the two pieces of paper.

This conference helped me remember that first I need to re-teach how to use the tape dispensers. I think I can assume too much sometimes at then beginning of the year when I only spend only a morning or two on supplies mini-lessons ( I assume partners will help each other out too). I need to come back to these so that kids who aren't as adept or bold with the tools have some reinforcement. Second, I think the value of taking this time to teach using the tool will payoff because much of the work the student and I were doing was revision work. While, I have introduced the notion of rereading and "fixing" up writing in the go and while publishing a book, the work of revision feels bigger and harder for younger writers to grasp. I know that I will be tackling this later in the year and this conference work will turn into a mini-lesson idea I can use for revision strategies.

Tools can be so motivating. I am anxious to play with a tool called Wallwisher. I am learning how to play with it here and would love for you to PLAY TOO! A fellow blogger and twitterer, Aviva used it to help her 1 and 2nd graders reflect on their performance after their musical.

Lulu and the Brontosaurus

2010-11-28T16:21:00.000-08:00

Do you remember reading Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day? I do and I laughed out loud when enjoying this book years ago. Well, Judith Viorst and Lane Smith have teamed up to create a wonderful new early chapter book for transitional readers. It has chapters that are short and match the stamina of young readers. There are many pictures throughout the story and lots of repetition in the storyline that supports kids just getting into chapter type reads. I picked it up yesterday and loved it!

Lulu is the kid that gets everything and her parents (even after tantrums and screaming fits) end up giving into her demands. So, on her birthday, Lulu decides she wants a brontosaurus for a pet (I know and the author lets you know that brontosauruses are extinct) and her parents surprisingly say no. Lulu is determined to find one for herself and sets out on an adventure into the forest. She finds the brontosaurus but he is just as determined to have a pet of his own. Guess who he want as a pet.

Sample the first chapter here at Simon and Schuster Kids to see what you think. I have a little reader that devoured this in two days. Love this.

Back From Break with Books

2010-11-28T15:45:00.000-08:00

There is nothing better than walking in the door after a long weekend or a break with new books to read aloud and share. This weekend I found a new picture book called Miss Lina's Ballerinas by Grace Maccarone. It is sure to be a hit with the girls who love to dance or are interested in ballerinas. I love the cover and the beautiful, vibrant drawings come to life with each page.

Miss Lina's Ballerinas is a story of friendship and problem solving as a group of dancers (and their teacher) figure out how to welcome a new dancer to the class. The story is told in rhyme similar to the tale of Betsy B. Little. After reading it, I was also reminded of Tacky the Penguin. The camaraderie he discovered with his tribe of friends is similar to the learning the ballerinas encounter when someone new joins the school. I think this notion of adjusting to "new" is a concept all kids need help embracing. Change can be good. Miss. Lina's Ballerina's gently reminds us of this.

Check out the trailer to see what you think.

Thoughts from NCTE

2010-11-21T07:14:00.000-08:00

I feel like the learning I am taking away this year from NCTE has been embedded in many of the conversations I have had with educators over the two days I spent collaborating, listening and learning. My mind is racing with new ideas and questions just by listening to the many wise words of others. Like...

How can I build in time for deeper discussion and reflection about what picture reading looks like ? How can kids read and replay books for others? (Kathy Collins)

The definition of "just right" book sometimes makes me uncomfortable because of each student's need, purpose and personal decisions for reading. How can I communicate this concept in the classroom without limiting my students? We know much of reading is about balance. (Cathy Mere)

How am I really inviting kids to grasp the notion of meaningful talk in the classroom? How can I step back and help them understand: why it is important to have it and how does it sound? What are some picture books that could support this? How can this trickle into our work on the blog: thoughtful commenting, reading posts by thoughtful kids? (Ann Marie Corgill)

"Comprehension is more than just teaching strategies. We have to be responsive and reactive to what kids know." (Sharon Taberski). How can I foster a balance for understanding with readers? Our work in the classroom comes from our students. (Laura Robb).

If we can get kids to know themselves in one aspect of learning, we can transition this self-reflective type thinking into other areas. Who are you as a reader?

"Shut up, listen and learn." (Don Graves quote used by Patrick Allen) How can I foster kids work as problem solvers within the classroom community?

Kids quoted " I think I am an independent reader when my teacher trusts me. " There is so much to be learned about TRUST in the classroom. Debbie Miller said: We need to trust ourselves as teachers.

So much to think about.

Picture Book Possibilities: NCTE 2010

2010-11-20T12:01:00.001-08:00

Collaborating with Learners Using Picture Books

Yesterday was an exciting day collaborating and presenting with Cathy Mere, Ann Marie Corgill and Kathy Collins. I have been energized by the conversation, preparation and time with these amazing women. I feel like the learning I am taking away this year has been embedded in many of the conversations I have had with educators over the past two days. My mind is racing with new ideas just by listening to many wise words.

Cathy M and I worked through slide share together and it was yet another piece of new learning this weekend. You can see our presentation here and at Cathy's blog as well as Ann Marie's blog (soon).

Back to the Basics

2010-11-14T19:11:00.000-08:00

There are weeks in the school year when I forget that my expectations for students exceed what they can give back. I was talking with my teacher friends and my mom who is a teacher and they all helped me remember to come back to the basics in the classroom. This week, we did just that. We needed to practice getting in line without shoving and pushing. We needed to remember what it felt like and looked like to read independently and with a partner. We needed to slow down. We needed time to play and reconnect with each other so that the routines in our classroom are stronger. Here is a video of a few girls creating during a morning play break. Their cooperation, excitement for creating and partnered conversation/explanation are helping each other learn through play.

Stuck in the Mud by Jane Clarke

2010-11-13T14:21:00.000-08:00

Do you know the story of The Enormous Turnip? Stuck in the Mud reminds me of this tale but with a twist at the end.

Little Chick is stuck in the mud and the animals on the farm are flustered over his predicament. His mother begins to pull him out only to get stuck herself. Then, many of the other farm animals follow her lead. By the end of this rhyming adventure, you come to find out that tricky Little Chick was never stuck in the first place. He jumps out of the mud and walks away from the whole mess!

The students and I shared a great conversation while reading this book by predicting events, rhyming text and the ending along the way. I also think there are other characters like Little Chick out there we can compare him to. The kids started to think about the duck, pig and cow in Mrs. Wishy-Washy because all of these animals and Little Chick enjoy the mud. I'll be trying to find primary characters that like to get others attention like Bossy Bear or characters that aren't so honest at first like Ruthie in Ruthie and the (Not So) Teeny Tiny Lie to help us begin to think deeper about these stories. Maybe you are thinking of some too?

Mistakes

2010-11-07T17:01:00.000-08:00

(photo courtesy of Chelsea)

Last week as I was modeling how writers reread their writing ( I was demonstrating some editing I needed in my book that I wrote during our pattern book study) and notice when they need to fix punctuation. In my own book I purposely left out end punctuation, inserted an exclamation point in the middle of a sentence and drew a super large period at the end of a sentence all because this is what I am noticing kids doing in their writing. In the midst of kids noticing my crazy use of punctuation as they turned and talked to a neighbor, one student said in a louder voice than normal (I could see the light bulb turning on in her mind), "MISTAKES HELP YOU LEARN!!" Kids constantly surprise me. From this simple moment, this basic mini lesson, one little girl experienced a global idea. I am hoping she keeps taking risks and maybe I can find ways for her to connect this premise to other areas of her learning. Happy creating from your mistakes!

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." Albert Einstein

BLogging: How it Has Changed Me

2010-10-30T04:18:00.000-07:00

Bill Gaskins of Creating a Path For Learning in the 21st Century has hosted a series of posts about the impact that blogging has had in the lives of educators. My post today is cross posted on his blog. Be sure to check it out the earlier reflections shared by librarians, consultants and teachers that were featured on his blog this week.

What has changed you as a learner? When reflecting back to my personal memories, there are a few times that stand out for me. Learning with my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Green (because she believed in me), placing as regional runner-up for the Optimist Club’s Oratorical Contest as an 8th grader (which boosted my self esteem) and my student teaching experience with Steve Shack (working alongside a strong model) are all memorable moments in my life that have altered what I know about myself and what I have learned about teaching.

When asked to think about how blogging has transformed me as a learner and a teacher, my first thought is that it has developed my identity. Blogging has helped me feel like and take risks as a writer. I know that I am not the most the most profound or intellectual writer but I have come to feel like a person who has a message to share. A message that others will in turn offer feedback and reactions to my thoughts. I was not this empowered as a student. Though interested in learning, I found my place at the back of the classroom, a student who was nervous about saying something “wrong.” Blogging has allowed me to express my thoughts on topics that I feel strongly about: teaching, children and creative ways to enhance learning. So, first and foremost, blogging has given me a voice. A Year of Reading, Liz in Ink and MotherReader were a few of the first blogs that helped me find my own voice.

As a beginning blogger, I learned about bravery. I wrote what was on my mind wondering, would anyone read this or think it was worthwhile. I questioned my posts. Were they “good” enough? Was what I saying of value or did invite connections in my readers? I learned to let go of these thoughts, taking risks even when I was unsure of myself.

With more blogging, I am learning the value of collaboration. Sir Ken Robinson speaks of importance of collaboration in his presentation on Changing Paradigms. He talks about how “great learning happens in groups and that collaboration is the stuff of growth.” As a blogger, I find myself reading about ideas in posts, connecting with those ideas and then linking to them in some of my own posts. The excitement of collaborative learning drives me. I am inspired to hear from other bloggers who write about topics that are meaningful to me, comment about my connections or ask questions when I want to know more. Blogging also motivates me when I am posting about a topic that I am excited to share and receive feedback from other bloggers. With blogging, I am realizing how others thoughts (Weblogg-ed and Be Playful), questions and wonderings are expanding my understandings of the world. Blogging invites unending possibilities for collaboration.

Another significant lesson I have embraced as a blogger is the power of reflection. Reflection, as defined by dictionary.com, is “a fixing of the thoughts on something; careful consideration.” By blogging, I have entered into a realm of reflection that is deeper and public. Often, I take a happening or moment from my day at home or in the classroom and I think further about it by writing a post. Just by the act of first reflecting, I have found myself then experiencing something else: questioning. My own experience is similar to the process that Scott Filkins, editor of NCTE inbox, refers to in his post: The Value of Questioning in Professional Growth. Scott writes about his process of discovering his need to formulate questions within classroom situations and acting on those questions. Blogging has been that first stepping stone in my personal learning journey. It initiates my thinking about an idea, which then leads me to question that idea, and later to act on it in the classroom. With this process, bloggers like Cathy, Ann Marie and Julie have strengthened my ability to reflect, question and act on my own teaching.

Learning is not about right or wrong, rather, it is discovering what you love, searching for more and creating with what you are learning along the way. Blogging has allowed me to discover my own voice, dabble in collaboration, reflect then make changes in my own practice and share my love of teaching and learning with others. Next: How can I begin this learning journey with my own students ?

Writing Workshop: Pattern Book Study

2010-10-27T18:18:00.000-07:00

Stephanie Parsons has written a great resource for teachers called First Grade Writers. I especially love her unit of study on pattern books. This unit has helped my students begin to understand and feel successful noticing structures that authors and illustrators use to create a book. Studying different patterns connects so much of the thinkingwe are already doing as readers (noticing the repetition in text and the supports certain books have for early readers) and as mathematicians.

This month, I decided to use Stephanie's pattern study chart in my own classroom

with some of the books I thought would support writers. The kids have been creating books using the ideas from authors like Melanie Walsh's Do Lion's Live On Lily Pad's to create their own question answer books like Do Dogs Live in the Forest and Do dogs Live in the Park. Other students have created list books like 11 Uses for a Dog and 5 Uses for a Dad after studying 31 Uses For a Mom b y Harriet Ziefiert. This study also allows all kids to enter the study. Students who are ready for more depth can use more sophisticated structures and other students who are beginning to understand patterns can create simple (that may just have repeating words and a clever ending) text and feel successful.

This week have started the practice of editing and revision while the kids have chosen one of these books to go back and fix up for publishing. I am so intrigued with how thorough this group

seems to this year. They are teaching me to slow down and really spend time with this study. I can't wait to feel the energyduring our family night when the kids will share their books witheach other and all of our families.

A New Primary Picture Book with Endless Possibilities

2010-10-23T11:52:00.000-07:00

As, I used my 33% off coupon at Borders to day to buy, Back to Bed, Ed! the gentleman at the register (who told me was a former school librarian) commented about how much he loved the illustrations in this book. I couldn't help but feel the same way as when I first eyed the book a few weeks ago.

Being purposeful and opinionated about what books we like and dislike is so important to model for our students (as well as be able to support why or why not). I also love to make further connections to the work of authors and illustrators that I enjoy. I think it is important to model this when introducing first reads to students. So I searched for more to see what connections I could make to Sebastien Braun. I found out that Sebastien Braun has a wonderfully creative website that features his library (published work), his studio (his work in progress) and his loft (selections of his past work). He also has a 3-D link that features his pieces along with the mediums he used. I can't help but think about how kids could use website for art mentor ideas (I am thinking of my own sons who would love to create with recycled wood and acrylic paint).

Also, after perusing his site, I realized that I own another title he has written. So tomorrow I will also make known Meeow and the Big Box, which is in our cat book basket. I am happy to find out that Sebastien Braun wrote Meeow and the Big Box along with two other books in the" Meeow" series ( Meeow and the Little Chairs and Meeow and the Blue Table). So, I went right to the library to reserve them. The kids will not only find excitement in the one new book that I display but they will form connections with other books or ideas that we are thinking about. With these subtle connections, the excitement, learning and reading become heightened in the classroom.

Finally to why Back to Bed, Ed will be perfect for first graders:

First, Ed is young (preschool) like my students and often wants to sleep in his parents bed and many will likely have connections to this (go here for a quick synopsis of the story).

Second, the story will be a great independent read for some of my already transitional readers who need the thinking scaffolds that a picture book has to offer them.

Last, since this book has such a distinct character, I will put Ed's copied picture up on our rime wall. This word wall (really just an area on my cupboards) is delineated with the vowels. It helps me help kids build on many word concepts (we build words from common rimes, we talk about how versatile vowels are in our language (did you know the letter a makes like 31 sounds?), we learn the common "chunks" or rimes that are associated with the short and long vowels, I use it for guided writing to help make connections to sounds and rimes kids are learning with my help and kids use it during writing workshop to make connections to words they are writing independently). It is a very used wall of cupboards. This wall is in addition to our high frequency word wall that I have on the back of magnetic bookshelves. Ed will

help kids remember the "hard to remember" sound commonly known as short e (my own second grade son still struggles knowing what to write when he hears this sound).

Building connections in simple ways helps kids remember and understand. Why not use the authenticity of a picture book to help us teach everything about reading, writing and understanding words!

(here is part of our rime wall with Cat the Cat from Mo Willems' popular series and Jet (a little dog) from Joey and Jet by James Yang, another fun series my kids enjoy)

Labeling the Shelves

2010-10-11T18:44:00.000-07:00

My classroom library is filled with baskets of books. Books about superheroes, friendship, songs, cats, dogs, sports, trucks, family, animals and people. There are non-fiction baskets by topic, baskets of rhyming books, pattern books, math books and books sorted by author. Baskets work as an organizational tool, an anchor for partner reading, a tool for extending and building reading stamina and much more. Each time I read aloud a book (about 4-5 books a day), I talk about which basket the book comes from. I may model how to put it away or ask kids to think about which basket the book could be placed in.

In past years, the baskets seemed to make it back to the shelf in their "usual" spots. The author baskets made their way back to a shelf we designated for author baskets and the poetry basket fit in a little spot on the floor that was just the perfect size for it. This year, the baskets are not making their way back to their "usual" spots so I decided to help my kids by taping a copy of the basket label onto a specific spot in the shelves. I don't think I am ever totally satisfied with how the library works in my classroom. There is always something I can tweak each year with different groups of kids. My students this year seem to be thoughtful and careful about which baskets they return books ( I think because I spent quite a bit of time modeling this and having kids think aloud about how to return to baskets). I am hoping the labels help the baskets find their way neatly to the shelf so kids can get their hands on what they need more efficiently.

Love that Kitty by Jeff Larka

2010-10-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with the book Love that Puppy by Jeff Jarka last year. I love how it steps kids into books with a graphic novel feel. Last year my students loved reading it, enjoying the silly antics of a little boy (Peter) who decides to become a dog. This year, I found myself using it during our picture study in writing workshop. The students and I noticed the many expressions Jarka creates using the characters in the story. The kids also noticed how he tells us more on one page of the story by organizing his pictures in boxes.

Today, I saw Love that Kitty at the library and checked out both copies (I always feel bad about taking two but I know these will be read). I noticed the plot of the story is very similar to that of Love that Puppy. For first grader readers, similar story events are a support for emerging readers so I know they will have some success diving into the second in the series with each other or on their own before I get a chance to read it aloud. Oh yeah, the ending of this books begs for a third.

IKEA Table

2010-10-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

This IKEA table is host to learning that we have going on in the classroom. During the first weeks of school, it held the plastic animals from animal bin. I also displayed the book Creature ABC ( which I love). It was a great place for many kids to play during student walk-through and begin to learn to cooperatively play with animals and blocks in the first few weeks of school.

I also used it to host our favorite books from home as kids brought in their favorites to share. It was fun to see what they love from home. Students had conversations and connections with many of the titles that were displayed and read from the table.

For a few weeks it held a sunflower just cut down from the side our our school building that our Kindergartners planted last year. The kids spent a week in their down time, exam-

ining it with the magnifying glasses and harvesting the seeds.

Now, the drying sunflower sits with many fall books and our learning posted on a small post-it chart about what happens in the fall.

I like this little table and can't wait to figure what we put on it next.

We started blogging two days ago...

2010-09-28T18:33:00.001-07:00

And, it completely amazes me that my students are already at home posting. I shouldn't be so struck because I know the thrill of blogging but it is incredible to witness their excitement as well as the community and connections already being formed in two, yes two short days.

Monday, I showed them my class blog (on kidblog.org) from last year and a few of the mentor blogs I have collected in my delicious account. They excitedly logged in and we decided to try and "I like" kind of post (didn't hurt that like is one of our word wall words). Tell about yourself as a blogger. What do you like? Who are you? Students were off and completed a post about one or two things they like.

By Tuesday afternoon we were able to read a few of our own published posts. I asked if anyone tried commenting and 5 kids had tried it at home the night before ( I didn't even check to read their posts so I truly had no idea). We easily had 5 experts ready to go today if other students were stuck. Every kid today was able to choose a post and comment on it. Wow.

Some topics for posts already these past two days:

i love skoole

my wobbly tooth

candy

dogs

pizza

about me

I am noticing after our unit on graphing in math and the thrill of receiving comments, kids are posting about what they like and then posing a question at the end for readers to answer. Like...do you like dogs , yes or no and do you like ice cream or candy?

I am anxious to see what happens next. My goal is to teach them how to upload their own pixie creations onto their own blog from the desktop so they can write about a visual piece. Can't wait to hear how it is going for anyone else giving blogging a try this year.

Knuffle Bunny Free by Mo Willems

2010-09-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

The Knuffle Bunny Series has been loved by the students in my classroom so much so that I had to replace my original copy of Knuffle Bunny this summer. It had pages torn but taped and the spine has been giving away because of the love the book has received over the years. So, knowing how loved this book is in our classroom, I was very, very happy to open the mailbox to find the last in this loved Mo Willems' series.

I cried reading it. I am not sure if it is a combination of the stress in my life that is causing me to be emotional, the beautifully written ending or because it is the last in a series. Whatever the case, I loved this book. It speaks of bravery, compassion and the importance of relationships.

In short, Tixie travels to Holland to spend time with her grandparents Oma and Opa. She inadvertently leaves Knuffle Bunny on the plane. Of course, realizing this when she arrives at her grandparents' home. After a phone call to the airlines, she finds out Knuffle Bunny is headed to China. She struggles with not having her special friend and experiences the woes of accepting that as a bigger kids she doesn't really need Knuffle Bunny. After beginning to deal with her loss, she surprisingly discovers Knuffle Bunny on the way home in the seat pocket directly in front of her. She is ecstatic. Hearing the cries of a small one behind her, Trixie makes a grown-up decision to give her Knuffle Bunny away (surprising everyone). The ending I won't give away but will tell you that it is a flash forward in time that brought me to tears. I loved how Mo wrapped it up.

I am anxious to see how the kids feel about it tomorrow. Hope you get a chance to read it!

Studying Pictures

2010-09-26T17:20:00.000-07:00

Writing workshop has been running happily each day with kids loving time to write their ideas. Katie W Ray inspired me to try studying pictures in these beginning weeks of school after reading her book, In Pictures and In Words. I know the noticing students are participating in will only help them throughout the year as we investigate and read more books by great authors and illustrators. These first few weeks, I used much of what I noticed kids needing and wondering about to decide which picture books to study in workshop. The books that made the list are :

Bob Graham's

How To Heal A Broken Wing and "Let's Get a Pup" Said Kate (two of my personal favorites) in which we noticed Bob's use of boxes to tell more of the story with pictures and his use of color to show feelings and distinguish from day and night.

Jan Johnson's

Wrapped in Love (I posted about here) We used to notice how illustrators can show more of what is happening in the picture by showing two places

by using a window (out and in). The kids also thought it was important because it allowed her to match the pictures to the words better.

Mo Willems

Many Elephant and Piggy Books, specifically, Are You Ready To Play Outside

We really noticed movement techniques, like the way Mo makes Piggy's legs bend and the movement lines he puts next to her. The kids also picked up on the notion of word bubbles and many are having fun trying their own.

Chris Haughton's

Little Owl Lost

Kids were also intrigued by how Chris used dots to show the movement of the owl falling from

the tree.

Beth Cadena's

Supersister

In this story, kids made connections to Bob Graham's work because of the way Beth also shows us more of the story through pictures. They also noticed how Beth shows each step of movement when sister runs down the steps.

And, because my kids have all gravitated to the Melanie Watt basket:

Scaredy Squirrel

This book was great because I had introduced the idea of drawing and

writing lists the week before I read it aloud. Afterwards, we noticed that Melanie Watt pops lists into the middle of her stories.

All such fun with so many kids catching on to the notion of noticing. Here is one kiddo's picture using a movement idea like Beth Cadena used in Supersister. In this picture, one student shows himself diving off the board at the pool: you can experience each movement of his jump to the water!

Social Bookmarking: Why and When?

2010-09-26T14:49:00.000-07:00

Do you social bookmark? I am definitely beginning to understand and see the possibilities of this web 2.0 tool. For me right now, the tool is most helpful for organizing and tagging information that I need to come back to for writing and research. This summer, Cathy M and Mary Lee both helped me begin to think about the possibilities of delicious and diigo. I began to organize my school bookmarks (places I wanted to share with my students in delicious and my personal "stuff" in diigo). I liked the highlighting and sticky note features on diigo so that on quick glance, I could find the point of the article or post so I decided to use it for my personal bookmarking. Delicious has been working for places I want to share with my students. Here's what social bookmarking looks like for me so far and what I want to try next:

School:

The first way I used it in the classroom was to quite simply compile bookmarks of great mentor blogs for kids. This helped me comeback to blogs that I new would help my students understand and begin to generate ideas for writing on their own blogs. I was not savvy enough to have the kids access them last year Now, I am thinking other classes may want to see these mentor blogs as more classrooms are venturing into the world of blogging. I have yet to add friends to this account (but I think it is the next step to sharing) So here is the link to my bookmarks for mentor blogs for kids and maybe some action will begin.

Now that I am back in first grade, we enjoy quite a bit of shared reading time around repetitive texts and songs. Many of these songs are are you tube or kideo and I would love for the kids to have access to them in the classroom, so I am thinking about how to create a link on my web page so they can access these bookmarks. We have sung and enjoyed these songs as shared texts: The Good Green Earth (love James K), Pete the Cat, If You're Happy and You Know It, and Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes. Here are my song bookmarks.

Personal:

I mentioned I use diigo for my personal findings and lately that has been school/professional development and my learning. I've bookmarked recipes because (Paula Deen's yummy recipes) I do use bookmarking for recipes when there is time to cook. Bookmarking will help as I head for Brazil this December for my brother's wedding and I organize sites I am using to plan for the trip. Just started to search tags for hotels in Rio. Off to learn more...

Reflections on Google Reader

2010-09-26T11:18:00.000-07:00

When I started blogging, I remember reading and reading blog posts until the wee hours of the night. I would find blogs I liked and explore their blogrolls. I have to admit, that until I began my pregame work for PLP, I really hadn't started to understand how rss works. I would connect to those in my blogroll (who were also in my google reader), connect to commenters on other posts, read posts that I was interested in from the tweets I perused in twitter and read around just bookmarking along the way. Bookmarking was only allowing me to keep the address of the blog tucked away. When would I remember to come back to read those blogs (even other bookmarks for that matter but that may be another post)?

I am learning and enjoying the power of rss in my reader. It has helped me organize the blogs and read the new news from those I am most interested in reading. I have sorted through my old bookmarked blogs and added their rss feed in my reader subscriptions. I found blogs like Tara at TLC, Christian Long's blog: Be Playful, and PS22 Chorus(it makes me happy listening to these kids that are amazing) that I have added (and love being updated automatically) in my reader.

Using google reader before my pre-game activity, I felt like I was in that in-between place similar to an emergent reader trying to read a new book guessing the words that seem right but aren't quite. The readers you know you need to conference with and model a specific strategy to help them understand how bravely attempting new words works. I am a bit embarrassed that I needed the one- on one demonstration video on rss feed to get how it works and embarrassed that I didn't go and try to figure it out on my own earlier but now can I tell you how happy I am to understand. Looking forward to more understanding with PLP in this year long journey.

Pete the Cat is Wearing Our Shoes!!

2010-09-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

Don't know if you've enjoyed Pete the Cat but we have been totally loving him. The Kinders at our school made these awesome pictures of Pete in their favorite color shoes (shoot, forgot to take a picture) their illustrations are hanging outside our library for all to smile at and enjoy. My friend Maureen helped me with the idea that kids could create Pete in their own shoes. So, I am making a book about our names to have fun with Pete at the same time. Here are a couple pics before I put the book together. I decided to call it Pete's Wearing Our Shoes to keep it somewhat simple. The introductory page will say: "Pete the Cat is trying some new shoes. Is he wearing yours? " Each page will have repetitive text...Pete loves Mandy's shoes. Pete loves Jack's shoes, etc. Melanie has created a retelling kit and podcast using Pete the Cat. Have you shared some Pete fun? Share please!

Wondering

2010-09-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

In a few weeks, I begin one of my journeys in learning this year. I am excited be part of the Dublin cohort for Powerful Learning Practice (an opportunity for job embedded professional development). In fact, the learning has already begun with what Sheryl Nussbaum Beach describes as pre-game activities before our face to face kick off in October. Part of these pre-game activities is to share some of the expectations I have for my own learning this year and pose any questions that I am thinking about. So after completing some of the pre-game tasks I have been thinking...

I am interested in learning how I can better use my own learning time with technology. With all the responsibilities I have at home and in the classroom, I want to understand pieces of web 2.0 tools that will allow me to be efficient when I am online. I am also curious about I can better embed emerging technologies in my own classroom. Here are some specific areas that I am interested in knowing more about:

How does tagging work (I have not yet jumped into the tagging realm with blogging) and how will it help me become a more efficient blogger?

How can I better organize the subscriptions I have on google reader?

How can I be purposeful with the use of a wiki in the classroom? I feel like I have a bit of a grasp on how to help kids understand community, sharing and feedback after using kidblog with my second graders last year but am interested in figuring out how to help (my first graders) use and understand a wiki? Will it start with reading other classroom wiki's as our journey with blogging did last year? If so, what are some good wiki's to view as mentors before I head in that direction. I would love to be connected with other classrooms that blog and use wikis. How can I do that safely under the parameters set by my district for kids sharing information over the internet?

I have noticed the impact that a larger audience has for my own son who is motivated by comments from friends and fellow you-tubers who also document and express themselves online. I also know how much learning and fun kids have with a flip camera in their hands. How can I facilitate this documentation and sharing for an even younger set of learners this year?

How can I better use the bookmarks I have saved in diigo (I use for my own learning after advice from ML) and delicious (sites I want to share with my kids)? How can I use this tool in purposeful ways within the classroom?

I have a page on Facebook but I don't use it very often or effectively. When I do use it efficiently, it is nice to be able to connect with my family on FB but I feel like it is too noisy for me on a daily basis. With my twitter account, I have found educators that I am interested in following so I often feel like it is a better use of my time. I know that I am not using twitter often enough as I would like. I want to figure out often is enough to have a voice.

These questions and wonderings are just the beginning to what I am excited to learn about this year under the guidance of PLP. Looking forward to wondering some more...

What next with Pete the Cat?

2010-09-16T17:30:00.000-07:00

There is no doubt that kids in our school love the book, Pete the Cat. When I blogged about it last spring, I had no idea that this book was going be such a sensation. Kindergarten kids began painting Pete as their fourth grade buddies sang and painted along. First graders were begging for the book to be read again and again. This book caught everyones attention. I know that part of excitement of Pete the Cat is that not only is it a book, but it is a catchy song with a free download at Harper Collins. And, the live re-telling is must. This book has multiple ways for kids ( and teachers) to access the enjoyment.

I wanted to use the kids excitement to fuel further learning with Pete the Cat in the classroom. So, I posted the three repetitive lines for shared reading on our sentence chart (smart board users I am sure there some more techy/interactive way you could extend this idea but I don't have a smartboard). I use shared reading to build in review of some print concepts (one to one match, right to left progression, difference between letter and word, etc), reading strategies and often highlight

high frequency words. Last week (with the downloaded song in the background) we sang and pointed to the repetitive words up on our sentence chart. I cut up the words, threw them in an envelope and modeled how to put together the Pete the Cat Puzzle during morning meeting. The puzzle has been loved during morning reading and play time this week. I caught these partners singing along enjoying their song. It was probably one of the happiest moments of the day. Tomorrow, I am creating a book with a photo of each student's shoes (they were very excited to pose) and I will be asking kids to help me generate some repetitive text for our own book about shoes. I want to add student names into this book so they practice reading and learning class names. Who knew Pete would allow us to be so productive and happy? (My apologies for the poor camera work, but I think you will get the idea.)

Kids and Tech : New Sites to Check Out

2010-09-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Today, I was flipping through Family Fun magazine and found some new cool websites for kids. I am always looking for fun new ways to explore with technology. This week at school, my kids learned to log onto the computers with their username and password. We learned how to get on the internet using Safari and search for a site (Starfall this week because I know the site was new to many of them and playing with letters, sounds and listening to rhymes and stories is just what they need at the beginning of the year). I also re-introduced them to a software program we have on our computers for creating, Pixie2. Last year kids made how-to creations with Pixie. This year I am anxious to figure out how I can embed first grade pixie creations on their blogs so kids can independently view, comment and enjoy their work with each other. In the meantime, I will be adding some of the following new sites to my webpage ( it's a work in progress) so that kids can access these new sites easily from home! Here is what I found:

Ki d eos is an online kid video site safe for kids (basically youtube for kids). I love this! It was very easy to use and I showed it my second grader who could have searched videos all night.

You can choose videos by age group, by channel or play around for awhile like I did. I loved the classic Three Little Pigs, Word World Videos, the many how-to videos like how to tie your shoes (kids could make videos like these), book characters (The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Little Critter, The Old Lady Who swallowed a Fly and many more), crazy animal videos and much more.

Activity Tv is a site filled with how-to videos featuring activities kids love: magic, science experiments, origami, cooking and more. The videos are also categorized by beginner, intermediate and advanced.

The Toymaker is a site in which kids can choose paper toys to print and assemble. This site has printable animals, fairies and magic, math and learning toys, moving toys and boxes. For kids who love to build and wonder these print outs will keep them thinking. My 7 year old will be busy when I show him the wind boats and aeroplane. These print outs would also be great thinking during free choice or indoor recess.

Let the learning begin...

2010-09-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

Do you have plans for learning this year? I know that often my students directly benefit from my professional development. Last year, Karen challenged me to share my bits of my own blogging experience with my second graders. Their journey into first, reading many kid blogs, then creating their individual voices (using kidblog), sharing ideas, problem solving to figure out the tool, connecting, questioning and complimenting each other through commenting within our classroom community was amazing. There are moments where I wish I could keep learning with them and further our blogging journey, but I am also happy to be back with first graders and excited to figure out how it will work. Franki at A Year Of Reading has set the bar with her plan for the year. She loves learning and often her commitment to her own learning is inspiring. So, I thought I would also share my plans for professional development. Here goes...

In October I will be learning with Christian Long who will be speaking about Designing a 21st Century Learning Environment for Elementary Learners. His session is hosted by Literacy Connection.

In November, I will be headed to Orlando for NCTE's Annual Convention for 2010: Teacher's and Students Together: Living Literate Lives. After reading In Pictures and In Words, I will be anxious to attend Katie W Ray's session: Writers and Readers Explore Art to Understand Meaning Making. I also am interested in listening to Mark Overmeyer and panel speak about formative assessment and feedback in the elementary writing workshop. I am sure there is more but I have just briefly searched online for sessions. Cathy M, Ann Marie, Kathy C. and I will be presenting on picture book possibilities.

In February, I will attend our district's annual literacy conference. I am very much looking forward to hearing author Amy Krouse Rosenthal and the many professional speakers who will be attending.

Lastly, I am anxious to be apart of the Dublin cohort for Powerful Learning Practice this year. I am hoping that working, talking and sharing with others in this community will help me begin to wrap my brain around ways I can strengthen 21st teaching and learning in my own classroom.

the Band book by Ilanit Oliver

2010-09-05T12:01:00.000-07:00

Not sure if silly bands are all over the arms of your students but they been pretty popular here in Ohio. Lee Kolbert of Geekymomma's blog posted a response to her feelings about banning the bands here last spring. They don't bother me so much. I know kids like adults are interested in the latest trends and silly bands seem to be the new toy to chat about at recess, trade on the bus and wear everywhere. This weekend I found the Band book at Sam's Club and picked a couple up for the classroom. If they love wearing them, I figure they'll enjoy reading about them.

I shared the book with the siblings of the boys soccer team to see what kids thought of it. The 2nd and 3rd grade girls sat for half the game with it. This book is filled with 30 questions

about bands, like...What is the rarest band you have? What is your favorite band? If you had to

give up one of your bands, which one would it be? The actual book begins: It's time to get silly. Then, throughout the book the bands come to life all as they are embedded in photo-

graphs of school places and situations. For example, on one page the octopus and alligator band are hanging upside down on the monkey bars with a speech bubble from the alligator that reads, "Dude, I can totally feel the blood rushing to my head." The silly photos and expressions are typical of intermediate and middle school kids.

At the back of the book there are 10 pages of "band check off lists" where kids can check off the bands they have. If not for your classroom, this may make a great gift for the holidays!

Buzz Boy and Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold

2010-09-03T17:58:00.000-07:00

I loved reading the ninth book in the Fly Guy series. I love that it is about (superheroes). I also love that Tedd introduces us to yet another side of Buzz: he likes to write and read!!!! What more could a teacher ask for than a book about a boy with imagination that writes his adventure ideas into a book! In Tedd Arnold's newest Fly Guy book, Buzz Boy and Fly Guy, Buzz excitedly reads a story he created to his friend Fly Guy. Buzz's story, The Amazing Adventures of Buzz Boy and Fly Guy, is comic-book like with three chapters that detail the superheroes plans to cleverly out wit pirates who have taken them to a dragon cave. With super-strength, superloudness, a superskeleton key and the ability to fly, the superheroes prevail. The story ends with Buzz asking Fly Guy if he wants to read it again ( love it)!!! Looking forward to reading it on Tuesday!

Listening for what next

2010-08-30T16:17:00.000-07:00

After a week with my students, I have learned so much about each one of them by simply making time to talk with them. I think the biggest chunk I have for real conversation that I can also tie to instruction is during writer's workshop. Today I had conversations with 4 boys sitting at a table sharing ideas.

One was illustrating a new story he shared during morning meeting about a party he went to at church. He was excited about the fact that his grandpa was in charge of the popcorn machine. His illustrations vividly depicted the details of the story he shared orally.

Another boy was balancing a pencil on his kness and I knew he was ready to have some help talking through some ideas. He sat a bit blank after I asked him if he had stories about his weekend in mind. So, we read through some stories in his folder from last week (a great strategy for triggering ideas, editing and revision without kids realizing it early on). He proudly pulled out a story he wrote by himself about how he went to the beach. He noticed he didn't have the word beach so, he stretched through the b-e and I taught him /ch/. After reading through his older stories, he sat a bit blank again. I tried to connect back to the book I had read before workshop about a little monster's day at school. I asked him if he wanted to write about a favorite part of school. And he said no. I sat and he sat. And then after a minute, he blurted out..."I did see a toad at the park!" But then he sat defeated, " I don't know how to draw a toad." I reminded him about the lesson I had taught last week about being brave with pictures (try your best and keep going). He seemed to pep up a bit. Then I walked him over to the non-fiction books and told him we have books with pictures of toads that might help. He found one and he was looking as a happy as he did when he thought about writing about the toad.

I knew I could leave him to begin another conversation. I asked him to share with everyone about what happened to him as a writer and we had great conversation about his struggles and bravery during share.

The third conversation was with a writer who had drawn an aquarium with two fish and a snail on his paper. I listened to the conversation he was having with the boy next to him and it wasn't so much about his illustration so I asked him about it. He told me a ton about his idea. From the big fish eating the other fish until 2 were left to how he drew his snail like the one (Gary) in Sponge Bob. I asked him to share his story with everyone during share. The kids loved hearing about his pets and their adventures!

The fourth conversation I had was with a boy who wrote about playing soccer. He had drawn many players on the field including himself. When I asked him about the story, briefly told me about kicking the ball and how another played bumped into him on the field. Then, He told me about how he used to do karate but isn't doing it anymore because he pushed someone. He told me about how he took swimming lessons and liked them. I listened to everything knowing that not only was I getting to know him as a writer but I was establishing trust and understanding.

From these 4 writers, and a little help from Lucy Calkins, I planned my lesson for tomorrow.

First to read Memoirs of a Goldfish by Devin Scillan. This book I think will be a great read for all of us as we remember the story of the aquarium from the day before. It also is told in a day to day diary sort of fashion by the goldfish himself. (secretly hoping just exposure to the text will invite kids play with this structure). I will likely read it before workshop.

Second to focus our mini-lesson on telling as much of a story as we can with illustrations. Knowing most of this group of kiddos isn't yet diving into text, I am feeling like I want to get as much as I can out of kid's work with illustrations. I am going to model how writers tell many details in the story by using the pictures. (I am going to tell my story about watching Brody). Bob Graham does this so well in one of my favorite books: How to Heal A Broken Wing. This is a great mentor for breaking a picture into scenes ( Thanks Katie W Ray from In Pictures and In Words). I'll attempt to do this with my story. I 'll also remember how to give kids time to talk through their stories with a partner so their ideas are heard.

Sharing Stories

2010-08-28T07:18:00.000-07:00

One of the most valuable moments of my day is when my students and I share stories. Sharing pieces of ourselves really helps us know one another, connect and understand each other. These moments in my classroom are also key for linking oral telling with ideas that kids can get onto paper.

This week to help model how writers find stories, I shared moments in my life that I thought they might connect with. I shared a story about the huge grasshopper that jumped onto my window screen while I was doing the dishes, when my son Joey fell off his bike on

our way back from a soccer game and the swarm of kids who meet at our house nightly to catch grasshoppers and crickets.

Today, I captured some moments after my Saturday exercise class that I will share with them next week. I walked into to find my nephew, Brody on the kitchen counter in his bumbo (never had bumbos when my kids were little...how cool is this sitting device). When I saw him I couldn't stop smiling.

First he looked hysterical all propped up in this weird but clever green mold and second because I love babies (especially my nephew Brody and niece Vivian who are too cute for words). As he sat in the bumbo, he smiled at me, spit up a bit and then my son put a sock on his head and we all laughed. Then he lovingly took off the sock and gave him a kiss.

I immediately thought of taking pictures of these moments so that I can share these with my students and of course my family. I know the visuals will help my first graders see

my story and hopefully help them catch stories they want to tell. And, I also think by showing them the blog post, I will introduce them to the notion of the blogging and explain that they will soon have opportunities to share their stories in the same way!

Integrating Play

2010-08-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

It has been back to school for me the last two days and what a great two days they have been. I feel like it is really hard to plan even a week out in these first few days. In fact, I really live day by day this first week. (I should probably be fine tuning my plans instead of posting but I have to walk away from it sometime).

This year I am trying to utilize the time kids have for working together, sharing,

communicating and problem solving in authentic situations. The kids have opportunities at recess and free choice play but I am often not available to guide them through problems that arise. When they need help it is often too late for me to ask kids to model for other kids how to use their words and take turns or to even help resolve situations. So this year I have integrating a structured play time in between reading and writing workshops. I have structured the play areas so that I initially decide what is played with, who plays where, and how many kids can play at certain area for the first few weeks. I explained to the kids that I want them to have a chance to play with different toys and different friends so that they feel comfortable with our stuff and each other.

Some of the ideas that I am using for play areas are toys the kids enjoyed in K (after consulting my friend Maureen), dramatic play items I have brought from home, letters/pictures and tangible word manipulatives that I will build learning with later and ideas that amazing teachers like Scott at Brick by Brick have inspired me to try. So far the kids have been loving it.

This week I introduced the play areas with Can I Play Too by Mo Willems? We talked

about how Elephant and Piggie are the type of friends who make sure everyone is included.

This set the tone for kids to play in small groups. Some of them played side by side on Monday, but today I saw

one group ( at the animals and blocks area) create a zoo and each person contributed to the building today.

Other kids were loving the straws and connectors. These toys (thanks Maureen) are a favorite. Kids created drums, fishing poles and buildings with these simple pieces.

I found some alphabet beads and bought some plastic line from United Art and Ed to create

an ABC play area. The line allowed each kid a place to house their letters and I gathered so much information about what kids knew about letter and words in a short period of play time. For example, one little girl started creating words she knew but many of the letters that she had to manipulate onto the line were placed backward. Other kids just wanted to string a bunch of letters and ask if they created a word. One little one asked for my picture and word cards so that she could copy words correctly. I gathered lots of informal data through play.

Tomorrow is our fourth day of school and I can't wait to see what they create next!

Swim! Swim! by Lerch (James Proimos)

2010-08-10T19:06:00.000-07:00

I read Swim! Swim! at Cover to Cover earlier this summer. I was drawn to the animation-like pictures, the many comic-like panels on the pages and the voice of this determined fish (who tells the story completely in word bubbles...I was thinking great text to show in writing workshop) named Lurch. Lurch is in search of a friend. He is not afraid to ask anyone or anything in his bowl if they will be his friend. With no luck, he declares, "It's official. No one loves me." Then, a super surprising ending and help from a cat turns his loneliness into love!

I think Swim! Swim! will be a great book to read aloud the first week of school when kids are forming new friendships and feeling a little alone. It will be a simple text and message to share with young kids about the importance of helping each other.

10 Picture Books That Boys Can't Live Without

2010-08-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

Thank Mandy and Cathy for creating this exciting blogging event: 10 for 10! Go here to read more about how their idea for sharing picture books began. I am excited to be a part of this and decided to share my favorite 10 picture books that boys seem to gravitate toward. So, here goes:

10 Picture Books That Boys Can't Live Without

1. First on the list is Superhero ABC by Bob McCleod. I think I buy a new copy of this each year because it is so loved by June that not even heavy packingtape can keep it together. Thepictures are fabulous

in this ABC text. In fact seeing the kids lovethis text motivated me to create a basket of superhero books ( BabyBrains and The adventures of Max and Pinky: Superheroes) that is loved by many of the boys inmy classroom.

2. Second on the list is Truckery Rhymes by Jon Scieszka. This book is filled with Nursery Rhymes with a truck twist. My son was just reciting his favorite from first grade in the car. The characters in the rhymes also are featured in other favorite truck books by Jon which include Smash!Crash! and Melvin Might.

3. I have had boys who love music and many who already were taking lessons with instruments like piano and even guitar. Punk Farm was a huge hit

for these boys. It features a rockin'rendition of Old McDonald Had A Farm and tells the story of some unsuspecting animals who form a band

and perform at night in the barn. You can listen to the song from the bo

ok here and read the next book in the series Punk Farm on Tour.

4. For the boys who are interested in playing sports, Sergio is often a character they relate to. Sergio is a penguin who likes many things but the three things he loves are soccer, fishies and water. In Sergio Makes a Splash,

he overcomes his fearof the water with the support of his classmates. In Sergio Saves the Game, he learns how to be goalie and helps his team beat the Seagulls in the championship game.

5. Hi! F ly Guy

is a book that features a boy character named Buzz, his pet fly and their funny friendship. There are 9 Fly Guy books in the series so the adventures and reading never seem to end!

6. Can You make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas is priceless. It is interactive, humorous and completely entertaining. Boy or girl, this book rocks!

7. Not A Box by Antoinette Portis keeps the reader guessing and taps into those boys who love to imagine. The main

character, a rabbit, begins to play in a cardboard box and the reader (with a few picture clues) gets to guess what the rabbit is pretending to be(mountain, robot, rocket ship). Kids also love Not A Stick.

8. I can't not include Elephant and Piggy Books in this list of books that appeal to boys. Gerald and Piggy are funnyand keep readers feeling like they are playing as they read. The newest in the series is Can I play too? The next in the series is out in September and is called We Are in A Book!

9. Chester by Melanie Watt

Melanie Watt has influenced many of the boy readers and writers in my classroom. Her character, Chester has allowed them laugh, think and connect to the dueling between author and character. I have noticed many boys experiment with the idea of dueling in their own writing. There are two more in this series: Chester's Back and Chester's Masterpiece.

10. Non- fiction. I don't want to forget mention that boys love to read non-fiction but of

course different boys have different interests. I have noticed that many of the young boys I've taught often choose animal picture books with photographs and pictures that take up most of the room on a page with text that surrounds the picture in some way with captions, labels, comparisons, word bubbles, etc. Some non-fiction books that boys have loved in first and second grade are: Sharks and Other Dangers of the Deep, Life Size Zoo, My First Book of Ocean Life and Dinosaurs?!

Creak! Said the Bed by Phillis Root

2010-08-06T17:58:00.000-07:00

Today my mom and I spent time in my classroom sorting through my classroom library baskets as she gathered some ideas for her own library (she works with K-3 students as a reading support teacher). We spent some time in the basket that I will be reading from often at the beginning of the year: Books with Repeating Words. Books like, Hello Day by Anita Lobel, Hurry! Hurry! by Eve Bunting, Where is the Green Sheep? by Mem Fox are a few titles that live in this basket. This summer I found I Can Help as well as Creak! Said the Bed that I will also read aloud again and again and add to this basket.

Creak! Said the Bed is the story of a family sleeping cozily through the night each in their own beds, until...Evie gets scared, Ivy gets cold, Mo says his room is spooky and Fred the dog comes runnning after the thunder begins. Each time one of the kids comes knocking, Poppa said, Snore, and Momma said, Sure! There's plenty of room for you in the bed." So Ivy plopped in. CREAK, said the bed. With all those kids in the bed, the creak turns into CRACK as Fred jumps into bed. Don't worry, they sleep right through it.

I loved the pictures in this story. It is fun to see how the illustrator finds a place for each new character that enters the bed...Evie is tucked under Poppa's head like a pillow, Ivy sleeps curled up in a ball on top of Momma's head, Mo flops over Poppa's head and Fred finds the only spot left at the end of the bed. I am also thinking kids will connect to times they have jumped into bed with their parent (s). I am anxious to see if this book is loved as much as some others in this basket. (I have to say seeing if kids choose this to read during books in the morning and workshop is half the fun of finding and reading a new book!)

It's Not Fair! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld

2010-08-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

My oldest son read through It's Not Fair after I purchased it today. Afterwards, he opened to the page where a mother is frowning at her young son who broke a window during some pick up baseball in the backyard. The boy questions his mom (Why don't you yell at her?) as his sister hides behind her mother. My own son pointed out the picture said this is how I feel when I get in trouble all the time and my brothers don't. It is hard to be the oldest. And yes, he does get more than his fair share of talking to's and yelling at's. ( He also just happens to react instead of respond to them as any 11 year old is learning to do.) But his connection to this book made me very glad I was adding it to my classroom library.

This book is filled with rhyme, repetition and questions commonly posed to parents about issues that are often unfair. Like, Why'd I get the smaller half? Why'd he get the bigger laugh? Why does she get brand new shoes? Why does my team always have to lose? It's not fair! I like this book for a number of reasons. I love Amy Krouse Rosenthal (who also happens to be coming to our annual Dublin Literacy Conference...yeah!). She knows kids and how to inspire people. I also like that I can use this book for writing workshop as we study question -answer books and punctuation. It may also help kids think and write about about times when they have felt that life was unfair. It also fits into our classroom library in the book basket filled with texts that have repeating words. So, I know kids can go back to it during reading workshop after I have read it aloud.

Life is filled with unfair but our journey is to figure how to cope, accept and let go when that unfair feeling takes over. I'll end with questions from my own kids about unfair issues they have today.

Why do my brothers always get the computers?

Why can't I not get in trouble for what my brothers do?

Why can't I play two sports at a time?

Why doesn't anyone play what I want to play?

It's not fair!

Re-energized by the Book Whisperer

2010-07-30T05:37:00.000-07:00

In my last post, I mentioned that I was reading The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. It is a book written by a fabulous 6^th grade teacher that loves reading and has figured out how to share and foster that love with her middle school students. I shied away from the book when it first was released last year because I am a primary teacher. I have to tell you after reading it in about 2 days that I regret not reading it sooner. Donalyn has reminded me about what matters most for students right before the start of the school year. Much of what I am taking away from the book are the messages she whispers in her writing. I loved the straight forward, authentic voice she has as a writer. She shares her journey as a reader and a teacher and the changes she has made to help her students catch the reading bug. As I read, I made connections to her thinking even as a teacher of our youngest readers. I couldn’t help but think about how her ideas can help anyone who teaches reading.

I had to start writing my thoughts about how her ideas influenced my learning and thinking. Here’s what I can’t stop thinking about…

Reading is a journey. Donalyn shares many moments in her life as a reader as well as a teacher. She encourages us to share our struggles and successes in our journey with our students.

LISTENING has to be the most used strategy she uses to connect with her students. She listens to their conversations, reads their thoughts about books and asks them questions about their life in order to help her choose books they will love. (She is limited to two hours a day with a class but I have all day to listen.) In fact she says… ”I will continue today, tomorrow and everyday after until I have made preview stacks or pulled select titles for all of my students.” Now that is listening!

Validation. She recognizes every student as a reader and sets expectations that all students can adopt attitudes and behaviors of readers.

She embraces the classroom not just with a reading corner but as an entire reading space where students are surrounded by books.

She lets her students just READ. In fact, I love when she says, “No matter how long students spend engaged in direct reading instruction, without time to apply what they learn in the context of real reading events, students will never build capacity as readers.”

She has let go of many controls she had over kids reading like assigning the whole class to read a novel. I think as primary teachers we can over-rely on controlled reading like when we rely just on leveled books for teaching kids to read. Sharing great picture books and helping kids see the supports of picture book texts like repeating words, rhyme and using pictures to enjoy reading naturally exposes kids to understanding real reading.

My last and favorite is that she has said goodbye to worksheets and comprehension fill-out forms, filling her old morning warm-up time with free, voluntary reading! Gotta love books in the morning!

Donalyn also blogs at the Book Whisperer and has challenged herself to read a book a day this summer.

Summer Solutions for helping a Hesitant Reader

2010-07-23T12:54:00.000-07:00

One of my sons is what I am calling a hesitant reader of books. He likes to read just not long books. Reading is not his first choice when he has down time. He is intimidated by texts that require stamina. But...1. he enjoys pictures with text 2. loves non-fiction. and 3. he likes to read short pieces of text like poetry and articles. So, rather than fight him all summer about finishing books, I have given into finding reading that meets his needs. A few books and things have worked to just keep him into reading this summer:

You are Weird by Diane Swanson

This book was filled with lots of information about the body. Did you know that along with the chimpanzee, you have over 2 milion sweat glands spread over your body? You think your molars came in late, well an elephant gets his last molars at the age of 40. Each page contains information about a particular body part, a freaky fact and a story about part.

Thanks to my friend Karen for sharing this book with us.

Spo rts Illustrated for Kids

This magazine is something my middle son looks forward to reading because it is filled with what he loves...aticles about sports heros, current information about sports happenings (currently info about the NBA draft) and of course something to hang on the wall (each issue contains a pull out poster of a sport star).

Graphic Novels:

Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan

My son understood the basics of this story of a young boy undergoing hardships of the d

ust bowl of 1947. After reading the back of the book and flipping through it, there seems to be so much to talk about in terms of theme. A great book for him to read again and again to talk about new ideas and learning he is thinking about.

Reading in the Car

I have asked the kids to grab a book as we run errands or travel across town to see family and friends. This quiet time is like a trap. They can't go anywhere and other than the radio (which I turn off), they don't have any distractions. The short car rides have been just enough for the short stamina he has and during the longer car rides out of state, I decided to read aloud every couple hours or so ( I know books on tape would be the best but I am not that organized and have been on a budget this summer).

Reading aloud to him:

I hadn't read the book Savvy yet and I was dying to, so everyone heard it this summer on our long car rides. It was perfect for practicing conversation and comprehension that I worry about with him. We are still making our way through the book and liking it!

Rereading

Choosing and finding books to read independently is tough for my son. So instead of pulling my hair out offering him tons of choices that I thought would work (while at the library) and having him shake his head no, I asked him to find books he loved to read during the school year. He picked out The Wonder Book and Rainbow Soup ( both poetry-riddle type fun reading). These kept him liking and feeling some independence with what he was reading when I asked him to read for 20 mins during the day.

We only have a few weeks of summer left but I feel like he has had some success with reading this summer. It hasn't been as painful for him in the past. I am off to finish The Book Whisperer to see if I can learn more tricks for hooking him ( but mostly kids in my own classroom) into loving to read.

Wrapped in Love by Jan Johnston

2010-07-17T06:23:00.000-07:00

I read ( then purchased) the book, Wrapped in Love by Jan Johnson this summer as I was thinking about the work we do in the classroom with writing stories. (I also can't help but pick up stories about dogs as I know kids love them.) This book is about a pup named Snoozer and and the fears he has in the dark, dark, middle of the night. He hears many sounds like coyotes, owls and thunder. His parents come to calm him, hold him and remind him that he is wrapped in their love. By the end of the night, snoozer begins to soothe himself, more confident that everything is ok eventually falling asleep. As I read this book I began deciding why it might work in my mentor basket for story writing. Here is what I thinking :

1. The book is about feeling scared in the middle of the night and I think the idea for the book itself will help kids connect to a time they were scared.

2. It is narrative with repetitive language. The author uses the words: Late, late, late in the middle of the dark, dark night, Snoozer hears a sound. This language is repeated three times as Snoozer is scared by 3 unfamiliar noises. Being able to help kids notice this language might work to scaffold their stories about when they were scared of different things in the middle of the night.

3. I've noticed again and again that sometimes primary writers just jump into stories with out any kind of beginning. So, we spend time noticing ways authors begin stories. The beginning to this book is quite simple and effective for young writers: It is bedtime. Here, I can show kids how some beginnings tell about when the story is happening.

4. The illustrations a dark (we can talk about why) but simply drawn so kids could imitate them. After reading Katie Wood Ray's book, In Pictures and In Words ( A book about planning and studying illustrations with primary kids), I realized that there are a few pages where the illustrator shows two sides of physical space. One is the page where the owl noises are frightening Snoozer. There we see the outside of the window where the owl is who-o-ing and we see Snoozer snuggled in his Mother's arms inside of the house. So, I know this book will also help my students study illustrations.

5. This book is simple yet also contains layers that will scaffold stronger writers. I am thinking about the few lines of dialogue the mother and father dog have to explain what the noise is outside. The ending: Snoozer listens for awhile, then falls asleep. Shhhh... uses an ellipsis and we could talk about why she decided on it and what it means.

This book along with others like Every Friday, The Green Line and Supersister that live in our story writing basket will help kids find ways to tell stories about their lives.

Benny and Penny in The Toy Breaker

2010-07-08T15:50:00.000-07:00

I stopped by my mom's tonight and noticed she had purchased the newest in the primary graphic novel series: Benny and Penny. I was very excited to see the third in this series written by Geoffrey Hayes. Benny and Penny and the Big No- No ( the second in the series ) is reviewed here. The original Benny and Penny in Just Pretend is mentioned here in Mary Lee's post about graphic novels for our youngest readers.

In this third book, Benny and Penny are in the middle of searching for loot using their treasure map when their cousin Bo shows up. Both immediately hide as many toys as possible as they have him deemed as "toy breaker." In fact, they do everything possible to try not to include him in play and he does everything possible to ruin their pretend game. After breaking Penny's toy monkey, teasing and trying to jump into their hunt for treasure, Bo comes to realize on his own that Benny and Penny don't want him to play. He runs away getting stuck in the backyard fence where he needs help. Benny and Penny come to the rescue and Bo is thankful. The threesome end up resolving their frustrations (by using their words) and they all decide to just PLAY!

I love that the troubles Benny and Penny have are similar to what happens when kids play together outside in the backyard or in the basement. I also love that Geoffrey has a Benny and Penny Blog that you can visit and read and enjoy quick stories and illustrations of Benny and Penny weekly. Toon- books also has a Carton Maker where you can choose characters, props, text and backgrounds for creating a scene that includes your favorite toon characters. You can then email it or print it. Very fun for kids who love these characters. The new book and the site will keep the 7 year old busy tomorrow afternoon.

Summertime: Trying to Balance?

2010-06-29T09:57:00.000-07:00

Balance (Feels like I am thinking about this all the time). Can we ever really achieve that feeling that we have shared ourselves: our time, our thoughts, ourselves as people with the people who we are passionate about growing with like family and friends? It is a daily juggle trying to find balance in my own life as a spouse, mother, teacher, volunteer, writer, reader, friend, and daughter (and there are probably more right?). Some days more of my time is spent as teacher, usually on school days when I am living in my classroom. In the summer, the balance shifts when I have more time to spend as a mom, cheering on the older boys on the baseball ball or soccer field, sharing a carpool to swim lessons for my youngest and rolling for a yatzee with all the boys (including my husband who I adore for his adventurous kid-like approach to life). Right now the balance is leaning toward mom and writer (I promised myself I would write each day so that I can accomplish a book that I am anxious to finish) but there are days everyday is tough when trying to write with 3 boys home during summer break (who I really don't want in front of video games all day). Yes, I have them in a few camps that they were interested in but I am not a fan of over scheduling (can get expensive and I would be in the car non-stop). I am one of those people who need to take it day by day to feel happy and am not looking for answers to the perfect schedule or routine because I know that if I have too much of a routine that I will only feel like I am working and then the writing won't be enjoyable. I have to feel relaxed to be motivated. Right now I am making my way through summer trying to balance my time with the time I know they need to socialize, play, read, etc ( I am also getting up early to write..well most days that is). When I do set the expectation that they need to think about something or use their creativity, they often want to grab the flip camera. It has been the best tool for them to play creatively at the same time allowing me down time.

My oldest has used the camera for documenting a game he and my middle guy created a game called Hand Ball. Their friend, who plays with imovie quite a bit, helped them create a video called How to Play Hand Ball posted on his youtube channel. You can view it here. There are other videos on his channel that he, his brother, and friends have created. I'll warn you that they are products of what 9-11 year olds are interesting and funny, silly,etc. Nothing inappropriate but borderline goofy.

My youngest (7 year old) grabbed the flip a few days ago when a friend and classmate of his was visiting with her mom. They both decided to create puppet shows. Mia, was very involved in creating the details in the puppets and telling a more involved story while my son enjoyed filming himself. I created a short movie of small clips that show steps he was taking to practice and then tell his story with the puppets. You will see him do a "test" for the camera, preview what is going to happen and then see two short clips he created on the go using his puppets. I am pretty sure last piece was inspired by the idea of a new character in the Mo Willems series, Elephant and Piggy.

Vacation

2010-06-21T05:09:00.000-07:00

My family and I are spending sometime in Hayesville, NC for a week of vacation. The boys are fishing this morning. The grandparents are fixing coffee. Aunts and uncles are out on the porch listening to the sounds of morning on Lake Chatuge. It doesn't get better than this! See you in a week...

Thinking First Grade: I Can Help by David Hyde Costello

2010-06-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

Next year I am heading back to first grade. I love having the summer to find simple new picture books that I can read aloud once and know they will fit right into the hands of most first grade readers. I know the first month of reading workshop for first graders is planting seeds for loving reading, sharing books, helping kids learn how to find books, find a reading spot, and then modeling reading to self and with others for a short period of time. I really am not over-concerned with them choosing an appropriate "level" the first month of school(in fact, I do everything I can to avoid that). I want them to have a variety of books to choose from that they are interested in reading: song books, wordless picture books, series picture books, poetry, non-fiction, and repetitive picture books.

The newest book I am adding to my classroom library is I Can Help by David Hyde Costello.

It is a repetitive picture book. The story begins with a picture of a little duck happily walking through some reeds. His expression changes on the following page as you find out, he is lost. A curious monkey offers to help and duck the cycle of help and appreciation begins. Uh, Oh. I'm falling. (says the monkey...now can you guess who might be tall enough to catch a falling monkey..yep a giraffe) Thank You Giraffe! The alternation between helping and thanking continues through the story with other animals. The ending is circular as little duck needs some help again.

After reading I Can Help a few times, I thought about how it will help kids to think in many ways. The repetition will have them begin predicting text and events. There is some subtle inferring work I can pose with which character is speaking, problem-solution and picture inferencing. I know that it will help us as we study high frequency words like...can, thank, you, have. It will be a place for them to read these words and use the book as a reference to check words in their own writing. Finally, it will be a great mentor text for writers when we study pattern books early in the year. I love books that are versatile enough to meet literacy needs across the day!

Oh, Daddy! by Bob Shea

2010-06-11T16:33:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Father's Day, a new Bob Shea book has hit the shelves!!! Bob is the author of Big Plans ( a favorite of Bill's) and has written and illustrated New Socks, Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime as well as Race You To Bed. I am a huge Bob Shea fan and can't wait to add his newest book, Oh Daddy, to the Bob Shea basket in my classroom library.

Oh, Daddy is the story of the silly teasing-type adventures that Daddy hippo has with his son. It is perfect fit for primary readers with predictable and repetitive text. Daddy hippo plays up silly scenarios... Is this how you get dressed? (with underwear on his head and a bucket for a shoe) Is this how you get into the car? and Is this how you eat carrots? Of course the little hippo says...Oh Daddy, and shows his dad how to get dressed, get into the car and eat carrots. The story and characters are lovable re-readable. I can't wait to see what the kids think next year!

Can I Play Too? by Mo Willems

2010-06-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

This note has been taped to the desk- type area in our mud room. My 7 year old has been anticipating the newest Elephant Piggy Book that was due out June 8th. I watched him compose this reminder note about 2 weeks ago. He went to amazon, typed and searched the title (which he already knew somehow?) and then wrote : June 8th Can I Play To, Elephant and Piggy Book. I was fascinated at how easily he could independently find information about something he has been looking forward to reading. About a week later, he took the note down, searched amazon again and added the 8.99 at the top of the note to remind me of the price.

I have glanced at the note for weeks. You would have thought it would have motivated me to get on amazon and just order the book. In the back of my mind figured I could run to the book store with my son sometime this summer. But, the funniest thing happened on June 8th. I opened the mailbox to find the cardboard amazon box. To my surprise, I had pre- ordered it (way back in February...I totally forgot). It was an unexpected and happy surprise! And, after reading it, I think Can I Play Too is my new favorite in the series.

Mo Willems introduces us to a new friend who wants in on the playing action we are so used to with Elephant and Piggy. Elephant and Piggy graciously welcome this new friend into the action but they aren't sure he can play catch with a snake...no arms. No arms, no worries!!! The three figure it all out and keep you laughing along the way. I love the way Mo can so simply combine friendship, problem solving and humor into a story. Don't miss out on this for summer!

Flip Cameras

2010-05-25T17:31:00.000-07:00

Last year, other staff members and I wrote grants for technology tools that we were interested in experimenting with and using in the classroom. I wrote a grant for flip cameras and have been asked to think back and document how kids and staff have used these in the classroom to document learning, share learning and create using technology.

I started to collect data this week from staff on ways flip cameras have been used throughout the building this year. Here's what I am finding...

4th and 5th grade students created free verse poems using the spines from books in the Library. I recorded the students performing their poems, put them into iMovie, burned them on a disk, and gave them to their classroom teachers (our librarian)

- Some of my students used the flip cameras to record modeling of appropriate social behaviors for video social stories. They turned out so cool! ( Special Education Teacher)
- We used the flip cameras in MANY ways this year. Here are a few:
- 1. Tour of the school to help create a map and then share with pen pals (both video and map)
- 2. Buddy Interviews
- 3. Commercials for our Vail Stone City "businesses" to demonstrate our understanding of economics
- 4. Share our poetry with an audience
- 5. Post to wiki to share our culture with students in Romania (3rd grade)
- In 4th grade science, we used them to film our science experiment. The experiment was to watch how water erodes earth material. Each student was able to film what happens when water is poured in different ways into earth material over a period of 5 minutes. Afterwards, they explored imovie to put the clips together. (disclaimer: imovie was really challenging!) We also used flip cameras for filming book reviews and we took flip cameras to the metro park during a field trip!

The Green Line by Polly Farquharson

2010-05-16T05:47:00.000-07:00

After immersing with my students in wondering (heart wondering, inspired by A Place to Wonder, second grade wonders) about the world around them, I just can't help opening new picture books to see how they might inspire kids to wonder. The book, The Green Line, has become my new favorite book for storytelling wonders. It tells the story of a young girl's wonderings with her mother as they walk through the park. It is filled with gorgeous photographs of wonders that the little girl experiences along her way with a simple green line that mimics her play and movement throughout the stroll.

There is so much I love about this book:

1. Lots of picture reading (you know that deeper reading of the pictures in text that gives the reader more understanding about the story) with the way the author decides to use the line as a character layer on top of the photographs.

2. It is a narrative that is inviting and interactive. I sometimes think the personal narrative gets stale in primary classrooms and I am always looking for ways to connect it to authentic experiences we share together so I can scaffold. I can envision kids grabbing their cameras and heading out for a walk around the (in or out) school next year. This book would be a great mentor text for narratives told through photography.

3. As I read the book, I thought about how the pages could easily be slides in a voice thread. The green line would be easy to imitate using the line option (like in Jack's Bike Ride Voice Thread) after uploading pictures.

Other reviews are here. Check it out!

End of the Year Ideas

2010-05-14T16:12:00.001-07:00

Reflecting
Well, the last few weeks are wrapping up. I wrote earlier this week about how the kids and I read The Three Questions and were inspired to reflect about what we have learned from each other. I have a few snippets to share of their quick thoughts. Each day a new comment surprises me, inspires me or makes me giggle inside. I have encouraged them to be as specific as they can with their thoughts. So many pieces of learning are evident from their reflections: kids helping others play games at recess, guiding each other with ideas for writing, collaboration about how to find or use something in the classroom and kids realizing that others have influenced their thinking.

Sharing a Favorite Book

Friday, I asked the kids to start thinking about some of their favorite books, books they have loved this year and really want others to know about. Before I sent them off, I told them about how I have my reading log on-line at goodreads.com (really I have been horrible about adding books I love but I figure I will catch up this summer). I talked with them about what I love about it...I can log what I have read, write my thoughts about a book, rate it, find out what my friends are reading and then read what they thought of a book. I asked them to think about why it is so great to share books and thoughts about books. They came up with this list of ideas that I wrote as they thought. Many of their thoughts were what I expected... it is great to share books because we learn, it is fun. The last thought was pretty powerful for second grader: so that when they give it back (after you've let them borrow it) they will tell me a new thing about the book. Wow!

Next week, we will begin using our favorite books to help us write book reviews for each other on the blog. I then hope by reading each other's reviews this may be a small start to their summer reading lists.

Reading and Writing Made Up Words

2010-05-13T17:47:00.000-07:00

Have you ever created a word, maybe a nickname? In our family, we have many made- up nicknames for our kids for various reasons. Our first son, Joey quickly became Joe Joe when he was a little guy simply because the alliteration of the two names was appealing. My young nieces Vivian and Audrey have shortened versions of their names as nick names: Vivy and DiDi. It seems we have a tendency in my family to end or shorten names so they have the long e sound. Why is that? I called my own sons Matty and Jackie when they were little.

A few of my primary writers have experimented with creating their own words to represent a feeling or an action. I remember Monasia creating a poem about the snow writing about how it "swizzled to the ground." My first grade son recently wrote about a family trip to Florida. He ended his piece with..."I felt gatoriffic!"

Ralph Fletcher has a new book that explores play with language and words. His book Pyrotechnics on the Page: Playful Craft that Sparks Writing has me thinking about words these days and the creativity we can encourage with word play during writing workshop.

Today I found a flap book great for primary kiddos that features examples of some playful craft. Animal Soup by Todd H. Doodler features portmanteaus (two words mashed together to create a new word that has attributes of both the previous words). I found in the toddler-preschool area in the bookstore but it will definitely appeal to primary kids. Todd uses question- answer format in the text featuring zoo animals ( He is also the author of The Zoo I Drew). Each two page spread begins with animal picture and question on the left (What would I be if I had wings to Fly...) followed on the right with an animal picture and "but" statement (but walked very slowly instead?) The picture on the right is also a flap that lifts to show the answer :

Bird + Turtle = Birdle (and a picture of a bird mixed with a turtle attributes)

I imagine kids engaging in the thinking, predicting and plain fun this book has to offer being read aloud and then fought over during choice time. Then, using the book to demonstrate how writers create and play with words.

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T06:53:00.000-07:00

This is the woman who has formed me into the woman that I am.

She has taught me how to change diapers, how to speak with my heart, and how to listen even when I think I don't have the time . I learned how to take care of others.

She taught me (at a young age) to pack my own lunch, the importance of exercise and how to find comfort in words of poets. I learned how to take care of myself.

She has taught me to find something good in another even when I didn't want to. I learned what it means to accept and grow.

She has taught me how to bake, how to pretend and how to find hobbies I love. I learned to create.

She has taught me how much enjoyment comes from reading and that there is always room for improvement. She taught me how joyful and tough it can be to learn.

This is the woman who has loved me unconditionally. Each day I am learning how to share this love.

Thank you Mom. I love you.

Happy Mother's Day.

This is the woman who taught me to learn and want to know more.

Planting Seeds

2010-05-07T13:12:00.000-07:00

Appreciating is something I always feel like I could do more of. Often it seems as if there is never enough time to really thank, help and listen to all the people in my life who need support. I feel overwhelmed somedays remembering who I need to get a thank you card to or a quick return email. Somedays it is easier to forget.

This week, as I was chatting with my hairdresser ( that I've known for 11 years) about how I can be bad about remembering others, she reminded me how important it is to touch base and check-in with others. Whether it is to let someone know you are thinking of them through a quick email, call, note or text, she suggested that I act instead of forget. She so gently planted that seed in our conversation. I always seem to walk away with some personal insight and goals for being a better person after talking with her.

In my classroom today, we read the book The Three Questions by John J Muth. The book is about a boy searching for answers to wonder questions that he eventually finds meaning to with the help of his friends . My favorite line from the book reads:

"Remember that there is only one important time, and that time is now. The most important one is always the one that you are with. And the most important thing is to do good for the one who is standing at your side. For these, my dear boy, are the answers to what is most important in the world. That is why we are here."

I had to write this quote down after reading it aloud to my kids. I began thinking about how the message of appreciation and remembering had been a huge part of my thinking this week. After lunch, I decided to share its importance with my students (knowing that we have been living and learning side by side for two years).

The quote inspired us. We decided to make sure we remember each other by taking time each day over the next few weeks by writing a quick post-it about what each one of us has done to help or teach each other. I set up a schedule on the calendar with the name of a student (or two) each day. Before math, we took time to reflect and share how B and J have helped us grow (I had B and J hop on the computer with headphones while we reflected so we could also surprise each other with our thoughts at the end of the year). I used one student's quick reflection to model and then their individual thoughts came pouring onto post-its. Ideas like ...B helped me learn math games, J helped me learn the monkey bars and J helped me figure out the flip camera filled the classroom. Kids thought about how others had helped their learning. I was remembering Samantha Bennett's quote: We are smarter together.

I honestly don't know what I am going to do next with all these thoughtful post-its (maybe compile into a book) but I knew I had to respond to the quote and the notion of appreciation. It has followed me in conversations and encounters all week long. It was my turn to plant the seed in others.

Volcano Wakes Up! by Lisa Westberg Peters

2010-05-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Have you had students talking with you about the volcanic ash that has cancelled many flights from Europe and surrounding countries? One of my students waited for 5-7 extra days for a parent to return from France because of this eruption. When book shopping this weekend, a friend reminded me about how Volcano Wakes Up would be a great way to read about the wonders of volcanos and tie into current events.

In this book of poetry, many viewpoints are explored by different life that inhabit a group of volcanos. The lava crickets (1 and 2) have a conversation (in texting form) about their experiences within the cracks eating "loads of toastd & roastd bugs." The sun and the moon speak to each other in acrostics and the ferns narrate what happens as the "fire-makers awake." The volcanos also call attention to themselves with poetic language throughout the book. My favorite was a poem called :

Volcano

Look at me!

I can fling cinders

and ash into the sky. I can

huff and chuff and pour rivers of

lava down my side. Rain, you can't douse my

fire. Wind, you can't blow it out. Fog, you can't hide it.

The last two pages of the book are filled with information about volcanos specifically the volcanos on the Hawaiian islands. The author explains the hapu 'u pulu (or ferns) pop up very quickly in the volcanos moist cracks. She also teaches about the lava flow crickets, the road signs that warn visitors they are traveling on active grounds and one of the best times to watch volcano action: when the lava and ocean water meet. I am sure this read will create more questions and wonders about volcanos. Looking forward to sharing and talking with them about it.

This Weekend with That Workshop Book Author

2010-05-02T15:29:00.000-07:00

Samantha Bennett opened our 2 day Literacy Connection Workshop with her foundational beliefs about our work as educators. Her thoughts are worth reading...

-whoever is doing the reading, writing and talking ( in the classroom) is doing the thinking. Learning is a consequence of thinking.

-teaching is personal, but not private

-teachers matter most to student learning (what we do, what we ask them to do, what we say, how we allow them to talk to each other, how we listen, how we structure time, how we structure curriculum, how we acknowledge students, how we give feedback, how we ask them to think about themselves and their own learning, teachers determine the weather, you have to trust yourself and feel trusted to help students learn. Teachers matter most to student learning.

-teaching is an incredibly complex endeavor. No one has nailed it. There are always ways to get better for students

-everyone does the best they can until they know better; then they do better.

-We are smarter together.

Some other big, smart ideas she repeated that I came away with are:

It is not about what we uncover--it is about what they uncover.

No more blaming.

Student resistance= Students won't when

- they don't care

-there's no purpose

or they don't know how

My personal "aha":

I need to be a better planner. Samantha helped me see how importance of big picture planning ( determining what you will teach and why it matters using learning targets, determine what students will create to demonstrate their understanding, put the planning and final product date on the calendar). I have lots to think about how I efficiently, purposefully and effectively plan for next year.

She taught me a ton!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heart Wonders

2010-04-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Georgia Heard and Jennifer McDonough, authors of A Place to Wonder, we've wrapped ourselves in wondering. These authors helped me introduce the notion of heart wonders. Heart wonders are those wonders that can be answered with your own brain or heart (pretty much any wonder). That is just what helped us begin to think about how to answer some of the wonders we have.
Heart wondering has been the perfect stair step before research wondering. It has given kids permission to think about something and answer it using their own thoughts and words (great practice before taking an author's words and writing them in their own). I used one of the heart wonders from their book to use as a mentor and then let the kids paint an create their own as our wonder unit began. These are some that are hanging outside our room.