Supersister by Beth Cadena

This month we will be helping my students think about how they can become stronger narrative writers. We will explore mentor texts and notice crafts that will help us add depth and invite other readers to want to read our pieces. I have so many different writers who are at varying places developmentally (don't we all). My biggest challenge is to differentiate conversations and text. I know I can pull small groups and meet with writers individually but often I am thinking hard about which texts to share that will lift the learning for everyone during whole group mini-lessons. I've been looking for mentor texts that have "do-able" craft, length,and contain ideas and a message that second graders can emulate. I like Supersister because of the way the author and illustrator work in a comic feel to the story. Some pages have panels while other pages are full pictures with short text.

Supersister (I am hoping) will be one book that we can notice as a mentor for narrative writing but also enjoy for the "superhero" factor (it will fit nicely in our superhero basket). Supersister is about a little girl who is on a mission to help out in any way she can. She braves the world trying things on her own: like waiting at the bus stop, pouring her own cereal and cleaning up the dishes. She seems too good to be true as she is SUPER- helpful all day. Before she falls asleep, she runs downstairs kiss her mom and then mom's belly. Yep she will be a big sister soon.

I did get a chance to read this on Monday during writers workshop and I have two students who added super sister and super brother to their little notepad for big ideas. Both have also started to writer about their adventures. I am anxious to see what super-sibling adventures they will share with us.

My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall

I couldn't help pick up this first picture book by Michael Hall. I loved the bright and bold colorful animals made from hearts. If your students enjoy Audrey Wood's Quick As a Cricket, Michael Hall's, My Heart Is Like a Zoo will make them happy.

The book is filled with similes about animals and about one person's heart. Michael uses rhyme throughout the book which helps keeps the book moving. I introduced this book during Math but will coming back to it for Writing Workshop. The back of the book challenges you to count the hearts in the book. Michael uses more than 300 hearts in all.Take a look at the You Tube video highlighting the book.

Back to school with books to share

Tomorrow is our first day back to school after holiday break. I know the kids will be mixed with the excitement that comes with reuniting with friends to the ho-hum routine of school. I know I will feel the same way.

To make the day happier, I have loaded the room with many new ( and some old ) books for the kids to read as they walk in the door. They will walk in the door to find the baskets of poetry and rhymes neatly set out with favorite titles like Truckery Rhymes, Here's a Little Poem and Score. It is poetry Monday! ( Monday vs. Friday just works better for us in the classroom)

I also have set out some Caldecott contenders around the room. I know I will be talking about books like the Lion and the Mouse, Chicken Little, Otis, Jeremy Draws a Monster and All the World. See this link to view the finalists for the Cybils fiction picture books list. It has helped me narrow in on some of the best picture books of 2009.

Last, I have filled a shelf with the new titles I purchased over break that I knew my kids would enjoy. The newest fly guy book called Fly Guy Meets Fly Girl will be a hit. The Fly Guy series is perfect for second graders.

I also displayed on this same shelf a few picture books that Franki blogged about. A Small Brown Dog with a Wet Pink Nose and Waiting For Winter were two of my favorite books I picked up at Cover to Cover. Also, a couple My Weird School Daze #2 and #3 that I know a few kiddos will devour as well as four books in the Rainbow Magic series that a few girls love.

I think sharing about our break, seeing one another and getting our hands on new books will help make tomorrow happier.

Differentiating at Disney

I just noticed that it has been a month since my last post. The month of December slipped away this year as my family and I spent time preparing for the holidays, gathering with friends and family and traveling to Disneyworld for a vacation we have anticipated for about a year.

As I look back, I will remember moments and feelings from different parts of our trip. From the slap-happy laughter of my sons howling at each other after the 20 hour drive to the magical happiness I felt walking down the Main Street in Magic Kingdom, I won't forget the joyous times. There were also many moments of excitement after rides when we couldn't stop talking about how much we loved the feeling of gliding over the US (like after riding Soarin) or how petrified we were experiencing the simulation of a ride to Mars on Mission Space. Of course there were the less memorable moments of exhaustion and frustration waiting in line and bickering about what to do next. But, I know I will most remember watching my sons and my nieces smile while running and dancing through the streets of Disney.

With all these happy memories, I started thinking about why this trip worked for us. What most impressed me about our experience at Disney was the park's ability to differentiate. I thought about how well everyone's needs seem to be easily met each day. I took mental notes as we walked throughout the parks. I couldn't help but begin to list (as I often like to do) some key ways that helped support a successful differentiated environment:

1. It was clear, from the minute you interacted with any Disney employee that the experience was about you enjoying yourself and feeling welcome. From the moment we purchased our parking pass and drove under the bright blue sign, we felt welcomed as the attendant (with sincerity) reminded us to "Have a Magical Day!"

2. Disney is SUPER clean ( which means they care about their customers)!!! The amount of effort put into caring for the park by the employees sends a message to the consumer (us) that there is a sense of pride and respect in the work they do. It also reminded us to care back for the park and meet the standard of respect and cleanliness.

3. Disney characters, employees and managers are constantly communicating and adjusting to the needs of people. I watched Goofy, Minnie and Mickey work a crowd for breakfast and adjust their demeanor for the ages and audiences each interacted with. Goofy hugged and playfully high-fived a younger fan wearing a goofy ball cap and then 4 minutes later gave the rock (knuckle- high five) to my 10 year old to ensure he felt part of the older kid crowd. He then carefully patted my niece's head as she smiled back with a nervous hello. He was awesome at reading and adjusting to people. Adjusting also happens in line. I watched the employees at the Haunted Mansion quickly break one long line up into 3 shorter lines which helped us all feel like we were moving faster. And what better way to adjust to long line waiting than the fast pass. We lived by these as the pass helped us prioritize and ride more in a day's visit.

4. Disney values individuals and collaboration. Whether age 2 (my niece) or 62 (my father-in law), each family member found something that he/she wanted to do. (The harder part for my kids was taking time to do what others wanted too.) From Minnie's House to Tom Sawyer's Island, girls and boys were able to find places and rides that appealed to their interests. My most pleasant surprise came when we spent the day at Epcot. I was very excited to explore the many countries around the center lake of the park but ( knowing visiting the countries appealed more to adults) a little worried my kids would fizzle out after walking through one or two. After visiting Canada and the UK, the Kim Possible Mission game came to our rescue and completely excited our journey through the rest of the lands. This game invited us (our family of five) on a mission to a particular country and then challenged us to complete a mission by using clues we watched and listened to on a cellular phone. It was completely interactive and had us working as a team for the day. So clever Disney!!!

5. Disney is innovative. It is a place to experience the newest technology in entertainment and creativity. It seems that since my childhood visit, they have created new ways to manage crowds (fast passes), keep ride goers happy with a variety of authentic experiences (Mission Earth, Test Track, Soarin ) and engage crowds with a variety of shows ( American Idol experience, Mickey 3-D, Beauty and the Beast on stage and many more). This park is dedicated to creating, rethinking and imagining what's next in entertainment.

So from all of this reflecting about how Disney differentiates, I have a renewed sense for how we as teachers can learn from Disney. We can keep these big ideas in mind as we head back to the classroom with our students ( they also reflect principles written by Carol Ann Tomlinson, author of the Differentiated Classroom) :

1. Welcome, appreciate and embrace individual needs.

2. Help establish a community of respect in the classroom so that differences are embraced.

3. Adjust our thinking, attitude and teaching for our students according to their needs.

4. Invite individuals to embrace collaboration.

5. Provide opportunities to think, create and explore in new ways in the classroom.

6. Invite kids to lend a helping hand.

Mo Willems Does It Again!!!

I have much to share about NCTE but I can't help but shift gears and tell you about a couple arcs I begged for at the Harper Collins booth last weekend. They are both new books that are expected to be available in February of 2010. I just added them to my pre-order list on amazon

Mo Willems introduces us to a new series perfect for our preschool, K and first grade readers. He has created a very likable Cat (simple enough for kids to draw) in his new book called Cat the Cat, Who Is That? In this book, Cat meets many new friends who in just a page, we get to know by the voice in the word bubble. You meet, Mouse the Mouse, Duck the Duck and Fish the Fish. Our favorite (so far) is Fish the Fish because after being greeted by Cat the Cat, he says "Hey Dude!" The kids laughed after hearing his voice and noticed that he like to blow bubbles. The text because it is focused on our youngest readers is repetitive and predictable yet engaging. The story ends as Cat the Cat meets an unexpected character (large alien-looking fellow) who she has no idea what to call. Don't worry, she jumps into playing and shouting "Blarggie, blarggie" with him. You might be thinking..."blarggie?" I was but my first grader told me this was his favorite part. The words "blarggie, blarggie" made him belly laugh.

In the other arc I received, Let's Say Hi to Friends that Fly, Cat the Cat is featured on the cover asking, "Are you ready?" The kids in my class were very ready and anxious to find out more from Cat the Cat. This story is a patterned text with the question, Can you fly (Bee)the (Bee)? followed by an answer from the character (watch me!) and then a page describing how the creature flies (buzz...buzz). Cat the Cat also repeats words of encouragement to each friend throughout the story like...Go Bee the Bee! You can also see that the text rhymes. I love that Mo has weaved in so many features of early text that supports readers (high freq words, repeating words, picture support, predictable text, rhyme, brief pieces of dialogue that support fluency). Well, the story ends as Cat the Cat and her friends bump into Rhino the Rhino (who is sitting on a pigeon- looking coil spring rocker you would see in the ground at a park). Of course they are thinking...Can you fly Rhino the Rhino? My kids thought he might fly away on the Pigeon but that wasn't the case. I'll let you be pleasantly surprised in February!

Last, I found another in the series on amazon called What's Your Sound, Hound the Hound? I am sure it will be as wonderful for early readers as the others. Thanks Mo for creating books that kids love and want to read on their own!!!

NCTE: The learning begins

In about an hour, I am headed to my first session of the NCTE Annual Convention. I am anxious to hear Ralph Fletcher, Gresham Brown and Kate Morris speak about the Pleasures of Language. Next, we are off to the Elementary Section Get Together! Can't wait to fill you in on all my new discoveries.

It is a Happy Thursday !!!!!!!

Here comes the big, mean dust bunny! by Jan Thomas

The sixth Jan Thomas book, Here comes the big, mean dust bunny, arrived in my mailbox Saturday! Tomorrow there will be excitement over her newest book in my classroom. This fall, we started the year with Jan's fifth book, Can you Make a Scary Face? This story completely won the kids over as they interacted with the ladybug telling the story. Last year, The Doghouse was our favorite. Jan has figured out how to make young kids laugh, read, write and read some more. I am very anxious to hear their thoughts on her newest book. I am thinking they will decide that it should be added to our list of series reads as much of the work we thought about this fall was noticing features of series books (we included picture book series titles in our study). I am also know they will be laughing and loving it!

Jan's newest book features characters from another book in her repertoire called Rhyming Dust Bunnies. Ed, Ned, Ted and Bob, the rhyming dust bunnies are back to adventure in rhyme but run into some trouble as the big mean dust bunny bullies his way into their play. Don't worry, he gets a taste of his own medicine when Fat Cat sits on him (SPLAT)! The loyal Ed, Ned, Ted and Bob are there to rescue the thug with a tug and then a HUG! Don't miss adding it to your Jan Thomas collection!!!