It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I'm happy to participate in It's Monday!  What Are You Reading?, a meme started by Book Journey and Teach Mentor Texts.

I've been absent from this meme for awhile.  Therefore, I'll do a couple weeks worth of books. :)

PICTURE BOOKS

This is a fun book for preschoolers, in which they have to find certain objects around NYC to help a boy find his dragon. The illustrations are amazing and you feel like you get a tour of the city in reading the book. Natalie gives it two thumbs up!

Another hit in the Henry and Mudge collection. And...it talks about swimming in your skivvies. Anything that is about underwear incites a giggle-fest in our house. ;)

I thought this was hilarious! Every parent can relate with wanting to climb a tree and not come down when their child is screaming and yelling. It pokes fun at how children are perceived by parents.

A great book for beginning readers about surrounding yourself with books.

This will certainly be added to my classroom library. A funny book about dogs and accepting and recognizing differences. Gaston and Antoinette seemed be in the wrong dog families, but when they trade places things look right but don't feel right. This should appeal to all ages.

This might just be my favorite Henry and Mudge! It's all about snow and winter. I read it to Natalie and she told me she wished it was winter this week. She's my kid!! I love the simple language used by Rylant to express the feel of togetherness when Henry's family is by the fire. So simple, so true. I can't wait for winter to come back!

I love Olivia and this is no exception. Olivia is fed up with all of the girls in her class wanting to be fairy princesses. She wants to be different and unique. In the end, she chooses to be queen. Ha!

CHAPTER BOOKS

I really wanted to like this more. I'm thinking I lost something in the audio version. I do think 5th-6th graders would love it. It's perfect dystopian literature for young people--it's completely appropriate. It's one I'll recommend to my 5th graders.

I've read this before, but it was several years ago. I loved it then and I loved it once again. The sparse language (or "precision of language" as is often referred to in the book) is stunning. Lowry delivers an eery look into what can happen once people relinquish individual liberties in order to ensure a safe, stable environment. I'm looking forward to listening to the other three books in this series.

I've been reading this for a few months during silent reading time at school. The book is about the Cholera outbreak that killed 616 people in one part of London in the mid-1800s. I liked how real people who played crucial roles in solving the mystery of the epidemic were given big roles in the story. The main character, Eel, is a pull-yourself-up-by-your-bootstraps kid who ends up being an assistant to Dr. Snow and determining the outbreak stems from a contaminated water pump. This book isn't for every kid, but one interested in science and mystery would enjoy it.

Oh, I so wanted to like this one more than I did. I truly loved Molly and Kip and their drive, but the rest of the book fell flat for me. I was intrigued by the night gardener and wanted to know more of his back story. I loved Auxier's Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes. I'll stick with recommending that one.

ADULT BOOKS

n the same vein as The Help, this is a story of a young, Southern girl trying to put her family back together, but finding that family is not always related by blood. I especially liked the change over time of Starla (the white Southern protagonist) as she came to know and love Eula (the black, Southern woman with whom Starla finds on her journey).

Oh, I LOVED this one! It reminded me of a Kate Morten book. A mysterious woman in Paris leaves her apartment and small fortune in stocks to an Englishwoman of society. Obviously there is some sort of link between the two, but many more secrets are revealed throughout. A fast historical novel with a sense of intrigue and mystery.

CURRENTLY READING

(on audio)

(on audio--narrated by Mrs. Downtown Abby, Elizabeth McGovern!)

I'd love to know what you're reading too!

Curiosity

So, I've been noticeably vacant on the blog.  I haven't written on it since April!  Yikes!  I didn't think it had been that long.  You know, sometimes the demands of daily life just tie you up and something has to give.  This was my something.  BUT...school is out, I'm working on some really good writing with my friend and colleague Holly, and I'm ready to give this blog thing a whirl again.

Since most of us have celebrated the last day of school by now, we can step back and take some time to reflect on the things we did this year.  One of my students' favorite literacy contracts this year was based around the theme topic of CURIOSITY.  Students picked books from our school book room that they were curious to read and paired up with other kids in the class to form small book groups.  They also identified five things about which they wanted to learn more.  They did a little research on each of those five things, then narrowed their focus to the one thing they wanted to research more in-depth to learn more about.  They had a menu of options to choose from for how to present their findings.  I used to do menus all the time in my room, but I started to shy away from them because they can be hard to grade.  There are so many different projects to consider and each one requires a different rubric.  The task of grading became daunting.  However, I felt my kids this year needed to experience one menu and I rethought how to grade the projects.  Instead of me grading everything, students presented their findings to a small group of peers and the peers filled out a project evaluation form for each member in their small group.  It worked like a charm.  I got to facilitate and experience presentations, but peers got to evaluate.  Take a look at menu below:

March Nonfiction Menu--CURIOSITY

You will complete ONE of the following projects (your choice) after you have read and conducted research about a person or topic of interest.

While conducting your research, keep illustrated notes about what you are learning.  Illustrated notes are notes that help reflect your learning by drawing pictures, writing in various colors, etc.  Here is a picture of illustrated notes: Illustrated notes help to deepen your comprehension of topic and allow you to doodle at the same time!  How cool is that?	Create a comic strip that allows readers that know little or nothing about the person or topic you researched to learn more.  Think of this almost as a graphic novel, just not quite as long.  The reader of your comic should come away with a better understanding of the significance of the person or topic about which your read.	Create a PowerPoint or Prezi (www.prezi.com) presentation about the person or topic you further researched.  You will present your work to a small group of your classmates.  Be sure to include the significance of the person or topic about which your read.  Have fun with this.  Make it an exciting presentation!  You could play with inserting pictures and video clips and even music to make your work come alive for the audience.
Develop a YouTube video about the topic or person you researched.  This does not mean you have to post it to YouTube.  It simply means it could be something that would pop up on YouTube if someone were to search about your topic.  The video should be informational and easy to understand.  Use your creativity.  We’ve watched several different styles of videos in class.  You have creative license as long as your video makes sense to the viewer!	Create a blog post that includes pictures and extensive information about the person or topic you researched.  Blog posts tend to be a little more personal, so make sure you insert a lot of your thoughts and feelings into your writing.  Let the readers know why you care about this person or topic.	Develop an infographic about the person or topic you researched.  There should be enough information on the infographic that someone who knew little or nothing about your person or topic can come away learning a significant amount.  Think about the infographics on the back of our Storyworks magazines.  They have a claim at the top (so should yours) and the evidence in the infographic supports that claim.  You must include illustrations or pictures to make the infographic eye-appealing.

And check out what these kids did!  They put together some amazing projects and learned so much while doing so!

ILLUSTRATED NOTES

 Notes on the decline of Grey Wolves

Notes on Medieval Times

Notes on Endangered Plants

PREZI PRESENTATIONS

Prezi on LeBron James

Prezi on Violins and Composers

INFOGRAPHICS

Infographic on Why Penguins Can't Fly (what a cool topic!)

Infographic on JFK

By far, Prezi presentations were the most popular menu item.  It was a fun, new way to make a type of slideshow presentation.  If you're unfamiliar with Prezi, check out their website at www.prezi.com.  It's easy, free, and fun!

Curiosity is certainly a theme topic I will use again next year.  It was one of the best things we did this past year and kids should have the option to pick some of their own learning.  By doing so they were fully vested in researching and creating meaningful projects and...gasp!....learning!  What a great combo!

My 2014 Book Challenges

I'm participating in #Mustreadin2014 and Check Off Your Reading List 2014.  I LOVE this challenge because it has allowed me to put books on my list that I've wanted to read for awhile.  I tend to get bogged down (well, maybe not bogged down, but rather attached to) new releases in the intermediate grade fiction and nonfiction area and this list has a nice spread of adult fiction, nonfiction, and kids stuff.

Drumroll Please...

(In no particular order)

1. Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

Oh, I didn't want to finish this one because it's so good! I can't imagine a middle grade kid who wouldn't love this creepy, modern-day fairy tale. Ophelia, her sister Alice, and their father have traveled to a museum in a town that is continuously snowy. Her father is an international sword expert and has been asked by the museum curator, Miss Kaminski, to head up the sword exhibition for Christmas Eve. Ophelia and Alice are trying to move past the death of their mother and both are a little lost. Ophelia, while exploring the mysterious museum, finds a young boy who weaves a story of wizards, magic, and the Snow Queen. It's up to Ophelia and the boy to defeat the Snow Queen before it's too late. Just the right amount of creepiness and reality, this is going to be a HUGE hit in my classroom!

2. The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (or J.K. Rowling)

I love Cormoran Strike. This is a classic who-dunnnit mystery, but written really well. Galbraith developed the characters fully and left no stone unturned in the investigation. If you were paying close attention, you could solve the crime right along with Strike. I especially appreciated how Galbraith made Strike a real person--one with many flaws, but one that could pull himself together and get back on his feet to do the right thing. It's a character driven mystery, but a good one!

3. The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

This was such a creepy book! A great story about prep school boys in Virginia that are searching for the ley line to wake the elusive Glendower. Blue is the daughter of a psychic in the town of the prep school. She meets up with the Raven Boys and helps them in their pursuit. I must read the second one soon because the first one left me hanging!

4. The Great American Dust Bowl by Don Brown

This is a wonderful graphic novel about the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. I love how Brown gives readers the background knowledge necessary for understanding exactly what caused the Dust Bowl. He also does a nice job explaining what happened during the dreadful dust storms that lasted for nearly a decade. This is a perfect book for our journey unit.

5. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

I loved this book about secrets and the consequences our actions can have on others. The story revolves around three women, all connected in some way, all with regrets and burdens of their own. Yet, these women must take on their husbands secrets, too, and decide what to do with their lives once they are privy to the knowledge. Well told and compulsively readable, I'm glad we picked this for book club!

BOOK I'M CURRENTLY READING THAT ARE ON MY "MUST READ IN 2014" LIST:

I'm almost done with this one.  I LOVE it!!

I started this one Sunday evening and I'm keeping it at school for silent reading time.  It's good so far!

I've been making my way through this one.  I'm going to stick it out.

I started this one on vacation over spring break.  It's LONG, but I'm liking it!

I'm making my way!  I'd love to know what book (or books!) you're reading in 2014!

Dublin Literacy 2014 (#dublit14) Recap

A little over a week ago, I had the pleasure of attending the 25th annual Dublin Literacy Conference in Dublin, Ohio.  I've been attending this conference for the last several years, but this year was special in that I presented for the first time with my writing partner Holly Mueller.

We've been working on manuscript for a book about literacy contracts (about which we have both blogged before).  Basically, contracts are a tool we both use in our classrooms to develop lessons around a theme topic and ensure our students are exposed to book groups, high-interest nonfiction, and digital literacies each month.  Our contracts have been a hit with our students for several years and it's always encouraging when our students make comments around the cohesiveness of our lessons because they are all related back to theme topics.  We wanted to get the word out to other educators that are maybe looking for a new tool in their classrooms.  We decided to present our first contract of the year, focused on the theme topic EMPATHY.  You can check out our Prezi presentation here.  We had a packed house that day and it was so fun to present something that works well for us to others that are looking for new ideas.  I have garnered so many great ideas over the years from presenters at this conference that I was honored to be a presenter this year.

Appropriately timely, I just today read an article about the importance of empathy when hiring an employee.  The article stated that you can't outsource empathy, or automate it.  Businesses need people who can be empathetic to a customers needs.

This came right from the article: A University of Toronto study on the effects of literature on empathy shows that those who read fiction frequently have higher levels of cognitive empathy; i.e., the ability to understand how another person feels.  Keith Oatley, one of the researchers, said the reason fiction improves empathy is because it helps us to "understand characters' actions from their interior point of view, by entering into their situations and minds, rather than the more exterior view of them that we usually have." This improves interpersonal understanding and enhances relationships with customers and business associates. 

Holly and I tapped into this same idea in our presentation.  In our own words, "Not only is empathy important to us in the classroom, it is the cornerstone of reading.  If we do not feel empathy, it is impossible to connected to characters."  Most teachers work extremely hard at the beginning of the year to develop a safe, inviting classroom environment where students feel more like family than strangers.  This is done by teaching kids how to be empathetic.  By focusing our reading and writing at the beginning of the year on empathy, we are more likely to achieve a classroom environment that is forgiving of each others faults and celebrates others successes.  This is what we highlighted in our session at the conference.  The contract presentation went over well and we were so thankful to all of the educators who attended our session.

While we weren't presenting, we were listening to some pretty amazing educators.  The keynote presenter for the conference was the amazing Penny Kittle.  Her keynote addressed the importance of keeping students engaged in reading throughout their school career.  So many kids start of as eager readers and then something happens around 5th or 6th grade that turns them off to reading and many of our youth don't read a single book for the remainder of their school careers.  How sad!  Penny touched on the importance of a classroom library.  I tweeted this out during her speech: Classroom library environment is so important to entice readers. Makes students less teacher dependent to find books. How true that is! If we're teaching kids to read (either at an early elementary age, or at a middle and high school age where they are finding books of interest), it is our job to be well-read and knowledgeable to that we can recommend books to our students. Without someone who is excited about their own reading life, how can we expect to light a fire for our students?  

I was lucky enough attend Penny's last session of the day, in which she focused on reading and writing conferences. Conferences are something we all know we should do, but they are so hard to fit in during our short amount of class time. Kittle acknowledged this and then validated (for me) that conferences do not have to be five minutes per child. Quick check-ins count as conferences (whew!). I've seen Penny present a few other times and one of the things I love about her presentations are the videos she inserts that show her talking with her own students. It makes is so real! The other take-away I got from the session is that "Writing floats on a sea of talk." This I knew. It's how I gain ideas, too. But, with all of the demands that must be hit every single day in my ELA class, it's sometimes hard to justify "talk time". However, it's something we must do if we want our kids to share their thoughts and help others come up with different ideas. Talk is the cornerstone of communication and we must make time for it each day in our rooms. As always, Penny Kittle is an inspiration to all teachers because of her love of kids. Here we are after she signed my Book Love book:

The other session I attended was presented by Don Brown, author of several children's nonfiction picture books, most recently The Great American Dust Bowl (a graphic nonfiction novel about what it was like on the prairie during the Dust Bowl). It's a hit with my kids! Brown led us through the publication process, from idea to hard-bound book. He does all of his own illustrations in watercolor for every book! Amazing! I would love for my students at school to hear Brown speak about his process and see his writer's notebook full of ideas.


Obviously, the Dublin Literacy Conference was a HUGE success! I look forward to it every year. If you've never attended and you live in the driving vicinity of Columbus, I would HIGHLY suggest you check it out next February. You won't be disappointed!

On a completely different side note: Does anyone know why half of my post is double-spaced and half is single-spaced? I've spent WAY TOO LONG trying to reformat it.

It's Monday! What are you reading?

I'm participating in the meme from Book Journey and Teach Mentor Texts.

I'm going to include the books I've read and listened to in February, since I've been a little negligent in posting!  Oops!

PICTURE BOOKS:

Sophie's Squash

written by  Pat Zietlow Miller, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf

Natalie and I both love this book! Sophie gets a squash at the farmers market and takes care of it as if it's a baby. Her parents try to convince her to give it up, but instead she asks the farmer how to care for it. She buries it in the back yard before winter and in spring she watches it grow and produce two new squash, which she also befriends. A fun story!

A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin

written by Jen Bryant, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

I can understand why this book garnered so many ALA awards this year. It's wonderfully told and beautifully illustrated. Horace Pippin should be an inspiration to us all. A war injury didn't stop him from what he loved doing--painting. While he wasn't "discovered" until later in his life, Pippin has left behind some special pieces of art that define the early part of the 20th century in America. I will certainly be sharing this with my 5th grade class!

CHAPTER BOOKS:

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

Oh, I didn't want to finish this one because it's so good! I can't imagine a middle grade kid who wouldn't love this creepy, modern-day fairy tale. Ophelia, her sister Alice, and their father have traveled to a museum in a town that is continuously snowy. Her father is an international sword expert and has been asked by the museum curator, Miss Kaminski, to head up the sword exhibition for Christmas Eve. Ophelia and Alice are trying to move past the death of their mother and both are a little lost. Ophelia, while exploring the mysterious museum, finds a young boy who weaves a story of wizards, magic, and the Snow Queen. It's up to Ophelia and the boy to defeat the Snow Queen before it's too late. Just the right amount of creepiness and reality, this is going to be a HUGE hit in my classroom!  This was on my "Must Read in 2014" list, too!

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

I loved this current-day version of The Snow Queen. Hazel and Jack are real characters that kids can easily relate to. Anne Ursu has beautiful language in this middle grade novel.

ADULT BOOKS:

The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty

I loved this book about secrets and the consequences our actions can have on others. The story revolves around three women, all connected in some way, all with regrets and burdens of their own. Yet, these women must take on their husbands secrets, too, and decide what to do with their lives once they are privy to the knowledge. Well told and compulsively readable, I'm glad we picked this for book club!  This was also on my "Must Read in 2014" list.

Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford

This was a depressing read (listen). William is a 12 year old Chinese orphan at a Catholic orphanage in Seattle in 1934. He ventures into town on the one day a year the nuns recognize the orphans birthdays. He finds movie poster of Willow Frost, as woman who looks just like his mother (who abandoned him five years earlier after she was found bleeding in the bathtub in their apartment). William embarks on his journey to seek out his mother. In the process, the reader is told Willow's story, starting in 1924. A powerful story of the hardships of life for a young Asian woman, struggling to care for her son.

PROFESSIONAL BOOKS:

Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller with Susan Kelley

Yet another great professional read from Donalyn Miller. She validated many of my classroom practices and beliefs. I came away with some new ideas and the knowledge that we all can help students find their inner wild reader.

CURRENTLY READING:

All three of the books I'm currenty reading are on my "Must Read in 2014" list! (visit There is a Book for That for more info)

There!  I'm caught up!  I'd love to know what you're reading, too.  Leave me a message!  Happy Monday!