Book Group Blast...Off

Let the conversations begin!

I just started

with my 4th and 5th graders.

I created a Google Form, unveiled the new program to the students, showed them how to access the Google Form, and modeled signing up for a book conversation lunch.

I explained how I had set up three main themes for a lunch: author focus, genre time and series spotlight.

I am now three lunches into our new program and I am so happy that my schedule finally allowed for this experience.

I get to eat lunch with a really engaged and engaging group of people, listening and learning all the while.

Thus far, I have not helped establish norms or directed the conversation. The students are already taking ownership and as yet seem to be happy having lunch in a new place and with other readers.

I did take notes because book titles and ideas were being bantered about at a rapid pace.  The fantasy (genre time) book lunch was the most dynamic as yet.

The students shared their top fantasy reads:

The One and Only Ivan

Platypus Police Squad

Smells Like Dog

Percy Jackson

Warriors

Island of Aunts

Secret of Platform 13

Harry Potter

After listening for a bit, I asked the students why they liked the fantasy genre.  Here are their answers:

"I like the imaginary worlds."

"I like how they create and describe characters. It is different than other books."

"I like that fantasy books make you use your imagination."

"I like that unexpected things happen."

"I like talking animals."

"I like getting lost in other worlds."

"I like escaping into new worlds."

"I like that magic exists."

"I like that authors can create a world that I cannot imagine."

I loved watching these student learning to have conversations around books.  

I am excited to see where these

take us!

Treat Tuesday: A book and a treat

Food for the journey!

Slice of Life: On Being Interested

Saturday in New Hampshire

I have my books. 

I have my laptop. 

I do not put either to use. 

I spend my time looking and seeing, 

listening and hearing, 

touching and feeling.
I am a wonderer.
I appreciate these moments 
when I can stop and stare.
I also have no words
at the moment
so will let my camera speak for me.

I watch bees in the garden

I visit the cows

Don't you love that cow in the background? 

I explore some milkweed

I am grateful for these moments

when I am still

when I have the mental 

and physical time

to look and see,

listen and hear,

and touch and feel.

~~~

This post is part of the Slice of Life Meme.

Every Tuesday, Ruth and Stacey, host Slice of Life at their blog, Two Writing Teachers. If you want to participate, you can link up at their Slice of Life Story Post on Tuesdays or you can just head on over there to check out other people's stories. 

For more information on what a Slice of Life post is about, go here.

Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures

It's Monday, and I am reading, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures, written by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by K.G. Campbell.

Wait, let me rephrase that, I am rereading and rereading, Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures.

~~Rereading, Part the First~~

I am reading and rereading it because I need to keep interrupting the people around me to read aloud to them from 

Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures.

This book begs to be read aloud.  

This book begs to be shared.  

Kate DiCamillo, with the help of K.G. Campbell's illustrations and graphic interludes, has created an engagingly quirky novel that speaks to the reader, literally and figuratively. If Flora sees her words hanging above her head, I hear the words echoing through my head, words like malfeasance and cynic or phrases like extended hallucinations, temporary blindness induced by trauma, or holy unanticipated consequences. They beg to be read aloud.

I want to walk around my school reading aloud, especially this part that refers to a contract Flora has signed, she promises to "work to turn her face away from the idiotic high jinks of comics and toward the bright light of true literature." This little bit is funny and brilliant and timely. 

How can I not share the wisdom of an almost eleven year old, especially one who has gained most of her insight from reading The Illuminated Adventures of the Amazing Incandesto!and it's bonus comic, 
Terrible Things Can Happen to You!  

Wisdom such as: 

Do not hope. Only Observe. 

I love the things Flora thinks. "There is just no predicting what kind of sentences you might say, thought Flora. For instance, who would ever think you would shout, "You're going to vacuum up that squirrel!"?

This book is full of magical thinking, words of wisdom, and wonderful characters. This book is full of poetry and love. This book is full of words and ideas that need to be said out loud and pondered and shared. 

I love a whole lotta things:

I love that this book does not fit neatly into any genre category. I love the graphic elements.

I love the characters' names.

I love that Kate DiCamillo addresses some pretty heavy themes in this book, but does so in a way that makes them accessible and understandable.

I love how a lamp can become so symbolic.

I love that all the heroes and heroines wear glasses.

I love that Flora is a A Surprisingly Helpful Cynic. 

I love that simple acts are heroic. 

I love Ulysses. I love his passion. I love his superpowers.  In an article for Publisher's Weekly, Kate shares that “Those are the two big superpowers to me,” DiCamillo says. “Poetry and love.”

I love the respect that Kate DiCamillo has for her for readers. The language is rich and the humor is wry.  

Want to know the real scoop?  Listen to this MPR interview with Kate DiCamillo.

Want to see some good author fun? Check out Barbara O'Connor's message to Kate DiCamillo.

~~Rereading, Part the Second~~

I am reading this book for the second time because the first time was way back in once upon a time time, or April, which just feels that way.   

I was first introduced to Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures at the Candlewick

fall preview where...

Kate read from 
Flora & Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures,

which she described as "girl meets squirrel."

She had a room full of book lovers and readers laughing, gasping, and calling out, 
oh wait, maybe that was only me calling out...

Wow. 

I love Kate's books, 

my children love Kate's books, 

and my students love Kate's books, 

but now I more than love them because of meeting her. 

What an engaging, personable, and fun individual!

~~~~~~~~

#IMWAYR

Jen Vincent of Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee Moye, of Unleashing Readers, started the It's Monday What Are You Reading meme for children's literature.  You can follow the #IMWAYR  hashtag on Twitter or go to Jen's Webpage, Teach Mentor Texts to see which blogs have linked up.

Using new ways to learn about the AUP and practicing constructive feedback.

Acceptable Use Policy

We all teach it, but what do students learn?

I have spent the last few years teaching from this poster:

I think the students get it, but I don't think they own it.

This year, I decided to try a different tact.  I created an Animoto video.  

It is still a work in progress, but from initial feedback from students and informal assessments, I think I am on the right track. The engagement was higher and the discussions were better and more dynamic.  I am hoping they have learned more about and and taken more ownership of our AUP. They are signing this pledge now as well:

About that initial feedback? It was powerful.  There was some hesitation at the start, but after some coaxing on my part, the students became thoughtful and constructive viewers and learners. "I am interested in what you have to say," I told them. They were empowered and took their role seriously. 

Here are some of their comments:

"I liked the way you made it positive."

"There were too many pictures"

"You repeated the phrase 'respect all learners' many times"

"You should add a few 'please don't' statements"

"You might want to include the consequences."

"It would be good to show how students know the difference between what to do and what not to do."

"The words in the background are distracting."

"I think you should define what the AUP is."

"Spell out the term AUP."

"It was too fast."

I took all these comments, as well as the others, into consideration and edited the movie.  What you see above is the latest iteration.

Check it out and share your feedback.  I am interested in what you have to say.

Slice of Life: Do You Have the Time?

Time can be un-wielding, marching on with no regard for my wishes and desires, yet, at the same time, be fluid and shrink and expand according to my perspective. I state the obvious here, but I also state the focus of my current thinking.





I used to be someone who lived by the next great thing, I was always looking down the road, then I read Jon Kabat-Zinn's, Wherever You Go, There You Are.  This book helped me shift my perspective.  As I mentioned in last week's Slice, I try to be present in each day and see the amazing and astounding things around me. 

I am living with intention,
as this window display reminded me.

I still get caught up in this issue with time though, often thinking, "Where did that two hours go?" and wondering, "Was it frittered away or did I spend it meaningfully?"

This evening, I ate dinner and did the dishes, watched two crime dramas, connected on Facebook and Twitter, started putting words to this blog post, edited pictures and talked on the phone with family. This all took three hours.

Today, in three hours, I taught four kindergarten classes, read and answered work emails, edited an Animoto video on the AUP, cataloged a few books, and did some tech troubleshooting.

The three hours at night feels decadent and long. The three hours during the day goes by so quickly and each spare moment feels like it was snatched away from something else and used for something else.

In a thirty minute class, I can welcome my students, read my message, explain the activity, demonstrate the activity, give students a chance to explore/reflect, and finish with five-ish minutes of browsing and borrowing.

Five minutes in a 30 minute class is an eternity. We can: read a very short story; introduce or discuss an idea; or, browse and borrow. (In five minutes, I can even jolk (jog-walk) down the hall and help a teacher fix a tech problem.) Each second counts.

There is no questioning of how time was spent in school.  I have rarely asked myself, "Was the five minutes frittered away or did I spend those five minutes meaningfully?" 

How is it that time can be so fickle? These minutes just keep ticking away with no regard for my wants and needs, yet thankfully offers a shifting perspective on their value and measure.

Please note: this post is two days late. Apparently, time is also elusive this week. :)

This post is part of the Slice of Life Meme.

Every Tuesday, Ruth and Stacey, host Slice of Life at their blog, Two Writing Teachers. If you want to participate, you can link up at their Slice of Life Story Post on Tuesdays or you can just head on over there to check out other people's stories. 

For more information on what a Slice of Life post is about, go here.

Treat Tuesday

A book and a treat!