app share

Today's app:

• Faces iMake

My students flipped out when I showed them this app!  They love Hanoch Piven's books, so they were all about this app before they even got their hands on it.  I've always thought making Pivenesque mixed media representations of student writing would be fun.  This app proves that to be true! 

We've used the app in several ways...
We first modeled creations after Piven's My Dog is as Smelly as Dirty Socks.  Students chose a family member, spent time looking through the app's objects, & wrote similes combining the two. 
Students really couldn't get enough of this app & wanted to also create self-portraits. 
We've used this for the past several days & it is already a class favorite.  I'm thinking it will also be fun to use the app to create favorite book characters.

app share

I feel extremely blessed to have an iPad for every student in my classroom.  Talk about motivation!!  I've been keeping a list of all that we've been doing & have decided to post about a different activity everyday this week instead of lumping them all into one huge post. 

 

Today's apps:

• Instant Poetry
• Pictureka HD (iPad version... which was on sale last week... score!)

I combined these 2 apps to make a word wall activity.  Instant Poetry has several features that immediately interested me.  Students are able to choose their own background, input their own word choices (in addition to default word groups), & change the color & size of the words. 

First, students opened the Pictureka app and took a screenshot of a game board.  Next, they chose that screenshot as the background in Instant Poetry.  Once the Pictureka background was set students searched the screen for an image that matched one of their 15 word wall words.  They added the word, then placed it on the corresponding image.  I gave them time to get started, then walked around & asked them to explain their reasoning.  They LOVED it!  I've used the mini travel versions of Pictureka in this same way, but the apps made it spectacular.

23rd Annual Southern Festival of Books

A celebration of the written word - Nashville, TN!

Mandy and Cheryl attended The Southern Festival of Books on a perfect fall weekend...blue skies, music, great food! We met some fabulous authors and talented illustrators. Our first session was with Matthew Reinhart, co-creator of the Encyclopedia Prehistorica and Encyclopedia Mythologica series. He considers himself a paper engineer and has collaborated with Robert Sabuda, Maurice Sendak, and Tomie dePaola. He says he was inspired by Eric Carle's work with paper and layered look.

In our next session, we met with graphic novel artists Eric Powell, creator of Chimichanga, and Eric Wight, creator of the Frankie Pickle series. Powell worked on titles such as, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Weird Tales, and MAD magazine. Prior to his newest graphic novel series, Wight was an animator for Walt Disney, Warner Brothers and Cartoon Network.

Laura Murray presented her debut picture book, Gingerbread Man Loose in the School. This fractured fairy tale is illustrated in comic strip like frames and is told in wonderful, repetitive rhyme. As a former elementary school teacher, she would begin each year by making a gingerbread man and having the students follow the crumbs throughout the school to find the lost man.

Matt Phelan is the author-illustrator of The Storm in the Barn, and illustrator of many books including: Always, I'll Be There, The Higher Power of Lucky, and Spilling Ink.

Author Laurel Snyder has written such titles as: Penny Dreadful, Any Which Wall, Inside the Slidy Diner, and Bigger Than a Breadbox.

Tom Angleburger had everyone's attention with his talk about "The Embarassing Stain" in The Strange Case of Origami Yoda. He enlisted audience participation, and everyone made the "emergency five-fold Yoda."

Other attending authors we met include: Andrea Davis Pinkney, Tracy Barrett, and Ruta Sepetys. Mandy & Cheryl are already making plans to attend next year's festival!

used book shop

Stashed in attics,
stuck in cellars,
forgotten books
once big best-sellers

now hopefully sit
where folks, like cows
in grassy meadows,
stand and browse.

In a yellowed old history
of Jesse James
two earlier owners
had scrawled their names.

I even found
a book my dad
when he was in high school
had once had,

and a book I found-
this is really odd-
was twice as much fun
as my new iPod.

I always get hooked
in this dusty shop.
Like eating popcorn,
it's hard to stop.

~X. J. Kennedy

There is nothing like finding that book that you've been looking for in an old book shop. When Mandy & I visit a new town, we always seek out the book stores in the area. It's always fun to see what we can find!

glorious dev"I"ces

I spent a little bit of time this summer exploring my new iPads & thinking up ways to use them in my class.  Well, I guess saying a little bit of time everyday this summer would be more accurate!  One of my top interests was publishing.  I felt the iPad would really motivate my reluctant writers.  My first thoughts of publishing started circling in my brain after Tony Keefer's session on digital literacy at the Dublin Literacy Conference in February, before I even had iPads.  One tool his students use for publishing is Keynote.  For our first iPad project (after a couple of pure exploring sessions) I decided on a "Welcome to our Room" presentation.  I asked them to take 5 pictures that represented something we had done during the first weeks of school.  I loved seeing what they chose to capture!  We have the basic work done & will finish up the "sparkle" tomorrow.

Some students preferred to prop the iPad up on one of the docking stations while creating.

Some preferred the wireless keyboard instead of the on-screen keyboard.

Reader's notebook cover. Loved that they captured those images!

You Wouldn't Want to Be books & Graphic Library (some of their faves).

"Read to Self" guidelines.

here we go!

New school years are exciting.  And scary.  I'm always anxious & excited to not only meet the students I'll be spending the coming months with, but try out new things in my classroom.  My first week of school was last week.  Here are some highlights:
*An old favorite - Picture Book Biography of me!!

I started this a few years ago & have loved it!  I gather & display picture books that tell something about me.  It's fun to look through all my books as I'm pulling them back out of summer storage & think about which ones will tell my new students something about me.  I talk about a couple everyday & share how they relate to me.  It also allows me to start sharing my favorite genres, authors, & illustrators!
Wild About Books - obviously :)
Roanoke The Lost Colony - Jane Yolen, history mystery, a favorite series
Mammoth Cave - I love visiting National Parks & collecting National Park Passport Stamps, park I visited last year on annual Corvair road trip
The Journey That Saved Curious George - Louise Borden, former visiting author, great link to research
Olivia - a favorite series... love her spunk!
The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins - historical fiction (favorite genre), amazing author & illustrator notes (favorite book feature), in my Top 10 Book Love list.  I actually went out to Crystal Palace Park to see the dinosaurs while I was in London this summer!!!  I was in awe!
The Wonder Book - Amy Krouse Rosenthal.  I love her whimsy!
All Kinds of Families - All my close friends know that adore all cute little objects with faces.  I think I actually squealed at the cuteness of this book when I found it a few years ago.  It is hands-down the most adorable book I own.
The Chiru of High Tibet - Jacqueline Briggs Martin, former visiting author, great author's note & research!
You Wouldn't Want to Live in Pompeii - a favorite series, another place I was blessed to visit this summer!
Butterflies in My Stomach and Other School Hazards - word play & mixed media illustrations!
Italy ABCs - informative ABC book, another stop on my summer trip itinerary :)
Queen of the Falls - Chris Van Allsburg, a favorite author/illustrator, love the author's note!
Lewis and Clark Explorers of the American West - visited gravesite of Lewis on this year's Corvair road trip
*Trying something new - Class guidelines

For the past few years I've asked students to help me come up with the classroom rules.  I decided to take that a step further this year.  I asked both classes to brainstorm as many guidelines for class as they could.  Once the board was FULL.  I wrote R-E-A-D acrostic style & told them we could only have 4 guidelines.  They had to figure out how to fit their "rules" into broad statements that began with those letters.  This was one of those times they really impressed me!  I read Do Unto Otters the first day & asked them if their guidelines fit with the lessons of the book.  I read One Smart Cookie the second day & had the same conversation.  This is our school-wide book this year (more posts about that later!) I LOVE how this turned out :)
*Trying something really new - big blank wall

See that BIG, empty wall?  I don't like it.  This is my writer's workshop meeting area.  It is nestled between my desk, the computers, & bookshelves.  It is a nook that I love & in which students respond!  That wall is usually covered in book posters.  Really cute book posters that I loved seeing.  I know that within weeks it will be covered with anchor charts from our writing workshops.  I know that those charts will be more beneficial than my wallpaper/visual noise.  It is still hard for me to look at that blank wall, but it is a change I know needed to happen.  Some of my students from last year have noticed other changes in the room.  Think any of them have asked where the posters are?  Nope.

I feel like we are off to a great start & am excited about what this year will bring to my corner :)

Suppose

Suppose I were as clever as a bird
and the words for what I am
could be contained
in one precise song,
repeated, repeated
while each jubilant phrase
spells it all
in variations
too refined for the human ear

Or that the song has not yet been found
but waits inside me
like the long note that sounds
when a blade of grass
is placed between the thumbs
and blown

It could be
that the place my words are looking for
will turn out to be so small
that there will be room for nothing
but silence
-or an ocean so large
some waves will never reach
the sound of the shore

~Siv Cedering

Reading other writer's words and soaking in eloquent sentences help me find the words I need to say. But only by writing and practicing the craft of writing, if only for myself, is the truest way to find my voice.

Where She Went

It well may be that in a difficult hour,
Pinned down by pain and moaning for release,
Or nagged by want past resolution's power,
I might be driven to sell your love for peace,
Or trade the memory of this night for food.
It well may be.  I do not think I would.

~Edna St. Vincent Milay

This exerpt from "Love is not all: it is not meat nor drink," is the introduction to Gayle Forman's new release Where She Went. With an introduction like that, what promise for what lies ahead! I cannot wait to turn the page.

A Day in Richmond

We spent a fabulous day soaking in new knowledge from Debbie Diller at her spring institute in Richmond, Virginia.  The day was focused on Adding Rigor to Middle Grade Workstations, and was held at the beautiful Jefferson Hotel. 

We learned and relearned so many valuable things from building classrooms to the five R's: routines, relationships, relevance, rigor, & reflection. She emphasized that building a classroom with high expectations first is key to establishing opportunities for small group instruction. We can do this by being clear about our schedule and objectives, nurturing independence, and "inspect what you expect" (following up on what your want to happen).

Today I re-learned that my "business is to meet the needs of my kids" and to keep standardized testing in perspective by "knowing my enemy." I also need to re-examine...who is doing all the work? I also re-learned that reflection is a step I cannot leave out. With the pressure of getting all the standards in before state testing, this seems to be the area that I struggle with most. I need to make time to ask: How did it go? What did I learn? Next time I will...

Lunch at Comfort: Cheryl ordered pimento chesse sandwich with fried green tomato and homemade chips & Mandy ordered roasted turkey sandwhich with apple mustard and mac and cheese. The restaurant was located close to VCU and completely adorable.

Supper at The Cheesecake Factory! Enough said...total calories for the day? They don't count on road trips, do they?

 

Our favorite quotes of the day:

"Think.  That's my curriculum for teaching reading."

"Do I need a level on every book?  Save your time & read a professional book."

"Assume nothing.  Model everything."

"You're always modeling, even if you don't know you are.  You're always modeling."

This Is Just to Say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

~William Carlos Williams

This week I received a gift from my dear friend Mandy & was introduced to a collection of poems from Joyce Sidman's This Is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness. This anthology was written mostly by students inspired by Williams' poem. I was deeply moved by the honesty and genuiness of the apologies and responses. I was immediately hooked on the first poem by Thomas and his apology to Mrs. Garcia in the office for stealing the jelly doughnuts. I'm inspired!

f-r-e-n-z-y.

Choice Literacy featured an article a few weeks ago on open book clubs.  It didn't take long before Cheryl said she thought we should do one.  It didn't take me long (i.e. immediately) to agree.  We first considered inviting anyone who had read The Hunger Games, but thought that might limit the participation.  We wanted as many kids as possible to participate and began thinking of other books that a broader grade span of people had read.  Immediately the Skeleton Creek books came to mind.  These books have hooked in countless numbers of readers... our students, their friends, their younger siblings, other teachers.  We planned the blitz.
First, a mysterious poster appeared in the hallway inviting brave readers to a meeting.  Cheryl put the poster up almost two weeks ago, so we've endured lots of questions/harassment as to our involvement.  We tried to play it off like it wasn't us.  I'm not sure they believed that.

Next, "Joe Bush" began sending letters to our principal.  I wish I'd taken a picture of their faces!  It was great!
Finally, a special visitor pointed them to the real room for our meeting this morning...

We had 86 (!!!!!) kids show up!  We talked about our favorites parts & videos, gave away a copy of The Raven, & had them suggest names for our newly formed open book club.  We also introduced them to the new 3:15 stories.  Patrick, you are a genius.

We can't wait to do it again!  Who wouldn't love starting the day in a room filled to overflowing with kids excited to talk about books?

Swagger

Walking through the hallways this morning I was noticing how my students have grown since the beginning of the year. Middle school students are in constant flux, always changing. Seventh grade boys remind me of this poem:

Swagger

Swagger
thinks he's better,
turns his cap toward the back,
curls his lip, refuses to skip
or act like a kid.
Ever.
He's self-assured when he walks in,
full of nerve with a hint of sin,
with one hand in his pocket,
and shoulders square,
and if you don't like it, he doesn't care.
Somewhere between a strut and a stroll,
he's on a roll, his step in time
to a silent beat that says, "Bring it on,"
'cause he's all that
from his crown to his feet.

~Sara Holbrook

The poet says, "In a world of action and reaction, it seems as if words are an endangered species. More than ever we must, with relentless defiance continue to nurture our words, respect them as individuals, and handle them with care."

Sara Holbrook!

Our poetry project began this year by purchasing a copy of the anthology Seeing the Blue Between by Paul B. Janeczko for all of our 7th grade language arts students. Every week we've been focusing on a specific poet/writer's advice and selected poem. Our students have been soaking in poems everyday. Last week we were honored to host visiting poet, author, performer, and educator Sara Holbrook!

Sara worked with 7th graders on Tuesday crafting poems using extended metaphor, personification, and similes. She guided them through the art of performance poetry and prepared them for performing their poetry for family night. It was refreshing to see Sara not only share her poems, but also help students craft their own. She worked alongside them and helped them understand the "why" of poetry. We also selected 10 students to eat lunch with Sara. The students were hesistant to talk at first, but it didn't take them long to warm up and chat away! Our art teacher spent time over the past couple of weeks helping our students make paper and use it to make covers of handcrafted books. Students used these books to create collections of poems they've written all year. We were able to disply these at the family night event. We loved watching students share these special collections with their family and friends.

Wednesday morning, Sara presented vocabulary instruction to middle school teachers using her newest book High Definition. The rest of the day, she worked with 6th & 8th graders in their content area. Sixth graders used their upcoming social studies vocabulary words to write and present poems to reinforce learning in an authentic, meaningful way. Eighth graders wrote poems in their science class and presented them in class.

Favorite quotes of Sara's visit:

"words don't just lay down on the paper and behave themselves"

"the more you write, the more ideas will come up off the page"
"hear what others write... build a community of writers"
"as the boss of your own poem you get to decide how it is said"
"poetry gets us thinking about bigger ideas"
"ideas bubble up off the page as your pen flies across it"

Sara backed up everything we teach our students about writing everyday. It was a joy & honor to have her in our school for two days.

Dublin

Mandy and I were excited to have the opportunity to share some things that are going on in own classrooms at the Dublin Literacy Conference in Dublin, OH. "Literacy Stations in Middle Grades" was not only fun to create & present, but it was also encouraging to hear such positive responses from the participants. During this session, we shared how literacy stations run in our classrooms with our students. We were able to share sample stations, ideas for managing the stations, and correlation with curriculum standards.
We both use workstations in our classrooms. We believe strongly in them and their ability to provide students with additional independent practice with skills and strategies, provide time for reading/writing conferences, and provide opportunites to work with small groups. Inspired by Debbie Diller's, Practice with Purpose, we used the interests and needs of our students to develop additional stations to our classrooms.

COMIC STATION: gives students an oppotunity to explore another genre for reading and writing. Students can create their own comic online, read graphic novels, use inferring skills to make meaning of comics, or locate comics in newspapers. Many curriculum standards can be addressed using the activities in this station.
FAIRY TALE STATION: gives students an opportunity to explore a fun genre on a regular basis. Students can compare and contrast fractured fairy tales, write their own fairy tale, write a poem about a charater or theme, or create a wanted posted for one of the villians in their favorite tale. We toted several examples from one of our favorite collections to offer examples of books and activities in this station.
BOOK MAKING STATION: allows students another format for publishing their writing. Several online sites describe different styles of bookmaking that students can choose. One great site can be viewed at the following link: book making. We shared examples of supplies included in our book making stations, as well as, examples of student work.
TRAVEL STATION: allows students to explore different areas of interest in the world. This is a favorite! In this station, students can plan a trip, learn about a new place, explore atlases/maps, or use math skills by choosing items from restaurant menus. The best thing about creating this station is that 99% of the items in this station can be gathered for free! Take-out menus, brochures from welcome centers, maps, informational articles from museums/national parks, etc.

We were able to soak in an almost overwhelming amount of information in other sessions we attended yesterday! We are still letting it all soak in & are working on sharing that information. The conference was amazing! Thanks for all the hard work from the organizers and fellow presenters! We are already looking forward to next year.

Happiness.

As I was packing up to leave school one afternoon this week I was hit with this feeling of happiness & contentment with what I get to do everyday.  Even though this week seemed never-ending (first full week since before Thanksgiving because of snow!), it was a really good week.  Really good.  These are the highlights that made me happy:
*Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems.  What Mo book can't spread a little happiness, right?  I read this to my 5th graders.  The way Mo began & ended the book popped out to them.  "Well, you know could always try that, right?"  That was all it took!  Away they went to craft the MOST amazing beginnings and creative stories they've written all year.  It made me happy.

*Inside the Slidy Diner by Laurel Snyder.  I shared this book for the first time with my 5th graders this week.  All I'm going to say is this... we read it right before lunch... 6 of the 7 students were boys... it grossed them out & they were disturbed that I read it before they ate!  Gotta love that!

*Cesar Takes a Break by Susan Collins Thoms.  Again, with the 5^th graders.  Thanks to Cesar we have a new phrase… “puddle of sadness”… we used it all week!

*Everyday this week I heard this after independent reading & writing time…  “Can’t we just do this all day?”  I really think they’ve missed this time!

*Ordering books.  Several teachers at school got to spend some of our Title funds on ordering books.  Ordering books is fun… ordering books on someone else’s dime is even better. 

* Planning trips.  Cheryl & I are gearing up 2 trips.  First to the Dublin Literacy Conference on February 26^th.  We found out this week we are also going to be able to attend a Debbie Diller Institute on 3 – 6 literacy stations in Richmond, VA. 

*The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller.  Cheryl & I are leading a study group of this book at school.  Our first meeting was Thursday.  We (& our school administrators) LOVE this book!  We were curious to see if everyone else did.  Unfortunately, I think the verdict is still out for some of them… fortunately, we were pleasantly surprised at some of the discussion.  We can’t wait to meet next time and hear what others in our school are doing to prioritize reading in their own lives & the lives of their students.

*Author visits.  Kimberly Brubaker Bradley has spent several days working with our K – 5 students.  Tuesday she gave a talk during our PTO meeting. One of her quotes: "Not everyone wants to be a NASCAR driver, but everyone wants their driver's license. We all won't end up being authors, but we all must learn to write to be sucessful in life!" Who doesn’t get happy about author visits?

*My desk.  This is a strange one, but bear with me!  I’ve been in the middle of Title I monitoring for months.  Everything is due next week, so this week I was wrapping everything up.  That meant I got to remove LOTS of paper piles from my desk.  I also put some of said piles into a neatly organized notebook (which makes my heart smile all by itself!!).  SO, it was right after the study group meeting, I was gathering up my stuff, & realized… my desk was neat and clean!  No clutter!  With a sigh, this allowed me to stand and soak in how much I love my class and my school.  As I looked around I saw the evidence of what we’ve worked on all week… stacks of books they’ve put out for research, writing drafts still by the computer, graphic novels they are using as mentors, scraps of paper from making books… all of it was a scene that made me happy & content.

*Cheryl.  She is who supports me.  She is who motivates me.  She is my book gal.  She makes me happy.

So, those are a few things that made me happy during this 5 day week.  This morning I (mbheartsbooks) created a Twitter account… I  hope that will add to the happiness & not scare me too much!  Cheryl (annrich7) has also signed up.  Follow us!  We're excited about all the possiblities this will offer for networking and continuing to learn from those we admire!

Blue skies, treats from Blackbird Bakery, Bridge to Terabithia at the Paramount...what could be better? How about Katherine Paterson herself coming on stage while the actors are taking their bows, wiping the tears in her eyes, to applaud the characters? Amazing evening. Her talk on the theme that holds her books together was both touching and inspirational. It's always a joy to hear authors speak with such love about the worlds they've created. What a gracious lady. To complete the evening...book signing and pictures with her. She left us with a bit of wonder and the responsibilty to share her words with others. She writes the words, we are to be the flesh that brings those words to life with our students.

Mandy has always held a special place in her heart for Bridge to Terabithia, as she remembers it from 4th grade as one of the first novels a teacher shared as a read aloud. She was delighted to purchase a copy for that teacher and have Katherine Paterson sign it. She's planning on sending it to her with a note telling how special she made that book.
Cheryl purchased Bread and Roses, Too, about a family during the industrial revolution at the turn of the century in America. Owners of textile mills needed laborers, to they went abroad to recruit families to work for very low wages.

 

...from This Place I Know

To You

I think I could walk

through the simmering sand

if I held your hand.

I think I could swim

the skin shivering sea

if you will accompany me.

And run on ragged, windy heights,

climb rugged rocks

and walk on air:

I think I could do anything at all,

if you were there.

A favorite by Karla Kuskin in Georgia Heard's collection This Place I Know. This anthology, assembled in response to the events of September 11, is for anyone who is trying to recover from horrific events.

Snow day, part 2!

We've had the past SIX school days as snow days.  Wow!  Needless to say, I've done lots of cleaning, organizing, & reading.  I took a bagful of books to trade at the used book store today, and only came home with Silly Street by Jeff Foxworthy ($1), Or Give Me Death by Ann Rinaldi ($1.75), & Incantation by Alice Hoffman ($2).  I was happy!  I started Or Give Me Death right away & immediately wished for another snow day so I could finish!  All my other new books I want to read I took to school to share with my classes, and then it snowed (& snowed & snowed...).

Cheryl and I have a busy few weeks coming up filled with author goodness!
Next Wednesday: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley begins the first of five visits to school and works with the 4th & 5th graders
January 29th: King College stage production of Bridge to Terabithia and Katherine Paterson lecture afterwards
March 1 & 2: Sara Holbrook visits 6th, 7th, & 8th graders

Dublin Conference

We love road trips and visiting new places...so Mandy and Cheryl are very excited about the Dublin Literacy Conference (which you can read more about here and here) on February 26! Not only do we get to meet favorite hero authors and illustrators like Wendy Mass, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Brian Pinkney, and Kelly Gallagher, but we get the honor of sharing some things we are doing in our classrooms...just around the corner! We are always looking for innovative teaching strategies to share with our students and can't wait to visit Ohio!

During our presentation we will be sharing a few of the workstations that we incorporate into our middle school language arts classrooms: travel, comics, fairy tale, and bookmaking. These are stations we've developed based on our personal interests and the interests of our students. These are some of their favorite stations to visit and we're looking forward to sharing these bits of our classrooms with everyone. We will be bringing student samples, photographs, & portable stations. We look forward to seeing everyone there!

Please write

I just finished this with my 5th graders today.  We read a few pages everyday before lunch and then they would giggle their way down the hall.  Ms. Wurtz hides a notebook in the room with a note telling the first to find it to "have fun", "talk to each other", & "sign your name."  Well, needless to say, things don't quite work out... at first.  My students really got the humor & I was happy when they pointed out how they could tell which character was writing based on the word choice.  The book ends with an imaginative narrative the students work together to create, & my class commented right away that it reminded them of the writing we've practiced all year for their state writing assessment (just a few short weeks away!!!)  Please Write in This Book was a perfect read for this group!  Just hearing them laugh everytime I said "posterior", yes meaning bottom, made it worth reading.  The book is perfect for sharing about voice, writer's notebooks, & imaginative narratives.  I love Mary Amato's website!  She has lots of neat stuff that I know students will like navigating.
My favorite part of the day?  When one of the boys looked up at me & said, "That would be so cool if you hid a book like that!"  My response?  "How do you know I haven't?"  Because, of course I have!!!!  Cannot WAIT for them to find it!