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!

return

Today was the first day back after Christmas break.  I had fun sharing the books I'd read over break and hearing about my students adventures.  One book I read was Killer Pizza by Greg Taylor.  Definitely a killer book!  My 7th graders asked for it to be their new read aloud & I was more than happy to oblige.  It has a little bit of everything... thriller, suspense, comedy, romance.  I'm anxious to get their take on it.  The prologue completely hooked them! 
I read 14 chapter books over break.  I'm still sorting through them in my head & saving them for another post later this week.
Happy New Year!