“The worst thing about new books is that they keep us from reading the old ones.” -- Joseph Joubert When I was at NCTE less than three months I was captivated with the bilingual picture book, Si, Se Puede! / Yes We Can!: Janitor Strike in L.A., written by Diana Cohn and illustrated by Francisco… Continue reading Yes, students CAN publish their writing in two languages!
Category: picture book
Picture Books in Upper Elementary School
The Fall of 2006 brought me the savviest class I ever taught. Nearly all 32 of them scoffed at me on Wednesday, September 6th when I pulled out Nothing Ever Happens on 90th Street. "A picture book?" one student said disdainfully. "Yes, a picture book," I replied. "We're going to read lots of picture books… Continue reading Picture Books in Upper Elementary School
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Endpapers
My mother-in-law, who is a K-5 Literacy Coach, visited last weekend. She perused several review copies of professional books that were stacked on my desk while we talked shop. There were some pages in one of the books, Children's Literature in the Reading Program: An Invitation to Read, 3rd Ed. that piqued her interest since… Continue reading Endpapers
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565 Miles Apart.
On Friday afternoon, I read my students Peter H. Reynolds' book The North Star, which is about a boy who sets out on a journey. We started the year with Ish, so I thought it would be appropriate to share some news with them using the always soothing words that Reynolds' books contain. We talked… Continue reading 565 Miles Apart.
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Writing in Second Person… A Mentor Text by Hopkinson
I was delighted to happen upon Deborah Hopkinson, who was signing books in the NCTE Exhibit Hall, on Saturday afternoon. I've used books of hers, such as Saving Strawberry Farm and Shutting Out the Sky in Interactive Read Aloud with my students. So, when I saw was signing her 2006 book, Sky Boys: How They… Continue reading Writing in Second Person… A Mentor Text by Hopkinson
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Unpacking Picture Books
In the past few months, I've analyzed a couple of picture books, Those Shoes and Sweet Smell of Roses , to determine the craft moves I can teach my students. As a result of analyzing these books, I've developed teaching points off of the craft moves. Ruth and I picked up a bunch of picture… Continue reading Unpacking Picture Books
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It teaches precise details… AND it’s missing!
My copy of When It's the Last Day of School by Maribeth Boelts is missing. With the end of the school year being tomorrow, I'm a bit frantic about finding it. I'm sure it's at school, in my picture book bookshelf filed under "B" for "Boelts," however, I'm not 100% sure. Last year, when I… Continue reading It teaches precise details… AND it’s missing!
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We’re going to Manhattan today!
Not literally, but I'm transporting my kids there through read alouds and through a PowerPoint Presentation I created of various neighborhoods and landmarks in Manhattan. The books we're reading today, as part of Picture Bookpalooza, are: 1. Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey 2. Mr. Belinsky's Bagels 3. The Doorman 4. This… Continue reading We’re going to Manhattan today!
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Favorite Genres
One of the questions on my Year-End Writing Evaluation was "What was your favorite genre/unit of study this year and why?" All of the kids only choose three genres from a list of eight. They chose (in order of popularity): Memoir Poetry Picture Books/Fiction The unpopular genres were personal narrative, friendly letters, personal essay, literary… Continue reading Favorite Genres
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Picture Book-Palooza
On Thursday afternoon my students counted the photocopies of the book covers that I have hanging on clotheslines all around our classroom. Nearly every book I've read (save a few whose covers I never hung) to my students has it's cover posted around the room (laminated on mounted construction paper). They counted, with the ones… Continue reading Picture Book-Palooza
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Family Tree Book
Tomorrow's Interactive Read Aloud includes Alan Say's Book Grandfather's Journey. Since our IRA Theme for the past two months has been immigration, I thought it would be nice to end out the unit with a book that the kids compile on their families (sort of as an unofficial independent writing project). I'm giving these sheets… Continue reading Family Tree Book
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Gearing-up for tomorrow’s short fiction pub party
Pub Party Snack Alert Originally uploaded by teachergal Three of my students stayed after school to gussy-up our classroom for tomorrow's big Publishing Party. I love the sign they created on the classroom's mini-white board. Here are the cookies I've baking all afternoon. (I should write an ode to a chocolate chip cookie now.) ;-)… Continue reading Gearing-up for tomorrow’s short fiction pub party
