So much depends upon...

Every year during poetry month I have my students create idea webs of all their thoughts about poetry, even the negative ones; especially the negative ones because by the end of the month, my hope is that their feelings will grow and evolve, just like Jack in Love That Dog by Sharon Creech, our current read aloud in sixth grade.

So here are some of the Jacks in my classroom:

It's such a shame when students hold back their true feelings. ;)

I'm the poetry monster!

This just made me laugh because I read this book quite a few months ago.

Someone has some strong feelings about red wheelbarrows.

I can't wait to see if I'm able to change the mind of all these students by the first of May.  :)

Oh, and in case you've never seen it before, this is why many of my students, not just the one above, have some strong feelings about red wheelbarrows.

The Red Wheelbarrow
by William Carlos Williams

So much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

More joy

In my quest to find joy in the little things, I bring to you this story:

Yesterday my students voted as a class for who they wanted to be Mr. Schu's road trip mascot. They loved watching all the book trailers and even asked if I could play a few of them a second time.

So my favorite moment from today was when we were on our way back to school from a field trip to the DIA and the whole bus started in on a rousing chorus of "My buttons, my buttons, my four groovy buttons" from the Pete the Cat song. Yes, middle schoolers can be pretty awesome on occasion. :)



Previous joyous posts:
Post #1
Post #2

It's Monday! What are you reading? 4-8-13

 

Originally hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, Jen and Kellee  over at Teach Mentor Texts also host a kidlit version of It's Monday! What are You Reading?

Books I read and enjoyed last week:

The Great Paper Caper by Oliver Jeffers
What happens when trees mysteriously begin disappearing in the forest? The animals begin an investigation. It may or may not have to do with a bear and a paper airplane. Loved this quirky story with Jeffers's unmistakable illustrations. 

Odd Velvet by Mary Burg Whitcomb, illustrated by Tara Calhan King
Lovely story of an odd child and the kids in her class learning to accept her. A good book to pair with Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson to explore different outcomes to similar situations.


Iceland by Barbara A. Somervill 
Yes, I totally just read this kid book to research my summer trip to Iceland. :)

My husband and I decided that since flights to Iceland were significantly cheaper than to mainland Europe, we will be going there for our 10 year anniversary trip. We are immersing ourselves in all things Iceland these days in preparation for our trip. 


Last week I finished listening:

How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford
Fans of John Green will really dig this book I think. Or maybe I'm just saying that because Kate Rudd was the audiobook narrator and I had Hazel Grace Lancaster stuck in my head. Standiford's main character of Bea does remind you a bit of Hazel (even without the fact that she's narrated by the same actress) if she hadn't had cancer. Bea's relationship with Jonah "Ghost Boy" is unique and endearing and has very much that whole "us against the world" kind of vibe. I must admit I was disappointed with the ending but I can't tell you why because that would be revealing too much. 


Currently (still) reading:
 
Twerp by Mark Goldblatt


Currently listening:

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn 
Currently on disc 2 and I am already hooked. I've heard such polarizing things about this book so I just had to find out for myself what all the hype was about.


 Last week I reviewed:
 
A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff 


Last week I also posted:
Let's explore and discover poetry instead of dissecting it
A benign text message reminds me that we're nearing the end 

Let's explore and discover poetry instead of dissecting it

My library card got a major workout today.
 
It must be poetry month.

After reading a blog post from Cindy Minnich this morning, I was reminded again why poetry month is my favorite time of the year to be an English teacher. I take it upon myself as a personal challenge to make all my students lovers (or at least appreciaters) of poetry before the first of May.

How do I do that?
By giving them time.

Time to read.
Time to savor.
Time to wiggle around inside the lines and stanzas of a poem.

I think the knee-jerk reaction of English teachers everywhere is when a poem is thrust in front of us, we must dissect every word, line, and stanza until all the "hidden" meanings have been exhausted.

But just like with books, we also need to give kids the opportunity to explore poetry for its own sake, not just to find meaning. There is merit in just savoring a beautiful turn of phrase without having to interpret some sage wisdom or enlightenment. Sometimes the enlightenment is just listening to the words fall off your lips.

And while I certainly do my fair share of poetry interpreting during this month, I also make sure that I give my students time to live inside the pages of that big pile of books and let them just enjoy a poem for its own sake. Instead of tying poems to a chair and beating them with a hose, I choose to celebrate the magic and impact poetry can have on students' lives if I give them time to do their own discovering.

I encourage you to do the same.

A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff

In a world that straddles the border of fantasy and magical realism, people are graced with a Talent (yes, that is with a capital T) that determines their fate in life. Cady is a young orphan girl who has an amazing Talent for cake baking. In an attempt to find Cady's forever family, Miss Mallory, the proprietress of Miss Mallory's Home for Lost Girls, and whose own Talent involves finding the perfect family for all her girls, sends Cady off to live with Toby, a man who works and lives above the Lost Luggage Emporium, to see if they're a perfect fit.

As Cady gets to know Toby along with all the other residents that live above the Lost Luggage Emporium, it slowly becomes clear that something ties everyone together, even the devious owner of the emporium who has an obsession with finding powder blue suitcases.

The untangling of the knots in this story is what kept me turning the pages. It's definitely a book that you can pick up and before you know it you're already halfway done with it.

After reading many other reviews of A Tangle of Knots, what initially sold me on it was the backstory of the main character Cady and her Talent at cake baking. I thought this would make for quite the delectable read, but I found that not much was done with that in terms of the descriptions of the cakes she bakes. There are places in the story where her cake recipes are strategically placed and I liked Graff's idea of having Cady know just the perfect cake for every person she bakes for, but other than reading the recipes placed throughout the story, I didn't really get a good handle on Cady's Talent. With the exception of a couple instances, I didn't quite understand why everyone's perfect cake was perfect for them. Not to mention the fact that I didn't quite hear the vernacular and language of a baker in Cady's Talent. There were a lot of  "didn't quite" moments throughout reading this book. However, what did quite work for me was what I saw in Cady, which was a kind, tender-hearted child who was easy to root for.

Due to all the dropping of clues and the "knots" readers must untangle to unfurl the plot, when I first started reading this book I was immediately put in mind of When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead, though I have to say that I think Stead was much more successful at giving her readers that "Aha!" moment when all those puzzle pieces finally came together. I'm still scratching my head about a few puzzle pieces that I felt didn't quite fit together, which made the ending feel unresolved but I suppose in the end, it really was. It just didn't feel that way.

Still, I enjoyed reading it a great deal and would highly recommend A Tangle of Knots to any readers who like mysteries or are trying to ease their way into fantasy. As someone who is not always a fan of fantasy, I can say I appreciated the fact that the world and setting would have been realistic (Poughkeepsie New York is about as un-fantastical as it gets*) had it not been for the small difference of everyone's Talent with a capital T. 

Cover Comments: This book probably wins the most beautiful cover award for books published in 2013, and while it's beautiful to look at on a computer screen, it's even more gorgeous in person as it has an iridescent shimmer to it. If the cover doesn't get kids to pick this book up, I don't know what will, so please Philomel, please do not change the cover in a year when the paperback comes out. Keep it just as it is. 

Other reviews of A Tangle of Knots:
Good Books and Good Wine
Bookalicious
Nerdy Book Club

*That comment was not meant as a slam on Poughkeepsie BTW, so you if interpreted it as such, that was not my intention. I would say that about my own city if it were the setting of this novel, and I love my hometown.  

 
A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff
Published: February 12, 2013
Publisher: Philomel
Pages: 233
Genre: Fantasy/Magical Realism
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Purchased Copy

A benign text message reminds me that we're nearing the end

As I'm sitting at home today enjoying some much-needed time off in the form of my school's spring break, I received a text message from my sixth grade teaching partner:

I am at school right now and I found my extra plastic sleeves!!!!! It is a joyous day!!

For teachers it really is the little things that matter. For Carrie it's being able to organize her teaching materials in binders with plastic sleeves.

That text message immediately made me smile, but it was soon accompanied by a lump in my throat as I realized I won't be getting texts like this from her for much longer. Once spring break is over, the school year will be in its home stretch, and it will be soon time for me to pack up my classroom, a place that has been my second home for the past seven years. And while having the chance to say a proper goodbye is good for closure, it's also bad because you know it's coming and you have time to think about all the things that you'll miss about that place.

Carrie has been such a wonderful person to work with for the past seven years. She has stayed sane when I have flipped out. She has helped me laugh when some situations would have probably called for crying. Oh, and most important of all, she has, on quite a few occasions, helped save me from my kryptonite, which is puking children (well, puking adults too, but there's far fewer of them to contend with in a school). I won't tell you what her kryptonite is, lest you use it against her. ;)

Carrie and me in my classroom before the start of the school year in 2010, our 1st year as 6th grade partners

In the end though, I'm glad I have this time to reflect on what an impact my school and the people in it have had on my career and my life in general. I have a feeling now that we're nearing the end, I'm going to start tearing up over the littlest things.


It's time for the memory-making and reminscing to begin.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 4-1-13

 

Originally hosted by Sheila at Book Journey, Jen and Kellee  over at Teach Mentor Texts also host a kidlit version of It's Monday! What are You Reading?

I prefer to just completely ignore the fact that today is April Fool's Day. I'm just grateful we're off for Spring Break and I don't have to deal with students pranking me all day long!

Last week I received a great response for my teacher project request, but if you still haven't sent me anything and you've been thinking about doing it, you can still send me something. I really do want to hear from you, but I need it ASAP!

This week I am reading:

A Tangle of Knots by Lisa Graff
Twerp by Mark Goldblatt


Currently (still) listening:

How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford
I am loving this book more and more as I continue with Bea and Jonah's journey. It's very much a book you could say, "If you like John Green, try Natalie Standiford..." which is a pretty bold statement to make, but Natalie's writing is sharp, intellectual, and biting just like John Green's. I am thoroughly enjoying this listening experience.


Last week I read and enjoyed:

Babymouse for President and Extreme Babymouse by Jennifer L. and Matthew Holm

Jon Stewart by Randy Scherer
Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole
Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Mark Litchtenheld

Heart on Fire: Susan B. Anthony Votes for President by Ann Malaspina, illustrated by Steve James
A Woman for President: The Story of Victoria Woodhull by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Jane Dyer

And finally, Frank decided to pose with my very first #bookaday of spring break, for obvious reasons I think:

Pug and Other Animal Poems by Valerie Worth, illustrated by Steve Jenkins


Last week I also posted about:
Reflecting on #TheWonderOfWonder