Martha Coming to PBS

Susan Meddaugh's Martha will become the star of a PBS series this fall. Here's the scoop.

Now, as PBS strives to help the at-risk children who represent its public-service legacy - and appeal to affluent parents who want to give their children a leg up in school - it is making "Martha Speaks" its big hope for the fall. The half-hour show, which premieres nationwide Sept. 1, aims to teach 4- to 7-year-olds words as advanced as "communicate," "diminish," "courageous," and "concoct."

You can read more about this in the article PBS Set to Unleash a New Tutor.

You can also check out the Martha Speaks web site. Be sure to view some of the sample videos and look over the episode list.

Finally, you can learn about Susan Meddaugh and watch a video. (Doesn't her author visit look like fun?)

IM and Reading Rates

Found this in Education Week.

Instant Messaging Found to Slow Students' Reading

Students who send and receive instant messages while completing a reading assignment take longer to get through their texts but apparently still manage to understand what they’re reading, according to one of the first studies to explore how the practice affects academic learning.

Well duh! How many of you out there can't listen to music while you read? Or are distracted if it's too noisy? It seems to make sense that constantly taking your eyes (and mind) off the page to IM a friend might just make it harder to finish what you are reading. In my case, distractions mean I must reread.

The only question I have now is, how do I get my multi-tasking students and advisees to see that perhaps studying while completing 5 other tasks isn't such a smart way to cram 36 hours worth of work into a 24 hour day?

Back to the Real World

We arrived home today after a little more than 8 hours in the car. While away we stayed in a cabin without a phone or television. There was absolutely no cell phone reception, so I spent a glorious three days without hearing a phone ring once. It was heaven. There was loads of natural beauty, lots of fun with family young and old, and of course, many good books. Here are a few pictures.

Early morning view from the cabin

Fun in the water with his older cousins

Reading to his younger cousins

Poetry Friday - Pied Beauty

I'm gone again. I left days ago to spend time in the mountains of North Carolina. While I'm appreciating time with family and taking in the beauty that surrounds me, I thought I'd share a bit of poetic beauty with you.

Pied Beauty
by Gerard Manley Hopkins

Glory be to God for dappled things—
    For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
      For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
    Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
      And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.

All things counter, original, spare, strange;
    Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
      With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
                Praise him.

The round up is being hosted by Kelly at Big A little a. Do stop by and take in all the great poetry being shared this week. Happy poetry Friday, all!

Dig the New Widget!

Okay, check out the right side of the blog. (All you Bloglines and Google Reader folks just click on over.) I found this new widget and just love it! Go now and get your own blogoversary countdown widget! (My only complaint is that I prefer the spelling blogiversay, but I suppose I can live with it.)

Humbled Again By What I Don't Know

Last week I wrote about changing curriculum standards and described some of the "new" content that will be appearing in the social studies curriculum in VA in grades K-3. While I am very comfortable with the content of these grades and the U.S. history curriculum (generally taught in 5th and 6th grades), I am constantly working on my own knowledge of VA history.

I grew up in New York state, so my knowledge of other states was limited largely to important wartime battles and other historical events. Surely I knew about Jamestown before I moved here, you say. Well, to be honest, I didn't know much. You see, growing up in the Northeast, the historical focus was always on the Plymouth colony, the Mayflower, and the Pilgrims. Last year Jamestown celebrated its 400th anniversary, and in doing so, worked hard to take back some of its history and importance in establishing the colonies in the United States. Here is a statement from the Jamestown Settlement site. (The emphasis is mine.)

In 1607, 13 years before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, a group of 104 English men and boys began a settlement on the banks of Virginia's James River.

How's that for asserting one's historical importance?

I have learned a lot of Virginia history since arriving here fourteen years ago. However, I am humbled by how much I don't know, and how much more there is to learn and explore. The changes to the Virginia Studies standards (grade 4 state history) have me scrambling to learn enough to keep my students informed. In this way, I'm no different than the elementary classroom teacher who must constantly keep up with changing curricula and the demand to learn new material. With this demand comes the added challenge of devising engaging ways to share that information.

In the last week I have been studying up on Werowocomoco, Jamestown, and the native peoples of Virginia. Before I read the new standard (describing how archaeologists have recovered new material evidence through sites including Werowocomoco and Jamestown), I had never heard of Werowocomoco. My first problem was simply one of pronunciation. How do you say that word? I've found two suggestions so far. They are:

• weh-ro-wo-COM-o-co
• Whero-wo-ko-Mo-ko

I began my research by visiting the site of the Werowocomoco Research Project to learn more about the excavation and what has been found there. Then I explored Jamestown fort and the village of Werowocomoco through a National Geographic interactive feature. (There is a very nice feature where several Virginia Indians speak about the importance of Werowocomoco. I think I'll use their pronunciation.) Next I viewed John Smith's map of Virginia. I also read the annotated copy of the application to recognize Werowocomoco as a Virginia Historic Landmark. Prepared by the Princess Pocahontas Foundation, this document asserts that the current dig site is not located on the site of Werowocomoco. Here is a description of the foundation.

The foundation was formed to protect the statue; to research and collect facts, as to the true events in the life of Pocahontas, her people and those connected with her; to collect artifacts, pictures and items associated with her life and those of her people; to educate school children and others about Pocahontas; and to promote "truth in history".

Finally, I reread Karen Lange's book, 1607: A New Look at Jamestown. (You can read my review for more information.)

I will need to keep digging for information, but feel I have learned enough to share some of this information with my students. More importantly though, I want to share the process I used to learn this information. As future teachers they will need to know how to find information, evaluate it, and transform it for use in their classrooms. They also need to understand and accept the fact that they will never know everything they will be expected to teach, and that learning and staying informed will be a huge part of the job. Frankly, it's one of the reasons I love teaching so much. I simply love learning. I hope my students will feel the same way.

Nonfiction Nuggets - A Dinosaur Trio

Okay, I know some of you saw the word dinosaur and turned-tail and ran, but hey, I'm the mother of a seven year old. Dinosaurs are a way of life around here. This terrific trio of books has kept up entertained and asking lots of questions this week.

Boy, Were We Wrong About Dinosaurs!, written by Kathleen Kudlinski and illustrated by S.D. Schindler - What do we know about dinosaurs and how does our current knowledge compare to the past? This book not only describes the changing ideas about dinosaurs, but also makes it clear to readers that as more evidence is unearthed, our ideas are likely to change again. We enjoyed looking at the pictures that compared "old" ideas about the way dinosaurs looked to the views held today, and marveled at the images of dinosaurs with feathers. This is a great introduction to dinosaurs and a wonderful treatment of the work scientists do as they work to expand our understanding of the world.

Jurassic Poop: What Dinosaurs (And Others) Left Behind, written by Jacob Berkowitz and illustrated by Steve Mack - The back cover of the book reads, "Get the inside scoop on ancient poop." This is a boy's dream--dinosaurs and poop in one book! I'm not a fan of potty books or humor, but must admit that this book is a real gem. Chapter 1, A Message From A Bottom, begins with illustrations of a T-Rex leaving a turd "larger than two loaves of bread" and shows how that "king-sized poop" becomes a coprolite. Coprolite is the "polite word for fossil feces." Readers learn that coprolites can be frozen, dried or lithified. They also learn about doo-doo detectives (scientists who study coprolites) and much more. There is humor in this book, a huge number of synonyms for poop, and a TON of science.

Rare Treasure: Mary Anning and Her Remarkable Discoveries, written and illustrated by Don Brown - Mary Anning was a woman who became known for her discoveries of dinosaur fossils. Born in 1799, Mary hunted for fossils with her father and brother before the word dinosaur was even invented. By 1836, Mary has found fossils of ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, a pterodactyl and more. In fact, the pterodactyl Mary found is still on display at the British Natural History Museum. Mary Anning's life was not an easy one, a fact that makes her story even more remarkable. Reading it made us want to head to a nearby beach to do some fossil hunting of our own, or at the very least, spend some time looking at some real fossils.

All three of these books provide interesting perspectives on dinosaurs. If you are looking for something different from the standard "dinosaur inventory" type of book, give these titles a try.

If you want a bit of online entertainment, try the Dinosaurs site from the Natural History Museum.

Poetry Friday - Farewell to the Farm

I have been reading the original edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's book A Child's Garden of Verses. Since I'm still caught up in the emotions of losing my childhood home, poems of loss seem to be speaking to me.

Farewell to the Farm

The coach is at the door at last;
The eager children, mounting fast
And kissing hands, in chorus sing:
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

To house and garden, field and lawn,
The meadow-gates we swang upon,
To pump and stable, tree and swing,
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

And fare you well for evermore,
O ladder at the hayloft door,
O hayloft where the cobwebs cling,
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

Crack goes the whip, and off we go;
The trees and houses smaller grow;
Last, round the woody turn we swing;
Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!

The round up is being hosted by Becky over at Becky's Book Reviews. Do stop by and check out all the great poetry being shared this week. Happy poetry Friday, all!

A Bit of History

I came back from vacation with a box full of slides. For years, this was how photographs in our family were processed. We didn't get paper pictures to hold and gaze at. We were instead treated to an evening in a darkened room, lamenting the slides put in backwards and upside-down, yet still sharing fond memories together.

I spent this morning learning how to scan slides so that I can preserve some of these precious moments. I started with photos I might be able to use in class this fall. That means I began with photos of family trips to Cape Canaveral and D.C., moved on to my parents' trips to Alaska and Hawaii, and ended with a few family photos.

In two hours I scanned, rotated, cropped, and adjusted only 60 slides. Let's just say this will be a labor of love. Here are a few of my favorites.

Alaska

D.C. in Bloom

My Mom

Okay, it may have taken a long time, but it certainly was fun.

P.S. - I have a TON of real work to do. Can you tell I'm procrastinating? I'm darn good at it too!

Interview With Outgoing ALA President

I'm not a librarian, but that doesn't mean I haven't appreciated the work done by Loriene Roy as the immediate past president of the American Library Association. In this recent interview she gave with NPR, she shares "highlights from her time leading the group, what the future holds for her and one final list of suggested literary "musts" for the inquiring mind."

It's an interesting piece, so do give a listen.

P.S. - In case you were wondering, the new president of ALA is Jim Rettig. I happen to know him quite well, as he heads up the libraries here at the University of Richmond.

Connecting to Bibliophiles Online

At the Online Education Database, Laura Milligan has published an article entitled 100 Places to Connect with Other Bibliophiles Online. It is divided into the following sections.

• Book Collectors - Book collectors can use these networks to locate older editions, trade their own books and track down information about books.
• Blogs - Blogs can provide a great, low-maintenance way to learn about books and connect with other readers through posts, member blogs on community sites and through comments.
• Librarians - Librarians may just be the ultimate bibliophiles. Check here for librarian-only apps and networks.
• Social Media - From Meetup pages to whole social media sites devoted to book lovers, visit these online communities to meet people like you.
• Recommendations - Hop on one of these sites to get recommendations for new titles and to share your list of favorites.
• Organizing and Sharing Titles - The features on these websites offer up neat ways to catalog your collections and share reading ideas with others.
• Novelists and Writers - Writers who love books can promote their own works on these sites, meet agents and publishers, and talk about some of their favorite books.
• Sites for Children and Teens - Children and teenage readers have their own safe networks to discuss their favorite characters and get ideas for books they might like.
• Trading and Selling - The book swapping and selling market is huge on the Internet, and these are some of our favorite networks.
• For Those Who Love to Read - Anyone who loves to read will like these websites, which offer outlets for discussion, recommendations, searches and more.

I was excited to receive word of this list, but disappointed in some of the sections when I checked out the links. Don't get me wrong, as there are some great resources here. However, I found the children and teens section sadly lacking in good resources. Both readergirlz and GuysLitWire are missing. I know that GuysLitWire is new, but readergirlz has been going strong for a while and is recognized by the ALSC as a great site for kids. Most of the sites listed (like the CBC - great site, but not for kids, and Children's Book of the Month Club - too commercial) are not ones I would recommend for children and teens interested in books and reading.

So, now that I've had my say, what say you? What do you think of the recommendations for children and teens? I've already suggested two. Can we come up with our own list of great sites for them? Let me know what you think and I'll round up your suggestions here later this week.

On Changing Curriculum Standards

As I prepare my syllabus for fall I am reviewing the new standards for social studies the the state of Virginia has passed and will fully implement during the 2010-2011 school year. It's important for me to begin the process of introducing students to these standards now, as most of them will likely begin their careers as classroom teachers during that year.

The state of VA is on a seven year review cycle for curriculum standards, so social studies was last revised in 2001. I am taking stock of the newest changes and thinking about how I will address them with my preservice teachers. I am also trying to anticipate the questions they will ask. Here are some of the changes (in red) and my thoughts/questions about them (in orange).

Kindergarten - Most of the changes in K deal more with wordsmithing than substance. The economics standards are in much friendlier (age appropriate) language. No worries here.

Grade 1
The history standard on timelines and sequence of events has expanded from past and present to include future.

Eleanor Roosevelt has been added to the standard that asks students to "describe the stories of American leaders and their contributions to our country." Before the change no women were included here. The men emphasized are George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington Carver.
I'll have to do some hard thinking about books here. Most of the biographies are written for older readers (ages 9-12 or grades 4-8). I haven't seen many good read aloud choices. I do LOVE Barbara Cooney's book Eleanor. It's a wonderful portrait of the woman before she became the wife of FDR. The Afterword briefly discusses her efforts on behalf of the poor and disadvantaged. I've got high hopes for the Sneed Collard book coming out this fall entitled Eleanor Roosevelt: Making the World a Better Place.

The economics standards asked students to describe how people are both buyers and sellers of goods and services. This language has changed to consumers and producers.

Grade 2
The history standards introduce three Native American tribes--Powhatan, Lakota, and Pueblo. The word Sioux has been dropped from Lakota. Most importantly, this standard has added a statement about comparing "lives and contributions of three American Indian cultures of the past and present."
I'm thrilled to see that emphasis has been placed on current cultures.

The geography standards will now focus on locating the five oceans of the world.
What? Five, you say? YES. In fact, in the spring of 2000 the International Hydrographic Organization established the Southern Ocean and determined its limits. This means that the five oceans of the world are the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian, Pacific and Southern. The southern ocean includes all water below 60 degrees south. Like the Arctic Ocean, some of it is frozen.

Students studying the contributions of ancient China and Egypt will now need to know about the role of the Nile River and Huang He in the development of these civilizations.
The Huang He is also known as the Yellow River. I think pronunciation will be an issue here, and one that must be addressed, since some students will undoubtedly take state assessments in which test items are read to them.

Grade 3
Students study the exploration of the Americas with an emphasis on the explorers themselves, as well the reasons for exploring and the results of the travels. Now students will also be asked to discuss the "impact of these travels on American Indians."
The curriculum framework document that outlines the content of the standards focuses on these three outcomes (impacts).

• Deadly diseases were introduced
• Exploration later led to settlement.
• The settlements led to relocation of the American Indians from their homeland.

It's a start, isn't it? I'm hopeful that the expansion of this standard will lead to a more balanced approach to the study of exploration.

The economics standards in this grade have also been wordsmithed for the better.

One of the civics standards is focused on the basic principles that form the foundation of our republican form of government. As part of this standard, students are asked to identify the contributions of certain individuals, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. César Chávez has been added to this list.
The Library of Congress has some good background information on Chávez. Harvesting Hope: The Story of César Chávez, written by Kathleen Krull and illustrated by Yuyi Morales, is a terrific book. The book of poems César: ¡Si, Se Puede!/ Yes, We Can!, written by Carmen T. Bernier-Grand and illustrated by David Diaz, is also an excellent resource.

Okay, that's what I have for grades K-3. More on grades 4 (Virginia studies) and 5-6 (U.S. history) later. If you have any resources you think will be useful for these new additions, please let me know.

Thoughts on Charlotte and Charlotte's Web

I had a driveway moment this afternoon as I sat in my car and listened to the end of Melissa Block's piece on Charlotte from Charlotte's Web. It was wonderful hearing about the research E.B. White did in preparing to write about this amazing spider.

Do give a listen to the In Character segment entitled Charlotte A. Cavatica: Bloodthirsty, Wise And True. While at this site you can also listen to a recording of E.B. White reading an excerpt from the book.

In case you haven't been listening, you should know that many wonderful literary characters have been highlighted in this series. You can read/hear them all at the In Character page.

On Bravery in the Classroom

While I'm thinking about brave acts, I must share and acknowledge this amazing act of bravery in the classroom. After ten years of teaching 4th and 5th grades, Jenny at Elementary, My Dear, or Far From It, has begun this new school year as a 1st grade teacher.

Jenny is sharing all the highs and lows of this transition on her blog. I find her honesty refreshing, and know that my students and I will learn a great deal by following her journey. Do stop by and see what's happening in her new first grade classroom. Go, Jenny!

On Bravery

I spent a lot of time on my vacation thinking about the family home that my parents will leave behind next year. I'm not sure why this has hit me so hard, but my heart actually hurts when I think that the home my father built (yes, he built himself) more than 50 years ago will no longer be our family home.

My parents married in 1952 and moved into the house (unfinished at is was) in 1955, the year my sister was born. My brother came along in 1957, and I arrived in 1965. I know that people say you can never go home, but I never feel much like I've been away when I return, and I haven't lived there since 1984.

On the last night of our vacation I sat in a chair under the shade of a mulberry tree and watched my son swim in the neighbor's pool. It's not the same pool I swam in as a child, but a newer version located in the very same spot. I looked fondly over the pile of boulders that served as my childhood fort, the rocks looking so much smaller and less imposing than I remember them. I marveled at the pine trees, both standing more than twice the height of the house. When my brother was young he jumped his horse (a pony really) over those very trees. Imagine what a feat that would be today! I remembered where the white birch and crab apple trees once stood, and found myself amazed at how large some of the replacements had grown in such a short time. I longed for the scent of lilacs, but they are out of season and the bushes gone as well. I found myself still missing the swing set that came down years ago. Give me a swing today and I'll still ride it, twist on it, and wonder how high I can go. So much has changed physically, but the memories are so strong it's hard to believe how much time has passed since they were made.

I thought about all these things and more on the drive back to Richmond, and realizing that getting teary while driving 70 mph was probably not a good thing, I decided to focus on the positive aspects of this move for my parents. In the end, I was struck by one fact that I'd overlooked, and it stopped me in my tracks. After 56 years of marriage, and with my Mom closing in on her 80's (next year) and Dad already into them, my parents are doing an incredibly brave thing. They are daring to write the next chapter in their lives, and I must give credit where credit is due. I'm not sure I'll be brave enough at 80 to attempt such a bold move. But then again, who knows? I've got some great role models to follow.

Poetry Friday - Dickinson

I may have been on vacation, but I sorely missed poetry Friday last week. My thoughts the last few days have been heavy with the realization that I have probably been to my childhood home for the last time. I thought quite a bit about this on the long drive back to Richmond today, and was reminded of this poem from Part One: Life of The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson.

LXXIX

I years had been from home,
And now, before the door,
I dared not open, lest a face
I never saw before

Stare vacant into mine
And ask my business there.
My business,—just a life I left,
Was such still dwelling there?

I fumbled at my nerve,
I scanned the windows near;
The silence like an ocean rolled,
And broke against my ear.

I laughed a wooden laugh
That I could fear a door,
Who danger and the dead had faced,
But never quaked before.

I fitted to the latch
My hand, with trembling care,
Lest back the awful door should spring,
And leave me standing there.

I moved my fingers off
As cautiously as glass,
And held my ears, and like a thief
Fled gasping from the house.

The round up this week is being hosted by Jill at The Well Read Child. Do stop by and check out all the great pieces being shared. Happy poetry Friday, all!

Hitting the Road

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we head out for the L-O-N-G (10 or 11 hours) drive to western NY for a glorious vacation of nearly two weeks. I may check in once in a while, but for the most part, I'll be enjoying some much needed time off. I'll see you back here when I return.

Poetry Friday - Skipping Home

This week's poetry stretch was to write in the form of climbing rhyme. In this type of poem, the position of the rhyming word changes. It first appears in the 4th word of line 1, 3rd word of line 2, and 2nd word of line 3. The pattern continues as a new rhyme appears in the 4th word of line 3, the 3rd word of line 4, and the 2nd word of line 5. This continues on and on, giving a stair-step feel to the poem. These poems can be four syllables or four words per line.

I don't often share my original poems on poetry Friday, preferring instead to revisit works of the masters. However, this week I'm sharing my climbing rhyme. I am leaving tomorrow for two glorious weeks of vacation and will admit to having spent many hours this week daydreaming about all the fun things I'll be doing. One will be spending time in and around Lake Ontario with my son. Here's a poem I wrote about one of my favorite "lake pursuits".

Skipping, Skipping, Skipping

Round, flat, perfect stones,
Mother Nature hones smooth.
Sedimentary bones that skip
the surface, flip then
finally dip from sight.

The round up this week is being hosted by Kelly Fineman over at Writing and Ruminating. Do stop by and take in all of the great poetry being shared. Before you go, don't forget to check out the other poems written for this week's poetry stretch. Happy poetry Friday, all!

Poetry Stretch Results - Climbing Rhyme

The challenge this week was to write in the form of climbing rhyme. Here are the poems being shared. Welcome to all the new folks joining us this week!

sister AE at Having Writ shares a poem entitled Summer Funk.

Michelle at Poefusion gives us a poem called Word Ties.

lirone at Words that sing shares a poem entitled Together.

cloudscome at a wrung sponge is in with a poem called thrown stone.

Marcie at World of Words gives us a lovely untitled poem.

Noah the Great shares a poem entitled Climbing Stars.

Jenn at Drawings in the Surf gives us a poem called Invite.

My poem this week is entitled Skipping, Skipping, Skipping. It's also about stones.

It's not too late if you still want to play. Leave me a comment about your poem and I'll add it to the list.

Stately Knowledge

I am currently working on my syllabi for fall and am revisiting much of the social studies curriculum. In doing so I'm pulling lots of books, so this seemed like a good time to trot out another thematic list. In preparing for Virginia history I have run across a fair number of books that encompass all 50 states. There are many great resources for seeing how the 50 compare, so I thought I'd share some of my favorites.

Train of States by Peter Sís - This train of states begins with an engine (driven by Uncle Sam and a bald eagle) that connects a train of cars in the order of statehood. That means Delaware is first and Hawaii is last. But wait! There is caboose representing Washington, D.C. Each page is devoted to a single train car and depicts important information about the state, as well as some interesting facts. For example, the train car for Pennsylvania (number 2) has a Crayola crayon on each end. In addition to the visually stunning and informational train cars, readers will find the state capital, tree, flower and bird depicted along the bottom with another interesting fact. (Did you know that paleontologists in New Jersey fought "bone wars" in the 1800's when the first nearly complete dinosaur skeleton was found there?) The final pages show the train pulling into a stars and stripes covered circus tent. On the very last page readers will find a series of questions and facts designed to get them thinking about creating their own train of states.

Celebrate the 50 States! by Loreen Leedy - Each page in this book is visual delight, containing information on two states per page (that's four per double-page spread). A key at the beginning of the book helps explain the labels. States are arranged alphabetically, and for each on readers will find state rank, the year it entered the Union, capital, state bird and flower, and much more. Landmarks are pictured, as well as symbols of the state. Each page has a question for readers to research. Don't worry, answers are included!

United Tweets of America by Hudson Talbot - Ostensibly about state birds and a bird pageant, this book presents information about each state as the birds take center stage. Here you will also find the state capital, nickname, flower, and more. For example, the page for Maryland shows an image of the state with the capital pinpointed and named. The illustration shows a Baltimore Oriole (on a pitcher's mound) throwing a crab cake. Famous Baltimore Orioles are listed. Information is also presented about The Star Spangled Banner. Overall this is a very fun read with great tidbits of information. If you want additional information you can read my review of the book.

Go, Go America by Dan Yaccarino - Take a trip with the Farley family as they travel across America from Maine to Hawaii, learning all kinds of outrageous and interesting facts along the way. This one is packed with lots of fun facts that kids will love, as well as the standard list of state facts in the back matter. If you want additional information you can read my review of the book.

National Geographic Our Fifty States by Mark Bockenhauer - This beautifully illustrated and gorgeously photographed volume contains information on the states organized by regions. Each state gets four pages of information, including important historic events, a map and photos. At the end of the book readers will find information about each of the U.S. territories, as well as facts and figures about the United States.

The United States Cookbook - Fabulous Foods and Fascinating Facts From All 50 States by Joan D'Amico and Karen Eich Drummond - What could be more fun than cooking your way through the states? After an introduction to the kitchen (can't you just imagine the connections to math here?), this book is divided into regions. Each state within a region is presented with a map highlighting the capital and major cities, as well as a box of information. An example is below.
After this readers get a brief narrative introduction to the state. Next up is information on the foods of that state, followed by a mouth-watering recipe (for Maine it's blueberry cornbread) and fun food facts. My favorite recipe has to be Utah's Mallo-Mallo Fudge Squares! This is a fun book chock full of information that kids will want to dive into.

The Little Man in the Map: With Clues to Remember all 50 States by E. Andrew Martonyi - While this book is not a factual exploration of the 50 states, it is an amazing tool for helping students to identify the states on a map. Divided into regions, readers explore the map (with the help of a little man) and are introduced to visual clues as a way to remember them. The journey begins with five states in the middle of the US that look like a man with a boot on his head and then moves on through other 45 states. Told in story format, this is sure to be popular with young readers.

Our 50 States: A Family Adventure Across America by Lynne Cheney - Annie and Ben take a trip with their family across America, visiting each of the states. Beginning in Massachusetts and ending in Hawaii, Annie and Ben experience the sights, sounds, tastes and history of each state while sending text and e-mail messages to their grandmother describing it all. The watercolor and ink drawings use every bit of the page and are packed with information. Readers will even find decorative borders that include memorable quotations, song lyrics and historic facts.

The Scrambled States of America by Laurie Keller - Uncle Sam tells the story of the time the states decided to change places with one another. At a party initiated by Kansas ("All day long we just sit here in the middle of the country. We never GO anywhere.") and Nebraska, the states meet, make friends, and hatch a plan to move to new locations. It took a while for the states to settle in, but they were so happy in their new places, near new friends. But then, Kansas, "who had switched places with Hawaii because he was sick of being stuck in the middle of the country, was not stuck in the middle of NOWHERE, feeling lonesome and seasick." Every state gets homesick for its native land, and soon they all make their way back home. The book ends with two large spreads featuring each state (smiling, of course!), its nickname, capital, area and population. This book offers a mixed-up, engaging approach to learning a bit about the 50 states.

There are a few other books that I would like to recommend, though they don't deal explicitly with each of the 50 states, they touch on many of the landmarks and places in this country that readers learn about in many of the books referenced above.

My America: A Poetry Atlas of the United States by Lee Bennett Hopkins - Grouped by geographic region, this anthology contains 50 poems about this amazing place we live in. Poets represented include Carl Sandburg, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Lee Bennett Hopkins, Nikki Giovanni, Myra Cohn Livingston, Douglas Florian and more.

The United States ABCs: A Book About the People and Places of the United States by Holly Schroeder - This book presents and alphabetical look at the geography, animals, plants, people, history, and culture of the United States.

A to Z United States of America by Jeff Reynolds - This is an amazing trip through the United States from Animals to Zydeco. In between readers will learn a bit about the government, history, land, map, people, and cities of the U.S., along with loads more information.

Discover America State by State - This series by Sleeping Bear Press introduces each state and the District of Columbia in an alphabetic tour containing both informational (expository) and poetic text. For each book a lengthy teacher's guide is available.

Finally, Reading Rainbow produced an episode where My America was the feature book. You can visit the GPN Educational Media site to view a video clip, hear audio book reviews and download teacher and parent guides. Other books highlighted were Celebrate the Fifty States, The Scrambled States of America, and Tulip Sees America.

These are the texts I use when I begin a study of the 50 states. Have I missed a title you love? Let me know about it and I'll add it to the list.

**Updated** - For even more books on this topic, check out the extensive 50 States Book List at Mrs. McGowan's First Grade. Here you'll find a list of titles organized by the states they discuss or are set in. Thanks to Mrs. McGowan for the link!

More on New Yorker on Stuart Little

Lots of folks have already pointed you to the New Yorker article The Lion and the Mouse by Jill Lepore. Let me take this opportunity to point you to an audio interview in the New Yorker Out Loud. Here is a description.

In this week’s issue, Jill Lepore writes about the battle over E. B. White’s “Stuart Little.” Here Jill Lepore and Roger Angell, E. B. White’s stepson and an editor at the magazine, talk about E. B. White’s writing, Katharine White’s columns about children’s literature, the librarian Ann Carroll Moore, and the challenge of writing for children.

This is very interesting listening. Do head on over and check it out.

You can also read Jill Lepore's comments about her research for the article.

Finally, you can read a personal history of E.B. White (did you know he was called Andy?) that Roger Angell wrote in 2005.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Climbing Rhyme

Alright folks, time to try something new. This week I want to try writing climbing rhyme.

Climbing Rhyme is a form of Burmese poetry containing a repeated sequence of 3 internally-rhymed lines consisting of 4 syllables each. Since Burmese is monosyllabic, this works well, but in English this might be difficult. Instead of 4 syllable lines, let's try writing in lines of 4 words. (If you're feeling brave, go ahead and try four syllables!)

The rhyme scheme for climbing rhyme is internal. That means the position of the rhyming word changes. The rhyme appears in the 4th word of line one, 3rd word of line 2, and 2nd word of line 3. The pattern continues as a new rhyme appears in the 4th word of line 3, the 3rd word of line 4, and the 2nd word of line 5. This continues on, giving a stair-step feel to the poem, hence the name climbing rhyme.

For those of you who need to see this visually, here it is. Each x stands for a word. The letters stand for rhyming words. Just remember the 4-3-2 pattern.
x x x a
x x a x
x a x b
x x b x
x b x c
x x c x
x c x x

What kind of climbing rhyme will you write? Leave me a comment about your poem and I'll post the results here later this week.

Why I Visit "A Commonplace Book"

I've always been a fan of Julius Lester's writing, but it wasn't until I began reading his blog that I truly realized how much I appreciated the thoughtfulness of his work. (His photos are amazing too!)

If you haven't visited before, today would be a good day. He regularly posts a short quote and a word of the day. For months this has been the destination for my vocabulary fix. Not only does Lester define the words, but he explains them in a meaningful context. Today's word is slotter, and the description is priceless.

Damn the Sequels, Full Speed Ahead

My apologies to Farragut, but it had to be said. You see, once I tore my way through HP7 on that night in July last summer, I swore I wasn't going to torture myself with books in a series any longer. That's right, no more sequels for me.

I have carefully avoided the books in the Twilight series, despite the glowing reviews. (See HipWriterMama's recent post.) This is in part because I'm not a fan of "romance." I don't mean romance novels, it's just that beyond the love and longing in Jane Austen, I don't much fancy reading about it, no matter who writes it.

My reading tends to academic stuff during the year (go ahead and yawn, I do), some adult nonfiction that interests me, cookbooks, and lots of nonfiction picture books and poetry for kids. Every so often I fit in a few of the books that are on my TBR pile because they sound so darn good.

The Alchemyst has been on my TBR list since it was reviewed in TEOFT by a good friend and colleague. I've been avoiding fantasy for a while. After HP7 I decided to try some different books. I was doing beautifully until I picked up Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer in anticipation of Kidlit 2007 (Chicago) because I knew the author would be there. Laini was lovely and brilliant, just like her book, but did I mention--first in a SERIES! (The sequel, Silksinger, is due out next year.) As my sequel dread grew, The Alchemyst got pushed down, down, down the TBR list.

Which brings me to the whole gosh-darn point of this post. While at Barnes and Noble last week looking to spend a gift certificate and some coupons, I found myself browsing through the YA lit section. As I was nearing the end of the alphabet, I came upon Michael Scott and the paperback version of The Alchemyst. I opened it and began to read. I was interested by p. 6, and when Golems were mentioned on p. 12, I was a goner. You see, I love books rooted in myth, legend, and the events of history. This book has it all, and then some.

I finished The Alchemyst on Friday and then ran out and bought the sequel, The Magician. And yes, I finished it today, after starting it yesterday. Sure, I've got papers to grade, but this is an awesome way to procrastinate. So, now that I've plowed through both books this week, I need to go back and research. I want to know more about Machiavelli, Nicholas Flamel, and John Dee (all real men of history). I also found myself wanting to map the places I read about. That means a good map of California for the first book, and a map of Paris for the second. The Magician ends with a teaser--an introductory chapter to the third book, to be titled The Sorceress. Since The Magician was just released, it will be at least a year before book three hits the shelves. And did I mention that six books are planned for the series?

Damn those sequels!

BTW, Roger had an interesting trivia question this week about authors and sequels. Be sure to read the comments for some answers.

Poetry Friday - Why Latin Should Still Be Taught in High School

I fell in love in high school Latin class, but it wasn't with a classmate. It was with the language itself, the poetry, the myth. I still fall back on my long rusty Latin, and carry many fond memories of it. Here's a poem that has reminded me of those days.

Why Latin Should Still Be Taught in High School
by Christopher Bursk

Because one day I grew so bored
with Lucretius, I fell in love
with the one object that seemed to be stationary,
the sleeping kid two rows up,
the appealing squalor of his drooping socks.

Read the poem in its entirety.

The round up is being hosted by Lisa Chellman at under the covers. Please stop by and take in the great poems being shared this week. Before you go, be sure to check out this week's poetry stretch results.

Poetry Stretch Results - Phraseworthy

The challenge this week was to write a poem of any form that included the phrase "loose change." Here is what has been shared to date.

M.F. Atkins at World of Words shares a poem entitled Coke Man.

Mad Kane from Mad Kane's Humor Blog has written a limerick called Loose Change Exchange.

A Mitch at California Dreamin' SB shares some deep thoughts.

Cath at Little Cool Shallows turns the phrase on its ear with her poem, A Loose Change.

cloudscome at a wrung sponge gets nostalgic with Baby Gate.

sister AE at Having Writ describes one of my own coin hobbies with Loose Change.

I wrote several poems this week. One about pants pockets, one about a baseball game, and another about a fountain. Here, however, is my favorite of the bunch.

Wishing Well

With fingers tracing the cold stone,
I look down, down,
into the dark.
I cannot see the water
at the bottom, though I know
it is there.

I close my eyes,
make a wish and
throw.
I don't open them
until
I hear the splash.

I dig my hand into
my pocket,
pulling another penny
from the loose change,
waiting for the well
to swallow my coins
and grant my wishes.

It's not too late if you still want to play. Leave me a note about your poem and I'll add it to the list.

Tuesday Poetry Stretch - Phraseworthy

Okay, I missed it again. Let's just chalk this up to summertime chaos. Forgive the delay, but we are stretching this week!

I thought it might be fun to pick a phrase for inclusion in a poem. So, your challenge this week is to write a poem in any form that includes the phrase "loose change." I'm not sure where I'm going with this one. Where do you think these words will take you?

Leave me a comment about your poem and I'll post the results later this week.

Lois Lowry and The Willoughbys

If you didn't hear it this morning, Lois Lowry appeared on Weekend Edition to talk about her book The Willoughbys.

I've heard a lot of mixed reviews. Some folks love it, others hate it. I loved the nostalgia of it. Here are smattering of reviews you may want to check out.

• A Fuse #8 Production
• The Five Randoms
• Read*Write*Believe
• Jen Robinson's Book Page

Poetry Friday - Sweet Independence

Meant to be performed, the words of the Declaration of Independence are even more inspirational when read aloud. In fact, I show this to my students every year, because it makes the Declaration so much easier to appreciate and understand. Thank you, Norman Lear, for this amazing piece of work. Do watch and listen. I promise you'll have chills by the end of it. I always do.


The round up today is being hosted by Aerin at In Search of Giants. Do stop by to take in the great poetry being shared. Before you go, check out this week's poetry stretch results. Happy poetry Friday, all!

Talking Books and Writing with Gail Gauthier

After taking part in MR's 48-Hour Reading Challenge last year, I had the good luck to win a signed copy of Gail Gauthier's book A Girl, A Boy and a Monster Cat.

The happy kid holding that book spent nearly a year doggedly asking when the next book was coming out. It was hard to explain, and even harder for a seven-year old to understand that writing and publishing a book takes a L-O-N-G time. When the ARC for A Girl, A Boy, and Three Robbers arrived, he was elated. And yes, I'll admit to doing a happy dance right along with him. The book did not disappoint. We loved Hannah and Brandon and the imaginative games they played. In fact, this sequel was so well loved that it was smuggled into a certain first grade on a daily basis where it was read aloud to a select few friends.

While I can't answer William's questions regarding when the next Hannah and Brandon story will be out, I was able to share the thoughts of the author on a variety of questions. Here's what Gail Gauthier had to say on writing, teaching and a bit of character inspiration. Thanks to Gail for sharing her thoughts.

Tricia: How has writing these stories about Hannah and Brandon been different from writing books like Happy Kid! and The Hero of Ticonderoga?

Gail: With Happy Kid! and The Hero of Ticonderoga I was working with novels. With the novels, I needed a personal story for my main characters that would extend over many chapters, and every single thing I did with those books had to support that story line. My first draft of a chapter book did involve one story extending over chapters--a chapter novel! But it just did not work. Once I came up with the idea of using Hannah's reading as a jumping off place for adventures, I began to work with a story collection format, similar to the one I used in my first book, My Life Among the Aliens. Aliens was a very good experience for me. I liked the idea of trying to do something like it.

I can't say I ever sit down before writing a book and say to myself, Okay, what theme will you work with on this one. But theme is important to me. Looking back, almost all my books have dealt with child outsiders struggling with the issue of how much they are going to conform--Butch and Spike, Hero of Ticonderoga, Saving the Planet, and Happy Kid!. You can definitely see it in The Hannah and Brandon Stories, too. The neighbors do not get Hannah and her game playing. She holds out. The individual wins against the society of the neighborhood. You see it again with Brandon. He is constantly struggling to maintain his individuality and not allow himself to be overwhelmed by Hannah, who is in charge of the society in her home and yard.

Tricia: The Hannah and Brandon books are beyond beginning readers, so the need for controlled vocabulary isn’t as great, but I am interested in knowing if you had to think about language (word choice) in a different way?

Gail: I am very careful about language and word choice, anyway. The sound of sentences and, especially, dialogue is very important. Because I write a lot of humor, I may obsess about word choice more than some writers do. One word can determine whether or not a line is funny. With Monster Cat, in particular, I was very conscious of the fact that I was writing for less experienced readers who might not have a large vocabulary or, at least, a large reading vocabulary. For instance, in the dinosaur story I referred to "meat-eating dinosaurs" and "plant-eating dinosaurs" instead of naming specific kinds of dinosaurs, which would have required long, difficult words that first and second graders might not be familiar with. Overall, though, it wasn't a huge problem, perhaps because I restricted the setting to Hannah's home and yard. Our home vocabulary tends to be simpler than the vocabulary we use at work or school.

Tricia: Was the work with your editor any different for these books than for your middle grades books?

Gail: Funny story. I worked with the same editor on my first six books. I'm told that's rather unusual. Kathy had a huge influence on me as a children's writer. She really shaped my attitudes about what a children's book should be. Well, I submitted a picture book and then a chapter book to her, but before the project got any further than that, she left Putnam for another publishing house. I think most authors will tell you that it's somewhat traumatizing to lose their editors. I didn't sleep for a couple of nights after she called and told me she was going. We were still finishing Happy Kid! and Putnam assigned me a new editor, Susan, who worked with me on that. Susan accepted the first Hannah and Brandon book. (Because she is wonderful, too.) So, not only was I working on a different type of book with Hannah and Brandon, it was my first entire project with a new editor.

Given all that upheaval, I'd say that working with an editor on these books wasn't dramatically different.

Tricia: What do you think illustrations add to the experience of reading these books, and other chapter books in general?

Gail: Well, I have a bit of a business writing background, and it was with business writing that I first became concerned with the significance of paragraphs, the use of white space, etc. So I'd say that I think the big thing illustrations do for kid readers is break up the text so that it doesn't seem as imposing for them, just as subtitles and paragraphs break up text for adult readers of reports. Additionally, illustrations help readers translate written description into visual images. I don't know if that's something younger children have a problem with or not.

Tricia: What kind of response have you gotten from kids regarding Hannah and Brandon?

Gail: I've done one school visit around Monster Cat, and if I recall correctly, the kids were primarily interested in Buttercup, the cat. I recall talking quite a bit about my niece and her cats because they were the original inspiration for the book. I have to say that as a general rule when I'm in schools kids want to talk less about my specific books and more about me in general. They ask questions about Gail the writer. Where do I get my ideas? Which is my favorite of the books I've written? How many books do I think I'll write? They also like to talk about their own writing and tell me that they're writing books. I hear that a great deal. It always interests me because I wanted to be a writer from an early age, but it never, ever entered my mind to write a book then, as a child. Last spring I had a fourth or fifth grader asking me very detailed questions about publishing. Among the things she wanted to know was if publishers like first-person narrators. It was the kind of question I'd expect to hear at a writers' conference.

Tricia: Can you talk a bit about any memorable school visits you’ve had talking about these books?

Gail: I was invited to go into a fourth grade classroom in a neighboring town to read for this spring's Connecticut Loves to Read Day--adults go into schools to read, the idea being to model reading. Fourth grade was a little old for The Hannah and Brandon Stories, but I find it difficult to find isolated readable bits in my novels. So I read these kids the Pinocchio chapters from Three Robbers. The story went over very well, and when I told them about the book I had been working on last year, they loved the premise. So wasn't my self-esteem all pumped up. Then we started talking about what they'd been reading. These kids clearly were readers. They talked and talked. The teacher had to break us up.

At my last school visit this past spring, I was talking with kids in grades 1 through 4. The Monster Cat presentation was new and I'd been nervous about it, but everything went well. And the kids were so full of things to ask or share afterwards, that after one presentation I had to walk out into the hallway with a little group so that we could keep talking as long as possible as they headed back to their classroom. I love that kind of thing.

Tricia: Do your kids ever see themselves in your books/characters? Better yet, do you see yourself in them? (I see a lot of myself in Hannah. I was bossy, liked to make the rules, and played imaginary games all the time.)

Gail: My kids have definitely seen things that have happened to them show up in my books. We're all in my books and yet...we're not. It's a very strange process the way reality becomes something else when I'm writing. Saving the Planet relates very much to one of my sons, yet absolutely nothing in it ever happened to him. He gets it. He understands what I mean when I say that it's his book, but his father doesn't see it. Another book belongs totally to my other boy. He gets it, too, and made a joke about me stealing his life. (I also stole from the neighbor boy for that one.) The brothers in the Aliens books are named for my sons, and though I'm sure most readers focus on the funny situations with the guys from outer space, those books are a record of my family's life--the games the kids played, the birthday party, the tree houses, the camp outs with Dad, the school fund raisers, the hamster. When I say my life is an open book, I mean my life is an open book. You just have to know how to decode it. There are aspects of me in most of the mothers, but I also identify with Nora, the aging environmentalist in Saving the Planet , because when I was young, she was who I hoped to be when I was older. The setting for Hero comes directly from my life from the time I was around three until the end of second grade. Yet, I was never as strong and tough as Therese LeClerc, the main character in that book, and nothing that happens to her ever happened to me. Well, except for not liking the food in the school cafeteria. And the Polish polka business happened to my sister. And I did ride to Catechism class with my father in his truck. But, still, I am not Tess.

Tricia: I want to go back to word choice for a minute. Do you ever use your kids as a “sounding board” for things like language? Do you ask them what kids might say or do in a situation, or do they offer advice (even when you might not want it)?

Gail: I definitely used my kids as a sounding board when they were younger, and specifically for language. I used to pay them, and sometimes their friends, to read first drafts for me and critique them. The boy next door used to eat at our house on Sunday nights, and we would go over things at dinner. One of the best bits of info I ever got from a kid came from his sister. I was looking for detail for Happy Kid!, and I asked her to describe the popular kids at school. She said, "The popular kids at school are kids nobody really likes." I thought that was brilliant. It was incredibly helpful.

Tricia: You mentioned that you have some “unorthodox teaching experience.” Do tell! (Is it related to Taekwondo? I do read Literary Mama!)

Gail: My degree is in secondary education with a major in English and a minor in history. But the education classes I took in college were nothing like I read about now or hear about from family members in education programs. I don't recall getting much educational instruction. I was very unprepared for student teaching, and it was a disaster. So much so that I didn't even pursue teaching after college but instead took an office job in a continuing education department at a state university. But the teaching thing keeps coming back to me like some kind of boomerang. Many years ago I taught a few business writing workshops to adults through non-credit college programs. I taught Sunday school for eleven years. I was a volunteer computer skills tutor in my sons' kindergarten programs for two years. I volunteered in their classrooms for three years working with the writing program. Our school had an art appreciation program taught by volunteers, so I did that for two years. I taught six-week , weekly writing classes as part of an enrichment cluster program at an elementary school three times. I've taught writing workshops to mixed groups of adults and students. Yes, I was an assistant taekwondo instructor for two years. And then I've been doing school and conference presentations for the last ten to twelve years. So while I've never taught professionally, I have a bizarre, checkered history of doing teacher-like things.

And yet I'm not at all interested in using my fiction to instruct the young. I think instruction in literature always calls attention to itself, and readers shouldn't be aware of anything but that they are in the world of a story. I do have a number of books with school settings, though, and I'm sure that's because of all the time I've spent in classrooms of one kind or another.

Those are some mighty fine responses. Thanks again to Gail for spending some time here. In celebration of the release of her new book, Putnam and Gail Gauthier are running A Girl, a Boy, and Three Robbers contest. The first person to e-mail Gail Gauthier with their mailing address, saying that they saw this message on The Miss Rumphius Effect, will receive a free, autographed copy of A Girl, A Boy, and Three Robbers!

This tour has been quite a lot of fun, so if you haven't been along for the ride, be sure to check in on the other great stops.

June 29: Books Together Blog
June 30: Sam Riddleburger
July 1: Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
July 2: Jen Robinson's Book Page
July 3: Big A little a
July 5: A Fuse #8 Production

Poetry Stretch Results - Six Words

The challenge this week was to write a poem containing the five words sky, knot, fork, wall, and rose, as well as either trumpet or bullet as the sixth word. Here are the results.

Amy left this poem in the comments.

A wall leans against the sky
A single rose wilts
A trumpet weeps
A knot strangles my heart
… an unwanted fork in my road

Laura Purdie Salas wrote a lovely poem entitled My Chapel. Then she followed it up with this poem in the comments.

screams struggle in tangled knot
bullet escapes

forks left

wall of relief holds the sky
keeps it from falling

today

The talented Tiel Aisha Ansari wrote a sestina in less than 24 hours! I have been studying and experimenting with this form, so I know how difficult it can be. I bow before her and the amazing Trumpet Rose. (Can you hear Wayne and Garth in the background?)

cloudscome at a wrung sponge also wrote a sestina. It is called Day's End. (For all you Princesses out there, take note that this is her SECOND sestina. The rest of us have some serious catching up to do!)

I wrote several poems for this challenge. Here is the one I like best.

She imagined riding on a bullet train
instead of this creeping coach car,
sweet silence broken by crying children,
strains of muffled music, and the buzz of
constant chatter.

She stared out the window,
eyes locked on the swirl and
knot of a flock ascending--
an immense black wall of
feet and feathers,
wings and wind.

Once the sky grayed and opened,
she traced the heavy drops
rolling in forked rivers and streams
down the glass.

Hours later, lulled by the hum of
steel wheels and whispered voices,
she nodded off, having missed
the rose sunset that quietly follows
a summer rain.

It's not too late if you still want to play. Leave me a comment about your poem and I'll add it to the list.