Writing Meme

Bonnie over at Words From a Wordsmith tagged me for a meme on writing. The idea is for me to describe my strengths as a writer. Okay, ugh! While it is so easy to point out all the areas in which I am deficient, it has been very difficult for me to think about what I do well. This is one of the reasons it has taken me so long to respond. I'm now done stalling and ready to write. I hope I can come up with five.

• I am an avid reader. I do believe that this makes be a better writer. Not only do I read a lot, I read a great variety of genres. I take recommendations and always try to take some lesson away from every book I read. I read for language, for character, for time and place, for example, and most of all, for the sheer pleasure of the work.

• I am determined/persistent/relentless. Even when I don't want to write, I write. I never go anywhere without a writer's notebook. I have a collection of journals in many sizes and have one close at hand. I even write in the middle of the night. I keep my book light, paper and a pen near the bed. When I wake up in the wee hours of the morning and words are keeping me awake, I scribble them down as fast as I can. Sometimes it's an interesting turn of a phrase or an idea for a story or project, but more often than not, it is a poem.
  

• I love words. I love how they sound, how they're spelled, and the magic they make when strung together in interesting and surprising ways. I love word play. Here are two examples of the types of word play I enjoy.
  

  I love the work of Douglas Florian, in large part because of the way he plays with words. Here is an example from mammabilia.
  

  Aardvarks aare odd.
  Aardvarks aare staark.
  Aardvarks look better
  By faar in the daark.
  
  

  This second example is a quote from the series M*A*S*H where Hawkeye is set to take over as OOD.
  
  "I'll carry your books, I'll carry a torch, I'll carry a tune, I'll carry on, carry over, carry forward, Cary Grant, cash and carry, carry me back to Old Virginie, I'll even 'hari-kari' if you show me how, but I will not carry a gun!"
  

• I am a lifelong learner. I know this phrase is tossed around a lot these days, but the truth is, I teach because it keeps me learning. I know that I am not a great writer, but I truly believe that my work will improve with practice, and that I can learn new skills. This is one of the reasons I continue to write. It's also why I started the weekly poetry stretch. I am enjoying learning about these new forms and the challenge of trying to make them work with my words and ideas.

Well, that's only four. Perhaps with some more thought I can come up with a fifth. I'm tagging my writing group buddies, Libby and Terry. If anyone else reading this wants to play along, please do write about your strengths as a writer and then post a link to your response in the comments.

Poetry Friday - Found Poetry and More

I have a collection of notebooks in many sizes that I use as my writer's notebooks. I never go anywhere without one of them. Whenever I'm out and about these days, I look for new journals or notebooks that will inspire me. While visiting my sister last year I bought several single subject notebooks, small in size, and covered with stars. On the name label they read, "All tiny things are pretty," and on the bottom corner of each cover is this poem.

Sweet strawberries, stars,
flowers, four-leafed clovers
and my heart ached for you.

Here is one of my original poems from inside. It is, as yet, untitled.

Blue skies through
time and space
memories
cannot erase
the crashing waves
the roaring sound
heard in the
shell
that I had found.

This third one is for Kelly at Big A little a. In her post on Everyday Etiquette this week she asked how to stop those "talkers" who keep meetings going on, and on, and on. My advice? This little bit of Mao. I think every meeting room should have a poster like this. This particular piece of art was hanging on the wall of conference room at Beijing Normal University.

Just in case you can't read it, it says:

Talks, speeches, articles, and resolutions should all be concise and to the point. Meetings also should not go on too long.

Finally, my last bit of poetry takes the form of a SmilE. When I got home from choir practice last night, I arrived to find my husband at wit's end. I'm sure the fact that he gave our 6 year old 6 chocolate bars for dessert had absolutely nothing to do with his sorry state. When William, who normally goes to bed at 7:30, greeted me at the door at 8:20 with "Guess what Dad did?" and then proceeded to run laps around the kitchen, I had to . . . well, you guessed it, smile. Really, what else could I do? I hope this story brings that same smile to you.

That's it for me today. Poetry Friday this week is being hosted by the incomparable Sara Lewis Holmes at Read Write Believe. Head on over and read all the great posts. But wait! Before you go, check out the results of this week's poetry stretch on blues poems. Happy Poetry Friday, all!

Creating Readers - Part III

The final installment in the three part series on creating readers is now available. In Part III, Donalyn Miller talks about SSR, AR, DEAR and more. Don't miss the end of this terrific series.

In case you missed the first two posts, here are the links.
Part I
Part II

Book Review - How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?

William and I have read every book in Cynthia Rylant's High Rise Private Eyes series that is so terrifically illustrated by G. Brian Karas. When we learned he had illustrated the recently released book, How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?, we knew we had to have it. We have read and re-read it several times already, and as a result, William is happily planning a pumpkin experiment of his own.

Suffice it to say that I was so pleased with this book that I purchased a second copy for my teaching collection. Margaret McNamara's book provides a wonderful reminder of the importance of not judging by appearances, while also serving as a lesson in skip counting by 2's, 5's and 10's.

As the book begins, we learn that Charlie likes school, his teacher, and his friends, but does not like lining up to go into school. You see, Charlie is the smallest in his class, and the class lines up each day by height, from "tallest to smallest or smallest to tallest," highlighting each day Charlie's limited stature. One morning Charlie arrives to find three pumpkins on Mr. Tiffin's desk, one small, one medium and one large.

"How many seeds in a pumpkin?" Mr. Tiffin asked the class. "Does anybody know?"
Nobody knew, but everybody had ideas.

The students make guesses and Mr. Tiffin writes them on the board. The next day the students begin the task of removing the seeds from the pumpkins. The spread that shows children digging their hands into the pumpkins to remove the slimy seeds affectionately and aptly captures this experience on the faces of the children. My favorite is the girl with her arm in the pumpkin and tongue out of her mouth. That would be me--loving the experience but still finding something disgusting about it! Children reading this will definitely relate.

On the next double page spread readers will find three empty pumpkins, three full bowls and twenty messy hands (10 pairs)! Mr. Tiffin dries the seeds and the next day they are placed in bags for students to count. Four students count the seeds from the big pumpkin by 2's, five students count the seeds from the medium pumpkin by 5's, and one student (Charlie, of course) counts the seeds from the small pumpkin by 10's. Once the counts are totaled and the pumpkin with the most seeds revealed, Mr. Tiffin leads the class through a series of observations in an effort to see if students can discover some clues about how many seeds might be in a pumpkin.

Even though this is a worthy counting title, there is a great deal more math in it that can be explored. Lining up by size provides an opportunity to explore seriation and ordinal numbers, guessing the number of seeds provides an opportunity to explore estimation, there is mention of even and odd numbers, the images of the pumpkin seeds in arrays provides an opportunity to talk about multiplication and division (the five's page has a remainder of one), and students can talk about the concepts of greater than and less than while comparing the number of seeds in each pumpkin.

At the end of the book there is a page of Pumpkin facts. After reading them it was fun to realize that I had learned some new things about these icons of fall.

All-in-all, I love the story, love the art with it's autumn hues, and am thrilled with the possibilities for instruction. I highly recommend it.

Book: How Many Seeds in a Pumpkin?
Author: Margaret McNamara
Illustrator: G. Brian Karas
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade
Publication Date: July 10, 2007
Pages: 40
Grades: 1-3
ISBN-10: 0375840141
ISBN-13: 978-0375840142
Source of Book: Copy purchased at Amazon.com

Other Reviews:
the excelsior file
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

Poetry Stretch Results - Blues Poems

A few folks have shared their blues poems this week. It seems we all have a lot to lament! So, without further ado, here are the results of this week's stretch.

Mary Lee at A Year of Reading gives us The AYP Blues. Amen to that!

Tiel Aisha Ansari at Knocking From Inside gives us one of her favorites, Lyrics & Blues. She has previously written a number of poems in this form. You can read them here.

MotherReader is in this week with the very funny Volunteer Blues.

John Mutford at The Book Mine Set shares his poem, No Blues Blues.

Cloudscome over at a wrung sponge has a bit of the Touch Typing Blues.

My first attempt with this form was Rainy Day Blues. Here's my latest effort.

Lunch Box Blues
I eat a brown bag lunch
In the dining hall at noon
A peanut butter sandwich
September through to June
That same old peanut butter
Gonna’ send me to the moon
Oh man I gotta’ say it
Got the doggone lunch box blues!

No Lunchables in my sack
No sandwich made of Fluff
No Ho Hos, chips or candy
Just the same old healthy stuff
That peanut butter sandwich
It’s gonna’ make me snap
Oh man I gotta’ say it
Got the doggone lunch box blues!

I know my Momma loves me
Feeds me good stuff every day
Grapes and cheese and carrots
A healthy food buffet
And yes, that peanut butter
Looks like it’s here to stay
Oh man I gotta’ say it
Got the doggone lunch box blues!

I’d trade it all for French fries
Or some chocolate for my meal
If my snotty little sister
Wouldn’t run right home and squeal
Now that stupid peanut butter
Has lost all of its appeal
Ain’t no other way to say it
Got the doggone lunch box blues!

It's not too late to play. Read the guidelines and try your hand at a blues poem. Then leave me a comment and I'll link your creation here.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Blues Poem

My recent poem called Rainy Day Blues got me thinking that this would be a fun form to experiment with next. I've been listening to some of my Alligator Records to get into the proper mood. Here's what you need to know to write a blues poem.

Blues poetry takes it's name from the musical form. (Read about blues music.) Blues songs are generally narrative in structure and are about grief, hopelessness, loss, and hard times. In writing a blues poem, the authors of The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms recommend that you "think of something that depresses you."

You can read more about this form at Poets.org.

I am working on two poems for my six-year old. One is entitled Lunch Box Blues and the other is Bedtime Blues. As you may have noticed, almost all of my poems are written for kids. However, don't let my examples stop you from tackling any of these forms.

For a bit of inspiration today, I leave you with this fine example by Langston Hughes.

Po' Boy Blues
by Langston Hughes

When I was home de
Sunshine seemed like gold.
When I was home de
Sunshine seemed like gold.
Since I come up North de
Whole damn world's turned cold.

I was a good boy,
Never done no wrong.
Yes, I was a good boy,
Never done no wrong,
But this world is weary
An' de road is hard an' long.

I fell in love with
A gal I thought was kind.
Fell in love with
A gal I thought was kind.
She made me lose ma money
An' almost lose ma mind.

Weary, weary,
Weary early in de morn.
Weary, weary,
Early, early in de morn.
I's so weary
I wish I'd never been born.

So, do you want to play? What kind of blues poem will you write? Post your creation on your blog and then leave a link in the comments. Once we have some poems, I'll link them all here.

Answers to Trudy's Questions

This morning over at 7-Imp's 7 Kicks, the featured author is Trudy White. In sharing images from her newest work, Could You? Would You?, Trudy suggested the inclusion of some of the questions from her book. If you answer them the fine hosts at 7-Imp will enter your name into a drawing for a free copy of said book.

Hey, any chance for a free book, especially one that looks this great, and I'm in. Here are my answers to the 5 questions.

How would someone find you in a crowd?
I've been a singer since I was kid, so I have a powerful set of lungs. I'm not above shouting out someone's name or singing a silly song for attention. I'm also not shy about standing on ledges or statutes in order to be seen.

If your house had a secret room, what would be in there?
Oh please, like you even need to ask. It would have one wall of windows, floor to ceiling, with window seats and cupboards. Between the windows and on every other wall would be bookcases, also floor to ceiling. It would have a library ladder, a mission oak library table, a chaise lounge, a sofa, a chess table, and a large floor globe. The shelves would be filled with books, and magically, each year they would fill with the best new titles.

Where do you like to walk from your house?
I live close to a beautiful college campus. On days when I need to walk, I head right for the lake at UR and the path around it.

How will you change as you grow up?
As I get older I get more claustrophobic (is that possible?), more philosophical, less worried about what others think, and generally much happier on a day-to-day basis. In the future I would like to stress less and share more.

What sort of animal would you like to be?
I am currently so sleep deprived that being a sloth and sleeping 20 hours a day looks mighty appealing. Honestly, I haven't been this tired since William was born!

So, will you play? Answer these questions on your blog and leave a note for the ladies at 7-Imp and let them know you're in.

The Cybils are Back!

Yes, the Cybils are back for year two. If you blog about kidlit and want to participate, head on over to the Cybils blog and read more about volunteering. I'm in. Won't you come too?

Poetry Friday - Rainy Day Blues

I was talking to my Dad this week and we were discussing the drought where he lives. It's also dry here, and while my small garden is thirsty for rain, I can't help but feeling a wee bit guilty for wishing the skies would open up when so many others this summer were devastated by heavy rains and flooding.

Following this conversation I was up in the wee hours unable to sleep, so I wrote this poem about rain. Enjoy!

Rainy Day Blues
Clouds loomin' and thunder boomin'
Skies grayin' and people sayin'
They got the rainy day blues.

Drops ploppin' and garden soppin'
Puddles growin' and rivers flowin'
With rainy day blues.

Ground seepin' and trees weepin'
Gutters spillin' and pools fillin'
With rainy day blues.

Hair drippin' and shoes squishin'
Umbrella flyin' -- there's no denyin'
I got the rainy day blues.

Skies clearin' and sunshine nearin'
Storms endin' with rainbow bendin'
No more rainy day blues!

The round up today is at Hip Writer Mama. Please head on over and check out the great posts. You should also make your way to the results of this week's poetry stretch and read some of the wonderful pantoums folks wrote. Happy poetry Friday, all!

Creating Readers - Part II

Last week I shared a link to the first article in a three part series on creating readers. Part II is now posted. The very first question is:

Beyond finding interesting books for them, how do we help boys who are struggling to read to engage in the reading process?

Great question! Head on over to Creating Readers - Part II to read the answer and learn more about motivating reluctant readers.

New Edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors

The fabulous September edition of Learning in the Great Outdoors is now up over at Alone on a Limb. Do head on over and check it out.

Blogging for a Cure

Jules at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast has rolled out a plan to support Robert's Snow by highlighting the illustrators who are participating this year. Read this post to learn more about how to get involved. I'm on board. Won't you come too?

Best Books of 2007 (So Far) - Art

Okay, I know this isn't one of MotherReader's categories, but in thinking about her call for readers to nominate Best Books of the Year to date list, I kept coming back to art. William and I have been talking about our favorite pictures in books lately, so this seemed a natural way to examine the books of 2007. Here I present the ones I adore for outstanding illustrations.

• Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin and Eric Carle - This is the last collaboration from this author/illustrator team. Carle's artwork is bold and bright. The skunk, the rattlesnake and the baby bear are playfully presented and among my favorites.

• Dogs and Cats by Steve Jenkins - I've yet to meet a book by Jenkins I didn't love. The faces of these animals are simply astonishing.

• Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems - I have no doubt that MR will agree with me on this one, but regardless of her affections, this is one amazing book.

• Mother Goose Numbers on the Loose by Leo and Diane Dillon - This newest work by the Dillons is a real beauty. How could I not love a book with numbers dancing through each spread?

• Pssst! by Adam Rex - I couldn't stop looking at the pictures in this one. The illustrations are so different from the others on this list and amazingly creative.
  

• The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis - A typical Sis work with incredible detail and real beauty with every turn of the page.
  

Alright, I know MR said only five in any category, but I couldn't resist. How about you? What books contain your favorite illustrations for this year?

Poetry Stretch Results - Pantoum

I believe this form was even more difficult than the cento. Coming up with a poem that made sense was truly a challenge. However, I was thrilled that there were readers/writers out there willing to try it. Here are the results of this week's stretch.

A warm welcome to Tiel Aisha Ansari at Knocking From Inside who gives us the pantoum Rock Solid. She has previously written a number of poems in this form. You can read them here.

Let's also welcome Sam Riddleburger who shares his pantoum called Jungle Fowl.

Terrell at Alone on a Limb gives us a pantoum about The Cliff Swallow.

Andromeda over at a wrung sponge shares a poem about her son called Jetty.

Heather at 20's going on spinster with cats shares a poem entitled photographic.

Cath at little cool shallows is in with a poem called Cliché Mounting.

My first attempt with this form is called Meadow Morn.

It's not too late to play. Read the rules and try your hand at a pantoum. Then leave me a comment and I'll link your creation here.

My Pantoum - Meadow Morn

Okay, I'm a bit nervous about this draft, but I must admit that I really enjoyed the challenge of writing a pantoum.

Meadow Morn
In the meadow green
Dew glistens on each blade
As sunlight breaks the day
And fog whispers away

Dew glistens on each blade
As murmured voices hum
And fog whispers away
Wobbly legs unfold

As murmured voices hum
The day’s repast begins
Wobbly legs unfold
And nest mates stretch and sing

The day’s repast begins
A morning chorus rises
Nest mates stretch and sing
Waking up the world

A morning chorus rises
As sunlight breaks the day
Waking up the world
In the meadow green

I am going to play some more with this form. Won't you join me? Post your pantoum on your blog and then leave a link in the comments. Once we have some poems, I'll link them all here.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Pantoum

This week's stretch is a real S-T-R-E-T-C-H. The form I have decided to tackle is the pantoum. I have read a great deal about this form and found many variations. I am not going to try and do this one in rhyme, though you can if you want to attempt it. Are you ready? Here's the form.

The pantoum is a poem made up of stanzas of four lines where lines 2 and 4 of each stanza are repeated as lines 1 and three of the next stanza. The final stanza of a pantoum has an interesting twist. Lines 2 and 4 are the same as the 3rd and 1st of the first stanza, thereby using every line in the poem twice.

Here is an outline for the pantoum form.
Line 1
Line 2
Line 3
Line 4

Line 5 (same as line 2)
Line 6
Line 7 (same as line 4)
Line 8

Line 9 (same as line 6)
Line 10
Line 11 (same as line 8)
Line 12

Line 13 (same as line 10)
Line 14 (same as line 3)Line 15 (same as line 12)
Line 16 (same as line 1)

Keep in mind that this form of poetry is of an indefinite length. It could be three stanzas, 4 stanzas or 20!
(Adapted from The Teachers & Writers Handbook of Poetic Forms.)

You can read more about this form at Poets.org. I am still working on my pantoum and will share it here once I have a draft. Until then, here is a terrific example.

We Are Waiting
by Joyce Sidman
in Butterfly Eyes and Other Secrets of the Meadow

Our time will come again,
say the patient ones.
Now is meadow,
but not for long.

Say the patient ones:
sunlight dazzles,
but not for long.
Seedlings grow amongst the grass.

Sunlight dazzles
and the meadow voles dance,
but seedlings grow amongst the grass.
Forest will return.

Meadow voles dance
where once was fire,
but forest will return.
We wait patiently.

Once was fire.
Now is meadow.
We wait patiently.
Our time will come again.

So, do you want to play? What kind of pantoum will you write? Post your creation on your blog and then leave a link in the comments. Once we have some poems, I'll link them all here.

Heads Up for the Next Picture Book Carnival

The next Picture Book Carnival is now accepting submissions. The theme this time around is pictures books as mentor texts for developing writing. What books do you use? What do they help writers learn to do? Please think about sharing your great ideas.

For more info, read this post at Mentor Texts, Read Alouds & More.

Best Books of 2007 (So Far) - Nonfiction

I'm back with my second response to MotherReader and her call for readers to nominate Best Books of the Year to date list. Here are the nonfiction titles from 2007 that I most admire. Hey, don't go! Really--nonfiction can be fabulous! Just take a look at these beauties.

• 1607: A New Look at Jamestown by Karen Lange - This is one of the best social studies/history books I've read all year. You can read my review here.

• One Well: The Story of Water on Earth by Rochelle Strauss - I loved this book. Want to know more? You can read my review here.

• A Seed is Sleepy by Diana Hutts Aston - Seeds are amazing things, and this book beautifully captures their brilliance in both text and images.

• Where in the Wild? Camouflaged Creatures Concealed . . . and Revealed by David Schwartz - Amazing photographs of animals hidden in plain sight, clues to their location in the form of poetry, and background info galore hidden in the gatefold all come together in this handsome and highly effective book about camouflage.

Alright, I've had my say. How about you? What are your choices?

A Great Math Lesson

It's nice to know I'm not the only classroom teacher out there who encouraged kids to write poetry in math. Read on!

Risk taking, discovery and making math relevant were the goals she set for herself. The project that earned her the presidential award had all of that.

The point of the lesson was that the area of a rectangle can vary while the perimeter remains constant. But rather than say that, she let the students discover it.

Working in teams, students had to develop a plan for a dog named "Scruffy" whose owners decided that he spent too much time lounging on their deck. They wanted him to get more exercise, but in a safe environment. To that end, they had purchased 32 meters of fencing.

The project included multiple tasks and analysis, including pricing the cost of fencing, writing poems about area and perimeter, and assessing the pros and cons of different rectangular shapes for Scruffy's pen.

A long, rectangular 15-meter-by-1-meter pen, for example, would allow Scruffy to run for distance. A square pen, with eight meters on each side, would provide him with more area.

Part of the beauty of the project was that there was no right answer, just lots of options, all of which dealt with math in a practical way.

Students also had to interview their parents and report on how area and perimeter played a role in everyday life - who was having a carpet installed, who was fencing in a backyard.

A classic response came from one student who said when he asked his mother about perimeter she told him the rule in their house was that "Daddy has to stay outside the perimeter of the kitchen when I'm cooking."

Read the entire article, entitled A Heralded Math Teacher Reflects on Lessons Learned, for more insights and inspiration.

Recently Read and a Boatload of Thanks

This is my shelf of recently read and re-read books. There's not a stinker in the bunch. I loved them all, and for many different reasons. Sadly, I've only written a review of one of them. I'm put to shame by my kidlitosphere colleagues who regularly crank out thoughtful reviews on a weekly (often times more than this) basis. There are days when I can barely manage to post, so I don't know how they do it.

If you see the product of your blood, sweat and tears on this shelf, (Robin Brande, Sara Beth Durst, Sara Lewis Holmes, T.K. Welsh and many others), please know that I have laughed, cried and smiled my way thorough the fantastic journeys you have taken me on. THANK YOU for sharing your gifts. (By the way, you should know that your titles are up there with my beloved Pride and Prejudice, an honor indeed!)

**Just Added** - If your eyes are anything like mine, you may have trouble making out all the titles, so here's the list (from left to right).

• An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
• American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
• Into the Wild by Sarah Beth Durst
• Austenland by Shannon Hale
• Do the Math: Secrets, Lies and Algebra by Wendy Lichtman (Read my review.)
• The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages
• The Last Dragon by Sylvia De Mari
• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
• Evolution, Me & Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande
• The Unresolved by T. K. Welsh
• Letters From Rapunzel by Sara Lewis Holmes
• Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos by R. L. LaFevers
• A Drowned Maiden's Hair by Laura Amy Schlitz
• Den of Thieves by Julia Golding (available only in the UK)

Poetry Friday - Child Moon

William is 6 and still maintains a happy fascination with the moon. We look for it each night before bedtime and in the early morning hours as the sun is waking. We both delight in finding them in the sky together. Today's poem pays homage to this childlike love of the moon.

Child Moon
by Carl Sandburg

The child's wonder
At the old moon
Comes back nightly.
She points her finger
To the far silent yellow thing
Shining through the branches
Filtering on the leaves a golden sand,
Crying with her little tongue, “See the moon!”
And in her bed fading to sleep
With babblings of the moon on her little mouth.

If you like this one, you can read more like it in Chicago Poems.

The round up today is at Semicolon. Please stop by and check out all the great pieces. Happy poetry Friday, all!

Creating Readers - Must Read Article

Teacher Donalyn Miller prides herself on turning her students into readers who devour an average of 50 to 60 books a year. In the first-part of a three-part series, she offers her secrets. Here is an excerpt.

How do you find the right books for your students?
As for finding the right books, I read tons of children's literature and am familiar with most of the big name authors. I can usually read one or two children's books a week and still have a life! This provides me with a large pool of books that I can recommend to students. Often if I have not read a certain book, I have at least read something by the same author.

Please give us a list of the top 5 things that you do to inspire children to read.

1. Assume all children are readers and that they can be successful as readers from the first day.
2. I share my personal love of reading, model my reading, and talk about the books.
3. Choice is a powerful motivator for students! Although I do have genre requirements for the reading in my class, students get to choose which books they would like to read in order to meet these requirements.
4. In addition to regular readers' workshop time, I give students time to read their independent books in class.
5. When students come into to my room, they know that they have to get out their books and read until I start the instruction for the day.

Read the entire article, entitled Creating Readers: Part I, for even more inspiration. I can't wait to read the next two installments.

Best Books of 2007 (So Far) - Poetry

Inspired (cajoled? shamed?) by MotherReader to participate in her Best Books of the Year to date list, I decided to focus first on the poetry titles from 2007 that I most admire. Drum roll please!

• Animal Poems by Valerie Worth - This collection of poems, published posthumously and marvelously illustrated by Steve Jenkins, creatively captures a range of animals.

• Blue Lipstick: Concrete Poems by John Grandits - When I read the review in The Horn Book and saw the poem entitled Pep Rally, I knew I had to have this book. The poems do not disappoint. Grandits has accurately captured female teenage angst in this marvelous collection.

• comets, stars, the moon and mars by Douglas Florian - I LOVE all things Florian, so sue me. Not only does he write great poetry, but his art is inspired. And besides, anyone who can aptly capture the demotion of Pluto is a star in my book.

• This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness by Joyce Sidman - If you could apologize for something you'd done wrong, what would you say? This wonderful collection of poems from sixth grade apologists is funny and sad and well worth reading. Once you read the poems of apology you can read responses from the recipients.

Up next? Nonfiction. Stay tuned.

Poetry Stretch Results - Acrostic Poems

Perhaps now that summer has come to an end, more folks are ready to take up these challenges. The words that inspired poems this week are very interesting. Here's what we have.

Elaine at Wild Rose Reader shares three acrostics.

• Fireworks
• Unicorn
• Whispers
  

Terrell at Alone on a Limb is in with some thoughts on Labor Day.

Heather at 20's going on spinster with cats shares poems for the words god-figures and symbiosis.

Alkelda the Gleeful's word tells us about being rueful.

Cath at little cool shallows shares a poem entitled Soft Scents. Before you click, can you guess what the subject might be?

It's not too late to play. Read the rules, pick a word and write your own acrostic. Then leave me a comment and I'll link your creation here.

Totally OT - Top 100 Songs Meme

Okay, I wasn't tagged, but I must respond to the Top 100 songs of your senior year meme. Yes, this is total procrastination on my part. Being the science-minded woman I am, I feel the need to analyze the data instead of merely listing the songs in numerical order and stating my opinions. So, here goes. Songs I loved are in red. Songs I liked are in blue. The stinkers (my dislikes) are in green. Finally, songs I needed to look for in iTunes because I didn't know or remember them are in orange.

Thriller was the big album in 1983. Need I say more about one of the names topping the list? And yes, I do own a vinyl copy. It's in my attic somewhere, getting destroyed by VA heat and humidity. Here's a list of all the Michael Jackson songs in the top 100. The only song I liked was Beat It.

2. Billie Jean, Michael Jackson 

5. Beat It, Michael Jackson 

49. The Girl Is Mine, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney 

68. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', Michael Jackson
89. Human Nature, Michael Jackson 


Flashdance was hot at the theatres, and so was the music from the soundtrack. I liked both of these songs.

3. Flashdance... What A Feelin, Irene Cara 

9. Maniac, Michael Sembello 


Competition for the 1983 Grammy for Best New Artist was fierce, with Asia, Jennifer Holliday, Human League, Men at Work and Stray Cats as nominees. The winner had the most hits in the top 100. While I liked Down Under, I LOVED Stray Cat Strut and Don't Cry.

4. Down Under, Men At Work 

33. (Keep Feeling) Fascination, Human League 

42. Stray Cat Strut, Stray Cats 

54. Overkill, Men At Work 

76. It's A Mistake, Men At Work 

84. (She's) Sexy + 17, Stray Cats 

98. Don't Cry, Asia 


I went to one concert in 1983. Billy Joel sang two of the songs from this list, and I loved them both.

43. Allentown, Billy Joel 

45. Tell Her About It, Billy Joel 


While 1983 had it's share of sappy love songs, it also had a collection of wacky, techno, weird and funky songs. Here are a few I liked.

18. Let's Dance, David Bowie 

19. Twilight Zone, Golden Earring 

22. Electric Avenue, Eddy Grant 

23. She Blinded Me With Science, Thomas Dolby 

30. Der Kommissar, After The Fire 

31. Puttin' On The Ritz, Taco 

51. Goody Two Shoes, Adam Ant 

52. Rock The Casbah, Clash 

63. Come Dancing, Kinks 

64. Promises, Promises, Naked Eyes 


The number one song of 1983, and the others on my LOVE list are ones I still listen to and sing along with, loudly, whenever possible.

1. Every Breath You Take, Police 

10. Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This), Eurythmics 

25. Little Red Corvette, Prince 

26. Back On The Chain Gang, Pretenders 

41. 1999, Prince 

46. Always Somethmg There To Remind Me, Naked Eyes 

48. Dirty Laundry, Don Henley 

53. Our House, Madness 

56. Gloria, Laura Branigan 

58. She's A Beauty, Tubes 

71. Straight From The Heart, Bryan Adams 

74. I'm Still Standing, Elton John 

79. Your Love Is Driving Me Crazy, Sammy Hagar 

82. Steppin' Out, Joe Jackson 

87. Lawyers In Love, Jackson Browne
97. You Got Lucky, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers 




The stinkers on my list are pretty bad. Even though I didn't love or even like these songs, I'm sure I danced or skated to them, and since I sang/sing all the time, I know the words to many of them. YIKES! I even find myself singing along in the grocery store these days when I hear them. How embarrassing is that?! (Especially when we're talking about Air Supply or Spandau Ballet!)

6. Total Eclipse Of The Heart, Bonnie Tyler 

7. Maneater, Daryl Hall and John Oates 

8. Baby Come To Me, Patti Austin and James Ingram 

11. Do You Really Want To Hurt Me, Culture Club 

12. You And I, Eddie Rabbitt and Crystal Gayle 

13. Come On Eileen, Dexy's Midnight Runners 

14. Shame On The Moon, Bob Seger and The Silver Bullet Band 

15. She Works Hard For The Money, Donna Summer 

16. Never Gonna Let You Go, Sergio Mendes 

17. Hungry Like The Wolf, Duran Duran 

21. Jeopardy, Greg Kihn Band 

24. Africa, Toto 

27. Up Where We Belong, Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes 

28. Mr. Roboto, Styx 

29. You Are, Lionel Richie 

32. Sexual Healing, Marvin Gaye 

34. Time (Clock Of The Heart), Culture Club 

35. The Safety Dance, Men Without Hats 

36. Mickey, Toni Basil 

37. You Can't Hurry Love, Phil Collins 

38. Separate Ways, Journey 

39. One On One, Daryl Hall and John Oates 

40. We've Got Tonight, Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton

44. Stand Back, Stevie Nicks 

47. Truly, Lionel Richie 

50. Too Shy, Kajagoogoo 

55. Is There Something I Should Know, Duran Duran 

57. Affair Of The Heart, Rick Springfield 

59. Solitaire, Laura Branigan 

60. Don't Let It End, Styx

61. How Am I Supposed To Live Without You, Laura Branigan 

62. China Girl, David Bowie
65. The Other Guy, Little River Band 

66. Making Love Out Of Nothing At All, Air Supply 

67. Family Man, Daryl Hall and John Oates 

69. I Won't Hold You Back, Toto 

70. All Right, Christopher Cross 

72. Heart To Heart, Kenny Loggins 

73. My Love, Lionel Richie 

75. Hot Girls In Love, Loverboy 

77. I'll Tumble 4 Ya, Culture Club 

80. Heartbreaker, Dionne Warwick

81. Faithfully, Journey 

83. Take Me To Heart, Quarterflash 

88. What About Me, Moving Pictures 

90. Photograph, Def Leppard 

91. Pass The Dutchie, Musical Youth 

92. True, Spandau Ballet 

94. I've Got A Rock 'N' Roll Heart, Eric Clapton 

95. It Might Be You, Stephen Bishop 

96. Tonight I Celebrate My Love, Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack 

99. Breaking Us In Two, Joe Jackson 

100. Fall In Love With Me, Earth, Wind and Fire

Say what? I don't remember these at all! Even a little snippet from iTunes didn't help.

20. I Know There's Something Going On, Frida

78. All This Love, Debarge 

85. Try Again, Champaign 

86. Dead Giveaway, Shalamar 

93. Far From Over, Frank Stallone 


Okay, that was fun. I'm not tagging anyone, but if you want to play, get your list here. Just change the date and you'll be in business.

First Day of School

While cleaning my desk I came across the picture from the first day of kindergarten. William was so cute and nervous. Not this year. He couldn't wait to get things started. Here is what my new first grade kid looked like yesterday. (Did I mention he's grown nearly two inches since school ended in June? He's now 4'3" and very tall indeed!)

He had a great first day, so we celebrated with a dinner of his choice (steak on the grill and hash brown potatoes) and a new book. Last night we started reading Stanley in Space.

An Interlude and a Must-Read Article

I have finally finished a four-part series on books and poems for studying animal adaptations. You should see my desk. Oh, wait! You CAN'T SEE my desk, because it's covered with books! Alas, I love doing these lists, but now I'm left with a mess that I must address. I'd better do it soon, as I have class this afternoon!

If you want to check out the finished series, here are the entries.

• Animal Adaptations (Introduction)
• Animals on the Move (Migration)
• Dreaming the Winter Away (Hibernation)
• Hidden in Plain Sight (Camouflage)

While I take a brief interlude to straighten my world, I highly recommend that all my readers interested in teaching and/or science read last week's news from the NSF.
Back to School: Five Myths about Girls and Science

Hidden in Plain Sight

When I was young I often wished for clothing that resembled the woods around my home, largely because I wanted to win at hide and seek. I so wanted to be the last person found. Blending in with one's environment can come in handy, particularly when someone wants to make a meal of you. Camouflage is nature's way of hiding animals in plain sight. While those stripes may make a tiger stand out in his/her zoo home, they allow him/her to vanish in that stand of tall grass in the wild.

Whether it's zebra stripes, a body shaped like a stick, or fur that changes color with the seasons, an animal's ability to camouflage itself is an amazing adaptation. In this list you will find some books that will help you uncover the mysteries of this art of disguise.

• Claws, Coats, and Camouflage: The Way Animals Fit Into Their World by Susan Goodman - Using photographs and questions to get kids thinking scientifically, this informative text looks at all the different adaptations animals use to adapt to their surroundings, stay safe, get food, and reproduce.
  

• The amazing Ruth Heller wrote a series of books that examined camouflage across the animal kingdom. Titles in this series include:
  
• How to Hide a Butterfly and Other Insects
• How to Hide a Crocodile and Other Reptiles
• How To Hide a Meadow Frog and Other Amphibians
  
• How to Hide an Octopus and Other Sea Creatures
  
• How to Hide a Polar Bear and Other Mammals
  

• What Color is Camouflage? by Carolyn Otto - This book in the Let's Read-and-Find-Out Science series examines camouflage as an animal defense. It also looks at how camouflage helps the predator.
  

• I See Animals Hiding by Jim Arnosky - With watercolor paintings that demonstrate what is described in the text, this book shows readers how protective coloration, body shape, and seasonal changes in fur help animals survive.

• Where in the Wild? Camouflaged Creatures Concealed . . . and Revealed by David Schwartz - I'm crazy about the work of David Schwartz, so I was thrilled when this new title came across my desk. In it, ten photographs hold artfully camouflaged creatures. Can you find them? Lift the gatefold to find out. These amazing images are accompanied by poems that offer clues to each animal's identity and whereabouts.
  

• The Rainbow Tiger by Gayle Nordholm - When a tiger spies a peacock and wishes to be more beautiful, she magically turns a rainbow color. What will happen she loses her ability to disappear in the bushes?
  

• Swimmy by Leo Lionni - This wonderful tale describes what happens when a little black fish in a school of red fish figures out a unique way to use camouflage to protect the group.
  

• We Hide, You Seek by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey - The animals in this story have convinced rhino to play hide and seek. Now, he must find them camouflaged in their natural habitats.
  

• Searchin' Safari: Looking for Camouflaged Creatures by Marc Nadel - Kids will love this book as they head out on safari and journey around the world to search for animals camouflaged in their natural environments.
  

• Hidden Animals by Valerie Guidoux - This title from the Explore Your World series introduces and explains seasonal changes in animal color, fish and insects that look like plants, animals, insects and fish that can quickly change color, and how animals hide in plain sight.
  

• Clever Chameleon by Alison Lodge - Written in rhyme, this story follows a group of animals as they play hide and seek. As the story unfolds, readers will learn how animals hide and disguise themselves in different surroundings. Children will also love trying to find the clever chameleon hiding in each scene.
  

• Several books in the Animals Wise series (Picture Window Books) discuss camouflage. Written by Patricia Stockland, appropriate titles include:
• Pointy, Long, or Round: A Book About Animal Shapes
• Red Eyes or Blue Feathers: A Book About Animal Colors
• Stripes, Spots, or Diamonds: A Book About Animal Patterns
  

• Douglas Florian has produced many poetry books about animals, with some of these poems focused on camouflage. In lizards, frogs, and polliwogs you will find a poem called The Chameleon. In insectlopedia you will find two poems. One is The Io Moth, the other is The Walkingstick.

The Walkingstick
The walkingstick is thin, not thick,
and has a disappearing trick:
By looking like a twig or stalk,
It lives another day to walk.

This wraps up a lengthy series on animal adaptations. I hope you find some useful resources here. If I've missed any of your favorites, please let me know. I'd be happy to add them to the list.

Dreaming the Winter Away

For those animals that do not migrate to warmer climates in the winter months, hibernation is one way to cope with the harsh realities of colder weather. It is an effective strategy that enables animals to live in places where food is not abundant year round. While we tend to think about bears when we hear the word hibernation, snakes, frogs, turtles, woodchucks, ground squirrels and bats also hibernate in winter. To learn more about hibernation, check out these terrific resources.

• Bear on the Train by Julie Lawson - When a bear follows his nose, he ends up climbing in the hopper car of train, munching on grain, and hibernating in a rather unusual place.

• Do Not Disturb: The Mysteries of Animal Hibernation and Sleep by Margery Facklam - Though out of print, this is one of the most thorough and well-written books about hibernation that I have read. It discusses the three types of hibernation (deep sleep, light sleep, and daily dormancy) as well as estivation.

• Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky - This beautifully illustrated book describes what happens in fall as a black bear looks for a suitable den in which to spend the winter.

• Moon Glowing by Elizabeth Partridge - A terrific selection for younger readers, or nice poetic example for older students, this book shows how a squirrel, bat, beaver, and bear prepare for colder weather.

• Animals Hibernating: How Animals Survive Extreme Conditions by Pamela Hickman - Realistic drawings accompanied by engaging text provide an introduction to true hibernators, deep sleepers, and estivators. This title also includes ideas for some easy science activities.

• Do Polar Bears Snooze in Hollow Trees? A Book About Animal Hibernation by Laura Purdie Salas - Do you know who burrows in the mud and who hangs from a ceiling while sleeping the winter away? In engaging question and answer format, this book answers these questions and more while looking at where different animals hibernate.

• Lewis Cardinal's First Winter/El Primer Invierno de Luis, el Cardenal by Amy Crane Johnson - Lewis Cardinal is confused as his woodland friends get ready for winter, but his friend Solomon Raven explains hibernation and migration in an effort to help him understand. This bilingual book is one in a series of four.

In addition to the books listed above, there are others that look generally at what happens to animals in winter.

• When Winter Comes by Nancy Can Laan - In rhyming question and answer format, a child asks where leaves, flowers, caterpillars, songbirds, field mice, deer, and fish go when the winter comes.

• Animals in Winter by Henrietta Bancroft - This Let's Read-and-Find-Out Science book looks at how various animals prepare for winter, with some migrating, some hibernating, and other collecting and storing food.

Here are a few poems about hibernation that I like.

• Into the Mud by Joyce Sidman, in Song of the Water Boatman & Other Pond Poems.
  
  Sun
  slants low,
  chill seeps into black
  water. No more days of bugs
  and basking. Last breath, last sight


• Baby Bear Moon by Joseph Bruchac and Jonathan London in Thirteen Moons on Turtle's Back.
  
  Long ago a small child
  was lost in the snow.
  We thought she had frozen,
  but when spring came again
  she was seen with a mother bear
  and her small cubs.

• The Bear by Douglas Florian, in mammalabilia.
  
  Come Septem-bear
  I sleep, I slum-bear,
  Till winter lum-bears
  Into spring.
• The Wood Frog by Douglas Florian, in lizards, frogs, and polliwogs.
  
  
  I am a frozen frogsicle.
  I froze beneath a logsicle.
  My mind is a fogsicle
  Inside this icy bogsicle.
• Timber Rattlesnake by Marilyn Singer, in Turtle in July.


Soon September stones
Chill bones
Chill blood
Stiff shall I grow
And so below I'll slide


• Where Do Fish Go in Winter? by Amy Goldman Koss in Where Fish Go in Winter And Answers to Other Great Mysteries
  
  
  When lakes turn to ice
  And are covered with snow,
  What becomes of the fish
  Who are living below?

Finally, I highly recommend the following picture books as just plain fun for younger readers studying hibernation, though not particularly scientific.

• Karma Wilson has a wonderful series of books featuring a bear and his woodland friends. A few of these touch on some aspects of hibernation. In an effort to be inclusive of all students, I have left off the Christmas title (you can find it easily), but will mention these two:
• Bear Snores On
• Bear Wants More

• Time to Sleep by Denise Fleming - In this warmly illustrated book, bear smells winter in the air and gets ready to hibernate, but must first tell his friends.

Please let me know if I've missed any of your favorites.

Monday Poetry Stretch - Acrostic

With the beginning of school underway for most of the teaching world, I thought this would be a good time to work on a form familiar to many. An acrostic is a poem in which the first letter of the lines, read downwards, form a word. I know it's Labor Day, but this shouldn't be much work at all.

ReadWriteThink has an acrostic poem generator you can try, as well as a whole selection of lesson plans about them. Bruce Lansky has a nice page for kids on how to write acrostic poems. For a more academic treatment of this form, read the Wikipedia entry.

For the last few months I have been working on a series of poems called animal collectives. Inspired by James Lipton's (yes, THAT James Lipton) book, An Exaltation of Larks, I began thinking how much fun it would be to write poems about these groups of animals. After a bit of experimentation, the form these poems took was acrostic. Here are two. Can you guess what kinds of animals are being described?

Lazing on sun-splashed rocks
Outstretched to warm their scaly skin--
Until danger approaches--when they
Nervously run for cover
Gliding, running, climbing, clinging
Escaping the light of day

Seas of spindled legs move
Through tidal flats, mangrove swamps
Awash in crimson, vermilion, pink
Noisily stretching, stepping, wading
Dancing on webbed feet

So, do you want to play? What kind of acrostic poem will you write? Pick a word that moves you and write away. Post your creation(s) on your blog and then leave a link in the comments. Once we have some poems, I'll link them all here.

Animals on the Move

Following the seasonal movements of animals was one of the ways we marked the changing of the seasons where I grew up. Even though we tend to think about birds when we hear the word migration, many different types of animals migrate, including insects, fish, and mammals. While many animals fly these annual treks, others must walk or swim to reach their destinations. The books on this list highlight the wonders of migration in all its forms.

First, let's begin with general books about migration and animals other than birds.

• Animals on the Move by Allan Fowler - This Rookie Read-About-Science selection presents the migration of salmon, whales, zebras, caribou and many different types of birds for the youngest readers.
  

• The Journey: Stories of Migration by Cynthia Rylant - This book provides readers with a series of narratives relating the migratory habits of the American silver eel, the Arctic tern, the blue whale, the caribou, the desert locust and the monarch butterfly.
  

• Seymour Simon, a prolific and extraordinary writer of science books, has three titles that should be in any collection about migration. They are:
• Ride the Wind: Airborne Journeys of Animals and Plants
• They Swim the Seas: The Mystery of Animal Migration
• They Walk the Earth: The Extraordinary Travels of Animals on Land

• Animals Migrating: How, When, Where and Why Animals Migrate by Etta Kaner - Realistic drawings accompanied by engaging text provide an introduction to migratory animals and the patterns they follow. Included here are Arctic terns, gray whales, lemmings, army ants and more.

• Home at Last: A Song of Migration by April Pulley Sayre - This book describes nine different animals and their migration patterns.
  

• Do Lobsters Leap Waterfalls? A Book About Animal Migration by Laura Purdie Salas - In question and answer format, this book looks at where migrating animals go when the weather changes.
  

• Being Caribou: Five Months on Foot with a Caribou Herd by Karsten Heuer - This book documents the trip of a wildlife biologist and his wife who travelled on foot with a herd of caribou across the tundra to the shores of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, where the calves were born.
  

• Hurry and the Monarch by Antoine Flatharta - A migrating butterfly meets a tortoise in Texas and teaches him about the Monarch's life cycle and long migration.
  

• Wings of Light: The Migration of the Yellow Butterfly by Stephen Swinburne - This book, complete with map, describes the one way trip some yellow butterflies make from the Yucatán rain forest to the northern states in the eastern United States.

• Moon of the Monarch Butterflies by Jean Craighead George - One of the books in the 13 moons series, this title describes a female Monarch butterfly’s solitary flight from Arkansas to Michigan as she lays the eggs that will hatch and repeat her life cycle.
  

• Marcelo, the Bat/Marcelo, el Murciélago by Laura Navarro Juan Sebastián - This bilingual storybook tells the story of Marcelo, a little bat who is confused about his family's winter migration from the U.S. to Mexico.

• Adelina's Whales by Richard Sobol - As gray whales migrate down the Pacific Coast to their winter home, many end up off the coast of Baja, California. This lovely photoessay follows Adelina and others in her small Baja fishing village as they see and hear the returning whales, first from the shore and then from small boats.
  

• Adventures of Riley--Survival of the Salmon by Amanda Lumry - Two adventurers, Riley and Alice, visit Southeast Alaska in order to solve a puzzling salmon migration mystery.

• The Magic School Bus Goes Upstream: A Book About Salmon Migration by Joanna Cole - Though I'm not particularly fond of the books written specifically for the television series, this one does a nice job of introducing salmon migration.

In this section you will find some outstanding resources for studying bird migration.

• Flute's Journey: The Life of a Wood Thrush by Lynne Cherry - In this fictional account, readers learn about the first year of a wood thrush's life, from its hatching in a forest in Maryland to its migration across the Gulf of Mexico to the Costa Rican rain forest and back again.
  

• How Do Birds Find Their Way? by Roma Gans - This entry in the Let's Read-and-Find-Out Science series describes what ornithologists know about migration patterns and presents some of their theories about how birds know when to fly and their different means of navigation.
  

• Red Knot: A Shorebird's Incredible Journey by Nancy Carol Willis - This amazing book follows the migration of a red knot shore bird as she makes her way north, beginning in Tierra del Fuego at the tip of South America, continuing through Brazil, along Delaware Bay and St. James Bay, and ending at the bird's arctic nesting grounds in Canada's Northwest Territories. A detailed map is included.
  

• Welcome, Brown Bird by Mary Lyn Ray - In this story, two boys living in different countries share a common desire to protect the small brown wood thrush that migrates between their homes each year.
  

• Flight of the Golden Plover: The Amazing Migration Between Hawaii and Alaska by Debbie S. Miller - Learn about the animals of Hawaii and Alaska as the transoceanic trek of the Pacific Golden Plover is described. This one is accompanied by beautiful, realistic watercolors.
  

• The Flight of the Snow Geese by Deborah King - This book follows a group of snow geese from their breeding grounds in the far north to New Mexico. The text is poetic and would make a terrific read aloud.
  

• The Far-Flung Adventures of Homer the Hummer by Cynthia Furlong Reynolds - This fictional account of the migration of a ruby-throated hummingbird describes Homer's flight from the Costa Rican cloud forest to the eastern United States.
  

Finally, here are some poems touching on the theme of migration to round out your study. I have included the first few lines of each, along with a reference to the book where you can find the poems in their entirety.

• Migration by Georgia Heard, in Creatures of Earth, Sea, and Sky.


In the winter, we say good-bye
to the feathered compasses in the sky.



• Canada Goose by Marilyn Singer, in Turtle in July.


Did I tell you?
I should tell you
Going home
We're going home
Are you coming?



• The Monarch Butterfly by Douglas Florian, in insectlopedia.


He is a monarch.
He is a king.
He flies great migrations.
Past nations he wings.