tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4577709968732242782024-02-21T11:35:33.591-07:00All-en-A-Day's WorkThoughts about teaching, learning, and life...Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.comBlogger303125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-90292436754050381222017-02-27T20:32:00.004-07:002017-02-27T20:32:58.983-07:00From My Stacks - Kathleen V. Kudlinski<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's something special about these two books. Perhaps it's the lyrical text by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/kathleen.kudlinski">Kathleen V. Kudlinski</a> or the beautiful illustrations by </span><a href="http://www.lindyburnett.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lindy Burnett</a><span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Perhaps it's the combination of both. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I read <u>The Sunset Switch</u>, I'm reminded of that wonderful time of day, when daytime ends and night begins. Kudlinski's love of biology and science is so clearly evident in the lyrical way she puts daytime animals asleep and nudges nighttime animals to life. It's a stunning text, written in second person. The words are paired perfectly with Ms. Burnett's amazing illustrations.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7kfCGO14JMTa3fK6nD1FThQGyR49WuWySESCawCQmGTb1PbFu4SAnbeQ1jXBPQRiPrLyPq9AnBg0mZexQF0jnFO8VVLsGhm4ixDdT7mxTZ8O49Jp-9pvPGtWwvqd1Ur8Avin_Uu4HButH/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-27+at+7.16.38+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7kfCGO14JMTa3fK6nD1FThQGyR49WuWySESCawCQmGTb1PbFu4SAnbeQ1jXBPQRiPrLyPq9AnBg0mZexQF0jnFO8VVLsGhm4ixDdT7mxTZ8O49Jp-9pvPGtWwvqd1Ur8Avin_Uu4HButH/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-27+at+7.16.38+PM.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I read <u>Seaside Switch</u>, I'm reminded of that subtle time between high-tide and low-tide. It's a beautifully crafted description of how the tide rolls in and out and a little boy's curiosity. It's written with such scientific detail, but with such innocence. It brings your senses alive. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigilaOjJB_H0rnnICXUWzMeSCnqnPUx5BvsDlTirzGMM9G-sMcrY3zdTSkOi8Hp6OXJdU88l5m6HDgXFKkB-xsnBHZenYCLQc92pWX0kELUqjwTi0Kmk8PHeuV1TBXQl-picXiOgym1g_-/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-27+at+7.16.16+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigilaOjJB_H0rnnICXUWzMeSCnqnPUx5BvsDlTirzGMM9G-sMcrY3zdTSkOi8Hp6OXJdU88l5m6HDgXFKkB-xsnBHZenYCLQc92pWX0kELUqjwTi0Kmk8PHeuV1TBXQl-picXiOgym1g_-/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-27+at+7.16.16+PM.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think Ms. Kudlinski is a perfect mentor for young writers. I've used this text to help learners write narrative nonfiction. Writers should learn to write from different perspectives. Writers should learn to write narrative nonfiction. Writers should learn to write from their own experiences. Writers should write in order to strengthen their understanding. Writers should write with beauty. Writers should write from their observations of the world. If young writers read these two books, they can see how Ms. Kudlinski does exactly that... write what you know and do it with gracefulness and purpose.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #6fa8dc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Searching my stacks for great mentors makes me happy. There's so much that these two texts have to offer... you should check them out if you haven't. I hope there'll be another addition to this wonderful duet of beautiful texts. They evoke clear sensory images. They are something special. </span></div>
Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-55623867173006585322017-02-23T21:44:00.000-07:002017-02-23T21:44:11.880-07:00Becoming Word Wonderers - A Guest Blogger<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>This week, I asked my dear friend and colleague, Lori Conrad, to share some of her thinking with us about her work with learners. In this post, she focuses on "word work." My students call her "The Word Lady." She is, indeed, a word lady. Lori and I have known each other since college days and she is one of my most trusted friends. And, I have to say, one of the smartest people I know. I love her stance on becoming "word wonderers"!</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Enjoy Lori's words...</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>• • • • • </i></span></div>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Becoming Word Wonderers </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">by Lori L. Conrad </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyA1aUHcGdIo4bndYq9x_d3Sq-IzmwG0BRe1m32dqw3aS7_sZnAmYsG5kqOR29iBWEJHwlO9bdm8qDhDNZWBfkVd0lMzQxPpRTKFOPIMnYYZes2URD34XaRaafCBV34pMHE6swuwn7c-rE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-23+at+9.05.49+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyA1aUHcGdIo4bndYq9x_d3Sq-IzmwG0BRe1m32dqw3aS7_sZnAmYsG5kqOR29iBWEJHwlO9bdm8qDhDNZWBfkVd0lMzQxPpRTKFOPIMnYYZes2URD34XaRaafCBV34pMHE6swuwn7c-rE/s640/Screen+Shot+2017-02-23+at+9.05.49+PM.png" width="355" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">“I underlined Triforium and Trifoolery.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I underlined those, too, and Schlockenspiel.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And what about festooned? Did you guys mark that one?” </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“I didn’t because I’m guessing it has something to do with a festival. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At least we know it is a verb, right?” </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Yeah, and did you guys read the caption? </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What the heck does polyphonoptic mean?” </span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This was just a bit of the early conversation four self-professed
‘word wonderers’ shared as they poured over a
newspaper clipping entitled “After 40 Years, L.A.’s Triforium
Makes a Comeback” (A.P., 2/12/2017). As their inquiry
progressed, the foursome decided that:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">triforium</span></i><span style="color: #45818e;"> must mean some sort of three-pointed (</span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">tri</span></i><span style="color: #45818e;">)
place where music was performed (</span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">form</span></i><span style="color: #45818e;"> like in
perform and</span><span style="color: #134f5c;"> <i>ium</i> l</span><span style="color: #45818e;">ike </span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">auditorium</span></i><span style="color: #45818e;"> or </span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">gymnasium</span></i><span style="color: #45818e;">)</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">polyphonoptic</span></i><span style="color: #45818e;"> must mean many (</span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">poly</span></i><span style="color: #45818e;">) sights (</span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">optic</span></i><span style="color: #45818e;">)
and sounds (</span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">phono</span></i><span style="color: #45818e;">) </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #45818e;">and, they weren’t too sure about </span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">schlockenspiel</span></i><span style="color: #45818e;">
other than it must have something to do with
making music (like a </span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">glockenspiel</span></i><span style="color: #45818e;">) and it wasn’t a
nice thing to be called!</span></span></li>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now, this sort of talk about words doesn’t just happen. </span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">These four boys learned how to think their way through dicey vocabulary by engaging in regular,
inquiry-based word study. In his book, Word Savvy, Max Brand says that word study:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> “has become an umbrella term used to describe teaching practices </span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> related to
word knowledge. Teaching this knowledge supports students </span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> as they develop
fluency and understanding in their reading, as well as</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> their ability to craft
thoughtful writing. An effective word study system</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> helps students develop an
understanding of orthography, vocabulary, </span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> word recognition, and decoding
strategies.” </span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">For me, word study has become an instructional framework that supports learners as they become
both <b><i>word curious </i></b>and <b><i>word conscious</i></b>. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">And in this classroom filled with 26 word wonderers, word study means that 4 days a week, the entire
class spends a 40-minute workshop exploring word meanings, word parts, spelling patterns,
letter/sound relationships, and strategies to figure out unknown words. Together, their teacher and I
launch the 40 minutes by offering a precise bit of information or insight about a specific language feature or word set. We then send the wonderers off to explore and develop hypotheses. The
workshop ends when we all circle-up to reflect on what we’ve discovered, including conclusions about
how our daily reading and writing should reflect these new insights and discoveries. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The work time, the largest and undoubtedly most important part of each word study workshop, has
included tasks like:</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">word and sentence searches – using wonderers’ own reading stacks and draft writing as
resources for extending and exemplifying the particular study</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">word sorts – puzzling through lists of words looking for some unifying attribute and then
grouping/categorizing those words to create generalizations</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">editing/proofreading ongoing draft writing</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“explain a spelling” (adapted from Sandra Wilde) – encouraging wonderers to talk about their
thinking regarding specific spelling decisions they made while drafting, sorting words, etc.</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">have-a-go – selecting misspelled words or ‘clunky’ sentences and then trying two or three
different options... settling on a final edition that makes better sense</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and developing visual representations – like web, wheels and grids – for spelling patterns,
sentence patterns and grammar generalizations </span></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So far this year, the content of these workshops have included topics like the various meanings of the
suffix ‘er’ (both as a comparative and as a way to change a verb into a noun) and when to use ‘er’ or
‘or’ (have you ever noticed that there isn’t a hard-and-fast rule for this?!), how readers use parts of
multi-syllabic words to infer meaning, how phrases (like dependent and independent) might be
punctuated, and ways writers expand their lexicon by building on the phrase: ‘If I can read/spell
_______, then I can also read/spell _______. The year-long ‘scope of word work’ is certainly bounded
by grade-level standards, but it is more importantly informed by what the students themselves need... and what sparks their word wonderment. </span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our word study workshop has helped grow learners, like the four boys who figured out that calling
something a schlockenspiel isn’t nice, into readers/writers/thinkers who are fascinated by language,
are intrigued by the many ways letters and sounds link up to make meaning, and are unfazed by the
sometimes crazy ways English spelling and grammar show up on the pages of their favorite books and
in their very own stories, articles and poems.</span></div>
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Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-39374950603321649212017-02-11T16:02:00.000-07:002017-02-11T18:36:22.159-07:00Rereading Our Own Notebooks - Building Fodder <span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've been spending some time rereading my old reader's and writer's notebooks lately. Looking through my notes for snippets of brilliance from other readers and writers. Looking through my notes for snippets of brilliance from the young readers and writers I work with every day. Looking through my notes for snippets of brilliance that made their way onto the pages as random thoughts or ideas. Looking through my notes for snippets of brilliance from my own notebook entries (or just intriguing snippets).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Currently, my students and I are taking an explicit look at "Determining What's </span><b style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Most</b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Important in Text." Encouraging students to make decisions about what's moving them through a piece of text with clarity and understanding is an important cognitive behavior; nudging them to latch on to important ideas, themes, content. We're in the midst of taking what comes "naturally" and trying to notice and define the role that "being intentional" has on meaning making. We're focusing on the word </span><b style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">most</b><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, because it's this discernment that is critical to making the most sense out of text.</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I plan a strategy study (comprehension/thinking strategy), I often revisit prior attempts at learning and my teaching. I look at charts of our thinking from previous years. I look at student work that I've collected over the years. I look into my own notebooks for fodder. If I want to empower learners, I have to know how it's gone in the past. Perhaps this is why my at-home library is chockablock full!</span><br />
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today as I was reading my notebook from 2013-14, I ran across an artifact from Avery that she handed me in February 2014. She brought me a copy of the beginning of chapter 19 of <u>Almost Home</u> by Joan Bauer:</span><br />
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>19</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>LAST NIGHT WHEN I didn't sleep, I wrote this:</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>When somebody important says your important, </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>You'd better believe it.</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>Even when everything around you says you're not.</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>You'd better hold on to it.</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>You'd better write it across your heart</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>So you don't forget. </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>Bad words come at us easy, </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>But good words are hard to hold.</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>You've got to do the work to keep them safe. </b></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>Put them in a box, </b></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>Put the lid on, </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>And if you don't have a box, </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><b>Anything will do.</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When she handed this passage to me she said, "Mr. Allen, this is what determining what's important really is... we have to keep our words safe!" And, Avery's right. Keeping our words "safe" is an important part of becoming a reader and writer (I immediately pasted the passage into my notebook and jotted down what she said).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I love when students find snippets in their own reading that supports our current thinking strategy investigation. When they make the connection between a thinking behavior and an excerpt of text, it's mind-boggling! And, because I have evidence archived in my notebooks, I can now bring it out and share Avery's words with my class this year. It's our past that often steps forward to support our current thinking. We can stand on the shoulders of greatness by taking time to reflect upon and use past successes. I can stand on Avery's shoulders.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My students and I talk often about making our reading experiences "memorable" and taking opportunities "extending meaning." In fact, I write about this in my book, </span><u style="color: #45818e; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop</u><span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. These are two goals we discuss at the beginning of each school year. I have four goals for my students (to remember, to understand, to extend meaning, and to make reading experiences memorable). We focus on making our reading experiences important enough to share and find bits of text important enough to remember. Avery understood that.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #45818e; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It behooves us to encourage young readers to fall in love with words. To keep them safe... in a notebook, in their heart, in a box... anywhere! If we listen to students in new ways, in careful ways, in sincere ways... they might just surprise us. They might just bring us a sticky note, a spattering of text, or an idea that brings clarity to OUR reading life or our teaching. We just have to remember to tuck it away and revisit it. Snippets of brilliance are too important to let slip into the recycling bin... we have to let them "re-cycle" in our teaching and learning life!</span><br />
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" 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Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-6325315198384016722017-01-25T21:22:00.002-07:002017-02-11T18:39:27.001-07:00Picking Up Three - From My Stacks<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We're in our second week of taking a look at "Determining What's Most Important" as our thinking strategy of deep study. As readers, we've been having the most interesting discussions.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'm challenging learners to think about two guiding questions:</span><br />
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<li><i style="color: #674ea7; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How does <u>purpose</u> affect the ways I determine what's <u style="font-weight: bold;">most</u> important?</i></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>What are the <u>specific</u> decisions I make as I determine what's <u style="font-weight: bold;">most</u> important?</i></span></li>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Together, we're delving into our learning with these two questions as our guide. The beauty of posing questions like these is that the questions that readers are pondering personally are more intriguing, engaging, and purposeful than the two I proposed we study. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Several readers are trying to think through how adding new words to their <u>lexical</u> system adds meaning to their reading and understanding. Several readers are thinking through how their notebooks serve as a place to record their noticings about how determining importance affects their understanding. Several students have been chatting about how knowledge of a specific author helps determining importance work more effectively. Several readers are just grappling with the idea of stopping to ponder instead of barging through text (without disrupting meaning, of course). It's been a grand two weeks. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've chosen the following three texts to use as "shared think alouds" as we continue on our journey. Choosing texts that help define and redefine a strategy in the minds of young readers is one of my favorite parts of planning.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Flight of the Honey Bee</u> by Raymond Huber</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This book lends itself to <i>determining what's most important</i> for so many reasons. The introduction alone leads to a grand discussion of how choosing just the right words can convey meaning with clarity. I love the narrative interspersed with "bee" facts. And, the "Save the Bees!" closing is perfect. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I'll share part of this book with my students and then turn the text over to them so that they can devour it as individuals or in pairs. I'm sure the room with hum with comments like "I think this is important, because..." or "This sentence carries a lot of weight, because..." </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2t8cnGh5jZzsXAoCY-UV2JViWOzx9vjWDoJ8dVntF52XoElLIVrC0cFvwT0PC1vOq5HhXEunVjVXsfaMdSILEqb4RBV3Jw-7cufdaUkYg99b4T4WMoxO782KpzOen0A90N7VMcOLwAcY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-01-25+at+7.31.31+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK2t8cnGh5jZzsXAoCY-UV2JViWOzx9vjWDoJ8dVntF52XoElLIVrC0cFvwT0PC1vOq5HhXEunVjVXsfaMdSILEqb4RBV3Jw-7cufdaUkYg99b4T4WMoxO782KpzOen0A90N7VMcOLwAcY/s200/Screen+Shot+2017-01-25+at+7.31.31+PM.png" width="181" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Never Smile at a Monkey</u> by Steve Jenkins</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who doesn't love to be scared out of their wits by things in nature? The short pieces in this book are frightening, yet intriguing. To <i>determine what's most important</i>, readers have to pay close attention to the details on each page and find the essence of each short snippet of text. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I see coupling each page with the nonfiction pieces in the back of the book. Great talking points for readers about what's important and why. And, these short snippets serve as provocative mentor text for writers as well. I see us talking in pairs about a specific animal in the text and chatting about "What's most important... and why... and how do you know?" </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTT_RhwaJwmWRPHJyfDb9RQWxVdWqvAHsHB0hp8fjAn8RaCHcbs-MPZR_R6CdmEVyN5TnaanjOYCZPmnDIzYW1_SC6kOYg796FpYOGtwiKIaFrRCA4RhkYW5arzN81qzmiuF_yr0Q8B64A/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-01-25+at+7.32.16+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTT_RhwaJwmWRPHJyfDb9RQWxVdWqvAHsHB0hp8fjAn8RaCHcbs-MPZR_R6CdmEVyN5TnaanjOYCZPmnDIzYW1_SC6kOYg796FpYOGtwiKIaFrRCA4RhkYW5arzN81qzmiuF_yr0Q8B64A/s200/Screen+Shot+2017-01-25+at+7.32.16+PM.png" width="198" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>Passing the Music Down</u> by Sarah Sullivan</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I love this book. Listen to the first lines... "Come August, with corn strutting high in the fields and tomatoes plumping out on the vine folks get to talking about tuning up and heading over twisty mountain roads to hear fiddle players and banjo pickers make music under the stars." </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Because it's inspired by two musicians, the author's note will help lead our discussion through somewhat unknown music territory. This text might lead to a conversation about how our schema is related to <i>determining what's most important</i> and how we sometimes have to build it at the same time we're applying a new strategy.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I love couching our thinking in both narrative and nonfiction text (and poetry) as we student </span><i style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">determining what's most important</i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. If we truly believe that these thinking/comprehension behaviors are what wise readers do to make sense of text, we have to offer students a chance to think in a wide variety of text. These three texts (and others) will be used during the crafting portion of of reader's workshop sometime in the next week or so... and I'll offer them to students to read during their composing (independent) time. It's always my goal to give learners a flavor of what's possible and then let them have a go. As my colleague says, "Just offer them a little hook and let them go swimming in the bigger pond with support."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So... until next month, here's your homework. Choose three books from your stacks. Think about these ideas as you read (this may sound familiar):</span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How might this text fit into my current strategy study? If it doesn't how else might I use it?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If I were planning a study of <i>determining what's most important</i> what might I need to investigate further?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Who might I run ideas by as I plan my next study? Who will give me the energy to follow through? </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What ten texts might I use with my students as readers, writers, mathematicians, or scientists that would build the essence of this "important" thinking strategy?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #674ea7; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What language might I use in my crafting that bests focuses the learners in my care on their own use of the strategy of study?</span></li>
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Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-41043281151329827232017-01-21T16:39:00.002-07:002017-02-11T18:38:13.542-07:00A Rose, Is a Rose, Is a Public School Teacher<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: left;"><b>"What’s in a name? That which we call a rose</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>by any other name would smell as sweet.”</b></span></div>
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<span class="eg" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I've been thinking a lot about names lately. Perhaps it's because we've been chatting with our daughter </span></span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">and son-in-law a lot about baby names, listening to them make decisions as they contemplate their baby boy's name, our first grandchild's name (can't wait until April). A baby's name is important, it labels his identity from that first cry when he leaves the womb and is placed in his mother's arms or when the adoption agency hands a new dad his daughter for the first time... </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">"Hush, little Baby, don't say a word!" </i><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">But a name doesn't </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><b>develop </b></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">the child's identity. What develops the child's identity is the way he or she is treated, nurtured, loved, honored, nourished, cared for, respected!</span><span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"></span><br />
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<span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">In "Romeo and Juliet" Juliet argues that a name is just a name, but rather it's what lies beneath that name that's most important. And we all know when Juliet says, "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet" she's just stating that she should be able to love who she chooses to love, despite his name. Gertrude Stein's most famous quote is, "A rose, is a rose, is a rose." In her staccato style, she used the phrase many times in her poetry (first in "Sacred Emily" in 1913) and she once said, "I'm no fool. I know we can't go around saying 'A ... is a... is a...' and yet she used the phrase often (maybe she just liked the way it rolled off the tongue or her pen). But Stein and Shakespeare probably pondered those words carefully before they appeared in their writing. They probably read the words over and over. And, so we name a rose a rose.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I was looking at the name of my blog this week "All-en-a-Day's Work." A simple play on words that my son used on his projects when he was little and that I "borrowed" when I created this spot for me to share my ponderings. When I looked up the meaning of "all in a day's work," I discovered it meant, "If something is difficult, unpleasant, or strange... it is considered to be 'all in a day's work," a usual part of the job." But my blog isn't just a mundane, routine, or unpleasant part of my teaching life. Certainly my entries can be sporadic, but it's an important place for me to contemplate my beliefs, my discoveries, my wonderings, my ideas. It's a place for me to share a little of myself with whomever reads it, for whatever it's worth. It's one place for me to give the thoughts in my head an identity. It gives them a chance to develop.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I've been a public school teacher for 31 years. I love my job. I've said it before, I fell into my career when my wife gave me a copy of <u>Writers: Teachers and Children at Work</u> by Donald Graves. That book changed my career path and changed my life. I became a teacher because of little things that nudged me into my vocation. The signs were all there and I believe it was God's plan for me to teach; the one who lead me to the public schools. I take the name "public school teacher" seriously, just as I would if I taught in another setting (and we're so lucky to already have that choice). It's more than just being called "teacher" for me, I am proud to add "public" to my name! </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">My identity is not developed by working within "an education system flush with cash, but which leaves our young and beautiful students deprived of all knowledge." My Identity is not developed by spending my days in "an entry level position." My identity is not developed by what Graves calls in <u>The Energy to Teach,</u> "pundits who have never taught." My identity is developed by passion - for learners and learning. </span></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I love my career - with it's ups and downs, changes, mandates, and other "stuff". But I try to focus on the joys, the celebrations, the exciting challenges. </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">There's nothing better than spending the day with children, except perhaps continuing to learn myself. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I've developed my passion as a public school teacher by looking into the eyes of 25-30 kids each day. I've developed my passion through hours of professional development, hours of reading, hours of watching others teach. </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"> I've developed my passion by writing and sharing my thinking with others. I've developed my passion by being the father of four wonderful children who have all attended public school. I've developed by passion by being married to another teacher. I've developed my passion by surrounding myself with colleagues and friends who care just as much about education as I do. I've developed my passion by spending thousands of dollars on children's literature and professional literature that helps hone my craft. I've developed my passion by talking to and learning from Stenhouse and Heinemann authors. I've developed my passion by attending and presenting at conferences, working in schools across the country and in Canada, and spending countless hours talking about education on the telephone with grand friends. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">I've developed my passion as a public school teacher, because I have witnessed exciting, wise pedagogical changes in 31 short years (which is far less that the 150 years that we've recently been told there have been no changes). And, I continue to teach because passion can't be easily extinguished. After all, I am a teacher for goodness sake.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Names are important. I'm sure my children would agree. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Once you choose it, it goes public. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">And then you can help develop the identity of what you've named.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span class="eg" style="-webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased; box-sizing: border-box;" title="Example"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="color: red;"><b>That which we call <i>Public School Teacher.</i> </b></span></span></span></span></div>
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Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-10528837762565702162016-12-06T23:13:00.001-07:002017-02-11T18:39:11.125-07:00Picking Up Three - From My Stacks<div>
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I've decided to write one post each month to think through and share texts that I have in my stacks. I have lots of "gems" and sometimes it's helpful to hunker down on the library floor to revisit and "re-vision" how I might use the great pieces of text I've collected. Many texts are old favorites just waiting to be shared in a think aloud or shared together to nudge our conversations as readers. Many texts are forgotten books that I discovered along the way, but never got around to using. Many texts were added to my collection for a specific purpose, but never quite made it into a crafting lesson. </span></div>
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One of the questions I'm often asked is "What text should I use to teach ____?"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Here's my answer... choose text that you love! That's the easy part. But sometimes that's just not enough. As we plan a strategy study, no matter the thinking behavior we're delving into with our students, text choice is critical. If we truly believe that "thinking strategies" can and should be applied across genre, across experiences, and across a study, we have to be wise in our decision making as teachers. </span><i><span style="color: #0b5394;">What texts lend themselves to the thinking that I'm hoping my young readers will store in their strategy wheelhouse?</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If we want our young readers to infer, to synthesize, to activate their schema, etc. we have to be selective as we plan instruction... and then we build a classroom library rich in the kinds of text we're hoping our students will read!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Here's my plan. I've pulled three books out of my collection. I'll give a brief synopsis of the text and then share <b><i><u>one</u></i></b> way we <u><i>might</i></u> use the text as readers during the crafting portion of reader's workshop; focusing on a specific thinking strategy (although each text lends itself to more than one strategy). My hope is that you'll begin to search your own collections for that "just right" book to use as you craft* a strategy with your readers during reader's workshop.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My friend and colleague, Susan Logan, gave me <u>When Everybody Wore a Hat</u> by William Steig when she brought a group of visitors to my classroom a few years ago. It is an autobiographical sketch of William Steig's childhood in which he invites us into his eight-year-old world... in 1916 when "everybody wore a hat."</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Strategy Focus: <b>Drawing Inferences</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">When you read this text, you can't help but infer. Readers infer when they create personal meaning from the text by gleaning insight and interpretations. William Steig's simplicity in thought nudges us to "step into his life" as a young boy growing up in the 1900s. His is a very unique point of view. I might use this book as a shared text with my students. Together, we might work together to draw conclusions and build our schema as we "think through" text together. This might happen fairly early in a study when I'm nudging learners to speculate, think about questions that lead to an inference, or gather clues from the text. Together, we might explore a portion of this book to gain insight into our own process of "coming to know" how wise readers infer. </span><i><span style="color: #274e13;">Remember, inferring helps readers deepen their understanding beyond the text and lends itself to broad, personalized experiences.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I bought this book for two reasons: Jean Craighead George and Wendell Minor. I love when the two of them were able to collaborate. <u>The Buffalo Are Back</u> is one of their collaborations; one example of their stunning work. Together, they tell the story of the demise and return of the buffalo (including Theodore Roosevelt's role in the process) to the great plains. The text is broken into short sections, each dealing with a specific aspect of the American Buffalo in the west. I love Wendall's dedication, "To Jean, in celebration of her fifty years of writing wonderful books that teach children the wonders of nature." </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Strategy Focus: <b>Asking Questions</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">This text can be used encourage authentic questioning. As readers, we spend time asking questions before, during, and after reading. Because this text is full of such rich language, readers can generate questions at the word, sentence, and whole text level. I might use short sections of this text throughout a study of "asking questions" and "lift" certain passages for students to grapple with independently (later in a study). I might also use portions of it as a think aloud early on in a study of questioning. This book ties well into a study of ecosystems or western history and is "question rich" text. </span><i><span style="color: #274e13;">Remember, asking questions helps readers pose possibilities to stretch their own thinking as they develop and explore their wonderings as readers.</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I admit it. I bought this book on the bargain shelf at The Boulder Bookstore. It just makes me laugh (Jennifer Larue Huget has also written herself into a great mentorship with students as writers). This book explores the "what if" aspect of running away from home... and what child hasn't threatened that at least once in his or her childhood. It's funny. It's a book that nudges readers to contemplate, wonder about, and explore the benefits and consequences of "running away." </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Strategy Focus: <b>Activating, Utilizing, & Building Background Knowledge </b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Wise readers have to learn to activate their schema - blending their background knowledge and background experiences. I would use this book near the beginning of a study as either a think aloud or a shared experience. As readers, knowing that differences in text structure affect our understanding, we often use our schema to make sense of text. This text lends itself to the idea of activating schema before, during, and after reading. Using schema nudges readers to pay attention to purpose and to acknowledge when their background is either helping or hindering their understanding. I think using this book to nudge collaborative thinking during a crafting session would be perfect; I picture lots of "turn and talk" as we explore the text. </span><i><span style="color: #274e13;"> Remember, activating, utilizing, and building background knowledge and experience is more than "connecting" to the text; it's about using what you know to better understand what you don't know. </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>• • •</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So... until next month, here's your homework. Choose three books from your stacks. Think about these things as you read:</span></div>
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<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Does this text fit into my current strategy study? If not, what strategy might I use it with later?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As I read this text, what thinking strategy to I find MYSELF using? How am I being metacognitive? How might I use it with students?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Is this a book that I want to use for crafting or do I just want to "talk it up" and get it into the hands of children?</span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a reader, do I find this text compelling? Is sharing it worthy of my time or my students's intellect? </span></li>
<li><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How might this mentor author fit into another content... writing, mathematics, social studies, etc.? </span></li>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">*<b>Craft</b>, to me, is the mini-lesson during reader's workshop. That's the perspective I'm writing from as I share these texts. </span></div>
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Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-67583825665265027742016-11-30T22:00:00.000-07:002017-02-11T18:40:17.144-07:00Literacy - A Right <div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><i><b>"Literacy is inseparable from opportunity, </b></i></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><i>and opportunity is inseparable from freedom. </i></span></b></div>
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<b><i style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">The freedom promised by literacy is </i></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><i>both freedom from - from ignorance, oppression, poverty - </i></span><i style="color: #b45f06; font-family: "Courier New", Courier, monospace;">and freedom to - to do new things, to make choices, to learn." </i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This quote by Koichira Matsuura is my new favorite quote. It's been rumbling through my heart and head since I ran across it a few weeks ago. It's one of those finds that causes a person (a reader and writer) to ponder... his own literacy experiences, the experiences of those with whom he works, and, even, those whom he'll never meet. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Somewhere, Twitter perhaps, I heard (read?) this statement "I'm not sure literacy is a human right." That statement, coupled with Matsuura's words, has nudged me to think. Is literacy a human right? I'd say yes. It's not only a human right, it's an obligation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Marsha Ellis says, "I believe that literacy is a right of the people and an obligation of society
to create ways to educate its citizens. The government has an obligation to the
people that it serves to implement ways to provide an </span><span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">education for all</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">. The Declaration of Independence states that, 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal,
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness'." And literacy is part of that life, that freedom, that joy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So what's our role as educators in this obligation? I think it's about nudging young learners to become the kinds of "literate" people that understand their right... to become. And, we've got to do it authentically, purposefully, and sincerely. We've got to help young learners - no matter who they are or where they landed physically - to be the kinds of readers, writers, and thinkers that realize that their words matter, their thoughts matter, their lives matter. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We owe it to our young public learning each day in public school.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Katherine Paterson so eloquently reminds us, "</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is not enough to simply teach children to read; we have to give them something worth reading. Something that will stretch their imaginations-something that will help them make sense of their own lives and encourage them to reach out toward people whose lives are quite different from their own." So, in our work to nudge the <i>human right of literacy </i>with children, we better take her words seriously.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A visitor to my classroom recently asked me, "How do you get them to talk to each other that way?" My answer... by being a reader myself. I don't believe that we teach children to read with a stopwatch in our hand. I don't believe that we teach children to read with a packaged program. I don't believe that we teach children to read by giving them worksheets. I don't believe that we teach children to read by "paying others" to gather materials. I don't believe that we teach children to read in a lock-step "this first, then that" manner.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If we want learners to become life-long, literate human beings we put the best books in front of them. We release responsibility with grace and support. We build trust. We strengthen relationships. We create huge blocks of time. We offer up ownership. We give them a notebook to record their ideas and thoughts. We demonstrate our own grapplings and successes as literate human beings. We talk to them with precise, strategy-rich vocabulary. We confer. We listen to them as they make sense of text and of their world. We remember that the language arts include... reading, writing, speaking, and LISTENING. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Each day when my students come into the classroom, we have music playing (their chance to gather up and gather in). As I listened to the words of our gathering song this morning, I was struck by the gift I've been given. I get to spend my days "in the company of children." (J. Hindley)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I understand that I have a huge obligation to the children in my care. I can't take it lightly. It's their right. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f38QoyaFkOY"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">Take a listen...</span></a></span></div>
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Name="Body Text 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Body Text Indent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Block Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Hyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="FollowedHyperlink"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="22" QFormat="true" Name="Strong"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="20" QFormat="true" Name="Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Document Map"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Plain Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="E-mail Signature"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Top of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Bottom of Form"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal (Web)"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Acronym"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Address"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Cite"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Code"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Definition"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Keyboard"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Preformatted"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Sample"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Typewriter"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="HTML Variable"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Normal Table"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="annotation subject"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="No List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Outline List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Simple 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Classic 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Colorful 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Columns 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Grid 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table List 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table 3D effects 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Contemporary"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Elegant"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Professional"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Subtle 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Web 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Balloon Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" Name="Table Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Table Theme"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 7"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 8"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" UnhideWhenUsed="true"
Name="Note Level 9"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Placeholder Text"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="1" QFormat="true" Name="No Spacing"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" SemiHidden="true" Name="Revision"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="34" QFormat="true"
Name="List Paragraph"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="29" QFormat="true" Name="Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="30" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Quote"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="60" Name="Light Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="61" Name="Light List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="62" Name="Light Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="63" Name="Medium Shading 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="64" Name="Medium Shading 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="65" Name="Medium List 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="66" Name="Medium List 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="67" Name="Medium Grid 1 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="68" Name="Medium Grid 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="69" Name="Medium Grid 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="70" Name="Dark List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="71" Name="Colorful Shading Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="72" Name="Colorful List Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="73" Name="Colorful Grid Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="19" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="21" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Emphasis"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="31" QFormat="true"
Name="Subtle Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="32" QFormat="true"
Name="Intense Reference"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="33" QFormat="true" Name="Book Title"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="37" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" Name="Bibliography"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="39" SemiHidden="true"
UnhideWhenUsed="true" QFormat="true" Name="TOC Heading"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="41" Name="Plain Table 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="42" Name="Plain Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="43" Name="Plain Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="44" Name="Plain Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="45" Name="Plain Table 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="40" Name="Grid Table Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="Grid Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="Grid Table 1 Light Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="Grid Table 2 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="Grid Table 3 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="Grid Table 4 Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="Grid Table 5 Dark Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="Grid Table 6 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="Grid Table 7 Colorful Accent 6"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46" Name="List Table 1 Light"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51" Name="List Table 6 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52" Name="List Table 7 Colorful"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 1"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 2"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 3"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="48" Name="List Table 3 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="49" Name="List Table 4 Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="50" Name="List Table 5 Dark Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="51"
Name="List Table 6 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="52"
Name="List Table 7 Colorful Accent 4"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="46"
Name="List Table 1 Light Accent 5"/>
<w:LsdException Locked="false" Priority="47" Name="List Table 2 Accent 5"/>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">I was lucky enough to read a
copy of Barbara O’Connor’s latest book </span><a href="http://us.macmillan.com/wish/barbaraoconnor" style="color: #262626; text-decoration: underline;">Wish</a><span style="color: #262626;"> (out November 2016) last week. What a wonderful surprise to open the mailbox and find an advanced reader copy. </span><u style="color: #262626;">Wish</u><span style="color: #262626;"> is the kind of read I was hoping it would be! </span><u style="color: #262626;">Wish</u><span style="color: #262626;"> is the kind of book I was hoping my friend would write. </span><u style="color: #262626;">Wish</u><span style="color: #262626;"> is the kind of book I can't wait to get into the hands of readers.</span><span style="color: #262626;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #262626;">I</span><span style="color: #262626;">f, like me, you are a Barbara O'Connor fan, you know Barbara's writing well. You know that she invites a reader to live out a character's life through his or her story. You know that she introduces supporting characters filled with angst and humor. You know that she creates a setting full of allure and intrigue. You know that she sprinkles her words with southern charm. You know that she writes with a rhythm and simplicity that makes you stop in your tracks to ponder. You know that her books leave a reader changed.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I think is was Socrates who said, “Be as you wish to seem.” And, that's what I love about Barbara, she is what she seems. She is a writer's writer. </span></div>
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<u style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wish</u><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> is about Charlie, a girl with a special "wish" that she's been making every day since fourth grade (in the most unique ways). Due to situations at home, Charlie is sent to live with her Aunt Bertha and Uncle Gus in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina where day after day she continues making her "wish," hoping it will come true. She befriends a boy named Howard Odom (and his family*) and as their relationship unfolds, they develop a special bond. Charlie's heart melts when she discovers a stray dog she names Wishbone. As </span><u style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wish</u><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> continues, Charlie learns the true meaning of family, friendship, and love.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In anticipation of </span><u style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wish</u><span style="color: #262626; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">'s release, Barbara and I had a conversation about her new book and her writing in general. Here's a snippet of our conversation... </span></div>
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<span class=""><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Me: What was your inspiration for writing <u>Wish</u> (without giving too much away)? It seems like you dug deeply into some familial issues that seem all to familiar to many young (and old) people.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Barbara: </span><span style="color: #38761d;"><i> I was conducting a biography writing workshop with fifth graders in a school in Massachusetts. The students interviewed a family member and used those answers to write creative nonfiction (a short biography). One of the questions on the interview sheet was: What were your favorite interests or hobbies as a child?</i></span></span></div>
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<i style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A boy in the class had interviewed his grandmother and she answered that question: soccer, ballet and fighting. Obviously, that struck me as quite interesting and stayed with me for a long time.</i></div>
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<i style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So when I got ready to write Charlie’s story, I knew I wanted to start with her filling out a “Getting to Know You” paper for her teacher and listing those three things as her favorite activities. The rest of the story unfolded from there.</i></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>As for familial issues, I’ll spare you the details of my youth and save them for my therapist, but I'll quote the author Joan Bauer, who said: "The great thing about having a dysfunctional childhood is that it never stops giving.”</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Barbara: </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> <i>It’s kind of hard to describe my process with characters other than to say I spend a lot of time with them in my head before I start writing, so that I know them through and through. Dialogue is a biggie for me - the way I really get to know characters and then present them to the reader. I try to stay so focused on the character that when the dialogue doesn’t ring true, I know it immediately.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><i>I have a harder time with their physical appearance. I don’t always SEE the character initially. But I definitely HEAR the character. So I have to make more of a conscious effort to figure that out and then describe the appearance of a character.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span class="">Me: There's southern charm in your words. The smells, the sounds, the thoughts... the sensory images you create for your readers are so strong. What tools or strategies do you use as a writer to create strong images? </span> </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Barbara: </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>This will probably sound a little hippie-dippie, but I try to get into a sort of zen-like state when I write and then immerse myself in the setting. Having grown up in the South, I have many memories to draw on. I try to dredge up those memories when I write and those memories are often sensory. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Ironically, I have no sense of smell! A little trivia for you. Ha haI But I know that smells are important so I always try to include them. I rely on trusted readers/critique partners to ensure that I’ve gotten the smells correct.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="">Me: What are you hoping your readers will discover about themselves as they read Wish? What did you discover about yourself as you were writing?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Barbara: </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I don’t know if I’d call it a discovery…but rather a reminder: that sometimes what we wish for is right there in front of us all the time….but we are often too busy wishing to notice. Does that make sense? The old adage, “Be careful what you wish for” also comes into play. The main character of WISH, Charlie, was so busy wishing for something she didn’t have, that she didn’t notice all the good things she DID have. And…if she had actually gotten what she THOUGHT she wanted, things wouldn’t have turned out so well for her.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>And another old adage comes to mind: Take time to smell the roses.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>First and foremost, I would say, “DON’T be afraid.” I always tell kids to never be afraid to write something that they think isn’t very good. Because they can always fix it. But you can’t fix what you haven’t written. To me, a page full of not-so-great writing is way less daunting than a blank page.</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Secondly, I like to remind young writers that each of them is an individual with a unique style and voice. I could give a whole room full of writers the same storyline, but the end result would be different for each one. So I always encourage young writers to embrace their own personalities which come through as style and voice in their writing. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="">Me: One of my favorite lines from <u>Wish</u> is, "Maybe the Odoms' hearts were so good that they didn't care that they lived in such a sad-looking house." As you reread Wish, what are two or three of your favorite lines?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Barbara:</span><i><span style="color: #38761d;"> Some of my favorite lines are: </span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;">“There she was over there on the other side of the table thinking I was an angel, and here I was on my side feeling about as far from an angel as anybody could be."</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;">“Then Jackie came outside looking like Miss America, and I thought Burl was going to faint right there in the red dirt.”</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;">“That night in bed, I laid on top of the cool sheets with Wishbone’s soft, warm body next to me. I thought about my broken family back in Raleigh and wondered if they were thinking about me, a ray of sunshine at the end of a long, sorry day.”</span></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And I can't resist just this one more: </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“But Bertha said, ‘You know, sometimes when you’ve had a bad day, eating grits makes you feel better.’”</span></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="" style="white-space: pre;">Me: </span><span class="">You know my fourth graders are going to love hearing Wish and are going to devour it on their own. What would you tell a group of fourth graders about this book?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Barbara:</span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span></i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I’d tell them, “For Pete’s sake, read the dang thang.” LOL</i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Barbara:</span><i style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span></i></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;">I wish for my family and friends to stay healthy and happy.</span></i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;">I wish for readers to enjoy my books and be inspired to write their own.</span></i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;">I wish cheesecake didn’t have so many calories.</span></i></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">• • • • • • • • • </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Note: Bertha is one of my favorite character's in <u>Wish</u>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As I got to know her, I couldn't get my mom, Freda, </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">out </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">of my mind. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Freda would have loved Bertha! </span></div>
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Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-84962475235895987162014-02-09T23:31:00.000-07:002014-02-09T23:31:26.346-07:00where i live - Eileen Spinelli<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I was preparing to transfer books from home to my classroom today, I ran across <u>where i live</u> by Eileen Spinelli. I'd forgotten how much I adore this book. It's a great book of poetry.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In it, we learn about Diana and her life... with all its twists and turns. It's classic Eileen Spinelli. Her words tug at your heart and your mind as you explore the life of Diana... who uses her writing to explain her life and the changes she's going through.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Simple. Complex. Sweet. Sad. Happy. Real. Eileen Spinelli weaves a wonderful tale of Diana, her best friend Rose, her mom, her dad, and Grandpa Joe. When Diana learns she has to leave the things she loves, it tugs at your heartstrings. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Eileen's words, accompanied by Matt Phelan's wonderful drawings, it's a perfect book to share with young readers who might be experiencing a move... or even a family struggle. Encouraging children to write for authentic purposes might be an added bonus in sharing this book. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> My two favorite poems are "Music" and "New Resident." Sweet and simple. It's a delightful read.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> There's nothing like finding a hidden gem in your stacks that you can't wait to share with your students...</span></div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>New Resident</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>A wren has made</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>her nest</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>in the willow wreath </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>on our front door. </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>Now the yellow house</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>is her home </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>too.</b></i></span></div>
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Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-33466877721100417372014-01-29T21:39:00.000-07:002014-01-29T21:39:46.606-07:00Things Seem Like They're Working<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXIVIWR7kWhYSYssHvOprovkI7fI64mEs9_t87JIzRbKRCPz7ObQBbU2BfQKJtxEfQM9oHa6I2rfLHHZHwwBgcKAWrWc0roM8fMgdLKgCBIIRGqWWyl52xb1w6j6N4PgRiQbn0QiZivzP/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-29+at+9.32.17+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirXIVIWR7kWhYSYssHvOprovkI7fI64mEs9_t87JIzRbKRCPz7ObQBbU2BfQKJtxEfQM9oHa6I2rfLHHZHwwBgcKAWrWc0roM8fMgdLKgCBIIRGqWWyl52xb1w6j6N4PgRiQbn0QiZivzP/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-01-29+at+9.32.17+PM.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Words.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>What words would you use to describe our classroom?</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wisdom</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reflection</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cozy</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Activating</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Teamwork</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Creativity</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Readability</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Intellectual</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seaming.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today after hosting a group of visitors, I asked my students to name a few of the words that they'd used to describe our classroom. This is their list. Five minutes. A quick "Tell me what you're thinking" look at our classroom. "Just so I can share it with our visitors," I say.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>I was struck by the word "seaming." </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Make sure you spell it S-E-A-M-I-N-G, Mr. Allen, as in everything "seems" like it is "seamed." It's all seamed, you know. Put together. It works. </i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #b45f06; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so it does, this thing we called learning. When, together, we take a few minutes to share the intimate reflection of who we are and who we've become. Along the way, through talk, invitations, smiles, and hard work... we have, indeed, created something that "seems seamless." </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But like all seams, there are times it's worn, and so we restitch with stronger thread. </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are times it "bursts" and we step back and say, "What can we change?" There are times we've moved too fast and the stitches are tight and unyielding. There are times that things aren't working and we rip things apart and start over. There are times we have to think about which stitch will work best...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Straight Stitch - for those times where we know exactly where we're going.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Back Stitch - for those times when we have to try again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chain Stitch - for those things we link together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Couching - for those pieces we need to hold in place to admire. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feather Stitch - for those times we need to embellish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Seed Stitch - for those times we cluster things together.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Long and Short Stitch - for those times we can't agree.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">French knots - for those times we need to get a bit fancy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so we work with nimble fingers and open minds to create learning that can be, in fact, seemingly... real!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Words.</b></span></div>
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<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What words would your students use to describe your classroom?</span></div>
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Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-31313208718905428812013-11-13T22:26:00.002-07:002013-11-13T22:28:31.319-07:00Line Lifts - A Great Strategy Still<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_CQTj4oN500rIEkuwW7D8UjkDZ7sFVicpWOTP9hpIEfURICAXkZcxhy9MPlujIsIthJxok4p3wb27B9Qc1MxvTfvdIyelpEGqkUfFhQJF_siY6oP3qB5UtgoWvyzBANSJJr2NXIX8cMZ/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-11-13+at+10.12.58+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="40" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY_CQTj4oN500rIEkuwW7D8UjkDZ7sFVicpWOTP9hpIEfURICAXkZcxhy9MPlujIsIthJxok4p3wb27B9Qc1MxvTfvdIyelpEGqkUfFhQJF_siY6oP3qB5UtgoWvyzBANSJJr2NXIX8cMZ/s400/Screen+Shot+2013-11-13+at+10.12.58+PM.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Hey, Mr. Allen, listen to this… <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I love this line, listen… <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Close your eyes for a minute. Ready?
Listen to these words… <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Wow, Mr. Allen, listen…<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> My students and I have been paying close attention to some
of the fantastic lines we are noticing as readers. We’re knee-deep in a study of how wise
readers ask questions to better understand, remember, extend meaning, and make
readers experiences memorable (<a href="http://www.stenhouse.com/shop/pc/viewprd.asp?idProduct=9179">Conferring: The Keystone of Reader’s Workshop, p. 28</a>). As writers, we’re honing in on exquisite lines
to nudge our writing work—a parallel notebook study of
“What does a wise writer do to nudge his/her writing?" (One of the strategies we're playing around with is "lifting a line" to coax our own writing. A strategy I first learned from Linda Reif and have loved since.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Questions abound!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> In <u>Write from the Start</u>, Donald Graves reminds us, <i>"Whenever there's a connection made between old knowledge and new knowledge, that's where the new growth is. Those are the green shoots out of the old stock, the shoots that will bear fruit. But it takes a fair amount of pruning to get new growth. The dead wood comes when children pay attention to what they think the teacher wants instead of what, in fact, they see."</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So as writers were working toward the "shoots that will bear fruit." Helping see that we have a lot to learn from mentors. A lot of young writers these days seem "prompt-bound" or "Is this good? bound" or "I don't know what to write-bound." They've been stifled by outside forces of programs and perfection... of skill and drill types of writing.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> But if I can encourage my students to develop a sense of agency as writers... to open their notebooks and start writing from a great line that they've discovered, they'll have one more authentic tool to help them develop independence during those times when writing ideas aren't coming easy. Giving them a chance to break chains that are, sadly, already cramping their young writing lives. To encourage purpose. To encourage play. To encourage risk. To encourage thought. To encourage putting pencil to paper.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I've shown them my own notebook with the lines I've borrowed... lines that are waiting for me when I'm stuck or need a jumping off point. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Helen Frost - <u>Salt</u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Fireflies light up the edge of the dark forest."</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Our fire will keep us warm inside while we tell winter stories."</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kate Banks - <u>Max's Words</u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"I'm going to collect words."</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"When Max put his words together, he had thoughts."</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ruth Ayres - <u>Celebrating Writers: From Possibilities Through Publication</u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Sometimes leaving things unsaid is more difficult than knowing what to say."</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"Sometimes rejoicing is quiet. It's a nod of encouragement."</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Barbara O'Connor - <u>How to Steal a Dog</u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"I closed the notebook and watched the moths flutter around the streetlight outside the window.' </i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"I pushed my face against the screen and peered inside. My stomach did a flip-flop."</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gary Paulsen - <u>Brian's Hunt</u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"A perfect day among many perfect days and the last thought he had before slipping into sleep was that he was in exactly the right spot at exactly the right time in his life."</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gari Meacham - <u>Watershed Moments</u></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"A true watershed isn't to be hoarded; rather, it is to be shared, to spread it's gift of insight from our life to the lives of those around us."</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i> </i>So what? Now I have a notebook nudge. Parts that can lead to wholes. If I'm sitting with my notebook, facing a blank page, I have some great lines from some of my favorite writers that might just lead me into a piece of my own. Not stolen. Just borrowed. Lines that spark a memory. Lines that encourage me to write. Just a little "tidbit" borrowed from a mentor that invites me to move words across a blank page. A tool for a specific time for a specific purpose that fits into the "big picture" of being a writer. Practice.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It's a simple strategy that can serve as a guide to more complex pieces, more personal pieces. Teach. Model. Empower. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Hey, Mr. Allen, listen to this… <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I love this line, listen…<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Close your eyes for a minute. Ready? Listen to these words… <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Wow, Mr. Allen, listen…<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b><br /></b></i></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Let the pruning begin...</b></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<!--EndFragment-->Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-57786587843764008702013-11-10T02:04:00.000-07:002013-11-10T02:04:00.622-07:00Ice Bear - Nicola Davies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGz2OnF7FvFgSJ5NWrpfIRwY2v0I3jFaVQMyZEltzrTJhD8ktWI8-Ou3pXsoi5x0Y_nDMZ0leR9_OocGnp6QPiyAVhrVAF6ZM9YgwsI40-DVzseYa3lR2PXDZCitNWIXRSOvP18jwdiV-0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-11-08+at+7.26.47+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGz2OnF7FvFgSJ5NWrpfIRwY2v0I3jFaVQMyZEltzrTJhD8ktWI8-Ou3pXsoi5x0Y_nDMZ0leR9_OocGnp6QPiyAVhrVAF6ZM9YgwsI40-DVzseYa3lR2PXDZCitNWIXRSOvP18jwdiV-0/s200/Screen+Shot+2013-11-08+at+7.26.47+PM.png" width="172" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been rereading a bit of <a href="http://www.nicola-davies.com/">Nicola Davies</a> lately. There's something reenergizing to thumb through my stakes. Among her books, I ran across a favorite of mine... <u>Ice Bear: In the Steps of the Polar Bear</u>. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I love her narrative... but what attracts me most to her writing is the way she interweaves bits of nonfiction, lines that float through the text. I've been sitting down to contemplate a writing project lately and I'm using her as one of my mentors (along with <a href="http://www.booksbybrown.com/">Don Brown</a> and <a href="http://www.louiseborden.com/">Louise Borden</a>). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> One of the things we know as teachers of writers is how important it is to surround them with the types of writing we want them to explore... the types of writers who can become their mentors. Of course, the more I work with young writers, the more I realize that often times <u>they</u> are the ones who have to match themselves to a mentor; they are the ultimate decision maker. They find their own mentors. Someone they respect. Someone whose writing inspires them. Someone who intrigues them. Someone whose writing nudges them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> And I've realized that I have an important job: to expose them to writers, to help them discover great writers, to encourage them to "have a go" with interesting examples of text, and to demonstrate my own passion for writers and great writing. Expose. Discover. Encourage. Demonstrate. That's just good teaching, right? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> So Nicola Davies is one of my "go to" mentors and by sharing what I learn from her with my students, perhaps they will, in turn, find a "go to" writer that inspires them. Consider this line...</span><br />
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<span style="color: #7f6000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>"Its ears sit close to its head, </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>neatly out of cutting winds, </b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>and its feet are furred for warmth and grip."</b></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What can a young writer learn? What can I learn? In 21 words I notice the power of three, the </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">strength of noun modifiers, </span><span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">effective use of "and" as a coordinating conjunction, the musicality of rhythmic words. If I read Nicola Davies to my students (and myself)... once for the heart and once for the head, how can her words not engage them in the wonderful thing we call writing. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> It's time to pull together a Nicola Davies basket... my students will love her. IF I don't beat them to the basket first.</span></div>
Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-43098656894277682532013-11-08T05:24:00.000-07:002013-11-08T05:24:05.058-07:00God Got a Dog - A Gem<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cynthia Rylant and Marla Frazee. Another perfect combination. Using sixteen poems from <u>God Went to Beauty School</u>, they've created a beautiful collection in <u>God Got a Dog</u>. Who doesn't love these two talented women?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> What I imagine most is Marla chatting with Cynthia about this book, these poems, during their collaboration. And, me only wishing I could have been a fly on the wall... okay, actually a fellow reader/writer sitting with the both of them at the table as they chatted. Can you imagine? Cynthia Rylant, a writer's writer/illustrator. Marla Frazee, a writer's writer/illustrator. Two talents that God has put together to create this book... two talents that we all admire. Imagine.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Now there might be a few biblical scholars who would disagree with Rylant's interpretation of God. But, they can't argue with the fact that she's a brilliant writer who writes from her heart, a wordsmith beyond compare. And her words, coupled with Frazee's illustrations make a reader's heart happy. And who doesn't need a heart that's happy? God himself said so in Proverbs 15:13 and Proverbs 4:23. A happy heart is good medicine! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> My favorite poem in the entire collection is "God Went to India." Perhaps it's because it reminded me of my mom and her love for elephants (I have two from her collection). Perhaps it reminded me of my daughter and her recent life-changing trip to visit the orphanages in India. But, perhaps it's because of this beautiful section:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #7f6000;"><i>God understands mourning</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">better than any other emotion,</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">better even than love.</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Because He has lost</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">everything He has</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">ever made.</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">You make life.</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">You make death.</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The things God makes</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">always turn into</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">something else and</span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000;"><i><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">He does find this good. </span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #7f6000;"><i>But He can't help missing all the originals.</i></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #7f6000;"><i> <br /> </i><span style="color: black;">So, Rylant fans. So, Frazee fans. We have a new gem for our collections. Two of our friends have come together to create this special book. God does do good work. And, we can only hope that these new-found friends collaborate and come together on the pages of another book... sooner than later. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #7f6000;"><span style="color: black;"> In the meantime, I'll be sitting at my table with the two of them, reading <u>God Got a Dog</u>. Imagining that they, too, were wishing that were HERE! Imagine. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #7f6000;"><span style="color: black;">... and our hearts are happy!</span></span></span></span></div>
Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-38153148102942335262013-11-04T19:27:00.000-07:002013-11-04T19:27:54.715-07:00Snowflakes Fall <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When you combine the talents of Patricia MacLachlan and Steven Kellogg, there's not much more to say...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <u>Snowflakes Fall</u> arrived today. My heart is full. With the simplicity of MacLachlan's words, I was once again moved and inspired. With the honesty of Kellogg's illustrations, I was once again reminded and touched. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> As a tribute to Sandy Hook, this book is meant to be joyful and spirit-filled. It is. If you haven't purchased this book. You should. Read it once for your head. Read it once for your heart. And then read it to your students... tomorrow.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #0b5394;"> <i>"Snowflakes fall</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> To Sit on garden</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> And evergreen trees</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> On the fur of dogs</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> And the tongues of laughing children--</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> No two the same--</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i> All beautiful."</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And we remember the children. I just want to say thank you to both the author and the illustrator for creating such a fine tribute to life. Thank you.</span>Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-24345976304922370822013-10-30T21:07:00.003-06:002013-10-30T21:07:57.244-06:00Simple Dreams<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I haven't blogged since June. June. So, tonight I decided it was time to get back to All-en-A-Day's Work. I hope you'll forgive my absence. I hope that I will be nudged to get this and several other bits of writing done... sooner than later. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And what do I start with? <u>Simple Dreams: A Musical Memoir</u> by Linda Ronstadt. Two weeks ago as I was flying to and from Saskatoon, I read it (it's been on order since I heard she was writing it).</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've always been a Linda Ronstadt fan (or Ronda Lindstadt as my friend Christine O'Hanlon lovingly calls her). When Susan and I got married I told her there were three people I wanted to see in concert: Emmylou Harris, Dolly Parton, and Linda Ronstadt. And, together, we've seen all three. In fact, we saw Linda in Denver not long before she quit touring as a singer... forever. For those of you who don't know, she's been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and her singing career has been silenced. Now it's through her recordings and her written word that we'll have to enjoy her voice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">There's a wonderful section at the beginning of the book where she describes the "mud huaraches" they made so that they could run barefoot in the Arizona desert. She writes, </span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">"We often went barefoot, but the ground in summer would become so hot that it could raise a blister. The remedy for this was to wet our feet, then dip them in the dry, powdery clay dust, then a little wet mud, and then back into the dust again until we built up layers of earth to insulate us from the heat."</span><span style="color: #38761d;"> </span></i><span style="color: #38761d;">I used this section as a "think aloud" with my students as we began a study of how </span><i style="color: #38761d;">Wise Readers Ask Questions. </i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I've read her words, I've been pleasantly surprised by her writing. As I've read her words, I've been pleasantly surprised by how much music as been a part of her life since birth. As I've read her words, I've been pleasantly surprised by her candor and honesty regarding a career that has spanned decades and garnered many awards and nominations. As I've read her words, I've been pleasantly surprised by her honesty. She's smart. She's talented. She's gifted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Perhaps my favorite passage in the book is in the epilogue. She writes, </span><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">"People ask me why my career consisted of such rampant eclecticism, and why I didn't simply stick to one type of music. The answer is that when I admire something tremendously, it is difficult not to try to emulate it. Some of the attempts were successful, others not. The only rule I imposed on myself; consciously or unconsciously, was to not try singing something that I hadn't heard in the family living room before the age of ten. If I hadn't heard it by then, I couldn't attempt it with even a shred of authenticity."</span></i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And she ends with the line, </span><span style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>"At the time, struggling with so many different kinds of music seemed like a complicated fantasy, but from the vantage point of my sixty-seven years. I see it was only a simple dream."</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like her </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">music (I've heard it all), this last line knocked my socks off! Simplicity... a shred of authenticity. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been thinking about simple dreams of late. I had one once... to teach. It started in</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1984 (after getting a degree in Communication Disorders). I decided to teach. I was probably listening to "Lush Life" while I did my homework. It was a good dream at the time. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But my dream has changed a bit. Now with all the complexities and mandates and grand reformation and uncommonly good standards my dream is that I keep reminding myself of why I got into this career in the first place. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks, Ms. Ronstadt for reminding me to relish my career. With all its ups and downs, gives and takes, mistakes and successes. And, thank you, for reminding me of how important it is to "play in the desert mud" or "ride a horse with a friend" or "sing a song" or "stand up for your beliefs, your history, your voice." Of how important it is to </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">pursue learning with rigor and endurance.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think it's time we all start thinking about all the children we know and have known; hoping that they too will have a chance to follow a "simple dream" in an overly complex world.</span>Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-17462790227411597132013-07-22T10:38:00.002-06:002013-07-22T10:38:34.156-06:00To Look at Any Thing... <div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Change</span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The summer</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">still hangs</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">heavy and sweet</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with sunlight</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as it did last year.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The autumn</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">still comes </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">showering gold and crimson </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as it did last year.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The winter </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">still stings</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">clean and cold and white</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">as it did last year.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The spring</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">still comes </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">like a whisper in the dark night.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is only I </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">who have changed.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Charlotte Zolotow</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"> (c) 1978 <u>To Look at Anything </u></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Lee Bennett Hopkins</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is my favorite poem from Lee Bennett Hopkins's book <u>To Look at Any Thing</u>. Have you seen the book? It's a collection of poetry centered around nature photographs by John Earl taken in Georgia. Circa 1978.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There's something endearing when you find yourself thumbing through the pages of a book that was published 35 years ago. The black and white photographs, coupled with poetry from some of our most extraordinary poets was a treat to reread. To read Charlotte Zolotow's words in "Change," or Patricia Hubbell's words in "Beginning of Thoughts," or Lilian Moore's words in "Encounter," or Langston Hughes's words in "Hope." This is a special book. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think it behooves us to look through our classroom and personal libraries and find "gems" we can share with our students. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">More importantly, it's important for us to reread great writing for ourselves. To nudge our own writing. To conjure up memories of the poets we love. To think of ways to inspire others. To remember that "new" is not always better. To take a look at "any thing" and know that perhaps there's a poem hidden in even the simplest objects. </span><br />
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Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-18566498541562405192013-07-16T22:04:00.000-06:002013-07-16T22:05:54.667-06:00Eudora Welty - A Mentor's Mentor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the late 1980s, my friend and colleague, Laura Benson, recommended </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>One Writer's Beginnings</u></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to us at a workshop. I remember her sharing sections of it and I immediately went to <a href="http://www.netnewsdesk.com/TheBookies/index.cfm?PID=754&ID=5716,20957,0">The Bookies</a> for a copy (at that time The Bookies was still in an old bungalow off 6th Avenue... crammed to the brim with books). </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think it was one of the first hard cover "professional" books I ever purchased and it still has a special place on my bookshelf. It's the narrative of Eudora's falling in love with language, writing, and story. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's broken into three sections "Listening," "Learning to See," and "Finding a Voice." Based on her lectures, it captures her story of becoming a writer... finding her voice after years of listening and observing those around her.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine for a minute if we used those three section titles as a "curriculum guide"... if we, indeed, took all the complexities we face as teachers and filtered them through what a young girl from Mississippi deemed important as a learner. As teachers of reading and writing, could we not couch our work in those three areas? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What if our guiding questions became:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>What are the ways my students are learning to listen?</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>What are the ways my students are learning to see?</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>What are the ways my students are developing a sense of their own voice?</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #3d85c6;"><b>How? Why? So what?</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If we simply (or not so simply) helped our students (and ourselves) to "listen," wouldn't we already be one step ahead. <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000;"> Listen to the rhythm of these words. Listen to your fellow learners, what did you hear? Listen as I share this part out loud with you, what do you notice? Listen to your own understanding, what's floating in your mind right now? There's something in this piece that I want to try in my own writing, did you hear it? Listen again. Listen to the pattern of the words, the sentences, the text... what's beating in your heart? Your mind? </span></i> Listening.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now "See." <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000;">See what's around you (write it down). See what he just did, do you suppose you might have a go with that? See how that vowel pattern works, are you learning to recognize it? See how this illustration matches the words the author uses. Close your eyes for just a moment, what do you see? When she shared her poem with you, what did you see? When you share your writing with him, what did he tell you he saw? Watch me, tell me what you see... now let me watch you and I'll tell you what I see.</span></i> Learning to See.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Find a Voice. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-style: italic;">Did you hear the way you said that... it sounded just like _____ (insert your favorite author's name)? You should write about that, it's an important story. Your thinking is really important, you might recommend this book to someone you think might enjoy it. You did create a sensory image, how did it help you? If someone, right now, asked you what you were thinking, what might you tell them? You know, not many people can capture a moment in time as beautifully as you just did... how will you share it with others?</span><span class="Apple-style-span"> Finding a voice. </span></span><br />
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<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Listening.</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Learning to See.</span></i></b></div>
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<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finding a Voice.</span></i></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Listen to Eudora's words as she describes an important discovery she made about books:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>It has been startling and disappointing to me to find out </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>that story books had been written by <b>people</b>, that books were not</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>natural wonders, coming up of themselves like grass. Yet regardless</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>of where they came from, I cannot remember a time when I was not in </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>love with them--with the books themselves, cover and binding and the paper</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>they were printed on, with their smell and their weight and with their possession</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>in my arms, captured and carried off to myself. Still illiterate, I was ready for </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>them, committed to all the reading I could give them. (Welty, pp. 5-6)</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That's exactly what I want my students to do, to commit themselves to understanding all that books can give them. Not based on a number of books they plow through. Not based on a "level" or a specific genre. Not based on the number of minutes they read. Not based on the questions they can answer after a read. Not based on some mystical "core" description of what a reader is or is not. Not based on a test. I want the readers in my care to fall in love with the books themselves. And perhaps if they listen and learn and see my passion for reading and writing, they will perhaps, in turn, find their own voices as readers and writers.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you haven't read <u>One Writer's Beginnings</u>, you should. If you haven't read one of Eudora Welty's works, you should. If you haven't explored her descriptions of life in Mississippi, you should. There's something grand about her language, her words, the tempo of her writing. Her simple southern life gave her writing a complex and varied cadence. And as you read Welty, you have to keep "Listening, Learning to See, and Finding a Voice" in mind. Eudora Welty is a mentor's mentor. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also read <u>A Darling Life: A Biography of Eudora Welty</u> by <a href="http://www.carolynjbrown.net/">Carolyn J. Brown</a>. Ms. Brown has captured the life... in words and photographs (many of Welty's own)... of Eudora Welty for a new generation of learners. This time for young readers and writers. From her childhood in Jackson, Mississippi to political unrest to her declining years, Ms. Brown captures the journey of Miss Welty stunningly. She lead a simple, albeit extraordinary, life. Listen to these words from Miss Welty:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><i>Lately, in my old age, it has seemed to me, when friends meet to hold</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><i>a public service to pay tribute to one of their number who has died, that </i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><i>without words to that effect ever being said, they are drawing a circle </i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><i>around </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>that friend. Speaking in turn one after the other, joining them </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>together anew, </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>they keep what they know of him intact.</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #741b47;"><i>Eurdora Welty, Introduction, <u>The Norton Bok of Friendship</u> (Brown, p. 75)</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'm thinking we all need to draw a circle around these two books for a bit of time... just to listen... to see... and perhaps find a bit of our voice, both as teachers and as readers and writers ourselves. To keep Eudora Welty's contributions as a writer intact... read!</span><br />
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Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-10583260176441211472013-07-12T01:48:00.000-06:002013-07-16T08:54:03.377-06:00Michael Rosen's Sad Book<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">I just discovered Michael Rosen's <a href="http://www.candlewick.com/cat.asp?browse=Title&mode=book&isbn=0763625973&pix=n" style="text-decoration: underline;">Sad Book</a>.<i> </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">"This is me being sad,"</span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> the opening lines read, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000;"><i>"Maybe you think I'm happy in this picture. Really I'm sad pretending I'm happy..."</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> Quentin Blake's illustration sits above the lines.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">In <u>Sad Book</u>, Mr. Rosen describes how he hide his grief and began to deal with death. He wrote the book after his son, Eddie, died of meningitis. Anyone who has suffered a loss - a child - a parent - a pet... well, any loss, really, will understand the author's need to express his sadness in words.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">I love the honesty of this book. The way the illustrations by <a href="http://quentinblake.com/">Quentin Blake</a> parallel the story so poignantly. The beauty of the language, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-style: italic;">"Sometimes I'm sad and I don't know why. It's just a cloud that comes along and covers me up. It's not because Eddie's gone. It's not because my mum's gone. It's just because." </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><i> </i>The journey through heartbreak and heartache, though long and lonely, that leads to hope. The remembering. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">In all its sadness, Mr. Rosen's book is somehow comforting.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.michaelrosen.co.uk/">Michael Rosen's</a> writing is a gift. Sometimes silly. Sometimes serious. And, in the case of <u>Michael Rosen's Sad Book</u>, simply special. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 18px;">Note: This is another book published by our </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px;">friends at <a href="http://www.candlewick.com/">Candlewick Press.</a></span></div>
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Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-55744998455385608352013-07-10T05:59:00.000-06:002013-07-10T05:59:00.041-06:00Forest Has a Song <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you've followed <a href="http://www.poemfarm.amylv.com/">The Poem Farm</a>, you'll love Amy Ludwig Vanderwater's new book - <u><a href="http://www.tatteredcover.com/book/9780618843497">Forest Has a Song</a></u></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's always a treasure to find a book of poetry like this one (especially when combined with </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://robbingourley.com/">Robbin Grouley's</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> illustrations). </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Forest News" starts out like this:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;"><i>I stop to read</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;"><i>the Forest News</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;"><i>in mind or fallen snow. </i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;"><i>Articles are printed</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;"><i> by critters on the go.</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And I must say that "stopping to read <u>Forest Has a Song</u>" is well worth the stop! Ms. Vanderwater captures the treasures of the forest in poems, short and long, breathtakingly.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3B7EWW_nuvY21XT4UnW-lvFaupJb0JWZ8iQgqSH2ZZAAFe1IZW66FYPqKCQsvSkhd5fmlLFtLxsPiHbMGNq-loksghqk8diKOcxJ6h7l8T0OSKAA0KP_B8RsxqnguFAjBpdcagvpdV2xF/s411/Screen+shot+2013-07-02+at+10.42.57+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3B7EWW_nuvY21XT4UnW-lvFaupJb0JWZ8iQgqSH2ZZAAFe1IZW66FYPqKCQsvSkhd5fmlLFtLxsPiHbMGNq-loksghqk8diKOcxJ6h7l8T0OSKAA0KP_B8RsxqnguFAjBpdcagvpdV2xF/s200/Screen+shot+2013-07-02+at+10.42.57+AM.png" width="154" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When we talk to young writers about "naming" and "noticing" and "marking their day" it's having wonderful poets like Amy that make our jobs so much richer. Our own writing so much richer. The patience in "Waiting for Deer," the tapping in "Woodpecker," the honking of geese in "Song"... each poem leaves you a little closer to the sights, the sounds, and the songs of the forest. It's the exact kind of close observation that we want to encourage in our young poets and young writers. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My favorite poem in the collection is "Snowflake Voices."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Snowflake Voices</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I like to walk </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>outside</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>alone</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>in winter woods</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>behind my home.</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>I close my eyes</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>to softly hear</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>snowy voices</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>crystal clear</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Each silver </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>snowflake</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>sings my name</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Guess what?</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>No two sound the same.</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stunning. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my favorite books on the teaching of poetry is <a href="http://www.stenhouse.com/html/search.asp?cx=015530293138964091299%3Aq9f7yz16-q4&cof=FORID%3A10%3BNB%3A1&ie=UTF-8&q=a+note+slipped+under+the+door">A Note Slipped Under the Door</a> by Shirley McPhillips and Nick Flynn published by Stenhouse (2000). On page 37, it says,<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000;"> "Poets live wide awake in the world. They 'eavesdrop," watching and listening in the moment, letting things catch their attention. They wonder and ask questions, letting what they see and hear inform their lives. Sometimes a poet will notice the exact words that people use. These 'found' bits of speech can be a springboard for new ideas or a backboard against which to bat ideas and test them farther. Just by listening closely to what people say, to the very words they use in their everyday speech, the world around us can be revealed. We can be moved by the words themselves at the moment we hear them, yet we don't know why. But, as poets, we keep them, believing these words can hold new meaning."</span></i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In our work with young writers, I can imagine that books like <u>Forest Has a Song</u> can be that springboard for writers. It can help create meaning. It can expand writer's lives into the forest... even if they've never physically experienced the sights and sounds and songs that Ms. Vanderwater invites us to visit. All it takes is a close read... close your eyes, ponder. Poetry like hers can't help but increase the background knowledge of young writers and invite them to notice their "world" and the poetry that hides within it (be it city, country, subway, or dirt road). </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ms. Vanderwater is a writer's mentor. <u>Forest Has a Song</u> a newly found treasure. And in all the hustle an bustle of our teaching, we can't neglect poetry. "Helping writers find their song..." now that's a goal, eh? Thanks, Amy, for the reminder. </span></div>
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Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-85625392731603426702013-07-08T03:33:00.000-06:002013-07-08T03:33:00.823-06:00Jen Bryant - A Conundrum<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have three books in my "new" pile to write about... and they're all by <a href="http://www.jenbryant.com/" style="text-decoration: underline;">Jen Bryant</a> which is causing me a huge conundrum! Do I write about them in one entry? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nope. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But let me write about two today...</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The first book is <a href="http://www.jenbryant.com/books/inprint/bk_georg.html" style="text-decoration: underline;">Georgia's Bones</a>. It's a wonderful book about Georgia O'Keefe. Listen to the first lines:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>As a child, shapes often drifted</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>in and out of Georgia's mind.</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Curved and straight, round or square, </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>she studied them, and let them disappear.</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The way Jen Bryant takes us on a "collection of words" about Georgia O'Keefe's life is gentle and spirited. Even though the book is "fiction," you gather a sense of Georgia O'Keefe's innate curiosity and sensitivity to the natural world. And <a href="http://www.book-adventures.com/2011/05/bethanne-andersen-illustrator.html">Bethanne Andersen</a> blends her illustrations with Ms. Bryant's words almost magically. As I read it, I felt like I was learning about a part of Georgia O'Keefe's life that I never knew.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ea9999;">How will I use it? I might use it in a study of "Stamina and Endurance." Or I might use it to introduce the concept of "Noticings" as we work in our writer's notebooks. Or I might use in a study of lyrical nonfiction. Or I might use it during a study of "Line Lifts" to nudge our writing.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ea9999;">• • • • • • • • • </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The second book is <a href="http://www.jenbryant.com/books/inprint/bk_abe.html">Abe's Fish</a>. This will go into my classroom collection of "Books about Abe Lincoln." Listen to this writing:</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>The late-day sun warmed Abe's back and </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>deepened the red of a ripe apple that hung</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>by the roadside, just out of reach. Abe tried</i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>three times to poke it down with a stick, </i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;">I wish I was tall!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000;"> he thought</span></i></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ms. Bryant takes us on a childhood journey of Abraham Lincoln's life that is eloquent and poignant. Freedom. The ending pages are breathtaking. I loved that it focused not on his presidency, but on his childhood. The author's notes at the end of the book are an example of superb nonfiction writing. <a href="http://www.amybates.com/">Amy June Bates</a> has illustrated the books beautifully.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ea9999;">How will I use it? I might use as a "cousin" text to my other Lincoln books. Or I might use it in a study of "Stamina and Endurance." Or I might use it in a study of "Evoking Sensory Images." Or I might use it as an example of "mixing narrative in a nonfiction study." </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #ea9999;">• • • • • • • • • </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jen Bryant is an talented writer. We loved her <u>River of Words</u> about William Carlos Williams. She's bringing nonfiction to young readers in the most interesting and breathtaking ways. Her ability to blend "fiction" with "nonfiction" is the exact kind of book I like to read... it causes me pause. It makes me reread. It makes me notice. It makes me want to read more. It makes me want to learn more. Dare I say her writing deserves a closer read?</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So what's the rest of my conundrum? I'll mention that in my next "Jen Bryant" post...</span></div>
Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-37574843576222445972013-07-06T07:22:00.000-06:002013-07-06T07:22:00.120-06:00Reading in the Wild - A Preview<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the past several weeks, I've had the pleasure of prereading the final manuscript of Donalyn Miller's new book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Reading-Wild-Whisperers-Cultivating-Lifelong/dp/047090030X">Reading in the Wild: The Book Whisperer's Keys to Cultivating Lifelong Reading Habits</a> which will be published in November (it's kind of fun, turning over page after page of 8 1/2 x 11 paper). </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cover... beautiful!</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Having a friend like Donalyn is one of the blessings we have as teachers, isn't it? Whether you've spent time with her at dinner, listened to her speak at a conference, or heard her whisper her beliefs to you as you read <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Whisperer-Awakening-Reader/dp/0470372273/ref=pd_sim_b_1" style="text-decoration: underline;">The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> you have, indeed, met Donalyn. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Donalyn is a teacher's teacher. She's passionate about her work with readers and in helping us become better at our craft. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What impresses me most about Donalyn is her sincerity. She believes so strongly in "cultivating" and "awakening" the reading lives of young readers. I imagine the blood that flows through her veins likely contains "read" blood cells. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In her new book, she, along with Susan Kelley, share five important lifelong habits that they believe readers need in order to prosper. They share ways to nudge children to be "readers in the wild." It's sprinkled with the rituals and routines that Donalyn, and Susan, know from experience will cultivate the types of readers we want children to be and to become, both</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> in the classroom and out of the classroom.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll write more about this book as it gets closer to the publication date, but I have a strong inkling you'll want to preorder it! </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I was reading the other day and ran across this marvelous quote by Terry W. Glaspey, <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000;">"Books provide the most helpful of road maps for (an) inner journey. They show us the tracks of fellow travelers, footprints left by earlier pilgrims who have trod the path that stretches before us. Their luminosity helps to light our way. As we read we realize we are not alone."</span></i> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, that's how I feel about this new book by Donalyn. She, along with her friend Susan, are luminaries for teachers, no matter our experience. There's a reasonableness to their work. It causes us to focus, reflect, and make</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"> meaningful decisions about the learners in our care. Grounded in thoughtfulness, this book will nudge us as teachers... and, in turn, stretch the readers with whom we work.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;">What are the five habits? I'll mention those in a future post. But, for now, know that you're in for a treat from Donalyn (and Susan). In the meantime, read wildly... think deeply... and discover the habits <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394;">YOU</span></b> have as a reader. After all, aren't the very habits we possess the ones we want our students to emulate? Then ask yourself, "How am I teaching my students to do the same thing?" Donalyn has. As fellow travelers, we should too!</span>Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-21004826016411832013-07-03T17:32:00.002-06:002013-07-03T18:29:18.279-06:00Endeavor... Forever... A Tribute to Holly Meade<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In December 2011, I wrote about a book by Holly Meade called <a href="http://all-en-a-days-work.blogspot.com/2011/12/fledgling-perched-on-edge-of-her-nest.html">If I Never Forever Endeavor</a>. It quickly became one of my favorite books. I use it with adults, with children, and when I'm feeling "swamped," I read it for myself.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I received the Tweet from <a href="http://www.candlewick.com/">Candlewick Press</a> today that Ms. Meade has died, my heart sank. Her <a href="http://obituaries.bangordailynews.com/obituaries/bdnmaine/obituary.aspx?n=holly-louise-meade&pid=165627646#fbLoggedOut">obituary</a> said, <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;"><i>"She loved coastal Maine where she drew much of her inspiration from the natural world." </i></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All you have to do is explore her illustrations and you'll see evidence of her love for beauty, her love of art. Her obituary said about Ms. Meade, <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000;">"</span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #bf9000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>A deeply creative soul, Holly surrounded herself with art and was forever seeking an intellectual, emotional, and spiritual education through the aesthetic world."</i></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She began illustrating children's books in 1992. Twenty one years to share her gifts with those of us who love picture books. Over 30 books. Hundreds of works of art.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's important that we, as teachers, stand together firm and recognize the importance of picture books. We need to shout to world to ensure that the illustration of story, nonfiction, and poetry remain a living, breathing aspect of our reader's and writer's workshops (at all grade levels). We must value beauty and creativity at the <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #cc0000;"><b>core</b></span> of our work with children.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, it's important that we point out to young readers and writers that people like Holly Meade (and so many others) take their craft seriously. Illustrators understand the connection between words and art. Illustrators understand that intellect can be stretched through aesthetic journeys. Illustrators understand that each brush stroke, each line, each shadow, each color add depth to a reader's understanding. Illustrators understand that before we write, we draw--drawing has to be an integral part of a writer's life. Illustrators understand art.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you don't know Holly's work, do an investigation. Look at her <a href="http://www.reachroadgallery.com/">gallery</a>. Look at her body of work (start with Candlewick Press). Read a book or two to your students, to your children, to yourself. And remember Holly's family in your thoughts and prayers. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here are a few of my favorites:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A illustrator's work <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #e69138;">is</span> worth a thousand words.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes we have to say goodbye far too early, but we're always better for having experienced a bit of life via the talents of another person.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thank you to Holly Meade for sharing your gifts with the world. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for your endeavors!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">• • • • • • • </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After I wrote this post, I discovered that Candlewick Press has set up a memorial fund for Holly Meade. You can click <a href="http://www.curiouscity.net/holly-meade-memorial">here to see it at The Curious City</a>.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-46059902711231145422013-07-02T03:12:00.000-06:002013-07-02T03:12:00.049-06:00Every Living Thing - Revisited<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As I write, I'm sitting in my backyard in the shade. My Newfoundland Dog, Timber, is sitting at my feet trying to stay cool (which isn't easy for a huge black dog to do). The mist from a sprayer is floating along the light breeze, giving us a cool burst periodically). It's 95+ degrees in Denver today. It's hot! Escaping the heat means a good book is close by...</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Today I'm rereading <u>Every Living Thing</u> by Cynthia Rylant. My paperback copy in my classroom is dog-earred and well-loved. It's one of my "go to" books. I have a hard cover copy at home and I've been spending my reading time with it today. I'm sure you know it, but it's a treasure trove of wisdom... worth a reread.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who doesn't love the story of Leo in "Slower than the Rest." Simply because it's one of Rylant's masterpieces. As you read, your reading heart melts when Leo fills "fast" for the first time in his life... thanks to Charlie. How many Leo's have you known in your classrooms... <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000;">"slow in reading, slow in numbers, slower than nearly everything that passed before him in the classroom"</span></i>? Brilliant writing.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who doesn't love Velma? And Miss Cutcheon in "Retired"? Simply because we love what we do, this calling of teaching and can't imagine not doing it. As you read, you can't help but think of your own teaching life... perhaps impending retirement... change. How many times have we heard the saying "Old habits are hard to break"...<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000;"> "</span><i style="color: #7f6000;">Each day Miss Cutcheon would creak out of her bed like a mummy rising from its tomb, then shuffle into the kitchen, straight for the coffee pot.</i>" Brilliant writing.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who doesn't love Emmuanuella in "A Pet"? Simply because we've all longed for a childhood pet and perhaps had to watch it die. As you read, you can't help but sigh when she finds Joshua waiting for her after school. How many times have we had to say goodbye... <i style="color: #7f6000;">"In the morning, Joshua was dead. Emma found him floating on top of the water when she woke up. When she lifted him out of the water in the net, it surprised her how heavy he was. He was as large as her hand, and it surprised her because she had never held him." </i>Brilliant writing. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Who doesn't feel kindred to Denny in "Safe"? Simply because our fears often play a huge role in our lives; whether you're a child or an adult, fear is real. As you read, you can't help but understand Denny's need for comfort. How many times have we turned our hearts and minds to something or Someone to take away our fears... <i style="color: #7f6000;">"The cows' eyes were all large and shining and very, very peaceful. Denny stared at the eyes and he felt reassured. He felt stronger. He felt safe." </i>Brilliant writing. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And so <u>Every Living Thing</u> goes. There's something reassuring about sitting with an old friend in the heat of the day. Reading words that you've read time and time again. Knowing how the stories end, but forgetting how superbly they were written. Of course, in the classroom it's all "What did you notice?" and "Why do you suppose?" but on a 95+ degree day, with a Newfoundland dog at your feet, it's really about revisiting, remembering, and rereading... brilliance.</span><br />
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<br />Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-1221132390969496982013-06-30T09:42:00.000-06:002013-06-30T09:42:00.149-06:00Bananas in My Ears<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://literature.britishcouncil.org/michael-rosen">Michael Rosen</a>. We all know him from <u>We're Going on A Bear Hunt</u>, <u>This is Our House</u>, and <u>Michael Rosen's Sad Book</u>. Or any of his other 140+ books!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my new favorites is <u>Bananas in My Ears</u>. It's illustrated by Sir Quentin Blake, the very first British Children's Laureate. They've collaborated on many titles over the years. <u>Bananas in My Ears</u> is published by Candlewick Press. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This books is a collection of silly rhymes, stories, and poems. And what a grand collaboration it is between two brilliant artists. One supplies the words. One supplies the illustrations to support the words. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sometimes it's fun to run across a text that's just, well, silly! And, of course, it's fun to read aloud, use for inferring, use for writing nudges. But above all else, it's just a fun book. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My favorite bits in the book are the "Nat and Anna" stories. Mainly because they remind me of my own children. </span><br />
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nat, trying to get Anna's attention. Anna pretending Nate is invisible. Hilarious.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nat following on the beach, afraid of jellyfish. </span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Nat and Anna having breakfast! Enter mom!</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think that if you gave this book to two fourth graders (or first, or second, or tenth) and had them read... they'd laugh, they'd want to write, they'd talk. It's a simple book full of silly stuff! And, sometimes, we gotta have a little silly in our lives.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Thank you to my friends at Candlewick Press !</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-457770996873224278.post-5557092781939358902013-06-28T06:19:00.000-06:002013-06-28T06:31:35.251-06:00The Lost Art of Mixing - A Must Read<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">She dragged a
chair across the kitchen to the counter and clambered up, stabilizing herself
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firm twists. On the third turn, the heat
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>- - - - - </i></span></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tom stood
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">- - - - - </span></i></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As a reader, who can't read these words from <a href="http://www.ericabauermeister.com/">Erica Bauermeister’s</a> novel <u>The Lost Art of Mixing</u> and <u>not</u> create an image that sucks you into the writing?</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>The Lost Art of Mixing</u> is the sequel to <u>The School of Essential Ingredients</u>. Both books were recommended to me by my friend, <a href="http://all-en-a-days-work.blogspot.com/2013/02/mimi-brown-guest-blog.html">Mimi Brown</a>. Mimi is a literacy virtuoso</span></span><span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> who works in the Issaquah School District. Whenever we chat on the telephone, it always includes a discussion of books (new titles, old titles, no matter). </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are a foodie, you will love both books (although there's less of a food focus in the sequel). Erica Bauermeister is a character crackerjack. When you read one of her books, you leave the last page knowing (sometimes becoming) one of the characters. The prose-like nature of her words creates ripples of texture, emotion, and images that, as a reader, suck you into the story gracefully. Her words mix the power of food, the power of love, the power of "being" with another person together in the most artful way. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not to sound cliche`, well okay, to sound cliche`... there's a deliciousness that permeates her writing. Each chapter of this book focuses on a specific character's life... and as I read, I was drawn in to the smells, the tastes, the feelings of each character's being. In this book, you read about the familiar characters you grew to love (or not love) from <u>The School of Essential Ingredients</u> and you grow to love (or not) new characters that she brings on board in her second book.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #262626;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I talk to my students about evoking, or creating, sensory images, we come to know the importance of being "drawn in" of "knowing" how those images help us understand, help us remember, help us extend meaning, or help us make our reading experiences memorable (see <a href="http://www.stenhouse.com/shop/pc/viewprd.asp?idProduct=9179">Conferring the Keystone of Reader's Workshop</a>, page 25). As Amanda noted in her reader's notebook during our study of sensory images this year, "I think that sensory images help me by comparing what I got a sense of to what <i>really</i> is... I can see something, taste something, hear something, feel something, or smell something. It can <i>connect my connections</i> because it makes the details come alive!"</span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, as a reader, I'm always on the search for text that helps me revisit and revision </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><u>my own</u></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> use of "thinking strategies." If I'm helping my students come to rely on a strategy more explicitly as a tool, I too must learn how it helps me. As an adult, the idea of "evoking sensory images" seems clearcut, something "we automatically do because we're proficient readers," but is it? With each close read, with each nuance, with each "How the heck did she do that?" I think I become a little better at using and noticing this strategy as a reader, as a thinker. My awareness of what's going on "inside" nudges me to better understand how to express my thoughts to those who sit "outside" my thinking processes.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626;">It's the same with my students. When we've experimenting enough with a strategy... as a whole group, during small groups, one-on-one, alon</span>e</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">—</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">we</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> come to understand how the "behavior" of creating an image (or any other comprehension strategy) brings power and fortitude to our understanding. We dig around a bit, figure things out, toss out ideas, play... and that can only be done in text that's meaningful to us as readers.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>The Lost Art of Mixing</u></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is such a book for me. You should give it a go as a reader. In her Acknowledgments, the author writes: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000;"><i>Words need ears to hear them and eyes to read them long before they can every be considered a book.</i> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Now that it's a book... oh such words! Try focusing on the sensory images you're creating and how they are helping you understand Erica Bauermeister as a writer. Ms. Bauermeister's writing style is powerful... joyous... intriguing. Often she throws in a word, a sentence, a paragraph that makes me stop in my tracks. I pause. I consider. I reflect. Briefly. Then, I move on as not to lose the image created for me as a reader.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine you're Louise wandering in to this bookstore... </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #7f6000;"><i>The bookstore was small and elegant, its books carefully chosen to appeal to both the casual tourist and those who stayed through the long and stormy winters. A mix of bright and subtle covers, rough-edged pages and slippery paperbacks. A flurry of handwritten notes hung from the bottom of the shelves, offering recommendations and brief synopses, inviting hands to open the books above.</i></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now run to your independent bookseller (or library) and get </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u>The Lost Art of Mixing</u></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Then head to the beach (you'll know why I wrote this after you read it).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I also wrote a blog about </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://all-en-a-days-work.blogspot.com/2012/01/joy-for-beginners.html">Joy for Beginners</a>, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #262626; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">another of her books. Click on the title to the blog it! Also recommended by Mimi! </span></div>
<!--EndFragment-->Patrick A. Allenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18098594501502756880noreply@blogger.com0