SoL "Nice language" 5.13.14

Slice of Life is a weekly event hosted by Two Writing Teachers.

"Nice language." (said sarcastically)  That's what we would hear from my dad whenever we were watching something on TV that used a "bad word".  I still hear it in the back of my mind when I'm watching something that excessively uses those words.  

I work in a K-4 building.  Young, impressionable minds learn in our building!  And as all educators know, you have to have a wide variety of books for those ages.  Picture books are generally not a problem (although we did find a very interesting nonfiction spider book that went into way too much detail about spiders mating...), but middle grade novels can be tricky.  Of course we have to be careful about content of books.  But even in those books where the content is not questionable, language can be.

Where do we draw the line for language?  I know we cannot shelter kids or ban all books that have any "bad words" (and no, I'm not talking about the "s-word" being "stupid" - love when the 1st graders say that!!).  But 4th grade is still 4th grade.  What can we include in our school library?  I love Chris Colfer's book The Land of Stories:  This Wishing Spell.  But it uses the word "bastardize".  I'm really enjoying the new novel The Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson.  But it says "lazy-ass boys".  

In neither book do I feel the use of that word is necessary.  Another word could have been used, and maybe not as "hard core" as the other word, but it would not have taken something away from the book.  So why did the author choose to use it?  Make it edgier?  Stand out?  Make a point?

What language is ok for books in our school libraries to have?  What do you say to parents who object to having those books in the library?  I know schools with older grades are going to have these books.  But what about our elementary school libraries?  Where do they draw the line?

My dad taught me to always think about the language I'm using.  Do the words I use make me sound like a good person?  My dad is someone who NEVER uses swear words in front of his kids.  The few times we've heard him say one usually leaves us in shock!  I tend to use "unsavory words" when I'm upset.  I know they don't sound nice, but they help me release anger.  I try to never use them around my eight-year-old daughter.  One day we were in the car and the word "ass" was used in a song.  I quickly switched the channel, but my daughter informed me she already knew that word.  I asked her where she learned it and she said, "in a book".  Hmmm, what am I letting her read??  

Do you have a set rule at your elementary school?  Where do you draw the line?  Or do you?  What do you say to parents who get upset?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 5.12.14

This weekly post comes from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.  It's a great source to find new books to use with your students.

This has been a really slow week for reading.  Lots going on everyday, and I'm rereading A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd with the 4th grade students so that has taken up a lot of my reading time!

Here's the short list!

Picture Books

The Highest Number in the World by Roy MacGregor
5/5 stars
I love a good sports story.  Throw in a good central message, and I'm hooked.  Gabe (short for Gabriella) is a HUGE hockey fan!  But when she can't get her hockey idol's number for her team jersey, she's ready to quit.  I love that Gabe's feelings are acknowledged by her wise grandmother whose advice just maybe saves the day!

Informational Texts

Barbed Wire Baseball by Marissa Moss

5/5 stars

My Goodreads summary:  Fantastic account of one man's experience of baseball in the World War II era. Author tells the story of Zeni, his experience with baseball growing up and meeting Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Then, Pearl Harbor happens and Zeni's baseball life is stopped when he ends up in an internment camp. However, he does not stop his love of the game even when living behind barbed wire. This is his story of what he does to play baseball behind the wire. The author includes great notes and information in the back.

Middle Grade

Lost on a Mountain in Maine by Donn Fendler

4/5 stars

This book is perfect to hand off to fans of the Hatchet series.  This is a true story that is told to the writer, Joseph B. Egan, by the young Donn Fendler.  Donn was lost on a mountain in Maine for nine days.  This is his story.  The book jumps right into the story and at first it's a little confusing.  But after a little you get the feel of the story - both language, vocabulary and an understanding of what is happening in the book.  It's amazing what Donn goes through during these nine days.  Throughout the book, the writer adds footnotes that gives some background or further understanding of what Donn is talking about.  Since this happened many years ago, there is a certain amount of vocabulary that could potentially be confusing to readers today.  Knowing pants were called dungarees.  Donn's frequent exclamation of when things go wrong - Christmas! - is definitely not one used today!  Quick, fascinating read.  Perfect for 4th graders and up.

Professional Reading


No More Summer Reading Loss by Carrie Cahill, Kathy Horvath, Anne McGill-Franzen, Richard Allington
4/5 stars
I learned some new insights, thought about how I can change things, and have some starting points.
Check out my review on Thursday.

Can't wait to see all the other new reading this week!

Celebrate This Week 5.10.14

It's always good to end the week on a positive note.  Sometimes we concentrate on the negatives.  We have a choice.  Choose positive.  Choose to celebrate.  I will be joining Ruth Ayres and her weekly link-up, Celebrate This Week.  Check out all the other celebrations HERE

Celebration #1:  I had a parent ask me for some books to read to her child's class since she was Mystery Reader.  She was so enthusiastic after - loved the books and she was so excited she was all ready to set me up with other parents and getting them books for Mystery Reader.  Glad it was a successful day for her!

Celebration #2:  It's Teacher Appreciation Week.  I'm very thankful for the teachers I work with.  We took quite a journey together this year and I'm grateful they stuck with me through it all!

Celebration #3:  This week is over!  It was a long, strange week.  It started with the stomach flu in our house, so I'm glad to say this week is over!

Celebration #4:  Our 4th graders are reading A Snicker of Magic with their classes as an extended text.  I've been in contact with the author, Natalie Lloyd, and I've really enjoyed telling her how much the kids love this book!  The students are really getting into the book and I love listening to their conversations.

Hope you had a good week too!  

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday 5.07.14

We know that a big part of the CCSS is to include more informational texts into our students' reading.  I quickly discovered I had a "gap" in my reading diet - the genre of informational texts!  To help me fill the gap this year, I am going to participate in Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesdays!  This is a great link-up hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy.  Please visit this website to see other educator's link-ups.  My goal is to read at least one informational text each week and post information on the blog.  The more books and subjects I read, the more I can encourage (my #OLW for 2014) other teachers to use in their classroom! 

I'm continuing my celebration of my trip to Washington D.C. last weekend.

I first came across the book Eliza's Cherry Trees:  Japan's Gift to America by Andrea Zimmerman when I was helping students get ready for the practice PARCC assessment.  The biggest improvement with this new assessment that I've seen so far is the inclusion of more rich texts.  This was one of the texts that was included in the practice research task.  
I've been to Washington D.C. a few times, but this was the first time going during cherry blossom season.  Usually, the cherry blossoms have bloomed and fallen by this time of year.  However, due to the lovely winter and spring we've had, the cherry blossoms bloomed a little later this year and I was still able to see some.  They are absolutely beautiful and I'm sure quite a site to see when so many of them are in bloom.  I was happy with the ones I did see!

I remembered the book we had used in the practice, but decided to read the full text.  It is a great book and does a nice job detailing Eliza Scidmore's life.  We learn about her travels, all the things she did that women did not necessarily do in that time period, and of her big idea and how she worked tirelessly over a long period of time to make her dream come true.  

In 2013 and 2014, we've seen some great biographies about strong women.  I think this book goes into that category.  Not only was Eliza a strong woman, but I loved the big ideas of this book.  I think the first line said it so well, "Sometimes a person with a good idea can make a big difference."  The idea of perseverance is brought up again on a later page, "But Eliza knew that sometimes when you have a good idea, you have to keep trying."

I'm glad I finally read this book and learned more about the history of our capital.  Makes my trip even more meaningful!

SoL Confessions of a Fat Athlete 5.06.14

Slice of Life is a weekly event hosted by Two Writing Teachers.

All of my posts this week have something to do with my trip last week to Washington D.C. The purpose of my trip was to run the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon in D.C.!

Fat.  Overweight.  Chubby.  Chunky.  Plus-size.  I hate all of those words.  But somewhere in them, lies me.  I prefer to think of myself as having a more "stocky athletic" build.  I am blessed and cursed.  I am cursed with my parents' bad metabolism.  I got the worst of both of them.  As a friend says, the only way I would be thin is if I ate nothing but lettuce and air.  And if you've ever had Chicago's Lou Malnati's pizza, well, lettuce and air are not happening!  But I'm also blessed with the ability to do endurance sports.  Swim long sets over and over again?  No problem.  Run for hours at a time?  Well, not fun, but yup, can do that.  

A couple of years ago I was on a hotel shuttle bus, leaving a wedding reception going back to the hotel.  I had a conversation with the driver and while making small talk, I told him I had run 20 miles that morning in preparation for a marathon.  His comment... "Really, you don't look like a marathon runner!"  Wow.  Thanks.

I train with two other girls who are significantly faster than me.  We train together, but when we run, I'm on my own.  I'm way too slow for them to run with me.  When plans are made to get together to run, I'm always left out.  Since I can't keep up with them, I guess I don't count.  I've even had one of them make little jabs at me about how slow I am.  My comment to them is that I get the same race shirt as they do and I get the same medal.  I'm not getting prize money, but then again, they aren't either!

This year I'm trying something different.  I'm going to attempt my first triathlon.  My "stocky athletic" build has to get into a tri-suit.  As long as I don't have to see myself in a mirror, I'll just pretend I look good ;)

I've run 3 full marathons and 11 half-marathons.

I love doing destination races.  My favorites are in Disney.  How can you not have fun in Disney?  (well, actually, the running from park to park is not fun, but running in the parks is a lot of fun!) I love finding new places to go to run and if it has a good medal at the end of the race, I'm all for it!

My point is, I know I'm not fast.  That's not my goal.  I set a realistic goal each time I start a race.  My goal is to always finish.  I always try to beat my best time, but I'm ok when that doesn't happen.  I'm doing this to stay fit.  I may not look healthy, but my heart is probably healthier than others.  I don't work at my goals one day, just on race day.  I work on them everyday, for months at a time.  And when I'm done with one race, I set my sights on the next.  

I think this is important to let kids know.  I work hard.  I work at it everyday.  When I accomplish something, I figure out what I'm going to do next.  I set realistic goals for myself.  I don't worry about who is first.  I pick to do things that I want to do, go places where I want to go.  When I hear negative comments, I don't focus on them.

We are all human.  Kids need to see that too.  We push them and we challenge them because we do it to ourselves too.  Kids look up to us.  I want them to see what I can do.

I try to tell my daughter these things too and help her apply them to her swimming.  She's a disabled swimmer but she swims with able-bodied kids.  We talk about what her goals are, what her times are, what she wants to accomplish.  I've talked to her about how I don't come in first, in fact I'm closer to then end of the pack than the beginning (she actually now often asks if I came in last place - see, I've made it into not a big deal, ha ha).  But I concentrate on my goal and work on accomplishing it.

I'm proud of myself.

I love getting pictures like these!  Plus it's a great excuse to stop running for a bit :)

Disney knows medals!

Finding my name on the Nike Wall at the Chicago Marathon expo.

Best medal ever!!!  I'll run 13.1 for a Tiffany's necklace!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 5.05.14

This weekly post comes from Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers.  It's a great source to find new books to use with your students.

I was traveling last weekend and wasn't able to get in my usual posts.  This week I'll highlight the best of my two weeks of reading!  You can see all of my books that I read on my Goodreads shelf.  Check my link on the right!

Starting with:


Zen Shorts by Jon J Muth
5/5 stars
I loved this book with the Panda, Stillwater, teaching the 3 children different lessons with his stories.  Muth explains in an author's note in the back of the book the Zen origins of the stories.  I think the lessons actually go along very well with Notice and Note strategies!
One of my stops in D.C. was The National Zoo.  I wanted to specifically go there to see the pandas.  They unfortunately weren't outside but inside their domains (which I will always think of that way because of The One and Only Ivan).  

 


Picture Books


A Pet for Fly Guy by Tedd Arnold
5/5 stars
I love that Fly Guy came out of his usual early chapter book and entered into a picture book!  The text is still rich and the storyline fun.  Young readers will love this new installment.


I Didn't Do My Homework Because... by Benjamin Chaude
3/5 stars
Some of the homework excuses in this book were fantastic - blaming it on the cough medicine he took the night before or because his little brother had his little "problem" again (turning into some weird hairy beast).  Most excuses were just ok.


Stella's Starliner by Rosemary Wells
4/5 stars
This was a fun find for me because I didn't know what to expect.  It ended up being a great book to use for bullying and knowing home is where your heart is!


Miss Maple's Seeds by Eliza Wheeler
4/5 stars
Great spring story about Miss Maple, a small, little lady who gathers seeds at the end of fall, takes care of the seeds all winter, to spread them in the spring time.  Beautiful illustrations.  

2015 Monarch Nominees
One of the state reading awards that our students vote on is the Monarch Award.  This award is for students in K-3rd grade.  My school library got a lot of the titles this week and I got to bring a stack home to preview!  Here are some of my favorites:


The Princess and the Pig by Jonathan Emmett



If I Built a House by Chris Van Dusen



Miracle Mud:  Lena Blackburne and the Secret Mud That Changed Baseball by David Kelly



Prudence Wants a Pet by Cathleen Daly


Poetry


The Poem That Will Not End by Joan Bransfield Graham
5/5 stars
This was my find of the week.  I cannot say enough good things about this book.  Cute story that talks in rhythm and rhyme, but then there is a poem on each page.  Great to show students you can find inspiration for writing poems in your daily life!  The poems featured are of different poetic forms.  Don't know which ones they are?  No problem, in the back of the book is a glossary of the different forms as well as the corresponding page number they can be found on!  Great book for your poetry collection!

Early Chapter Books
I find this genre is always one of the hardest to find.  It seems that books go straight from picture books to middle grade and those young readers (1st and 2nd grade) who are ready for chapter books but not middle grade books get left out!  I'm thrilled that Lauren Myracle is writing books for this genre!  Her series, The Life of Ty, is about the brother from the "Winnie" series who seems to find trouble when he definitely is not looking for it!  I highly recommend this series for 1st-3rd graders.



Books that have characters that tear at your heartstrings
I came across this post from The Stylin Librarian via Margie Myers-Culver @loveofxena about characters that have flaws... kind of like Auggie from Wonder.  Since that book has a very special place in my heart and we have many 4th graders reading it, I decided to plow through this list and read the ones that are appropriate for that grade level.  I love having a variety of books to hand off when I know a student "likes" a certain type of book. Here are two that I got through so far:


Alvin Ho Allergic to Girls, School and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look
4/5 stars
As I mentioned before, I love finding books that I can give to a variety of elementary students and know it's appropriate content they are reading.  Alvin is a lovable character and kids will like that he does have challenges.  Great series for elementary level.


Tiger's Fall by Molly Bang
3/5 stars
I really liked that this book was about an able bodied person who had to learn what it is like to be handicapped.  And with Twitter kicking off #weneeddiversebooks, this is a perfect book for that - low-income family living in rural Mexico.  


Continuing to Read


Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson
Exciting... mysterious... adventure... 50 pages in and it's got me hooked!

Celebrate This Week! 5.03.14

It's always good to end the week on a positive note.  Sometimes we concentrate on the negatives.  We have a choice.  Choose positive.  Choose to celebrate.  I will be joining Ruth Ayres and her weekly link-up, Celebrate This Week.  Check out all the other celebrations HERE

This week my posts are going to be dedicated to last weekend... my trip to D.C.!

I am celebrating my health this week.  Last weekend I traveled to Washington D.C. for the Nike Women's 1/2 Marathon.  I had a lot of fun staying and visiting with family and traveling into our nation's capital.  From Georgetown to The National Zoo to seeing the cherry blossoms bloom, it was a great trip.  The weather cooperated as we had sunny skies and temps in the mid 60s.  

The highlight of the trip was my 1/2 marathon.  I figured out while waiting in my corral that this was my 11th 1/2.  This one was going to be really special.  At the end of my race would be a Tiffany's necklace!  Now, I'm not a huge jewelry person.  I have some jewelry, and other than my engagement and wedding ring, I don't have anything that is worth a lot of money.  So this would be my first "little blue box".  It was definitely the "carrot dangling in front of me" as I ran!

The race was fantastic.  Beautiful sunshine and important monuments.  The Memorial Bridge and the steps of the capital.  The man in a tux handing me my little blue box.  

Best medal ever:

I've been wearing my "medal" daily.  It reminds me that I did it.  It reminds me that I can continue to be active and try new goals.  It reminds me I need to keep trying.  It reminds me that when I set goals, I can do it.