Saturday, March 30, 2013

More from Super Dungeon Explore

Next up on the Super Dungeon Explore painting front is a limited edition character for Super Dungeon Explore named Candy and her pet Cola. Now this actually figure is actually metal unlike the another from the game which is a resin plastic and I have to say that it is a great  mini. Originally it was a GenCon only release in the states but put it on general release and she is the Chiba version of Soda Pop Miniatures mascot. She was a delight to paint and give me another chance to use some colours that I rarely use.





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Twitterville Talk #94

Whoever said time flies when you're having fun hit it right when it comes to Twitter.  The constant stream of discussions between virtual and real colleagues happens all day, everyday and before you know it, an hour has passed.  I still can't get over being privy to the sharing of ideas between authors and illustrators.  It's a huge bonus to be able to talk with student readers about these conversations.  I hope everyone had a great week.  I know some returned to school after spring break, others had a week of vacation and for many in Michigan the break has just started.  Enjoy the wrap-up, look for the giveaways (three this week to celebrate our spring break) and take time for reading.


As the weeks have passed so to has the School Library Journal's Battle of the Kids' Books.  Even though the end is getting closer it still might be fun to do this with students after it's over to see how they vote as opposed to the judges' decisions.  School Library Journal has provided a page of downloadable graphics to use in designing your own brackets.  Each match appears as a PDF file.

Thanks to School Library Journal for these graphics and this tweet.


With every tweet about a new book trailer I can easily envision my book pile getting larger and my bank account getting smaller but the book trailers are very convincing.  Here are some of those appearing in our feed this week courtesy of Mr. Schu.























This interview of author Shana Corey by Mr. Schu appeared this week on the Kidlit Celebrates Women's History Month.  It is jam-packed with information.  Don't miss it.

For the next #SharpSchu book club on April 24th during National Poetry Month, authors and titles featured are Sharon Creech's  Love That Dog and Caroline Starr Rose's May B.: A Novel.  Inspired by Love That Dog and Sharon Creech, Caroline Starr Rose wrote a poem which was posted on Watch. Connect. Read. on Monday. It's beyond beautiful.


Don't miss these great links for National Poetry Month; here ,  here, and here.

Printable PDF titled 50 Things Kids Will Miss If They Don't Have A School Librarian In Their School.

Here's another outstanding resource gathered by Mr. Schu on his blog.  In this series of videos, step by step, viewers are taken through the process of creating a book.  In these we see how Lauren Oliver's The Spindlers was made.

Here are fifteen movies featuring bookstores.  Did you guess any of them?  Can you think of more?

Fans of Katherine Applegate's Newbery Award Medal winning,  The One and Only Ivan, will be thrilled with this news.  It's huge.

Thanks to John Schumacher, teacher librarian, 2011 Library Journal Movers & Shakers, member of the 2014 Newbery Award committee and blogger at Watch. Connect. Read. for all these tweets.





Now this is a book all members of the #nerdybookclub can read and love, A History of Reading, highlighted at Brain Pickings.

Thank to author and educator, Christoper Lehman, for this tweet.


When a colleague on Twitter says Wow more than once in a single tweet, you take notice.
This video would be great to use during National Poetry Month.



Thanks to Katie Clark, 6th grade ELA teacher for this tweet.







One of my favorite sites to follow is Free Technology for Teachers.  This week Richard Byrne had a post titled A Short Guide to Terms Commonly Used in Blogging which is worth reading as is A Simple But Powerful Student Blogging Activity.

Thanks to Richard for these posts and the tweets.



I just finished reading a short story author Kate Messner wrote for the Scholastic Storyworks site.  They Might Be Dangerous is amazing; downloadable as a PDF with lots of additional activities.

This is Kate's blog post--- A Suggested Response to Amazon's Acquisition of Goodreads


Thanks to Kate Messner for these tweets and providing her readers with another great tale.









If you missed #titletalk last Sunday or want to review all the great book suggestions under the heading of humor the archive has been posted.

Thanks to Cindy Minnich, educator, curator of the Nerdy Book Club and blogger at Charting By The Stars for this tweet and for compiling the archive.





How would you like to win a Skype visit with Molly Idle?  To celebrate the launch of her new book, Tea Rex, she is offering this, plus some extra goodies, to those who comment on her blog.

Thanks to Molly Idle for this tweet and this opportunity.





On the heels of #titletalk on Sunday this article says it all, Healthwatch: Stanford Study Shows How Humor Activates Child's Brain.

Thanks to educator and blogger at Finding Ways for All Kids to Flourish Joan Young for this tweet.






Have you heard about this, Meet the scientific accident that could change the world?  This is mind-blowing technology.
To the first person who can name this invention I will send a copy of Doug TenNapel's graphic novel, Bad Island. Please DM me on Twitter or leave the answer in the comments below. (This title has been won.)


Thanks to Kelly Tenkely, educator and blogger at iLearn Technology for this tweet.






Greg Heffley is going to be in print again, Abrams Announces Wimpy Kid #8.  I wonder if the illustration offers a clue as to the title.

Thanks to Children's Bookshelf of Publishers Weekly for this tweet.



Thanks to author Melissa Stewart for this tweet and developing these tables, CCSS ELA-RIT: Easy-to-Understand Tables of Standards.






I wish on a daily basis the people controlling the money would read this, Do Schools Need Libraries?

With so many apps being released it's hard to know which one will be best for you.  This article does a good job, Evernote vs Google Keep: Which Does More?

For all you book nerds check out this article, What the #Nerdybookclub Taught Me About Reading.

Thanks to Colby Sharp, teacher, co-founder of the Nerdy Book Club and blogger at sharpread, for these tweets.




This week author/illustrator Patricia Polacco sent out two tweets offering new videos to give readers the inside scoop on how she gets inspiration for her books.  These would both be good for an author study.  Thank you, Patricia Polacco.
For the giveaway this is a hard one.  In one of these videos Patricia Polacco names her new Christmas book.  What is the title?  The correct answer will get you a book written and illustrated by another Michigan author/illustrator, Wendy Anderson Halperin.  Her beautiful new book is Peace. DM me your answer on Twitter or leave it in the comments below. (This title has been won.)









Just in time Debbie Ridpath Ohi, illustrator of I'm Bored, has a new printable, an Easter version (note card) which is adorable.

To the first person who can tell me what the object in the basket is saying in this illustration, I will send a copy of Philippa Leather's new book, The Black Rabbit.
Leave your answer in the comments below or via DM on Twitter.

Many thanks to Debbie for this tweet and sharing her talents further with her readers.




Have you heard about these new literacy awards?  This is some serious money being awarded here.

Thanks to author Susan Hood for this tweet.




Certainly glad to see this post yesterday, Poetry Friday: In A Messy Room.  Get your spine poems to Travis by April 2.


Thanks to Travis Jonker, teacher librarian, member of the 2014 Caldecott Award committee and blogger at 100 Scope Notes for this tweet.  








A new book trailer was released into the wild yesterday by Dan Santat for the book, Because I'm Your Dad.

Thanks to illustrator/author Dan Santat for this tweet.





Here are a few of my favorite quotes, thoughts and pure fun from Twitter this week.


















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Friday, March 29, 2013

A Royalist Ensign

Here is the next one in the English Civil War series and its a Royalist Ensign in John Owen's Regiment of Foot. The chap is dressed in the finest of clothes as would be all officers and he would not be uniformed as the troops would be. Sir John Owen's Regiment fought at Naseby and Sir John Owen's Regiment of Foote were raised in North Wales, but with men from Cheshire and Shropshire in its ranks, due to Sir John's family connections. Since the regiment campaigned all over England subsequent casual recruits would have come in from as far a field as Cornwall and Northamptonshire. Here is the chap.

Ensign of Sir John Owen's Regiment of Foot
Campaign Dress



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Riddles And Rhythms

Of all the large cities I've visited, north and south, east and west, the one I've enjoyed the most and returned to again and again is Chicago.  The history, architecture, museums, theaters, restaurants, parks,  libraries, big stores and small shops along the shore of Lake Michigan populated with people from all walks of life are interesting, entertaining and simply amazing.  Considering I'm happiest hiking the hilly forests of northern Michigan without a soul in sight, that's saying quite a bit.

When an author chooses to place their book in a setting familiar to a reader, there's an immediate connection, a sense of coming home.  In her first fiction book Blue Balliett selected her own community on the south side of Chicago, Hyde Park.  This title, Chasing Vermeer, earned her numerous awards two of which are the Edgar Award and the Agatha Award.

The other two books in this trilogy, The Wright 3 and The Calder Game are either set in Chicago or begin there with her cast of familiar characters.  A town in Michigan, Three Oaks, is the setting for her third book, The Danger Box (reviewed here). By now as a reader I have a vested interest in the books of Blue Balliett drawn to them first for the place in which the well-told stories unfold.  I was thrilled to find the setting of her fifth book, Hold Fast (Scholastic), back in the city of Chicago.

It was the bitterest, meanest, darkest, coldest winter in anyone's memory, even in one of the forgotten neighborhoods of Chicago.
Light and warmth seem gone for good; mountains of gray
snow and sheets of ice destroyed the geometry of sidewalk and
street.

On this day, in the heart of winter, a man disappears leaving behind his bicycle, groceries and a pocket notebook.  The man is Dashel Pearl, husband of Summer and father to eleven-year-old daughter, Early and Jubilation, a younger son. He is a man who loves words and books, a page at the Harold Washington, the public library in downtown Chicago.

Dreams, a love of the writing of Langston Hughes, and hope are the glue binding this family together.  When Dash begins cataloging books for an unknown buyer, the extra money is welcome.  This money for Dash's college education will help them realize their desire to live in their own house.  But now their small living quarters are no longer filled with laughter and plans for a brighter future.  Despair descends as the police tell their tale and leave the three minus one.

Inquiries made of the wrong people lead to masked intruders stealing all they own, destroying their tiny one room apartment.  Fearing for their lives, Sum, Early and Jubilation leave in the dead of night with nowhere to go but a shelter for the homeless.  It seems the definition of bad has become much worse for the three Pearls.

To add insult to injury the police are trying to implicate Dash in a larger crime rather than simply being missing.  An unsolved European diamond heist, smuggling and kidnapping swirl around the threesome as they attempt to adjust to their new circumstances.  It is eleven-year-old Early, a thinker, a lover of words and riddles like her father, who knows it is up to her to solve the mystery of  his disappearance.

Life at the shelter brings countless rules, crowded conditions, a new school for Early and an air of hopelessness into their world.  With grit and determination Early begins to gather available resources disregarding the taunts of classmates and the lack of support from the police using the assistance of her father's old high school teacher and a tutor at the shelter.  The hardest thing has become knowing who to trust.

Crooks and cons are lurking and listening.  Death is waiting in the wings.  More money than the Pearls can imagine is at stake.  And how does The First Book of Rhythms by Langston Hughes tie this all together?


The language used in telling this tale of the plight of the homeless, the plight of the Pearls and the peril facing them at the hands of a ring of criminals is brimming with realism. Every word, sentence, paragraph and chapter is strung together artfully and with purpose.  Chapter headings are single words; ice, click, crash, cling, clutch, circle, crimp, crack, chase, catch, cover, cast, click and ice.  Each is defined as a noun and a verb, at times with completely different meanings depending on the culture in which they are used, on the first page of the chapter.  For careful readers these words become clues.

Beautiful descriptions of place, characters' personalities and thoughts fill the pages of this story.  For this reason readers are immersed in the emotions, the tension, caused by each event as the action escalates.  Almost without being aware we watch, we listen, we dream, we think, we write and we plan with Early.  Here are a couple of many passages I highlighted with my ever-present sticky notes.

"What's a printing?" Early had asked.  She loved the way her father shared information; his tone always made a plain old fact feel like something special.

It was odd how quickly each Pearl learned that wishing aloud made everything worse.  Survival was a matter of adapting, of learning how to hide in plain sight.

Understanding what she meant, Sum sighed. "I guess I am.  Reading is a tool no one can take away. A million bad things may happen in life and it'll still be with you, like a flashlight that never needs a battery.  Reading can offer a crack of light on the blackest of nights.


After you've read the final page, the note and acknowledgements you will quickly hold this book and, with a speed which can only be noted as fast, begin to think of all the people who you believe will want to read this book.  The number will be considerable.  Hold Fast written by Blue Balliett is a timely volume speaking to readers on more than one level; a story of family, homelessness, mystery and the power of the human mind and spirit.

Be sure to visit Blue Balliett's website linked to her name above.  It's one of the better sites filled with information about all of her books with a special section for educators.  This is a link to the Scholastic website for Blue Balliett.  Here is a link to a recent interview in TimeOutChicagoKids about this title.

Enjoy this interview where Balliett speaks about why and how she writes.
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An Egg-cellent SALE....


Since Easter is Sunday {yes...SUNDAY!!!} and I am officially on spring break as of 2:30 p.m. today, I have decided to offer a few of my top selling/rated products to you at a discounted price for the next three days. Be sure and snatch them up and use them now...or you can keep them for later. Either way, these are some units that you don't want to miss out on! 


Cloudy with a Chance is the perfect addition to any weather unit. The kids will love this weather study with a twist, plus...it includes some pretty awesome experiments and projects! 





Now, who doesn't love Patricia Polacco? This has and probably will always be one of my favorite author studies. So many wonderful themes and ideas to explore! 





It's still not to late to snag my newest writing bundle {especially since it is on sale}...


And since spring is on sale...I guess winter should be too! 



Since spring is the perfect time for poetry, this is definitely something that you could add to your collection. Your kiddos will love creating their very own poetry apps! :) 



Finally...if you are into all things nonfiction, this is definitely the unit for you. This unit will take your students on a nice road trip though all of the important text features that will help them develop strong comprehension skills when reading nonfiction texts. 



You can click on any of the pictures above to take a closer look at each of the units. Now, I am off to finish my very last day of professional development until I ride off into the sunset for the next 9 days!!!!!!!! Wait...I need a few more.....!!!!!!!! Can you sense the excitement??? 

TGIF!  
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Thursday, March 28, 2013

Flannel Friday: Six Bouncing Bunnies

Another Friday has arrived!

And along with it comes another


Since Spring has also arrived, I have been doing lots of Springtime programs which always seem to include some bunny fun, of course! Are you ready for lots of hopping and bouncing?!??! Well, ready or not, here we go!



I love these sweet little bunnies and so did my storytime friends! 
They wanted to play with them over and over again after storytime ~ bouncy, bouncy, bouncy!

Six Bouncing Bunnies

Six bouncing bunnies happy to be alive,
One hopped away and then there were five.

Five bouncing bunnies hopping past my door,
One hopped away and then there were four.

Four bouncing bunnies hiding eggs beneath a tree,
One hopped away and then there were three.

Three bouncing bunnies painting eggs a bright blue,
One hopped away and then there were two.

Two bouncing bunnies chasing butterflies in the sun.
One hopped away and then there was one.

One bouncing bunny looking for some fun,
He bounced and shouted,
"Happy Easter, everyone!"



I tweak this rhyme when I want to do a little color recognition with my storytime friends. For this tweaked version, we first count the bunnies onto the flannel board. Then I ask, "Are they all the same?" 

We discuss how the bunnies all have two long ears, a twitchy nose, and white, fluffy fur. 

"But! they are not all the same! How are they different?"

Once someone points out that each bunny has a different colored tail and tummy, we name each color and make the ASL sign for each color.

 I say, "the purple one hopped away" instead of "one hopped away" and change to a different color for each stanza.

If you have an exceptionally active group of storytime friends, you can encourage them to stand up and hop with each bunny. Soon they will be tuckered out and ready for a sit-down activity. Little tricks like this ~ when deliberately used at certain times ~ will allow you to guide even the youngest and the most active children towards having a longer attention span and towards being able to focus on specific learning experiences during storytime or circletime


You can also do some more hopping with this cute rhyme based on the ever-popular Five Little Monkeys fingerplay.

(The bunnies pictured below are an old set that have been well-loved and often-used. You can tell by the "crazy" look on some of their faces! ;o) They would be simple enough to create with pompoms, felt, and wiggly eyes.)

When starting this rhyme, I have the little ones help me count the bunnies as I add them to the glove. Then I ask them to hold up five fingers and we count again. Once everyone has five fingers held up, we practice bouncing them up and down. Now, everyone is ready to start.


Five Little Bunnies

Five little bunnies hopping down the trail,
One fell down and bumped her tail.
Momma called the Doctor and what did he say?
"No more bunnies hopping today!"

Additional verses:
Four little bunnies...
Three little bunnies...
Two little bunnies...

One little bunny hopping down the trail,
He fell down and bumped his tail.
Momma called the Doctor and what did he shout?
"No more bunnies hopping about!"


Another way to share this rhyme is to make bunny ears and choose 5 children to wear them and be the hopping bunnies. As you count down, just take the bunny ears from one child at a time and have that child sit down. Always a fun way to engage the children!

I have several more "hopping bunny" songs and rhymes but I think I'll stop here to day. If you are interested in the other ones, just email me at storytimeabcs@gmail

Before I leave you, I did want to share our snack, our library search/ take-home item, and the video we watched at last night's Easter Storytime and Pajama Party.

The snack was delicious! It was cheddar bunnies and pretzel bunnies and carrots.Yum! Yum!



Our library search/take-home was a set of rainbow-colored bunnies. Each child had to find a red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple bunny in the stacks. These colorful bunnies could be taken home so that each child could practice the rhymes and play the "Bunny Search" at home with family and friends.



The video we watched was an Easter episode of Wow Wow Wubzy which my storytime families really enjoy!


Happy Easter!

And, as always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!

The Flannel Friday Round-Up for this week is being hosted by Miss Mollie Kay on her blog, What Happens in Storytime... If you aren't too tired from all our bouncing, I recommend that you hop on over there for a collection of creative ideas for lots of Early Learning fun!
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