Celebration: New views

Posted on February 21, 2015 by carriegelson

This week a bit of a theme seemed to emerge – seeing things in a new way or seeing things for the first time. I had a shortened teaching week due to a Pro D day in my district and travelling to participate in Pro D to the island so my learning “adventures” were a little more varied.

This is what I celebrate this week: new views.

#1 It was the third annual Nonfiction 10 for 10 this week. Follow the link to check out all of the lists shared. My theme this year was Change your perspective. This list featured my favourite nonfiction titles that allow us to think about something from a completely new or different perspective.

#2 Watching my students in buddy reading this week was lovely as always. But, as I walked around and listened in to the reading and the conversations, what really stood out was their leadership. My students have really become reading mentors. They are responsive to their listeners, they are monitoring for understanding, they are aware of attention span and they are asking amazing questions. I couldn’t be prouder.

#3 My students adore Calef Brown. We love his art. We love his wonderful poems. This week in art we made some images inspired by his.

Kids in @CarrieGelson ‘s class working with my Dragon, Robot, Gatorbunny activity book. Great drawings! pic.twitter.com/iAJJQkigLJ

— Calef Brown (@CalefBrown) February 19, 2015

I loved how some images were Brown inspired with such a lovely “child” twist. Like this sweet little moment between these characters below.

#4 These views were truly new views of the most beautiful and majestic kind! They are taken out my window flying back from Port Hardy Friday evening. I loved the tiny plane ride and the incredible views of mountains and coast line that we could see out the window. The flight back to Vancouver had no empty seats and many people were snapping pictures of these gorgeous scenes.

#5 The reason I was in Port Hardy was to participate in Vancouver Island North Teachers’ Association’s District Professional Day on The Whole Child. It was an honour to present the Key Note address and to be able to share my love for nonfiction picture books in the two nonfiction workshops I shared. The photo below is part of my book stack – upside down with sticky notes everywhere which made sense for me as I presented.

The North Island community was wonderful. While I had only a limited time there, I was touched by the stories that people shared with me and by the warmth in which I was welcomed. The beautiful landscape, the dancing and the drumming, the care and commitment of these educators . . . it was a wonderful 24 hours for me.

Thank you to Ruth Ayres and the #celebratelu community! Being part of a community that regularly shares gratitude and celebrations truly transforms my weeks. Read all of the celebrations by following the links shared here.

Celebration: The Book Cycle

Posted on February 13, 2015 by carriegelson

On the day when everyone is celebrating love – I am going to celebrate book love. How lucky I am to be surrounded by it!

It made it onto my Valentine envelopes

I get to witness it all week – in Reading Workshop, during quiet reading and most adorably, during buddy reading with the Ks.

This week we wrote about our classroom library and one little reader’s writing was a beautiful gift of celebration of how much we love books and how much I love books.

I celebrate it here:

I like that in our classroom library, we never say there is too many books because you can never have enough books!! Everybody likes every single book because we have so many memories like reading with our friends or this is the book I read when I’m sad. Ms. Gelson always book talks books which means she’s adding more books to the library which also means we have to make room. Ms. Gelson bought a whole new shelf for nonfiction!!! By the end of this year, we’ll be drowning in books

You know how there’s a butterfly cycle and a blah blah cycle and all the other cycles? Well let me tell you about the book cycle. Step 1: Empty book shelf Step 2: Mediumish filled book shelf Step 3: Almost full book shelf Step 4: Full book shelf and finally Step 5: Drowning in books because there’s too many books. Sorry – you can never have enough books! And that is the book cycle 🙂

Maybe that book cycle doesn’t fit your teacher. If not, make your own up. I mean – that wasn’t made up though. But back to the point . . . That book cycle sure fits my teacher. She’s a little bit book crazy as in goes to the book store everyday!

Here is the author of this incredible piece of writing with her favourite book! (She does read it when she’s sad. But also when she’s happy or mellow or tired or . . . )

I wish all of you some love, particularly a little of the bookish variety!

I celebrate that I have a room full of books and wonderful readers to read them!

Celebration: three things in tweets

Posted on February 7, 2015 by carriegelson

It’s celebration Saturday and with a busy, busy weekend, I thought no, don’t have time. But when you get used to celebrating, those shiny pieces of emotion don’t like to be ignored. So late in the afternoon, I am stopping, to do what has become routine and habit. Yet is so much more.

Quickly, my celebrations: three things told through twitter.

This month, my husband and I will travel to Bellingham for the AMAZING Western Washington Children’s Literature Conference. To make it more amazing, I get to visit with these people. And . . . meet Elisabeth Ellington in real life for the first time!

@CarrieGelson @MrShafferTMCE @notforlunch @MsHoughton Yes, I’ll be coming all the way from South Dakota!

— Elisabeth Ellington (@elisabethelling) February 7, 2015

Sometimes a day is long and then out of nowhere a little gift arrives that you really needed. Thanks Jess Keating!

Are you following @CarrieGelson‘s blog? Awesome stuff, including sharing her Ss responses to books! Check it out: http://t.co/sX4elQuoXe

— Jess Keating (@Jess_Keating) February 6, 2015

On a day of amazing award announcements, I got to share one of “ours”

@CarrieGelson Thank you, Carrie. I mean it when I say that’s better than any Caldecott!

— Mark Pett (@MarkPett) February 2, 2015

This week I celebrate all of these things and . . . the pull to celebrate. Celebration is a wonderful choice – one that I’m glad I just can’t miss!

Celebration: Mock Caldecott Results and Feedback

Posted on January 30, 2015 by carriegelson

This week I celebrate the winding up of our #MockCaldecott process. The books are read. The voting complete. The winners selected. The evaluations written. Now these titles are read, reread and treasured. They are pieces of our reading lives.

I can’t quite figure out how to share just how much this entire process exceeded my expectations. There is normally a LOT of picture book love in my classroom. This took it over the top. In the very best of ways.

We read each book together as a class over a two week period. Talking. Noticing. Savouring. Rereading.

And then it was time to vote. A rich and thoughtful process. Students revisited many of the titles and carefully considered their votes.

Students rated each of our eleven titles on a scale of 1-5 for 3 questions:

This book is a book kids will really appreciate. 1 2 3 4 5

The illustrations in this book are excellent in quality. 1 2 3 4 5

The illustrations are a great fit for the story being told. 1 2 3 4 5

I loved watching students and adults talk together and share what they noticed.

As students each selected 3 favourites to write more about, I witnessed collaboration and celebration.

And . . . quiet independent reflection and rereads.

Our actual winners were as follows:

Same & Dave Dig a Hole took the medal. We awarded honor status to The Farmer and the Clown, Quest and Draw!

These titles received a LOT of love. Like the biggest smile of approval EVER! 🙂

And student created stickers . . .

Titles that didn’t receive medal/honor status got another kind of love and devotion:

And when author/illustrators communicated with us via twitter, it was pretty magical!

Comments about favourite titles ranged from favourite parts to insightful observations. Some highlights:

Same & Dave Dig a Hole

“I like the part when they always pass by the big diamonds. Maybe they are too lazy to dig for a long time.”

“I really like when they dig straight down but they miss the pink diamond. The book had very good details. It’s like Sam and Dave fell in a new galaxy. Or like time travel.”

“I love how the dog could smell the diamond.”

“Sam and Dave is a great digging book because the dog can smell gems: one small, two medium three big, four enormous!!”

“That was the biggest diamond that I ever seen in a book!”

Draw!

“I like it because it is wordless. I love wordless books. I think he likes adventures and to do new things.”

“It has great illustrations and so much imaginations! We do lots of imaginations in our class.”

The Farmer and the Clown

“My favourite part is the friendship between the farmer and the clown.”

“My favourite part is when the clown washes his face and then he looks like a cute little baby.”

“My favourite part was when the clown needed to go and the farmer switched hats with him. It showed that on the next page.”

Quest

“This book is awesome! It has so many colours. I like how they draw something and then it comes true.”

“I choose Quest because the illustrations goes with the book. It’s a continuation of the book Journey and this time, they’re working together.”

The Girl and the Bicycle

“My favourite part is when the girl buyed the bicycle for her brother. I like when the girl dropped her bike and hugged the old lady.”

The Right Word

“I really like how the illustrator uses a lot of collage and nothing gets wasted.”

Sparky!

“Sparky was so lazy. He only knew how to sleep. He was an odd pet.”

“All the pictures are about cute and lazy. The pictures really fit with the plot. Sparky is very cute. I like how Sparky is always sleeping. The girl plays games but Sparky always loses.”

“I like the part when the sloth just sat there.”

The Promise

“I wouldn’t appreciate the colours in the ending as much if it didn’t have those dull colours to compare the bright colours to. It was a very good story.”

Reflecting on our learning was taken as seriously as exploring book details.

I asked students to think about three questions. I shared some of their answers under each question.

What did you like about our Mock Caldecott process?

Some of the books kept me thinking
We got to vote on our favourite books (it’s very hard).
I like when we looked at the details
It is like a treasure hunt with books!
We noticed amazing things!
How we got to be judges and that is awesome.
I liked listening to all of the stories.
I get to rate all of the books!
We got to see new books that we haven’t seen before.
That we got to be learners and thinkers. I hope we do it again.

What did you learn about your own likes/dislikes/preferences with picture books?

I used to like books that were only black white but Quest made me change my mind.
I like when there’s a happy ending.
I like when they surprise us.
I like when there are muted colours and then the next page everything is bright.
You can learn a lot with just one picture book.
I used to dislike wordless books. Now, I like wordless books.
I like bright picture books more than plain picture books.

What did you learn about illustration and illustration styles?

Some books – you have to notice the small details.
Some illustrators do spotlights of do a small picture and leave a big white page
The illustrations have to fit with the plot.
They are very creative in books. They do that so kids will think about it.

My favourite response might be this one: “I noticed that all the kids had fun!” this is my celebration – the joy the Mock Caldecott process brought to our room. We are, more than ever, a reading community.

Celebration: Starts with the letter R

Posted on January 24, 2015 by carriegelson

Over on my class blog, Curiosity Racers, I shared what happened as a result of this tweet from author Aaron Becker.

It is worth checking out.

Really!

@CarrieGelson it starts with the letter R

— Aaron Becker (@storybreathing) January 22, 2015

All of those delicious R words have inspired my celebration post today.

I celebrate:

REWARD

My children had a Professional Day on Monday so they came to my classroom with me. This was a wonderful experience all around. They were great helpers and my students loved to interact with them. All my most precious children in one room! Watching the students share their love of books with my children who have been raised on books was a most rewarding experience.

RESTLESS

I love the restless energy of science experiments. Our favourite Let’s Talk Science volunteers came in on Thursday morning and led the students through some activities to learn about density. The excitement, the observing, the predicting, the confirming, the “Oh I get it now!” moments.

RISK

In math, we are solving a variety of multi-step word problems involving multiplication and division. I have been modelling different choices around using manipulatives or 100 dot array charts to represent the thinking. Students have been working together to solve and write equations that represent their process. I love the confidence, the starting over, the talk, the thinking.

REVEAL

Yes, the results of our #MockCaldecott are in! The winners are . . .

I hope to be posting more about this soon!

RAGE

We have some very passionate readers in our room. When this title by Mark Pett wasn’t one of the winners (it was so very close!), one super fan gave it its own medal!

And author/illustrator Mark Pett approved 🙂

@CarrieGelson Nice to meet you! And your medal is better than any Caldecott!

— Mark Pett (@MarkPett) January 22, 2015

RAVE

There was lots of gushing over favourite titles in this #MockCaldecott process. Everyone had a chance to write about the books they loved and why. Oh, the book love! Thank you to Ruth Ayres and the #celebratelu community! Being part of a community that regularly shares gratitude and celebrations truly transforms my weeks. Read all of the celebrations by following the links shared here.

Celebration: Monday leads to Friday

Posted on January 17, 2015 by carriegelson

On some Mondays, I question whether I have it together at all. A lot seems to not be yet “in synch” and the previous week feels very long ago. Monday often feels like a warm up, remind ourselves, get it together day. I don’t often say TGIF. But I often think TGMIO. TGMIO = Thank Goodness Monday is Over. Monday is the day when we don’t have the cushion of success immediately behind us. Anxiety is higher. Stamina is lower. Energy is inconsistent. When Monday is under our belt, it’s like the clouds part. The sun creeps in or sometimes it lights up the week bright and strong on Tuesday and holds fast.

That was this week. Monday was a yikes kind of day. Tuesday started a torrent of amazing and I celebrate Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and all of their glory!

A few highlights:

Reading books for our Mock Caldecott competition has been pure joy. Students are so engaged with this! I hear them chatting to each other, “Do you have a top three?” “So now which ones are your favourites?” ” I know my favourites but there are too many of them.” “Oh . . . how are we going to decide?”

Reading Sam & Dave Dig a Hole by Mac Barnett and illustrated by Jon Klassen was a particularly special experience. We read it last thing Tuesday afternoon. I got to share it with a room of children and four adults (including my parents who volunteer on Tuesdays!) I loved listening to the children’s comments. Even more amusing might have been watching the other adults listen to these comments. I covered the pages in sticky notes – recording all of the utterances. I knew that reading this book aloud to this group of kids was going to be pretty fantastic. It totally surpassed my expectations.

I celebrate math problem solving and the beautiful mess it creates! On Friday, we were all so lost in our work, we didn’t pay attention to the time. When it was time for library, I just had them all stand up, line up and go. We could clean up later. “Walk away from the math,” I had to prompt. They were so engaged! When the students left (it was my prep) I snapped a picture. I loved the piles of manipulatives, the wipe off boards in use, the way notebooks were pushed together as little groups or pairs had formed to work together. We are mathematicians! We share ideas. We talk. We learn from each other. We take risks. This photo of the “post” math work period, reveals just that. It makes me smile.

Even though my students are reading nonfiction titles right from September, I always do a big nonfiction launch in Reading Workshop starting in January. We have more guided instruction, more nonfiction book talks than usual, frequent mini-lessons, some nonfiction group activities, etc. Day one was so much fun. I simply put out the baskets everywhere around the room and give the children some recording sheets and send them off to be Fact Detectives. As they begin looking through books and recording, I am walking around noticing. What books do they gravitate to? Who remembers how to use the features to help them better navigate the texts? Do my new students feel comfortable locating and recording information? It’s noisy. It’s energized. It sets the tone for much more to come.

I love this photo below – she shouted out, “Holy Bagumba! Look how big this boat is!” (Yes, we did just read Flora & Ulysses!)

As I walked around the room, children were sharing. Not just facts – but their thinking, reactions and questions. With me and with each other.

There were impromptu fact announcements. Kids would jump up and tell anyone who might be listening, “Listen to this . . . ” “Did you know . . . ?” The best thing? We were listening! “Really? Whoa . . .” “Can I read that book next?” “Ms. Gelson do you have more books about . . .?”

And, the excitement continued. The next day in Reading Workshop when everyone was engaged in independent reading, many children pulled nonfiction titles out of their book boxes and continued to read. The little guy below told me: “This book make me fainting.” When I asked him to tell me more, he shared a bunch of “wow” facts and just shook his head as if to say, “I never would have imagined . . . ”

And again I am celebrating the yoga in our room. It represents community. Focus. Space. Recharging. The children crave it. And thanks to the amazing Miriam who works with me, we are finding time throughout the week to practice.

Celebration: Movement

Posted on January 9, 2015 by carriegelson

This week I celebrate movement. Literally, movement. Free from pain. Without stress. Regular, functioning movement. This winter holiday, I was hit hard by a pinched nerve that meant severe pain, limited movement, very little sleep and a numbness down to my thumb. It hit me December 24th and I am only now reentering the regular, physical functioning world. I have two full nights of sleep under my belt. My thumb sort of feels normal. I worked almost a full week.

I am grateful to Scott, my calm and committed physiotherapist. And I celebrate my morning walks, my trusty heating pad and my ability to breathe through pain. I had thought that this week was going to be challenging. Yet, it was full of fabulous learning. Despite my commitment to getting home early to do my stretches, apply heat and relax, my classroom was buzzing with activity and excitement. For the first week back, we were on full speed ahead.

Again, movement. Continuing towards independence, discovery and a strong classroom community.

I need to go sit with my heating pad and my book but want to quickly share a few highlights of a positive first week back.

#1 Our Mock Caldecott

I am thrilled to have my students participating in a Mock Caldecott award process. We have eleven gorgeous titles on our list (follow the link above for our process). So far we have shared 4 of them. After we read Quest together, two students needed to compare it page by page to the beloved Journey (also by Arron Becker). There is lots of picture book buzz in the room!

#2 Rich discussions

I am beyond thrilled with how prepared the students have been to leap right into discussions about the books we are reading. Turn and talk time has never been so focused! Our nonfiction read aloud this week has been Handle with Care: An Unusual Butterfly Journey written by Loree Griffin Burns. I love what one child said early in the week:

“This book gives us questions but lets us find the answers.”

#3 Commitment to building community in Reading Workshop

We missed our discussion about picture books on Wednesday because of a fire drill. Students begged me to do it today because they wanted to “talk picture books.” What could be better? The conversations were rich and on task. Lots of sharing and really listening to each other.

#4 Book love renewed

So much engagement and enthusiasm for meeting up with our classroom library once again.

One child even posted a sign on our door 🙂

#5 Daily activity.

I am so lucky to have Miriam, who works with me in the classroom, bring yoga into our room. We did yoga almost daily this week and the children are able to be so much more present and confident. In the picture below, Miriam and a student are demonstrating a series of poses.

Celebration: Time to Read, Winter break style

Posted on December 20, 2014 by carriegelson

The holidays have arrived. For book lovers everywhere this means TIME – uninterrupted, guilt free time to read and read and read! This is my celebration this week – my anticipation of time with books to be lost in and inspired by story.

My favourite holiday note was this one from Rebecca in my class. It is so wonderful that our first term was full of so much special reading. Better still that Rebecca chose to highlight it in her note to me. What I love about the holidays is that I get lots of time to feed my own reading cravings – which lets me come back in January, refreshed and ready to create more time for “special reading” with my students.

I am a reader. My students are readers. We are a reading community!

Currently, I have very ambitious reading goals that I am horribly behind with. I waver between being certain that I will still meet them and considering myself incredibly foolish to even think it is possible. But, I celebrate my ambitious plans to try! I have a goal of reading 100 novels this year. I did it last year. This year the prolonged teacher’s strike ruined my relaxed summer reading and I fell behind.

Last night I finished two novels and this morning I read a beautiful novel in verse. A little surge of hope happened! How it stands now: I have finished 82 out of 100 titles to meet this goal. 82 done. 18 to go. 11 days. Hmmm. . .

Here is my current TBR pile. I will need to finish these titles and 3 more. Possible? Unlikely! But I am willing to try! Think of the fun in the possibility! Each book read only enriches my life. So no harm in trying 🙂

Wishing all of you some quiet time to read and enjoy a book or two (or eighteen if you have a goal like mine!) Elisabeth Ellington, I know you hear me!

Celebration: Giggles, tears and much in between

Posted on December 13, 2014 by carriegelson

This week was a long week. Two evenings of parent/teacher conferences. Rainy days. Stormy nights. Seldom seeing the sun. In all of this, I appreciated things that made me smile. I also honoured the tears.

Looking back over my week,

I celebrate time for art and filling our room with bunnies. I am terrible at holiday art. I never decorate the classroom for specific holidays. I think about it going up and then being over and needing to come down. So, in this season, I cheat and do winter related art. This week it was little bunnies in the snow. I love how bunnies represent curiosity, inquisitiveness, quiet and calm. Every time I look at these little critters, I grin. In all of the busy, creating art together is a way to slow it all down. (Inspired by this project on the blog Mary Making)

I loved this one in particular – its wild nature and how it was branded “Gril” because, you know, if you have a bunch of bunnies, you should keep track of gender. 🙂

I celebrate tears. Tears shared during parent conferences. Tears of pride. Tears triggered by memories of challenging childhoods. Tears about opportunities and dreams for children. Much to celebrate. The generosity of stories shared. I am blessed to be meeting with some families for the second and third year. Trust takes time. Wow, is it incredible as it happens. I loved what parents and families (because I also had siblings, Grandmas, etc.) shared with me. A few highlights:

“My daughter comes home and follows me around asking me “Did you know . . . ?” and actually, I don’t know! I love learning about what she is learning.”
“I think our sister is really benefitting from the yoga that you do in class. She is really centered and she is showing more calm when dealing with her siblings.”
“I love all of the art! Can I take pictures of all of it?”
“My child is now helping her sister read. She says, “write down the words you don’t know and we’ll figure it out together.”
“My child is always reading. We have to go to the library every weekend.”
“My daughter is writing songs. Every day!”
“I put what you wrote about my daughter on my facebook page. It was so wonderful. I am so proud.”

I realized that much beyond curriculum is being learned. We were able to celebrate community, kindness, perseverance, risk taking, curiosity and the power of learning and wondering together.

I celebrate conversations with my students about buddy reading. After our little K buddies left this week, we gathered at the carpet and talked. My students (in Grade 3 and 4) shared highlights of their reading experiences. We discussed whether little buddies were ready for longer picture books yet or whether board books and concept books were still appropriate. My students talked so respectfully and thoughtfully about different needs and abilities of the K students. They recognized that different children have different abilities to attend and different interests and skills. They are so invested. I am so proud of them. I have regular moments of awe as I happen upon the interactions between the children. The gifts they give each other . . .

I especially celebrate things that made me laugh. In all of the busy. In all of the intensity of pre-holidays and family meetings, regular laughter was a must. My favourite giggle of the week was this labelled paper bag brought along on our field trip with a child who worried about getting sick on the bus. The worry of motion sickness passed once she had her “puking bag” firmly in hand.

‘Tis the season for lots of emotions. I celebrate the ability to feel them all. Resting up this weekend to prepare for another week of “pre-holidayness” next week.

Celebration: The Ups

Posted on December 6, 2014 by carriegelson

It’s December weeks before the holiday break. Lots of people are sick. Stress levels, excitement levels, anxiety levels all peaking. Not everything is smooth sailing. There are ups and there are downs and not a lot of in the middle sailing along.

So “the ups” feel a little more precious.

This is what I celebrate this week. Those moments that I wanted to tangibly capture in my arms and whirl about. The quick instances and the longer, in it, “grooves” that we managed.

All that was good and kept me smiling at the end of every day.

Because, really, I so love what I do.

I celebrate the moments of buddy reading with the K class. This happens Wednesday afternoon but those little Ks light up every time they see my class in the hall. This week I just stood in awe and watched the singing, the story telling, the chanting, the guessing and all of the literacy connections happening.

I celebrate that during our Turn and Talk discussions (all about predictions and wonders) for our new nonfiction title: Eye to Eye: How Animals See The World by Steve Jenkins one child whispered to me:

“Ms. Gelson we’ve only read half a page and already we know so much!”

I was impressed that my students could come up with so many details on how different animals rely on vision to go about their daily lives.

I celebrate that math looks like this: engaged, confident, excited.

I celebrate that one little reader who used to be up and wandering last year in Reading Workshop is now firmly planted in his favourite spot at the carpet and reading his way through the Henry and Mudge series. Hurrah when a reader finds the fit!

I celebrate Monster Art. Students took their monster characters and “shrunk” them and then “built them a house.” I especially celebrate the fact that my students pick up a felt (or crayon or pastel) and just draw. The risk taking of no pencils first is a wonderful thing!

This one worked right side up or upside down. I celebrate unique perspective!

I celebrate munching on cheese strings and mandarin oranges while writing “commitment notes” to join a Junior Book Club we are forming.

And always, I celebrate all of the moments of book love that infuses everything we do:

The engagement while reading favourite authors

The little one who “sneaked” our poetry title to read on her own “I didn’t read ahead. I just read the favourite parts so far.” Joyce Sidman has us entranced on a regular basis!

The growing confidence we share in Reading Workshop book talking favourite picture books to each other. It’s a process. We’re getting there. But it all begins with the exciting flash of the favourite illustration.

The devotion to favourite authors embedded in this book review. (Look midway down the page)

I celebrate all of these moments. I especially celebrate that if I now tried to make a list of the “downs” of the week, it just really doesn’t matter. Mostly, I’ve already forgotten. Because, really, wow, look at what we’ve got going on!

Thank you so many times to Ruth Ayres and the #celebratelu community! Being part of a community that regularly shares gratitude and celebrations truly transforms my weeks. Read all of the celebrations by following the links shared here.