Monday October 22nd, 2012

Posted on October 22, 2012 by carriegelson

It’s Monday! What are you reading? Join in with Jen and Kellee’s meme and share what you are reading from picture books to young adult reads. Always an opportunity to learn about new titles!

I had huge amounts of picture book love this week! A large part of that was having tickets to go see Jon Klassen at Vancouver Kid’s Books. Wow! Such an interesting and engaging presentation. Jon is charming and then some.

And . . . it gets better. I was able to take my class to the Vancouver Writer’s Festival to see Sheree Fitch and Kyo Maclear. Their event was called High and Low and All Around. All of these author and author/illustrators impressed me to no end. (Sheree Fitch can recite her poems at super sonic speed. She is spellbinding!) I was inspired to continue sharing the love of literature, the beauty of the written word, the magic of the clever illustration, and the images of joy via the wonder of picture books. One of my favourite moments was when Kyo Maclear talked about how she loves reading and one of my students whispered intently to me, “She’s just like you!” Phew! Six weeks in and I’ve conveyed my love of books. So many weeks still ahead to pass this love on to each child in my room! 🙂

So because this post is all about picture book gushing, I thought I would try to place these books loosely into categories to bring some kind of organization to this post . . . that way you can just locate a section you are interested in!

First up: Art and more:

This is Not my Hat written and illustrated by Jon Klassen Love this book. Doesn’t hurt that I got to hear it first read and explained by Jon Klassen himself all the while holding my signed copy in my bag! But I would have loved it anyway. I love the dark pages, the horizontal format, the mood conveyed by the eyes and all of the inferring this book begs you to do. The crab in this book is a fantastic supporting character. (He gets a starring role at the top of this post!) I find Klassen quietly brilliant.

Virginia Wolf written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault. Kyo read this book to us in the presentation at the Writer’s Festival and when I returned to class, I read it aloud to the children again. They were completely delighted by the story and Arsenault’s stunning illustrations. As soon as it was quiet reading time, this book disappeared to be read again independently. A fantastic title about a dark mood, a hopeful sibling, the magic of imagination and the lightness when sadness lifts. This book can be read again and again and the reader will continue to discover new things.

I read this book last year to my Reading group and they adored it.

In the Wild is written by David Elliot and illustrated (gorgeous woodcuts) by Holly Meade Poems written by Elliot are lifted off the page by Meade’s striking and powerful woodcuts. My wish list now includes On the Farm a previous collaboration by these two.

A few books in the Rhyme and Repetition category:

A Gold Star for Zog written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Alex Sheffler This was our first BLG book of the year and we loved the language, the plot and the bright illustrations. Zog may not be the best at every task at Dragon School but he helps someone else find her way. For that, I think we can call him heroic.

Toot Toot Zoom written by Phyllis Root and illustrated by Matthew Cordell This is a likeable little story about the search for friends. Many adventures and lots of delightful traffic noise fill the pages as Pierre the fox travels to the other side of the mountain.

Books full of humour:

The Younger Brother’s Survival Guide by Lisa Kopelke Supposedly, this book was written by “Matt” Kopelke’s younger brother who entertains the reader by his step by step guide on how to terrorize and torment your older sister (who remains all the while older and more clever).

Please is a good word to say written by Barbara Joose and illustrated by Jennifer Plecas I’ve read some reviews of this book that claim it is a simple, too cutesy book about manners. I found it quite wonderful really. It is definitely a child’s voice that comes through loud and clear as when and how to use polite phrases and expressions are explained. It is hardly simple to understand the proper placement of please so that it sounds polite and gracious vs. whiny and annoying. I can see this book making kids really think about how best to use manners and that it would prompt many conversations.

Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas. I first heard about this book from my principal because her five year old daughter was raving about a hilarious book that her teacher had read to her and was insisting that they had to have this very book a.s.a.p. I am always intrigued by book passion so had kept this title in the “be on the lookout for” compartment of my brain. I found it this week at the public library and now see why this little kindergartener was so enthused about it. It is hilarious! Bright and colourful illustrations and a funny little plot. Oh beware the vacuum if you are a dust bunny! The bonus: it also lets the readers practice rhyming! What could be better? I want this book for my buddy reading bin! It is perfect for reading to our little kindergarten buddies.

And also this category: Nature

Mossy by Jan Brett. I have always loved Jan Brett. My children were fed Jan Brett books about as often as mashed carrots in their early years. Always her illustrations are exquisite. Most of the time her stories are good. Sometimes just okay. Sometimes great. This book falls into the great category. It examines a beautifully unique little creature and the human tendency to want to “have” that beauty at the expense of the happiness of the creature. In this case, Mossy is captured and placed in a museum until a young girl senses her unhappiness. Reminds me of the wonderful Melvin and the Boy by Lauren Castillo. In fact, I think I am going to read both books this week with my reading group and do some inspired writing.

That’s not a Daffodil by Elizabeth Honey. This book has many things in it that made it a quick favourite for me: an intergenerational relationship, a theme of nature and gardening and beautiful imaginative language and imagery. A perfect book to inspire looking at nature in creative ways and I can’t wait to share it with my students. It also heads into my school bag this week.

I am also smack dab in the middle of The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater and must finish it by Friday as it is requested and I can’t renew it at the library! Wish there was more time because I am really enjoying the story. Determined to squeeze in some late night or early morning reading sessions.

What are you reading? Please share!

A Gold Star for Zog

Posted on October 19, 2012 by carriegelson

Our BLG readers have started for the 2012/2013 year! Our first reader was Maria and she brought in the entertaining A Gold Star for Zog written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

This story is about a dragon named Zog who is determined to win a gold star at Dragon School for mastering the lessons that Madam Dragon teaches. Unfortunately, he is quite accident prone and he wins more bumps and bruises than stars for stellar achievement. Luckily for Zog, a young girl shows up after every injury and tends to him – bandaging, soothing and healing.

Like many Donaldson stories, this one is full of rhyme and repetition. We caught onto this very quickly. Many of my reading group members grew quite excited about this fact and tried to whisper to me subtly “It’s got repetition! The text rhymes!” (We had just had a lesson where we explored our rhyme and repetition bin in class.)

Students had quite a bit to say as Maria read and recounted all of Zog’s injuries.

“It’s worse luck. Then, good luck when she helps him.”

“Everytime, each page he always gets hurt.”

“Oh! Oh! I hope he will still be able to fly!”

This story takes place over time and so the reader must pay careful attention to how the illustrator shows the passing of years. Some students missed the text clues “In Year Two. . .” “A year went by and in Year Three. . .” but they saw differences in the pictures. Many of them commented that both dragon and girl were getting older and taller as we moved through the book.

Maria was a very patient reader and paused for all of the comments and questions, including one very sincere inquiry, “Did you make this book?” 🙂

When it is revealed that the girl is actually a princess, we were pretty excited!

“She’s actually a princess? I didn’t know!”

“She helps all of the dragons! She is a hero!”

“She doesn’t need that prince to rescue her! She’s smart!”

We were all quite excited about how this book ended. Yes, Zog got a gold star but our princess got a starring role in the life she wants to live. This is a fantastic message!

Into the bins we go . . .

Posted on October 18, 2012 by carriegelson

With this goal in mind – read often and from a wide variety of sources, we are spending time each week exploring different reading bins in the classroom. My reading group is keen to explore and share picture books. This week we explored our Rhyme and Repetition bin using this format: 1. Explore the bin 2. Spend time reading some self-selected titles 3. Talk about what we noticed 4. Write a reflection

I brought out this bin and students predicted that many of these titles would have rhyming parts and selections of text that repeated (the title of the bin made this prediction a pretty easy one :-)) I read a few pages of a few books to model exactly that. We identified how often ending words rhymed and that sentence structure or specific phrases repeat. Students then helped me spread the books out on the carpet and every child spent fifteen minutes reading a variety of titles from this set of books.

We then gathered back at the carpet and shared what we had noticed focusing on this question:

Our list definitely included the rhyming and the repeating but students started with the fun aspect of the stories pointing out that they were often silly, farfetched and funny. It was clear that the word play brought a lightness to the books. One student even commented that the authors would have to work very hard to make all the words work together.

I then asked students to take just five minutes and write their own reflections about the books they read from this bin. This student was a big fan of these titles! He writes: “I noticed that they (meaning the authors) were worked very hard, They are the best in the world. They are very funny.”

Today during independent reading, some students returned to this bin. It’s all in exposing students to new titles and genres to broaden their reading choices. Each week, I plan to introduce a different bin of books and follow a similar process. It’s a great opportunity to work on our reading stamina and increase our knowledge of book choices.

Monday October 15th, 2012

Posted on October 15, 2012 by carriegelson

It’s Monday! What are you reading? Link up and share your week’s reading from picture books to young adult reads on Jen and Kellee’s meme. I always find my TBR piles grow and grow as I sift through all of the fabulous titles shared!

This week I was able to share some favourite picture books for the first time as read alouds and I also read many titles new to me.

I shared The Hueys in the New Jumper by Oliver Jeffers with our primary SR (Social Responsibility) gathering this week (3 classes together). We often read books to the children that spark discussion about all kinds of topics that fall under the social/emotional umbrella. I chose this book because of its message about daring to be yourself and not always having to be the same as everyone else around you. It also reminds us that we do not need to be afraid of those “rule breakers” who aren’t worried about being unique and standing out. The students were very intrigued with the funny little Hueys and they loved learning that a sweater to us is a jumper to someone in another part of the world. Loved it so much that every time I said “the bright orange jumper” they joined in so that we were a little chorus! This book has BIG time LITTLE kid appeal.

I also read one of my favourite books to my class this week: Hunwick’s Egg by Mem Fox and illustrated by Pamela Lofts. One of my students showed me a treasure he had found – a stone shaped jut like an egg. “It’s really just a rock,” he told me in a whisper. “But maybe kind of magic because it seems like an egg.” Well . . . I hardly need an excuse to say “There’s a book for that!” But in this case . . . my , my, my . . . there sure is a book! Hunwick’s Egg is an absolute treasure about a little bandicoot named Hunwick who finds out that his special egg is actually just a stone but loves it deeply still. Although his egg never hatched, it provided him with companionship, faith and an important secret. Egg or stone, this was his friend. It was such a pleasure to share a favourite title with a new group of children. And then when we got to pass the stone around that had been shared with me. Well . . . sometimes magic happens during a day for just a few moments and this was one of those moments.

I also found a number of wonderful new to me picture books at the library this week:

The Potato People by Pamela Allen This book is about a Grandma and grandson who make creatures out of potatoes. As time passes, the potato creatures begin to wither and sprout. Grandma buries them in her garden and wow . . . Lots of learning about how potatoes are grown! I also love the bond between Grandma and grandson and that they sing the potato song: “One potato, Two potato, Three Potato, Four.” I recited this poem as a child and sang it twenty years ago when I was teaching children in Slovakia! A little nostalgic moment 🙂

Don’t Worry Douglas by David Melling A sweet little story about Douglas the loveable bear who learns that telling the truth is most important when asking for help to solve a problem.

You are a Lion and other Fun Yoga Poses by Taeeun Yoo I shared this book with my seven year old niece and she instantly got down on the floor and tried out all of the poses, giggling all the while. A very fun, interactive book that introduces yoga poses to young children.The page layout is ideal: a two page spread with instructions: “Sit with feet together. Hold on to toes. Legs flap! You are a . . . ” Flip the page and find out: “. . . Butterfly” Would be perfect for a rainy day story time when everyone needs some movement!

One for All – All for One written by Brigitte Weninger and illustrated by Eve Tharlet. The illustrations are delightful – very endearing little animals. A story about being courageous, identifying inner strength and relying on the strength of friendship.

Can Hens give Milk? by Joan Betty Stuchner and Joe Weissmann This book is a hilarious exploration of the question . . . Can hens give milk? It logically approaches how to have hens start giving milk. The only problem is the premise to begin with is completely without logic! It goes something like this:

I see cows giving milk. Cows graze on grass. If chickens were fed grass, they would produce milk! Let’s give our chickens grass to eat!

This story is about Tova and her family who live in the town of Chelm (a mythical village, populated, according to Jewish folklore by fools!) Cannot wait to share this with my class and see how they respond!

I also just finished Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George. A wonderful suspenseful middle grade read: part mystery, part fantasy, part intrigue . . . And it seems this title will be the first in a series. Since I am reading my daughter’s copy, I think I see some future book gifts ahead! She is a big Jessica Day George fan and now I understand why! The most interesting thing about this book for me? The fact that the castle itself was a main character! Next book up? The Raven Boys! I just picked it up from the library!

Monday October 8th, 2012

Posted on October 8, 2012 by carriegelson

It’s Monday! What are you reading? On this Thanksgiving Day weekend I am especially thankful for extra reading time and the community of readers that participate in Jen and Kellee’s meme each week to share what they are reading from picture books to young adult reads. I always learn so much about fantastic books by hearing about what others are reading and sharing.

I read lots of fantastic picture books this week, many discovered at my local public library.

Pssst! by Adam Rex was a lovely surprise. Having just visited the Seattle Woodland Zoo this summer with my children, this book helped me deal a little bit with my zoo “thing.” While I love that people are able to get up close and personal with the animals and that it fosters understanding and inspires awareness about the plight of many endangered animals, I also am uncomfortable about these animals being in cages and stared at all day long. This book is about a little girl wandering from animal exhibit to animal exhibit hearing from each animal about something that they need. It’s everything from tires to flashlights to bicycle helmets. Luckily there is a store across from the zoo that happens to sell everything she needs to grant all of these wishes. What these animals do with all of these objects I will leave for you to discover. But as I say, it calmed my zoo “thing.”

Squid and Octopus Friends for Always by Tao Nyeu. This book contains four wonderful little stories in one picture book. Gorgeous colours – muted blues and greens mostly with some sunny orange and yellow here and there. There is a nice mix of humour and a theme of friendship and I love the commentary by all of the other creatures in the ocean that is spread across the pages.

Traction Man and the Beach Odyssey by Mini Grey In this last year, I have developed quite the adoration for Mini Grey books. (Read more here.) The fabulous thing about the Traction Man titles is the focus on the celebration of play, the imagination and the just plain silly. This book is set at the beach and Traction Man has quite the adventure. One large wave draws him out to sea and he is eventually whooshed into a dark and scary cave. He is rescued by a young girl and brought to the Dollies’ Castle where he is decked out in a flowery ensemble and served raspberry ripple ice cream. How will he escape? Much of this humour may be more geared towards adults, but I think there is easily enough here to completely delight young readers as well!

The Retired Kid by Jon Agee Being a kid is sure hard work. Haven’t you heard? The child in this story heads to a retirement home, officially retiring from being a kid. At first all seems great. Lots of naps. Pool parties. Golf carts. Certainly better than spelling and violin practice. But soon aspects of retired life don’t seem so rosy. I love the image of the boy in Friday night swing dancing classes. Perhaps his kid life wasn’t so bad after all? A great book to illustrate the saying “The grass is always greener . . . “

Lines that Wiggle written by Candace Whitman and illustrated by Steve Wilson. This is a beautiful book celebrating the variety of lines that we come across in everyday life. Highlighted here in wonderful illustrations and raised off the page sparkly swirls that just begged to be traced with your finger, this book is a lot of fun to explore. Thinking of all kinds of art projects it might inspire . . .

Watch Me Throw the Ball by Mo Willems. I keep coming cross Elephant and Piggie titles that I haven’t read. This one has the perfect message: bring fun to everything that you do! It’s all in the attitude!

The Red Tree by Shaun Tan We had friends come for dinner and one of them brought this to share as a read aloud for the adults while all of the kids (seven of them at best count) were running amuck. A beautiful story of hope reminding us to find beauty in the smallest of things. The illustrations could take one days to study. Simply so full of meaning.

I have also been reading and really enjoying Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George. In this busy fall, it has been more difficult to get time to read novels. This one was recommended to me by my daughter who loves George’s books. I hope to wake up early in the morning and finish it.

The Girl who Never Made Mistakes

Posted on October 3, 2012 by carriegelson

Our morning read aloud was an important one. We shared The Girl who Never Made Mistakes written by Mark Pett and Gary Rubinstein and illustrated by Mark Pett. We have some extra doses of anxious feelings in our classroom. Just who we are. So I thought this would be an ideal book to help us talk about making mistakes and how it is absolutely okay. Even good.

Initial reactions to the cover of this book were a little awe inspired. “Wow! Is she perfect?” And then one student aptly pointed out, “I think that at the end she might make a mistake because people who make books – well that’s what they do. That’s how books happen.” (I love when students share their knowledge of how books and authors work like this!)

This book is about a little girl named Beatrice Bottomwell, who, as the cover clearly states, never makes mistakes. Never. Not ever. So impressively perfect that she actually has fans waiting for her outside her door every morning who regularly quiz her about her error free habits. Her little brother, Carl, ironically is nothing like his big sister. He makes lots of mistakes and delights in this fact. Funny little guy (our class named him “Backwards boy”) does things like play the piano with his toes and draw with green beans while eating his crayons!

One day, Beatrice almost made a mistake. She slipped in cooking class and four eggs went flying into the air! “Oh my!” I exclaimed as I read. “I can’t breathe. I wonder what will happen?” One of the little boys at my feet reached up with his teddy (we have class stuffies that listen along with us – helps with secure feelings. Remember we are an anxious bunch!) “Here Ms. Gelson. You can hug my teddy.” Cute. And then some.

We turned the page and all was okay. Beatrice had managed to land on the floor and catch each egg using a very creative two hands, one foot, one mouth retrieval system. But her “almost mistake” plagued her. Students noticed that she was feeling lots of pressure. While her little brother balanced his plate on his head and held his spoon with his toes, she barely touched her dinner. Beatrice had a talent contest that evening and she was anxious she would mess up.”Not you, ” her Dad assured.

Beatrice prepared for her juggling routine by grabbing her hamster, a salt shaker and a water balloon. She went up on stage to cries of “That’s her! The girl who never makes mistakes!” She started to juggle. She always performed this routing flawlessly. Then Beatrice noticed that the flecks coming out of the salt shaker were not white . . . Uh. Oh. We caught on pretty quickly! “It’s pepper!” “The hamster will sneeze!” “She is about to make a mistake!” The sneeze is humongous! “Just how hard can a hamster sneeze?” asked one student. And, if you are thinking about this little scene, you can imagine what happens. The haster sneezes, his claws scratch the balloon and KABLOOIE (we practiced saying this a bunch of times. It is pretty fun!) Beatrice is drenched and a hamster is perched precariously atop her head. Everything and everyone was still. Students observed that she must be feeling sad that she had made a mistake. Some also noted that it really isn’t possible to be perfect.

But then . . . Beatrice began to giggle. Eventually she was laugh out loud laughing and it was contagious. The audience laughed along with her. That night, Beatrice had her best sleep ever. The next day she began to do things without perfection in mind. Skating and slipping. Messy lunches. Lots of laughter. And not so many worries.

What was our response?

“At first she made no mistakes. Now, she likes making mistakes. People aren’t mad at her. It can be funny when you make mistakes and everyone can laugh together.”

“If you think you have to be perfect, it is hard to make friends because everyone else seems normal and you can’t be happy.”

An important read for our class. An important read for any class. Mistakes are how we grow. They make us human. They give us the freedom to relax and try new things. This little book is a great reminder of all of that!

Monday October 1st, 2012

Posted on October 1, 2012 by carriegelson

It’s Monday! What are you reading? Always nice to wrap up a week of reading by participating in Jen and Kellee’s meme and sharing with others all of the wonderful books read over the week. Link up and visit all of the other bloggers participating!

First of all I am so excited to celebrate that after two very busy weeks of not getting a novel completed, I have been able to steal away enough reading moments to finish Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore. I have read both Graceling and the companion book to Bitterblue, Fire and so was very pleased to dive into this young adult read. A dramatic story. More mystery and confusion than the action packed adventure of Graceling. But some seriously sad moments. Bitterblue needs to keep searching for strength and considering her upbringing, where does she get it all? She is a character that I liked more and more as I read the story. Being a young Queen is hardly easy in this Kingdom. Wonderful to revisit so many characters from Graceling. I am a definite fan of Cashore.

I have continued to source out titles from the Backyard Book series that I haven’t read yet. I just purchased a number of them for my classroom non-fiction collection. These books are ideal for students to interact with when learning to ask questions about a topic and read for more information. Ideal “Fact? React” titles. And of course, they are fantastic books for independent and buddy reading. The following three titles are written by Judy Allen and illustrated by Tudor Humphries.

Are you a Dragonfly Dragonflies are gorgeous creatures. Did you know they spent two full years in the water before coming out to live on land? And that while in the water, they can eat tadpoles and small fish?

Are you an Ant? The fascinating thing I learned from this title? Anting. There is something called anting. Who knew? Birds will pick up ants and put them under their wings so that the acid in the ant’s body will kill the ticks that bite the birds and make them itch. Fascinating.

Are you a Snail? I am not a snail. And . . . I will confess I am a gardener who does not like snails. But I do admit they are quite fascinating and when they are in a book and not in my garden, I am willing to get excited about how fascinating. I did not know how snails overwinter. Pretty cool. But still, I like snails best out of my garden! In this book is a great place for them!

The fact that this book exists is pure kismet: A Rock is Lively by Diana Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long is the fourth book I own by this amazing team (A Seed is Sleepy, An Egg is Quiet and A Butterfly is Patient are all favourites – follow the links to see how I’ve used each in the classroom before.) Now the year I have decided to teach about rocks and soil in science after collecting unique and wonderful rocks over the last year, this book is published. It is just gorgeous and I cannot wait to share it with my students! Rocks are everything: tiny and huge, old and ever changing, galactic and bejewelled. Amazing.

I read a lot of books to my class this week but no titles new to me. I did find a new title in the school library when signing out books for our guest readers to read with the students: JoJo the Giant written by Jane Barclay and illustrated by Esperanca Melo. An important little read that explores many themes: bullies, kindness, courage. JoJo is small only in stature and he demonstrates this in how he honours his Mom at the end of the story.

I am hoping to finish The Search for Wondla as a family read aloud this week and Code Name Verity is the novel I begin next.

Happy Reading everyone!

Getting down to the business of reading

Posted on September 21, 2012 by carriegelson

Reading Groups started this week. Every morning I have the pleasure of working with a small group of eager Grade 2 students to help them develop their literacy skills: build reading fluency, learn new comprehension strategies, provide opportunities for meaningful responses to literature, learn how to navigate non-fiction texts, learn about genres, etc. That’s what I know I need to do. What did I tell these lovely, eager little students on our first meeting together? Not all of that! Nope. I explained that I was going to transform them into READING FANATICS! That they would be so excited about reading that they would choose books over candy, over chocolate cake, over roller coaster rides, over the latest movies. That they would eat, sleep and dream books. I went on for a while about this, trying to make sure my reading excitement was as contagious as those unblocked sneezes we all wince at. Their reaction? Fully in! “Can we have book parties?” “Can we take a book outside to read?” “Can we sometimes just sit and read and read and read?” My answers to all of these things? Yes. Yes. And yes!

In our first two days together, we got busy. We tackled some big questions: What do good readers do? What is difficult about reading? We read for “get into your book” chunks of time. I read to them . . . a book that celebrates the gift of reading (Jeremiah Learns to Read).

We are on the road to becoming passionate readers, of, I am hoping, the lifelong kind!

Peek into our room for a taste . . .

The first big question I asked: What do good readers do? We charted our answers: I particularly loved the excitement and thoughtfulness that was expressed trying to explain to me what the “right book” might be. (see below)

Also important to note is that the immediate answer to my question: “What do good readers do?” was an exuberant, “They read!” Exactly! So simple. My job? Making sure there is time in the day to do this. Every day.

The next day we read Jeremiah Learns to Read written by Jo Ellen Bogart and illustrated by Laura Fernandez and Rick Jacobson. In this story, we meet Jeremiah an old man who can do many things. Amazing and beautifully useful things like tap a maple tree, build a split rail fence and grow a vegetable garden. But Jeremiah has never learned to read. The students found this concept startling. Their comments and questions revealed their worries and bewilderment.

“He can’t read? But he’s old.” “Oh . . . that would be so horrible.” “What if his kids asked him to read them a book?” “I really wish he could read.” “Were there no schools when he was little?”

Jeremiah decides to attend school with the children in his neighbourhood and learns to read and write. One of the most lovely moments of the story is when he reads a poem aloud to his wife.

I read this book as a reminder that reading is a great gift we need to treasure. It also helped us start talking about how reading is not always easy.

I posed this question to the students: “ What is difficult about reading?” I like to ask this because it helps me understand where the group is with their learning. What struggles do they identify? Do their ideas centre on the decoding of text? Or, have they moved into comprehension issues?

I noted down their ideas on a chart as we explored this question. This group are solid primary readers who are still developing their ability to read more complex texts and who are unfamiliar with some strategies to decode some longer multi-syllabic words. So it was natural that many of their worries focused on the actual being able to read/pronounce the words on the page. There was the beginning of a discussion about meaning and again a focus on what is the “right” book. This helps me to realize that we will need lots of instruction on genre, book selection, introduction to new authors, etc. We will revisit this chart as we move through the year and add to it as necessary as we learn and grow as readers.

What I value most about getting student ideas and input like this is that while that chart paper is still blank, I just have no idea what ideas we will end up listing. We are directing and shaping our learning together.

As we get down to the important business of reading, I couldn’t be more excited. We have a busy and book filled year ahead!

The Worrywarts

Posted on September 18, 2012 by carriegelson

We have begun to delve into our Reading Power collection to find titles to illustrate the concept of connecting to a story. Today we shared The Worrywarts written by Pamela Duncan Edwards and illustrated by Henry Cole.

Many of had learned about connecting before. We talked about how when you have a connection . . .

*you might be reminded of something

*you think, “Hey I’ve felt that!”

*you understand the story better because you’ve had similar experiences/feelings

There is a lot happening in The Worrywarts. First of all – a wonderfully woeful celebration of weary wallowing in all things worrisome. Alliteration and then some! Edwards celebrates “W” power! Wombat, Weasel and Woodchuck decide to go on an adventure to wander the world. After much contemplation on the perfect snacks to bring along , they realize that they have many worries about the “What if . . . ” aspect of their walk out into the world. In our class, we could connect to sharing worries about what might happen in any given situation. After the story, we drew about our worries. Many students shared that these fears creep into their heads when in bed at night.

Andrew wrote about worrying about a giant sea monster eating him. This idea might be in his head when he was lying still at night, he explained. That sea monster looks pretty big!

Many students drew fires in their thinking bubbles. There seems to be many worries about fires breaking out and not being contained. We noticed that last week when we had the fire drill, we had to do lots of “What if . . .” talking.

Shereese shared that she has worries about being lost. Her picture in her thinking bubble is very detailed and sure conveys that scary feeling of feeling all alone in a big, intimidating place.

There was a certain comfort in sharing our worries through discussion, pictures and our writing. We definitely realized that having worries happens to all of us, not just story book characters like Wombat, Weasel and Woodchuck.

What do you worry about? How do you calm your fears?

I Feel a Foot

Posted on September 12, 2012 by carriegelson

We shared a gorgeous picture book in class today which inspired some beautiful art. I Feel a Foot is written by Maranke Rinck and illustrated by Martijn van der Linden.

Turtle, Bat, Octopus, Bird and Goat awake in the dark of night to a sound. Each one goes exploring and runs into some kind of creature. Turtle thinks it is a humungous turtle because he feels what seems to be a turtle leg. Bird thinks he feels a beak. It must be a huge bird! Octopus thinks he feels a large tentacle. The creature is an octopus (super sized). In the end it turns out that each animal felt just one body part and that the animal is actually . . . Do you think you can guess?

We were inspired by the bright colours in the illustrations to make our own turtles and birds.

We used oil pastels, coloured construction paper and tried to create interesting patterns and outlines around our animals.

We then cut out around the outside of our creations. Ms. Gelson and Miriam glued them onto black construction paper and they are posted on a bulletin board in our classroom! Come in and take a peek!

We love the expressive eyes and smiles on these turtles!

The great thing about this project? Everyone finished an animal! And . . . all of our work was displayed together. Posted together, the effect is all the more striking!