A Bunch of Fun - Monday Reading

       Thanks to Sheila at Book Journeys It's Monday! What are you Reading? was started. For adult and children's books, check out Sheila's blog posts and links!               

         Later, Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Ricki and Kellee at Unleashing Readers started another group with a children's focus.  

                                                                  Visit all the links for reading ideas!

Tweet at #IMWAYR

            I loved all the books I finished this week, and have some wonderful new books from the library waiting. Although I'm so busy, I have been reading...

            Winter Bees, and Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen

was reviewed on Poetry Friday, here.  It's gorgeous non-fiction poetry, with side pieces of extra info!

A Bird On Water Street – by Elizabeth O. Dulemba

                  A historical fiction novel about Jack, a thirteen year old destined to follow his father, and grandfather into the copper mines in Coppertown, but all he really wants is to see the green of trees, and to hear the birds sing. It’s a rather low-key book considering the serious theme, the dangers to the environment and to humans from the pollution of mining. It chronicles life in a real-life town in this industrial mining town in Tennessee, and the everyday adventures of these young adults. There are photographs of the way a real town looks during the mining, absolutely no vegetation, no birds, insects or other living creatures. Even fish in the streams are gone.  Life is spare, but the characters come to life in everyday happenings, music Fridays, Sunday church, and boys going sledding on cardboard. I found it a little slow, but compelling in that I wanted to find out what was going to happen when Jack’s father and other miners went on strike. There is that story, and further true information in the author’s note.

A Whoosh of A Week!

   Thanks to Ruth Ayres at Discover, Play, Build we celebrate the week of special moments.

 The time at school before the holidays fills and fills. It's like a holiday basket overflowing each and every day. Last week I celebrated family time during our time of Thanksgiving. This week I'm celebrating my week with students, working each day to complete projects for their units, read their books, preparing for different "events" that happen in the final week before winter break. 

         Students in my school study different topics independently, and here is what some of the students worked on this week: a blueprint of a house model that will soon be created, a report of the events in the 20th century that caused changes in fashion. an editorial about social media effects on friendships, models of energy-wasting parts of vehicles and possible 'fixes' for them, and plans for a public art piece to be painted in a school stairway. You can see why individual conferences, lists and lists of materials needed are on all of our minds. It was a good, settled week of work for most, including some reading, writing, and art as well. 

Delightful Winter Bees

       Poetry Friday on this first December Friday is with Anastasia Suen here!

         I know others have spoken of this new poetry written by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Rick Allen, and I, too, want to add my own words of praise for Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold.
        There is delight in looking at Rick Allen's paintings, so filled with color and action that even the snowflakes seem to drift off the page. And the fox makes me shiver as it smells the vole underground.
        The pictures in the book celebrate Joyce Sidman's poems, inviting others to gather, to share in the words of winter. Each one holds its own surprises of different structure and content.  I love the moose: "I bask in the moon/as the coyotes croon/with my moose-mama close by my side." And those bees, "Deep in the winter hive,/we burn like a golden sun." My favorite line, with the chickadees: "The sun wheels high, the cardinal trills./We sip the drips of icicles."

Wednesday-non-fiction fun

 You can find favorite non-fiction picture books every Wednesday with Alyson Beecher on her blog, KidLit Frenzy. 

underGround - written and illustrated by Denise Fleming

         It's hard to resist resist the poetic and gorgeous illustrations Denise Fleming gives us in this wonderful book. She shows and writes "Creatures dig/Past highways and by-ways/Squirm-ways and worm-ways./ And there they are, chipmunks and worms and moles, all kinds of creatures doing things  underGround! The back matter identifies each of the animals shown, and gives additional information about how they work underGround. Young children will be fascinated.

Slicing and Putting Things Away

Time for the weekly Slice of Life at the Two Writing Teachers blog.  Tweet at #SOL14  

       Thanks Stacey, Tara, Dana, Beth, Anna and Betsy!

         I introduced the Slice of Life with students yesterday. They wrote, broke into groups, and shared. From my observations in one group, it seems that they "got it", and were willing to try describing a piece of their lives. I kept it low-key, and we'll write again tomorrow. This group does have good writing experience, but now the challenge is to get them to narrow the focus, revise in all the different ways to revise to make the writing good. Step one, step two... and on! Exciting!

And I wrote too:

            There are those who say that messy desks open up paths to creativity, but I'm wondering. My desk at school is not messy, but is piled high, and no, I'm not going to show you a picture of it, but I am going to discuss one tiny slice of my life that occurs about twice a week.