Children with Tough Lives

Thanks to Sheila at Book Journeys It's Monday! What are you Reading? was started. For many kinds of 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

              Not as much time to read, plus I've been putting together a group of short stories for students, too, so fewer books this week, but they're good!  These books meet the challenge given by Latin@sIn KitLit. See the button on the right!

Libertad - written by Anna Fullerton 

           Someone recommended this book a few weeks ago and I got it, and finally read it. It is another verse novel, pairing well with Caminar by Skila Brown, which I also enjoyed. This time, the author starts the journey of the main character, Libertad, and his younger brother, Julio, living with their mother in a shack right by the Guatemala City garbage dump where they sift through the trash to find things to sell. Through happenstance, Libertad finds a marimba, which he repairs, and practices playing. This reminds him of his father, a musician, who has gone to America. They have one slip of paper with his phone number, but really no way to call, and of course, no money anyway to make a call. Through a tragic accident, their Mami is killed and they begin an even longer journey to the US, to find their father. The back matter speaks of so many children alone, fending for themselves, being attacked or burglarized for even the few coins they earn at the dump. And this too happens to the boys, although there are good moments and kindnesses from some people along the way, too. The story of those good things, and then the scarier moments, sometimes seems unrealistic to me, but I will rely on the author's note about her research in this serious plight of children in South America. It is not as frightening a story as others, and perhaps would be a good read aloud for middle grade students, to introduce them to another story of children in need. The poetry is clear prose, arranged for effect, often poignant, and sometimes startling in the content. For example, "Shoes": Julio sits on a bench/and swings his feet so the cool air/flows through the holes/our journey/has made in the soles/of his shoes." To include rhyme, and even a positive comment during this miles-long walk the boys are doing seems beautifully done to me.

Celebrating Each Moment

       As my daughter-in-law said, why does the time go so fast!  Thanks to Ruth Ayres at Discover, Play, Build  I'm sharing my week of good times.

            At my school we don't take the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off, but have a half day of celebration, named "Grandpeople's Day". Although some students are absent, on their way to family celebrations far away on this holiday, others have their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and close neighbors come to visit, take a tour of the school, attend an assembly of different classes sharing, and finally visit classrooms. For this visit, I've already had students complete what is called the "Thanksgiving Visitor", where they choose any three people, past or present, to invite to their table. The guests this year ranged from Michelangelo, a grandmother never known, an unknown soldier who died in the Civil War, and on. The guests are always as diverse as the students. We gather in a group to share, and after student sharing, invite the visitors to tell us who they might invite, and why. It's a contemplative exercise, inviting our visitors into the classroom again for this brief time, always satisfying. I celebrate the students who were thoughtful, and the visitors willing to add their own ideas.

Slicing and Caring

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

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

        Much of my life consists of caring, caring for family, for my students and colleagues, and for myself. I care also about my country, and about the earth. I do what I can every day to make a difference for someone or something. I spent the later part of Monday evening watching CNN, wondering if they should be sharing so much about Ferguson, Missouri, and the terrible conflict that community is enduring. It feels invasive, yet perhaps we should know so we can respond as human beings who want better for everyone. 
        My community is worried, a little, about coyotes in the neighborhood. They are concerned that the leaves are collected in a timely manner. I'm not sure what to do. Both things, actually, are important. Yet, there seems to be something more important I'm missing, because tragedy continues.    

Reading More-Good Times

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

             Then, Jen of Teach Mentor Texts and Ricki and Kellee at Unleashing Readers started another group with a children's focus.  Reading everyone's posts of the children's literature is terrific!

Tweet at #IMWAYR

The Boys in the Boat, Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Olympics by Daniel James Brown.  

         This certainly would be of interest to older readers, but is also an adult non-fiction book. I finally figured out why I've been so in love with this book. It's because it's about the generation of people to which my father, lost in World War II, and my stepfather and uncles belonged. I lived with this generation! The group that went to serve, no matter the cost. And that is how this team rowed, to win, no matter the cost. And there was more, what is called the 'swing', when the rowers are so synchronized, they move as one, paddle in the same way, with the same strength. Daniel James Brown writes a dense and rich story, following one of the rowers of this winning 1936 Olympic team, but as he professes, including parts of the lives of the others, including their biggest rival, the teams from California. The early years before the college competition, the details of shell building, the boys’ relationships, the wins, and the later years are all included.  And the parallel events that publicly or privately were occurring in Nazi Germany are also included. In 1936, Hitler was already planning his 'final solution', and the time during this Olympics was used to put good a 'face' on in order to stop the talk and rumors throughout the world. As soon as the event was over, he again began his persecution. Each part of this story interacts with the other, forming a whole that, without one, would be incomplete. There is extensive footnoting and a bibliography, a good final remarks page from the writer.  I loved each part; perhaps why I took a few weeks to finish, slowing down to keep the ending from arriving.

Amber Brown Is Not A Crayon – Paula Danziger   illustrations by Tony Ross

              For the cute picture on the cover, and the title, I picked up this book at our library. Amber is a third grader who’s quite content being messy, in the room with teacher Mr. Cohen, and her best friend Justin. She tells the story of how Mr. Cohen takes them all on a trip to China, and it sounds like a lot of fun. They have passports and line up their chairs like on an airplane, then take off! That part is happy fun, but sadly, it isn’t the whole book. The rest deals with Justin finding out he’s moving away and Amber goes through different emotions about the loss. It really is a good story, and I know young students will love it as a read aloud, to talk about losing a friend, and what might have to happen in order to feel at least a little better. The illustrations are cute sketches throughout the story.

Nice Things, Nice Week

                The week has flown, filled with good moments. Thanks to Ruth Ayres at Discover, Play, Build  we share our celebrations with each other.

        A few more days until Thanksgiving, a few more days till family, and a few days of rest before back in that swift time before the holidays, such a joyful time, but busier than most of the year. This week celebrating different moments:

• Students who sit and talk of their goals for work with passion and enthusiasm. It's a gift to me to be able to have those conversations.
• A Friday trip where an hour into the mountains, the bus started smoking, and I made it to a stopping place, a helpful colleague came to the rescue--with another bus--and we were able to carry on with the trip. Flexibility was key, but what a day!  
• Shopping for dinner with my granddaughter and trying hard not to laugh as she carefully examined a few frozen packages to see what she might like. (Pictures mean a lot to those who cannot yet read, and Stauffer's won the day.)
• Spending a few hours shopping with my daughter  last Sunday. We are both so busy that a few hours is a treasure.
• Looking forward to this coming Thanksgiving with all the family. My son, daughter-in-law and grandson will be here!

Happy Thanksgiving with friends and family, wherever you are, whatever you enjoy on your table.

          From John Fitzgerald Kennedy: "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."