2012 Goals for the New Year

Ah, goals for 2012. Sounds frighteningly like resolutions, doesn't it? Meh, I'm not so big on resolutions, but I do like to set a goal or two...

In 2011 I fell short on some and surprised myself with others.

For example, when I look at my GoodReads goal for 2011 I want to laugh myself silly. This year I don't think I will be too worried about meeting a number goal, but rather a genre goal. I am woefully inattentive to fiction "for boys" and I need to remedy this. I'm starting off the year with book one of the Ranger's Apprentice Series and so far I'm enjoying it.

Another goal didn't sneak up on me until October: NaNoWriMo. And that minor goal (to write at 50,000 word novel during the month of November) took me until the end of December. December 31st to be exact. But I did it. Will wonders never cease?

I've joined the Nerdy Book Club members in their quest to read copious amounts of award winning books, but decided that instead of the Newberys or the Caldecotts I was going to choose the road less taken and read the Pura Belpre award winners and honor books. I don't suppose that reading the delightful "The Storyteller's Candle" to my third grade students in December had anything to do with it, but perhaps...

And finally the wonderful Page in Training has cooked up a scheme to introduce more non-fiction to students, both young and old. I'm happy that she's allowed me to work with her on this year-long project called Passport Nonfiction. I'm excited to see where it takes us and how it evolves. Join us!

Mock Caldecott Unit for Kindergarten

Over the next few weeks I'll be adding resources to this space that you may steal, er, borrow, to create your own Caldecott Unit.  None of these ideas are particularly original; I hope you find some of these resources useful!  Do you have any mock Caldecott ideas you'd like to share?

Here is my first document which will be the first page of my students' Caldecott "book":

Name Your Own Medal

**Update**

My kindergarten classes and I have now read three books that I feel are Caldecott contenders.  Here are the sheets they used to create two more pages for their Caldecott books:

Blackout
Grandpa Green

We also read Perfect Square by Michael Hall.  My students then deconstructed their own perfect squares and reassembled them by gluing them to a sheet of construction paper.  This will be the fourth page of their Caldecott book.

As January 23rd approaches I have just one wish:  oh please let at least one of the books we've looked at win a Caldecott something! :)

Sunday Soup: In My Mailbox - Bigger Than A Bread Box

Are we talking resolutions yet?  Because one of mine will be sharing, in a more timely fashion, books that I have received.  Each of these books that I will be highlighting over the next few days came my way thanks to the generosity of a publisher (with the author putting in a good word), an author, and a tweep.  I love my PLN!

Title:   Bigger Than a Breadbox

Year Published: 2011

Author:  Laurel Snyder

You May Know Her:  as the author of Penny Dreadful and Baxter:  The Pig Who Wanted to Be Kosher

You May Find Her:  at her blog and on twitter at @laurelsnyder

Illustrator (Cover art):  Steve James

You May Know Him: from his blog.

You May Find Him:  at his blog and...?

Review You May Not Have Seen: 

Seattle Times, November 26, 2011

The Delta/Plus

The fabulousity of Bigger Than a Bread Box is now old news, but in this case old news is still news!  This was one of the best books I've read in 2011.  It fits into my new fiction genre: realistic fantasy (along with my favorite book When You Reach Me which fits into my other new fiction genre, realistic science fiction).  

This book is very tightly written, each and every word counts, and it drew me right in (I have to say that I'm lazy and in general cannot wait 'til halfway through a book for the action to get crackin').  Tiny details add to the books believability.

There is not a thing I would change about Bigger Than a Bread Box.  To me, even the cover art added to the book's appeal.  It fits the feel of the book exactly and gives you the sensation that you are literally being drawn into the book and into Rebecca's story.  It reminds me of a Brian Selznick cover, especially those that he did for Andrew Clements' books such as Frindle and A School Story.

15 Second Book Talk in the Stacks (These are when I'm in the book stacks with my students and they hold out a book to me and say, "Have you read this one, Mrs. Blaine?".  I have about 15 seconds.):  

"I loved this book.  This is about a girl who moves with her Mom and brother to her grandmother's house in Atlanta because her parents are having problems and she finds a magical breadbox in the attic and anything she wishes for shows up in the breadbox, but imagine what happens if you got everything you wished for and what if your biggest wish might not come true?"

From the the cover to the writing, Bigger Than a Bread Box gets five out of five Dog Ears from me!

Thank you Random House for this gratis, no-strings-attached, copy of Bigger Than a Bread Box!

Wadda Ya Know Wednesday: Timelines in Books

The other day I mentioned that I would be borrowing an idea from over at Babbling Abby, a first grade teacher who has a ton of creative, adorable and engaging ideas.   If you scroll down to the bottom of her post, you'll see that she has come up with a timeline activity using Eric Carle's A Very Hungry Caterpillar.

I intend to use her idea with my first graders, but since I see three first grade classes, I wanted to mix it up a bit when it came to the books.  I will be using each of the following books with each of my first grade classes:

The original used by Babbling Abby!

My choice for the second class of first graders.

For use with my third class.  BTW, this book is out-of-print.  Unacceptable!

What are your favorite timeline/days-of-week books that you would use?

Turn it Around Tuesdays - A Nation's Hope

On the eve of World War II, African American boxer Joe Louis fought German Max Schmeling in a bout that had more at stake than just the world heavyweight title; for much of America their fight came to represent America's war with Germany. This elegant and powerful picture book biography centers around the historic fight in which Black and White America were able to put aside prejudice and come together to celebrate our nation's ideals.
~ Summary from GoodReads 


Last week I shared A Nation's Hope:  The Story of Boxing Legend Joe Louis with my fourth graders.  By coincidence we had just read two other Kadir Nelson-illustrated books:  Henry's Freedom Box and Mama Miti.  My students were riveted by this story.  Although they are in fourth grade, they don't have a lot of background knowledge about World War II (curriculum-wise, I mean) but nonetheless the importance of this American versus German boxing match-up was not lost on them.


Here's one of the reasons I love my job:  I told them that this book was probably being considered for a Caldecott Medal and after finishing the book I said, "So, what do you think the chances are that this book will win the Caldecott?"  Hands went up.  "85%", "97%", "95%".  They took my question quite literally, as you can see!


My fourth graders made some very astute observations about how realistic the pictures were, how Kadir Nelson seems to illustrate books about African Americans, how Kadir Nelson's name seems to be before Matt De La Pena's name on the front cover, and there was much discussion over how much the text and the pictures complimented each other.  Many students agreed that this was a book where the words and the pictures were equally powerful.


I know my students would love it "100%" if this book won a Caldecott and so would I.

Sunday News

Here are a few links to library news of interest I've had my eyes on this week:

Oh yes, I did order these notepads for the librarian at my children's school.

I found this super fun site by accident while I was searching for contraction activities for first grade.  I also found this The Very Hungry Caterpillar time line activity which I will be adapting for my first graders!  More on that this week.

Have you ordered your free Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service promotional materials yet?  I have a feeling they may not last long!

I spy with my little eye...Bats in the Parking Lot!

I had the privilege to hear Brian Lies speak at the Mid-Atlantic Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators conference.  He talked about the pre-publication marketing steps he took to promote his first book Bats at the Beach - he then spoke about the use of shadows, light and perspective in his work.  His website is chock full of useful activities related to his books and to bats! 

And finally, if you want to get anything done today do not, I repeat DO NOT, go here.  Don't do it.  I'm warning you.

Grateful for Grace (Lin)

On Thursday we were honored to have Grace Lin visit our Library.  She taught our first and second graders about the publishing process from idea to published book (which most guessed took, oh, approximately two days) and read to us from her books Year of the Dog and Year of the Rat.  She was gracious, energetic, and made a lot of dreams come true, to be sure.

Thank you, Ms. Lin!  What a fitting time of year for your visit; we are so thankful for the opportunities we have to meet wonderful authors and illustrators like you!