My Favorite Books to Launch the School Year

Hi Everybody!

I've been very busy visiting all my schools helping people get ready for the new school year. Everywhere I go I bring my suitcase full of my favorite books to read during the first month of school. 

I'm a little bit picky when it comes to these books. Just because it's a book about the first day of school, or it has kids reading and writing in it, it doesn't necessarily make it onto my list. Only my favorite books that I have read aloud to kids are on this list. There are lots of other wonderful books I could have added--I just haven't had a chance to read them to kids yet!

These books are arranged loosely in order of difficulty/maturity. Having said that, upper grade teachers and parents, don't be afraid to use the picture books! You might be surprised at the conversation that goes on!

Kindness and Friendship Picture Books:

Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae

It’s Okay to Be Different by Todd Parr

The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister

A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni

Swimmy by Leo Lionni

Ugly Fish by Kara LaReau

My Teacher is A Monster (No I Am Not!) by Peter Brown

Don’t Laugh At Me by Steve Seskin & Allen Shamblin

Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes

Stand Tall Molly Lou Mellon by Patty Lovell

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill

My Best Friend by Mary Ann Rodman

Those Shoes by Maribeth Boelts

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Woodson

Enemy Pie by Derek Munson

One Green Apple by Eve Bunting

The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson

Kindness and Friendship Chapter Books:

Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

Counting by 7s by Hollly Goldberg Sloan

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper
Because of Mr. Terupt by Rob Buyea

Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick

Overcoming Fear/Building Agency and Resilience Picture Books

Big Plans by Bob Shea

Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg

Ish by Peter Reynolds

The Dot by Peter Reyndolds

Courage by Bernard Waber

The Writerly Life:

Ralph Tells a Story by Abby Hanlon

David’s Drawings by Cathryn Falwell

Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills

The Best Story by Eileen Spinelli

Little Red Writing by Joan Holub

The Boy Who Loved Words by Roni Schotter

Max’s Words by Kate Banks

Nothing Every Happens on 90^th Street by Roni Schotter

The Library Mouse by Daniel Kirk

I’m in Charge of Celebrations by Byrd Baylor

Building a Reading Life:

Wild About Books by Marc Brown

We Are in A Book! By Mo Willems

How Rocket Learned to Read by Tad Hills

How to Teach a Slug to Read by Susan Pearson

If I Were A Book by Jose Jorge Letria and Andre Letria

Bats at the Library by Brian Lies

Day 25 SoL Story Challenge: Fairyland Part Two

Join hundreds of students and teachers as we share stories every day in March!

So… we almost didn't have a story from Little L for tonight. Between school and work, grocery shopping and dinner, and diaper changes and feedings, the day just sort of blew past us. All of a sudden it was bedtime and I hadn't even thought about what to write today, and I hadn't asked Little L for any ideas.

But then, at bedtime, when I least expected it, Little L. must have realized that she just might get to stay up a few minutes longer if she offered to tell a story. She was in her pajamas, and hadn't brushed her hair yet, but I couldn't resist saying yes to the offer of a story.

It's not the first time during this challenge that Little L has told a fairy story. Little L's love of all things fairy-related has inspired many stories, drawings, and dramatic performances in our house. Today's story was partly inspired by this library book, which she brought home from preschool last week:

The book was fresh on L's mind because today was supposed to be library day. Her whole class got bundled up in snow pants, boots, mittens, and hats, to trudge through the ice and snow to go next door to the library. (It's still very cold where we live in VT. The high was 17F today.) But when they got to the gate in the picket fence that separates the school playground from the library path, it was iced shut! The teachers kicked and scraped at the ice, but the restless three, four, and five year olds were ready to go back inside where it was warm. So, they turned around and made their way back through the ice-slicked playground to go back inside. The good news is, L got to keep her fairy book for another week!

Day 22 SoL Story Challenge: Why We Don't Write On Kids' Work

Join hundreds of teachers and students as we share stories every day for the month of March.

My four year old daughter will be the first to tell you that she does not like it when adults write on her work.

"Mommy, I don't like it when somebody else writes on my story."

"Mommy, [insert name of well intentioned adult] keeps on writing on my stories and I don't like it."

Or my favorite, overheard while drawing with an older cousin: "How would you feel if I wrote on your work?"

Don't get me wrong, some kids have no problem stepping aside and allowing someone to swoop in and write the words for them. I experience this often when I work in pre-k and kindergarten classrooms. I can see them, staring at me with puppy dog eyes from across the classroom. Their eyes speak to me. Come to me. I'm just a little kindergartener. Puhleeez do my writing for me… At least just sit with me and give me attention. I like it when you sit with me. Puhleeez?  However, when it comes to independent writing and drawing, I know better than to lay a finger on their work.  Kids are very, very, VERY smart. I know that if I give in even just one little time, then they will hope and expect for someone to swoop in every time and write or spell some words, or even draw for them. It's the same thing with zipping up jackets, or putting on boots, or wiping their noses. Consistency fosters independence--as long as your expectations for what children can do on their own is appropriate for their ages and stages.

I was so happy when I saw this come home from L.'s preschool the other day:

I have a very strong feeling that had Little L.'s teacher written this ON L.'s picture instead of separately, LittlebL. would have either A) thrown a fit, or B) said very little, dictating slowly to the teacher something like "This…is…a…tree." or C) decided not to draw with so much detail if she sensed the teacher was really looking for words on the page. I've witnessed these reactions again and again in early childhood settings.

When I confer with very young writers, I usually say something like, "Tell me all about this!" or "Tell me about your picture," or "How does your story go?" Then as they talk, I discreetly jot down notes, verbatim as much as possible. I always have a clipboard with me when I confer (see this older post about conferring notes on TWT), and I just use a piece of blank paper to take a dictation instead of a conferring form. If kids ask what I'm doing, I just tell them, "I'm just taking notes so I don't forget all this great work you're doing!"

SoL Story Challenge Day 17: Failed Attempt at a Puppet Show

Join hundreds of teachers and students as we share stories every day for the month of March.

I often use video clips in my workshops with teachers. Sometimes I'll use just a short clip of a student doing some work--perhaps reading aloud, or working on her writing, or two kids talking about the books they are reading. We might pause the video to talk about what the students are doing really well, and discuss what the their next steps might be. Other times I might use a clip that shows myself or another colleague teaching. We might watch a writing conference, one step at a time to analyze ways that conferring might go, or to discuss all the teaching moves the teacher decided to make.

One thing I know I can't stand when it comes to videos in staff development is when the video is TOO perfect. Like there's a second grader reading at Level R, or a kindergartner who's written an entire ten page thesis on her baby brother (with perfect spelling to boot). I like my video clips to show the real deal -- they need to be in a real classroom (when at all possible) and kids need to be making noise in the background.  The kids chosen for the video taping shouldn't be coached ahead of time into saying or doing certain things--otherwise the whole thing feels staged and when I try to use the clip in staff development the teachers I work with will call me out on it (as they should).

So the same thing holds true for the blogs I like. There are some blogs out there where it seems like every post is about a perfect project that a super duper person did with an amazing group of kids who totally, completely, loved it and it came out perfect… every. single. time. Every post. When I read these blogs I think to myself first,  "That looks really complicated for a four year old."  Second, I think, "Those children clearly did not really do those reindeer/pumpkin/leprechaun/whatever projects independently. The grown-up totally had to do it for them."

Well, I am not that sort of blogger. Not every post is going to show you something wonderful that came out perfectly.  Just because something isn't perfect doesn't mean it's not worth trying. If you've been following this blog, then you know that every day this month I have tried to find ways to storytell with my four year old daughter, for the Slice of Life Story Challenge. Little L. has shared true stories, fantasy stories, jokes, songs, even her own Lego Movie. Today, I share with you one failed attempt at a puppet show. Yes, check it out. It's actually pretty funny.

It's a little hard to hear, but L. is making snoring sounds throughout. The dragon won't wake up.

I'm kidding when I say it "failed." Actually, Little L. and I had been playing with the puppets, "rehearsing" our story for quite a while before we asked my husband to come down to the basement to watch our show. Little L. and I did our show for my husband, who was holding Baby J.  Then, Little L. wanted to do a show that Baby J. and I could watch, so my husband took my place behind the curtain. That's when Little L. decided that her dragon should just sleep through the whole story.

We did try to videotape our original version, but that also was a fail. Baby J. started crying loudly just a minute into it.

Oh well. Nobody's perfect!

Day 14 SoL Story Challenge: She's A Poet And She Knows It

Join hundreds of teachers and students as we we share stories each day in March!

It's also Poetry Friday! Join us!

Little L loves to create songs and poems. In this poem, she starts out by creating a sort of list, with a pattern to it. Then she begins to make up rhymes. Please enjoy this little "slice" of my life:

***

I’ve got a shoe on my head

I’ve got a shoe on my foot

I’ve got a cloth on my head

I’ve got a cloth on my foot

I’ve got a brush…I don’t use

I’ve got a…neck I have choosed

I’ve got a earring that I don’t care

I’ve got a ring that I don’t spare

Haha…That’s silly.

I’ve got a phone that ran out of known…that ran out of drone

I’ve got a blanket that has a canket

That doesn’t make any sense!

It’s just a silly song.

I’ve got a fan that has a ban

I’ve got a mirror that has a birror

I have a pictures that have a wictures

I have a house, got mouse, got a pouse

I have a shoe on my head

I have a shoe on my foot

I’ve got a house, I’ve got a brouse, I’ve got a touse

I’ve got a mouse

I’ve got a brush I don’t wear I don’t care I don’t share I don’t spare

 ***

This goes on and on for about three more minutes! As you can see, using rhyme in a poem is challenging. Not the actual rhyming words part. She's got the hang of that. But once her attention is on the rhymes, she gives up trying to make sense! For now, that's okay. We can make silly poems and have fun. But as time goes on, I'll keep nudging her to create songs and poems that have meaning.

In the classrooms I work in, kids and teachers often ask me why I don't teach them how to write poems that rhyme. Well, as Carl Anderson often says, meaning comes first. And I believe in that. I want kids to know that poems are powerful tools. We can use poems to describe objects and experiences. We can use poems to express ideas or feelings or to tell a story. I devote my teaching to meaning in poetry, because that is usually the part that kids and adults need more help with.

And yes, we can use poems to have fun and be silly too.

Day 11 SoL Story Challenge: Then And Now

Join hundreds of students and teachers as we challenge ourselves to write a story from our own lives every day for the month of March!

I've always thought that March and April are a great time of year for reflection. We've come so far since the start of the school year, but we still have plenty of school year left to go. We've made lots of progress toward our goals, and we still have time to do even more.

As readers, kids might look back on their book logs and surprise themselves with how many pages, chapters, and whole books they've completed so far this year. They might think back on favorite books or series, and make plans for how to keep that momentum going.

This is the time of year that kids might look in their own writing portfolios and really see the difference between that first published piece, and the piece that they publish now. They might also reflect on all the different kinds of writing they've learned to do, from small moments, to information books, to how-to books, to persuasive letters…and beyond.

Reflecting on our lives as readers and writers is important, not just so we can become stronger students in school--my hope is that kids can also learn to be reflective in life.

The past year and a half have brought my family many big changes. Several moves. A new house. We left behind ten years in bustling, busy, crazy New York City for the serenity and familiarity of our native Vermont. We've endured loss and illness. We've welcomed a new baby into our life. Our life has been both more peaceful and more tumultuous than ever.

Lately Little L. has been asking a lot about how thing used to be in Brooklyn. What was her old bedroom like? What was our old library like, and did the park have swings? When can we go visit?

She's beginning to forget our old life. But she wants to remember. She wants to hear stories about when she was a baby, and how we used to ride the subway, and how we used to walk Indigo instead of letting him out in the yard. We didn't have a yard and we lived in a big tall building. This is ancient, fascinating history to her.

It's amazing to me how much can change in a year, how much we can learn and grow in such a short amount of time.  Here is L., telling a story just about a year and a half ago, way back then.

…playing with his own ball. And then he was playing with his mom and dad’s ball. And that was playing with her ball. And they loved to play. THE END. And then they went of setting into the woods with Indie. And Indie paddled for a while. And then they were lost. And then, and at the VERY time when they went home, they had a new dog named Luckchuck. And Luckchuck loved… They, they got a new dog because Indie set off into the woods to somebody else’s house. And then they ran to their house, and ran to the house, and grabbed Indie. And Indie gave Luckchuck a big (slurp) juicy kiss. Luckchuck gave Indie a big juicy kiss (slurp). “And then…” And then Luckchuck and Indie were set off into the woods. And Lily and Grandma and Grandpa and Daddy and Mommy were set off into the woods to find Luckchuck and Indie. “And then what happens?” And then Luckchuck and Indie came scampering back to them. And then Luckchuck and Indie and Grandma and Grandpa and Daddy and Mommy scampered back home, all together and then they ran back inside. And then they were safe and sound, all back asleep. “The End.”

And here she is now.

Day 10 SoL Story Challenge: Knock Knock Who's There?

Join hundreds of students and teachers as we challenge ourselves to write a story from our own lives every day for the month of March!

Yesterday, Little L. was telling knock knock jokes non stop all day long. Breakfast…lunch… dinner.. bed time… all day long. I guess she was just in a knock knock mood. She's in that stage where she totally gets the knock knock jokes that I tell to her--but her own jokes don't really make sense. Personally, I think that's what makes her jokes funny.  Here's a little "slice" of her jokes:

I, personally, love knock knock jokes. The cornier, the better. I've never understood how some people just don't like them! They're hilarious to me!

Here are some of my favorites that I tell to Little L. all the time:

Knock knock…
Who's there?
Lettuce.
Lettuce who?
Lettuce in, it's cold out here!

Knock knock…
Who's there?
Boo!
Boo who?
Don't cry, it's only a joke!

Knock knock…
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Banana.
Banana who?
Banana.
Banana who?
Orange.
Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn't say banana again?

And my all time favorite:

Knock knock…
Who's there?
The interrupting cow.
The interrup---
MOO!

Jokes are great for vocabulary and language. Kids have to infer to get the meaning, sometimes by reading between the lines, sometimes by interpreting the meaning of an expression or idiom. And yes…puns! (Again, I just don't understand how puns are not funny). Puns are great-- homophones that kids have to figure out in context in order for it to make sense. What a great way to study words!

Also, humor can engage kids who might otherwise not be interested in reading or writing. That kid who sits all through reading workshop, staring at the pages of some chapter book that she picked just because her friends were reading it? Help her out. Find a funny book together and bring her reading life back to life.

My colleague, Colleen Cruz, not long ago tweeted this great idea for the classroom library:

No, funny books may not always be great "literature," and no, a steady diet of Captain Underpants and nothing else is not exactly what I envision for a well-rounded reader (sorry Dav Pilkey…). But there's nothing better than laughing out lout to help you fall in love with reading. I think we can all agree on that. 

In the comments, leave your favorite knock knock joke. Tell a joke today or read a funny book. Enjoy!

Day 9 SoL Story Challenge: Legos and Storytelling

Join hundreds of teachers and students as we practice our own writing this month. We're writing a story a day every day in March.

We are Lego maniacs in our family. I mean all of us, including the cousins. A typical night in our house involves the whole family sitting around the coffee table, building cities and kingdoms, making vehicles and machines, and inventing our own creations.

My husband and I both grew up on Legos, so playing with L. and her cousins reminds of us our own childhood--only the Legos now are way cooler than what we had. So many new colors, shapes, pieces, figures. They even have little animal Lego pieces now!

It goes without saying that all the children in our extended family have seen the new Lego Movie at least twice (and three or four times in my nephew K's case). Baby J. and I are the only ones who have not seen the movie, but I feel like I know it because lines and scenes from the movie have been appropriated by L and her cousins as common threads in their play.

This morning was a beautiful, clear sunny March day here in northern Vermont where we live. L. was up bright and early to play Legos before going skiing with Daddy.

So often, play is taken for granted. How many times have I heard myself say in my work with teachers, "It's important for kids to play," but in my busy day, how often do I really sit down and observe what's happening in L.'s play? Not as often as I wish. This morning, I watched closely, and this is a little bit of what I saw:

This goes on and on and on. She stays incredibly focused, not even realizing that I'm recording her. The story takes twists and turns: the airplane takes off, but then it breaks, so it turns out that it's the bad guy's fault, and the other characters decide to kick him off the coffee table using a small catapult that L. has built… and the story continues...

In L.'s play I noticed a lot of literacy going on:

• an understanding of archetypes (good guys, bad guys)
• understanding that characters can change (later, the "bad guy" turns good after being kicked off the coffee table, but it's too late… the "good guys" have turned bad so he has nobody to play with…)
• action! (who says girls don't like action movies?)
• lots and lots of dialogue
• expressive storytelling (different voices for different characters)
• lots of problem solving (fitting the characters in, building with the Legos, making the story work with the props she has)
• revision (L. is retelling snippets of the movie, but revising them to suit her needs)
• fine motor skills (not the main event in this case, but a nice bonus)

I think that a great workshop idea in the primary grades (or even in the upper grades too) would be to have kids play for a few minutes with some figurines or even Legos, and then have them write their stories. They could reenact true stories, if the unit is personal narrative, or create new stories for fiction. I might set up little baskets of figures and props at each table and invite kids to engage in some dramatic play for a few minutes at the start of writing workshop, and then draw and write for the rest of the time.  This could support oral language, rehearsal , revision, planning, and would also be a social experience for kids, building community and encouraging kids to talk and share their ideas.

In the comments section, let me know if you've tried something like this already, and how did it go? Suggestions for materials?

In the meantime, I've got to get off this computer and go play with more Legos!

Day 7 SoL Story Challenge: The 'Hello Box' Poem

Join nearly 200 teachers as we practice our own writing by sharing a story from our lives each day in the month of March!

It's only been one week, working on the March Slice of Life Story Challenge, and I've already learned so much!

I've been watching the way my colleague, Stacey, uses technology on her blog, Raise a Literate Human: Vines, Skitch, ThingLink, and other cool techno doodads pepper her blog. There's always something neat there.

I've been inspired and awed by the way some bloggers are approaching this challenge with so much bravery and courage, the way Kris Shrontz has been doing on her blog, I Survived Today. As I learned from my colleague Betsy's thoughtful post, this is Kris's first time participating in the challenge, so visit her and give her some love. Betsy's post in and of itself is an inspiration for this post-- why had I not thought about using my blog to recommend other blogs before? Thanks Betsy!

And I've been loving the way Kevin Hodgson has been commenting all over the blogosphere using poems! It's creative and thoughtful and lovely. So cool.

This morning, I discovered Margaret Simon hosting the Friday Poetry Roundup on her blog, Reflections on the Teche and this inspired me to ditch my original plans for this morning's post and write create a new one.

Little L. has poetry in her veins, I think. Watch her make one up on the spot:

Hello, hello.

I'm a Hello Box.

And I have a pet bunny saying boing boing boing

And a owl pet that says hoo hoo hoo

And a dinosaur pet that goes roar roar roar

And a bird pet that goes chirp chirp chirp

And a chipmunk pet that goes snk snk snk

And a mouse pet that goes squeak squeak squeak

And I let them say hello hello hello hello!

Whenever they want.

And I don't let you say hello hello hello hello

Everyone

Heeeello

Hello HELLO

Heeeello hello hello.

I just like it when my animals say hello

Hello. Hello lo lo. Hello.

And… the end.

Maybe Little L.'s poem will be inspiration or for some other tiny poets somewhere?

A few strategies I notice Little L. uses to create her poem:
* she pretends that the object is alive (metaphor)
* she organizes/structures her thoughts (a pattern, and "parts" of the poem, or verses)
* her poem has a clear beginning and ending, starting and and ending in similar ways (in the classroom I might call this a "sandwich structure" when the beginning and ending of a poem are similar, with the rest sandwiched between)
* she uses interesting word choices (precise animal sounds)
* she elaborates (not just one animal--lots!)
* repetition (lots of it)
* she's got rhythm (mostly)

Howd'ya like them apples, Common Core State Standards! (Just kidding. She's four years old. We're trying not to worry about that right now. I can't help thinking like a teacher… It's not like there's a switch to turn it off.)

Poetry Friday!

Day 5 SoL Story Challenge: A Story About a Bunny and a Chipmunk

We're posting a story a day for the entire month of March. Click here to join the nearly 200 teachers who are participating this year!

Little L. is my coauthor for this month's Slice of Life Story Challenge on Two Writing Teachers. Her favorite stories to tell are about chipmunks, bunnies, owls, and squirrels. You may remember The Story of Mr. Grey Squirrel, from March 2nd.

Over the past few days I've been a little bit pushy, trying to get L. to tell a true story. After all, that's what the Slice of Life Story Challenge is all about--sharing stories from our lives with this great community of writers. If you read my post yesterday, you saw that sometimes it better just to let little kids decide for themselves what story they'd like to tell.

So for this story, I just simply asked L. to tell a story, any story. Maybe I should try to do that more often.

Sometimes it's easy to dismiss these short little fantasy stories as "merely" play. I know that in the classroom I'm often so laser-focused on the current unit of study that I rarely give kids much of a chance to just storytell whatever they want.

When I listen to L.'s story above, I hear many elements of great narrative writing:
* a lead (Once upon a time…)
* a setting (in a den, under an oak tree)
* characters (bunny and chipmunk, best friends)
* action (they play)
* a sense of resolution/ending ("The End")

This morning, with this in mind, I thought I'd get fancy and try to coach L into even more detail and elaboration. I thought maybe I'd set her up to include a problem in her story, or maybe some dialogue, really take her to the next level.  

So, Little L. started to tell a story this morning. This time it happened to be about a guinea pig. I kept interjecting with prompts, "What did he say?" "What did he look like?" "What was wrong?" "Where was he? Describe it. Say more… more.. more…"  Well, you can imagine what happened. Little L. wasn't having it. "Stop interrupting me!" she shouted. Then, with an ornery squeal, she ran out of the room.

L. tells stories like "Bunny and Chipmunk" because we read aloud A LOT at home, and we storytell and play A LOT. Her wonderful preschool teachers do the same. There were no graphic organizers, or worksheets, or special pre-planning that produced this story. I don't need to coach and prompt to the point that it stresses her out. It's in her bones.

So, the moral of the story. Don't push your kids past the brink! Read aloud to them. Storytell for fun. Play, play, play… and then play some more. Just let them practice, practice, practice and have fun with it!  A little bit of prompting goes a loooooong way.

Day 4 SoL Story Challenge: How Was School Today?

If you've been following this blog, then you know that Little L. is quite the chatty one. Usually. That's until you ask her about her school day. Then, suddenly, all she's got is one word answers.  "Argh. Nothing!" is her typical response to "What did you do at school today?".

Not to worry, though. I'm trained to teach kids to tell stories. That's, you know, my job in real life. To teach kids how to tell stories.

In a classroom, when a kid is having trouble coming up with what to say, I might use some open ended questions to get them going. I might say:

"What happened first?"

"What's just one thing that happened?"

"Who was there?"

"What were you doing?"

And then I might use some prompts like "First…then… next…" or "After that…" or "Finally…" to lead them into narrative structure. I might even get them to use dialogue by prompting, "And then you said…" or "He/she said…"

Combine these prompts with some good old fashioned five second wait time and my success rate with coaching kiddos to tell their stories is 99.9%. (One-Mississippi, two-Mississippi, three-Mississippi, four-Mississippi, five-Mississippi. It's a long time.).

These prompts and a few others usually work like a charm on little kids. Not to toot my own horn, but teachers in my labsites often marvel at my magical writing teacher powers. I frequently get comments from others like, "That's the most he's ever spoken!" or "She usually just tells the same story every day! How do you do it?"

Well, apparently my magical writing teacher powers are no good within the walls of my own home. 

Here's my own flesh and blood, yesterday afternoon, during after school snack. I practically had to pull the story out of her, and she ends by letting me know that "If I tell another it'll be my garbage." She's obsessed with telling stories about Garbage Lizard (see yesterday's post for more about Garbage Lizard): 

I heard somewhere, that with preschoolers it helps if you wait until bedtime to ask them about their school day, rather than right after school. So, I tried that. Here's what I got:

Sigh. Better luck next time. I should have gone with the owl story she seemed excited to tell. That'll teach me for trying to assign a topic. Choice is always a better way to go.

Speaking of next time, this article here, contains a list of some very good ideas for getting young kids to talk about their school day. And this one here has some advice for getting kids to open up and talk in general. If you have any tips of your own, please share below in the comments!

Ideas on Being a Working Mom

This morning I worked with a group of teachers who are getting ready to teach a personal essay unit of study to their fourth graders. We were writing our own essays in preparation--what better way to prepare, than to go ahead and try it out for yourself.

As I was working, all I could think about was the fact that I couldn't go with Little L. to her four-year well visit at the doctor's today. I knew she was going to get a bunch of shots, and I worried about her all morning long. Knowing that my husband, B. has an irrational fear of needles didn't help!

So when I started to give examples for my own essay, I ditched my original safe plan. I've gotten in the habit of using the same old examples over and over. Usually I do, "Dogs make the best pets,"  or "Sometimes being alone is a good thing." But today, I ditched my usual examples and went with what was really on my mind.

Here are my "boxes and bullets" (thesis statement and supports) from my own essay that I used as a demonstration text for the teachers I was working with:

It's hard to be a working mom.

• It's hard to be a working mom because sometimes you have to miss out on important things at home.
• It's hard to be a working mom because you sometimes you have to miss out on important things at work.
• It's hard to be a working mom because you constantly wonder if you are doing the right thing.

When I shared my example with the group, I started to feel a little uncomfortable. The whole working mom thing is such a hot-button topic lately in magazines and on social media. It felt very negative.  Nobody said anything or questioned my opinion, but I kept thinking and thinking about it all day long.  Then I realized why my essay plan was on my mind. I actually love my job… LOVE it… and it was bugging me that my plan for my essay didn't account for this. Yes, being a working mom is hard, incredibly hard, for all the above reasons and more, but there's more to it than that.

So, I'm revising my essay now, to redeem myself for earlier:

It's important for me to be a working mom.

• It's important for me to be a working mom because I love my work and it helps lots of people.
• It's important for me to be a working mom because, let's face it, we have bills to pay.
• It's important for me to be a working mom because it's setting an example for my daughter.

In fact, right now, as she sleeps, I'm working… and I'm okay with that. In fact, I'm better than okay with it.

I hope that lots of kids have a similar experience as a result of the personal essay unit. I hope that they too start out thinking about their own lives in one way, and then have that moment like I did. A moment when they say, "Hey, wait a second…" and they too are able to see their own issues or ideas in a new way.

Choosing a thesis statement that was close to my heart helped me think deeply about an issue in my life that eats away at me every day, and helped me make sense of it in a way that I would not have otherwise. I've always believed that we learn alongside our students, especially when we practice our own writing. But to get the most out of it, we've got to be willing to think deeply about our own lives and to tackle questions and ideas that aren't so easy to figure out. 

Slice of Life Story Challenge

Getting Little L. to School

Little L. just turned four and getting her ready for school each morning is NOT easy.

This morning went something like this:

5:45am "Mommy! I need to be with you!" Little L. shouts in my ear as she climbs into bed on top of me.

6:00am "Mommy! Why aren't you awake yet! I need to be with you!" I roll over, groan. "I'm getting up," I say. I'm not, really. But maybe if I tell her I am she'll be peaceful for a few more minutes.

6:10am "Mommmm--yyyyy! I'm hungry! Wake up! I need you!" This time I roll out of bed, slowly. Very slowly.

6:15am
We head downstairs to the kitchen. "What would you like for breakfast?" I ask.
"Toast with butter...AND peanut butter," is L.'s response.
"You get that from your daddy," I say. She does. B. loves butter and peanut butter combined.
"Come sit right next to me," demands L. as she pulls my chair right next to hers so that they're touching.

6:30am We go back upstairs to L.'s room to get dressed, brush teeth, battle to brush L.'s hair (resulting in only sort-of brushed hair).

7:15 Yes, it really does take us forty-five minutes to get our child dressed in the morning. Don't judge. Finally, we put on shoes and coats and backpacks and climb in the car.

7:30 In the car, L. tells me she doesn't want to go to school. She wants to stay home. She wants to be with Mommy. She wants to be with Daddy. She wants to play. The more she says, the more my heart sinks. I desperately want my little girl to love school. I desperately don't want to feel guilty about going to work, but I do. By the time we're at school I have a headache.

8:00 We arrive at school. Amazingly, L. skips down the sidewalk to the front door, holding my hand and chirping away happily about nothing in particular. She hops up the steps to her classroom, and... most amazingly she hangs up her coat, switches into her 'inside shoes' and puts her lunchbox away all by herself. 

8:05 "Bye Mommy!" L. wraps her arms around me and gives me a goodbye squeeze, and amazingly, miraculously, skips off happily into her classroom without a single tear, not even a peep or a whimper. I sigh a huge sigh of relief as I head out the door to start my day.

Experimenting with Magic Markers and Ice

This post is especially for teachers I work with. Next year we will all be trying out a new unit of study in science and writing workshop. We'll teach the kids how to design their own experiments, and how to write up their results. Baby L and I tried it out the other day, and here's how it went. (You could use the same materials for experiments with your kids, or you could use our "lab report" as a mentor text for their writing.)

Whether you are a teacher, a parent, or caregiver reading this, have fun doing experiments with your tiny scientist! If you know some great links to other fun easy experiments, please share!

Baby L's Lab Report

The questions we had:

What happens when you color on ice with magic markers?

What happens when you stir water with a magic marker?

What happens when you mix the colors?

What happens to soap suds when you add color?

What we used:

1. bowls of water

2. ice cubes

3. markers (nontoxic, washable)

4. some bubble soap

5. spoons and cups

What we did:

1. We had a giant chunk of ice-cubes that had melted together in the ice-tray in the freezer, so we took that out and put it in the big wooden bowl.

2. We poured some water on it to see what would happen. Not much. It made the ice chunk look shiny and slippery.

3. We colored on the ice chunk with magic markers. It was so cool! The ice turned different colors!

4. We poured some more water on the ice chunk, so now there was lots of water in the bowl. The water changed to the color of the magic markers!

5. We moved some of the ice into a new bowl. The ice was clean! No colors when we moved it!

6. We colored the clean ice and poured water on it. The same thing happened- the water changed colors again!

7. Then we poured a little water with no ice into a third bowl and stirred it with a marker. The water changed colors!

8. Last, we stuck in some hand soap to see what would happen. We made lots of suds, but the suds didn't really change color even when we stirred in more magic marker!

New Words for Baby L:

Melt

Drip

Suds

Mix

Stir

Frozen

Pour

Slippery

Summer Reading and Writing Kits!

Now that spring has (FINALLY) arrived, Baby L and I are already thinking ahead to summer! With all the traveling we plan to do, we need some portable drawing and writing materials to keep Baby L's writing life alive and strong!

Here's what we did.

First I gathered up materials to make a box to hold all of Baby L's fun summer writing materials: 1) a cereal box decorated with catalog clippings, 2) some stapled booklets of blank paper, and 3) some crayons, markers, tiny notepads, stickers, envelopes, and post-its:

























Then I put it all together, so that Baby L has one transportable, totally fun, totally awesome SUMMER WRITING KIT! I even added in the mini-clipboard that the Easter Bunny brought her.













In the classroom, I love ending the school year by making reading kits and writing kits for the kids to take home for their summer reading and writing lives. You can spend the last week or two of reading workshop or writing workshop teaching the kids how to take care of and use their special summer kits so that by the time they leave for summer vacation, they've had plenty of practice with taking things out and putting them back, coming up with their own ideas for reading and writing projects, and dreaming up the kind of reading and writing they hope to do.

Here are some ideas that many teachers (and parents and caregivers) love!

For a container you could use:

• A giant zip-loc baggy
• Cloth bags ordered from Oriental Trading or other catalogue
• If you're a classroom teacher, sometimes parent volunteers are willing and able to sew beautiful bags for reading or writing kits. Thanks parents!
• Blank aluminum lunchboxes (available at some craft stores and websites) for children to decorate
• A typical pencil box
• Children could decorate whatever the container is with glued on pictures, stickers, or paint to personalize the kits

Some possibilities for tools to put in the Writing Kit:

• A notebook or notepad with blank paper (unlined for young children)
• “Special” summer writing paper with a place to sketch, and lines to write on just like writing workshop at school (photocopied onto colored paper to make it special; stapled or hole-punched and stuck on a ring to turn it into a notepad)
• Consider various paper sizes, decorating the paper with a stamp, photocopy a border or design onto it or placing a sticker at the top to turn it into “stationery”
• Colorful post-its, or post-its cut into shapes (stars, hearts, clouds, or other)
• Special glittery or colorfully designed pencils, pens or markers
• Envelopes and stamps, include a card with an address where children can to write to you and their new teacher(s) over the summer
• Post cards, greeting cards, notecards, etc.
• Poetry object(s) (seashells, stones, feathers, leaves, dried flowers, other)
• Recipe cards, list paper, How-To paper, mini-calendar
• Mini-staplers, tape, and/or glue sticks
• Personal Word Wall, Alphabet Chart, Blends Chart

Some idea for reading kits:

• Collect favorite books to put in the reading kit
• Include books written by the child, other children, or by the teacher or parents or caregivers and friends
• Special book marks with reminders for things to think about while you read ("I'm wondering..." "This makes me think..." "I notice..."
• A tiny flashlight for reading under the covers
• Special post-its (of course!!)
• A tiny notebook for making a wish list of books, or for jotting or sketching ideas about the books
• A tiny calendar for tallying up how many books you read each day or how many pages you read (if you are an older kid who reads chapter books)

Whatever you do this summer, have fun doing it! If you decide to make a summer reading or writing kit let us know, we'd love to hear about it!

Easter Egg Hunt=Grammar Lesson?

Baby L, Daddy B, and I went to our first Easter Egg Hunt this weekend at McCarren Park! It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and Baby L filled a shopping bag full of eggs. We put lots of them back for other kids to find, and still had a ton to take home.

Later that night, after Baby L went to bed, I emptied out all the eggs and cleaned them up so L could play with them in her play kitchen. As I popped open each egg and removed whatever candy or toys were inside it dawned on me that we could hide the eggs all over again in the house--why wait until Easter? What a fun game to play!

So that night I filled the eggs back up with stickers and hid them all over the house. Since L is only 1.5 years old, I hid them in plain sight. I didn't want her to lose interest after finding the first egg.

The next morning, Baby L found the first few "hidden" eggs immediately. It's easy to see why:









After she found the eggs on the stools, we started giving her clues to find the rest. "Look under the baby doll.... next to the wagon... on top of the coffee table..."

L totally understood that we were telling her generally where to look, but the prepositions-- under, over, in, on... those were tricky for her. We coached her with gestures, we pointed, we restated, we repeated and emphasized certain words. What great practice with grammar! said the teacher-voice inside my head. Oh just have fun...don't ruin it with grammar! said the non-teacher voice inside my head...as usual.

Either way, L loves our new game!

Note:
Teachers are constantly asking me for ideas for how to teach grammar. A really great resource for teachers of older children is The Power of Grammar, by Mary Ehrenworth and Vicki Vinton. You'll find lots of smart ways to teach grammar in a way that calls upon children's abilities to think creatively and meaningfully, rather than memorizing a bunch of grammar rules for a test, or filling out worksheets.

Back to School

Happy New Year!

Time to gear up for the new school year.

It's time to shop for pens and composition books, backpacks, highlighters, post-its, hole punchers and tape-- all my favorite things!

Baby L is too little to go to school. But that doesn't mean she can't still join in the fun while mommy shops for school! Plus you can never start too early when it comes to immersing your little one in the world of lettters and numbers, words and books. So L. has some "school supplies" too.

She has her brand spankin' new alphabet sippy cups:

And her new sign language books:

And of course, foam letters and numbers for the tub!

We're ready for the new school year!