How Many Ways Can One Hate a Book?!?!

So today I read The Big Elephant in the Room to kindergarten and first grade as part of our state's Readers' Choice nominees list.  I did not love this book when I first read it, but I try to leave my own opinions out of it when reading to the children.  There have been several books I have not loved that the students absolutely ADORE, so I was hoping I was wrong about this book.

Nope.  I set up the book before reading it to the kids--they knew all about idioms and knew what was meant by the phrase "the big elephant in the room."  Then I read the story.  Not one laugh.  Anywhere.  From any kid.  When I finished, one girl started to clap, but I stopped her--it was a half-hearted clap, like "I usually do this after a story, so I'm doing it now."

And I looked at my assistant and said, "epic failure."  I've never said that about a book before.  I completely bagged the activity I had planned for the book and instead went on to read another book on the list to them.

Ugh.  I am not happy.  I do NOT want to read this book to other classes. It's a bad story of a bad friendship between two donkeys. Yeah.  I'm done with this one. If the kids ask me why I didn't read it to them, I'll encourage them to check it out on their own and let me know what they think.  I know what I think, and it's not good. Lane Smith, Joan Kindig, and the VRC Committee, this is a big miss.

Okra!

Yesterday, I brought left-over Jambalaya for lunch.  I was a little worried about the shrimp smell permeating the library, but that's not what the first student in the door after lunch smelled.

As he walked in, he asked, "Do I smell okra?!?!!?" Why, yes, Madison, you do!

Love these kids.

Harry and Horsie pics

As promised, here are some photos from the kids' work on Friday. 
This first one is from the beginning of the book, in Harry's bedroom.  I love the toys inside the bubbles.  I'm not sure which toy this is, but it's perfectly recognizable as a toy, I think!

The next one is from the middle of the book, in outer space.  It's a cat on the Milky Way, of course!

And this last one is at the end of the book, where Harry finds Horsie hanging from the crescent moon.  The kids loved learning that phrase, "crescent moon."

Hooray for the kids! They did such a cute job on this!

Harry and Horsie

Last fall, I presented at a librarians' conference about ideas for teaching our state readers' choice books in the library.  It was wildly successful with well over 100 attendees. 

I made the decision at the start of the school year not to teach the books until later in the year, which meant that all the lesson ideas I presented were just theoretical.  I hoped they would work. 

This past week, I've been doing Harry and Horsie with the students, and the first extension activity, with students plotting a number of points between home and Saturn in a line with their friends, was fine.  The kids really thought, though, that China was further away than the moon.  I guess in their little world it is--we can at least SEE the moon!

The second time I read it, I decided to have the kids raise their hands when they heard a "space" word.  This worked well, and we matched pictures to these terms (I had pre-chosen pictures for the words).

The third time I read it, though, I just wasn't feeling like either of those activities was very literary or meaningful.  So, literally as I was reading the book, I realized that the text is perfect for teaching beginning, middle, and end! The class and I took a little field trip to the work room and got some dark blue bulletin board paper (their idea), and we gathered in groups and illustrated the paper with details from the beginning (in Harry's room--lots of bubbles with toys in them); the middle (outer space--lots of planets, stars, cars racing around on Saturn's rings); and the end (a combination of the crescent moon and Harry's house--you should see Horsie hanging from the moon!).

PERFECT!!!  I will take some pictures when I get back to school on Monday with closeups of the cutest parts.

Sorry to all those VEMA people who didn't get my best ideas for this VRC book.  Sometimes, you have to be in the middle of it to get the really good ideas!

ESL Cuteness

Today I taught a kindergarten class that has about six or seven ESL students.  One is Chinese, and the rest are Hispanic.  A few of the students had mini-candy bars, and I had them put them up on the desk so they wouldn't get all melty in their pockets.

I was asking the students where they got the candy bars, and a couple of them told me, "from Mrs. Cut."  OK.  I knew we had a new ESL teacher, but I couldn't remember her name.  So I repeated, "Mrs. Cut" and they all nodded and started making scissor motions with their fingers at me.

When the class was over, I asked the classroom teacher if they'd been with the new ESL teacher.  She said, "Yes, you mean Mrs. Sharp?"

Cut--Sharp--close enough!

Goodbye Simms.

I just read in yesterday's New York Times that Simms Taback has died.  He died on Christmas day, and I hadn't even heard about it.  How did I miss this?  And why didn't I read about it in any of the children's literature blogs I follow?
I love reading Joseph Had a Little Overcoat to the kindergartners as we study recycling/reusing--it's so perfect for that, and it leads to great discussions of all the details the kids notice as we read. I developed a great activity for the kids to sequence what happened to the overcoat as it became all sorts of different articles of clothing through the book. 

Simms had a very interesting life, which you can read about here.

NNNNNNNNNBBBBBBBBBBBBCCCCCCCCCCCTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!

Can you tell that I am just a little bit excited about achieving National Board Certification?!?!?! After planning to release the results last Friday, the NBC people had a little bit of trouble with their servers, so we didn't find out until this morning.  I checked it as soon as I woke up, and, thank God, I passed. 
Then I waited and waited for my study partner Vicki to share her news.  She passed, too!! So now I am completely happy.  Happy for me, and happy for her.  And I'm happy that this process is (at least for the next 9 years) over. 

And now everything else on my plate suddenly seems do-able.  Glad to have this not hanging over my head anymore.

In other news, I got to meet the author of Origami Yoda and Darth Paper today, the fabulous Tom Angleberger.  He was so wonderful and kind, and I **may** have talked him into coming to my school in March 2012.  He is speaking at a conference on a Saturday morning in March, and I asked him about coming to us on Friday.  So I'll email him and see what we can work out!

Here he is with some less than quiet and patient children who were in front of me as we waited to get our books signed.

"Why my mom is late..."

On Thursday after car riders' duty, I was walking four students to the office because their parents hadn't picked them up after school.  The students were all first or second graders, and one little girl said, "I guess my mommy overslept again." (It turns out that she works nights.) The other little girl said, "Is she nocturnal?"

Just so cute!

A Porcupine Book...or not

I was talking with my sister tonight.  Her son is a kindergartner, and being a teacher, she is enjoying school from the perspective of a new parent, and not just as a teacher.  And by enjoying, I totally mean "barely coping with the anxiety of."
So she was telling me about the books her son was reading in school, and of course, I asked about library.  He told her that the librarian read a book about a porcupine.  Hmmm...I was thinking and thinking about which book this could possibly be.  And then I asked, "Could it have been a hedgehog?" Maybe, she thought.  And then I said, "What Happened to Marion's Book?--I bet it was that one!" and my sister asked if it had something to do with a washing machine.  Yes, YES! I excitedly answered. 

I have to say, she was quite impressed.  She said I could make an app for that.  People could send me the vaguest idea of a book they'd read, and I could figure it out for them.  True enough, I could probably do that, for children's books, at least.

In a related story, a student came into the library needing "Ralphius Mouse" for his teacher.  Just as I would've interpreted it, my assistant figured he wanted a copy of Ralph S. Mouse.  So she gave the student a copy of the book to take to his teacher.  Two minutes later the student came back, this time with a note.  The teacher wanted a wireless mouse.  HA!! It could've gone either way, for sure.

Just one more reason to love these kids!!

Ah, summer.

Today is my first day of summer vacation.  I do still have work to do at school, and I do owe them one more day, but the tech people came by yesterday and wiped out our current computers in preparation for us getting new ones next week.  So, while I do have non-computer things to do, I am in no rush to do them.  What a great first day of vacation!!I slept in a little, got fitted for my new contacts, enjoyed a Panera breakfast, and event went to the mall. I was looking for curtains for the occasional room, but there are none to be had in my entire town.  I went to four different stores, and finally ended up ordering them from JC Penney. That was a little frustrating.
The school year ended with a bang: I got strep throat and missed the last 3 1/2 days of school.  Ugh--it was ugly.  I can't believe that I was so sick. So everything was delayed--overdue notices, inventory, everything.  We inventoried the Everybody section and non-fiction, but that was all we got to.  Our numbers were really good on both of those sections, so I am not worried about the others.  There were only 3 books missing from the E section--out of over 5,000 books.  And we are in the middle of a pretty big weeding project, so that needs to get done, too.  I am getting a little overwhelmed thinking about it all. 

The Most Fabulous Henry Cole

We had such a great day with Henry Cole, children's book author and illustrator.  He was simply amazing, entertaining three HUGE student audiences throughout the day.  He kept the 2-5 graders for over an hour, and they never took their eyes off him.  I WISH I could hold their attention like that.  Wow.  And although Henry has his presentation down pat, each time I heard it, it was as if he was telling his stories for the first time.  Students and teachers were all impressed. 
We sold lots of his books to everyone at the school, and Henry signed like a trooper for hours and hours. 
Henry and I got to talk about books, and authors, and illustrators, and industry gossip, which was just so much fun.  He told me about how much he loves Mouse Was Mad, which I had written about several months ago.  I learned that the cover was originally not supposed to be the color it is, but when an original got copied, the green color changed a bit and everyone loved the new color.  I was so glad to hear that Henry loves that book, because I love it too. (And I love Linda Urban.  For many reasons.)
Henry loved the things that I've been doing while reading his book to the kids, and that made me feel good.  The kids were so into it.  So into his book, and now so into him!!  What I love so much about his book, A Nest for Celeste, is how it made me more interested in history.  I had to find out about the passenger pigeons.  And then I had to find out more about John James Audubon.  That's one of my favorite things about being a librarian--that constant quest for information. 

What a great day!

How to Make Someone Feel Special...

...by the kindergartners. 

Me: We are having a very special visitor next month, Henry Cole.  He is an author and illustrator.  What should we do to get ready for his visit?

Kindergartner: Balloons?

LOL.  I think Henry would like that.  I wasn't quite expecting that answer, but we kept going with this line of thought.  After balloons came ice cream cake, dressing up, writing notes, making a big book he can rip through as he enters (!), and singing happy birthday.

I'm not sure when Henry's birthday is, but he might like all those things when he visits us next month. 

And I was just thinking we'd read his books. 

Just Sayin'...

Do NOT make your boss look bad in an email.  Especially an email that was cc'd to all the librarians, their assistants, and their PRINCIPALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

(And no, it wasn't me.  But I got to read the back-and-forth.  Not pretty.)

Laugh Out Loud Funny Kindergartners Keep Me Sane

One of my favorite things about being an elementary teacher is that I totally enjoy these age groups.  Not a day goes by that I do not laugh with the children (sometimes at them, but mostly with them...).
Yesterday, my kindergarten class and I were reviewing the Readers' Choice program books for our state, as we'd finished reading all of them and it was time to vote.  I asked a little boy who was particularly excited when I picked up I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean to hold it for the class and tell us about it. 
I tried handing him the books, but he put his hand out to give me something.  I could see that he didn't have anything in his hand, but I put my hand out.  He put his teeny little fingers in my palm and in his cute little voice, "Here's a flower for you."  And then, before I could even say thank you, he added, "It's your favorite color."  Tee hee.  Totally imaginary--there was no flower there.  But I loved it anyway.  I took it out of my palm and very gently set it on the bookshelf next to me. 
When I told one of my friends the story, she said, "What?!?! You didn't put it in a glass of water?!?!"  Even funnier.

The Most Important Need: The Need to Learn | Edutopia

The Most Important Need: The Need to Learn Edutopia I love this article. So what I needed to read, especially after I heard about two brothers at my school (different last names) who are moving out of their grandparents' home and into a house with their aunt, who will now be a single parent to seven--S.E.V.E.N.--children. If all I did for those sweet little boys was offer them a place of solace and a place to explore their interests, then my job is done. My heart is breaking. We have another student, a first grade girl, whose mother moved out right after Christmas. Just up and left the family--did not even tell them she was leaving. That poor little girl, coming to school with hair that her father desperately tried to brush and style and outfits that *almost* matched...I hope that she had a few moments of peace in my library where she was able to forget about her problems at home and get lost in a good story.

2nd Video Attempt: Better

Seriously?!?! Who is the fat lady with no neck in the rocking chair?!?!?! OMG.  It is not any fun to watch yourself teach.  Oh, my.  The videotaping itself was pretty good--we have to adjust the angle to show more of the students' faces, and I think the lesson is good, so we're going to try again next week.

I successfully closed the library for 1/2 hour to tape the class, and that worked out much better than when I tried it without doing that.  Realistically, though, I can't keep closing the library whenever I get the whim to videotape.

The members of the cohort watched each other's videos this morning, and we critiqued them.  It was really interesting watching other people teach.  I can't say I loved the other lessons--I know the lessons aren't supposed to be dog-and-pony shows, but a few were just plain boring, and one was really practically out of control! The teacher said 'Shhhhhh' at least 25 times!  Really?

I also know that National Boards is not a competition, and that I will not be judged based on anyone else but me.  That's a good motivator to get my butt in gear and keep writing!!

Videotaping--First Attempt

Let's just say it did not go well.  Thank goodness this was just a practice practice session--I just wanted to see what my lesson looked like before asking someone to film the official practice video.  In the first class, I had a kid who simply could NOT stop waving at the camera.  Really?!!?! Second grade!  Ugh.

In the second class, which I was hoping could possibly go a little better than the first, I had to stop teaching and fuss at a group of kids (and their teacher) who were SO DAMN LOUD at the computers that I couldn't even think. 

Then, in anger, I emailed said teacher to thank her for ruining my videotape.  I haven't heard back from her yet.  I know that I'm not supposed to email in anger.  It just happened.  I couldn't help it, and I would've screamed out loud if I could have. 

I almost forgot the best part--as I was FILMING my second graders constructing a grid with this huge floor puzzle-grid thing, one of the staff members came cutting through the library with two guys who were there to fix the clocks.  THEY WALKED RIGHT THROUGH THE DAMN GRID!!!!!! DURING MY LESSON!!!! F-ing go AROUND!  AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUGHGHGHGHGHGHGHGH!

Then my third grade class had to leave 15 minutes early to go to lunch, and the teacher asked me if I'd be taking them.  Um, no.  If you can't stay for library, then my time is up and my job is done.  I am just not in such a giving mood these days. 

Then our librarians meeting was held at my school today.  So I had to sit through four hours of mastery objectives and evaluation models.  OMG.  Seriously.  Just. shoot. me. now.

Thank God and Thank the Veterans that I have tomorrow off.

Natural Presenter

So that's what I was told! I am a natural presenter.  Woo-hoo.  I did have fun presenting at our state librarians' conference yesterday, although I was a sweaty mess at the end of each presentation.  There were lots of attendees at the sessions, and I gave away all 150 CDs that I made.  Yikes.  The evaluations from the attendees were very positive, so that was good. I suppose it was worth all that work.  For the past three weeks, I've been working for several hours a night and all weekend long preparing for it.  AND I had to send my regular computer off for repair, so I was doing it all on one of those teeny-tiny netbooks. 

I did not win School Librarian of the Year for our state.  The woman who won is a dear friend, and truthfully, she is the only one I was willing to lose to.  Does that make sense?  Sure, it's disappointing that I didn't win, but I am happy for the winner.  She is a wonderful person and truly deserving of the honor.

Author Visit Time!

So excited!!! We are hosting Kim Norman, an author from here in Virginia.  She has written several books, and I'm enjoying reading them to our students.  Jack of All Tails is quirky and the kids love it! We incorporate brainstorming animals characteristics and also a little writing--what could be better than that?

We are also reading Crocodaddy and Ten on the Sled.  The little ones love the rhythm of these stories!

This is our fourth or fifth author visit at my school, and they are also so exciting for the students.  The students leave the assemblies ready to WRITE with renewed energy! The visits energize me, too, and remind me of how special it is for our students to meet an author--AND how it doesn't matter if the author is someone they're familiar with or not--after we read their books and study their lives, the authors are like rock stars to us!!
Next week--October 14 is the big day!

Reading Year!

Friday is the kick-off assembly for Reading Year at my school.  Our theme this year is, "Virginia is for Readers."  I thought that was so fun and original, and then one of my new kids said that her school did that last year.  Oh, well.  So much for originality!

Our students will be placed on teams that are named after the regions of Virginia--did you know there are five?  It was my job to write a skit for the teachers to perform at the kick-off assembly.  I was wracking my brain trying to think of something fun, but quite frankly, I don't think that Virginia's regions are that much fun.

Then one day, a student said something that sparked an idea in my brain.  I can't even remember what he said, (but I do remember the student!), but it made me think of the book The Scrambled States of America  by Laurie Keller.  So I grabbed both copies off the library shelf, found my own copy somewhere on my bookshelf, and read it a few times.  I wrote a play in the style of her book, and it's called "The Scrambled Regions of Virginia." The Piedmont region decides that he doesn't like being in his place in the state, and he throws a party and gets all the other regions to switch places, too.  It's not quite as much fun as the book because we had to throw in some learnin' to tie it into the state standards.  But to get the kids ready, I read Scrambled States to every class (grades 1-5).  That would be 30 classes.  Thirty times I said, "Hi, I'm New Jersey.  I'm not new, and I'm not wearing a jersey.  Go figure!" in my best Sopranos accent.  Thirty times I said, "My friend switched places with California and all I got was this stupid t-shirt."  Oh, it was FUN!!!  "This is Illinois, and I need to buy an airplane ticket to, um, well, Illinois."  Oh, we laughed hard!! Thank you Laurie Keller.  It was so nice to rediscover this gem with my students.

It is a rare book that can be enjoyed by students all the way from first grade to fifth grade, and this is definitely one of them! AND, the movie is so cute, too!! I believe we watched a Weston Woods production.  The animation and voice-overs really brought the personalities of the states out.