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Blue Birds Interview with Caroline Starr Rose

Posted in Blogging, Books, Digital Learning, Writing, tagged author interview, Blue Birds, Caroline Star Rose, verse novel on January 18, 2015| 12 Comments »

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Boudreaux is Caroline’s furry friend.

One of the greatest gifts of Social Media is the connection my students and I can make to authors. Caroline Starr Rose blogs regularly about writing. Last year, I won a 30 minute Skype interview. My students asked her for a galley proof of her next novel. We received it in August. Vannisa, already a fan having read May B, read it immediately. I read it over the holiday break. What a wonderful story! Both Vannisa and I loved the characters of Alis and Kimi. We are amazed by Caroline’s way of making history come to life in her characters. After Colby Sharp of Nerdy Book Club and SharpRead, Vannisa wrote a 5,4,3,2,1 interview.

Can you tell me a little bit about the story of Blue Birds?

Alis and her family have left London to help establish a colony on the island of Roanoke. She is the only girl and lonely for a friend. Kimi watches the newcomers warily. The English killed her father and sister, but she’s curious about the girl. Alis and Kimi form a forbidden friendship that threatens to change both their worlds.

How did you manage to find all the information for the book?

I read a whole lot. I also asked experts to look over my work to see if I’d gotten things right.

What is your advice to authors writing a historical fiction book as accurate as yours?

Read, read, read. Be true to the times. But beyond the facts, think about emotions and feelings. Through the ages, these are the things that unite us.

Are you currently thinking about writing a new book?

I’m working on one now about the Klondike gold rush.

What is your advice to student writers like myself?

You have something unique to say. Your work can only improve if you keep at it! Don’t be in a hurry to be finished or move on to something new.

http://www.carolinestarrrose.com

This post is part of a week-long celebration in honor of the book Blue Birds.

Get this free quote with pre-order of Blue Birds

Author Caroline Starr Rose is giving away a downloadable PDF of this beautiful Blue Birds quote (created by Annie Barnett of Be Small Studios) for anyone who pre-orders the book from January 12-19. Simply click through to order from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books A Million, IndieBound, or Powell’s, then email a copy of your receipt to caroline@carolinestarrrose.com by Monday, January 19. PDFs will be sent out January 20.

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Finding your One Little Word

Posted in Blogging, Digital Learning, Teaching, tagged acrostic poetry, Emaze, OLW, One Little Word, tagxedo on January 4, 2015| 13 Comments »

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The Cyberspace Teacher Blogging space is full of Little Words. This is a wonderful tradition that I have been doing for three years. I want to pass this one to my students. I found Tara Smith’s OLW lesson for her 6th graders and put it on an Emaze to use with my students this week. I also used Mary Lee Hahn’s acrostic poem as a model for my students.

http://app.emaze.com/@AOFLCWZL/one-little-word

I plan to use this lesson on Monday and have the students Slice about their words on Tuesday at our blog site. You are welcome to use this presentation as well with your own students. Let me know if you do.

I made a Tagxedo with my word using all the synonyms that came up for me. I chose the tree as a symbol because the oak tree was my inspiration for my word.

I encourage you to try these activities with your students. Please join in the DigiLit round up with your link.

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Celebrating 500 Posts

Posted in Blogging, Gratitude, Slice of Life, Writing, tagged blogging, teacher support on December 16, 2014| 15 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

Today I am celebrating my 500th post! I have been blogging for about three and a half years, but only in the last year did I commit to blogging 5 days a week. I connect to The Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge on Tuesdays, Spiritual Journey Thursday, Poetry Friday, Celebration Saturday, and even started my own round up on Sundays, DigiLit Sunday.

This blogging business is making me braver. I have connected with some of the most supportive people on this earth. Some of my blog friends have become collaborators, some writing partners. On Sunday, I had two Google Hang-outs with fellow bloggers. The first group I met with is working on a presentation idea for NCTE 15. The second group was a writing group I was invited to join. My heart was full after these two meetings with like-minded people who are passionate about their work with students, teachers, and writing.

Whether you read regularly or sporadically, whether you subscribe or link up, whether I’ve met you face to face or only through comments, thank you for being here. Thank you for reading my thoughts and scribblings, for being supportive in any way, and for giving me this space to be myself.

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NCTE14 Revisited

Posted in Blogging, Slice of Life, Teaching, tagged Animoto, children authors, NCTE, Two Writing Teachers on November 25, 2014| 17 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

Georgia Heard and Ralph Fletcher congratulate me!

I am having a hard time coming down from the high of NCTE14 in Washington, DC. To begin the weekend, I was honored at the Elementary Get Together for the Donald H. Graves Award for teaching writing. My acceptance speech is here. I was surrounded by notable writers Lester Laminack, Ralph Fletcher, and Georgia Heard. All three of them were kind and easy to talk to.

Selfie with Lester Laminack and Ralph Fletcher.

On Friday, I presented with my colleagues from the National Writing Project Professional Writing Retreat (2004). This was our 10 year reunion, and we talked about what keeps us writing. We created an acronym, STAMP, for Social Media, Time, Audience, Mentors, and Peers. Here is a link to our Emaze presentation.

Another highlight of my weekend was meeting so many authors. I passed Augusta Scattergood standing alone in the lobby, so I stopped and talked to her. She used to attend these events as a librarian and now she is an author. Her second book, The Way to Stay in Destiny, was available as a galley copy. I stood in line and was the last one to receive one. The guards at Scholastic did not want me to get it signed, but when we started waving to each other like silly school girls, they let me through.

Augusta Scattergood

Meeting fellow bloggers as long lost friends was a joy. We connected immediately and sought each other out at different sessions. We had dinner together with the Two Writing Teachers team on Saturday night and had a difficult time saying good night. We all wanted to continue the time together. Being in the company of kind, thoughtful teachers who think like I think and struggle like I struggle and love their students like I love mine was inspiring and heart warming. I feel like we have begun a long friendship as well as a strong professional connection.

Professional Book Exchange organized by Chris Lehman.

I made an Animoto video of all my pictures. I took along Jack, the lemur, for some of them. Jack is our class pet that Emily snuck into my school cart. He enjoyed NCTE as much as I did.

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Celebrating the Blog Community

Posted in Blogging, Celebration Saturday, Gifted Education, Teaching, Writing, tagged Emaze, Hedwig, Kitlitoshpere on October 18, 2014| 6 Comments »

Ruth Ayres invites us the celebrate each week. Click over to her site Discover. Play. Build. to read more celebrations.

Today I am glowing a little brighter. My students and I enjoyed a few blog shout-outs this week.

My Spider zeno poem, along with a link to my Zeno Emaze was featured on Today’s Little Ditty.
Amy Ludwig VanDerwater featured my student Emily’s Cloud Acrostic on The Poem Farm.
Donna Smith was inspired by my Emaze presentation to create her own fall poetry Emaze.

Hedwig’s story: A few years ago one of my students, who was a huge Harry Potter reader, was struggling with writing. He just wouldn’t. I was shopping at Barnes and Noble and decided on a whim to buy a stuffed owl, Hedwig from the Harry Potter series. Matthew became totally attached to the owl. Hedwig stood on his shoulder whenever he was writing.

This year, after Emily’s mother died, I decided to take Hedwig to my second school. Hedwig has been a comforter to Emily and has become a part of our classroom family. So much so that Emily made him a bed out of an empty tissue box. (Emily finished off the box after crying over her dog’s death this week. How much can one little girl take?) I celebrate today that this small little impulse purchase has brought comfort and meaning to my students.

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Digital Encouragement

Posted in Blogging, Digital Learning, Gifted Education, tagged blog comments on September 21, 2014| 10 Comments »

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Comments encourage. They lift me up and propel me forward, like wind beneath my wings. I strive to be a good commenter, but it takes time. Time to read the blog post thoroughly. Time to reflect. Time to connect.

Selfishly, I love comments. In the classroom, I encourage them. My students are required to comment on at least 3 blog posts a week. They read each other’s posts, but I wish they would comment more. On Friday, Matthew read Tobie’s post about Harry Potter. Matthew loves Harry Potter. He sat at the computer and laughed and said, ” I love this post, especially the end where he says…”

I replied, “Don’t forget to comment.”

Matthew said, “Oh, I don’t have time for that. I have to write my own post.”

That is exactly how I feel! I usually post on Slice of Life Tuesdays, Spiritual Thursday, and Poetry Friday. Less frequently, I review books for It’s Monday: What are you Reading and Nonfiction Wednesday. I am also posting on Celebration Saturday and here today with DigiLit Sunday. That’s a lot of writing in a week. If I want and expect others to read my posts and leave comments, then I need to do the same.

The last few days, comments have supported me in the grief for a child’s mother, in the celebration of the NCTE award, and with the reading of my poem from Summer Serenity. Thank you, blogging friends, committed commenters. You sustain my writing. You comfort my soul. You are my friends. I hereby promise to be a better commenter.

Link up your DigiLit posts.

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Blogging Fever

Posted in Blogging, Digital Learning, Gifted Education, Teaching, Writing, tagged Kidblog, student blogging on September 7, 2014| 14 Comments »

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My students have gotten the blogging fever. I did not expect this and am silently cheering. I am sharing our kidblog site with a colleague whose students are also posting. Also, two former students who are now in middle school are joining in. The site is getting lots of activity.

On my simple rubric for kidblog, my students have four requirements, each worth 10 points: Post 3 times, GUMS (Grammar, Usage, Mechanics, Spelling), 3 comments, and comments must be thoughtful and constructive. Here are the highlights:

1. Lots of posts! What are you reading? Slice of Life stories. Poetry Friday. My students are writing a lot. This must be good for them. I have seen great strides in just these first three weeks of school. They are adding details. They feel like their writing matters. They are using sentence structure and humor to make their writing more interesting.

2. I am using their posts to teach grammar, either in whole group or one on one. This is working. My students are realizing that grammar matters to the reader. They are noticing when other writers are not following grammar rules.

3. Sharing and caring! My students are getting to know the other students posting on our blog. They are relating, connecting, wondering.

How do I turn this activity into data? In this day of data-driven instruction, I want to find a way to track and analyze the progress of my students. I know it’s happening, but how do I prove it? I welcome your responses.

To read some of the many student blog posts, click here.
Please link up your own digital literacy post with Mr. Linky.

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Light on the Bayou

Posted in Blogging, Digital Learning, Gifted Education, tagged #light, gifted education, PD for teachers, photography, student learning, Twitter, writing on July 13, 2014| 10 Comments »

Please use this button on your site for DigiLit Sunday posts

Today for DigiLit Sunday I have something on my mind about this internet PD community. I have tapped into so many teacher challenges this summer I run the risk of being overwhelmed. But instead I am fascinated and wonder what this may mean for my students and for the future of how we educate.

By participating in multiple online learning groups such as the Thinglink Teacher Challenge and Connected Learning (CLMOOC), I connect to other bloggers and find things that pique my interest. For example, Kim Douillard posted a weekly photo challenge in the CLMOOC Facebook group this week. Her blog site is Thinking through my Lens. I have a feeling Kim does not just use her phone for taking pictures, but that’s what I use. This week’s theme was #light. Just after I read her blog post, I took a walk outside to this amazing display of light.

Bayou morning photo by Margaret Simon

Did you say “Ah!”? Yeah, me too. That’s my world and sometimes I forget to appreciate it. So I uploaded my amazing bayou scene to Twitter and got this response from Carol Varsalona.

I will probably do this because I enjoy a challenge and especially one that makes me write. (Did I mention I am also doing Teachers Write camp with Kate Messner?)

So my Digital Learning question is this: How do we tap into student interests and create online learning environments for them to connect to and learn from? I teach gifted children. They have strong interest areas (obsessions, really). They are much more adept at computer skills than I am. Can we do this for them? Or is this being done and I don’t know about it? I did involve my students in the March Slice of Life Challenge put out by the Two (Six) Writing Teachers. They loved it. And for some, it was a deep learning experience.

Enter this conversation by leaving a comment. Should we have a Twitter chat or Google Hang out? I’ve never led one of those myself, but I’m willing to try.

Leave a link to your digilit post here.

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A Slice of Nothing Much

Posted in Blogging, Gratitude, Slice of Life, tagged A More Beautiful Question, Holly Mueller, Julie Johnson on July 1, 2014| 9 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers Slice of Life Challenge.

I almost didn’t write a slice this morning. See, there’s just not much happening here. As I sit in front of my computer with Charlie on my lap and listen to the cicadas buzzing their summer heat tune, I have very little on my brain. But this is good, right?

Mom’s mandevilla reworked in painteresque.

Julie Johnson at Raising Readers and Writers wrote her post today about weeding her garden, but it’s not really about weeding her garden. It’s really about finding your joy inspired by a book A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger. I don’t have the book yet, but I was struck by this section on Julie’s blog.

In A More Beautiful Question, Berger pushes his reader when he asks, “Why are you climbing the mountain?” He describes those “who are trying to do everything – attend every conference, take every call, answer every message, read every tweet, seize every opportunity – not so much because we want to, but because we feel we must, just to keep up.” (Had he been peeking into my life too?)

He prods his reader further by asking:

What is waiting for me at the top?

What am I going to do once I get there?

Am I enjoying the climb itself? Should I slow down, speed up?

What am I leaving behind, down below?

Yes, Julie, he is peeking into my life, too. Are we all like this? Overscheduling and overdoing? Keeping busy every minute of every day?

Last week I traveled home to my parents’. I traveled alone, no children or husband, just me. I did this last summer, too, and loved my week with Mom and Dad. I now believe that this time is a beautiful thing. I didn’t do much. I read, walked, blogged, painted, took pictures, and I talked with my parents. Nothing memorable happened. I relaxed and did exactly what brings me joy. I didn’t climb a mountain or make any grand decision.

We all need to remind ourselves that it is OK not to climb the mountain every day. And to choose our mountains carefully.

Follow this link to read more spiritual journey posts.

I’d like to invite those of you who ponder these big questions and write about your spiritual journey to join Holly Mueller’s new roundup on Thursdays. We are writing and connecting in many ways.

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Spiritual Journey Thursday

Posted in Blogging, Spiritual Growth, Writing, tagged Audrey Assad, Holly Mueller, listen, spiritual journey on June 26, 2014| 3 Comments »

Follow this link to read more spiritual journey posts.

I love the connections I have made through blogging. One of these wonderful bloggers is Holly Mueller. She wrote last week on Thursday about wanting to start a link-up, round-up, meme thing for Thursdays on the theme of the spiritual journey. I told her I was in, so here we are, another writing adventure. Please go to her blogspot using the link above and read.

Heron in flight by Beth Gibson Saxena

I am at the lake. My parents moved here 24 years ago. It is not where I grew up, but they are here, so it is another home for me. When I come, I am immediately soothed by the calmness of water and the love my parents have for each other and for me.

Listen

to the banter of the birds.
They chatter and flutter for the feeder Mom sets out and tends to with her mothering hands. This morning, a red-headed woodpecker squished his long body up and stuck his pecker beak into the mesh of the finch feeder. Mom says he comes every day. “No finch has ever come to that feeder.” The sparrow waited its turn while Mr. Woody wriggled his beak in and out for a tasty treat. I watched and listened to the other birds. I love this sound, symphonic, syncopated, soothing. Silence is never really silent. I could close my eyes to meditate here and listen for the joy in my heart. It’s there waiting to be heard, like the laughter of my mother as she talks to an old friend on the phone.

We are called to be listeners. We should not chatter like the birds wanting to be heard. We need to listen. Listen to the wisdom of fathers. Listen to the song of the wind. Whatever is there…listen.

Sometimes we get so deeply involved with our own thoughts, worries, concerns to listen to others. We practice our own counter-story rather than listen to our friend’s story. On this spiritual journey, I vow to be a better listener. Then I may become a better hearer. In the silence of my heart, God speaks.