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Author Heroes from NCTE 15

Posted in Digital Learning, Gratitude, Writing, tagged #NCTE15, middle-grade authors on November 29, 2015| 4 Comments »

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One of the highlights for me at NCTE is meeting all my favorite authors. Every one I meet is generous and kind. I love sharing stories of how my students connect to their books. The authors feel so proud when you talk to them about their books. They also reflect right back to me and appreciate the work I do in the classroom.

I can’t wait to share this video with my students. Some of them wrote letters that I delivered to their favorite author. Kate DiCamillo has already written back.

Making connections to authors enriches the experience of reading. Students learn that there is a real person behind the words. They realize the importance of writing. They aspire to be authors themselves.

https://animoto.com/play/n8yTt86dvsqAp5UvJgBKxg

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Cat Whispers a Poem

Posted in Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged nature poem on November 27, 2015| 15 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up with Carol at Carol’s Corner.

I signed up years ago for the Poem a Day email from Poets.org. But my inbox gets full of them. I feel like I need a stretch of time to read them all. And then sometimes when I open the poem-of-the-day, I am inspired to write. I get distracted from what needs to be done. I am like an artist in “flow.” Borrow a line. Steal a pattern.

My bumper sticker should read, “I’d rather be writing a poem.”

This one is patterned from Rebecca Lehmann’s poem Natural History using anaphora (repetition) of “Here comes” and “Tell me.”

Here comes light
streaming down the bayou
like a surfer riding the waves.
Here comes wind,
in a stream of its own
wiggling those chimes.
Tell me bent cypress branches,
how year after year
you shed and redress
in brighter green.

Here comes the sun
casting a shadow of the mother oak
I spread my arms wide
in tableau, statue of majesty.
Tell me the child swinging on your rope,
how she came to you when her mother cried,
finding another mother in your shade.

Here comes the land
softened by hard rain
answering our prayer.
Tell me about wet,
how all at once you feel fat
and full like resurrection.

Here comes grey cat
the one with no tail
flipping at my feet.
Tell me what you see
at night on the lonely road.
Whisper your wisdom.
Follow me home.

–Margaret Simon

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Kindness Comes Back to You: NCTE15

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged #NCTE15, Wonderopolis on November 24, 2015| 12 Comments »

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“I write to know what I am thinking.” Someone said this. Someone wise. I can’t remember who because there are days and people and ideas between hearing these words and today. But this is exactly what I am doing. Trying to process my thinking from NCTE15 through writing.

My trip home from Minneapolis was long. My brain is full to overflowing with words, ideas, love, and hope. At NCTE, teachers are honored. Teachers are fed. Teachers are inspired.

At NCTE15, I discovered…

Teachers are rock stars to authors. The work we do in the classroom around books is why authors do the work they do. They love hearing the stories of what we are doing with their babies (books).

Allow students to explore what they are passionate about. Real authors like Kate Messner, Laura Purdie Salas, Laurel Snyder, and more are driven by their endless curiosity. We need to allow wondering and wandering to ignite passionate research for our students.

Kate DiCamillo says to give young writers the gift to be themselves. “Break the rules and find yourself.”

Sharon Draper says, “Words are Power!” We need love–connections–peace, and books are how we do that.

The books authors write are their babies, and when you love their babies, you love them. I watched author after author brighten up when I talked to them about how their books affected me and my students.

“Literature can empower young people. Books are like amusement parks. Sometimes you have to let the kids choose the ride.” Kwame Alexander.

Schools should be scavenger hunts, places where students can feel safe to wonder, wander, and discover. Georgia Heard, Wonderopolis breakfast

When I look through my notes, I notice that most of what I heard affirmed my teaching philosophy: Open the door. Be safe. Be curious. Expand the horizon. Reach for the stars.

At the Children’s Literature Awards Lunch with Julianne Harmatz, me, Laura Purdie Salas, Catherine Flynn, and Heidi Mordhorst.

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Wonder Poems

Posted in Digital Learning, Poetry Friday, Writing, tagged Animoto, Wonder poetry, Wonderopolis on November 20, 2015| 7 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up with Tricia at Miss Rumphius Effect.

Every once in a while a volume of poetry comes along that blows me away. The National Geographic Book of Nature Poetry is an anthology that will keep my poetry self satisfied for a while. Edited by J. Patrick Lewis, the poems are illustrated by amazing images. This glossy book even smells good.

Laura Purdie Salas posted last week about her poem Brinicle which is included in the Book of Nature Poetry. This was a totally new subject for me, so I took the chance that it was new to my students. They were transfixed by the video she posted. Then we read and discussed her poem. Laura gave us lots to talk about. (free verse, imagery, personification, metaphor, and sounds)

The assignment: Turn your Wonder into Poetry Using Animoto. Since I am traveling to NCTE this week, I wasn’t sure how or if my students would write their poems and make a video. I’ve checked in on their kidblog site, and they have been posting some cool poem videos. I’ll share a few here.

https://animoto.com/play/cJthiEjdNdK9fnjJosDhWg?autostart=1

https://animoto.com/play/1hhX62YB6rONS04wIfgw7A

https://animoto.com/play/x1yrNpJfBDEJUlmsQMmBQw

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NCTE 2015: Do you want to Vox?

Posted in Digital Learning, Writing, tagged #NCTE15, digital literacy, student blogging, Voxer on November 15, 2015| 13 Comments »

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NCTE 2015 is only a few short days away, and I am beyond excited. This year I am participating in two presentations. I will be on a round table session on Friday at 4:00 #E20: Igniting Wonder in Students and Teachers: Fueling the Fires of Creativity and Independence in the Classroom. Here I will be talking about DigiLit Sunday and digital literacy. I created an Emaze to show. In it I show how my students present their various “Wonders” to the class. Last week I wrote about how I assign and assess these weekly research endeavors.

The second session is a panel of Donald Graves Award winners from 2013, 2014, and 2015. I’m a little intimidated by this one because I am beside some amazing teachers as well as on of my all time favorite mentors, Katie Wood Ray. J02: Write Beside Them Saturday, 2:45.

For this panel, I have made a Google Slide Show about blogging with students. I made a card with the major reasons for student blogging.

I would like to start a Voxer chat for NCTE 15. If you are going and would like to chat, let me know. Even if you are not going, and you would like to hear and comment on what we are learning and sharing, you can join in. Contact me by Voxer, email, Twitter, or in the comments.

And as always, if you are writing about digital literacy, please leave a link.

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Wild Hair

Posted in Blogging, Poetry, Writing, tagged Irene Latham, Wild on November 9, 2015| 11 Comments »

Read more Wild posts in Irene Latham’s Blogiversary Round up.

Irene Latham is one of my very favorite Poetry Friday bloggers. She’s also an awesome author and sweet writing friend. She is having a “blogiversary” celebration rounding up blog posts for her 10 year blog anniversary on the theme of WILD! How wild is that?!

When you get a wild hair about something, you go off into new territory. Live outside the box, so to speak. The urban dictionary defines a wild hair as a decision to do something unexpected.

Wild Hair

Give me wild hair today,
the kind that waves at everyone,
happy to be alive
and free.

Give me wild hair today,
remind me to reach for the sky,
grateful for the curls,
ready to be me.

–Margaret Simon

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Gratitiude

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Gifted Education, Gratitude, Writing, tagged art lessons, Kimberley Griffiths Little, One Little Word, teaching gifted on November 7, 2015| 7 Comments »

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

On this gloomy Saturday morning, I was drinking my coffee and reading blog posts. Each one added wisdom to my thinking. And I still wasn’t sure what to write today. One blog post suggested that I just open up the page and begin. Another suggested using the month of November to think about gratitude. So here I am, opening the window of a post and writing what I am grateful for this week.

New students: I was apprehensive, as always, to receive new students. This happens in my class around this time of year because the evaluators have finished testing young referrals. This week, I welcomed 4 new gifted students. These new kiddos are so excited to be in the gifted class that they are eager and ready. They love that we blog. They each wrote their first post. “And what? We can read whatever we want!” One new guy read 4 Seymour Simon books this week!

My other students have embraced the new ones, and, so far, so good, we are becoming a new community of learners.

Authors: I love authors, and meeting them face to face is such a thrill. Last weekend I attended the Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge. Right before the tornado warning closed down the festival, I met Kimberley Griffiths Little. We had a great conversation. She signed a card for one of my students who loves her books. We talked about connections and writing and hugged as friends.

Student authors: Also at the Book Festival, I had the privilege of leading an awards ceremony for the winners of the Louisiana Letters about Literature and our state writing contest LA Writes! Seeing wide-eyed proud writers dressed in their best, listening to their little voices read their winning pieces, and sharing in the love of reading and writing filled me with joy and gratitude.

Jacob with his award

Two of my students placed first in their divisions, Vannisa and Jacob. Neither of them could attend the ceremony because of the weather, so I gave them their packets at school.

Art Lessons and Reaching: My One Little Word for this year is Reach. I’ve dabbled in art for years. When my mother gave me a nice check for my birthday, I decided to reach and commit to a series of art lessons. We meet once a week for an hour. (I always wish for more time.) At first I was very frustrated. I was not feeling successful. This was a huge learning curve as well as a good lesson for me as a teacher. Finally, after eight lessons, I received some wonderful feedback from my instructor. He said he sees a unique style emerging. Wow! That’s so cool! I celebrate Reaching and becoming the artist I want to be. As in writing, I am discovering you must practice, practice, practice to improve. There is No. Other. Way.

Blue heron

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Mother of the Bride Serial 2

Posted in Slice of Life, Writing, tagged Magic Mike, Michael Doucet, mother-of-the-bride, wedding on November 3, 2015| 20 Comments »

Join the Two Writing Teachers blog for Tuesdays Slice of Life Challenge.

I continue to be the worst mother-of-the-bride. This time I laughed until I cried.

My daughter Katherine is planning to get married next fall. She has put me in charge of music. She wanted her father and me to choose a band that we would enjoy dancing to. This is very thoughtful of her because she appreciates that we are Zydeco/ Cajun band ~~snobs~~ experts.

I, too, love classical music and especially the violin. My grandmother for whom I was named was a violinist. Even though I never met her or heard her play, I feel a chill on my spine when I hear a violin solo.

In both the Cajun and Zydeco traditions, the violin, called the fiddle, is a prominent instrument. One of my favorite Cajun musicians is Michael Doucet of Beau Soliel. He is also one of my favorite people ever since I taught his son 18 or so years ago.

borrowed from Facebook

Michael Doucet is fairly famous in the music world. He’s won a few grammies. He’s recorded umpteen albums. He performs at local festivals, but also on stages all over the world. Garrison Keillor has dubbed Beau Soliel “the best Cajun band in the world.”

I decided on a whim to send Michael Doucet a Facebook message expressing my sincere wish that he would be available to play for the ceremony. Even though I feel he is a friend, I was nervous about asking such a famous musician to play for our little wedding.

A day or so later, I got a response, “Well you have certainly given me enough notice.” Hmm, I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. He hadn’t said yes or no. I just didn’t respond.

The other night on the way home from the movie, I checked my Facebook messenger on my phone. Still feeling weird about his response, I decided to look at it again. It was then that I realized I had messaged Michael Dardant, not Michael Doucet.

You know how FB predicts who you are writing a message to? I’m sure that’s what happened. I typed in Michael D and clicked on the first name that came up. Duh! (head thump!)

Michael Dardant may be planning what he will do for Katherine’s wedding. Apparently he has done a wedding before. I have written about him here on this blog. He’s Magic Mike, the world famous MAGICIAN!

I sent Katherine a text, “How would you feel about having a magician at your wedding?”

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GRA and Random Acts of Kindness

Posted in Celebration Saturday, Digital Learning, Gratitude, Writing, tagged #GRAFIAT, #GRARAC, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Fish in a Tree, Global Read Aloud, kindness on November 1, 2015| 3 Comments »

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Participating in the Global Read Aloud has changed the tone in my classroom. As I’ve mentioned before, we are reading Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. The story is realistic and takes place in a 6th grade classroom where there are all types of kids, the cut-up, the bully, the follower, the smart one, and Ally who believes she is dumb. My students are getting a good long look at these characters. They talk about them as if they know them. We are starting to even use them as labels, “Don’t be a Shay.” (Shay is the smart-aleck bully.)

This week was Global Read Aloud Random Acts of Kindness week. We watched a video from Amy Krouse Rosenthall, an author whose book is also part of Global Read Aloud. In her video, she does kindness pranks by leaving a box of Ding Dongs at random houses, ringing the doorbell, and running away. My kids loved this idea. They wanted to do it to the teachers, Teacher Pranks.

One student brought in two containers of rocks from Walmart. Her idea came from Cynthia Lord, to write a word message on each rock. They wrote words like love, brave, kindness, etc. on each rock. I brought in brown lunch bags, and with the help of the art teacher, they decorated them. We also had candy and made a batch of lavender bath salts using Epsom Salt. Would you like to get a gift bag like this? My kids made their Halloween party into a Kindness party. They even managed to be sneaky without being crazy.

Bath salts: Epsom salt, food coloring, and lavender scent.

Kindness rocks

Last week we wrote Fib poems. I posted about them here. I invite any class reading Fish in a Tree to write Fib poems about the characters and add it to our padlet.

If you have written a recent Digital Literacy post, please leave a link.

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Fabulous Fibs

Posted in Poetry Friday, Teaching, Writing, tagged fibonacci poem, Fish in a Tree, Greg Pincus, Lynda Mullaly Hunt, Voxer, Wat Buddhist Temple on October 30, 2015| 11 Comments »

Poetry Friday round-up with Mary Lee at A Year of Reading

Do you know about the famous Fibonacci Sequence? The ages old sequence that creates a spiral, a shape found in nature? The mathematical sequence is 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8…Do you see the pattern? More information (including algebraic equations) can be found at Math is Fun.

I had forgotten about using the sequence in poetry until a colleague introduced it to our 6th grade enrichment group. We are working on Unsung Hero projects. Our previous meeting had been a field trip to see and hear about heroes in our own town. She asked the students to recall the field trip by writing a Fib poem. I wrote about the Buddhist Temple in our local Laotian community.

Wat Thammarattanaram, New Iberia, LA

Stands
tall
above
Buddhist monks
humbly giving self,
Temple of golden ornaments,
Temple of sacrifice,
meditate on lasting love.
–Margaret Simon

A Fib poem follows the syllable count as in the mathematical sequence, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8. And if you are feeling wordy, you can tack on a line of 13 and 21.

A few years ago I had used this form with my students when we were sharing The 14 Fibs of Gregory K by Greg Pincus.

I tried out the form on my other students. I asked them to write about our field trip to New Orleans, the Aquarium and Insectarium, last week. The exercise was quite a challenge. I, too, struggled. But that’s what writing is all about, right? We made a padlet.

Each afternoon, I read aloud another chapter of Fish in a Tree. We usually write notices and wonders to add to the Voxer chat with other classes, but yesterday, I asked Jacob to write a Fib poem with me about Ally, the main character. We started over 3 times. Jacob was being very patient. Each time he’d write the syllable count down the margin of his journal page. Finally we liked what was coming, but we couldn’t quite get that last line. Then Jacob just blurted it out. Some days my young students blow my mind. We recorded it on the Voxer chat.