Announcing a short pause in our regular blogging schedule
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Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Today is my last day of school! My third grade students and I have been writing our way towards goodbye over the last few weeks.
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All of us at Two Writing Teachers are thinking about and planning for summer writing. Summer writing inspiration for our students and summer writing goals for ourselves. Kathleen wrote this fabulous post about using… Continue reading
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What's on your summer writing bucket list? You don't need to have a novel hiding in your desk drawer to call yourself a writer. All the small things add up. If you don't have a list going already, here's a little inspiration for Summer 2016.
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Blog: The Open Book (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Uncategorized, Diversity, Summer, book lists, summer reading, Educators, summer vacation, summer reading lists, summer slide, summer learning, Educator Resources, Book Lists by Topic, summer book lists, 2016 book list, 2016 summer lists, Add a tag
Memorial Day Weekend has come and gone, which can only mean one thing. The end of June is right around the corner (hang in there teachers!).
Now, we are all well aware of the importance of having access to books and the harmful effects of the slippery slope that is the summer slide.
- Children in low-income households fall behind an average of 2 months in reading during the summer.
- Summer learning loss accounts for about 2/3’s of the ninth grade achievement gap in reading.
- For every one line of print read by low-income children, middle-income children read three.
So, to keep the kids reading all summer long, LEE & LOW has put together a Diverse Summer 2016 Reading List for Grades PreK-8 and printables which you can freely download here or find listed below. Each list contains books that not only highlight different grade-appropriate interests, such as sports, music, sci-fi/fantasy, and the environment, but also explore diverse cultural backgrounds and traditions.
- LEE & LOW Diverse Summer 2016 Reading List Grades PreK-8 (complete PDF)
- LEE & LOW Diverse Summer 2016 Reading List Grades PreK-2
- LEE & LOW Diverse Summer 2016 Reading List Grades 3-5
- LEE & LOW Diverse Summer 2016 Reading List Grades 6-8
- LEE & LOW Summer Reading Log
- LEE & LOW Summer Reading Certificate of Achievement
These lists are not only an excellent tool to help you include diverse books in your summer suggested reading lists, but a way to begin diversifying the books available to students in your classroom libraries. It is important to remember that diverse books are not only for diverse readers. Reading books featuring diverse characters and communities mirror experiences in their own lives, allowing children to see themselves reflected in the stories they love, but they also provide windows into other life experiences to understand and be more accepting of the world around them.
- Debunking 3 Common Myths About Diverse Books
- Checklist: 8 Steps to Creating A Diverse Book Collection
- Where Can I Find Great Diverse Children’s Books?
- How Common Core’s Book Choices Fail Children of Color
- The Diversity Gap in Children’s Publishing, 2015
Finally, there are many great organizations compiling and creating Summer Reading Book Lists and offering free, exciting programs for the summer. Be sure to check out your local library as well as the following groups for additional summer reading tips, suggestions, and ideas:
- Anti-Defamation League-Tips for Summer Reading
- Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) 2016 Summer Reading Lists
- Colorín Colorado- Summer Reading Resources
- First Book- Books Beat Summer Slide Infographic
- The Horn Book-Summer Reading Recommendations
- NYPL Summer Reading Challenge 2016
- Reading is Fundamental (RIF): Summer Learning
- Reading Rockets-Summer Reading Tips for Parents
- School Library Journal Summer Reading Resources
- We Need Diverse Books Summer Reading Series
Veronica has a degree from Mount Saint Mary College and joined LEE & LOW in the fall of 2014. She has a background in education and holds a New York State childhood education (1-6) and students with disabilities (1-6) certification. When she’s not wandering around New York City, you can find her hiking with her dog Milo in her hometown in the Hudson Valley, NY.
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Nonfiction, pre-writing, summer vacation, Carla Killough McClafferty, Back-to-School Activities, Add a tag
When I was in elementary school, we were assigned the classic back to school essay:
www.morgefile.com |
or go to inkthinktank.com
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: summer vacation, JoAnn Early Macken, Carla Killough McClafferty, Esther Hershenhorn, April Halprin Wayland, Bobbi Miller, summer writing camps, Add a tag
morguefile.com |
“We are like islands in the sea, separate on the surface but connected in the deep.” ~ William James
I have so enjoyed this unit on summer experiences presented by the Teaching Authors. At the core of these discussions is the importance of making connections. JoAnn connects to nature, offering interesting experiments with monarch butterflies.
Esther , Carla and April explore the important connections to be made at writing conferences that go above and beyond the business of writing.
Mary Ann connects to the next generation of writers in her discussion of summer camp,
“We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects.” ~ Herman Melville
We know stories are old. Humans have been telling stories for over 100,000 years. Not every culture had developed codified laws, or even a written language, but every culture in the history of the world has had stories. Some research suggests stories predate language, that language came about in order to express story concepts.
And those first stories are found in paintings buried in prehistoric caves. An ancient man reaches out and across 40,000 years to his descendents, connecting past to present. It is the essence of humankind to connect. As Eric Booth states, in The Everyday Work of Art, “Art is not apart. It is a continuum within which all participate; we all function in art, use the skills of art, and engage in the action of artists every day.”
Kinza Riza/Courtesy of Nature.com. |
“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tired into a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one destiny, affects all indirectly.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thank you for connecting with me and the Teaching Authors!
Bobbi Miller
About the photograph: A stencil of an early human's hand in an Indonesian cave is estimated to be about 39,000 years old. Kinza Riza/Courtesy of Nature.com.
See More about the Cave Art here: Rock (Art) of Ages: Indonesian Cave Paintings Are 40,000 Years Old. Cave paintings of animals and hand stencils in Sulawesi, Indonesia, seem to be as old as similar cave art in Europe. Read more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/rockart-ages-indonesian-cave-paintings-are-40000-years-old-180952970/#8DR5O3DYTByKccpx.99.
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: SCBWI, Conferences, connecting, Summer Reading, summer vacation, dreaming, Esther Hershenhorn, Add a tag
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: blogging, vacation, Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing workshop, summer vacation, Add a tag
It's time for our annual co-author summer vacation. But wait, we have lots to keep you going in the meantime!
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JacketFlap tags: Poetry Friday, Summer, poem, punctuation, summer vacation, children's poems, April Halprin Wayland, Book Giveaway Winner, Baby Says "Moo", Add a tag
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Howdy, Campers--and Happy Poetry Friday (original poem and PF link below)!
This is the last of our series about punctuation and related topics. Bobbi started us off with For the Love of Comma (her post was mentioned in Quercus), Esther offers A New Mark of Punctuation (sort of)...,Carla illustrates her point with specific examples from her books in How You Tell the Story Makes a Difference, and Mary Ann pleads, Can We Give the Exclamation Point a Rest?
"Okay, Mommy," he said marking his page, "lemme put it on pause."
Don't you love that?
from signals.com |
2) When my son was in elementary school, I read poetry to his class once a week. I was trying to be like my teacher, Myra Cohn Livingston: I wanted to share poetry with no strings attached. As I read, they listened, just listened. Nothing was expected of them. I read every poem twice.
At the end of each year, I gave them each a collection of the poems they loved; in third grade, this was one of their favs (make sure to take a big breath before attempting to read it aloud!):
Call the Periods
Call the Commas
By Kalli Dakos
Call the doctors Call the nurses Give me a breath of
air I’ve been reading all your stories but the periods
aren’t there Call the policemen Call the traffic guards
Give me a STOP sign quick Your sentences are running
when they need a walking stick Call the commas Call
the question marks Give me a single clue Tell me
where to breathe with a punctuation mark or two
From If You're Not Here, Please Raise Your Hand; Poems about School by Kalli Dakos, illustrated by Brian Karas (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1995)
3) We're told so much about the health benefits of deep breathing; of taking time to slow down. Remember to Breathe, they say.
And just think: as writers, with our very own fingers, we have magic power. Add a comma, push the pause button.
Applause for the Pause
by April Halprin Wayland
A comma,
a breaking line
a period.
A day off,
a week away
summer.
And finally, congratulations to TeachingAuthors' latest Book Giveaway Winner:
posted on a summer's day by April Halprin Wayland--with help from Eli (dog), Snot (cat), and Monkey.
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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This year, they were going to be the first group of 5th graders to break the summer curse.
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Glue your butt to the chair, every day, or at least once a week, and you will not only become a better writer--you'll become a better teacher of writing.
Add a CommentBlog: The Open Book (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: summer vacation, teacher appreciation, end of the year, Educator Resources, teacher gifts, Pinterest, Holidays and Celebrations, student gifts, Summer, diy, crafts, Educators, Add a tag
Pinterest has become a teacher’s go-to source for all sorts of curation inspiration. If you’re like me, you can browse and pin for hours without even once questioning when you’ll have time to DIY your heart out or eat everything pinned to your food inspiration board.
So, since June is right around the corner we thought we’d help you get a head start thinking about and planning some fun end-of-the-year tokens of appreciation. Whether you’re a teacher, student, or parent, Pinterest has an overwhelming amount of DIY-inspired gifts to celebrate the end of the school year and kick-off the start of the summer.
Teachers: 8 gift roundups (& no apples in sight!)
101 Easy & Creative Teacher Gift Ideas from The Dating Divas. An impressive list of over 100 teacher gift ideas broken down by category: the first day of school, appreciation gift ideas, end-of-the-year ideas, and even 2 bonus gift ideas for the bus driver.
Teacher Gift Ideas in Mason Jars from Mason Jar Crafts Love. If I had to describe Pinterest in two words it might just be mason jar. But dare to challenge their all-inclusive, miscellaneous nature and you’ll surely be disappointed.
20 Cheap, Easy, Cute & Practical Teacher Appreciation Gifts from It’s Always Autumn. You’ll find less of the cutesy, where-am-I-going-to-put-this DIY projects and more practical gift ideas that teachers can actually use, from classroom supplies to gift cards.
28 Pun-Tastic Teacher Gifts from BuzzFeed. A laugh-out-loud collection of “punny” printables and DIY ideas for your “uh-mason” teacher or “berry sweet” students.
DIY Treat Bag Tags-Teacher Appreciation from The Busy Budgeting Mama. You can never go wrong with an edible gift, particularly those made with sugar. Here are 5 printable tags to say thanks in a sweet way.
25 Teacher Appreciation Ideas That Teachers Will Love by Crazy Little Projects. This roundup of 25 usable and practical DIY gifts hits it on the head for most teachers. I would be ecstatic to receive anything on this list.
4 Gifts That Teachers ACTUALLY Want (told by teachers!) from A Girl and a Glue Gun. This roundup of teacher-minded gifts shows you how to make what teachers really need and want-from cleaning wipes to pizza gift cards- feel personal and special.
FREE Teacher Appreciation Cards from The Chickabug Blog. Overwhelmed by Pinterest’s crafting skills? Are you a self-aware last-minute gifter? Or maybe you just have a sarcastic sense of humor? Look no further. This list of printable teacher gift card holders is here to save the day.
The Archives: These blogs are a treasure trove of teacherappreciation gift ideas, many more than can be covered in
thisroundup. Here, you’ll find teacher gifts for any and every occasion throughout the school year.
Teacher Appreciation Ideas from Skip to My Lou. 10 whole pages worth of ideas to thank a teacher. Need I say more? This is one you’ll want to bookmark for later.
Teacher Appreciation/School from Eighteen 25. Printables, printables, printables! This blog is chock-full of cheesy tags & quick DIY gift ideas for teachers that are practical, yummy, and great keepsakes.
Teacher Appreciation/School from The Domesticated Lady. An archive of teacher gift ideas and even “s’more” puns.
Teacher Appreciation Gifts from The Happy Scraps. Teacher gifts for any occasion, these DIY ideas are quick and as simple as possible without breaking the bank.
Students: 8 ways to settle those testing nerves and end the year on a high note with your students.
End of the Year Gifts! from Lessons With Laughter. Your students’ futures are bright! But with cool sunglasses to wear, a survival kit bucket for life by their side, and having had you as a teacher they’re sure to be headed in the right direction.
Smartie Pants from The Muddy Princess. These are the best kinds of “smartie pants.” All you need is some cardstock, brads, glue, and Smarties!
Sidewalk Chalk End of School Year Student Gift Idea & Free Printable from My Sweet Sanity. Puns make the teacher and student DIY gifts really special, and this “chalk full” of fun idea is no exception. Any inexpensive, summer-themed gift that encourages kids to head outdoors is definitely a winner.
Have a “Kool” Summer- End of Year Goodbye Gift for Classmatesfrom The Crafted Sparrow. Oh so “kool!” Kool-Aid packets and crazy straws just might make you the koolest teacher/parent around.
End of the Year Gift for 2nd Graders from Drama Mama’s LittleCorner. There is only one small problem with this ice-pop gift idea and it’s that it’s being limited to second grade. Ice pops RULE!
Easy End of the Year Student Gift from Happy Home Fairy. Just like the school year, these Frisbees will fly (just hopefully not at your head!).
Candy Gram Ideas from Happy Home Fairy. Candy grams are always sweet motivation for either starting or ending the school year.
Graduation Gift Idea Printable Seed Packets from Pre K-Pages. Just as you helped them plant seeds of knowledge, encourage students to keep growing their minds with this gift. Not only perfect end-of-the-year gifts for students and teachers, Forget Me Not seedlings make memorable graduation gifts.
Finally, if you’re a fan of Pinterest then we want to connect! Follow Lee & Low Books on Pinterest here.
Veronica has a degree from Mount Saint Mary College and joined LEE & LOW in the fall of 2014. She has a background in education and holds a New York State childhood education (1-6) and students with disabilities (1-6) certification. When she’s not wandering around New York City, you can find her hiking with her dog Milo in her hometown in the Hudson Valley, NY.
Blog: Through the Studio Door (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Sorry about the break from the Friday Studio Tours this summer. I guess that's what happens when you're on summer vacation! Please look for the tours to begin when school starts in the fall. Yes, I said fall. I'm going old school here and will be back to posting tours after Labor Day. So look for the next Friday Studio Link post on Friday September 5th. Before then, I might even get a chance to do a post about how I spent my summer vacation!
Blog: Bob Ostrom Studio (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Summer Vacation!
Hope everyone is having a great summer! Last week I headed down to the beach here in North Carolina for a short little summer vacation. Unfortunately it rained harder than I’ve ever seen it rain. It was one of those rains where you think it can’t possibly rain any harder but then it does….all day. Just as we checked into the hotel it started let up. The sun popped out for about an hour and half so the kids and I grabbed our boogie boards and headed down to the ocean. Right about the time we decided to to get out of the water the rain came back. And so it went the following day. Two hours of sun at the beach in the morning (with the darkest storm cloud I’ve ever seen on the horizon) followed by a torrential down pour. Since we don’t live too far we decided enough was enough, jumped in the car and headed back home. All in all everyone had a pretty great time. I think maybe we’ll head down another time before the summer is done and see if we can’t get a little better weather.
The post Summer Vacation – lllustration by Bob Ostrom Studio appeared first on Illustration.
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JacketFlap tags: summer vacation, routines, Sharpening Your Workshop Routines Blog Series, blogging, vacation, Slice of Life Story Challenge, writing workshop, Add a tag
The six of us will be recharging our batteries, planning and brainstorming, coming up with even more great ideas to share with our lovely community of teachers and writers. But don't worry, we've got lots to keep you going in the meantime!
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JacketFlap tags: agent, Poetry Friday, Getting Published, critique groups, Rejection, rewriting, summer vacation, marketability, Marion Dane Bauer, April Halprin Wayland, Book Giveaway Winner, writing fears, Barbara Bottner, Add a tag
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Howdy, Campers!
Woo-woo! The winner of Joan Bransfield Graham's new book, The Poem that Will Not End is Rosi Hollenbeck, who happens to be the SCBWI critique group coordinator for Northern and Central California. Congratulations, Rosi! You'll find Joan's Wednesday Writing Workout here and my interview with her here.
Today we conclude our series on Writing What We Want to Write versus Writing What is Marketable (or, as I like to call it, WWWWWWWM). Each of us is taking turns thinking aloud about Marion Dane Bauer's terrific post, The Creative Mind, in which she writes convincingly about WWWWWWWM.
It's also Poetry Friday at Buffy's AND it's the start of TeachingAuthors' Summer Blogging Break--woo-woo!
JoAnn began the conversation by sharing her monarch haiku project and the new direction in which she's taking it; Carmela talked about how hard it is to work so long on beloved projects that don't sell...but finds redemption; Laura writes that it's a matter of prioritizing, e-publishing, sharing poetry love and more: and writing coach/writers' booster Esther sees the light, rewrites, submits like the devil, and stays optimistic. Her post has helped me stay optimistic, too. In fact each of these posts has.
So...wow. I've been mulling over how to talk to you about this one. It's potent. And personal.
Just like each of my blogmates, I've sent out countless manuscripts that have bounced back again and again and again and again. *Sigh.* I'd be a great boomerang maker.
More recently, I finally found a way to fictionalize the story of the flood which destroyed my family's farm and how we rebuilt afterwards. I'd been taking this picture book manuscript out, rewriting it, and putting it back in my bottom drawer for years. Last year I was invited to join a dynamite critique group; I took a risk and showed them my story. At this Magic Table I learned what my story was missing and how to strengthen it.
This is what happens at our Magic Table. Sort of. |
I told the Magic Table this. They helped me shorten it. I sent it flying out my door again.
Editors said that it was too regional. I went back to the Magic Table. They said, What about all the floods around the country? What about your themes of resilience, problem solving, weather, storms, climate change and life cycles for heaven's sake? You've just got to help them see this. You'd got to help your agent sell it.
SO...I hired a curriculum specialist...and resubmitted the story complete with Supplementary Materials including Themes, Common Core-related English Language Arts activities, Science-related activities, and a Glossary.
(Huh! Take That, I say with all those Capital Letters!)
And it's still not selling.
And yet...I believe in the Power of the Table. I do. I love this writing biz. I do. And I love my gang around that table. So what else can I do but believe? I keep on keeping on.
I wrote a poem recently to our group, to our leader, to the Magic Table. It was reverent, in awe of the smarts and wizardry at the Table.
But today I changed the poem. Maybe it's not a Magic Table after all. Here's the revised version:
Impossible feats of metaphor.
savoring tea.
The illusion of allusion.
sorceresses, sorcerers?
Believe.
I am boldly stealing the following EXACT WORDING (and formatting) from today's Poetry Friday host, Buffy Silverman because it's 12:15 am here in California...and because it applies to Buffy, to me, and to many other poets in the kidlitosphere you may know (thank you, Buffy!):
In other poetry news, I recently submitted a poem to a children’s poetry anthology being prepared by Carol-Ann Hoyte on food and agriculture, and was happy to learn this week that the poem was accepted. I’m in good company with many other Poetry Friday folks–look for the anthology in October of this year.
TeachingAuthors will be taking our annual blogging break--we'll be back Monday, July 13th. See you then!
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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Whether it's an institute put on by your own district, or an expert is coming to town, or if you'll be traveling many miles to take part, I hope that you are as excited about attending your institutes as I am about teaching them.
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JacketFlap tags: authors, grammar, professional development, illustrators, giveaway, professional books, summer vacation, Five on Friday, Stenhouse, public education, Add a tag
Want to obtain some high quality professional development at no cost to you? Need some books to sink your teeth into this summer? Feel like kicking back and just enjoying some time off? If you answered "yes," to one of these questions, then read on!
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JacketFlap tags: independent writing projects, summer vacation, Multi-Genre, Summer Writing, digital writing, independent writing, Add a tag
Blog: Teaching Authors (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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While the official start of summer is still two weeks away, writers with kids newly freed from school may already be wondering if they'll ever write again. At least that's how I felt every June about this time. I was fortunate to stay home with our kids, and there were a couple of really frustrating summers early in my writing career (and boy, am I using that term loosely). I drove myself crazy trying to follow the old "write every day" advice. Why wouldn't my kids cooperate?!
Blog: TWO WRITING TEACHERS (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
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This nighttime drawing journal is the perfect summer keepsake for our youngest writers.
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JacketFlap tags: management, writing workshop, summer vacation, Add a tag
It's almost summer! Time for sunshine, flip-flops, barbecue grills, and reading student writing.
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