Today is Take Your Child to the Library Day! Get out those library cards at get thy self and children (don’t have any, borrow one or more from a mom needing a break), and get to the library. Check out the new books, the old books, storyhour, and everything else your local library offers. Today’s …
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Blog: Kid Lit Reviews (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Greatest Guru in All the World, Jojo Wood, Timothy Johnson, Children's Books, adventure, Chapter Books, Series, books for boys, Debut Author, tall tales, Booktrope, 3-Stars, Add a tag
Blog: Teach with Picture Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: tall tales, Because of Winn Dixie, culminating activities, teaching units, Kid Lit Blog Hop, novel units, activities, celebrations, Add a tag
Most of us meticulously plan how we'll begin and carry out our novel studies and units, but the culminating events are often an afterthought. Should our novel study simply end with a test? Is that any way to honor this glorious novel which we held so closely to ours heart these past four, five, six weeks?
- a film version of the book (even a bad adaptation!),
- a theatrical version of the book,
- a magic or variety show,
- a reader’s theater production of scenes from the book,
- individual or group art, writing, or cooking projects,
- presentations of writing and other projects based upon the novel,
- a call to action or service, or
- a theme-based party.
preferences as well as those of their families. The bulletin board display of these shields later appeared on the website of Walden Media, a co-producer of the movie. Kids were pretty psyched to see that their creations had a world-wide audience.
Theme: Identity
Party Overview: This is a gathering of new friends, based upon the party which Opal and Gloria throw at the end of the novel. In the novel, the gathering takes place in Gloria’s overgrown backyard, and the food and drinks are an interesting orchestration of many hands.
Look: Since the book’s party was held at night, all lights in the classroom were off. Each desk contained a brown bag filled partway with sand, containing one battery operated candle. These were in place of the
luminaria which Opal created for her party. Some white Christmas lights were also hung. Several students printed out or collected dog pictures which they posted around the room, just as Sweetie Pie Thomas had at the party; after all, "every party needs a theme."
Sound: Taped recordings of crickets played throughout the party. Later, a thunder soundtrack was added to create the approaching rainstorm. The music teacher played guitar and led us in a few songs, just as Otis did at the party. We also played some bluegrass and country music when we weren't singing ourselves.
Taste: “Dump Punch,” pickles, and egg salad sandwiches were on the menu, just as they were at Opal’s party. Since the students made the sandwiches themselves, they were much more willing to try them!
Smell: A spring scented air freshener was placed on the vents. It made the whole room smell like a Southern garden (at least, how we imagined it might smell). The air freshener had never been used before
in the class, and was never used again, which made that smell unique.
Feel: In keeping with the “new friends” theme of the party, we brought in another class to share the theme. The closeness of that many people in that setting we created made the party truly memorable.
(especially as influenced by American Tall Tales by Mary Pope Osborne, Cut From the Same Cloth: American Women of Myth, Legend, and Tall Tale by Robert D. San Souci, and Big Men, Big Country by Paul Robert Walker)
Theme: Larger Than Life
Party Overview: An old fashioned, lumber-jack type breakfast.
Look: The students ate at one long table, which was set up in a glassed-in foyer on a snowy day in January. Red and white checked table cloths and old-fashioned lanterns set the scene. Also, students were dressed as their favorite tall tale characters, or as tall tale characters of their own creation from a unit writing assignment. Book boxes (book shaped dioramas containing summaries and a three-dimensional scene) were hung nearby.
Sound: In the background was a recording of traditional American folk songs played on fiddles and banjos. Later, students read aloud their original tall tales.
Taste: Students enjoyed a Paul Bunyan sized meal of pancakes and bacon, washed down with hot chocolate. Twenty students (and some parent helpers) ate over 80 pancakes and 80 pieces of bacon!
Smell: The food was cooked there, in that room, from pancake batter that students made from scratch. The smell of pancakes and sizzling bacon mingled with pine shavings which were sprinkled on the ground to give it that “woodsy” smell.
Feel: The blustery cold day visible through the windows, contrasted with the warm food inside, made for a close, comfortable gathering.
Can we even launch these types of parties anymore, with all the food and festivities they entail? Perhaps not. But I think we owe our students a bit more closure than simply saying, "Please pass your books to the front of the class." As Cesare Pavese once said, "We do not remember days, we remember moments."
Let's give our students one moment to remember.
Blog: Teach with Picture Books (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: storytelling, fairy tales, animals, research, narratives, biographies, mentor texts, first lines, tall tales, writer's craft, habitats, author's voice, author's craft, exemplars, author's style, Add a tag
Consider Avi's Newbery winning The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, a fantastic sea yarn in which the protagonist finds herself at the center of a mutiny:
“Out to the hoghouse,” replied her mother. “Some pigs were born last night.”
Mentor Text: Jangles: A BIG Fish Story
Jangles was so big, he ate eagles from the trees that hung over the lake, and full-grown beavers that strayed too far from home.
The story itself is an engaging narrative, with an ending that requires a bit of inferring on the reader's part. The story also begs the question, "What would you have done in his place?" Close rereadings can reveal simile, alliteration, personification, and many other wonderful literary devices masterfully woven into the tale.
And the illustrations! Fans of David Shannon know from earlier books such as A Bad Case of the Stripes and How Georgie Radbourn Saved Baseball that his pictures are lush and vivid and sculpturesque. Whenever I'm explaining to my students that their own illustrations should be saturated with color, Shannon's books are among the exemplars I share.
- To begin a Tall Tale unit, let children read a number of traditional retellings of Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, John Henry, and Slue-Foot Sue. Have them generate the critical attributes of this genre, explaining as well how it differs from (and yet takes cues from) legends, folktales, and myths. Find some online resources at 42explore.
- After reading Jangles: A BIG Fish Story, challenge students to write a Tall Tale about an animal of their choosing. You might consider supplying a simple story map based upon the mentor text which can guide students in their writing.
- Ask students to generate a list of some of their most memorable experiences (circus, baseball game, birth of a sibling, family reunion, recital, getting lost at the mall, etc.). Share the interview with the David Shannon at the Scholastic site. Discuss how personal experiences can often serve as the basis for writing fiction, and then have students choose one of their events to turn into a fictional account.
Another recent picture book which features a strong voice is Touch the Sky: Alice Coachman, Olympic High Jumper. Author Ann Malaspina tells the true-life tale of a young girl who dreams of being the first African-American woman to win gold at the Olympics. Her medals won while competing as part of Tuskegee Institute's famous Golden Tigerettes only increase her determination to reach that goal.
down the dirt road,
bare feet flying,
long legs spinning,
braids flapping
in the wind...
LEAP!
She sailed over
a tree branch
and kept on running.
Tracks shut.
Doors shut
to girls like Alice.
No place to practice.
No crossbar to raise.
Alice and her friends got busy.
Knotting rags.
Tying rags to sticks.
Planting sticks
in the red Georgia clay.
Then her friends stood back
and let Alice jump.
- Check out the Teacher's Guide at Albert Whitman and Company for discussion questions, cross-curricular extensions, and ready-to-use assessments.
- In connection with biography readings for either Back History Month or Women's History Month, encourage students to rewrite key events from a famous person's life using the lyrical style of (fellow New Jerseyan) Ann Malaspina. Existing lines from chapter books can be reformatted into parallel structures (where possible), although I'd prefer for students to adapt those events or anecdotes they find most compelling.
- If you enjoy Malaspina's writing, which Kirkus Reviews called "spare and elegant free verse," then definitely check out Heart on Fire: Susan B. Anthony Votes for President, another spot-on writing exemplar for young authors, with superb illustrations by Steve James. Susan B. Anthony's law-defying act of voting is little known to students, but rivals the illegal actions of such "criminals" as Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King, Jr. See the classroom guide for this book which was named to the Top Ten of the Amelia Bloomer Project.
In the tradition of this age old tale, Prairie Chicken Little by Jackie Mims Hopkins chronicles the over-reaction of one prairie chicken who thinks the sky is falling, or more accurately, a stampede is coming!
"Oh, no!" she exclaimed. "A stampede's a comin'! I need to hightail it back to the ranch to tell Cowboy Stan and Red Dog Dan. They'll know what to do."
So away Mary ran, lickety-splickety, as fast as her little prairie chicken legs could carry her.
- In the event that your students are studying other ecosystems such as as rain forests or polar regions, you could adapt this idea, challenging students to create a crisis or calamity, as well as appropriate creatures who would help spread the word. It's a pretty cool way to synthesize students' collection of random facts from a unit into a creative response. Can't you just see a penguin or a toucan as the main character?
- Fractured Fairy Tales are an all time favorite for kids to read, and they're fun to write as well. A recent post at the Peachtree Publishing blog provides some great titles to get you started.
- Have students research any of the animals from Prairie Chicken Little. Some of the real-life critters who populate this book sport some pretty amazing features. A good place to start? The Minnesota Prairie Chicken Society.
And if you haven't entered yet, be sure to get in on the raffle for one of three animal picture books happening on this blog (scroll to the bottom of that page).
Blog: Where The Best Books Are! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Christmas books, 2010, Graeme Base, tall tales, Anne Isaacs, books about pretending, Dust Devil, The Legend of the Golden Snail, Add a tag
Before long Wilbur stumbles upon fantastical creatures that are in trouble and, trying to be heroic, comes to their aid. First he waters a wilted bush of blossoming butterflies, then frees a crab the size of an island from a net, and next, saves a school of light bulb fish from marauding earwig pirates. Still, the boy doesn't feel very grand, and the snail is nowhere to be seen. But as Wilbur drifts into treacherous waters toward World's End, he discovers that he'd much rather be a Gallant Captain than someone who chains down another creature. Majestic in size (the book is over a foot tall and nearly 11 inches wide), Base's story looks like it was cast from magic. Epic, lush paintings capture the boy's larger-than-life imagination and by book's end have you soaring vicariously through clouds.
Blog: Book Moot (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: tall tales, loud read alouds, Add a tag
Yesterday and today I volunteered in our school district's Promise to Read community/school outreach program. I visited two schools and read to second and first graders.
Thank you to the divine
Blog: A Fuse #8 Production (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Anne Isaacs, picture book folktales, Uncategorized, Paul O. Zelinsky, tall tales, 2010 reviews, folktale review, Caldecott 2011 contender, Add a tag
Dust Devil
By Anne Isaacs
Illustrated by Paul O. Zelinsky
Schwartz & Wade (an imprint of Random House)
$17.99
ISBN: 978-0-375-86722-4
Ages 5-10
On shelves September 14, 2010
If Pippi Longstocking is a redhead known for her casual legwear, Angelica Longrider (or just “Angel” for short) would have to be considered her blatantly barefoot ginger-headed equivalent. When the Anne Isaacs Caldecott Honor winning picture book Swamp Angel took the stage back in 1994 it was cause for celebration. Here you had an honest-to-goodness new tall tale with a vernacular smart enough to match the pictures, and vice versa. The pairing of Anne Isaacs with Caldecott winner Paul O. Zelinsky was inspired. I was a big fan, yet for some reason I never considered that the book might garner a sequel. Clearly it was ripe for it, but Isaacs and Zelinsky pursued other projects and the thought was all but forgotten. Until now. After 16 years the dynamic duo is back. She’s a wordsmith. He likes to kill himself by painting on wood. Clearly, Dust Devil was meant to be.
Having found Tennessee a bit too cramped to suit her, giantess and all around decent gal Angelica Longrider (“Swamp Angel” to some) has headed further into the country to set up shop in Montana. It takes a little settling in, but she’s happy enough and even manages to tame a wild dust storm into a steed worthy of her skills. Good thing too, since that nasty Backward Bart and his band of no goodniks are terrorizing the countryside, robbing good people of their pennies. If she could wrestle a bear into submission, Angel certainly can handle a couple of toughs. But it’ll take smarts as well as skills to put these nasty bandits away. Good thing she’s got her horse.
The first thing you need to know about Anne Isaacs is the fact that her books, all her books, ache to be read aloud. It doesn’t matter if you’re perusing Pancakes for Supper or The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch. Now sometimes they’re a bit too long for storytimes (much to my chagrin) but for one-on-one reading they’re the tops. I mean, there are certain sentences that just beg you to try them on your tongue. Sentences like, “The barn began to shake, the ground to quake, the windows to break, the animals to wake, and everyone’s ears to ache!” Fear not, this isn’t a rhyming text. There are just certain sections where it’s the right thing to do.
While you’re rolling her sentences around in your mouth, there are also Zelinsky’s images to contend with. Painting on cedar and aspen veneer, Zelinsky is meticulous about his process. The result is a book that is rather achingly beautiful. Even if you don’t take to his style, you have to respect the process. The size of the images combined with the tiniest of brush
Blog: Rodents Of Unusual Size (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Writing, Short Stories, New England, Tall Tales, Stormalong, Riverman, Add a tag
A New England Folk TaleAs told by the Riverman Back in the old days, things would happen that you'd never believe now. Why, things that seemed downright magical were commonplace back then. Pigs could fly, birds could talk and farm boys could marry princesses! I know some of it because I was there and some of it because other folks have told me. My name is Riverman, and I tell stories for a living
Blog: Voices from the Inglenook (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: video book reviews, tall tales, Library Jeopardy, Add a tag
Also in the Library this week...
Kindergarten--Kindergarten missed library this week but for a very good reason--our Annual Cold Spring Talent Show. Congratulations to the kindergarteners who participated!
First, Second, and Third Grade--This week we started one of our favorite events in the Library-- The California Young Reader Medal competition. Each year 5 books are nominated by children and librarians throughout California and students in these grades get the chance to vote for their favorite. Think of it as the Academy Awards for children's literature in California. In the Primary Catagory we have great nominees this year, including one that was written by a Santa Barbara author and the wife of the architect who designed our beautiful library! Beginning this week students in these three grades will hear the nominees, one each week. The choices this year are:
My Life As A Chicken by (our local author) Ellen Kelley and illustrated by Michael Slack
A Frog Thing by Eric Drachman
Do Unto Otters: A Book About Manners by Laurie Keller
Velma Gratch and the Way cool Butterfly by Alan Madison and illustrated by Keven Henkes
Millie Waits for the Mail by Alexander Steffenmeier
Fourth Grade-We concluded our Tall Tales unit by reading Sally Ann Thunder Ann Crockett by Steven Kellogg. Once again Mr. Kellogg had provided fantastic illustrations to accompany his story of t
Blog: Voices from the Inglenook (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: video book reviews, tall tales, Add a tag
By Clyde Robert Bulla
A Book Review by Devan and Olive
Congratulations to Red Dot Book Club member Devan for being our first video book reviewer this year!
(This was a short week in the Library due to the Martin Luther King Holiday....)
Kindergarten--Kindergarten just had checkout this week due to the wonderful Dancing Drums assembly.
First Grade-First Graders were treated this week to Steven Kellogg's version of Jack and the Beanstalk. I can still remember the chills I got when my father used to read the "Fee, fi, fo, fum" part and I had a great time reading it to the students this week. It is so reassuring to see that even our students of today with all their video input and sophistication are still absolutely transfixed by this old fairy tale. Mr. Kellogg's illustrations are fantastic and are a huge part of the appeal of this version.
And congratulations to 19 first graders who are now proud members of the Bookworm Club!
Second Grade--What if you woke up one morning and you were covered with stripes in every color of the rainbow? In David Shannon's A Bad Case of Stripes, Camilla Cream finds herself in this unbelievable dilemma. After enduring several unsuccessful cures, she finds that being true to herself and not worrying about what others think of her is the answer. This book, like all of Mr. Shannon's, wraps its subtle but powerful message is a delightful story enhanced by fantastic illustrations.
Third Grade--In order to learn about the literary concept of plot, third graders heard Tomi de Paola's enchanting book Adelita. Before reading the story I asked the students to summarize the plot of a Cinderella story which they did easily. Then as we read Adelita we compared and contrasted the difference i
Blog: The Excelsior File (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: biography, random house, schwartz and wade, john hendrix, abraham lincoln, deborah hopkinson, tall tales, storyography, Add a tag
A Tall, Thin Tale(Introducing His Forgotten Frontier Friend)by Deborah Hopkinsonpicture by John HendrixSchwartz & Wade / Random House 2008If in 2007 a book appeared by a 90 year old author claiming to have been a boyhood friend of JFK, relating an experience where the two as boys nearly drowned in the Charles River of Boston one summer day, where the author saved the young JFK's life and thus
Blog: Margo Dill's Read These Books and Use Them! (Login to Add to MyJacketFlap)
JacketFlap tags: Fractured Tall Tales and Fairy Tales, O'Malley, Kevin, Root, Phyllis, Tuesday Tales, Babe the Blue Ox, Fractured Tall Tales, Kevin O'Malley, Paula Bunyan, Picture Book, Phyllis Root, Paul Bunyan, Reading Skills, tall tales, Creative Writing activities, Elementary Educators, Preschool to 1st grade teachers, Shared Writing, Add a tag
by Phyllis Root www.flickr.com
*Picture book for preschoolers through second graders
*Paula Bunyan (Paul Bunyan’s sister) as main character
*Rating: Paula Bunyan is a clever, cute picture book with a twist on the old classic Paul Bunyan tale. Phyllis Root has thrown a little environmental education in there, too.
Short, short summary: Did you know Paul Bunyan had a little (well, not quite so little) sister named, Paula? Well, according to Phyllis Root, he did! And she’s as lovable of a giant as he is. Instead of a blue ox, Paula has a grizzly bear as her sidekick. She spends her days catching 100-pound fish, singing harmony with the wolves, and rescuing her bear from mosquitoes. Things are going along pretty well when Paula notices that all her beloved trees are being cut down and not replaced by some irresponsible lumberjacks. She quickly devises a plan (WARNING! WARNING! Read this section before you read to kids–no big deal, but Paula undresses to her “skivvies”, just be prepared) to get rid of the lumberjacks and replenish the forest.
So, what do I do with this book?
1. One of the easiest activities to do with this book is compare and contrast the story of Paul Bunyan to Paula Bunyan using a Venn diagram. For younger children, you can do this as a shared writing activity. For older children, they can each make their own Venn diagram.
2. Students can write their own Paula Bunyan adventure. You can have them write it as a) a letter from Paula to Paul about an important event b) a journal entry about a day in the life of Paula Bunyan c) in the same voice as the book and another adventure of Paula’s.
3. Students can study tall tales with this book and make a list of characteristics of tall tales. You can also talk to students about exaggeration/hyperbole and why authors use this technique in their stories.
Have you used Paula Bunyan in your classroom? If so, leave us a comment and tell us about it. Do you have a favorite tall tale or fractured tall tale? Let us know!
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These are all such incredible ideas! Thanks for sharing with the Kid Lit Blog Hop. I've bookmarked this post for later reference and I'm now following your blog by email.
Culminating events are much welcome in high school as well. When I taught Great Expectations, I would host a high tea, complete with costumes, tea sandwiches and of course, Mrs. Havisham's wedding cake. The great thing about celebrations with older students is that they can prepare and bring many of the treats. This activity was always a highlight of our year.
I LOVE these ideas. My kids would love to put on a theatrical version of their books. I also like the art project idea. I'm going to try this with the next book that my 9 year old reads. Thanks so much for such great inspiration!
Stopping by as part of the Kid Lit Blog Hop. What an amazing post - loving these ideas :)
Wow! What fantastic ideas. I especially love the bags of sand with the battery operated candle. Fantastic ideas and I couldn't agree more with your statement, "But I think we owe our students a bit more closure than simply saying, "Please pass your books to the front of the class."
Well done with this post. I found you through the Kid Lit Blog Hop.
Wish I was aware of your blog when I was teaching! What great ideas! Visiting from the Kid Lit Blog Hop.
So many great ideas! And I love that a high school teacher is among the bunch, since so much of the fun and celebration of reading seems to dissipate when kids begin reading "for real" in high school.