SOLC 2014: Just Three Books?

March 29, 2014 Catherine Flynn17 Comments

Last night, NPR aired an interview with Gabrielle Zevin, author of The Storied Life of A.J. Fikery (Algonquin Books, 2014). During the interview, Zevin explained that she wanted to write “a love letter to the joy of reading” and that she believes asking someone what they read “is a much more informative question” than any other question we might ask.

So NPR asked the question. On Thursday, they tweeted:

This question has been asked of readers on social media many times in recent years, but it’s one that I always have difficulty answering. I believe, as Zevin does, that “We are not quite novels. We are not quite short stories. In the end, we are collected works.”

I have written before about the fact that Charlotte’s Web is the book that made me a reader because I recognized myself in Fern and her world.

If Charlotte’s Web was my mirror, then To Kill A Mockingbird was my first true window: a book that showed me a way of life very different from the one I knew. And yet I understood Scout and her fears.

I read To Kill A Mockingbird when I was in eighth grade, and after that, my reading was wildly eclectic. I was “trying on” different personalities, trying to figure out who I wanted to be. A book I wish I’d read during those years to help me find an answer is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I think I would have loved Francie more then than I do now. I would have loved that she imagined herself “living in a tree” as she read her precious library books each Saturday afternoon. I would have loved the little stories she made up to make arithmetic tolerable. I even would have loved her for lying about her name to get the beautiful doll for which the other girls refused to beg.

Beyond these three books, it is impossible to choose: The Bean Trees, Bel Canto, The Book Thief, Middlemarch, and more. All of these books helped me, as Karen Armstrong writes in A Short History of Myth, “…make a painful rite of passage from one phase of life, one state of mind, to another.” They have taught me “to see the world differently; … how to look into our own hearts and to see our world from a perspective that goes beyond our own self-interest.” (Armstrong, p. 149)

Thank you, as always, to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for hosting the Slice of Life Challenge. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

SOLC 2014/Poetry Friday: The Reward

March 28, 2014 Catherine Flynn8 Comments

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“Sometimes it seems the universe wants to be noticed.”

~ John Green, from The Fault in Our Stars ~

Photo by Wally Pacholka, http://apod.nasa.gov/ — Photo by Wally Pacholka,
http://apod.nasa.gov/

The Reward

A sign at the bottom of the trail

promised a view,

so we trudged up the slope

of bare, black rock.

We reached the top and gasped

at the vista suddenly revealed:

soft pillows of fog

filled the crater below.

Ribbons of pink and orange, yellow and green,

arced over the mist.

A fog bow; a bridge to fairyland.

A trillion stars carpeted the sky above,

Mars dazzled, outshone them all.

Such beauty’s otherworldly,

the cosmos puts on quite a show.

Be sure to stop by A Year of Reading, where Mary Lee Hahn has the Poetry Friday Round Up.

Thank you, as always, to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for hosting the Slice of Life Challenge. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

SOLC 2014: Plans for National Poetry Month

March 27, 2014March 28, 2014 Catherine Flynn4 Comments

“Poetry is a language in which man explores his own amazement.”

~ Christopher Fry ~

Every month, I lead our school’s Language Arts Committee meeting. The purpose of this committee is to promote the language arts and ensure that our teaching is based on the latest research. I usually begin the meetings sharing news from our state Department of Education, upcoming conferences and workshops, and information gathered at conferences I’ve attended. Teachers share lessons they’ve had success with and examples of student work. We always have snacks and these meetings are a nice way for teachers to learn about what’s happening at other grade levels.

I spent much of my afternoon planning tomorrow’s meeting. Since National Poetry Month is just a few days away, I will be sharing poetry resources and have a poetry activity planned. Here’s a preview of what’s on the agenda.

Poem in Your Pocket Day is on Thursday, April 24th this year. We’ll actually be in school on this day. For several years, this day has been during our April break.
Poet-to-Poet Project is “a multimedia educational project that invites young people in grades 3-12 to write poems in response to those shared by some of the award-winning poets who serve on the Academy of American Poets Board of Chancellors.” The resources for this project are incredible: videos of the poets reading their poems, lesson plans, and more. Students can submit their original poems to poets.org for possible publication on the website in May.
Book spine poems are a form of found poetry and are a fun way to ease into poetry. You can read about the basic steps at Kenn Nesbitt’s, our current Children’s Poet Laureate, website, Poetry4kids.com.
Poetry Tag Time is an e-book of 30 original poems for children compiled in 2011 by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. A veritable who’s who in children’s poets contributed a poem after being “tagged” by the previous poet. Each poem is connected in some way. I participated in an activity very similar to this several years ago during an online Children’s Literature class, but it was called a poetry “merry-go-round.” The professor posted the first poem, then a student had to post a poem that linked to the original, and so on. I really enjoyed reading the different ways people connected to the poems, and read many wonderful poems I might never have seen. I asked everyone to bring a poem tomorrow so we can play Poetry Tag.
Thinking about Poetry Tag reminded me of a incredible project Linda Rief shared at NCTE last November. At the beginning of the year, Rief’s students created Heart Maps, an idea from Georgia Heard’s amazing book, Awakening the Heart: Exploring Poetry in Elementary and Middle School. Rief’s students then read volumes of poetry, gathering poems that spoke to them and exemplified an area of their heart map. Students copied these poems out by hand, and gathered them into a “Heart Book.” Vicki Vinton shared a description of this project on her blog, To Make a Prairie.

This seems like a lot to cover in the 40 minutes or so we have for our meeting! My hope is that everyone leaves the meeting with a collection of poems and at least one new idea to try during National Poetry Month. What are your plans for National Poetry Month?

Thank you, as always, to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for hosting the Slice of Life Challenge. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

SOLC 2014: Book Spine Poetry

March 26, 2014 Catherine Flynn15 Comments

April is one of my favorite months for many reasons. We have spring break in April, the forsythia blooms, and it’s National Poetry Month! Today, as I was gathering resources and thinking about ways to celebrate, I had fun creating a few book spine poems.

Look! Look! Look!

Outside your Window

The Tree That Time Built

Forest Has a Song

Red Sings from Treetops

The Frogs and Toads all Sang

Joyful Noise

Splash!

in the swim

Sea Stars

At the Sea Floor Cafe

Firefly July

When the Moon is Full

Up North at the Cabin

Toasting Marshmallows

A Stick is an Excellent Thing

Lemonade

Orange Pear Apple Bear

Animal Snackers

Tea Party Rules

Thank you, as always, to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for hosting the Slice of Life Challenge. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

SOLC 2014: An Evening in Brooklyn

March 25, 2014 Catherine Flynn9 Comments

My son lives in Brooklyn. I love that he has made a life for himself there and am very proud of him. But I don’t get to Brooklyn very often. Usually, he will come home to Connecticut, or we meet in Manhattan.

Saturday was Michael’s birthday. I was in the city for TCRWP’s Saturday Reunion, so after I left Riverside Church, I got in my car and drove down the West Side Highway and under the East River to have a birthday dinner with Michael and his friends. Everyone wanted to go to a new barbecue place that just opened in the neighborhood. As we walked down the street, I was in awe of how easily he moved through this world, greeting his neighbors and being part of his little community.

The line was out the door when we arrived at the restaurant, but everyone wanted to stay. Michael wanted to show me the view from the waterfront, so his friends got in line, and he and I walked to the water. Suddenly, there was the Statue of Liberty, glowing from across the harbor in the setting sun. Barges were sailing down the channel, heading who knows where. In the distance rose the graceful columns of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. We stood and soaked in the beauty of early evening.

It began to get chilly, so we headed back to the restaurant. The line hadn’t moved very far, but we enjoyed watching the two-year old in front of us trying to drill the wall with his toy drill. We chatted with the people around us about every imaginable subject. A band was playing and we danced while we waited. Time flew and soon it was our turn to order. This homestyle place had every kind of barbecued meat you can imagine on the menu. We got a huge tray with a smattering of everything and proceeded to gorge ourselves. It was a lovely evening.

So many of you have young children and your posts are filled with the joys and tribulations of daily life with babies and toddlers, tweens and teens. I’m always a little nostalgic after reading them. I miss having my boys around every day. But having grown children brings different joys, like those I shared with Michael on Saturday.

Thank you, as always, to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for hosting the Slice of Life Challenge. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

SOLC 2014: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

March 24, 2014March 24, 2014 Catherine Flynn4 Comments

My one little word for 2014 is balance, but over the past week it’s been a challenge to balance work, family, writing, and reading. I’ve read blog posts that are funny and sweet, moving and thought-provoking. But I haven’t really had time to read any books. So when I got home this afternoon, I scanned my shelf and found The Girl with a Brave Heart: A Tale from Tehran (Barefoot Books, 2013), by Rita Jahanforuz and illustrated by Vali Mintzi.

This is a lovely book. Jahanforuz tells the story of Shiraz, a young girl whose mother died in childbirth. Her father remarries, and his new wife and her young daughter come to live with Shiraz and her father. At first, “the family lived happily together and Shiraz’s stepmother treated her kindly.” But after Shiraz’s father dies, her world is changed. Like Cinderella, she is forced to do all the housework. Shiraz’s life is changed again

When the wind blows Shiraz’s ball of wool into the garden next door, she spends the day helping and caring for the old lady who lives there, with miraculous results. Rendered in a rich, vibrant palette evocative of its Iranian setting, this unforgettable fable has a message that is universal: “When people are sad, they do not always know how to ask for what they need. (from Barefootbooks.com)

Watch Jahanforuz describe how she came to write The Girl with a Brave Heart here:

Don’t miss The Girl with a Brave Heart, a book Pamela Paul, writing in The New York Times called “a heartwarming vindication of good-heartedness.”

Thank you, as always, to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for hosting the Slice of Life Challenge. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Don’t forget to visit Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee at Unleashing Readers to find out what other people have been reading lately. Thanks, Jen and Kellee, for hosting!

SOLC 2014: Most Likely to Improve

March 23, 2014 Catherine Flynn10 Comments

Bowling alleys have a culture all their own. The sound of balls hurtling down the polished alleys, the crashing of the pins. The funny shoes, the smell of fries. For some people, bowling is serious business. Those in leagues have handicaps and custom-made balls. For many, though, bowling is a fun night out with friends, maybe once or twice a year, with nothing really at stake. I am this kind of bowler.

By David Castillo Dominici, freedigitalphotos.net

Friday afternoon was our annual staff “Bowling Tournament of Champions.” Teachers and other staff members sign up and teams are assembled at random. Each team comes up with a silly name and matching silly attire. I love these afternoons because it gives us a chance to chat with colleagues we don’t often see. We’re outside of school, and for the most part, school stays out of the conversations. Everyone cheers each other on, no matter which team they’re on, although sometimes a hidden competitive streak reveals itself. There are prizes for the team with the most spirit, the best costumes, and, of course, the champions. It’s all good fun.

Until it isn’t

I know I’m not great a great bowler, but I usually can hold my own at these tournaments. But Friday wasn’t my day. I’d been up much too late the night before, and I didn’t sit down for lunch until after two o’clock. Add this to the fact that I bowl once a year and you get this: a trophy for “Most Likely to Improve.” (Code for: lowest score) The smiley face sticker on the trophy didn’t help.

Now I’m not really that upset about all this. I had a good time. But it made me think about the chances of doing well in any kind of activity that you do only once a year.

Maybe you can see where I’m going with this, but don’t misunderstand. I am not, in any way, saying that with more test preparation kids would do better on standardized tests. In fact, I think exactly the opposite is true.

Diane Ravitch pointed out, in her keynote address at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project Saturday Reunion yesterday, that the tests our children are taking as part of the PARCC and SBAC pilots “have no diagnostic value” and serve only to give “numbers to students.” What does this have to do with ensuring that a child is “college and career ready,” the stated goal of the current education reform movement? How does that help a teacher know her students and understand how to help them learn and grow?

If the Department of Education and the reformers working so hard to destroy public education truly cared about children and were interested in ensuring that every child reached his or her full potential, they would do everything in their power to help teachers enrich instruction. They would do everything in their power to ensure that teachers have time to, in Stephanie Harvey’s words, “teach kids to think so they can acquire and use knowledge” and “solve problems on their own.” They would do everything in their power to lower the rate of childhood poverty, the highest in the developed world.

If the reformers in power took only these steps, then would be on our way to giving all our children the education they deserve. Then we really would be the “Most Likely to Improve.”

Thank you, as always, to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for hosting the Slice of Life Challenge. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

SOLC: My Day at the Teachers College Saturday Reunion, 2014 Edition

March 22, 2014March 22, 2014 Catherine Flynn13 Comments

This morning, I left my house at 6:30 and drove to Teachers College at Columbia University for their spring Reading and Writing Project Saturday Reunion. I spent the day with thousands of dedicated teachers soaking up the wisdom of the amazing presenters. Because I am now quite tired, here is my day in pictures.

Diane Ravitch delivering the opening keynote.

Diane Ravitch’s keynote was a call to arms. Lucy Calkins, in her introduction, described Ravitch as “the single most important defender of public education” and “our hero, inspiring all of us to speak out and tell the truth.

Fellow Slicer Anna Gratz Cockerille sharing strategies to help children improve their informational writing.

Cynthia Satterlee had great advice for helping kids craft personal opinion essays.

Stephanie Harvey shared her wisdom about nonfiction. — Stephanie Harvey reminding teachers that “there’s a difference between thinking and knowledge. We have to teach kids to think so they can acquire and use knowledge.”

Kathleen Tolan describing how to "take an ordinary idea about a character and make it extraordinary." — Kathleen Tolan describing how to “take an ordinary idea about a character and make it extraordinary.”

The wisdom of Kathy Collins: "Children should believe that when they give something to texts, they will get something back from the text." — The wisdom of Kathy Collins: “Children should believe that when they give something to texts, they will get something back from the text.”

photo-9 — Having coffee with friends and talking about our wonderful day.

photo-10 — On my way to Brooklyn, my first view of the Freedom Tower.

What an amazing day, filled with learning, laughter, family, and friends. Thank to everyone at Teachers College for hosting this amazing event!

Thank you, as always, to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for hosting the Slice of Life Challenge. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

SOLC 2014: Poetry Friday

March 21, 2014 Catherine Flynn19 Comments

Several years ago, I visited the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. with a friend. At the time, a room was devoted to the work of the American Impressionist Thomas Wilmer Dewing. I was captivated by the ethereal quality and soft colors of Dewing’s canvases. I bought a calendar that included several of his paintings, thinking I might frame them. Not long after this, my artist son asked if there was anything in particular I wanted for Christmas. I asked him to paint me a version of this painting:

Thomas Wilmer Dewing In the Garden 1892–94 oil 20 5/8 x 35 in. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly — Thomas Wilmer Dewing
In the Garden
1892–94
oil
20 5/8 x 35 in.
Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of John Gellatly

Michael’s version has hung over my bed ever since. I’ve often thought these women, my own graces, deserved a poem, but I never got around to writing one for them.

I was inspired to finally pick up my pen last month when Laura Shovan announced her Pantone® Poetry Project. Laura shared two or three colors each day, and challenged poets to write poems inspired by the colors. Day 10 featured Amberglow and Golden Glow, and although these aren’t the colors in Dewing’s painting, they are similar to Michael’s colors.

“In the Garden”

Music tumbles onto the terrace,

Out of doors thrown open wide.

Leaves tremble in the evening breeze,

An echo of trilling piano keys.

Calm descends;

the bustle of the day recedes.

Three women, swathed in silk,

like graceful moths, emerge

into the golden glow of twilight.

The air shimmers

as fireflies flit and dance.

Stars appear,

reflected in the amber glow

of their gowns,

as the last light of day fades.

The music ends,

and the final notes

melt into the evening air.

Be sure to visit Julie Larios at The Drift Record for the Poetry Friday Round Up.

Thank you, as always, to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for hosting the Slice of Life Challenge. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

SOLC 2014: What Do You Know?

March 20, 2014 Catherine Flynn1 Comment

Yesterday I contemplated the life story of a man I know only because I often pass him on my way to work. Today, I’m still thinking about life stories, and this made me think of Jennifer Allen, a literacy specialist in Waterville, Maine, and the author of Becoming a Literacy Leader: Supporting Learning and Change (Stenhouse, 2006) and A Sense of Belonging: Sustaining and Retaining New Teachers (Stenhouse, 2009). I read Becoming a Literacy Leader when I began working as a literacy specialist and found Allen’s advice both thoughtful and practical.

Early in Allen’s career as a literacy leader, she was frustrated by the lack of buy-in from her colleagues. In an effort to break the cycle of PD sessions where she did most of the talking, Allen posed this question: “If you had only seven stories to tell of your life, what would they be?” Allen states that “the attention and interest of the staff was captured immediately” and that “teachers were eager to share their stories.” (No surprise here, right, Slicers?)

I intended to share what my seven stories would be, even though I’ve shared some of them with you already. But when I looked up Allen’s current biographical information, I found a “What Do You Know?” interview. This seems much more manageable at this late hour.

Books Next to My Bed: The Round House, by Louise Erdrich; Words in the Dust, by Trent Reedy; The Arden Shakespeare: Book of Quotations from Songs and Sonnets; What the Heart Knows: Chants, Charms & Blessings, by Joyce Sidman, illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski; A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith

Favorite Destressing Activity: Going for a walk

Pets: Lucy, a beagle, and Noodles, a fluffy orange kitty

Hobbies: Knitting and gardening

Inspiration: Nature, art, and interesting people

Favorite Place to Visit: Northern Virginia, where my son and his wife live, and New York City, where my younger son lives (Also home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, my favorite museum.)

Guilty Pleasure: Peanut M&Ms

Item on My Bucket List: Traveling to Florence, Italy

Music on My iPod: (Very eclectic and not too up-to-date) the Beatles, Broadway shows, Mozart

Proud Accomplishment: Raising two sons

What Makes Me Laugh: My husband, The Big Bang Theory

A Few Favorite Movies: Some Like it Hot, The Shawshank Redemption, White Christmas

Thank you, as always, to Stacey, Tara, Dana, Betsy, Anna, and Beth for hosting the Slice of Life Challenge. Be sure to visit Two Writing Teachers to read more Slice of Life posts.

Reading to the Core

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SOLC 2014: Just Three Books?

SOLC 2014/Poetry Friday: The Reward

SOLC 2014: Plans for National Poetry Month

SOLC 2014: Book Spine Poetry

SOLC 2014: An Evening in Brooklyn

SOLC 2014: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

SOLC 2014: Most Likely to Improve

SOLC: My Day at the Teachers College Saturday Reunion, 2014 Edition

SOLC 2014: Poetry Friday

SOLC 2014: What Do You Know?