On Children and Reading

As a new librarian, I am always looking for cool tips to help me be better. Although I have been an educator for 22 years, this new position befuddles me at times. Consequently, I am always searching the net for new ideas. I found this today and wanted to share it. WOW. This is pretty powerful.
http://www.grandviewlibrary.org/PDFS/MrsCStories/ReadingandChildren.pdf

You never know what goes on in your students' homes. I can not image not having even 1 book in my home as in this story. This is all the more reason for strong school libraries.
Tammy

Finally

It has been a while since I've posted on my blog. This started out as an assignment from Dr. Sylvia Vardell while in graduate school at Texas Woman's University in Denton. Since the last posting, I have completed my degree and have almost 2 years of experience as a librarian. I am still going to "blog" about good books-but it probably won't be in the same format as my older posts. Today, I am going to share a website that one of my fellow bloggers, Wild About 2nd Grade, shared on her blog. This cool website is an online, personal cataloging site for your home or classroom library. Check it out: http://www.gurulib.com/ . I have already joined and it is really cool. Plus it is accessible online-so you can know what you have just by using your smart phone. Pretty Cool!
TL

Poetry by Children: Soft Hay Will Catch You

Bibliography:

Lyne, Sandford. 2004. Soft Hay Will Catch You: Poems by Young People. Ill. Monks, Julie. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 0689834608

Review:

Soft Hay Will Catch You was complied by poet and educator Sandford Lyne. The book is a direct result of his “barter trip” to teach the students of Lawrence Public Schools (Kansas) about poetry. On a trip home after his mother’s death, Lyne connected with a cousin who was a schoolteacher. She and several others convinced him to help design a five-year program to introduce poetry to all the children in LPS. The collection contains one hundred poems by children ages 8-18. The poems in the book are divided into six topics: poems about the search for self, poems about solitude and loneliness, poems about home and family, poems about the soul’s journey and the circle of life, poems about awakenings and discoveries and poems about our connection to place. The book also contains acknowledgements, a table of contents and an index of all the poets represented in the book. The poems are written by students in grade 3-12 with a focus on grades 5-7. Readers (both young and old) will be surprised at the depth of feelings presented in these poems. Written in free verse, the poets use strong images and strong emotional connections to express themselves. Illustrator Julie Monk used oil paints to create the primitive folk style art that compliments all of these poems.

Poem Selection:

This book is perfect for sharing with students. A lot of time students do not feel like kids can write poetry like they read in books. Sharing this book is a great way to show them that students as young as 8 have been published. As I read through this book one poem caught my attention. It is called “Rumors.” It is all about the feeling of being included in the gossip of older kids and feeling good about it –until you find out it is about you.

Rumors

It is summer.

I look over at the older boys

by the creaky bench.

I go over to them

and hear them telling secrets.

I ask them to tell me one.

The boys say yes.

I have a bunch of joy run through me.

Then all the joy goes away.

The rumor is about me.

--Aaron D. Berndston, Grade 4

Poetry by Janaeczko: Dirty Laundry Pile

Bibliography:

Janeczko, Paul B. 2001. Dirty Laundry Pile: Poems in Different Voices. Ill. Sweet, Melissa. United States: Harper Collins Publishers. ISBN: 0688162525

Review:

Dirty Laundry Pile is a collection of twenty- seven persona poems written by various authors. In the introduction, Janeczko explains that a “persona or mask poem are written in the voice of an object or animal.” These poems will help readers to understand what it must be like to be a mosquito, a crayon, a vacuum or a tree! This book is an ideal book to discuss point of view and add humor to a lesson! There are many poetic elements in this collection of poems-onomatopoeia, personification, metaphors and similes and rhythm. One example of onomatopoeia is “Washing Machine” by Bobbi Katz. “Glubita, glubita, glubita, glubita, glubita, glubita. . .GLUB. / Swizzle-dee-swash-- / Swizzle-dee-swash / I talk to myself, / while I do the wash!” The placement of the words on a page imitates the movement of the washing machine just as the words imitate the sounds it makes. All of the poems are concrete and will be easily understood by readers. Most of the poems are quite humorous but a few, like “Roots” by Madeleine Comora, “Old Elm Speaks” by Kristine O’Connell George, and “Grandpa Bear’s Lullaby,” are more subdued and quiet. Melissa Sweet used bright watercolors to illustrate each poem. I especially like the illustration for “Dirty Laundry Pile” by Marcy Barack Black. It shows a dark smelly cloud around dirty laundry with a boy sitting on top of it all holding his nose. Doesn’t everyone hold his or her nose when faced with a huge pile of stinky laundry?

Poem Selection:

Dirty Laundry Pile is a wonderful book to teach point of view in addition to all different types of figurative language. I especially like The Vacuum Cleaner’s Revenge. Prior to reading the poem, I would lead students in a discussion of what a vacuum does. I would write all of the children’s responses on a large sheet of paper or use an overhead transparency or document camera. After exhausting the topic, I would then read the poem. After reading the poem I would lead a discussion asking several questions: 1. What did they think about the poem, 2. What did you like about the poem 3. Does the illustration help you understand the poem? 3. Are there other objects that you can write about using the same technique that Patricia Hubbell used? Then I would have students work together in groups. They will pick an object, brainstorm ideas of what it does and then write a similar poem and illustrate it.

The Vacuum Cleaner’s Revenge

I munch. I crunch

I zoom. I roar

I clatter-clack

Across the floor.

I swallow twigs.

I slurp dead bugs.

I suck the cat hair

From the rugs.

My stomach full

Of dirt and dust

I gulp another

Pizza crust.

A tiresome life-

All work, no play-

I think I’ll swallow you today!

Here is a list of other books to use when teaching point of view.

Point of View:

Black and White - Macaulay

Call Me Ahnighito – Conrad

Great Kapok Tree – Cherry

Great Shaking –Carson

Pain and the Great One – Blume

Something to Tell the Grandcows - Spinelli

Through Grandpa’s Eyes – MacLachlan

Tight Times – Hazen

True Story of the Three Little Pigs - Scieszka/Smith

Two Bad Ants – Van Allsburg

Voices in the Park - Browne

When I Was Young in the Mountains – Rylant

Barn – Atwell

Serious Poetry: Learning to Swim

Bibliography:

Turner, Ann. 2000. A Memoir: Learning to Swim. New York: Scholastic Inc. ISBN: 0439153093

Review:

Learning to Swim by Ann Turner is a series of free verse narrative poems recalling the summer that she was six years old. Turner conveys her feelings of joy and security at the family's summer house and how she is shattered when an older boy who lives nearby sexually abuses her. The boy lures her up to her bedroom with a promise of reading to her-but the book is never opened. The voice you hear in the poems is that of a young child. Her normal routines of playing with dolls and swimming with her father are realistic-teen readers will identify with those days of play. Annie doesn’t really know what is happening to her-the boy threatens her and she states in free verse: “and I didn’t even know/I could say/no”. The boy does this over and over. Annie’s personality changes : she brushes her teeth five times a day, and tries to “rub all my hidden places/away.” She also rearranges her dolls over and over and doesn’t respond to questions when asked. Annie’s mom finally asks her what books the boy is reading to her when they are in her room. This is the turning point. Annie tells her mom what is happening to her. Horrified her mother promises that he will never hurt her again. The emotion in this verse novel is deep. As I read, I felt so much anger. I wanted to be there with her to help and protect her. Even when the abuse becomes known, I felt anger mixed with relief. Her life is forever changed but healing begins. The book has a note from the author explaining that this is a true story. It also has resources for those people who have been molested.

Poem Selection:

The poems in this novel that are about the abuse are hard to read. I am going to share the next to last poem titled “Telling is What Matters.” This is not a book that I would share with a whole class. I think instead, I would share this with the school counselor, and principals who may have knowledge of those students who would benefit from reading about Mrs. Turner.

Telling is What Matters

Listen.

Telling is what matters.

You have to catch

the words you’ve been hiding

inside or keeping in the dark

hurting ball in the middle

of your stomach that makes you

sick

but pulling the words up

and out, spilling them

across the floor; the table,

dropping them into someone’s

surprised face that

is what matters

and after this time

and the next one day

you will feel so

light and airy

your stomach will

uncoil

your face

unclench

and you will feel

like yourself

again.