A(nother) Year of Reading

Poetry Friday: Retirement and Winter Poem Swap Info

This poem is a decima. The rhyme scheme is ABBAACCDDC, and there are 8 syllables each line.

Laura Shovan and I are helping Tabatha with the Winter Poem Swap. The Winter Poem Swap is a little different than the Summer Swap. In the Summer Poem Swap, poets do up to five swaps, while the Winter Poem Swap is just ONE swap. This time, though, you are asked to send a wee gift along with your poem. If you would like to participate, send Laura an email (laurashovan @ gmail . com) by November 6. Include your full name and mailing address. Let her know if you want to swap with the same person who is sending to you or if it doesn’t matter. Include any allergies your gift giver might need to know about. Laura will send you the name and address of your poem/gift recipient by November 13. Then you have a month to write your poem and put your package together for delivery by December 15, in plenty of time for the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere (10:58 AM on December 21, in case you were wondering).

Bridget has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at wee words for wee ones. (And remember, I’m taking November 5.)

Franki’s Weekly Text Set–Wordless Picture Books: Invitations Into Conversations and Comprehension

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

This week, we’ll take a look at several wordless picture books that invite amazing conversations. I love sharing wordless picture books with students-especially early in the school year. The focus on visuals invites all readers into the conversation. Plus I can introduce so many reading behaviors and strategies as we ponder through these wordless books.

I want readers to know right away that there is a lot of thinking that happens when we read wordless books. And I also want to share books that they can’t help but talk about. By starting with books that leave you thinking, pondering, wondering and revisiting, readers of all ages can see all that wordless picture books have to offer and then eventually transfer those skills to all types of reading. Spencer’s New Pet and Another are two that I have used with readers of all ages. They are books that invite conversations, changes in thinking, inferring possibilities, rereading and more. A lot of thinking is required in each of these fabulous books!

I love these two wordless picture books-The Midnight Fair and Little Fox in the Forest for several reasons. The illustrations are amazing and there are so many details on each page. Readers can revisit and notice new things each time. Also, they are both fantasy so they are great for introducing the genre of fantasy to readers. I also love the endings to each of the books. There are access points for readers of all ages to experience these fabulous worlds!

There are many wordless picture books that take on more serious topics. Brave Molly, I Walk with Vanessa, and small things are three books that I think are important and they are books that can open important conversations with readers. They also have some details in illustrations (shadow in Brave Molly, shattered pieces in small things) that an be discussed as to what they symbolize. I would definitely read each of these carefully before sharing with children as (in my opinion) they need to be shared with care and conversation with an adult.

The Paper Boat is a newer wordless books that shares the journey of one refugee family. The author’s note is important to this one and revisiting the book after reading the author’s note will help readers see new things in the illustrations. The black and white with a bit of color is also something worth discussion in terms of the meaning.

These are some of my favorite wordless picture books as they all explore ways to make the world better. Sidewalk Flowers, Hank Finds and Egg, One Little Bag and That Neighbor Kid each have a very obvious message but they also have layers of meaning when looking and relooking at some details in the illustrations. These 4 are perfect for mini lesson work and independent reading and I think they work for all ages (PreK-Adult).

This week’s books were linked at Bookelicious and/or Cover to Cover Children’s Bookstore. If you are looking for a fabulous local children’s bookstore to support, Cover to Cover is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio! If you don’t have an independent children’s bookstore in your town, check out Bookelicious. They are an online independent bookstore for children with an incredible curated collection. (Warning: You will want to create a bookmoji while you are there. This will be the highlight of your weekend I’m sure! Below is one of mine:-)

Poetry Friday: Garden-Fever

Gratitudes to John Masefield for my mentor text for this poem, Sea-Fever.

Irene has this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at Live Your Poem. Please note a change in the roundups next month — I will be taking the November 5 roundup to help out Tabatha. Also, a team of PF Peeps are going to be organizing the Winter Poem Swap, so stay tuned for more information about that!

Franki’s Weekly Text Set: Falling in Love with Words and Word Play

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

Early in the school year (all year round, actually. But especially early in the year), I always think it’s a good idea for children to experience joy around word and language. So often we focus on the skills of words and forget to weave in all the joy that goes along with words. I have found that elementary students are much better able to pay attention to the skills of words (vocabulary, parts of speech, spelling patterns, etc.) once they see how amazing words are. This week’s books will invite students to delight in words. This can also serve as a follow-up to the Launching Notebooks Text Set from a few weeks ago–kids will want to try a few of these on their own because they are such fun!

I picked up this GIANT book at Cover to Cover last week. I mean who doesn’t need a GIANT joke book. One that is called Wee Hee Hee? I think jokes are a great way to talk about words with kids. So many jokes and riddles for kids depend on word play. This book is filled with fun jokes and riddles. The size of the book, the colors on the pages and the jokes make this book pure fun!

Words is a fun word play book that children will want to experiment with. The book is a small chunky book (another great fun size!) and each page has a single word and a sketch. Seeing how each book is imagined and then thinking about ways to create an image for a single word takes so much creativity.

Take Away the A and Fruit Cake are two books that provide more fun for readers. They also invite readers to try these things on their own. Take Away the A shows readers how much taking away one letter in a word can change it. Fruit Cake is often out of print so sometimes difficult to find but it is well worth it if you can find it. The theme combined with the play on words make it very unique.

Who doesn’t like a good tongue twister? That’s what you get in Six Sheep Sip Thick Shakes. And Beach is to Fun is the most fun introduction to analogies I’ve ever seen. When I used Beach is to Fun with 4th graders a few years back, everyone wanted to write their own! I wish someone had introduced analogies to me with this book (instead of with multiple choice bubbles…).

The titles alone make both Llamaphones and Yaks Yak fabulous. These two help children start conversations about the discipline specific words we use when we talk about words (Homophones and Homographs, Nouns and Verbs). I mean who could forget what a homophone is if it is introduced as a llamaphone?

Poetry Friday: Form and Function

The Inklings’ challenge this month was mine. I was quite taken with the idea of this book: a book about poetry forms and techniques…written in poems. So I challenged the group to write their own poems about forms or techniques. The more we dug into the book, the more we realized that the author doesn’t always explain a form in that form. For instance, her poem about the sestina follows the form but does not explain it. And one of the flaws of the book is that nowhere is there clear definitions of the techniques and forms. Still and all, I recommend the book, and we all had fun playing around with form and techniques. Here are three of mine.

Enjambment

Writing teachers especially hate
run-ons. Close the gate
so the end of the line can have the pause
that finishes a thought or completes a clause.

Haiku

small observation
perhaps elaboration
wry commentary

Personification Limerick

I once was a limerick named Sue.
My rhythm was fine. Rhyme was, too.
There was just this one thing
caused my heart not to sing:
my longing to be a haiku.

All three poems are ©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021. (I’m not sure what’s up with me sharing multiple poems per Poetry Friday post…this is the third week in a row…)

Catherine has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at Reading to the Core. Check out the other Inklings’ responses to the challenge here:

Heidi @ My Juicy Little Universe
Linda @ A Word Edgewise
Margaret @ Reflections on the Teche
Molly @ Nix the Comfort Zone

Franki’s Weekly Text Set–Nonfiction Picture Book Series for Elementary Readers

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram.

Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

Many of us can remember favorite series books from childhood–those books we read nonstop, those books that were so important on our journeys to becoming lifelong readers. We know how important series books are for young readers and that is true for both fiction and nonfiction. I remember when I read my first Scientists in the Field series as a teacher. I loved it so much that I read others that were not even on topics I thought I was interested in. During the last several years, having baskets of nonfiction series books was important for classroom library set up.

If we want our students to choose to read nonfiction, we have to invite them in in a variety of ways. Series books invited children into nonfiction reading by giving them a collection that could expand the topics they read and support them as readers as they knew what to expect from the next book in the series. They build different skills as different series require different skills as readers. Nonfiction series books are a great invitation for readers to read more nonfiction, to expand topics they love, to get to know nonfiction authors and to build strategies as nonfiction readers. This week’s text set will highlight some series books I’ve found to be popular with elementary readers in grades K-5. These books are perfect for all ages as there are several entry points depending on the reader.

Suzi Eszterhas is one of my favorite nonfiction authors. She is a wildlife photographer so the photos in every one of her books are incredible and they engage readers immediately. This series–Eye on the Wild–focuses on the first year in a baby animal’s life. Suzi Eszterhas has other books and series (Wildlife Rescue)–all about animals– so this series is a great way to introduce this incredible author.

Two other authors who have several nonfiction series books for young readers are Melissa Stewart and Kate Messner. A Place for Birds and Over and Under are two series that have so much interesting content. I love these because understanding of the bigger science concepts build across the series. So the more children read in the series, the better they understand the bigger, complex concepts of our environment.

The Truth About series is a fun series with lots of entry points. There is a lot of content packed into a fun format and readers enjoy the humor throughout. We are lucky to have so many great series books about animals as so many children are interested in animals. Reading across a series or finding a variety of books about a single animals support young readers and there are plenty of options for laddering their reading (Thanks Dr. Teri Lesesne for teaching us about Reading Ladders!).

The If Animals Disappeared Series is a powerful one in helping children (and adults) understand the interconnectedness of our world. These books are packed with information and also make for great read alouds. The author makes a very complex issue accessible for our youngest children.

Jess Keating is definitely an author that knows how to engage young readers. Her photos, her sense of humor and her expert knowledge of the topics she writes about make every one of her books a must-read. Jess Keating has two nonfiction series books that engage readers of all ages. Big as a Giant Snail and Set Your Alarm, Sloth! are both new this fall so celebrating these book birthdays would be a great way to introduce the series.

Poetry Friday: Conversations

This month’s Poetry Sisters Challenge was so much fun! The first fun was diving into each sister’s blog archives to find a poem that invited me to respond. Then, the fun was in “talking back” to her poem.

Tricia wrote “The Dizzying Stress of Tidying Up (with apologies to Marie Kondo),” to which I reply

The urge to collect
runs as deep as arthritis
in mom’s bones and mine.
A small house is a good thing.
I collect miniatures.

Tanita’s poems were in response to the Poetry Peeps prompt: Wish I’d Been There, or an historical event that incites wistfulness, to which I reply

take me back in time
not very far, or for long:
my parents’ wedding
before arthritis plagued mom
while dad was still a pilot

Sara’s poem using Linda Hogan’s “Innocence” as her model and including the phrase, “There is nothing more ____ than ____” was a poem about trees, to which I reply

there is nothing
more glorious than twin gingkoes
until one falters
slowly dying limb by limb
one tree left holding fall’s flame

.I borrowed the last line of Liz’s haiku from April 26, 2021 for the first line of my tanka in which I reply

no one stays for long
learn to cup your hands gently
loosen your tight grip
now you are the steady tree
next you’ll be leaves on the wind

Laura wrote “Why You Cry When You Read Me,” to which I reply

Where the Red Fern Grows,
Love Story, Little Britches,
Old Yeller, Charlotte’s Web:
books that squeeze my heart so hard
I cry every single time.

Kelly wrote “Cookie Time,” to which I reply

Dozens and dozens:
gingerbread for twenty years
then seventeen years
of sugar cookie cutouts.
One thing I always got right.

.Andi wrote a snake poem, to which I reply (about a different species)

backyard visitor
every day just after dusk
black formal attire
accented by white cap, stripe
the dropped birdseed is all yours

All of these tanka are ©Mary Lee Hahn, 2021. The image is via Unsplash, by Tom Hill.

Laura’s response to the challenge and today’s Poetry Friday roundup are at Laura Purdie Salas: Small Reads for Brighter Days.

The other Poetry Sisters’ posts are here:
Tricia
Tanita
Sara
Liz
Kelly
Andi

Franki’s Weekly Text Set-Launching the Writer’s Notebook

Texts for this Text Set have been posted daily on Instagram. Follow @TextSets there to get daily updates!

It’s the time of year where many of us are launching writer’s notebooks with our students. During these first weeks of writing, we want children to become confident writers, to find joy in writing and to see what’s possible. As a teacher my goal, thanks to the work of Shelley Harwayne has been on volume and variety. Over the years, I have relied on picture books to support this phase of the school year and I keep refreshing the set of books I use.

List writing is one of the best ways I’ve found to engage writers who have not had great experiences with writing. Creating lists is sometimes a great way for these writers to ease into writing. And let’s face it, list writing is part of every writer’s life. These books (I Wish You Knew, I Am Every Good Thing, What I Am, and My Heart Fills With Happiness) invite list writing by following the thread of the book. Reading one of these books and inviting students to make a list similar to what the author did is a good option for writers during those first days of workshop.

Writers often write about places they love. This set of books (My Casa is My Home, From My Window, and In My Mosque) does that but in three very different ways. For writers who struggle with a topic, place is something that gives lots of options. I have used these books along with the map in Ralph Fletcher’s Marshfield Dreams to think about writing and drawing about places that are important to us.

We want our students to learn from other writers and one way we do that is to play with mimicking or copying something a writer does-playing with it a bit. Guess Who, Haiku and Ribbit! both invite writers to Try it! Trying to write a riddle Haiku or trying to write a description with the 3 sentence part used so obviously in Ribbit! make for a fun day in writing workshop. This type of writing invitation encourages young writers to play with language-to have fun with it!

Writers use their senses and these two books help young writers see what is possible when they do that. Hello, Rain! is a poem in picture book format and the whole book describes a rainy day. Writers might think about describing something in a poetic way. And Listen reminds writers that sound is an important part of description.

So much of our writing revolves around people, especially those that we love. There are so many ways to show our love of the favorite people in our life though writing. Each of these 3 books– My Papi Has a Motorcycle, Not Enough Emilys in Hey World, Here I Am, and Your Mama–does this in different ways and each is accessible to young writers.

Poetry Friday: A Trio of Tankas

The Poetry Sisters’ challenge for this month is to write a tanka in response to or conversation with a poem written by one of the other sisters. Kelly wrote a fabulous article about tankas. Who doesn’t love her analogy that “a tanka is a haiku pulling a trailer?!?” To get ready for the challenge, I’ve written a trio of tankas. I’ll share them without images, because I’m hoping the words themselves are enough to paint a picture in your imagination. The orb weaver and the buck live in Central Ohio; Rae’s house is in the dry high plains of Eastern Colorado.

Tanka for Rae’s House

Beyond the window:
extravagantly green lawn,
bountiful garden.
In the unwatered pasture
dry grass crunches underfoot.

Tanka for the Eight Point Buck

sun low behind trees
morning air carries fall chill
eight point buck sees me
freezes so majestically
you forget he’s in the street

Tanka for the Orb Weaver

Above our front door
hangs a ferocious hunter
alarmingly large
seeming to stand in thin air.
She owns the porch. I concede.

Denise has this week’s Poetry Friday roundup at Dare to Care. Our Casting for Recovery retreat is this weekend, so I’ll read and comment next week.

Franki’s Weekly Text Set–Understanding Theme: Books About Friendship

Theme is often a difficult concept for elementary students. Many children give a single word as the theme and stop there. But I’ve found that exploring several books with the same idea/one word theme, helps students dig in and see the more specific theme of the book. So this week’s text set is a set of books about friendship. And even though “friendship” may be the one word answer for theme, each of the books teaches us something very different and very specific about the idea of friendship. I love exploring several books like this with students as we are learning to dig deeper with the idea of them.

One of my favorite new picture books about friendship is Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away. This book captures so much that is friendship and there are a few themes within. This book is one that can be read over and over and it has access points for students no matter where they are in their understanding of theme.

Both Be a Friend and Nothing in Common explore the concept of making new friends, but both books do this in very different ways and both have different messages for the reader. I paired these because Making Friends is the thread that connects them.

I debated including Little Brown in this set because it isn’t quite about friendship but it is one that I would pull in and ask readers if there is a message here about friendship and if so, what it is. This is a book that leaves the reader a bit unsettled and one that can be read over and over. It is a favorite of mine for talking about theme and I think it always invites deep conversations with lots of right answers.

I love Jenny Mei is Sad so much. It is a book about friendship with a theme that I don’t see often and one that is very accessible to young readers. The words and images work together perfectly and there is lots to discuss and ponder about the friendship in this book.

City Dog, Country Frog is classic book about friendship, grief and healing. There is no single theme in this book so readers can explore the multiple themes in this heartfelt book by Mo Willems. I like this in a monocycle on theme and I also love that it is by author Mo Willems-it is such a different kind of book than the ones our young readers know that it is always a good way to expand what they know about a favorite author.

This week’s books were linked at Bookelicious and/or Cover to Cover Children’s Bookstore. These are my two favorite children’s independent bookstores. If you are looking for a fabulous local children’s bookstore to support, Cover to Cover is an amazing one. We are lucky to have them in Central Ohio! If you don’t have an independent children’s bookstore in your town, check out Bookelicious. They are an online independent bookstore for children with an incredible curated collection. (Warning: You will want to create a bookmoji while you are there. This will be the highlight of your weekend I’m sure! Below is one of mine:-)