Road Trip: an invitation in storytelling & geography

 

Every day in the library we share what special day it is alongside some books that go with the topic and a fact or writing or discussion prompt of some sort. ( Some students think that I come up with these myself, but thanks to websites like National Today, I show them that they, too, can find out what special days there are.)

This practice has helped me find gaps in our collection, uncover more interests for our students & staff, and provides a context for modeling inquiry-based thinking and questioning for students.  It has also shown me that I don't have to wait until that special day to use that topic for library lessons with students.  For example, on May 28, our students don't have school,  but I would like to use this special Road Trip Day as a future lesson idea.

I would present books that are on this topic, in every format: picture, graphic novel, chapter, e-books, then ask students to pick a question to discuss with a partner.

For extension ideas you can have students write a story map for their choice or make an iMovie trailer about what it would be like if their choice was made into a movie.  Students could also use Google Maps to plan a road trip along with stops and what they'd do in those towns.  Or going old school and asking them to turn an image into a postcard and write a note to someone about what they're seeing on the trip and how it's going.

Here is a link to our Today Is slideshow. If you have more ideas, please add them to comments below! 

I Am Every Good Thing: introspection for elementary/middle schoolers

 

I Am Every Good Thing is a picture book written by Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Gordon C. James.  This is a book that is poem set to paintings.  Everyone who reads it can find a connection and be able to discuss that with others.  I had the privilege of hearing Barnes read this book aloud and it was a delight.  I knew that I wanted to use this book with my students so I ordered it immediately for our school library.  The book circulated on its own merit, however, I am looking forward to using it next year in a library lesson for every grade in my school as a whole school read and even share it with families.

First, I present the cover and ask students what they predict it will be about.  Then I share the slide that shows the awards the book has won and show the video of Barnes talking about why he made this story:

While students listen to the book, I will ask them to think about how they relate to the boy in the book's reasons for being every good thing.

After reading the story aloud I will review with the students what Barnes focused on in each verse of his poem and ask them to consider if this is something that they connect with or not.

Next, depending on the age level of your students you can have them respond in a number of ways:

• Choose one slide to draw a picture of yourself and how you relate to the topic
• Use a Flipgrid topic to post your connection to the book.
• Create a stop-motion animation clip of an example of how you are every good thing.
• Design a PicCollage EDU page where you include a selfie & words to describe how you're every good thing, too.
• Make a book using drawings, cutout pictures or words from magazines, that show how you're every good thing. (This could be done electronically on Seesaw, too.)
• Write a poem like Barnes to give examples of how you are like the boy in the book.
• Add your name to a graffiti wall (butcher block paper or a whiteboard) and add symbols that show how you relate to the boy in the book.

You can post these, send them home with students, have them exchange with other classes and write pen pal letters back and forth about what students chose to share.  

I predict that I will span this lesson over several class periods so to refresh the class on the book without reading it aloud again I will show the book trailer:

If you have additional ideas on how to use this book with readers, please comment below!

Pawcasso: a lovable dog that divides & unites a community

 

Pawcasso a graphic novel by Remy Lai is ideal for elementary and middle school libraries and classrooms.  It's a sweet and engaging mystery about a dog without a leash who goes shopping in a community where nobody knows its name.  A lonely and curious girl named Jo follows the dog one day so much that people mistake her as the owner and she fails to correct them. As Jo and the newly named dog, Pawcasso, make more friends, will Jo be able to solve the mystery of the dog's owners before she is caught?  Her ideas for how to find the owners lead to some especially humorous moments!  Readers can share their solutions for solving this problem.

Although this may look like a simple story, the story line and character of Jo are well-developed, layered, and perfect for discussions.  Jo's dad is away on work and she misses him terribly.  Pawcasso gives her a reason to leave the house and have an identity outside of her family.  Jo's responsibility for the dog takes her to various parts of the community: to a dog grooming shop, bookstore, ice cream parlor and art class.  At one point she even engages in laughing at a mean, old neighbor, Mr. ICCC who just complains to the city council all of the time.  As she's making fun of him, she wonders why it is that he is that way. 

Jo's lies about Pawcasso start to get away from her.  There are numerous close-calls when she could get caught and she's determined to keep quiet until she's solved the mystery of Pawcasso.  It also doesn't hurt that she's making connections with people in her community that she would never have made, otherwise.  She says, "I made a chihuahua-sized lie, but it snowballed into a Great Dane-sized lie."  One reason the news spreads about Pawcasso is that photos of him on his shopping trips go viral.  Readers can think about the pros and cons of going viral in today's world.  Where do people's rights to privacy start and end?

I love the art connections in the story.  The art students study Pablo Picasso and his cubist style of art.  They also learn about Marcel Duchamp, his rival.  When the town is eventually divided over leash-laws, they call each camp a Picassos (anti-leash laws) and Duchamps (pro-leash laws).  This is a real-world problem that readers can relate to in their own communities.  Students can debate the pros and cons of these types of laws and research what their community has voted to uphold.

Jo also joins a book club where they discuss the question, "If love comes from the heart, does hate come from the brain?"  Readers can discuss their impressions of this questions and give examples of their opinions.  At the end of the story Jo makes a grand speech where she gives her answer.  Does the reader agree with her interpretation?  Also, how do readers feel about how the story was resolved?  There are a number of twists and ways in which different characters' struggles parallel each other's.

Finally, a bonus at the end of the book is an ice cream recipe that is safe for dogs and "hoomans!"

Accidental Lessons in Gender Inequity in Asia: Ruby's Wish & Ten Little Dumplings

 Every year I share books that show celebrations of the Lunar New Year. This year I came across the picture book Ruby's Wish by Shirin Yim Leos (Bridges) and illustrated by Sophie Blackall and wanted to use it for reasons beyond how the family in the story celebrates.  

It is a fictional story that is based on the author's grandmother, who while growing up in China, aspired to attend university but was not expected to because she was a girl.  

I asked students to first consider how people celebrate holidays around the world and we found similarities between their ideas and how Lunar New Year is celebrated.

We watched a clip and looked through the photos from the Sacramento Bee about how Asians in America celebrate: 

Then we had a directed drawing lesson by Grace Lin from her website on how to draw an ox for the year of the ox:

Finally, we read Ruby's Wish and I asked students to think about these points before they listen to the story:

After listening to the story, students used a template in Seesaw to respond to the questions. Students were shocked to learn about the gender bias against females and wanted to learn more.  They wondered if this was still happening, what other countries did this exist, how people were trying to change that mindset worldwide.

This led me to be on the lookout for more books that portray this gender inequality and I found Ten Little Dumplings, a picture book by Larissa Fan and pictures by Cindy Wume.

This is a book, again, based on the author's family, except this time this story takes place in Taiwan.  One boy is supposed to bring great luck to a family and this family has ten sons!  In the end, the reader finds out that the family also had a daughter. It's told from her perspective so the reader wants to go back from the beginning and see if they can spot her in the beautiful illustrations.  

Fan writes at the end that she wonders about "who is left out of the stories we are told and why.  Ten Little Dumplings is my attempts to reveal another viewpoint to a traditional tale, to write in someone who has been left out."  This would pair well with my students who heard Ruby's Wish and they can compare the stories with one another.  This could also launch an inquiry unit for students to go out and seek answers to their wonderings about gender inequality in today's world.  Whenever I share with students the gender inequality in various other parts of the world they think I am talking about hundreds of years ago, not modern-day times.  Stories like these will open up the minds of our students as they explore their thinking about this important issue.

If you've had lessons or used books on this topic with children and middle schoolers, please add your titles and ideas in the comments.  

The One Thing You'd Save: what an answer reveals about a person

 

The One Thing You'd Save, an illustrated verse picture book by Linda Sue Park and Robert Sae-Heng is  a unique story told in an unforgettable way.  Students in Ms. Chang's class are asked to consider what item they would save if there was a fire, given that their family was all safe.  Each student gets to share their ideas but it goes much deeper than giving one word answers.  Everyone's background, privilege, and what's most important to them is revealed--a collection of animal figurines, shoes, memories of lost loved ones, money, even a phone!

This book is meant to be read aloud and discussed. The detailed, black-and-white illustrations add to each child's answers and they make the reader want to flip back and examine them again after reading the entirety of the book.  There are serious issues to be considered, like grief, family bonds, friendship dynamics, and lighter, humorous ideas, too. In my experience I think this would be best used with 9 year olds and up. Readers can debate their predictions about each child, if they would choose those items, if they can relate to what was picked, and ultimately, what they would choose if they had to pick one, too.

Park captures the characters' voices with authentic dialects, slang and even the teacher uses those tried-and-true teacher phrases!  For such a slim book, only 65 pages, there is a multitude of emotions gently packed into it.  At the Author's Note at the end, Park explains how she used the Korean poetry style, sijo, pronounced SHEE-zho, in the story.  This doesn't look like traditional poetry that readers are used to seeing so it is a good opportunity for them to learn about a different style of poetry.  This can even serve as a writing prompt for students to try to write their own version of a sijo poem to explain what they would take in case of a fire.  

TeachingBooks.net has additional teaching resources, and even an audio excerpt for this book! For free reader's guides and discussion guides, visit the HMH webpage and look on the right-hand side to download them.  You can also catch an embedded video of Park talking about her book there, too!

Take Back the Block: a middle grades activism tale

 

Take Back the Block by Chrystal D. Giles is a middle-grades, fictional chapter book that centers on the gentrification that is happening all over this country.  The main character is 11 year-old Wes who has grown up in his neighborhood of The Oaks for his entire life.  In fact, he lives in his grandfather's home where his mom grew up, too.  She drags him to social justice protests every weekend but he cannot see how it relates to him. He thinks, "I got why we were there, but I was a little tired of fighting battles that didn't have anything to do with me."

As he's making the transition from elementary to middle school, he is worried about looking cool, keeping up with his studies, but certainly not his friends.  He has a tight-knit crew of Alyssa, Brent, Jas, Mya, and Kari.  Even though My and Kari are on the outs, he has high hopes that they will get past it soon.

Unfortunately once the school year begins, a real-estate development company offers residents of The Oaks over appraisal value for their homes so that they can demolish and build new condos and retail plazas there.  At first, some of the residents want to take the money and leave, but over time they realize that their neighborhood has more value than money.  It is a community, a home nestled near the inner-city of a bustling place.  Why should they be forced to move away just so higher-wage earners can live in their part of the city?

Wes is determined to help his activist parents with this problem.  He invokes the help of his new teacher who connects him with a community organizer and from there, there is hope!  Wes and Alyssa research ideas on how to save their community and actually find one way that could possibly work. His teacher tells him, "this is why I wanted you to research social justice.  Being aware of what's happening in society connects us to the world around us."

I loved this story because it was fast-paced, full of dynamic characters and a truly realistic problem facing communities today.  There are lots of opportunities for readers to discuss what they think about Wes and his friends and family.  The story is about gentrification, but it is also about the bonds of friendship, poverty, racial profiling, family and standing up for what's right.

When I first heard about this story I thought that I wouldn't be able to relate to it because I live in a college-town.  After reading and enjoying it immensely, I highly recommend it to middle grade readers, educators, community members and families.  Giles writes with humor, heart, and a memorable tone. She even dedicates the book to her "son, Ezra, may you always take up space, be visible, and raise your voice." This is what I, too, hope for my students and daughter.

Here is a free excerpt from the book or listen to Giles read the first chapter here.

We Don't Eat Our Classmates: a lesson on individuality

What makes a good classmate?  All students have opinions on this topic so that is what makes this  kindergarten and first grade lesson work well at the start or end of the school year.  Our students love dinosaurs but would they want one as a classmate?  

I taught them the ASL sign for dinosaur and we practiced several times:

Then I introduced them to the dinosaur in the book, Penelope.  Just by looking at the cover what do they think is her challenge as a classmate?

Next, we watched the book trailer narrated by author, Ryan T. Higgins:

I read the story aloud then students brainstormed tips that they can give Penelope and each other for being a good classmate.

 

Lastly, students used the PicCollageEdu APP to take a selfie, add a background, and type their name and a tip on how to be a good classmate. 

 I modeled this first, then students worked on their own.  We talked about changing fonts and colors to make it more readable for your audience.

A "How-to" Unit for technical writing & storytelling for elementary/middle

Students are naturally curious about how certain events happen.  It's a prime topic for teachers and librarians to use to create at the center of an inquiry lesson.  The class listens to read-alouds of companion texts that show a how-to in various formats.  Then they choose a topic in which they want to teach others how to do that specific task.  Finally, they will pick the way they want to communicate that information.  Teachers can provide a list of options for the differentiated products: a video, a stop-motion demonstration, a flow-chart, a comic/graphic drawing, an informational picture book, a zine, etc.

I did this with 3rd graders and we had rich discussions, humorous moments of sharing personal observations and experiences, and an authentic audience awaiting one another's projects.  There are numerous ways you can structure this lesson, but here is what I did and it worked well:

I began with telling them a personal story about how much I love avocados but they are tricky because if you buy too many at once they get ripe quickly and you must use them up or else they go funky.  Students began sharing all of the ways that they relate to this, too.  I asked them where I could find ideas on how to use up my avocados.  Students suggested asking cooks, looking in books and on the internet.  I told them that was listening to the radio and heard a story about using leftover food to reduce food waste and I played for them the video clip below:

We watched it once for information and again on MUTE and I paused the frames and we noted how the information was being communicated:  images, videos, bulleted lists, demonstrations, etc.

Then I showed them a number of how-to books that we had in our library collection:

Then we sorted them into NONFICTION and FICTION piles.  One of the FICTION books we read aloud was How to Walk an Ant by Cindy Derby.

During the reading we noted how the author incorporated facts and information in an entertaining way.  After reading the story students brainstormed ideas for both nonfiction and fictional how-to topics.

Then they narrowed down their list to their top choice and began their writing process. I had them use a poster paper folded into squares and put each step in each square.  If they didn't have accurate information they had to research and cite their resource in their final product.  

They had a lot of fun with this and we enjoyed learning from each other.  This also encompasses many teaching and learning standards so it's an excellent writing prompt that engages students.

I will definitely do this again next year but extend it over the course of several weeks so they can make their products and we can have a celebration by inviting other grade levels to learn from each other. 

 If you have suggestions for improving this idea please let me know in the comments below!

78 Books to End the School Year & Kick-off Summer for elementary/middle

 

As the school year winds down students want to continue to build memories with their teachers and classmates.  A shared read can provide that for them.  The list below contains poetry books, riddles, joke books, nonfiction picture books and picture books.  They are on the shorter side and are all engaging topics that students will enjoy listening to and discussing.  If you have more, please add them in the comments!

What I love about these books is that there are a wide of range of themes represented.  There are stories about growth, fear, summer, family, friendship, adventures or just fantastical stories that stretch the imagination.  Reading just for pleasure and not tying it to a worksheet or activity models for students the importance of literacy to broaden their minds and form bonds with one another. 

I Wanna Be Where You Are: YA music/dance/art rom-com

 

I Wanna Be Where You Are is a young adult chapter book by Kristina Forest.  It is a coming-of-age novel that mostly takes place over the course of a week when Chloe schemes with her best friend to sneak out of town to audition for a dance company when her mother forbade her to do that.  When her next-door-neighbor, the annoyingly cute Eli, blackmails her to tag along for the road trip, Chloe is forced to go along with it.  This is when the adventure begins for both of them.  From accidents to romantic tension and snippets about a mysterious history between them, there is a lot to contemplate while enjoying this story.

Chloe's father passed away from a car accident when she was little and she, too, got hit by a car just last year.  Her mother has increased her over-protectiveness of Chloe to the point where Chloe doesn't think she will ever get to leave the house after graduation.  Eli is dealing with his parents' divorce and sister going away to college.  He fell into some self-destructive habits and there is no coming back from deciding to major in art rather than pre-law for college.  Through the story, Chloe and Eli confide with each other on some topics, but not others.  Readers can consider what they would do if they were in Chloe and Eli's shoes.  How would they handle the pressure they are put under by their families.  How are they more alike than they know?

The story goes by quickly and by the end of it the reader has gotten to know these two characters so well that they just want them to be happy.  Are they happier together or having gone through the week supporting each other enough to get them to be honest with their families?  

I enjoyed the banter between the characters, their language, references and musical choices were all authentic.  Readers will also feel comfort in being in Chloe and Eli's world.  Will they commit to their own developing identities or give in to what their parents want for them?  This is an important idea to which teens can relate.

Forest, the author, gave a great interview on the Fierce Reads blog where she gave some background on how she came up with the idea for this book.  Readers will be able to learn more about its origins and read an excerpt from the novel.

35 PRIDE Reads for elementary/middle grades

 

Our students want stories that encompass various people's perspectives.  PRIDE month offers the chance to spotlight LGBTQIA+ people through sharing books and stories.  From nonfiction picture books to fictional chapter books about families, friendship, and growing up, there is a push for including more of these books in our library collection.  I am thankful for the GLSEN organization for offering free books to our schools and classrooms.  Hopefully more will be published and shared, until then, check out what we have in our library below: