The Help - just saw the movie

Well, I just saw the movie after having read the book in a book club last year.  See a previous post . . .

http://teachingreaderstothink.blogspot.com/2010/02/help-by-kathryn-stockett.html

While I liked the movie and will be anxious to see what happens at the Oscars tonight,  I must say I liked the book MUCH better!   What did you think?  Add a note in the comments section . . .

Babies Don't Eat Pizza: A Big Kids' Book about Baby Brothers and Baby Sisters

Several friends recently welcomed new additions to their families.  So I had to share this title


A straightforward, reassuring book aimed at children awaiting the arrival of a new baby in the family...The charming watercolor illustrations show all kinds of families caring for and getting to know their newcomers. Though many quality books on this subject are available, Danzig's offering will bring comfort to expectant parents and siblings alike. - School Library Journal


With kid-friendly humor and honesty, Babies Don't Eat Pizza covers waiting for baby and life with a newborn through toddlerhood. Features include multicultural families; how babies are born, grow and behave; references to adoption, premature and special needs babies; breast and bottle feeding, twins, helping and playing with babies, older children's feelings and a parents' tips page.


NOTE - this book is best used with Big Kids, not toddlers.  

September 11

There are many children's books to explain, review, recognize this day in lots of different ways. 
Check out these links - http://www.apples4theteacher.com/holidays/911/kids-books/, http://rakstagemom.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/911-books-for-children/,
http://sandysprings.macaronikid.com/article/175671/childrens-books-about-911

This book deals just with the NYC attack - "September 11, 2001: Attack on New York City, a nonfiction children's book about the terrorist attacks on New York City is the result of author Wilborn Hampton's desire to help younger readers understand what happened on September 11, 2001 in New York City. Hampton does this through photographs, interviews and an account of his own experiences that day and the days afterward."

So Far From the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins

This author visited our school today.  She spoke with the children about perseverance and courage. 

A core novel in our 6th grade, all students have read the book.  INSPIRATIONAL!
A fictionalized autobiography in which eleven-year-old Yoko escapes from Korea to Japan with her mother and sister at the end of World War II. Though Japanese, eleven-year-old Yoko has lived with her family in northern Korea near the border with China all her life. But when the Second World War comes to an end, Japanese on the Korean peninsula are suddenly in terrible danger; the Korean people want control of their homeland and they want to punish the Japanese, who have occupied their nation for many years. Yoko, her mother and sister are forced to flee from their beautiful house with its peaceful bamboo grove. Their journey is terrifying -- and remarkable. 
It's a true story of courage and survival

Hanna's Suitcase by Karen Levine

"Once there was a little girl named Hana Brady. She lived in Czechoslovakia with her beloved family. She liked to ski cross-country with her brother and play with her wolfhound and her fluffy, white kittens. She helped her father at the family’s general store. More than 50 years later, a suitcase with her name on it was sent to an education center in Japan. School children learned all about Hana and what happened to her during the Holocaust, a story told with words and photos in Hana’s Suitcase." For some audio - check out - http://www.radio.cz/en/section/curraffrs/hanas-suitcase-a-tragic-story-from-the-holocaust-with-a-message-of-hope  This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in this time in history.  Powerful!

Claudette Colvin by Phillip Hoose

A  book by Phillip Hoose, "Claudette Colvin, Twice Toward Justice," describes how the girl stood her ground, yelling, "It's my constitutional right" as the cops pulled her off the bus, threw her into the back of a cop car, and handcuffed her through the window. In Hoose's telling, a teacher named Geraldine Nesbitt had emboldened her students, teaching them about the 14th Amendment. "It just so happens they picked me at the wrong time—it was Negro History Month, and I was filled up like a computer," Colvin tells NEWSWEEK, "I felt like Sojourner Truth was pushing down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman, the other".

Check out this biography when you start to intoduce or review the ideas of civil rights.

Please Stop Laughing at Me by Jodee Blanco

Today we had GREAT discussion during our Middle School Advisory session about the difference between "bullying" and "teasing".  We also chatted with the kids about whether or not "bullying" is a one-way street.  They had great insight and thoughts.  This discussion let us to talk about being advocates for yourself and others.   Check out ..............http://www.nmsa.org/Publications/MiddleSchoolJournal/Articles/November2006/Article3/tabid/1093/Default.aspx for some titles of adolescent literature.  Here's one .................

Please Stop Laughing at Me: One Woman's Inspirational Story
Author: Jodee Blanco
While other kids were daydreaming about dances, first kisses, and college, Jodee Blanco was just trying to figure out how to get from homeroom to study hall without being taunted or spit upon as she walked through the halls. This powerful, unforgettable memoir chronicles how one child was shunned—and sometimes physically abused—by her classmates from elementary school through high school. It is an unflinching look at what it means to be the outcast, how even the most loving parents can get it all wrong, why schools are often unable to prevent disaster, and how bullying has been misunderstood and mishandled by the mental health community. You will be shocked, moved, and ultimately inspired by this harrowing tale of survival against insurmountable odds. This vivid story will open your eyes to the harsh realities and long-term consequences of bullying—and how all of us can make a difference in the lives of teens today.

The Fly on the Ceiling by Julie Glass

Recognized as the father of analytic geometry, René Descartes was a French mathematician and philosopher. Kids will love this funny and very accessible tale - based on one of math's greatest myths - about the man who popularized the Cartesion system of coordinates.
Here is a lesson to introduce and work with kids on a system of coordinates - http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=11237  Here is some background on Descartes - http://mathforum.org/cgraph/history/fly.html

The Lottery Rose by Irene Hunt

I happened to stop by a classroom of 7th graders today. 

Here is what they were reading -

"Georgie Burgess has known only neglect and abuse during his seven and a half years of life. His alcoholic mother does little to prevent the bruises and scars inflicted on Georgie by her brutal boyfriend. With each blow, the little boy withdraws further into his dreams. When he winds a small rose bush in a lottery, it seems as if one of his dreams has finally come true. But after a particularly savage beating, he is taken from his mother and placed in a home for boys. Surrounded by strangers and with the rosebush as his only link to the world, both the boy and his treasured plant must learn how to grow and thrive."  Most said they liked it, but it was sad.  It is important to evoke emotion from our children when they read.  Makes the experience meaningful.  Check it out .........................from families.com   http://media.families.com/blog/the-lottery-rose-irene-hunt  Here is the trailer from the movie http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhCQHzcw7gQ

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

This series made its debut in 2007 with rave reviews.  Check out the author's website for a blog, news, video and audio, among a few other things.  The movie opened this past Spring and comes out in DVD soon.  Check it out for some fun stories.

Patricia Palacco - Where does one start?

http://www.patriciapolacco.com/
The many titles, give me a sense to say - which one to select to share with you --------- so here are a few -

Thank You, Mr. Falker - an inspiring story about a teacher and a young girl and how she learns to read

Pink and Say - a study in two characters and friendship during the Civil War

Thundercake - a must read for anyone that has some angst about thunderstorms.  You must try to bake the cake.

 Interviews with the author, as well as an author study, will give you many ideas on sharing these wonderful stories with your children of any ages.

Families, Families, Families

Well this past weekend was the annual 9th Street Italian Market Festival in South Philadelphia. 

 

While I ate my way through it, I thought a lot about my relatives and what life must have been like in the early 1920's when my nonna and pop-pop came here from the various parts of Italy.  

 

 

We are truly a reflection of our families.  Check out some of these titles for your family - share with your comments and memories ...............

 

If Your Name Was Changed at Ellis Island  by Ellen Levine       

 

Coming to America: The Story of Immigration  by Betsy Maestro

 

 

Not to mention the Wall of Honor at Ellis Island and the Ellis Island site .......

 

Here is my nonna's ship and passage document -

 

Zeitoun by Dave Eggers

A good book to introduce adolescents to social injustice and begin to ask questions -
To arrive in New Orleans shortly after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005 was to witness what Haiti would look like if they built skyscrapers on top of the earthquake rubble – a mirage of wealth, power and order towering over a fairly well-veiled reality of poverty, helplessness and chaos.

Not a book for the "faint of heart", but something to discuss, consider and react.  Shocking!

Check out some reviews ...................

Holes by Loius Sachar

Holes seems to be as much about a place as about the characters.  Whether you watch the movie and then read the book or the other way around, an adenture story is in the making.  Check out the  author's website for q/a as well as discussion points and a Camp Greenleaf survival guide. For your creative writer and reader a webquest provides more discussion and reflection points. An interactive map provides more adventure with the Newberry Award winning novel.

Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli

Stargirl is a story about the coming of age of a high school girl.  Follow her unorthodox journey of love, peer relationships and the idea of "fitting in".  Her efforts at non-conformity and uniqueness provide endless opportunities for reader reflection and thoughtfull consideration of social norms.  Many activities and discussion points are available for this novel.  Check them out. A video clip is available as well to present as an introduction to the story. A prolific author,  Mr. Spinelli spins another tale of life, love, experiences and the journey from childhood to adilthood.  Check out his website for the latest titles, interviews and reviews.

Fly Awar Home by Eve Bunting

Fly Away Home is a moving story of a father and his son living in an airport, as they are homeless. It is a heavy subject, not to be dealt with in a quick read, but something to contemplate, consider and talk about with your young learner.  Check out some discussion points, activities and other related books. Take a look at the video of the author sharing her thoughts.

Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

The scene is a manor house in England in 1290 and Catherine, the wilful, stubborn and delightful daughter of Sir Rollo and Lady Aislinn, has been asked, by her brother the monk, to keep a journal and these are her daily entries for one important year in her life.
This is a great book to introduce teens to historical fiction.  Mostly considered a "girl" book, check out some discussion questions, activities and thoughts.  If you are intriguied by castles, the middle ages and cooking.  Check it out.

Flying Solo by Ralph Fletcher

When the substitute for Mr. "Fab" Fabiano never shows up and his sixth-grade students are on their own, they set out to prove that they can run the class by themselves. With a little ingenuity and some careful planning, they might just succeed. But when a fight breaks out between Bastian Fauvell and Rachel White over a classmate, Tommy Feathers, who died six months earlier, everything begins to fall apart. Can Rachel deal with the anxieties that plunged her into silence the day Tommy died? Inventive and uniquely constructed, "Flying Solo" follows Mr. Fab's students hour by hour as they tackle the challenges of an unusual school day. Check out the author's website  which includes tips for readers and writers.

Women's History Month - Women in Space - Female Astronauts and Cosmonauts

These scientists and astronauts have "paved" the way for young women to explore areas, including space!  Check out these names and accomplishments.  Biographies found as well.   Did you know ..........SVETLANA SAVITSKAYA - The first woman to perform a space walk was Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya in July 1984.  For some notable famous scientists ................

March is Women's History Month - Eleanor Roosevelt

Another first lady, but not your average "first lady".  A champion of social causes, Mrs. Roosevelt's life has been chronicled in a number of books.  One I just have to share by a favorite author and illustrator - Barbara Cooney.  This biography shares the early life of this famous American and the challenges she faced. Another title for readers is Eleanor by Russell Freeman.  This Newbery Award winner shares the life of Mrs. Roosevelt using beautiful pictures and factual details. 

Some classroom connections and activities such as writing a letter, a virtual; trip to the U.N, making a timeline, etc. are fun.