Posts from the ‘PAWLP’ Category

Tools of the Trade: March Madness

By Rita Sorrentino

I always enjoy the transition from one month to another. I delight in turning the pages on my wall calendar with a feeling of newness, encouragement and opportunity. Even now, while I do value the convenience of managing time and productivity with digital devices and tools, I still hang on to a yearly calendar. Its lovely colorful images beautify the wall space and my preference to keep it unmarked reminds me to take a long view of what matters.

When March arrived a few days ago I remembered a verse from a poem I learned in my elementary school days, “March brings breezes, loud and shrill, to stir the dancing daffodil” (The Garden Year by Sara Coleridge). It’s similar to the familiar “lion and lamb” predictions for unpredictable March. Both shed light on our yearning for longer warmer days and colorful surroundings.

My gran Read more

Books on the Blog: Brave Clara Barton

Review by Lynne Dorfman

Frank Murphy’s latest Step Into Reading biography is a cradle to grave story about Clara Barton. Frank, a sixth grade teacher in Council Rock School District in Bucks , Pennsylvania, loves the research behind a good story. Frank tells us of Clara’s shyness on the very first page, in part, because she spoke with a lisp.  He shows us how all her family members taught her something different and important.

Clara became a teacher of a one-room schoolhouse in New Jersey.  The school grew to be big, and Clara wanted to become principal, but the position was given to a man instead. When the Civil War began, Clara helped injured soldiers on the battlefield, even though many men felt women had no place there.

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Writing in the Dark

By Janice Ewing

Like many others, my husband and I lost power in the storm on Friday night, March 2^nd. Like some others, we are still without power, as the next storm blows in. In fact, our neighborhood sustained more damage last Friday than I can ever remember, with downed trees and power lines, electrical fires, broken backyard sheds, and damaged cars. Fortunately, no one was injured in our area.

On Saturday morning, after surveying the situation at our house and in our immediate neighborhood, we went to a local Panera to decide what to do. It was crowded for the early hour, and everyone was set on charging their various devices as they fueled themselves with coffee. A seat next to an outlet was like a center orchestra seat for Hamilton.

“No power…” new arrivals would simply say, as they contorted their bodies to reach the outlets at a nearby table. The response was always empathetic. Once settled in, we listed what we would have to do without: heat, light, hot water, TV, and other things we take for granted but don’t absolutely need, like toast. We did have an intact house. PECO estimated restoration of power at 11:59 on Tuesday, which sounded a lot like Wednesday, which turned out to be when the next storm was coming. (It also turned out to be overly optimistic.) We considered the options of staying with relatives or friends, or possibly booking a hotel room, but agreed that, if possible, our first choice was to stay put with our two cats, both of whom are terrible travelers and even worse at adjusting to a new environment. The highest priority was a safe and practical source of heat, and after some internet research and a phone consult with a helpful brother-in-law, we decided on a kerosene heater.

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How Mentor Texts Can Help Writers Discover a Creative Process

by Rose Cappelli

Toad put his head very close to the ground and shouted, “NOW SEEDS, START GROWING!”
Frog came running up the path.
“What’s all this noise?” he asked.
“My seeds will not grow,” said Toad.
“You are shouting too much,” said Frog. “These poor seeds are afraid to grow.”

                                    -from Frog and Toad Together by Arnold Lobel

I guess you could say mentor texts are my thing. I’ve read hundreds of picture books and middle grade novels to mine strategies teachers can use to help students understand the structure and craft of writing. I’ve also used them extensively to help students find ideas for writing. One way is to encourage students to make connections to their own lives. A book like Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes might spark a story about a favorite pair of red boots, or a favorite teacher, or a time they felt bad about the way they behaved. I also make sure to include information from author’s notes in read alouds to help students better understand where ideas come from. For example, Sandra Markle based her story, Toad Weather, on an annual toad migration.  Books like Ralph Writes a Story by Abby Hanlon and One Day, The End: Short, Very Short, Shorter-Than-Ever Stories by Rebecca Kai Dotlich are new favorite mentor texts that I use with students and recommend to teachers that demonstrate how stories can easily come from our everyday lives if we are willing to keep our eyes and hearts and minds open to possibilities. Before a story there has to be an idea. But, how can we use mentor texts to help students take that idea to the next level? How can we help them create a story, rather than a recount, that springs from everyday experiences? How can we help them nurture an idea and let it grow into the most wonderful story only they could write? Read more

Tools of the Trade: Resources to Stage a Read-In

Are you thinking of hosting an African American Read-In in your classroom or school this month? Consider incorporating some of the activities my librarian and I have planned.

Author Readings: Start with a reading by one or more African American authors in order to expose students to the rich and varied voices behind the texts. If you don’t have the funding or ability to host a live reading, use the next best thing – video. These are the resources I plan to tap in order to share readings with my students this month:

National Book Awards Readings – Each year the night before the National Book Awards Ceremony the finalists gather to read from their nominated books. This site contains video footage of these readings for the past six years and is a great resource to use in order to expose your students to many great books and authors. Some of the African American readers over the past few years include Jesmyn Ward reading Sing Unburied Sing and Salvage the Bones, Jason Reynolds reading Ghost, Angela Johnson reading Brown Girl Dreaming, and John Lewis discussing March Book 3. Read more