Whew...I am not sure if I should ever be out on a Thursday and Friday again. LOL, I think my kiddos missed me too much. It was a wild and crazy day...today pretty much had MONDAY written all over it!
Oh well, tomorrow is a new day, and we get to start over! How cool is that?! But if you want to see something to make you smile, just look at the greeting of that letter..."Dear Mrs. Wonderful Dunn." LOL...someone is working for an A+. No really, I am just kidding! Have I mentioned how much I love reading my kiddos reader's notebooks?! You know I do tend to repeat myself. (Just in case you haven't noticed ;) No worries though right...check out these great reader's notebooks! I am so proud of these kids.
My class has a love of Post-it Notes this year! I might have to make a supply run to get more very soon, but I don't even care one bit! I love seeing how they use them as they are reading ~ you know they do need something to write their thoughts on while I hog up their notebooks.
Look what at I found at the end of the last school year. It was one of those random stops by my favorite place, Books-a-Million. Katie Byrd and I were wondering around the store, and of course floating around the back of my head is the idea that the last thing I need in this world is one more book. Then I happened upon this beauty! OMG...a 20th anniversary edition of one of my all time favorite books! Of course, whether I needed it or not, I was NOT walking out of the store without this one! Not only is it a wonderfully crafted story, now it is a beauty as well. Whoo hoo! Look at these gorgeous illustrations with notes from Gary Paulsen. Talk about discussions regarding where writers get ideas and author's purpose and word choice! PERFECTION at its best. :) We are sneaking in a little Gary Paulsen here and there. You can always make time for the classics!
Now! I have to brag on Mrs. Whitt, our kiddos and the work they are doing for her. Their Founding Fathers Projects have been so great, and we are so proud! Here are a few pics below. I will add more soon.
Just two picture books to share tonight. These are from the hilarious team of Mike Reiss and David Catrow. You just can't go wrong with a Catrow! Both are silly and fun rhyming books. Most of the holiday favorites make an appearance in both: turkey, pilgrims, Lincoln and Washington for Presidents' Day, even the Easter bunny. Either Santa needs a holiday from his holiday, Santa Claustrophobia, or he needs to recover from a knock-out punch by a Jack-in-the-boxer, How Murray Saved Christmas. Either way, Christmas is turned upside down and has to be saved. My kiddos really giggled at poor Murray and his fashionable unmentionables when they make an appearance. I swear I could look at a David Catrow book all day and still not see all that he has to offer.
Where do I even begin to explain how much fun I have had so far this weekend? The book nerd in me has been squealing inside ~ ok...maybe a little on the outside, too. OMG...look at Ms. Shewmaker and me posing with Mr. Jack Gantos! Whoo hoo! I just love him, and I love how he shares his passion for reading and writing with such humor and wit.
Looks like someone else's inner book nerd was just as excited as mine :) I may have a convert on my hands...hehe
Alright, let me back track a bit. I may have been sort of badgering begging my principal to send the two of us to Harding University's Young Adult Author Series, so we could meet and learn from one of my favorite authors! We have had our eye on this program since this summer, and we were not sure when or how to ask. Well, I finally broke down and just asked, then begged, then bugged and the stars aligned and all fell into place and Sarah and I were the last two to make it on the roster for the event! Whew...by the skin of our teeth, but it didn't matter ~ we were in!
We may have been the last two on the roster, but who was front and center early last night for the meet and greet? ~ These girls! Now, anyone that knows me knows that I am not usually a front-and-center-professional-development sort of girl, but for this, well... we all have exceptions!
Mr. Gantos holding up his 5th grade journal! What a writing inspiration! Many of the Jack Black books were drawn from these pages.
Another example of a Gantos journal...works in progress.
Mr. Gantos telling stories and explaining where he gets ideas. Showing teachers how to guide their students to their own amazing stories.
Again, where do I begin? So many ideas - more than I can share just yet because I haven't tested them out on my little guinea pigs students yet. (just kidding ;) I know I mentioned his passion for reading and writing, but I just don't think I can clearly translate how much he aspires to make us all "bookish!" I love his word - bookish!
If you have read my blog, then this you know of me ~ I love the smell of a new book. Silly I know, and I probably repeat it too much. But it is part of who I am, and it holds some of my fondest school memories and my very own sense of bookishness. hehe....I knew I was not alone. Mr. Gantos shared many of the same things I have said so often.
Some of my favorite "bookish" things said by Mr. Gantos this weekend:
* "The desire to write is there...the desire to capture greatness is there."
* "...a reading life gets you going into the writing life..."
* in writing..."pull something luscious out of your mind"
* in reading..."park yourself in there for a while and live in the nooks and crannies of the page..."
and my all time favorite and something to make you think...concerning the moment you finish a book, maybe even the day after you finish a book, or quite possibly years after you finish a book...
* "It is the same book. I am not the same person."
I remember the first book that "changed" me, that made me somehow "not the same person" as I was before I read it. The book that pointed me toward my very own bookish life. The book that opened my eyes to the reality of endless possibilities...Madeline L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time. I even remember the when of it all ~ fourth grade! How fitting for me now. Mr.Gantos even mentioned this book today, and again my inner book nerd was screaming..."Yes, that's the one. That IS the book that showed me there was so much more in this world than the small school, the small city, the small state that I was from. That is the book that opened my eyes to the power of writing!"
You must know that from this point on, "It is the same book. I am not the same person." will be used often in my room. How about after learning from Mr. Gantos this weekend about all things bookish ~ I am, yet again, not the same person...I cannot wait until Monday to share with my kiddos! I cannot wait to show my students everyday the value of being bookish, and how being bookish may lead them down the path of becoming a writer full of greatness!
Now...can you believe ~ it's December?! You know what that means! It is time for another "Currently" with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade! I love her site, and I love getting to hop around to all of the wonderful blogs out there! So many amazing teachers! Be sure to stop by and check it out. Don't forget the Rule of 3. Link up and leave a comment with the two before you and the one after. :)
The beautiful lights at Harding University this Christmas season!
Now, you didn't think I would write a post without sharing picture books did you? Of course not - hello! It's still me....
So here are a couple more of my favorite Christmas picture books. I know; I am becoming somewhat predictable. My first Christmas picture book was a Berkeley Breathed and my second is a David Catrow. Well, a Mike Reiss really, but still my favorite illustrator, Catrow. In Merry UnChristmas, our holiday season gets turned inside out as these kiddos get to celebrate Christmas everyday of the year except one. Be happy with what you have jumps out as a theme for me, as we see that the true and beautiful magic of Christmas can be lost if not appreciated.
Margery Cuyler has done it again. That's Good! That's Bad! on Santa's Journey is very similar to her original with a light-hearted Christmas twist. Full of figurative language, onomatopoeia and repeating phrases, this back-and-forth text will have the kiddos joining in and making fun predictions!
OK...just one more after all. I love Michael Garland's illustrations. I have a growing collection of his work and each one I love more than the last. The Mouse Before Christmas is so beautifully illustrated and a touching little remake on a Christmas classic.
Happy Reading! And as Mr. Gantos would say, "Be Bookish!"
Say what you will about Taylor Swift, but I am a huge fan! I have talked about her in my classroom for years. The kids love her, and I love her because she writes so many of her own songs! I always talk about and share her songs when I talk about how and where writers get ideas.
Here is a commercial clip I share with my kiddos every year. She says "it all began in fourth grade...little did he know, I was writing songs about..."
Well, after shedding plenty of tears this morning, I am an even bigger fan now! I just saw her performance of "Ronan." Oh my! How moving and sad. My heart simply aches for Ronan's mother.
I am sharing this because I have always talked about how writers are moved by other writers. We get our ideas from the world around us and other writers can inspire us. Taylor followed Maya Thompson's blog about her son's battle with cancer. Here is a link to the story: A Child's Cancer Story Inspires Taylor Swift.
Maya's blog is raw and emotional, so I will not share it here for my kiddos to see. I will share how her writing through her grief and writing from their experiences moved Taylor. Many of the very words from Maya's blog were used in Taylor's song, Ronan. Because of this, Maya is credited as a co-writer.
I also want to share this because this song is written as a narrative, and we have spent a lot of time studying what makes a narrative. We have discussed how even though we usually focus on one moment in time, not all of our moments are happy. Sometimes we even need to share the sad moments.
I will be excited for us to participate in Scholastic Book Clubs: Read Every Day with Taylor Swift. Click on the picture below to learn more.
Alright, enough tears for now. Here are some of the great books that we are reading or will be reading very soon!
Just look at a few of my great picks from our book fair. Yes, the very book fair that makes me crazy because I love and hate it at the same time. I love it because I mean who doesn't love a book fair? I hate it because it means less book orders and points for us, LOL. As long as it is putting books in kiddos' hands, well I guess I won't complain. (too much ;)
Just look at what two of my sweet girls picked out at book fair. You don't think I went on and on about it do you? haha
After our 5K Saturday, Katie Byrd and I made a quick trip to the book store. Katie had been reading through some of my kiddos Reader's Notebooks. She is such an avid reader and has read such an extensive number of titles; she was making quite a few book recommendations, and she even found one I did not actually own. Hard to believe, but yes, we had to add it to our library. These are some of our other purchases. I just LOVE books listed for $1 but only cost $.80 after discount!
One of my favorite picture book purchases from the book fair was Have Fun, Molly Lou Melon by Patty Lovell. You already know how much I love Molly Lou! This is a great character education book and wonderful for looking at theme ~ believe in yourself and never lose your imagination!
Substitute Creacher by Chris Gall is another fun story that I cannot wait to share with my kiddos. We ordered this picture book with our first book order, but we have been so engrossed in our study of narratives, we have not had a chance to read it. This is just such a fun little read aloud with a bit of a graphic novel feel to it. My students are really loving graphic novels at the moment, so this will be right up their alley.
You know I am all about Chris Van Allsburg! One of my seasonal favorites of his is The Widow's Broom! Great story - with even better illustrations. One of my favorite things about this author is how he leaves so many things unsaid. It is up to you to read between the lines, to infer!
Well, I must say good night my friends. Happy reading!
But if you want to see something to make you smile, just look at the greeting of that letter..."Dear Mrs. Wonderful Dunn." LOL...someone is working for an A+. No really, I am just kidding! Have I mentioned how much I love reading my kiddos reader's notebooks?! You know I do tend to repeat myself. (Just in case you haven't noticed ;) No worries though right...check out these great reader's notebooks! I am so proud of these kids. 
Look what at I found at the end of the last school year. It was one of those random stops by my favorite place, Books-a-Million. Katie Byrd and I were wondering around the store, and of course floating around the back of my head is the idea that the last thing I need in this world is one more book. Then I happened upon this beauty! OMG...a 20th anniversary edition of one of my all time favorite books! Of course, whether I needed it or not, I was NOT walking out of the store without this one! Not only is it a wonderfully crafted story, now it is a beauty as well. Whoo hoo! Look at these gorgeous illustrations with notes from Gary Paulsen. Talk about discussions regarding where writers get ideas and author's purpose and word choice! PERFECTION at its best. :) We are sneaking in a little Gary Paulsen here and there. You can always make time for the classics!
Just two picture books to share tonight. These are from the hilarious team of Mike Reiss and David Catrow. You just can't go wrong with a Catrow! Both are silly and fun rhyming books. Most of the holiday favorites make an appearance in both: turkey, pilgrims, Lincoln and Washington for Presidents' Day, even the Easter bunny. Either Santa needs a holiday from his holiday, Santa Claustrophobia, or he needs to recover from a knock-out punch by a Jack-in-the-boxer, How Murray Saved Christmas. Either way, Christmas is turned upside down and has to be saved. My kiddos really giggled at poor Murray and his fashionable unmentionables when they make an appearance. I swear I could look at a David Catrow book all day and still not see all that he has to offer.
