Help Us Achieve Our All-School Read

Over the past two years, we have created a community of readers, in part, through our all-school read. The first year, everyone read Wonder by RJ Palacio. Even my most reluctant colleagues loved Auggie's story and the impact reading it together has on our students. Last year, we tackled A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park. Not only did our students get the opportunity to read the book, they also had guest from our local branch of Lifewater come and teach them about what it is like to live without a well. Kids carried the 5-gallon jugs, traced the path of water in its daily use, and learned about athletes from Activewater who are working to bring wells to under served communities.

This year, I met Wes Moore at the School Library Journal Summit. His young adult book, Discovering Wes Moore, seems like the perfect book for our community this year. The story of both Wes Moores--one a Rhodes scholar and author, one in prison for the rest of his life--will likely resonate with a wide variety of readers. In order to have enough copies of the book, I started a Donors Choose (which was totally funded--yay!) and am also partnering with our local independent bookstore to have copies donated. If you are local, you can stop in at Bookbug of Kalamazoo and donate a copy for $6.29+tax. If you are remote (or just prefer shopping online), Bookbug has provided a link to use for donating a copy (use code MAPLEREADS at checkout to get the discount).

Would you like to share our project with your friends and family? This flyer may be used to advertise our funding efforts. I look forward to sharing the results of this year's endeavor. What books have you used successfully for all-school reads?

It's Getting Heavier

I finished two more titles over the weekend that might see awards in January. Neither made the Heavy Medial shortlist, but one of them came up over and over in the comments and the other was mentioned on the blow and I wanted to have a look at it due to its representation of diverse characters. I will say that both made me cry a few tears and gave me some things to think about.

Apple, an American middle schooler who was born in the Philippines, wants a guitar more than anything else. Her mom says no way and is not willing to budge. The chapter titles all refer to songs which creates a playlist for the book. Apple also tracks "IFs" (interesting facts) about the people around her--she believes each person has three IFs. I love the idea of having students come up with their IFs while reading the book. The trials Apple faces in middle school make Blackbird Fly by Erin Entrada Kelly a story we can all relate to.

Ada was born with a club foot and has spent her entire life looking out the window of her London flat. When the war threatens, she and her brother Jamie are evacuated to the English countryside where they learn about all the things they have been missing. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's The War that Saved My Life was a different perspective on World War II than I had read before--and one that made me cry both sad and happy tears.










I have a few more titles from the shortlist to read--most of which I am waiting for from a recent order. Over the long weekend, I'm planning to squeeze in a few of the titles mentioned on the Printz spectulative blog, Someday My Printz Will Come as well, including:

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman (recent winner of the National Book Award)
Scorpion Rules by Erin Bow
Lumberjanes Beware the Kitten Holy by Noelle Stevenson
Zeros by Scott Westerfeld
Untwine by Edwidge Danticat

Just when I think I've read quite a bit for the year, shortlists are presented . . . and I realize how little of the surface I have scratched! What books do you think might end up with medals in January?

More Medal

As I mentioned before, I have been following Heavy Medal's Newbery shortlist and trying to read the titles they selected before the award announcement. The comments on their post have also provided some great suggestions for books that might nab an award come January. I finished two titles this week. I enjoyed both in different ways and would love to see either one honored by the committee.

Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan is five gorgeous stories woven into one: the mythical tale of three orphaned sisters, stories of three children as various points through World War II, and the story of a harmonica that connects them all. At nearly 600 pages, this story drew me and I marked several places where I wanted to read the beautiful words over and over again.

I'm an avid fan of roller derby and anticipated this book from the first review I read. Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson is the story of Astrid as she joins a junior roller derby team. The storyline includes the tough parts of a transition from elementary school to junior high, as well as lessons about friendships. It's cool that Jamieson herself is a roller girl which makes this story more authentic.











Next up are Blackbird Fly by Erin Entrada Kelly and The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. Both of these escaped the official shortlist, but have been mentioned in the comments or earlier in the blog year. I'm also looking forward to My Seneca Village by Marilyn Nelson which just arrived at our main office after being ordered through on-demand printing. I shared this Curriculum Connection from School Library Journal with the assistants at our other middle schools and I'm hoping teachers will be as excited about this title as we are.

Working Toward Our Goal

As we continue to work toward our goal of moving our sixth grade group forward as readers, we try new activities each week. Last week we had the students choose new books, settle in, and read them. Their stamina has grown in just a few weeks to the point where they didn't become restless until almost 25 minutes into reading. We were so thrilled to see them reading and enjoying their books.

Following reading time, we asked each student to sketch the cover of the book they read and write at least one reason they chose the book. They completed this pretty quickly and then used the microphone and document camera to share their books and reasons with the class. It was fun to listen to the students compliment one another on their sketches and comment that they were interested in one another's books. We are building a community of readers with this group--and they are reading at least 90 additional minutes per week!

This activity worked well and went quickly. I have been thinking about several variations we might use in the future: sketch a scene and write about its importance to the story, sketch a character and write about why he/she is like you or not like you, make a Thinking Map using an idea from the book . . . the possibilities are endless. What quick activities have you used to foster a reading community?

 The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima

 Clash of the Demons by Joseph Delaney

 Dear Julia by Amy Bronwen Zemser

 The Titan's Curse: The Graphic Novel by Robert Venditti

 The Usborne Introduction to the Second World War by Paul Dowswell

The Ascension by Michael Carroll

Heavy Medal

Award season is coming and, with it, a host of mock award blogs are guessing what books might earn medals for the 2015 year. I tend to follow both Heavy Medal and Someday My Printz Will Come because books discussed on both blogs are likely to be popular with my students. Heavy Medal recently posted a shortlist of guesses as to which books might be in the running for the Newbery this year. I'm trying to read all of them before the awards are announced. I finished two this weekend (both by authors who have been touched by Newbery magic in the past):

Written in diary format, The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz follows Joan as she runs away from her father's farm in order to better herself in the city. I giggled and cringed at the same time as a young Catholic girl works to fit into--and learn from--her Jewish employer's family. Joan is optimistic and funny--I loved her voice throughout the story.

Told in second person, Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead is the story of Bridge, Em, and Tab, three longtime friends going through the trials of middle school. My eighth grade daughter picked this up when I brought it home and finished in less than 24 hours. When I asked her what she thought, she just sighed and said, "So great." We all have a little bit of each of these girls in us and this book reminded me of what it is like to be in seventh grade.

I started Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan this morning and am hoping to also read Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson this week. What books have you read in 2015 that might be in the running for an award?

NetGalley for the Win!

I have used NetGalley on and off for many years. I love that I can get galleys of books without having to worry about what to do with the physical copy when I am done, but I also miss having copies to pass on to kids when I finish. The biggest bonus for me of having access to e-galleys is being able to preview books that I might consider for MS, but am not sure about. Sometimes books end up slanting more toward the HS range, so I'm glad I have previewed them instead of ordering and hoping.

This is a roundup of my NetGalley reads from the past couple of weeks:

Bennett, Jenn The Anatomical Shape of a Heart Two artists: one who draws cadavers, one who is a notorious graffiti artist. They meet by chance one night at a train station and form an instant connection.

Coutts, Alexandra Young Widows Club Just weeks after getting married to her high school sweetheart, 17-year-old Tam becomes a widow. This tear-jerker follows Tam as she goes through therapy and picks up the pieces of her life.

Huang, Charlotte For the Record After losing a reality singing competition, Chelsea is recruited into a band. The most important rule? No hook-ups between band members. What happens if someone breaks the rule?

Redgate, Riley seven ways we lie Seven high school students, seven perspectives, seven deadly sins to avoid. I just started this one and am looking forward to untangling the plot.

NetGalley allows librarians to enter their ALA membership number so that publishers know they are professional readers. You can be pre-approved by publishers so that you can be automatically download their titles. How have you used NetGalley or other professional preview sources to enhance your practice?

Focus on Bulletin Boards

The bulletin boards in our main hallway represent a lot of real estate. One of my small goals this year is to keep them updated. I spent some time on Pinterest in order to get some ideas (I barely made it out alive from that rabbit hole!) In the end, I decided to start the year with a few things that I have seen posted around the Internet.

Our teachers do some work on Mindset with our students, so I thought a bulletin board in the main hallway highlighting what this concept looks like would be a good way to start the year. I found several versions on Pinterest and, ultimately, settled on this one because I could print PDF files from this blog which made the creation of it so much easier. There are a lot of great ideas on teacher blogs and Pinterest pages--I'm grateful that others are willing to share their work.

I am also concerned about how our students are using technology. I want them to take advantage of their devices for good instead of evil, so I created a version of the popular "Before You . . . Think" bulletin board using social media icons. However, I also added several options of great ways to utilize devices as well. My suggestions include signing up for their teachers' Remind notices, following our PTSO on Facebook, and using the online resources (e books and audiobooks) from the school library. I added QR codes to the posters to make it simple to find the resources. The icons, images, and fonts for this one came straight from the sites themselves and it was pretty simple to create. 

My other displays are located right outside the library doors. I use one to keep students and staff updated about community activities that might be of interest (it was author visits earlier in the year and will be updated to reflect the Social Justice Book Bowl this month). The other display is currently a "Read Box," the librarian's take on Red Box. I was able to use a font and poster created by another librarian/blogger. I then added several book jackets. I will continue to rotate and update the book covers throughout the year. 

I will be changing the larger bulletin boards soon and am always looking for new ideas. What sorts of displays and/or bulletin boards have you created to focus on learning and keep your school attractive?

Our Visit With Jacqueline Woodson

When I first started my job here, I began working with several teachers to bring diverse books to the library and classroom shelves. We created core collections that every classroom would have, focusing on authors that displayed diversity and addressed our students' interests. All of the collections included several Jacqueline Woodson titles, and I wrote an article for Knowledge Quest about how this transformed our school. We dreamed of one day having Jacqueline visit and talk to our students. It seems crazy that ten years later, our students were gifted a visit that we had spent years hoping for.

Several groups of sixth and eighth graders read Brown Girl Dreaming in anticipation of Jacqueline Woodson's visit to Kalamazoo. She spent an hour with us last week and her words continue to resonate with me. During the visit, Jacqueline read from Feathers and Brown Girl Dreaming, as well as referencing Each Kindness. She wove stories of her life and how her books came to be between questions from the students and passages from the books. Jacqueline's responses to the questions created a space in which the students could connect to the stories, as well as her life.

One of the students asked about perseverance in the face of doubt and she encouraged the students to believe in themselves--that way it does not matter if anyone else believes in them. What powerful thinking. She also talked about just having time to do nothing--or, "being bored." Having grown up as a Jehovah's Witness, she had hours of religious study each week. This became time to think and create stories. I wonder if my students have time to just do nothing--to think, create, daydream, play, and just be? This time is invaluable. I hope they do.

I was not able to attend the evening presentation at KPL or the seminar at WMU due to a conflict with the AASL National Conference. However, I've already heard lots of positive feedback about Jacqueline Woodson, Jason Reynolds, KT Horning, and Cindy Dobrez and Lynn Rutan. We are so fortunate to have a public library that brings amazing author guests to speak to our students and community. I am thankful for KPL's ongoing service to Kalamazoo.

Jacqueline reading to us from Feather

A few students had books for Jacqueline to sign. We limited book signing so that the students could enjoy the experience and learn more, rather than just standing in line.

We Need Diverse Books Because . . .

If someone had taken

that book out of my hand

said You're too old for this

maybe

I'd never have believed

that someone who looked like me

could be in the pages of the book

that someone who looked like me

had a story.

-Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson

I have been following the We Need Diverse Books campaign and wanted to connect with my students regarding diversity in our library. I decided to create an activity for seventh graders that would allow us to talk a little about what being diverse means to us, as well as looking at some of the resources available in our collection.

In order to facilitate a discussion, I had the students start with a Circle Map. Each Thinking Map has a thinking process that students must go through when completing it. A Circle Map is meant to help define a word or concept. I created a map with "diverse" in the center and students were asked to define it using synonyms and/or words that remind them of diversity. After a short period, students shared their ideas with their shoulder partners and then we shared as a class, adding to our own maps and checking for words we already had written down.

Following the mapping process, I displayed a series of book covers and asked the students to decide if they thought each one was diverse or not and tell why. This was a fascinating look into how kids view book covers and diversity. We discussed how sometimes it is possible to discover diverse attributes from the cover alone and how we often have to look beyond the cover to find out more before we decide.

After our discussions, students wrote exit tickets that are now displayed on a bulletin board in the library answering the prompt, "#Weneeddiversebooks Because." The answers vary from not wanting to be "bored" by the same types of books, to wanting to read a variety of genres, to wanting to see myself, to wanting to learn about other cultures. In other words, the students viewed diversity through a variety of lenses and then responded with their personal viewpoint.

 I am planning to follow up this activity with a series of displays that will help the students see diversity in all of the forms they mentioned, as well as other views. As we continue through the year, I'm hoping that my students will have the opportunity to experience both windows and mirrors in the books they choose from our library.

Social Justice Book Bowl 2016

The secondary schools will be competing in the Social Justice Book Bowl at Western Michigan University again this year. Teams of four sixth graders and teams of four seventh and eighth graders will be reading one fiction and one nonfiction book and then answering questions in a competitive format.

The books that have been chosen are as follows:

Sixth Grade

Draper, Sharon Stella By Starlight

 Lowery, Lynda Blackmon Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom

Seventh and Eighth Grade

 Friesner, Esther M. Threads and Flames

Burgan, Michael Breaker Boys: How a Photograph Helped End Child Labor

Students wishing to participate should listen for announcements at their school. Good luck!

  

Goal Setting and Getting to Know a Class

With about 780 students each year, it takes me time to get to know everyone. The sixth graders are especially difficult because they are all new at once and generally only visit once every two weeks. As part of the evaluation process, I have to set a personal growth goal that will also impact my students. After the second visit of one of our new sixth grade groups I knew I wanted to set a goal to work with them to help increase their interest in reading in order to help improve their literacy skills.

During their visit, I noticed that the students had very little direction and seemed to be struggling to make any decisions at all. Then, after they had books in their hands, most were reluctant to settle in and read. This may be the result of a combination of factors, any of which would cause issues. In order to get to the root of this and help the students make better book choices, I approached their teacher about using that class for my goal. Not only was she willing, but she also set a similar goal and we purposed to work together throughout the year to help these students.

We agreed to start with having this class visit the library weekly instead of bi-weekly. This change will allow further positive interactions. In addition, these students generally have higher needs, so they will benefit from the attention of an extra adult for one day each week. We also decided to pull out some of our professional reading resources and think through some ways to focus on the needs of each student. We have both read The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller and decided that the best place to start was with a survey to get to know our students better. We used a lot of the questions from the book, but modified some and added some of our own. I was able to write the survey and my colleague put it into a Google Form so our students could fill in their answers using iPads. We now have data on each student that can inform our future steps.

 There were a few surprises about giving the survey. I thought that they students would jump at the chance to tell us about themselves. However, they just viewed the survey as more work and took some convincing to settle in and complete the questions. They complained about the length, which, again, I thought they might not notice due to using the iPads instead of paper/pencil. The other thing I noticed without looking too closely at the data is that these students spent a long time listing television shows (Q5). I wanted to have an idea of pop cultural interests so that I could find books with similar themes, but I had no idea just how much TV these students watch. It will be a challenge to draw them into books and away from television.

I will spend the next few days looking at the survey data and then developing the activity for this week. I would like to do a book pass, but with the intention of drawing books from the shelves that closely match the interests listed on the surveys. I'm looking forward to developing a relationship with this class and finding ways to draw them into books and reading as a part of their daily lives.

Bringing Back the Book Pass

I often see posts encouraging patrons of libraries and book stores to have a "blind date with a book." The concept is simple: a book is wrapped in plain paper and several attributes are listed on the outside. Patrons check out or purchase the book based on the description alone without, in effect, judging it by its cover. On the other hand, I have always wanted to invent bookshelves that allow all covers to be out because I think kids are more likely to pick up books when they can see the covers. However, covers can also be a turnoff and some don't tell the whole story, so librarians have the job of hand-selling and booktalking many titles that may otherwise sit on the shelf without any readers.

During his first library visit this year, one of our seventh graders told his teacher that he likes the Origami Yoda series and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Those series are both popular and all of my copies were checked out, but I offered several other options including Charlie Joe Jackson, The Clone Chronicles, and I Funny and Middle School. None of these were deemed acceptable substitutes which led me to a discussion with the teacher about how students often need a push to step out of their comfort zones. We decided to do a book pass on her next visit.

A book pass is an activity I have used in the past to introduce kids to new books. I arrange four books at each table and provide a form that the students use to take notes. Each book is passed in a clockwise direction based on a timer. Students are asked to look at the front cover, back cover, inside flap, and read the first page or two. We then have them write about whether they might check that book out and tell why or why not. I purposely put out books that they students may not have seen and carefully provide a mix of fiction and nonfiction.

Following the activity, I survey the students about the books and the activity:

• Did they find a book that they might like to check out?
• Were they surprised by the content of a book based on what they might have thought seeing the cover only?
• Was there a book on the table that they had no idea our library owned?
• Did this activity help them think about different types of books they might explore?

There were some tables that had to negotiate (rock-paper-scissors) to see who got to check out a particular book first and who would go on the hold list. At other tables, no one wanted any of the books. I like to see which books are coveted and which draw little interest because that helps with both marketing and purchasing.

My next step was to collect all of the forms and read them. Yes, I do participate as an equal teacher and expect myself to read and comment on assignments that happen in the library. I never want to add to the workload of our staff, but instead find ways to enhance what they are already doing. Reading the forms gives me insight and allows me to have conversations with the students around books that might not otherwise happen. 

This student make a connection to his life and decided to check out the book following the activity. I am looking forward to talking to him about how he liked the book.

I am looking forward to our next visit and the opportunity to talk about which books were favorites and which ones ended up not working out. I have also planned to do this activity with another team in the coming weeks. Reader's Advisory is an important aspect of creating lifelong readers and helping students work toward self-advocacy and independence. I plan to continue exploring different methods of putting books in my students' hands as the year continues.

Gary Schmidt at Bookbug

Signed to the Maple Street Readers

The owners of Bookbug, a local independent bookstore, invited me to have dinner with Gary Schmidt last week before he did a reading of his new title Orbiting Jupiter at their store. Bookbug is a special place. It opened about eight years ago as a book store for children and has since expanded to include adult titles as well. I can go in and get lost for hours among the books and unique book-related items they stock. I was thrilled to be included among a group of local librarians and educators and enjoyed conversation with Gary about obscure picture books, the class he teaches at Calvin College, and his day visiting several local schools.

After our dinner, we arrived at the store and Schmidt told us about his inspiration for Orbiting Jupiter (an article he read years ago combined with a visit to a juvenile prison in Northern Michigan) and read a chapter from the book. He also told about the incredible experience of editing his late wife's picture books. I always find audience questions add depth to an author visit and this time was no different. Schmidt was asked about how he finds the voice of his protagonists and he shared some experiences that have helped him bring his characters alive. I like to make not of quotes when I hear a speaker and my favorite of the evening was definitely, "Everyone remembers middle school vividly, but no one wants to relive it." As I have interacted with middle schoolers each day of the past 16 years, I tend to agree with that sentiment. However, the fodder for character development is rich and plentiful!

I purchased a copy of Orbiting Jupiter and had it signed for our library. I read it in a couple of days and the characters remain with me a week later. I'm thinking about kids who fall through cracks and how one act could be the action that changes the course of a person's life. It's interesting that this theme finds me again: G. Neri had me thinking similarly earlier this month--and he named Gary Schmidt as one of his favorite authors and inspirations. The world is a small place indeed.

Ed Spicer took this picture of me and Gary Schmidt at Oakwood Bistro. I enjoyed getting to catch up with Ed and hear stories about his first grade classroom, as well as his experiences on the Printz and Caldecott committees.

Spanish Immersion Partnership: Baby Steps

We have added a Spanish Immersion Literature class to our course offerings this year and it has opened an opportunity for a partnership that offers some challenges. First, I do not speak Spanish. That's an obvious challenge. In addition to the language barrier, I am also working overtime to find appropriate resources that will allow the students to complete research and reading in Spanish. There are several options that will work with middle school students, but it does take some tips and tricks to make them work well.

My first option was the MEL (Michigan Electronic Library) Databases. These databases range from elementary to scholarly, so there is something for everyone. They are paid for with Michigan tax dollars, so I encourage everyone to use them--why not use what you pay for? In schools and libraries, the databases will be IP recognized. At home, there is a chance that a Michigan driver license or ID number will be needed to prove Michigan residency upon login. This number is verified and dumped--it it not kept on file for any purpose. Once logged in, I have my younger students and new researchers begin searching using Infotrac Junior (also known as "Research in Context"). When a student from the class I was working with found an acceptable article, I had them translate it into Spanish using the included menu. While this worked well for my demonstration, we did discover an issue with our technology. Google Chrome does not work on our library computers and the translate function only works in Chrome. Therefore, the students could not access that function unless they used my computer. It was cute to see them all sharing, but not very efficient.

Taking turns at the circulation station

On day two, we looked up articles using Grolier Online. Grolier has La Nueva Enciclopedia Cumbre, an online reference encyclopedia in Spanish. Students looked up articles using this resource and were able to locate information in Spanish that was useful to their research.

After searching the online sources, one student asked me, "What if I want to look up books too?" I encouraged him to do so, though the books are not in Spanish. He was able to locate a large selection of books that included most of the topics that the class needed. It was nice to see the books emerge from the shelves and I enjoyed the conversations around the illustrations and diagrams in several of the titles. We also talked about what an index is and how to use one--yet another skill that comes naturally to most adults, but must be taught to students.

Our students looking through some of the books about their research topics with their teacher

The teacher was appreciative of the variety of resources available on the topics--and the availability of articles in Spanish. I will continue to work on selecting resources that will match with the needs of this class as I know we will find additional ways to partner in teaching and learning as this class develops.

G. Neri Visit

85 chairs squeezed in and ready to go--no small feat in our library space

Greg Neri visited Maple Street last week and it was fantastic. Last spring, I was contacted by our public library and asked if we would like to have an author visit. My answer was definitely a yes, but I wanted this visit to be different. I have always partnered with English Language Arts teachers or let students self-select into a book clue when we have had author visits in the past. This time, I discussed the visit with a colleague in Library Services before making any decisions. I wanted to have kids who might not otherwise meet an author get the chance to read one of Neri's books and connect with his story. Fortunately, my colleague gave me some great ideas and I ultimately chose to have five of our READ 180 classes read Ghetto Cowboy in preparation for the visit.

Yummy, the subject of one of Neri's books, was based on a real boy

Neri's stories come from life and headlines

Greg is a fantastic speaker who connected with the students well. He showed a video about urban cowboys, spoke about how he came to write his stories, and shared a bit about several of his published books and future books. He also answered dozens of questions from the eager students. After the visit, two statements resonated with me. First, he said he likes to, "Give a voice to the stories that aren't being told." I like the idea that a book might teach me about something I had never dreamed about. I read Ghetto Cowboy on a plane from Chicago to Seattle and I joked afterwards that I was a good thing I didn't have any Wi-Fi because I would have ended up doing a bunch of research on urban cowboys instead of becoming immersed in the story. This was definitely a story that had not been told in a book for teens and I'm glad my students got to experience it.

Mr. Neri interacting with our students

The second idea that has stuck with me is the statement, "Can a book save a person's life?" I had not done much research on Neri prior to his visit. However, I did read one article about Neri connecting with a struggling student and his librarian that I shared with the teacher who had prepped the kids for the visit. I always hope that our students will connect with that one book which will be a springboard to a love of reading and literature. What if a book could truly save a person's life? We can only imagine.


I highly recommend an author visit featuring Greg Neri. If you have an opportunity to see him speak, you will not be disappointed.

The students were captivated

  A sequel to Ghetto Cowboy may be in the works--imagine a polo team set in Philly