|
Standardized testing is over (or nearly so). Summer is rushing to meet us. In this issue we offer some good books for summer reading, fun vacation ideas, and activities for filling in those last days of school.
|
|
|
Great End of Year Activity |
by Joyce
Looking for an engaging activity at the end of the year?
Take your students online to view various book trailers (video intros to books). Talk about each, finding out what grabbed the students' attention and made them want to read the book.
1. Conduct an "author" interview based on info found on
the author's website.
2. Have students read brief excerpts from the book.
3. Create a list of "Top 10 Things to Love About This
Book". Find creative ways to present the list.
4. Act out a scene from the book.
5. Write and perform a rap, poem, or song.
6. Create a silent film by using pictures, signs, or
messages on white boards to communicate.
7. Choose any of the techniques you saw in the
online book trailers.
A few websites with info about creating book trailers.
Top 10 Tips for Creating a Stellar Book Trailer
Book Trailers: 11 Steps to Make Your Own
If you follow the links, you'll see that creating a professional book trailer requires countless hours of planning, filming and editing. But that doesn't mean you can't explore the possibilities and learn while trying.
Most authors would be thrilled to receive a book trailer created by fans of their books. Write to the author and offer to post the trailer on YouTube or send a copy for their use. This will enrich the experience for everyone involved.
If your school doesn't allow visits to YouTube, you can still find book trailers on many author websites.
Tina Nichols Coury is an author who creates trailers for others. You can see a variety of book trailers at her site.
View some amazing book trailers created by students in Lee County, FL.
View a Lee County prezi on making book trailers.
|
|
by Carol
Each summer my five girls looked forward to three special activities.
1. Summer Coupon Books
Create a small booklet using construction paper, markers, and stickers. Turn each page into a coupon for an event or
gift.
Ideas include
- Lunch or breakfast out
- Ice cream from the “ice cream man” or favorite restaurant
- Trip to the library just with mom
- Cook-a-dinner with dad/or mom
- A book or CD
- “You-name-it”. The most popular coupon, my children designed their own day. Plans included an amusement park, ice skating, or bowling.
- Tickets to a movie
- Back-to-school shopping.
2. Daughter’s Day (tweak this to fit your family)
When I got married, I gained two step-daughters. Early on I decided that since there were days to celebrate mothers and fathers, there should also be a “daughter’s day.” This day of no chores, fun events, special meals and privileges, started with breakfast in bed. The date changed from year to year; part of the fun was waking up in the morning to a banner that announced, “Today is Daughter’s Day!”
3. Trip Presents
One of my daughter's favorite childhood memories is receiving “presents” on trips. Months before a vacation I started stashing loot. Even kids raised in the digital age can’t resist the lure of a present - wrap the items in scraps of Christmas or brithday wrapping paper. The promise of a gift, or a favorite snack, can help the trip pass more quickly and (maybe) quietly. Ideas include:
- washable markers, multi-colored pens, pencils, fun erasers
- coloring, activity, puzzle books & Mad Libs
- magnetic travel games, card games
- CD’s & CD players, DVD's, video games
- Books, magazines, journal
|
|
|
Hormone Jungle by Brad Bagert |
by Carol
 Hormone Jungle
This collection of 50+ poems is “written” by 11 fictional characters, the self-proclaimed “Digital Poets.”
The book is presented in the form of a scrapbook compiled by the girl whose poem, “Middle School Payback,” began a middle school poetry war. Bagert did such an excellent job of writing the poems from different point-of-views that several times I had to remind myself that he is the behind-the-scenes real author of the entire collection.
Middle school voices are authentic and compelling. No adolescent anxiety is left untouched. Body odor, self-image, fear of love, fear of rejection, sports trauma, classroom assignments… Bagert’s “Digital Poets” uncover them all.
---------------------------------------------
A SAMPLE POEM FROM
HORMONE JUNGLE
Underarm Charm
Last night at the drugstore,
My mother smiled discreetly and said:
“Look, Ryan, deodorant.
Would you like the roll-on or the spray?”
I may not have big muscles,
And I may not have a tan,
But I’m growing hairy armpits,
And I’m smelling like a man.
|
|
|
WILD THINGS by Clay Carmichael |
|
by Carol
A stray cat. An orphaned pre-teen girl. A heart surgeon turned metal sculptor. A young boy rejected by his domineering father. A wild homeless boy and his albino deer. Mix these all together and what do you have? If you're author/illustrator Clay Carmichael, then you have the beautiful 2010 ALA Notable book, Wild Things. Some books are meant to be savored, read slowly and enjoyed page by page. This is one of them.
The story is about kindred spirits who are all in need of home and family. The cat, Mr. C'mere, senses that Zoё, unlike other humans, can be trusted. In turn, Zoё, who has been burned one too many times in her not quite-twelve-year-old life, learns to trust her Uncle Henry (the former heart surgeon). Henry Royster opens his home to a niece he has never met before, thus softening his own grief-torn heart. Zoё’s nemesis, Hargrove, turns out to be a very different person than she first imagines, about the same time that she discovers a half-brother (Wil) and someone special he has named “Sister.”
This isn’t a book with every loose end wrapped up neatly with a “they all lived happily together” ending. But it is a book about acceptance and healing and one that may leave you wondering: Who really are the wild things? And where is the safe place that a person might call home?
Now also available as an audio book, your whole family can listen to this in the car on vacation this summer. Recommended for girls and boys, 9-12. (Front Street Books 2009). |
|
|
Book Themed Vacation Destinations |
 by Joyce
Think about your favorite novel for young people. Does it lend itself to a vacation? This year, a 7th grade teaching team from Granite Falls Middle School took their families to Warm Springs, GA where part of my book, COMFORT takes place. They videotaped their experience so they could bring it back to their students.
Whether you're a teacher, writer, or parent; consider treating yourself to a vacation that centers around a book or author.
A Small List To Get You Started:
Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Home & Museum in Mansfield MO
Betsy Tacy House and related destinations in Mankato, MN
Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, Connecticut
Eric Carle Museum - Amherst, MA
Dr. Seuss National Memorial - Springfield, MA
Sites related to Leaving Gee's Bend by Irene Latham include: Wilcox Area Chamber Tourism (Alabama) and exhibits of Gee's Bend Quilts in Mrytle Beach, SC.
Check out the Southestern Literary Tourism Initiative - a blog by Brian Patrick Miller - which offers short stories, poetry, and book excerpts about real places to visit.
OUTSIDE THE US
Carol just returned from Spain
where she hung out with
author & poet Miguel de Cervantes.
Buxton National Historic Site & Museum - in Buxton, Ontario (Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis
Anne of Green Gables Museum in Kensington, Prince Edward Island (Anne of Anvonlea by Lucy Maud Montgomery)
Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Holland (Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank |
|
|
Have a great summer!
We'll see you in August! |
|
|
|
|
by Carol
Alda Grimaldi, an ESL teacher at Wilson Middle School in Charlotte, NC (who had just attended one of my workshops at NCRA), won the t-shirt with the logo from "Teaching the Story" on the front.
-------------------
Karen Hummel Hassinger (an art teacher at Rosa Lee Carter school in Ashburn, Virginia) won "My Fun Picture Dictionary" and gave it to Michelle Derby who teachers ESL to K-second grade. Here they are:
Michelle said that the photographs help ESL students by eliminating any guess work about the words' meanings. In addition, the bright colors are eye-catching, and the items are shown in more than one context, which is very important for English language learners.
|
|
|
BOOK GIVEAWAY
Rainbows, Head Lice, and Pea Green Tile by Brod Bagert, author of Hormone Jungle (see below) was donated by
Maupin House. (Carol's publisher)
Maupin House, an educational publisher, provides an excellent E-newsletter for educators.
Please see their website to sign up. (link is in their right sidebar)
AUDIO
BOOK
GIVEAWAY
Thanks to author
Clay Carmichael and to Recorded Books
for making the audio version of Wild Things available!
FREE
AUTHOR VISITS
VIA SKYPE
We're each giving away a 1/2 hour session to a classroom.
Carol will conduct a fun writing exercise or talk about her research into her historical fiction in progress.
Joyce will chat with students about writing & publishing, or about one of her books.
To enter the giveaways, send an email request
with the words, CONTEST ENTRY
1 entry admits you to each of the four giveaways.
|
|
 |
 |
|
RECOMMENDED
WRITER'S WORKSHOP |
|
by Joyce
Both Carol and I have attended the
Writer's Workshop
at Chautauqua and recommend it highly to anyone interested in writing for children.
The mid-July schedule is especially convenient for teachers. Yes, it is pricey but if you plan ahead for 2011, you can apply for Highlights Foundation's excellent scholarship program (or go on your own dime this summer).
Inquire about Semester Units of Graduate Credit available to educators.
It's good to have some practice in the writing world before you go, so we also recommend joining SCBWI where you can connect with other writers, read inside info on the publishing industry, and learn from editors and agents. |
|
|
Readicide: How Schools are Killing Reading and What you Can Do About It, by Kelly Gallagher
The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child by Donalyn Miller |
|
|
by Carol and Joyce
We're now offering
Writers-in-Residence
programs and would be happy to customize workshops for your school and grade level. Here are some topics to choose from:
- Pump Up the Narrative!
- Writing Memorable Memoirs
- Writing Across the Curriculum: Using Short Fiction to Supplement Science & Social Studies
- Jazz Up your Writing!
- Writing From the 5 Senses
|
|
|
BLUE
is now in paperback.
You can order directly from the publisher by calling
800-877-512-8366
Generous discounts for schools!
And I'm giving away free copies at my blog.
Drop in and enter to win.
|
|
|
del.icio.us
Digg
reddit
Facebook
StumbleUpon
Twitter
MySpace