Eye to Eye with Caldecott

"What do you see?  Soak it all in."

I watched as the first graders sitting cross legged on the floor of the library leaned in closer to look at an image from McCloskey's 1949 Caldecott book, Blueberries For Sal, displayed on the Promethean board. One student cupped his hands around his eyes in a binocular fashion - to zoom mentally in on what he was seeing.

Blueberries For Sal, Robert McCloskey

"The woman is surprised!" offered one little girl.

"What do you see that makes you say that?"  I prompted.

"Her mouth is open and her eyes are like this."  The student's jaw dropped and she turned to look at her classmates with eyes open wide.  The expression jumped from face to face as others fell in suit to try the surprised look on for size.

I'm embarking on a new adventure this winter with my 1st and 2nd grades.  This year we're attempting to take a closer look at Caldecott books and will try our hand at our first ever Mock Caldecott.

A Close Consideration 

 

To help foster a close consideration of a book's illustrations I've been using Visual Thinking Strategies to guide students into thinking beyond a quick glance.  My school is currently undergoing the process of redesign.  As a part of this process we are evolving into a Fine Arts magnet school.  Just this fall teachers were introduced to Visual Thinking Strategies as a way to increase student comprehension. Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) uses three questions to guide discussion about a particular image:

"What's going on here?"
"What do you see that makes you say that?"
"What more can we find?"

This seemed to me a perfect way to introduce Caldecott and all that it means when a book receives this honor.  I wasn't disappointed!  Since our first foray into VTS we have taken time to consider illustrations from Caldecott books such as:

Flotsam, David Wiesner, 2007 Caldecott

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers, Mordicai Gerstein, 2004 Caldecott

It's been amazing to listen to students as they consider the illustrations and offer their insights - it's been even more amazing to then read the story together and see their nods, hear the exclamations of "I knew it!" and watch as the story settles comfortably over the group.

We'll be taking the things we've learned here and applying them to a small selection of books that just might receive a nod from the Caldecott committee this year.  The beginning's been pretty great - I can't wait to see the end results.

It's a Forever Book

The Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving Break were parent conference days at my school.  Normally the library would be pretty quiet during conferences - a time to catch up on the always overflowing shelving or spine label repair.  Not this time though.

"Are you the librarian?"

"We brought our ticket."

"They said you had a book for us?"


December marks the beginning of our 5th One School, One Book celebration.  If you're not familiar with One School One Book - it is a family literacy program where every family and staff member receive a copy of same book during the same time period.  It's like nightly reading, only better.

For the next three weeks we will be reading and sharing Beverly Cleary's The Mouse and the Motorcycle with our school community.  I love this program.  It's a pretty amazing feeling to hand a student or a family a book, and explain, " It's a gift, a forever book.  You don't have to return it."

Five boxes just like this - ready to go!

Books sorted by class

We do lots of things to encourage students to read from the book each night with their families.  We introduced the coming book to families during a literacy night with a staff skit.  There's nothing quite like wearing paper mouse ears  and singing "Three blind mice" in front of your school community to make you feel like a celebrity during lunch duty the next day!

I'm lucky to work with some amazingly supportive colleagues!

During parent conferences families received a ticket that could be brought to the library in exchange for a copy of the book.  What an incredible experience.  I've never had the chance to talk with so many families about reading to their kids before.  Over two days I was able to personally encourage nightly reading with almost 150 families. AMAZING!  During these conversations I also shared a reading calendar that marks out how the book will be read and explained that daily trivia questions that go along with the reading would be announced every morning over the intercom.  It was great to see how many parents had fond memories of reading this same book when they were younger and watch them exclaim to their child that "They'll love this book!"  It was even better to watch them walk out with the book in hand and smiles on faces.

To help pique interest I always create a display outside the library that goes along with the book.  This year I'll be posting pictures of trivia winners on the display as well.  When we finish reading, we'll celebrate the end of the book by hosting a Family Movie Night and we'll show The Mouse and the Motorcycle movie (Yep  - 1986, Fred Savage, stop-motion - the very one and the same!)

Best of all though, will be the conversations over the next three weeks.  The discussions that will happen as we read the book.  The chance to laugh together about a character's antics or shake our heads collectively in disbelief at the turn of events. It's about building a community of readers and the forever habit of reading.  This is what it's all about.

A Shelf Full of Ikigai

"I love what I do.  I am a librarian."

I find myself voicing this refrain pretty regularly.  It comes up in conversations with friends, family members who call to see how it's going, and coworkers who comment on my upbeat nature.  Until just recently I didn't really have a good way to explain it - I'd gush about the books, literacy, working with kids - everything.   A simple question of "How are you doing?"  would end 20 minutes later with me still bubbling over with joyous explanations and the asker smiling and slowly..backing.. away....

But now I have a new response.

"Ikigai"

I learned about this word just yesterday. My son and I were working in the garage and listening to a holiday radio show.  In between choruses of "Jingle Bells" and "Frosty the Snowman" the radio DJ would come on and share different facts and interesting articles.  During one of these pauses the DJ talked about research that looked at how some people live to be 100.  There were of course the tips about eating less meat and moving more naturally.  But there was also ikigai.  Pronounced ee-key-guy, this is the Japanese concept for "Why I wake up in the morning", or more simply "Reason for being".  I was struck by the simplicity of the word and and enormity of all that it means, and then it hit me -  a library is full of ikigai.

You'll see it in quotes all over the internet about libraries and how they have been the link to happiness:

"I always felt, if I can get to a library, I'll be OK."

- Maya Angelou

"Without libraries what do we have?  We have no past and no future."

-Ray Bradbury

"When I got my library card, that's when my life began."

-Rita Mae Brown

What an amazing thing to be a part of.  Every day when the readers come there is this possibility.  There is this chance that inside this space, inside a book, there is a reason for being for each of us. 

This. 

This is why I love my job.  I have found my ikigai.  And part of what I do helps others find their ikigai too.

We Are the Curators of Curiosity - the Guardians of Imagination

It's a week past Halloween.  The sugary dance of children who have raided and consumed sweets from their goodie bags on the way to school has tempered, their pockets now emptied of secretly stashed bite size chocolates.  As an adult it's easy to be sidelined by the sugar rush associated with this holiday - to focus solely on the loot and not the story behind the outstretched hands at your door.

My school manages Halloween each year by inviting students to celebrate through a storybook parade.  Students are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite character.  Now, as librarians we know that there are little, if any, desired characters or costumes that can't be linked back to a literacy source of some kind.  This is where our mad skills as librarians, the curators of curiosity and guardians of imagination come into play.

Students typically fall into two categories in October:

• those who love the story and know exactly which character they will be
• those who love an idea/character and haven't yet met the story

It is this second category of student I'm particularly interested in. I relish this conversation starter,

"Mrs. G, do you have any books about......"   

(Here is my opportunity to connect a reader! My librarian heart is all a-twitter.......)

"So, you want to be a zombie hunter for Halloween?  Hmmmm, have you seen this poetry book called Zombies: Evacuate the School! ?"

Zombies! Evacuate the School! by Sara Holbrook

"Mrs. G, I want to be Red Riding Hood for Halloween."

(Internal Squeal! I know the perfect book.....)

"Really?  Well, have you seen this new book?  It's based on Little Red...."

Little Red Writing by Joan Holub

 When Halloween finally sidles up and knocks on our door I'm thrilled to see the story book characters that parade around our school. Fairy tales and adventures, sci-fi and fantasy, each has it's own representative.  My work here has just begun though.  As the storybook parade winds down and the Draculas return to 2nd grade spelling, a student approached me

 "Mrs. G, I couldn't get a costume for today."

I looked at this student and replied, 

"You know what? Imagination is the best costume. Who are you today?"

The student paused for a minute and then proceeded to tell me in detail about his super hero character.  As he explained each detail, the cape and protective armor, the designs on his shoes, I nodded in understanding.

"I can see it!  Every bit!  And you know what?  I have the perfect book for you...."

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

 

It's book fair week in the Eubank library - definitely one of the most exciting times of the year.  I love the faces of students and adults alike as they come into the library and see the displays, racks and tables full of future "forever" books.  The "oooohs"  and "aaahhhhs," the students clutching hands and smiling, the sheer giddiness and joy over seeing books,  yes, BOOKS makes my reading heart explode with happy tingly feelings. 

Book Fair is a great time to sample and try out so many different books.  I remember years ago hearing the idea that when a teacher or librarian gives students a taste of a book by sharing it in some way - reading a sample, viewing a book trailer, or giving a book talk, that it is something akin to "blessing" the book.   We will be "blessing" lots of different books this week and paying close attention to the titles that grab students' attention.

This week we will be exploring these titles:

Pete the Cat and the New Guy by Kimberly and James Dean

Nightsong by Ari Berk

Sisters by Raina Talgemeier

Chupacabra by Roland Smith

This is just the beginning - it's going to be a GOOD week!

The Power of Bacon

Have you met Chris P. Bacon yet?  The students at Eubank know him. He is helping us define our good intentions.

Students were introduced to this adorable fellow with this video:

 Sing Along With Chris P. Bacon

And this fantastic story:

If you’ve read earlier entries in this fledgling blog you’ll know that this year in the library the focus centers on the idea of all that is “GOOD”; the good in each individual, the good in our neighbors and the good throughout the world.  

Life can be full of challenges. Sometimes choosing “GOOD” means hard work.  This can be a difficult idea for kids to understand. Chris P. Bacon is helping my students understand the importance of perseverance – the struggle to make a “GOOD” choice.

After reading the students spent some time thinking about Chris’s story and what they could take away from it.  My primary students created construction paper shape collages of Chris – wheels and all and identified a goal they wanted to persevere for.   Older students used an acrostic of Chris’s name to help them think about the character traits Chris exemplified and what helped him to persevere and “Never Give Up:”

C- courageous

H- helpful

R - role model

I - inspiring

S - support

Students then used their own names to create acrostic bookmarks of the individual traits they possess.  They got to take their bookmarks home – I hope it is a reminder that they do have skills that can help them persevere and never give up!

There’s already been a ton of requests to check out Chris P. Bacon’s story!  Wait until the kids find out that there’s a new story coming out in November!

 
I think it's going to get a "Good" - No, make that GREAT response!

Seurat Rhymes with Dot

What do you call pointillism, pinwheels, and polka dots?  

A recipe for something pretty awesome!

I love when things come together.  I mean really come together.  Sometimes it just feels like certain
ideas and concepts were meant to unite.  This September the students in the library are exploring some pretty amazing concepts: character traits, creativity, fine art, and how to make their mark by being a positive influence in the world.  These are all part of the lessons being planned around this year's big idea:  BE THE GOOD.

We're celebrating International Dot Day which is September 15ish and the International Day of Peace which is September 21st by creating pointillism inspired pinwheels that will be displayed in front of our school during the week of September 15th.

Pointillism

To start this lesson, students K-5  began by looking at prints of paintings by the artist Georges Seurat. 

A Sunday on La Grande Jatte, Georges Seurat 1884

As we explored Seurat's painting we discussed what we saw in the images - Where are the people?  What are they doing?  Why might they be there? After some initials discussions students were asked to look even closer at the paintings - did they notice anything special about the picture?  It didn't take long before someone announced "It's all dots!"  This lead to a great discussion about Seurat and his style of painting - pointillism.  The kids were pretty amazed to learn that the paintings were all made of millions of tiny dots of color.  Next, we talked about how long a painting like this would take to create and how patient Seurat must have been.

Character Traits

Talking about how patient Seurat must have been to spend so much time painting with only dots (the painting A Sunday on La Grande Jatte took him two years to complete!) - lead to a mini lesson about character traits. Here's where some of my favorite books from the library were incorporated:

Exclamation Mark by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Dot by Patricia Intriago

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Lionni

I love every one of these books! After reading one of these books we explored the idea of character traits further.   How could we describe the characters? What if we looked deeper? What happens when we think about the characters beyond what we see just on the outside?  Who were these characters?  How did they MAKE THEIR MARK on the world?  How did they choose to BE THE GOOD!  Oh my gosh - my librarian heart is just exploding with happy connections here!

Pinwheels, Dot Day and Peace

Working as a librarian at an elementary Fine Arts Magnet school means that I spend a lot of time challenging myself to look for ways to integrate core subjects, fine arts concepts and literary ideas.  Can the amazing work of Seurat, learning about character traits, and inspiring children's literature be combined into something meaningful and memorable for students?  Yes!

Enter International Dot Day and International Day of Peace!

The library is challenging each student to decorate a paper pinwheel in a style inspired by Seurat's Pointillism - using DOTS and to include on the pinwheel words that describe their own personal character traits that they want to use to MAKE THEIR MARK ON THE WORLD!  As we created and decorated the paper for our pinwheels we discussed what would happen if each of us used our best character traits to make our mark - how could that change the world for the better?  The students are excited and so am I.   The student pinwheels will be displayed for one full school day in front of our school during the week of International Dot Day and the International Day of Peace.  I'm thinking September 17ish.

Shopping for Pinwheel Supplies

Students used synonym trait lists and a thesaurus to help pick traits that described themselves

We used sponge tipped painters to make our painting easy to manage

I made a sample pinwheel for students to see what we would be creating

So far, about half of the classes have created the paper portion of the pinwheels.  There's still a bit of work to be done - but I can't wait to see the end result.  

I think it's going to be pretty good.