Lizzie Murphy Queen of the Diamond {Poetry Friday}

Lizzie Murphy
Queen of the Diamond

Why did you want to play baseball in 1900?

Best form of entertainment

How did you get started?

I played ball with my dad and brother

What was your first game experience?

I was bat girl at 8 years old

How did you get to play?

My brothers team forgot a team ball

So what?

I had one and I negotiated playing time

Did you ever play on a team officially?

Two teams at 15 years old

Were you still playing with only boys?

Yes

Did your parents approve?

No, my mother tried to talk me out of it

Why didn't that work?

I couldn't sit and watch the game

Did you play professionally?

Yes, for 17 years

Was it easy?

No, at first they wouldn't pay me

Did that change?

Yes, I advocated for myself

Five dollars a game, same as the men

What were your major accomplishments?

first woman to play major league exhibition game

played on National and American all star teams

I'm continuing my study of the book Poems are Teachers How Studying Poetry Strengthen Writing in All Genres by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater.   Each week I will let you know the technique of the week I've played with and a thought or two about the process.  

"..we can also make something new from days gone by."   Amy Ludwig Vanderwater

This week was Listen to History and I knew right away I wanted to find a softball picture book in our house and try to make something new from it.  Queen of the Diamond The Lizzie Murphy Story by Emily Arnold McCully is the one I could easily find in my teenagers bedrooms.  I reread this picture and was instantly reminded how important history is to show us growth, strength, and risk taking individuals that made a difference for us today.

As I read this picture book I found myself collecting short phrases to chronically tell Lizzie's story.  However Amy's Try It prompts lists questions to spark some felling and emotion about the history.  I decided to use the prompt, If you could bring someone from this time period to life, what would you ask?

Thank you Mary Lee at A Year of Reading for hosting Poetry Friday this week.

Super Secret Agent Dotty Detective

Super Secret Agent Dotty Detective by Clara Vulliamy was my most recent chapter book read.  I love a good mystery.  I love a story where friends work together.  I love books with a layout to support transitional readers.  I recently discovered Dotty, girl detective and enjoyed every moment we spent together.  There's an announcement at school for an upcoming talent show and she feels she has nothing to share.  She makes a list of all the things she's good at; be still my writing heart.  She discovers she's a "puzzle solving whiz kid".  Dottie over hears a conversation in the cafeteria about a plan to win the talent show and she's wants to figure out how.  Together with a couple of friends Dot Detectives is born.  I love their Golden Rules; stay frosty (alert), follow that hunch, use your noodle, look for a light-bulb moment, and get proof.  Readers follow their journey, friendship, and antics while the talent show is going into production and they do solve a mystery.  

If I only looked at the thickness of this book I might not have picked it up for my second grade classroom.  Once I looked inside I was visually in love before I knew anything about the story.  This book looks like a documenter, a story teller is telling it.  There's doodles, handwriting, and typed text to tell the story.  The titles are a different day of the week helping the reader follow a timeline and done with label machine tape or fun fonts.  Some pages are on graph paper and there's plenty of white space to help the reader.  You even find Polaroid sketched photos taped with washi tape to the page.  You feel like you are reading a journal that was carefully crafted.

Chris Butterworth Trio {Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday}

Author Chris Butterworth and illustrator Lucia Gaggiotti are new to me and I am very thankful Candlewick Press sent me these copies to review.  These three books explore every day things in our lives with a fantastic pairing of blurbs, labels, and illustrations.  Each book pointed out things we use daily and fostered wondering for why or how.  They help the reader to stop and think.  They also take some complex ideas and visually offer explanation.  

One of my favorite pages in How Does My Home Work? is a two page spread showing all the different machines that need energy to make them work.  This is after a map/diagram showing wiring and pips for water in a home.  How Did That Get in my Lunchbox? shows various settings for food production; farms, dairies, and factories.  I think it's eye opening to students to think beyond going to a grocery store.  Hands down Where Did My Clothes Come From? is my favorite.  I purposefully left this book on our kitchen island one morning and both of my high school girls picked it up and kept talking to me about what they saw and read.  They each found fascinating tidbits about fabric.  My soon to be college fashion major was completely surprised to learn about silk and how it was made.  This book goes beyond sweaters and yarn.  Do you wonder where your jeans, soccer uniform, party dress, fleece jacket, and boots are made from?  I was also happy to see a blurb at the end about recycling clothes.

Each book ends with an author's note, illustrator's note, and bibliography.  I feel like Chris and Lucia are my friends because their notes help me understand why they wrote these books.  Each book has an index with specific words.  I think these will make great books to take one at a time and spend a week with.  I think it will be better to read it in smaller chunks to allow for lingering and discussion.

Thank you Alyson at Kid Lit Frenzy for hosting this weekly sharing.

Not again... {Slice of Life}

thawp...
thawp...
thawp...

Oh no, not again.  Brake.  Hop off.  Turn slowly around and yes.  I have another flat tire.  He worked so hard yesterday fixing it after our ride on Saturday.  I rode it to the grocery store and it was fine.  That was a short distance.  What do I do now?  I'm all alone.  I'm about a mile and a half from home. I don't have that extra tire we bought.  I don't have my cell phone.  I don't have my handy dandy husband the bike repairman.  I can walk.  I started to get a little bit grumpy.  I like walking.  It is quiet tonight.  I love this little wooden section on the path.  I hear some birds.  Maybe someone knew I needed to slow down, think, and be mindful.  

Epilogue - I took my new bike to where I purchased it and I had run over something on the first bike ride that had a slit in the outer tire.  Excellent customer service with a free repair and my biking adventures are back on track.

Thank you Two Writing Teachers for fostering this writing community.

Good Rosie! A New Kate DiCamillo Book!

I was so happy for a sneak peak at Good Rosie! by Kate DiCamillo from Candlewick Press this week.    It's a graphic novel format and a great way to introduce graphic novels to younger readers.  The story is broken down into nine parts giving it a chapter book feel at times.  I like having the parts because each one is a snippet of the overall story and would allow pauses for class discussions.  I think there's just enough text in each part to also look at and study graphic novel features. 

Rosie lives with George and often feels lonely.  She sees her reflection in her food bowl and feels lonely.  She prefers chasing squirrels and George likes to look at cloud formations.  George takes Rosie to a dog park for the first time and I found her reaction to be quite surprising.  While there Rosie works through being unsure, being a hero, and learning how to make friends.  Sounds like a perfect read for the beginning of the school year or when things might seem a little bit off in a community during the year.  Rosie reminded me new situations can take time and careful thinking.

You can preorder Good Rosie! today, it's available September 4th.

No More Independent Reading without Support {Professional Read}

I picked up No More Independent Reading without Support by Debbie Miller and Barbara Moss because I wanted support.  I was hoping to find validation for my independent reading block.  I was hoping to find suggestions for conferring individually with readers.  I was hoping to find new ideas or nudges to improve one of my favorite times of the school day; independent reading.  Chapter two is packed with easy to read review of research to support independent reading along with stating guided reading as it's place and time too.  It was fascinating to read study after study supporting students reading on their own.  If you struggle finding time for independent reading there's a few pages to help you look at some scheduling changes that could be made and of course tips for navigating independent reading with a classroom of readers.




Nudges I found to try within my own work

- create genre studies, there's not just fiction and nonfiction
- comprehension strategies need to be taught and can differ from genre to genre

- complex text isn't harder text

- read nonfiction daily as a read aloud 

- involve students with goal setting more

- strive for reflection and sharing each day to end the workshop

Quotes that are sticking with me

"To grow, our students must read lots, and more specifically they must read lots of 'complex' texts - texts that offer them new language, new knowledge, and new modes of thought."

"Successful teacher intervention behaviors included 1. teaching responding to student questions, 2. teacher led discussions and 3. teacher monitoring and modeling of comprehension strategies."  

"Conferring is differentiating at its finest."

Breakfast Together {Poetry Friday}

Morning quiet

Eases my mind and body

Opening unknown opportunities

zoom 

dart

dashing about

Hearing Motion

rapid flapping

zip in

short linger

Sipping Nectar

Iridescent shimmers

flashing in and out

pausing for nutrition

Being mindful

Sitting quietly

Peaceful observations

Breakfast Together

I'm continuing my study of the book Poems are Teachers How Studying Poetry Strengthen Writing in All Genres by Amy Ludwig Vanderwater.   Each week I will let you know the technique of the week I've played with and a thought or two about the process.  

"Writers write about that they believe is important, what they believe is wrong, what they long to preserve."  Amy Ludwig Vanderwater

This week was Write from a Feeling or Belief and I appreciated the list of questions Amy provides to help the reader/poet get to beliefs and feelings.  I was torn between two questions; How are you different after reading/seeing this? and What do you want to change in the world?  

I wrestled with many things to change in the world from my home, school district, city, state, nationally, and worldly.  Amy's words about longing to preserve something kept rising to the top of my thinking because I didn't have my phone with me to capture a hummingbird visit to my flower boxes during breakfast.  I enjoyed capturing the feelings with words and can visualize the image and moment now.

I wanted to name my visitor and remember how much my students and I enjoy trying to infer while reading.  I had to pull back as a writer and not name who I had breakfast with.  I wonder if readers will figure it out.

Thank you Catherine at Reading to the Core for hosting Poetry Friday this week.