Book Pairs: Something Old and Something New About Unsung Heroes

I probably should disable my Amazon button.  It makes it much too easy to purchase picture books at the click of my computer. Let's face it, publishers are quickly able to get picture books out into the market...and authors and illustrators are certainly making it hard to resist. The number of amazing picture books seems to grow each month. In all of these new books, it is easy to forget picture books that have been written that once sang to our hearts.

This week, I was invited to share my book stack for our local NCTE Build Your Book Stack event. It seemed the expectations would be high with a group of book enthusiasts. What could I share they'd love? What was new? What could I share that they hadn't seen? As I worked to find books for our selected theme, I couldn't help but think about past picture books that would be great to share.  Knowing that newer titles would be well received, I completed my collection. However, those other titles kept nagging at me.  So why not share them with you?

Here are the books I shared in my book stack paired with an older picture book with equal power for your classroom library.

Picture Book Pairs:  Unsung Heroes

1. Unsung heroes bring people together to do something bigger than any one person.

Maybe Something Beautiful:  How Art Transformed a Neighborhood (2016) by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell.  Illustrated by Rafael López. 

Strictly No Elephants (2015) by Lisa Mantchev with illustrations by Taeeun Yoo.

Well, this one made me laugh.  Maybe Something Beautiful is new to me, but it has been out in the world since 2016 which makes Strictly No Elephants only a little older.  I'm staying with it though because I love the way these two books pair to demonstrate we are always better together.  In both books, the main character teams with a friends to create something better for their community.  We're better together.  

2.  Unsung heroes bring have a giving heart.  

Thank You, Omu! (2018) by One Mora.

Mama Provi and the Pot of Rice (1997) by Sylvia Rosa-Casanova and illustrated by Robert Roth.  

Now I have the copyright year difference I had hoped for in these pairings.  The first time I read Thank You, Omu!, it reminded me of a picture book I read to my children and my classes years ago.  Both books have a repetitive structure that make them a delight to read.  In both books, the main character makes some soup and is soon sharing with everyone.  The rhythmic language in both books make them perfect for reading aloud.  They both demonstrate the power of a giving heart.   

3.  Unsung heroes are there for others.  

The Rabbit Listened (2019) by Cori Doerrfeld.

I'm Here (2012) by Peter H. Reynolds.  

Let's face it, sometimes we need someone to just listen and help us pick up the pieces.  In both of these picture books the main character has a friend that just sits beside them and listens.  Both demonstrate the power of just being there for other people.  

4.  Unsung heroes understand us, help us hope, and give us a path forward. 

Carmela Full of Wishes (2018) by Matt De La Peña.  Illustrated by Christian Robinson.

Ruby's Wish (2002, 2013) by Shirin Yim Bridges and illustrated by Sophie Blackall

I just love both of these titles for the way I can go back into them again and again to discover something new.  In both stories, the character is a young girl with a wish to make their worlds better.  In Carmela Full of Wishes, Carmela lives in a migrant worker community.  She has many wishes for a better world for her family including having her father beside them.  I love to read Ruby's Wish to groups of students.  As girls/women in America, we sometimes take for granted our ability to get an education.  Life is still very different for many women around the world.  In both of these books, there is a secondary character who understands the main character's wish and helps to find a way forward.  

5.  Unsung heroes will stand up for others.

I Walk with Vanessa:  A Story About a Simple Act of Kindness (2018) by Kerascoët.

Freedom Summer (2001, 2014) by Deborah Wiles.  Illustrated by Jerome Lagarrigue.

Both of these books demonstrate the power of having a friend to walk beside you.  I wrestle a bit with Freedom Summer now that I am more attentive to the white savior narrative.  Yet, I also think the fact that a child will take a risk for a friend when a system is unfair should speak to each of us.  We can't stay silent.  As a friend once reminded me, silence is an option only for those with privilege.  

6.  Unsung heroes do hard things because it matters.  

Lubna and Pebble (2019) by Wendy Meddour and illustrated by Daniel Engnéus.  

Wemberly Worried (2000) by Kevin Henkes.

I keep going back and forth on this pair.  To compare the struggles of a refugee to the first day of school seems a bit unfair.  Let's be honest, these two struggles are nowhere near the same.  However, in both books the main character is dealing with a difficult situation and pushes through to get to the next place.  In both books, there is a friend, who by helping themselves, they also make a difference for the friend.  Both books illustrate the ways we work through really difficult times.  Sometimes we just have to do hard things.  

Your favorite pairings?  I'd love to hear about other books you think might go with these I've shared --- or maybe you have some other old/new pairings that come to mind.  Please share them in the comments.  Wait, I'm going to go get my library card before I spend all my money buying books!

Formative Assessment That Truly Informs Instruction

Today, Franki Sibberson, rounds up reflective posts on formative assessment and NCTE's new document at a Year of Reading.  Stop by to read more.  

"If we use assessment to understand, not evaluate, then it becomes the key to growth."    

             -Clare Landrigan & Tammy Mulligan, Assessment in Perspective (p. 124)

Formative Assessment 
Last week I participated in #nctechat about formative assessment around a new document recently released:  Formative Assessment That Truly Informs Instruction.  Here are some of the highlights:

In today's world of standardized assessments, sometimes it feels like formative assessment gets swept under the rug.  Districts, state and federal entities push us into placing much significance on these standardized one shot evaluations of learners.  Standardized tests, in reality, are a very small part of the learner's story and rarely provide the powerful information we need to support young learners.  Yet, they become what we wrap our conversations around and often the lens in which we view children.

However, I find the best information I discover about children is found in those day-to-day interactions as we learn together.  As an educator, formative assessment gives me much information about:

• where my students are currently 
• what they may need next
• strategies or understandings which may be at the edge of their learning
• their preferences for learning
• which focus lessons I should consider
• small groups that may be formed

A Place to Begin 
NCTE's new document provides a way to talk about these assessments which matter to our day to day work with young literacy learners.  By pulling apart the tools and strategies of formative assessment by considering:

• Observations:  field notes, running records, and miscue analysis
• Conversations:  surveys, interviews, conferences
• Students Self-Evaluation:  exit slips, rubrics, checklists, process reflections, and student-led conferences
• Artifacts of Learning:  collect, review, and look back at a student's learning journey

we have been given a place to start these important conversations.  By finding ways to collect and organize this information we can use it to notice patterns, discuss progress, ask guiding questions and plan intentional instruction.  I'm looking forward to the conversations that may follow as we dig a little deeper into the powerful practice of formative assessment.

A Few Past Posts About Assessment

• Assessment Transformations:  Going Digital 
• Assessment in Perspective 
• Using Evernote for Forms and Templates
• Six Ways to Use Evernote to Capture Learning

Raising Our Words: (Re) Inventing the Future of English #ncte13

"Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability.  It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of dedicated individuals..."  Martin Luther King at Oberlin College Commencement via the King Center

It seems quite common these days for people to speak out against public education.  Politicians, business owners, and even some educators vocally demand change.  Tighter accountability, common standards across the United States, testing mandates, and greater government control are constantly changing the landscape of the work we do.  In all of the noise it is easy to lose sight of the real work we do.

Taking the time to attend the NCTE conference each year reminds me of the significance of the work we do in pubic education daily and helps me to stay focused on what matters most - children.  This year's conferences was titled (Re)Inventing the Future of English.  As I've taken time to reflect on the time in Boston with so many educators I respect and admire, I took some time to try to weave the numerous thought provoking snippets into a story:

(Re)Inventing the Future of English

To Me (Re)Inventing the Future of English Means:  

Collaborate beyond our classrooms:  Teaching no longer is about what happens within our walls, but instead about how we collaborate and learn with others beyond our classrooms and around the world.  This year I lived this as our six session presenters from a variety of locations worked across Google Hangouts, Google docs, and Twitter to plan and collaborate for this event.   I was so excited to finally meet Susan Dee and Mary Bellavance as we joined Karen Terlecky, Deb Frazier, and Katie Keier to share round table discussions:  Kidwatching in a Digital World.

Get connected:  The future of English requires that we connect with others to learn and grow in literacy.  At NCTE I was fortunate to meet many of the educators, authors, and literacy leaders who inspire me to learn and grow.  The Choice Literacy dinner, #nerdybookclub gathering, Stenhouse gathering, as well as moving from session to session gave me time to chat with countless colleagues I learn from each day.  We are fortunate to be able to bring authors right into our classroom, to learn alongside them at conferences, and to share their work with our students.  We are able to connect as educators to improve our practice, advocate for change, and push our profession to grow and change.  We can now connect our classrooms with other classrooms around the world.  The greatest highlight of NCTE for me was meeting and talking with educators I learn from across the year.  The significance of these connections is apparent in viewing the hashtag #ncte13.

Dig for meaning:  Stephanie Harvey, in a Doubling Down on Strategic Reading and Thinking with Anne Goudvis, Kristin Ziemke and Katie Muhtaris, reminded us, "We teach kids to think so they can acquire and use knowledge."  She added, "Complex text demands the reader's recognition and thoughtful consideration of many of facets of an idea, issue or problem."  Students now have opportunities to use a variety of resources to learn more about their world.  Jo Ellen McCarthy talked about providing students with an invitation to notice, resources to discover, and a notebook to use as a place to capture their thinking (Inquiry Notebooks with Marissa Moss and Erica Pecorale)

Allow time and choice for students to develop their reading/writing lives:  From the start of the conference when Jarrett Krosoczka, children's author, shared his beginning days as a reader/writer, speakers continually talked about the importance of finding time for students to develop their lives in literacy.

Be a reader and writer:  Some things remain consistent in the future of English.  One is that we, as educators, build our own reading and writing lives to more effectively help young learners in their journey.

Provide opportunities to compose in different ways using a variety of tools:  In (Re)Imagining Literacy Workshop in a Digital Age Bill Bass asked, "What does it mean to be literate in a time when things change constantly - when tools change constantly?"  He, Franki Sibberson, and Ann Marie Corgill reminded us that the ways we read, learn, collaborate, and share are constantly changing.  As teachers of English, we have to keep up with these changes and provide these opportunities for our young learners.

Audience and purpose matter:  In the above mentioned session, Franki Sibberson reminded us that these new possibilities "invite intentionality."

Utilize new ways to capture the journeys of learners:  New tools such as Evernote, EduCreations, Google docs, and VoiceThread allow us to (re)vision the way we collect the journeys of the learners in our classroom.  (See our Kidwatching in a Digital World Smore for links.)




Together we build forward:  In the tweets shared by attendees throughout NCTE 2013, educators celebrated the work of Donald Graves and shared the ways Lucy Calkins, Nancy Atwell and other educators have changed the work we do in our workshops.  As I synthesized these tweets I realized that "(re)-inventing the future" might also mean building up from the strong foundation built by the thoughtful work of other literacy educators.

Put children first:  As I listened to sessions sharing ways students now own the learning in our classrooms I wondered:  "What does it mean for us in the field of education as kids lead the learning in our classrooms?  How does it change our role as educators?"  Ann Marie Corgill (in Re-Imagining Literacy Workshop) reminded us, "Small voices need to be heard."  As educators we also have a responsibility to advocate for strong policy and practice.

Shared by Pernille Ripp in her recent post:
Why I Will Not Refuse to Give Standardized Tests

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically.  Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."  Martin Luther King, Jr.  

We need public education to strengthen our society and nurture young literacy learners.  Yes, schools should be places where students continue to grow.  As educators we can utilize opportunities to amplify the voices of our students and speak up for change.  As I listened in sessions I realized the changes are being made every day by the "persistent work of [the] dedicated individuals" who walk into their classrooms every day to make a difference.  I'm just thankful they are willing to share all they do so I can also make changes that matter.  Let's raise our words and (re)invent the future of English together.

. 

English Teachers in Vegas?

I had to laugh when a tweet came across #ncte12 of a participant rolling in her Vegas winnings....books.  So what happens when English teachers go to Vegas?  We all come away a little richer; not in money, as I didn't hear about too many slot machine winners.  Instead we return rich in energy, inspiration, and thinking.

Tweeted by Jennifer Heymoss @jheymossy

Here's What I Won

Meeting Amy LV

• Connections New:  Always one of the best things about NCTE's convention is the conversations with other educators.  Opportunities to listen to speakers share their latest thinking, chat with colleagues, and discuss education in +140 characters with Twitter educators who always push my thinking.  Somehow I never manage to meet everyone I hope to meet, but this year I did get to meet Alyson Beecher (@alybee930), Kristin Ziemke (@1stgradethinks), and Amy (@amylvpoemfarm).  How fun to finally make connections with educators I've been learning from for such a long time.  
• Connections Old:  NCTE is the place where I have time to talk with local colleagues, educators I've connected with in previous years, and those I've collaborated with in projects here and there.  I'm always happy to have time to reconnect with Ohio's contingent which is well represented:  Sharon Esswein, Mary Lee Hahn, Julie Johnson, Tony Keefer, Mandy Robek, Franki Sibberson, Karen Terlecky and Stella Villalba.  I was also able to reconnect with Patrick Allen, Ann Marie Corgill, Katie Keier, Pat Johnson, JoEllen McCarthy, Jen McDonough, Debbie Miller, Donalyn Miller and brief hellos with Katherine Sokolowski and Jen Vincent.    
• Connections with New Books:  Squeezing in time for exhibits is challenging with so many great sessions.  I did manage to go to the exhibits for a morning to talk with publishers about new picture books.  I hit the jackpot with a variety of review copies of new picture books soon to hit the shelves.  I can't wait to share them with the young readers in my classroom to see what they think.  You'll be seeing a few of these great titles soon right here.  
• Connections with New Authors:  There are always opportunities at NCTE to meet the authors whose work supports the learning in our classrooms every day.  I spotted Lester Laminack, Kate Messner, and Ralph Fletcher among the crowds.  While attending NCTE I also discover authors new to me.  This year I attended sessions with authors Marla Frazee (who answered questions from the young writers in Lisa Cleveland's classroom) and Marissa Moss (who shared her process as JoeEllen McCarthy & Erica Pecorale shared ways to use her books as mentor texts).  It was eye opening to see their work collected in one place and listen to them talk about their writing process.  I will be adding a few of their books to our classroom library immediately. 

Nuggets to Ponder

While attending sessions I won a few golden nuggets to ponder.  

• Students Need Reading Communities:  Donalyn Miller reminded me that reading communities benefit readers by increasing the amount of reading of members, fostering connections with other readers, challenging readers to stretch themselves, encouraging mindfulness, building empathy for the world, and inspiring readers to write.  
• Reading Communities Can Be Grown Online:  Franki Sibberson talked about the way she uses blogging to grow her reading community and that of her students.  She reminded me that blogging allows us to save our thinking in new ways, it creates traditions, builds conversations, and gives readers a chance to say things they thought of later or didn't have the confidence to share in the group.  
• Students Need to Own Learning:  Sir Ken Robinson reminded me that "creativity is the way you live your life" and that imagination and creativity aren't the same as "to be creative you have to do something."  
• Technology Helps Us to Make Thinking Visible:  Kristin Ziemke shared ways the young readers in her classroom thoughtfully use technology to discover, learn more, and share with others.  She shared ways her students read with a question in mind and then tell where they found the answer.  She shared ways she uses Croak It, Book Creator, eBook, Keynote and Songify among other applications for first graders to share their thinking about reading. 
• Students (and Teachers) Need Time to Reflect:  Kelly Gallagher, Tom Newkirk and Penny Kittle reminded me of the importance of having time for reflection and writing that matters to students.  Gallagher said, "We need the kind of writing that comes from reflection."  Kittle reminded us that "story drives all kinds of writing."  She shared ways she supports students to "find their own opinions, talk, and compose evidence" to support their thinking.  Newkirk reminded us that narrative is "the core of how we write ---- it's who we are."  
• Students Need Opportunities to Find Their Stories:  Amy Ludwig VanDerwater reminded me that "writing is more about discipline than talent."  Marissa Moss suggests teachers help young writers to know their lives are interesting.  Georgia Heard suggests we try to figure out why children are writing something and what their beliefs are about writing.  JoEllen McCarthy reminds us that books are essential co-teachers of writing in our classrooms as authors help students to discover the ways to tell their stories.  Jen McDonough and Kristin Ackerman shared ways to set clear goals with students and support their growth as writers.  
• My Tweets:  I've used Snap Bird and Google Drive to archive my tweets from the convention.  

Books Added to My "To Be Read" Pile 

• Book Love by Penny Kittle
• Smarter Charts by Marjorie Martinelli and Kristi Miraz
• I See What You Mean by Steven Moline
• Leave Your Sleep by Natalie Merchant, illustrated by Barbara McClintock
• Picture books will be featured in later posts 

Sharing Our Stories

Karen, Mandy, Me, Stella
Picture from Stella

Reading the Past, Writing the Future
Every year I rearrange schedules, feverishly complete progress reports, arrange conferences with families, and make travel plans to attend the National Council of Teachers of English Annual Convention.  It's a lot of work that has to be done quickly and I often wonder if I will manage it all, but every year I do.  Every year as soon as I join my friends and colleagues at NCTE I know it was well worth it.

This year was no exception.  As I attended session after session the significance of story kept catching my attention.  I began by attending the Elementary Gathering on Thursday night where Kathy Short received the 2011 Outstanding Educator Award.  Short talked about the significance of story.   Her thoughtful keynote seemed to shape my thinking across the entire conference.  Every speaker I heard gave me nuggets about story.  Every place I went I saw the potential for story.  

My favorite NCTE quotes about story from speakers:

• About Story:  "Stories are such a normal every day occasion that we often overlook their significance."  Kathy Short as she received the 2011 Outstanding Educator Award at the Elementary Gathering.
• About Story:  "Good nonfiction is narrative.  Giving kids the gift of thinking about what matters most."  Ellin Keene
• About Story:  "Math stories are everywhere in our world."  Mandy Robek as we walked across Chicago (not her exact words, but...)
• About Mentor Texts:  "Literature can help second language learners connect to, and find, their story."  Mary Capelli
• About Process:  "After I write I read it aloud to hear it in my mind and in my ear."  Seymour Simon 
• About Audience:  "I've been thinking about how our vision of audience changes....and how it changes us as writers."  Tony Keefer
• About Audience:  "When I know my writing will be read by others, I work on my writing harder." Meredith age 10 shared by Tony Keefer 
• About Publication:  "Books in hands at school can then be hands at home."  Katie DiCesare in talking about having shared texts created in learning community made into digital pieces of writing

Capturing the Stories of Young Writers

Throughout the weekend I wondered how to help my young writers to see the significance of the stories in their lives.  How do I help them to capture their stories?  I thought about how they race in each morning to capture my attention to tell me their stories.  I thought about how they bring in objects to share with their friends that tell their stories.  I thought about the conversation I overhear with friends as they enter our classroom each day to tell their stories.  Young writers aren't that different from "older" writers (couldn't resist).  We are all so caught up in our lives we forget the stories we are living and they slip right be us.  

When I returned to my classroom excited to share my own stories with my students - stories of learning, friends, meeting authors, finding new books -  I noticed my students also had brought "stories" with them.  

Nathan had brought his story of the new cars he got in Iowa City.  He shared the stories of seeing family, visiting sites, purchasing and playing with these new cars on the long ride home.

Natalie had brought her book from when she was a baby.  She shared stories of the beginning days she and her twin sister shared together.  She told stories of her grandma coming to hold and love them.  She told stories of their first Christmas together.  She told stories of her life as a twin which her friends had plenty of questions about.

Luke brought his stories from a surprise trip to Disney.  He had a notebook --- yes, I was pretty excited about that --- he had made to collect writing ideas from his trip.  He shared the story of his favorite ride.

Lily came in carrying a picture of she and her sister decorating the Christmas picture with another picture of the dog and cat chasing each other it.  She laughed telling about the challenge of decorating this large tree and the chaos the pets caused shortly after.  

Stories are everywhere if we listen.  Thanks NCTE (and friends) for helping me to notice the stories right in front of me every day --- and for helping me to make my own new stories.  

Beyond Classroom Walls

On Saturday, November 19th, Julie Johnson of Raising Readers and Writers, Katie Keier of Catching Readers and I shared ways to honor the voices of young readers and move conversations beyond our classroom walls.  The NCTE 11 conversation is shared here.

Readers ARE Readers: NCTE 2010 Picture Book Possibilities

Readers are readers. So often the words reluctant, struggling, striving, remedial, and even nonreaders are words used in our profession to describe children. I'm always a little uncomfortable with these labels (I think we all are). I wonder if the children start to feel them and begin to believe in them.

You see, I'm a gardener. Actually I'm a terrible gardener. If you stop by my house in the heat of July you will find my plants in need of watering and the weeds are beginning to win the battle for space. You see, I'm not the best gardener. I love to garden. I enjoy deciding what will be in the garden and getting it planted. I enjoy watching the plants begin to grow. I enjoy working outside in the sun for some perceived purpose. However, somewhere in July when the sun gets hot, and we find ourselves busy, the garden begins to be overtaken. By August I'm struggling to have something make it through the summer. When it is time to spend hours in the garden harvesting, I'm busy spending hours in my classroom preparing for a new school year. It never goes as planned.

Yes, I'm a gardner. Not as good as my neighbor, not as productive as the gardener down the street, now as experienced as many....but I'm a gardener. Gardeners will talk with me about their work. Stores will let me buy all kinds of tools and gardening supplies. I suppose I could be called a reluctant gardener or a struggling gardener, but no one ever says that.

I feel the same way about reading. Students are all readers. They all come with different experience and different places on their learning paths, but they're all readers. As a community we come together to talk about the choices readers make, books they want to read, and authors that are a must. My students talk with each other about books and share equally in the conversation.

Time for independent reading is an important part of our day. My students would yell and scream if I even attempted to cut that out of their day. There would be a mutiny. My students love to take home picture books, and I've found ways to support that in our classroom. In our classroom, students choose the books they will take home each day. Overwhelmingly they love to carry picture books home to share with their families. Here you will see some of the ways this works in our community and the characteristics of books which support readers.

Following is a link to our presentation today about Picture Book Possibilities: Using Literature to Collaborate with Learners with Katie DiCesare, Kathy Collins, Ann Marie Corgill and myself.

Here are the links to other presenter blogs:

Katie DiCesare, Creative Literacy

Ann Marie Corgill, AM Literacy Blog