Summer = Reading



 One of the things I love about summer is the laziness of it.  As a teacher, summer has always been a time to slow down, relax, and enjoy being lazy.  And, reading is the best way to do all 3!!!!  Even though I'm retired now, summer is still a time I catch up on reading.  It is one of my favorite things to do in the summer, so I love sharing titles with others.

   For the last few years, I've spent the last days of school doing book talks for each grade level.  I get my grade level piles together and introduce, or reacquaint, students with favorite characters, or intriguing situations, or historical fiction that will begin to build their background knowledge for the following year.  For 30 to 40 minutes, I read snippets of stories and leave students with a tease that, hopefully, will make them find that book.  I challenge them to find out the rest of the story, or to find a character they want to introduce to me the next year.

   A few years back, I worked with a wonderful media specialist, my friend Teresa Cruce, to create bookmarks for summer reading for each grade level.  On one side I compiled a list of books for each grade level, and she added on the backside information about the public library with dates of special library events, plus a few dates she would meet them at the public library.  I, or other faculty members, would join her in meeting students. We would help students choose books, talk with students about their summer, or read aloud to the group.  She always takes pictures of the students "caught at the library in the summer" and posts them in school at the beginning of the year.  I am no longer there, but Teresa continues to do this during the summer and the families love it.  Some teachers set a date with their class to meet at the library.  It's been a wonderful experience.

   For the book talks, I don't think it matters much which titles are shared.  The important things are that they are grade level appropriate and that the one sharing loves them.  It is hard to recommend a book you don't know well.  There's a wonderful website that helps in choosing age appropriate books,
http://www.readaloudamerica.org/booklist.htm.  Here are copies of my bookmarks.

Martina Josefina Catalina Cucaracha...unforgettable character

  I am totally biased about this book.  It is based on a Cuban folktale that I grew up listening to and it is written by a childhood friend, Carmen Agra Deedy, so it is close and dear to my heart.  Nevertheless, I promise that anyone who reads it will fall in love with Martina and with the ways in which Carmen develops such believable characters.

  All students enjoy the story, the way in which Spanish words are weaved into the story, and the rich detailed illustrations by Michael Austin.  For those of Cuban heritage, each page is filled with details of our culture.  When I read it, I talk to kids about all the objects that tell ME stories, all of my own.

  One activity I did with 1st graders came out of their disappointment at the end.  The story ends with Martina falling in love and saying yes to Perez' wedding proposal.  Every class I read it with, 6 of them, was sad they hadn't gotten to see the wedding, so each class took an event related to the wedding and we wrote a sequel as a class.  One class wrote about Martina's wedding dress, one class wrote about the wedding, one wrote about the wedding reception, etc.  They drew pictures for each story that was written on chart paper and we had our own publishing party by posting them out in a hall for all to see.

    With older students, it is a wonderful mentor text to work on developing characters.  Students love when Martina sits on the balcony to receive suitors and "she crossed her leg, and crossed her leg, and crossed her leg."  The vocabulary is rich with words that students don't generally use but the context helps them define it, so it is also a great tool for teaching about context clues.

   If you don't know this book, get to a library or, better yet, a bookstore.  You will want to use it again and again with students.

Where I'm From

     Poetry is a writing genre that students some times are leary of.  Some of my 4th and 5th grade boys think poems are just for girls. Many students think all poems have to rhyme, so they spend all their energy in coming up with rhyming words and their products have no depth.

     One of the first poem writing activities I do is using the poem Where I'm From by George Ella Lyon as a mentor text, along with the book Momma, Where Are You From by Marie Bradby

       After reading these and discussing them, I share my poem, Teacher, Teacher, Where Are You From?" (a copy is found on this blog, the first blog entry).  Together we talk about how I used those books to create my own and I share how I used a list to brainstorm.

       Students, then, are asked to make a list of things, people, and events that make them who they are.  They get the Where I'm From template to help with their brainstorming and to help them with the structure of the poem.  After 10 minutes of brainstorming, students pair up to share their lists and partners are encouraged to add ideas as the lists are revised.  After this buddy time, students set out to write.  They are not required to follow the template or to just fill in the blanks.  The template is a guide for their brainstorming and structure.

Here's a copy of the template and a 5th grade student sample: