Author Visit: Loree Griffin Burns

The truth is this: I have only ever had incredibly powerful and positive author visits at Oxford Elementary School, and I'm happy to talk about any of them. If you are lucky enough to host authors at your school, you probably already know that every visit--no matter how similarly structured--is ultimately it's own unique experience for the students and school community. We recently had another really wonderful visit I want to share:

Hosting Loree Griffin Burns for a two-day author visit last week was truly a pleasure.

Over the two days, Loree's presentations spanned all six of her books, and all of our students (preK through 6th grade) had the opportunity to interact with Loree in those classroom presentations. On the first day, our fifth graders virtually visited the relatively young, volcanic island of Surtsey. The sixth graders took a look at ocean movement and trash pollution, and the third and fourth graders learned about the dangers imposed by invasive species like the Asian long-horned beetle. On the second day, PreK, kindergarten, and first grade classes learned about the life cycle of a butterfly and about Loree's research experience at a butterfly farm in Costa Rica. With our second and third grade students, Loree dispelled scary stories about bees and spoke about why bees are so important. In every single session, Loree's presentation, style, and facilitation of student question and answer was seamless and perfectly suited to her wide-ranging audiences.

One part of our visit with Loree that set this author visit apart from others was the Citizen Science Night we sandwiched in the evening between her two-day visit. All of our students and their families were invited to Roberts Farm Preserve, a local preserve with gardens and greenhouses, miles of hiking trails, and indoor/outdoor classroom spaces that often hosts classes or grade-levels in our district for outdoor experiential learning opportunities. We had an amazing turn out for a gorgeous spring night during baseball/softball season! In addition to a brief presentation by Loree about citizen science and ideas for projects families can take part in together, students and their families rotated through three additional stations. Loree led families on a search for insects with techniques and tools for finding insects to observe. A parent

volunteer organized a station about tree identification and talked about watching for invasive species. A STEM teacher led a third rotation about using observation skills--especially your senses--to notice the outdoors, and students and their guests began composing haiku. It was beautiful, not just in terms of the weather, but to see the engagement and involvement of students and their families! Citizen Science Night was a solid example of Loree's willingness to work with us to personalize her visit experience to best achieve our goals for bringing her to our school community.

Another way that this author visit with Loree Griffin Burns was special was due to Loree's participation with Authors for Earth Day. (For more information about Authors for Earth Day you can visit their site, Loree's recent blog post about A4ED from her perspective, or my recent blog post about what our partnership looked like from inside the classroom.) By design, Loree's two-day visit was the culmination of four weeks of research, opinion writing, and persuasive speeches by our fifth graders who were tasked with educating the students of OES about three conservation organizations that are dear to Loree, her research, and her books. At the end of every presentation, fifth grade helpers assisted in conducting the school-wide vote in which every student, kindergarten through sixth grade, had a chance to vote for one organization to receive a generous $1,000 donation from Loree. Each team of fifth graders would come back from a presentation with a stack of ballots for me, and I counted along the way to keep the count manageable. I can honestly tell you that the race was close...the whole way. However, at the end of Loree's second day, she met more informally with the fifth graders who had done so much work and announced that the final winner was Maine Audubon. While all three organization were worthy recipients, Loree told the fifth graders she was glad that the donation would support an organization in Maine where they are living, playing, and growing.

With Loree's help and through her visit, we have been able to provide our entire school community with an author visit they will never forget.

• My students feel like they have made a new writer-friend. They were quick in their comments to note how easily they could talk with Loree and how they were not intimidated by her credentials as an award-winning, published author. 
• Students made many mentions related to how Loree made them feel: respected, valued, empowered. She was absolutely all-in with every age group, giving every student with whom she spoke her full attention. 
• Loree's interactions with students, especially in inviting and fielding their questions inside of her presentations, honored her aim to instill and promote a sense of wonder in students.
• They are motivated and tuned into the needs of the earth more than ever before, and they believe their voice can do something about those needs.
• They are inspired, and they have shared new aspirations for writing or for travel or both. They see new possibilities and realize they can think outside their every day because now they know someone who has done (does) just that.

The bottom line? Students at OES love Loree Griffin Burns and would be ready to have her back next week or next year. But, since she just visited us and more students in more places should have the same great opportunity, they'd also probably say you should invite her to visit you.

Authors for Earth Day: Authenticity at it's Best

When learning takes place within a truly authentic context, students will soar.

Our upcoming author visit has been scheduled for more than a year, but just a few months ago, writer-friend Loree Griffin Burns reached out to me with a twist she had been thinking about. "Are you familiar with Authors for Earth Day (A4ED)?" Loree asked in an email. "I'd like to make OES my A4ED school."

I wasn't familiar, but between a visit to the website and Loree's explanation, I was sure we wanted to be her A4ED school, too. In short, authors who are a part of the A4ED school agree to donate some or all of their school visit fee to a conservation organization of the students' choosing. Yes, there was some work in it for my students, but every bit of the work was well-aligned to curricular goals and instruction.

One month before our visit, Loree Skyped with the fifth graders to introduce the A4ED project. She introduced herself and her work, and she briefly told the students about the three conservation organizations and their work, and then they would be responsible to help the other voters in the school make an educated vote.

Loree's three conservation organizations included Maine Audubon Society, The Ocean Conservancy, and The Xerces Society. Students set to work immediately to visit these websites and learn more about each group's work. In two periods' time, they would complete a quick survey about their first and second choices to help me build relatively equal groups of supporters to take the work forward.

With newly organized and somewhat informed groups in place, the students started the one-week task of researching and writing an evidence-based opinion letter to Loree to convince her why the organization they chose should receive her donation. Their motivation and confidence levels were high. They used all the resources of our previous opinion writing work, and we revisited the importance of knowing the audience you're writing for, because these traditional writing products would not be the only outcome of the project.

Once final drafts of the letters had been collected, the teams of researchers and writers moved to the next task, which involves educating their fellow students about Loree's visit and the A4ED vote. One part of the education step was for each group to make a pair of persuasive posters that would both educate and persuade student voters. The arrangement of our school is such that one poster would have a primary audience while the other would be geared towards intermediate peers. The conversations overheard in this stage, as the students wrestled with how much information to include and how to angle the text and visuals of their product, were inspired and thoughtful.

At the same time, the students began to work on a short persuasive presentation to educate other students about their organization. As part of the presentation, each group was responsible for creating a digital product using Canva or Google Slides that voters could take away from the presentation as persuasive material. There was so much synthesis happening as groups prepared for the range of audiences (grades K through 6) and thought about what would be most convincing and memorable to students, hoping to guarantee a vote for their organization. The transfer of strong opinion skills to persuasive speeches was well-supported by the authentic context.

We ended last week hosting round after round of oral presentations for student audiences of various ages (and parents and other school staff dropped by, too!). While the first rounds were a little jittery, the fifth graders quickly slid into a more comfortable spot, presenting like experts on their respective conservation organizations and trying to win the votes of their OES counterparts so that their organization will receive Loree's A4ED donation.

The fifth graders have done big work--from researching to writing to creating to sharing--in this four-week project, and they've done it all with incredible engagement and investment. With a meaningful and purposeful context for using and applying their reading, writing, speaking and listening skills, they have soared, and the work has been a whole lot of fun, really.

Tomorrow, Loree will visit OES for a two-day series of presentations at our school, and tomorrow students will begin to vote for the conservation organization that will win Loree's donation. Which will get the vote is hard to say, but what is certain is this: this project has already been a huge win for the fifth graders.

Author Visit: Erin Soderberg Downing

I remember when I first sent Erin Soderberg Downing the message that Oxford Elementary School would be reading The Quirks: Welcome to Normal for OES Reads, our whole-school community book this year. Erin's excitement about this news matched mine. I remember she almost immediately started thinking about how she might be able to make the trek from Minneapolis to Maine to meet these to-be OES Read-ers in person. 

This week we concluded OES Reads 2018, and Erin was in Maine, at OES, to wrap it all up.

All through our conversation leading up to her visit, Erin insisted it was important to her that every OES Read-er have the opportunity to have their book signed. It made for a very tight and full day, but soon after the students had arrived and the Pledge of Allegiance had been said, we set out to meet the rigorous challenge. Twenty-two classrooms (PreK-6), roughly 400 students, and just about four hours to do it.

Erin was incredible.

Erin made every classroom we went into feel she was there specifically for them, flexibly adapting to whatever was happening in the room when we dropped in. She personalized book after book while fielding questions from bouncy, excited kindergarteners through thoughtful, curious sixth graders. And, she delivered bookmarks for everyone so that no reader went home without a souvenir of the day.

Reserving time for lunch would have been tough if not for a lunch date we made for Erin to meet with several fifth grade students who have had a chance to read the advanced reader copy of the first book in her next series, The Daring Dreamers Club: Milla Takes Charge (June 5, 2018). The students were all ears as Erin told stories of the writing process, changes that have happened in readying the book for publication, and gave hints about what is to come in books two and three. They asked questions and shared their first impressions with Erin.

The day closed with a whole-school closing assembly for OES Reads, our whole-school community reading initiative. This year, the assembly culminated a six-week window in which readers and their families read The Quirks: Welcome to Normal, completed some activities from our activity calendar, answered trivia to win prizes, and attended a Quirks-themed Family Literacy Night.

Even though Erin had already answered a lot of questions throughout the day in her classroom drop-ins, the students were attentive to Erin's presentation about how The Quirks came to be and the stories she shared from writing The Quirks and Puppy Pirates. OES Read-ers were treated to an outtake chapter from The Quirks as Erin talked about revisions that mean big changes to the book. And, they had the chance to ask more questions (and did!).

Together, we listened to Erin read the Epilogue from The Quirks: Welcome to Normal, celebrated a few second grade writers who had written haiku inspired by The Quirks, and sang a quirky little tune written by one of our regular substitutes.

The students and staff at OES loved Erin, with many remarking later that day and the next about how terrific she had been and how much it meant to the students to meet her. 

Truly, it is the most important magical work to make it possible, and I'm so grateful to Erin for sharing such enthusiasm about OES Reads and her generosity and willingness to make this day a reality for our school community. 

What Happens at the Campground...

...becomes rich story material for Maine author Tamra Wight's Cooper and Packrat series. 

Today marks the release of Mystery of the Bear Cub, Book 4 in the series.

The ecological mystery-adventure series, published by Islandport Press and illustrated by Carl DiRocco, features Cooper Wilder and his family who own Wilder Family Campground. In each book, Cooper's campground responsibilities or his love for exploration and geocaching lead him to a moral conflict wrapped up in a mystery to be solved. In Mystery at Pine Lake (Book 1), the friends are on a mission to identify the person responsible for harming the loons' nest on the lake. Cooper and his friends find evidence of poaching in Mystery of the Eagle's Nest (Book 2). Mystery of the Missing Fox (Book 3) has the growing group--alert to trapping--coming to the rescue of the stolen fox kit.

In writing the Cooper and Packrat series, Tamra draws on the experiences of her family-owned campground, Poland Spring Campground. Her own wonders and curiosities about the wildlife in her backyard and the campers who visit the campground provide her with plenty of realistic inspiration to write her fictional stories.

Life at the Wilder Family Campground becomes a real mess in Book 4 when the town makes a shift towards recycling more waste at Cooper's recommendation. Cooper's inspired and eco-friendly idea comes with unanticipated challenges for the campground and other small businesses in the area. Before long, someone is dumping trash illegally in the area around the campground and trouble arises with foraging bears. Cooper's sense of responsibility to solve this problem kicks into high-gear, and he and his friends resolve to make things right: for the town, for the campground, and for the bears.

For my readers and me, "Wilder Family Campground" is a particularly familiar setting. Last year, when our summer program featured academic programming to support the part of the curriculum about state history, we read Mystery of the Eagle's Nest. In a truly special and unique arrangement, Tamra hosted our group for an author visit at Poland Spring Campground down the road (literally) from where we read and grow and learn every day. Tamra took time away from writing and serving campers to treat our readers to a tour of the campground, and in an instant, the Cooper and Packrat books came to life. We hiked the trails of the campground, looked out at the campground's own eagle's nest (and strained to try to see evidence of eaglets), and heard Tamra present about writing, wildlife photography, and the research involved in writing the series. The students settled in for lunch in the fire ring and a read aloud with the author herself. The experience of stepping inside the setting of a series the students love is one they still talk about and has made them eager to continue reading.

There is a spot in our classroom library ready and waiting for my copy of Mystery of the Bear Cub, but I know it will likely be empty a while longer because my readers will be anxious to get their hands on this next adventure. And with big ideas and tough questions for them to grapple with alongside Cooper and Packrat, I'm anxious for them to read on, too.

I'm anxious for you to meet Cooper and Packrat and read Mystery of the Bear Cub, also, so I'm giving away a signed copy of one of Tamra Wight's Cooper and Packrat books. To win, comment on this post and include the title of the book you would most like to have and an email/Twitter handle where I can contact you. I will randomly select a winner the day before Tamra's book launch event on October 18 and will have your book signed to whomever you choose. Happy Reading!

Author Visit: Writing Workshop with Linda Urban

I sit at a table in my classroom, side by side with my students. Our workspace is layered with notebooks and index cards and black Flair pens and their covers. The students hands--and mine--scrawl a memory onto our pages. I'm finding myself transported to Barcelona, 1995; I'm sitting down to dinner with my high school Foreign Language Club. And while I'm about to sample that first ringlet of calamari again, I'm also keenly aware that my classroom is still and busy, humming with an aura of writers at work. 

"And, stop," a voice cuts the quiet. "Who has something they would be willing to share?" 

Half a dozen hands go up, and Linda Urban proceeds to move from one student to the next, signaling the students' moment, each reading aloud with confidence and pride the writing produced from an image conjured up through the selective questioning of the visiting author.

This week Linda Urban returned to OES to lead writing workshops for my 5th graders, enlisting their help in co-researchers about writers notebooks. Each workshop began with a glimpse into Linda's own notebooks and notebooks of other creators of kidlit, emphasizing the imperfect and the importance of writing in our notebooks for ourselves first. Then, my students and I participated in exercises selected from Linda's own study of and with comic-artist Lynda Barry (What It Is, 2009, and Syllabus, 2014). The curated exercises Linda facilitated were geared towards engaging writers and quieting their critical mind while using their writing notebooks as a place of play. My students were enthusiastic workshop participants and co-researchers, many producing more writing in short spurts of time than they typically do in our regular writing workshop and complaining when time had run out.

After school, Linda presented a third writing workshop session, this one for an audience of district colleagues and staff members. The adult audience wrote through many of the same exercises, and Linda shared her message about the importance of play in writers notebooks with research from numerous leaders in the field of education.

I am not new to the inspiration of Linda Urban. Linda and I collaborated in a long-term partnership a few years ago that shed light on Linda's process while revising Milo Speck: Accidental Agent and influenced me to strive for as much authenticity as possible in my classroom writing instruction. I've hosted Linda Urban at OES twice before, in both a classroom visit and a whole-school visit with assemblies designed for primary and intermediate audiences. I've witnessed her interactions with individual students and groups of almost 200 and know first-hand that Linda Urban's energy, sense of humor, and genuine nature contribute to her highly-engaging and phenomenal way with students.

And yet, I will never turn down an opportunity to be reminded.

Linda Urban's writing workshops were a terrific success. Here's why:

Linda builds quick and easy rapport with writers--both students and adults. In her willingness to share her own examples, Linda's model of vulnerability invites her workshop participants to take safe risks, also. Linda's interest in and respect for students has them eager to embrace their writer-selves.
Linda's suggestions are practical in practice. Each of the exercises and ideas Linda shared can be done in little time, making the commitment to "try it out" feel doable in and among all the other constraints we face in the classroom. Many of the ideas and practices Linda shares will require small shifts in the work we already do with students.
Linda's presentation is well-balanced between sharing her own story and examples, those of other writers, and issuing an invitation for student (and adult) writers to play and write. Our sessions were close to two hours long, and the participants could have gone for longer.
Linda's message about using notebooks and making time for play is important. And sometimes we need these important reminders to revisit, or we need the chance to slow down and experience the truth ourselves in order to recommit to doing what is best for students.

My week has been spent picking up little gems that my students and colleagues are putting down from our time with Linda Urban. It has been gratifying to overhear students make reference to their time spent with Linda, to incorporate small bits of what we shared together into the last few days in the classroom, and to bump into colleagues who attended the afternoon professional development session and hear them express how meaningful that time spent writing with Linda was to them.

We're thankful to have shared a day writer-to-writer with Linda Urban, and her words and encouragement will last through the year and beyond.

You can have Linda visit your school or classroom, too. (And honestly, I don't know why you wouldn't...) Send an inquiry or find out more.

10 Reasons You Need It's Not Jack and the Beanstalk

The students at my school--and their teachers, too--have been waiting anxiously for a new picture book that publishes today.

Today is the release day for It's Not Jack and the Beanstalk, a hilarious new take on a traditional fairytale, written by Josh Funk and illustrated by Edwardian Taylor, published by Two Lions.

In June, the students at Oxford Elementary School were lucky to be visited by author Josh Funk. While here to celebrate the sequel to his well-known Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast, Josh treated the students to an early look at It's Not Jack and the Beanstalk. With a little help from a few other "characters," Josh brought his story to life for our students, projecting a digital version and sharing the reading readers theater style. It's Not Jack and the Beanstalk brought smiles to students faces and--most certainly--laughter.

Oxford Elementary students got a sneak peek of It's Not Jack
and the Beanstalk when Josh Funk visited in June.

The students' warm feelings about Josh Funk's new release stayed with them, and when I pulled It's Not Jack and the Beanstalk off the shelf for a quick reread last week there were immediate cheers and comments from the students about how much they love this book. And then came the begging.

"Can we please read it again?"

So we did.

And then, they responded. I asked them to help me think of reasons why teachers need It's Not Jack and the Beanstalk for their classroom. Here's our compiled list:

10 Reasons Why Teachers Need It's Not Jack and the Beanstalk

10. It's written by Josh Funk. (Daeson)
9.  The characters' voices and personalities make this book a lot of fun to read aloud. (Ms. Guerrette)
8.  For kids who are learning to read, it can be a play. (Kenadie)
7.  If you are having a bad day, you need to read (It's Not) Jack and the Beanstalk. (Gracie)
6.  The narrator is a part of the story and interacts with the characters. (Brady)
5.  The illustrations are playful and bright, adding to the larger-than-life personality of the characters. (Ms. Guerrette)
4.  It's a happily ever after story. (Kaedence)
3.  You get to like it really easily because it is so funny! (Logan)
2.  Even the title is funny! (Cecile)
1.  You will laugh. (Lauren)

And after all, isn't that really what's most important?

My students and I are happy to celebrate the book birthday of It's Not Jack and the Beanstalk and we're already looking forward to It's Not Hansel and Gretel coming in the spring of 2019. We wish you and your classes many happy reads (and rereads)!

Author Visit: Elly Swartz

I had the great fortune of hosting author Elly Swartz at my school last week.

Finding Perfect was our class read aloud through the winter months, and my fifth graders responded strongly to Elly's characters and their stories. They were curious and interested in Molly's anxiety and exhibited a genuine desire to understand her internal conflict, even if different from their own struggles. The students were tickled to hear that Elly would be visiting to talk with them about a book they had grown to love.

Over the last year or so, I have also been lucky to have several conversations with Elly related to writing process and identity. Familiar with Elly's transparency and candor while being relentlessly inspiring and encouraging in her conversations about writing, I knew the students' writing lives would be enriched by the opportunity to talk with her personally.

The result was a completely full and especially joyful day for all readers and writers involved.

While visiting Oxford Elementary, Elly addressed my two fifth grade classes separately and presented a large group session with the three sixth grade classes combined. With each group, she invited any and all student questions, addressing everything from what happened to characters beyond the last page to writing quirks that are part of her process. Students' faces radiated with engagement. The dynamic was instantly comfortable, and my students could easily read that Elly was genuine in her interest and respect for what they had to say.

A look over one student's shoulder during
the Unfolding Identity Project.

Elly shared the Unfolding Identity Project with readers as part of her presentations. In keeping with the themes of Finding Perfect, Elly encouraged the students to look at the many layers of their identity and to consider what lies below the surface of those around them, too. As a teacher, I enjoyed listening to the students support one another in generating descriptors for themselves. There were so many opportunities for affirmation embedded in this activity.

Finding space for celebration as a more frequent part of the writing journey has become a specific focus for me and my writing workshop and was a direct outcome of my conversations with Elly. All year long, I have embedded more opportunities to scaffold students in recognizing smaller successes in our writing processes. During her time with my students, Elly followed up on this big idea of celebration, asking students to share one celebration about themselves as a writer so far this year, and every student shared a celebration.

Elly Swartz gave my students an up-close and personal experience in her visit to Oxford Elementary. The students loved everything about Elly's visit: the stories she shared about her personal writing journey, the picture book she brought that she had loved reading with her own children, the "secrets" about revising Finding Perfect and allusions to her forthcoming book, Smart Cookie (Scholastic, 2018). But also, they loved Elly--a writer among writers, a reader among readers. Through her authentic conversation about reading and writing and the care she showed for my students on this one day, Elly became part of our literacy community.