OES Reads 2016: Family Night

Our whole-school/community reading initiative, OES Reads, is in it's fourth year, and with each year, we think the program grows better and better. Aside from selecting the books that will connect us and planning the big launch, Family Night is the part of our program that requires the most planning.

Family Night is deserving of so much attention and effort. We gather families of all students, grades PreK-6 and offer a smattering of activities related to our common book experiences that families can engage in together. This year, 58 families came to school on a Tuesday evening to meet our OES Reads author, Cynthia Lord, and participate in Family Night fun!

Family Night stations were situated across the cafeteria, gymnasium, music room, and lobby area of our school building. Most activities were related to our two OES Reads books, Rules and Shelter Pet Squad: Jelly Bean, but we snuck in some connections to Ms. Lord's other books, too. Look and see!

We were incredibly fortunate to have Cynthia Lord join us for a Meet & Greet at our Family Night event! A steady line streamed through the cafeteria for the chance to meet Ms. Lord and have their books signed.

Our committee felt strongly that we wanted to incorporate a component of community service into OES Reads this year, having selected two books that inspired giving back. We invited representatives from Responsible Pet Care to join us with an information station about our local animal shelter. We also advertised a Shelter Drive and collected goods to donate to Responsible Pet Care. And, families also visited a craft table with an assortment of ideas for making simple pet toys. All of the toys families made were also donated to the shelter.

Additionally, we were joined by a parent of an OES alum who set up a table for raising awareness and understanding about autism. Nearby, families could find more information about the Light it Up Blue initiative for Autism Awareness Month in April and could design a symbolic blue candle that we will use to help celebrate in solidarity next month.

Our Phys. Ed. teacher was on hand with a physical challenge for students to complete using a wheelchair and other assistive devices. Families posted their reflections about the experience. Families also faced a communication card challenge activity at another station.

Our district librarian helped to create a display of Schneider Family Book Award winning titles that could be recommended to students and families for future reading.

Down the hall, laughter was heard while families picked out props and had their picture taken in our Cynthia Lord photo booth. There were generic "book nerd" props, but most props were related to other Cynthia Lord books. There was a camera/paddle/lifejacket set from Half a Chance, Fourth of July gear from Touch Blue, an enormous blueberry/pageant sash/crown from A Handful of Stars, and a helmet, goggles, and student-sized race car from Hot Rod Hamster. The pictures on the photo booth camera speak for themselves.

Meanwhile, the cafeteria was buzzing with excitement, too. Two tables hosted a craft activity where families could stitch up their own Whiskers craft and make a friend to keep in their pocket just like Suzannah does in Shelter Pet Squad.

On the opposite side of the room, folks were busy at work in the "junkyard" of collected recycled materials where families engaged in a Hot Rod Design Challenge, racing their constructed cars down a ramp to win prizes.

 

And, since no gathering is without snacks, volunteer staff helped to serve Hamster Snacks of crunchy veggies and tasty blueberry smoothies to families, too.

Because we are a Title I school, and we use some of our parent involvement money to purchase some of the OES Reads books for families, we are required to conduct parent education during the event, though we try to be creative about how. We find that a brief parent session where staff and parents can swap ideas for supporting literacy at home does the trick, and it permits students to hear a read aloud--this year our library tech shared more Hot Rod Hamster books--in the adjoining room, too. We offer these sessions on a rotation so that families are only apart from the action for a short time.

OES Reads Family Night was an exciting night all-around. It was wonderful to introduce families to Cynthia Lord in person. We had an awesome turn out of staff to help support the event and interact with families, and our kids had a really great time. One student bounced into breakfast on Wednesday morning announcing, "Last night was the best night ever!"

We're so glad that connecting over books can be so fun.

Most--but not all--the staff who supported OES Reads Family Night
having photo booth fun with Ms. Lord.

This week, we'll wrap up OES Reads for another year, but not before we host Cynthia Lord on Thursday for a whole-school author visit and our Closing Celebration!

OES Reads 2016: The Big Reveal

The anticipation leading up to this year's OES Reads Kick-off was hard to miss. Since the day the bulletin board announced the big reveal was "coming soon," students had been talking among themselves and with teachers about which author and books might be featured as the center of our whole-school community reading program for 2016.

Our whole-school community reading program--OES Reads--started in 2013, inspired by the One School, One Book project. Over the years, we have fashioned our program into one that works for our school community, and one that students look forward to. Last year we made shifts in our initiative in order to better accommodate the wide age range of our students and elected to make our program revolve around two books by a single author. [You can find my series of blog posts about this shift (and all that resulted) and our 2015 OES Reads program featuring author Kate Messner here.]

We just announced the 2016 OES Reads author and books to our school community--including students, staff, and families--this week.

The week prior, we built excitement and anticipation for the project with little pictures of book-specific objects turning up in the hallways and a clue being shared during each day's morning announcements. Some students kept a suspect list of authors they thought could match the clues. Others went home and did research, and they were sneaky in asking questions of their teachers when they got back to school, hoping for a hint of confirmation!

At last, the day of the big reveal came. Students were eager to have their suspicions about this year's author and books confirmed at our whole-school Kick-off Assembly, and we were happy to not have this great news stay secretive:

For our 2016 whole-school community reading program, OES is reading books by...

Cynthia Lord!

The room erupted, and students cheered wildly at the news. Grades PreK-2 will be reading the book Shelter Pet Squad: Jelly Bean, and grades 3-6 will be reading Rules.

The Kick-off Assembly also included two skits performed by teachers and school personnel to introduce each of the books.

One teacher, playing the role of Catherine, went through the motions of her day: waking up and getting ready for school, going to school and learning in the classroom, and going to recess with friends. Only it seemed that at every turn someone else in her life (mother, teacher, classmate) was blowing a whistle at her to emphasize the rules she lives by. When Catherine blew her own whistle and declared it enough, we uncovered the oversized book cover for Rules.

After transitioning with a slideshow of photos of OES staff members with their pets (to which each of the 40+ slides got it's own "Aww!"), another teacher acting as Suzannah performed a monologue about the unfairness of rules that say you can't have pets. When her "mother" entered the scene with the prospect of visiting the animal shelter, we uncovered the oversized cover for Jelly Bean.

Thanks to our PTA, we were also able to reveal some other big and exciting new to OES Reads students: Cynthia Lord will visit OES for a whole-day author visit on March 24, the same day as our OES Reads Closing Celebration!

Teachers helped to distribute individual copies of the respective books to each student, approximately 450 books combined. Then, the whole group broke into two smaller groups and our principal and assistant principal kicked off the reading experiences by sharing the first chapters aloud.

As students returned to their classrooms for dismissal, many paused to peek at the OES Reads bulletin board, now fully unveiled to include a photo of OES Reads Author Cynthia Lord. "I can't wait to read more of this," was heard among the chatter, with many students claiming their book was "catching."


There is so much more literacy excitement to come in the next month of OES Reads. Stay tuned for more sharing of student work and special events related to our whole-school community reading program!

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (9.7.15)

Every Monday bloggers all over the web participate in an effort to share books we have read and what we are excited about digging into. Thanks to Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee & Ricki at Unleashing Readers for hosting us all!

What I Read this Week:

Ruby on the Outside, by Nora Raleigh Baskin

(Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, June 16, 2015)
     Ruby is grappling with a secret she keeps: her mom is incarcerated. This complicates everything for the 11-year old, but especially friendship. One summer, Ruby meets Maraglit and is filled with so much hope for her new friendship that she has to consider abandoning the rules she has always played by to keep her mom a secret. 
     Ruby on the Outside will appeal to readers who are drawn to realistic fiction as a means of experiencing another person's world. Readers develop empathy for Ruby through the conflict between the inside and the outside. Ruby's raw and difficult questions and emotions around loss, abandonment, self-worth, and normalcy rest on the reader's heart, making her a character you want to reassure and protect and love. 

Drowned City, by Don Brown
(HMH Books for Young Readers, August 4, 2015)
     Drowned City is an informational text about the devastation and horror faced by New Orleans during and after Hurricane Katrina. Written and illustrated in graphic novel format, Don Brown's book adds variety to the growing text set of books set during this same historical event (Zane and the Hurricane, Upside-down in the Middle of Nowhere, Marvelous Cornelius, etc.) Drowned City reads like a play-by-play of the sequence of events, and tension and emotion build as time passes and the severity of the situation compounds. Brown is honest and real in his writing, but even the most difficult truths of Hurricane Katrina (looting, disease, death) are presented in a tactful, middle-grade appropriate way.

Sunny Side Up, by Jennifer Holm, illustrated by Matt Holm
(Graphix, August 25, 2015)
     Sunny has looked forward to vacationing in Florida and has grand plans when she visits her grandfather for the summer. However, with the help of flashbacks, the reader realizes Sunny's visit is a temporary relocation while the family grapples with her brother's drug abuse. 
     The Holm's graphic novel memoir will likely be among the most circulated books in my classroom this year. Readers will scoop it up because it is a new, full-color graphic novel, and I hope will linger in the greater messages of the story for longer. Sunny Side Up opens the door for conversations about oppression from drug abuse and other family "secrets," letting readers know they don't have to feel alone.

Lady Pancake & Sir French Toast, by Josh Funk, illustrated by Brendan Kearney
(Sterling, September 1, 2015)
     When the breakfast duo of Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast discover there is only one drop of syrup left in the bottle, a wild adventure ensues as they both race to be the victor.
      The illustrations are bright and playful. The rhyming text of this picture book race is creative and entrancing. Filled with puns and rich word choice, readers will smile their way through the page turns to find out the results. Warning: results may be unpredictable.

The Greatest Catch, by Penny Kittle
(Heinemann, 20o5)
     In a collection of stories from her teaching life, Penny Kittle invites readers to consider what is truly important in the teaching profession. Her true stories evoke laughter, lots of head nodding, and tears at times, too. This is a renewing read, one that encourages our teacher hearts to hold fast to what really matters in our work with learners and reminds us that our work every day is a gift.

What I am Currently Reading:

Shadows of Sherwood, by Kekla Magoon

(Bloomsbury, August 4, 2015)

Upstanders, by Smokey Daniels and Sara Ahmed

(Heinemann, 2014)

What I am Reading Next (in no particular order):
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, by Rodman Philbrick
Death by Toilet Paper, by Donna Gephart
A Night Divided, by Jennifer Nielsen

So Much Potential: On New Writer's Notebooks

Over time, my life as a writer has changed me. For instance, I have a greater appreciation for the potential of a new notebook.

Every time I begin a new writer's notebook, I find myself swept into this ultra-reflective state of mind. Flipping through the pages of the previous, finished notebook, I make note of the things preserved there--large and small--that I captured and stored away. Brave moments, developing ideas, markings of wonder, complaints, and celebrations. And inevitably, I close that finished notebook and smile to myself about all that filled the pages knowing that most of what is there now, committed in imperfect scribble, I didn't anticipate when I was writing on the first page.

Similarly, I found myself in this position this week when I saw my fifteenth First Day of School. I was ready with a few minutes to spare, and I sat in my too-quiet, too-tidy, too-white classroom, noting the connection between my feelings this morning to those that stir when I open to that first page of a new notebook. "There--at those cleared tabletops, in those empty chairs, on those blank walls--rests so much potential," I thought.

Soon, the quiet was replaced with eager energy, excited students looking and behaving a whole year older. The once empty tables were cluttered again with toppling school supplies.

We went about the business of sorting and storing materials. When I asked the students to hold up their writer's notebooks, something surreal moved through the air. As I gathered the notebooks at each of their tables, I was struck with the assortment and imagined them in the back-to-school aisles of the stores, thoughtful and deliberate in picking their new writer's notebooks. I was overcome by what I know from experience: on this day, they could not know how those blank pages will be filled, what will happen in the days they live as writers, but later they will look back with wonderment of what is there.

And this became the basis of launching writers' workshop with my students, the heart of my impassioned words about the endless possibilities and potential a new notebook holds. I held their stack of brand-new notebooks and talked with unrestrained enthusiasm about how much I wonder about their blank notebooks, and how wonderful and exciting it is to dream of the growing and self-discovery that will fill their pages. I spoke to my writers about the gift of time to write, to wonder, to explore. I spoke of writing imperfectly, taking chances, and the opportunity to revisit and revise. And I spoke about the great privilege that I feel, because I get to journey beside them as a writer, too. Every day. This whole school year.

I told my writers about my ritual of reflecting at the end/start of each new notebook, and I flipped open to the first page of the very notebook I'm writing in now. I read this first page aloud:

It was quiet when I stopped. I had goosebumps. I looked around at their faces, reading the expressions. They were on the edge of their seats, their eyes sparkled, and they couldn't suppress their smiles. So, I did the very most perfect thing to do: I invited them to write, encouraging them to let their first, new, blank page to speak to them.

I returned their notebooks with great reverence, as best I could between uncoordinated attempts to brush away embarrassing tears. But always astute, they noticed, and I heard one student tell another, "This matters so much, she's crying!" The tears were entirely unplanned, but Yes, Dear Writer, your new beginning as a fifth grade writer very much matters.

Once all of the students had their notebooks again, I settled with my own and began drafting this post. Once or twice I made myself pause to observe their stamina and behaviors. Almost without exception, their pencils were moving fluidly.

Before I left for the day, I peeked inside their notebooks, curious what I would find there. Some students had launched into drafting stories, but some had listened for the voice of the blank page, and their voices caught my heart.  

"How can I become the most spectacular writer I can be?" 

Wow, kid. Keep asking. Please.

I love how creatively the blank page "spoke" for this writer.

Moving from grade 4 to grades 5/6 this year, I recognize the growth on these first pages, too. A year later, a year more of life as a writer, and the students aren't as afraid of the blank page. Maybe, just maybe, they see that blank page as limitless possibilities...so much potential.

Happy Birthday, Milo Speck

Dear Milo,

I’ll admit it: this is a first. I cannot think of another time in all my book-crazed doings that I wrote a letter to a middle-grade book character (let alone published it online). But, no matter how much it heightens my nerdy-factor, I couldn’t let your publication day pass without writing to say: 

Happy (Book) Birthday!

I bet you have quite a team celebrating today. I can only imagine the feelings of your author and her incredible support team on your publication day. My students and I have celebrated book birthdays before, but we agree that yours feels different, maybe more personal thanks to Linda, who invited us into your world two years ago. You were a manuscript under revision. Unbeknownst to you, you were an experimental subject, the topic of many revealing and inspiring writing conversations between my students and Linda. We’ve anticipated this day, too, the more we got to know Linda as a fellow writer and witnessed her writing process and followed you through to publication.

I still remember two Decembers ago when you--a “smaller” you, in only your first five chapters--first made your way to my classroom. My students and I knew we were spending time something--someone--special as we read, discussed, reacted, and responded. We got to know you and your family. We ventured with you to Ogregon, where boy-hungry ogres seemed impossible to dodge. We couldn’t know your mission yet (really) and couldn’t imagine if you would survive it. But we were already looking forward to this day, when you would be published.

Do you remember the day you arrived in my classroom as an ARC? Our school secretary knew you were inside that decorated envelope and hand-delivered you to our door. The room erupted in excited noise. The students insisted that we stop whatever we were doing (I can’t remember what that was now. Telling, isn’t it?) and read on from where we had stopped in the manuscript that still lived in my inbox. And we did. Whenever we were inside your story, we were making happy memories--sharing our reading and writing lives.

We spent months in friendship with you as we virtually navigated the world of Ogregon, willing you to evade threats of danger and to be successful in your mission. We studied your actions, your words, your choices. We noticed as you changed and grew, and we found courage in your bravery, perseverance, and leadership.

Ready to begin again...

Today is not only your book birthday, Milo, but it’s also our first day of school. One of our very last memories of the past school year was talking about you in person when Linda visited us. The whole day felt celebratory, celebrating my writers and Linda and you, all the same. And now, here we are at the beginning again, and it seems fitting that my students and I will begin your story again--the published version--on page 1 with all of our new classmates and friends, in all of six of our new 5th and 6th grade classrooms.

Milo, your book birthday is a happy day for all of us, because there are so many other readers like us who will have the chance to read your story now, too. Kids and teachers and parents. They’ll laugh. They’ll cheer. They’ll worry and wonder for you, too. And then, they’re probably going to tell someone else about you. We sure hope they do.

It has been a real honor, Milo, to watch you evolve over the last two years...to cheer you along...and now to celebrate you.

Happy Birthday, Milo Speck: Accidental Agent.

From, 
Two Years of Book-loving Friends at Oxford Elementary School

It's Monday, What Are You Reading? (8.24.15)

Every Monday bloggers all over the web participate in an effort to share books we have read and what we are excited about digging into. Thanks to Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee & Ricki at Unleashing Readers for hosting us all!

What I Read this Week:

A Whole New Ballgame, by Phil Bildner, illustrated by Tim Probert

(Farrar, Straus and Giroux-BYR, August 18, 2015)
     Rip and Red start their fifth grade year with great anticipation, until they arrive at school and find that there are lots of changes, including a new male teacher for their classroom who will also be their basketball coach. Rip learns about himself through a class project (he's paired with Avery, someone he would never have worked with otherwise) and his leadership on the basketball court (where the team's record is abysmal). 
     A Whole New Ballgame will invite all readers into Mr. Acevedo's classroom and open the doors for conversations and community building with it's diverse cast of characters and realistic conflicts. A second book in the Rip and Red series is already in the works.

Paper Things, by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
(Candlewick, February 10, 2015)
     At ages 11 and 18, Ari and Gage have lost both parents and are under the guardianship of Janna, a friend of their parents. When Gage moves out of the house, Ari chooses to go with Gage to fulfill what the two believe is their mother's dying wish. Only the road ahead is full of unanticipated uncertainty: the two roam among friends houses and the shelter closet while Gage tries to find work and Ari tries to maintain her focus at school.
     Paper Things is a heart-tugging invitation empathy and compassion by visiting the hardships of homeless youth. It belongs in a text set with Kate Messner's The Exact Location of Home and Katherine Applegate's Crenshaw.

azalea, unschooled, by Lisa Kleinman, illustrated by Brook Gideon
(Islandport Press, May 5, 2015)
     Azalea's family moves. A lot. Their dad is constantly trying to find success with work, which keeps them moving. Azalea and her sister, Zenith, have been homeschooled in the process. When the newest venture (a tour bus driver) brings the family to Portland, Maine, Azalea's family decides to try "unschooling." 
     The concept of unschooling is only one (background) story line of the novel, and I wonder if the concept is clear to readers. The mystery around who is defacing Azalea's father's tour bus drives the story, as does Azalea's conflict as the new friend in a trio of girls. Azalea is likable, and student readers will want to know how she overcomes her trouble. 

The Day the Crayons Came Home, by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
(Philomel, August 18, 2015)
     Duncan's crayons are back. Only this time, the cast of characters are crayons who have been lost in some way or another: vacations, pets, toddlers, etc. Through a series of postcards to Duncan, the crayons share their adventures and express dismay with being forgotten.
      This team does it again, personifying crayons in a way that readers can imagine their own crayons coming to life with complaints and requests. I had the chance to read this aloud with my favorite little readers and it provoked giggles and grins, every single time.

Lillian's Right to Vote: A Celebration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Shane W. Evans
(Schwartz & Wade, July 14, 2015)
     Through the strong metaphor of elderly (100 year old) Lillian climbing a steep hill to vote, Winter and Evans take us on a journey through the historic events leading up to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. With Lillian's memories of her ancestors and significant political leaders, readers revisit the Fifteenth Amendment, poll taxes, voting tests, the march from Selma to Montgomery, and more.
      A poignant and thought-provoking picture book.      

To the Sea, by Cale Atkinson
(Disney Hyperion, June 2, 2015)
     Tim has been lonely and feeling invisible. One rainy day, he meets a whale named Sam who needs the help of a friend. Tim takes care of Sam, Sam takes care of Tim, and Tim feels less lonely in the end.
      The illustrations in this book are beautiful and make the story come alive. Atkinson's take on friendship and caring for one another is gentle and warm. I'm anxious to read this with students and let them talk about it.

Emmanuel's Dream: The True Story of Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, by Laurie Ann Thompson, illustrated by Sean Qualls
(Schwartz & Wade, January 6, 2015)
     Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah was born in Ghana with only one strong leg. Determined to make a difference and raise awareness that disability does not mean inability, he set out to ride bicycle around the country of Ghana.
      Emmanuel's story becomes another resource to draw inspiration from as we work with more and more students who are afraid their differences will hold them back from what they aspire to. Emmanuel's example of persistence and commitment is just the kind of story we need to share with students.

If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't, by Elise Parsley
(Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, July 7, 2015)
     Magnolia is a young student whose classroom, like many others, has show and tell. Only, when Magnolia takes an alligator to school, she finds out just how much trouble that might cause.
      In her cautionary tale, Magnolia walks readers through all the ways that she (they) might get in trouble: name on the board, checkmarks, visits to the principal. The illustrations are humorous and fun.

Last Stop on Market Street, by Matt De La Pena, illustrated by Christian Robinson
(G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, January 8, 2015)
     After church, CJ and his nana board the city bus for a ride to "the last stop on Market Street." All along the way, CJ asks questions and his nana replies in a way that encourages him to see the beauty and the good in his surroundings.
      I loved the nature of the relationship between CJ and his nana. I loved the sense of routine that was illustrated in the text. This is such a lovely picture book for talking about appreciation and the power of perspective. (What took me so long to get to this?)

I, Fly, by Bridget Heos, illustrated by Jennifer Plecas
(Henry Holt and Company-BYR, March 10, 2015)
     The fly narrates his own narrative nonfiction, instigated by yet another classroom studying butterflies. He teaches about the fly's life cycle and sets the record straight on common beliefs about flies. 
     The unique approach to presenting informational text has me eager to share this in the classroom. The illustrated narrative includes diagrams and speech bubbles that will appeal to student readers. The snarky voice of the narrating fly (and occasionally gross information) will have readers hand-selling this book to one another. 

What I am Currently Reading:

The Greatest Catch, by Penny Kittle

(Heinemann, 20o5)

Teaching Reading in Small Groups, by Jennifer Serravallo

(Heinemann, 2010)

What I am Reading Next (in no particular order):
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg, by Rodman Philbrick
Drowned City, by Don Brown
Upstanders, by Smokey Daniels and Sara Ahmed