Tweets, Skype, and Pink Icing

"Always be yourself.  Unless you can be a vampire unicorn.  Then always be a vampire unicorn." - Drew Daywalt

This quote hangs on our classroom wall.  It's very popular in our third grade room, mostly because it came from Drew Daywalt, author of The Day the Crayons Quit.  (And also because vampire unicorns are the best.)

We love not only this picture book, but Mr. Daywalt himself.

Maybe love isn't the best word.

Adore would be more like it.

A few months ago, we reached out to Mr. Daywalt via Twitter because his book was having a huge impact on our Writing Workshop.  So many students were inspired by the format and the hilarious personification.  You can read about that experience here http://kingandkids.blogspot.com/2013/10/two-tweets-that-changed-everything.html

We recently were able to Skype with Mr. Daywalt on a very cold Thursday afternoon.  (And yes, we know it was 60 degrees in L.A. that day.  Thanks for sharing, Mr. Daywalt.) We were crazy excited and nervous.  After all, THIS was the author of one of our favorite books...and authors are rock stars!

Well.  Not only did Mr. Daywalt show us the actual box of crayons that inspired his book, but he also showed us each individual crayon from the box while discussing their personalities!  My students were in awe.  I was too.

He later answered our questions and encouraged us to keep writing and illustrating - but not necessarily to stay inside the lines.  We learned that pink is his favorite color.  It was perfect, as we are talking so much about stereotyping lately.  

Our Skype session motivated my students' writing and reading lives.  Definitely.

But more than that, talking with an author they love pushed their thinking even beyond their literate worlds.  Drew Daywalt likes pink?  He colors outside the lines?  He reads The Twits?  I could teach my students that it's ok to be different, but hearing it from a rock star makes it true.

The next day was my student Ivy's birthday and she brought in cupcakes to celebrate.  Unfortunately, there were only 12 Star Wars cupcakes. The rest were Elmo or Princess cupcakes with pink or green icing.  

"Mr. Daywalt's favorite color is pink," one boy said as he ate the pink icing.  "Yeah, it doesn't matter what color it is," said another.

Vampire unicorns forever.

Must Read in 2014

Alright, I'll do it.  Every year I know I have that To Be Read list on Goodreads, but I've never set a yearly goal for myself.  

Sure, I've immersed myself in #bookaday during the summer or during vacations from school.  But this will be new.  I must conquer that book stack that is taking over my house!

Thank you to Carrie Gelson for inviting me to participate in Must Read in 2014!  You can find information about #mustreadin2014 and links to other bloggers at: http://thereisabookforthat.com/2014/01/02/mustreadin2014/

Also, the book nerd community of Indianapolis has an awesome event happening on Twitter this year, too.  You can find it at #Read26Indy.  The goal is to read 26 books, of whatever genre or length, and post about the titles using the hashtag #Read26Indy.

Join us!

Here are my titles, in no particular order:

MG novels:

1. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu  Read Jan. 2014
2. The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell Read Jan. 2014
3. Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
4. Hound Dog True by Linda Urban Read Feb. 2014

5. Cardboard by Doug TenNapel (Graphic novel) Read July 2014
6. The Hypnotists by Gordon Korman
7. The True Blue Scouts of Sugar Man Swamp by Kathi Appelt Read Feb. 2014
8. Doll Bones by Holly Black Read July 2014
9. Every Day After by Laura Golden
10. The Big Fat Cow That Goes Kapow by Andy Griffiths Read March 2014
11. Comics Squad: Recess! by Jennifer Holm Read at #nErDcampMI, July 2014
12. Wake Up Missing by Kate Messner Read July 2014
13. Seven Stories Up by Laurel Snyder
14. Like Carrot Juice on a Cupcake by Julie Sternberg Read Fall 2014
15. Coraline by Neil Gaiman Read April 2014
16. Wonkenstein by Obert Skye Read May 2014
17. Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee
18. The Year of Billy Miller by Kevin Henkes Read Jan. 2014
19. A Tale Dark & Grimm #1 by Adam Gidwitz Read March 2014
20. Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
21. Nightingale's Nest by Nikki Loftin
22. The 13-Story Treehouse by Andy Griffiths Read Summer 2014
23. A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd Read April 2014
24. Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff Read May 2014
25. How to Outrun a Crocodile When your Shoes are Untied by Jess Keating Read June 2014
26. Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff Read June 2014
27. Amulet, Vol. 1: The Stonekeeper by Kazu Kibuishi Read July 2014
28. Shredderman: Secret Identity by Wendelin Van Draanen Read June 2014

YA novels:

1. Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
2. Allegiant by Veronica Roth Read Jan. 2014
3. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell Read Jan. 2014
4. The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey Read Jan. 2014
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie Read June 2014
6. The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale Read Feb. 2014
7. This Side of Paradise by Steven Lane
8. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart Read May 2014 - in one morning.  That's how much I enjoyed this book!
9. Landline by Rainbow Rowell
10. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell
11. Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith Read March 2014
12. Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne Read July 2014
13. Paper Towns by John Green
14. An Abundance of Katherines by John Green Read July 2014


Adult novels:
1. David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
2. Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
3. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
4. Inferno by Dan Brown
5. Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
6. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon - Reread June 2014



What other books are in your To Be Read stack?  Please share!

I'm Ambivalent About Columbus Day

When I was twenty years old, I learned the truth about Columbus.  I was living in the Dominican Republic at the time.  I was living among the Dominicans, not as a missionary, but as a student.  A learner.  

I attended school.  I rode the guaguas.  I walked through the Colonial Zone and watched the cruise ships dock and explode with foreigners looking for trinkets.  I watched the beaches become roped off so the tourists could enjoy the waves by themselves.

I experienced what it was like to look different than an entire population of people.  I experienced being singled out because of my skin color or hair texture.  I felt the discomfort.  But yet, I loved the people, the culture, the food, the sweltering hot weather.

It was during my time there that I learned about the Taino native people.  I learned that the island was once called Hispaniola, and that an entire race of natives was annihilated by Columbus.  And, to this day, not one full-blooded Taino lives due to disease, murder, and mistreatment by the Spanish conquerers.

And then, just recently, I read this post about Columbus Day on The Oatmeal: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/columbus_day 

I know it's my duty to teach my students about the real history of Columbus and what happened so long ago.  

So why do I feel ambivalent every year?  Because I feel like I might be committing heresy against the many history textbooks that still gloss over the history?  Because I don't want to anger my students' parents?  There is such a fine line between teaching the truth to eight year olds and completely traumatizing them.

This year we do not have school on Columbus Day due to Fall Break.  But I still plan to use Jane Yolen's wonderful book Encounter, which describes the events of the Spanish conquerers from the perspective of a Taino boy.

When I was living in Santo Domingo, the running water and electricity were often turned off in sections around the city.  Imagine my surprise when I learned of a museum in town called the Columbus Lighthouse.  It is shaped like the cross and at night, using thousands of watts of light, projects the image of the cross onto the sky.  (Rumor has it that it can be seen from neighboring Puerto Rico.)  It was an interesting feeling to be sweltering in my room at night, with no access to A/C or fans, but to see the lighted cross in the sky in honor of Columbus.

I will share some of what I know with my students.  And I will feel comfortable not knowing the answers to all of their questions.  And I will be satisfied knowing that they will not be twenty years old when they finally learn the truth.

Two Tweets that Changed Everything

In honor of Connected Educator Month...

8 year old Keagan loves The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt.  He kept the book at his desk for days until finally, just recently, he told me about a book he wrote.

"I was inspired by Drew Daywalt," he announced.  "I wrote a book just like the Crayons book.  Wanna see?"

Of course I did.  The book is called "Highlighters," and it was organized in letter-format, just as Crayons is.  The highlighters in his book are hilarious and obnoxious.

Later that night, I realized that I am connected to Drew Daywalt on Twitter.  I reached out and told him about Keagan's book, hoping for a response.

Here is the communication that followed:

And here was his response:

The next day, I shared these two tweets with our class.  

Here were some of their responses:

"OMG!  HE WROTE US BACK!"
"THAT AUTHOR IS TALKING TO US!"
"KEAGAN, THAT IS SO AWESOME!"

(And keep in mind, this isn't the first time we've communicated with an author.)

Keagan was highly impacted by this.  He walked around for days holding both his book and Daywalt's book, telling anyone who would listen that he was inspired by an author, and that the author responded to his idea for a book.  

So validating.

My students were previously strong writers.  However, their writing identities and stamina for writing are stronger since using Twitter to connect with authors from around the globe.

Why?

Connecting on Twitter helps my students see authors as real people, instead of magical beings who have talents beyond what children can possess.  For example:

• Drew Daywalt tweets about how he sits at hotels and thinks and writes.  (We sit and think and write!)
• Mo Willems tweets doodles he makes while sitting at a restaurant for dinner.  (Hey, some of us doodle all the time!)
• Jon Klassen shares pictures on Instagram of animals and landscapes and parts of his artwork.  (Some of us love taking pictures of and drawing animals!)
• Linda Urban tweets about having to cut hundreds of words from her draft.  (Hey, we are always making revisions to our writing too!)

These writers feel closer to us because of Twitter.  More accessible.  And if real people can write and revise and publish, then surely, we third graders can too! 

Alas, I am not a perfect connected educator.  I know I don't follow as many people on Twitter as I should.  I don't participate in as many chats as I should. There are always so many more ways for me to be connected.  I'm working on it!  (And yes, I may get a bit starstruck when authors tweet us back, but that's beside the point.)  

In the end, I wonder if it's my students who eventually benefit as much, if not more, than I do.  

So thanks, Twitter.  And thanks, Mr. Daywalt.  

Intentional Words and Vampires

My day is packed full of choices.

I choose which shoes to wear each day.  I choose which books to read aloud to my third grade students.  I choose to pick out the red and purple Skittles from the bag. (True story.)

But what about my word choices?

In the past few years, I became powerfully aware of the words I used every day.  Especially with children.  I found that I was self-monitoring my language to decide if my words were helping or hurting?  Developing agency in children?  Or simply solving problems for them?

Peter Johnston's book Choice Words also had a powerful impact on my intentional language.  If you have not read this book, I highly, highly, highly recommend it.

A running list began in my head.  These are some of the words that I intentionally tell myself to choose every day.

1. "This is our classroom, not mine."  

How might I expect my students to feel a strong sense of community if the class only belongs to the teacher?  This one little pronoun makes a big difference.

2. "Everything you do is a choice.  Unless I physically pick you up or try to hurt you (which I will never do), you have to choose to make the most helpful choice.  I will not make you do anything."  

I love this statement.  I say it so much that my students finish the sentence for me.  It makes a lot more sense to me than yelling over students to stop ________ (insert unwanted behavior here).

If most everything we do is a choice, how empowered children must feel to know they can affect change in their environments!  That they have the power to choose their actions!  No longer can they say, "But I couldn't help it!  He was making me laugh!"  Nope, we choose to laugh.  We have the power to control our words, our bodies, and how we respond to each other.  We should be maximizing children's feelings of agency by helping them see the variety of daily choices they have.

3. "I understand that you are having challenges getting along.  I will stand here next to you while you talk to each other about how to solve this."

How often am I solving problems for my students?  With 25 bodies in the room, it is so much easier to just say, "Stop bothering her."  But what a fabulous opportunity for me to support a problem solving conversation.

4. "You are always good.  Your choices may not be, but you are always good."  See here for more on this favorite line: http://kingandkids.blogspot.com/2013/09/youre-always-good.html

5. "Just because ________ says it, doesn't mean it's true for you.  Or for the world."

Not long ago, I had a student who was trying to convince his entire lunch table that he was a vampire.  Despite the fact that I found this to be absolutely hilarious, his peers were not amused.  They spent day after day arguing with him about his identity.  

"How are you in the light then?"

"Why did you pack a sandwich then?"

"Why aren't your eyes red?"

As I laughed, I listened from a distance and eventually intervened one day as the conversations were becoming heated.  One of the things I talked to them about was how just because someone says the words, it doesn't make them true.  

Children have a sweet but inaccurate understanding of the power and validity of words, I think.  Someone says they have the best shoes, it must be true.  Someone calls you stupid, it's true.  Someone calls you ugly, it must be true.  (Wait, may even adults sometimes buy into this power of words too?)

Just because words are said and given life, doesn't make them accurate.  Am I helping students to think through these bold statements and to decide what to believe for themselves?  Are they becoming critical thinkers who are careful about which words they believe because no authority is truly above error?

And how might I continue to support my students better through the power of my intentional language?

P.S. And yes, the vampire finally (begrudgingly) admitted to being human. 

Writing Fiction: Part 2 (What I Will Do and Won't Do Again)

We are four weeks into writing fiction.  And, we are about finished.  Or, as finished as any writer can be.

What have I learned this time around?  Well, a lot.

You can read about some beginning thoughts here:
http://kingandkids.blogspot.com/2013/08/fun-with-fiction-part-1.html

I did my best to at least try to implement some of the learning I did with Mr. Lester Laminack this past summer.  (You can learn more about Mr. Laminack here at http://www.lesterlaminack.com/)

We studied the elements of plot.  We "told the stories across our fingers" until the kids could do it practically in their sleep.  They understood plot in their reading, which soon carried over into their writing.  They had the vision for their fictional writing before they ever put a pencil to paper.  Or fingers to the keys.

We used the "6 Scenes" strategy to plan our writing.  We started with the Big Event/Climax (Scene 3), and then wrote outward from there.

Brooklyn is famous for her stories about Scary Squirrel and Stinky Skunk.  She has authored multiple sequels describing their adventures.

Did it work for all kids?  Probably not.  

When it came to actually writing (either digitally or with a pencil), some kids did run out of steam.  It's challenging for some to expand on a scene.

Even students who wrote a lot found themselves being careful that they referred back to their original "scene thinking."  

This may have inihibited some students.  Writers deviate from their original thinking often, right?  
Maybe some of my students should have just started their texts from the very beginning without a planning support in place?  I think it depends on the child.  In the future, I will probably offer the option and see what happens.

The most important thought I take away from this unit was the importance of teacher modeling.  I modeled the writing process in at least three different fictional stories from beginning thinking to ending.  I revised and edited and drafted and revised and edited, all in front of my students.  If the mentor text is the expert, then isn't it my job to be the bridge for my students?  If I expect them to write, I must write too.

I used student writing as models, even more than mentor texts this time around.  It was remarkable.  I had previously reluctant student writers who were begging me DAILY to share their writing.  

And finally, remember how students were having a difficult time expanding on their original, simple planning?  We made a t-chart and used student examples, side-by-side, to have a visual of what this thinking actually looks like and sounds like.

This is Cooper's example from his story about two dinosaurs who had some major conflict.

I cannot write enough about how much this scaffolding helped my students.  We displayed multiple examples, including some from my own writing.

As we celebrate our fictional stories next week, I will be remembering that things didn't go perfectly.  The act of writing is a messy process...

but so is the teaching of it!  

Genius Hour: What Are Your Passions?

If you do the math, you will find that I have been with most of my current third grade students for around 215 days.

(I had the excellent fortune of looping up to third grade with my students this year.)

You would think that I would know them extremely well, and I do.  I know their families, I know about their siblings. I know their strengths and weaknesses, where they go on vacations, which genres they love to read, what they bring for lunch every day.

But do I really know what they are PASSIONATE about in their lives?  I mean, outside of school?

For some of them I do, surely.  It's easy to tell what my vocal and extroverted students cannot stop talking about.  Topics like UFO's, Pokemon, Minecraft, horses, football, and  WWII come up constantly.

I asked myself though, what about the students who are the quiet thinkers?  Or the students who politely comply but whose minds are in another place?

In the last few months, I learned about a concept called Genius Hour.  You can read and watch more about the history behind it here: www.geniushour.com.  We will take one hour, every week, to explore our passions.

We started this past week.

We watched Caine's Arcade to get us started.  http://cainesarcade.com/.  My students were enthralled.  A boy, their age, with a passion for arcades, could go viral?

Then we discussed passsions.  We discussed how the constraints of school and home can sometimes keep us from exploring what we truly love.  What are those things we would love to do/test/change/make/learn about if we had no fear?

Every student received sticky notes to begin bravely brainstorming these passions of the heart.

I almost cried.  

I learned things that I never knew about some of my students.  I had no idea that one child always wanted to learn to play the guitar.  I didn't know that another student wants to know how houses are built.

We brainstormed for twenty minutes and the sticky notes full of ideas flooded our wondering charts in a way I never expected.

There will be rules for Genius Hour.  One is that the passions we explore have to be things that are not easily "Google-able." 

Wow.

Imagine exploring a topic that cannot be easily answered with a quick Google search?  This is definitely going to take some time and thought.

I cannot wait to see where this journey is going to take us.

Thank you so much to Joy Kirr for unknowingly taking me under her Genius Hour wing.