Writing With...Zen Pencils and A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Zen Pencils is a must-need resource! I love it for so many reasons and here are a few:

1. Quotes turned into cartoons - These are short, visual pieces with so much to discuss. 

2. Critical thinking - There are so many things to discuss in these texts. There's the person who said the quote and learning about them, there's looking at how the quote is brought to life in the cartoon. There's using visual literacy to analyze. So great.

3. Translations - Many of the comics are translated into different languages. I teach dual language so I love that there are options in Spanish but there are also translations in Chinese, Farsi, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Polish, Russian, French, Portuguese, and Turkish.

Students and I have been talking about activism and studying activists. This week we're also talking about failure. As we are finishing this trimester, I asked students to reflect on this school year, how they feel about themselves as learners, what goals they have for themselves for the rest of the school year, and what steps they need to take to achieve those goals. I gave students an option to share in Flipgrid or in a Google Form. Now we're creating learning mascots (I'll share more about this next week!) and we're discussing what it means to fail versus what it means to be a failure. We'll then go back to our goals and use our learning mascots and our deeper thinking about failure to move us into trimester three. 

To get myself prepared for this discussion, I did a one minute word association about perfection and then I did a two minute word association looking at the difference between what it means to fail versus to be a failure. 

I'll be sharing this with my students today and inviting them to think about these as well. We do restorative justice circles and the topic today will be, "When is a time in your life when you failed? What happened afterwards and what did you learn?" Then we'll look at this Zen Pencils cartoon of Life's Pursuit A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and do a free write and then discuss in small groups. And after that, we'll go back to our goals (hopefully with renewed energy!) and connect this all with our learning mascots. 

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was noted as saying: 

“If you fail, never give up

because F.A.I.L. means 'First Attempt In Learning'.

End is not the end, in fact E.N.D. means 'Effort Never Dies.'

If you get No as an answer,

remember N.O. means 'Next Opportunity', 

So let’s be positive.”

I'll be sharing this quote too. Woo hoo! I'm so energized for this. I'll share my slides and more details on this lesson in Patreon this weekend. And I'll share more about my learning mascot journey next week.

If you have a favorite Zen Pencils cartoon or go look through them and find one that stands out to you, I'd love to hear about which one it is and why! Please share in the comments. 

Sanity & Tallulah

Title: Sanity & Tallulah 
Author: Molly Brooks 
Illustrator: Molly Brooks 
Publisher: Disney Hyperion 
Publication Date: October 16th, 2018
Genre/Format: Adventure/Graphic Novel 
GoodReads Summary: Sanity Jones and Tallulah Vega are best friends on Wilnick, the dilapidated space station they call home at the end of the galaxy. So naturally, when gifted scientist Sanity uses her lab skills and energy allowance to create a definitely-illegal-but-impossibly-cute three-headed kitten, she has to show Tallulah. But Princess, Sparkle, Destroyer of Worlds is a bit of a handful, and it isn't long before the kitten escapes to wreak havoc on the space station. The girls will have to turn Wilnick upside down to find her, but not before causing the whole place to evacuate! Can they save their home before it's too late?

Readers will be over the moon for this rollicking space adventure by debut author Molly Brooks. 
What I Think: YES! This book is so much fun. I had the opportunity to meet and moderate a panel with Molly Brooks last weekend at NCTE (check out some resources we shared here). Our session focused on strong female protagonists and it was cool to hear Molly talk about how she specifically wanted to create a space adventure with girl protagonists. Sanity and Tallulah remind me a bit of Bink and Gollie. They are so much, different, but still good friends to each other. 
     One of the hardest things for me as a writer is figuring out plot and what happens in a story. I'm constantly looking for mentor texts that help me think about how a story unravels and how the arc takes shape. It's important to consider what is happening in each scene and how the action moves the story forward. Sanity & Tallulah offers a great example of how action drives the story forwrd. Sometimes it takes a book like this with such a stark example to start to really think about a craft move like plot. Talking about this is especially important with writers in fourth grade and up. They have a lot to say but sometimes their stories lack arc and helping them see how action drives the story forward is important....hard but important.

All's Faire in Middle School

Title:  All's Faire in Middle School 
Author: Victoria Jamieson 
Illustrator: Victoria Jamieson
Publisher: Dial Books 
Publication Date: September 5th, 2017 
Genre/Format: Realistic/Graphic Novel
GoodReads Summary: Eleven-year-old Imogene (Impy) has grown up with two parents working at the Renaissance Faire, and she's eager to begin her own training as a squire. First, though, she'll need to prove her bravery. Luckily Impy has just the quest in mind--she'll go to public school after a life of being homeschooled! But it's not easy to act like a noble knight-in-training in middle school. Impy falls in with a group of girls who seem really nice (until they don't) and starts to be embarrassed of her thrift shop apparel, her family's unusual lifestyle, and their small, messy apartment. Impy has always thought of herself as a heroic knight, but when she does something really mean in order to fit in, she begins to wonder whether she might be more of a dragon after all. 
What I Think: I love Imogene and her bravery in middle school. I talked to my 5th grader about this book (he read it before me) and we talked about how Imogene takes ownership of her actions. He pointed out that he was kind of bummed that she did something mean in the first place. It reminded us of Jack Will from Wonder. He gets sucked into being unkind to Auggie too. It made me wonder about how common this idea is in books and I think my son is right, we see it more often then not...but I think that's because it's so easy to get sucked in. It's not easy to stand up for what you believe in no matter what. I'm so glad we have Imogene's story to talk about, even if she makes a mean choice at one point, she faces her consequences and that's a great lesson.
     I found myself thinking a lot about how the story unfolds and how Victoria Jamieson made the story arc work. I was so excited after reading it that I went back to look at each chapter and study it as a mentor text. Short stories or even longer stories can be hard to write. It seems like they should be easy because there is so much room to make stuff happen but just because they're longer, it doesn't mean stuff has to happen or that the story doesn't have to move along. You better believe it has to move along. Most writers start by learning that a story has a beginning, middle, and end. And most writers know there has to be a problem a story. But beyond that, it's hard to see how a story moves along from beginning to end. Enter All's Faire in Middle School as an awesome mentor text.
     Here are the 13 chapters with a gist of what happens in each chapter (without giving away spoilers):
1. We get a hint at what our main character's journey might be but he/she/they don't know what they're in for yet!
2. Our main character prepares for an upcoming challenge.
3. Our main character is off to the challenge...and is kind of freaked out.
4. A celebration, things are going well for our main character.
5. Oh no, trouble ahead.
6. When there's trouble, our main character strategizes and comes up with a plan.
7. The plan is working...wait, the plan is not working at all.
8. Disaster strikes. Like really strikes. Everything that can go bad, goes bad.
9. Just when you thought everything that could go bad, went bad, things get even worse for our main character.
10. Our main character starts to face the consequences.
11. The main character tries to make amends.
12. Our main character tries even harder to set things straight.
13. Not every story ends in happy ever after...but the main character makes one more courageous act to at least try and make everything as right as possible.
      This was a great activity for me in reverse engineering an outline. The beats that appeared reminded me a bit of the beats from Blake Snyder's Save the Cat. That's a great resource too! Here's how I did it. I put a sticky note on the first page of every chapter. I reread each chapter and wrote 1-2 sentences about the chapter. Then I laid out the sticky notes in order and looked at characters, setting, and main plot points. I looked at a general gist of what was happening in each chapter and how the story arc unfolds. I also did this with Amina's Voice by Hena Khan. It's helpful to see how others have worked with plot so I can think about it in my own novels. You can easily have students do this and then think about how they might write a story by starting with 1-2 sentences with each beat in the story and then have them elaborate from there. So often student writers start writing their stories without a plan...I do this sometimes too but I've learned that sometimes it really is helpful to have a plan. When I have a plan, it's much easier to talk myself into writing each chapter or scene because I just follow my plan.
     Whether writers want to use this basic outline to loosely plan their stories before writing or not, it's important to discuss the idea of outlining with students. It's all about the mindset of writing and having a toolkit handy when we're writing. In my experience, every story is different and every story gets written differently.
Writing Prompt: Write about the different ways Imogene tries to make things right and share any connections to your own life that you notice.

For the Love of Mentor Texts - Teddy Kuhn

Welcome to another guest post in my series For The Love of Mentor Texts here at Teach Mentor Texts. I love to talk about the power of mentor texts to impact our writing but I'm thrilled to have friends share how they use mentor texts for a fresh perspective. Today I'm excited to welcome Teddy Kuhn to to share how she uses cartoons to inspire students to write.

Would you like to write a guest post for For The Love of Mentor Texts? Just let me know by filling out this simple form. 

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Elaborating with Cartoons as Mentor Texts

Students can give opinions all day long, usually very strong and sometimes logical opinions.  The point is opinions are natural for humans, we grow up being asked; what’s your favorite? What’s the best? Was that scary? Funny?  So why is it in argumentative essays student writing often feels flat and bland?  If you’re like me, you’ve read thousands of essays where students’ arguments are simple repetitions of an opinion.   And if you’re like me, you write on the paper, “Why?” and “What does this show?” and “Tell me more about this.”

Finally, you get to the end of the stack and instead of being relieved they’re all graded, you’re frustrated because no matter how many times deepening questions have been written, or written “TELL ME MORE”, students just don’t “TELL ME MORE”.  So it finally dawned on me (It took a while) that maybe students don’t know HOW to tell me more or what could be said.  It was time to start really thinking about what elaboration is and what it does because it is more than just more.  

In the early days I began with comic strips straight from the funny pages of the newspaper.  I gave kids a copy, let them read, listen to some giggles and asked “Is this funny?”

We practiced this a lot, with a lot of cartoons, it’s quick and students like it.  Best of all it did help with their writing.  However, with Common Core the standards for argumentative writing became more rigorous and more defined than they previously had.  I needed to step my strategy up, because even though it helped students see what elaboration looks like, it didn’t help them understand what it truly does.  

That’s when George Hillock, Jr’s book Teaching Argument Writing truly saved the day, week, unit, all of it.  This is really a remarkable book! It has become one of my staple professional development books.  Hillocks helped me really understand the components of argument writing and how they work together.  The book helped solidify what I knew, taught me the new language of CCSS and gave me the tools to actually teach it.  LOVE, LOVE this book, find a copy!

Anyways, Hillocks suggests using crime scene cartoons! (Is there anything more satisfying than finding out you were on the right track??) I use Lawrence Treat’s Crime and Puzzlement, each cartoon in this book comes with a brief story that includes more clues.  Share it with students and simply ask, “What happened? Was this an accident?” As students begin developing theories guide them to the picture and ask, “How can you tell?” This time when students are asked for more, I was really asking for a comparison. Students are really answering, “How does this compare to what you know about the world?”

Suddenly their answers will include ideas about how this evidence shows it couldn’t have been an accident because it would be impossible to occur naturally.  And, almost like magic, students are answering, “why?” and “telling me more” using logic, warrants and reasoning, even if they don’t know it yet!  I’ll later use these cartoons and conversations to define the key elements of argument writing.  Students are more likely to transfer this elaboration when they know exactly what that element is, does and sounds like.

Unfortunately, if you do teach younger students these cartoons aren’t appropriate.  I recommend the classic Goofus and Galant cartoons. Ask students which character is doing the right thing and which is doing the wrong.  Then, to encourage elaboration and reasoning, ask students, “How do you know that’s the right thing to do?” Students’ answers will include their experiences and values in comparison with the characters, so even at a young age the elaboration and reasoning muscles are being strengthened!

I recently discovered Zen Pencils and love how they are taking inspirational or thought-provoking quotes and turning them into cartoons. It really brings them to life and helps give readers another lens to consider as they discuss. If you aren't familiar with this site, I definitely recommend it as well.

A big thank you to Teddy for taking the time to share her love of mentor texts!

Roller Girl

Title: Roller Girl
Author: Victoria Jamieson
Illustrator: Victoria Jamieson 
Publisher: Dial Books 
Publication Date: March 10th, 2015   
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Graphic Novel 
GoodReads Summary: For fans of Raina Telgemeier’s Smile, a heartwarming graphic novel about friendship and surviving junior high through the power of roller derby. 

Twelve-year-old Astrid has always done everything with her best friend Nicole. So when Astrid signs up for roller derby camp, she assumes Nicole will too. But Nicole signs up for dance camp with a new friend instead, and so begins the toughest summer of Astrid's life. There are bumps and bruises as Astrid learns who she is without Nicole...and what it takes to be a strong, tough roller girl.  
What I Think: Eep! I loved this book! t took me way too long to read it but now that I have, I can weigh in on its awesomeness. Gosh, growing up isn't easy but I'm glad young readers have this book. Victoria Jamieson does a great job of capturing the ups and downs of friendship while navigating the courage of new experiences.
     I've been leading a Saturday course on creating graphic novels with students in 3rd - 6th grade and it has been so much fun to talk to them about their favorite graphic novels. I was super excited to share Roller Girl with them and know they'll love it! We spent time talking about characters and now as they've started drawing their own stories on pages of blank panels, we've looked at graphic novels as mentor texts for how to show that time has passed or how to zoom in on a character's face or just how to show the setting from far away and then how to zoom in by using panels in a row. It has been so fun to watch their stories come to life. Next, we'll be talking about dialogue and speech and thought bubbles. I'm excited to show them how Astrid and Nicole act towards each other and how the dialogue along with the artwork supports our understanding of each of their characters...along with the other fun characters in this book.
Read Together: Grades 4 - 6 
Read Alone: Grades 4 - 8 
Read With: Smile and Sisters by Raina Telgemeier, Sunny Side Up by Jenni Holm and Matt Holm, Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge
Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you had to do something all on your own. How did you handle it? How did it feel? 
Topics Covered: Friendship, Bravery, Courage 

I *heart* It:

I Am Princess X

Title: I Am Princess X 
Author: Cherie Priest 
Illustrator: Kali Ciesemier
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine Books
Publication Date: May 26th, 2015 
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel 
GoodReads Summary: Best friends, big fans, a mysterious webcomic, and a long-lost girl collide in this riveting novel, perfect for fans of both Cory Doctorow and Sarah Dessen; illustrated throughout with comics.

Once upon a time, two best friends created a princess together. Libby drew the pictures, May wrote the tales, and their heroine, Princess X, slayed all the dragons and scaled all the mountains their imaginations could conjure.

Once upon a few years later, Libby was in the car with her mom, driving across the Ballard Bridge on a rainy night. When the car went over the side, Libby passed away, and Princess X died with her.

Once upon a now: May is sixteen and lonely, wandering the streets of Seattle, when she sees a sticker slapped in a corner window.

Princess X?When May looks around, she sees the Princess everywhere: Stickers. Patches. Graffiti. There's an entire underground culture, focused around a webcomic at IAmPrincessX.com. The more May explores the webcomic, the more she sees disturbing similarities between Libby's story and Princess X online. And that means that only one person could have started this phenomenon---her best friend, Libby, who lives.  
What I Think: Gosh, I love this book. I've been collecting titles of books that would be great to read and discuss with students when it comes to digital citizenship. Princess X is a book I would match with In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang and Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead. I love that the girls in this book write and draw together and come up with stories and then that their comic ends up as a zine. I love that technology is incorporated and embrace and acknowledged as part of their lives. One of the main characters of this book isn't very smart about how he uses his knowledge of technology - it gets in him in trouble and impacts is ability to go to college. I think that's such an important lesson to help kids understand.
     This book is probably the easiest book to booktalk. I was able to share it with 6th, 7th, and 8th graders and they were all excited and curious about the story. I loved the characters and their friendships and how May's tenacity for uncovering what really happened to her friend. It reminded me of Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Once Was a Time by Leila Sales, and  I Was Here by Gayle Forman. Friendship stories always capture my heart and this book definitely did. 
     As a mentor text, I would look at how Cherie Priest develops the characters in this book and how she uses description and dialogue to bring them to life. Her writing is tight and specific. When writing, it's not easy to focus on what's really and truly important but Cherie does a good job. Invite students to look at her writing and pay attention to how she shows instead of telling and how every scene moves the story forward.
Read Together: Grades 8 - 9  
Read Alone: Grades 6 - 12 
Read With: In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang, Goodbye Stranger by Rebecca Stead, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, I Was Here by Gayle Forman, Once Was a Time by Leila Sales
Snatch of Text:  
     "Neither May nor Libby ever quite made any other good friends, because they didn't need any other good friends. They played a lot of video games, read a lot of comics, watched a lot of TV, and ate a lot of junk food. They climbed on the troll statue out in Fremont, taking selfies under the neon artwork of ballroom dancers, rocket ships, and diving ladies in old-fashioned swimming caps. They did each others homework and sat up late with flashlights under the covers, downloading dirty books onto Libby's e-reader and giggling madly until they got caught. They spent their allowances on arm warmers, magazines, and hot chocolate at their favorite local joint, Black Tazza - pretending it was coffee so they could feel like grown-ups." (p. 8-9)
Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when something seemed more than a coincidence. Write about a person who has made an impact on your life.
Topics Covered: Family, Friendship, Loyalty, Courage, Determination 

I *heart* It:

Sunny Side Up

Title: Sunny Side Up 
Author: Jennifer L. Holm 
Illustrator: Matthew Holm 
Publisher: Graphix 
Publication Date: August 25th, 2015 
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Graphic Novel 
GoodReads Summary: From the groundbreaking and award-winning sister-brother team behind Babymouse comes a middle-grade, semi-autobiographical graphic novel.

Following the lives of kids whose older brother's delinquent behavior has thrown their family into chaos, Sunny Side Up is at once a compelling "problem" story and a love letter to the comic books that help the protagonist make sense of her world.

By sister-brother team Jennifer and Matthew Holm. A 200-page, full-color graphic novel in the vein of Raina Telgemeier's Smile.  
What I Think: I'm a fan of books that stick with you even after you turn the last page, close the last book, and let out a satisfied sigh. Sunny Side Up is definitely one of those books. I loved the strong but sweet protagonist. She's tough and she loves comics and superheroes but she's vulnerable at the same time. I can see many young readers identifying with Sunny and taking a lot away from her story.
     As a mentor text Sunny Side Up definitely reminds me of Raina Telgemeier's Smile. A few years ago, I was in a workshop where Raina talked the audience through how to tell a personal narrative in six panels (or something like that...). She led us through an activity and then called on a member of the audience to tell his story about the first time he tried Vegemite. It was entertaining to watch but also enlightening. I don't usually draw pictures to represent my stories so it was fascinating to see how the process works. I love that young readers will get a story with a similar feel with Sunny Side Up. That said, they will also get a serious story that might be worthy of a conversation during or afterwards depending on the reader.
     I'm sure fans of the Holms' work will adore Sunny Side Up but I also believe any graphic novel fan won't be disappointed!
Read Together: Grades 3 - 5 
Read Alone: Grades 4 - 7 
Read With: Rain Reign by Ann M. Martin, The Center of The Universe by Linda Urban, Smile by Raina Telgemeier
Snatch of Text:   

Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you had to have a difficult conversation with a friend or family member.
Topics Covered: Family, Friendship, Fear, Pain, Disappointment, Loyalty, Guilt, Courage

I *heart* It:

In Real Life

Title: In Real Life 
Author: Cory Doctorow 
Illustrator: Jen Wang 
Publisher: First Second 
Publication Date: October 14th, 2014 
Genre/Format: Graphic Novel/Realistic Fiction 
GoodReads Summary: Anda loves Coarsegold Online, the massively-multiplayer role-playing game where she spends most of her free time. It's a place where she can be a leader, a fighter, a hero. It's a place where she can meet people from all over the world, and make friends. 

But things become a lot more complicated when Anda befriends a gold farmer--a poor Chinese kid whose avatar in the game illegally collects valuable objects and then sells them to players from developed countries with money to burn. This behavior is strictly against the rules in Coarsegold, but Anda soon comes to realize that questions of right and wrong are a lot less straightforward when a real person's real livelihood is at stake.From acclaimed teen author (Little Brother, For the Win) and Boing Boing editor Cory Doctorow and Koko Be Good creator Jen Wang, In Real Life is a perceptive and high-stakes look at adolescence, gaming, poverty, and culture clash.  
What I Think: When I saw the gorgeous cover to this book and spotted Cory Doctorow's name as a co-author, I knew I had to buy In Real Life. I absolutely adore this book and am so happy for an accessible story that I believe young adult readers will relate and adults will learn from.
     I have to admit, I still have my original AOL e-mail address from 1994. Something about it is nostalgic so I just can't let go of it. Chat rooms were fun when I was in high school and while I don't play online games or visit chat rooms any more, I love Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and Vine. I have a digital presence and I know the potential and power of finding people I connect with around the world thanks to technology. But as I talk to more and more teachers, the more I realize not everyone has this same perspective and understanding of the depth of what it means to be a digital citizen.
     How can parents and teachers support students as they navigate this digital world if we don't know the lay of the land? I'm so excited to share In Real Life with teachers and parents so they can think through online relationships and how they impact our IRL relationships. But I'm also thrilled to have a book to share with students who might need to find solace in the fact that others are experiencing what they might be when forging online relationships. I know it was amazing for me to read Anda's story and see how our view of the world expands thanks to technology.
     I love this as a mentor text for examining character development and giving students opportunities to make connections, imagine possibilities, and talk through the impact of the choices we make. If I was writing a digital citizenship curriculum, this would most definitely be an anchor text. This would also make a great mentor text for comparing and contrasting because we have one character who is similar yet different online versus offline and both of her personas impact each other.
Read Together: Grades 7 - 12  
Read Alone: Grades 8 - 12 
Read With: Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell 
Snatch of Text:  
See the book trailer here.
Writing Prompts: Think about how you interact with others through digital media - or imagine how it might be different from in person - and write about what you see might be different or the same.  
Topics Covered: Family, Friendship, Loyalty, Honesty, Advocacy, Support, Culture 

I *heart* It:

Sisters

Title: Sisters 
Author: Raina Telgemeier  
Illustrator: RainaTelgemeier 
Publisher: Scholastic 
Publication Date: August 26th, 2014 
Genre/Format: Non-Fiction - Memoir/Graphic Novel 
GoodReads Summary: The companion to Raina Telgemeier's #1 NEW YORK TIMES bestselling and Eisner Award-winning graphic memoir, SMILE.

Raina can't wait to be a big sister. But once Amara is born, things aren't quite how she expected them to be. Amara is cute, but she's also a cranky, grouchy baby, and mostly prefers to play by herself. Their relationship doesn't improve much over the years, but when a baby brother enters the picture and later, something doesn't seem right between their parents, they realize they must figure out how to get along. They are sisters, after all.

Raina uses her signature humor and charm in both present-day narrative and perfectly placed flashbacks to tell the story of her relationship with her sister, which unfolds during the course of a road trip from their home in San Francisco to a family reunion in Colorado. 
What I Think: Today is Halloween but I have more of a treat to share than a trick. Sisters is another great story from Raina Telgemeier. I love that she wrote another graphic-memoir. I gave El Deafo to my sister to read but now I'm going to make sure she reads Sisters. Just for fun, here's a picture of my sister and me when we went apple picking in September.

     If readers have a sister like I do, they'll completely relate to this book. I can't imagine how you couldn't. But whether you have siblings or are an only child, Raina also captures feelings and experiences that are part of growing up. I especially enjoy how she captures what she learns about herself but also what she learns about her relationship in this book.
     A couple summers ago we went to Kids Read Comics in Michigan over the summer and Raina presented on how to take one event and make it into a whole story. It was neat to watch her take one of the audience member's moments and expand upon it until it was a page of comic panels. As a writer, there are often times when we say too much in writing but there are also times when you can take a moment, freeze it in time, look at it from a 360 spin view and expand. There are definitely times for both so it's a good skill to have. When you need to cut something or someone from your book, you just have to let it go. When you have to expand, it's easy to feel like it's just not possible to write more but I've found that you can breathe life into situations by slowing down and thinking about how to describe the moment and then asking your characters to say something.
     Writing a personal narrative or memoir isn't. To me it can seem frustrating because you want to tell an engaging story but at the same time you want to be true to what happened. For me, it's much easier to infuse my own experiences or bits and feelings of emotions into fictional stories...but as a mentor text, Smile and Sisters both offer examples of how you can take a moment and describe what is happening and use characters to build what is happening.

Read Together: Grades 3 - 8 
Read Alone: Grades 4 - 8 
Read With: Smile and Drama by Raina Telgemeier, Chloe Instead by Micah Player, El Deafo by CeCe Bell, Page by Paige by Laura Lee Gulledge,
Snatch of Text:  

  

Writing Prompts: Write about an experience you had with one or all of your siblings or as an only child. Do you ever wish you had more siblings? How might things be different if you did have more siblings?
Topics Covered: Family, Siblings, Relationships, Friendship, Courage  

I *heart* It:

El Deafo

Title: El Deafo 
Author: CeCe Bell 
Illustrator: CeCe Bell 
Publisher: Harry N. Abrams 
Publication Date: September 2nd, 2014 
Genre/Format: Autobiography/Graphic Novel 
GoodReads Summary: Going to school and making new friends can be tough. But going to school and making new friends while wearing a bulky hearing aid strapped to your chest? That requires superpowers! In this funny, poignant graphic novel memoir, author/illustrator Cece Bell chronicles her hearing loss at a young age and her subsequent experiences with the Phonic Ear, a very powerful—and very awkward—hearing aid.
The Phonic Ear gives Cece the ability to hear—sometimes things she shouldn’t—but also isolates her from her classmates. She really just wants to fit in and find a true friend, someone who appreciates her as she is. After some trouble, she is finally able to harness the power of the Phonic Ear and become “El Deafo, Listener for All.” And more importantly, declare a place for herself in the world and find the friend she’s longed for.  
What I Think: I'm thrilled that CeCe shared her story! I especially love that she told it in graphic novel format. After working with students who are deaf and hard of hearing, I know how important it is for them to be able to connect with others who have similar experiences that they do. I worked primarily with hard of hearing students. Many wore hearing aids and FM systems similar to the Phonic Ear that CeCe wears in the book. The trickiest part about being hard of hearing (in my opinion), is that people don't quite understand how much your hearing loss impacts you. I remember so many times when a classroom teacher told me my student could hear just fine when really he or she maybe could hear but not clearly understand what he or she was hearing. Because a person who is hard of hearing can hear a lot of what is going on, I think it makes it seem like he or she knows what is going on in the conversation but there are times when they don't. I spent a lot of time working on coping strategies with my students. We would talk about what to do in different situations depending on what was happening. There are different strategies they can use to advocate for themselves depending on what makes listening difficult in a situation. 
     Being deaf or hard of hearing is not easy and there usually aren't many others who are also deaf or hard of hearing to connect with. Lots of times, students who are deaf or hard of hearing are in mainstream classes and rarely see another student who has a hearing aid or uses sign language. Having El Deafo is great because students can read about a character they can identify with. Many students who are deaf or hard of hearing rely on visual cues just like CeCe in the book. This is why I love that this book is in graphic novel format. It makes CeCe's story accessible to so many readers regardless of their age level.
     My sister is hard of hearing. Growing up, it wasn't something we talked about much or paid attention to. She wore a hearing aid for a short time but after feeling like it only amplified all the noise in the room, she stopped wearing it. It wasn't until I was in college, student teaching and working with hard of hearing students that I realized how she was impacted by her hearing loss. I went to school to work with students who are deaf but once I was student teaching, I realized how a hearing loss can impact a child who is hard of hearing, whose hearing loss isn't as severe as someone who is deaf. My sister would mis-hear certain phrases or song lyrics and she often asked us to repeat what we said. School seemed more difficult for her than me and she was often so tired at night. After reading El Deafo, I knew this book was one my sister needed to read. At first she wasn't excited to read it. Bringing attention to her hearing loss isn't something she enjoys but as she started reading it, she softened to the story. Knowing that there were others who felt how she felt seemed to help her know she wasn't alone.
     For readers who don't know anyone who is deaf or hard of hearing, this will be a great read. I hope and anticipate that they'll think differently about kids who have hearing loss and who might have to wear hearing aids or FM systems. For readers who are deaf of hard of hearing, this will be a great read, too -and possibly more so. I hope and anticipate that they'll find a real life character they can identify with and it might make them think differently about themselves and their hearing loss. It's pretty amazing to be able to identify with a character in a book and I don't think it's often enough that a child who is deaf or hard of hearing gets to do that. 
     This is a super special book and I hope you share it with readers of all ages! Kellee Moye contributed to the Teachers' Guide for El Deafo if you are interested in checking it out, click here. I also blogged about books with deaf or hard of hearing characters in them when I celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Schneider Family Book Award.
Read Together: Grades 3 - 5 
Read Alone: Grades 3 - 12 
Read With: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick, Tale of Desperaux by Kate DiCamillo, Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby, Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John 
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Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you didn't feel like you fit it or like someone left you out of a conversation. How did it make you feel? What did you do about it? 
Topics Covered: Family, Friendship, Adversity, Courage 

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Comic Squad: Recess!

Title: Comic Squad: Recess!
Editors: Jennifer & Matthew Holm
Illustrators: (see below) 
Publisher: Random House Books For Young Readers
Publication Date: July 8, 2014
Genre/Format: Comic Book
GoodReads Summary: A bust-your-gut-laughing graphic-novel anthology with original contributions from the most beloved names in the genre! * Jennifer Holm & Matthew Holm * Jarrett J. Krosoczka * Dav Pilkey * Dan Santat * Raina Telgemeier * Dave Roman * Ursula Vernon * Eric Wight * Gene Yang *
 
Wowza! Calling all kidz! Do you like comics? Do you like laughing till milk comes out of your nose?! Look no further—do we have the book for you! All your favorite comic creators are right here in this handy-dandy hilarious book! This all-star tribute to classic Sunday comics includes eight sidesplitting, action-packed stories about every kid’s favorite subject—RECESS! With popular characters from Babymouse and Lunch Lady and brand-new soon-to-be favorite characters from superstars including Dav Pilkey! Raina Telgemeier! Gene Yang! and many more! Comics Squad also features Pizza Monsters! Secret ninja clubs! Aliens! Talking desserts! Dinozilla! Death-defying escapes! Bad guys! Good guys! Medium guys! Superheroes! Bullies! Mean girls! Epic battles! True love! Outlandish schemes! Evil plans! Fun! Jokes! Terrible puns! And other surprises that will tickle your funny bone! WARNING: THIS BOOK MAY CAUSE EXCESSIVE LAUGHTER AND POSSIBLE SILLINESS. No assembly required. (Pizzatron 2000 not included.)
What I Think: I was so excited when I heard about this amazing collaboration! What a fun idea to do a comic collection like this for kiddos. Both of my kids loved each of the stories and we reread them many times. I especially love that like the summary implies, there are all sorts of fun things going on in each of these stories. I think kids will love having so many different stories in one book. This will get them excited for another book/volume to be out and it's a great way to introduce graphic novel lovers to other authors. 
     I never wrote a full length novel until Teachers Write. I know there is NaNoWriMo Junior and I believe kids should definitely write longer stories but it seems like writing short stories is more the focus in schools (well...and non-fiction. Non-fiction is the rage right now.). I'm guessing kids mostly write short stories because of the time. Whatever the reason, I love that this book can be an example of some short stories students can write. They can show students how they can build a short story and see the arc of a short story as told with comics. There is definitely an art to a short story and I love this graphic novel collection of short stories!
Read Together: Grades 2 - 4
Read Alone: Grades 2 - 6
Read With: Babymouse (series) by Jenni and Matt Holm, Lunchlady (series) by Jarrett Krosoczka, Sidekicks by Dan Santat, Frankie Pickle (series) by Eric Wight, Smile and Sisters by Raina Telgemeier, Astronaut Academy by Dave Roman, Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey, Bird and Squirrel by James Burks
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In lieu of a snatch of text, please enjoy this book trailer...

Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you really wanted to be included in a club or a group. What did you do or not do to be part of the group? Would you do anything differently if you could do it again?
Topics Covered: Friendship, Adversity, Determination, Imagination, Courage

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Will & Whit

Title: Will & Whit
Author: Laura Lee Gulledge     
Illustrator: Laura Lee Gulledge 
Publisher: Abrams 
Publication Date: May, 2013 
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Graphic Novel 
GoodReads Summary: Wilhelmina “Will” Huxstep is a creative soul struggling to come to terms with a family tragedy. She crafts whimsical lamps, in part to deal with her fear of the dark. As she wraps up another summer in her mountain town, she longs for unplugged adventures with her fellow creative friends, Autumn, Noel, and Reese. Little does she know that she will get her wish in the form of an arts carnival and a blackout, courtesy of a hurricane named Whitney, which forces Will to face her fear of darkness.
Laura Lee Gulledge’s signature visual metaphors will be on full display in this all-new graphic novel, a moving look at shedding light on the dark corners of life. 
What I Think: I thoroughly enjoyed Laura Lee's book Paige By Page and especially Paige's personality and how she finds herself and embraces being an agent of whimsy. The elements of self identity in this book also struck a chord with me. Will is learning more and more about herself everyday while managing a family tragedy. It's amazing what we can handle and how we handle it. Laura Lee really uses her grasp of drawing and shading to make Will's emotions evident to readers and to help us see how she is constantly dealing with the memories that haunt her.
     I really loved the stories about Will's friends that are going on along with Will's story throughout the book. Will is learning a lot about herself but engaging with her friends and being part of what they are learning about themselves. I'm constantly and continuously fascinated by the people who come into our lives and when they come into our lives. I feel like I have something to learn and/or something to contribute to everyone I come into contact with whether it is something big or small. It's a pretty amazing life and I love how Laura Lee brings this to life in Will & Whit. 
Read Together: Grades 7 - 9 
Read Alone: Grades 7 - 12 
Read With: Paige By Page by Laura Lee Gulledge, Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol, Smile and Drama by Raina Telgemeier, Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks 
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Reading Strategies to Practice: Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Making Inferences

Writing Strategies to Practice: Personal Narrative, Dialogue
Writing Prompts: Write about a time in your life when you were scared to face something important.  
Topics Covered: Family, Friendship, Loss, Honesty, Trust, Determination, Courage, Love

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Shark in the Library!

Title: Shark in the Library! 
Author: Cari Meister  
Illustrator: Remy Simard 
Publisher: Capstone Publishers 
Publication Date: September, 2010 
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Graphic Novel 
GoodReads Summary:  Noah is thrilled when the week's library theme is sea creatures. But when Noah can't find the stuffed shark, he is disappointed. Noah knows there is a shark in the library, and he is going to find it!
What I Think: This simple graphic novel is a great introduction to graphic novels in general and students visiting the library at school. At the beginning of this book, there is a guide for how to read graphic novels, outlining which direction to read the pictures. I'm a huge fan of graphic novels so it's exciting to see graphic novels for young readers. This book would make a great read aloud in the library because it talks about visiting the library and doing research in the library. It can also introduce graphic novels and teachers or librarians could show students where they can find the graphic novels in the library. The artwork is bright and cute and I can see how students would enjoy this as an entry into graphic novels.
     After reading this book, students could be asked to develop some kind of visual representation of how to use the library or appropriate library behavior. I have seen science teachers ask students to make posters to show the safety rules in the classrooms. Students could make something similar for the library and add in a paragraph that outlines why they need to be quiet or why they need to return books on time, etc. Letting students get creative about what they produce gives them freedom to develop something unique for the library and also gives them the opportunity to take ownership in what happens in the library.
Read Together: Grades Pre-K - 2 
Read Alone: Grades Pre-K - 2 
Read With:  Balloon Toons books like Adopt a Glurb by Elise Gravel
Snatch of Text: See inside the book. 
Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections 
Writing Strategies to Practice: Personal Narrative, Expository 
Writing Prompts: Write about one of your visits to the library, maybe your first first or your most recent visit. Create a visual piece that teaches other students about the library; how to use the library or how to behave in the library.
Topics Covered: Exploration, Discovery, Learning 

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