Let's Celebrate A Habit For Free Writing!

It's time to CELEBRATE This Week with Ruth Ayres from Discover. Play. Build.  Every week Ruth invites us to share our celebrations from the week and link up at her blog. What a fun way to reflect on everything there is to be thankful for. 

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This week I'm celebrating the power of habits!

*throws confetti*

A couple of years ago I read The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and I blogged about it in this post where Brenda Power came to visit. Then later that same year at an awesome writing retreat with Brenda, I starting applying the ideas about building habits to my writing and now I'm lucky to share some of these ideas and how they might support students writers.

I was lucky enough to share my writer's notebook in a colleague's class this week and lead her students through a discussion about what it means to be a writer. To start, I asked the students, "What does it mean to be a writer?"

And they had some amazing ideas! One student shared how writers need to have ideas - which was perfect because writer's notebooks are all about collecting ideas. We also talked about what writers write, how often they write, how much they write. I showed pictures and shared how I have my writer's eye on all the time and on the lookout for stories or story ideas all over the place.

A Habit For Free Writing

Then I modeled free writing, explaining why writers free write and setting up the structure we would be using. Before visiting their classroom, I sat down with their teacher and discussed the idea of incorporating free writing into everyday and developing the habit of sitting down to a blank piece of paper or a blank screen and being able to make something out of nothing. 

I've developed my own habit for writing that I can take anywhere and that I always have with me. Whether I'm writing at Starbucks, in my laundry room, or at the library, I prep myself to write and then pat myself on the back when I'm done. I frame my writing with two key phrases that I taught to the class. 

To start, I asked the students to say, "Bring it on, blank page!" It was great to hear fifth graders putting emotion into their voices and challenging the blank page! Then we wrote for one minute. After time was up, I asked them all to raise their hands if they had words on the page and pointed out that they did it. They made something out of nothing. That's part of what it means to be a writer. Together we said, "I can write. I am a writer. The proof is on the page."

I love both of these phrases as free writing anchors for students because they reinforce the fact that a first draft is perfect simply because it exists. Once we have something, we can go from there. This habit celebrates going from a blank page to having words on the page - simple as can be but powerful because you can't argue with the fact that there are words are there.

As the year goes on, we'll build the writing stamina and increase the time for free writes as well as offer the option to type their free writes. I can't wait to see what these students share from their notebooks the next time I visit!

Here is the Haiku Deck I used to guide our discussion and support our free writing experience in case you might find it useful.

Writer's Notebooks - Free Write - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires

I've been thinking a lot about mission statements and mantras and mottos lately. Do you have any writerly mission statements, mantras, or mottos to share? I would love to hear about them!

And of course, I'm always happy to know:
What are you celebrating this week?

August 2015 Picture Book 10 for 10!

I'm excited to be participating in another August Picture Book 10 for 10 round up! I love seeing what people put on their top ten lists and what themes they come up with. After talking to a teacher in my district about picture books to get writer's notebooks started, I thought I would share my top ten books to start the school year and to kickoff writer's notebooks with students.

 1. How To Read a Story, by Kate Messner, illustrated by Mark Siegel

This book is sure to be a hit at any grade level. It takes readers through the steps to enjoy a story but along the way we learn about doing different voices for characters in a book a meet a princess and robot. Kids love the idea of a princess falling in love with a robot. When I read this aloud to Peanut's class, they asked me what happens with the princess and the robot and I told them it was a story they have to write. I love that this book celebrates reading but also gives students an idea for writing. This is a great opportunity to segue into a discussion about writing and where we find ideas for what to write about. 

2. If I Had a Dragon, written and illustrated by Tom and Amanda Ellery

I read this book every year when I was teaching. It's available in English and Spanish and is such a fun opportunity to imagine what it might be like to have a dragon as a pet. You can imagine all the things that might go wrong. From here, I would ask students if they would like to have a dragon as a pet and explain why or we would brainstorm what kind of pet they wished they had and why. This is a simple way to spark kids' imaginations.

3. Rocket Writes a Story, written and illustrated Tad Hills

Rocket Writes a Story is an awesome companion to How Rocket Learned to Read with a focus on writing a story. Now that kids have some ideas, they can start to think like a writer and Rocket Writes a Story helps them think through how to write a story. Plus, how can you not love Rocket?

4. Ralph Tells a Story, written and illustrated by Abby Hanlon

Here's another chance to talk about finding stories all around us and having the confidence to sit down and face the blank page. 

5. And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street, written and illustrated by Dr. Seuss

I believe this is one of Dr. Seuss' books that isn't as celebrated as others but it's a perfect start-of-the-school year book. On his way home, the main character finds all sorts of stories as his imagination runs wild. The key to writer's notebooks is helping students see stories all around them. Asking them to pay attention and to turn on their writer's eye so they can record ideas in their notebooks is the key to getting them to have stories to write about. Then, when they feel like they are stuck, they can turn to their notebooks and have ideas to get them going.

6. A Funny Thing happened On The Way To School, by Davide Cale, illustrated by Benjamin Chaud

I happened to pick this up at the library the other day and I fell in love. It has an old school feel even though it's been recently published. What I love is that the character's imagination goes wild but at the same time, this is an example of great word choice. The description and use of language is perfect for starting a discussion around words that stand out to us, how we can show instead of tell, and to ask kids to start to notice and record words or phrases they hear or read in books that they love and might want to emulate in their own writing. Slowing down to appreciate what we read is an art and an important practice to help kids improve their writing.

7. The Most Magnificent Thing, written and illustrated by Ashley Spires

This book is part imagination, part creativity, part perseverance and all sorts of growth mindset. It's important for student writers to know that they can find inspiration in the most common things. And sometimes being creative is just about putting two things together and seeing what you come up with. More than that though, this book is a great opportunity to discuss embracing the growth mindset and not giving up when the going gets tough. Just like we help students build their stamina for reading, we need to build their stamina for writing - not just writing a first draft - but taking a piece all the way through the writing process. They need to see that a first draft can be improved - that it's not just about writing. But at the same time, they have to see that revising and editing will make it better and that participating in the process is important.

8. Something Extraordinary, written and illustrated by Ben Clanton

Another book for helping students come up with ideas. After reading Something Extraordinary ask them to finish the sentence, "I wish..." in their writer's notebooks. Maybe they have wishes similar to the main character in the story or maybe they have other wishes. It's kind of fun and freeing to wish whatever you would wish if you really could make a wish. Sometimes making a wish is the beginning of a dream and then the start of a plan to make that dream come true. I see how this could be paired with Genius Hour projects too!

9. Chloe and the Lion, by Mac Barnett, pictures by Adam Rex

This is an amazing book for thinking about the writer and his or her process and craft. In the last year or so, I discovered the idea of craft moves, the intentional choices an author makes in his or her writing. When students read books, they don't get to see how much thought, triumph, and tribulation goes into writing a book. We have to help them see how writing is a process and to know that they have the ability to make choices and changes that impact their ability to communicate with their reader. Chloe and the Lion is a perfect way to introduce and discuss this with students.  

 

10. Little Red Writing, by Joan Holub, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

Little Red Writing takes the of writing a story and all the elements to think through to another level. This might be a good read for older students because it's a play on Little Red Riding Hood and there is a lot that can be discussed. The illustrations are perfect and offer even more to discuss so be sure to study this ahead of time and decide what you want to bring student's attention to as you discuss the job of a writer to bring a story to life.

 Bonus: Wordless Picture Books!

I love my 10 for 10 list this year because they are all great to get kids started with writer's notebooks and thinking about writing and reading like a writer. My bonus books would be favorite wordless picture books because these are wonderful places for writers to start. They can read the story and then write their own text to match the illustrations. I like this as a way to practice writing a story because they can focus on their word choice while they get used to an arc of a story without having to come up with their own ideas.

Chalk, by Bill Thomson

Float, by Daniel Miyares

Flora and the Flamingo, by Molly Idle

Mr. Wuffles!, by David Wiesner

 Journey, by Aaron Becker

Sidewalk Circus, written by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes

Bluebird, by Bob Staake

The Farmer and The Clown, by Marla Frazee

I would love to hear of any other must-have picture books you use to kickoff the school year and/or setting up writer's notebooks with students. Share your favorites in the comments!

If you want to join in on PB 10 for 10 or follow along, here's how you can participate:

1. Grab a Badge (save the image above or take a screenshot)
2. Join the #pb10for10 Google Community
3. Choose Your Favorites: All you need to do is choose ten picture books you cannot live without for whatever reason. In the first days of this event, everyone shared their ten very favorite titles. This still works. You will notice, however, that many past participants choose some type of theme to determine their selections. We'll leave this up to you.
4. Narrow Your List to Ten: It isn't easy, is it? We've seen some crafty ways to get around that number. 
5. Write Your August 10th Post: Write a post about the ten books you cannot live without. Share your post on August 10th and link it to the Picture Book 10 for 10 Community. 
6. No Blog? No Problem: If you don't have a blog, this might be the perfect time to start one --- or there are a million digital ways to join (see post below). Of course, now with the Google Community it is quite easy to just post your favorites directly into the community without a blog. We will also be tweeting from the #pb10for10 hashtag. 
7. Comment: On August 10th (and maybe for a week --- there are a lot of posts) take some time to read posts from other participants. Please comment on at least three. 

The Writing Thief

This week it will be October already! It feels like just yesterday I was connecting with other passionate readers and writers at Nerdcamp in July. I wrote a Celebrate post after Nerdcamp this year and a great discussion about teachers as writers. I called the session I led on the first day of Nerdcamp Nerd Up and the description explained that Nerdy teachers need to extend our love of reading into our love of writing. Just like we read voraciously and share our reading lives with students, teachers should write actively and invite students to share what it means to live the life of a writer. 

I was so excited to read The Writing Thief by Ruth Culham because the idea of a teacher as a writer is infused into this entire book. I found myself underlining so many of Ruth's words and chiming in along the margins to cheer for her message. After reading Kate Messner's Foreword, I knew I was going to love this book. Kate writes, "Being a reader made me want to be a writer." This is what I believe. It's natural for a love of reading to expand into a love of writing. After reading so many books, readers know what it takes to be writers. The amazing trick of mentor texts is that by reading like a writer, we notice even more what the author has done. Since starting this blog, I often read like a writer, always on the lookout for mentor texts. BUT, since writing my novel and working through the writing process, I find that I also read like a writer, paying close attention to how other authors do what I hope to do in a scene or chapter or with a character. By writing, the connections between reading and writing are so much more personal and meaningful.  

As readers, we know and love great writing. It speaks to us. Great writing can be found in the books that we desperately want to share with others, the stories that make us laugh or cry, words written so well we want to post them on the wall or reread them over and over again. As writers, we take those words and use them as inspiration. We look closely at what our favorite author has done, marveling and wondering how we might try to write ourselves.

Ruth writes, "I am always on the hunt for mentor texts, and because I'm a reader and a writer, I find great stuff. I look at the world of print and nonprint through the eyes of a writing thief because I search for models of good writing that can inspire students to look at writing from a fresh perspective." (p. 2) This heightened level of awareness is something teachers can encourage students to engage in as well and Ruth spends time in The Writing Thief giving ideas for how to do just this. 

One of my favorite quotes is, "This is close reading - where reading and writing intersect." (p. 6) I wholeheartedly agree. When what we read becomes a mentor text, we are much more attuned to what the writer has done. The great thing about mentor texts is that they are everywhere! On page 31, Ruth defines the term mentor text as, "any text, print or digital, that you can read with a writer's eye." This is great news because it's a reminder that we don't need worksheets or grammar exercises to teach writing. We merely need the amazing classroom libraries and access to text all around us. All writing counts and all writing can be a mentor text - sometimes for writing we want to imitate and learn from but sometimes for writing we might want to notice what is different or lacking.

In the first part of the book, Ruth shares why and how we can be writing thieves but she spends the rest of the book sharing examples of mentor texts. She also invites authors to share their insights about mentor texts throughout. I've long felt that writing is as important as reading and that they truly go hand in hand. I'm so glad to be able to spread this message more by celebrating The Writing Thief by Ruth Culham. 

Forest Has a Song

Title: Forest Has a Song 
Author: Amy Ludwig VanDerwater 
Illustrator: Robbin Gourley 
Publisher: Clarion Books 
Publication Date: March, 2013 
Genre/Format: Poetry/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: A spider is a “never-tangling dangling spinner / knitting angles, trapping dinner.” A tree frog proposes, “Marry me. Please marry me… / Pick me now. / Make me your choice. / I’m one great frog / with one strong voice.” VanDerwater lets the denizens of the forest speak for themselves in twenty-six lighthearted, easy-to-read poems. As she observes, “Silence in Forest / never lasts long. / Melody / is everywhere / mixing in / with piney air. / Forest has a song.” The graceful, appealing watercolor illustrations perfectly suit these charming poems that invite young readers into the woodland world at every season.  
What Kellee Thinks: Since I received Forest Has a Song, I have read it at least a handful of times. Each time enjoying it as much as I did the first.  Each time also helps me notice new brilliances within the poetry. Within this small yet powerful book, perspective, rhythm, rhyme, internal rhyme, onomatopoeia, alliteration, assonance, and imagery are all explored. This book could be an entire poetry unit mentor text itself.
      I think this book is crafted brilliantly- Amy Ludwig Vanderwater, accompanied by Robbin Gourley, takes the reader on a journey through seasons and through a forest.  And within this journey, we also get to explore different types of poetry- a poem in two voices, haiku, pastoral, rhyming, and free verse. 
      Another impressing aspect of this book is the amount of observation that went into these poems. It is obvious that Any sat and watched deer, frogs, trees, snow, woodpeckers, leaves, squirrels, and many other aspects of nature before writing these poems because they are pure perfection in tone, mood, and imagery.
      And the final touch to this beautiful book of poems is Gourley's watercolor art that sets the perfect mood for what this book is trying to set. 
     I cannot recommend this book enough to all of my teacher and parent friends. 
What Jen Thinks: After a long week, Forest Has a Song was a breath of fresh air for me to reread. I found myself relaxing just by reading this book. The watercolor artwork is beautiful and added to the wonderful text in the poetry. Growing up, I spent a lot of time outside and taking time to soak in nature is something that still soothes my soul. I love how the poems in this book would be great to read before taking students outside to sit and soak up nature. Students can find their own little spot to sit and focus on what is all around them for a few minutes and then have time to free write about what they hear, see, taste, smell, and feel. This is a great activity for brainstorming and adding ideas to their writers' notebooks. It's also a great introduction to the idea of writer's eye. Once students start to see how there are stories all around us, they begin to see the world with a writer's eye. Everything can be a story, but writer's seem to look at everyday things and to see how a story behind it. Just using a writer's notebook and charging students with recording pieces of their lives in their notebooks helps them be more conscious of the world around them and what stories might be lingering there. Having students sit in nature is a great way to focus on what is around them and to gather ideas in their notebooks. Having students sit in a busy place and to also sit and listen to conversations around them is another great way to start up stories. I often find myself driving along and thinking about stories for the people I see. Just today I saw a woman walking on the shoulder of a very busy road. She had one foot in a medical boot and her two wrists were in casts, too. All I could think was how she didn't seem to be in any condition to be slowly limping along a busy road...and then I was so curious how she got hurt and where she was coming from and where she was going and why was she all by herself and was she happy or or was she sad? Maybe mad or frustrated? The awesome thing about being a writer is that we get to create our own stories to go with these seed ideas that we collect from our lives. Ralph Fletcher has more ideas about writers notebooks and sections for recording ideas. I love seed ideas and have used observations as a section tab as well. Forest Has a Song is full of great poems to share and discuss with students as they embark on their journey as writers with writers' notebooks.
     Throughout this book there are examples of so many types of literary elements. No matter what device you would like to highlight, I'm pretty sure you'll find a sample of it in this book. Forest Has a Song is a wonderfully versatile mentor text!
Read Together:  Grades K - 12
Read Alone:  Grades 3 - 12
Read With:  The Year Comes Round by Sid Farrar, Outside your Window by Nicola Davies, Look Up! by Annette LeBlanc Cate, And Then It's Spring by Julie Fogliano, Step Gently Out by Helen Frost and Rick Lieder, The Road Not Taken and Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
Snatch of Text:  

Spider

"A never-tangling dangling spinner

knitting angles, trapping dinner."

(p. 14)

Song

"Under giant pines

I hear

a forest chorus

crisp and clear.

Winds whip.

Geese call.

Squirrels chase.

Leaves fall.

Trees creak.

Birds flap.

Deer run.

Twigs snap.

Silence in Forest

never lasts long.

Melody

is everywhere

mixing in

with piney air.

Forest has a song."

(p. 29)

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Visualizing 
Writing Strategies to Practice: Imagery, Rhyme, Rhythm, Descriptive, Anaphora, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Assonance, Word Choice, Writer's Eye, Personification, Point of View
Writing Prompts: Take your writer's notebook outside and soak in what is all around you with all of your senses. Write a descriptive poem to describe what you notice. Then write a poem from the point of view of the nature your observed. 
Topics Covered: Nature, Integration - Science, Reflection, Discovery, Observation

We *Heart* It: 

and
**Thank you to Blue Slip Media and Clarion Books for providing a copy for review**

Escucha Means Listen

Title: Escucha Means Listen 
Author: Talia Aikens-Nunez  
Illustrator: Dina Ashraf Helmi 
Publisher: Musa Publishing 
Publication Date: November, 2012 
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: From the mowing of the lawn to the splish-splashing of rain puddles, Talia Aikens-Nuñez’s bilingual picture book Escucha Means Listen introduces toddlers and babies to the sweet sounds around them.

Take a journey through the world—just listening. Escucha Means Listen helps children discover sounds around them in English and Spanish. 
What I Think: As a hearing itinerant teacher, one of the things I did with my students, especially the young ones or the students who were recently identified with a hearing loss, was to take a walk around the school and listen for sounds. We would grab our notebooks and quietly tiptoe around the school listening for sounds. We had a blast with this...I would make a big deal of stopping and cupping my hand around my ear to ask them to stop and listen closely. Since I worked with students with hearing loss, there were times when they couldn't hear the sounds that I could hear. Then we would use our eyes and I would point out what was making a sound and describe it to them. One thing that is so important for kids with hearing loss is accepting the fact that they have a hearing loss. I used this activity to try and point out that there are sounds they may not be able to hear or that they may have to try really hard to hear or that they can hear only with their hearing aids in. It's definitely a hard conversation to have. I can vividly remember the faces of students when they realized that they are missing sounds that others are hearing but it's also a conversation that needs to be had. I always did my best to talk about how we were going to learn about what they could to to help themselves if they can't hear. I never wanted to dwell on the fact that they were missing sounds, instead it was about accepting it and moving onto what we could do about it.
     For hearing students or students with a hearing loss, this activity is great for taking note of surroundings. I love this as an activity for looking for writing ideas. Students can easily look at the format of this book and write their own version using sounds they hear all around them. Last week, we reviewed Look Up! by Annette LeBlanc Cate and in that book she asks readers to stop and notice nature. These books would go well together or they would ladder together as this text is much simpler than Look Up!. 
     For older students, you can ask them to write down words to label and describe what they hear and also teach them about onomatopoeia. They can also write down words that bring the sound that they hear to life to use in their writing. I would then have a discussion about why a writer would want to include these words. How do they help us as readers? Why would we as writers want to include onomatopoeia for our readers?
     This book in particular adds in Spanish words and vocabulary. I can see this being used with students who are bilingual or are learning either English or Spanish. Recently, a teacher shared a vocabulary activity with me. She taught students new vocabulary with matching actions. After kids were familiar with the word and the actions, she played Simon Says with the vocabulary words. I thought this was a great way to teach new vocabulary words and include a kinesthetic element.
Read Together: Grades Pre-K - 2  
Read Alone: Grades Pre-K - 2
Read With: Look Up! by Annette LeBlanc Cate, This Jazz Man by Karen Erhardt, Cat's Night Out by Carolyn Stutson, Squeak, Rumble, Whomp! Whomp! Whomp! by Wynston Marsalis
Snatch of Text:  

"Listen. Escucha.

Listen to everything around you."

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections  
Writing Strategies to Practice: Onomatopoeia, Writing Process, Brainstorming, Writer's Notebook, Writer's Eye
Writing Prompts: Take a sound walk around your school. In your writer's notebook, record all the sounds that you hear. Write down the sound and what it sounds like. When you are back in your classroom, look at the sounds that you wrote down. Which ones were sounds that you noticed before and which were sounds that you had never noticed before? 
Topics Covered: Integration - Science - Observation/Listening, Five Senses,

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