Posted Blog Tour and Giveaway!

Thank you to Walden Pond Press 

for sending me a copy of Posted to review 

and for providing a copy of the book 

for me to giveaway! (Details below!)

I'm thrilled to be part of the blog tour for John David Anderson's next novel: Posted! This is a must-read, must-share for middle school!

Title: Posted
Author: John David Anderson
Publisher: Walden Pond Press
Publication Date: May 2nd, 2017
Genre/Format: Realistic Fiction/Novel
GoodReads Summary: From John David Anderson, author of the acclaimed Ms. Bixby’s Last Day, comes a humorous, poignant, and original contemporary story about bullying, broken friendships, and the failures of communication between kids.

In middle school, words aren’t just words. They can be weapons. They can be gifts. The right words can win you friends or make you enemies. They can come back to haunt you. Sometimes they can change things forever.

When cell phones are banned at Branton Middle School, Frost and his friends Deedee, Wolf, and Bench come up with a new way to communicate: leaving sticky notes for each other all around the school. It catches on, and soon all the kids in school are leaving notes—though for every kind and friendly one, there is a cutting and cruel one as well.

In the middle of this, a new girl named Rose arrives at school and sits at Frost’s lunch table. Rose is not like anyone else at Branton Middle School, and it’s clear that the close circle of friends Frost has made for himself won’t easily hold another. As the sticky-note war escalates, and the pressure to choose sides mounts, Frost soon realizes that after this year, nothing will ever be the same.  
What I Think: Oh, middle school. As I was reading Posted, I thought about Rebecca Stead's Goodbye Stranger and Geoff Herbach's Stupid Fast. Each of these books has a main character that learns about him or herself through navigating relationships with others. What I love about Posted is that the description puts you right into middle school again. It's just so specific but such an example of showing and not telling at the same time.

Credit: Sophia of Walden Media Tumblr

     Last week, I was asked to conference with an 8th grade writer about a story he was working on in writer's workshop. I read through his piece and I realized he needed to know his character a little bit more so he could show his readers who this character really was and why we should want to go along on his story with him. This is something I think John David Anderson does so well. Each character has depth. He knows everything about the characters who impact Frost's story and he brings them to life. One of the snatches of text is an example of a super secret secret that Frost has. I asked my 8th grade writer friend what was the worst thing that ever happened to his main character and what was the best thing that ever happened to him. He wasn't sure. But as a writer, you have to be sure. You have to know what makes them tick. John David Anderson knows that Frost has his writing deep down in him but that it's nothing he wants anyone to know anything about. 
     The second snatch of text speaks to middle school and pretty much captures the experience of middle school. I'm sure students can relate and might even feel some solace to know they aren't alone. This snatch of a text would be a great to share and invite students to join in and write their own metaphor about middle school but then continue to describe it.  

Credit: Sophia of Walden Media Tumblr

Snatch of Text: "Some things are better kept to yourself. I don't share my poems with anyone. Not even Bench or Wolf or DeeDee. Not because I'm afraid of what they would think. I mean, we play Dungeons & Dragons. It's hard to be embarrassed when it's the four of us. I just prefer not to share. We all need something that's ours. A thing that we know absolutely about ourselves that others can only guess at.
     One day, I think, when I'm good enough, I will pull the notebook from its hiding spot beneath the mattress and open it up for others to see." (p.72)

     "Middle school is a minefield. Deciding who to like and not like and who to follow and who to ignore completely. Worrying that you're going to trip while walking down the hall and sprawl all over the floor like a beached starfish. Wondering if you should raise your hand when the teacher asks a hard question and risk exposing your nerdiness for the sake of a few bonus points. Taking every sideways glance as a message, trying to crack the code. Every day you're bound to do something that gets you noticed by the wrong people. Every day you're bound to step somewhere you shouldn't." (p. 99)
Writing Prompt: Choose a time in the book when Frost is thinking about what it means to be a friend and explain how you relate to Frost or describe what he is learning about friendship.

Be sure to visit other stops on the Posted blog tour!

April 17: Librarian's Quest

Walden Media Tumblr

April 18: Nerdy Book Club

April 19: For Those About to Mock

April 20: Teach Mentor Texts

April 21: Unleashing Readers

April 22: Next Best Book
Read, Write, Reflect
April 23: Bluestocking Thinking

April 24: Litcoach Lou

Book Monsters

April 25: Kirsti Call

April 26: Educate-Empower-Inspire-Teach

April 27: The Haunting of Orchid Forsythia

Ms Yingling Reads

April 28: Maria's Mélange 

Novel Novice

April 29:The Hiding Spot

April 30:This Kid Reviews Books

And don't forget to enter the giveaway for your chance to win!

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Hey A.J., It's Saturday! Blog Tour

I'm super excited to be sharing my thoughts on Hey A.J., It's Saturday! and how it might be used as a mentor text to kick off the blog tour. Each blog will have a giveaway so be sure to check all the blog stops to join in on the fun!

Title: Hey A.J, It's Saturday! 
Author: Martellus Bennett 
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary:  
A.J. Is an imaginative girl who finds another world that is strangely right downstairs in her kitchen. So strange there’s already a feast, breakfast being served by creatures and beasts.

Oh! What is going in this kitchen of hers? Pancakes! Waffles! Scrambled eggs! And a Jamaican Giraffe?

Breakfast will never be the same. Ever!
What I Think: Honestly, Marty Bennett's imagination comes to life in this wonderfully imaginative breakfast adventure. As a mentor text, I love that reading this book might spark kids' imagination and give them some ideas they can incorporate into their own writing or even spur some stories. I would stop at the two-page layout that invites readers to listen up close as Marty explains some secrets about breakfast and ask students to brainstorm what some secrets they might know about breakfast...and then even brainstorm some other secrets they might know about other parts of their days or lives. Insider information is exciting to write about and helping writers see that they might be secret experts is a fun way to engage them and get them into writing.

Marty also includes some alliteration and rhyme as you can see in the second snatch of text here. Alliteration is just so much fun! Stop and have kids listen to the sounds - not only the repetition of the "f" sound and the "s" sound but also point out the assonance here as the short "i" is repeated throughout.  Ask kids to write their own silly sentences using alliteration or assonance.

Snatch of Text:  

"There's a couple of things about breakfast that no one in the world knows. 

I'm going to tell you these secrets so listen up close."

"Fifty silly fishes,

swimming in the dishes.

This cannot be right.

Why are animals

in the kitchen?"

Writing Prompt: Write about your most outlandish breakfast ever or the wildest breakfast you can imagine!
Additional Resources: Order Hey A.J., It's Saturday! at the Hey A.J Shop. And find the app on iTunes and the Google Play Store.

Here are the stops on the blog tour!

Jen at Teach Mentor Texts - 8/16

Niki at Daydream Reader - 8/17

Michele at Mrs. Knott's Book Nook - 8/18

Jessica at Little Lake County - 8/19

Linda at Teacher Dance - 8/20

Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers - 9/4

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Thanks to The Imagination Agency for send me this title

and providing a prize pack for one winner from my site!

Let's Play The Why Game! #HowToTellaStory

Last week, Aly from Kid Lit Frenzy and I shared The Why Game to kickoff How To Tell a Story Week! We hope you've had fun playing along. I can't even begin to tell you all of the crazy stories we've come up with in my house! Today is your last chance to enter the giveaway to win a copy of How To Tell a Story or a Skype visit with author Daniel Nayeri. 

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Today is also the day to share your stories from The Why Game. Visit our public How To Tell a Story Padlet, double click to start a new box, and then share your story. If you want to remember what blocks we're playing with, you can go here or here. 

And if you missed any of the How To Tell a Story Week fun, you can check it all out here:

Jennifer Reed at Reederama 

How To Tell a Story in Action!

Aly at Kid Lit Frenzy Interviews Brian Won

Jen Vincent at Teach Mentor Texts Interviews Daniel Nayeri

Cynthia Alaniz at Librarian In Cute Shoes

How To Tell a Story in Action!

We hope you had a great time writing stories with us! A giant thanks to Workman for making this possible. We appreciate receiving How To Tell a Story in exchange for our honest reviews and the opportunity to host How To Tell a Story Week and offer the giveaways. Thanks so much for celebrating with us!

How To Tell A Story: #HowToTellaStory Week Is here!

We've been counting down the days for the past two weeks but How To Tell a Story week is finally here! Alyson Beecher from Kid Lit Frenzy and I are thrilled to be celebrating this awesome writing resource that is sure to get kids' imaginations going and their words flowing. 

Watch the video below to find out more about How To Tell a Story brought to you by Workman by author Daniel Nayeri and illustrator Brian Won. They so aptly describe it as "1 Book + 20 Story Blocks = A Million Adventures". You'll see just how many stories comes from this imaginative tool. 

We have a whole week of celebrations plan and an exciting way for you and your students to join in on the fun! Stop in to see How To Tell a Story in action and to hear from author Daniel Nayeri and illustrator Brian Won.

Join the Fun!

Wednesday, 11/4 - Jennifer Reed at Reederama 

How To Tell a Story in Action!

Thursday, 11/5 - Aly at Kid Lit Frenzy Interviews Brian Won

Friday, 11/6 - Jen Vincent at Teach Mentor Texts interviews Daniel Nayeri

Monday, 11/9 - Cynthia Alaniz at Librarian In Cute Shoes

How To Tell a Story in Action!

Tuesday, 11/10 - Final Celebration at Teach Mentor Texts and Kid Lit Frenzy

*We'll have a Padlet set up where you and your students can share your stories!

Ready to play along?

Here are the directions to The Why Game, one of the many activities in the book, and below you'll find a handful of blocks so you and your students can play along. Be sure to write down your story ideas or the stories you come up with and come back on Tuesday, 11/10 to share and read what others write too!

 

 

 

 

We hope you'll check out How To Tell a Story and visit the various blog posts we'll have up to celebrate #howtotellastory week! It is November and NaNoWriMo and PiBoIdMo are here! It would be great if you and your students take a try at The Why Game. We would love to hear what you think and what stories emerge when you give your brain a few ideas to get going. Thanks for stopping by and celebrating with us! We do have a giveaway as well. Thanks to Workman, we have a copy of How To Tell a Story available to five lucky winners with a US mailing address. Enter below!

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How To Read A Story

Title: How To Read A Story 
Author: Kate Messner 
Illustrator: Mark Siegel 
Publisher: Chronicle Books 
Publication Date: May 5th, 2015 
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book 
GoodReads Summary: Step One: Find a story. (A good one.)
Step Two: Find a reading buddy. (Someone nice.)
Step Three: Find a reading spot. (Couches are cozy.)
Now: Begin.Accomplished storytellers Kate Messner and Mark Siegel chronicle the process of becoming a reader: from pulling a book off the shelf and finding someone with whom to share a story, to reading aloud, predicting what will happen, and—finally—coming to The End. This picture book playfully and movingly illustrates the idea that the reader who discovers the love of reading finds, at the end, the beginning. 
What I Think: This is hands-down at the top of my list for must-have books for teachers! I blogged about it earlier this month during the August PB 10 for 10. It's obvious that Kate Messner is a parent and a former teacher because she completely understands how we should be talking to kids about reading. How To Read a Story is an amazing book to start talking to kids about reading, reading aloud, and sharing books.
     I read How To Read a Story with Peanut's 2nd grade class last school year and they loved it! We first talked about what good readers do when they read a story and we talked about what we love about being read aloud to. Then we read the book to see what ideas were similar or different from the list we came up with. The kids loved finding things that were similar. My favorite part of the book is when it talks about reading in different voices. It wasn't until I had kids of my own and we went to a few different story times that I realized how possible it is for read alouds to vary in effectiveness based on how much energy, emotion, excitement, and fluency the reader brings to the text. When I read to Peanut and Little Bean we have the most fun with voices.
     I have so many great things to say about this book...but one thing I want to make sure I mention is that while it's a book about reading and celebrating how we read a story, I've found that it's also a great idea starter or writing prompt as well. When I talk to students about writing, I share how we have to turn our writer's eyes on and look for stories all around us. In How To Read a Story, there is a part where the reader is asked to wonder if the robot will marry the princess and it's a perfect story idea. After I read it to Peanut's class, they all were asking me if the robot married the princess. I was excited to tell them that it's not in the story but they can write that story. How cool is that? When a book leaves you wanting to know more or inspired to write your own stories...that's magic.
     This is a great example of how to write some fun non-fiction text. Students could think about their own How-To pieces that they might want to write. Have them think about what they are experts in or know a lot about and invite them to outline steps and take or draw pictures. This could be a great opportunity to do some digital writing and include multimedia. OR invite students to write and illustrate their own versions of how they like to read a story that they can share with their parents or caregivers. OR share this at a family reading night or curriculum night and give parents the opportunity to think about how to make reading aloud at home as fun as possible. OR invite parents to brainstorm and share how they read stories at home. There are just so many possibilities!!!
     One more thing I would like to mention is that I'm a huge fan of Mark Siegel's illustrations and love how he brings this story to life. I believe the choice to do colorful illustrations on the white background really makes a difference and the color palette in general is perfect.
Read Together: Grades K - 5 
Read Alone: Grades K - 5 
Read With: If I Had a Dragon by Tom and Amanda Ellery, How Rocket Learned to Read and Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills, Wild About Books by Judy Sierra with illustrations by Marc Brown
Snatch of Text:  

"STEP 1

FIND A STORY

A good one. 

It can have princesses and castles,

if you like that sort of thing,

or witches and trolls.

(As long as they're not too scary.)"

Writing Prompts: Write about what you love most about reading aloud or what you would love someone to do when they read aloud to you. Take one of the characters in How To Read a Story and write your own story about them. 
Topics Covered: Reading, Family, Friendship, Relationships, Caring, Compassion, Teamwork 

I *heart* It:

Poetry Friday - If

 Today Poetry Friday is at The Logonauts! Be sure to visit and check out all the great poetry posts!

This week was the first week of Teachers Write and oh, how I love my Teachers Write! On Monday, Kate shared a great post about wondering. I love wondering and thinking about "What If...?" and I wanted to share a poem from ee cummings. I adore ee cummings and could read his words over and over again. Maybe there is some inspiration here in wondering and thinking about what if. 

Poetry Friday - Imagine

 Today Poetry Friday is at Carol's Corner! 
Be sure to visit and check out all the great poetry posts!

I was excited to wake up and know that it was my tenth wedding anniversary...and then I started reading through all my social media favorites and saw people celebrating the Supreme Court decision to rule in favor of same sex marriage and it made the day ten times better. 

The words to John Lennon's Imagine popped into my head. 

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

I've always loved this song but it's especially perfect today. I had to pull it up on Spotify and listen to it again and again. As I listened, I thought about how great  this song would be as a writing prompt. It would be perfect to make connections between current events and the state of the world when John Lennon wrote the lyrics. But it would also be great to ask students to think about what they dream about and start their free writes with, "Imagine..." and then dream up anything they want. I'm glad we don't have to imagine a country where anyone can marry whomever they want. That makes me feel like dreaming matters.

1. Imagine

   John Lennon
2. Imagine there's no heaven

   It's easy if you try

   No hell below us

   Above us only sky

   Imagine all the people

   Living for today...

   Imagine there's no countries

   
   

   It isn't hard to do

   Nothing to kill or die for

   And no religion too

   Imagine all the people

   Living life in peace...

   You may say I'm a dreamer

   
   

   But I'm not the only one

   I hope someday you'll join us

   And the world will be as one

   Imagine no possessions

   
   

   I wonder if you can

   No need for greed or hunger

   A brotherhood of man

   Imagine all the people

   Sharing all the world...

   You may say I'm a dreamer

   
   

   But I'm not the only one

   I hope someday you'll join us

   And the world will live as one