Newbery Thoughts

I'm sitting here after school waiting to go to dinner with my friend Joyce before the fun and frivolity of Bailey Bingo begins, thinking about the Newbery Award.  It sounds really nerdy, I suppose, but looking for Newbery has been something I've been doing for about 10 years now.  For the last 4 I've included some of my closest 5th grade friends as we search for and try to predict the winners.

This year my friend Maria and I started with about 30 kids.  Over the first month or so they began to weed themselves out due to other commitments or the lack of desire to keep up with our expectations.  As you can see from the poster in the picture, these kids were reading blogging machines.  The beauty of it was they didn't complain about anything except not being able to get the books and not meeting often enough.  These kids are readers!  Between Grand Discussion and Newbery Club, I can't decide which I like better.  The club picked:

Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper
Far, Far Away by Tom McNeal
Flora and Ulysses: The Illuminated Adventures by Kate DiCamillo
Rump: The True Story of Rumplestiltskin by Leisl Shurtliff
The Mouse With the ? Tail by Richard Peck

I can't disagree with their choices and our survey is pretty unscientific, we're book people, not math people.  So there you have it.  Hopefully Monday, barring a snow day, we will meet in the library for the video stream of the presentations and enjoy a doughnut.

Navigating Early Wonderfully Written

In 2011 Clare Vanderpool surprised most of us who Look for Newbery every year.  Her novel Moon Over Manifest sort of came out of no where to win the medal.  None of the students in our Newbery Club at school had read it because I hadn't included it on any of our watch lists for them to read.  I liked the book, but Clare Vanderpool's second book, Navigating Early, is even better in my opinion.

Set just after WWII Jack Baker is uprooted from his Kansas home after the passing of his mother.  His father, a captain in the Navy, returns home after 4 years at sea in the U.S. Navy and changes everything.  The biggest change is moving Jack to a boarding school in Maine.  Jack is put into a place where he has nothing in common with the other boys.  The students at Morton Hill Academy are not mean to Jack, but when you move in after all the groups and friendships have been formed, and you have very little in common with anyone, it's tough to fit in.

On his first day at Morton Hill, Jack observes Early Auden filling sand bags by the shore as if he is trying to hold back the ocean.  As the story progresses Jack always refers to Early as "the strangest of boys" but they become friends even though Early has some very special abilities.

When a math teacher goes into a theoretical speech about the numbers of pi ending, Early walks out of class, clearly frustrated.  Later when Jack finds him in his workshop room he learns that Early has a clear interest in the number pi and sees a story in the numbers.  He begins to tell Jack the story of Pi, a navigator on a quest.  Jack also learns the big secret about Early, he is the brother of The Fish, a Morton Hill legend and that fact makes the other boys uncomfortable.

Jack and Early come together through conversations about Pi, the music that Early enjoys listening to, and rowing.  Together they work to make Jack a better rower and even build a boat.  Through it all Jack is fascinated by this strangest of boys and reluctantly becomes his friend.

During a week long break Early plans to go on a quest to find Pi, his lost brother, and a 700 pound bear that is threatening hikers on the Appalachian Trail.  When circumstances prevent Jack from spending the week with his father, he joins Early on his quest.  The author alternates between the boys' quest and the adventures of the navigator Pi.  The two mirror each other and Early is sure they will find all of the things he set out to look for because Pi did. 

The set up for the quest is beautifully written giving the reader insight into all of the characters and why they do what they do.  When the boys set out on the quest, the writing becomes exciting and suspenseful with the reader wondering what will happen around the next bend in the trail.  Clare Vanderpool mixes in just enough of Pi's story to remind us where we are going and what we have to look forward to.  The ending part of the book brings it all together allowing all of the characters to discover what it is they needed to discover in order to be happy and have their lives return to order.

I like this book a lot.  I think it will be difficult for a lot of readers and will be recommending it to my best 5th grader readers.  I've been looking for our first Grand Discussion book of the year and I may have just found it.

Grand Discussion Rules!

Last Thursday evening, Joyce and I gave up one of our favorite things, NCAA March Madness to host the second Grand Discussion of the year.  Since the book Rules by Cynthia Lord was our choice this time, we originally planned to do it before her visit.  However, middle school meetings and snow days got in the way and it had to be postponed to after her visit.

The turnout was good, 41 folks all together, but the thing that really excited us was the fact that there were more boys than girls, a Grand Discussion first!  We have been working to choose books that are appealing to all of our students, trying to get more boys and fathers involved in our little book group and the numbers have grown steadily over the years.  It was very satisfying to look out at 13 boys and 7 girls along with their parents for our final discussion of the school year.

As usual, the conversation was good and insightful.  I am always impressed by what good thinkers our kids are.  They surprise their parents many times and we are all reminded that we need to listen to these kids because I promise you, we, the adults, always learn something.

Since Cynthia visited us recently the kids really had a new take on her book, they knew things about its creation that their parents didn't.  I was very pleased to hear the conversations sprinkled with Cynthia Lord trivia that they learned from her presentations.  Just one more testament to the importance of exposing our children to talented authors and giving them an opportunity to hear the inside stories only the author can share.



At the conclusion, I realized once again that the Grand Discussion and Newbery Club are two of my favorite things about my job, both are fun interactive times with smart people.

Okay for Now Makes for Grand Discussion

The first Grand Discussion of the school year was held last Thursday and 51 kids and parents attended. Joyce and I chose Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt. Usually leading up to the event I hear comments questioning my judgement, I don't take it personally because I know in the end, after reading and discussing even some of my most questionable book choices, the folks leave happy and understanding why I chose what I chose! With Okay for Now most liked it from the get go and understood completely why it was chosen. So many themes and topics for discussion that it was tough to get it all in in an hour, but we did our best and another successful event is in the books.

As I looked over our list of previous titles, it appears that author Gary D. Schmidt knows how to create books that create conversation! We've done 3 of his titles, Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, our very first Grand Discussion title, Wednesday Wars and of course, Okay for Now. We started the evening with an interview with the author that some parents found on line and ended the evening with Joyce interviewing several participants for her Dublin Lit Conference presentation in February.

A Grand Discussion for Kirby Larson

As I posted a while ago, Kirby Larson is coming to our school next week. In order to have a successful author visit, everyone knows the kids have to know about the author's books. Because of this, my friend Joyce and I repeated a Grand Discussion book for the first time. We re-discussed Hattie Big Sky. Of course, we had to publicize, which gave us the chance to bust out what is probably our favorite photo. I wish I had a computer version of this so it would show up better, but we did this "old school," we actually cut and pasted our photos on top of American Gothic, no Photoshop, we used scissors and glue.

The thought bubbles that I cut off have Joyce thinking, "Look at that sky!" and my thought response, "Sure is big!"

We had 20 kids and parents show for the discussion, a good number, very manageable and they all fit in the library. Of course the conversations were excellent, very thoughtful and fun.

As it was the first time we discussed Hattie Big Sky, the book was a hit, most of the group putting it among their favorites.

When asked if they thought they could do what Hattie did, I was surprised at the number of parents and kids who thought they could. Put me among those who have not desire to even try.

Of course a Grand Discussion would not be complete without cookies. We had some parents contribute this time so there were plenty of cookies to go around.

All in all it was a wonderful evening and a fabulous way to wrap up our Grand Discussions for the year and prepare for our visit from Kirby Larson.

Kirby Larson is Coming!

In just 3 weeks, Kirby Larson will be speaking in our library! WOO HOO! It all started with a post about our Grand Discussions that she commented on (I hope she has brushed up on her state capitals!) and a few emails later, I'm in contact with her people and now she's coming to talk with our students March 8 & 9! I can't wait, for several reasons:

1. I love author visits! It's such a great experience for our kids to meet real live authors, hopefully something some of them will always remember.

2. I love hearing authors read their own words! Kirby will feature her picture book Two Bobbies ane will read it to our younger students. She will highlight the features of non-fiction writing with our older students.

3. Hattie Big Sky was my first "Looking for Newbery" success. Even before this blog, back when I was still in the classroom, it was the first winner I read before the announcements.

4. Our Newbery Club will get to have a special lunch with a real live Newbery winning author. They area already formulating questions and knowing this special group of kids, the conversation will be awesome.

5. I haven't met very many authors, and this will be my first Newbery Winner, but I have always enjoyed the conversations about the state of children's books, what makes a good book, what they are working on, how they get their ideas and just getting to know them a little bit better over a short time.

That's all I have for now, I just wanted to share the news! KIRBY LARSON IS COMING!

Touch Blue Provides Another Succesful Grand Discussion

It really never gets old! My friend and colleague Joyce and I always leave the Grand Discussion with a sense of pride and satisfaction. We both agree that it is one of the high lights of our teaching, watching kids and parents get together to enjoy a good book. This time we chose Touch Blue by Cynthia Lord. The story of an island community that took in foster children in order to keep their school open provided engaging and interesting conversation.

Two points of real pride for us, we had between 70 and 80 people at our first discussion of the year, and two other schools have begun having discussions as well. My blog partner Karen wrote about the GREat Discussion at her school, and another school in our district, Wright Elementary, home of Mary Lee, recently hosted their first discussion. I've written about our discussions here several times even providing a "how to" guide which actually has led to a visit from Kirby Larson in the spring! If you've been inspired by posts to start a similar event at your school, let me know, I'd love to hear from you.

In honor of my friend James Preller's efforts to encourage boys to read, I took a picture of all of the dads who came, some with daughters, some with sons. It was great to see so many men there, hopefully our numbers will keep increasing! Reading, it's a guy thing!

Grand Discussion #3: The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg

We held our third and final Grand Discussion of the year last Thursday with about 50 or so people attending. If you've been reading Literate Lives, you know our first two discussions involved books with some pretty serious messages, so, in order to lighten things up a little bit, we chose Newbery Honor book The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg.

Clearly the book is not a laugh out loud sort of story, but it does have some entertaining and humorous parts to it. I mean, come on, that amazing pig boy part is FUNNY! or so I thought, however, about a third of our group didn't agree and found the book to be very sad. Several were also upset at the name calling and abusive treatment from the boys' uncle in the beginning. All good points, but overall, I think most of us agreed that this book was not quite as heavy as the first two choices, Bystander and Also Known as Harper.

And speaking of Also Known as Harper, an unexpected result came out of the Grand Discussion we held for the book. I think I've said before that my school is very fortunate. We have plenty of resources, supportive parents, capable students and a beautiful facility. I feel very lucky every morning I come to school and get to teach in the incredible library at Bailey Elementary. During our discussion of Also Known as Harper, my sister and the librarian from her school came to see how the whole Grand Discussion thing works with thoughts of possibly doing a similar program at their school.

The school where they teach is about the exact opposite of Bailey. While the students do amazing things both on state tests and day to day work, the surroundings are not the same and their students come from a very different background. My sister shared some things about their school and the kids, and how the book hits pretty close to home for some of her students. It was an emotional moment for all in the room and it had an impact on the parents and students attending.

I had no idea how much of an impact until the next day when I was contacted by one of the moms who told me that they would like to organize the kids into action. They wanted to take on the task of raising money to buy books for the library at my sister's school. The kids wanted to take the lead on promoting the event and they wanted to make sure that the Bailey kids understood that this money needed to come from them, not their parents, them. I was thrilled and met with a group of parents after speaking with Martha and we began planning. It's turned into more than a fund raiser, we are now talking about making this an ongoing thing, sort of making Bailey and Lincoln Elementary schools, sister schools. Each of taking care of the other in the ways that we are able. There has been talk of pen pals, and video conferencing, some sort of an exchange program and inviting kids from our sister school down for special events in the future.

Who knows where this will go from here, but it's an exciting time at Bailey as the fifth graders are wrapping up two weeks of Coins 4 Kids to raise money for the Lincoln Elementary School library. I'm looking forward to making this program grow and hopefully I'll be posting a lot more about the kids from Bailey and our sister school Lincoln Elementary!

GREat Discussion

Bill and our friend, Joyce, started the Grand Discussion idea at the school where I used to teach. I had always promoted Book Clubs in my own classroom, but they were able to take the concept to another level by combining the ideas of an entire community of interested 5th graders, along with their parents. What a fabulous experience for all involved!

When I moved to a new school in our district this year, I thought it might be a good opportunity to bring the same experience to yet another group of 5th grade students and their parents. So, I approached our librarian to see if she'd like to collaborate with me in this effort and she was delighted to try the idea (thanks Cathy!!).

We actually chose Also Known as Harper (same book that Bill and Joyce chose for theirs) as the book for the group. Being an inaugural group, we knew we would start small and build from that. And that is exactly what happened. We initially had seven students with their parents committed to participating in the conversation. By the time last night (our GREat Discussion night) came, our actual attendance was 4 students with parents, Cathy, and me.

We were a small but mighty group. The best part was that we all fit around one set of tables which made the conversation very intimate and gave everyone a chance to participate. The students and parents brought up great discussion items, some of which neither Cathy nor I had even thought. Cathy and I also had some discussion points, and the group jumped right in with some very insightful comments.

As we munched on cookies and Goldfish (what's a book club without some food?!), we talked about subjects such as homelessness as it is portrayed in this book, how the picture on the cover conveys so much about the meaning of the story, Harper's feelings about her dad, the poetry and words that were such wonderful self-expression for Harper, what it would be like to live in a motel room or a drive-in movie theater concession stand, and Winnie Rae and her mom (just to name a few). The conversations were rich, and both parents and students participated.

We're not sure what book we'll tackle next, but we do know we want to plan another GREat Discussion. Both Cathy and I love books and reading, so this seems like the perfect way to continue to promote our love of reading and reflecting with our 5th graders. It is also a wonderful opportunity for parents and children to share a book together.

It was a GREat evening!!

Grand Discussion "How-To" Part 2

Okay, so you've selected a book, written questions and baked cookies. Well actually, the cookies are optional for you, but for Joyce and me? MANDATORY! I think some people come just for the cookies.

1. Reading Time: We usually give the kids and parents about 6 weeks to complete the book. I think this year we may have cut down on the time since we are ordering the books and they have the books in hand sooner and don't have to spend time looking for them. During that time I check informally on their progress and to see how many are potentially participating.

2. Night of the Event: We usually arrive early and set up tables in groups of 10 or 12 depending on how many we are expecting. With our crowd on November 17, did I mention we had 85? it was nearly impossible to fit them around the library tables so we actually spread out all over. As the families come in we ask that the parent and child sit together. It seems so obvious, but it really does need to be stated. Once the crowd has gathered we go over some basic ground rules. Things like reminding parents not to dominate the conversation, be willing to listen to their children's good ideas. We ask the kids to focus on the conversation and not be side tracked by silliness. When the questions are handed out we share that they are only suggested questions, not required and there aren't any tests or quizzes. If the conversation takes them a different way, go there, it will probably be better! The groups break off, no assignments, just who happens to be sitting near you and the the Grand Discussion is off and running. Joyce and I wander around making sure to join in on all of the groups at some point during the evening, making comments, answering questions and handing out cookies when appropriate. We usually let them talk for 30 to 45 minutes and then come back together to share especially insightful comments and I always like to take an informal poll about the general feeling about the book. I'm always interested to see if opinions change after the discussion, and interestingly enough, they usually go from a negative to a positive.

That's about it for How to Host a Grand Discussion, it's really pretty simple and Joyce and I both agree that it's one of the most rewarding things we do as teachers.

Grand Discussion "How-To" Part One

Due to the response to my blog about the Grand Discussion of November 17, did I mention we had 85 people participate? I thought maybe I'd do a follow up post to answer some of the questions posted in our comment section, by the way, thanks to all who visited and commented, nothing warms the heart of a blogger like comments about a post. My thought is that I'll start with the pre-discussion steps and follow up with what happens on the night of the big event.

1. Book Selection: This is perhaps the most difficult part of the Grand Discussion. The book has to be something that kids will like to read and have enough depth for the parents to enjoy as well. It also has to have some hook or edge or theme that will spark discussion. Our most recent, Bystander by James Preller, had the bullying theme which for fifth graders who will move onto middle school next year is something they need to be aware of. We also choose something that may be a bit more advanced since we know that the students are reading with a parent. Some of our other choices:

The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsburg (Pretentious Reader)
Al Capone Does My Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko
Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles
Tangerine by Edward Bloor
Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy by Gary D. Schmidt
Greetings From Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley (Becky's Book Reviews)
Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
Savvy by Ingrid Law

2. Publicity: My friend and colleague Joyce and I have had some fun with this. We try to include a photo that represents the book in some way. For example for Al Capone Does My Shirts, we posed behind the bars of a playground toy. For The Unnameables by Ellen Booraem
we posed with Chipotle bags over our head which scored us free chips and dip from one of our favorite eating establishments and a mention on the author's blog, apparently we made her laugh...EXCELLENT! Possibly my favorite of all time was for Hattie Big Sky. We super imposed our faces over American Gothic with speech bubbles that said

"Look at that sky." "Sure is big." HAH! I Still laugh at that one!

Obviously, include the important information, date, time and place and a brief description of the rules, a parent AND child must read it together AND both must come to the discussion event.

3. Books: This has happened several ways. I've contacted bookstores and warned them about our event and the stock up. Other times students get them from the public library. This year I've worked with Selections Book Fairs and the students have the opportunity to pre-order the books and they are shipped to the school. I think the parents like the convenience of having the book brought to them. Another idea that I haven't tried is to use a book that the school already owns multiple copies of, the problem here is that you run the risk of choosing a book that many of the students have already read.

4. Discussion Questions: We usually come up with a set of questions to get the discussion started, these are only suggested questions, we always encourage our groups to go off the script if the discussion takes them there. Typically we are able to find some discussion questions on line, but if the book is new, like Bystander, we actually have to rack our brains to create our own.

In my next post I'll talk about the night of the event. The only other pre-discussion preparation is to bake cookies. Joyce takes care of this. The last discussion tested her abilities and patience, baking for 85. My guess is it also depleted her supply of parchment paper, keeps them from sticking you know.

A HUGE Grand Discussion of Bystander

Several years ago my friend and colleague Joyce and I started an event for fifth grade students and parents. We pick a book, have the students read with a parent and then we all meet together for an evening discussion of the book. We called it The Grand Discussion and both of us think it's one of the best things we do as teachers each year.

On Tuesday, we convened in the school library to discuss James Preller's newest book, Bystander. I reviewed it here and I honestly think it should be required reading for students in middle school or just getting ready to enter middle school like our students are.

Well, the turn out was of record proportions! Typically we have between 40 and 50 people at our events and Joyce and I pat ourselves on the back and say, "Job well done!" Imagine our surprise when people started showing up, and kept showing up, and then some more showed up, and then we started welcoming everyone and some more showed up and in the end around 85 people were at the most recent Grand Discussion! 85! That's right, 85!

I pulled all of my chairs from the back room and Joyce and some boys dragged some chairs from the second grade classrooms across the hall, and we still didn't have enough! IT WAS AWESOME!!

85!

We had people discussing Bystander in THE PIT!

We had people discussing Bystander in The Commons!

We had people discussing Bystander ALL OVER THE LIBRARY! IT WAS AWESOME!

Also Known as Harper

WOW! I just finished reading Also Known As Harper and couldn't wait to write about it! I've had more than one conversation with my blogging and teacher friends about having trouble recently finding "that" book that touches me and makes me say, "WOW!"

Also Known as Harper is THAT book for me. A first novel by teacher Ann Haywood Leal, this book is touching in a way that makes it a must read for all kids 5th grade and above. The topic is homelessness, and Ann Haywood Leal knows of what she writes from her volunteer experiences in a soup kitchen. Her bio in the back of the book states that "from the very first day, she was unable to get the clients out of her mind." She used her experience to create the very real characters that make the reader aware that a lot of us are not too far removed from being among them. What an example of character study.

Harper Lee Morgan is named for the famous author, her mother's favorite. She has inherited her mother's love for words and lives up to her namesake. Harper has one dream, to win the writing contest at her school and get the opportunity to read her poems in front of the whole school. Unfortunately for Harper, her father does everything he can to discourage her talent, constantly criticizing her for being lazy and having no ability to write at all. He has also done this to Harper's mother through the years to the extent that her mom no longer writes. After the death of a newborn, Harper's father begins to drink, and his rants get even angrier. The only family member spared is Harper's little brother, Hemingway. Eventually Harper's father leaves the family never to return.

Hemingway Morgan, Harper's little brother adores his big sister, and she is left in charge of him often as their mother is constantly working or looking for work to keep the family together. Hemingway spends every afternoon looking for his father to return. He panics if they are not home for him to "do his watching." While Harper knows Hemingway's watching is pointless, she does what she can to help him continue doing it.

Mrs. Morgan, Harper's mama who was forced to drop out of school to take care of her many younger brothers and sisters. She harbors dreams of writing and jots down ideas until her verbally abusive husband convinces her that she has no ability and isn't smart enough to spell or put sentences together that make sense. She continues to love her children, always doing what's in their best interest, or whatever it takes to survive her miserable circumstances. Her one saving grace is reading To Kill a Mocking Bird repeatedly and keeping track of the times with tally marks on a wall.

Mrs. Early the Morgan's landlord who lives next door and puts eviction notices on their door daily. She takes joy in the power she has over the Morgans and even though her situation isn't much better, she reminds them constantly that she has the power to throw them out on the street at any time. Eventually she does, moving all of their belongings from the house to the curb while the Morgans are away at school and work. After offering room to store their things, she sells them off to help pay the back rent without telling the Morgans. In the end, we find that she is not entirely heartless and provides the opportunity for homeless people to get a shower at least once a week at the hotel where she works as a house keeper.

Winnie Rae Early is the landlord's daughter and Harper's nemesis in school. Winnie holds it over Harper's head that they own the house where the Morgan's live. She also rubs it in every chance she gets that Harper probably won't be in school for the writing contest which will give Winnie the chance to win and read her poetry in front of the whole school even though she doesn't have near the talent that Harper does.

Lorraine and Randall Kelly, two homeless children that live in a tent city near the motel where the Morgan's end up after the eviction. The two are pictures of survival. Lorraine is the same age as Harper but she doesn't speak, and according to Randall who talks enough for both of them, she hasn't since a house fire burned all of their possessions and left them homeless. The Kellys are the Morgan's first true friends. Lorraine and Harper are able to communicate even though Lorraine doesn't speak. They are examples of strength and hope and confidence in the story.

Finally, Dorothy, and elderly lady that wanders the grounds of the motel pushing a wheel chair full of various items that might appear as other's trash. Harper is initially afraid of her but once she learns the tragic story of Dorothy's family her feelings change. Dorothy isn't homeless, but does what she can to help those that are, especially the Kelly's and eventually the Morgans.

Lorraine, Randall and Dorothy help Harper and Hemingway survive, and they show them that just because they don't have a permanent home, they are not without dignity.

In the end, Harper never gets to enter the writing contest which she would undoubtedly win, she never gets to read her beautiful poetry in front of her school mates, in fact, her mother keeps her from going to school so she can work more hours. For Harper this is a tragedy since school has always been her one safe refuge from the world. Something we educators really need to be reminded of from time to time. However, Harper learns that there are more important things in the world than winning writing contests, things that aren't temporary, things like friends, and family and the fact that no matter what anyone else says, she will always have her writing.

I like that the story doesn't end with Harper getting her wish, it's more realistic that way, but honestly, Harper gets much more. This is a must read! It has Grand Discussion written all over it!

An Unnameable Grand Discussion

A while ago I posted this picture of my friend Joyce and I publicizing our third Grand Discussion of the year. Little did we know at the time that slapping a couple of Chipotle bags on our heads would turn into 30 bags of chips and a bunch of salsa, FREE, for our little get together! WOO-HOO, free is my favorite price! Thanks Chipotle!

I chose The Unnameables by Ellen Booraem as our discussion book. The book is one I picked from the Newbery List that Karen and I used for our Looking for Newbery series. I would never have picked this book from the shelf if it hadn't been on the list, and honestly, it took me some time to get into the book. This was a common feeling among students and parents in the months leading up to the discussion. I kept encouraging them to stick with it and about 30 did and showed up for our Grand Discussion. Lots of opinions were expressed as people gathered in the library, most of them were negative. As we began our discussion, I asked that we avoid discussing our opinions until the end after we had discussed the book. The group took a while to warm up, but finally the conversation picked up and it was GOOD! Topics of religion, power, politics, art, values, were all covered and covered equally by students and parents. The adults were very good at listening and responding to the kids with respect for their insight.

As the hour came to a close, I asked if anyone wanted to express their opinion of the book, but no one did. For the first time in Grand Discussion history, Joyce and I had to stop the conversation so we could get out on time. In the end, most everyone agreed that the book was difficult, (a good thing in my opinion), that it was written at many levels, that it was nothing like the kids literature that we grew up with, and that now that we had discussed it at length, it was a good book. All of these things gave Joyce and I a sense of accomplishment and success.

Grand Discussion Flyer Fun

It's time to start publicizing our next Grand Discussion and Joyce and I like to get creative, or silly, and have a little fun with them. For example, when we used the book Hattie Big Sky, we cut and pasted our faces over American Gothic with speech bubbles.

Joyce: Look at that sky.
Bill: Sure is big.

Yeah, I know, corny, but we laugh like a couple of goofs anyway. When we chose Al Capone Does My Shirts, we sat on the steps of our playground. The railing has bars so it looked like we were in jail because of boring books. Then we freed ourselves over the joy of reading and discussing such a wonderful book. Our original flier had us sleeping while holding a boring book and then perked up and awake due to a really good book. The funny thing was, we were holding the same book in both photos.

So today we took the picture for the flier. We struggled a bit with this one. We chose the Unnameables and we were having a tough time coming up with something. Joyce had a brainstorm and the flier reads something like this:

Two unnameable teachers invite you to join them for a Grand Discussion of The Unnameables by Ellen Booraem. And the picture? Well take a look for yourself.
A couple of funny things, Joyce and I both caught ourselves smiling under the bags as if our faces would be seen. One fifth grade student who was in the library at a time suggested we take it again because, "Mr. Prosser blinked!"

We may send it to Chipotle and see if they might provide some snacks for our discussion. All in all, another good time was had by all, well at least by my friend Joyce and me!

Looking for Newbery - Day 16

Ellen Booraem's new fantasy, The Unnameables, has Grand Discussion written all over it! It only got one mention on THE LIST, but that may be due to the fact that it was only released in October.

A new society is formed on an island and everyone has to switch their last name to reflect what they do, for example, Weaver, Potter, Carpenter, etc. The society lives by The Book, an ancient book of advice and wisdom written by Capability C. Craft in 1680 and creates only things that are deemed useful and can be named. Anything else is seen as evil and can be cause for removal from the island if the council decides. Children go through "transition" at age 14 or so and at that point they are given the last name that reflects their craft.

Medford Runyuin is an orphan that ends up on the island as a baby after his parent's boat wrecks on the shoals. He is taken in by Boyce Carver and his wife. Medford is trained in the family craft, and at age 10 begins to make unnameable objects, artistic carvings of things found in nature, and busts of other islanders. He knows they are evil, and hides them under his bed, but can't bring himself to destroy them as he knows he should. Medford is friends with Prudy Carpenter who dreams of following her father's footsteps to become a carpenter. However, Deemer Learned, the teacher has other plans, and after sending his own daughter from the island under questionable circumstances, he chooses Prudy to be trained as a teacher. It takes the appearance of a mysterious Goatman creature to wake up the citizens and bring the truth out of the corrupt leaders.

As in The Giver and City of Ember, the "perfect" society is not so perfect. Power hungry leaders keep secrets from the citizens, hide their own faults, and pass judgement quickly on others. Unfortunately for all of us educators, the bad guy in this one is Deemer Learned, the teacher.

I was fascinated by the idea of this book. Ellen Booraem does a great job of keeping the fantasy believable and moving. There are so many societal issues involved that the book will lead to some great group discussion about right and wrong, the need for power, and life choices.

I like this one a lot!

More reviews:
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Children's Books for Parents and Teachers

A Grand Discussion of Greetings From Planet Earth

The first Grand Discussion of the year was held on Thursday night and what a night it was! We had 42 students and parents come in to discuss Barbara Kerley's book Greetings From Planet Earth. The book is from 2007 and I kind of forgot how much I liked it. When we began kicking around titles for the year, none of the new stuff really struck me as being good for this event, so in looking through my reading journal I pulled this one out. Lots of questions is one of the themes in the book so it really worked well for our group.


The initial reaction to the book was "Why did you pick this one!?"

My response was always, "Keep reading."

The final reaction upon finishing the book was always, "Ohhhhhhh, I get it, good choice."


We enjoyed a lively conversation. I was very impressed with the exchange of ideas between kids and adults. Sometimes, we big people think our ideas are WAAAAY better than our kids and we just need to be quiet and listen. That was the atmosphere at Thursday's discussion. As you can see in the picture, everyone is engaged, that's my discussion partner Joyce in the white vest.








One of the young men at this table came up with the interesting theory that everything in the story revolved around the eating of french fries! He was able to tie everything that happened to Theo and the discovery of his father back to that event in the book. When I listened and thought about what he was saying, I was amazed at how right he was! See, just be quiet and listen, these kids are smart!




All in all, it was a "grand" evening spent with awesome kids, fantastic parents, yummy chocolate chips baked on parchment paper, and intelligent conversation about a wonderful book. Here's the group with a salute to Barbara Kerley for her fabulous book!

Coming of Age With Savvy

I waited a long time to get Savvy by Ingrid Law from the library, and then it sat on my to read pile so long that I had to renew it. Finally I got around to reading it, and when I finished it took me a couple of weeks to realize how much I like it.

Savvy is a coming of age story with a really cool twist. The story revolves around Mibs Beaumont who is about to turn 13. Thirteen is tough enough for those of us that experience it in the normal, puberty, voice changing, pimple faced way, but for a Beaumont, turning 13 means that you get your "savvy."

For Mibs, one brother, Fish, can create storms, so they can't live near the ocean or hurricanes will blow. Another brother, Rocket, is filled with electrical charge which the family takes advantage of to start the car, but it also causes lights to explode and the power to go out in town. Her mother's savvy is to be perfect in all that she says and does, even if it means to be perfectly wrong, and her grandfather can literally move the ground under their feet. Another brother, Samson, is too young for a savvy, but seems to have a controlling effect on those with their powers.

Obviously, the Beaumont children have a tough time being at school after the age of 13 and are home schooled. Mibs has a hard time getting along with the other students and can't wait to turn thirteen so she can get her savvy and stay home with her mother. As in most coming of age, teen angst novels, girls are mean! Mibs puts up with the finger pointing and whispering about her unusual family. In order to keep the children socialized, the family attends church where the preacher's daughter, Roberta, torments Mibs while having a crush on her electrical brother. The preacher's son, Will Junior, has a crush on Mibs, and both of the preacher's kids suspect there is something really special about the Beaumont kids but they can't quite put their fingers on it.

The kids end up on an adventure together when Mibs runs away to visit her father in the hospital, convinced that her savvy will be able to cure him. Relationships develop on the big pink school bus and the preacher's kids come to understand that while the Beaumont children are special, under it all, they are just kids.

I really like the way Law deals with differences in the story. She uses fantastic, mystical powers to set the Beaumont kids apart, but it could just as easily be skin color, or economic class, or any number of things that make kids different from those around them. Ingrid Law allows the reader to see the world of growing up through both sides' eyes, and develops the characters so well that the reader forgets that we are dealing with the fantasy world. She has created the Beaumont children in such a way that their powers are believable.

As I said while I read the book I liked it, but as I thought about it over a few days, I realized just how powerful it is on many levels. I'm thinking this will make a great selection for our second Grand Discussion, and I am putting it on my Newbery short list. I like it a lot.