A Full Moon is Rising

I love Marilyn Singer! Her poetry book Mirror, Mirror is one of the most-read books in our classroom. Children are always astounded at how the point of view changes when the lines are reversed.

So, when I saw Marilyn Singer's name on A Full Moon is Rising on the "New Books" bookshelf at my public library, I had to read it. Now that I've read it, I will truly have to have it and buy it for our classroom library!

This collection of poems reminds me a little of Amazing Faces, edited by Lee Bennett Hopkins, which I absolutely adored! Both books deal with a single topic, but throughout the book, the topic is looked at through different cultural lenses.

In A Full Moon is Rising, the focus topic is the full moon. On each new set of pages, we look at the full moon from different locations in the world. What I love about this is Singer has chosen some sites that most children might not know, so there is a world map included that highlights all the different locales. In some of these places, the reader even learns about celebrations connected to the full moon. Great learning with accessible text. And if the reader wants to know even more, Singer has included more text in the back of the book about each location, and has also included a section about the different phases of the moon. The nonfiction text and the poetry in this book blend beautifully together to share important knowledge of cultures and of moon facts.

In addition to the fact that I love Singer's poems, one of the topics covered in 5th grade is about the Earth and the moon, including its phases. This will be a great book for my teaching partner to share when she teaches science, but A Full Moon Is Rising will also be a wonderful book for me to share in my language arts classes as an example of wonderful language and good mentor text for literary nonfiction.

NCTE News (part 1 of at least 2)

Being here at NCTE in Orlando has been an amazing experience. If there's one thing I've learned this year it is how important it is to share knowledge. That is the gift of the online community -- NINGs, twitter, FaceBook, blogs, wikis, etc. We need places to share and think together. The sharing and thinking help us all be smarter together. So as I share my experiences and thoughts of NCTE the last few days, please feel free to add your thinking as well.

Ok, I guess I need to back up a little and say that conventions are also a place to have fun as well. If NCTE was going to have a convention at the happiest place on Earth, far be it from me to not enjoy the Disney experience! :) So, the first night we got in, I went with some friends to Epcot to enjoy some rides, food, fireworks, Pooh, Tigger, and shopping for all things Mickey. It was a perfect way to relax, rejuvenate, and giggle a lot!

The first day of the convention, the highlight of my day was the Elementary Section get-together. One of our central Ohio blogger friends, Julie Johnson, from Avery Elementary School in Hilliard won this year's Donald H. Graves Award for outstanding work as a writing teacher. This award annually recognizes teachers in grades K-6 who demonstrate an understanding of student improvement in the teaching of writing. To receive this award in a year when educators are both mourning the loss of Donald Graves as well as celebrating his contribution to writing education is a true gift for Julie. I am soooooo very proud of Julie and this amazing achievement, and I feel so fortunate to have been there when she received this prestigious award.

There is much learning that comes outside the actual sessions that are offered here at NCTE, and dinner Thursday night was a perfect example. I sat at a dinner table with Katie DiCesare, Meredith Melragon, Franki Sibberson, Louise Borden, Mary Lee Hahn, Karen Szymusiak, Stephanie Harvey, and Anne Goudvis. To be part of the conversations at this table was very energizing, both professionally and personally.

I do want to mention at least one session that I attended. My first session was bright and early Friday morning. It was a session that talked about poets and bloggers. I was drawn to this because I have participated in Poetry Friday in the kidlitosphere VERY sporadically, but I truly want to do more. I got to listen to gifted poets like Lee Bennett Hopkins, Pat Mora, Jame Richards, and Marilyn Singer. I also heard some very talented bloggers who are very connected to poetry online -- Tricia Stohr Hunt of Miss Rumphius, Elaine Magliaro of Wild Rose Reader, adn Sylvia Vardell of Poetry for Children.

Fun little tidbit for me -- Lee Bennett Hopkins stopped by here on our blog to comment on my review of his anthology, Amazing Faces. So I introduced myself to him and got a huge hug! How fun! In addition, he introduced me to Pat Mara, the author of one of the poems in Amazing Faces. Marilyn Singer read some poems from her book, Mirror Mirror. I forgot how fun it is to hear a poet read her own words -- I sat there with my mouth literally hanging open as she read. Then, as each blogger shared their commitment to sharing poetry online, it renewed my resolve to be a bigger part of that community. One of my favorite take-aways was when Tricia shared how she believes that scientists and poets look at the world with the same eyes. A fascinating take-away for me as I look at the students in my own class.

What I've shared has not even begun to tap in to this NCTE experience. Stay tuned in the next few days for more!