Christmas Eve

Posted on December 24, 2017 by Jennie

“Where the Treetops Glisten”

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Dog Lovers and Book Lovers: “The Poet’s Dog”

Posted on December 23, 2017 by Jennie

As the holidays and winter are upon us, I am once again drawn to the best book.  Fall in love with a dog, a poet, and children- magnificently written.

“Dogs speak words.  But only poets and children hear.”

Those are the opening words in Patricia MacLachlan’s new book, The Poet’s Dog.  I have read the book twice, because there are many words not to be missed; words that are pure and don’t need added adjectives and text.  MacLachlan’s writing stands alone in a field of masterful literature.  Her eighty-eight pages are some of the best I have ever read.  In the words of the publisher:

“Alone in a fierce winter storm, Nickel and Flora are brave but afraid.  A dog finds them.  Teddy speaks words and brings them to shelter.  The Poet’s cabin has light and food and love.  But where is the poet?  Teddy will tell the story of how words make poems and connect to those who hear each other.”

Sylvan the poet constantly reads to Teddy.  He reads Yeats and Shakespeare.  He also reads Charlotte’s Web, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Ox Cart Man.  Teddy learns how words follow one another.

I had no idea that Ox Cart Man, one of my favorite children’s books, is actually a poem.  I scrambled to find my copy and read the words again, this time seeing the words for what they are meant to be – a poem.  When I read the book again to my preschoolers this month, it will be more beautiful than ever.

The Poet’s Dog is a story of adventure, survival, love and friendship, death, reading and poetry.  The beginning is a fishing line that hooks the reader, and the ocean opens to… well, you will have to read the book  The ending is as surprising as ever.

I told a friend and fellow teacher about The Poet’s Dog and quoted to her the first lines, “Dogs speak words.  But only poets and children hear.” Our conversation went something like this:

“I hear my cat.  I know what she’s saying.”

“Then you must be either a child or a poet.”

“I’m a child.  My heart is always a child.  And I love poetry.”

She smiled a knowing smile.  I did, too.

Jennie

P.S. Dogs: Maddie, Ollie, Ani, Bailey and Lucy… and more – tell your human to read this book.

Posted in Book Review, books, children's books, Dogs, Particia MacLachlan, Poetry, reading | Tagged , , , , , | 82 Comments

A Gift To Me From My “Family”

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Jennie

Today our Room Parents arrived with gifts for the teachers, from all the families in our class.  Children were excited to watch their teachers tear open paper and uncover a gift.  Rarely am I at a loss for words.  I was when I opened the gift.

It was a book, Our Aqua Room Family.  Family.  That word somehow becomes cemented in September.  It is much like a badge, something everyone wears, feels and just knows.  We’re a family.

This was the first page:
Our family comes from many towns:
Our hair is straight, our hair is brown,
Our hair is curled, our eyes are blue, Our skins are different colors, too.

We’re girls and boys, we’re big and small,
We’re young and old, we’re short and tall.
We’re everything that we can be
And still we are a family.

We laugh and cry, we work and play,
We help each other ever day.
The world’s a lovely place to be
Because we are a family.

The following pages in the book were done by each child, drawing our Aqua Room family.  Page after page depicted a child’s view of  friends and teachers.

Here is Savannah’s page:

The final page was the pinnacle:

The definition of family!

Life’s greatest blessing.  A group that dreams, laughs, plays and loves together.  Those whom you can always count on.  Always present not only in the good times.  The most precious gift.

That’s my class.  The thread of being and doing (family) becomes who we are.  Children and teachers always talk about being a family, because we are.  Thank goodness the parents know and understand that, and feel the same way.

Here’s to Family!

Jennie

Posted in books, children's books, Early Education, Family, storytelling, Teaching young children | Tagged , , , , , , , | 70 Comments

My Favorite Christmas Books

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Jennie

I want to share with you my favorite Christmas books.  I love books, and I love reading to children.  After a gazillion years, these are the ‘tried and true’, stories that children love. Me, too!

Grab tissues, laughter, and wonder, and some history.  Some books you will recognize. Others might seem new, but they’re not— they’re just better.

The first time I read The Polar Express, by Chris Van Allsburg was was in 1985, when the book was published.  I was at a huge family Christmas gathering.  Someone put the book in my hand and asked me to read it to the crowd.  This was a new book for me, and as I read the words I was on that train ride.  The ending was hard to read aloud with my heart in my throat.  The movie is good, but the book is superior.

On Christmas Eve, by Peter Collington is a captivating wordless book, in the style of The Snowman by Raymond Briggs.  It is based in England, with fairies and Santa Claus traditions.  It is fascinating to follow the fairies helping Santa!

If I had to pick only one out of the pile of books, it would be Apple Tree Christmas, by Trinka Hakes Noble.  The story takes place in New Hampshire in the 1800’s.  A blizzard, a farm, a tree, and a child who loves to draw.  It is thrilling from beginning to end… grab the tissues, it’s a true story.

My almost number one book is The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree, by Gloria Houston.  The story takes place in rural Appalachia, close to my roots.  It is a story of rural traditions, WWI, a train, and what a mother does on Christmas Eve.  And, it’s a true story. Recommended for kindergarten and above.

Merry Christmas, Strega Nona, by Tomie dePaola is a favorite. Everyone loves Strega Nona and Big Anthony.  This book incorporates the culture of Italy and Christmas, and the lessons of life.

Night Tree, by Eve Bunting is a modern tale that tells the story of a family and their tree in the woods.  Every Christmas Eve the family bundles up and heads from their house to the woods.  They find “their tree”, the one they have decorated every year for the animals.  It is a well written story, weaving adventure and giving, and family being together.

Dr. Seuss has always been one of the best.  He outdid himself with How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  The message of the true meaning of Christmas shines through in this book.  Please skip the movie, it doesn’t hold a candle to the book.

Every adult should read these books.  Period.  They are that good.  Then, spread the joy and learning by reading aloud these books to children, young and old.  They will love the stories.  You will, too.

Merry Christmas!

Jennie

Posted in Book Review, books, children's books, Imagination, Inspiration, picture books, reading aloud | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 51 Comments

As the Clock Struck Noon

Posted on December 16, 2017 by Jennie

Today I was a small part of honoring those who have served and given the ultimate sacrifice.  A wreath was laid at Arlington National Cemetery at noon.  Simultaneously, cemeteries across America participated in the same wreath laying ceremony.  It was humbling.  I was proud to be there.

Thanks to Wreaths Across America, people all over the country could be part of this important event.  There’s something special about small town America.  Seems to me that paying respect in my own back yard has far more meaning.  Close to home and close to heart.  It feels good.

Westford is the next town over and much like my small town of Groton, full of old homes and a pretty landscape.  People smile and greet each other.  Neighbors help neighbors.  The cemetery is close to the center of town.  For a small town it is a big cemetery, and full of the graves of veterans.

I did not know what to expect.  First, the Girl Scout Chorus chorus sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” acapella.  Beautiful!  Then, the Cub Scouts said the Pledge of Allegiance.  A member of each of the Armed Forces laid one of the wreaths.  Sergeant Curran Huff, our classroom pen-pal last year, was one of the wreath layers.  It was wonderful to watch him!

Have you ever heard TAPS played?  It is beautiful and stirring to listen to the lone bugle.  Each note seems to hang in the air.  A fitting closing to an important event.

Volunteers stayed to place a wreath on every headstone of a veteran.  Quite a lengthy and worthy task.  Next year I will stay.

People often wait to honor members of our military, past and present, on Memorial Day and Veterans Day, and the Fourth of July.  That’s like only giving thanks at Thanksgiving, or only spreading cheer at Christmastime. Saying thanks and remembering should happen all the time.

It did today.

Jennie

Posted in Uncategorized | 50 Comments

Practice What You Preach #FridayThoughts

Posted on December 16, 2017 by Jennie

Words of wisdom from Ritu, a teacher and a mother.

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Penguins, God, Spectacles, the Atlas, and Reading Aloud.

Posted on December 13, 2017 by Jennie

The classroom was dark except for a few strings of twinkling lights.  It was time for chapter reading before rest time.  We started a new chapter reading book, Mr. Popper’s Penguins.  Day one is always thrilling, and I show children the cover before reading.

We read the first chapter with great interest and discussion.  Then, we began to read chapter two.  As soon as I read the title, The Voice in the Air, Allie said, “Is that God?  He’s in the air, you know.”

I stopped.  Everybody stopped.  I smiled the biggest smile in the whole wide world at Allie.  Words can fill a vessel.  Allie’s words filled mine.

I said, “Let’s read and find out.”

Spontaneously, Noah said, “Jennie, I love you.”  When children say that on their own, they have felt a great moment of being covered in a warm blanket.  I knew Noah felt so good that he had to tell me.  I also knew that his feelings started with chapter reading.  He was really saying “Thank you for reading to me.  I love this story.  I feel good when I’m on my nap mat and you read aloud.  I like what Allie said.”  I think there was probably more in his heart.  Children don’t have the words that adults do.  Noah’s words spoke volumes.

As I read the chapter aloud, the words said Mr. Popper put on his spectacles.  Spectacles.  Every new and different word opens a whole conversation.  That is the power and beauty of reading aloud, where there are no pictures.  Every word becomes crystal clear and drives the mind, and also the heart.

Penguins.  That drove a big conversation, especially when we learned about pushing off the cliff and sea leopards.  Reality and survival are not easy topics to teach children.  Thank goodness there have been a host of writers who have put into words life and goodness and struggle.  Thank goodness for books and chapter reading.  It’s my yellow brick road for children.

I knew as soon as we talked about Antarctica that children needed and wanted to see the South Pole in the context of the world.  I promised I would show them the picture from our Big Book Atlas.

I always show children any pictures in the book after we finish reading.  As I did so, Noah belted out, “Jennie, you forgot ‘In the great green room’!  He was right.  And he was talking about Goodnight Moon.  I recite that book every day before chapter reading.  I was so excited about starting a new book and showing the cover that I’d forgotten to recite Goodnight Moon.

Noah had not forgotten.

After rest time I pulled out our favorite big map book so we could see Antarctica.  Oh, how we loved exploring.  This is what happens when children ask questions and wonder.

Jennie

Posted in books, chapter reading, children's books, Early Education, Imagination, Learning About the World, Teaching young children, wonder | Tagged , , , , , , | 35 Comments

Five of the Best Children’s Books

Posted on December 9, 2017 by Jennie

I have been tagged to nominate my top five children’s books.  Thank you Norah at norahcolvin.com.  Choosing five books (only five) is a roller coaster, and I love that ride.  Here are my favorite children’s books, and why:

Goodnight Moon 

This book is a classic.  It is what every baby needs to hear, over and over again.  In my classroom, I recite Goodnight Moon before chapter reading.  Every day.  Often I change it up to include the children’s names: “In the great green room there is Mark’s telephone, and Sarah’s red balloon…” and so on.  It is the best.

The Story of Little Babaji

Helen Bannerman wrote this story in 1899.  When I was a child, I loved Little Black Sambo, which was an adaptation of this book.  That book was banned, and the original, based in India, was reborn.  Thank goodness.  Not only is it a great story, it is so beloved in my classroom that we host play performances for families.  When a children’s book has a repeating phrase that encourages children to join the reader and say aloud; “Little Babaji, I’m going to eat you up”, it cements their love for the book.

Swimmy 

My very first day of teaching I read aloud Swimmy.  That was all I needed for me to recognize the most important thing in teaching- reading aloud.  This book has it all: adventure and suspense, life in the ocean, and most importantly, problem solving when you’re feeling lost.  The story is timeless. Reading it today is just as fresh and exciting as it was that very first day.  Children feel the same way.

The Wild Robot

The Wild Robot is, hands down, my favorite new book for elementary grade children.  I’ve read this aloud to a captive audience of second graders.  On the surface, it is a fantastic adventure story.  Who wouldn’t want to read about a wild robot who is shipwrecked?  Underneath, it is a story of a robot who has to adjust to nature and animals… and therefore change.  Can a robot become human?

Charlotte’s Web

Charlotte’s Web is an all-time classic.  I have been reading this book to students for decades.  It’s the very first chapter book that I read aloud at school, every year.  My class comes together as a family, because I read the words about love, worry, fear, friendship, understanding… all that really matters.  A spider and a pig, and a story of life.

I am nominating five bloggers to do the same; post your five favorite children’s books!

Rules:
1. Thank whoever’s nominated you and share their blog link.
2. Let us know your top five children’s books.
3. Nominate 5 people to do the same.
4. Let your nominees know you nominated them.

Here are my nominees:

  • Marcia at marciastrykowski.com
  • Robin at witlessdatingafterfifty.wordpress.com
  • Beth at nerdybookclub.wordpress.com
  • Susan at redcanoereader.wordpress.com
  • Ritu at butismileanyway.com

Of course, many thanks to Norah for including me in this challenge.  Please visit her wonderful blog at norahcolvin.com.

Jennie

Posted in Book Review, books, chapter reading, children's books, Early Education, picture books, reading aloud | Tagged , , , , , , , | 75 Comments

Children Talking Death and Dying… It’s Good

Posted on December 4, 2017 by Jennie

Recently on the playground I watched children happily engaged in play.  The important part to them was someone dying.  It may sound grim, but it was really a happy game of imaginary play.  The characters were a mom and a dad, a baby, and a dog.

First,  the Mom died.  The other characters rushed around to help, calling out loud, “Oh, no.  She died.”  Then the game switched characters, and the dog died.  Interestingly, the baby never died.

I took it all in, because I know that play is work, and also how children sort out things in their minds.  It’s natural that death and dying is simply a part of what children learn and talk about.

Here is a conversation that occurred at the playdough table:

Lincoln:  Auntie Terry got dead.  She is in church.

Alex:  Who got her dead?

Lincoln:  Nobody.  She just is.  She fell and got dead.

Lucca:  Awww!  That’s so sad.  I feel bad for her.

What a terrific conversation!  It’s natural and full of curiosity.  All too often parents want to hush-hush any discussion or questions about death.  They’re scared.  They decide that avoidance is the best thing to do.  They think perhaps shoving it under the rug until their child is older is the way to go.

It’s not.

Answering questions with a three or four-year-old is delightful.  They are just learning to put the world in order.  They are as curious about a wooly bear on the playground as they are about death and dying.  Simple questions need simple answers.  No more, no less.

When our hermit crab died, here is the conversation that happened in the classroom, and what I said to parents:

Last Wednesday one of our hermit crabs died.  In spite of the many conversations about death and dying that naturally occur with a classroom pet, it is still a moment of wonder when a pet dies.  Some children were surprised, some were quiet, some asked many questions, and some appeared to take it in stride.

A child:  Jennie, the hermit crab isn’t moving!

Jennie:  Let’s take a look.  Join me on the floor and we’ll open the cage.

(Fifteen silent, wondering children gathered to see what had happened.)

A child:  He still isn’t moving.

(Jennie put the hermit crab on her flat, open palm to show the children.)

Jennie:  The hermit crab has died.

A child:  Why didn’t he go into another shell?

A child:  Will he come alive and find a new shell to live in?

A child:  No, you can’t come alive after you die.

Jennie:  That’s right.

A child:  Will he go to heaven?

A child:  Yeah, he’ll be with Ray and Baby Smokey in heaven.

Jennie:  That would be wonderful!  We’ll go to the Memory Garden and bury the hermit crab.  You can come along if you wish.

(On a drizzly, chilly morning, we went to the Memory Garden on the playground and buried the hermit crab.)

Jennie:  Should we sing a song?

A child:  The ABC song!

A child:  Twinkle, Twinkle!

(We sang the songs, said good-bye, and headed back indoors to play.)

When a child experiences death with a pet, that is sometimes helpful when there is death in the family, such as a grandparent.  There is a small degree of familiarity, and questions have already been asked and answered.  The Aqua Room feels that including children in the wonder of life, as well as death, is a learning experience for both the mind and the heart.

Including children in the wonder of life, as well as death.  Absolutely!

Jennie

Posted in Death and dying, Early Education, Learning About the World | Tagged , , , | 58 Comments

Why Reading Aloud Made Cuban Cigars Great

Posted on November 30, 2017 by Jennie

While reading aloud is my passion and what I do- because it makes a marked difference in learning- I always write about reading aloud to children.

Well, there’s more.  Adults.  The proof of reading aloud making a difference is in the high quality of Cuban cigars.  It’s a great story, one of my favorites.

Reading aloud never gets old.  It weathers time and generations.  For adults, when we are read to, we listen, think and feel.  And, we have to stretch our brain.  When we only hear the words it sharpens our mind, and our performance is much better.

The Cuban cigar industry understood this.  That’s why they make the finest cigars.

La Lectura 04521u.web_

They have la lectura, who reads aloud for up to four hours to the factory workers, from the daily news to Shakespeare to current books.  This is both brilliant and common sense; the workers are entertained, happy and productive.

Jim Trelease writes about this in his million-copy bestseller book, The Read-Aloud Handbook.  He is a master writer and has it nailed on reading aloud.  Here is an excerpt from the chapter about the history of reading aloud and its proof:

Then there is the history of the reader-aloud in the labor force.  When the cigar industry blossomed in the mid-1800’s, supposedly the best tobacco came from Cuba (although much of the industry later moved to Tampa, Florida area).  These cigars were hand-rolled by workers who became artisans in the delicate craft, producing hundreds of perfectly rolled specimens daily.  Artistic as it may have been, it was still repetitious labor done in stifling factories.  To break the monotony, workers hit upon the idea of having someone read aloud to them while they worked, known in the trade as ‘la lectura’.

The reader usually sat on an elevated platform or podium in the middle of the room and read aloud for four hours, covering newspapers, classics, and even Shakespeare.

As labor became more organized in the United States, the readings kept workers informed of progressive ideas throughout the world  as well as entertained.  When factory owners realized the enlightening impact of the readings, they tried to stop them but met stiff resistance from the workers, each of whom was paying the readers as much as twenty-five cents per week out of pocket.

The daily readings added to the workers’ intellect and general awareness while civilizing the atmosphere of the workplace.  By the 1930’s, however, with cigar sales slumping due to the Great Depression and unions growing restive with mechanization on the horizon, the owners declared that the reader-aloud had to go.  Protest strikes followed but to no avail, and eventually readers were replaced by radio.  But not in Cuba.

The Cuban novelist Miguel Barnet reports, “Today, all over Cuba, this tradition is alive and well.  Readers are in all the factories, from Santiago to Havana to Pinar del Rio.  The readings have specific timetables and generally begin with the headlines of the day’s newspapers.  After reading the newspaper, the readers take a break and then begin reading the unfinished book from the day before.  Most are women.”

Used by permission of the author, Jim Trelease, 2013, The Read-Aloud Handbook (Penguin)

No wonder Cuban cigars are among the finest.  This story is one of my favorites and illustrates the effect reading aloud has on people.  Thank goodness I get to do this multiple times every day with children.

Jennie

Posted in Jim Trelease, reading, reading aloud | Tagged , , , , , | 82 Comments