New School Year, New Mindset

The school year begins the second week of August this year. The last time I  started a school year in person with 4- and 5-year-olds was August of 2019.  The world was a much different place.

Events have changed the way we think about race in both the children’s publishing world and the education world. The conversations are difficult and strained.  It’s hard to hold a mirror up and see your collective misgivings.  Especially, when you don’t want to.

I am returning to the classroom this year with a commitment to examine my own internal biases so that I may make more balanced choices regarding the picture books I read to my young students.

I know many of you are familiar with this statement by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, Professor Emerita of Education at Ohio State University

“Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created and recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience. Reading, then, becomes a means of self-affirmation, and readers often seek their mirrors in books. (1990, p. ix)”

Centering diversity and decentering white culture is extremely important for children of color. The kidlit community as well as many in education are beginning to acknowledge this.  But what about children who identify as white? Is it important to be mindful of the books we read to these children?  Do they need exposure to books with non-white protagonists? Books written and/or illustrated by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) creators?

As an author, I just sent my editor my author’s note for my upcoming picture book, Egyptian Lullaby, about daily life in Cairo.  As I was writing the author’s note I realized that, although I hope that Arab children see themselves in the Egyptian American protagonist, my deepest hope is to normalize the Arab culture for the dominant/white culture to break through destructive stereotypes.

I have taught all over Los Angeles over the past 30+ years, in predominantly black communities and Latinx and Mexican American communities.  Currently, I teach on the west side of the city where many of my students are white. 

I can see that it is equally important for my white students to see themselves in a different way.  To understand that they live in a diverse world... To see themselves as a part of a whole... To see that they are not more valuable than BIPOC  children... 

If I don’t address this… If I don’t normalize diversity… If I don’t de-center the stories white children experience that reinforce their privileged position in the world…If I don’t bring the stories into balance, nothing will change. And as an educator, I feel responsible for helping bring about change, otherwise I am part of the problem.

How can I expect people who identify with the white culture to see themselves as anything but entitled and at the top of the hierarchy if I keep reading books to young white children that reinforce that they are?  How can I expect the paradigm to shift if I don’t shift it as a kindergarten teacher and a kidlit author?

I can help change perceptions with the simple act of paying attention to the picture books I use in my classroom.  I can create a balanced view of the world and better serve both  BIPOC and  white students by examining my own internal biases and widening the lens in which I portray the world to them.

I imagine picking up a camera with a telephoto lens.  That lens draws the eye to one small part of the picture and exaggerates its value. A wide-angle lens extends beyond the telephoto’s margins, bringing the marginalized out of the margins and including them in the whole picture in its totality.  No one should feel marginalized.  It’s up to me to change the lens both as an educator and a children’s book author.

As a kindergarten teacher, I am constantly evaluating my reading choices.  I have discovered that I don’t include enough books with BIPOC protagonists.  I have an awful lot of books that feature animals in stories that are told through a white lens.  Many of my stories with BIPOC protagonists are stories of struggle, resistance, and resilience.  I think it’s the activist in me that draws me to these stories.  It’s totally out of balance and helps create a single narrative which is ultimately destructive.

So, my own discoveries about myself and my internal biases have lead to changes I will implement this August…

If you’re reading this post via email and you’re unable to see the video, you can watch it on our TeachingAuthors’ website HERE or you can watch it on YouTube here. (If you're on a mobile device, you'll need to use the YouTube link.)

Here is a list of some of the books I recommend to center diversity in your reading list:

1. The Day You Begin written by Jacqueline Woodson illustrated by Rafael Lopez 

2. Dreamers written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales 

3. Sonadores written and illustrated by Yuyi Morales 

4. Carmela Full of Wishes written by matt De La Pena illustrated by Christian Robinson 

5. The Arabic Quilt: An Immigrant Story written by Aya Khalil illustrated by Anait Semirdzhyan 

6. Eyes That Kiss In The Corners written by Joanna Ho Illustrated by Dung Ho 

7. Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story written by Kevin Noble Maillard illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal 

8. The Proudest Blue: A Story of Hijab and Family written by Ibtihaj Muhammad illustrated by Hatem Aly 

9. Mi Papi Has a Motorcycle written by Isabel Quintero illustrated by Zeke Pena 

10. Water Protectors written by Carole Lindstrom illustrated by Michaela Goade 

11. (Chapter book series) Farah Rocks New Beginnings written by Susan Muaddi Darraj Illustrated by Ruaida Mannaa 

12. Cora Cooks Pancit written by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore illustrated by Kristi Valiant 

13. Antiracist Baby by Ibram X Kendi illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky 

14. (Early Reader series) Ty's Travels written by Kelly Starling Lyons illustrated by Nina Mata  

15. Alex’s Good Fortune by Benson Shum 

16. Alma by Juana Martinez-Neal 

17. I Dream of PoPo by Livia Blackburne illustrated by Julia Kuo 

18. Watercress by Andrea Wang illustrated by Jason Chin 

19. Amy Wu & the perfect bao by Kat Zhang illustrated by Charlene Chua 

20. Be A Friend by Salina Yoon 

21. A is for Activist by Innosanto Nagara 

22. A Ride to Remember by Sharon Langley and Amy Nathan, illustrated by Floyd Cooper 

23. The Undefeated by Kwame Alexander, illustrated by Kadir Nelson 

24. Unspeakable by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper 

25. Red Shoes by Karen English illustrated by Ebony Glenn 

26. Double Bass Blues by Andrea J Loney illustrated by Rudy Gutierrez 

27. Take a Picture of Me, James Van Der Zee! by Andrea J Loney illustrated by Keith Mallett 

28. Little Seeds of Promise by Sana Rafi illustrated by Renia Metallinou

29. Finding Om by Rashmi Bismark illustrated by Morgan Huff

30. Dalia's Wondrous Hair by Laura Lacamara

31. Feliz New Year, Ava Gabriela by Alexandra Alessandri illustrated by Addy Rivera Sonda

32. Egyptian Lullaby, by Zeena M. Pliska, illustrated by Hatem Aly; published by Roaring Brook Press (Coming June 2022)

WEBSITES, BLOGS & PODCASTS 

1. www.thebrownbookshelf.com 

2. https://www.aclib.us/kids/blog/childrens-books-arab-american-heritage-month 

3. https://citygirlblogs.com/centering-whiteness/ 

4. https://www.ibramxkendi.com/ 

5. https://www.leeandlow.com/educators/grade-level-resources 

6. http://ourstory.diversebooks.org/ 

7. https://www.youtube.com/c/AsianAuthorAlliance 

8. https://www.readingrockets.org/blogs/book-life/ride-remember 

9. https://www.naeyc.org/resources/pubs/yc/nov2019/understanding-anti-bias

(Lists compiled by Zeena M. Pliska, Andrea J. Loney, Benson Shum, and Sharon Langley

Dear Tomato & New Year at the Pier: Food and Forgiveness for Poetry Friday

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Howdy, Campers--happy Poetry Friday (link at the bottom) and happy home grown veggies to all! (Did you know that August 2-8th was National Farmers Market Week? Or that August 22nd is National Honey Bee Day and September 7th is National Acorn Squash Day?)

We're blogging about going back to school this round. Esther starts us off with a review of Kate Messner's book on revision, a useful and inspiring book; JoAnn writes about using repetition and how to Write a Poem Step by Step, and you can win her book of that very title by entering the latest TeachingAuthors' book giveaway (which ends tonight at midnight) Then Carla shows how to approach the familiar How I Spent My Summer Vacation essay as a non-fiction writer, and Mary Ann tells us the story behind her wonderful book, First Grade Stinks!

Now it's my turn. I'm here to suggest two very different books for this time of year. One about food, one about forgiveness...and the new year.

As the daughter of a farmer and the sister of a sustainable agriculture journalist, I was proud to be included in Carol-Ann Hoyte's latest anthology, DEAR TOMATO ~ an International Crop of Food and Agricultural Poems.  (Great title!)

This collection,with photographs by Norie Wasserman (wonderful cover!) includes poems about small gardens, free range chickens, bees, farmers' markets, fair trade, food banks, a poem that mentions Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, and more.

Any of these would be a wonderful topic for student poems, stories or a class discussion about food and farming.  And the remarkable Renee LaTulippe, at No Water River, has created what she calls "poet-a-palooza" about Dear Tomato. which includes videos of some of the poets reading their poems from this book. Many of the poems are by friends from the Kidlitosphere, including B.J.Lee, Mary Lee Hahn, Charles Waters, Michelle Heidenrich Barnes, Matt Forrest Esenwine, Bridget Magee, Buffy Silverman, Stephen Withrow, J. Patrick Lewis, Elizabeth Steinglass, and I'm sure I've missed some others. This is the book I've been giving my neighborhood gardeners with whom I trade homegrown veggies.  

Here's one of my poems from the book:

           HOE OBSERVING THE FARMER

           by April Halprin Wayland
            .

            He knows a hoe.

            Never letting go.

            Holds me steady in his grip,

            lifts me up to rip against the weight of air.

            Then he pulls me back, bearing down,

            yielding to the power of the ground.

            Holds me steady in his grip,

            never letting go.

            He knows

            a hoe.

poem (c)2015 April Halprin Wayland. All rights reserved.

my father and mother on the farm

The second book, relevant this time of year is:

The Jewish New Year--Rosh Hashanah--is on September 13-15th this year, so now is a good time to read my picture book, New Year at the Pier--a Rosh Hashanah Story  illustrated by Stephane Jorisch. Here's Dial Books for Young Readers' summary:
Izzy's favorite part of Rosh Hashanah is Tashlich, a joyous ceremony in which people apologize for the mistakes they made in the previous year and thus clean the slate as the new year begins. But there is one mistake on Izzy's I m sorry list that he's finding especially hard to say out loud.

Humor, touching moments between family and friends, and lots of information about the Jewish New Year are all combined in this lovely picture book for holiday sharing.

Winner of the Sydney Taylor Gold Medal for best Jewish picture book of the year

Here are four ways to use New Year at the Pier with kids--and adults:
1) Use it to explain to students where absent schoolmates may be during the Jewish New Year.
2) Use it to open discussions about how to apologize and forgive.
3) Use it to show how other cultures celebrate New Year.
4) Give it to someone you’ve wanted to apologize to for a long time

Click here for more activities,and for New Year rituals around the world.

 And remember to enter our latest book giveaway (which ends tonight at midnight!)

Poetry Friday is hosted today by Reading To The Core--thank you!

It's been nice chatting with you today--thanks for allowing me to share ~ April Halprin Wayland

How I Spent my Summer Vacation: A New Twist on an Old Essay

When I was in elementary school, we were assigned the classic back to school essay:

How I Spent My Summer Vacation.  

It was a good way to start pulling us away from the carefree days of our break and back to the task at hand.  This old essay is still a good way to start the school year.  It is a creative way for your students to write nonfiction that does not need any research.   And it is a way to get the creative juices flowing again.

Teachers hope to see more than just a laundry list of summer activities.  I like to encourage young writers to think about an original way to approach this essay. 

I connect with students by providing interactive videoconferences with schools all over the country.   One of my favorites is a program I titled

Where Ideas Come From:  

Brainstorming with a Nonfiction Author

Teachers and students like this session because it is helpful and lots of fun.  It is truly audience participation because I believe that to model what I’m teaching them about brainstorming-we need to actually brainstorm together.  Live and on the spot.  Yep, it is risky.  I never know what they will say-or worse if they will clam up and say nothing.   So far, so good.  Every time I’ve done this program the students had lots to say!  

What I want to do with my students is to model how they can take a mundane topic and put their own unique spin on it.   I encourage them to think “out of the box”.  Sometimes in this session students come up with amazing creative ideas.  Yessss!! The goal is accomplished!

My session goes something like this:

When asked to brainstorm for ideas on an essay on How I Spent My Summer Vacation, most students will come up with the usual suspects:

I was out of school

I slept late

I went swimming

I went on a trip

I visited family

I watched TV and movies

All these are great places to start.  Now let’s take these ideas to the next level.  Reality is that in classrooms there are kids with a wide variety of experiences.  Some vacationed on sandy beaches while others stayed home alone all summer.  

Great writing doesn’t depend on having extraordinary life experiences. . .

it depends on putting a unique spin on 

ordinary life experiences.  

Carla Killough McClafferty

Let’s start with the students who stayed home all summer and played basketball in their own neighborhood.   If they wanted to write about this, the  following questions could generate something to focus on in an essay. 

Did you learn a new basketball skill?

How did you learn it? 

Did someone teach you? 

A new friend?  An old friend?  A brother, uncle, father, sister?

Did you win a game against someone for the first time?

Did you have a hot streak and make many baskets in a row?

 

For a student who played ball all summer, suddenly their essay could include friendship, family relationships, competition, or how they improved their skills.     

www.morgefile.com

How about the student who traveled to the beach?  A little brainstorming could bring up some possibilities on how to go a different direction with their essay.    

Did you travel by car, plane, or train?

Did something interesting happen on the way there?

Did you make up your own travel games?

Did you devise a way to keep your brother from bothering you?

Did you get car sick? 

Did you see a dolphin? A shark?  

Did you walk on the beach and find a neat shell, or stone, or glass?

Did you learn to swim?

Or try to surf?

Build a sandcastle?

Find a tidal pool?

Suddenly, the essay can be more than going on a trip to the beach.  It could be about family relationships, building a fort in the sand, watching a sand crab, walking on the beach at night, or learning to do something new. 

www.morguefile.com

No matter what, students can bring something unique to their own essay because each one is unique.  

So with a fresh school year upon us, let's brainstorm! 

If you want to learn more about my videoconferences, contact me through carlamcclafferty.com
or go to inkthinktank.com

  

Thanks to my fellow TAs for beginning our back to school posts with a bang.   Esther Hershenhorn reviewed Kate Messner’s book Real Revision which sounds like a great way to get the creative juices flowing as the back to school season begins. 

JoAnn Early Macken started it off with a post about how to Write a Poem Step by Step.   And don’t forget to enter the book giveaway.  You might be the lucky winner of a copy of this excellent book by JoAnn Early Macken. 

Carla Killough McClafferty

Kate Messner’s Thumbs-Up Revision Tool for Anyone, Any Time

Just in time for our back-to-school TeachingAuthors posts, which JoAnn kicked off Friday with a Book Giveaway of her WRITE A POEM STEP BY STEP, I share my THUMBS UP review of Kate Messner’s REAL REVISION (Stenhouse, 2011) – a must-read for anyone any time of the year  (really!) who wants to get his or her writing right.

Personally, I’m a Big Fan of the prefix “re” – as in, back to, return to, again and again. According to my trusty online dictionary, verbs affixed with re connote restoration and repetition, a backwards motion, a withdrawal.

Think Second Chances.

Think Do-overs.

REAL REVISION makes all of the above possible, breaking down the revision process into doable, fun-even tasks, by sharing the revision strategies of a bounty of award-winning children’s book writers – Mentor Authors who truly show readers that all writing is revising. 

Kirby Larson, Nora Raleigh Baskin, Jane Yolen, Kathi Appelt, Mitali Perkins, Donna Gephart, Tom Angleberger, Tanya Lee Stone, G. Neri, Rebecca Stead, just to name a few – share honest-to-goodness manuscripts and revision experiences of specific titles they’ve published in order to illustrate a key element of narrative – say, voice or characterization, setting or plot, and the writing process – maybe research, seeing the Big Picture, word choice, copyediting or brainstorming. 

I’m talking REAL examples that lead to raised eyebrows and bulging eyes and all sorts of head-shaking responses.

Each Mentor Author’s offering is the stuff of a mini, personalized writer-to-writer one-on-one.

Each Mentor Author also offers a Try Out for the reader that accompanies the teaching point of each chapter– an easily-reproducible hands-on, doable, concrete exercise that underscores what’s – really – important.

The quotes that begin each chapter are delicious, too.

For instance, Lisa Schroeder’s:

“Revision is like cleaning your room because it may not be fun while you’re doing it but when you’re finished, you can stand back and see what you’ve done, and think, ‘Wow! That looks great!’”

Or Kirby Larson’s:

“Revision is like a newborn because it’s a 24/7 commitment and worth every sleepless night.”

Or Donna Gephart’s:

“Revision is like a lottery ticket because it’s a golden opportunity to make your work even better!”

Throughout REAL REVISION, Kate herself wears both her author and teacher hat, sharing her writing life, her process and the revision stories of her books.  Kate happens to be a National Board-certified teacher – and – the award-winning author of such books as the E.B. White Read Aloud Award winner THE BRILLIANT FALL OF GIANNA Z., SUGAR AND ICE and the Marty McGuire chapter book series.

I don my two TeachingAuthor hats to sincerely thank Kate for bringing REAL REVISION’s Mentor Authors and their realistically-presented, insightful and informative revision strategies to the page in such a fun and readable instructive way.

Whether it’s back-to-school for you, and/or back-to-writing, don’t leave home without this anytime/anyone tool.

Oh, and don’t forget to enter our Book Giveaway for JoAnn Early Macken’s WRITE A POEM STEP BY STEP.

Here’s to that prefix “re” and Second Chances!

Esther Hershenhorn

Back-to-School Book Giveaway!

For the first time in nearly twenty years, no one in our house is going back to school! I won’t miss packing lunches or saying goodbye every day. But I am looking forward to visiting schools myself. I love working with students and teachers in poetry presentations and writing workshops. (For program details, see my web site.) 

Many teachers and writers I’ve worked with have asked for a poetry writing plan they could follow on their own. Write a Poem Step by Step is that plan, based on the workshops I present in schools. It describes a simple, logical method of writing a poem. It includes examples written by elementary school students in my workshops. And we’re giving away an autographed copy! You can enter to win below. The giveaway is set to begin on Friday, August 7, and run through Friday, August 21. 

In our neighborhood, we’ve still got time to squeeze in more summer fun before the back-to-school frenzy begins. Here’s a summertime poem from Write a Poem Step by Step.

The Beach

The waves come

and crash on shore.

Shosh, shwash, shosh, shwash

The sand is as smooth as a wooden polished floor.

The sand goes through my toes.

The day was as hot as a heating vent.

I built a sandcastle,

but the waves washed it away.

Shosh, shwash, shosh, shwash.

Sarah Ilbek, Grade 3

The line “Shosh, shwash, shosh, shwash” uses invented words that sound like waves crashing on the beach. Like many creative writers, Sarah made up words to fit her poem. I recommend using this technique sparingly and only when a reader can understand the meaning from the context.

Sarah also repeats the line “Shosh, shwash, shosh, shwash.” Watch for a Wednesday Writing Workout on using repetition in poetry next week.

Don’t forget to enter our Book Giveaway below!

Tabatha Yeatts is hosting this week’s Poetry Friday Roundup at The Opposite of Indifference. Enjoy!

JoAnn Early Macken

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Photos as Story-Starters: Another Back-to-School Writing Activity

We've been doing a series of posts with ideas and references for back-to-school writing activities for teachers. I hope that writers are finding these ideas useful too. If you're a writer, I encourage you to try the Writing Workout at the end of today's post.

Jeanne Marie kicked off this series with a Writing Workout that asks students to describe (among other things) what a character is wearing. I've used a variation of this exercise with my adult writing students, asking them to write specifically about a character's shoes. Students are often surprised by how something so mundane as a character's shoes can provide insights into the character's personality, and even plot ideas.

Thanks to Esther's post, I'm looking forward to picking up a copy of Better than Great by Arthur Plotnik, and trying out her splendiferous Writing Workout with my students.

JoAnn's post last Friday reminded me of the importance of encouraging my students. And whether you write poetry or teach it (or both) you'll want to check out the book she discussed, Seeing the Blue Between, compiled by Paul B. Janeczko.

Finally, on Monday, Mary Ann shared an alternative to the dreaded "What I did over summer vacation" assignment. She has her students write about something "they know a lot about," in other words, something based on personal experience. Today's Writing Workout is similar in that it also asks students (and those of you who are writers) to write about an event you personally experienced. But in this case, students use a photograph as a story-starter.

The inspiration for this exercise came from reading Lois Lowry's Looking Back: A Book of Memories.  Here's a description of Lowry's book:

"People are constantly asking two-time Newbery Medalist Lois Lowry where she gets her ideas. In this fascinating memoir, Lowry answers this question, through recollections of childhood friends and pictures and memories that explore her rich family history. She recounts the pivotal moments that inspired her writing, describing how they magically turned into fiction along the complicated passageway called life. Lowry fans, as well as anyone interested in understanding the process of writing fiction, will benefit from this poignant trip through the past and the present of a remarkable writer."

See the following Writing Workout for ideas on how to use Lowry's book to inspire your students' (or your own) writing.

Writing Workout:
Using a Photo as a Story-Starter

Note: The following exercise is for use with young writers. I've used it successfully with grades 3-8. If you're a writer, see below for information on adapting this for your own work.

1. Before introducing Lowry's book, I ask students to bring in a photograph of themselves with at least one other member of their family. (I define "family" to include extended family, such as cousins, aunts, uncles, etc., as well as family pets.) The photo should be of an event or special occasion or vacation and not a posed family portrait. If students like, they can bring in an extra photo so they can later choose which one to use for the assignment.
2. The day of the assignment, I introduce the topic of writing from memories, or "memoir writing." Then I present Lowry's book, Looking Back. We discuss some of Lowry's fiction books, and I explain that, unlike her fiction, Looking Back is about events that actually happened. However, some of those events inspired Lowry's other writing.
3. I page through, Looking Back, showing the class how each photo is followed by a memoir about the depicted event. Then I read a sample memoir. For grades 3-5, I typically use the memoir associated with a 1940 photo of Lowry's older sister reading The Gingerbread Man to her. 
4. Now it's time for students to write their own memoirs using the photos they've brought to class. I ask them to "tell the story behind their photo," being sure to answer the 5Ws: Who is in the picture? Where are they? What are they doing? When did the event take place? Why were you together (for what occasion or event)? I also ask the students to answer the "H" question: How were you feeling?
5. I emphasize that the memoir should not be a list of answers to the above questions. Instead, it should read like a true story with a beginning, middle, and end. This may take several drafts to accomplish. One of the things I ask students to do as they revise is to try to create an intriguing opening that will make readers want to read on. And every story should have an appropriate title.  
6. After completing the assignment, students are usually excited to read their stories and show the class their photos. While this exercise can be used any time during the school year, I like to assign it early on because it helps me learn a little about the students and their families.

If you're a writer, I suggest you read Lowry's Looking Back for inspiration before you try the above assignment. Then, consider taking the assignment a step further by using some aspect of your photo-inspired memoir in a fictional story.

Do let me know how this exercise works for you and/or your students.
Happy writing!
Carmela

Revving Up to Write or Curing Brain Freeze

     When I was a student back in the last century, there were three things you could count on happening the first day of school;  somebody would throw up, the PA system issued a stream of incomprehensible directives ("First lunch students will eat during second lunch...").  While my teacher figured out the intricacies of her Delaney Book seating chart, there would be our first assignment on the chalkboard, right under "Hello, my name is Mrs. (Fill in the Blank). 99 per cent of the time it was "What I Did on My Summer Vacation." Sometimes this was followed by the threat "Spelling and punctuation count. Must be at least 250 words."

      This assignment was so predictable that after second grade, I started wrting the essay in advance, so I could read a library book instead. The kids who went to the Wisconsin Dells or some place truly exotic like Disneyland had no problem. Kids who stayed home and spent the summer running through the lawn sprinkler or worse, in summer school, (the equivalent of a stint in Sing Sing) stared at their three ring binders, and sweated bullets.  Five minutes into the school year, and the threat of next year's summer school was already nipping at their heels.

     Somewhere between my school days and my daughter's, the "What I Did..." essay had gone the way of the dodo bird. Instead, every morning, she was expected to write in a "journal" for five to ten minutes, using a writing prompt on the white board. I am not a fan of writing prompts. It's hard to come up with a hundred and eighty or so age-appropriate writing prompts, year after year. The kids knew that what they wrote didn't matter, just that they wrote something. Their grade came from the teaching flipping through the journals looking for blank pages or suspiciously short essays.

    Whoever came up with the journal idea had good intentions. Being able to write English fluently is always a handy skill. Unfortunately, journals turn an awful lot of kids off. I wouldn't be a writer today if I had been expected to write on a narrowly defined topic, first thing in the morning. Every morning. By middle school, these journals were used in every class (except P.E.). Six or seven prompts a day would give me brain freeze.

     OK teachers, I am going to give you a writer's workout that will cause you to roll your eyes, gnash your teeth, and call me nasty names (hopefully, not in front of your class.) And yes, it will take more time (in the beginning). Ready?  Let's rev up that creative part of the brain that has probably lain dormant all summer.

Writer's Workout

(This is adapted from Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide by Ralph Fletcher and JoAnn Portalupi.)

   Equipment needed:  Teacher:  A timer, a small legal pad, and writing instrument. Students; the same,minus the timer.

    Plan plenty of time for this exercise; the more students you have, the more time you'll need. Don't plan on multitasking. Your students will need your full attention.

    First, share a couple of your own (short) ancedotes. This serves several purposes. One, students seem more open to learning if they know a little something about you. Something interesting to them.  For instance, second graders are probably not going to care that you like gardening, have two grandchildren and your cat got stuck in a tree last week.

   They may be interested that your grandmother helped you plant your first vegetable garden (and you hated picking worms off the tomatoes).  Or that one of your grandchildren plays hockey and the other wants to be a beekeeper.  As for the cat in the tree (and this is from personal experience), you can't coax them down with their favorite food (they can't smell from that far away), and that a hook-and-ladder truck is useless if the tree is in a fenced yard.

   Now, tell the students to write something "they know a lot about." The only restrictions are they can't use the topics you just used; and it can't be a synopsis of a book, TV show or movie. This is not a made up story; this is a story about something that happened to you, or something you know a lot about.

    Partner each student and give them each a minute to tell the other what they are going to write about.
(I love my old-fashioned egg timer...you can't argue with a loud "ping"!) Announce that you will have
a "writer's conference" with each of them, preferably in a comfortable, private environment, like a "reader's corner."  You will need your timer (keep it short. You'll need the extra time for those suffering from Brain Freeze.)Those who seem to be on the right track should be given a quick thumbs up and sent on their way.

    If this is new territory for you, you might want to have a cheat sheet of potential topics.  Teachers get Brain Freeze, too! Now on to those stuck in Popsicle mode.

  The conversation might go something like this. Student reluctantly shows you blank or nearly blank paper. You: Courtney, it looks like you're having a little trouble thinking of something to write about. Let's think together (I have a personal dislike of the term "brainstorm")

Here are some topics you might have on your cheat sheet.

Who is your favorite relative? Why?

Have you ever had to move? How did that feel? Did you have to leave a best friend? How did that feel?

Do you play a sport? Do you like it? Or do you play because all your other friends play? Who is your favorite team or player? Why?

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? Why?

If you could meet any person in the world (living or dead) who would it be? Why? What would you ask them? What you want to share with them?

Do you (play an instrument, chess, computer games, go to dance class or gymnastics) You need to be specific, because I have discovered that a lot of kids do not know the meaning of  "hobby" or "pastime".
Asking "what do you do for fun?" may result in some-stories-that-should-not-be-shared!

Are you the oldest, youngest, middle, or only child in your family? What's good about that? What's not so good about that?

Do you have a pet? If you could have one, what would you pick and why?

Do you collect stuff? How did you decide on this item to collect?

(These are just examples. I would prepare as many as there are students. You can never have too many back up questions.)

    Hopefully, the student will respond to at least one or more of your suggestions. When they do, write the cue word ("soccer", "Lady Gaga", "Madagascar") on your small legal pad.  Hopefully, your little Popsicle has shown interest in at least three topics. When you get to three or four, give them your small sheet and send the student back to consider their choices. (Small legal notepads are less intimidating than the full-sized ones.

    Points to emphasize: no one has to "share" if they don't want to (once things get rolling, usually everybody wants to share). Don't worry about spelling and punctuation. That's what revision is for
(and that's another topic.)

    Not only does this exercise take away the pressure of committing words to paper (graphophobia--I looked it up) but you and your students will know a little more about each other than they did an hour ago.

By the way, it costs way more than you want to know to retrieve a cat from a thirty foot pine tree.

Posted by Mary Ann Rodman

In Praise of a Superlative (New) School Year!

I’m just back from Duncan Creek Elementary School in Hoschton, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, singing the praises of the 185 Young Writers who participated in the 7^th Annual Mill Creek Young Writers Literacy Institute.

What heart-walloping fun I had, first, sharing the A to Z of my jarringly-good Writer’s life and bone-delicious process with the grades 1-8 all-star students in the morning,

then, workshopping the afternoon with their fifty-carat teachers, putting forth ways to keep their bang brilliant Young Writers fed!

The teachers LOVED my newest Writer’s Bookshelf Recommendation:  Arthur Plotnik’s Better Than Great – A Plenitudinous Compendium of Wallopingly Fresh Superlatives (Viva Editions, 2011) 

Author and editor Plotnik believes: “Praise can be greater than amazing.”
And he should know.
He combed through thesauruses, lexicons and countless compendiums to compile 6,000 (!) alternatives to used-up superlatives.
You read that right – 6,000!
And that number doesn’t include the 50 text-friendly synonyms (1drfl), relevant quotes and foreign phrases (mockered up) he thoughtfully added.

Former U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins labels the collection “amen-astonishing.”

Donna Seaman of Booklist describes the book as “high-fiveable hot sauce for the brain.”

Understandably, Plotnik’s collection has drawn nothing but praise.

An especially acclaimable feature? 
Plotnik makes the collection especially user-friendly by categorizing the plenitude of possible fine-hair distinctions, from Great (postcard-perfect) and Sublime (all-knowing) and Physically Affecting (eye-misting) to Cool (cookin’), Wicked Cool (stompin’) and Forceful (bionically buff), in between offering Beautiful (bellafatima), Joy-giving (embraceable), Large (continental-shelf-sized)  and Exceptional (giga awesome), as well as Intense (pincering), Delicious (plate-licking good), Mentally, Emotionally or Spiritually Affecting (nutso-making) and Trendy (out-front).

Better Than Great is just that - a true landfall of bliss for any lover of words.

Hmmmm….

                 180 school days in a year,
                 6,000 ways to say “amazing” –
                         first, written on the blackboard,
                         next, copied into a Writer’s Notebook,
                        then, spoken in conversation,
                        finally, chosen for a story.
Amen-astonishing, indeed.
What a superlative way to begin a superlative (new) School Year.

Happy Back-to-Schooling!

Esther Hershenhorn

P.S.
I am off to LA, to the pinnacular, jaw-slacking, joy-spreading, worldwide, all-eclipsing, boot-in-the-face intense, gulp-worthy, fabulosa, outta sight 40^th Anniversary SCBWI Conference!
Why not attend too - vicariously - by clicking on Team Blog  or tweeting with the #11LASCBWI hash tag?! 

P.P.S from Carmela: Don't forget: today is the last day to enter for a chance to win a copy Allan Woodrow's humorous new middle-grade novel, The Rotten Adventures of Zachary Ruthless! 

Writer’s Workout:  Name That Superlative!

An eponym is a person, real or imagined, from whom something, as a tribe, nation, or place, takes or is said to take its name.   Name-based terms, are called “eponymous.”  Think: Amelia Jenks Bloomer of “bloomers”;  innkeeper Cesar Ritz of “Puttin’ on the Ritz”; Midas touch; Mickey Mouse.

Many eponyms form adjectives.

Think: Christian, ritzy, Lincolnesque, Dickensian, Jordanesque.

To create your own eponymous superlative, follow Arthur Plotnik’s advice:

 
(1)   Start with a name recognized by your audience and having the desired positive association
(2)   Add endings such as –an, -ian, -seque, -ic, -ish, - al.

Note: if name ends with a consonant, add “ian” or “esque.”

                       if name ends in e or i, add “an”
                       if name ends in a, o, or  y – add “n”, "ninan,” “esque,” “ ist,” or “nic.”
What eponymous superlatives might students create - using their names, the first day of school - to introduce themselves to their fellow classmates and use throughout the year?