Show and Tell and Teacher Book Talk Tuesday

As you are reading this blog post, please think of me working in my classroom, readying it for my kiddos to arrive next week. Tomorrow begins the first of four days of professional development and inservice... sigh! Meanwhile, let's get to all of the Tuesday fun!

First up to share with you... 

My house is being painted! YAY! It's been seventeen years since last the old homestead had a fresh coat. Next month's Show and Tell should have the finished product.

Next is all the fun stay-cation activities that I've been doing these final days of freedom.

Feeding the fish at the Pymatuning Spillway. 

I kid you not... there are so many fish that the local ducks can walk on their backs.

Old ladies' luncheons with new recipes to share. This is what I made for the last luncheon: Cowboy Caviar... YUM!

Going for rides all around the county... where we saw this!

Although it was wide, it wasn't very bright. Still it is a promise.

Of course, I MUST share at least one pic of a fuzz girl. This month I have two, both of Lulubelle, the young lady who is always getting into trouble. 

Here she is trying to figure out how to jump on the window ledge. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

Here she is fooling around with a fidget spinner that I didn't know was on my work table. Apparently it was stuck between some papers and books. Lulubelle ferreted it out while I was doing a bit of TpT work!

And now for Teacher Book Talk Tuesday, the last of my Show and Tell items,  and the second week of giveaways (a wonderful children's book and an Amazon gift card).

The book that I am sharing this week is a kid friendly biography about someone I had never heard of but was well-ahead of her time. In fact, she was so far ahead of her time that we don't have a photograph of her, only painted portraits. Yet, Ada Byron Lovelace is credited with writing the first computer program. I stumbled upon the book while searching for STEM titles on Amazon.

This well-written and handsomely illustrated picture book biography details how Ada Lovelace Byron was able to write the first computer program more than 100 years before the first computer was built. Ever since she was a young girl, Lovelace was fascinated by numbers. As she was growing up, she filled her journals with ideas for inventions and equations. Her mother provided tutors to further develop Lovelace's passion for mathematics. When one of these tutors invited Lovelace and her mother to a gathering of scientists, she met the famous mathematician and inventor Charles Babbage. He was so impressed by Lovelace's knowledge that he invited her to his laboratory, where she learned about his idea for an Analytical Engine, a mechanical computer that would solve difficult problems by working them through step-by-step. She realized that this "computer" would only work if it were provided with detailed instructions, and after much work, she succeeded in writing what is now referred to as the first computer program and in creating the profession of computer programming. The descriptive text and dazzling spreads work seamlessly to provide a sense of Lovelace's growing passion for mathematics and invention. The illustrations reflect the 19th-century setting and contain numerous supporting details. For example, gears that will eventually become part of the design of the Analytic Engine are featured throughout: in the corners of the title page, on the pages of Ada's journals, and on Babbage's chalkboard. VERDICT An excellent addition to STEM collections...School Library Journal

I actually received the book yesterday, after more than a month's wait. Apparently MANY people have discovered Ada Lovelace and Amazon actually sold out of the title. Because I just received it, I had to do a QUICK read in order to write my blog post to get published on time. I just had to share this title, especially since school is starting and I will be introducing computer code to my kiddos. I have to share this book with them.  I will be going back to do a more thorough read so that I am more familiar with the material (and just because I like the book). It will be a great read aloud and research motivator. If you are introducing coding to your students, if you are involved with technology, and if you particularly enjoy encouraging girls to "do science" then this book needs to find its way onto your wishlist and into your class library. 

And now you need to find your way over to Kidpeople Classroom where Kathleen will be reviewing a wonderful children's book that you can own (as well as a ten dollar Amazon gift card) via our second weekly giveaway. 

And when you finish entering the giveaway, be sure to find your way over to Stephanie's blog, Forever in 5th Grade to read more Show and Tell posts. It's a great way to keep up with some terrific teachers bloggers.

Teacher Book Talk Tuesday, even more fun this week!

I don't know what happened these past two Tuesdays, but somehow I just did not get my act together to create a post for Kathleen's summer reading linky.

I did make it this week, however, and it's a good thing because it's even MORE FUN, as in nifty giveaway fun! Let's start with my book talk first.

The book I've chosen to share this week is another one that is on my seventh graders' list for the annual county English Festival.

Now you might think this book is a bit gruesome... yeah!

You might cringe at the title... yeah!

However, it does detail a true event, and if you are female and of an age, I KNOW that you jumped rope to this little ditty...

Lizzie Borden took an axe and gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done, she gave her father forty-one!

Actually, this rhyme tells an untruth. Lizzie did not whack her parents that many times as revealed in this terrific non-fiction read. I am not quite finished reading the book (I had six books to read for the English Festival and I saved what I thought was the best for the last). BTW, none of my seventh graders chose this book to read over the summer- they all had to read at least one of the books on the list over the summer- because they were completely "creeped-out" by the title. I can not wait to share this book with them once school does begin.

With murder, court battles, and sensational newspaper headlines, the story of Lizzie Borden is compulsively readable and perfect for the Common Core.  

In a compelling, linear narrative, Miller takes readers along as she investigates a brutal crime: the August 4, 1892, murders of wealthy and prominent Andrew and Abby Borden. The accused? Mild-mannered and highly respected Lizzie Borden, daughter of Andrew and stepdaughter of Abby. Most of what is known about Lizzie’s arrest and subsequent trial (and acquittal) comes from sensationalized newspaper reports; as Miller sorts fact from fiction, and as a legal battle gets under way, a gripping portrait of a woman and a town emerges.   

With inserts featuring period photos and newspaper clippings—and, yes, images from the murder scene—readers will devour this nonfiction book that reads like fiction... Amazon.

Although I have not completed the book (my copy is in Kindle format, my Kindle has no charge, and I can't find the chord... sigh... it will soon turn up), I have read enough to experience the thrill of this famous murder coming alive on the pages of this book. The author's voice is just the right blend of narrative and journalistic research. Snippets of personal accounts by witnesses, family members, and neighbors are interspersed within the text and serve as a timeout from the more detailed reading of the crime. It is these snippets that most appeal to me. These are the voices of real people who experienced and lived the excitement and sensationalism of the crime.

While my Kindle still had its charge, I found it difficult to put this book down. I was aware of this murder event from an early double digit age having checked out a book from the library seeking information about the woman whose crime I jumped rope to, and then while still in high school I remember watching this made for TV movie (for whatever reason it left quite an impression on me). I am delighted to have found it on YouTube! Have any of you seen this?


Lizzie Borden and the Trial of the Century is currently leaving quite an impression on me. I can not wait to complete the book. New information, revised evidence, and a fresh forensic perspective makes the familiar tale new again for me. However, don't just take my word for it! Amazon has quite a lengthy book preview posted HERE. Hop over and read the excerpts provided. I think you'll be just as captivated by Miller's telling of the axe murder tale as am I.

Speaking of hopping, be sure to hop on over to Kathleen's blog to see what book she is sharing for her book talk this Tuesday. Not only is she sharing a fun little book, she is giving away one copy of it. Not only is she giving away a copy, but I've joined up with her to include a ten dollar Amazon gift card as part of her book giveaway. That's the fun that I talked about at the beginning of this post. AND this is only the beginning of the FUN because this is just the first of a three week giveaway. You can read more about this triple crown event over on Kathleen's blog, Kidpeople Classroom, and enter the giveaway. Good luck!

Double Duty Tuesday No. 2

It's the third Tuesday of the month, so it's time for...

Here's the Double part of the Double Duty post. Today is also time for our weekly Teacher Book Talk hosted by Kathleen of Kidpeople Classroom. 

The book I've chosen to talk about this week is part of the cadre of books for our county's annual English Festival for grs. 7/8. Each year we (the teachers whose students participate) meet to select six books for our student participants to read. The books we choose are challenging, unique, popular, part of a series, made into a movie, various genre, modern classic, timely... any, all, or none of the above criteria. These are the six books our students will be reading for this year's event:

Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech

City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

House Arrest by K.A. Holt

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

The Borden Murders by Sarah Miller

AND

Thirteen-year-old Billie Simms doesn’t think her hometown of Anniston, Alabama, should be segregated, but few of the town’s residents share her opinion. As equality spreads across the country and the Civil Rights Movement gathers momentum, Billie can’t help but feel stuck—and helpless—in a stubborn town too set in its ways to realize that the world is passing it by. So when Billie learns that the Freedom Riders, a group of peace activists riding interstate buses to protest segregation, will be traveling through Anniston on their way to Montgomery, she thinks that maybe change is finally coming and her quiet little town will shed itself of its antiquated views. But what starts as a series of angry grumbles soon turns to brutality as Anniston residents show just how deep their racism runs. The Freedom Riders will resume their ride to Montgomery, and Billie is now faced with a choice: stand idly by in silence or take a stand for what she believes in. Through her own decisions and actions and a few unlikely friendships, Billie is about to come to grips with the deep-seated prejudice of those she once thought she knew, and with her own inherent racism that she didn’t even know she had... Amazon.com

I could NOT put this book down until I finished it! The characters are memorable, inspiring, and so life-like that the plot jumps off the page to enfold you. As a child of the 60's I remember the historical figures mentioned in the story, and I can recall many of the civil rights landmark events. This is firsthand history for me. The questions posed in the novel are just as poignant and just as pertinent today: Am I prejudiced? Why? This, in my opinion, is a must-read for middle schoolers and would serve as a great read aloud/discussion starter. I plan on reading it aloud to my sixth graders while my seventh graders will be reading it in Literature Circles in preparation for the County English Festival.

Be sure to stop by Kathleen's blog, Kidpeople Classroom, to see what she is sharing for this week's Teacher Book Talk and what other teachers might have shared as well. Perhaps you'll post a Book Talk of your own.

Please tell me you have one of these at home, a pile of teachery things that you brought home to do over the summer? I am doing, but instead of getting smaller and me getting to the bottom, it is getting larger (with all those new things).

I have lived in my area all of my life, nearly sixty years (eeek!) but I have never been to Fairport Harbor, only 30 miles west of my home. What a quaint little city right on Lake Erie and the lighthouse... awesome!

And as always, I end with my fuzz girls. 

Lulubelle is such a stinker. She looks so sweet and innocent, ready to help me sort lego blocks for coding activities, but don't look away because she becomes a thief, stealing those blocks to bat around the dining room.

Poor Miss Daisy, my senior lady! She came down with a summer cold (and we know how miserable that can be) and was sniffing, sneezing, and coughing. After a trip to the doctor and some medicine she was resting in MY new chair, recuperating from the ordeal. Do you know how silly a cat sounds when it meows with a stuffy nose?

Be sure to stop over at Forever in 5th Grade to read more Show and Tell Tuesday posts. It's a great way to keep up with what's happening in the bloggy world of teaching!

Teacher Book Talk Tuesday: Talk Read Talk Write

It's Tuesday, so it's time for a new installment of...

I've had this wonderful professional development book ready to read since late last summer.

However, with the demands of readying a classroom, preparing curriculum, and just keeping up with responsibilities both in school and at home throughout the school year, I just hadn't gotten to it. Kathleen's weekly book talk linky was the impetus to get me going.

Here's what Amazon has to say about this book...

The Talk Read Talk Write approach helps students meet and exceed the state standards for learning in all subjects while also developing the literacy skills needed for success in the 21st century. This practical resource gives teachers (K-12) a step-by-step guide to implementing structured conversation, active reading, and high quality writing in any class. The book includes quick reference charts and graphic organizers, excerpts from actual classrooms, many example/non-example sections, sample lessons, and a discussion guide for campus book study.

The book provides a framework or strategy that teachers can share with students to help them increase their reading comprehension, not just in reading class but across content areas as well. Known as the Talk Read Talk Write (TRTW) Strategy, it is a simple, yet rigorous method for conducting any reading lesson.

Step 1 TALK to engage students' attention and activate schema, balanced between teacher and student, begins with teacher asking a question related to the soon-to-be-read content

• brief
• structured
• open-ended
• non-threatening

Step 2 READ wherein students interact with text structure and actively, independently read with a purpose (loads of strategies, graphic organizers, examples are provided)

Step 3 TALK to re-engage students with the purpose for reading and the content information and to promote sharing of content and information learned while reading.

Step 4 WRITE to generate personal thoughts or promote/defend an argument whilst following conventions/traits of good writing.

The best part about this text is that the author sticks with this ONE method and TEACHES the reader to do it. The book contains plenty of examples, visuals, and explanations (tapping into a reader's various learning styles) that readers can easily understand the TRTW framework thoroughly and feel at ease in implementing it in their own classrooms. Talk Read Talk Write is an alternative strategy to close reading and is particularly helpful for reading in the content areas. If you are an oldie, moldy teacher as I am, this strategy might remind you, as it did me, of the ancient DRTA (Directed Reading Thinking Activity) approach to reading, only it goes one better with the addition of written response. If you are interested in reading this text, you can click HERE to find out how to obtain a copy.

Be sure to stop by Kathleen's blog, Kidpeople Classroom, to see what books she is talking about this week. Better yet, why not add a book talk of your own!

Teacher Book Talk Tuesday: Maker Lab

Oops! I missed out on last week's fun linky! Chalk it up to summer with its lack of routine; I'm lucky if I know what day of the week it is. I realized just in time this week to join Kathleen from Kidpeople Classroom for her weekly...

This week I'd like to share a fabulous STEM (read FUN) book with you. It was a gift from one of my sweet girls... thank you, Kiden!

Here's what Amazon has to say about this terrific text:

Supporting STEM education initiatives and the maker movement, the National Parenting Publication Award-winner Maker Lab includes 28 kid-safe projects and crafts that will get young inventors' wheels turning and make science pure fun.

Each step-by-step activity is appropriate for kids ages 8–12, and ranked easy, medium, or hard, with an estimated time frame for completion. Requiring only household materials, young makers can build an exploding volcano, race balloon rocket cars, construct a solar system, make a lemon battery, and more. Photographs and facts carefully detail the "why" and "how" of each experiment using real-world examples to provide context so kids can gain a deeper understanding of the scientific principles applied. 

The book is loaded with fun, simple activities that a child can do independently, with a partner, or in a small group. Arranged into categories Around the House, Food for Thought, Water World, and The Great Outdoors all major concentrations of Science (life science, physical science, earth science) are represented. Here are a few of the many individual topics that kids can explore.

Beautiful photos and simple explanations make it inviting for children to read, explore, and do! While fun is a big part of this book, rigorous science is the goal. Behind each engaging activity is fundamental science concepts contained in the Next Generation Science Standards.

I look forward to really diving into this book during the coming school year. I have Kiden's class once again for science this year and plan to use this book and its ideas as much as possible.

Speaking of STEM and Science, guess what I've been doing the past few days!

If you guessed organizing my STEM building materials then you are correct! Every building material is counted and bagged so that no time is wasted during Science class. Groups can grab their materials and go to work immediately. Since I'm still teaching sixth grade science, I decided to get all of the first quarter materials organized before school even begins; I know what I'm doing for these lessons. I can then concentrate on the two new sections of materials as the year progresses. I'll be relying on Smithsonian Maker Lab by Jack Challoner for some help with this!

Don't forget to stop by Kathleen's blog to see what she has shared for Teacher Book Talk Tuesday. Better yet, why not add a booktalk of your own to the linky!

Double Duty Tuesday

Today's post is serving double duty. First of all it's the third Tuesday of the month so that means it's time to join Forever in 5th Grade for...

... and since it's Tuesday during the summer, it's also time to join Kidpeople Classroom for...

The book that I'd like to share this week is from a particular favorite author of mine, Patricia Polacco.

The Amazon blurb has this to say about the book:

An Irish family stays together with the help of Fiona’s talent for making one-of-a-kind lace in this heartwarming immigration story from the New York Times bestselling creator of The Keeping Quilt.

Many years ago, times were hard in all of Ireland, so when passage to America becomes available, Fiona and her family travel to Chicago. They find work in domestic service to pay back their passage, and at night Fiona turns tangles of thread into a fine, glorious lace. Then when the family is separated, it is the lace that Fiona’s parents follow to find her and her sister and bring the family back together. And it is the lace that will always provide Fiona with memories of Ireland and of her mother’s words: “In your heart your true home resides, and it will always be with you as long as you remember those you love.”

This generational story from the family of Patricia Polacco’s Irish father brims with the same warmth and heart as the classic The Keeping Quilt and The Blessing Cup, which Kirkus Reviews called “deeply affecting” in a starred review, and embraces the comfort of family commitment and togetherness that Patricia Polacco’s books are known for.

So many ways to incorporate this book into a classroom curriculum! 

With immigrant issues in the news, this book can serve as a timely discussion starter for the topic. Teaching poetry? Limericks? The immigrant family hails from this Irish town. Teaching genre? Narratives? The story is the perfect example! Teaching figurative language? The text contains imagery, alliteration, and onomatopoeia. Teaching commas in a series? There are multiple examples to be found. Teaching apostrophes? Contractions? The book is full of common and not so common examples. Teaching history? There is reference to the Great Chicago Fire. Teaching plot development, particularly conflict? This is the book for you. 

Pay no attention to the recommended reading level of ages 4 to 8. This book is suitable for all ages, especially as a read aloud! I will be using it with sixth graders as a mentor text for all of the ELA topics that I've mentioned and as a companion piece for Lauren Tarshish's book "I Survived the Chicago Fire 1871" when the school year resumes in late August.

Be sure to stop by Kathleen's blog Kidpeople Classroom for more Teacher Book Talk posts and to add one of your own when you've finished reading my other Show and Tell items.

I recently attended an EdTechTeam Technology Summit. WOW! It was well worth my time. I thought I was very knowledgeable regarding Google and all its apps. Not so since I learned a WHOLE lot more! I will be sharing some of what I've learned throughout the coming school year as I incorporate my learning into my lessons and classes.

One thing that I will be teaching as part of my Science/ELA classes is coding. I wasn't sure how I wanted to approach this new subject for my students (and me) but I attended an awesome session wherein the presenter shared how she introduces coding... with legos!

 I've already ordered the base plates and single unit blocks, enough for a class of thirty! I can't wait to start coding with my middle schoolers!

Besides bringing back new knowledge from the EdTechTeam Summit, I also brought this back. I actually won a door prize!

Don't judge my appearance on this day... no make-up, no contacts, hair pulled back in a clip. I was supposed to wake up at 4:45am for a 5:50 carpool ride. Ha, I woke up at 5:35am. YIKES, I was lucky to have been dressed properly.

And as always, I must include a fur baby picture. This month is a pic of DaisyMae, my senior girl. I live in a century home. Needless to say there is always a lot of work to be done, repairing this and repairing that. One thing that I've wished for is central air conditioning. Unfortunately, that is low on the totem pole of things to be done. Instead of central air, I have a floor model that does a really nice job of cooling off the majority of the first floor. It sits next to my rocker. Everytime that DaisyMae jumps into my lap she has to inspect the a/c unit.

What a silly girl!

Please be sure to stop by Stephanie's blog Forever in 5th Grade to read more Show and Tell Tuesday posts from teacher bloggers around the cyber world. Perhaps you'll join in the fun with a post of your own!