Hi Fran!

What a great reading list.  You provided such a nice range of books for many different age levels.

I am posting a few pictures of my students retelling work.  I think grouping the kids in threes was really important, because they talked SO much as they worked.  I think sharing ideas in small groups is a powerful way to apply the complex reading strategies and work young children must do these days.

Our retelling work is never done.  We are developing a Retelling Anchor Chart as a class -- look for a post about that coming soon!
What's been up in your room these days?

Lara

A Few "Peaceful" Titles

Dear Lara,

The pics from our peace writing project look great! I thought I would post some titles in case anyone is interested in exploring the theme of peace as they welcome in the New Year....here are a few titles to get folks started.

• Let There Be Peace: Prayers From Around the World by Jeremy Brooks. Frances Lincoln’s Childrens Books. 2009.
• Peace One Day by Jeremy Gilley. Putnam Juvenile. 2005
• Let There Be Peace on Earth: And Let It Begin With Me by Jill Jackson. Tricycle Press. 2009.
• Can You Say Peace? By Karen Katz. Henry Holt and Co. 2006.
• A Little Peace. Barbara Kerley. National Geographic Childrens Books. 2007.
• No! by David McPhail. Roaring Book Press. 2009
• Somewhere Today: A Book of Peace by Shelley Moore Thomas. Albert Whitman and Co. 1998.
• The Peace Book by Todd Parr. Little Brown Books for Young Readers. 2009.
• What Does Peace Feel Like by Vladamir Radunsky. Antheneum Books for Young Readers. 2004.
• PeaceJam: A Billion Acts of Peace by Ivan Suvanjieff.  Puffin Books. 2008.
• Peaceful Heroes by Jonah Winter. Arthur A. Levine Books. 2009
• Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the World by Jane Breskin Zalben. Dutton Juvenile. 2006. 

 I think I am going to use this study of peace to lead into an exploration of freedom and civil rights. I will be posting book suggestions here soon. :) Frances

Howdy Fran,

Happy New Year!!  

Below you and everyone will see our artistically published peace poems.   Let's put the finishing touches on our Peace Poem Project Mini Unit in the coming days and post it on Corestand.  

I can't wait to share the retelling work - look for it soon!

See you on Monday!

Lara

Creative and Fun Publishing Ideas

 Mentor Text and Small Group Brainstorming

 Writing a list poem using Todd Parr as a mentor. 

  Making water color backgrounds for accordion books.

 A sample page.

A completed accordion book.

A glass bead peace sign cover.

A  "dreamcatcher style" peace poem.

Hi Lara,
I know exactly what you mean. I can't believe it's January already. I would love to see some examples of the work you and your students did together with retelling. While retelling may appear to be a simplistic task, for young readers it is complex. I'm glad you are laying the foundation in first grade and delving into substantial retellings, as we will pull on these skills next year as we ask the second graders to write responses to their reading.
I am gearing up to head back to school on Monday, but I have been reflecting today on the work we did together this past week with our small group of young writers around the theme of peace. I know you took a lot of photos during our time together...how about posting a few pics of the published pieces to give folks a couple of new ideas for creative poetry publishing?
Frances

Hey Fran,

The month of December comes and goes SO quickly - don't you think?!  I left school in a flash on the 23rd leaving all the remnants of a fun filled week of school behind.  I went to school today to tidy up the room a bit and get ready for school to start up again on Monday.  As I was cleaning up I was reflecting on the work that we did with the Gingerbread Unit from Corestand.  First, we made an anchor chart of Things That Should be Included in a Good Retelling.  I had my students work in groups of three to complete the retelling organizer included in the unit after each read aloud. We shared our work at the end of each lesson and talked about whether the retelling included everything it needed to.  At first the kids were not very critical of the work, but by the end they started to notice weaknesses and strengths in each others retelling!

Lara