Sad Middle Grade Fiction...Really, People?

After a summer of a vacation from blogging, school has started and once again I am immersing myself in children, information, and children's literature. Battling burnout, I took a break from children's literature. I lazed (well, sort of, with two graduate classes and an IT internship) over World of Warcraft, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (and Angel), and many comic books (Sandman, Deadpool, X-Men, Avengers, and Wolverine).

Back in the pleasurable grind of supervising four elementary school libraries, training two new assistants, meeting new kindergarteners, and renewing professional and student relationships, I revisited the bin of Illinois Bluestem and Rebecca Caudill nominees for 2015 that I neglected for two months. First, my question to the two committees is, "How many sad animal books do we need to read in one year, really?" REALLY? The ONE subgenre I DETEST. So, I still have not read A Dog Called Homeless, The Five Lives of Our Cat, Zook, The One and Only Ivan (don't judge me), and Chained. I bawled over One For the Murphys. I ignored my husband and daughter to find out what happened to the three children in The Clockwork Three. Legend I read in one sitting, most of the others I enjoyed as well, but I draw the line at animal books. When will I be able to read the books on these lists without my normally dry and rational self turning into a weeping ball of incoherent mush? Seriously, committees, find a happy place next year.

Play With Purpose

The following are excerpted from my class blog for my educational gaming graduate course.

Gee's identity principle has application not only in gaming, in my experience, but also in reading. One of the foundational principles I believe narratives (whether fiction or nonfiction) play for a person is that they provide the reader with a safe opportunity to experience someone else’s life. As an elementary school librarian, one of my purposes is to introduce students to that experience, and help them find meaning in that experience so they continue to seek it out. My favorite games, in fact, have been those that allow the same type of costuming as my favorite types of books. “Being” Link is like “being” Bilbo Baggins. In deep play, where the child is totally absorbed in his or her created “world,” I think melds the principles of identity and manipulation. If as an educator I could tap into that deep play state, I believe deep learning can take place. 

In his video interview, Zimmerman states “Games are like buildings we inhabit….a space of possibilities where anything is possible.” Thinking of a game designer as an architect who is building a space and setting the rules by which the players interact with and in the space made the concept begin to make more sense to me. In Salen’s video, she defines game design as a way of looking at the world. If I start with those similar views of game design, I feel like then my approach to designing games will move to more specific questions. What is the ultimate goal of my world? What are the physical properties? How many people can inhabit my world at once? How do they interact with the world? With each other? How can you achieve the ultimate goal? How will players know when they've achieved it? “Game design is a process by which a game designer creates a game, to be encountered by a player, from which meaningful play emerges.” (p. 80)

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[A small commentary on some people's perceptions of World of Warcraft, which is required play for my class. How cool is that!]

I started categorizing reactions I got when I told people I was playing WoW. They all have fallen into one of these categories:

1. [raised eyebrows] "Seriously?" or more directly "That's really lame."
2. [disapproving grimace] "I know people who ruined their lives over WoW addictions and an inability do deal with normal life."
3. [happy dance] "You too?! What world are you in, what class/level are you, what's your name and when do you want to meet to play together?!"

My responses are:
1. [varied emotional reaction] "Yes, seriously." and "No, it's not." (Mental note: don't bring it up with this person again.)
2. [Silence] "Ummmm." (Mental note: don't bring it up with this person again.)
3. [reciprocal happy dance] "Suramar, Hunter class 13, Theragarai, and as soon as we can log on!" (Mental noe: Yippee! I found a friend!)

Why I Love Hosting Guest Authors

This week author Steve Cotler visited the four Kaneland elementary schools to talk to students in third, fourth and fifth grades about fiction writing. Steve is not only a wonderful newer author (of the Cheesie Mack series), but also an all around interesting person, which had me reflecting on why I love hosting authors in elementary schools.

The obvious first answer as an elementary school librarian, is that it supports teachers' writing instruction and student reading. Well, yes, that's important, but I think it's backwards. Don't bring in an author to support instruction, bring in an author to show students how what you're teaching them is preparing them for real life. The end result is the focus. Authors are real people. They don't necessarily do things the way we currently teach, but if you've brought in a good one, they're able to support themselves with that craft, so they have valuable insights to offer both students and teachers.
Secondly, authors are inspiring, and they're all different. Creative people in particular often have big personalities, and can be amazing communicators. Let them communicate with your students. A great author visit will leave you with kids who have made a personal connection with this person, and are inspired in some way to be better than they were before. Maybe it's just a glimpse of the outside world, something that's not the four walls of the classroom or their neighborhood.

Thirdly, author visits are great fun. I know that sounds trivial, but in this age of testing and an environment where every minute of a kid's day is controlled, an author visit is a breath of fresh air. A worthwhile breath.

So what are the three things I took away from Steve's visits this week?

1. Be interesting. To be interesting, you have to be a thinker and a doer. Try things. Reading Steve's bio is like reading four people's bio. Be thoughtful, but do something with your thinking. You can have an idea your whole life. Act on it. Even if it is fifty years later, great things can come of it.

2. Be honest. I loved how Steve was honest with kids. He drove them to think, and wasn't afraid to tell them they were wrong and why (which I think is a fault in education currently). He did it kindly, but directly, and pushed them to do their best thinking by asking clarifying questions. He also complimented them honestly and appropriately; not too much, not too little. He also wasn't afraid to point out his mistakes or things he didn't do so well (like his first Cheesie Mack draft).

3. Be engaging. I don't just mean charming and pleasant; if you're interesting, captivate those you communicate with to give and receive what makes you all interesting. To do that, you need to be honest, but you also need to engage. See that picture of Steve with the little girl? He didn't just talk to a large group of students, he talked to a room of individuals. Watch and listen to your audience, even if it's an audience of one, and respond to them.

 We had a great couple days with Steve Cotler. I learned a lot from him, and I can't wait to see what he does next.

2014 Winner's Circle

2014 Winner's Circle | Piktochart Infographic Editor

Can We Make 2nd Grade Animal Research Relevant?

Serendipity is a wonderful thing. Recently a wonderful colleague teaching first grade started experimenting with inquiry circles for ocean research. As I was working a book fair and looking through the 2015 Illinois Children's Choice Award nominees, I picked up one of my favorites, A Little Book Of Sloth. A few minutes later, NatGeo tweeted one of Lucy Cooke's adorable sloth videos: Special Squeaky Sloth Video. On the NatGeo page, there was a link provided to the ZSL EDGE site where there is information about extraordinarily unusual threatened species and how you can support these conservation efforts. So that made me think about transforming the current animal reports our second grade students do in the spring every year. 

What if we still did the same reports, but added another component. Instead of each child doing a different animal in isolation, what if each classroom was divided into an animal group? What if each child still individually researched an animal of interest in that group, but as a class researched one threatened animal listed on the EDGE and created a campaign to raise awareness, raise funds, etc. Wouldn't that make the research they were doing more meaningful? What if they included a wondering paragraph in their individual report about the importance of the role of their animal in the ecology and how things would change if it were out of balance? 



I think, regardless of how much the students do enjoy the traditional reports, we can teach them to engage in learning activities that aren't just enjoyable and for acquiring knowledge, but that research serves many purposes, and it should always contribute to making the world a better place.

Finding Poems for Poetry Month

Two found poem ideas for those who have a hard time coming up with their own words:

#1
Search Twitter for #spinepoems (without the kids watching) and you'll find a ton of great examples for an easy activity easily done either in the library or the classroom collection. Here's one I made:

Because call numbers...

the dreamer
the mailbox
CRASH
bounce
flipped
three times lucky
Glory be!
okay for now
a small white scar

#2
Blackout poems a la Austin Kleon. Librarian Jennifer Reed has a great article about using an old copy of a Harry Potter book with fifth graders to make blackout poems.

Another Dr. Who 5 second Stop Motion...because it amuses me.