Archive for November, 2008|Monthly archive page
The First Day of Christmas (and Poetry Friday)
Comments (3)It’s The First Day of Christmas (and Poetry Friday!) so today I’m giving away a signed copy of my picture book poem, Subway.
A subway is a train that travels underground but we’ve never had one where I lived. (They built the subway in Los Angeles after we moved to Dallas!)
I only ride the subway when we go on vacation in a big city. We took the kids to Washington D.C. in the mid-90s and used the subway to get around town. When we came home I wrote an 8 line poem about a subway ride.
Two years later we went to New York City and rode the subway again. After we came home I tried to turn the poem into a book but I couldn’t capture the way the ride felt.
Two years later we went to London and Paris and this time I was prepared. Every time we rode on the subway I took a pen and a pad of paper out of my purse and wrote a short poem about the ride.
After our vacation I combined the little poems and turned them into a story poem.
we go down
to go uptown
down, down, down
in the subway
Booklist wrote: “With just a few lines of simple poetry on each page, Suen describes a subway ride’s rushing movement and sound.”
This year, children’s librarians from The Brooklyn Public Library, The New York Public Library and Queens Library selected Subway as a Favorite New York City Story for The New York Times Great Read! (It was also published as a board book!)
Today’s 12 Days of Christmas Book Giveaway winner is Nanci Reeser. I’ll send Nanci a signed copy of Subway.
Congratulations, Nanci!
This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Lisa Chellman.
Take the Picture Book Poetry Workshop for inservice clock hours.
12 Days of Christmas Book Giveaway
Comments (1)It’s that time of year again! Thanksgiving is this week and the day after Thanksgiving, holiday shopping begins. I’d like to help you with your list, so I’ll be giving away a book a day for an EARLY 12 days of Christmas. (The traditional 12 days of Christmas begins December 25th.)
Click here to enter your name in the drawing. Type your name and mailing address in the email. (One entry per family please.)
For 12 days I’ll travel around my blogs to give away a new hardcover book each morning. The books and the dates are below…
Friday 11/28
Subway at Picture Book of the Day
Monday 12/1
Wired at Book of the Week
Tuesday 12/2
Uncle Sam at Children’s Book Biz News
Wednesday 12/3
Loose Tooth at Easy to Read
Thursday 12/4
Skate Park Challenge at Children’s Book Biz News
Friday 12/5
Toddler Two Dos años at Picture Book of the Day
Monday 12/8
Tyrannosaurus Rex at Book of the Week
Tuesday 12/9
The U.S. Supreme Court at Children’s Book Biz News
Wednesday 12/10
Air Show at Picture Book of the Day
Thursday 12/11
Mr. Strike Out at Children’s Book Biz News
Friday 12/12
Red Light, Green Light at Picture Book of the Day
Monday 12/15
Delivery at Book of the Week
Learn how to write a children’s book.
Copyright © 2008 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.
Nonfiction Monday Round-up
Comments (3)
Welcome to the Nonfiction Monday Round-up!
Here’s what the kidlitosphere is reading this week…
1. Just One More Book! Children’s Book Podcast (The Snow Show with Chef Kelvin)
2. Laura Salas (In Defiance of Hitler)
3. 100 Scope Notes (Take Me Back)
4. JeanLittleLibrary (Two Miserable Presidents by Steve Sheinkin)
5. Lori Calabrese Writes (Building Manhattan)
6. Becky (The Trouble Begins At Eight)
7. Write for a Reader(An Apple for Harriet Tubman)
8. jone
9. Tricia (Who Lives Here? series)
10. Jen Robinson (Thanksgiving: The True Story)
11. Kid Lit Kit (Real Life Situations)
12. Anamaria/Books Together (We Spy Colors in Art)
Poetry Friday: Dig Dig Digging
Dig Dig Digging by Margaret Mayo (Author) and Alex Ayliffe (Illustrator) is a collection of short poems about machinery.
Diggers are good at dig, dig, digging,
scooping up the earth, and lifting and tipping.
Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write their own short poems. What will they write about? Use the Idea Wheel graphic organizer to brainstorm possible topics.
Word Choice Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: After students select a topic, ask them to use the Observation Chart graphic organizer to make list of words to use in their poem.
This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Brimstone Soup.
Take the Picture Book Poetry Workshop for inservice clock hours.
Max’s Bunny Business
In Max’s Bunny Business by Rosemary Wells, Max goes into business because his sister Ruby does.
Louise brought over the lemons.
Ruby got out the card table and umbrella.
Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write their own “sales” story. What do they want to buy? What can they sell to raise money? Use the Sequence Chart graphic organizer to plan the story.
Sentence Fluency Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to read their sentences aloud into a tape recorder. When they play it back do the words flow, or do they need to rewrite?
Take the Easy Reader Workshop. for inservice clock hours.
Christopher Counting
In Christopher Counting by Valeri Gorbachev, Christopher learns how to count at school…
Christopher Rabbit loved the idea of counting.
“I can count everything,” he said after school was over.
Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary: Ask students to use the Idea Wheel graphic organizer to make list of things they can count.
Organization Mini-lesson
Primary: Ask students to write their own counting book. On each page they can count something different.
Use the TAKS Writing Secrets Classroom Writing Workshop with your fourth graders.
Ducks Don’t Wear Socks
In Ducks Don’t Wear Socks by John Nedwidek (Author) and Lee White (Illustrator), Emily meets a duck who tries to make her laugh.
“Duck,” asked Emily. “What are you wearing?”
“Socks!” yelled Duck.
“Ducks don’t wear socks,” replied Emily, quite seriously.
Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write their own funny story. What jokes can they tell to make someone laugh? Use the Idea Wheel graphic organizer to think of ideas for jokes.
Conventions Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: When people talk to one another, the dialogue has quotation marks. Ask students to check their stories to make sure they added quotation marks to the dialogue.
Take the Intensive Picture Book Workshop for inservice clock hours.
Nonfiction Monday Round-up
Welcome to the Nonfiction Monday Round-up!
Here’s what the kidlitosphere is reading this week…
1. Picture Book of the Day (Farmer George Plants a Nation)
2. Kit Lit Kit (Thanksgiving)
3. Tricia (Boys of Steel)
4. A Patchwork of Books (Gone Fishing)
5. msmac
6. Scratching Log (See Inside An Aztec Town)
7. Wendie’s Wanderings (Butterflies in My Stomach and Other School Hazards)
8. Write for a Reader(The Last Black King of the Kentucky Derby)
9. Easy to Read (Make a Turkey)
Nonfiction Monday: Farmer George Plants a Nation
In Farmer George Plants a Nation by Peggy Thomas (Author) and Layne Johnson (Illustrator), we see George at work on his farm…
George Washington dug his hand into the tilled earth and let the hard, dry clay crumble through his fingers.
Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: This book is filled with quotes from George Washington’s letter and diaries. Ask students to write about what they did yesterday in their writing journal.
Conventions Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to check their punctuation. Does each sentence end with a period, a question mark or an exclamation mark?
Take the Young Nonfiction Workshop for inservice clock hours.
Steel Town
Steel Town by Jonah Winter (Author) and Terry Widener (Illustrator) covers a day in a steel town…
At dawn, the workers get out of bed.
and take the stairs down Goat Hill Path
down to their jobs at the iron and steel mills.
Organization Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write their own “beginning to end” school story. Have them begin with waking up to go to school and end with arriving home after school. Use the Sequence Chart graphic organizer to plan.
Conventions Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to check their punctuation. Does each sentence end with a period, a question mark or an exclamation mark?
This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Yat-Yee Chong.
Take the Picture Book Poetry Workshop for inservice clock hours.
