Poetry Friday: Amelia Makes a Movie

Amelia Makes a Movie by David Milgrim is a story told in rhyme…

What’s to do?
Hey, wait, I know!
Let’s make ourselves a video!

Ideas Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: The video the kids make in this book is illustrated like a comic. Students can make their own comics with ReadWriteThink’s Comic Creator.

Before they go to the web to create the comic, ask students to make a practice comic strip. What will their character do? What will he say?

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Live. Love. Explore!

Literacy Links
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Machines Go to Work

Machines Go to Work by William Low is question and answer book…

Is the backhoe digging up the flowers?

Organization Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Using this book as a model, ask students to write and illustrate two pages for a class book. (The first page has the question and the second page has the answer.) Use the Problem-Solution Chart graphic organizer to create a list of possible questions and answers.

Literacy Links
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

What Can You Do with a Paleta?

In What Can You Do with a Paleta? by Carmen Tafolla (Author) and Magaly Morales (Illustrator)…

..the paleta wagon
rings its tinkly bell
and carries a treasure of icy paletas
in every color of the sarape…

Word Choice Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write a story or a poem about their favorite summer treat to eat. Use the Describing Chart graphic organizer to create a list of words to use.

Literacy Links
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Twittering My Day Job(s)

“Keep your day job” is the advice given to writers everywhere, and it’s something I’ve done my entire life. I wrote my first picture book when I was eleven, so going to school was my day job then. After college, I taught elementary school (K, 1, 5, and 6), raised children…and kept writing. I started working as an children’s literature consultant and then I sold my first book. That led to teaching at the university, both children’s literature and writing for children, which in turn led to my online writing workshops!

For ALL of my day jobs, I collect reference materials. With the advent of the internet, it’s become a LOT easier to share that information. The internet’s latest invention, a microblogging service called Twitter, has made it easier still.

I’ve created two Twitter microblogs so I can share the information I find:

asuen1 is my Children’s Book Biz Twitter
asuen2 is my Literacy Links Twitter

If you want to write children’s books, the asuen1 Twitter will give you information about agents, editors, and changes in the book industry.

If you’re helping children learn how to read and write, the asuen2 Twitter will send you links to literacy/education websites.

BOTH asuen1 and asuen2 will link to book awards and reading lists.

Twitter is a MICROblog, so only 140 characters are allowed. The “posts” I send will be a headline and a link for you to click. (After the link I’ll add a hashtag that “classifies” the link, such as #kidlit, #writing, #literacy, and #education.)

Q. What will happen to the other blogs?

A. The Kid Lit Kit blog is going on summer vacation. My last post for the 2008-2009 school year will be on June 1.

Picture Book of the Day will resume again tomorrow and continue throughout the summer.

Book of the Week and 5 Great Books will resume posting next week.

The posts on Children’s Book Biz News will come from the asuen1 Twitter. This means that most posts will be a headline, a link, and hashtags. (I will write “long form” posts on the WordPress blog, but most of my posts will be Twitter-based. I can share a link from the web via Twitter with just a few clicks!)

Enjoy!

Inservice Clock Hours | The Butt-In-Chair Club starts June 1st!
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Nonfiction Monday: Memorial Day

This week’s Nonfiction Monday Round-up is at The Miss Rumphius Effect.

See 5 Great Books for Memorial Day for books and activities…

Twitter | Inservice Clock Hours | The Butt-In-Chair Club
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Poetry Friday: Me With You

Me With You by Kristy Dempsey (Author) and Christopher Denise (Illustrator) begins…

We’re a pair beyond compare,
a rare and special two,
in all the ways that I am me
and you’re completely you.

Word Choice Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write their own grandparents poem. Use the Describing Chart graphic organizer to create a list of words to use.

This week’s Poetry Friday Round-up is hosted by Susan Writes.

Twitter | Inservice Clock Hours | Virtual Author Visits
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Muriel’s Red Sweater

In Muriel’s Red Sweater by Dara Dokas (Author) and Bernadette Pons (Illustrator), Muriel’s sweater unravels as she goes…

across the street,
through the park,
over the bridge…

Organization Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Using this book as a model, ask students to write a travel story. Use the Time Line graphic organizer to plan the journey.

Twitter | Inservice Clock Hours | Virtual Author Visits
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Black Diamond and Blake

In Black Diamond and Blake by Deborah Bluementhal (Author) and Miles Hyman (Illustrator), we see what happens to a race horse when he stops winning…

“BOOO!” Torn tickets, like confetti, rained down from the stands. He had tried his best–didn’t they understand?

Voice Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write a story from an animal’s point of view. Will they use the “I” voice, the (first person point-of-view) when the character speaks? Or will they use the third person point-of-view), the “he or she” voice, like this story did?

Twitter | Inservice Clock Hours | Virtual Author Visits
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Quiet in the Garden

Quiet in the Garden by Aliki is a listening book.

I am so quiet I even hear the sounds around me–
chirp, squeak, crunch.

Word Choice Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Ask students to write their own “listening” story. Use the Sense Chart graphic organizer to make a list of words to use.

Twitter | Inservice Clock Hours | Virtual Author Visits
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.

Nonfiction Monday: Follow That Map!

Follow That Map! by Scot Ritchie is exactly what the subtitle says it is, A First Book of Mapping Skills. There is a different type of map on each double-page spread. To make it appeal to young readers, there is also a story…

Sally and her friends are playing in her backyard. Pedro notices that Sally’s dog, Max, and her cat, Ollie, are missing.

Organization Mini-lesson
Primary/Intermediate: Using this book as a model, ask students to create a map of their own, and label it.

This week’s Nonfiction Monday Round-up is at ACPL Mock Sibert blog.

Twitter | Inservice Clock Hours | Virtual Author Visits
Copyright © 2009 Anastasia Suen All Rights Reserved.