Quick Links for Teaching Character Traits and Development

      Here are some great resources from Read Write Think to help supplement your planning. They all have to deal with studying characters and how they act, feel, respond, and think. Characterization is the continuum comprehension highlighted mini-lesson focus for grades 3-5 this week, but teachers in grades 1-5 can find inspiration to adapt to their needs and student abilities now and throughout the year. :)

Author's Development of a Character

What is "Character?"

General Sample Questions for Responding on Characterization

Examples of Picture Books with Well Developed Characters

Sample Character Trait Terms 

Graphic Organizer: How and Why Characters Change

Student Online Interactives:

Scholastic - Character Scrapbook

Read Write Think - Character Trading Cards

Blogs to Check Out: Author and "Readologist" Esme Raji Codell

      If you are unfamiliar with Esme Raji Codell, she is an author of books about reading for teachers, parents, and children. She is a self-proclaimed "readologist," which sounds just like a term I would playfully create to describe myself. :) Her children's titles are good chapter book reads for fourth and fifth graders, and include titles such as Vive La Paris, Sing a Song of Tuna Fish, and Diary of a Fairy Godmother. Esme's newest book, Fairly Fairy Tales, is slated to come out in January 2011.

      I have a copy of this book, How to Get Your Child to Love Reading. Although the title suggests it audience is for parents, it's absolutely a great source for teachers who are looking for some fresh inspiration for tying in literature to mini-lessons and other instructional reasons. You can come borrow it anytime! :)

      Esme keeps several blogs and posts on them all often.  Her blogs clearly represent her passion for children's books, as well as her lifelong goal to share the best literature and experiences with authors to children.

      Here is her main website:

http://www.planetesme.com/

      Planet Esme is a blog where Esme reviews new books that come out in children's literature.

http://planetesme.blogspot.com/


     The Planet Esme Bookroom blog tells about events and shows photos from her amazing, cozy reading room in Chicago.  She shares her personal collection of over 10,000 books at the book room with families and host numerous special author and holiday events. Esme uses royalties from her writing and speaking engagements to run it. She is passionate about sharing the lifestyle of being a reader with families. (I HAVE to go there one day! :)

http://www.planetesmebookroom.blogspot.com/

      
     Esme is also well known for her nonfiction account of her early years of teaching, and how she became passionate about children's literature. This blog is titled "Hit the Ground Running: The Educating Esme Blog for New Teachers." Her goal here is to keep up the encouragement and spirit of beginning teachers in particular.  

http://www.educatingesme.blogspot.com/

     As an interesting footnote, Esme wrote the forward to the second edition of The Joy of Children's Literature. This college textbook is the work of my former children's literature professor, Dr. Denise Johnson, who teaches at The College of William and Mary. Congratulations Dr. Johnson for your success and upcoming new edition! I can't wait to see it and share it with the teachers at our school!

http://thejoyofchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2010/10/joy-of-childrens-literature-second.html

Mentor Text Highlight: When Lightning Comes in a Jar by Patricia Polocco

          Third grade teachers and I recently used a Patricia Polacco text called When Lightning Comes in a Jar.  We charted information during our interactive read aloud about what traditions are, neat comparisons, and how Patricia "made the ordinary extraordinary." Here is a chart that Katie Schultz recorded with her children during our collaborative lesson.

     I have this mentor text and a large collection of many other Patricia Polacco books in my room. Please come by and I'll let you go through the Polacco collection and you can borrow what you like and ask for more teachable moments with her texts. 

 Here's a few additional sites to find inspiration with Patricia Polacco's books:

 

Reading Rockets - Patricia Polacco Video Interview

Patricia Polacco Author Study Ideas from The Reading Lady

Patricia Polacco's Official Author Website

Preview the new Patricia Polacco Video About Her Life as an Author

Quick Link to Plimoth Plantation's Site Via Scholastic Books

      Looking for more fresh ways to incorporate nonfiction reading instruction with your students? Scholastic posted a new link today to a great site that you can use for a learning opportunity about "Plimoth Plantation" while tying in nonfiction reading skills and researching. 

http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/

      The slides would be good for a compare and contrast discussion, with sections on housing, clothing, chores, food, school, and games. For upper grades, there is a WebQuest that is a structured researching opportunity. 

http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/feast/webquest.htm

     You could also use these slides to serve as a great introduction to build background knowledge before reading Thanksgiving texts. Author Kate Waters wrote a great series on fictionalized characters photographed in time period clothing and settings around the Plymouth area. There is a timeline, a diagram of a ship, and map that all have pop up text boxes that serve as great text features that support the content. There are historical fiction letters written in first person from the perspective of an English settler girl and a Wampanoag boy.

http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/letters.asp

      Kate Water's official author website link is here below. This goes straight to the pages on "writing tips" from her to kids.

http://www.katewaters.com/writing_tips.html

     If anyone is interested in borrowing any of the Kate Waters books, I have them all! :) The titles are:

• Samuel Eaton's Day
• Sarah Morton's Day
• Tapenum's Day
• On the Mayflower

     In addition, I also have a set of Kate Water's Mary Geddy's Day, about a young girl from Colonial Williamsburg. Our MW reading room has a reading group set, too! :)

  

Quick Pic: Growing Collection of Golden Threads from Mrs. Bush's Class!

      I enjoyed a little treasure when sprinting down the hallway today. On Mrs. Bush's door, she has posted a growing collection of great lines from her students and their writing. Mrs. Bush and I refer to these gems as "golden threads." Students are inspired by mentor texts and authors from class reading and writing mini-lessons.

      Now, Mrs. Bush's students are role models to each other, sharing their creativity and depth of thinking. Once it starts, the excitement spreads in the classroom reading and writing community. I'm so glad that I glanced and caught one of the numerous reminders in our fabulous school of teachers nurturing real readers and writers. :)

     If you would like a perfect fall book as a mentor text for crafting writing like Mrs. Bush's students, check out Cynthia Rylant's Scarecrow. You can extend the learning with a text to text comparison to Tim Preston's The Lonely Scarecrow.

Quick Links for Visualizing and Creating Mental Images

     Visualization is one of the highlighted topics for mini-lessons and guided reading group discussions. It is important for readers to visualize the text they read. Readers take the given information to create a moving mental picture in their imaginations based on the descriptions and details given in the story. Readers have to use what the author does state to figure out what the author does not explicitly state. This includes using clues like the character's body language and their actions and reactions to other characters and events. It is important that students become able to explain what they imagined in their own written and oral language.

     Some ways of discussing what you visualize as a reader includes:

• I imagined...
• In my mind, I saw...
• I visualized...
• I pictured... 

Here are just a few handy sites to further inspire and expand your great planning! 

     Karen McDavid's "Our Class Web" gives planning inspiration with graphic organizers, poems good to read aloud to promote the formation of strong mental images, and a list of trade books that are suggestions to support visualizing.
http://www.ourclassweb.com/sites_for_teachers_readers_workshop_visualizing.htm

     This mini-chart lists components to teach for Visualizing and Creating Mental Images. It was also created by Karen McDavid.
http://www.ourclassweb.com/center_activities/readers_workshop/rw_poster_visualizing.pdf

     Reading Lady - Visualizing Mini-Chart
Reading Lady

     Reading Lady - Visualizing using Charlotte's Web
Charlotte's Web

     Enjoy exploring, and email or post if you find some other interesting choices as well! :)

Blog To Check Out: I.N.K.

     I.N.K. stands for Interesting Nonfiction for Kids. This blog hosts regular posts from well known children's nonfiction writers, including great authors Loreen Leedy, Cheryl Harness, and Melissa Stewart. Consider bookmarking it on your blogroll to keep up to date on the most current and well reviewed nonfiction out in the reading world. The website also has a page on Facebook, so you can click the "like" button and become a fan there, too!

http://inkrethink.blogspot.com/

Mentor Text: In a Nutshell

     In a Nutshell, written by Joseph Anthony and beautifully illustrated by Chris Arbo, is a narrative story where nonfiction meets fiction. Books that are written in this style are referred to as hybrid nonfiction, and this means that the text is narrative but facts compose the bulk of the book.

     I used this book in a few ways with a group of third graders. I read the text and students noted words that they felt unsure of the meaning. Then, students "turned and talked" to briefly brainstorm the meaning using the context clues of what they did understand on the page. Next, students shared out our ideas and supported the believed meaning with other words and phrases used in the context of the page and their prior background knowledge. In the end, the students felt empowered that they figured every bit of the text out, thanks to their own development of their confidence through risk taking and practice.  

                          

      Students asked if we could draw a diagram of the life cycle of the tree in order to summarize the text's events. (We had been discussing nonfiction text features, as well as how to summarize only the most important facts presented in the book.) I love when students eagerly suggest an extension to keep the learning going for themselves! :)

     

Nonfiction Author Study with Seymour Simon

      Another author that would be great for a nonfiction expository study is with books from Seymour Simon. Studying books by Simon would be more geared for grades 4-5. 

This link takes you to his main homepage.
http://www.seymoursimon.com/index.php

This takes you to Simon's blog where he posts about science related topics on a regular basis.
http://www.seymoursimon.com/index.php/blog/

If you go here and register for free, there are numerous extras for educators to inspire planning with his nonfiction books. 
http://www.seymoursimon.com/index.php/for_educators/benefits_of_a_free_educators_account/

This science dictionary lists vocabulary words and their definitions from his Science Dictionary book.
http://www.seymoursimon.com/index.php/science_dictionary/ 

This is an unusual component to an author's website. This link is the place students can email a question to Simon.
http://www.seymoursimon.com/index.php/about_seymour_simon/ask_seymour_simon/

Nonfiction Author Study: Gail Gibbons

      Teachers, I'm sure that you are familiar with author Gail Gibbons. She has written and illustrated dozens of picture books on true single topics, such as hurricanes, vegetables, bats, and pumpkins.

     This is the link to her official website's main page:
http://www.gailgibbons.com/

     Here is one of the Teacher's Guides that's available on her website as a download that you can just open or you can save it. (You can open the cover separately, which is in color, but this is the part with ideas in it.)
http://www.gailgibbons.com/pdf/teachers_guide_interior.pdf

     This second Teacher Guide, called "Explore the World of Science with Gail Gibbons," is newer:
http://www.gailgibbons.com/pdf/explore_1008.pdf

     Sharing books from Gail Gibbons is a way to read text and practice summarizing the most important ideas in your own words. Have some fun exploring her newest books in the Media Center! Mrs. Wilson and Mrs. Pauley will be happy to show her some of her selections in their library collection. :)

Quick Link Tip: Online Articles for Kids for Science and Social Studies Topics

      Here are some links to well respected sites for student magazines. You can tie in independent content area reading online as an additional way to practice the application of expository reading skills. :)

National Geographic for Kids - Online Nonfiction Stories

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/stories/


Scholastic News
Scholastic News Link

Time for Kids - Be sure to select your respective grade range. You can explore here on the kid site or click to see the teacher site. 

http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/kids 

Highlights for Kids - Science
http://www.highlightskids.com/Science/h11FreeScienceTop.asp

Fantastic Local Resource: The Williamsburg Regional Library

      As everyone knows, we are incredibly fortunate to have a fabulous resource just a couple of blocks down the road from school. It's the Williamsburg Regional Library! In our busy everyday lives, I just wanted to remind everyone the resources that the library has for children. Here is their website for kids:
http://www.wrl.org/books-and-reading/youth

Battle of the Books 

      Here is the link to the book lists for the reading competition that 4th and 5th graders  can participate in. Mrs. Wilson, Ms. Jones, and I begin working with students in January after school! The library has the collection in a special spot. Ask the desk librarian for help to find it. (Books are available at MW's Media Center as well.)
http://www.wrl.org/books-and-reading/youth/battle-books

Tumblebooks Subscription

      Go through the main kid page for WRL to click on the link  for Tumblebooks. The library has a subscription to this website that shows real books in an interactive online format. There is an audio option as well.
     For those of you who saw the link for the interactive nonfiction books on dolphins and seahorses at the nonfiction staff development, this is the link to go through once you get to the Tumblebooks main site.

http://www.wrl.org/books-and-reading/youth/tumblebooklibrary

Pied Piper Picks - WRL's Blog on Picture Books

http://pppics.wordpress.com/

     Be sure to check the website for other neat opportunities to experience adventures in reading, including future visiting authors, "Lit Kits" and "Park Packs," winners of The Beacon of Freedom Award, and more!

Quick Link Tip: Mapping Elements of a Story from Read Write Think

      If you are working on story mapping, here is an additional way to teach the concept while integrating technology. These are student online interactive organizers to map elements of a story from ReadWriteThink, co-sponsored by IRA/NCTE. After teaching and reviewing the traditional structure of story mapping, upper grade teachers could use this to expand and focus on aspects of a story to further develop on their foundational understanding.  It would be great to show on the projection screen to illustrate different ways of thinking about mapping in relation to reading and applying to writing independently. There are options to map the setting of the story, a character, the conflict of the story, and the resolution.

                   ReadWriteThink's Student Interactive on Mapping Elements of a Story

Website for Inspiration: Writing Fix's 2010-11 Writing Mentor Texts of the Year

      This year, WritingFix's writing mentor texts of the year are based on the theme of writer's notebooks.  Marissa Moss, of the well known Amelia series, shows a kid rendition of notebooks in a trade book format. There are currently over 15 books in the Amelia series. She also did a spin-off with a boy as the main character named Max. In addition to her realistic and humorous Amelia and Max books, she has written a few historical fiction journals such as the colonial Emma's Journal, as well as others occurring in pioneer times, during the Great Depression, as an immigrant to America, and even Ancient Rome. 

Writing Fix - from the Northern Nevada Writing Project:
Writing Mentor Texts of the Year Main Page


In addition to compliment this year's feature:

Here is Marissa Moss's website link, which is very kid friendly:
http://www.marissamoss.com/

Marissa's blog about writing is located at this site:
 http://www.marissamoss.com/comic.php

Some inspiration for planning with Marissa's books are available on this page of her website:
http://www.marissamoss.com/teacherinfo.php

Other trade books that compliment this format are Three Days on a River in a Red Canoe by Vera B. Williams and Dilly's Summer Diary by Cynthia C. Lewis.

Quick Link Tip: WritingFix's Writing Prompt Generator

      WritingFix, from the Northern Nevada Writing Project, is a fantastic site with a wealth of information on blending best practices with practical planning inspiration. This link takes you directly to its "Random Writing Prompt Generator." Just click on the button until you find a prompt you like for a quick write activity when you need a source for a new writing idea or two. :) 

WritingFix's Random Writing Prompt Generator
http://writingfix.com/classroom_tools/dailypromptgenerator.htm

Quick Link Tip: Online Interactive Word Study Activities from ReadWriteThink

     Here's a quick link tip for K-2 teachers. These interactive word study sites are from ReadWriteThink, a practical site co-sponsored by the International Reading Association and the National Council of the Teachers of English.  They're something different to add to a classroom station for a word study activity, and you can add them as a link for your Edline page.

Short Vowel Word Families Sorts:

ReadWriteThink: Short Vowel Word Families Sorts

"Construct a Word"- Combining beginning letters/blends with common endings:

ReadWriteThink: "Construct-A-Word"

Fifth and Third Grade Writer's Sparks Notebooks Launched!

      It's been a busy start to writing this year! Currently, I am coming in to all of the third and fifth grade classrooms as part of my literacy coaching. Third graders have analyzed mentor texts in order to start the process of the collection of interesting vocabulary, rich language, ways the author "showed, not told," and writing idea inspirations. Fifth graders have heard and discussed excepts from Spilling Ink as our current mentor text, with Ralph Fletcher's work as a mentor in future lessons.

      

      By the end of the week, all third and fifth graders will have received their own writing sparks ideas notebook! A huge thank-you goes out to Michelle Ybarra for constructing the third grade's set of notebooks. She did a wonderful job of helping! During some of the coaching lessons, there will now be times where students collect language or generate ideas. Teachers will incorporate opportunities to use of the notebooks as well. Sections include: 

• Sparks from Reading and Writing
• Real Life and Observation Sparks
• Imagination and Fantasy Sparks
• Descriptive Words and Phrases - Words to Add Spice to My Writing
• "In Other Words" - Fresh Ways of Saying the Same Old Thing
• Character Names and Character Traits That Interest Me
• Settings I Could Use - Time Frames and Places

        We want the students to feel empowered to use elaboration, word variation, construct strong leads and satisfying endings. These experiences enrich their writing that they create during writing workshop. Of course, students need to be able to respond to a provided prompt for Benchmark and SOL writing pieces. All students will have ample opportunities to practice prompt responding both with their classroom teacher's instruction, as well as with my instruction. We will continue to develop proper paragraph structure through practice with both myself and the classroom teachers by going through the POWERS writing process. 

       I would like to thank all of the teachers for their openness to a different perspective as I come to classes. Matthew Whaley's classroom teachers are wonderful to collaborate and coach with!

 

Launching First Grade Writers with Library Mouse

       First graders in Millie Pegram's class recently kicked off the year as writers with a read aloud from Library Mouse written by Daniel Kirk. After the read aloud, we discussed the main character's prime traits. Students were given a small piece of paper to write things that they wanted to note about Sam the mouse.  (See the photo below.)  Afterwards, students did a "think-pair-share" to foster learning how to talk about their reading ideas with peers. They used their written ideas and memory when they chatted. Next, students volunteered several things that they talked about. On chart paper, we chose to note that he was:

• adventurous: Sam pretended and imagined adventures.
• creative: Sam used his imagination to write several different kinds of books.
• unique: He was a mouse that wrote! That is different!

      

      With each thought, the trait was written on a large sticky note. Under this flap, the support from the text for their observation was written. This tied in "SUPPORT" from our Patriot Power words featured during that week. Students loved the idea of possibly finding a book from Sam the mouse tucked in their classroom library! That added to their desire to make their own little special books. The students were shown by Sam that the children were authors as well when they came to meet the mysterious author on the "meet the author" day. When they looked in a tissue box, there was a mirror, reflecting the face of an author!

                     

        The next day, Mrs. Pegram's students came in to find a bundle of little books for each one of them next to their own "Meet the Author" box like Sam's creation.  After they meticulously made their own unique books, students read them to each other and they are housed in a basket in the classroom library to enjoy. The students continue to make things and add to the basket, as they are all authors! They took their note jotting, book talking, and little book writing seriously. It was a joy to witness!

     

      Another way to use this series of books is to highlight the phrases used for the transition of time and sequencing. This poster was from my summer school class. (The "rental" of this author tissue box was courtesy of Ms. Mozgala. :)

                                                      

       

       Children will also enjoy Daniel Kirk's other Library Mouse books: Library Mouse: A Friend's Tale and his recently released Library Mouse: A World to Explore.  I also enjoy showing the websites of authors that are kid friendly up on the screen to add to the excitement. Here's Daniel Kirk's official site:

Author Daniel Kirk's website - Library Mouse series 

More Mo Please! Fun at the Williamsburg Regional Library with Mo Willems

     On Wednesday night, I enjoyed the presentation at the Williamsburg Regional Library by author and illustrator Mo Willems. I'm glad I took the time to go during a busy week!  He was silly and very animated when he read aloud, and the kids just loved that!

    
      To start the evening out, Mo read his newest Elephant and Piggie book, We Are In a Book. I love the playful interaction of the characters and the reader that is cultivated in the text. Mo read with a lot of spunk and displayed plenty of playful dramatic flair. I think it would have been even neater to have the text under a document camera or shown in a digital format on the screen to enlarge the pages for an audience, as I sometimes do during class read alouds. Nevertheless, Mo made that small easy reader come to life! Mo said that because his "easy readers" like the Elephant and Piggie books are limited to the use of about 40 words per book, they ought to be called "hard writers."  

     A child asked a popular author question, "Which book is your favorite book?" Mo poignantly replied, "Books are like your children. You can't have a favorite. I always say my next book is my favorite book." Mo also shared his third and final Knuffle Bunny book aloud, Knuffle Bunny Free, which had a wonderfully sweet ending in honor of his daughter. A young child asked if the Knuffle Bunny books were true. Mo teased and eluded to the true inspiration from his daughter and how parts are imagined. He said, "A story is true if it is emotionally true to you." There's no doubt the Trixie in the books is emotionally true to Mo once you read Knuffle Bunny Free.

      Mo gave some good advice to the children in the audience. One mom raised her hand and said that her son was too shy to ask him about what to do about "writer's block." She referred to her son as an aspiring author, but Mo said that he was not aspiring. A child is only "aspiring" if he or she is just sitting there, daydreaming or staring at the paper, and  not actually writing anything. Mo said he IS a writer, because he writes, and therefore an author. It reinforced what I try to always communicate to to classes that I give writing coaching lessons in. One humorous notion Mo talked about was how fun writing is when you get to choose what to write in school. He said that writing was the only class where you are encouraged "to lie," or to be imaginative, when writing fiction. With enthusiasm, Mo said, "The more you lie, the better your work is!" The audience enjoyed a good laugh at that point of view.    

      I mentioned Mo's author advice to my 3rd and 5th grade writing classes this week. There was a great representation of MW students and siblings from all grade levels. I also saw Mrs. Clement, Mrs. Pegram, and Mrs. Wilson in attendance. Our fabulous media specialist, Maud Ann Wilson, clearly got the students excited about his visit! I was particularly thrilled to see one of our 5th grade students with a notebook, feverishly writing his advice down. She found me after the presentation and tackled me with a hug, so proud that she was chosen to ask a question and that she had ideas captured in her writing inspiration notebook. That's the culture and love of learning that we ALL nurture together at our school!

Free Books Posted for Online Reading from We Give Books

     Hi book lovers! Here's a neat link that you could consider including on your Edline page or bookmark in your class for students to use on the computers. It's a source for free access to a selection on books in an electronic online version from We Give Books. This organization is a Pearson Learning Initiative, and it is also working in collaboration with Read for the Record. 

     You will find some modern fiction classics such as Jan Brett's The Mitten, as well as books from Rosemary Wells and favorite picture book characters Skippyjon Jones, Miss Rumphius, Llama Llama, and Ladybug Girl. There's also a selection of nonfiction with of fantastic photos from DK (Dorling Kindersley) Publishing Company. We Give Books has a mission to get literature to children for free, whether in a digital online format or by donating books to children in need across the country. Once you read a book online, the foundation donates a real book to a child through one of the numerous initiatives it is associated with around the world. Wow! It's a win-win situation! :) 

Online Texts from We Give Books

Mo Willems Visits on October 6th in Williamsburg!

     How exciting! Author and illustrator Mo Willems is on his way to visit Williamsburg Regional Library on Wednesday evening starting at 7 pm. A ticket is required to attend, which is free from the children's services desk at the library. I already know of several of you who are going! Let's represent MW's love of reading!

     Mo has a third and final installment to the Knuffle Bunny series which was just released called Knuffle Bunny Free: An Unexpected Diversion. His humorous illustrations are simple and appealing to the primary grades. Other popular series from Mo include his stories about Pigeon, the easy reader series of Elephant and Piggie, and Cat the Cat.

     Here are Mo's numerous collection of links (he is a tech savvy writer!)
Mo Willems main website

     Here is the link to Mo's official character websites, which are very kid friendly:
Cat the Cat
Pigeon
 
     Mo Willem's blog:
Mo Willems Doodles

     These two links are two short audio podcasts made available on Mo's site. In them, he discusses his background inspiration for Knuffle Bunny Free. I think it's really neat to hear an author's thinking about a book and helps me have some background information as a teacher when reading aloud.

Audio Podcast for Mo Willem's Inspiration for Knuffle Bunny Free

Audio Podcast of Mo and his real daughter Trixie talking about Knuffle Bunny Free

     There is a large variety of technology related ways to tie in Mo Willems in an author study in your class. Hope to see you there! :)

IRA's Children's Choices for 2010 Released

     Are you looking for a new trade book for a read aloud or mini-lesson? The October 2010 Children's Choices Awards have been announced from the International Reading Association. Click on the link below to go directly to the PDF file from IRA's website. I love discovering a fresh new book!

Children's Choices for 2010 from the International Reading Association

(Logo created by author and artist Tomie dePaola for IRA)

Book Recommendation: Spilling Ink! By Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter

     Hi everyone! Here is a book recommendation for you called Spilling Ink written by Anne Mazer and Ellen Potter and illustrated with sketches from Matt Phalen. It is in a chapter book format, and both authors took turns writing about writing! It's written mostly for students at a 4th-5th grade level. I think 3rd and 2nd grade teachers could find some planning inspiration for writing lessons as well.

     I am using Spilling Ink as one of our mentor texts with 5th grader classes during writing coaching. We "spilled the ink" this week as we began to explore our writing territories. The 3rd grade team has also been using the book as a source of inspiration to help start their writing communities in their classrooms. There are some good writing sparks on the website for both teachers and older students. If you need some encouragement to "spill the ink," give this site a peek!

http://www.spillinginkthebook.com/ 

Read for the Record Day - October 7, 2010

      There is a national day of reading coming up on October 7th that you may have heard of or saw mentioned on the Weekender. Although no schools are officially participating in the division, you are certainly welcome to choose to celebrate "Read for the Record" day with your students. Here is the link for the site:

Read for the Record

     Reading aloud is such a natural occurrence in your classrooms, so it's nothing out of the ordinary for us. :) For the younger grades, the official book that is being read nationally is The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats. Of course, you can really choose what you would like to read and simply say that it's a "reading holiday." :) 

     On Facebook, the "Read for the Record" site has photos of places Peter has "visited," like a Flat Stanley. This photo is the one I posted on the Facebook site. How many people have a palace next door to their school? :)
    
     A neat technology integrated feature is that you can read The Snowy Day online through this link found on the website. You can "turn" the pages by clicking, and enlarge the page as well. It would be great for the screen with the overhead projector/laptop setup in your room. Enjoy and have fun!

Read The Snowy Day online book

Bookmark This! Portaportal.com Reading and Language Arts Links

     I know many of you have heard that I have a portaportal.com site. This is a place where I have hundreds of reading and writing related website links all saved to one page. You can access it on any computer with the Internet. How handy is that? :) Just type in the guest name: mwreading.  I hope you find some inspiration! I put links on it on a regular basis, so check back periodically for even more sparks and ideas! 

Welcome to Matthew Whaley's Coaching Corner!

     Hello everyone! This blog will be a spot where we can share links to fresh reading and writing websites, photos from collaborative lessons in our classrooms, ideas from real authors, book suggestions for lessons and more. Stay tuned!