The Writing Process

My district dove into Common Core ELA last year with the introduction to Balanced Literacy and reading workshop.
Midway through the year, we introduced writing workshop through the fabulous training of Matt Glover.  Below you will find an image of Matt Glover and a couple books that he has written.
I have enjoyed my training and conversations with him and look forward to our district training that he is presenting this Friday.
Click on the image of Matt Glover to find more information about him and his books.

 

As you know from reading some of my most recent posts, I received training from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project from New York.

What an experience that was!

And how lucky am I to be part of it!

Click on the images below to read more about Lucy Calkins and Natalie Louis (my presenter from TCWRP).

My training was geared more towards primary and my administrators was towards upper elementary.

A big topic during this time was the writing process.

In my training, Natalie referred to the writing process as Think, Plan, Write, Revise, Edit, Publish.

My principals heard it as Collecting, Developing, Drafting, Revising, Editing, Publishing/Celebrating.

In the world of Matt Glover, he talks of three stages during a unit: Immersion, Close Study, Writing Under the Influence.

On the internet, you most often hear of the process referred to as Prewriting, Drafting, Revising, Editing, Publishing.

Are these all the same process just a spin off of each other?  I mean you can't make money using the same thing as someone else.   You have to make it your own and name and describe it differently right?

As a Teaching and Learning Coach (known as an Instructional Coach to most people)  my job is to guide and instruct my teachers.

That's difficult when you are hearing so many different stories!

What is the "right" process?

With this in mind, I am almost finished with writing a unit on Vignette-style Memoirs.

I love learning knew things, but with fresh information in my brain, it makes revising this unit more difficult.

It makes me question what I have.

Every 5th grade teacher in my district will be using these.

I want them to be the best they can be.

So where do language standards fit into the writing process?

Do they fit at all?  Part of me thinks they should be incorporated into word study time.

At this point in the game, I have them in the revising and editing section.

We are incorporating CCSS L.5.1 and L.5.3 (varied sentence structure and verb tense in particular).

Are these revision lessons or editing lessons?

At first I had sentence structure as revision because you vary them to add to them meaning of your story.  For instance, short sentences can slow down a story and long run-on type sentences create a sense of urgency or excitement.

But now I am thinking now, that it should be editing because it is about structure (simple, compound, and complex sentences).

After spending some time researching on the internet, I found that no one seems to have a good answer to this.

Revising and editing have a blurred line between them.

I have verb tense as an editing lesson.  For the most part I feel good about this decision because it would fall under usage.

But at this point, I am questioning everything!

So what do you think?

What is the writing process to you?

Where does sentence structure fit in the process?

What about verb tense?

Thanks for you thoughts about this!

Antoinette

Lots of Learning with The Teachers College

I received some amazing training this past week.
As I included in an earlier post, I am in training with Natalie Louis from the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project.

One aha moment was Inquiry Lessons.
Have you heard of this?
This was my first time hearing of them and they are complete genius!
Which is to be expected from Lucy Calkins and the Teachers College.

Here is an example of one way you could use an inquiry lesson:

Inquiry Lessons These lessons happen about three times throughout a unit; approximately every eight days.  It is not considered a mini-lesson as it will take quite a bit longer.  The purpose is to assess student progress and monitor what learning from daily lessons they have and haven’t tried. First, the teacher reviews learning from the unit by looking over anchor charts created. Next, using his/her writing notebook, the teacher models rereading entries and evaluating what learning has been tried so far. Keeping the students together whole group, the teacher will encourage them to do the same with their notebooks.  The teacher walks around coaching students. Then have the students discuss what they have tried out with their writing partners. Next, the teacher will look over the charts and reread through notebook to determine what he/she has yet to try from the unit’s learning. After that, the teacher determines a goal as to what he/she would like to try in their writing. Keeping the students together whole group, the teacher will encourage them to do the same with their notebooks.   The teacher walks around coaching students. Last, the teacher will send the students off to work on achieving their goals. This lesson should be repeated about 8 days later and include additional learning since the last inquiry lesson.

In my earlier post, I included a video from Vimeo which the Teachers College shared.  Click here to read the post and view the video.  The Teachers College has 40+ videos on this site and the handful I have viewed are wonderful.  I am looking forward to watching many more.
If you haven't checked out the Teachers College Vimeo channel, you should put it top on you list of todos.  Click the image below to go to their channel.

On a side note- I am new to the world of Twitter and am extremely excited to say that I received a Tweet (I think that's what they're called lol) from the Teachers College, thanking 4321Teach for sharing their video!  I was so excited, that I took a screen shot of the Tweet to share with everyone! :)
I know... I'm a dork! lol

I want to share another Vimeo video from the Teachers College channel.
It is an inquiry lesson done slightly differently than what I described above.  This lesson's focus was to help students transfer learning from persuasive speech to writing a persuasive letter.  Same concept of reviewing and assessing previous learning though.

Hope you enjoy it!

Have you ever taught an inquiry lesson?  What do you do to involve your students in reviewing and assessing learning throughout a unit?

I would love to hear your ideas!

Antoinette :)

It's Summer... Or is it??

Hey All-

Last Friday was my last day of school!
YEAH!!!
If it's not yours yet, I hope the last days goes by quickly for you!

So what have I been doing with my days off???
Let's see...
Monday- Revisions to 5th grade Writing- Launching Unit
This unit includes...
procedures for getting writing workshop off to a successful start.
Setting up writer's notebooks
Reading like a writer.
Building writing partnerships
Taking a piece through the writing process

Tuesday- Revisions to 5th grade Reading- Unit 2
This unit includes...
CCSS RL.5.1 and RI.5.1 Quote accurately from text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS RL.5.3 Compare and contrast two or more characters, setting, or events in a story or drama, drawing specific details in the text.
CCSS RI.5.3 Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.

Wednesday- Revisions to 5th grade Writing- Unit 2
This unit includes...
Writing feature articles
CCSS W.5.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly
CCSS W.5.5 With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach

Have you ever taught feature articles?
I would love to hear some of your great ideas!!
I found this website with amazing information.
Check it out if you are interested.
Feature Articles 3-6

So is it summer when I have worked every day so far this week?
I think not!
Maybe if the weather was nicer, my attitude would be more positive.

But...
I have tomorrow off and I am going to eat Indian food with Emily!
Exciting!!!
After that, I am going to hang out with my adorable nieces.
Love them!!!

On the positive side...
Tracy, my co-writer for the units of study, and I should be able to accomplish a ton by only meeting a couple times a week.
That's not too bad, right???
See- a little sunshine!
Wish mother nature would follow suit. lol
She seems to think Missouri is in desperate need of rain.
Rain, rain go away!!

Are you on summer break yet?
How are you enjoying your time off?

Antoinette :)

Research projects and Spring Break WOO HOO!!!

Where has the past week gone??
I have been MIA again and besides being super busy with work and preparing for Vacay, I really don't have a good excuse. lol

So one of my big projects this past week had to do with compiling resources for my teachers on research projects.
They are working on standards RI5.4, RI5.7 and RI5.9
These standards include:
*  Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to agrade 5 topic or subject area
*  Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources, demonstrating the ability to locate an answer to a question quickly or to solve a problem efficiently.
*  Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

Thus the research project...

Where a curve ball comes into play is incorporating the writing piece into this.
Our district has adopted Matt Glover's philosophy on writing workshop.
Do you know who Matt Glover is?
He is a truly inspirational presenter.
My teachers who were lucky enough to listen to him present left truly inspired to make changes to what they were currently doing.
I left completely missing teaching writing workshop.
Below is a screen shot of the book some of my K-1 teachers are reading.

To briefly sum up Matt Glover's philosphy, I have include a blurb from the Heinemann website.

Click on the image below to get more information.

In Engaging Young Writers, Matt Glover (coauthor of Already Ready) presents ways to encourage students to pick up the pen and share their remarkable thinking. With multiple entry points for writers, he helps you match your teaching to children’s individual interests and patterns of learning. Glover shows how you can:

• nudge writers into action through meaning, choice, and purpose
• invite preschool children to write through conversation and invite primary students through units of study
• spark imaginative writing through read-aloud and dramatic play
• inspire kids to write stories from personal experiences
• give students the chance to share their passions and interests through nonfiction writing.

Engaging Young Writers features teaching tested in real classrooms and the student samples to back it up. Glover takes special care to address how his ideas can be applied to the unique developmental needs of writers in preschool, kindergarten, and grade one.

Inside every child is a writer. Inside you is the desire to give children a great start. Inside Engaging Young Writers is the teaching to help you create that wonderful moment when your students decide to become the writer within.

With that philosophy in mind, as well as how strongly Matt Glover feels about providing the students with a vision of what they are writing through exposure to mentor texts, research projects just got trickier.

Matt believes that if you are asking children to write something, you need to provide them with a vision of what the final project looks like.

For instance, if I want my students to write a narrative, then I spend the first 2-3 immersing them into what good narratives look and sound like.

During this immersion, I would read them a variety of published narratives giving them exposure to what the end product would look like.

So if I am reading picture books, then my students will be writing picture books.

This is where research reports get tricky.

Matt Glover himself says that you can't find a "stack" of research reports because that is not what published authors write.

So the task is what vision can we provide our students for their end product of a research report?

One group of 5th grade teachers is doing state projects.

The students get to choose a state to research.

That sounds easy enough...

Travel Brochures

Another group of 5th grade teachers are allowing the children to have complete choice (which is another part of Matt Glover's philosophy).

They are to write about something they have questions about or a problem situation.

I am absolutely behind giving them choice.

If I was in the classroom, I would leave it open to them also.

The problem lies in the vision we provide them with...

What mentor texts do we put into our "stacks"?

At this point, we are going with writing nonfiction books which would mean exposing them into a variety of styles.

We had a difficult time coming up with a vision.

Do you all have any suggestions?

Okay... Enough with school talk. lol

I am on SPRING BREAK!!!!!!!!!

I leave Wednesday morning for Temecula, California.

Have you ever been there?

Wednesday and Thursday are mostly relaxing and enjoying the beautiful area.

We also will be helping out with my niece's wedding craziness prep some during those two days. lol

Friday and Saturday will be wedding fun!

Below is a screen shot of where Temecula is located.

Be prepared for some more exciting photos upon return! :)

The weather is suppose to be high 70's/low 80's!
I CAN'T WAIT!!!

What are your plans for spring break?

Antoinette :)

Common Core- Multimedia?? Photo Essays??

Does your district have a curriculum based on the Common Core?  Are you trying to figure out the standards all on your own?

I don't know if I have told you this, but I am currently writing the reading and writing curriculum for the 5th grade teachers in my school district.

Your first thought is probably, "Wow, that is so cool!"
And it is...
Really!!!
BUT...
It can also be quite frustrating and stressful.

Are you a 5th grade teacher??
Do you use multimedia presentations in your classroom??
If so, I would LUUUVVVE to hear from you about 
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.5.7 Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).

CCR: Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

Here is the standard vertically:

At first, we were thinking multimedia meant movies.
Movies??
With Common Core 5th grade??
Surely not...
So we decided to look up multimedia.
That helped... 

"As the name implies, multimedia is the integration of multiple forms of media. This includes text, graphics, audio, video, etc."

-techterms.com

Our reading and writing units of study are closely linked together.  In writing, the standard is narratives.

We want to do something more than just write a personal narrative or a memoir.

So after listening to Matt Glover present on writing workshop tonight he mentioned something that was completely unknown to me.

Photo Essays...  Have you heard of this?  Have you used this?

I understand what they are, I guess. Lol  

This is a definition I found from Digital Photography School website.

A photo essay is very simply a collection of images that are placed in a specific order to tell the progression of events, emotions, and concepts.

Since we are working with literature in reading, we were thinking we could make the writing fictional photo essays, but we are having a difficult time find samples.

And Matt Glover is all about the "Stacks" to create a vision for the students to write.

There is just a lot of unknown...

Have you taught this standard yet?

Have any suggestions for me?

I would love to hear what you all are doing with this.

Thank you :)
Antoinette

Common Core- Text Structure

Digging deeper into Common Core: RI5

One of my goals this school year is to REALLY learn the ELA standards; what they mean as well as how to take them to a more rigorous level.  In an earlier post, Digging Deeper into each Standard, I dove into the world of RL6.

In this post, I want to look at RI5 which deals with text structure.  I find it helpful to look at the College Career Readiness standard first because that is our ultimate end goal.

CCR: Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (a section, chapter, scene, stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

Now for the standards K-8.  Looking at the vertical piece is extremely helpful because you can see how the standards build upon each other.

Now to dive deeper...  

A great start would be a quote from Lucy Calkins' Pathways to the Common Core: Accelerating Achievement.  I am currently reading this book and it has some great information about the ELA standards.

"To analyze structure, do this: Look back over the text, and ask yourself if you could divide it into parts.  Look at the text as if you were in a plane, flying above it.  Instead of seeing fields divided by a ribbon of roads, you see paragraphs.  Think about the meanings in those paragraphs, about the different sort of work that is being done in one part of the text, another, and another.  Ask what each part does."

- Lucy Calkins

I really liked this analogy. :)

So text structure is more than identifying whether it is a compare, chronology, problem/solution, etc.  It is about how a text is shaped to help a reader better understand the information.  It is about preparing your brain to take in knew information by looking at structure (cover to cover, text features, sections, paragraphs etc.)  Authors are very strategic in how the set up their information.  There is a purpose to what is included and how it is arranged which, when carefully thought about, plays a huge role in comprehension of nonfiction texts.

Here are some resources I provided for my teachers to help them understand and teach text structure.

Teaching Text Structure

Hope this information is helpful.  I would love to hear from all of you.  How have you taught this standard?  What resources help you understand the new Common Core State Standards?

Antoinette :)

Top 5 Favorite Picture Books

Need some more picture book ideas?  Getting tired of reading the same books that everyone else is reading?  Well I had class again tonight and as I stated last week, I am going to tell you about my top 5 picture books that were shared tonight.

It is such an amazing class because we all either get paid or earn PGC (professional growth) hours for reading and learning about great books to use during reading and writing workshop.  Pretty sweet huh?

So my top 5 picture books tonight are... (drum roll)

Wild Child by Lynn Plourde

I might have shared this book before, but it is worth repeating.  It is a book about Mother Nature and seasons changing.  Wild Child is a great book for making inferences, asking and answering questions, and how illustrations enhance the meaning and beauty of a text.  Those skills are what I have used in the past, but when I was rereading it through the lens of a writing teacher, I found that it is also great for rhyming, alliteration, and creative endings to stories.  There are three other books that go along with this one.  I have not read them but can bet they are cute also.

We Are in a Book by Mo Williams

This book is absolutely hilarious.  Gerald the elephant and Piggie discover that they have an audience... the reader.  It is great fun for them at first but they begin to worry when they realize the book is drawing to an end.  This interactive book is very engaging and great for beginning readers.  There is a quite a variety to choose from.

14 Cows for America

Have you heard of this book?  WOW is the first word that comes to mind.  I literally cried while reading the endnote.  Such a touching true story about a man from Kenya who was studying in America during the 911 attacks.  His people were known warriors but his culture also taught him to be compassionate and strive to heal wounds.  So after the horrific attacks, his heart ached for the Americans and he decided to give a gift of a cow (which is precious to his people).  He returned home to ask for a blessing on this very special gift and his pain for the Americans touched the hearts of his people.  Instead of 1 sacred cow, they presented 14 and cried, with their hands across their chests, along with the Americans they presented it to as our national anthem played.  Like I said, WOW!!!!
These words below come from Amazon and are so powerful.

"A mere nine months have passed since the September 11 attacks, and hearts are raw. Tears flow freely from American and Maasai as these legendary warriors offer their gift to a grieving people half a world away."

Grandfather Twilight by Barbara Berger

This book is a beautiful story about Grandfather Twilight who takes a single pearl and takes a walk which brings on night.  As he walks, the illustrations display the oncoming night which grows larger throughout the book.  In the end, he sets the single pearl free to take its nightly place in the sky because after all, what would night be without the moon.  This book is wonderful for making inferences, asking and answering questions, and using illustrations to add to the meaning and beauty of a text.

I grouped these two together because they both share a common theme.  Two completely different settings and groups of people find beauty and love in their surroundings.  There is something beautiful and something to love in all of our lives.  Sometimes it is easily recognized and sometimes we have to look beyond the bad to see all the beauty.

Hope you enjoyed my book shares.  Have you read any of these? What are some of your favorite books?  I would love to hear about them! :)

Antoinette

Common Core- Digging Deeper into each Standard

The BIG talk in the world of education is the Common Core State Standards (CCSS).  It is such a big thing that 48 out of 50 states have adopted these standards at some level.  At least that what was said at the last training I attended.

Why have we moved to CCSS?  What do these standards really mean?
Upon reading some information from the CCSS website I found some lines that I felt really spell out why we are moving in this direction.  Here they are:

"As a natural outgrowth of meeting the charge to define college and career readiness, the Standards also lay out a vision of what it means to be a literate person in the twenty-first century."
"As specified by CCSSO and NGA, the Standards are (1) research and evidence based, (2) aligned with college and work expectations, (3) rigorous, and (4) internationally benchmarked."

The rigorous piece is what I'd like to really speak about today.  How do we take these standards and teach them to the higher level in which they were created to be taught?  That's what I am hoping to find out through this journey that I would like to take with all of you.

So how to do this??  Fabulous question... My thought is to dive deeper and really look at what each standard is truly intended to teach.  I thought about starting with the first standard, but then right now I am working with a group of teachers on RL.6 so as crazy as it might seem, I'm starting there.

Hello RL.6!!!
The best way, I think, to begin tackling this standard is to understand where it starts and where it is going.  So Let's look at it vertically.

K-  With prompting and support, name the author and illustrator of a story and define the role of each in telling the story.
1-  Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text.
2-  Acknowledge difference in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.
3-  Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.
4-  Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narratives.
5-  Describe how a narrator's or speaker's point of view influences how events are described.
6-  Explain how an author develops the point of view of the narrator or speaker in a text.
7-  Analyze how an author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters or narrators in a text.
8-  Analyze how difference in the points of view of the characters and the audience or reader (e.g., created through the use of dramatic irony) create such effects as suspense or humor.

This website gives a nice snapshot of the vertical alignment of the standards as well as a nifty (who uses that word... really? lol) highlighting feature for the difference amongst grade levels. http://rt3nc.org/objects/standards/cclitmap/ela.html

Here's a good video from YouTube which gives basic information about Perspective and Point of View:

I really liked this comment, but somehow lost the site I found it on.  Sorry site!!!  "In other words, how does where a writer or narrator is coming from (point of view) and going towards (purpose) affect what he/she writes (content and style)?"

So to me,

POV at K-2 is simply...

*  identifying that an author and/or illustrator tells a story

*  sometimes the person telling the story changes.

*  Dialogue also comes into play at this age level because that is   how we identify who is speaking.

POV at 3-5 goes into...

*  how POV of characters differ from each other as well as from the reader.

*  1st-, 2nd-, and 3rd-person are introduced identified and elaborated on as to what role this plays in how the story unfolds.

Some thoughts I have been putting out there for teachers are...

*  How would the story have unfolded if told by another character's POV?

*  How would the story have been different if told in 1st person as opposed to 3rd?

*  Based on your POV, how would you have told the story differently?

*How did understanding the past experiences of the character help you understand his/her point of view in the story?

ABSOLUTELY LOVE this quote from ReadWriteThink.
"One of life's biggest challenges is accepting that there are numerous interpretations and that there is rarely oneright way to view the world. Literature can introduce characters who have learned to accept that different viewpoints exist, demonstrating how they persevere when faced with difficulties. Books can also change readers' perspectives about what they already know and extend their knowledge through new ways of seeing familiar things."
Doesn't that wrap RL.6 up in a nutshell??

Common Core website shout out time...  These sites have been VERY helpful to me with each standard.

Delaware Comprehensive Assessment System

Read Tennessee

What are your thoughts on Point of View and RL.6?  What are some things you are doing in your classrooms to teach this standard?  I would really appreciate hearing all of your teaching ideas as well as knowledge of this standard.  I really want these posts to be educational for everyone, including myself.
THANKS :)

Although this journey has been stressful and time-consuming thus far, I REALLY feel like we, as a nation, are moving in the right direction. 
Antoinette :)

Reading and Writing Workshop- 3 Teacher Resources

Balanced Literacy is new to my district and we are learning so many wonderful things to use in our schools.  The first step in implementation was getting the structure going in our day-to-day schedules.  Teachers from the district wrote units of study based on the Common Core State Standards which are being used throughout the elementary schools.  This step, I feel, has been achieved for the most part.

Now that the structure is in place, it is time to deepen our understanding of reading and writing workshop.  So 3 teacher resources have been recommended to me and I would love to here all of your thoughts on them.

First...  Engaging Young Writers by Matt Glover.  I was lucky enough to be able to sit through a half day session with Matt Glover and it was so inspirational.  This book would be for K-1.

Have any of you read this book?  If so, what are your thoughts on it?

Second... Wondrous Words by Katy Wood Ray.  I owned this books YEARS ago and am pretty sure I read it.  Unfortunately, I don't remember it.  This would be for upper elementary teachers.

Any thoughts on this book?

Third... Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller.  Once again, I have been lucky enough to sit through several sessions with Debbie Miller.  She is an amazing person.

How about this one?

I would love to hear your thoughts on any of these books.  My principal is interested in purchasing some for the teachers in my building and has asked my thoughts.  Of course she knows I haven't read them (or can't remember the one I have lol) but I would love to have some insight before giving my opinion.

Thanks so much!  Look forward to hearing you all's thoughts. :)

Antoinette

New Year and Mentor Texts

Happy New Year Everyone! :)

Hope everyone's is off to a great start and you continue to persevere with your resolutions.  So often in life we start something with great intentions... we get busy and it slips our minds for awhile.  I've decided that it doesn't matter if I forget for a bit or mess up a time or two, I'm going to have the COURAGE (my OLW) to persevere and keep up with mine.  Hope you all do the same. 2013 is going to be an amazing year!

So I have spent a huge chuck of my 2013, since I've been back to work, looking at picture books for mentor texts.  My district is in the process of ordering quality mentor texts for the teachers to use during reading and writing workshop.  That being said, I felt that there was no better place to research quality than to request recommendations for all of you.  So PLEASE make a comment with recommendations.  I want to compile both a list for this year and a wish list for next year.  Here's to hoping they give us money then as well. lol

When you get a chance, check out some of these books.  They are new finds and have great potential.  I am one of those people who REALLY don't like recommending something unless I have actually tried it, but seeing I no longer have a classroom (wipe a tear because I do miss having kiddos) I don't have as many opportunities to do so.  I'd love it if you all tried them out and let me know. :)

Such an inspiring story and she was from Missouri.  A great theme that will teach children that nothing should stand in the way of their dreams.

Synopsis taken from Amazon

"Ella Kate Ewing was born in 1872. She started out small, but she just kept on growing. Soon she was too tall for her desk at school, too tall for her bed at home, too tall to fit anywhere. Ella Kate was a real-life giant, but she refused to hide herself away. Instead, she used her unusual height to achieve her equally large dreams.

The masterful Klise sisters deliver a touching and inspiring true story about a strong-minded girl who finally embraced her differences. It?s the perfect book for every child who has ever felt like an outsider."

LOVE this book!  Such a sweet story with a wonderful theme.

Synopsis taken from Amazon

"Children are eager to grow bigger, and JoJo is no exception. He always asks his mother the same question: “How much did I grow today?” No matter how often his mother assures him that good things come in small packages, he is desperate to be bigger. After all, he wants to run in a race to win a pair of red Rocket Racer shoes. But how can he compete against bullies who are much bigger than he is? A delightful surprise ending illustrates how true growth is not always measured in inches.

Jane Barclay’s heartwarming story explores a theme that speaks to every child. Esperança Melo’s wonderful art complements the text to create a charming book that’s bound to become a favorite."

Isn't he just ADORABLE!  This is a series and is great for teaching younger grades informational text.

From School Library Journal (taken from Amazon)

K-Gr 2-The primary-grade crowd will love this early fluent reader series that discusses the infancy and development from birth to adulthood of various water animals. Physicality at each stage, diet, and social structure are addressed; predators are not mentioned in all of the volumes. Clearly labeled photographs complement the texts; words that are defined in the glossaries appear in bold in the narratives; and the glossaries include both definitions and photographs. The vocabulary is more complex than that found in many beginning-reader series, but each volume is chock full of fascinating facts. A map highlights where each animal lives. This series is a standout.α(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Myths are huge with Common Core and this series provides easier reads for elementary.  Now I questioned the jealous wife part but it wasn't too obvious.  Definitely read it first and see what you think.

Synopsis take from Amazon

"Callisto, a beautiful young huntress, is not looking for love. But Jupiter has been watching her, and he has a plan to make her fall in love with him. When Callisto has Jupiter's son, his wife is angry. Will Callisto and her son survive the wrath of Jupiter's jealous wife?"

Hope you all enjoy my book pics!  They are all new finds (for me) in 2013.  If you have read them or check them out after reading this post, please let me know what you think.  Like I said, I prefer to know as a fact they are good mentor texts and would love to hear your input.

Also, PLEASE share some great books you have used in your classrooms!

Thanks so much!

Antoinette