“Giving Writing a Try” by Andrea Young, Author of Finny and the Boy from Horse Mountain

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“Giving Writing a Try”

A teacher once told me I should give writing a try.

Fast-forward 20 years. I was giving a horseback-riding lesson when I overheard someone say that there are not enough good horse books out there for kids these days.

Having always remembered what that teacher said and after teaching kids to ride for almost 30 years, I figured who better than me to give it a try?

Luckily (because it made it easy), I had absolutely no expectations about writing a book when I sat down at my computer and went for it.

What I found out was that I truly loved to write. I would get so lost in the story I’d not realize hours had passed. Many times I only stopped typing because my arms grew too sore. Painful limbs aside, I had found a new passion.

Finny, the heroine in Finny and the Boy from Horse Mountain, finally got the horse she so desperately wanted. The description in the book of the still standing, but near dead, skeleton of a horse was exactly what I found when I was given a free horse at fifteen years old.

I was dropped off at an abandoned ranch to pick up my new horse. The plan was for me to ride it back home. After seeing her, and the state she was in, that certainty wasn’t going to happen. Fearing she wouldn’t survive, but having no other choice. We slowly began the eleven-mile walk home and the journey that would change my life.

That event was a defining moment for me. Not only did the horse survive, she thrived and turned out to be an amazing animal any kid would be blessed to have.

I hoped I could portray in my story how an event like that can bring so much happiness and change a life for the better.

There were two elements in my book that I wanted to stay true to. First, that all the equine information was accurate. I wanted anyone who read the book to also learn from it. That was very important to me because I teach horsemanship and safety around horses. I have read numerous horse books where the information is actually incorrect or misleading.

Second, I wanted to show that the good guys don’t always win just because they’re good and the bad guys didn’t always lose because they’re bad. I wanted to do that because that is how the world works. Another lessons kids should learn.

Finny gets a horse named Sky. Her dream is that someday he’ll become a champion jumping horse. As their story progresses, she has to modify her plans since Sky is proving to be so difficult. I didn’t want this to be a crushing end to a dream, just the beginning of a new one. I wanted my readers, like I do my students, to learn the journey is the joy, not the ribbons from the show arena.

Joe, the male hero in the story, is already years ahead of Finny when it comes to being set as the person he is. His background has been tough, but the sense of self he has gotten from working with horses is enough to get him through the bad times. Finny sees this in him, and admires him for it.

Ultimately, my characters absorb their life lessons from their experiences with horses and each other. All the bad thrown their way, they handle due to the strengths they’ve gained. I hope my real life students can achieve that, too.

 

Finny cover copy

Finny and the Boy from Horse Mountain

About the Book: Against the backdrop of the high-stakes and intensely competitive equestrian sport of show jumping, Finny, a fifteen-year-old girl in California, adopts an emaciated, untrained horse without her parents’ knowledge. Soon after adopting Sky, Finny meets Joe, a sixteen-year-old, who has run away from his cruel uncle in Montana. His love for horses and desire to be a trainer matches Finny’s dream of competing in the show jumping arena—against rich girls on fancier horses—and together, they train Sky to become a first-rate show jumper.

But the path is fraught with danger. Sky is not like other horses and is so destructive and difficult he gets them kicked out of the barn where Finny has been working and training. Helped by a kind woman who owns a horse rescue, Joe is able to prove both his and Sky’s incredible talents. When Joe is kidnapped by his violent uncle, Finny and Sky are the only ones who can save him. In a breathtaking finale, Sky and Finny must enter the underworld of the rodeo circuit, an after-hours, illegal race, where they will risk their lives to save the boy they love. Young demonstrates a masterful ability to set a breakneck pace and keep it up until the end of the novel. Finny and Joe are enduring characters who are sure to appear in upcoming sequels.

About the Author: Andrea Young is a highly respected riding instructor at Elvenstar in Malibu, one of Southern California’s top hunter-jumper barns. Her innovative work has been featured in Practical Horseman, Hunter/Jumper magazine,Show Circuit Magazine, Chronicle of the Horse, and others. She is currently writing a trilogy featuring Finny and Joe, the boy from Horse Mountain. She lives in Simi Valley, California.

Thank you to Andrea for this honest post. We hope it will inspire readers and writers!

Thank you to Cheryl from Sky Pony Press for connecting us with Andrea!

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Blog Tour, Giveaway, and Review!: The Typewriter by Bill Thomson

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The Typewriter
Author & Illustrator: Bill Thomson
Published March 8th, 2016 by Two Lions

Goodreads Summary: Using just nine words, the award-winning creator of Chalk takes readers on another unforgettable journey. When three children discover a typewriter on a carousel, they are transported on an adventure of their own creation—complete with a giant beach ball and a threatening crab. Stunning, richly colored artwork is paired with limited text so children can tell their own version of the story.

About the Author: Bill Thomson is the creator of Chalk and Fossil and the illustrator of Baseball Hour, Karate Hour, Soccer Hour, and Building with Dad, all written by Carol Nevius. Thomson’s books have received many accolades: the National Parenting Publications Gold Award, designation as a Notable Children’s Book by the American Library Association, a Teacher’s Choice selection from the International Reading Association, a Booklist Editor’s Choice, the Connecticut Book Award for Children’s Illustrator, Kentucky’s Bluegrass Award, Ohio’s Buckeye Children’s Book Award, and the Prix Livrentête in Paris, France. Thomson’s artwork has also received more than 75 awards in the country’s most prestigious juried illustration competitions.

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Thomson lives with his family in Southington, Connecticut and is also a professor of illustration at the University of Hartford. To see more of his artwork, visit: www.billthomson.com.

Kellee’s Review: I often hear that it is best to show not tell in writing, and this is taken to another level with this wordless picture book. I’m always blown away by excellent wordless picture books because there are illustrators that can take you on such an amazing journey without telling you anything. Although Bill Thomson does use nine words in The Typewriter, it is his illustrations that transport you into the story. He is an incredibly talented illustrator. Just like with Chalk, I am in awe of how realistic his illustrations are!

Ricki’s Review: This book is very innovative in the way it shares story. Readers will zoom into and out of the scenes on each page and will be pulled right into the book. My son has read this book several times, and I love how he carefully and slowly examines all of the illustrations on the pages. When he gets a bit older, I plan to ask him to tell his own story that connects the illustrations. We can change the story just a bit each night. Thomson creates the story to be interpretive for readers, and I can’t wait to hear what my son comes up with! This would be a great story for the classroom. The magic of this book will not be lost on readers.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: The Typewriter is a wonderful jumping off point for a creative writing unit. There are two different directions that it can be taken. First, as with all wordless picture books, you can have students narrate The Typewriter. I also would love to see what students would do if they had the magic typewriter. The Typewriter could be used as a prompt for students to write their own story as a sequel when they find the magic typewriter on the carousel.

Other classroom activities can be found in the free curriculum guide.

Discussion Questions: Without using words, how does the author show how the characters feel during the story?; What do you think the backstory of the typewriter is? How did it get there? Where did it come from?; What is the turning point in the story?; What caused the kids to put the typewriter back?

We Flagged: 

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Illustration from THE TYPEWRITER copyright © 2016 by Bill Thomson Published by Two Lions

Read This If You Loved: Chalk by Bill Thomson, Journey by Aaron Becker, Float by Daniel Miyares, Mr. Wuffles by David Wiesner

Recommended For: 

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Follow All the Stops on the Tour: 

Fri, Mar 4
Teach Mentor Texts
Mon, Mar 7
The Book Monsters
Tues, Mar 8
Kid Lit Frenzy
Wed, Mar 9
5 Minutes for Books
Thur, Mar 10
Cracking the Cover
Fri, Mar 11
Unleashing Readers
Mon, Mar 14
Sharpread
Tues, Mar 15
Jean Little Library
Wed, Mar 16
NC Teacher Stuff
Thur, Mar 17
A Rup Life
Fri, Mar 18
A Foodie Bibliophile in Wanderlust
Tues, Mar 22
Library Fanatic

And Don’t Forget to Enter the Giveaway!

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**Thank you to Barbara for sending us this book and for allowing us to host the giveaway!**

Precepts: Analyzing and Reflecting Within the Middle School Classroom

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In Wonder by R.J. Palacio, Mr. Browne assigns his students a precept monthly that they will discuss and write an essay about. He defines precepts as “rules about really important things.” Mr. Browne truly inspired me. He is one of those teachers in books that you read and wish you could work with them. Ever since I’d finished Wonder, I’ve wanted to do a precept activity in my class, so this year, I jumped in and do a (mostly) weekly precept.

On most Fridays, students enter my classroom to a precept projected on the board. They read the precept and immediately begin writing. What is the theme of the precept? Why did the author say/write it? What does the precept mean to your life? Does it make you want to change anything? I let them write for about ten minutes and then we begin discussing.

I love many different things about tackling precepts with my students.

First, it gives them time to think about life. Too often during the school day the curriculum is just that: curriculum. Students don’t often get to reflect and think about their own life.

Second, it hits on reading and writing! Students are thinking about theme, author’s point of view, author’s perspective, inferences, and more then are writing a reflection sharing these using evidence and specific examples.

Third, we have some amazing discussions after they read, reflect, and write. Anyone who is worried about the future hasn’t had a really good conversation with a 12-year-old.

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Although I have used Mr. Browne’s precepts as an inspiration, I’ve gone a bit rogue from the 365 Days of Wonder book and even include picture books as part of our precept activity. I’ve tried to tie the precepts to our units and also to what is going on in the world like a quote from a 9/11 widow. Here are the precepts we did during the first semester with some students responses.

Picture Books

Each Kindness by Jacqueline Wilson
“Each kindness makes the whole world a little bit better.”

Students made vows of kindness that are posted around the precept.

The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds
“Just make a mark and see where it takes you.” 

Student response: I feel like this book means a lot. First it means that you might think that your not good enough and that doesn’t mean that your bad it just means you need practice and practice makes perfect. Then I feel like when someone inspires you and gives you kindness you should pass it on. Lastly I feel like if you start little and then you practice and become big don’t forget how you started who inspired you and cut the kindness, you should be big and kind to the little ones or the ones who are just starting because you never know when you can be the cause of something big. I think that this book can help a lot of people even though it was a picture book and that’s why you shouldn’t judge a book by how big it is or its cover because a little amount of words can change someone’s life.

Red: A Crayon’s Story by Michael Hall
“He was blue. And everyone was talking…He’s really reaching for the sky. And he really was!”

Student response: “Don’t  tell someone to be something they’re not. Let them discover who they are on their own.”

Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña
“He wondered how his nana always found beautiful where he never even though to look. He looked all around them again at the…broken streetlamps still lit up…”

Student response: Even if you are broken you can still shine brighter than others.

Poetry

I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” (260) by Emily Dickinson

Student response: I think the theme of the poem is that being a person that tries to be in the pinnacle of attention is not how you will achieve happiness. To me this poem means that being yourself is the easiest source of happiness of life.

Precepts

“When given the choice between being right or being kind, choose kind.” 
-Dr. Wayne Dyer, but found in Wonder by R.J. Palacio

Student response: We as people face choices everyday. Sometimes there easy, sometimes we don’t even realize we’re making one! This precept can be taken many different ways and all are correct. To me, this precept means love over opinion.

We Need Diverse Books

Student response: We need diverse books because when you read read the book and see all these races you think to yourself that its true,you look around you and you see the truth about the world. This is important because we need to be aware that all the people are different but they are all equal.

“If we learn nothing else form this tragedy, we learn that life is short and there is no time for hate.” 
Sandy Dahl, wife of Flight 93 pilot, Jason Dahl

Student response: This precept means that life is shorter than you think and if you live your life hated someone, you will live your life with hate. Most of the time, when you hate, you are angry, that is why you will live your life filled with hatred for another person. I think the author meant that she has partially forgiven the terrorists because she does not want to love her life with hatred. Mrs. Dahl doesn’t want you to live a terrible life just because of some people. You want to live your life to the fullest. This precept means to me that you should not live a short life filled with hate, but a short life living joyfully, which will seem longer than it is. This precept makes me think of many things: the people that have done wrong to me, the terrorists, and 9/11.

“Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me.” 
Judy Blume

Student response: I think that this precept means that when you are given the freedom to choose which books you like it is really good because you can maybe relate to the book or learn from it. If you are deprived from books that you really enjoy, you might not even want to read at all because you want to read a certain type of book so much that any other book might not be fun to read. This is kind of like a movie you would want to watch. If you want to watch a movie for the right reasons, such as wanting to learn things or if it seems interesting, and you parents say you cannot watch it, other movies may not be that enjoyable because you are so set on watching a certain movie. You can also learn to be street smart smart from a book ahead of time so if you are in a situation, you have an idea of what to do. I think the author is happy that she was allowed to choose any book that she wanted because she might have learned something from books or maybe she gets very emotionally attached to certain books and she enjoys them very much. Maybe some people just read to go into a different world in their head because their family might be fighting or something. So, all in all the freedom of choosing whatever book you want to read is very important.

“Don’t strive for love, be it.”
Hugh Prather

Student response: I think the precept means that you should be the person to love not wait for someone to love you. Because if you wait you might never have love. And if you love you might get someone to love you back for who you are. Never be in the corner or in your room, always be out there to explore life and what it has to offer. Never give up who you like or what good qualities they have. Always stay true to yourself.

Precepts have given me a way to talk to my students about some tough subjects and get to know them better. Thank you R.J. Palacio and Mr. Browne for the inspiration!

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Check out R.J. Palacios Nerdy Book Club post about Mr. Browne’s first precept
and her Tumblr post for a list of the Mr. Browne’s monthly precepts

 

I Want to Be…. by Ruby Brown

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i want to be a lion tamer i want to be an astronaught

I Want to Be a Lion Tamer…
I Want to Be an Astronaut…
Author: Ruby Brown
Illustrator: Alisa Coburn
Published 2015 by Kane Miller Publishing

Summary: What do I want to be when I grow up? When I grow up, I can be anything I want to be! A vet? A dog walker? A lion tamer? A spy? An astronaut? A deep-sea diver?

Kellee’s Review: The thing I loved the most about these books was the lesson that readers will take away: You can be anything you want when you grown up! From a young age we really need to be teaching kids to have dreams and do what they can to reach them, and part of having a dream is knowing what a job entails. These books are a very nice introduction to a bunch of different jobs and would be a great jumping off point to talk to kids of a very young age about what they want to be when they grow up and what that job is like. I also liked the illustrations so much! Coburn’s illustrations are so colorful and lively–they take Brown’s words of a kid’s imagination and brings them to life. 

Ricki’s Review: I’ve read these books dozens of times with my two-year-old son. He may be a bit young to understand the concepts of the books, but he loves the pictures! I am happy to have them because I know I will be able to use them in the future to teach him that he can be anything he wants to be. I could see these books being great to use during job fairs and job talks. I’d even use these with high schoolers to get them in the mindset that they can be anything they want to be. I particularly enjoyed the diversity of jobs featured in the books. These are a great resource for teachers.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: The I Want to Be books can be used as a read aloud to begin a discussion of different types of careers and what students want to be when they grow up. You can use this time to talk about goals, how to reach them, and maybe even do a small research project where students find what the job they are interested in includes. Students can then use this information to write a 3 sentence poem following Ruby Brown’s style explaining their dream job.

Discussion Questions: What do you want to be when you grow up? What are the pros and cons of different jobs? How might you group jobs into categories?

We Flagged: “When I grow up, I want to be…

A marine biologist.
I’ll work at an aquarium with lots of fish.
I’ll study animals and plant life from the sea.
And I’ll even discover a new type of sea creature.

An archaeologist.
I’ll excavate ancient tombs and old cities.
I’ll discover artifacts that are very old.
And I’ll study them and unlock secrets from the past.”

Read This If You Loved: Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood, The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spire
(Both of these books are ladders up from the I Want to Be… books.); When I Grow Up by Mercer Mayer, The Berenstain Bears: Jobs Around Town by Stan and Jan Berenstain with Mike Berenstain

Recommended For: 

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**Thank you to Lynn at Kane Miller Books for providing copies for review!**

Text Sets for Teachers: Good vs. Evil: Exploring Morality Through the Holocaust

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Good vs. Evil: Exploring Morality Through the Holocaust
Text Set for Night by Elie Wiesel
created by Kellie-Anne Crane

It is of the utmost importance that teachers prepare their students for their futures, whether that includes continuing their education or entering the work force. No matter what path students choose to take, there are certain concepts that all people need to recognize and consider as human beings, like the concept of morality. Everyone is confronted with moral decisions on a daily basis—whether it is a monumental decision, or even something as small as deciding to give the last cookie to your sister or to keep it for yourself. The events of the Holocaust and World War II are incredibly essential to study, not only because these events are our shared history but because of the unbelievable turmoil faced by millions. Teachers must help students to understand the gravity of this time period and work to teach it to students in a way that is both approachable and comprehensive.

By exploring the concept of morality through the Holocaust, students will be educated on what is perhaps the greatest tragedy of mankind and be forced to contemplate the morality of multiple scenarios throughout the holocaust. As upstanding citizens, we would like to think that we do not need to worry about anything like the Holocaust—but the fact remains that it happened less than a century ago. Teachers must help students examine the decisions and events that occurred during this vile period on a personal and real level so that they can gain a deeper understanding of the moral struggle faced during the era. Our youth must be educated on our past, both good and bad, to ensure that a similar situation such as this never arises.

Anchor Texts (although other texts may be used!):
Night by Elie Wiesel
night

Novel Excerpts
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
anne frank
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak
book thief
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
number the stars

Graphic Novel
Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman
maus

Picture Books
Terrible Things by Eve Bunting
terrible things
The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco
butterfly
The Sneetches by Dr. Seuss
sneetches

Pledge of Allegiance”

Songs
“Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” from Les Misérables
“Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap

Speeches
Winston Churchill’s First Speech as Prime Minister on May 13, 1940
President Roosevelt’s Speech to Congress on December 8, 1941
Adolf Hitler’s Speech Declaring War Against the United States on December 11, 1941
Pope John Paul II’s Speech at Israel’s Holocaust Museum March 23, 2000

Poems
“The Creed of a Holocaust Survivor” by Alexander Kimel
“The Action in the Ghetto of Rohatyn, March 1942” by Alexander Kimel

Charts
Lawrence Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

Online Resources
Timeline from 1918-2000
Viktor Frankl: Why Believe in Others TED Talk
“‪Oprah and Elie Weisel at Auschwitz” (1:20- 6:05)
“Man that saved hundreds of children from the Holocaust surprised by them decades later”

Articles
“Ghettos Under Nazis” by Susan D. Glazer
“Baking Saved this Man during the Holocaust, and Is Still His Livelihood” by John M. Glionna
“3 Famous Moral Dilemmas That Will Really Make You Think” by Lenna Son
“German Woman, 91, is Charged with 260,000 Counts of Accessory to murder as Prosecutors Accuse Her of Being a Nazi SS Radio Operator Who Served in Auschwitz”

Guiding Questions

  • Are there tenets of morality that are universal?
  • Can a person’s sense of morality be altered by their situation or surroundings?
  • Did the conditions of the holocaust change people’s morals? How so?
  • Are there good and bad people?
  • What can we learn from the tragedy of the Holocaust?

Writing Prompts

  • Consider one of the famous moral dilemmas we have discussed. What do you believe is the right answer in this context? Why
  • What makes someone a good person? A bad person? Are there clear binaries between the two?
  • Choose a text (novel, story, video, song, etc.) from class that has helped to give you a better understanding of the holocaust. What did you learn from this text? Why is it important?
  • Choose a quote or passage from Night. What does this scene say about morality?
  • Is there any moral(s) that you find to be universal, as in followed and accepted by everyone? What is it and why is it so widely accepted? If not, explain why you think there is no universal set of morals.

A special thanks to Kellie-Anne for this inspiring text set! We think this text set would be useful for many anchor texts! What do you think?

Kellee Signatureand RickiSig

Text Sets for Teachers: The Power of Words: Witnessing the Impact of Words

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The Power of Words: Witnessing the Impact of Words
Text Set for The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
created by Kelly Markle

I chose this theme because I think that it is very important in The Book Thief and also important for confronting large events that based on control, such as the Holocaust. This theme could be used with almost any Holocaust text to highlight the psychological side of such a horrific time. The idea of “the power of words” is also something that would be very beneficial to talk about inside of a middle or high school classroom because it touches on issues that are extremely relevant to the students’ personal lives. This is a time of many insecurities and judgments, so it is a good way to explore this reality through other sources and texts. When designing the text set, I wanted to have a solid combination of historical and new sources that were relevant to what the students already know. I included musical sources, using a well-known song along with less popular songs that they may not know. I also did this by having a speech from Obama along with a speech by Hitler to highlight the fact that they are both very well spoken people and that they both have power in their words, but those words can be used to influence people differently.

When creating the set, I tried to start by thinking of activities that can be done based on this theme inside of the classroom. Then, I found sources to support those ideas, so that they were not thrown into a list that was nonsensical. This is important to my text set because many of the sources are videos and it is important to remember that there will be follow up activities that ask the students to write, respond, or participate in an activity based on what they are seeing so that it does not feel like they are only getting visual experiences. I also plan to print copies of lyrics to songs and speeches so that my students could read along and reference as the unit develops. I think that this theme lends itself to many different situations so that the discussions differ. There are also many levels of the influence words from a personal to a national level, which is something that is important to show students because one leads to another. This theme is relevant to the subject of English in general because if words did not have power, literature would not exist, and that could be used to help students realize the importance of the class and why books, poems, words endure.

Anchor Texts (although other texts may be used!):
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
book thief

Novels
brown girl dreaming (excerpt) by Jaqueline Woodson
brown girl
The Diary of a Young Girl (excerpt) by Anne Frank
anne frank

Videos/Clips
Kid President: 20 Things We Should Say More Often
Blind Man: The Power of Words
Hannah Brencher’s Ted Talk
Fight Song in Spanish
Why Sign

Speeches
Hitler Youth Speech
Obama Campaign Speech
Obama: “Don’t Tell Me Words Don’t Matter”
Miss Teen USA 2007- South Carolina
“I Have a Dream”

Songs
“Consequence of Sounds” – Regina Spektor
“Same Love” – Macklemore
“A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” – Bob Dylan
“It’s Alright Ma” – Bob Dylan
“Misheard Song Lyrics”

Poems
“Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carol
“Every Kid Needs a Champion” by Rita Pierson
“The Power of Words” by Letitia Landon

Timelines
Holocaust timeline to represent how quickly Adolf Hitler gained power over the people

Histories
Churchill: The Power of Words

Images
10-Youth-Serves-the-Leader-All-10-Year-Olds-in-the-Hitler-Youth boy words

 Short Stories
“The Children’s Story” by James Clavell
“The Pledge of Allegiance”

Activities (Some Are Teacher Created/Shared)
How words are added to the dictionary
Word poems
Favorite Song Activity
Mein Kampf– 4 Corners Activity
Word Play (laughter/slaughter)
Label Game: Each student is randomly assigned one word to define
Brenna’s lesson with quotes about technology
Andrew’s mismatch word activity

Guiding Questions

  • How many words does it take to make a difference?
  • What is the value in the words that are not said? Is tehre any? When should silence prevail?
  • Why do words hold such power?
  • Is this power a good thing or a bad thing? Does the good outweigh the bad, or vice versa?
  • Do words have the same impact no matter who says them? Does definition of a word matter, or the background and emotion behind them?

Writing Prompts

  • Have you ever experienced a time when you have been influenced by words in some way? Have you ever used words to influence others?
  • Create a poem, song, speech, or advertisement that confronts an issue that you find important and use it to convince the readers to feel the way that you do about it through words. Take a strong stance.
  • After reading The Book Thief and completing this unit, what have you realized about the power of words that you did not think about before?
  • Make a list of single words that you think have the most power and explain why.
  • Do you think that you were influenced by words growing up? Whose words? What affect did they have on you? Does this help or hurt society as a whole?

A special thanks to Kelly for this phenomenal text set! We think this text set would be useful for many anchor texts! What do you think?

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Jump Back, Paul: The Life and Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar by Sally Derby

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NFPB2015

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday

Nonfiction Picture Book Wednesday is hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy and was started to help promote the reading of nonfiction texts. Most Wednesdays, we will be participating and will review a nonfiction text (though it may not always be a picture book).
Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy and see what other nonfiction books are shared this week!

jump back paul

Jump Back, Paul: The Life and Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar
Author: Sally Derby
Illustrator: Sean Qualls
Published September 22nd, 2015 by Candlewick Pres

Goodreads Summary: Discover the breadth and depth of Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poetry—and learn how it reflects his singular life as a late-nineteenth-century black man.

Did you know that Paul Laurence Dunbar originated such famous lines as “I know why the caged bird sings” and “We wear the mask that grins and lies”? From his childhood in poverty and his early promise as a poet to his immense fame and his untimely death, Dunbar’s story is one of triumph and tragedy. But his legacy remains in his much-beloved poetry—told in both Standard English and in dialect—which continues to delight and inspire readers today. More than two dozen of Dunbar’s poems are woven throughout this volume, illuminating the phases of his life and serving as examples of dialect, imagery, and tone. Narrating in a voice full of admiration and respect, Sally Derby introduces Paul Laurence Dunbar’s life and poetry to readers young and old, aided by Sean Qualls’s striking black-and-white illustrations.

My Review: I came into this book not knowing much about Paul Laurence Dunbar aside from knowing that the line “I know why the caged bird sings” was written by him which inspired Maya Angelou’s autobiography’s title; however, I didn’t know much else about his life or his poetry. Derby’s book does a fantastic job remedying that. Not only are you exposed to more than 20 of Dunbar’s poems, you are exposed to them in very specific ways as Derby tells Dunbar’s life story. Each poem’s inclusion is purposeful and perfectly timed. When finished, I wanted to read more of Dunbar’s poems and actually hear some of them being performed (his dialect poems are screaming to be read aloud). Qualls also does a brilliant job, as always, illustrating the tone of the text in beautiful black-and-white drawings.

Teachers’ Tools for Navigation: This book not only can be used to share information about Paul Laurence Dunbar’s life and his poetry, but it also includes fascinating information about what it was like to live after the Emancipation Proclamation then after Plessy v. Ferguson.

First, in an English classroom, this text truly puts Dunbar’s poems in a perspective which will allow more depth when analyzing. The way Derby set up the narrative of Dunbar’s life around his poems helps the reader understand the underlying meaning of his poetry even better than they would with a cold read.

Also, cross-curricularly while studying Dunbar’s poems, during history, a tie-in to this tumultuous time period would be easy and effective.  The time period that Dunbar lived in is not often discussed as it is a time after slavery but before segregation that many students may not know about.

Discussion Questions: Who do you think had the biggest influence on Dunbar becoming a poet?; Do you think Dunbar’s father’s absence affected how he was as a husband to Alice?; How do you think Frederick Douglass influence Dunbar?; How was the voice that told the story chosen by Derby? Do you think the way she structured and told the story was helpful in understanding Dunbar’s life and poetry?

We Flagged: “You never heard of the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar? Child, where’ve you been? I got to have a word with you. Why, back in the day, you’d have whole families sitting around listening while one of them performed “When Malindy Sings” or “Little Brown Baby” or “A Negro Love Song” (which folks most always call “Jump Back, Honey”).”

Read This If You Loved: Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poetry, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Henry Aaron’s Dream by Matt Tavares, The Underground Abductor by Nathan Hale

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**Thank you to Candlewick for providing a copy for review!!**