Be Still, My Writing Heart...

This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Reading Reptile's "DNA Lit Fest." (a huge thank you to the parent who made that possible!) On Saturday, I participated in the Writers' Conference at the Kansas City Public Library's Plaza branch. The authors shared their struggles, joys, inspirations, and even gave us a preview of their new books! I was in awe--I mean the authors were all best-selling, Caldecott or Newberry Award-Winners! 

Be still, my writing heart...

The most amazing part of the experience is that it renewed my faith as a writing teacher. I mean here are some truly successful people who've made writing and illustrating books their livelihood, and they're talking about stuff I teach to my second graders! Take the Writer's Notebook, for example. Jack Gantos, creator of the Rotten Ralph series--a childhood favorite of mine--shared his notebook with us. 

He shared that he's been keeping journals and notebooks since the fifth grade. These journals became his prized possession and allowed him to record ideas for decades--ideas that he's turned into a multitude of published pieces, such as the Jack Henry series or his latest novel, Dead End in Norvelt. This is what we're trying to do in the second grade--engage our students in authentic experiences that shape their lives, just like Jack Gantos. Their writing notebooks are just like Jack's. They contain ideas, scribbles, notes, diagrams, lists, and colors that evolve into published pieces.

Jack Gantos also discussed the importance of story structure. He told us that many of his early works were rejected because he wrote complicated, messy plots. When he showed us his recipe for successful writing, my heart skipped a beat. Characters, setting, problem, solution...these are the elements we teach in second grade reading and writing, and here they are in a successful writer's toolbox!

That moment when you just know you're on the right track? Yep. For me, it was the DNA Lit Fest. I walked out of that library on a cloud. 

Ribsy for Read-Aloud

So we started a new read aloud today--Ribsy, by Beverly Cleary. Boy, I can't even begin to tell you what a good read aloud does for a student.

For one, it hasn't been made into a movie yet (see Tuesday Rant for further information) and so my students don't know what to expect. Second, it doesn't have a single television, cartoon, iPad/iTouch, or Nintendo DS reference--woo hoo for the imagination!. And last of all--this may be the greatest argument for a good ol' fashioned book--it doesn't have a snarky, sarcastic narrator and dialogue that I have to stop and explain to the kids. Don't get me wrong--Junie B. Jones, Judy Moody, Amber Brown--they're a kick to read, but in whole group setting, things can get a little dicey. You end up explaining a lot of the quick-witted dialogue to younger students.

So this book, Ribsy, it's a joy to read aloud. The main character, a dog thinks like a person but can't communicate with his owners. The kids really find the humor in that. The story is somewhat predictable, so it's fun to watch students gasp and nod when they realize what will happen now that Ribsy is roaming a mall parking lot without his leash--he's doomed. They smirk and whisper, "Yep, I totally saw that coming," to one another.

I know the temptation is there to read all the newest, most popular, or attention-grabbing books out there, but it's really nice to sit down and read an oldie once in a while. Beverly Cleary wrote Ramona Quimby, Age 8, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and Dear Mr. Henshaw, to name a few. She's awesome. Her stories are timeless--sibling rivalries, animal characters dealing with the pains of adolescence, elementary school dramas.  My mother read the stories as a child and could share in my excitement as I read them throughout the primary grades. In fact, the copy I'm currently reading to my class is an old, tatty copy that my mom shoved into my purse the last time I came over for a family dinner.

Sure, the book is old, the illustrations are few and far between, and some of the 1964 references (i.e. the milkman delivering milk to the Huggins family) might need a little explaining, but the story is wonderful. It will definitely be on my second grade read aloud list for a long time.