SOL #8 Culturally Responsive Children's Literature

As part of being a Literacy Collaborative coach, I have to attend ongoing training for three days, twice a year. Today, and the rest of the week, I am at that training.

One of the sessions I attended today, was about culturally responsive children's literature. The presenter was basing her teaching on the work of Dr. Sharroky Hollie.

She began by asking us what does it mean to be culturally and linguistically responsive. It was interesting to hear responses from around the room.  One of the things we learned is there are different types of cultures. Most often we think of ethnicity of culture. But we also need to consider: orientation, national, class, religious, gender, and age. I think most of us only think about ethnicity. and we need to expand that.

When looking at books, we need to think if they are culturally authentic, culturally generic, or culturally neutral. This isn't something I had really thought in depth about so it was nice to be able to look through different books and to see where they fell in the catagories. Here are the descriptions of each:

My take-away is that culture is more than just ethnicity. While I know that, I don't think I always practice that, and I need to be more intentional.

SOL #7 Poetry Inspiration

This evening, I had the pleasure to work with 1st year teachers on Poetry Workshop with a colleague of mine. We talked about the structure of workshop and how to start poetry anthologies. We also let them participate in some poetry centers.

I shared a lot of resources with them, one being Kate Messner's 59 Reasons to Write. In this book, she has a chapter dedicated to poetry. One of the activities, which happens to be from Jo Knowles, was to think of a theme or topic and write your 10-digit phone number down the page. Those numbers become the number of words for the line. If the number is 0, it is a wildcard and can be any number of words. So I thought I would try that tonight using the phone number from my childhood, which is no longer in service. My topic is snow days.

I feel as if Mother Nature has
cheated us this year.
I live in Ohio,
what do you mean
you won't pleasure us with beloved snow days
this year?
Do you
not understand how much we look forward to
the anticipation of listening to the weather forecast
hoping for the opportunity for our snow rituals?


Happy writing!

Reading with My Son

I am fortunate. My son is in sixth grade and he still enjoys me reading to him.

He recently came home from school and told me in reading, his class was reading Woodsong by Gary Paulsen. Yes, gasp, a whole class novel. But his school district has done this for quite some time and I know that no matter how much complaining I do, it's not going to change. I've tried... I try to find the positive, and at least, for the most part, good literature is being used.

Anyway, my son was telling me about a funny part in Woodsong. Being a fan of Gary Paulsen, I told him that if he thinks Woodsong has some funny parts, he needs to read Harris and Me. So, I brought Harris and Me home from school for him.

If you aren't familiar with Harris and Me, let me quickly fill you in. It seems I was once told that this book is based on an experience in Gary Paulsen's childhood. The narrator of the story, you are never told his name, is moved from family to family because his parents have an alcohol problem. He spends one summer with the Larson's on their farm, whom are his second cousins. Harris is about his age and he is all boy with a wild imagination, and a knack for trouble. He is one of those boys who gets an idea in his head, and he makes that idea come true, not thinking about the consequences. It does make for a hard read aloud because Harris does like to cuss. So, all these adventures make a wonderful story, where you are always wondering what Harris will do next.

This past Friday, my son was home from school sick. By the evening he was starting to feel better so I asked him if he wanted me to read some of Harris and Me. He had belly laughs by the end of the first chapter. When I finished the first chapter, my son said, while laughing, "This book is just beautiful." Needless to say, he had me read half the book that night and it was finished Sunday morning.

Now for a confession. I remember reading Harris and Me as a child. As I was reading it, there is one part where the narrator wants to get revenge on Harris for something he did to him. So he talks Harris into peeing on an electric fence. I, too, remember talking my brother into peeing on the electric fence. I now wonder if this book is where I got that idea... Oops.

SOL #5 Sunday Mornings

Sunday mornings are my favorite. While most people like to sleep in, I like to get up early and enjoy the quiet. This is my time.

My time to read through the Sunday papers. Read about what's happening locally and around the world, look through the ads to see if there is something I can't live without, and clip coupons.

It's my time to sit with my dog and enjoy a cup of coffee. Nothing pressing to think about. No major decisions to make. Sometimes I will watch the news, other times I will read a book.

My time to think about what I want to do with my time today. Sometimes I will rustle up my family and go to church. Other times I just want to enjoy a run, walk, or bike ride. I may go into school and get some work done. Reading a book may be on the agenda. If the weather is nice, I may find something to do outside.

When I hear people moving around upstairs I know that my time has almost ended and I need to start making breakfast. Because making a nice breakfast on Sunday morning is also something I enjoy.

Sunday mornings have a slow pace to them; the only time in the week where I feel as if I can slow down and enjoy what's around me. It's my time. I hope everyone finds a time in their week where they can slow down and enjoy the moment.

Goals

Lately, I haven't been doing so well with personal goals. I have fitness goals. I have reading goals. I have household goals. Needless to say, I haven't been meeting them and have been in a rut.

So, I am going to pronounce to all some goals hoping that will keep me accountable.

First, fitness.
My goals this week are to complete 4 workouts lasting at least 30 minutes and to walk 10,000 steps per day at least 5 days this week.

Reading this week.
My goal is to finish the book I'm reading, plus make a dent in my stack of picture books I've been wanting to read. And to read half of a professional book.

Household goals.
Simply put, I need to clean. My son has been sick twice in the last 2 weeks so I feel as if I need to do more than surface clean. And I also need to put away my snowman decorations. I don't believe they are relevant at this time.

I'll check in next week and let you know how I did with these goals. Hopefully, putting them out there will encourage me to meet them. Fingers crossed!

Tournament Time

It's that time again. Basketball tournaments. My husband is the girls' varsity coach for the district in which he teaches. Last year his team was state runner-up. They lost 4 starting seniors from last year's team. Tonight the team is playing in the district final. Which is absolutely wonderful considering losing those 4 seniors.

And I am home.

With a sick child.

Being at the game is stressful enough. Being at home is even more stressful when you can't see what is going on. I have friends who are texting updates but it is not the same.

Let's just say there is pacing going on.

And sweating.

And some cleaning.

And a lot of stress.

And maybe a glass of wine.

Here's to a win and the Sweet 16!!! Go Spartans!

Read Across America

This week our school, like so many others, celebrated Dr. Seuss and reading. Each day we had a different Dr. Seuss theme, we also read a different book each day schoolwide, and we had guest readers in from the community to read in each classroom. Our cafeteria staff even served green eggs and ham for lunch. And our principal bought shirts for the staff to wear today.

The students had fun with the themes and we had a lot of participation. They enjoyed the guest readers. Overall, it was a good week.

Yet, I feel that it was lacking something. While it was enjoyed, I felt as if the enthusiasm just wasn't there. I just can't put my finger on it. Are people just tired? Thinking about testing, which is right around the corner? Too many other things going on? Conferences were also tonight, did that get in the way?

Being a Literacy Collaborative school, we have to have a Literacy Leadership Team. Part of what we do is plan events like this. We have an upcoming meeting so hopefully we can look at this week and figure out how we can improve it for next year.

Happy writing!

Slice of Life

Welcome, Slice of Life! It's high past time I dusted off this blog and started writing again.

Today, I just want to begin by introducing myself. My name is Krista and I am a Literacy Collaborative Intermediate Coach. I work with students and teachers in grades 3-5. I really do love what I do. I still get to teach and I get to work alongside some wonderful teachers and leaders.

I try to read as much as I can. Currently I'm reading Me and Marvin Gardens by A. S. King. For me it's always fun to see if I can predict the Newbery winners. And it's even better if I have read all the winners. I'm not sure I have accomplished that yet.

I love to get outdoors. I have flowers and a garden in the summer. I also like to go for an occasional run. Zeus, my black lab, enjoys a neighborhood walk with me.

I will be married for 15 years this year and we have an amazing son. We love spending time together and visiting different places. My husband is also a teacher and girls basketball coach.

I am looking forward to writing this month and learning about and from the other Slicers.
Happy Writing!

Must Read in 2016

Recently, I have really thought about my reading life. I somewhat feel as if I have been in a reading slump. I still read, but haven't been as good about it as I have in the past. It just seems as if I am letting little things get in the way.

This is all about to change. I was disappointed when looking at my reading on Goodreads. I know part of that is because I have been terrible about updating my reading on the site. This past year, I didn't set a reading goal for myself on Goodreads. Part of me wonders if maybe the lack of a goal is part of the reason for the slump. So for 2016 I have set a goal on Goodreads to read 250 books. I've surpassed that in the past, so I know it's a manageable goal.

But I'm going to take it a step further. I am coming up with a list of Must-Reads in 2016. I have seen other people do this in the past and enjoy reading about their progress. I am also hoping, by creating this list, I have a go-to place when I get in another slump. Most of these books I have wanted to read for quite some time. Others haven't been published yet. Some are professional books that I have started and haven't finished.

Without further ado, here is my list of Must-Read in 2016 (in no particular order):

Turtle in Paradise by Jennifer Holm
Drowned City by Don Brown
The Notorious Benedict Arnold by Steve Sheinkin
Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War by Steve Sheinkin
Echo Echo by Marilyn Singer
The Nest by Kenneth Oppel
Paper Things by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
Swan: the Life and Dance of Anna Pavlov by Laurel Snyder
The Marvels by Brian Selznick
The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann
Greenglass House by Kate Milford
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos
Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier
Moo by Sharon Creech
Raymie Nightingale by Kate DiCamillo
Full of Beans by Jennifer Holm
59 Reasons to Write by Kate Messner
Drive by Daniel Pink
7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
What Great Teachers Do Differently by Todd Whitaker
In Defense of Read Aloud by Steven Layne
The Unstoppable Writing Teacher by M. Colleen Cruz
Raising Kids Who Read by Daniel T. Willingham

So there it is, my Must-Reads in 2016. What will you read?

One Little Word

For the last few days, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what my One Little Word for 2016 would be. No matter what I thought of, none felt right. If it doesn't feel right, I know I will have a hard time living it this year. I really needed to find a word that "spoke" to me.

As I was straightening things up in my kitchen, my eyes fell upon this plaque one of my students gave me for Christmas.

That's when it hit me; THIS is my word. I've read this plaque several times over break. I've really thought about what it means for me and for people around me. I've thought about how sometimes I need to inspire myself. I've thought about how I want to inspire my students. I've thought about how, as a literacy coach, I want to inspire my peers.

So this is it. The word I will live by this year. The word I will think about when doing things for myself or my family. The word I will hold close to my heart when thinking about my students and colleagues. How can I encourage someone, myself included, to be their best? How can I awaken those good, positive feelings in myself and those around me?

I don't really have the answers right now, but I know I will enjoy the journey finding the answers. Inspire.

Poetry Friday- Snow Day

Join Tabatha for this week's round-up of Poetry Friday!

SNOW DAY

Outside we have
     white-topped roads,
     boughs heavy with snow,
     a smooth sea of whiteness
     in our yard,
     wind blowing waves
     in the vast white sea.

Inside we have
     warm, cozy pajamas,
     fuzzy slippers,
     hot cocoa with marshmallows,
     a good book to read.
     Gazing out the window
     so glad for the comfort of home.

Krista Dendinger, 2015

Let's Celebrate! 1/3/15

I'm joining Ruth Ayres to celebrate some things from the past week.  Please visit her blog to read other celebrations.

Sometimes it's hard to take a look back at your week to find things to celebrate when only a few exciting things happened.  My first celebration is a huge one though!!!

1. Ohio State beating Alabama to go to the National Championship!!!  Wow! What a game! I am still somewhat in shock that we are going to the National Championship. This team has faced much adversity this season. It is evident they have worked real hard as a team to get where they are. Congrats to them! No matter the outcome of the game, I will be proud of them!

2. Ringing in the New Year with my little family. In the past, we usually go to a friend's house to ring in the New Year. This year we just stayed home. It was actually very nice to be snuggled on the couch together as the ball dropped.

3. Much needed rest. This past week I have gotten some much needed rest. It is nice to clear my head over Christmas break so I can come back to school with a fresh perspective and a relaxed mental state. I have been able to get some much needed organizing done and I am feeling good about going back to school next week.

Hopefully, you can look back at your week and find some things to celebrate as well! Happy New Year!

#nerdlution15

This year I am going to participate in Nerdlution. Last year was the first year for it and I watched from afar on Twitter. Nerdlution is 50 days long and each person sets his/her own goal/s. My goals for #nerdlution15 are the following:

1. Drink more water. I am terrible about consuming liquids. I can go a whole meal without drinking anything. I need to be much better about this, especially with working out like I do. My goal is to get in 4 big glasses a day. 

2. Run 3 days a week. I have been slacking with my running and I need to pick up the pace. I'm not going to worry about distance right now.  I just want to get back in the habit of running multiple times a week. Distance can come later. 

3. Read my devotions at least 5 days a week. I would love to say I am going to do this every day, but I am afraid I would fail. 

4. Read at least one chapter book every week. I have been in training to be a Literacy Collaborative intermediate coach and my reading has taken a hit with all I have to do. I think one chapter book a week can be manageable with all the other demands. 

Hopefully, on February 19, the last of the 50 days, I can say I was successful with all of these goals! Good luck with your goals!

2015-Looking Forward

I was going to look back at my goals for 2014 to see how I fared, but realized if I have to look back at them to refresh my memory on what they were, I probably didn't fare as well as I would have liked. So rather than looking back, I'm going to look forward. The only reflection I am going to have is that I know I need to do better.

Thinking about the new year, my goals for 2015 will be centered around faith, personal, and professional. 

Faith

I enjoy going to church but too often see Sunday spent in my classroom. My goal is to get to church at least two times a month. This will take some better organizing and time management on my part so school doesn't get in the way. 

I also want to be better about reading my devotional. It doesn't take more than a few minutes to read, but somehow it always gets pushed off to the side. I need to do it first thing in the morning or put it on my bedside table to read it before I go to bed. 

Personal

Health is always a big thing with me. I did better about getting to the gym last year, despite a setback in February with a stress fracture. I did well with getting in a workout before school. I like working out at this time because I am not taking away from family time in the evening. 

My goal is to get to the gym at least 4 days a week.  I am also setting a running goal with this. I will run three times a week and will participate in 5 races this year. One of those races must be longer than a 5k. 

My eating habits also need an adjustment. I have found myself snacking more on things that I shouldn't be snacking on. I am going to start the year with a cleanse and continue with cleaner eating. I need to get back into juicing. I need healthier snacks. I need to drink more water. I need to commit two days a week to meatless eating. 

Professional

This year brought many changes for me professionally. I am currently going through training at OSU to be a Literacy Collaborative intermediate literacy coach. This has been quite a busy journey for me. It's all good, but so time consuming! Because of all the time spent with this program, my reading has not been up to par this year. So my first goal is to read six professional books this year. I usually strive for one a month, but this just hasn't been manageable throughout the training. I also want to read at least one chapter book a week. If I get in more great, if it's only one, that's fine, too. 

I need to get back into blogging more consistently! My goal is to blog once a week. I am hoping this becomes more than once a week, but I also need to be realistic. I often think, "I should blog about that!" but it rarely becomes a reality. 

Well, it seems as if I have a lot of goals for myself. Hopefully I will be better about follow-through since none of them are unrealistic. Here's to a New Year!!!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9/8

I'm linking up with Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to share my reading this past week.

It was only a three day school week for me last week.  So you would think that I would have been able to read a lot!  Nope!  I had to catch myself up on yard work and house work that I have neglected during the first few weeks back at school.

I did manage to finish two chapter books this week:

Sabotaged by Margaret Peterson Haddix (#3 in The Missing series)

Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus by Tom Angleberger (last book in the Origami Yoda series)

I also read the following picture books:

Fireflies! by Julie Brinkloe

The Popcorn Book by Tomie de Paola

This week I plan to read the following chapter book:

What are you reading?

Celebrate! Sept. 6

Thanks to Ruth Ayres at DiscoverPlayBuild for this Saturday tradition.

I am back to celebrate a few things this week!

1. I have to start by celebrating the opening of college football and by beloved Buckeyes!  The game last Saturday against Navy was a nail-biter in the first half.  Thank goodness we figured things out the second half!  I do have to say that rooting against Navy somehow made me feel a little unpatriotic!  So I tried not to be too vocal against Navy!  Tonight we play Virginia Tech.  Go Bucks!

 2. I need to celebrate the ladies in this picture (plus one who was cut out)!  These ladies are training to be intermediate literacy coaches through Literacy Collaborative along with me.  This school year is a training year for us.  In the picture, we are participating in online learning with OSU.  I am grateful for what each of these wonderful ladies brings to the picture.

3.  Our community has started the "Let's Read 20" initiative.  The idea is parents will read for 20 minutes a day with their children starting at birth.  All the schools in the county and city are participating and working together on this.  This week, my district had a Battle of the Books with another district in the county.  Students were to bring in new or gently used books to be distributed to kids throughout the county.  My school collected over 1600 books!  The winning district will be announced at the football game tonight between the two schools.

4. I am celebrating the Popcorn Festival in our town and the Popcorn Parade.  Jacob was in the parade along with his fellow cub scouts.  I also have to celebrate all the greasy, fried food you can get at the festival! It's one of the few times of the year I allow myself to indulge in this type of food!  Bring on the fried veggies!

What are you celebrating?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 9/1/14

I'm linking up with Teach Mentor Texts and Unleashing Readers to share my reading this past week.

This week I only managed to finish one chapter book!  It has just been a busy, tiring, second week of school!

I finished Athena the Wise  by Joan Holub, which is the 5th book in the Goddess Girls series. 

 

My read alouds this week include the following:

 

Peppe the Lamplighter  by Elisa Bartone

 

A Day's Work  by Eve Bunting

 

True Heart by Marissa Moss

 

The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco

 

Chicken Sunday by Patricia Polacco

 

I am currently reading two chapter books:

Sabotaged  by Margaret Peterson Haddix (3rd in The Missing series)

 

Emperor Pickletine Rides the Bus by Tom Angleberger

 

What are you reading?



First Day of School

The first day of school.

Wow!  So exhausting!

Hard to sleep the night before.  I'm awake every few hours.  Too many thoughts running through my head:
Do I have everything ready?
Are extra materials handy for any possible new students?
Is there anything that needs to be copied?
Do I have enough planned for the day?
What if I oversleep?

At 4:30 my alarm pulls me out of my sleep.  I get ready and head to the gym.  During my workout I'm able to get focused and get some good thinking done.

Go home, get ready for school, kiss my son goodbye.  He doesn't start school for another week.

Make it to school and finish some last minute things.  Then finally, they arrive!  And it's a school supply frenzy!!

It's a great class with great personalities.  Morning goes smoothly.  When it's time to focus on reading in the afternoon I am feeling quite at ease.  I read The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires to the class.  We talk about the importance of persistence and not giving up when things get difficult.

And then I introduce my classroom library.  I talk about how it is organized and do a few unintentional book talks.  I have hands in the air from students wanting to know if they can read a book before I am even halfway done.  This.  This is what I love.  I love kids getting excited to read.  I love talking books with kids.

I have a feeling this class isn't going to disappoint me.

Slice of Life Day 14- March Madness

I love his time of year in college basketball. All the different tournaments going all, getting ready for the brackets. 

I've been watching as much of the Big 10 Tournament as I can. My Buckeyes have been giving me near heart attacks yesterday and today. Yesterday they squeaked past Purdue. Today they came back from an 18 point deficit in the second half to win by 4. This is exciting! And tomorrow we take on that team up North. 

It's amazing how much you can bad-mouth and cheer on a team all in one game. I can't imagine all the pressure those players feel while they are on the court. I know they say they can tune out a lot from the stands but I often wonder what some of those comments are that they do hear. I hope it's the positive stuff. 

Some people say that the negative inspires them to do better. I'm not sure if I am one of those people or not. When first thinking about it, I didn't think I was one of those people. But after some thought  I started thinking about times when that has been the case. Interesting. 

I wish my Buckeyes best of luck in the Big 10 Tournament. Hopefully I will be watching them on Sunday!  O-H!!

Slice of Life Day 13- A Long Day

Today was a long day:

Wake up at 4:40 to go to gym to work out. 

6:15 Get home to get ready for school and get son ready for school. 

7:45 Drop son off at babysitter. 

8:00 Get to school. 

7:45 Get home from school. 

Yes, a long day at school with parent-teacher conferences. Since I am not in the classroom, I don't have much to prepare. We were running our book fair this week and I was stationed there for the night. 

I have to say, I loved working the book fair. I had such a good time talking books and recommending books to students and parents. Making new connections with students was certainly a highlight. As kids were bringing up books to purchase I found myself talking to them about their purchases and adding books to my TBR pile.  Those conversations can make an evening pass quickly. 

But now, this girl is tired and ready for bed. Night ya'll!