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Keeper by Kathi Appelt

Keeper By: Kathi Appelt Illustrated by: August Hall This edition: Hardcover, 416 pages Publication date: May 18, 2010 Ages: 8 - 12

Kathi Appelt, Newbery-honor author of The Underneath, continues her writing brilliance in Keeper.  Imagine your worst day ever. Does it involve talking crabs, burnt gumbo, a broken ukulele, a terrorized cat, mysterious mermaids, a lost mother, shattered flower pots, and a search and rescue mission?  Well, Keeper’s worst day involves all of those.
Once again, Kathi Appelt weaves together a realistic story with hints of myth, legend, and magic.  She tells us a story from multiple points of view, and I love her for that.  We often hear that when we write, we should choose a point of view and stick with it.  Kathi Appelt masterfully shows us just how to break that rule.  Through the story, we go into the thoughts of cats, seagulls, mermaids, and dogs, along with the main character Keeper, her adopted mother Signe, and her surfer neighbor Dogie.  I was also amazed that in 400 pages, only one day went by, yet I was captivated by every page.
On the surface, this is a story of a girl’s search for her mother and a terrible day she has along the way.  However, deeper down this story has many lessons to be learned for all ages.  I invite you to discover Keeper.
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Exemplary!

This week, the David C. Barrow Elementary Media Center received some exciting news.  We were named the Exemplary Library Media Program in the elementary category for the entire state of GA.  The Annual Exemplary/Exceptional Library Media Program selects  schools from elementary, middle, and high school levels to be recognized based on how well their library media program meets school improvement goals and improves student achievement.  Peer Library Media Specialists and GaDOE staff select the recipients based on the school’s written application, the principal’s narrative, a possible telephone interview, and a probable on-site visit.  Two possible awards can be obtained:  Exemplary or Exceptional.  The exemplary programs are among the top library media programs in the state and are chosen based on the GaDOE library media program self-evaluation rubric.

The Barrow Media Program was nominated in March 2010 and I wrote the narrative for our media center.  In the celebration of being transparent and public about what goes on in our media center, you can read the narrative here.  I will travel to Atlanta on August 12th to be recognized at the State Board of Education meeting.  Another part of winning this recognition is presenting our media program along with the middle and high school exemplary programs at the GaETC Conference in November.  Our media center will also host an open house sometime in the 2010-11 school year for the public and other schools/districts to visit.

I would also like to send out a big congratulations to Shawn Hinger at Clarke Middle School and Anne McLeod at Burney Harris Lyons for being named “exceptional” library media programs.

This is such an honor for our program, our school, and our district.  Receiving an award like this will push us even more to offer innovative lessons and resources for our students and collaborate closely with teachers to support the Georgia Performance Standards.  I can’t wait to see what we come up with in the 2010-11 school year!

~Andy Plemmons

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What poem is hiding inside you?

written by Joyce Sidman illustrated by Pamela Zagarensky Houghton Mifflin, 2009 ISBN-13: 978-0-547-01494-4

Summer is the perfect time to sit outside in the sunshine by the pool, under a tree, next to a stream, or wherever else your heart leads you and take time to appreciate the beauty of the world.  It’s also the perfect time to capture your observations in a journal, sketchbook, or your favorite piece of technology.  One thing that I love to do is take my observations of the world and turn them into poetry.  I just finished reading Red Sings from the Treetops: A year in colors by Joyce Sidman & Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski.  This book was a 2010 Caldecott Honor book, and it was very deserving of this recognition.  The illustrations are exquisite, and the text is lyrical and insightful.  Joyce Sidman uses her poetic eye and creative imagination to capture how colors change throughout the year.  Definitely check this book out for writing and drawing inspiration.

On Joyce’s website, students can submit their poems for publication.  She posts student poems with only first names visible.  I’m always looking for places where students can make their voices heard through their writing.  If you choose to write a poem this summer (and I hope you do), consider sending it to her site. You can also post it here in the comments section whether your an adult reading this or a student!  If you know other great outlets for young authors to publish their work, leave that in the comments section, too.  Now go outside, pick a spot, listen & observe, and craft a poem!

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Summer Reading Begins….

How is your summer reading going?  Have you visited the public library yet?  How about reading book online?  Have you stopped by a yard sale or thrift store to find some great used books?  How about browsing the shelves at your local bookstore?

Well…my summer reading is off to a great start.  I’ve been reading a chapter book by Polly Horvath called Northward to the Moon. I checked it out from the Watkinsville library.  I also visited the Winterville library and the Athens library with my 5-month old daughter, Alora.  She signed up for the summer reading program and has already earned her first prize, her name on the wall for reading 10 books.  Stop by the Athens Library and see if you can find her name.  Here’s a clue….it’s on a frog.

If you’re a Barrow parent, I would love to hear how your summer reading is going with your child.  Leave a comment and tell us.  If you’re not a Barrow family, tell us how your summer reading is going.  Especially tell us if you have any great resources for summer reading or incentives.

Before I go, I wanted to share one more reading incentive you might take advantage of this summer.  Borders has a reading challenge to earn a free book.  All you have to do is read 10 books and you get a free book.  Why not take advantage of all these great prizes?  You’re already reading anyway!  Happy summer!

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Barrow Media Center 2009-2010 Year in Review

Barrow Media Center 2009-2010 Year in Review.

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Author Trailers with Animoto

Today, 4th grade presented their author studies to 3rd grade at our summer reading fair. Each 4th grader was a part of a group reading books by one author. The authors were presented to them in a power point fast-paced book talk. The students then signed up for the author they were interested in and read as many books as possible over the past 3 weeks. Next, students worked in their classrooms to create displays for their table at the summer reading fair. These tri-boards featured summaries of books, vocabulary, and more. One of the new and popular features of each table was an Animoto author trailer. Students created these as an intro to their author during a 90-minutes session with me in the media center.

During the Animoto lesson, students saw a model example and then learned about finding photographs online under the creative commons licensing. Students then planned their author trailer using a graphic organizer at tables. Finally, students went to the computer lab and used Animoto to create their final products. You can view all of their author trailers here.  You can also hear a group of students speak about using Animoto here.

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Collaboration: Performance Poetry

Today, 3rd grade visited the media center for performance poetry centers. These centers were a collaborative project planned by Shelley Olin (media paraprofessional), Glennda Shealey (3rd grade teacher), Laura Glenn (parent), and myself (Andy Plemmons, media specialist). These centers follow the huge kickoff we had last Thursday with Ishues.

During three 45-minute blocks, the third grade classes rotated through 3 out of 4 centers. Students chose the 3 centers they most wanted to experience and teachers grouped them accordingly. At Laura Glenn’s center, students explored how movement can be incorporated into poetry. She had the students interpret various poems in movement as well as try out specific types of moves. At Ms. Olin’s center, students explored the poetry of hip hop. Ms. Olin brought in her laptop and played various tracks for students as well as used the collection of poetry called “Hip Hop Speaks”. With our student teacher, Ms. Frannie, students explored videos of performance poetry and crafted a list of “noticings” from what they saw. Videos included poets such as Jill Scott, Coleman Barks, Ben Harper, and Maya Angelou. With me, students explored poems for multiple voices and read poems from books such as Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, The Friendly Four, and Big Talk.

The students will now participate in writing workshops in their classrooms to craft their own performance poetry. They will perform these poems in their classrooms on Friday for their families.

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Ishues: Performance Poetry

Today launched another collaborative project in the media center. The entire third grade is studying performance poetry. Glennda Shealey, a third grade teacher, and Shelley Olin, the media center paraprofessional, were the lead collaborators in this project. I also collaborated in a smaller role with the project.

In today’s kickoff, Ishues, a local hip-hop artist, came to share his spoken word, poetry in motion, and rap with students. He was accompanied by his manager, Life, who also offered his own spoken word and drumming to the students. Every poem, rap, and spoken word that these men offer students features a positive tone with no foul language. They delivered a message of positivity to students asking them to always believe in themselves even when others try to put you down. Ishues and Life had students participating in making sounds, drumming, interpreting movements, and speaking poetry during their presentation. The student energy was on fire by the time they left the media center.

On Monday, students will rotate through 4 centers in the media center: hip-hop lyrics, poetry & motion, poems for multiple voices, and performance poetry. The centers will be led by a parent, the media paraprofessional, one 3rd grade teacher, and myself. After these centers, students will write their own performance poetry in writing workshops and perform their poems for their families on May 14th.

View our teacher tube video of the performance

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Coleman Barks: Rumi Poetry Expert

Today, our 5th grade students had an incredible poetry session with Coleman Barks.  Mr. Barks is a leading translator of Rumi poetry.  His grandson attends our school, and we were fortunate enough to have him come in and speak with our 5th grade.

Coleman spent about 45 minutes sharing poetry, reflections on poetry, and inspirations for writing poetry.  When he reads, he takes his time and savors and considers each word as it is spoken into the air.  He asked us to just listen to each word and how the sound of the word “is what it is”.  As a boy, Coleman kept a black notebook of writing.  He collected words that were interesting to him.  With our 5th grade, he shared some lists of words and had them consider why the words were put together or how the words just sounded like what they were.

At the conclusion of his talk, Coleman  invited students to take what inspired them and write free verse poetry.  He even offered a prompt of writing praises about something:  praises of the computer or praises of peanut butter or praises of scissors.  One teacher shared with me after school that her students immediately went back to class and wrote thank you’s to Mr. Barks.  Their thank you’s where in the form of poems.

If you ever have a chance to listen to Coleman Barks share poetry, I highly encourage you to do so.  He will make you look at words, their arrangement, and their sounds in a whole new way.  You can also listen to him on Youtube here and here.

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Planning for Summer

Yes…you read that title right.  It’s almost the end of April, but how can you not already start thinking about summer?  Especially with CRCT coming to a close and the media center calendar filled with lessons and events that will lead us right into the last day of school.  It’s always important to start thinking:  What will I read this summer?  How will I read this summer?  What questions will I explore? Think of the summer as your opportunity to go on a journey that you’ve been waiting to take, but you just haven’t had time yet.  Here are a few things you might consider:

If you have other great reading or researching ideas for the summer, post a comment and share.