I’m New Here
It’s September, the start of a new school year. I have no apples for you teachers, but I do have the perfect back-to-school picture book to teach empathy and point of view: I’m New Here by Anne Sibley O’Brien.
Maria, Jin, and Fatimah are new to their schools and to the United States. Through their stories, we get a glimpse of what it’s like to hear a new language, to see a new alphabet, and to try to pick up a new set of classroom expectations. “Back home… I knew just what to do.” All of your students can relate to the unsettled feeling of a first day in a new classroom. With I’m New Here, you can expand upon that feeling to help your students empathize with people who are new to our country. I love that Anne Sibley O’Brien not only shows what it’s like to be an immigrant, but how we all learn from each other. On one page, O’Brien writes from Jin’s point of view, “I am learning from others. And they are learning from me.” Jin asks a little boy, “How to spell cloud?” The boy responds, “C-L-O-U-D.” Jin holds up a piece of paper with Korean characters on it. “This is cloud in Korean.” “Cool.”
Michelle A., a gifted kindergarten teacher of English as a Second Language students and a remarkable friend, told me about Step Inside thinking. After you’ve read through the book, ask your students to “step inside” a character and imagine that they are Maria, Jin, or Fatimah. Students can write and draw from the perspective of the character, describing what was a challenge and what helped. You can turn this book into a readers’ theater script for students to perform, or have students take on the roles in an impromptu performance as you reread the book. As a class, you can talk and write about what you all can do to help a new student feel welcome. Whether or not you gain a new student during the year, all of your students will gain a wider, more empathetic perspective from I’m New Here.
Read More27 Books You Can Use This Year
During the “Moving Beyond the Basics… Reaching for More” conference on Aug. 11 at the Byron Center High School in Michigan, a roomful of teachers and I read through boxes of books. (Thank you, Annemarie Johnson and Kate DiMeo, for inviting me to share informational picture books and to talk about kids’ book publishing.) ((Have I mentioned that my first picture book, GROUNDHOG’S DILEMMA, will come out this December 1 from Charlesbridge?)) After browsing and brainstorming, we generated a list of 27 books with lesson ideas we can use this year in kindergarten through third grade. Feel free to share it!
| Title | Author | Illustrator | Lesson Ideas |
| Alphabeasties and Other Amazing Types | Werner Sharon | Forss, Sarah | alliteration, identifying letters in different fonts – visual learners |
| Aunt Ant Leaves through the Leaves | Coffelt, Nancy | homonyms/homophones | |
| Bee Dance | Chrustowski,Rick | vocabulary, informational reading, chronological text structure, debate if it is “narrative” or “informative” | |
| The Best of Times | Tang, Greg | Briggs, Harry | multiplication in third grade, rules for each and tables |
| Boy, Were We Wrong About the Weather! | Kudlinkski, Kathleen V. | Serra, Sebastia | compare/contrast what we once thought to what we now think, text features, weather in first grade, landforms in second |
| Families | Rotner, Shelley | Rotner, Shelley | “all about” writing at a simple level = great mentor text |
| Greedy Apostrophe: a cautionary tale | Carr, Jan | Long, Ethan | grammar – ways to use an apostrophe |
| Henry’s Map | Elliot, David | mapping skills lesson, pictures with labels = text feature, mentor tex for writing | |
| How To Surprise a Dad | Reagan, Jean | Wildish, Lee | mentor text for “how to” writing that goes beyond basic instruction format, mentor text for incorporating all five senses in details |
| In Mary’s Garden | Kugler, Carson | Kugler, Tina | compare/contrast with “The Most Magnificient Thing” |
| The King Who Rained | Gwynne, Fred | homonyms/homophones/word play, figurative language | |
| Lucky and Stu vs. the Mikanikal Man | Van Wright, Cornelius | reading for pleasure! Friendship themes and good “boy” book | |
| Math Fables | Tang, Greg | Cahoon, Heather | number sense for youngers |
| Me, Too! | Dunklee, Annika | Smith, Lori Joy | opinion writing: “Reason #1”, friendship story to discuss |
| Messy Jesse | Bowles, Paula | writing prompt, “what I’m good at”, punctuation lesson | |
| Nino Wrestles the World | Morales, Yuyi | using context to decode unfamiliar words, appreciation of other languages/cultures | |
| One Boy | Seeger, Laura Vaccaro | finding words within words | |
| One Word from Sophia | Averbeck, Jim | Ismail, Yasmeen | persuasive writing, writing for an audience, text features like glossary |
| Ostriches Are Not Pets! | Niver, Heather Moore | persuasive writing | |
| Over in the Wetlands | Rose, Caroline Starr | Dunlavey, Rob | vocabulary – word choice and author’s craft, context clues, inferring, how do animals prepare for storms compared to how people prepare? |
| Rufus Goes to School | Griswell, Kim T. | Gorbachev, Valeri | use at the beginning of the school year, shows importance of learning how to read, point out persuasive reasons why pigs should (not) go to school |
| Simple Machines | Adler, David A. | Raff, Anna | use as a mentor text for flip books, compare/contrast, nonfiction with illustrations and not photos, text features, easy nonfiction that’s not about animals |
| Speed, Speed, Centipede! | Dahl, Michael | Trover, Zachary | early math counting by tens, shows 10 frames |
| This Plus That: Life’s Little Equations | Rosenthal, Amy Krouse | Corace, Jen | writing with math symbols |
| Water is Water | Paul, Miranda | Chin, Jason | “show, don’t tell”, art tells story as much as text does |
| Wumbers | Rosenthal, Amy Krouse | Lictenheld, Tom | lesson on speech bubbles |
| Zero the Hero | Holub, Joan | Lictenheld, Tom | higher math concepts, friendship, lesson on speech bubbles |
The Most Magnificent Thing
The perfectionist in me was upset to have missed posting last month, so as a reminder to be more patient with myself, I pulled out the very wise, very magnificent book, The Most Magnificent Thing by Ashley Spires.
The unnamed girl has an idea for a magnificent thing. She uses all kinds of cool tools like hammers, screwdrivers and wrenches (rock on, tool girl) but she just can’t make in reality the fabulous idea in her head. She works and reworks it, but “(h)er hands feel too BIG to work, and her brain is too full of all the not-right things.” So many kiddos can relate to this feeling, and to the ensuing meltdown. Her assistant (her dog) suggests she take a walk, where the girl gets a break and a bit of perspective. In the end, she’s able to see that a part of her original creation can be reworked into a wholly new, magnificent thing. LOVE!
This is a wonderful book to share at the beginning of next school year. You and your students can discuss the universal feelings of frustration during the creative process, comment on how the girl worked through her angst, and come up with ways you can handle it in your classroom (your Self Smart kids excelling with Key Ideas and Details? Score!) Then, get out recycled stuff like paper towel tubes and fun art stuff like pipe cleaners and challenge your kiddos to build their own most magnificent thing. Kids can write and draw plans before building, and write descriptions of what they’ve made at the end. (What is that, exactly? It’s magnificent!) Assisting others and taking breaks are encouraged as part of the process.
Bringing tools like screwdrivers into the classroom can be tricky, but one successful way to do it is to have a “take apart” center. Ask for donations of broken electronics and small tools, or scour your local thrift shops. It’s great for fine motor skills to unscrew those little screws, and examining the inner workings of an old alarm clock is real-life science!
I have a really exciting reason for why I missed May’s post, and I’m glad the ink is on the contract so I can share it with everyone now: along with my picture book, GROUNDHOG’S DILEMMA, my second book will be published in December, 2015, too! DRAW WITH A VENGEANCE is a grown-up book, and since it comes from my snarky side, I’m using a pseudonym – Helen Wrath. For those of you kid-lit lovers who enjoy a bit of dark humor, I hope you’ll check it out!
The Poetry of Firebird
Because poetry doesn’t have to rhyme, because poetry can tell a story, because the best poetry lights sparks of hope inside of us – this is my choice for April’s Month of Poetry.
Firebird is written by Misty Copeland and illustrated by Christopher Myers. A little girl sees ballet soloist Misty Copeland and thinks “the space between you and me/ is longer than forever”. Misty lets the girl know that with hard work and dedication “we’ll make the night sky our starry curtain/ the moon our silver spotlight/ as we spin across the planets/ pirouetting tightly as the curls on our heads”. Misty Copeland is the second African American soloist in the history of the American Ballet Theater, and her uplifting poem-story is perfectly enhanced by Christopher Myers’ gorgeous art.
The poem is written in two voices – the little girl and Misty Copeland. After you share this book for the sheer pleasure of it, talk about the voices of the poem. (You’ll be rockin’ Craft & Structure as well as Range of Reading.) It can be read as literally two people, or we can see it metaphorically, as if the young girl is talking to her future self or as if Misty is talking to her past, younger self. Encourage your students to write poems where they can write as their “today” selves talking to themselves in the future or the past. Because poetry is meant to be shared aloud, hold a poetry slam where students can read their poems aloud, taking on both parts or asking a friend to read a voice. Who knows what future dancers, scientists, and presidents may come to life in your classroom?
Also, if you’re on the lookout for an Orthodox Easter book (which will be celebrated this Sunday), I recommend Catherine’s Pascha: A Celebration of Easter in the Orthodox Church written by Charlotte Riggle and illustrated by R.J. Hughes. For those who celebrate Passover, Easter, and/or the coming of Spring, I wish you all joy and a sense of hopeful renewal!
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Guess Who Is Out of the Den?
