Category: Litropolis

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The Book as Mentor

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If we dig deep enough into the heart of a story, dig to its very core, I believe we will always spark curiosity. And when we press into that curiosity, we often discover a treasure to inform our own life. A good mentor leads us by the hand on an exploration of discovery that will make us a richer person.

As I am passing out the books and discovery guides, I introduce them to the story, “Allegra Leah Shapiro has been selected as a finalist in a prestigious violin competition and this stirs up all sorts of inner conflict.” 

Why does summer have to be so hectic? 

What does it mean to be half Jewish and half gentile? 

Why is soprano, Diedre, crying?

How can I be a twelve-year-old a violinist and have time to be a friend?

Why is my brother so annoying?

How has Mr. Trouble lost his song?

What is this gift from Bubbe Raisa?

And what of this great-grandmother I’ve been named after?

Will I be able to dig deep enough for Mozart?

Can I undo what has been done?

“The Mozart Season,” I tell them, “is a quiet story, one filled with resounding music that just might change your life.” I leave it there, hand them the book and tell them I am looking forward to what will unfold.

Five months later, I gather my group together to congratulate our writing and visual art students who were recognized regionally by Scholastic Alliance for Young Artists & Writers this year, plus two high school students who had work published in an international online literary journal.          

As I am handing out the awards, it dawns on me that four of the award winning projects began with the writers and artists responding to The Mozart Season and blossomed into something imaginatively original.

A great book can be a mentor.

Here you can view a short film inspired by the book as well as a beautiful piece of writing by a 6th grade student.

 

Gurgle gurgle, trickle trickle, swish swish swish, everything is music. The bubbling fountain sings a heart shattering song while the wind hums a chilling melody. Rain jolts in, dancing on its stony stage.  He stares into the shame of another day, where bold shapes of towering buildings blot out the rising sun. Glass windows taunt the morning dew. The dense noise of honking horns and blaring radios submerge as the day grows old, life in the city. It’s all a blur–work, school, play, eat, sleep–never ending cycle. Those who can’t keep up are thrown to the side. There are no second chances in the city. Money is what matters, money money money. Without money you can’t survive, no need for creativity in the city. So he has no purpose, The man, his music, and a violin.

ead the entire story by clickng here: Download The Green Violinist

Want to inspire your students to dig deeper? Consider exploring The Mozart Season (grades 5-8) using our Blackbird & Company Literature Discovery Guide.

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Perloo the Bold

When my youngest son, Søren, and his literature circle buddies began reading Perloo the Bold, by AVI his imagination was captured. Perloo, the protagonist, is a peaceful, fairly introverted scholar much like my son. I think they hit it off from the get go.

So in this story, Perloo has been chosen to succeed Jolaine as leader of the furry underground creatures called Montmers. When Jolaine dies and her evil son seizes control of the burrow, Perloo must step up to the plate.

During the second week of thinking deeply about the story, my quiet, unassuming son slipped under the loft where we keep our overflow art supplies and came into the study arms loaded with a box of assorted Fimo clay. He got to work conquering his idea.

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When I asked him about the project he told me he was making a claymation film of Perloo the Bold. Søren spent many hours cleverly crafting characters and posing them in one position, then another using his camera to capture the motion.

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Midway in his movie making he set the project aside, went back to the art cabinet, this time for paper and colored pencils and began work on a set of original proverbs complete with ornately illuminated letters.

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With this task complete, Søren resumed progress on his little film. When the filming was complete, he enlisted his older brother, Taylor to compose original music for his piece. He was so proud when Taylor was done and his movie was complete. When I made one last suggestion, that Søren make a title slide, he knew just what to do, “I will make the title fade in, Perloo… the Bold. Yes, that’s it.” In a matter of seconds the slide was complete. Most fascinating of all, at least to me, was the strategic placement of the slide that was seemingly intuitive. He did not put the slide up front, but a couple frames into the movie to line up with a significant change in the rhythm of the music. Fantastic!

 

Søren’s creative response to this book not only demonstrates his deep understanding, but that his critical creative thinking skills are alive and well.

Sometimes it is the quiet, unassuming creatures that save the kingdom. Pondering this possibility, no doubt, inspired my son.

– Kim

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Love is…

Books

Love is a mouse with a big name, Wolfgang Amadeus Mouse, whose favorite pastime is listening to Mrs. Honeybee play the piano.

Love is Miss Agnes who packs away the old textbooks, hangs up the children’s brightly colored artwork, plays opera music, and brings stories to life.

Love is Perloo the peaceful scholar who has been chosen as leader of the furry underground creatures called the Montmers.

Love is Eben McAllister searching for Seven Wonders in seven days in Sassafras Springs.

Love is when Rose discovers that life with seven boy cousins isn’t quite what she expected, it’s so much more.

Love is a Ms. Marcus who teaches Lonnie a whole new way to tell the world about his jumbled life.

Happy Hearts Day Everyone!!!!

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There’s Another Kind of Treasure on the Island

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When they asked me, "Would you go to Treasure Island?"

I said, "Why wouldn't I? I mean, who doesn't want to follow Jim to that small abandoned island entrusted to protecting a treasure put there hundreds of years ago by pirates? I have been before, found at least seven pieces of gold. Sure, I would go. I would go again and again and again!"

'Tis true mateys, Robert Lewis Stevenson masterfully framed this work as an adventurous tale of piracy, but the truth is you have to go to the island to discover its true treasure.

– Kim

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The image above is of a model made for the final project of our Treasure Island Literature Discovery Guide. Visit the island with your students and see what treasure you can find!

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Library Love

Librarybooks

The public library is a magical place for me and my three year-old—a wonderland of books. The stacks towering with every subject (trucks and trains are a current favorite), every size, every thickness, every color. And free for the taking (not counting late fees). We make the journey about once a month and I love my boy's enthusiasm for our new aquisitions. There's just something so fun about walking out with an armfull of new stories to explore, it's almost like Christmas. He carries them himself (he's such a "big boy") and thumbs through each one on the drive home because he just can't wait. I love that he loves the library and that he loves books—we're off to a good educational start I think!

– Tracey

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Happy Birthday Robert McCloskey!

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"ku-plink, ku-plank, ku-plunk"…

Onomatopoeia! When you read these words, don't you instantly see the little tin bucket in the hands of Sal and hear it filling up with blueberries? Or when you're at the park and see a momma duck with her ducklings, don't you think about Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack and their adventures in the Boston Public Garden? Thanks to Robert McCloskey and his captiviating, classic stories, Blueberries for Sal and Make Way for Ducklings, I do!

McCloskey was born on September 15, 1914 in Hamilton, Ohio. At eighteen he moved to Boston on a scholarship from the Vesper George Art School, then later moved to NYC to study at the National Academy of Design. I find it interesting that he considered himself an artist and visual storyteller before a writer and in his own words, he reveals, “It is just sort of an accident that I write books. I really think up stories in pictures and just fill in between the pictures with a sentence or a paragraph or a few pages of words.” Here's to happy "accidents!"

McCloskey wrote and illustrated seven other must-read books including Lentil, Homer Price, One Morning In Maine, Centerburg Tales, Time of Wonder, and Burt Dow, Deep Water Man. Burt Dow is a personal favorite for it's Jonah-esque inspired story, brilliant use of 60s pop color, and Jackson Pollock style paint drippings!

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Mccloskey_bnd_LRG copy From Blackbird & Company:

Great stories have the ability to instruct, inpsire and enlighten and Blackbird & Company's Discovery Guides provide a rich framework for incorporating literature into your core curriculum.

Explore and celebrate Robert McCloskey with your young children by using our Earlybird Author Unit. It is a six week guide, designed for 1st and 2nd graders that takes them through five of his classic stories while working through entry-level literature discovery exercises, complete with vocabulary, comprehension, character analysis, journaling and creative activities.

For your 3-5th grade children, our Homer Price Literature Discovery Guide provides a comic, nostalgic romp through McCloskey's small town America with the one-and-only Homer Price. In six short, imaginative tales, we follow Homer on his hilarious escapades, where challenges most certainly arise…but where things seem to always turn out ok!

For more on McCloskey listen to a short interview with him from the The Horn Book Radio Review.

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Coming Together Over Books

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Plain and simple, book clubs are fun!

Nothing seems to fosters the higher-level thinking that allows children to form ideas and opinions about real life, more than hashing through a story in a discussion circle. There's something about listening and talking things through with friends that stimulates the mind to process and absorb without the added pressure of a graded, written response.

Using Blackbird & Company literature discovery guides in our co-op school provides the perfect framework for a weekly book club because there are discussion
questions built into every section. There are questions designed to
spark student’s memories, trigger their interpretations, and get them
thinking beyond the page about how a story can relate to their actual
lives.

Consider the following when putting a group together:

COMFORT & SIZE
A real book club should be comfy and fun! Gathering in a comfortable area, whether in chairs or sitting on the floor, helps set discussion time aside as special and relaxed. Groups of 6-8 work best for allowing everyone to participate. Treats are always a welcome addition too!

READING ABILITY Inviting students with similar reading skills allows the group to coalesce. As students begin to feel comfortable with their group even reluctant speakers will share what’s on their mind.

CONSISTENCY
Having a regular scheduled time each week helps students pace through their reading and builds anticipation.

DIRECTION
Be inspired by student responses and guide the discussion where it wants to go naturally. Don’t worry if things get a little off track as long as students are thinking creatively. Often one question will lead to another resulting in lively and interesting connections.

FLEXIBILTY
Feel free to use the questions creatively. For example, assign each question to a different student for presentation to the group; allow two groups to take sides and debate the pros and cons of a particular question; or allow students to role play their response to a question.

As you're planning for the coming school year, think about making a place for your children and their friends to come together over great books! It can help create passionate, thinking readers and it's sure to breath fresh life into your language arts studies!