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Showing posts from June, 2012

Using Wordle for Revision

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Thank to Teachers Write's Thursday prompt suggestion, ( check it out here ) I took my current story and plopped the text into Wordle. A few interesting things jumped out at me. 1) I use the word "one" a lot. I need to go back through the story and see if this is indicative of poor writing choices or a growing theme in the story. 2) "Just" jumps right out at me. That's something that will require some revision. This first image is the word cloud created by the main body of my story so far. I'm pleased with one part of it... check out the right side of the image... see it? "Just go Back". This chunk is not quite 2000 words, so it will be interesting to see how the cloud changes as I add to the tale. The second cloud is from the shorter piece of the story with the girls in the library. I've seen and used Wordle before - but never as a revision tool. I'll use this with my students as they write. It's amazing what a pic

Wordless Wednesday - Visitor

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How building a bistro set is like writing.

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Every Tuesday I post a "Slice of Life". Sometimes it is fiction, and sometimes real life. Visit Two Writing Teachers for more fabulous writing! Okay, I know that many of you were hoping that I’d have another piece of my story done.  Honestly, so was I! While I have had a few plotting breakthrough moments (apparently my brain is wired to do my best thinking in the shower), they aren’t fleshed out enough to share. Instead, I give you the crazy way my brain works in the summer. Behold: “How building a bistro set is like writing.” Having the “right tools” is helpful, but not necessary . The scrap of metal they provide is like having post it notes and a stubby pencil shoved at the bottom of your purse. It does the job – helps you complete the task – but your fingers are sore by the end. Starting with a “big picture” guides the process. Let’s be honest here, not everyone follows the directions provided (I’m looking at you, honey). Some of us, though, requi

It’s Monday – June 25th

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It has been an incredible reading week. My highly competitive nature kicked up a notch when summer throwdown began. Thanks to Teach Mentor Texts for hosting this each week! I’ll keep it short here… Graphic Novels / Comics Babymouse:   I continued my quest to read them all! Love love love the geeky references! Cupcake Tycoon               Skater Girl           Mad Scientist Queen of the World       Dragonslayer     Monster Mash Lunch Lady –  I read 2 - the summer camp shakedown & the bake sale bandit  Fun tales, silly stories.  Dee still annoys me a lot, though. Flying Beaver Brothers – I read two. Evil Penguin Plan and Fishy Business. Cute and silly, but not on my favorite list. Rapunzel’s Revenge – Loved it! I’ve always harbored a secret desire to write a story for Gothel. I found this reignited my curiosity about her character. Early Chapter Books Marty McGuire Digs Worms! – Messner. Wow, this was wonderful! Move it to the top of you

SciFi Summer Update

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Why Sci Fi? Build curious, critical thinkers. My three month mission – to explore fabulous new titles, seek out new authors and new must read recommendations, to boldly go where I haven’t gone before. Oh, and to reread some old favorites along the way.  I know many of you are dying to know what I’ve found, so this update includes the first few weeks of my Sci Fi Summer reading. First Light – Rebecca Stead Two storylines collide as a boy visits Greenland with his parents on a scientific expedition and a girl longs to explore the "wider world" and leave the confines of her village below the ice.   I really enjoyed this story, though I would classify it as more adventure and less science fiction. The one thing that disappointed me was that she didn't expand more on the science fiction aspect. I REALLY wanted more to the mitochondrial DNA aspect of the tale, and how that plays out.   This is my second Stead book, and I can see the fingerprints of L&

Wordless Wednesday - Protected

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Old building in my town

Moments - a discovery

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Teachers Write is a virtual writing camp for teachers and librarians this summer Join us at the Slice of Life , hosted by Two Writing Teachers This is a piece of the larger story I'm working on, that I've posted over the past few weeks . I'm not sure exactly where this quilt square will go in the overall order of the story, but I am pleased with the ideas within it. I will have to go back to the other pieces to tweak some things, since this story gave me some new insights into the characters of Cassandra and Meghan and how their story is unfolding. This is a first draft... I need to go back and "craft" it more...  Today's scene is the result of beautiful serendipity. As part of Teachers Write, I wanted to write to the prompt "your character in the library". I searched a bit online to figure out what Meghan might like to read, and came across the books you'll see in the story below. This is a flashback as Meghan walks in

It’s Monday – June 18th

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Well, well, well – June is a little more than halfway done. This was my first (almost) full week of summer break. I had to go into my room on Monday, but I got to head home around noon. I spent a lot of time reading (and writing – thanks to Teachers Write!) this week. Continued thanks to Teach Mentor Texts for hosting this each week.  Newbery I was lagging on the Newbery last week, but I snuck in a few this week. Before I go into that, here’s an interesting article for those of us that point out the racist/misogynist issues in these old (and some newer) books. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/magazine/how-to-read-a-racist-book-to-your-kids.html Many interesting points about the decisions we make about how we discuss these stereotypes and other items with the kids as we read books and watch movies with them. Johnny Tremain – I’m a big fan of historical fiction, and I do like this book. Yes, Johnny is a bit of a jerk. I like him anyway. He starts out as a ty

Cow Boy review

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“Justice ain’t got no age” is the perfect tag line for Cow Boy, a new all ages comic about a ten year old boy in the Wild West.  As the introductory page explains, “Boyd’s exploits ain’t for those with weak bellies and genteel dispositions..” Good thing I don’t know any kids like that! Written by Nate Cosby and illustrated by Chris Eliopoulos, and published by Archaia, Cow Boy will appeal to kids and adults alike. The Cow Boy himself, Boyd, is introduced as he heads off to capture his first bounty, Dub Linney. As the storyline unfolds, we learn that each bounty on his list is actually a member of his family, and Dub is his father. Boyd’s sense of justice overrides any family ties, though, and his fierce independence requires him to take them in, one by one. Boyd’s voice shines through from the very first line, “Bounty huntin’s simple. A man done wrong. You get that man.” I found myself reading his words out loud, just to hear him speaking. His voice was incredibly appea

Batty About Dragon Castle - Ending

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Once again, welcome to Batty About Books. This week Kathy (aka @thebrainlair) and I are chatting about the ending of Dragon Castle by Bruchac. As always, my thoughts are in purple and Kathy's are in blue. Check out her blog - The Brain Lair - for her thoughts with my responses! Please, chime in with your own thoughts and ponderings about the book or any questions we raise.  Dragon Castle – Onward to the Ending! Well, it turns out I was wrong about several of my guesses for the ending of the book. I’m okay with that, though. Thinking about what will happen makes me happy, and being proven wrong (as long as the real ending makes sense) is fun. It reminds me of the fact that over all the years of reading Agatha Christie novels, I only figured out the actual murderer once. I was incredibly proud of that one time, I’ll be honest. Kathy: I always felt Agatha wasn’t meant to be figured out.  That particular style seemed to call for the author explaining all that you missed. That’s w

Wordless Wednesday - Deserted

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Moments continued

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Join us at the Slice of Life each Tuesday, hosted by Two Writing Teachers I struggled with the next piece of the story (again). I feel like I'm starting to know where it's going, and I spent a lot of time this week envisioning pieces of it and jotting down notes. I decided I had enough to justify posting it today for my Slice, though only barely. If you've read the first parts of it on other weeks, you can skip the parts in blue. The new material is in black.  Every life is filled with moments. Mostly, these moments are ordinary. Fill the dishwasher. Discover that you drank the last of the milk before noticing that the recipe that needs to go in the oven right now requires a third of a cup. Scrambling to find someone to bring to the holiday party for work so that no one gives you those pitying, “she’s always alone”, looks yet again. Empty the dishwasher. Grab a bowl of dry cereal to eat in front of the television, rather than venture out to the Indian tak

Sci Fi Summer – Old Classics

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I’m looking forward to the lazy days of summer. I’ll be sleeping in – at least as much as my young sons will allow. I’ll be honing my writing craft – participating in the #TeachersWrite virtual writing camp hosted by Kate Messner.  I’ll also be participating in the first ever SciFi Summer event! Okay, so that last little bit is entirely self-created, but just as important. I’m determined to locate, read, and write about some excellent science fiction that has been published in the past 10-15 years. Before I dive into that challenge, though, I wanted to put in my plug for some of my favorite “old school” novels that I highly recommend. You don’t HAVE to read them…. (Okay, yes, you do.) Middle Grade / Young Adult Madeleine L’Engle was one of my introductions into science fiction, and her books are helping me give my own sons an entry point into the genre. I love how she folds together science, fantasy, and the struggles children face in growing up and trying

It’s Monday – What are you reading? June 11th

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Big thanks once again to Teach Mentor Texts for hosting this each week.  First, let me welcome you to my SciFi Summer! My goal is to seek out new life and new civilizations…. No, wait, that’s Star Trek… Seriously, though, I adore science fiction and I want to have newer titles I can recommend to those around me. I’ll be posting an “old classics” post to recommend some of my favorite older titles, but this week I started reading some more recently released books. I’ll be posting the titles in a separate post that also includes other information… First Light – Rebecca Stead Two storylines collide as a boy visits Greenland with his parents on a scientific expedition and a girl longs to explore the "wider world" and leave the confines of her village below the ice.   Old Man’s War – Scalzi   The human race is struggling to snatch up worlds to colonize, but it’s a constant struggle for survival out there. Where can Colonial Defense find eager new re