Inspiration from Space

Spaceflight finale: To some this may look like a sunset. But it's a new dawn. twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/…
— Chris Hadfield (@Cmdr_Hadfield) May 13, 2013

I wasn't going to post today...
   my words feel stuck inside my head.
They are rattling around in there, but
   resist every attempt to be

gathered
corralled
organized
or even seen.

Hiding in the shadows, they jeer at me.
Occasionally jumping out and shouting
   a word
   a phrase
 but disappearing before they can be ensnared.

Yet I had to share this.... and I hope that your own words can swirl and flow like the clouds beneath Commander Hadfield as he sings "Space Oddity" from the ISS, shortly before his return to Earth yesterday.

May it help to inspire us to see One World - United.
May it inspire you, your students, and the whole Earth to pursue exploration.
May it inspire us to see our world as beautiful, and fragile, and glorious.

Enjoy!

I'm participating in the Slice of Life Challenge, hosted by the amazing educators at Two Writing Teachers. Now that March is over, we write and share on Tuesdays. Stop by to see what others are posting!

Also - if you stop by and comment, and you are also slicing - PLEASE feel free to include your URL in the comments. With over 200 people slicing, it is often hard to go find your specific link on the Two Writing Teachers page, and I'd love to come read YOUR slice too!

New To Who - The Thing About Spoilers

Ack! Spoiler Alert!
(I kept this post spoiler free, for those of you who are on the beginning legs of this journey with me.)

As a new Whovian, joining the fold when the seventh season is already underway, it is hard to complain about spoilers. After all, if I really wanted to be completely surprised by the way the story progresses I should have started in 2005 with the rest of you, right?

It's pretty hard to avoid being spoiled. I follow many people on Pinterest, Tumblr, and Facebook who are all caught up. Between that and my sons who insist on reading their Character Encyclopedia AND reading the plot synopsis before watching the episodes, I've had a few peeks around the bend of the road for some major twists and turns. I knew how long Nine would be with us, knew when Ten would leave, knew what would happen to Donna, and even found out ahead of time what the amazing insight about the origin of the Face of Boe would be (I've linked a video down at the BOTTOM of this post if you'd care to see... way down in case you don't want to be spoiled).

The thing is, some of those spoilers have actually been helpful.

1) Knowing when to savor..
Since I heard early on that I would only have Eccleston for a single season, I took the time to savor each and every episode. I went back and watched the season on my own, while blogging about what I like, and I'm watching them again with my sons. Not that I completely slowed down, mind you. While going back to watch season 1 multiple times, I've also managed to get partway through season 5 in about a month.

2) Preparing for the heartbreak..
I've gotten so much more invested in the characters than I believed possible. Knowing that something bad is coming has helped me brace myself for the loss. I still bawled each and every time, but I think the shock of not knowing it was coming would have been worse.

3) Helping overly anxious kids deal with scary plotlines
I'll elaborate a bit more on this in another post, when I talk about the different ways my sons and I experienced a set of episodes (including Father's Day, Empty Child, The Doctor Dances, and Boom Town). The spoilers, though, really helped both sons deal with the creepy events that might otherwise have been too much for them. Knowing that Nancy survives was the only thing that helped my younger son make it through as the empty child wandered around murmuring, "Are you my mummy?"


Not every spoiler has been helpful, though. I know things about River and the Ponds that I wish I hadn't heard yet. It's my own darned fault. I just can't resist glancing at each gif set or meme that goes by. I try to avoid reading the ones that have characters I don't know yet... but it doesn't always work.

The power of Doctor Who is this...
      even when I know what is coming...
      I'm glued to the screen.
      My head pounds, my heart aches.
      Yet I wouldn't miss a minute.



SPOILERS BELOW (funny video about the Face of Boe spoiler) - Proceed at your own risk..

I'm participating in the Slice of Life Challenge, hosted by the amazing educators at Two Writing Teachers. Now that March is over, we write and share on Tuesdays. Stop by to see what others are posting!

Also - if you stop by and comment, and you are also slicing - PLEASE feel free to include your URL in the comments. With over 200 people slicing, it is often hard to go find your specific link on the Two Writing Teachers page, and I'd love to come read YOUR slice too!

It's Monday - May 6th

Happy "Revenge of the Si(x)th" day...

Okay, that may be pushing it, but it had to be said!

Check out the Teach Mentor Texts site to visit other teachers & readers to get ideas to make your own TBR pile!






Not a super charged reading week, but I also have many books in progress!

I celebrated a huge geeky day on Saturday - it was Free Comic Book Day and international Star Wars Day (May the Fourth be with you...). So I read some Star Wars and went to see a comic book movie. Iron Man 3 is fabulous.

I'm currently teaching a unit about "Pranks and Scams", which led me to the Fairy Ring book. (That's the hook - the kids will actually be learning a ton about critical thinking. Shhh... don't tell them!)

Currently reading:
Listening to The High King. I may need to go back to this one as a non-audiobook. The narrator isn't doing it for me.

The Key and The Flame - great new MG fantasy!

Star Wars and History (oops, and it's overdue - again)

Check out my other (minimal) posts for this week. 
I didn't go screen free, but I took advantage of the fact that many others were and limited my posting this past week.

Saturday - Kathy (the Brain Lair) and I announced our next read and shared our thoughts about the cover. Lots of great resources for Summer of the Mariposas. Come read along!

Sunday - Free Comic Book Day wrap up.

Free Comic Book Day and May the 4th..

Just a quick post about Free Comic Book / May the 4th ..

My husband decided to join us as we ventured out to the comic book store. Last year, my sons and I got there about 30 minutes before opening, and sat alone until the opening. So this year we decided to just arrive as the store opened.

Showcase Comics is in a local mall, and seems to be doing well, but wasn't super crazy busy. We walked into the store, following some red footprints to the free comic table. There were a ton of choices, and no real limit. We helped ourselves to one of each of the ones we were curious about. The only thing I was sad to NOT find was the Molly Danger / Princeless issue. I'll grab that one on Comixology (and I highly suggest you do, too!)

http://www.comixology.com/Molly-Danger-Princeless-FCBD/digital-comic/JAN130015

One of the reasons I didn't feel guilty grabbing a decent stack of free comics was that I intend to share them in my classroom. Another? We had every intention of doing a bit of shopping while there.

The photo below shows (most) of our haul. The stack under the Superman comic is the free stack. We also bought:
MoonKnight (my husband is a fan, but hasn't owned any of the volumes since he was a kid)
Star Wars #1-4 (I was so excited to see they HAD a copy of the first one!)
Emily and the Strangers #1-2. I read the first online, and I'm hoping that this whole series stays "All Ages" appropriate.
Superman - Secret Identity - this has been on my wish list for months, so I grabbed it.
Flash #2-4 (I already own 1, as I won a slew of New 52 first issues)
The HUGE pile on the left? My husband and sons decided it's time for them to really dive in and play D&D, and everything is different ...




Oh, and with GREAT product placement the shop had the first issue of Gail Simone's The Movement on display at the counter, so I couldn't resist..

I hope that my shop is open for years to come (even though we only visit periodically). We did our part!

I read several Star Wars books, though not as many as I had originally planned. I reread Darth Vader and Son and read Vader's Little Princess. I also finished Dawn of the Jedi first volume. My Star Wars and History didn't get to the top of the pile for the day (and is now late again at the library) because we went to see Iron Man 3! All in all, a fabulously geeky day with the ones I love. 

Batty About Summer of the Mariposas Cover

I'm so excited about the next Batty About Books selection! Kathy and I will begin reading:

Summer of the Mariposas
by Guadalupe Garcia McCall


This week we'll discuss the cover, our initial impressions, and I'll share some links to resources that will help guide our journey over the next few weeks. We'll be looking at this book through the lens of the Hero/Heroine's Journey as well as hoping for an excellent example of diversity in literature.

Drop by Kathy's blog - The Brain Lair - for her thoughts about the cover with my responses. Here, at the Melange, my thoughts are in purple and Kathy's responses are in blue.

Thoughts before beginning.

Cover - Let’s just start with how beautiful this cover design is, shall we? The coloring alone, with it’s shades of sunset appearance, pulled me in. I love the silhouette of the flying/floating women, especially that it seems like there are girls of various ages included. The silhouette keeps it from looking like any race/age in particular, which intrigues me. The symbol vaguely hinted in the stars looks ancient and unfamiliar to me. So that knocks out Greek, Roman, and Egyptian most likely. I love that. The empty road declares “journey”...

I love the cover also. It invites scrutiny without screaming - this belongs in fantasy, or scifi, or wherever. You are called to pick it up.  The designers seemed to care about the content of the book, especially if they are using the road. I like that you are pulled down from the stars through the girls floating until you get to the road. Or does it work the other way?

Inside flap synopsis. Sounds like urban fantasy to me - a blend of the real world with magical elements. This is one of my favorite fantasy subgenres, as it makes me feel like the realm of magic could be right there, just out of sight, in my own life. The idea that this is a tale of “sisterhood” is also appealing, as I’m tired of the single sidekick girl in a gang of boys trope in the fantasy I’ve been reading.

You say “urban fantasy”, I say “magical realism”. I would have to look back and see if I’ve read many books like this - Bigger Than a Breadbox and When You Reach Me are the most recent that come to mind, and both are favorites that I enjoy discussing with book clubs. I also am weary of the girl sidekick trope. Is there a prevalence of male fantasy writers? Is that why?

As a retelling of The Odyssey - I’m so curious about this! I’m always looking for books to “feed” to my students, though the YA status of this one means that I’ll be reading carefully to determine if it will be appropriate. My students are in love with anything even remotely related to mythology. Even if they haven’t read the Odyssey yet, they’ll know many of the references from reading other things.

Have they read the Gareth Hind’s graphic novel? Though that might be too mature also! I’m always on the lookout for retellings to help students appreciate classic literature. Since classics are a staple of English classes, many students tend to shy away from it, thinking it’s only value is as some sort of lesson. Some of my students have read that GN, because a parent bought it. I don't have it in my library because there are some images that are just a bit too much for an elementary classroom!

As a “Heroine’s Journey” - When I wrote a post for School Library Journal’s “Connect the Pop” blog about teaching the Hero’s Journey in elementary school, I mentioned that one of my students commented on whether this applies to girls. I have meant to go do more research on this topic since then, and didn’t get to it. I love the fact that we plan on looking at this book through the lens of the Heroine’s Journey!

Resources, in case you'd like to check things out and read along with us

Author's Website Guadalupe Garcia McCall

Discussion questions - Summer of the Mariposa Questions

Book talk ( with one noted spoiler)  Guadalupe Garcia McCall on La Llorona, lechuzas, and other things that go bump in the night

First five chapters Summer of the Mariposas Sample

Maria’s post on teaching the Hero’s Journey - includes links to simplified HJ page and video. 

http://blogs.slj.com/connect-the-pop/2012/07/movies/guest-post-by-maria-selke-harnessing-fandom-to-teach-the-heros-journey/

Thoughts on the Heroine’s Journey from Fangirl Cantina
http://fangirlblog.com/2012/04/the-heroines-journey-how-campbells-model-doesnt-fit/
http://fangirlblog.com/2012/03/the-heroine%E2%80%99s-journey-defining-concepts/

Come along on the journey!! 

It's Monday April 29th

Just a quickie post today... and I'm sure that many of my normal buddies won't be posting this week. It's "Screen Free Week" - but I'm not really participating. Call me a rebel.

I know that there WILL be other posts at Teach Mentor Texts, so be sure to stop by! 

Not many "wow" books this week... though I did get through two more Newbery books! That takes me to 74. 

If you'd like to see my other posts from this past week:

Tuesday - "Rites of Passage", my Slice of Life post
Thursday - "New to Who - Geekling Edition" A favorite post from the week, where I reflect on what my boys think of Doctor Who so far!
Sunday "Batty About Colossus Rises" - Kathy and I wrap up our discussion.

Batty About Books concludes Colossus Rises

It's the final post for The Colossus Rises!

Check out our first few posts here:
Intro
Part One
Part Two

As always, my thoughts are in purple and Kathy's in blue. Be sure to visit her blog - The Brain Lair - for the other half of the conversation!

The End!

I’m going to stick with a 3 star rating on this one, even though my son loved it. I’m starting a science fiction mini unit with fourth grade readers, and one of them grabbed this right out of my hand the moment I held it up. What sold her? The mythological style of cover and the Riordan blurb. I really want to hear what she has to say when she finishes. She’s a voracious reader, but I don’t know that fourth and fifth graders who are so incredibly voracious are as picky about little plot points or flat characters as we can be.

Which is why this will have a prominent spot in the library now that I’m done with it.  I didn’t love Insignia and that hasn’t been in the library since I book talked it months ago.  I’m sure this will delight my fantasy readers who are looking for waiting on the next Riordan.  

The story continued at a quick pace, but I still found myself able to put it down without feeling drawn back to the book. This may be another good example of a book that needs to be read in one quick gulp, so that the plot holes and oddities aren’t as glaring. What the heck was up with that orb? He could tuck it under his arm, but it was also big enough for multiple people to hold so they could fly?

Right? I said the same thing! They could stand around and hug it while flying then it was small again. He didn’t have a clue what he was doing with it on one page then he could control it the next. I don’t think I would have been able to sit and read this in one gulp.  I wasn’t that into it.  Like you, it was easy to put down until I needed to write about it.  I also found that I could read it and then immediately forget what I was reading.  I will be watching student’s reactions closely. May hand deliver it to someone for some immediate feedback.

I continued to have trouble visualizing some of the things along the way. Maybe a GN version of the story would fit better for me? I didn’t enjoy Witch and Wizard by Patterson, but while reading the GN with my son I’m enjoying it more.

Never.mention.that.name.in.my.presence. I have in intense, and borderline irrational, dislike of that person. Though he did found Read.Kiddo.Read. But, yes, no matter how much detail Lerangis supplied, I could not picture these events.  I really wanted pictures.  And why did the monks have wet paint in their hair?? They’d been around for a long time according to the librarian (a totally unnecessary side trip).

SciFi or Fantasy?

Okay, now that the book is over I’m going to call this one a ‘cross genre’ read. There are definitely places where the explanations are scientific, but there are also mythical creatures that aren’t explained through science. There were a few spots when the science took the spotlight - enough that I did put it with my science fiction choices for my fourth grade unit. Especially on page 255 when Bhegad described how the fissure doesn’t fit with the laws of “classical” physics, but that they could fit with newer theories. I’d love to find some upper elementary resources to tie into this idea.

I’m going to keep it in Science Fiction for now. I don’t think the science “explanations” were anything detailed enough. I’m going by their “superpowers”.

Overall Impressions:

I wasn’t dying to chat about the ending, which usually means I didn’t feel like I had a lot to say. I only had a few sticky notes along the way. I’m still not falling in love with the characters, and I’m not dying to know what happens next.

At this point, I have no desire to continue with the series, either. Though, if he’d included an excerpt in the back of this one, I would have read it.  That might be something the publisher should do when the pb is released.

I do think Colossus Rising will find an audience of students who will enjoy it. As we mentioned last week, I think the 39 Clues crowd will enjoy this adventure, and it’s a step up from the length of those books. It could be a great “bridge” read into other books like this that have more character depth. So far, it’s also a good choice for my younger advanced readers, who need longer books but aren’t ready for darker series. In that light, I’m book talking it and putting it prominently on my shelf.

This reminds me that I didn’t like the 39 Clues until I found the audiobooks. I would have abandoned that series after book 1, even though it features my top authors: Korman, Riordan, Park, Smith. I will feature this one too. I love the idea of it being the bridge between 39 Clues and other books. Students need that.   

Have you read books you weren't excited about, only to have students adore them? (Pendragon is one of those for me)