ajswrite

My oldest daughter and I set off for Beaver Lake State Park in Baldwinsville, New York for our third annual bird watch on Monday morning.  We have been taking part in The Great Backyard Bird Count for the last three years.  In fact, the first year that we participated she presented our findings at a science fair at her school.  This year, we were out to see as many birds as possible and also get some great pictures.

The lake was frozen, which was amazing because this has been one of the mildest winters on record in Central New York.  But the frozen lake did not deter us from some excellent bird watching.  We found a great spot and set the timer for some good bird watching.  In fifteen minutes, this is what we saw:







Our favorite!

Wacky Wednesday - I was out for an unbelievable afternoon run when I came across some wild turkeys.  Yes, four wild turkeys that had lost their way and ended up in the suburbs.  The weather was perfect for running (cloudy, a little rain, and temps in the high 40s), and I was running 7:00-7:30 splits.  I was about a mile away from home (7 miles into the run) when I ran into the turkeys.

I was unsure of what to do.  Do I slow down and wait to see what they do?  Or do I keep on running with hopes of getting home in a little over an hour (8 miles)?  I choose to keep on running and my new running friends followed.  At the time, I was so nervous that the turkeys were going to attack me.  As I ran the first ten meters with them, I was thinking if I have ever read of turkeys attacking a runner.  I could not think of any such news article, so I kept on running.  This is when the unbelievable happened.  They ran along side of me (actually a little in front of me) for almost .2 miles.  The entire time we were running together, I was picturing what someone watching might be seeing, and I was wishing that I had my camera.

After .2 miles of running with me, the turkeys gave up and headed into someone's front yard (looking for food or a small forest or wooded area, which was located behind the house).  I laughed the whole way home and credited those four turkeys for my finishing time - 8 miles in 1:01:19.  Some have run with the bulls, which I can't say I've done, but now I can say I have run with the turkeys.

Writing - Due to the vacation, I have had tons of time for writing, which I desperately needed.  I have another planned night of writing ahead of me (well with a little break to watch Modern Family).

I wish that I have been napping since January 30th, my last post, but unfortunately I have been very busy at school (in fact, not sleeping enough).  We have been Skyping, preparing for World Read Aloud Day, and reading many good books.  I have been preparing for my teacher evaluation (under the new requirements), heading a survey about our Character Education program at school, and attempting to find time to write.

Some exciting news about World Read Aloud Day 2012.  I was able to organize 20 teachers to read in each other's classrooms on March 7th.  I sent out invitations to 42 teachers, so I almost got half of them (with about five emails persuading/begging people to participate) to read.  You would think that all 42 would read, but with the new teaching requirements many teachers are feeling the pressure in the classroom.

I hope that everyone enjoys listening to a book on World Read Aloud Day.

After a debate with a colleague about book censorship, I picked up a book that I have not read in a long time.  I also checked out the same book for my colleague to read - hoping to change her ideas about censorship.  Anyways, I am thrilled that I read Fahrenheit 451.


I love this book!  Not only did I enjoy the read, but it also reminded me of the time that I fell in love with books.  I can't wait for my own children to read this book.

I am currently reading a lovely book entitled Glory Be.  If you have not read this book, it is a must read.  I received my copy in the mail on Thursday, started it on Saturday, and will finish it today.  It has so many lessons for middle school aged kids to learn.

Enjoy this gem!

The beginning of February began with an awesome Skype with Dr. Anthony Aveni.  Dr. Aveni wrote the non-fiction book entitled The First Americans.  The First Americans describe the earliest Native American tribes that inhabited North America (specifically, the United States area) centuries ago.  The students asked over a dozen questions during the 35 minute interview and he had their attention the entire time.  Dr. Aveni is a professor at Colgate, and he showed that he was born to teach with his wonderful interaction with the sixth grade students.  The students all want to be scientists and authors
now - nothing wrong with that!

Fourth Skype of the school year and another amazing opportunity for the students!

This week is February vacation at school, so I am hoping to get ahead on school work and writing.  I am also hoping to enjoy some family time playing and reading with the kids.  When we return to school, we will be reading Tuck Everlasting as a class and listening to Mockingbird as a read aloud.  We will be writing our persuasive writing piece - my favorite writing unit.

I hope that everyone has a great final week of February - Spring is coming!

We focus on reading and writing everyday in class, but for the last few weeks, we have spent more time reading than writing.  We have been reading, analyzing, summarizing, and reflecting on fiction and non-fiction (all good stuff), but my passion is with teaching writing.  This week, we will tackle the first step in writing a research paper, which will be a compare and contrast essay.  The students will be using the note cards filled with information that they collected during research, creating a thesis statement to define the essay (and let the reader know what their inquiry question was while collecting data), organizing the information into an essay that makes sense, and writing a bibliography page for the sources they used during the research project.  I am giddy just writing about it!

The kids have spent the last few days researching the Taino, Woodland Peoples, Hopewell (Ohio Mound builders), Anasazi, Timuca, Cahokia, and Kwakiutl.  They will be comparing two of these Native American tribes, which they will also be reading about in The First Americans.  Today, we read about the Woodland People.  The idea that these people (Oneida, Cayuga, and Onondaga Nation) inhabited our area (Central New York) got the kid's attention.  Our school has won a few lacrosse state championships, so the fact that these people were the first to play lacrosse was very interesting to them.  "Can we read ahead?" is what they were asking today - I love it, especially because it is non-fiction!


This is a must read!

Writing Journey: My own writing journey took a strange turn at the end of last week.  Without thinking about it too much, although I spent nights on my query letter, I sent my middle grade novel manuscript to an agent.  Something felt right about this specific agent, so I sent my manuscript to her.  I am sure that when I get the rejection I will regret sending it off (I had no plans to send it anywhere), but I could not help myself.  Every time I decide to take another step with my writing I get motivated to write - not a bad thing.  Unfortunately grades were due at the end of the weekend, so I did not get much sleep this weekend, but I did get some writing done.:)

Currently reading:

Close to Famous by Joan Bauer - I really am enjoying this story!

I hope that everyone is finding success with their writing and research.  I also hope everyone is enjoying a good book!

The highlight of this week was the Character Day presentations on Monday morning.  The students did an amazing job presenting the main character from the book that they read.  They answer interview questions, which I ask, that focus on the plot of the story, and they answer the questions from the main character's point of view.  The kids picked great books and their presentations were creative and well-delivered.  One of my students presented as Stargirl and her presentation, which included putting a rat on my shoulder (stuffed animal rat, of course), was amazing and just one of many incredible presentations.

I'm not a fan of rats, especially ones that sit on my shoulder, but this one brought a smile to my face.

The second highlight of the week is that we will be Skyping with another author on February 9th.  My goal for this school year was to set up a Skype with a non-fiction writer.  The students will be meeting Dr. Aveni, who is the author of The First Americans.  The book is amazing!  The students are currently researching two tribes from the book, so they are going to have a million questions.

The third highlight of the week happened early in the week.  I finished a picture book that I have been working on for months (first critique and many revisions).  On Monday, I shared it with my daughter and she loved it.  Although, she loves everything that I write (just like I love everything that she writes), this one was special to her.  She wants me to submit it to the same writing contest that she is writing for - I had to explain that the writing contest that she is writing for is for 1st to 4th graders (I am a bit too old for that contest).

When I was a youngster, I bowled on a Saturday morning bowling league for years.  Even after college, I played in a league for one winter, but since then I have probably bowled three times (with the kids).  I remember a ritual I used when I was bowling badly, which for me was often.  I would draw a line between the frames that I bowled terribly and the frames to come (for example: I would draw a line between the fourth and fifth frames with the hope that I would bowl better in the last six frames).  I am not sure if it ever worked, but I have been thinking about that ritual often of late because my 2012 has started with a bang.  In fact, I won't let my kids near our kitchen calendar because I am afraid they are going to draw a line between the days and break my awesome start to the year.

Today, we Skyped with Cynthia DeFelice.  You read that correctly - Cynthia DeFelice.  I can't believe it either.  Cynthia is one of my favorite authors (children, young adult, or adult), and my students found out why today during our Skype interview.  Many students got to ask Cynthia questions about the books that we read in class (Under the Same Sky, Lostman's River, and Weasel).  Some students also got to ask her questions about other books that they have read since our class read the other three books.

The coolest part of the Skype experience was the fact that we have tried to Skype with Cynthia a few times over the last few weeks without any success (our school server was causing Skype to cut out and we kept losing the connection), but Cynthia was as determined as we were to make this Skype session happen.  Most people would have given up on us, but Cynthia was willing to keep trying, and we are so glad that she did.  The students spent the day talking about the Skype session and discussing the writing tips that she gave them at the end of the session.  What a day!

The pictures below are from both of the Skype sessions that my class has experienced in 2012:

Linda Urban on January 9th (The kids have been asking me when her next book is due out - we can't wait!)

More Linda Urban

Cynthia DeFelice with one happy teacher (me) in the right corner


Cynthia answering one of over a dozen questions - The students were bragging to the language arts class next door that they met another award-winning author.  They are looking forward to starting research for an upcoming compare and contrast paper that connects to The First Americans (by Anthony Aveni) - Thank you, Cynthia!  You have inspired my students to write!

As for the writing journey:
1. I am attending my first writing conference on March 24th :)
2. My middle grade novel manuscript has been through two critique groups - I am seriously beginning to think about submitting it (we will see)
3. I am helping a student get published in our school's writing magazine - we are each writing a paragraph (a short story -10 to 12 paragraphs - about a basketball team making a run at a state championship title) until we have a story that we are both happy about - Four paragraphs are written and I am impressed by the flow of the story (so far)
4. All of these Skype sessions have me very inspired - I have been writing almost every night (although lack of sleep is beginning to catch up with me)

Currently reading: It's Raining Cupcakes by Lisa Schroeder

If the year 2012 continues to deliver the highlights that the first nine days have delivered, I can't wait for the next eleven and a half months.  On Friday, my students, who have been working so hard, are going to present the main character, or a favorite character, from a current novel that they had read.  But today, we started the week off with an amazing opportunity.  The class got to Skype with Linda Urban.

After a slow start, thanks to our school's technological flaws, the interview got started around 10:30 AM.  Ms. Urban was as determined as we were to make the interview work.  The kids got to ask her questions about her novel entitled Hound Dog True.  They asked her questions about how she developed the characters, the setting, and the conflict of this wonderfully written story.  Her enthusiasm and thorough answers had the kids talking about her all day long.  During the post interview (Skype) discussion, the students talked about the take-away messages from the Skype session - writing from experience, love the words that you write, and the importance of friendships.  She also shared some of her favorite titles, which I made a mental note of, and shared again with the kids.  At the end of the class period, they were off to the library to get some of the books that she suggested, including her book entitled A Crooked Kind of Perfect (the book was checked out of the library within thirty minutes of the Skype interview).


Fifty students got to visit with Ms. Urban (four kids had already read A Crooked Kind of Perfect) - this one will be checked out of the library for a long time!

This one, our classroom read aloud favorite, is in the school library's new book display (right in the front entrance of the library).  When my teammate, whose class Skyped with us today, and I walked into the library today, I got to brag to kids looking for a good book, "I met that author this morning."

She was awesome!  A great way to start 2012!  Even I was inspired - I finished all of my school work this afternoon, and I am planning to spend a few hours writing after the kiddies are in bed (this never happens on a Monday).

Pictures to come later in the week!
Up next: Character Day on Friday (I can't wait!)

The writing journey (to get published) continues in 2012.  The new year began with:
1. Lining up two Skype sessions for my students - to hopefully produce future writers (tomorrow will be the first one in 2012 and the second will be in February)
2. Became a scbwi (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) member - Still trying to figure out how this site and organization will be helpful to me - Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
3. Organizing a Read Aloud Day in March at school - 5-8 grade teachers reading in each other's classrooms (I can't wait!)
4. Finishing a picture book manuscript and it has been read/revised by two writing critique groups (I even let my students read and revise the manuscript - a first for me) - I'm not sure what to do next?
5. The middle grade level novel is still being read by a second group - One person has given me some very positive feedback (my response: Are you sure that you were reading my manuscript?):)

Current read aloud book: Flipped
Current middle grade book being read: Rivalry: Mystery at the Army/Navy Game
New classroom activity: Predict the winner of the Newbery Medal Winner (will post the predictions on the weekend of January 20th) - Post a prediction if you would like to be added to the prediction list

It has not been difficult to find ideas to write about over this holiday vacation.  My notebook got a good workout this week, and the "My Work" file on my computer filled with ideas for future projects.  I spend so much time thinking about writing topics/ideas while running (my favorite time to brainstorm), swimming, and driving, but this week, I realized that there are more ideas brewing around my home than there is any other place I go during the day.

1. I backed the van out of the snow covered driveway early on Thursday morning and was off to the pool to swim with the kids.  The dashboard clock read 6:15 AM, and the kids were already begging for their favorite radio station.  As I drove away from the house, I looked in the rearview mirror and swear that I saw a halo of magic dust hovering over our house.  I was shocked for a moment, but then I remembered the nightly visitors that stopped by our house to visit the kids.  On Saturday night it was Jolly Old Saint Nick that would visit and leave gifts behind for all of the kids (no coal this year).  Mini Me lost a tooth on Tuesday, so the Tooth Fairy would stop in for a visit on Wednesday morning.  Banana would get three teeth pulled on Wednesday (poor thing), so the Tooth Fairy was back again on Thursday morning.  I hope that I don't get a bill for the mileage!  No wonder there was a cloud of magic dust lighting the sky above our home.  When I returned home for the pool, I went right to the notebook to jot down pages of ideas about these overworked, underpaid, but highly appreciated mythical beings that bring so much hope and belief to my house and so many other homes around the world.

2. The temperatures on Tuesday were too bitter cold to run outside, so I found myself running on the treadmill (or should I write dreadmill).  There was going to be little dread on this six and half mile run because my four-year-old daughter came down to the basement playroom with me (across from the treadmill and bike trainer).  She spent the entire forty-five minutes playing with the five foot long, three foot high space rocket that we now have in the playroom.  The playful discussion, with herself of course, went something like this - "I'm going to get you Butt-Chip.  You can try to get away and hide in space, but I will find you." AND "I knew you would be hiding here," she pulls out her favorite Star Wars weapon and continues, "you are going down.  I have my green lifesaver and I know how to use it." AND "Rover (imaginary dog) you can't leave the spaceship or you will float away.  I know how to swim, but you don't."  You can't make this stuff up, so as soon as I jumped off the treadmill, I ran upstairs to take more notes.  A four-year-old space hero and her dog defend the universe, in which you can swim through, from the evil Butt-Chip. (I even have an image in my head of Butt-Chip.)

This has been a wonderful vacation spent with family and friends.  It has also been a wonderful vacation of reading, writing, running, swimming, and playing.  As 2012 approaches, I will review the goals from 2011 and set new goals for the coming year.  As for my writing journey, it may just be getting started, but I have a good feeling about 2012.

What are your goals for 2012?
Happy New Year!

The middle grade novel manuscript, which I have been revising and editing for over a month, is now in the hands of reading/writing friends for a second round of critiques.  My goal was to get it to this stage by the holiday vacation, and I reached my goal.  The next goal for the manuscript is to make another round of revisions by February vacation.  From that point, I will decide what to do next (I am nervous about the next step).

With the manuscript being read, I have time to read (and also work on another writing project) over vacation.
Just finished:

Excellent read!  I believe this book has all of the elements to win the Newbery Medal award.  It is a modern-day folktale that has literary characteristics of the folktales from long ago.  The suspenseful plot keeps the reader intrigued from start to finish.  I will warn you - if you plan on picking this book up to read, clear your schedule for the day because this is a cover-to-cover read.
Currently reading:

I love reading realistic fiction, but this weekend seems to be all about fantasy.  So far, so good.
Next read:

Having been to an Army Navy Game, I can't wait to read this one.  I am obsessed with this mystery series.  I enjoy these books as much as my students.

A vacation of playing, exercising, reading, and writing (also catching up on some movie watching) - nothing beats it!
 

I received this email from the librarian at our school, and I had to share.

Happy Holidays!

At our middle school, the students really have begun placing titles on hold ("Save this title for me when it is returned to the library") at what seems to be an exponential rate.  In honor of that, I offer the following rendition (just the last verse) of a seasonal favorite.  

On the twelfth day of library, our students placed on hold

12 Cabin Fevers

11 Sons of Neptune

10 Maximum Rides

9 Alex Riders

8 Hunger Games

7 Everlosts

6 Harry Potters

5 Hugo Cabrets

4 Wonderstrucks

3 Eragons

2 Dreamlands

and

a Boy in the Striped Pajamas


Thank you to our librarian, Cindy, and all of the librarians out there that get books in the hands of our students.  Tis the season of reading!