Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu - surely on the short list for the Newbery?

When I was a kid, there was an animated movie version of "The Snow Queen."  A sliver of ice falls into the eye of a young boy named Kay and it works its way into his heart, turning it cold and making him fall prey to the beautiful Snow Queen.  His friend Gerda has to journey to save him, even though he doesn't feel as if he needs saving.

I still remember the dialogue as Gerda fights to get her friend back.  "Kay shall remain with me," says the Snow Queen in her icy and measured voice. 

This Hans Christian Andersen story is the backbone of Anne Ursu's new novel, called Breadcrumbs.  But what I like about this version more than anything is how real the characters of Hazel and Jack seem to be.  They have always been best friends but now they are in the fifth grade and Jack appears to be pulling away from Hazel.  This is something that Hazel cannot understand or accept, and she has had to accept much in the last year with her father leaving and re-marrying.  Hazel is completely misunderstood by her teachers and classmates and only has her mother and Jack to turn to. That, and her wild imagination.  This is something that she and Jack had always shared.

Hazel and Jack's other friend Tyler are the only ones who believe that something is wrong when Jack doesn't return to school after an incident where a piece of glass flies into his eye.  Hazel is the only one brave enough to recognize that she has to follow him into the woods to find him.  And she does so with a hastily-packed backpack filled with energy bars and a baseball signed by Joe Mauer.


Hazel, while brave, is also filled with self-doubt.  She often feels small, "like a splotch" or a little feathered dinosaur that has to go up against a T-Rex.  But she continues with her quest despite her fears and doubts.  I love that this book shows a courageous character who struggles and stumbles and then gets back up. 



The book has already won several accolades and I am very hopeful that it is at the front of the minds of Newbery committee members.  

Here's the awesome discussion guide from Anne Ursu's site.

Roanoke : Theories need evidence

The students in one of classes that I taught today presented their theories about what happened the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke. I have an activity that asks them to weigh twelve evidence cards against their theory in an effort to see whether or not there are enough facts to support their ideas. They put the evidence cards on a chart that they draw. I have this lesson available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. 

I've done this a lot in the past but this year I decided to use my iPad and Flip cameras to record them presenting their findings. They did a great job with that. They chose to take several takes to get their ideas down straight.

In the process of weighing the evidence, a few discovered that they no longer liked their initial theory, which I think was a great outcome.

Here's a copy of the chart with all of the evidence cards placed on it.

Pedro's Journal Google Earth Lit Trip

I'm thrilled that my Pedro's Journal Google Earth Lit Trip is now available on GoogleLitTrips.com.  Jerome Berg, who runs the site, did a great job helping me to edit it and make it even more useful.  Check out the Vimeo that he made for it as well!

GLT Pedro's Journal from GoogleLitTrips on Vimeo.

This Google Earth lit trip can also be used as a part of my Pedro's Journal novel study which is available on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. This novel study features work on words for historical fiction and can help work on skills for students who have NWEA RIT scores in 191-200, 201-210, and 211-220.

RIT scoring the novel study -- The Maze Runner by James Dashner

 

This is the first year that my school is using MAP data from NWEA.  We are all working really hard to understand and apply the data.  In addition to attempting to create a links page of free online games that target different RIT scores, I'm also looking at many of our literature circles and novel studies to see what RIT scores they target.  

This one for the Maze Runner by James Dashner works well for students with RIT scores 211-220 and 221-230.  The reason for this is because it helps students analyze character and make inferences.  It's available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  

Dystopian Fiction Weekend!

So while the rest of everyone is enjoying Thanksgiving, I'm in the middle of a reading marathon of Dystopian / Post-Apocalypic / "The-future-is-not-so-bright" books for YAs and middle grade.  The reason?  My Scholastic Book Fair, which starts on Monday.  There must be an entire CASE just devoted to it and, while I thought that I was well-schooled in the genre, I was serious mistaken.

So take a look at my growing Shelfari widget on the top left.  I've got a few more to go before Monday. 

THANKSGIVING! World Harvest Festivals!

Looking for a different way to celebrate Thanksgiving with your class this year?  I'm promoting the notion that kids need to learn more about the world by sharing information about harvest festivals around the world. Here's my FREE research idea which can be downloaded on my Teachers Pay Teachers Web store!

It uses some ideas that I've been working on as a part of my THANKSGIVING: WHAT'S ON YOUR PLATE collection of ideas.  There's a SmartBoard Notebook file that is very interactive and contains some really cool original clip art and there's also a PowerPoint and paper version of it as well.  The paper version would make a great Thanksgiving themed literacy center!

Making Sense (and peace?) with NWEA MAP Data

Two weeks ago, my world was rocked by the fact that I had to make certain that everyone in my school of 518 5th and 6th graders took an online assessment called MAP.  And not only took one online assessment, but did so THREE TIMES!  MAP,  which stands for Measures of Academic Progress, has been created by the NWEA (Northwest Evaluation Association). 

Administering the MAP can be a logistical nightmare that involves signing each machine in to a separate student since the students cannot log themselves in.  But we worked through it in two weeks with two computer labs set up specifically for MAP. 


And now we are onto the data evaluation and use portion of MAP.  All of my kids in all of their classes have been assigned RIT scores and ranges.  Each range has goals and objectives that students should work towards.  The idea is that teachers can create groupings around the RIT scores so that they can differentiate instruction and tailor each student's learning to their strengths and deficits. 


So I decided to see how this would work by taking a novel study that almost all of my social studies teachers use in the fall.  

That novel is Pedro's Journal by Pam Conrad.  
This is a short journal form novel that imagines that Christopher Columbus had a ship's cabin boy named Pedro who could read and write and had many opinions about their first voyage together.  He was also given great access to the "Captain" as he calls Columbus.  
 



Firstly, let's talk Book Metrics: How do we measure whether a book will work for a reader?

My perception has been that this book is not all that difficult to read, as I look at the numbers, I may  be mistaken, however.  The LEXILE level is 1030L, the DRA level is 40 and the Accelerated Reader level is 5.8.  The high AR level and Lexile must have much to do with some of the vocabulary that helps set the historical setting: like bonaventure and mizzenmast.

Secondly, let's talk RIT Levels:  

The vocabulary list generated from this little book is huge!

As are the inferences that can be drawn about the conflict of the two main characters, Pedro and Columbus.

Here's what I think can be taught with Pedro's Journal.

RIT GOAL STRAND: Read for a variety of purposes.

·         Classify Text as Historical Fiction (201-210)

·         Identify Characteristics of Historical Fiction (211-220) 

RIT GOAL STRAND: Text Components

INFERENCES (191-200)

·         Infers a character's feelings in simple literary text       

INFERENCES (201-210)

·         Infers the conflict (term not used) in a literary text

·         Infers the conflict in a literary text

·         Analyzes to determine the problem presented

INFERENCES (211-220)

·         Infers the reason behind a character's actions

·         Evaluates character development in literary text

·         Infers the qualities (emotional and/or physical) of a character based on information found in literary texts

·         Infers the reason behind a character's feelings/emotions

And since both are on a journey, one can take kids on a great GOOGLE EARTH journey.

So I've created a novel study for my teachers to use that fits all of these objectives.  It is for sale at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.  

A freebie that allows people to use Google Earth to understand this story can be downloaded at my Teachers Pay Teachers store as well.  

I really wish that I knew how other people were using and hopefully enjoying their MAP assessment data. As I was watching the students take their test, I could see how hard many were working.

I am also discovering that there are many school districts out there that are aggregating games based on RIT scores.  Here is one example: from the Belle Plaine in Minnesota.