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Teaching Fluency with Dialogue Only Picture Books

9/29/2013

2 Comments

 
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So what exactly are Dialogue Only Picture Books?  Exactly what they sound like. A picture book made up of only the dialogue of two characters (Or sometimes just a monologue of one character.)  Check out the video below to find out more about them and how to use them as a writer, reader, and teacher.
Check out the book trailer for Amy's book Duck! Rabbit!  Then check out her website. http://www.whoisamy.com.  She has so many other fantastic (and hilarious) books.
For a visual list of more Dialogue Only Books check out my Pinterest page.


For a free downloadable list, see below. 


Tell me what you think about these type of books. Have you ever written them or used them for teaching?  Which are your favorites?

dialogue_only_books.pdf
File Size: 2968 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

2 Comments

Second Person Point of View in Picture Books

9/22/2013

17 Comments

 
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Think second person is strictly for recipes, how to books, or instructions? Think again. Some of the best and funniest picture books use a second person point of view.  Take a look... 
Download a list of Second Person POV Picture Books here.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Teaching-Point-of-View-886190


For more information about the authors and books previewed in this video, please check out their websites or books below.
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Secret PIzza Party by Adam Rubin

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The Book That Eats People by John Perry 
http://www.bookthateatspeople.com/


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How To Babysit a Grandpa by Jean Reagan
(Don't miss her new book: How To Babysit a Grandma)
http://www.jeanreagan.com/


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Warning: Do Not Open This Book by Adam Lehrhaupt
www.adamlehrhaupt.com

Also check out Marcie's post about this hilarious book over at the Blogettes. 

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The Beginner's Guide to Running Away From Home by Jennifer Huget

http://www.jenniferlaruehuget.com/3.html



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Don't Push That Button by Bill Cotter
(Coming out Nov. 1st, 2013!)

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How To Raise a Dinosaur by Natasha Wing
http://natashawing.wordpress.com/books/how-to-raise-a-dinosaur/

17 Comments

Teaching Plot Structure with Picture Books 

9/16/2013

16 Comments

 

Or....Confessions of a Teacher/Writer and the Connection between Reading and Writing

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(Check out the video clip first and then read below.)

Most of Tammi Sauer's books follow a great plot structure. Therefore her books are fantastic to use with students for retelling and also for using as an example for writing their own fictional stories. 

Plot Structure of a Picture Book

Setup- Tells who the characters are, where they are (setting) and what they do.

Inciting Incident- An incident that happens that causes a problem for the main character. This problem forces them to want to try to solve it.

Events-where they “Try” to solve it and fail each time. (Picture books typically will have three.)

Try. Fail.

Try. Fail.

Try. Fail.


Climax-Dramatic moment of overcoming or solving problem.  (But then…something big happens…and the character makes a choice.)

Result- Building down, wrapping up loose ends, and showing positive consequences of climax. 

Resolution- Happy or hopeful ending

Let's take a look at Tammi's book trailer for Nugget and Fang and see how many elements we can identify. (All won't be revealed because it's a book trailer.)


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Synopsis: (from Goodreads) In the deep ocean, tiny Nugget and big, toothy Fang get along swimmingly—until Nugget’s first day of minnow school. There Nugget learns that minnows are supposed to be afraid of sharks! To regain Nugget’s trust, Fang takes desperate (and hilarious) measures. But it’s not until his big sharp teeth save the entire school that minnows learn this shark is no foe. Fantastically stylized artwork adds even more humor to this undersea story of unlikely friendship.

Let's take a closer look at Nugget and Fang.

(Warning: The ending is revealed in this analysis of the plot.  So first, go get the book, read it, laugh out loud, read it again, share it with a friend, laugh some more, and then come back to read the following.)

Setup: Shark and a minnow- two best friends that did everything together.
 
Inciting Incident: Life was perfect until Nugget started school and realized he couldn't be friends with a shark.  Fang was sad. He had to “prove” he wasn’t scary.

Events:
Try 1.  (Fang is a surprise visitor at school.)
Fail

Try 2.  (Fang sends a letter inviting Nugget over for dinner.)
Fail 

Try 3.  (Tried several other things like getting a tattoo of Nugget and sending a singing band of seahorses, but finally he was out of ideas.)   
Fail (and he was still really sad without his friend.)

Climax: But then something really bad happens and  He was so sad that ….he didn’t notice a net. The minnows all got trapped. They were going to be captured.  

So Fang makes the decision to help them by chomping through the net.

Results: He saves them.

Resolution: And they all became friends.

The main thing I noticed that I did wrong as a teacher with retelling, was I would always have students identify:
Character, Setting, Problem, Solution.

Later, I started adding in: Character, Setting, Problem, Events, Solution. However, this still didn't make sense. Kids could identify (most of the time) the pieces in isolation. But the connection was never made that those "Events" consisted of the character "Trying" to solve the problem and "Failing" along the way.

So instead, I use a retelling format that fits the picture book structure.  And now, it makes it easier when attempting to "write" our own fictional stories.  

*Again- not all books are plot driven books.  And even if they are, not all plot driven stories will fit this exactly. Some may not have an "inciting incident" that causes the problem. Some picture books will just jump right into the problem. Often the climax, results, and resolution are very short and can often be squished together at the end.  And because picture books are so short, sometimes the results and resolution are the same.

Check out Tammi's other books. See if you you can use the template to analyze the plots.
(Then use it to write your own fictional plot driven story.)
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For more information check out Tammi's website at www.tammisauer.com.
16 Comments

Novels in Verse- Why I Love Them and Use Them

9/9/2013

2 Comments

 
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Hey Guys! 
So this is the second Mondays with Mandy (or Mira) and unfortunately, I hit a technology problem. (Boo!)
I created a video and as I was near the end, the program froze and apparently didn't save. (Sad face.)   I'm posting the text version now. But if I can recover it, I will post the video version.

 (Stay tuned.)
I have a secret. 

I am a book-a-holic reading teacher.
I abuse Amazon’s “one click” and “add to cart” buttons.
I spent my entire first year teaching salary on children’s books.

Okay, those aren’t secrets. (Except maybe the salary fact.) 

The real secret: I hated reading: as a child, as a teenager, and as a young adult.

As a child, I whined and complained that I wanted to be outside instead of reading. As a teenager, I cheated my way through book reports and English assignments.  As a young adult, I spent more time trying to avoid reading than I would have spent actually reading the book.  (Such things included cliff's notes, the movie version of the book, and if I was really desperate, the audio book.)

Thankfully, when I entered the education program in college, I met a brilliant professor. She began and ended every class with a fantastic picture book.  It was then, that I finally discovered the joy of reading.

However, even today, I still check the length of chapters in any book I’m about to read.   I would prefer to read a longer book that has very short chapters versus a really long short story.

I think it’s visually deceiving or it gives me a sense of accomplishment to complete one short chapter.
All I have to do is get through this two page chapter and I will feel successful.

It's sort of the same feeling as checking things off a list.

1. Get up. Check.

2. Drink Coffee. Check.

3. Take dog for walk. Check.

So when I first discovered novels in verse, I was thrilled. The format looked so easy. It sort of felt like cheating. The first one I ever read was Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse.

Secret #2
I avoided this book many years before I discovered its format because:

1. It looked boring. I mean, who wants to read about the dust bowl?

2. It was a novel.  I didn’t have time to struggle through a boring novel I didn’t want to read anyway.

3. It was historical fiction. Anything that will teach me something about history wasn’t meant to be read for pleasure. 
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However, when I read it in under two hours, I was shocked.  Its format wasn’t intimidating. I wasn’t intending to read for two hours that day, but I flew through it. And the exact same thing happens with the kids I teach.
Novels in verse are like legal gateway drugs that lead kids to the best addiction ever: books. 

Why Kids Love'em
*Short format
*Some contain illustrations
*Emotionally driven stories 
*Short format

Why Teachers Love'em
*Kids read and enjoy them
*Exposure to poetry forms
*Added supplement to history lesson (for Historical Novels in Verse)
*Great for practicing reading strategies such as visualizing and inferencing.
*Can be used to practice fluency by performing the poems.
*Kids read and enjoy them
Top Three Favorites
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Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson
This one is a middle grade novel in verse. I love it because tough kids, especially boys will be able to relate to Lonnie. Plus, I always love books that have a main character who writes or discovers to write poetry.  Lonnie not only learns to write poetry, but he uses it as a way of dealing with his emotions.
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Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
This novel in verse is middle grade historical fiction. I find this one fascinating because it's authentic in historical details, yet the voice of the main character, Ha, is so powerful and real that kids will feel as though Ha is their best friend.


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October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard by Leslea Newman
This young adult, novel in verse is one of my absolute favorites. It is written in a variety of poetic forms and told from multiple view points. This is one of the most emotional books I've ever read. I cried on nearly every poem.  Have you ever read a book that stuck with you, physically and emotionally long after you finished reading it? This one definitely will.
What are your favorite novels in verse?  How do your kids or students respond to them?

Check back in a day or so for a compiled list of Novels in Verse you can download. 
But for now, here is a visual list: Novels in Verse.

2 Comments

Mondays with Mandy (or Mira)- Using Humor to Hook Readers

9/2/2013

9 Comments

 
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Hey guys! It’s finally here! The first Mondays with Mandy (or Mira.)  

This first video took me way too long. I haven’t used IMovie for many years, so it took me a while to figure everything out again.  

Why am I telling you this? Well mainly because I did a practice video early yesterday morning (with no make up and hair not fixed at all) and yet I refused to reshoot it, since it took me so long to make the first one.
So, hello world! Here I am. First video post, looking rough.  If there were a “makeup” filter on IMovie I would have used it. But there isn’t. So enjoy…haha.

Today’s video blog talks about using humor to hook kids and I will be sharing one of my all time favorite picture books I’m Bored by Michael Ian Black and Debbie Ohi.


If you loved I’m Bored, you’ll be as excited as I am to check out their new book Naked, which will be on shelves next summer.

Check out Debbie’s site at http://debbieohi.com/ where she has great classroom activities, printable goodies, and other fun things that go with I'm Bored!



Some of Michael Ian Black's other books for children are listed below. (One of my favorites of his is The Purple Kangaroo.)

I’m Bored was published by Simon and Schuster in 2012. 
As a reading specialist, I've compiled lists over the years of hilarious books for kids. Feel free to download this list. 
And let me know what I've missed. (I'm sure there are many!) What are some of your favorite hilarious picture books?


I hope you enjoyed the first Mondays with Mandy (or Mira)!  See you next Monday!
9 Comments
    We are so excited to be mixing things up at CBA, beginning with some delicious additions to the Blogfish. Meet our  awesome bloggers!!

    Here's our lineup:
    1st Mondays begin with awesome multi-published former student Shirin Shamsi who will be focusing on Muslim and cultural kidlit.

    2nd Mondays will feature super smart Melissa Stoller whose career is taking off with several new books.
     

    3rd Mondays will feature
    Bryan Patrick Avery, published writer, man of mystery, and professional magician among other things.

    4th Mondays will feature STEM, STEAM & SEL obsessed author Kourtney LaFavre sharing delightfully dorky, quirky, and fun info.

    And 5th Mondays we'll be taking a break

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  • Home
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      • 2023 Mastering Graphic Novels Registration
    • Craft & Business of Writing Childrens Picture Books
    • The Chapter Book Alchemist
    • New!! Middle Grade Mastery Instant Access
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      • 2022 Palooza Program
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    • Our Bookshop
    • Come Play With Us!
    • Resources
    • Course Scholarships >
      • Yuyi Morales Picture Book Scholarship
      • Andrea Davis Pinkney MG CB Mastery Scholarship
      • Rafael Lopez Illustrating Childrens Books Scholarships
      • Larissa Marantz Merit & Need Scholarship