March 2016 – Page 3 – Pernille Ripp

being a teacher, books, Literacy, picture books, Reading, Student Engagement

12 Word Book Summaries – A Great Way to End our Book Clubs

March 11, 2016 Pernille Ripp

Once in a while I get a surprise package of books at my house. It honestly feels like Christmas. And while I love my chapter books as I try to figure out who the Global Read Aloud contenders should be, when picture books show up it is an even bigger celebration. So imagine my delight when Chronicle Books sent me 4 of their Cozy Classics.

While they are meant to be baby board books, I immediately saw great potential for them as a tool in the classroom. Having just finished their self-selected book clubs, I wanted my students to somehow wrap up their projects while also doing some deeper analysis of the stories they had read and discussed. Summarizing and analyzing are both skills we work on throughout the year, as is our public speaking skills. Yet I did not want them to write a paper about their books, since I had had them do other writing throughout. So this is exactly why the Cozy Classics were perfect; would my students be able to succinctly summarize their entire book in just 12 words?

This week I read War and Peace to my students and once their excitement died down I set them on their task; create a 12 word book summary that summarizes the entire book and then perform it for the class. Throughout the week they would get a few blocks of 5 to 10 minute times and today they performed them. The results were fantastic; students clearly had not only given a lot of thought to which words would best describe their stories, but also in how they should perform them for the class.

Here is one group performing their summary for Jennifer A. Nielsen’s A Night Divided, which by the way is a wonderful book to have in your classroom library.

Sometimes it is the smallest ideas that can have the greatest impact.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my book Passionate Learners – How to Engage and Empower Your Students. Also, if you are wondering where I will be in the coming year or would like to have me speak, please see this page.

being a teacher, books, Literacy, picture books, Reading

More Picture Books to Teach Theme

March 6, 2016August 21, 2016 Pernille Ripp

I was going to simply update my original post on teaching theme through picture books, but then realized that I had so many new picture books to add to it that it deserved its own post. It is a great time to be a lover of picture books. So behold, even more amazing picture books to teach theme and please feel free to add your own suggestions as well.

If you would like just a list without images and theme suggestion,please go here.

I cried the first time I read Ida, Always by Caron Lewis and Charles Santoso. I cried the second time I read it as well. With its story of love surpassing death, it is a must add to any classroom.

Yard Sale written by Eve Bunting and illustrated by Lauren Castillo is a fantastic book to discuss what it means to have a home and a family. This is another book that made me cry.

We discuss needing diverse books in our classrooms and Jacob’s New Dress is most definitely a book we need. Written by Sarah and Ian Hoffman for their own son, my students had wonderful discussions about what it means to fit the mold that society gives us.

The Night Gardener by the Fan Brothers is beautiful not only in its illustrations, but also in its message about what one person can do for a community.

Be A Friend by Salina Yoon is a wonderful addition to any classroom collection. Its simple story allows for a rich discussion about friendship and finding our place in the world.

The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers (Global Read Aloud contender) is a masterful book for students in discovering theme. Love, loss, death, acceptance and rediscovery were all themes my students fund in the book.

The Wildest Race Ever: The Story of the 1904 Olympic Marathon by Megan McCarthy is a great addition to our theme collection. I love when non-fiction picture books can be used to discuss theme.

I have several of Pat Zietlow Miller’s picture books in our classroom and find them all to be incredible additions. Sophie’s Squash always makes me laugh. Pat’s latest picture book The Quickest Kid in Clarksville illustrated by Frank Morrison was an instant hit with my students and the theme only brought further conversation.

Another non-fiction picture book, Solving the Puzzle Under the Sea by Robert Burleigh and illustrated by Raul Colon has made its way into our classroom, not only teaching us about the incredible life of Marie Tharp but also about perseverance, having dreams, and the power of curiosity.

Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be In This Book) written by Julie Falatko and illustrated by Tim Miller is a sure hit with kids and adults alike. Funny and with a great message of friendship, my students have read this one multiple times.

I am an unabashedly major fan of Bob Shea and his books show up on many of my lists. The second installment of his Ballet Cat series is already a favorite in our classroom as well as with my own children. In Dance! Dance! Underpants! we can find the themes of friendships, judgment, and also how to succeed while getting another great laugh.

I love wordless picture books for discussing theme because it lets readers look at just the illustrations without wondering about the words. Skunk on a String by Thao Lam is a great conversation starter for perseverance and creativity.

Using picture books to teach theme to my middle schoolers has been one of the best decisions I ever made. The illustrations pull them in but the stories are what keeps us coming back.

If you would like to see more of our favorite books, please go here.

aha moment, being a teacher, being me

Know Your Place

March 1, 2016March 1, 2016 Pernille Ripp

When I was a second year teacher I was told to know my place. To remember that although I might have a voice, I should be more careful. That I should not ask so many questions, nor share quite so many ideas. That some things would be better left unsaid because I had not earned the right to say them. And not just told it either. No, for extra emphasis it was written as part of my official evaluation that year. In my permanent record lest I ever forget that I had a place to be in. That the place I needed to be in was one of new teacher that followed most of the rules and certainly did not question so much.

I remember I went back to my classroom shell-shocked. When I closed the door, I cried. Maybe this teaching thing was not for me after all. Maybe asking questions was wrong. It certainly seemed that way.

So I took the lesson to heart; I shut my door, metaphorically and literally. I had to. I could not face what some others saw me as; a know-it-all new teacher that thought she had such great ideas. I skittered through the rest of the year watching every single word I spoke, always telling myself to just stay quiet, think it but not say it. To hide the new. To not share. After all, I needed to stay in my place, whatever that place might be.

By the end of the year I wanted to quit. It turns out that eating your own words leaves you hollow after awhile. But I didn’t, instead I changed, and as they say; the rest is history.

So for the past 6 years I have carried those words with me. I have known my place every single step of the way. Never forgetting that I do have a place in this world, in education. Never forgetting that, really, we all have a place if we only knew where.

So what I know now is that my place is with my students asking them what I can change. To realize that I am not a perfect teacher, nor do I have all of the answers, but that I will spend every ounce of energy I have to try to make it better for them.

That my place is among colleagues who push my thinking and always have what’s best for kids in mind. That while we may not always agree, we always respect, we always have each other’s back even when we have to have tough conversations.

That my place is on this blog sharing how I screw up so that others may learn from it without having to experience it.

Among the teachers that feel alone, much like I did so many days as I tried to change myself.

Among the people who question and show up every day trying make themselves better because they know they have a long way to go.

Among those that still doubt but try any way.

Among those that dare to dream.

Among those that still cry when it hurts.

Among those that know that even a small change makes a difference.

Those that change.

Those that question.

Those that fight.

6 years ago I was told to know my place and so I went looking for it. It was not pretty. I was not perfect. I was not always right. I did not always know what I needed to know. Yet within that quest, I found myself. So I ask today; do you know your place? Because if not, you should probably search for it some day.