Pernille Ripp

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

10 More Picture Books to Add to Your Collection

December 28, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I cannot do a best of the year book list. There are too many that I have loved. There are too many I have yet to discover. A book always gets left off and I wonder why I forgot it. So instead, I will continue my tradition of offering up some great new additions to our classroom library. I have been on a year long mission to get as many great picture books into the hands of my students, and so here is the latest batch that we have been reading aloud, discussing, using, and sharing.

When I wanted to send a picture book to Australia, I knew that I wanted to send one by Wisconsin native Pat Zietlow Miller. So I sent the book Wherever You Go. Not only does it have the best message, but I have also found that every age group I have read it to has loved it. It is a new classic in my opinion.

My school is very focused on creating an inclusive environment for all students and so I have been on a mission to include more picture books that speak to all of my students. Jacob’s New Dress by Sarah and Ian Hoffman is a book a child may need, I don’t need, but in case they, I want it to be there for them.

As my students created their own non-fiction picture books I needed strong mentor texts to show them just how amazing this genre can be. Growing Up Pedro by Matt Tavares is an incredible example of a sports focused nf picture book that does not read like a long list of facts. This is a book that will be read and used for years to come.

The same goes for the historical nf picture book Lillian’s Right to Vote by Jonah Winter and Shane W. Evans. In it we learn about the fight for voting rights for African Americans as Lillian walks up the stairs to cast her vote. Masterfully told, this one moved me to tears.

Picture books don’t usually make me cry, but this one did as I read it aloud to my own children. Eve Bunting is a master storyteller, Fly Away Home is a book I have used many times. The pairing here in Yard Sale with Lauren Castillo’s beautiful illustrations is really out of this world, and the conversations, the inferring that can happen because of this book is powerful.

Can Kadir Nelson do anything wrong? If You Plant A Seed not only has a great message for all ages, but the illustrations are breathtaking.

Groundhog’s Dilemma by Kristen Remenar and illustrated by Matt Faulkner is not just a book for Groundhog’s Day. It is a book for all ages that need to discuss what peer pressure can do to you and how to navigate friendships.

This one, Once Upon an Alphabet by Oliver Jeffers, is the reason Oliver Jeffers is a Global Read Aloud Contender for the picture book category. While perhaps hard to read aloud in one sitting, it is definitely still worth sharing with others as each little story will make you laugh or wonder. I also cannot wait to see what type of writing might be inspired by this book.

I love a narrator that speaks to their reader, it gets me every time. Snappsy the Alligator (Did Not Ask to Be in This Book) by Julie Falatko and illustrated by Tim Miller is laugh out loud funny, and yet, is bound to also lead to a great conversation about how to deal with others. How many of our students could need a little with that?

How many of us have taught students whose parents or other people they know are in jail? Visiting Day by Jacqueline Woodson once again means that we have a book that can start hard conversations. That students can find themselves in even if they do not want to share about their own experiences.

There are always more books to highlight, to share, but for now I will leave it at these 10. To see other lists of favorite books, go here, I try to share as much as possible.

aha moment, being a teacher, books, Literacy, Reading

How Do You Know Which Books To Purchase? A Few Tips to Help Build A Better Classroom Library

December 28, 2015 Pernille Ripp

Several years ago, I had a classroom library that was filled to the brim with books. Every shelf crammed. Every space occupied, yet every independent reading time it never failed; a student would ask if they could please go to the library to find a book. I didn’t think twice about it. Of course, they could go to the library, where else would they get books? One day it finally did strike me as odd; why in the world were the students not going to our library first to see all the books there. There were great books on the shelves, there had to be, right. I mean, I am sure there was, they just had to find them first.

And that was exactly it; our library was full. Full of left over books I had picked up when other teachers weeded. Full of books picked up from our local goodwill store and garage sales. A few random selections from Scholastic bonus points that did not really fit my students. Full of books inherited when the teacher before me had left the room. Full of books with torn covers, broken spines, and even a few missing pages. The library was full and not a child was reading.

So I did the unthinkable; I threw out books. I got rid of all of those books that no child had read for years. The ones with the covers falling off, the ones that I wouldn’t even read. I got rid of the old, the broken, and even sometimes the new. The too mature. The unwanteds and the forgotten. And then I stood back and looked at my very empty library, wondering what to do. Because now I had an empty library and my problem was not solved. There still were no books to read.

Research says different things on how many books we need in our classroom libraries. Some say 20 books per child. Others say between 300-600 total. But the number doesn’t matter if the books are not good. So instead of focusing on quantity, I figured that was a lost cause any way since I had not won the lottery, I focused on quality. I focused on getting high interest books in the hands of my students when I could. And slowly but surely our library grew and it continues to do so to this day. So how did I figure out which books to purchase?

I asked the students. Paying attention was not enough so I started by asking them which books they liked to read. Something so simple that had the biggest results. They wrote me lists so I knew what to focus my limited budget on.

I handed them Scholastic catalogs. For all of those books that we had not read yet, I needed to know what looked good to them. So they would hand me catalogs back with books circled. If more than one child circled a book, I knew it would probably be a good buy. I also took better advantage of all of the bonus point deals from Scholastic and I told parents what my plans were. More parents purchased books so we could earn more points, and when we fell short, I funded it because let’s face it, that’s what we do as teachers.

I asked them to weed. While I had done the initial purge without them, I asked them to go through the library once more. However, this time books could be saved by students. So if a child wanted to pull a book, another child could argue to have it kept. This also had the added bonus of familiarizing the students with the books we already had and led students to talk more about books.

I started to read their books. I had been reading books of my own, but adult books, which meant I had nothing to recommend to my students. So I started by asking them what I should read and then I did. When I finished a book, I would book talk and leave it out for the kids to read. Sometimes I would hand it to a specific student that I thought of while I read it. Slowly, we started a community of book talkers that continues to this day.

I used the public library. Those librarians know a thing or two about amazing children’s books so I started to pay attention. What did they have on display? What did they recommend? I would also borrow books and read them before I decided what to buy. I still do this a lot with the picture books I buy. I also used our local book stores more; what did they have on display? What was popular for them. Use the knowledgeable people that surround you.

I became better friends with my own school librarian. I have had the honor of working with some incredible librarians that love books as much as I do. And yet, I hardly ever spoke about books with them. What a wasted opportunity. So find out who the book lovers are in your school and befriend them if you have not already. Talk books whenever you can.

I fell in love with The Nerdy Book Club. There was my tribe of people who loved books, who had to recommend books, who knew just what books to invest in. To this day, the Nerdy Book Club is one of the only blogs that gets delivered straight to my inbox so I don’t miss a single post.

I paid better attention. I started to really notice what my students were reading, what they were abandoning. We started to speak more about the books we loved and why. Then I would go forth and try to find other books like that. Creating a community of book lovers is something that takes time, takes commitment, and will not just happen on its own. The students have so much to share if only we ask them.

I found the best kept secret. I still remember the moment I was told about Books4Schools, a dark warehouse here in Madison, WI that sells brand new overstock books for less than $2. Yup. And not random titles either but books my students want to read by authors like Cassandra Clare, John Green, Rick Riordan and so many others. While their only physical location is here, they also sell online and just as cheaply. Trust me, the deals are worth it and their stock changes all of the time.

4 years ago I realized that while our library was full, it was not great. It was not something the students could use. It was not something they wanted to use. So I embarked on a journey to get better books in the hands of my students. I found a better way to spend the precious money we have to get books for our libraries. And it worked. Slowly, our library has grown to now encompass more than 2,000 books. Books that the students want to read. Books that are worn out from use and not from age. Getting rid of books is one of the best decisions I made for out library, what has been yours?

To see some of our favorite books, go here.

If you are looking for a great book club to join to re-energize you in January, consider the Passionate Learners book club on Facebook. We kick off January 10th.

aha moment, Be the change, being a teacher, new year

Purpose and Re-Purpose

December 25, 2015 Pernille Ripp

In all of our clutter and madness. In all of our piles of things. In all of our new toys, books, and unnecessary items, I seem to have found my peace. Mind you, it was not like that this morning when we left the house upside down, Christmas morning and a visit from Santa seems to do that to you. But now, after organizing, sorting, cleaning, and taking the time to appreciate all that we have, I am at peace. I am happy. Because the truth is; we really have so much. And not just in terms of gifts or newness, but in the things that still work. In the furniture we love. In the things that make this house a home.

So while this morning, I thought we needed more furniture, more bins, more things to control all of the new, I now know that it is not new that we need, it is better use of the old. It is the time to see the beauty in what we already have and find better uses for it that suits the family we are now.

And so I look to my classroom as well. How often we are enticed by all of the new and shiny. How often I assume that I need to do even more when my teachings seems off kilter, our metaphorical house a mess? That because the students surely will come back from break dragging their feet a bit, I better ready with all of the glitz. All of the glam. And in that need for reinvention is an assumption, I must throw out my ideas and replace them with something they have never tried before. Because what we are doing must be inherently broken. That what we are doing is beyond salvage simply because the components have been used before.

Today reminded me that this assumption is not true. That rather when something has been done the same way for so long, we tend to lose the purpose of it. That because it is now old, we no longer see its full potential. The wonder of it all that drew us to it in the first place.

So as I think ahead to the new year, as I contemplate ever so slowly of what my students need right now, I think of what I can re-purpose. Of what I can re-use but in a way that will make us love it again. In a way that will make us understand something deeper. Of what I can do to make it feel like a new classroom when they return, and yet also feel like theirs. Because it always has to feel like theirs or my purpose would be lost.

If you are looking for a great book club to join to re-energize you in January, consider the Passionate Learners book club on Facebook. We kick off January 10th.

being a teacher, being me

Someone’s Beginning

December 19, 2015December 19, 2015 Pernille Ripp

You wouldn’t know by looking at me that my body is broken. That for years we tried to have a child, only to fail. That it was not until the doctors intervened that my body finally worked for a little bit, enough to have Theadora. Enough to give us the biggest gift one can get. We thought I was fixed, but I wasn’t. We lost one in between Theadora and the twins; a dream disappeared followed by so many unanswerable questions. For years we hoped, and for every pregnancy I had, sadness, fear, and the unknown seemed to come along.

You wouldn’t know that my youngest daughter, Augustine, really should not be alive. That her conception should not have been possible. That my body did everything it could to get rid of her. That she was born almost 10 weeks early, 2 years ago today. That she was born so fast that the nurse caught her and rushed her away from us. You wouldn’t know that for 6 weeks our breaths were held as she fought to grow in the NICU. That the beeps and the alarms followed us home and I would wake in the middle of the night, wondering if she was breathing. That when we left the NICU with her, she weighed 5 pounds and I thought the doctors had made a mistake; surely something this fragile could not be ok.

But she is. She is strong. She is bright. She is stubborn. She is ok.

When she goes to school, no one will know how fragile her beginning was. When she goes to learn, no one will know that we were told that she may have learning disabilities because my body forced her into this world too early. Nobody will know how many brain scans she had to have to make sure that there had been no damage.

Every child that comes to us has a beginning. A story we do not know. A story that may still shape them to this day. A story that is hidden and yet still plays a part in their life.

Don’t forget the story. You never know how much someone’s beginning plays a part in their now. We do not just teach children for one year, but we teach them for all of their years. Even the years, we did not know them.

Happy birthday, Augustine. May you continue to astonish us with your strength, your spirit. May you continue to be perfectly average, because we never wanted anything more.

If you are looking for a great book club to join to re-energize you in January, consider the Passionate Learners book club on Facebook. We kick off January 10th.

being a teacher

There/Their/They’re – A Small Trick

December 18, 2015December 19, 2015 Pernille Ripp

I have been conferencing one-on-one exclusively with my students for the past 2 weeks and one of the things I come across again and again is their inability to distinguish between there/their/they’re; a problem I know many educators run into. Today, a student and I realized this simple trick, the other students loved it, so I thought I would share it.

If you are looking for a great book club to join to re-energize you in January, consider the Passionate Learners book club on Facebook. We kick off January 10th.

aha moment, being a teacher, being me, Literacy, questions, Reading, student choice

The Questions to Ask When The Kids Aren’t Reading

December 17, 2015December 17, 2017 Pernille Ripp

I met my first book abandoner my very first year of teaching. Yet, he was not your average run of the mill book abandoner. No, he was the “look you straight in the eye and ask you what you are going to do about it” kind of abandoner. So I did what I knew best; forced him to read the book and not allow him to abandon it. And he did what he knew best; fake read for a good amount of time, skimmed a few pages, and failed the book report as well as the presentation. Repeat with every book. I don’t think he ever read anything beside Diary of A Wimpy Kid that year, and that was even under the radar.

Everyone has these types of readers. The ones that abandon because they hate to read. The ones that abandon because they cannot find a great book. The ones that abandon because they get bored. Some years we have a lot, others not so many. So how can we heal break the abandonment cycle? How can we help these kids help themselves? Well, there are a few questions we can ask.

Do they have choice? Because if they don’t, then that is the very first place we start. And not limited choice based on levels or lexiles, but real honest-to-goodness choice where they get to pick their reading materials.

Do they have time? If little time is given to reading then we are expecting them to do something they may not like outside of school. The chances of that happening are pretty slim.

Do they have access? We know that students need great books in their hands. We know students need great libraries, but they also need books in our classrooms. And not old, worn out books, but new, enticing, high-interest books that they can check out easily.

Do they have people? Is it cool to not be a reader in their friend group? Who do they have to talk books to? Do they have reading role models that extend beyond the teacher? Get them connected in a meaningful way with others that read.

Do they have reason to read? And by that, I don’t mean because of a prize or a reward. Do they see any kind of gain from reading? Is anything positive connected to the art of reading? Will it actually make their lives better or is it just one more thing to do?

Do they have different ways to read? Reading is not just done with our eyes but also with our ears, so if a child is constantly abandoning books get them hooked on an incredible audio book. This has changed the reading path of several of my students in a profound way.

Are they hiding their true ability? I have taught several students that could ace their reading assessment, mostly because it had been given to them so many times, and yet had a large gap in their skills. So is their book abandonment masking a larger problem such as not actually understanding what they are reading or not having the stamina to stay with the story?

Are we making them do things that kill their love of reading? When students abandon books a lot, it is a sure sign that we need to reflect on our own practices. And not just skim over that reflection and pretend that everything must be ok. Are reading logs killing their love of reading? Are programs liked Accelerated Reader or LLI? Are we constantly asking them to do things with their reading?

Have we asked them? This is the biggest because too often we try to figure out why a child is abandoning books and we never ask them why. Not beyond the “What didn’t you like about it?” So instead we must give the students a chance to discuss or reflect and really start to study their own habits. What patterns do they see? What types of books might they like to read? What can they do to change their habits? Students need to feel empowered in their self-reflection because otherwise, their pattern won’t change. They also need to set goals and then be able to honestly assess their own progress.

Do they see themselves in the books? Such an important question asked by Dr. Jenn Davis Bowman. Because we need diverse books for all of our kids and if students cannot connect with what we have in our library then they will not read.

If you like what you read here, consider reading my newest book, Passionate Readers – The Art of Reaching and Engaging Every Child, out August 2017. This book focuses on the five keys we can implement into any reading community to strengthen student reading experiences, even within the 45 minute English block. If you are looking for solutions and ideas for how to re-engage all of your students consider reading my very first 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.