Hmm… What is that?

 It was a remarkable 43 degrees out today.  Unheard of on the last day of December in Maine!  I went out snowshoeing in a field in back of my house and found all kinds of beautiful dried gasses.  Many reminded me of Dr. Seuss characters with their odd formations and twisted, curly leaves but there was an odd object that I kept finding as I tromped through the field - galls. 

Galls

A gall that I found while snowshoeing.  Picture by Eliot.

It is spring

the growing green stalks

are creating storage of food.

I’ll need sustenance

during the long, cold winter.

I bubble up my mixture

and irritate.

I crawl,

surrounding myself

inside what will be

my edible sphere.

I sleep,

waiting for spring.

When I will eat

an escape hatch.

- a poem by Sheila

Sometimes a walk outside gives reasons for a fun writing project.  I wrote the poem about galls after doing a little research.  Encourage your child explore winter and chances are good that topics for writing will be abundant.

One of my favorite blogs for poetry is The Poem Farm.  In this site, the poet Amy LV has been writing a poem everyday and shares where she gets her inspiration.  Lately she has been on a non-fiction spree.  It inspired me to write about the odd formation in the field called galls.

Good Fit Books

It's always interesting to talk about what a student is currently reading.  I like to take a moment to discuss with   my students what's in their book boxes.  This gives me a chance to see what titles they are reading and also an opportunity to talk about the books to see if they are understanding what they are reading.  If  book is to hard, a student may not be able to understand what they are reading.  What a student has selected to read gives me insight into their interests as well as opening up the conversation about if a book is a "Good Fit" for that student.

I enjoy this picture... look at how the bookmarks show the use of an avid reader and the corners of the book are curled from use and being toted around.  These are the books from Jamie's book box.  Jamie is a fourth grade student that I interviewed to help explain what a good fit book is. 

In the classroom, students are taught to use the I PICK ( from The Daily 5, Boushey & Moser, 2006) method to select books that hold a student's interest but are books at a reading level that is appropriate for the child so that the child can understand what they are reading. 

There are five questions that the student needs to think about when selecting books usig the I PICK method:

1. I - I choose the book.
2. Purpose - Why do you want to read it?
3. Interest - Does it interest me?
4. Comprehend - Am I understanding what I'm reading?
5. Know - I know most of the words.

I interviewed Jamie, a fourth grade student, about the books in his book box and we talked about the five questions in the I PICK method for picking "Good Fit" books.

Jamie - Good Fit Books from Sheila Cochrane on Vimeo.

 These are the three tiles that Jamie had in his book box in November 2010:

Chronicles of Ancient Darkness: Book One, Wolf Brother by Michelle Paver

Ranger's Apprentice: Book Two, The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan

Goosebumps:  Horrorland, The Secret of the Haunted Mask by R.L. Stine

The books that currently interest Jamie are fantasy and he understands what he is reading.  What types of books is your child reading?  You can use the I PICK questions to discuss your child's choice in books and find out if the titles are a "Good Fit".