The screen shot is from a workshop that the elementary teachers had with teacher and author Stephanie Harvey on non-fiction reading and writing. The tech teacher would go to every link that Stephanie talked about and by the end of the presentation, she was able to send us the personalized link to Harvey’s resources that she mentioned in her workshop.

We’re trying this with 8th grade science next week where the students will read an article on the hoopla of the 2012 end of the world prediction based on the Mayan calendar, and the students will go to the share tab site to find other science web sites that will debunk the myth with scientific facts.

It’s free, it’s simple, and it will save everyone time so that more teaching can focus on the basics like how to read a website, and what the different entry points are to non fiction writing.

• The club is mostly online, so it doesn’t take away precious school time like study hall and recess
• The book club members choose themes so that if someone is not interested in a particular book, they can find a plethora of other books in the same theme. (November’s theme is mystery)
• Members are able to form sub-groups around particular books so that they can have specific online conversations about what they’re reading
• The faster readers can jump from group to group and read more than one book a month
• There is no minimum amount of posting that students need to make, although they are encouraged to post a response to the regular discussions (What are you reading on Monday and Teaser Tuesday) as well as blog about a book they finished.
• The book club includes all three grade levels, so students meet students that are not in their grade level.
• The online site is private, secure and well-monitored, so our students are safe.

If your child would like to get involved with Hui Heluhelu, see any of the English teachers, or catch me in the hallway. Hope to see you in the technosphere.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins – This is the fight-to-the-death sequel to The Hunger Games.

Savvy by Ingrid Law (2009 Newberry Honor book).

For generations, the Beaumont family has harbored a magical secret. They each possess a “savvy” -a special supernatural power that strikes when they turn thirteen. Grandpa Bomba moves mountains, her older brothers create hurricanes and spark electricity . . . and now it’s the eve of Mibs’s big day.

As if waiting weren’t hard enough, the family gets scary news two days before Mibs’s birthday: Poppa has been in a terrible accident. Mibs develops the singular mission to get to the hospital and prove that her new power can save her dad. So she sneaks onto a salesman’s bus . . . only to find the bus heading in the opposite direction. Suddenly Mibs finds herself on an unforgettable odyssey that will force her to make sense of growing up -and of other people, who might also have a few secrets hidden just beneath the skin.

Truce by two-time Newberry Honor book author Jim Murphy is an amazing true story.

On July 29th 1914, the world’s peace was shattered as the artillery of the Austria-Hungary Empire began shelling the troops of the country to its south. What followed was like a row of falling dominoes as one European country after another rushed into war. Soon most of Europe was fighting in this calamitous war that could have been avoided. This was, of course, the First World War.

But who could have guessed that on December 25 the troops would openly defy their commanding officers by stopping the fighting and having a spontaneous celebration of Christmas with their “enemies”?

In what can only be described as a Christmas Miracle, this beautiful and heartrending narrative will remind everyone how brotherhood and love for one another reaches far beyond war and politics.

The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly

A charming and inventive story of a child struggling to find her identity at the turn of the 20th century. As the only girl in an uppercrust Texas family of seven children, Calpurnia, 11, is expected to enter young womanhood with all its trappings of tight corsets, cookery, and handiwork. Unlike other girls her age, Callie is most content when observing and collecting scientific specimens with her grandfather. Bemoaning her lack of formal knowledge, he surreptitiously gives her a copy of The Origin of Species and Callie begins her exploration of the scientific method and evolution, eventually happening upon the possible discovery of a new plant species. Callie’s mother, believing that a diet of Darwin, Dickens, and her grandfather’s influence will make Callie dissatisfied with life, sets her on a path of cooking lessons, handiwork improvement, and an eventual debut into society. Callie’s confusion and despair over her changing life will resonate with girls who feel different or are outsiders in their own society. Callie is a charming, inquisitive protagonist; a joyous, bright, and thoughtful creation. The conclusion encompasses bewilderment, excitement, and humor as the dawn of a new century approaches. Several scenes, including a younger brother’s despair over his turkeys intended for the Thanksgiving table and Callie’s heartache over receiving The Science of Housewifery as a Christmas gift, mix gentle humor and pathos to great effect. The book ends with uncertainty over Callie’s future, but there’s no uncertainty over the achievement of Kelly’s debut novel.—Jennifer Schultz, Fauquier County Public Library, Warrenton, VA

The 39 Clues Book 6: In Too Deep by Jude Watson. In this 6th book, Amy and Dan Cahill must follow the clues and travel across the deepest oceans on the trail of a famous aviator. Six more cards are included in this book for your participation in the online 39 Clues game.

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater (*some mature content)

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

The One Left Behind by Willo Davis Roberts – feeling as though the rest of her large family has moved on, 11-year-old Mandy continues to struggle with the death of her twin. Left alone in her house over a long weekend, she pretends that Angel is still with her, but it no longer worked to pretend anything beautiful, or exciting, or magical. Without Angel to share, Mandy felt broken, destroyed. Midway through the weekend, she discovers a runaway boy, Zander, who has broken into her house. Fugitives from a kidnapping plot, the teen and his toddler brother seek her help, and now she, and not her daring twin, must become courageous and independent.  Mandy and Zander face troubles that leave them incomplete, and the drama of outthinking and outrunning the kidnappers imbues what might otherwise be just an issue book with page-turning pacing. Give this quick read to girls not quite ready for Caroline Cooney or Lurlene McDaniel.

Double-Entry Journals – a while reading strategy

Background

The Double-Entry Journal strategy enables students to record their responses to text as they read. Students write down phrases or sentences from their assigned reading and then write their own reaction to that passage. The purpose of this strategy is to give students the opportunity to express their thoughts and become actively involved with the material they read.

Benefits

Double-Entry Journaling improves students’ comprehension, vocabulary, and content retention. This interactive strategy activates prior knowledge and present feelings, and promotes collaborative learning. It fosters the connection between reading and writing as students are able to “reply” to the author or speaker as they write their responses.

The technique offers flexibility in that teachers can use any form of written text, read alouds, or listenings that are assigned in class.

Create and use the strategy

Introduce a passage of text to the students. Discuss the Double-Entry Journal technique and model the procedure including specific guidelines for writing. Have students read the selected text making journal entries whenever a natural pause in the reading occurs, so that the flow is not interrupted constantly.

1. Students fold a piece of paper in half, lengthwise.
2. In the left hand column, the students write a phrase or sentence from the selection that was particularly meaningful to them, along with the page number.
3. In the right hand column, the students react to the passage by writing personal responses to the quotes on the left. The entry may include a comment, a question, a connection made, or an analysis.
4. Students can share their responses with the class or literature discussion group.

Since we are an enrolled spelling bee school, we encourage our students and ohana to take advantage of all the resources available on the spelling website.

Site: http://spellingbee.com (on the top right will be a log in area)

log-in ID:  caikeda at ksbe.edu

password: ksmiddleschool

“Buzz” on over and check it out!

KWL (what I know, what I want to learn, what I learned) is an old technique (Ogle, 1986) that basically informs you, the teacher, about what students already know about your topic unit, and what they want to learn. After the unit, they go back to their chart and tell you what they learned. Here’s the problem. In the middle school on, I find that KWL is a mood killer rather than a motivator. According to my KWL expert (my senior in high school), the problem is really that teachers pass out the KWL worksheet too early. He says, “how am I supposed to know what I want to learn if I don’t know what the possibilities are?”

His advice: teach a little bit of the topic first, like a movie trailer – just enough to tease out the WONDER. As a parent, that’s always my hope for my children, that the institution of SCHOOL will not kill my child’s natural wonder.

A workshop on non-fiction reading and writing with Stephanie Harvey offered an idea that sounds like an alternate to KWL. Let’s take a sample unit: slavery in America

1. Start with images – post the images around the room like a gallery walk. Students silently walk around the room, look at the images, then on post its with their name, they write a wonder statement and an inference statement, then put it near the photo.

I wonder how heavy these chains are and when they were used?

I infer that the shackles were not the only way that slaves were controlled by their owners.

This activity will also show you what kind of background knowledge the students are coming with.

2. Use picture books about the topic to form book clubs (literature circles) where students choose a kids book, they read it with their group and discuss it. Within three days, since the pieces are short, they’ll trade books. This gives them enough background information to tease out some “I wonders.”

Once they have a little bit of information, then they can do a KWL chart, or you can bring in your resource materials and let them do personal or group inquiry research.

• must do. . .
• must read. . .
• must learn.  . .
• must implement. . .
• must revise. . .
• must reflect. . .
• must report. . .

Our own Liana Iaea Honda has a painless, fun way to increase our Hawaiian language learning (another “must”) through her blog: He Momi. Subscribe to her blog, put it on your feed reader and enjoy the stories that come from these words. From today’s blog:

Ōlaʻi

1. earthquake, tremor.
2. light porous stone or pumice, as used for polishing canoes or for scraping off hair of pig or dog to be roasted.

In light of the ōlaʻi that have taken place in the Pacific Ocean recently, perhaps you can find some use of today’s word in your daily practice.  Ōlaʻi (with a macron over the o for stress) is an old word, as ōlaʻi are not a new phenomenon to Hawaiians.  Many ōlaʻi occur in our islands, particularly because of the activity generated by the still active volcano on Hawai’i Island.  I find it particularly interesting this word has a smaller word in it, la’i, that actually means calm or peaceful.  Perhaps this refers to the calmness that follows an earthquake, when you experience it.  I’m only speculating and using this connection as a tool to help me better remember the ōlaʻi.  As we make connections to certain words, that’s how we remember them, right?

Ōla’i ikaika loa i ‘ike ‘ole ‘ia kona lua – very strong earthquake, the like of which had never been seen before.

Halulu ka honua i ka ōla’i ē – The earth resounds because of the earthquake (from a chant by Edith Kanaka’ole)

Nei ka honua, he ōlaʻi ia
When the earth trembles, it is an earthquake.
(We know what it is by what it does)

Ua loa’a ʻelua ōla’i ma Vanuatu i kēia pule. – There were two earthquakes in Vanuatu this week.

Aia ke ōlaʻi ma Indonesia. – The earthquake was in Indonesia.

Here’s the link to take you to Darrell’s blog for directions: Embedding Voicethreads post

He’s just more eloquent. And while you’re there, check out Liana’s papa mālaaʻo a voicethread. Cute kēia.