It's Here! #pb10for10

Join Cathy at Reflect and Refine and Mandy at Enjoy and Embrace Learning for this fun event. 

It is not like me to put something off. I like to get things done as soon as possible because if I do procrastinate, it will be ugly. I’ll think about it, and think about it, and think about it – giving far more time to the thing I have to do than if I had just sat down and done it. That being said, trying to pick ten picture books to share on August 10^th for #pb10for10 is tough. Knowing these are supposed to be ten picture books I couldn’t live without, impossible.



I thought about this list a few ways. I thought I could go with a theme – 10 funny books, 10 new books, 10 books my students loved last year, 10 books that I use in mini-lessons. None of it seemed right. When it really came down to it, I wondered – what ten picture books do I simply have to have in my fifth grade classroom? This was my list.

What You Know First by Patricia MacLachlan

My love for this book is pretty well documented. I love using it on the first day. I’m able to show the student what it looks like to “know” background info on an author, to have a favorite author, and what it’s like to love a “quiet” book. I also use it on the first day to talk about what we bring with us from the years past in school. (Some good, some bad.) For that reason, I also read this book on the last day of school to talk about what they are taking with them as they move on from me.

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen

I will share this while wearing the red hat that Jen Vincent sent me so long ago. I will use this book to talk about text complexity when it seems so simple and also about community. I will share with them the conversations my friends and I have had around this book and the teams that developed as a result. With this one book I think they will be able to see how books factor into my life.

Bluebird by Bob Staake

I shared this book for the first time last year and was unbelievably moved. I will never forget sharing it with my son, Liam. He was seven. When I pointed out a page towards the end and said how sad the mean kids looked and maybe this was too sad to share with kids, Liam said “Sometimes you can’t take what you did back.” We talked about how sorry can’t fix everything. This book shows the power of story – without words.

It’s a Book by Lane Smith

I’ve shared this book every year since it came out because of one simple word – jackass. I remember when I got the book; not knowing that one of the characters was indeed a jackass and was called that in the book. At first I wasn’t sure whether I should share it or not. The book is hilarious and the two different ways the word is used would be fascinating to study. J The power of a word – exemplified in this picture book.

The Monster at the End of This Book by Jon Stone

I share this book when I want to talk about dreams and purpose. I read this book for the first time as a second grader. When talking to my former first grade teacher, Jan Tuck, she invited me to her classroom to read it to her new students. I remember seeing those kids sitting in front of me, waiting. I remember being nervous. I remember trying hard to put inflection in my voice. And I remember the first laugh, and more, and more, until they were begging me to read it again. I remember vividly leaving that room and knowing I must be able to read to kids daily. A powerful memory.

Roller Coaster by Marla Frazee

I love using this one to explain what I mean by craft choice. The kids often enjoy this book, asking it to be read again and again. I also point out how much “fun” it is to read and we discuss how to make our own writing that way. I simply love Marla’s books and this is one way to introduce her to my students.

My Great Aunt Arizona by Gloria Houston

This book is another that I use at the end of the year. In my tiny town, I do get to watch my students grow up, move on, and come back. We talk about our year together and our dreams down the road. We also talk about the choices we make and how they will determine whether our dreams become reality. I use this book as a way to say goodbye to my students.

The Relatives Came by Cynthia Rylant

I have several books by Rylant I enjoy sharing, but this one is at the top. The words she uses in this book are just brilliant. We talk about the concept of show, not tell, here. For example, the kids always point out the crowded house and how instead of saying it’s crowded she says it’s hard to sleep with all of that breathing. Brilliant.

Enemy Pie by Derek Munson

I would say I use this book most years – but not every. This year I absolutely will be because I want to talk about assumptions and changing our point of view of another person. Both are lessons that I know my new class needs and I think will inspire rich discussion.

Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett

I love Mac’s books and this one is no different. Sometimes you just need to have fun, and this one will have them rolling. Seeing as it was recently released, I’ve never used this book with a class. Both of my boys read it immediately when it arrived at our house and both gave glowing reviews. I cannot wait to try this one out with my fifth graders.

There you have it! Ten books I love. Considering I have three hundred picture books in my classroom, this was extremely difficult. Check out the other posts in the #pb10for10 group – and get ready to feel your wallet cry. J Thanks for hosting this group Cathy and Mandy! 

Reflecting on Picture Books

Our picture book collection

Most fifth graders don’t enter our classroom on day one and ask for a picture book. They often tend to look at them as books for little kids – not something that “counts” as real reading. Fortunately, in a matter of days, those feelings start to shift. We share many picture books in our classroom – through reading and writing mini-lessons, book talks, book trailers, and more.

Throughout this school year my students explored picture books. Some memorable lessons include:

-       Reading What You Know First by Patricia MacLachlan on the first day of school. Knowing I will return to this text on the last day of school. Sharing that with my class, eyes watering, knowing our time is limited.

-       The sharing I Want My Hat Back and This is Not My Hat – both by Jon Klassen. The discussions about the endings were memorable.

-       Whispering “jackass” as I read It’s A Book by Lane Smith. Howls of laughter floated up in the air. Watching a student read it to her dad at Open House. Praying he had a sense of humor.

-       Bringing in a stack of Elephant & Piggie books to discuss familiar characters. Watching as students read them to each other, acting them out.

-       Discussing banned books – and my feelings about speaking loudly when a book is challenged – with the hilarious Dirty Cowboy by Amy Timberlake.

-       Delving into what makes a picture book “distinguished” during a Mock Caldecott Unit with Margie Myers-Culver.

-       Cheers erupting in my class when the Caldecotts were announced.

-       The gasps as I turned the pages of the wordless book Bluebird by Bob Staake. Hands down, one of the best days of conversation during mini-lessons this year.

-       Skyping with Mr. Schu’s second graders for Children’s Book Week and listening to the two classes read We Are In A Book.

-       Working with my students to create our own picture book biography unit. Sitting back and listening, as they just “have” to come up and tell me what they just learned.

-       Having my RTI class ask to create their own reader’s theater from I Want My Hat Back and then perform it for other students. (See video below)

Now, almost 180 days after meeting these children, I know they are changed as a result of picture books. These slim volumes have taught them about friendship, love, loss, perseverance, history, kindness, family, and more. Picture books are ageless – a lesson my students now understand. Each time I see their hands shoot out to grab another book, a stack built by a student on the floor, my smile grows a bit wider. I am grateful they have embraced these books for the treasures they are. I hope their teachers in the future do as well. 

Celebrating the Year of Picture Books

Candlewick is celebrating picture books this year and kicked off their celebration with one of the best videos I’ve seen in a long while. Go check out Travis Jonker and Elizabeth Bird’s hilarious video communicating with picture book titles and then come back. (VIDEO)

I love picture books. And at the start of the school year I share A LOT of them. I think they are perfect for the classroom. A quick story I can read and incorporate into a mini-lesson and discussion. These are just a few of the picture books I’ve shared in the first nine days of school.

What You Know First by Patricia MacLachlan. I always begin the school year with this book. I end the school year with this book. I’m not sure what it is that makes it so magical for me, but I love it. The kids and I talk about having a favorite author. We talk about using quiet words but making an impact. There’s so much I treasure about this. I think the main reason I use this one year after year is I want my students to see on the first day, and the last day, that their teacher treasures words and books.

Enemy Pie by Derek Munson. I’ve used this one on and off for the last few years. Love watching students reactions to it and the awesome discussion that results. This is perennially a student favorite.

Boy + Bot by Ame Dyckman. This was a new one for me this year and the kids cracked up. Watching fifth graders hooting over the robot putting oil in the boy’s ear, hearing them reply to each other, “Affirmative” over the next few days, I’m sad for the classrooms where picture books are considered too young for my age group. And when I told my students that I’ve Skyped with Ame before? Holy smokes! They will string me up if I don’t get her in my classroom soon. J

  

The Library by Sarah Stewart and The Gentleman Bug by Julian Hector were both books I purchased after reading about them on Mr. Schu’s blog. Both celebrate books and reading. I enjoyed sharing them with my students because they immediately assumed I bought them due to my love of reading. Love that these picture books can show my priorities so quickly.

Good News Bad News by Jeff Mack allowed me to share a bit about myself. I told the students that one of the characters resembled my attitude about life and one resembled my husband’s attitude. The kids and I practiced some inferring as we read and at the end I asked them to guess which character I was like. 100% of them shouted out “The Rabbit!” – awesome how well they know me in one week.

And finally, I shared I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen. We discussed the illustrations, the actions of the characters, and which “team” my students would be on. (Overwhelmingly they chose “Team Bear” – sorry, Jen. We did have a “team armadillo” again.)

I still love sharing picture books with my own children and my students as well. Many of them are already debating which books in my collection should be contendors for the Caldecott this year. After sharing The Dirty Cowboy with a few kids and telling them it was banned in a school in Pennsylvania, kids read it together lamenting that children a few states away wouldn’t have the opportunity to laugh over the hilarious story from Amy Timberlake’s family. (And they were in love with Adam Rex’s illustrations.) Picture books allow me to share myself with my students along with showing them a wonderful story. And as I watched students curl up with a stack during independent reading this past week, I know they will be sharing their favorites with me soon as well.