Excitement was in the air as a few dozen Warnaco Book Buddies hurried to put the finishing touches on their conference space-turned-barnyard in preparation for the arrival of students from PS 261.  After reading and sharing letters about E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web, the farm themed decorations hung around the offices were a perfect choice.

Once everyone was settled, the Book Buddies were eager to get started on the array of activities laid out on the tables in front of them.  As they worked on crosswords, word searches and making their own farm scenes, lively conversation and laughter could be heard from each room.

A picnic-style meal spread out over a red checkered table cloth was served as our Book Buddies enjoyed hot dogs, hamburgers and, everyone’s favorite, macaroni and cheese

The end of the day came much too quickly, but as the students lined up to leave, the surprises kept on coming – a brand new book to read and delicious cupcakes decorated for Charlotte and Wilbur!

The following week brought students from PS 201 to a Meet and Greet with our corporate partners at American Express.  With a full schedule planned, our Book Buddies first got to know each other a little better over a slice of pizza and ice breaker games.

As the empty pizza boxes piled up, their next task was to create a card depicting their favorite scene from their book, Roald Dahl’s James and the Giant Peach.  Terrifically decorated peaches that featured an array of creatures from the story quickly filled the empty papers.   More than enough fun supplies were provided, much to the students’ enjoyment, as they crafted their own original creations from colored pipe cleaners, stickers and sequins.

The only suggestion for next time came from one student who requested more peach colored crayons – “they knew we were going to be drawing peaches!”

A very special thanks to our friends at Warnaco and American Express for hosting such wonderful events!  What a great experience — the students will not soon forget.

Take one part water and two parts corn starch.  Mix well.  Add a classroom full of enthusiastic seventh graders, and you get a fun-filled lesson on physics – in other words, an Authors Read Aloud visit by science writer Calla Cofield.

Calla heats up the water inside an aluminum can before plunging it into icy water.

Calla was mixing up corn starch and water when I arrived, creating a pool of quicksand to demonstrate the peculiar quality of the molecules in this mixture; they flow like a liquid, yet respond to pressure like a solid – the goo is technically a suspension, just one of the many new and weird concepts that Calla introduced to the science class at MS 108.

She also proved you couldn’t tear a sheet of paper in half by pulling it on either end, but you could karate-chop a piece of wood if there were weaknesses in the grain.  By taking a mini-butane torch to a Coke can with little bit of water in the bottom, she proved you could crush aluminum when the steam met with ice-cold water.

The grand finale was the corn starch quicksand, mixed up and waiting.  Students recoiled when Calla pounded her fist into the mixture, expecting to get splashed with the white goo.  But the goo held fast, and even stayed firm when a student bounced in a bucket full of it with his bare feet (this was one experiment not lacking in volunteers anxious to participate).

Calla’s second visit gave the students a chance to try their hand at her profession – science writing.  Her experiments were book-ended by a writing activity centered on the question: “What does science mean?”

At the beginning of class, students’ answers sounded like textbook definitions or Wikipedia entries: science is the study of blah-blah-blah.  At the end of class, when Calla prompted them with the same question, students came up with adjectives like imaginative, weird, exciting, messy, and even creative.  This was after our author proved you could 1. Set money on fire without it burning, 2. Snuff out a candle with the fog spilling out of a baking soda/vinegar mixture, 3. Spin a bucket full of water without splashing Ms. G’s fancy computer.

Calla's second visit included setting fire to (gasp!) real money. Don't worry, it didn't actually burn.

Students were eager to make connections between the experiments and what they’ve studied in the classroom.  When asked what science was at the close of the visit, one student astutely remarked, “trial and error.”  Learning that you have to make a few mistakes, get a little messy, and reconsider your own assumptions about the way our world works – these are all part of the scientific process.   Calla Cofield’s work with the seventh graders at MS 108 – to use the students’ own descriptions – provided an imaginative, weird, exciting, messy, and most definitely creative experience.

Thanks to Robin Gerstenblatt, science whiz and genius librarian, for letting things get messy in her classroom, and the students at MS 108 for their enthusiastic participation.

Anne Stone and Jeff Nichols debate how students are asked to interpret what they read and demonstrate comprehension though standardized questions and quantifiable answers:  http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2012/01/20/dear-governor-lobby-to-save-a-love-of-reading/

Now as volunteers working with dozens of students every day as they learn to read and interpret stories – we’d like to know your thoughts!  Would you join these two parents in boycotting standardized tests or are do you believe they are a necessary part of the reading curriculum?

The students came up with some truly impressive stories in the short amount of time – mysterious closet doors that led right from their bedroom to dream worlds and other planets.  As they took turns sharing their passages, describing scenes in perfect detail, there was definitely no hiding their innate writing talents.

The class was also lucky enough to have a special guest this day – Ms. Emmanuelle Moregn,  a literary agent at Stonesong.  Representing many young adult and children’s books, Ms. Morgen brought in a few of her latest books that were eagerly passed around the class.

To wrap up the morning, the class was introduced to a writing competition from Slice Magazine.  The theme for this issue?  Mistakes and regrets.  At first glance, this theme may seem like bit of a downer.  But what about positive mistakes — is there even such a thing?  What if we look at some great things that were discovered by accidents?  The microwave, silly putty and corn flakes were all invented through mistakes!

As the discussion continued, it became clear that there are many actions that we may  initially regret, but can turn out to be a good thing.  What about getting in an argument with a girl who ends up later becoming your best friend?  The class was much more eager to share examples of these “positive mistakes,” as they began to see the breadth of stories and situations that could fall under this theme.

Instantly, pens hit the paper as all 10 students excitedly started jotting down ideas for their short story.  Ms. Evans and Ms. Morgen circled the desks, hearing ideas and providing feedback for what are already shaping up to be some very promising first drafts.  And just in case you were thinking of entering that contest yourself, I’ll warn you now – you’re up against some stiff competition with these 8th graders in the running!

And if you’re looking to spread some good cheer this Friday, be sure to bring the whole family over as the bookstore staff leads an evening reading of holiday classics at Holiday Stories and Sing-a-longs.  Complete with a sing-a-along and some yummy holiday treats, what more could you ask for this season!

Volume: Speak up!  You don’t need to shout or strain, but project your voice enough so everyone in the room can hear you.  Practice with a friend or family member in the largest room in your house.  Can another person hear you if you read from the opposite end of the room?  If not, you need to work on your volume.  At first, you must be constantly aware of projecting your voice.  With time, however, it will become second nature.

Diction: Many people mumble or garble their speech or drop the endings of words when they read aloud.  The best way to improve the clarity of your diction (the precise sounding of letters and words) is to practice.  Exaggerate the pronunciation of each word clearly and distinctly.  This exaggeration will make you aware of how important diction is and again, will make speaking clearly second nature.  You can also practice reading aloud into a tape recorder so that you can hear how you sound.

Pronunciation: Often when you read, you might come across a word you either don’t know the meaning of or can’t pronounce.  When you’re reading silently to yourself, you can simply skip over the word; but you can’t do that when you’re reading aloud, without disrupting the flow and sense of what you are reading.  If you’re reading a passage for the first time, you should try to pronounce the unfamiliar word as best you can.  If you have mispronounced it, the teacher will usually come to your rescue.  If you can’t even begin to pronounce the word, don’t be afraid to stop and simply say, “I’m not familiar with that word.”  Someone will help you out.  You shouldn’t feel bad about not knowing the word.

Pace: Don’t read too fast when you’re reading aloud.  You might be able to understand what you’re reading, but your listeners will quickly be lost.  Always read more slowly aloud than you would read silently to yourself.  If you do, your listeners will be able to keep up with you, and you will be able to keep ahead of yourself by glancing ahead at the next sentence or phrase as you read.

Breathing: Running out of breath in the middle of a sentence is one of the greatest fears that people have when they read aloud.  To avoid this, try to take a deep breath at the end of every paragraph, which provides a natural break in all prose.  Periods at the end of sentences and semicolons in the middle of sentences are perfect places to take a regular breath.  Try to avoid taking a breath at a comma.  The pause for a comma is normally too short for breathing.

Vocal Variety: In normal conversation people don’t talk to each other in a boring monotone, so there’s no reason why you should read aloud in one.  Try to vary the tone and pitch of your voice, no matter what it is you are reading.  Don’t always end a sentence by dropping or raising your voice: try both.  Put expression into your voice, particularly when reading a piece of imaginative literature.  Match your vocal tone to the material whenever possible.  For example, when reading a suspenseful story, create tension by slowly speeding up your reading as the story builds toward a climax.

Posture: Good posture will help you read and speak more effectively.  Good posture keeps you vocal apparatus clear and open and allows you to project your voice without strain.  Stand or sit erect when you read, with the book or paper up, not flat on the desk.  Your head should not be looking down at the page.  You should be poised but not rigid.

And the final preparations are made for Thursday, here are just a few of the many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving:

I'm thankful for turkey.
I'm thankful for yams.
I'm thankful for cranberries,
biscuits, and hams.

I'm thankful for pumpkins.
I'm thankful for cheese.
I'm thankful for gravy,
potatoes, and peas.

I'm thankful for stuffing;
I'm nuts for the stuff.
I'm thankful for eggnog
and marshmallow fluff.

I'm thankful for whipped cream
and ice cream and pies.
I'm thankful for dad's
double-chocolate surprise.

I'm thankful, Thanksgiving,
for good things to eat.
But mostly I'm thankful
I still see my feet.
--Kenn Nesbitt

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us with Learning Leaders Literary Programs!

We all remember our Authors Read Aloud volunteer, Bob Morris, from our last post – Now for the rest of us not lucky enough to be in that 1^st grade class, I’d like to share another opportune showcase of his talents.  Also a playwright, Morris’ latest, Glass House, will be performed at The Center for Architecture on December 2^nd at 7:00 pm.

Above: Cast of Glass House - Written by Bob Morris, Directed by Hal Brooks

Featuring an order-obsessed architect named Anthony, who moves into a suburban glass house, the play highlights a commentary on “how style, substance and organization affect our daily lives.”  For more information and to purchase tickets, check out The Center’s calendar of events.

We’re always talking about learning styles here at Learning Leaders – do students learn by seeing?  Listening?  Touching?  Do they need bright colors and maps, or music and rhythm?  Do they need to jump, clap, sing, build?  It’s an ongoing conversation, and one that volunteers explore in training and family literacy workshops.

You can imagine how excited I am to see our Authors Read Aloud program engaging students on all fronts.  Bob Morris’ visit to a first grade classroom at PS 241 in Brooklyn involved learning through sight, sound, and touch.  

He started by introducing himself with some unconventional and conventional spelling – words like author, writer, illustrator (whoa!  that last one is tough, but these kids figured it out with Bob’s help).  He followed with a song on the ukulele.  As the day was all about cats, including the hero of Bob’s book Crispin the Terrible, he taught the kids how to applaud like cats.  Hint: give yourself a pair of cat-ears and waggle fingers accordingly.

During the read-aloud of Crispin the Terrible, students were asked to reflect on the character of Crispin and relate to him – maybe he’s not so terrible after all.

Writing, reading, singing, clapping, bouncing to the rhythm of Bob’s ukulele.  I’d say our author engaged the students using multiple learning styles.  A special thanks to librarian Stephanie Peltz at PS 241 for coordinating the Authors Read Aloud program, and to the students in Ms. Samuels’ class for welcoming us to their classroom.  A round of kitty applause for all!

Literary Programs is proud to announce that one of our very own  Authors Read Aloud volunteers, Tracy Dockray, has won a Moonbeam Award for her picture book, The Lost and Found Pony.   This charming story, written and illustrated by Dockray, took home the gold for best picture book for ages 4-8.

Congratulations, Tracy!

We were also lucky enough to get a sneak peak at some of the original behind-the-scene sketches — take a look below!

View the full list of this year’s amazing winners here!  You are bound to find a book or two (or three or four…) that sparks your interest.

Jerrold Jenkins, founder of the Jenkins Group and creator of the awards, may have put it best: “This year’s Moonbeam Award winners again prove that good books have a positive effect on children’s lives.  Watching our kids read them, and hearing the laughter and seeing the tears, you know these books make a difference.  We created the Moonbeams to reward these special books and bring them to the attention of parents, booksellers, librarians – and especially to young readers.”