ALMA

My dress matches Alma's outfit!

Today a colleague shared that her friend just had her second baby.  I cannot remember the baby's name but I can't forget big brother's.  Cortland.  Now that's a unique name for a child.  Evidently Mom and Dad met at Cortland, held their wedding there and obviously have fond memories of the college. If my husband and I had gone that route, our first born would have been name Testudo and she would have been a terrapin to fear.

The timing of this conversation couldn't have been better.  Just earlier in the day we celebrated the book birthday of Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal.  All K-2 students gathered in the "old gym" to meet Juana via Skype, listen and watch her read her book and ask a few questions.  We finished the party off with pink frosted cookies.  Juana had given me a heads up that those would be Alma's favorite.

The illustrations in this book are soft and lovely.  Did you notice the "A" in Alma?  It has five dots inside of it.  That's for every relative that Alma is named after.  Alexis was in the library later and showed me that she found five dots on her overalls.  That was a thrilling revelation for this second grader.

What about the birds?  Kindergartener Ava was curious but when she got called to actually ask Juana a question during the Skype the words, "When is your birthday?" fell out instead.  Turns out that Ava and Juana are both August birthdays so the summer girls bonded over that. When I later emailed Juana about the birds she shared, "Tell Ava the bird guides Alma through the story. The little bird sees the relatives coming to life before Alma and Daddy. Yes, I looooove birds and drawing birds. Small ones especially." Bonus! We know when Juana's birthday is AND the symbolism of the birds.

 

This simple book about names can open up so many conversations with even our youngest learners.  Ava's teacher told me they went back to talk about their names.  Mrs. Golden's first graders came to the Skype with pictures of their name.  Everyone has been buzzing about the origins of their names and adults have shared the story behind their children's names.

Mrs. Cook's kindergarteners right before dismissal.

So...what is the story of your name?

-Signing off, 

Stacey Beth Rattner

Bracha Gilah (in Hebrew it means "Blessing of Joy")

   

PS--Want to know more about Juana and Alma?  Check out this video.  I shared it with everyone right before our Skype.  I love watching Juana illustrate Alma.

I know I posted this picture before but I just had to share it again!
With library superstars Becky Calzada, Cynthia Alaniz and of course, Juana!