Here Batter Batter

It's "Jersey Day" for Spirit Week.  When my son wakes up, I am going to find one of his New York Giants jerseys or shirts and proudly parade around it in all over the house.  Maybe I haven't been a true Giants fan for too long but after listening daily to the Big Blue Kickoff Live podcast during the football season and staying for all four quarters in steady sheets of rain this fall, I think I can can call myself one now. I can even contribute to a conversation about some old greats like Bill Parcells, LT and Tiki Barber.

To be honest, I was all set to write today's post about football.  But, when I finished a meeting with my fourth grade "Pastries and Prose" group and we read Dan Gutman's story from Guys Read Sports about the 1986 World Series Game 6 I decided to pinch hit and throw in a post about baseball instead.

Now 1986 is a year I remember.  I was a Mets fan and a senior in HS.  My brother was 8 years old, a formative time to be a baseball fan and watch your team make it to the World Series.  To this day, he and his wife will travel to the city from Vermont and spend the weekend at Citi Field.  I, on the other hand as you know, prefer theatre. It was still exciting in 1986.  So exciting, that my friend and I skipped school to watch the Ticker Tape Parade in Manhattan and Keith Hernandez winked at me.

My husband and I have a friend from Rhode Island who is a die hard Red Sox fan.  You can't even bring up this series without him wincing.  "1-9-8-6," he would say with a sigh and then change the subject immediately. Granted, when we were hanging out with him, it was the mid '90s and the Red Sox still had a losing streak.

Today I am an Angels and Tigers fan.  Angels because in 2002 I was VERY pregnant the whole month of October (Tari's birthday is October 30) so I sat on the couch and watched the Angels win and win and win and the fans hit the thunder sticks over and over again.  Tigers because I went to Michigan twice this summer and even went to a Tigers game.  Loved it, plain and simple.  Then stocked up on Tigers swag at the local Target.

Back to today. I think I found my "Pastries" book for every week now.  Bam! No more figuring out the book 10 minutes before the hangout! There are some great authors in this one including Anne Ursu (we loved her The Lost Girl this year for Newbery), Adirondack story teller, Joe Bruchac and the incomparable Jackie Woodson (will she ever pick up Kwame's phone call during his Instagram live?). If you get the book, Harper Collins has a discussion guide.  I'm already looking forward to next Thursday morning.

And just speaking of Dan Gutman (yes, we were), he is reading a My Weird School book live on Facebook every weekday at 2pm. If you are into those hilarious books, this website has a bunch of activities to go with them.

Matt Tavares

Matt Tavares has written and illustrated a bunch of baseball biographies, beautiful Christmas-ish themed books (I bought Mrs. Golden a Red and Lulu clock for Christmas this year not even knowing she loves cardinals!), and other fascinating biographies.  You need to check out his website for more. If you check out the baseball books, here's a lesson guide from the publisher.  Some ideas that stand out are:

• Research the 1915, 1916 and 1918 World Series, especially the role that Babe Ruth played. Write an opinion piece stating whether you think the Red Sox would have won if Babe Ruth hadn't been on the team.
• How does knowing how to play all the positions in baseball make you a better player?
• Research the Civil Rights movement. What role did Jackie Robinson play in desegregation? (By the way, there is a great Brainpop video on Jackie Robinson.)
• Research the different types of pitches.  What do pitchers have to do in order to throw the different types?

Matt draws live on Facebook every Monday at 10 am.  Here he is from a few days ago:

Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY and...

...in your own home.  The Hall of Fame has lots of ideas for you to "visit" virtually.  They have a digital collection, YouTube channel, cross curricular library of different cross curricular lesson plans: math, science, social studies...Pick one and have fun with it!

For today--

For grade 5 and up: at 2:45 pm Eastern Time today (Thursday, April 2), the Hall of Fame will be hosting an educational program, "Civil Rights: Before You Could Say Jackie Robinson." It's a program centered on baseball and civil rights, spanning from the post Civil War yeas to the 1960s. We'll be talking not only about Robinson, but about pioneers like Bud Fowler, Moses Fleetwood Walker, Rube Foster, and Effa Manley.
This is completely FREE. If you'd like to participate, click on this link to register.  If you can't make it, they will archive it on YouTube.

Search interactive content programming and directories for your school, organization, and learning community.

Casey at the Bat

It is National Poetry Month so I have to include a rendition of "Casey at the Bat."

Casey at the Bat | Casey at the Bat | Ernest Lawrence Thayer | Lit2Go ETC

Here's a Reader's Theatre edition that your whole family can perform together. Maybe stray away from traditional RT and bring some props and costumes into, have fun and video tape yourselves for prosperity. Send it to me, if you do! I need some kind of sports to watch these days!

Extra Innings

Oh, man. There are SO many great baseball books out there! If this was baseball, we didn't even get to the first out in the top of the first inning. I will be blogging more on this topic for sure! Until then, grab your peanuts, popcorn and cracker jacks and root, root, root for your next book! xo

PS-I dedicate this post to my friend, Garrett, who is missing his final season on the University of Rochester baseball team.  The good news is he got into med school. Yay, Garrett! 😊

Women + Music

A long, long time ago a friend of mine gave me a card that said, "If you leave it to the last minute, it only takes a minute to do."  That is forever my motto.  In fact, I got a call yesterday from NYSUT asking for a book review due in 2 weeks.  I was completely honest with her and said I would probably work on it in 13 days.

Today I had our usual "Pastries and Prose" meeting at 8:30.  When we have school IN the building, we begin at 7:25 before school starts.  This week and last I had it 8:30, thinking 4th graders would surely be up by then.  Well, I had four kids show up.  But it's not about the numbers, it's about the quality. And this was a good group.

Where does the procrastination come in?  I wanted to share a book but didn't know which one. I had one downloaded but wanted to keep looking for ideas.  This was at 8:18.  I go into SORA and Women's History Month is being promoted.  One of the first books available was Margarita Engle and Rafael Lopez's book, Drum Dream Girl.

I found today's book.  Not only is it still "Women's History Month" (longest March ever, huh?) but it is also "Music in Our Schools" month.  So this was a perfect match.

Drum Dream Girl

It's hard to believe that it has been almost a year now since Rafael Lopez took leaps with me in Castleton (and in the snow in April!).  I am the luckiest person ever because I get to see his inspired artwork every day outside my library.  

Multi award winning author and poet, Margarita Engle's lyrical text paired with Rafael's artwork (which won him the Pura Belpre medal) makes one perfect book.  I just texted Mrs. Gibney, our music teacher and she simply said, "Love that book."  Is there anyone who doesn't?

This book trailer will get you moving and wanting more, for sure:

There are many activities you can do with Drum Dream Girl.  To start off,  here is a discussion guide.

This article has SO many ideas and further links.  These are a few I particularly like:

• Write a story or poem about your own dreams. 
• Check out drums on Garage Band, if you have a Mac, or another program out there if you have a PC. Play around with it and make a song.
• Make your own instrument out of toilet paper or paper towel rolls, paper plates and beans or anything else you can think of!
• Listen to Cuban music. Maybe have some art supplies available and see if you are inspired to create something while you are listening.
• Create a mural of dreams with your family.  
• Read other books by Margarita Engle, Rafael Lopez or on the same subject or idea. For middle grade readers, I suggest Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson which is her Newbery Honor biography in verse or Ruth Behar's Pura Belpre winning Lucky Broken Girl, based on her own life in fifth grade (in Briarwood, Queens, where I also grew up!) with her Cuban American family. Note: Ruth has a new book, Letters from Cuba, coming out in August that I love, love, love.
• Of course, check out more of Margarita and Rafael's books. There are more books they have done together (Bravo! Poems about Amazing Hispanics and Dancing Hands: How Teresa Carreo Played the Piano for President Lincoln) More love.

I found this short video from Ms. Carmina Reads about Millo Castro Zaldarriaga from the book, Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls.

Be sure and check out Rafael's blog every day for a different coloring page.  You could print them out and have a whole book when this is over.

Hope these photos get you leaping:

April 5, 2019 

(Check out the blank wall behind us!)

The finished mural taken end of June 2019.

I miss that artwork so much now.💜

Haha Elisha Cooper :-)

By The Way

Speaking of Women's History Month, today is the birthday of Sandra Day O'Connor, born in 1930 in El Paso, Texas (yes, plug for my favorite state where I was hoping to be right now for the Texas Library Association conference) and Nancy Pelosi, born in 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland.  You can find more information about both of these leaders in our databases: FactCite, PebbleGo (only Justice O'Connor) and of course, WorldBook and Britannica.  

Happy Birthday Researching! Happy Women's History Month! Happy Music in Our Schools Month! xo

Pastries and Prose #1

I am not a morning person.
But I can name at least 15 4th graders who are.

Yesterday was the kick off of my "Pastries and Prose" book club, a half hour before school started.  It was pitch black when I pulled into the parking lot and the only other car there belonged to Miss Sherrie in the cafeteria.

I signed up to lead an extra curricular  book club but with a late bus only three days a week and art club, KKids, intramurals, student council and students just needing to stay after school for extra help, I thought I would try offering a before-school club.  And I love doughnuts so this would be the perfect opportunity to indulge.

Having never run a club like this before I didn't know what we would do (and honestly I still don't) but at least we have a focus.  I pulled all my "treat" related books and put them out.  The kids enjoyed juice and pastries and then all gathered to listen to The Hole Story of the Doughnut by Pat Miller and illustrated by Vincent X. Kirsch.  These 4th graders have Sibert on their mind so they really wanted to read one of the nonfiction titles.  We already know that next week's book will be How the Cookie Crumbled: The True (and not so true) Stories of the Invention of the Chocolate Chip Cookie by Gilbert Ford. Not really a pastry, but close enough.

We also talked about getting into groups and reading graphic novels like Bake Sale by Sara Varon and Lunch Lady and the Bake Sale Bandit by Jarrett Krosoczka (perhaps our own early riser lunch lady will join in for that one).  I invited my 6th grade Reading Ambassadors to come as mentors and they really want to read different books and hold debates. I'll need some extra coffee for that.

I think they enjoyed it.  The true testament will be if they return before sunrise next Thursday.  In the meantime, can you please pass the chocolate frosted with sprinkles.

Chase BEFORE his tooth fell out.
PS-That's a reusable cup filled with OJ!

PS-Shout out to Laurie Keller for the idea to call my club "Pastries and Prose."  It stuck and I love it! Of course, don't look for her books in the picture--they are all checked out!