View From the 5th Grade Trenches: August 2013 - The Scieszka Zone

You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, 

The Scieszka Zone

Where else can a math cursed kid put two halves together and escape through a hole in the wall?

Where else can the Big Bad Wolf plead his case?

Where else can a cowboy crack up about a head of lettuce?

Where else can Chicken Licken seek an audience with Obama?

Nothing tops a roomful of giggling kids. That is why I start every school year sharing the witty and hilarious words of Jon Scieszka with my class. The crazy-perfect illustrations of Lane Smith enhance the laughter even more. Their stories are every bit as guffaw-inducing for adults as they are for the kids.

Mr. Scieszka has my undying admiration for his literacy program and website called GUYS READ. Here's the mission statement:

Welcome to Guys Read, a web-based literacy program for boys founded by author and First National Ambassador of Young People’s Literature Jon Scieszka. Our mission is to help boys become self-motivated, lifelong readers.

The GUYS READ website is a wealth of information and resources to get our boys reading. Through it I discovered middle grade gold such as the Time Warp Trio,

Guys Read Anthologies,

and the Spaceheadz online interactive series 

that have transformed some of my most reluctant male (and female) readers into potential bookworms.

Jon Scieszka has clocked time as a teacher in the elementary school trenches and he proves over and over his special magic for communicating with kids. As a teacher I appreciate everything Scieszka for the teachable moments the works provide above and beyond engaging kids with their perfectly pitched humor.

MATH CURSE – Introduces the Fibonacci sequence: 1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34 (Have you cracked the code?) as well as empathizing with students about the mind boggling math concepts they have to conquer each new school year.

THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS – Is an approachable and entertaining example of teaching voice and point of view.

COWBOY AND OCTOPUS – Is Diversity 101. The relationship and tolerance between these two unlikely amigos exemplifies the joy of putting differences aside and being friends with someone unexpected.

THE STINKY CHEESE MAN AND OTHER FAIRLY STUPID TALES – Besides the perk of getting to say “stupid” for the guaranteed laugh, these quick spins on traditional tales are ripe for teaching the elements of a story.

Thank you Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith for all the lesson plan blanks you’ve filled in for me, and above all else, for making kids crave books.

SCBWI-LA 2013 Conference - Scieszka and Rose

What could be cooler than meeting one of your heroes in person and seeing they are as amazing as you always dreamed they'd be?

Answer: Nothing.

Look for the signpost up ahead – your next stop, 

The Scieszka Zone

*The Twilight Zone introduction is written by Rod Serling.

Mining Vacay Gold

It's vacay season when we share collective thoughts.

How much can I jam in my suitcase?

Should I lie to the calorie tracker on my smartphone?

Do I trust the GPS or will I end up in a lake?

We writers have another subset of "on the road" musings.

If that girl falls off that balcony will that guy catch her?

Were those glowing eyes flying across the road a Chupacabra?

Is this a tasty location for my next MS?

Julie Musil recently shared her method of note-taking to recall the details of a situation here. 

I prefer to chronicle my vacay observations visually.

A shadow. A shoe. A tree.

Don't move. It will see you.

The face behind the bottom right pane disappeared.

What strategies do you use to cement observations into your writerly brain?

"Not Cool Robert Frost" Meet Kid President

Really Leslie? Another video to watch. I'm trying to hit ten blogs today. I don't have time for this. 

Cross my heart, you will not regret clicking on this one. Inspiration shows up when you need it the most. 

Here's some for you.

Kid President's name is Robby. He was born with brittle bone condition and has endured over 70 breaks since he was born. He is on a journey through this life to get us all dancing.

To learn more about this extraordinary force in our universe, visit his website Kid President

And now -

Let's DANCE!

Guest Post and the Super Moon

This week I'm over at the wonderful Julie Musil's blog chatting about writing short stories. Come say howdy.

Did anyone see the "super moon" the night of June 22nd?

AMAZING!

I was driving by the Pacific Ocean and the moonlight made the waves glow silver. 

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View From the Fifth Grade Trenches: Nazi on the School Board?

Instead of starting with warm breezes and an iced tea, summer break in my school district detonated with a community nightmare. As a writer, I constantly observe and analyze people. Last night I witnessed a character the likes of which I’ve never before encountered in my life.

School board members, community elected positions, are supposed to focus on the quality and integrity of education for the students on their watch.

A recent addition to the Saugus Union School District in California, Stephen Winkler, has proven to be a detriment, dare I say horror, rather than an advocate for the children in the district which he serves.

Recently Mr. Winkler attacked the teachers of the district in a sweeping generalization on Twitter. His tweet is as follows:

“A spirit of national socialism is encouraged by an effete core of impudent snobs, who characterize themselves as teachers of Saugus Union.”

That comment started a trickle of discontent that has become a tsunami of outrage as more about Mr. Winkler’s online life and views have come to light.

He has posted or made disturbing public statements about:

• Pro-Nazi sympathies.
• Bizarre statements about children riding dogs
• Vicious cruelty to animals
• Crazed ranting about the execution of black youth by police on the street to save taxpayer money
• Extermination of specific religious groups

This article by Mike Devlin lays out proof and details of Winkler’s despicable pronouncements.

And here is the report from Elex Michaelson, KABC Eyewitness news where you can see and hear Mr. Winkler: 

So what’s the takeaway here?

Last night I watched as Mr. Winkler was censured by the rest of the school board. Actions are in the works to have him removed. My chest burned as I saw him sit on the dais with a smirk on his face seemingly oblivious to the barrage against him.

It was however the statement of a parent speaking at the meeting that struck me the hardest. He claimed responsibility for not knowing enough about Mr. Winkler before voting for him in the school board election.

How many of us truly investigate those who seek positions on our school boards? In this day of Google, it isn’t hard to research candidates.

Clearly Mr. Winkler misrepresented himself. As voters we must be more responsible when we elect individuals to serve on a body that is focused on the welfare of children.

This is a cautionary tale.

I salute my colleagues in the Saugus Union School District as well as members of our community who refuse to stand for another moment of Mr. Winkler’s tenure on the school board. I believe there will never be another school board election in this district where the candidates are not vetted down to the last keystroke they’ve hit on their computers.

This is a sad tale.

I came to realize I was not witnessing a deliberately malicious individual fighting bizarre accusations in a completely inappropriate way. He has no business around children, but I see Mr. Winkler as a person who needs help and is not grasping the reality of what is unfurling around him. Where is his family?

This is a call to action.

Get involved with your child’s school, not just on the site level, but also on the district and school board level.

You Never Forget Your First...Genie!

I’m thrilled spitless (as my grandma used to say) to have my writing buddy and inspiration, Lisa Gail Green as a guest on ye olde blog today.

Lisa’s debut YA novel, The Binding Stone is an “E” ticket (shout out to my fellow vintage Disneyland fans) ride through past and present with her kickin’ Djinn main character, Leela.

I trapped Lisa in a decorative bottle long enough to answer a few questions.

Lisa, I know you became smitten with Djinns while traipsing through the website Monstropedia. How did you find such a juicy resource?

Good question. I can't remember! LOL, the gremlin must have whispered it in my ear while I slept. Or maybe I read it on someone's blog. Or found it by Googling. Nah, it was probably the gremlin.

What is your first memory of a genie?

I guess my first genie was Jeannie (Barbara Eden).

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I used to watch that show along with Bewitched every afternoon. And I wonder where my love of paranormal comes from! I remember loving her magic and how she could do anything she wanted. Of course I loved the outfit too. Trivia - did you know that she never showed her navel? It's true. 

So I guess we’ll never know if she was an inney or an outey. 

What kind of convo would go down between your Leela and Jeannie from I DREAM OF JEANNIE?

 I’m dying to know what Leela’s take on Jeannie would be.

(Playing the role of ME will be Lisa Gail Green)

Me: He he he. Jeannie wouldn't stand a chance. 

Leela: A chance of what?

Me: You know. Just that you'd win.

Leela: I do not recall Leslie asking who would win a fight. 

Jeannie: Did I hear my name?

Leela: I've seen your show. *frowns*

Jeannie: Oh! Thank you! Isn't my master handsome?

Leela: That isn't how it works. If you were true Djinn you would have killed him at your first opportunity. Since he did not truly own you.

Jeannie: Kill him? But he married me! Don't be silly. *slaps Leela's shoulder playfully*

Leela: Do not touch me.

Jeannie:  *to me* What's her problem?

Me: I'm staying out of this. 

Leela: And why do you blink when you do magic? Did one of your false eyelashes get in your eye? 

Me: Oooooh no she didn't. 

Jeannie: *in tears* You're mean.

Leela: No. I am Djinn. You are an imposter.

Me: Okay now, that's enough. *hands Jeannie a tissue* Larry Hagman was quite handsome in his day. 

I thought Astronaut Tony Nelson was a dreamboat. Another genie that has a special place in my heart is Robin Williams’ genie from Disney’s Aladdin. I’ll bet he’d have some genie gems of wisdom for Leela.

He'd tell her he hopes she finds a nice master like Aladdin. He'd probably also tell her to lighten up. He and Taj would be buds.

Genie: Excuse me. That's not what I'd say at all. 

Me: I'm sorry?

Genie: *shouts* "THAT'S NOT WHAT I’D SAY."

Leela: You are blue. 

Genie: And you are *turns into a wolf and does a wolf call* 

Leela: No. I am not a wolf. I am Djinn.

Jeannie: She thinks she's the only real genie. *crosses arms and snorts*

Genie: Ahhhh. Identity issues, eh? Been there. It's not hard when you can be anyone you want. *turns into Mickey Mouse*

Thank you, Lisa for the genie funfest.

Now everyone grab your Kindle and hop on your magic carpet with The Binding Stone, 

First in the Djinn Series

Praise from some cool peeps for The Binding Stone:

"Genies like you’ve never seen them, THE BINDING STONE is a wild ride of treachery and deception. For my first wish, I’d like a sequel, please." - PERSONAL DEMONS author Lisa Desrochers

"I dream of Lisa Gail Green! THE BINDING STONE is magical in so many ways. My Djinn asks for my third wish? The sequel, of course!"

-- Nancy Holder, NYT Bestselling Author, THE WOLF SPRINGS CHRONICLES

And a blurb to whet your appetite:

Tricked into slavery by the man she loved, the Djinni Leela has an eternity to regret her choices.

Awakened in the prison of her adolescent body, she finds a new master in possession of the opal that binds her. But seventeen-year-old Jered is unlike any she’s seen. His kindness makes Leela yearn to trust again, to allow herself a glimmer of hope.

Could Jered be strong enough to free her from the curse of the Binding Stone?

BREAKING NEWS – 

The Binding Stone is available for 99 cents on Friday, May 24^th. Just in time for the Memorial Day Weekend. GRAB IT!

Change the Hole not the Peg - Valuing Student Artists

Today, I'm sharing a success story - my son. What his journey represents is important for all the young artists out there.

Alice in Wonderland

The lad never fit the mold of traditional education. His right brain dominance and creativity surfaced very early on. Unfortunately it didn't mesh with the left brain rigors and demands of public education.

Sadly, that disconnect tends to label artistic students as inferior to our high academic achievers.

I say malarky.

Here's a quote from my son at six years old when a classmate drew a butterfly without wings...

"That's a butter-not-fly."

Is that the insight of an inferior learner?

His wit and humor took off from there to new levels of sophistication beyond his years. He was born with perfect pitch, developed an uncanny ability to pick up instruments, and was a natural performer. No spaces on the report card for those talents.

He could never memorize his multiplication tables. That and other perceived deficiencies pegged him as an "at risk" student. 

He wrote his own plays before his classmates had mastered paragraphs.

Problematic grades in required classes that had no meaning, connection, or impact on his creative goals landed him in night school to earn his high school diploma.

He started his own improv group with friends and won awards in theatre competitions for the high school that was continually labeling him inadequate. 

What's wrong with this picture?

 Why aren't there a variety of measurements for success in our public schools? Why aren't our young artists valued on equal terms as our young scholars? Why is there such a narrow pathway for success especially in high school?

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Is there a foundational education that students need? Absolutely. But I ask you - what's more important - knowledge of the quadratic equation or balancing a checkbook? 

The commonly accepted high school expectations do not serve our student artists. Often they result in an academic pommeling out of sync with creative goals that burn students out and turn them off to continued education.

For example, why doesn't a blossoming actor study the history of theatre for their social studies requirement? Hmm, civilizations such as the Greeks, Romans, and the world's political movements are reflected throughout theatre and art history. Why isn't a budding painter encouraged to read biographies of Picasso and Michelangelo to enhance their literacy? The key to student engagement is to validate and encourage their goals, talents, and dreams.

Yes, budget shortfalls enter into this discussion, but a motivated learner can follow an independent study path that doesn't require additional classes. The same teacher that would be grading a research paper on World War Two could grade a thesis about the effects of the Expressionist movement on society.

So what was the game changer for my son? How did "he who eschewed college," end up in college?

Enter Pacific Conservatory for Performing Arts - PCPA. This program is a brilliant model that combines a scholarly and practical training approach to theater. The body is fine tuned as an instrument and every academically rigorous class is relevant to the developing life of an artist.

Key word here - relevant. 

Fiddler on the Roof - PCPA

Fiddler on the Roof - PCPA

Suddenly the reluctant scholar is writing ten page college level papers on classic Greek tragedies. Not exactly light summer beach reading for a kid who just squeaked through high school. He's memorizing pages of dialog, complex dance routines, and intricate musical harmonies. 

Relevant. 

When you match education with passion the result is success. 

The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, FIDM is another college experience that nurtures the talents of artists following a path that leads to fashion and costuming arts. 

We need to make these focused opportunities available earlier in our schools, especially at the high school level so our young artists are valued and inspired to follow their talents, not discouraged.  

My son just signed his first professional acting contract. He's living the dream, but how many disillusioned talents have we lost along the way?

The Writer's Voice - Moon Strings by Leslie S. Rose

“The Writer’s Voice” is a multi-blog, multi-agent contest hosted by Cupid of Cupid’s Literary Connection, Brenda Drake of Brenda Drake Writes, Monica B.W. of Love YA, and Krista Van Dolzer of Mother. Write. (Repeat.). It's based on NBC’s singing reality show The Voice, so the four hosts will serve as coaches and select projects for their teams based on queries and first pages.



I'm honored to be a participant in this wildly generous opportunity for hopeful writers to bring their stories into the light.

Query:

I offer MOON STRINGS, a YA science fiction love story, with a word count of 82,000 for your consideration. 

Everyone in fifteen-year-old Mellylora Whisper’s life is bent on forcing her into a tidy package of obligations. Her royal godparents press her to commit to a future with First-son Prince Jexa. Her military father insists she channel her science genius to aid the Echo Galaxy in their endless dance of defense against the decaying Earth. Jexa pleads with her to control her manic impulses and focus on duty.

Mellylora has a different vision. She is determined to oppose her galaxy’s directive and save the Earth, not battle it. She’s only got the summer moon cycle to be taken seriously before mounting expectations pull her under.

When Mellylora enters a tri-planetary scientific competition, hoping for a win to validate her Earth project, brilliance does not work in her favor. She attracts the eye of a high level galactic leader who is turning traitor to the Echo Galaxy. Through his network of turncoats, that includes Prince Jexa's younger brother, he blackmails Mellylora to commit her talents and loyalties to his dark purposes.

The expectations Mellylora once resented, especially the one that kept Jexa by her side, dissolve into dreams that are losing their chance to come true.

1^st 250:

Mellylora Whisper wanted to see the sky one last time before she died. She flattened her body against the clear-steel of the balcony floor, limbs splayed like a starfish, straining to find any thread of blue peeking through the labyrinth of towers that sprang up between the Larkan Academy and the sea. The cold transparent metal under her cheek battled the flush spiking from her chest to her face.

The urgent-imperative signal screeched in the dorm room behind her. Mellylora’s ears throbbed as the wail sprang from her connectik communicator and bounced off each bare wall. The emergency frequency had activated the shields that slammed down over every clear-steel window, blocking her view. The only way to see the sky was through the balcony floor.

A cloudbird shot beneath her on its flight to the sea. She pressed the side of her face harder into the clear-steel until her cheekbone ached, but she was able to follow the creature’s flight through the forest of towers. There. Between the twin spires of the side-by-side government buildings, Mellylora found her sliver of sky.

The security panel above her bed showed no warning lights for fire or internal air contamination so the signal could mean only one thing. Warships from Earth that continually swarmed the Galactic Gate had breached the Echo Galaxy’s defenses. This attack had always been deemed improbable. Mellylora prayed for the day impossible would replace improbable. As the ectographic red-orange emergency aurora waved above her connectik communicator, improbable became inevitable.  

View From the 5th Grade Trenches: April 2013: Milo, Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze

As a teacher in these days of high-stakes standardized testing, no matter how hard I try to be fresh and interesting, I feel like I’m sending pre-packaged knowledge down a conveyor belt at a furious pace and simultaneously dumping it into 33 brains.

The days of “discovery learning” and gradual development of concepts seems to have gone the way of the Dodo.

Every so often, there is a magic experience where the kids and I connect as a collective soul. Our hearts swell and shine as one. We laugh together and cry together.

Thanks to Alan Silberberg, this wonderful synergy happened when I read his amazing story, Milo, Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze to my class.

Alan, perfectly balancing loving honesty and humor, guides Milo through the aftermath of losing a parent while navigating the insanity that is junior high.

There is a child in my class who recently lost a parent so at first I was wary of sharing Milo’s experience. I gave the book to the child’s parent to read. She adored it and appreciated the sensitivity Alan used in his storytelling.

Milo, Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze in addition to being an important story, is chock full of terrific drawings. I am able to project books on an interactive white board in my classroom so the kids enjoyed the illustrations in real time as I read the story aloud to them.

We didn’t just read Milo together, we experienced it. Rich conversations sprang up as we laughed, cried, and shared our own emotional journeys with one another. The student who had lost a parent told me how much she had related to and appreciated the book.

Thank you, Alan Silberberg for the gift of Milo, Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze.

 The kids had a few thoughts to share:

Many students said they made a connection with Milo because they have lost someone they loved.

FAVORITE MOMENTS

Milo trying to make Summer like him

Milo getting really scared in the haunted house

Booger Flavored Freezies

Sylvia and Milo planting the flowers

Milo finding the blanket

Playing with the salt and pepper shakers

Milo wanting to celebrate Mother’s Day

The dentist’s office

Milo writing the poem

Tuna fish

QUESTIONS FOR ALAN

Did you really know a One-Eyed Jack?

Does Summer secretly like-like Milo?

How do you connect with Milo?

Is there going to be another Milo story like how he handles high school?

Why did you make Milo so clumsy?

Did anyone else give you ideas that were in the book?

How did writing this story effect you? Were you sad?