November Musings

November comes/And November goes/With the last red berries/And the first white snows. This is the first verse of a favorite poem (of mine) by Elizabeth Coatsworth. Poor November is often overlooked - sandwiched between Halloween and Christmas - the colorful fall leaves and pumpkins and the snow, greens, and excitement of the winter holidays. Still, November has its quiet charms. Cynthia Rylant would agree - In November is her tribute to the month.

At Bartlett School, the first graders that I work with are becoming reading pros, and the fourth graders are itching to move beyond their short, skills-based articles to real books - "How about Diary of a Wimpy Kid? or Fantastic Mr. Fox"? they suggest. Maybe, I mumble noncommittally. The old dilemma ... Do we read something hard but interesting? This year, the answer will be yes, at least some of the time. Motivation is a key piece to becoming a good reader. Speaking of motivation, if you are looking for a book to interest a young reader that you know, check out the website ReadKiddoRead.com. This is the website of novelist James Patterson, and it is sure to have suggestions that will tempt any child.

Gooney Bird Inspires Young Writers

Our Gooney Bird Greene reading event is over. It culminated a couple of weeks ago with many of us at Bartlett wearing outrageous outfits to school - a la GB. Gooney's influence has lingered, however. Our Celebration of Writing bulletin board is beginning to fill up with Absolutely True Stories inspired by the unusual - but absolutely true stories that Gooney Bird told her classmates. Some of the story ideas suggested by Gooney Bird include: How I Got My Name, How My Family Came to Goffstown and How I Lost My Pet. First graders in Mrs. Lavigne's classroom had no trouble when asked to write their own absolutely true stories. Many told about their own lost pets,
but others told about how much they love peaches, mom's cooking, and how a window got broken during a baseball game. All of us, even the youngest, have stories to tell. A big thank you to Gooney Bird for helping first graders to find their voices and tell their stories.

Summer Reading

At our first all school meeting on September 10, eleven students were honored for their participation in the summer reading program. Each of these students read at least 8 books over the summer. They received a Reading Certificate, and they were able to choose two books to add to their personal libraries. Students honored were: Adam Zienkiewicz, Alyssa Allaire, Jenna Weigler, Kailee Ely, Justin Kaminski, Aidan Hughes, Patrick McVey, Emily Rourke, Karrie Cormier, Sarah Stantial, Jenna Thibault. Congratulations Summer Readers!

Back to School

September 1 - summer is over. (Did we have a summer?) Teachers are gathered to get ready for the real first day of school - tomorrow - when the students arrive. This year, our school community is again reading a school-wide book. The title is Gooney Bird Greene by Lois Lowry. Gooney Bird is quite a girl - a free spirited second grader with amazing writing talents. At first her stories seem outlandish, but she assures her teacher that they are absolutely true - and they are! I am hoping that Gooney Bird will inspire Bartlett students to write their own fabulous stories. Books will be handed out on September 10, Parent Information Night. I guarantee that you will fall in love with Gooney Bird.

Summer Reading

Summertime and the Reading is Easy! This is the motto chosen by the Goffstown Public Library for their summer reading program.

There are many summer reading opportunites available, and we hope you and your familiy will participate in at least one of them, if not more. It is an unfortunate reality that chidlren who don't read over the summer lose a substantial amount of their hard-won reading skills. Nobody wants that to happen, and it so easy, and so much fun to prevent.

Here is a list of summer reading opportunities:

The Goffstown Library summer reading program. A flyer about this program went home a week or two ago. For more information, contact them at 497-2102, or at www.goffstown.lib.nh.us.

The Bartlett library is open Monday-Thursday, 8:30-11:30, July 13th-August 6.

Barnes and Noble is once again sponsoring a summer reading program. Read 8 books, and they will give you a free book. Contact the store for details.

Read at least 8 books, (can be the same as those read for Barnes and Noble), record the title and date completed, and bring back to school in the fall. We will have our own summer reading celebration in September.


Happy Summer Reading!
Mary Starvish, Reading Specialist

Bartlett Elementary School

June 24, 2009

May update

It has been a while since my last post. Spring has come and nearly gone! We did have a wonderful party to celebrate Winn Dixie. I dressed up in a shiny green outfit to serve dump punch.(Sorry, no pictures.) We also had Littmus Lozenges and egg salad sandwiches. The gym was decorated with dog pictures, just like in the book. It was a big success! We all want to choose another book to read as a school in the fall. If you have a recommendation for a great book for kids in grades 1-4, let me know! Speaking of great books, the Fudge series by Judy Blume is a big hit among the third graders this year. After Jenna, Jenna and Hannah read Fudge-a-mania and Sheila the Great, they decided to follow-up with a TV interview of two of the characters - Sheila, and Fudge. They modeled it on the Ellen Show. Here is the Fudge interview:










Here is the Sheila interview:

Bartlett Reads Winn Dixie

If you are a member of the Bartlett school community, you are familiar with the book Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. All of us at Bartlett, staff, students and families, have been reading this enchanting book since March 17th. Most of us will finish it next week, if we have not already done so. Monday through Thursday we are assigned two chapters to read, and Mr. Bousquet our principal has a question about that reading on the next day. As I mentioned in my last posting, reading is becoming somewhat of a lost art, so we were happy to come up with an activity to get everyone excited about a book. Believe me, Winn Dixie is a book to get excited about. The characters are unique, each with human failings and redeeming qualities. All of them are fond of Winn Dixie - a big ugly stray dog with an amazing smile. When we have finished reading, we are planning a celebratory party, with pickles, egg salad sandwiches, and dog picture decorations. I plan on coming dressed as Miss Franny the librarian, with a fancy dress and heels! I'm sure I won't be the only character there. Watch for pictures on my next posting!

Reading Woes

Is reading becoming obsolete - along with newspapers , magazines, and yes - books ? The recent release of the NECAP scores caused consternation at Bartlett School. Of particular concern was student performance in reading and writing. As reading specialist, I was able to take a closer look at the reading of students who were not proficient on this test. I found that most of them were very proficient at decoding, and were fluent readers. Their comprehension, on the other hand, was weaker. The assessment that I did was an oral reading assessment, and it was done one on one. The NECAP involves a lot of independent reading and writing. It is easy to understand how these students might have struggled with the task. They can read the words, but catching the meaning, and being able to respond to questions in writing is a different story.
The good news is that we are doing an excellent job teaching our students to decode words - hard words, multisyllabic words, words that have little or no meaning for these readers. It is not good news that these children see reading as an activity that takes a back seat, a way-back seat to computers, video games, and TV watching. Even in school, I sometimes see reading(and writing) real stories taking a back seat to phonics, spelling and grammar lessons. My first grade students shook their heads when I asked if they knew the Little Red Hen Story - they had never heard of the troll in Little Billy Goats Gruff.
What to do? I advocate, as I always have, for more time for read- alouds, more time for guided reading and independent reading. As a school, we are promoting a One School, One Book reading program. We are buying a copy of Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo for all of our families and staff, and this spring we will ask families to read aloud a chapter or two every night. Each day, Principal Bousquet will ask a trivia question about the book and classes can spend a few minutes talking about their reading. Who knows - if families get excited about Winn-Dixie, they may continue on with DiCamillo's other wonderful books for children. Those of us who love reading need to do all we can to pass on that love to the next generation, and at Bartlett School, that is what we will do.

Notes from the frozen tundra that is New Hamphsire

I wish I could say that January is flying by, but it is not. A friend told me that last Monday was the most depressing day ever (in history) due to a number of factors. I could think of a few reasons for that myself. On the other hand, the Inauguration on the 20th was surely a day for celebrating. Another friend reminded me of the book Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles which I had shared with her a while ago. Apparently there was a reference to that story in relation to Sasha Obama on the news. If you don't know the story, you need to find it. It is truly amazing how far we have come since the bad old days in the early 1960's when Ruby was harassed and taunted for being the first black child to enter an all white school in New Orleans. I have shared this book many times with students, and have taken it out again to read with a group of somewhat advanced second graders. As a read aloud or guided reading book (it is a level O, end of third grade) it is a wonderful choice for MLK day, or Black History month. Speaking of guided reading books, my advanced third grade group is well into The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. This title is the first in the Percy Jackson trilogy. Percy Jackson is a half-blood, that is half human and half Greek god. This is written at about a fifth grade reading level, with tons of references to Greek mythology. This book is not for everyone, but the adventures, humorous asides, and Greek mythology is keeping this particular group very involved. I am managing to stay one chapter ahead of them, and they are helping me out with my rusty Greek mythology knowledge.