Hello Book Bums families!
Happy Independence Day! Whether you are heading out into nature or staying cool inside with a book, we have you covered in this week's newsletter. We hope you enjoy your holiday weekend!
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Word of the Week
explicit (ex-pliss-it) adjective/describing word - stated clearly and in detail
The new appliance came with explicit instructions so users could avoid mistakes.
Literary Calendar
- On July 6, 1855, the first edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass was published.
- Whitman wrote about individuality and democracy in poems such as "I Hear America Singing" and "Song of Myself."
- You can read excerpts from Leaves of Grass here.
From our Bookshelves
I was listening to a podcast and heard The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin mentioned. The podcast guest said something suggesting that he felt books like Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott and this book, The Creative Act, were two of his favorite books on dieting. I’ve read both books and loved them, but I would have never said either was about dieting. That got me thinking.
In The Creative Act, Rubin invites readers to open themselves up to creative inspiration and to embrace new ideas. He shares that cultivating self-discipline with routines can foster creativity. He discusses the benefits of experimenting and believes we should embrace our mistakes for they teach us important things. He encourages readers to respect the creative process and to allow things to unfold naturally, not forcing it. Hey, wait. That does sound like it could be about dieting.
The guest talking about this “diet book” was Ethan Suplee. I didn’t think I knew who he was, so I looked him up.
This is Ethan Suplee in Remember the Titans (one of my favorite movies).
This is Ethan Suplee now.
He lost 300 pounds. That’s one of the reasons he was featured on the podcast, but I came away inspired to read The Creative Act again. It’s one of those books that reads more like a daily inspirational book.
Author (and legendary music producer) Rick Rubin said, “I set out to write a book about what to do to make a great work of art. Instead, it revealed itself to be a book on how to be.”
Have you ever read a review where someone identifies the book as generous? This is one of those books.
Tips for Families
One year our boys brought buckets filled with tadpoles onto our porch where we’d set out a large fish tank on a stand. We were mesmerized as we watched so many tadpoles magically morph into froglets across the weeks. (Warning: Hot summer days can make the water too hot for frogs to survive, so you must choose locations wisely. Please don’t ask me how I know.)
Most creeks available for public exploration (like the creek in Rentschler Forest and the one at Sharon Woods) are under the cover of gorgeous trees, so there’s hardly a better way to spend hot summer days with kids who are surely growing tired of being stuck inside.
- Here are a few ideas from Consistently Curious on Facebook:
- This is a great time to check out the creeks as they are likely full from all the recent rain showers! Grab your boots, a net, and a picnic for a fun-filled afternoon!
- Water Dipping: Grab a net, dip into the water, and see what you catch!
- Creek Damming. See if you can stop the flow of water and watch as it builds a pool. ALWAYS UNDAM THE CREEK when you are done.
- Picnic in or by the water. If there is a large enough rock, picnic right in the middle of the creek. Use hand sanitizer though before eating!
Here are some resources we think your kids will enjoy at the creek, at the beach, or most anywhere outdoors:
Tips for Raising Readers and Writers
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Practical Grammar
I wanted to share something that’s popped up recently in conversations and social media feeds.
One way folks are advising others to help determine whether someone has used ChatGPT to complete assigned tasks is to look for the em dash. If writers include em dashes in their writing, one can simply ask them how them to make them. If they don’t know how to make the em dash, they probably used ChatGPT.
“Gotcha” moves like this one won’t solve the challenge of determining whether folks have created original works or they’ve copied from others or they’re using artificial intelligence (AI), but I thought it was a great opportunity to share about em dashes.
I use em dashes quite often—even in these newsletters—so I thought I’d give you the scoop, so you know what they are and also know that I am absolutely doing the writing here. I’m not copying and pasting, and I continually strive to give credit where it’s due.
(Except I am receiving emails from a legal group because I “unlawfully” used an image of a Cincinnati Bengals player in my free, family-friendly email newsletter. Now some lawyers want me to pay them hundreds of dollars for it. There’s that.)
Hyphens look like this: -
They’re created by tapping the key that comes right after 0 in the row of numbers on your keyboard.
Hyphens are used in many ways such as connecting compound words (well-known author), writing compound numbers (twenty-two), separating words when the whole word doesn’t fit on the line (re- spectfully)
Another similar-looking mark is called an en dash. It’s used to show ranges and connection. It looks like this: –
En dashes are used to write things like We’re open from 4–7:30 and Read pages 1-100 and In case of emergency, please call 9–1–1.
Each of those en dashes was created by pressing the option key and then tapping the hyphen key; that key that comes right after 0 in the row of numbers on your keyboard.
The em dash is different. It looks like this: —
To make an em dash, I hold the shift button, tap the hyphen key twice, and then press shift and my computer automatically changes the two hyphens into an em dash. You can also press shift, option, and hyphen. That works too.
The em dash is used to set off parenthetical phrases or clauses to add emphasis and/or drama to the information. They can be used to replace commas, parentheses, or colons. They can also be used to indicate a sudden change in thought.
The em dash is typically used without spaces, while an en dash can be used with or without spaces.
The names of these marks can help us to make sense of their sizing.
- The word hyphen sounds a bit like half n, and that’s about how wide a hyphen is.
- An en dash is about the width of an n—wider than a hyphen but not as wide as an em dash.
- An em dash is about the width of an m.
In the end, few folks are measuring those tiny horizontal lines that are often sprinkled onto the pages of the texts we read. Is anyone really working to ensure the proper mark has been used? Probably not. But now you could if you wanted to.
News from Book Bums
Book Bums at Kids First will be closed today through Sunday, July 6th, but Book Bums West Chester is open!
We’re wishing you a wonderful Fourth of July!
Tips for Teachers
I say it over and over again, at Book Bums we use explicit, systematic phonics instruction to teach kids to read and spell well.
But you can surely see that I promote hands-on, play-based learning, and sometimes even project-based learning as well. What gives?
Here’s my take:
Before kids can skillfully navigate higher levels of inquiry, they simply must be equipped with the skills needed to glean information and share their findings.
I believe that in the lower grades, when it comes to the academic school day, educators must work to quickly equip kids with the skills they need to read and write. There is no room for child-driven exploration when they already have the motor skills to write. Before, during, and after that instruction they should be picking up wiggling worms, lifting rocks to reveal crawdads, and digging in dirt. But in the classroom, we must explicitly teach our kids (with a focus on fun) the foundational skills they’ll need to read and record ideas about the world around them. Explicit instruction makes for quicker acquisition without the frustration of inefficient approaches.
When the foundational skills are in place and kids are sufficiently equipped, then they can successfully launch into more creative investigations.
If I asked you to think creatively about how you might address jerrymandering, you would likely have to learn more about that than you know right now. You’ll need reading skills to gain information and writing skills to make notations of what’s most important. Then, after you’ve skillfully made your way through this process, you can get to the creative piece.
Asking kids to write creatively or to navigate complex texts on their own when they have not yet been equipped to do so successfully is not an effective instructional approach.
Pause for Poetry
The New Colossus
by Emma Lazarus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Just for Fun
Mm. It’s almost that time for fresh green beans, ham, and cornbread . . .
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