Hello Book Bums families!
This week in the newsletter we share some amazing clock ideas as we fall back this weekend. We also have a special request for Book Bums families.
But we begin in the holiday spirit with a poem for Halloween.
Mr. Macklin's Jack O'Lantern
by David McCord
Mr. Macklin takes his knife
And carves the yellow pumpkin face:
Three holes bring eyes and nose to life,
The mouth has thirteen teeth in place.
Then Mr. Macklin just for fun
Transfers the corn-cob pipe from his
Wry mouth to Jack’s, and everyone
Dies laughing! O what fun it is
Till Mr. Macklin draws the shade
And lights the candle in Jack’s skull.
Then all the inside dark is made
As spooky and as horrorful
As Halloween, and creepy crawl
The shadows on the tool-house floor,
With Jack’s face dancing on the wall.
O Mr. Macklin! where's the door?
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Word of the Week
smolder (smohl-der) verb/action word - 1. to burn slowly without flame 2. to show suppressed anger, passion, or hate
It is safest to douse a campfire with water rather than letting it smolder.
Literary Calendar
- On November 4, 1948, American poet and playwright T.S. Eliot was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.
- Eliot was born in St. Louis and was part of the Modernist movement.
- He is famous for his long poem "The Waste Land" which deals with themes and emotions of post WWII life.
From our Bookshelves
Quite a while back, I recommended The Princess in Black beginners’ chapter books, because they helped to captivate one of my reluctant readers at Book Bums last summer. Today, that same student Is nearly ready to launch into Princess Academy, written by the same author, Shannon Hale. This series is recommended for kids ages 9-13. Though the story is certainly Cinderella-like, it delves into friendships where competing girls learn to support one another as they endure an academy with a strict teacher, navigate issues of self-worth, and (one of my favorite parts), come to value education—especially learning how to read and write.
Lots of kids dream about being a princess (maybe they’re even dressing up like one for trick-or-treating). If you have a younger princess in your life, this would be a great choice for you to read aloud; while older, more-skilled readers (grades 4 and up), will be able to enjoy in on their own.
I referenced the first chapter of Princess Academy in my podcast about featuring vocabulary when reading aloud to kids. You can listen to it here.
Tips for Families
Remember to set your clocks back at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 3rd.
Speaking of clocks, have you seen these clocks?
I wonder, if I need to make one of these using kids’ books for our new Book Bums location . . .
Let me know if you have other title ideas that could work better than these!
Got some time on your hands?
A dear friend asked if I’d seen the recording of a college professor offering to award his students five extra credit points if they were able to read an analog clock. Are you ready to be stunned? Watch the video, here. This also brings to mind the terms clockwise and counterclockwise. Do kids know what those words mean? If they’re not looking at analog clocks, how could they know what they mean?
Is this a sign that our students aren’t as bright as we’d hoped, or is it a sign that technology of the old days is no longer relevant?
Time will tell.
Tips for Raising Readers and Writers
I was talking with a loved one about why I work at Starbucks a couple mornings most every week. I shared that I have to leave my home (where there are often a few dishes I could wash, or there’s a load of laundry I could switch over to the dryer, or some plants I really should water . . .) so I can actually get some cognitively demanding work done. For under $5 (for a tall flat white), I place myself in an environment where I’m far too proud to check social media, play a game, or even practice learning Spanish on Duolingo. I like knowing that a passerby can see my computer screen. It’s a form of self-inflicted accountability.
In a world of distraction, we must find ways to make ourselves get things done. As adults we are able deliberately manipulate our environments to limit disruptions, but kids often can’t.
One of my students mentioned a favorite teacher. I asked what made the teacher a favorite, and he said, “She’s good at getting the kids to be quiet, and I work better when it’s quiet.”
Whoa. That got me.
It might be a good idea for parents, teachers, and tutors to ask the kids we’re serving what kind of environment they need to be successful. If they don’t know, it might serve us well to help discover with them what works and what doesn’t.
I’ve suggested, many times, that parents sit with their kids while they’re doing homework (and the parent can get some work done too), so the atmosphere has a “Let’s get down to business” feel with support available—as needed—right across the table. If you do that, you can experiment with music on and music off, TV on and TV off, or phones out and phones away to learn what is truly beneficial for everyone who’s trying to work at the table.
When I read the book Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport, I learned to jump start my “computer work beast mode” by listening to an album (on repeat). My personal favorite is Jungle’s album, Jungle. Here’s a link if you’d like to check it out. This album has enough energy to keep me in a productive work gear, and the words do not interfere with my writing. The magical piece is that I’ve tricked my brain to, almost instantly, get into work mode as soon as I hear the lyrics, “Right on time . . .”
Recently, though, I haven’t needed to use my Airpods and Jungle. I’ve gotten really good at working with the coffee shop and street noises lulling me into my treasured deep work mode. I simply need to take command of where I work.
The point is, we serve our children well by helping them to discover what works best for them within the available parameters.
Instead of barking at our students when they get off task, how about we use that time to notice, together, when they’re distracted, what caused the distraction, and what helps to get them back on track so they can successfully complete the task at hand just as quickly as possible?
Practical Grammar
Week 10/10 Less vs Fewer
General Tip: Use fewer for countable things, less for uncountable.
Example Error: There are less people here today.
Fix: There are fewer people here today.
Though this explanation feels like a tidy tip topped with a bow, Grammar Girl suggests that we won't run into exceptions when, instead of using countable vs uncountable to determine usage, we use less for singular nouns and fewer for plural nouns.
Less candy (singular noun)
Fewer M&Ms (plural noun)
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