If you answered yes to any of the above questions, you will want to read Janet Tashjian’s For What It’s Worth (Henry Holt and Company 20120).  Quinn, self-proclaimed music fanatic, lives in the heart of the music scene in Laurel Canyon in Los Angelos, California.  Quinn’s distinctive voice–complete with journal entries, music columns, and lists of all things musical brings 1971 to life.  The only thing that would make this book better would be a soundtrack of all the songs mentioned.

1. First, they are a short, quick read.  For middle school students, especially those who are not so sure about this whole reading thing, short and quick is good.
2. Second, Tarshis creates characters that modern readers can relate to.  These characters are worried about the same things my students worry about:  friends, fitting in, staying out of trouble, family problems.
3. Third, each young person in this series is thrown into a dramatic crisis from history and must draw on their inner strength to survive.
4. Fourth, these stories illustrate perfectly the quote from G.K. Chesterton about fairy tales:  ”Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist.  Children already know that dragons exist.  Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed.”  Dragons don’t only exist in fairy tales.  They also exist in times of war, terrorism, and other disasters.

I just added two more titles from this series to my classroom library.  I can’t wait to introduce next year’s students to them.

I Survived the Attacks of September 11, 2001 (Scholastic 2012)

Lucas Calley loves football almost as much as he loves his Uncle Benny.  He and Uncle Benny have watched and played football together for years.  Now that Lucas’s parents have banned him from football because of repeated concussions, Lucas is desperate to get Uncle Benny on his side.  On the spur of the moment, Lucas takes the train into New York City to visit Uncle Benny at the firehouse where he works.  As they watch the first plane scream low across the sky and slam into the World Trade Center, everything changes.  Even for those who survive those terrible hours, nothing will ever be the same.

I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912 (Scholastic 2010)

George Caldor is one of my favorite characters of all the young people in this series.  He wants to be good.  He tries to be good.  But sometimes he just can’t resist.  Who could sit quietly in even a luxurious suite when there is an entire ship to explore?  Not just any ship, but the Titanic, the greatest ship ever built. Before long, George has explored every inch of this majestic ship and even peppered the ship’s designer with questions.  His knowledge of the ship will come in handy when he is caught in the wrong place as the Titanic rams into an iceberg and the unthinkable happens.  Will his knowledge of the ship be enough to get him to the safety of a life boat before the ship goes down?

What is this opportunity?  You can help a professional writer by giving thoughtful feedback on an unpublished work in progress.  Yes, you read that write.  You will get to read and respond to an unpublished piece of writing.  Who knows?  If the book ends up being published, you might even be recognized in the acknowledgements page.

If you are interested in this opportunity, you do need to take your responsibilities seriously.  You will be reading an unpolished, unpublished work.  It will not read like the published books you are used to.  You will be an active participant in the revision process.  Will you suggestions be followed?  Maybe, maybe not, but they will be considered.  Remember that most writers are not happy with their early drafts, so you will need to be gentle with your honesty.

These are the expectations for anyone who is interested in reading and giving feedback on unpublished manuscripts:

• You cannot copy or share the manuscript in anyway.
• You cannot blab about what is in the manuscript.  Can you keep a secret?
• You will answer a series of general feedback questions that will be the same for all participating authors.  Your answers should reflect your thoughtful reading of the manuscript.
• You will answer specific questions provided by the participating author.  Again, your answers should reflect your thoughtful reading of the manuscript.
• You will agree to any other conditions set by the participating author.
• You will be eternally grateful to the participating author for this amazing opportunity!

Again, I can’t promise at this time that this opportunity will work out, but if you are interested, fill out the form below.  I’ll be in touch over the summer if it does.

I hope you have enjoyed blogging this year.  I have enjoyed reading your posts.  Now that our year together is coming to an end, I need to clean out the blogs from this year’s classes to make room for new blogs next year.

If you don’t want to continue blogging, that’s okay.  You don’t have to do anything. Once June rolls around, I will delete your blog for you.

If you do want to continue blogging, a few things you need to do to take control of your blog.

Remove Users:

Right now there are three users listed on your blog.  You need to remove Mrs. McGriff and Mrs. Marsh.  Leave yourself as a user!  Follow these easy steps:

1. Click USERS, then All Users on the left hand side of your dashbard.
2. Under the name of each person you want to remove, click REMOVE.
3. Confirm that you do indeed want to remove this user.

Change your email address:

I do not want to keep getting notified every time you receive a comment on your blog.  You will want to know when you get comments.  There are two places to change your email address.  Change both of them with these easy steps.

1. While you have the USERS menu open, click on Your Profile.
2. Scroll down until you see Contact Information.
3. Delete my email address and type in your own email address.  PROOFREAD!
4. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and click UPDATE.
5. Click on SETTINGS, then General on the left hand side of your dashboard.
6. Type in your email address in the box next to Email.
7. Scroll down to the bottom and click on SAVE CHANGES.
8. Click on the link in the email you receive to confirm the change.  Do this for each email change.

I’m taking part in the weekly Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by Ruth and Stacey over at Two Writing Teachers, where teachers write and share each Tuesday. Join in yourself or head over to check out what’s happening with other slicers. If you’re taking part in the SOL, leave a link to your post. I’d love to read it.

One of the best things about where I work is that I teach with some of the coolest colleagues you could ever imagine.  When I heard about this story last week, I begged Mr. Vawter to write it up as a guest post for my blog so I could share it.  True confession:  I’m not writing this week’s Slice of Life, but you will be amazed at the story that unfolds.

I was in my 2^nd period and received a message from our building and grounds “man in command” to call him.  I wondered what awful thing I must have done to receive such a request.  This is a “man” of ALL Business.  No fun allowed! No Way! Never! Never!  Annnnnnnnnnnnnyway during my passing period, I went to the messenger that contacted me, and I asked for any information as to what the matter was.  She said she could not help with that.  I figured I must have inadvertently miffed another helicopter parent.  Oh well, I thought, I can only do what I can do, and making EVERYBODY happy is not one of the things I can do.  I tried to forget about it.  (I was feeling kinda tired.)

Shortly after third period began, my phone rang, and it was the “man.”   He informed me that there was a swarm of bees directly outside the cafeteria of our county high school.  He asked if I could take a look during my lunch and possibly get them rather than having the staff spray them.  I was intrigued, excited, and thinking maybe he is not such bad “man” after all.  I would ponder his manliness later.  I was now totally consumed with the idea of procuring a swarm of bees to put in my yard.  I LOVE BEES!

As soon as third period ended I informed my principal of the situation, and asked if I may get someone to cover my class in the event that I would not be back before fifth period.  Since he is the BEST PRINCIPAL ever, he gave it the green light.  After being strip searched at the gates of the high school (not really, I made that part up, but it makes me laugh, or maybe cough, I’m not really sure) I was taken to meet the girls.  There they were in their entire golden brown blended splendor.  They were hanging in a perfect football-size-cluster, swaying gracefully back and forth in the warm breeze.   Truly one of God’s many misinterpreted gifts!  After a few minutes of admiring them, the awesome maintenance crew at the high school offered a scissor lift to hoist me up.  This was terrific.  I was used to climbing trees with a handsaw and gunny sack, but that’s another story.   They went to get the lift, and I went to get my bee stuff.

I decided to take pictures, so that I could show the students in my class.  This was definitely a “teachable moment.”  I was up and away on the lift with my hive balancing on the rail.  It was windy and the lift was a bit jumpy, but it was trustworthy.  I got straight up next to them.  Fortunately they were clustered on several small twig-like branches.  I decided to attempt to snip the twigs as gingerly as possible without breaking the ball.  It was quite difficult balancing the hive on the rail with one hand/elbow and trying to cut and hold the twigs of the cluster.  With wind blowing, lift swaying, and fingers moving I went for it.  I made my first cut and was able to hold the twig with my left hand while cutting and balancing the hive with my right hand and elbow.  The second and third would be a trick; no hands left.  I tried for the old two-finger-twisty-grab-real –quick –thing and it flopped.  After the next clip, the twig and portion of bees attached to it dropped to the floor of the lift.  I broke the ball.

I did not panic because that would be a bad idea.  If you have ever kept bees, you know that panic is not something you do.  If you are a panic person, then you don’t mess with bees in the first place.  Bees communicate by pheromones, so they smell panic and they get nervous.  When they get nervous, I get more nervous.  Long story short: lots of nervous honey bees equals the EMERGENCY ROOM!  Been there done that: another story later.   I took the majority of the remaining ball and gently placed it inside the frameless hive.  I picked off a few more twigs that had bees clinging to the queen’s motherly scent, and placed them with the others.  I waited and watched as bees were flying around the hive.  I had the lid half way on to let the bees come and go.  Many were buzzing all around trying to locate the momma.  I didn’t see her, but I was hoping that she was in the box.

I decided to bring it on down.  I started my decent.  The old lift was trusty, but she certainly wasn’t much of ballet dancer, more of a clogger.   Slowly we plopped downward in two to four feet drops.  We got to the ground and I snaked myself under the hive and put it on the sidewalk to access the situation.  All was the same basically, small fist-size-ball in the tree (scout bees that were returning to what was left of the queen’s scent), about 100 bees sleepily crawling on the bucket floor in another fist-size-ball, mostly football-sized-ball in hive with queen (hopefully), and a few buzzing around.  This was acceptable I decided.  (It had to be.)  I scooped up what bees I could off of the bucket and gently brushed them off my glove in front of the hive.  Many started to slowly wander in while others just sort of wondered in general I think.

Since my old S-10 had recently been totaled before Christmas while my daughter was waiting in traffic and another student (one of my former scholars) ran directly into the back of her while wrestling a water bottle, I didn’t really have a truck.  I had our newest vehicle; it was a 2012 Chevy Equinox that we bought brand new because our minivan was about to go kerplunck on us.  I had driven to work on this fine day and my wife was out of town at a conference for work.  She wouldn’t be back for a few days.  There wasn’t really much I could do.  The Equinox is something I like and she loves.  We switch vehicles back and forth whenever she wants or whatever is more practical.  I decided I was going make it work.

I placed the hive in the back, closed the hatch and jumped in and took off.  All the windows were down and were we on the road.  I took off my gloves and veil, so that I could see and handle the wheel safely.  I did still have my bee suit on though.  I kept a close eye on my rearview mirror to monitor the number of bees that were starting to accumulate on the back window.  It wasn’t bad.  It was a small number which was normal and safe: just a few curious bees.  If the back window started to become covered, then I knew that could be a problem.  I did notice a few bees flying out the back windows as I approached the stoplight.

As I came to a stop in traffic, I wondered if anybody in the cars behind me and in the other lane were aware of me.  It is funny how we become so consumed with ourselves that we have no idea what is going on around us all the time.  I could picture a small child in a car seat looking over at me saying, “Look at the bees inside the nice car mommy.”  She would respond, “Yes, that’s great honey,” (no pun intended) without ever taking a second to look at the weirdo in the white suit next her looking on nonchalantly.  The other thought that naturally occurred to me was what if a police car got behind me.  Was I breaking any laws?  I am sure they could come up with something, but more than likely they would probably just sit and wonder if what they saw was really happening.  “Hey Starsky, check that out, it almost looks likes bees crawling on the back window of that car in front us.  Man I love Crispy Kremes.  These are awesome!”

I only live about two miles from school, so we made it into the driveway in no time at all.  I got out and quickly snapped some more photos for school.  After setting up a few blocks in the backyard, I had the hive in place.  The tools were back in the garage, and I was on my way back to school.  Fifth period was almost over, but I made it back in time to tell the kids and thank the most awesome assistant ever for covering my class.  I quickly loaded the pictures onto my computer and showed them to my sixth and seventh periods.

All and all it was a great experience.  Honeybees are one of the great things in nature that constantly remind me that everything in life is connected.  As I get older, each day I see this more and more.  The examples are endless.  I took a naturalist class second semester just to relax and have something fun to do in my “free time” to relax.  It is funny because one of the instructors did this really cool activity about the ecosystem showing us how important diversity in nature is important.  We stood in a circle and used a string to connect to as many people in the circle as possible (each of us held examples of different animals and plants).  After we connected in as many ways as possible, we tugged on the string and felt how strongly supported it was from all areas of the circle.  We slowly began to take out certain plants and animals until there were only the certain ones that people preferred.  We tugged again and the string was unbalanced and weak.  Lesson learned.

The funny thing is that the instructor was our county forester: he is Mr. McGriff, who is married to Mrs. McGriff, the creator of this blog and my good friend and colleague.  Connection.  When I got home from school I was excited to tell my family about the bees.  My daughter, a junior at our high school, told me that her Spanish teacher was warning her students about the bees and was worried.   Her teacher was going to call the central office.  My daughter told her that I used to keep bees and to call me.  Connection.  She called the “man” and told him about me. Connection.  The “man” called me and so the circle of life goes on and on.

As for the “man,” well maybe I have been a little harsh on him.  He is like poison ivy in the food chain.  He rubs some of us the wrong way and just irritates the crap out of us.  While for others he is food that nourishes and satisfies.  Life is a wonderful and mysterious thing.  Every day I discover that I have more things to be thankful for, and I also discover everything happens for a reason.  It may not be a reason that I understand or even like, but if I must accept it.  Life is short and it is precious.  Enjoy every minute of it.  Happy Spring!

Mr. Matt Vawter is one of the awesome 7th grade language arts teachers at our school.  I am excited to be working with him more closely next year as I am switching grade levels  to teach 7th grade language arts.  PS – I would have loved to see Mrs. Vawter’s face when she saw the pictures of bees in the back of the new car.

Johnny is just your average teenager, except for the fact he works hard in his family’s shoe repair business in South Beach.  He dreams of designing fabulous footwear, but he and his mom struggle to pay the bills after dad ran off and disappeared.  His ordinary life takes an extraordinary turn when a hot princess comes to town and sends him on a mission to correct a curse and rescue a frog-napped prince.  He’s not buying any of this magic business until he gets a magic cloak.  All of a sudden his life is exploding with magic:  brownies, giants, witches, and talking animals.  Can he rescue the prince and get the girl of his dreams before it’s too late?

It turns out I did want to read about the amazing bird B95 once I cracked open the book and began the first page.  This tiny rufa red knot is called the Moonbird because over the course of 20 years or so he has flown enough miles to reach the moon and halfway back again.  B95 was first caught and banded in Argentina in 1995, when he was fully an adult at least three years old.  Over the years, he has been recaught or spotted in Delaware Bay on the US eastern seashore, Mingan Archipelago in Quebec, Canada, and back in Tierra Del Fuego off the southern tip of Argentina.   This bird flies a round trip of approximately 18,000 miles every year while thousands of his species have died off.

Hoose follows the path that B95 most likely takes every year along one of the greatest migrations of the animal world.  This gripping narrative provides the context for a vast amount of information about rufa red knots who fly the world, the ecosystems that support them, and scientists who study them.  My brain is now packed with information about these amazing birds.  I have learned about everything from how to fire a cannon net to capture birds for banding to how rufa red knots change their body to meet the changing conditions met along their migration.  I especially enjoyed reading the profiles and scientists and students who are working to learn about and save these birds before it is too late.

Strictly speaking, this book would be informational text rather than argumentative writing, but after turning the last page, I am ready to learn and do more.  Indiana is a long way from the migratory routes of shorebirds, but I do live between a state and a national wildlife refuge that is along the migratory route of other bird species such as sandhill cranes.  I’ve even helped band Canada geese in the past.  Hoose reminds me that if we don’t work together to preserve the places that sustain migrating birds and other threatened wildlife, we may loose out on some of the best that our world has to offer.  Even better, Hoose offers an appendix of resources for getting involved.  I’m sold.

PS – B95 was spotted in Delaware Bay on May 16, 2013!  He’s still flying!

Ben Tomlin is an only child, but not for long.  He is upset that his distant father is moving the family across Canada to pursue a cutting edge research experiment:  Can chimpanzees learn language?  At first, Ben is not too sure about Zan, an infant chimpanzee that is to be raised like a little brother.  Before long, Ben does come to regard Zan as a brother, and he becomes Zan’s favorite.  But as Zan grows bigger and stronger, the effort to raise him becomes increasingly difficult.  Soon Ben is forced to make critical choices about Zan’s future and his family.

I am still thinking about the questions raised in this story.  What does it mean to be human?  What is language?  What is the role of animals in research?  How do families work together or fall apart?  There are no simple answers given, but Ben grows as he searches for answers.  Readers, too, will be left thinking long after the last page is turned.

This novel would pair nicely with other books that explore the relationship between humans and their closest genetic species on Earth.  Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby explores the friendship between a hearing impaired girl and the signing chimp who lives with a new neighbor.  Endangered by Eliot Schrefer is an exciting survival story set in war torn Congo where a girl risks all to save a bonobo from the surrounding violence.

Enjoy this book trailer for the book, too!

I’m taking part in the weekly Slice of Life Challenge sponsored by Ruth and Stacey over at Two Writing Teachers, where teachers write and share each Tuesday. Join in yourself or head over to check out what’s happening with other slicers. If you’re taking part in the SOL, leave a link to your post. I’d love to read it.

I was going to write this post last week for Teacher Appreciation Week, but got distracted by a canoe trip.  Even though the official week has come and gone, I still want to take time to thank the teachers who made a difference for me.  This list is by no means complete, but these teachers helped shape me into who I am today.

• Miss Lucas, Elvie Street School, Wilson, NC:  I can still remember the excitement I felt the first day of 6th grade language arts.  This smartly dressed (suits and heels) teacher was going to teach us reading and writing in ways that made my imagination catch fire.  I still remember the book reports I had to do for class.  It wasn’t enough to tell about the book.  We had to be creative–bring in props, make a poster, dress as a character.
• Miss Thorne, Fike High School, Wilson, NC:  My sophomore year was a hard one for me.  I read Sweet Valley High novels through my three afternoon classes (biology, geometry, and world history) and didn’t smile much.  But when I did smile in English class, Miss Thorne always made a big deal of it.  She encouraged my writing and even read my very first submission to a Guideposts writing contest.  (I still haven’t won yet, but I’m still writing and submitting stories.)  Anytime we had a grammar and punctuation question, she showed us how diagramming the sentence could help us figure it out.
• Miss Boykin, Fike High School, Wilson, NC:  She pushed my to excel and gave me a foundation in grammar that still serves me today.  Careless mistakes cost in her English class–every four mistakes cost a letter grade.  It didn’t matter if my pencil went too fast to make a dark enough period.  If it didn’t show up, my reader couldn’t read my mind for what I meant to do.  I hated doing the corrections for every essay where I had to not only correct any errors, but also copy the rule from the grammar book that explained the correction.  I can still quote those rules and use them.  I didn’t realize it at the time, but she prepared me thoroughly for college and beyond.
• Dr. Knight, Meredith College, Raleigh, NC:  I first met Dr. Knight during freshman orientation because she was my freshman academic advisor.  After my parents met her, they hoped I didn’t have to have her for class, but I did.  Yes, I was reduced to tears a few times because I didn’t earn the A’s I was used to.  Yes, I worked harder for her classes than for any other (Chaucer and Romantic Poetry).  Yes, I was terrified to walk into her class unprepared.  Yes, the students in our Chaucer class were the only ones to meet when the rest of campus shut down during a snow storm..  Yes, we struggled through our discussion of Chaucer for the entire 50 minutes.  Yes, I learned more from her than any other teacher.  Even after I left her classes, she looked me up to compliment me on a job well done and to send birthday cards for years after I graduated.  PS – I still have the paper I wrote for her that finally earned an A.
• Dr. Gilbert, Meredith College, Raleigh, NC:  I had the honor of either being a student in or working as a student assistant for Dr. Gilbert most of my semesters at Meredith.  Her class discussions were exhilarating, even if my notes from them were impossible to follow.  She encouraged me to apply to work at the Writing Center (which I did and loved) and to follow my dreams.  She encouraged to speak my mind and gave the the confidence to defend my opinions.

Thank you to these, and all my other teachers, who have shared their knowledge, encouraged my passions, and inspired me to follow in their footsteps.  I hope I can pass on some of what you gave me to my students.