I have been a fan of Patricia Polacco for several years now. I did an author study on her for one of my undergraduate classes and  have admired and enjoyed her work ever since. I was excited when I found out I would be reading one of her books for a graduate class.  My Rotten Redheaded Older Brother is a delightful and touching story about her and her brother. It is so real to life. Siblings usually have the rilvary thing going on jsut like the characters in the book but theyalso are right by each others side during difficult times. I have so many memories of my brother and two sisters and this book caused me to think about some of those times. I feel this book is a great example of  what  a “memoir” is meant to be–a special time in a person’s life that is meant to be shared.

In “A Study of Memoir” by Amy Arnburg, her fifth grade students become writers of  their own memoirs in three different genres. As I read this article, I was amazed at what the children had learned and how excited they became the more they learned about writing memoirs. This article changed my way of thinking about memoirs. My idea of a memoir was that it was like an autobiography–the story of a person’s life. I had never really thought about the difference between them. Now I see that it is just a part of someone’s life. It can be a few hours, a few days, or a few years–in other word’s a moment of time in a person’s life.

Stephen King conveys that there are different levels of writers–good being the smallest group. Good writing takes lots of  hard work and dedication and you have to read and write a lot. By reading a lot you can learn what not to do in writing and you can also learn different styles of writing. King reads everywhere and says it is the creative center of a writer’s life. He advocates turning off the T.V. and spending more time reading because it gets you to where you can write with more ease and with less self-consciousness. Once King starts a project, he doesn’t stop. He writes everyday and thinks a book should take no more than 3 months to write the first draft. I find this fascinating that someone can have such dedication and drive. He discusses the type of atmosphere that he thinks is most conducive to writing. It is a place where you can go and shut the door and be free of distractions. I found it interesting, though, that he listened to loud music, saying that it was his way of shutting the door.

My definition of a persona poem is that it is a means by which one can become anything they choose to become. They can become a famous person that they admire or transform into a wild animal that intrigues them. They can become a place that they’ve dreamed of visiting or a plant that they think is beautiful or interesting. They can take on the persona of absolutely anything at all.

I loved the “I” poetry that I read this week. Atlantic is a beautiful book. Not only is the poety beautiful from the perspective of the sea and the whale but the pictures are beautiful as well. I especially liked the book Mojave. This is another beautifully written and illustrated book. It captures the desert  wonderfully. It’s as if you are there. The book I Am the Mummy Heb-Nefert is thought provoking. I think upper elementary students will find this book fascinating and will be excited about writing “I” poems if they can write them on interesting subjects such as mummies. This relates to the article ”I” Poems: Invitations for students to deepen literary understanding. Students can learn a tremendous amount by writing “I” poems about a variety of subjects. The poems can be used for before reading and after reading text. It benefits both their reading and their writing.

Stephen King shoots straight from the hip in the section my writing circle decided to read this week. He just comes out and says that one should write from the gut and  says in no uncertain terms that he does not like the use of adverbs. I didn’t think this section was as interesting as the ones that talked about his life but it gave insight into his writing and it made sense. Relating his uncle’s toolbox to the tools of a writer was quite interesting, come to think of it. I imagined what the toolbox looked like as he described it and felt some sadness when he said it was eventually sold. It must have made a lasting impression on him.

I absolutely love the book, Silver Seeds by Paul Paolilli. I read this book containing acrostic poetry with awe and wonder to my 2nd grade students and that’s exactly the reaction I received from them. They were mesmerized as I softly read each poem to them. It was such a great experience for me. I felt as if I had made a new friend in this book. I was also impressed with African Acrostics by Avis Harley and photographs by Deborah Noyes. It is such a beautiful book with the most gorgeous pictures of African animals and acrostic poems that suits each animal like a fitted glove. The information in the back of  the book would be very helpful in teaching  acrostic poems to students of all ages. Extending Acrostic Poetry into Content Learning: A Scaffolding Framework (Frye, Trathen, Schlagal) suggests using both Silver Seeds and African Acrostics to  immerse students in acrostic poetry and help them learn to write poetry in response to learning content such as animal life cycles in second grade. I can hardly wait until my second graders are studying animal life cycles!

I think concrete poems are fascinating and probably the hardest to write. I have never written one before and look foward to trying my hand at it this week. When reading Flicker Flash by Joan Bransfiel Graham, I couldn’t help but wonder how creative she must be. My favorite poem was the one that looked like a lighthouse. It is beautiful and describes a lighthouse using personification as if it is a captain guiding the author safely home. Wonderful!

Chapter 9 Using the Writer’s Notebook- This chapter helps me to look at language in a different light and in a way that I can communicate to my students how exciting language can be. To think that words have “texture” is exciting in itself. I plan to use the ideas in this chapter to motivate my students to think about words differently and to see how words can have life. This is great stuff!

On Writing by Stephen King- I really enjoyed reading about Stephen King’s big break into writing. His reaction to finding out the paperback rights to his book Carrie had been sold for $400,00 was hilarious.  On the other hand I had no idea that Stephen King had been an alcoholic and a drug user during his life as a writer. I really felt sorry for him and his family during that period in their lives. I think his wife was the most amazing person to have stood by him all of those years. I think their story is a true love story and I am glad he was able to turn his life around.

I think hot blogging is a fantastic approach to getting students excited about writing and to use higher order thinking skills. In today’s world, many young people are already involved with many types of technology so it only makes sense that incorporating blogging into education. I can understand, however, how it could become stagnate if not made relevant by the teacher. I thing Stephanie did the right thing by listening to ther students’ suggestions about blogging and adding them to her instruction.

In the article, “Children Can Write Authentically If We Help Them,” Donald Graves discusses that children can find an “authentic voice” in their writing if they are given the opportunity and are taught to do so. As I read the article, I reflected on my own teaching and realized that I have  been depriving my students. I have been a slave to formalaic writing instruction included in the writing program at my school. In the past there has been little opportunity for students to generate their own ideas and write about things they know and are passionate about or have questions about.

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