Reading Recovery and Comprehensive Literacy K-8 Conference - Spring 2011

Thank you to everyone who came to my sessions in Little Rock! You were an encouraging bunch and engaged in the all the sessions. It was a great time and my pleasure to share books and reading ideas for your classrooms.

I'd love to hear from you. Please take a moment and send me an email or leave a comment with feedback about the sessions. What was good? What did you enjoy? What would you have liked more of? All your thoughts are welcome, and it helps me make the sessions better in the future.

Again, thanks everyone. Hopefully we'll see you again at the next conference!

Waukesha County Reading Council

Thanks to everyone from the Waukesha County Reading Council who attended Help Readers Love Reading today. I hope everyone was introduced to a new book or two (or more!) that you can't wait to take back to your students. Hopefully you took away some new ideas about how to use them as well. A special thank you goes to Colleen for inviting me to Waukesha to speak with you today and for taking care of all the planning. Thanks!

If you have any questions you didn't get a chance to ask, additional thoughts or comments, or anything else you'd like to share, leave a comment below this post or send me an email. I'd love to hear from you.

Thanks again for attending this morning's meeting, and thanks to everyone for all you do to Help Readers Love Reading!

UPDATE: Many of you mentioned a desire for more books geared at middle school and high school. All the reviews on the site are organized by grade level. Try here: Grade 6-8 and here: Grade Young Adult. Hopefully you will find more of what you are looking for. I've got plenty of books on the site for those age ranges, but for some reason they didn't make it into the presentation. Thanks for the suggestion.

North / South Wisconsin Teachers' Convention 2009

Thank you to everyone who attended my sectionals at the Kalahari on Tuesday. (And sorry for the lateness of this post.) It was a pleasure to see so many friends from around the state and from my former staffs at Immanuel and Hales Corners.

If anyone didn't get a handout or a book list for Help Readers Love Reading!, please email me. The address is in the banner at the top of the page and in the margin to the right. I'll get one sent off A.S.A.P.

There was no handout for Books for Religion Lessons, but below you'll see the basic outline and the books I mentioned. I hope it's helpful.

Thanks again to everyone who attended and for all the positive comments. I'd love to hear from more of you - what you liked, didn't like, or any other thoughts. Leave a comment at the bottom of this post or send me an email.

The Obvious
The Bronze Bow by Elizabeth George Speare
The Ballad of Matthew's Begats by Andrew Peterson
This Is Just to Say by Joyce Sidman
The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis
On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (The Wingfeather Saga) by Andrew Peterson
Wombat Divine by Mem Fox
Great Joy by Kate DiCamillo

Discussion Starters
The Pencil by Allan Ahlberg
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
Wolves by Emily Gravett
The Giver by Lois Lowry

Look At Characters - The Big Picture
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
Katie Kazoo Switcheroo (Series) by
Rosie and Michael by Judith Viorst

Look At Characters - The Little Details
Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
Harriet, You'll Drive Me Wild by Mem Fox
Savvy by Ingrid Law
Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer

Introduce a Topic
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney
Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
The Sea of Trolls (Trolls Trilogy) by Nancy Farmer
A Season of Gifts (A Long Way from Chicago, A Year Down Yonder) by Richard Peck
Red Ranger Came Calling by Berkeley Breathed
The OK Book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
The Library by Sarah Stewart

Does It Have To Be Books?
Sports Illustrated from July 27, 2009
Sports Illustrated from June 29, 2009

And this movie:

Thanks to Everyone in Arkansas

A great big thank you to everyone who attended my sectionals at the Arkansas Reading Recovery & Comprehensive Literacy K-8 Conference. Everyone in Little Rock was extremely welcoming and supportive. And a special thanks to Carla and Stephanie who, a year and a half ago, thought it would be a good idea to ask "Brian in the Back" to present at their fall conference. Thanks!

A number of people requested additional handouts, especially for the book lists. You have a couple of options. First, you can simply email me - the address is in the banner and to the right. Be sure to specify the correct sectional and whether you wanted the handout or book list. (Another popular option has been, "Just send me one of everything, please." That works.)

Help Readers Love Reading! (Grades K-3)
Help Readers Love Reading! (Grades 3-8)
Books for Content Area Mini-Lessons (Grades K-3)
Books for Content Area Mini-Lessons (Grades 3-8)

Or, if you are missing just a recommended book list, you can scroll through the site by grade level.

Grades K-2
Grades 2-4
Grades 3-5
Grades 4-6
Grades 5-7
Grades 6-8
Young Adult

I'm not exactly sure if all the titles on the book lists appear on the site, but if I feel a book is recommend-able, chances are I've added it here or will soon.

And finally, I'd love to hear from more of you. If there was something you especially liked or disliked, questions you have, or anything else, let me know. Feel free to leave a comment at the bottom of this post or send me an email. Thanks again!

2009 IRC Conference

First and foremost, thanks to everyone who came to the Help Readers Love Reading! sectionals at the IRC Conference. Your enthusiam was wonderful. Thanks also to everyone who took time to share your thoughts and comments with me.

If you requested an additional handout for either sectional, they'll be on the way shortly. Feel free to email me as well if there's a handout you'd still like. (The address is at the top and to the right.)

If you have any questions or comments or "What was that one book, again?" leave a comment on this post or drop me a message. I'm curious to hear more people's reactions to the sectional, the information presented, or if there are any topics about which you'd like more information.

Thanks again for attending and thanks for all you do to Help Readers Love Reading!

UPDATE: Handouts have been sent. Sorry again to everyone who didn't get one at the sectional. If you requested one and didn't receive it, send me a message. You may want to try a personal email address. I have already had one message bounce back marked as spam from a school district.

Thanks to Everyone at OS!

Here's a great big thank you to everyone who welcomed me in Springfield at Our Savior's Lutheran School. It was great fun sharing the chapel message ... Oh, and thanks for making Curious George welcome too. He said he had a great time. I enjoyed meeting everyone and talking books throughout the day. Did you get any ideas about what to read next?

If you have any questions about the books I shared today, the activities we did, or just feel the need to share something, you can email me (my address is at the top of the page and along the right side) or leave a comment at the bottom of this message.

Take some time to look around the site too. There's a ton of great books. They are organized by grade level, author, and my recommendation along the right side. Click around. See what you find.

Thanks again for welcoming me to your school!

2008 Ohio District Educators' Conference

Hello to everyone attending the 2008 Ohio District Educators' Conference. It's an honor to be asked to lead sectionals for your conference. Thanks to everyone in attendance. If anyone has any questions or comments or wants to follow up on something we discussed in any of the three sectionals, send me an email (address in the banner at the top or in the right margin) or leave comments at the bottom of this post.

I hope you leave on Friday with some great books to use with your students (Help Readers Love Reading!), some new ways to show others all the great books your students are reading and what they think about them (Your Opinion Matters, Jimmy! Share it with the World!), and some novel novel ideas to use with your reading and literature students (For Tomorrow Read Chapter 6 and Answer - Yaaawn! - Questions #1-10).

And thanks again for having me come to your conference!

UPDATE 10/25/08: Those of you who attended the Help Readers Love Reading! sectional only got to hear tidbits about some of the books I planned to share. It's too bad our time got cut short. Here's a list of the books I planned on sharing, some with links to more information.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall
Flush by Carl Hiaasen
No Talking by Andrew Clements
Mr. Chickee's Funny Money by Christopher Paul Curtis
On the Run (series) by Gordon Korman
Knights of the Lunch Table by Frank Cammuso
The Willoughbys by Lois Lowry

Arkansas Reading Recovery & Comprehensive Literacy K-8 Conference

Hello to everyone in Little Rock attending the 2008 Arkansas Reading Recovery & Comprehensive Literacy K-8 Conference!

I'm looking forward to speaking with everyone attending the Books for Content Area Mini-Lessons sectionals on Monday and the Help Readers Love Reading! sectionals on Tuesday. Hopefully you leave the sectionals with some great mini-lesson ideas and, even better, great books you can use in your lessons and classrooms.

I'd love to hear from you. If, after the sectionals, you'd like more information about a specific topic, drop me an email. The address is at the top of this page and in the right margin. If we discussed something in a sectional and you'd like to continue the discussion or you think others would also benefit from additional information, leave a comment at the bottom of this post. Then I can respond, and others can add comments too.

Thanks, everyone, for coming. And thanks for all you do to Help Readers Love Reading!

UPDATE: Some people who attended Books for Content Area Mini-Lessons asked for information about the songs I used. Here's a list of all the songs I mentioned in one sectional or the other:

Song - Artist - Album

C is for Conifers - They Might Be Giants - Here Come the ABCs
E Eats Everything - They Might Be Giants - Here Come the ABCs
Alphabet of Nations - They Might Be Giants - Here Come the ABCs
Why Does the Sun Shine? - They Might Be Giants - Why Does the Sun Shine? EP
Mammals - They Might Be Giants - Apollo 18
Bears - Andrew Peterson & Randall Goodgame - Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies
Post Office - Andrew Peterson & Randall Goodgame - Slugs & Bugs & Lullabies
Crazy ABCs - Barenaked Ladies - Snacktime

(Yeah, about that last one...I'm not the one that gave the band its name. Good thing I said you should only share it with your coworkers and not with your students.)

All songs are available on iTunes. Search the name of the song, artist or album. That allows you to purchase individual songs rather than entire albums.

Comprehensive Literacy Model Institute

Here is a list of all the books I mentioned this morning at the Summer Literacy Institute and a bunch of bonus titles I couldn't get to. I've already written about some of them for the site, and you can give those titles a click for more information.

Diary of a Fairy Godmother by Esme Raji Codell
The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School by Candace Fleming
Beware of the Frog by William Bee
HIVE: Higher Institute of Villainous Education by Mark Walden
HIVE: The Overlord Protocol by Mark Walden
NO,UB&SOTTAaS,M,DoHYFALL,SC,CftS,PWDiP,aMNLF,&OOSWCQF,SMYCHUO (Or Noisy Outlaws...) edited by Ted Thompson - not that Ted Thompson, Packer fans - and published by McSweeney's. It is now available for $9.00 packaged with a book titled The Future Dictionary of America, a book I know nothing about but admit looks interesting.
Hate Mail From Cheerleaders by Rick Reilly
My Little Sister Ate One Hare by Bill Grossman
I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! by Karen Beaumont
Chowder by Peter Brown
The Fabulous Bouncing Chowder by Peter Brown
This is Just to Say: Poems of Apology and Forgiveness by Joyce Sidman
Hey Batta Batta Swing! by Sally Cook and James Charlton
One Duck Stuck by Phyllis Root

And a couple of wolf books...
The Big Bad Wolf and Me by Delphine Perret
Wolves by Emily Gravett
Big Bad Wolves at School by Stephen Krensky

If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment below or send me an email. My email address is on the book to the right. I'd love to hear from you. Thanks!

LEA Convocation

Hello to everyone attending the LEA Convocation in Minneapolis!

If you are reading this before attending the Help Readers Love Reading! sectional on Friday morning, let me know you're coming! Is there anything specific you hope to hear? Any topics you'd like me to address? Leave a comment or send me an email.

If you are reading this after the sectional, I'd love to answer any questions or continue any discussions or simply hear your thoughts and comments. Feel free to post those questions and comments below or send me an email. (Address in the website's banner and to the right.)

Before Readers - I look forward to seeing you Friday!
After Readers - Thanks for coming, and I look forward to hearing from you!