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October 10, 2018

By on October 10, 2018   /   Oh MG News  
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Harry Potter: A History of Magic–an exhibit that mixes Harry’s fictional world with the true history of magic, mythology, astronomy, and features actual historical items that connect to themes in J.K.Rowling’s Harry Potter series.

Running from Oct. 5 to January 27, 2019, at the New York Historical Society Museum and Library, it’s part of Scholastic’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of the first Harry Potter book’s publication in the United States. For more information, click here.

Celebrating Bookstores: An initiative to boost bookstore visibility called #loveyourbookstore, spearheaded by Dominique Raccah, publisher and CEO of Sourcebooks. The challenge: Between November 10-16, go to your favorite bookstore, take a picture inside the store of your favorite book — or bookseller! Post on social media using the hashtag #loveyourbookstore. You can add a quote too! When you post, you’ll be entered to win some fabulous bookish prizes.

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Interview with Donna Gephart, Author of IN YOUR SHOES

By on October 10, 2018   /   Author Interviews  

Today we’re thrilled to welcome Donna Gephart, author of several popular and critically acclaimed books, including her latest In Your Shoes  (Delacorte Press/Penguin Random House). The novel, which hit bookstores yesterday, received a star from School Library Journal, which called it, “A unique and compelling novel from a master storyteller.”

Donna is known for writing middle-grade novels with loads of heart and humor. Her award-winners include Lily and Dunkin, Death by Toilet Paper, and As If Being 12-3/4 Isn’t Bad Enough, My Mother Is Running for President!

She’s a popular speaker at schools, book festivals, and conferences. Visit her at www.donnagephart.com for reading guides, writing tips, fun videos, and more.

Before we get to the interview, here’s a bit about the novel:

Miles is an anxious boy who loves his family’s bowling center even though he could be killed by a bolt of lightning or a wild animal that escaped from the Philadelphia Zoo on the way there.

Amy is the new girl at school who wishes she didn’t have to live above her uncle’s funeral home and tries to write her way to her own happily-ever-after.

Then Miles and Amy meet in the most unexpected way . . . and that’s when it all begins . . .

First, congratulations on the publication of your sixth book, In Your Shoes! What was the inspiration behind this novel?

Thank you! In the book’s author’s note, I share a personal story about how my mom almost died when I was ten. The worry that she might die terrified me back then. This novel explores how one might navigate the worst kind of grief with the help of friends, family, and a highly creative imagination.

 

Being a bit of a, let’s say, cautious person myself, I can definitely relate to Miles’s anxiety and fears. Do you or anyone you know share his characteristics?

Yes, some members of my family have mild anxiety/worry issues that crop up in the form of repeating behaviors, superstitions, etc. I drew from those fears and behaviors to craft the lovably neurotic character of Miles Spagoski, bowling nerd extraordinaire. To relax, Miles looks up weird ways people have died. Those fascinating facts pepper the book.

 

This is a question readers, including me, always want to know: Where do you get your ideas?’’

The seemingly disparate ideas for In Your Shoes came from so many places, like strange seeds all planted in the same soil. I wanted to write a book about the bowling culture of young people, after hearing about a friend’s son’s passion for his school’s bowling team. I also wanted to write about navigating grief after learning a friend of the family had lost her mom when she was only eleven. I’ve always wanted to write a fairy tale because my mom read so many to me when I was young, so the main character creates a story within the story — a fairy tale — that mirrors what’s happening in the novel. It was a very difficult novel to create structurally, but I’m happy with how it all came together. I also love how the book’s designer set up each section to look like a bowling frame.

 

In this novel, and in the fabulous Lily and Dunkin, you write from two points of view. Can you tell us a bit about the challenge of getting inside the heads of two distinct characters? Any tricks to making them sound different from each other?

I need to know my characters well, including their entire family history — what their parents did, their grandparents, etc. — before I tackle writing from two distinct characters’ voices. I think it’s fun to see how these two come from such different backgrounds, yet stumble their way into a deep and meaningful friendship that changes both of them for the better.

 

What is one of your favorite passages in the novel?

I love the bits where the snarky, science-loving narrator intrudes. Here’s a snippet from the opening:

Some stories start with “Once upon a time . . .”

Some start with a dramatic moment, like the appearance of a meteor hurtling toward Earth . . .

At the start of this story, there’s a nervous boy who braves freezing temperatures to get to his favorite place in the universe.

And there’s a grieving girl who wakes in a new bedroom somewhere she hadn’t meant to be.

So this story absolutely does not begin with “Once upon a time .  . .” or with a meteor hurtling toward Earth.

It starts (and ends) with a bowling shoe.

As these things sometimes do.

 

And lastly, what’s your highest bowling score ever?

Oh, please. I’m lucky to get above 100 . . . and that’s with bumpers on the lanes!

 

Ha! Thanks so much for taking the time to give us a glimpse of In Your Shoes and of your writing process as well. Readers definitely have a treat in store for them!

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STEM Tuesday — Let’s Explore Botany!– In the Classroom

By on October 9, 2018   /   Botany, Common Core & NGSS, STEM Tuesday  

STEM TUESDAY from the mixed up files

STEM TUESDAY: Let’s Explore Botany – In the Classroom

Note to all: This STEM Tuesday In the Classroom, we welcome Jodi Wheeler-Toppen as our newest blogger. As her “In the Classroom” collaborator, I think you’ll just love what Jodi has to offer. Author of STEM books for kids and educational books for teachers, this dynamo has lots to share. Welcome, Jodi!

                                                                     –Carolyn DeCristofano

Botanical Bellringers

I took a botany course in college. I planned to get it out of the way so I could move on to the more interesting parts of getting a biology major. Instead, I had an excellent professor who threw open the treasure chest of plant knowledge for me (and, incidentally, got me started on science writing). A maxim among children’s writers is “plant books don’t sell.” I want to change this to “Plant books don’t sell themselves.” With the right introduction, kids can be drawn into reading a book with cover-full of plants.

The books on this month’s list aren’t as likely to be used as a whole-class read, so I propose having them in the classroom library and using bellringers (warm-up questions/ do-nows/ or whatever you like to call the questions that teachers have students do as they enter the classroom) to engage students in the topics. After the bellringer, you can show students the book and encourage them to take a look at it later.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgBotanicum: This is a wonderful book for browsing and might draw artsy students into the topic. It illustrates the breadth of the plant world. This bellringer helps students think about the domestication of crops.

Display plants 1-5 on page 66. Ask: Make a prediction. How might plants 1 and 2 be related? How about plants 3, 4, and 5?

When you are ready to discuss the bellringer, display the first two paragraphs of text on the page, which describe the wild plant that was domesticated to become corn and the two plants that were crossed to create the wheat we eat today.

It's a Fungus Among Us: The Good, the Bad & the Downright ScaryIt’s a Fungus Among Us: Students will pick this one up because of the engaging photographs. It also has “test it out” experiments. I particularly liked one on p. 15 that gave students ideas for gathering data on whether lichen could serve as a compass. This bellringer works on visual literacy and plant/ fungi interactions.

Display the text and diagram for “Plant Partners” on p. 26. Ask: This diagram and text work together to give you information. What do you learn from the words that you don’t get from the picture? What information is in the picture that you don’t get from the words?

When you are ready to discuss, point out to students that pictures and text often have different information, and it is valuable in science to spend time with each. Never just skip over the diagrams! (Students often ignore diagrams and charts in their science books, and visual literacy is as important as text literacy in academic reading.)

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgThe Story of Seeds: This is a book that students are less likely to pick up on their own, but it covers an important topic and could become an area of interest if students are exposed to the ideas. For this bellringer, collect some photos of interesting heritage vegetables. Seed Savers is a great source for these. You might consider Dragon Carrots, Old Timey Blue Collards, Watermelon Radish, and Calypso Beans.

Display the images. Ask: Try to identify each of these vegetables. Have you ever eaten anything similar?

When you are ready to discuss, talk about the value of heritage seeds. It’s not just fun to have different foods to eat, but it also helps us have a variety of genes to help breed plants for new environmental challenges. Encourage them to read The Story of Seeds to find out more.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgChampion: I recommend this one especially for students who live in the area where chestnut trees used to grow. Many students don’t know that plants can catch diseases, and this book can bring that idea home.

Display this photo. (It is also in the book.) Ask: Would you like to have a tree this big in the school yard? Why or why not? Where do you think this tree lives?

When you are ready to discuss, explain that the picture is of the American Chestnut. Ask students for their guesses of where it lives. Tell them you have a map of the range of the Chestnut tree and display the map on p. 16 (A similar map can be found here.) Have them find where you live on the map and imagine that 100 years ago, they could have gone outside and seen one of these trees. Point them to the book to find out about the disease that killed this tree, where survivors still exist, and the hunt for a way to bring the American chestnut back.

Support Independent Bookstores - Visit IndieBound.orgBonus–Poison: You won’t have any trouble getting students to pick this one up to browse. It covers a wide variety of science (and history) topics. I recommend it particularly for physical science/chemistry, however, as a fun take on not-so-fun elements.

Display the “Tox Box” for Lead (p. 23), Radium (p. 126), Mercury (p. 15), or Arsenic (p. 13). Ask: Before the scientists could use chemistry to figure out if someone had been poisoned, people were often thought to have died of disease instead of poison. Read this description and propose some diseases or conditions that people might have gotten confused with this poison.

When you are ready to discuss, don’t tell them if they are right or wrong. Insist that they read the book to find out! And next time students ask when they are “ever going to use this stuff,” remind them that the ability to use chemistry to detect poisons is the reason that poisoning has fallen out of favor!

Do you have other bellringers you like to use when teaching plants? Tell us about them in the comments!

Jodi Wheeler-Toppen is a former science teacher and the author of the Once Upon A Science Book series (NSTA Press) on integrating science and reading instruction.  She also writes for children, with her most recent book being Dog Science Unleashed: Fun Activities to do with Your Canine Companion. She loves plants but seems to have a brown thumb.

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