Happy 215th Birthday Edgar Allan Poe

Two hundred and fifteen years ago on January 19th, 1809, Edgar Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts to a talented young actress named Eliza Poe. He lived on Carver Street with his family until they hit the road with their traveling theater company and finally landed in Richmond, Virginia. Poe's father, a  not-so-talented actor with a drinking problem abandoned the family before Poe's second birthday. His mother, Eliza, died shorty before he turned three leaving him an orphan. His mother most likely had tuberculosis, but numerous deadly diseases were circulating at that time. Eliza's mother had died of Yellow Fever when Eliza was eleven.

Poe's life continued to be filled with death and tragedy. In spite of what he suffered, or maybe because of it, Poe became one of the most celebrated American writers of all time. He is credited with inventing the detective story and greatly influencing the genres of American gothic horror, science fiction, and the modern short story.

I am currently working on an amalgam of ten of his stories for my HOT ROD series (higher order thinking through the Reading of Decodables.) It is called The Raven Remix: A Mash-Up of Poe Titles. I created it to follow the rhyme and meter pattern of "The Raven." Incidentally, my middle name is Lenore. 

Yes, my mother named me after the dead girl in Poe's most famous poem. 

I've been intrigued by Poe ever since. Ravens and their mythology figure very prominently in my third young adult novel, Forget Me Not (Simon Pulse: A Division of Simon and Schuster). That novel is written in verse and contains another spoof of "The Raven." The version in Forget Me Not features Tupac song titles and reimagines the rapper as a substitute teacher. Notice how the artist who created the book cover makes the girl's hair look like raven feathers. Dante's Purgatorio and several nods to Shakespeare also figure strongly in this story about a girl trapped between life and death.

When I was in Boston for the 2023 ASHA (American Speech-Language-Hearing Association) conference, I made a special trip to visit the statue created as a tribute to Poe. It's called "Poe Returning to Boston." It's just around the corner from Carver Street, the place the famous writer lived as an infant. The street is long gone, but the city has left up the sign to commemorate Poe's birthplace.

I'm planning for The Raven Remix to be out in late spring of 2024.  Follow this blog or sign up for my newsletter to keep up with background information about Poe. Throughout 2024, I will be sharing facts about his colorful life and theories about his untimely death - a mystery that has never been solved.

Sign up for my newsletter HERE and receive a free copy of my first decodable book, No Gift for Man. That way you won't miss any of the fun-filled activities I'm creating for A Year of AWE: Authentic Writing Experiences along with interesting facts celebrating A Year of Poe.

2024 - A Year of AWE - Authentic Writing Experiences

 

The 2024 theme for both my blog and newsletter is AWE - Authentic Writing Experiences. That is one of the reasons I ended 2023 with a writing contest based on "A Long Winter's Nap."  See the poem and details below, but first I'd like to talk about using Thank You Notes as an opportunity for an authentic Writing Experience.

First, brainstorm a list of words students could use to express gratitude - grateful, thanks, appreciate, acknowledge, indebted. Then discuss the different types of things we can be grateful for. At this time of year, it is easy to name tangible things like gifts and presents, but people also give us laughter, music, food, and company.  If we have been visiting relatives we could also thank them for their hospitality, generosity, and kindness. We might thank others for words of encouragement, favors, or support. 

After brainstorming a list of words, encourage students to follow the same format they would use to create a paragraph for a school writing project. I created a visual for my Hank the Tank Activity Book that I call High Five Writing which can be seen below.  It can be used for everything from writing paragraphs to constructing Thank You Notes. 

Step 1: Write a 1-2 sentence INTRODUCTION.

Step 2: Describe three or more supporting DETAILS in three or more separate sentences.

Step 3: Write a CONCLUSION.

When I started my private therapy practice, parents often asked me to help their kids write Thank You Notes. When students are left to their devices, they often have difficulty constructing written notes for the same reason they struggle with other types of writing. Their writing tends to be redundant and they repeat the same ideas using the same words. They benefit from having a structure, brainstorming word lists and ideas, and receiving help to differentiate a conclusion from the main idea and the details.

Following the general format above, I modified the High Five Writing strategy to expand the ideas as described below.

Step 1: Write a 1-2 sentence INTRODUCTION or SALUTATION

Express gratitude in a general way about a specific thing or event.

Examples: Dear Grandma: Hello! Thanks so much for inviting us to stay at your house during winter break... Dear Aunt Sally: I hope you had a happy New Year. I appreciate the thoughtful gift you sent me. The poodle sweater with the little dogs on front will be very useful for staying warm this winter.

Step 2: Describe three or more supporting DETAILS in three or more separate sentences.

Describe three different things or give three different details about one thing. Remind students that they don't have to like the gift to be able to express gratitude and find something good to say about it.

Example: It was fun playing Monopoly with the whole family. Decorating cookies is always exciting. I especially liked your new reindeer cookie cutters. My favorite part of our stay was sledding down the hill behind your house. 

Example: The little dog on the front of the sweater is so cute. The color will match my new blue jeans. Most importantly, it is thick enough to wear without a coat on days that aren't too cold.

Step 3: Write a CONCLUSION or COMPLEMENTARY CLOSE (Valediction)

End with a general statement that is different from the introduction.

Examples: I can't wait until we get to see you again... It's always fun to spend time together...You are always so thoughtful...

Thanks again, Name.

Additional Thoughts

Be sure to show students an example of a completed letter so they have a visual of the layout and spacing. For older students, you may want to use terms like Salutation and Valediction and explore the common roots behind these words found in terms like salute, salutatorian, valedictorian, diction, etc.

Now, about that winter poem and writing contest going on until January 31, visit my December 2 post to find out more - A Long Winter's Nap - Illustration and Caption Writing Contest.

Finally, sign up for my newsletter HERE and receive a free copy of my first decodable book, No Gift for Man. That way you won't miss any of the fun-filled activities I'm creating for A Year of AWE: Authentic Writing Experiences.

Support Your Local Bookstore - Give the Gift of Reading

Still shopping? Why not Support Your Local Bookstore? One of the best gifts you can give for any occasion is the Gift of Reading. Here are my Top Five Reasons to give books for holidays, birthdays, or pretty much any occasion:

FIVE REASONS TO GIVE BOOKS AS GIFTS

1. Books are small and inexpensive compared to many other gifts, but high in value. You get more bang for your buck. If folks are flying home or otherwise don't have space for bulky gifts, books are compact and easy to pack.

2. Choosing a book specifically for one individual shows that you have carefully considered their likes and dislikes. You may get it wrong. You often will, but books are also easy to regift. See below.

3. Books are easy to regift, sell to a second-hand bookstore, or resell on the internet. When in doubt, don't sign a book you are giving as a gift or include a personal message that would make it difficult to regift, resell, or deposit in a neighborhood Little Free Library. Include a card with a message. Don't write inside the book unless you are sure it's a keeper. Want to start your own Little Free Library? Visit  https://littlefreelibrary.org/.

4. When you give someone a book, the lull after an exciting morning of opening gifts and binge-eating sweets can be filled with retreating to a quiet corner to read. 

5. Giving books to kids shows them that we value literacy and reading.

BOOK BUYING OPTIONS

People tend to feel very strongly about where they purchase their books. Many people like the fast delivery and free shipping that comes with Amazon. Others avoid Amazon at all costs and seek out the booksellers at their favorite local book shops where local authors are celebrated and the staff know your name, your reading habits, and exactly what to recommend. Many people are grieving over the closing of their favorite local bookshop. Bookstores were hit especially hard during and after Covid. 

There are practical ways you can support your local bookstore. Did you know that you can order almost any book from a local bookstore? This is true even if they don't typically carry the book or don't currently have it in stock.  Those little neighborhood bookstores may not be able to fit many books on their shelves, but they are windows into a much larger world of books as long as they can order them from a book distribution company like Ingram.

One way that you can support your local bookstore from the comfort of your own home is to order books through Bookshop.org. If you order a book through this online merchant, 30% of the proceeds go to the local independent bookstore of your choice. Another option is to go to the website of your favorite bookstore and type the title you are looking for into the search bar. 

FYI - Hank the Tank: Animal in the Spotlight is available on Bookshop.org.

COLORADO BOOKSTORES CARRYING HANK THE TANK

The following Colorado Bookstores have let me know that they are either ordering Hank the Tank for their bookstore or making it available on their websites. Thanks for your support: 

West Side Books in Evergreen, Colorado - Hank the Tank Store Website Listing 

The Boulder Bookstore in 1107 Pearl Street, Boulder, CO - Store Website

Second Star to the Right -  1455 S. Pearl St., Denver, C) - See the Carolee Dean Page on their Store Website to find Hank and other books. 

Off the Beaten Path - 68 9th St. Steamboat Springs - Store Website.

Tattered Cover - Various Locations - Store Website

The Bookies - Denver, CO - Store Website - The store is moving and will be opening in its new location in early February, but you can still order books. See the Bookies/SCBWI Event from June.

Mountain Shire Books - 63 Cooper Creek Way, Suite 231, Winter Park, CO 80482 - Store Website.

If these stores don't have Hank in stock, remember, you can always order copies from the website. If you have a local favorite bookstore that isn't listed, you can order Hank through Bookshop.org and mention that bookstore in the checkout process.

Happy Holidays!!

A Long Winter's Nap - Illustration Caption Contest

I'm getting ready for 2024 and next year's new blog theme of AWE - Authentic Writing Experiences with a writing contest based on a poem I recently created called "A Long Winter's Nap." It was inspired by two real bears. One of them is the subject of my decodable chapter book, Hank the Tank: Animal in the Spotlight. Hank was blamed for the antics of another bear named Henrietta. Read my recent blog post Update on the Real Hank the Tank... Or Is It Henrietta? 

From the image above you can probably guess what the poem is about. Here's an excerpt:

'Twas a night in December, when all through the house

not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Not the cat, not the dog who slept under the stairs,

not the white-footed ferret, not even the bears.

The poem "A Long Winter's Nap" is a parody of "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore. The story is humourous, but it depicts a very real and dangerous situation that occurs when bears seek out warm places to hibernate for the winter and people are not vigilant about protecting their crawl spaces and decks. To get the full poem along with background information and an entry form for my student illustration contest for grades K-12, you may download the FREE PDF HERE. I also have a QR code if you would like to share this resource with others.

Students may illustrate any scene from the poem and write a caption describing their illustration. Teachers may want to use this activity as a fun end-of-year project or revisit it in January when everyone is slogging back to school with visions of winter break still in their heads. The theme is "Winter," NOT "Christmas," so it still applies in January. The contest ends on January 30th. The winner will be notified by February 10 and will receive a free copy of Hank the Tank: Animal in the Spotlight. Contests provide a fun and authentic incentive for students to showcase their writing, even if it is as simple as creating a caption for an illustration. 

If you order Hank the Tank: Animal in the Spotlight from Bookshop.org, proceeds can go to your local independent bookstore. Hank may also be purchased at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Read about Henrietta's new home at The Wild Animal Refuge, a beautiful 230-acre wooded location near Springfield, Colorado.  It is one of the properties belonging to The Wild Animal Sanctuary. Read about their animal rescue efforts at www.WildAnimalSanctuary.org 

The Bear League, a Wildlife Rescue Service in Homewood, California, serves Lake Taho and the surrounding area. They receive many calls in the winter months from numerous homeowners asking for help to evict their unwanted guests, and this is a problem in other places as well. Learn about the work of The Bear League HERE.

Finally, sign up for my newsletter HERE and receive a free copy of my first decodable book, No Gift for Man. That way you won't miss any of the fun-filled activities I'm creating for A Year of AWE: Authentic Writing Experiences.

Update on the Real Hank the Tank or is it Henrietta?

I have an update on the infamous bear who is the subject of my book, Hank the Tank: Animal in the Spotlight. Hank was back in the news this past summer after being captured in Lake Tahoe and has received a name change. Hank is now Henrietta. How and why did this happen? 

According to the Wild Animal Sanctuary NEWS and an NPR Report from August, DNA evidence proved that one of the “Hanks” in the news in 2022 was a female, which the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) identified as Bear 64F. By monitoring the bear with a tracking collar, authorities determined that she was responsible for 21 or more of the fifty bear invasions between California and Nevada in the Lake Tahoe Area. According to NPR, she spent the winter months in a den under a home in the Tahoe Keys.

Due to intense public support, the life of Bear 64F was spared. After being captured by CDFW in the summer of 2023, that agency, in collaboration with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, allowed The Wild Animal Sanctuary (TWAS) to transport the bear to a 230-acre Wild Animal Refuge outside of Springfield, CO. When she arrived, she got a beautiful new home and a new name – Henrietta. Unfortunately, this type of rescue is the exception rather than the rule. Hundreds of "nuisance bears" are euthanized every year, and places like TWAS can't possibly rescue all of them. Not only that but relocated bears tend to either try to find their way back home or wreak havoc in their new location.

The Wild Animal Refuge is a beautiful 230-acre wooded property in Colorado. Henrietta will receive plenty of food, so they are expecting she will be content to stay put. It is one of the properties belonging to The Wild Animal Sanctuary. Although visitors are not allowed at the Refuge, they are welcome and encouraged to visit the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, CO. It is located about 30 miles north of Denver and is open almost every day of the year. Ticket sales and donations help to support the mission of this important non-profit charity. If you can’t visit in person, check out their website at www.WildAnimalSanctuary.org and read about other exciting animal rescues.

To learn more about the story behind Hank and Henrietta and to learn what you can do to help keep bears wild, check out my book, Hank the Tank: Animal in the Spotlight and the 164-page Activity Book. Watch for the Audio Book coming soon. If you purchase books at Bookshop.org. proceeds may go to your favorite local bookstore. Hank is also available through Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Read about a special gift I have created for my readers HERE. It is based on the adventures of Hank and Henrietta and includes a student Illustration Caption Contest. Sign up for my newsletter HERE and receive a free copy of my first decodable book, No Gift for Man.

TEACH MY KID TO READ Offers Library Support for Decodable Books

Teach My Kid to Read is a non-profit organization with a mission to help libraries across the country gain access to decodable books.  They have started with a campaign to help 25 libraries access decodable books for emerging and struggling readers, and not just access, but also education on the topic. They currently have a waiting list of 135 schools and public libraries seeking help establishing decodable book collections. You can learn more about their initiative and contribute to their campaign at Teach My Kid To Read (TMKTR). 

Last week, Marion Waldman, director of TMKTR pictured on the right, attended the New York Library Association Conference in Albany, NY. She reported that most of the librarians told her their patrons were asking for decodable books. Librarians prefer decodable books to leveled texts once they learn how decodable books are specifically aligned to students' learning skills. 

Teach My Kid to Read wants to help change the culture of learning to read to include decodable books that provide practice in learning the specific skills children have been taught. They know that librarians are uniquely positioned to provide literacy hubs, collections of decodable books, and information about how decodable books work. 

Sometimes it's tricky for librarians to tell the difference between a phonics book, a leveled reader, and a decodable book based on a specific scope and sequence. Teach My Kid to Read helps librarians demystify this process. New legislation nationwide has schools scrambling to find resources for struggling readers. TMKTR can help. Use the QR code below to get more information about TMKTR and the Decodable Book Alliance.

Watch Too Many Kids Struggle to Read, the video by Maggie Bevars, a college student with dyslexia, who shares her struggles and successes. She talks about the importance of providing accessible books for students with dyslexia. The video is on the "Teach My Kid to Read" YouTube Channel. You can also find her video at All Kids Deserve to Read.

I met Marion in person at the International Dyslexia Conference in October. She is on the right below, and I am on the left. We are with Larissa Phillips, one of the authors at the booth for Phonic Books.

Jill Lauren, member of the Decodable Book Alliance and creator of Whole Phonics books, and Marion gave a poster presentation at IDA on "Engaging Libraries to Create Equitable Literacy Solutions for Early and Struggling Readers." Their poster provided practical solutions for parents and teachers to encourage their local and school libraries to find and provide decodable texts. 

I am also a member of the Decodable Book Alliance. I am particularly interested in decodable books because they are the focus of my new HOT ROD series (Higher Order Thinking through the Reading of Decodables). Check out my website at www.wordtravelpress.com for more information and to find the Scope and Sequence of the series.  I aim to provide resources for older struggling readers, fourth grade through adult. For more information about decodable books, check out my page on Choosing the Right Decodable Books for Your Students. It includes a list of several publishers. 

My new book, Hank the Tank, is available now at Barnes and Noble and Amazon in e-book, hardcover, and paperback. Watch for the audiobook coming soon. The 164-page Activity Book is on sale through Cyber Monday, November 27th on Amazon. It includes 50+ activities and games for Decoding, Reading Comprehension, Writing, and speech. I'm working on a special freebie to encourage writing and illustrating over winter break. Watch this blog and my newsletter for information coming soon. Sign up for my newsletter HERE and receive a free copy of my first decodable book, No Gift for Man.

Exploring Authentic Writing Experiences at ASHA

I will travel to Boston, MA, in one week for the American Speech-Language and Hearing 2023 Conference (#ASHA2023).  If you are going, check out Booth 1254 for Word Travel Press along with my presentation on Saturday afternoon from 4-5 p.m. entitled "Story Frames for Teaching Literacy: Using Narratives as a Bridge to Informational Text." The presentation is largely based on Chapter 7 of my Story Frames book - "From Story Writing to Expository Writing: Bridging the Gap with Narrative Nonfiction," but the strategies I discuss may be used with any program. 

I gave a similar presentation twice this year already in author/educator panels with Jolene Gutierrez and Beth Anderson. See my interview with Beth, where she talks about The Resilience of English Language Learners. Then check out my blog post with Jolene on The Resilience of Bionic Beasts. I'm excited to announce that CCIRA has asked us to present this same author panel on February 8-10, 2024 in Westminster, CO. The specific day will be determined later. All the attention on this topic confirms my belief that students need help making the leap from stories to informational text in both reading and writing.

In addition to discussing ways that narrative strategies may be used to enhance understanding of informational text and vice versa, I will also discuss ideas for exploring authentic writing opportunities, including crafting a "Letter to the Author" that follows a format similar to a short essay. One of the most successful writing activities I ever conducted for struggling learners was in a tenth-grade special education Language Arts class. It was a Letter to Author Cynthia Leitich Smith that arose organically after we read the graphic novel based on her book, Tantalize. Because they knew their letters were going to a real person, the author of a book they enjoyed, everyone participated in a way I hadn't seen with any other writing activity. Students were eager to edit because they wanted their letters to be perfect. Some even brought in special stationery.

I always get excited when I learn about opportunities for students to explore authentic writing experiences. Jill Lauren, creator of the Whole Phonics series of decodable texts, is a member of the Decodable Book Alliance that I joined recently when I started writing decodable books. Jill is holding a contest through November 30th where students can win a puzzle by illustrating a scene from one of her books and writing a one-sentence description. Find out more HERE. If you don't have any of Jill's books, don't worry. You can get a free copy of A Pig and His Wig by visiting her website at  https://whole-phonics.com/ and joining her mailing list. She offers 4 other decodable texts on her partnership page with ReadWorks. These free titles include Zac's Pal (short "a"), Rod's Box (short "o"), Buzz, Buzz (short "u"), and Get Up! (short "e"). You will want more of her books, but you can start now with these for free. 

Often, decodable books lack real-world application, but Whole-Phonics does a good job of bridging this gap by partnering with ReadWorks to provide background knowledge. That's exactly the gap I'm attempting to fill with my HOT ROD decodables for older readers. 

Writing contests provide simple but compelling opportunities for authentic writing. If you are wondering what decodable books are, check out the article on my website at https://www.wordtravelpress.com/. Go to the tab at the top for Resources>Decodable Books. You can also learn about the HOT ROD series (Higher Order Thinking through the Reading of Decodables).

I was already working on a December Poetry Giveaway to encourage reading and writing over winter break when I read about Jill's contest,  I decided to turn my Poetry Freebie into a contest starting on December 1 after Jill's contest ends. If you want to be sure to get the latest information about that contest, as well as other freebies, articles, and book news, join my Author Newsletter list. You will automatically receive a PDF of my first decodable book, No Gift for Man. You may unsubscribe at any time.

The Decodable Book Alliance works in conjunction with Teach My Kid to Read which is a 501c3 dedicated to educating librarians about the importance of decodable text. My next post will be about their experiences at the recent New York Library Association Conference, so stay tuned.

HINT: My December poem giveaway is called, A Long Winter's Nap and was inspired by a mother bear hibernating in a most unusual location.