The day Marc Brown came to our school

This is so weird. I made a video. Of myself. Talking. About Marc Brown.

Honestly, I don't even know what to say. Here it is.


Apparently, the Candlelighters (an organization to provide support to families of children with cancer) have been hosting an amazing fundraising contest for years. The contest is that the school with the most pounds of clothing donated wins a visit from a guest author. 

So throughout the month of February, my Facebook posts all looked like this: "Please please please, if you have any old clothes/shoes/linens you'd like to give away to a good cause, give them to us! We are collecting clothes for the Candlelighters charity and a chance to win an author visit from MARC BROWN!"

I told my husband, "I don't care if you have to go to work naked! Fill these bags with clothes!" I harrassed my neighborhood and my family with similar messages. I demanded that everyone clean out their closets. I'd given so many clothes that I keep forgetting what I have left in the closet. We HAD to win! 

I obsessed over gathering clothes for weeks. And I wasn't the only one. My teachers and kids were obsessed, too. We did our best and hoped it would work.

And then, two days ago, we got the call.

We. 

Won.

 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

We collected 12,800 pounds of clothing. Out of 42 schools in our city, we collected the most.

Marc Brown was to visit our school...in two days! Our school erupted into a flurry of Marc Brown-i-ness. There were Arthurs everywhere. We paused our other plans and did the most fun stuff.

 

I, for my contribution, immediately did the most important thing I could think of. My buddy and I made an Arthur photobooth and a bunch of props to use, like Arthur ears, glasses, D.W. hair, and Buster ears, too. 

And then I took pictures of everybody in it and made a bulletin board: Find Your Inner Arthur.

We ordered shirts (to be done in two days!) and someone made an incredible cake and balloon arches. We made silhouettes of the characters to put on the windows and every grade level worked on Arthur projects.

We had so much fun getting ready for this visit. My buddy and even I drove to various spots to buy as many Arthur books as we could with a giant PO. And do you know what? NOBODY carries Arhtur anymore! We were horrified! Barnes & Noble, Target and the (very few) other bookstores in our town were like, "No, we can order them, but we don't carry them." What a disappointment. (Fortunately, when Marc Brown came to our school, he brought some of his own books!)

When I left work on Thursday evening, the hallways were blossoming with Arthurs, Busters, and D.W.s in every possible spot. Kids were gesturing to their work and saying, "I made that! We all did that!" They brought me to tears with their pride.

This morning, we were expecting Marc Brown at about 8:15. He showed up at 7:45! We already had the Arthur theme music playing over the loudpseaker. I was walking down the hallway, taking pictures of the kids' work and trying not to cry when I heard the news that he'd arrived.

My principal guided him down the hallway and he (with his kind personality) stopped and admired all of the kids' work, commenting on how incredible and wonderful it was. (Which really just shows me how incredible and wonderful HE is.)

We were downright giddy. I hung on his every word. Any time he praised the work the kids had done, I wanted to cry!

And then Arthur and D.W. arrived.

Right before his presentation, I got up the nerve to ask him to take a picture in our photo booth. AND HE SAID YES!

And this happened:

Marc Brown put on the Arthur ears that I made and stood in front of the backdrop that we made and took a picture! AAAAAAAAAAAA! I can die happy.

Once he was in the library, we set him up in his spot and made sure his equipment was ready. Our first group, K-2, buzzed into the library, complete with Arthur ears on every last kid.

Marc Brown's presentation was incredible. He drew Arthur (both original Arthur and modern Arthur) and told us the story of how Arthur came to exist. Then he asked the kids to help him brainstorm animal parts to create a brand-new kind of animal character. They had a blast! They demanded the leg of a chicken and the leg of a hippo. The ears of an elephant and the neck of a giraffe. The nose of a pig and the wings of a dragon! 

Actually, one of the kids asked for fish legs...but...you know.

The kids laughed and asked questions and just generally had their little minds blown.

He shared pictures of his house (I want to go to there) and of his goat named Hillary Clinton, who apparently met the real Hillary Clinton. And she didn't think it was that funny. (The person, not the goat.)

After his presentation, he signed books galore for teachers, kids, and parents. He did it all with a smile on his face. It was truly amazing. I don't think the man had twenty seconds to himself. He didn't have a drink of water, he didn't go to the bathroom, and he didn't even get to stand there quietly. He talked and smiled the whole time.

And then he did it all again for 3-5.

Marc Brown is an example of a kind, humble person with great talent who takes the time to make people feel good about who they are and what they can do and be. We were blessed to have such an experience.

And today, as I stand in front of my closet and try to figure out what to wear to school tomorrow, I keep asking myself, "Where's that green sweater? What happened to my blue blouse?" and I realize that I stuffed all of them into a bag in a frenzy to donate.

I guess I have to go shopping!

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Teaching Figurative Language with a Mentor Text: Mud! *Freebie!

  This month, the Reading Crew is celebrating spring! It's a fun link-up featuring a variety of mentor texts related to spring and a great freebie to go with each one. Check out all the posts and collect the mystery words from every post! Then use them to enter the Rafflecopter to win an Amazon giftcard and buy your own copies of the books!   There are two link-ups: K-2, and 3-5. Each has its own Rafflecopter, set of words, and great ideas. Happy Reading!  

Mud is a beautifully written book, perfect for growing students' writing language! Mary Lyn Ray uses vivid figurative language to describe the transition in seasons, from winter to spring. The word choice and sentence variety are incredible, and it's appropriate for all levels in elementary. 

It's simple enough to be enjoyed by any kindergartener, and complex enough to be emulated by any fifth grader. 

To begin the lesson, before you read a single page, introduce the idea of reading like writers. Writers choose their words carefully; they have a purpose for everything they do. As you read Mud together, you'll want to notice all of the beautiful language that Mary Lyn Ray uses to help the reader feel and visualize the changing of the seasons, resulting in mud.

 This resource (freebie, yay!) will guide you through the four main steps you'll use to have students notice, name, explain, and try figurative language in their own writing. 

They'll notice the language with you, help you build an anchor chart recording the figurative language you noticed, and participate in a discussion about why the author chose to use that language. These steps will work with ANY mentor text!

 

The figurative language used in the book includes onomatopoeia, personification, simile, alliteration, and sensory details.

Lines such as, "A cold, sweet smell rises from the ground, like sap in the snow," are beautiful and students will notice something special is happening! 

Every line is interesting, which makes this a great book for discussing beautiful lines.

After you've noticed the figurative language, named it, explained it, and charted it, you'll use the included graphic organizer to brainstorm figurative language to use in your own writing and model writing a descriptive paragraph for your students. Then your students will write their own descriptive paragraphs using their own figurative language!

Building in opportunities for students to see the reading-writing
connection in action are an absolute must! This freebie includes a page to help students identify figurative language during their independent or home reading. Noticing is the first step to being a great writer and reader!

 

Grab the freebie on TPT!

This freebie follows the gradual release model. It's a great way to teach new strategies in reading and writing! Get a gradual release freebie and reading resources and tips in your inbox by entering your email address below!     Before you move on to the next post, my mystery word is Mud. [HERE] is the link to the form you can use to keep track of the mystery words at each stop. You'll need them for an entry on the Rafflecopter below.

Rafflecopter for Grade 3-5

March 18-March 25

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you for hopping by! Be sure to check out the rest of the great Growing Readers & Writers posts for freebies and fun!

 

An InLinkz Link-up

 

An InLinkz Link-up

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12 MORE Ideas for Celebrating Read Across America

You know when you have a huge, crazy event and you're running all over the place and totally stressed out, and then as soon as it's over, you say, "Next year, it's going to be even bigger!" That is what I do after every Read Across America Week. And my librarian just about dies every time I do it.

I know everyone else celebrates Read Across America next week, but my school celebrates a week early, so we can avoid trying to overbook our guest readers.  

We do fun stuff all week long to celebrate reading and have a little fun. Here are 12 of my favorite things from this year's Read Across America celebration!

#1 Photo Booth

Before all these shenanigans began, I made some cute frames and props to use in a "Seuss Yourself" photo booth. The teachers used the photo booth to take cute pictures. (We also kept the photo booth up for our guest readers on Friday - it was adorable!)

All of those pictures were printed and we made them into a "Seuss Yourself" bulletin board!

This was our calendar for this week:

Monday

#2 Seuss Snack: Thing One & Thing Two cupcakes

#3 Dress-Up Day: Wear green for Grinch Day!

Guest readers: retired teachers

Tuesday

#4 Seuss Snack: Lorax Nutter Butters

 #5 Dress-Up Day: Wear a mustache for the Lorax Day! Always a favorite.

Guest readers: Teachers switch classes and read to their neighbor's kids!

Wednesday

#6 Seuss Snack: Red & Blue Seuss Popcorn Use melting chocolate in Seuss colors. Lay the popcorn out on parchment, waxed paper, or paper towels and drizzle away!

 

#7 Dress-Up Day: Wear stars for Sneetches Day! This was a new one for us, and honestly, I really loved it.

#8 Fun activity: Read Across Capistrano. Every student (and teacher) sits in the hallway and reads! This is such a fun event for our school. It's about thirty minutes, but it's so neat to see everybody read!

 

Thursday

#9 Seuss Snack: Red & White Muddy Buddies Get the recipe here.

#10 Dress-Up Day: Wear a crazy hat for the Cat in the Hat Day! I made this hat myself, she said proudly.

Guest readers: preservice teachers

Friday

#11 Seuss Snack: Seuss cookies Our amazing niece made us these beautiful cookies to give out to teachers and guest readers!

# 12 Dress-Up Day: Seuss Yourself! Dress up like a Seuss character!

I dressed up as a scene from The Lorax. I made my shirt out of everything I could find at Hobby Lobby!

Our teachers and kids really outdid themselves with their adorable Seuss costumes! We had foxes in sox, Grinches, cats in hats, Things, Cindy Lou-Whos and more!

# 13 Guest readers: community members We invite members of the community (mostly FOTs: Friends of Teachers) to visit our classes and read to them! My incredible librarian creates a schedule to make sure that every teacher gets a reader.

I've already started planning for next year. It's going to be BIG!

  To check out the original 19 ideas for Read Across America, visit my post from last year! 

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