POETRY FRIDAY

A THANKSGIVING BLESSING

May we be aware not of the things we lack, but of all that we have.

May we feel not the absence of those we love, 

but the presence of those who love us.

May we see not just the harshness of our world, 

but the gentleness of its mystery.

May we know not the cold of despair, but the warmth of hope rising.

May we speak not of our hurts and losses,

 but of our healings and blessings.

May we be with each other not in the shadows of the past, 

but in the light of the present.

May we bring to our table not judgment, resentment, or anger,

 but acceptance, compassion, and forgiveness.

May we remember to feed our spirit by living out of thankfulness.

Anonymous

Poetry Friday is at Under the Covers.

OUR FARM: FOUR SEASONS WITH FIVE KIDS ON ONE FAMILY FARM

 Over the last few years, I've experimented with multigenre research reports. I've also begun working on integrating more technology into my teaching. I haven't done much with photo essays, but after reading OUR FARM: FOUR SEASONS WITH FIVE KIDS ON ONE FAMILY'S FARM and WHAT THE WORLD EATS (reviewed yesterday), I'm ready to give it a try. In OUR FARM, author Michael J. Rosen follows Dave and Becky Bennet and their five children- Caleb (17), Chase (15), Cayne (10), Grey (8), and Ali (4) through a year on their farm in rural Ohio. The family raises cattle, alfalfa, a small flock of chickens, and also has a vegetable garden. 

Rosen has divided the book into an introduction, then has a chapter on each of the four seasons. Each chapter begins with a "By the Numbers" page, which I found fascinating (did you know the average cow eats 25-35 pound of hay a day, but produces 65 pounds of manure? That is really right, it's not a typo!). The remainder of the chapter is a series of 1-4 page spreads on various topics related to the farm. Some are about the animals- the dogs, rabbits, cattle, turkeys, etc. Some are about the work on the farm, topics like birthing calves, corralling cows, baling hay, etc. Others are about the fun of living on a farm- building a treehouse, playing in the hayloft, swimming in the pond, etc. One of my favorites was a four-page spread with a picture and description of different kinds of farm machinery. Rosen typically begins each section with a brief introductory paragraph, then the rest is told by different members of the Bennett family, usually 3-5 speakers per section. The heart of the book, though, is the million color photographs which truly do capture life on a farm.

If I had any doubts before, OUR FARM has truly convinced me that a picture is worth a thousand words. I'm ready to try the genre of photo essays. Does anyone have any suggestions?

WHAT THE WORLD EATS- PETER MENZEL AND FAITH D'ALUISIO

Happy Thanksgiving! Today, all over the United States, people will sit down at loaded tables and gorge on turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. We'll celebrate our blessings with family and friends. We'll take walks and watch football games. And that is how it should be. Even though, this has been a hard year for so, so many, there is still much that is good and right with the world…

This week, my sons and I have spent time looking at WHAT THE WORLD EATS, a book of photo essay of food from around the world. Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio travelled to over twenty countries all over the globe- places like Bosnia, Chad, Ecuador, Greenland, France, Mexico, Mongolia, the Philippines, and the United States. In each country, they selected one or two families and spent time learning about what they eat and how they live. 

Each section in WHAT THE WORLD EATS is about one of these families. The section opens with a full page, color picture of the family, surrounded by a week's groceries (it's more than a little startling to learn that a family in a refuge camp in Chad spends $1.22 per week on food, while one of the American families spends $342). On the opposite page, there is a grocery list, broken down into the food groups. The chapter contains interview with the family- information about how/where they get food, how they prepare it, how they eat. There are also tons of full color photographs of families at grocery stores and street markets, preparing and cooking food, and eating.  Fact boxes contain snippets of information about the country- population, amount spent on health care, amount of pop consumed. Most chapters also have a recipe. 

After every few chapters, the authors include a section called "Photo Gallery." These two page spreads, about topics such as kitchens, fast food, and street food, are  fascinating visual comparisons (the spit roasted guinea pig did gross me out a little!). These are followed by sections called "The Numbers," graphic displays of everything from life expectancy, to literacy rates, to amount of meat consumed, to number of McDonald's. I could teach an entire unit on graphs- line graphs, bar graphs, pictographs, etc., using the material in this book. They're outstanding!

I know it's cliche, but sometimes, a picture truly is worth a thousand words. That's definitely true of WHAT THE WORLD EATS. It's a book every library in the United States should own. I think it's become a new Thanksgiving tradition for our family…

AFGHAN DREAMS: YOUNG VOICES OF AFGHANISTAN- TONY O'BRIEN AND MIKE SULLIVAN

Tony O'Brien is the head of the Documentary Studies program at the College of Santa Fe. Mike Sullivan is a bush pilot and photographer who spent years working with Jacques Costeau, and has done humanitarian and environmental work all over the world. These two men travelled to Afghanistan to interview children about their families, their histories, and their hopes for the future. Each two page spread contains a beautiful full color photograph of a child, taken either at school, home, or at the rug factory, or market, or bakery, or marketplace where they work. The opposing page tells the child's story. Here is the story of Nadira, an eleven-year-old carpetmaker:

I have been working on the carpets for six years. Because of the work, I don't go to school. I would like to go; my family would like me to be in school.

There are eight in our family, and four make the rugs. I don't know how much I make in a day; the money goes to the family. I start at five in the morning and finish at seven at night.

And here is Shaheen, a ten-year-old pick pocket who was interviewed at the Kabul police station:

There are six people in my family. My father died six years ago.

I was selling plastic boxes in the bazaar. A boy named Jamadeen came and said, "Work with me and you will make 1,000 or 1,500 afghani a day." He said, "Come and watch me. I will pick a pocket and you will see how much I earn in a second." He went and robbed someone and got 700 afghani…I started being a pick pocket with my friend twenty days ago. I've done it five times." He is then asked what he thinks will happen now that he has gotten caught, and he says he will go to jail.

These children appear to have had hard, hard lives. They speak of hunger, of having to leave their homes during times of fierce fighting, of family members killed by the Taliban. At the same time, most of these children also tell stories of hope. They talk about going to school, of the importance of education, of their hopes for peace in Aghanistan.

I cannot get these children's faces and stories out of my mind. If I had money, I would buy this book for every politician in Washington…

THE YEAR WE DISAPPEARED- CYLIN AND JOHN BUSBY

In summer, 1979, Cylin Busby was nine years old, living with her parents and two older brothers on Cape Cod, Massachusetts when her life changed  in a matter of minutes. Cylin's father, John Busby, a policeman, was on his way to work when a car pulled up next to him and shot off the bottom half of his jaw. Busby managed to steer his car onto someone's lawn and stumble into their kitchen, where he came very close to bleeding to death.

THE YEAR WE DISAPPEARED is a memoir, told by Cylin Busby and her father John, in alternating chapters, of the terrible year following Busby's shooting. Busby is taken to Massachusetts General, where he spends the next few months unable to talk or to eat, recuperating. Perhaps even sadder, though, than what happens to Busby, is what happens to his family. The man who shoots Busby is a man with very close ties to the community and the police department. Because of these connections, the investigation is haphazard at best. No one is arrested, and the family spends the next year basically under house arrest, with round the clock police guards, a sniper on their roof, and a police dog chained up in their backyard. Ultimately, the family decide they must leave the area, and move to Tennessee.

This is not a book for the younger set, in fact, I don't think I'd use it much below seventh or eighth grade. It is, however, a great read for those inclined toward CSI type books and shows- I devoured it in one afternoon! 

KING GEORGE: WHAT WAS HIS PROBLEM?- STEVE SHEINKIN

Maybe the best way to begin to talk about this book is to lift a quote from the back flap:

"During his many years spent writing American history textbooks, Steve Sheinkin filled fat files with all the amazing stories and surprising quotes that textbook editors would never let him use. Now he is finally using all that material to write history books that kids will actually want to read."

And that's exact what this book is- a history book that kids will actually want to read! Steve Sheinkin has taken all of these stories and quotes and turned them into a factual, fun chronicle of the American Revolution. I'm not sure quite how to describe Sheinkin's approach to talking about the war, other than to say that it's just fun to read. 

The book begins, for instance, with a chapter, "How to Start a Revolution." This chapter is broken into 13 steps, e.g. Step One: Kick Out the French; Step Two: Tax the Colonists; Step Three: Kill the Taxman.  

Sheinkin continues the STORY of the American Revolution using hundred and hundreds of stories- stories of the characters, the battles, the events. I loved learning, for instance, that the British marched toward Lexington and Concord for two purposes: 1) to destroy ammunition that the Patriots had stored there, and 2) to capture Patriot troublemakers Sam Adams and John Hancock, who were holed up with Hancock's fiance Dorothy, were holed up at the house of Reverend Jonas Clark in Lexington. When Paul Revere arrived, Hancock and Adams spent the night arguing about whether they should join the battle (Hancock's choice) or flee (Adams' desire). They finally decided to leave, but not before Hancock had instructed Dorothy to meet him in Woburn later that day, and to bring the salmon that they had planned for lunch. 

Kids (and adults) who read this book will truly understand the American Revolution, because the will understand the hearts of major and minor players. They will know, for instance, why Benedict Arnold turned traitor. They'll feel new sympathy for the British soldiers (many of whom were seventeen and eighteen-year-olds who became soldiers simply because they had no other means of supporting themselves). They'll be present at the Fraunces Tavern in New York City, where George Washington had the final meeting with his generals at the end of the war. Washington gives a toast, then invites each of the generals to shake his hand. General Henry Knox, the closest, steps forward and takes Washington by the hand, then bursts into tears and grabs Washington in an enormous bear hug. "Then all of the other officers, tears streaming down their cheeks, line up to hug their commander."

At the end of the book, Sheinkin includes a section, "Whatever Happened To…," a series of short biographies of major characters after the war, as well as extensive notes about his research process and sources. The artwork, black line drawings done by  Tim Robinson, perfectly match the voice of the text. There are pictures of events and characters on almost every page. My favorites, though, are the labelled maps, that really help the reader understand the geography of a number of events throughout the war. 

This should be a must read for every American history teacher! 

CHILL: STRESS-REDUCING TECHNIQUES FOR A MORE BALANCED, PEACEFUL YOU - DEBORAH REBER

My niece is a senior in high school. It's a high stress time, filled with AP classes, ACT's, and college applications, not to mention all of the typical high school friend drama, relationship drama, etc. The next time I see her, then, I'm going to pass along CHILL: STRESS-REDUCING TECHNIQUES FOR A MORE PEACEFUL, BALANCED YOU, my latest CYBILS read. CHILL is a self-help book for teenage girls. The book begins with an introduction to stress, and is then divided into four sections, each addressing different aspects of stress. TAKING ACTION, about some of the sources of stress, has chapters on time management, organization, and saying no. LOOKING OUT addresses support systems and how to gain perspective. LOOKING IN is about things teens can do to help themselves. There's a chapter on journalling :). I also learned about DIY (Describe the event, identify the thoughts, identify the emotions), which I think would be great to teach to my elementary students. Finally, there is a section on GETTING PHYSICAL, with ideas for exercise and nutrition. 

Deborah Reber seems like she knows teenage girls really well. She writes in voice that is friendly and matter of fact. She has interviewed lots and lots of teenagers, and includes their strategies for dealing with various issues. Each chapter contains space for writing and thinking, quizzes, bulleted lists, advice column type letters, and affirmations (I wrote down the ones on organization for myself!) Each chapter is followed by a "time-out" a mini-chapter on a specific topic like the college admission process, friendship, or eating disorders.

This book would definitely make the rounds in a middle or high school classroom.