There is never a time that isn't busy in schools, but spring is always the season where there absolutely are not enough hours to accomplish all that needs to be done before the end of the year.

If you're scrambling to find time for what needs to be done, consider the story of the monkey's hand. Writer Ralph Fletcher uses a wonderful metaphor to describe how we get trapped in certain ways of working or thinking. In South America, monkeys are caught by an ingenious means. The traps used to capture them are filled with rice. In order to get the rice, the monkey places her hand through a small opening in the box. Once she grasps the rice, her hand can no longer fit through the opening. She is trapped, because she doesn't think to let go of some of the rice so that she can free her hand.

There are things on any literacy leader's to-do list that seem essential, and show up year after year in the spring. But maybe one or two of those things on your list need to be skipped just this once. Maybe they were crucial a few years ago, but the community could survive without that one annual event this year. Or that last meeting of a study group that already has experienced great closure last month. Or the final book celebration extravaganza with your students that takes so much time to plan or organize. Is there a way to simplify it?

The monkey holds on because what's in her hand has value. But if you free up just a bit of your time by giving away something of value, you may discover new uses for your time, or new ways of thinking about your time, that are even more valuable.

This week we've got a little bit of everything in The Big Fresh - it's an open theme week. Enjoy!

Brenda Power

Editor, Choice Literacy

www.choiceliteracy.com

***Free for All***

Literacy Coach Phyllis Forsyth wrote in with this request, "I've just found out I have to lead a workshop on reading strategies tomorrow for middle school teachers. Any suggestions for an activity?"

The "Hard Reading" activity at the link below is terrific for those last-minute staff meetings, study groups or sessions with mentors when you're looking for something engaging, thoughtful, and interactive. It's especially useful for groups with content area specialists in them, but we've used it effectively in K-12 settings with teachers from all grade levels. Make the photocopies you need in advance and store them in your emergency workshop file. Voila - just add water and chocolate, and you're ready for a fun and lively group discussion about struggling readers:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/325.cfm

Want to make grammar learning more fun for your students? Suzy Kaback, a Choice Literacy contributor, recommends "Grammar Girl" - a free podcast at the iTunes store. Grammar Girl is sassy and funny. Students who have never heard of a split infinitive will be more savvy than their teachers about some of her pop culture references. Podcasts average four minutes long - the perfect length for an opening moment in an intermediate or high school literacy workshop. Start at the iTunes store, click on Podcasts in the lefthand column, then on Education, and you'll soon find an archive of Grammar Girl podcasts:

http://www.apple.com/itunes/store/

Our summer workshops for K-6 literacy leaders are open for registration - this year's topics are an introduction to literacy coaching, literacy for young English language learners, literacy for "transitional" students (grades 3-6), and integrating assessment into reading workshops. Locations, fees, and registration forms are at this link:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/public/department22.cfm

***For Members Only***

Spring + Swimsuit Shopping = Time for a New Diet for many Choice Literacy readers. Franki Sibberson contemplates which diet plan she'll try this month, and that leads her to think about what a steady "diet" of leveled books does for young readers. If you're looking to supplement your leveled books program with a more varied diet for young readers in your classroom, Franki's posted a booklist of engaging new reads that provide different kinds of support through their words and pictures:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/322.cfm

Last week we presented a one-on-one conference focused on vocabulary instruction with a young learner featuring The Sisters. We've posted a video this week of a five-minute whole-class mini-lesson on the same theme, showing how teachers can continually anchor word learning to read-alouds and wall charts. After the video Gail Boushey and Joan Moser talk about the role of these lessons in building reading skills for students:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/324.cfm

Part 5 of our six-part series on notetaking strategies is up. It's a quick journey from notetaking routines to notetaking ruts. This installment focuses on ways to get out of the ruts that emerge naturally whenever any notetaking routine is established:

http://www.choiceliteracy.com/members/323.cfm

That's all for this week!