For months Bostonians, New Englanders, folks from all over the US and the world have been glued to the various media outlets watching the Red Sox become the 2007 World Series Champions.

What draws and motivates millions of fans to partake in this 8 month love affair from spring training to the World Series? Is it the players, the game, a sense of pride, the smell of popcorn and peanuts, Fenway Franks, getting free furniture if you bought before a certain date, ice cold beer in plastic cups, and a great manager like Terry Francona who believed in all his players, even when some of them were challenged?

What makes people want to be part of Red Sox Nation? I think its many things, but perhaps most important is the sense of belonging to a community ~ a community of believers and dreamers. Simply put…The Red Sox love their fans, the fans love their Red Sox. For the Red Sox and its faithful…its all about hard work, creating, dreaming, navigating, encouraging, providing opportunities, taking risks, and celebrating as a team.

Reminds me of FableVision Nation…

As I continue to refine my version of the North Star Classroom, I’ve stumbled onto a particular idea that seems to work…

Every year, I’m fortunate to teach my students about the remarkable story of Virginia.  We’ve got a complicated and fascinating history, rich with memorable, unique people from a variety of backgrounds.  Learning who’s who, and what’s what can be a challenge, especially for ten year olds.

That’s why, each time we learn about a new historical person or figure, I ask my students to take a blank constellation (from the North Star Educator Guide) and complete it, using that person’s particular strengths, preferences, experiences, hopes, goals, fears, and/or intelligences.  We spend time talking about what the person must have been like - day to day  - and how he or she did (or didn’t) fit into to surroundings at the time.

It’s interesting to consider which of Gardner’s intelligences Chief Powhatan must have possessed.  It’s enlightening to uncover what hobbies Nat Turner enjoyed.  It’s fascinating to ponder how Rosa Parks’ strengths led to a turn of events that literally changed the world.

The most exciting part of all of this is that my students realize that history is conducted by people no smarter, no braver, and no more capable than my students themselves; by exploring the constellations of the folks we study, they begin to see themselves in a context, and as part of the story.

Maybe one day a former students of mine will be the person kids are studying.  The possibility is enough to keep me going.

One of the things I love about teaching music is the way you can do creative things! I currently have third graders writing their own group song. The lyrics are done, now they have to learn enough about notes and rhythm to write the rest!

One thing I do every year with second grade is to divide a song into short sections, type them on a paper for each kid, and then have them color what they think his or her part of the song would look like. They are always great to look at. Then I scan the pictures, put them in PowerPoint, record the class signing the song, and voila, they have a music video! I think this could be used for parts of a story as well as songs. Kids love it and they are SO proud of the creation.

Finally, using Stationery Studio, I print out animal templates. I have the kids write everything they can think about the animal on the back of the paper, and then make two or four lines that rhyme on the front of the paper and we put them together as an Animal Rap! Last year, I put them in a podcast! Great fun.

Maybe everyone can share their creative activities and we can follow our wonderful leader’s advice….’Let a beam of the North Star light into our classrooms!’

A sign of a great classroom is how much creativity you can sneak in. During this test-centric age of public education, so much seems to revolve around memorization, rather than engaged thinking. Reflection. Connecting the dots. Imagination. Visioning. Great teachers know how to pull these things through the cracks. Schools of Education should teach future teachers a course called “Drop Ceiling Tile Removal: How to Let a Beam of North Star Light into your Classroom.”

For the past year I have been working on a new edition of The North Star to be published by Candlewick Press. A few folks who have heard wonder why I would do a completely new edition  — fearing perhaps that I will change the story. The story will be the almost identical. For me, redoing the art is like visiting an old friend. I am living in the world of the North Star boy again. I am wading through the swamp with him once more and am sharing his rediscovery of the stars gently guiding him… and me. The book will be ready for the printer by March, but will be released in early 2009. Until then, enjoy the current edition - the book and the online versions.

Hello, North Star friends!

I’ve heard that some of you are planning to produce a North Star Musical Journey performance at your school this year, so I want to make sure you’re aware of FableVision’s little “North Star Musical Journey” website, which you can find at http://www.fablevision.com/northstar/musical .

If you go to that website, click on the “Performances” button, and you’ll find an interactive map of many North Star Musical Performances that have taken place across the country, and even around the world.  There’s a little write-up about each performance (including two performances that took place at my school in Falmouth, Maine!).  I find it helpful to read about other peformances because it illustrates how simple, or how elaborate, a North Star Musical production can be, not to mention you might find some helpful ideas.  However, you’ll also see that each performance, from school to school, and from state to state, is very different and unique too - which is, of course, very “North Star!”

One final note: the map and list of performances you find on the “Performances” page doesn’t include ALL the North Star Musical Journey performances that have taken place to date.  If your school or community has performed a production of The North Star Musical Journey performance and it’s not listed on the NSMJ website, please post about it here in the “comments”, and FableVision will add it to the map!  I think the more we share, the more we inspire others… and it really is a wonderfully inspiring musical, regardless of how big or small your production.

Maribeth

Fellow Voyagers,

This is my first blog entry as a “writer” and an invitation to visit and post comments on my students’ wiki at http://navigation.pbwiki.com/ .

For several years, my students and I created and regularly updated a North Star themed website using Netscape Navigator that was effective…Yet certainly dated and time consuming. Each year, I spent a great deal of time teaching students how to understand HTML and where to save information on the computer used to publish the page.
Last year, a colleague shared the website Peanut Butter Wiki with me and helped set up my classroom site. Ever since, it has become integral aspect of my home-school communication and a great way to share my students’ work with the entire world.

Wiki is a Pacific Islander term meaning “quick” and setting up a classroom wiki can be as quick as making a peanut butter sandwich. Hence the name Peanut Butter Wiki (PB Wiki). What’s great about PB Wiki is that updates to the site can be made at any computer by anyone who has password privileges. My students and I now update the page at school and at home nearly every day, and parents see and read about our classroom’s journey whenever they wish.

Check out navigation.pbwiki.com or go to the site http://pbwiki.com and start your classroom site today.
Cheers,
Kevin

I was reading the North Star book to my fifth and sixth graders to prepare them for the production of “The North Star Musical” in December. After I finished the book, I said, “What kind of book ends with ‘The Beginning?” I was amazed that most of the kids really ‘got it.’ They talked about how the boy had just begun a journey and so it was better to say “The Beginning.”

I have read the book many times, this time I was struck by a thought…so I asked the kids, “If you thought of your life as a journey, with an important destination, would you do things differently?” Again, I was amazed by their thoughtful responses. Every kid said, “yes.” I could tell that a few of the kids were really struck by this thought. It was a wonderful teaching moment.

FYI - Peter H. Reynolds is doing the final pass of the new art and text for the 10th anniversary edition of The North Star.  Stay tuned for more information - but we can promise you that this new printing is going to be spectacular.

Boston Globe is also doing a feature on Peter - and, we think, highlighting The North Star.  We’ll share when it comes out.

Cheers,

Paul