CONGRATULATIONS Jennifer Cowan!!!  You are the winner of a copy of THE NOTE WHO FACED THE MUSIC by Lindsay Bonilla!  Thanks for tuning in to  PBJamz!

Join Ellen and I as we talk legacy, light, persecution, music, and writing, among other things.  We had a lovely conversation!  We invite you to learn more about Debbie Friedman and how she changed jewish music. Also, Ellen and I talk about her writing process, and what's coming next for her, 

Ellen's words and Natalia Grebtsova's beautiful illustrations bring Debbie Friedman to life -- her superpower of music, her passion for creating worship music that was engaging, her commitment to her life's work, her perseverance in the face of adversity.  With strong and beautiful language, Debbie's voice is heard again through the pages of this gorgeous book.   Her heart shines in each line. Published by Kar-Ben publishing.

This Jewish (Hebrew) alphabet song by Debbie is a great way to introduce to kids that, not only are there different languages, but some of those languages use different alphabets.  It's a fun song with lots of uses in the classroom or with your family or homeschool.

These lovely hamentaschen are a snack for Purim, related to the biblical story of Esther.  You can find the recipe here.  (MELISSA KAYE APTER on the blog https://jamiegeller.com/​)
And you can find out more about the history and significance of the hamestaschen here.

​Ellen Leventhal is an educator and writer in Houston, Texas.
She taught in a Jewish school where Debbie Friedman’s music could
be heard as she walked down the hallways. Ellen is the author
of several picture books as well as short stories and poetry. Her
favorite thing to do is visit schools and share her love of literacy
and the importance of having a dream. To learn more about Ellen,
go to www.EllenLeventhal.com.

Ellen Leventhal's website --
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​
To purchase DEBBIE'S SONG from Amazon
​
Ellen has graciously agreed to give the winner of this giveaway a choice of:

• A Zoom visit (school visit or Ask Me Anything session for a pre-published author)
• A copy of DEBBIE'S SONG

Leave a comment below to be entered into a drawing.

Congratulations to Jany Campana!  You are the winner of a signed copy of LITTLE ROSETTA AND THE TALKING GUITAR!  I know you're going to LOVE this PB biography of Rosetta Tharpe, powerhouse originator of rock 'n' roll sound!   Thanks for your constant support of PBJamz!  And thank you to Charnelle Pinkney Barlow for your beautiful book, great conversation and your generosity!  If anyone missed that episode, check it out now! :-)

Join Lindsay and me as we talk about her writing process, musical connections, storytelling, music, the value of the arts in the schools, tips for authors and so much more! Enjoy this great conversation and then get your hands on this book! ​

From the very first line, we know we're in for quite a romp.  Hidden behind all the fun musical puns and sophisticated music vocabulary and content, is a sweet story that we can all relate to.  Half note feels "not quite whole" , a bit left out, not enough.  I know I can relate to half note's predicament sometimes.  At the heart of this story is learning to value ourselves and to recognize that we bring a unique gift and perspective to every situation where we find ourself.  But it is couched in a fun, cheeky story of a runaway note and the friends who cheerfully conspire to bring her home and let her know how much they appreciate and need her.  Full of humor and wordplay,  SEL heart, musical content and rich vocabulary, this book has many layers to please children and teachers alike! 

Published by Page Street Kids, written by Lindsay Bonilla and illustrated by Mark Hoffman.  For purchasing link, check out the Giveaway links section!

Since the book talks about specifically Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, I'm including this piece.  There are many other versions you could choose to use.  I like this one because it's a little different, and it doesn't require any equipment.  It also still emphasizes the half notes at the end of each phrase.  If you don't prefer this one, there are lots more on the Pinterest boards and the YouTube playlist(s) that I'll link below next week.   This one uses hand motions, but there are sheet music versions, boomwhacker versions and much more!  Enjoy!

• Discuss puns and word play
  • Scavenger hunt in the book
  • Illustrate some puns/word play from the book
  • Write your own story/paragraph with puns
• Idiomatic expressions -- research/discuss
  • "face the music"
  • "tuned them out"
  • "singing the blues"
• Features of text
  • Bold print
  • Font change
  • Font size
• Punctuation
  • Dialogue/quotation marks
  • Statements/Questions/Exclamations or telling/asking/excited  or declarative/ interrogative/exclamatory depending on grade level.
    • Look at examples from text
    • Pull sentences and leave out punctuation
    • Play games where you match the sentence with its type
    • Punctuation puppets
• Problem/Solution
• Alliteration (Find examples, point out in text, try writing your own, etc)
  • Mesmerizing melodies
  • riveting rhythms
  • sensational syncopation

***This book is a perfect team-teaching opportunity for ELA and Music -- so much crossover.  Both teachers could teach simultaneously and pull out their separate content or you could team-teach.  So many great opportunities if you have willing folks.  Or, if you're like me, a former classroom teacher-turned-music-teacher, then go for a full integration and pull in lots of these ELA skills!

So many fun writing activities from this text:

• Make a list of your favorite puns or write a list of your own
• Write a letter to Half Note, telling her why she should return
• Research one of the idiomatic expressions and write about its origins
• Write new lyrics to the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star melody
• Write the story over from the point-of-view of one of the other characters
• Write your own alliterative poem using musical terms (See alliteration above)
• Write about a time you felt like you didn't belong or a time when you felt left out.
• Write about how to help a friend who is feeling left out.
• Write a diamante poem using two musical opposites:
  • cacophony/harmony
  • bass cleff/treble clef
  • sharp/flat
  • high/low
  • fast/slow etc.
    • ***Some of these are adjective pairs rather than nouns so you may have to make some slight adjustments of the diamante format
• Choose at least 5 of the musical words from this story and write your own musical story.
• What if Half Note's friends didn't come up with a plan to bring her back?  Write that story.
• Think of your own "what-if" questions about this story and let your imagination run wild.  Write the story that comes from answering one of those what if questions.
• What could Half Note's friends have done BEFORE this story to help her not feel left out?

​1)  Be authentic. 
Read the work of others. Yes — read widely in the genre you want to write in, particularly books published in the last 5 years!!  Be inspired by other writers, but find your own voice. Say what matters to you in the way that only you can say it.

2) Write what you can when you can. 
If you don’t have a lot of time, don’t make that an excuse not to write. Scribble ideas in the margins. Write for 15 minutes or only 5 if that’s what you’ve got. When you don’t have time to sit down and write, write in your head. This is what I did (and still do!) when my children were very small, and I spent most of the day holding them, feeding them, putting them to sleep, etc. 
Try to picture your story like a movie playing in your mind. See the characters and try to hear their voices. Then when you go to sit down to write something, you may have a more fully formed story waiting for you. 

3) Lean on your friends.
The writing community is a great community. Make friends with other writers. Find critique partners who will give you honest feedback and who are willing to help you brainstorm. Do the same for them! 

4)  Have equal parts confidence and humility. 
     This is a hard business. You have to believe in yourself and your work. Sometimes this will mean speaking up for your vision for a project. At the same time, you have to be completely humble -- open to learning from others and willing to admit that there may be different (or even better!) ways of doing things than you had considered. 

YouTube playlist with lots of fun music activities for half note and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
YouTube playlist with tons of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star activities/versions
​Pinterest board for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Pinterest board with half note activities and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

Half note has a hole -- like a doughnut, so I thought these would be the perfect PBJ snacks to accompany this book!  AND, these are relatively healthy -- or at least safe for those with allergies and food sensitivities.  They look divine! and I'm sure they'll make everyone on your staff feel like they belong.  They'll stop singing the blues and will be wholly devoted to you -- no half-noted (er, I mean half-hearted) accolades for these doughnuts!  If you try them, let me know in the comments, and check out more recipes from Two Spoons: Recipes worth Sharing! Get the recipe for peanut butter and jelly doughnuts!

Congratulations to . . .  Elyse Travers! She is the winner of a copy of DOLLY! by Robyn McGrath!  Thank you, Elyse for visiting PBJamz!  Come on back any time!

What a delightful conversation about music and art and picture books for all ages.  We chat Sister Rosetta, rock 'n' roll, paper collage, perseverance and so much more!  Charnelle is precious!  Her art is gorgeous, and her words are beautiful.  Get your hands on a copy of the book -- it's perfect for black history month, women's history month, and every single month of the year. And yes, it's a picture book, but it's about a lady with some amazing talent and some amazing legacy, which makes it perfect for all ages! (We talk about that, too!)  Don't forget to comment on the blog post to be eligible to win a signed copy of LITTLE ROSETTA!  And support Charnelle by leaving a review, making a purchase or sharing out on socials!

LITTLE ROSETTA AND THE TALKING GUITAR is a beautiful book.  The words are beautiful, the subject is beautiful, and the art is beautiful.  When you put all of that together, this book is more than beautiful!  Not only that, but there are so many little layers that can be brought to the surface in the classroom or as part of a read-aloud.  If you're in a home school or classroom setting, be sure to check out the teacher tips section when they're posted.  So many teaching topics.  The music connections are somewhat obvious, but in the music teacher section, I'll point those out, along with the less-obvious ways as well that you could use this book in your music lessons. One of the themes I love about this book is perseverance.  Anyone who's ever attempted to learn to play an instrument knows that feeling of what it sounds like in my head vs. what it sounds like in my ears.  Charnelle captures that feeling beautifully, but goes on to show that Rosetta, even at 4, 5, 6 years old was very persistent in her learning. I also love the onomatopoeia and the focus on all the sounds Rosetta probably heard as a child and how they influenced her music. There is also lyricism and figurative language in abundance.  There's girl power and overcoming hardship.  And beautiful just doesn't share all of that.  But, beautiful, it is. . . . 

I can't watch Sister Rosetta without smiling.  She has a vivacity that is contagious, and her talent is unparalleled.  This piece is a great one to share with kids since many of them are familiar with "This Little Light of Mine".  What a fun version of the song to introduce them to.  There are lots of fun things you could do with this song -- whether you're in a music classroom, a regular classroom, a homeschool setting, or even preschool.  Everyone is bound to enjoy this version of a classic.  You have clarinet and trumpet solos too, which is fun from an elementary music standpoint, in addition to her outstanding electric guitar solo.

Art --

• Try some paper collage techniques
• Create a scrapbook page project as a biography integrating some cool papers

ELA --

• Onomatopoeia words -- categorize where she heard them; take a listening walk and write onomatopoeia words for the sounds you hear
• Figurative language -- simile, metaphor, personification
  • Scavenger hunt -- find them in the book
  • Analyze
  • Create-your-own
• Dialect/contractions/use of apostrophes

Social Studies

• Identify Arkansas on US map
• Why was the town called CottonPlant
• Trace Rosetta's journey in the back matter:  Cotton Plant, Chicago, NYC, etc.

Gospel influences on Rosetta's music
Beginnings of rock 'n' roll style
Instruments mentioned in the book

• Guitar
• Mandolin
• Drums

Gospel music as a genre
Other historical figures in early rock 'n' roll history
Guitar lessons/vocabulary/terminology
Science of strings -- explore guitar and mandolin

1. Faith and gospel music had a huge influence on Rosetta's music.  If you are a person of faith, write about how your faith has influenced your life so far and/or what your hopes are for the future.
2.  Write a paragraph (or a page -- or a book) describing Sister Rosetta and/or her performances.
3. Write additional lyrics for "This Little Light of Mine". OR
4. Write about what that song means to you.
5.  Rosetta Tharpe is sometimes called the "Godmother of Rock 'n' Roll".  Write about whether that is the best title for her or if there is a better one and why.
6.  Write a poem about Rosetta Tharpe .
7.  Write a concrete/shape poem about her guitar.
8.  Write part of Rosetta's story from the point-of-view of her guitar.
9.  If you could sing or perform with Rosetta, what song would you choose and why?
10.  Write a list of 10 interesting facts about Rosetta Tharpe.
11.  Look carefully at the art work in the book.  What do you notice?  What is interesting?
12. Rosetta learned to play the guitar at a young age.  Write about something you learned to do when you were very young.  How did it feel?  Was it hard?  How did you meet that challenge?
​13.  Write a speech explaining why Rosetta Tharpe should or should not be inducted into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame or a similar award.

1. Get the first draft down on the page without worrying about the intricate details too much. Getting it out of your head and onto the page is what's most important at the early stages. 

2. Find a group of likeminded people you can bounce ideas off of and get constructive criticism from. It definitely helps you see your project from different perspectives which can help tremendously when you're stuck.

3. Join the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) if you're writing or illustrating for children. They are a treasure trove of information and host regional events as well as conferences. This is a great way to get critiques from peers, agents, editors, and to learn from people in the industry.

4. Have fun! I know...sounds simple, but trust me...people can tell if you aren't having fun with what you're writing or illustrating. Let them feel your joy.

Listening to Sister Rosetta and her gospel-infused music is enough to make you long for church potlucks or "dinners on the grounds" as we grew up calling them.  This is perfect for a church potluck, or afternoon snacks for the kids, or any other time, I'd wager!  A delicious PBJ snack cake!  Find the recipe here And check out kitchn for more great recipes!