tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44443873117598440412024-03-16T03:51:40.548-04:00Russ on ReadingDiscussing sound literacy instruction, supporting teachers and defending public educationRuss Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.comBlogger401125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-85747216378629707242022-02-04T09:08:00.001-05:002022-02-06T08:04:01.908-05:00Book Banning Turns to Dick and Jane<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiix17FBLIG6aMcU7hpiJbAZHZBA9A5phDabNPdOsVNrkC0el3iKoGDLrowckAlFi4z6Os0JRF4-y3e4iuAB9KfKhKJ1astrmYcDD3f5D0t1oHmjEC2cqwo7eL0Wz8tMXZ47QLyMAcOVr3mR5kBWsfIeKa-yQhNfjRTHVs6W_8PGqe1dyEZZVvQDVOo=s315" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="236" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiix17FBLIG6aMcU7hpiJbAZHZBA9A5phDabNPdOsVNrkC0el3iKoGDLrowckAlFi4z6Os0JRF4-y3e4iuAB9KfKhKJ1astrmYcDD3f5D0t1oHmjEC2cqwo7eL0Wz8tMXZ47QLyMAcOVr3mR5kBWsfIeKa-yQhNfjRTHVs6W_8PGqe1dyEZZVvQDVOo" width="236" /></a></div>Breaking News: Dateline February 4, 2022 - Parents in Dimwitty, Alabama have asked the Dimwitty Board of Education to ban the children's primer <i>Fun with Dick and Jane </i>from the school curriculum. The parent's group Dimwitty's Unified Mighty Mighty Book Banners (DUMMBB) have complained that several passages in the primer are concerning and may lead children to be confused about proper American values. As DUMMBB spokesperson Ignatius (Iggie) Norent put it, "Just what kind of "fun" are that nasty Dick and Jane up to anyway?"<p></p><p>Interviewed at the Board meeting parent Stuart (Stu) Pidity, complained about what he called a clearly scatological passage featuring Spot, the family dog. "Right here on this page, Dick yells 'Go, Spot, Go.' A clear reference to defecation. I don't want my children learning to command their pets to soil our spotless neighborhood yards. This book has to, if you'll pardon the expression, go!"</p><p>Parent Mrs. I.M. Bessell. approached the microphone brandishing a copy of her child's primer high in indignation. "This book is promoting non-traditional family values that have no place in our fair town of Dimwitty." Asked to explain, Mrs. Bessell turned to a page where Jane is seen holding her pet cat Puff. Jane says "Where is Sally? I want to find Sally?" </p><p>"I think everyone in here knows what this scurrilous author is pointing to here. A girl with a pet cat is looking desperately for her "girlfriend" Sally. It is just another example of these liberal authors foisting their lifestyle choices on our innocent children!"</p><p>The town councilman, Republican S. Low Whitted, up for reelection in the fall term, had an additional concern. Addressing the Board he said it is important that no subliminal political messages be contained in the reading material for the children. "I see here on this page," intoned Whitted, "the children yell at the boy, 'Run, Dick, Run.' This is clearly an attempt by the teachers to get the children to favor my opponent and the entire Democratic ticket. It cannot be permitted." Councilman Whitted's purported Democratic opponent Richard Wright was not available for comment.</p><p>Finally, Mr. Beauregard (Biggy) Ott stood up brandishing a copy of a companion volume to <i>Fun with Dick and Jane </i>called <i>Fun with Friends. "</i>Here we have the final straw. In this book we are introduced to Mike and his twin sisters, Pam and Penny. These children are, I don't know how else to say it, 'not of our race.' Now we can't have our children learning that they can have friends who don't look like them. That would upset everything we have stood for in Dimwitty since we fought our great war for independence in the 1860s. Besides it stretches credulity to think that any of our local real estate agents would let a Black family buy a house in Dimwitty. I say we must ban this book to uphold all we hold dear as 'Mercans."</p><p>The Board promised to take the matter under advisement. Board member Ludwig (Ludi) Kress said he thought the whole idea of teaching kids to read was problematic. "You know," he said, "reading just gives these kids ideas."</p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-58946415871265420272021-07-26T08:36:00.002-04:002021-07-26T09:01:55.793-04:00This Will Be Our Last Post Together<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqe-G2rsUCsz5pFapTG8zyYRIoaDzECrUob_5WWp8-zQ3w6l-B0vGM7A4f3-QLuuTWbFu9V1ZrhKNDMS_q9l5lfalOzTbCuplfLUq8Zz6bk-EfWEVqawMt4eMKed0Guix83B22pIaIoHg/s581/Henry+reading+%25282%2529.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="387" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqe-G2rsUCsz5pFapTG8zyYRIoaDzECrUob_5WWp8-zQ3w6l-B0vGM7A4f3-QLuuTWbFu9V1ZrhKNDMS_q9l5lfalOzTbCuplfLUq8Zz6bk-EfWEVqawMt4eMKed0Guix83B22pIaIoHg/s320/Henry+reading+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reading Aloud to Henry Walsh</td></tr></tbody></table>The little counter that accompanies the analytics page of this blog tells me that this is my 400th post. I have decided that it will be the last. To paraphrase Dr. Pangloss, I make this decision for the best of all possible reasons. I have said what I have to say on the topic of literacy instruction and after nine years out of the classroom, I think it is time for new voices to take up the cause of thoughtful literacy instruction.<p></p><p>I started this blog in earnest after I retired nine years ago to continue the conversation with teachers about literacy instruction that I had begun at the start of my teaching career in 1969. As I wrote, I found I could not avoid commenting on issues related to public education like the Common Core, the education reform movement, charters, vouchers and the like. Diane Ravitch, Jonathan Pelto, Mary Howard, Stu Bloom, Mike Simpson and others started sharing my work and the blog reached a wider audience than I could have ever imagined. </p><p>I am grateful and humbled by this. Over the years, however, new voices have joined the blogosphere with fresh and knowing perspectives. I found that Peter Greene at <a href="https://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Curmudgucation</a> did a better job of debunking education reform than I did. Paul Thomas at <a href="https://radicalscholarship.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Radical Eyes for Equity</a> did a better job on social justice issues. <a href="https://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Jersey Jazzman</a> did a better job of debunking the myth of charter school excellence. Steven Singer at <a href="https://gadflyonthewallblog.com/" target="_blank">The Gadfly in the Wall</a> did a better job at righteous indignation. So I decided to stay in my literacy lane, for the most part, the one area I felt I had some real expertise.</p><p>As I look back on my literacy writing for this blog over the past few years, I truly feel I have said what I needed to say. It is all out there in cyberspace for those who want it. When I took a year off from writing the blog a while back, I noticed that thousands kept visiting the old posts even without new content. I trust that will continue and I hope teachers and teacher leaders continue to find them useful.</p><p>So that's it. I hope all of you will continue the good fight for good literacy instruction. It is a never ending battle, and while I know we will never get it completely right, I know that many of you will continue to passionately pursue the best literacy instruction possible for children. This fight demands knowledge, informed decision making, the will to speak up for the children, the will to take risks in instruction, and the desire to continue to read, write, learn and grow. Keep at it.</p><p>I am off on new projects. I have decided in my 75th year of reading, writing, acting, and blathering that the truest, most lasting form of human communication is through story. I plan to spend much of my remaining time writing and telling stories that I hope will resonate with others. If you are a baseball fan, you might be interested in one such story project: my new blog <a href="https://faithofaphilliesfan.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Faith of a Phillies Fan</a>. It turns out baseball stories are really fun to write. And I will continue to act, just another form of story telling, after all. I get my third shot at playing Shakespeare's Sir Toby Belch in a production of Twelfth Night this fall.</p><p>Be well all. Thank you for your passion and readership and feedback and sharing over the years.</p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-39380291334460442962021-07-05T10:30:00.000-04:002021-07-05T10:30:15.104-04:00The 7th Annual National Give-A-Kid-A-Book-Day is July 6th<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_V1UzYBYzGRpYr7JA1d7Gq852WSpglyP_VYuXqM9TmzEB4Qv2NZgfGra0mKDIJDDEe8ZRTYLpEonYwACLa-vwxQy9Y4-GPIcSOKSvVqnSjjyJ3BqEjWKnIcavGEuify6FaWmydrxNdOw/s800/kids-reading-books-cartoon-illustration-cute-group-58728737.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_V1UzYBYzGRpYr7JA1d7Gq852WSpglyP_VYuXqM9TmzEB4Qv2NZgfGra0mKDIJDDEe8ZRTYLpEonYwACLa-vwxQy9Y4-GPIcSOKSvVqnSjjyJ3BqEjWKnIcavGEuify6FaWmydrxNdOw/s320/kids-reading-books-cartoon-illustration-cute-group-58728737.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Tomorrow, July 6, 2021 is the 7th Annual National Give-A-Kid-A-Book Day (NGKBD). This is the yearly celebration dedicated to getting books into children's hands over the summer. Literacy research has shown that the single best way to extend children's literacy learning beyond the school year is to get books in kids hands. One way to do this is to give books as gifts. The day July 6 is chosen because it is my son's birthday. Every year for the past 44 years, I have given him books for his birthday. This year is no exception. My son is a reader. I believe giving him books helped. <p></p><p>Participation in National Give-A-Kid-A-Book Day is easy. All you need do is find a child and give that child a book. The child could be your own, a neighbor's child, a student, a grandchild, one of your kid's friends, or children in a homeless shelter. Just give the child a book and say, I thought you might enjoy this." You might want to include a note with the book. This personalizes the gift (and provides another reason to read something). Some participants like to include a lollipop or other small treat with the book to send the message "Reading is sweet," but the most important thing is to give a kid a book.</p><p>National Give-A-Kid-A-Book Day is dedicated to the many hard-working people and organizations who have gone to extraordinary lengths to make sure that all children have access to books. Toward that end, each year on July 6 we recognize these folks by placing them on the NGKBD Honor Roll. Past inductees have included Luis Soriano, Lisa Wilever, Philadelphia's Words on Wheels, Dolly Parton, Margaret Craig McNamara, M. Jerry Weiss, Joan Kramer, Donalyn Miller, Project Night Night, the Fallsington, Pennsylvania Public Library, and The Children's Book Project of San Francisco. If you wish to know more about these inductees and about their work you can look at past NGKBD posts <a href="http://russonreading.blogspot.com/2015/07/its-national-give-kid-book-day.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://russonreading.blogspot.com/2016/07/the-second-annual-national-give-kid.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://russonreading.blogspot.com/2017/07/the-third-annual-national-give-kid-book.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-4th-annual-national-give-kid-book.html" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2020/07/the-6th-annual-give-kid-book-day.html" target="_blank">here</a>. </p><p>Here are the 2021 inductees.</p><p><b>End Book Deserts - </b>End Book Deserts is an organization that advocates for children who live in poverty areas and lack basic access to age appropriate books and high quality reading materials. End Book Deserts is the brainchild of Dr. Molly Ness. The group has developed a large group of organizations nationwide that are working to end book deserts and get quality books in kids hands. End Book Deserts will hold its first national conference online this year on August 8-9. For more information you can go to the group's <a href="https://www.endbookdeserts.com/" target="_blank">web site here</a>.</p><p><b>Children's Literacy Initiative - </b>For thirty years, his Philadelphia based organization has provided a wide variety of literacy services to teachers, children , and families. Central to their mission is helping kids get access to quality reading material. They provide schools with home lending libraries, independent reading collections, informational text collections, and read aloud collections. You can learn more about this nonprofit organization at their <a href="https://cli.org/" target="_blank">web site here.</a></p><p>Give a kid a book very soon. It will make you feel good; I promise.</p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-59342659662297100492021-05-24T10:04:00.005-04:002021-05-24T18:37:10.178-04:00Defeating the Science of Reading Narrative, Part 4: Addressing School Boards, Legislatures and the Public<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5XccxbfPP6ro1XNXMoDnW9N7Qi0lW6CC7Hki9zKLid2rAGN90ZeLoaxtAEeah_jKlBxiyBS5AZ6KfKhb9G3HHX96FFOIH5Fq92BFLg4pzt5rzYzkFTZyhYPiO84gbdzkxQTg1fmzqJJg/s825/School+Board+meeting.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="550" data-original-width="825" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5XccxbfPP6ro1XNXMoDnW9N7Qi0lW6CC7Hki9zKLid2rAGN90ZeLoaxtAEeah_jKlBxiyBS5AZ6KfKhb9G3HHX96FFOIH5Fq92BFLg4pzt5rzYzkFTZyhYPiO84gbdzkxQTg1fmzqJJg/s320/School+Board+meeting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>This series of posts has taken aim at the false Science of Reading (SOR) narrative that posits that the Simple View of Reading (SVR; Gough and Turner, 1986) is the scientifically proven best way to teach reading and all schools and all teachers should be adopting it. <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2021/04/unsettling-science-of-reading-narrative.html" target="_blank">The first post in the series showed that SOR was far from settled science.</a> The next three posts addressed ways to defeat this narrative by first<a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2021/05/defeating-science-of-reading-narrative.html" target="_blank"> focusing on the individual child</a>, <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2021/05/defeating-science-of-reading-narrative_10.html" target="_blank">then talking to parents about the child</a>, and then <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2021/05/defeating-science-of-reading-narrative_17.html" target="_blank">working with colleagues to improve everyone's breadth of understanding of the issues.</a> In this post, I would like to address the need for teacher advocacy on the political level. Several respondents to the previous posts have noted that school boards and legislators are forcing the SOR instructional design on teachers through policy and legislation. Neither the school board members nor legislators are the professionals here. Neither is the journalist, Emily Hanford, who first brought the SOR narrative to the public in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/opinion/sunday/phonics-teaching-reading-wrong-way.html" target="_blank">misguided and misleading editorial in 2018.</a> <p></p><p>It is past time for the professionals to push back. Here is what I would say to SOR zealots. Please use any of this that you think would be useful in your own situation with school boards, or legislatures, with parent advocacy groups, or as an editorial in the local newspaper.</p><p><i>Dear ______________</i></p><p><i>The American journalist, essayist and social critic, H. L. Mencken once said, "For every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong." I come to you today because I believe the currently proposed Science of Reading approach to literacy instruction is one of those clear, simple, and very wrong answers. The recent discussion of the best way to teach reading which has gained so much currency in the media, among parent groups, and in state legislatures needs to be clarified. The Science of Reading is based on a flawed model of instruction that has been around for almost 100 years and that has been tested and found wanting over all that time. The current Science of Reading rage is based on The Simple View of Reading from the work of theorists Gough and Turners in 1986. Since that time we have learned that the Simple View of Reading, which says that reading is simply a matter of decoding words and comprehending language, is overly simplistic. </i><i> Reading is a much more complex activity than the simple view would have us believe. </i><a href="https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/rrq.411" target="_blank"><i>As Duke and Cartwright have stated in a recent article in the </i>Reading Research Quarterly</a><i><a href="https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/rrq.411" target="_blank">, </a>"</i><i>Dictating a narrow instructional practice based on this Simple View of Reading leaves educators ill-prepared to understand and identify instructional targets for poor comprehenders with grade-appropriate decoding and listening-comprehension."</i></p><p><i>If the simple view is, indeed, too simple, what does a more complete view look like? The aforementioned Duke and Cartwright offer a more complete model that they call the active view of reading. In the active view of reading we find four distinct elements of a more complete model of reading and reading instruction. These four include 1) motivation and engagement 2) word recognition 3) </i><i>language comprehension </i><i>and 4) </i><i> bridging processes </i><i>. Motivation and engagement involves the reader in actively using a variety of strategies to improve their own reading. As the term motivation implies, this means that students must develop the desire to practice reading. Word recognition includes all the abilities we usually think of as necessary for decoding words such as phonemic awareness and the alphabetic principle. Language comprehension involves the prior knowledge and reasoning ability required to understand what is read. Bridging processes help readers connect words and meaning. These bridging activities include fluency, vocabulary knowledge, and flexibility in problem solving novel words. </i></p><p><i>The active reading model holds out greater promise for successful literacy learning for all students. It also provides a more complete model for teacher professional development. With this more complete model as a guide, school leaders, administrators, and teachers can build a more complete picture of the reading process and guide more children toward both the skill to read well and the will to read well.</i></p><p><i>I urge you, as you consider what is best for the literacy instruction of all children, to take this broader, more inclusive view of the reading process. Simple answers are appealing, but a more nuanced view of the issues is more likely to lead to lasting success.</i></p><p><br /></p><p>As we talk to Science of Reading advocates, let's be armed with a clear and much better alternative. Duke and Cartwright's Active Model of Reading provides the kind of balanced take on the issue I believe we can all rally around. Let's not allow this narrative to be dominated by journalists and politicians. As professionals, we have a responsibility to make our voices heard.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><br /></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-41409152547363245912021-05-17T10:25:00.001-04:002021-05-17T10:25:34.389-04:00Defeating the Science of Reading Narrative, Part 3: Building Bridges with Colleagues<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nJfUIhVvUtcUmnmzEFsiMaTL86Twnube6ujtsPwzCWjFKTQCj2P6VhKPbCrSsgJl0Gh-k4Zon_haVQXpYgsv8upAUX_74eKZM890QzCGcureFdz20gt11FvAlHtAmZVBIuD-Z1lhmSs/s648/plc.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="456" data-original-width="648" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3nJfUIhVvUtcUmnmzEFsiMaTL86Twnube6ujtsPwzCWjFKTQCj2P6VhKPbCrSsgJl0Gh-k4Zon_haVQXpYgsv8upAUX_74eKZM890QzCGcureFdz20gt11FvAlHtAmZVBIuD-Z1lhmSs/s320/plc.png" width="320" /></a></div>Over the past month I have been exploring the Science of Reading (SOR) narrative that has dominated discussion about reading instruction for the last few years in posts<b> <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2021/04/unsettling-science-of-reading-narrative.html" target="_blank">here</a>,</b> <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2021/05/defeating-science-of-reading-narrative.html" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>, and<b> <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2021/05/defeating-science-of-reading-narrative_10.html" target="_blank">here</a>.</b> What I have argued is that the SOR narrative is far too narrow a conceptualization of reading instruction and that making it the dominant mode of instruction is dangerous. The prior posts back up that argument with relevant and recent research. Some readers, while sympathetic to my overall message, have complained that my language in these blogs is confrontational and likely to cut off conversation rather than build bridges. <p></p><p>I admit that I have used words like "defeat", "fight", "overturn", and "combat", in discussing how we must respond to the SOR narrative. That is because this narrative is being foist upon school leaders, teachers, and children through lobbying groups, state legislatures, and school boards that have bought into this narrow view of reading instruction. My language is aimed at the narrative and those who blindly promote the narrative, not at teachers who are seeking the best way to teach reading and are looking at the SOR narrative and wondering if this is the best way to go. To those colleagues, I do indeed seek, and hope we all seek, to build bridges. Here are some ways we might be able to do that.</p><p>Despite disagreements on how best to teach reading, there are some things we can all agree on. In conversation with colleagues let's start there. After establishing our basic agreements, let's explore together what the research says. Finally, let's agree to try instructional strategies with our students, gather some informal data and report back to each other on how things are going. These conversations can be either formally structured professional learning committees, informal book groups, or just two colleagues getting together to explore their understandings.</p><p><b>Start with the Things on which We All Can Agree</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>No matter our philosophical differences when it comes to instruction, all teachers want all children to develop both the skill to be a successful reader and the will to be a lifelong reader.</li><li>We can all agree that children need to learn to hear and segment the sounds in words (phonological awareness).</li><li>We can all agree that in order to be successful readers children must learn to rapidly decode words based on their knowledge of how words work (phonics, onset-rime, morphology).</li><li>We can all agree that the goal of reading is comprehension and that skilled comprehension requires prior knowledge, content specific vocabulary, fluent reading, and use of a variety of comprehension strategies.</li><li>We can all agree that reading aloud to children helps to develop comprehension, vocabulary, and interest in reading.</li><li>We can all agree that no matter how good our instruction in reading is, children will learn most of what they need to know for skilled reading by doing actual reading, so motivating children to be engaged readers is part of the teacher's job.</li></ul><div><b>Work Together to Learn What the Current Research Says</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Invite teachers to suggest articles, books, and reports that will inform the discussion and explore the range of reading instruction thought from SOR to Balanced Literacy to Whole Language.</li><li>Some suggested reading would be the International Literacy Associations' Special Issue <a href="https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/19362722/2020/55/S1" target="_blank">The Science of Reading: Support, Critiques, Questions</a> which is available free of charge to all. I would also recommend articles I have referenced in previous posts: <a href="https://www.literacyresearchassociation.org/lra-literacy-research-reports" target="_blank">An Examination of Dyslexia Research and Instruction, with Policy Implications </a> by Johnston and Scanlon and <a href="https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/rrq.411?fbclid=IwAR3iwBG4k1Sbh1R_o2ZraKb1bR-Sr4XtntRzsmnOvDAvY9k4gKi_B8o5wck" target="_blank">The Science of Reading Progresses: Communicating Advances Beyond the Simple View of Reading</a> by Duke and Cartwright. I would also highly recommend the new book by literacy consultants Jan Burkins and Kim Yaris <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Shifting-Balance-Balanced-Literacy-Classroom/dp/1625315104" target="_blank">Shifting the Balance: 6 Ways to Bring the Science of Reading into the Balanced Literacy Classroom.</a>. This list leans heavily toward my balanced reading perspective. Colleagues who have a more SOR orientation might suggest other readings.</li></ul><div><b>Try Things Out in the Classroom</b></div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Invite teacher volunteers to try new ideas, strategies, and approaches out in the classrooms and report back to the group.</li><li>Set up opportunities to observe each other teaching using strategies discussed together and meet in groups to discuss what was observed. I like to think of this kind of activity as similar to "making rounds" in the medical profession. We need to find time to learn from each other.</li></ul><div>This kind of work takes time. It also takes cooperation from the administration. It would be wonderful if this sort of professional learning time was already built into the school day, but I know in most cases it is not. </div><div><br /></div><div>The important perspective here is that fighting back at the SOR narrative demands expanding everyone's understanding of the breadth of possibility in reading instruction. Whatever side of the fence you might find yourself on, don't we owe it to the children to provide them with everything we know that works, not just a type of instruction that we personally favor?</div><div><br /></div><div>Next time I will look at how teachers can communicate a more balanced view of instruction to school leaders and community groups.</div><div><br /></div></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-31265160169195679182021-05-10T09:54:00.003-04:002021-05-10T19:54:07.406-04:00Defeating the Science of Reading Narrative, Part 2: Talking to a Parent<p><a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2021/04/unsettling-science-of-reading-narrative.html" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5lHa3t5Ha9iRK9WqcJbGuWk95SnMC7vhcPU3XEiVaWBLXv0b1fA-fvJ8PBXgi-T4CoSgk4CCvt5hPJ7bUyPyjVIofBQLeJGb-mF5KQdrwtQrGlypgIkCqMhaDx7Utuy6lUqTiyO1sGE/s800/parent+conference.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht5lHa3t5Ha9iRK9WqcJbGuWk95SnMC7vhcPU3XEiVaWBLXv0b1fA-fvJ8PBXgi-T4CoSgk4CCvt5hPJ7bUyPyjVIofBQLeJGb-mF5KQdrwtQrGlypgIkCqMhaDx7Utuy6lUqTiyO1sGE/s320/parent+conference.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In my first post in this series on how teachers and literacy specialists can push back at the Science of Reading (SOR) narrative currently dominating reading instruction conversation and legislation, I leaned on the work of Peter Johnston and Deborah Scanlon in their report <i><a href="https://www.literacyresearchassociation.org/lra-literacy-research-reports" target="_blank">An Examination of Dyslexia Research and Instruction</a> </i>to argue that <i>dyslexia</i> is not a useful term, and that the SOR narrative, with its focus on word level instruction, casts literacy learning in too narrow a light. <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2021/05/defeating-science-of-reading-narrative.html" target="_blank">In the second post,</a> I posited that a focus on getting to know the individual child as a learner immediately makes clear that each reader is unique, and that each reader's needs must be viewed from a broader lens than is suggested by SOR. In this post I would like to suggest a way of communicating with a concerned parent, who has read and bought into the SOR narrative, about the literacy instruction needs of their child.<p></p><p>Much of my framework for this conversation comes from new work by Nell K. Duke and Kelly B. Cartwright in their recent article published in <i>Reading Research Journal</i>, <a href="https://ila.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/rrq.411?fbclid=IwAR3iwBG4k1Sbh1R_o2ZraKb1bR-Sr4XtntRzsmnOvDAvY9k4gKi_B8o5wck" target="_blank">"The Science of Reading Progresses: Communicating Advances the Simple View of Reading."</a> The International Literacy Association has made this an open access article and I encourage you all to read it in full. Essentially, the authors argue that we have learned a great deal about what works in reading instruction in the years since Gough and Tummer suggested the <i>Simple View of Reading (1986)</i>, which is the basis of the SOR instructional narrative. The authors suggest a new model of reading, the <i>Active View of Reading, </i>which encompasses word recognition instruction, plus motivation and engagement, fluency, vocabulary, flexibility, and language comprehension.</p><p>Armed with the insight that comes from the <i>Active View of Reading, </i>let's see how a conversation with a concerned parent might go. Our teacher is a classroom teacher, Mrs. Hannah Jones, working with first grader Johnny Smith. It is the end of October. Johnny had entered first grade with some concerns reported by the kindergarten teacher that he seemed to have difficulty with hearing and recording sounds in words. While he had developed about 25 sight words and could write about 20 words on his own, his progress in decoding unfamiliar words was not as expected. In most tasks in school, Johnny was bright and eager, but he was not generally engaged by literacy activities and his attention to these tasks seemed to waiver. Some reversals (<i>b, d ,e, r) </i>were evident in his written work. Johnny's mother, Amanda Smith, has requested an update on his progress.</p><p><b>Hannah Jones: </b>Thank you for contacting me to talk about Johnny's progress in reading. Now that I have been working with Johnny for about a month, I have had a chance to get to know him as a person and as a learner, so this seems a good time to meet.</p><p><b>Amanda Smith: </b>Yes, thank you. I am very concerned about Johnny. The kindergarten teacher gave me a heads up that Johnny seemed to have trouble learning new words and hearing letter sounds, so I want to make sure he is getting the instruction he needs.</p><p><b>HJ</b>: That's what we all want here as well. Can you tell me a little bit about Johnny at home. What does he like to do?</p><p><b>AS: </b>Well, Johnny is obsessed with baseball. Most of the time at home he is either playing catch or bugging his dad to pitch to him or just throwing a ball against the garage wall. He likes to watch baseball on tv, too. I swear he would sleep with his baseball bat, if I would let him. He's very active, likes running around. It can be hard to just get him to sit down long enough to eat dinner.</p><p><b>HJ: </b>How about his interaction around books or writing?</p><p><b>AS: </b>Well, I try to read to him at night before bed, but he is usually pretty impatient about that. I gave him a journal, but he doesn't choose to write in it that I know of. Sometimes he draws pictures and writes on them. I have noticed his spelling is pretty bad and that he reverses some letters. Do you think he should be tested for dyslexia? My husband said he had trouble learning to read when he was in first and second grade.</p><p><b>HJ: </b>Well, Mrs. Jones, I have noticed his difficulty with hearing sounds in words and reversals, and it is true that some perceptual difficulties can be inherited, but I believe these are issues we can work on through instruction. That instruction would not be different if Johnny were identified as dyslexic. What I think is important here is that Johnny get the instruction he needs and that is what I would like to focus on.</p><p><b>AS: </b>Well, I am very concerned about that. I have talked to some neighbors and they say that unless he is classified as dyslexic he won't get the instruction he needs.</p><p><b>HJ: </b>I hope you will find that that is not true in this school district or this classroom, Mrs. Jones. In fact, I would like to to talk to you about that instruction now.</p><p><b>AS: </b>Well, good. I've been reading about that, too. I know that schools have not done a very good job with instruction for kids like Johnny. That article in the New York Times a couple of years ago laid it all out. This Science of Reading. It seems to me that that is the kind of reading instruction Johnny needs, a focus on phonics. Everybody is saying that schools don't teach phonics and I know that Johnny certainly needs that, so I hope that is what you are talking about.</p><p><b>HJ: </b>Mrs. Jones, Johnny certainly needs good instruction in how words work and in the phonics knowledge that will help him discover how they work, I assure you that Johnny will receive that instruction, but I want to also assure you that Johnny will receive much more than that. Since the Science of Reading work was done in the 1980s, we have learned that many things influence a child's learning to read. Decoding, guided by phonics knowledge, is one important one. Instruction in this area will include phonological awareness, that is, hearing the sounds in words, like the word <i>cat </i>has three sounds (k-a-t). Instruction will also focus on how to blend those sounds into words. In learning about words we need to also look at how words are spelled, what we call orthography. So, we will also spend time on learning spelling patterns, like how the word <i>ship </i>is made up of two parts <i>sh- </i>and <i>ip. </i>As part of our instruction in decoding we will do considerable writing using invented spelling. As Johnny writes words on the page, he will learn to stretch out the sounds of the words and try to write down what he hears. This type of writing has been shown to help readers develop their ability to hear sounds in words.<i> </i></p><p>Also very important is comprehension - understanding what we read. Comprehension is the central goal of reading and we also know that comprehension, the attempt to make sense, helps readers decode words. We can work on comprehension through our daily read alouds in class as well in stories that we use for reading instruction. Talking about what might happen in the story not only helps with comprehension, it also helps with word identification. We will also work on reading fluency, which is the ability to read aloud so that it sounds like talking. Fluency is what we would call a "bridging" activity that helps readers connect decoding ability with comprehension. We often practice fluency with short pieces of text that children read over and over until they can read it with ease.</p><p>Finally, we also need to focus on Johnny's motivation to read. We know that good instruction in decoding and comprehension needs to be reinforced by having Johnny do lots of reading on his own. Because Johnny is struggling right now, he may not be as willing to engage in this type of reading. Here is where Johnny's obsession with baseball can help us. I have already begun to gather as many books about baseball that I think Johnny can read as I can. Since Johnny knows a lot about baseball, he will already know many of the words he encounters there. If we can help Johnny have success in some reading in a topic he already knows well and is interested in, we may be able to extend his interest to other topics moving forward. Johnny's baseball love should also help us with engaging him in writing, about games he has played or baseball rules or games he has watched. Finally, his interest in baseball may help us expand his decoding ability by using words like <i>bat, ball, base, throw, pitch </i>and<i> run </i>as anchor words for learning other words that fit those patterns.</p><p>So as you see, we have a good deal of work to do, but I think an approach that considers all the variables of an active reader will support Johnny the best.</p><p><b>AS: </b>Well, ok, as long as you can assure me he will get that phonics instruction he needs.</p><p><b>HJ: </b>He will.</p><p><b>AS: </b>What can I do at home?</p><p><b>HJ: </b>Continue with your read alouds and talking about what you read. You might consider an arrangement where you choose the reading one night and Johnny the next. Also, you might consider reading to him about baseball from articles in the newspaper or magazines, even the backs of baseball cards can provide some interesting reading. Continue to take advantage of opportunities to write -even making shopping lists. Encourage Johnny to stretch out the words and replicate the sounds he hears. Also, I will be sending home books that we have read in school. Have Johnny read them to you at home for practice. Encourage him to read as smoothly and fluently as he can. He can repeat these readings as many times as you can get him to do it.</p><p><b>AS: </b>Ok. I guess we'll see how it goes.</p><p><b>HJ: </b>Yes. Let's check back in two months and see what progress we notice.</p><p><br /></p><p>We need to push back at the Science of Reading/Dyslexia narrative by acknowledging parent concern, demonstrating knowledge of the individual child, clearly explaining our instructional goals, and most of all, delivering on our responsibility to meet every child where they are and providing the instruction they need.</p><p>For the next post in this series, I would like to look at fighting back at the SOR Narrative through teacher professional development.</p><p><br /></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-42812313955157205312021-05-03T08:40:00.002-04:002021-05-04T14:50:09.757-04:00Defeating the Science of Reading Narrative, Part 1: Focus on the Child<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7ZGqSMIIa528muRsJCxmleZygWMI_8UsJvu5BossKtEXthEhqGQttHtRvC8BzNOBQoXvsSnhpuZ_moTjG8Bi1g6Q7gUxhOFNqnVTDNoDbwsl2_mLPdQvf4N4wE2hR_7Vyg-56OO1bTY/s750/Kids+and+teacher+reading.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="336" data-original-width="750" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG7ZGqSMIIa528muRsJCxmleZygWMI_8UsJvu5BossKtEXthEhqGQttHtRvC8BzNOBQoXvsSnhpuZ_moTjG8Bi1g6Q7gUxhOFNqnVTDNoDbwsl2_mLPdQvf4N4wE2hR_7Vyg-56OO1bTY/s320/Kids+and+teacher+reading.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Last week I wrote a post,<a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2021/04/unsettling-science-of-reading-narrative.html" target="_blank"> Unsettling the Science of Reading Narrative</a> that highlighted a new report from the Literacy Research Association, on dyslexia and the Science of Reading. The report titled <i><a href="https://www.literacyresearchassociation.org/lra-literacy-research-reports" target="_blank">An Examination of Dyslexia Research and Instruction, with Policy Implications, </a> </i>by Peter Johnston and Donna Scanlon, posits that 1) "dyslexia" is not a useful term for guiding teachers in making literacy instructional decisions and 2) the "Science of Reading (SOR)" narrative, which states that a heavy phonics emphasis is the best and only way to teach reading to dyslexics and everyone else, is neither accurate nor scientific. Several readers of that post responded favorably, but asked, "Given that SOR has the support of the media, powerful parent lobbying groups, and state legislatures, what can we as teachers and literacy leaders do about it?" The question is a good one and the answer is complex. I will try to respond to that question over the next several posts. I think to turn this narrative around, which in various guises has been circulating since at least the 1950s, we need to start locally and then move our message more globally. The place to start is with a focus on the child. In later posts I will focus on the parent, the teacher, the school board, and beyond.<p></p><p><b>Child Focused Response</b></p><p>When we focus on the child the absurdity of SOR becomes clear. Early screening of children using such tools as Marie Clay's<i> Observational Survey </i>can help us identify children who are at risk. Research indicates that early intervention with at risk readers is effective for most. Research also suggests that focusing instruction on one aspect of reading, say decoding, to the exclusion of others doesn't necessarily translate into improved reading. What we do know is that at risk children benefit from rich and varied literacy instruction. This includes explicit instruction designed to develop the ability to analyze the sounds in spoken words (<i>phonological awareness</i>), an understanding of how print is related to the sounds in spoken words (<i>alphabetic code</i>), and the predictable patterns of letters in printed words (<i>orthographic structure</i>). This word focused instruction must be combined with instruction designed to develop <i>reading comprehension</i>, <i>vocabulary</i>, and <i>fluency</i>. One final critical aspect is <i>motivation</i>. Teachers need to guide children toward developing what Johnston and Scanlon call "a strong positive relationship to literacy."</p><p>When we identify a child as "at risk", we risk making the mistake of grouping that child into a category and applying instruction meant to address children in that category. Every child, and every at risk child, however, is an individual with individual strengths and weaknesses. The original screening should not be seen as a prescription for a certain kind of instruction, but rather as a guide to help the teacher begin to probe the individual needs of each learner. Perhaps for some children teachers need to focus on developing a rich oral language to underpin literacy learning. Perhaps for others teachers need to help them develop a positive attitude toward literacy through exposure to books and stories and talk that invite them in to the literacy world. Perhaps with others teachers need to help build the experiential knowledge that will help them comprehend what they read. And, of course, with most teachers will need to provide instruction in the way the sounds and symbols of our language works. </p><p>Children who struggle in reading are as individual and unique as snowflakes. We know what instruction works generally, but we don't know what critical combinations of instruction will work with each individual child. While our early intervention attempts will work for many, some children will not progress. When the child fails to respond to instruction, Johnston and Scanlon suggest our best response is not to label the child dyslexic or to double down on the same instruction, but to try something different. The person in the best position to make these critical instructional judgments is the classroom teacher. The classroom teacher can only make those judgments through informed, systematic, and documented instructional moves over time. </p><p>As the teacher works with individual students and provides instruction, they begin to deepen their original diagnosis of "at risk" to a richer and fuller understanding of the child's individual needs as a literacy learner. This knowledge is powerful. Not only does a deep knowledge of the child as a learner help the teacher design instruction that will help the child grow in reading, that knowledge also gives the teacher the information needed to talk to parents and other stakeholders about the needs of this individual child in a holistic sense, rather than through the label "dyslexic." It also helps teachers to argue against simple prescriptive reading program recommendations. Too often when children do not thrive in literacy learning, an Orton-Gillingham style, phonics-heavy program is prescribed when the individual child's needs are much more complex than a "more phonics" approach. The teacher's focus on the child provides the ammunition to combat this Science of Reading narrative, with a clear, more complex picture of the child as a learner.</p><p>In my next post, I will take us into a potential parent-teacher conference, where the parents are arguing for a dyslexia label for their child and for a SOR instructional approach from the teacher. We'll see how the teacher can use their knowledge of the child to combat the SOR narrative on the parent level.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><br /></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-1313216340848458422021-04-26T09:16:00.000-04:002021-04-26T09:16:20.421-04:00Unsettling the Science of Reading Narrative<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsiwd0PuCGpPP3vp6dXath1sZmAJGBnpqe1o4-6j8XMZO39XtcJpzK9SLtCoPRx9v8vZNZAMJqXJ2Bv6QZeUkPY0tLJntbuLITsfz5T-YV38cuxKZFJKxwKjtBU6cFRiKit7mEB2HakE/s1280/Highlighting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPsiwd0PuCGpPP3vp6dXath1sZmAJGBnpqe1o4-6j8XMZO39XtcJpzK9SLtCoPRx9v8vZNZAMJqXJ2Bv6QZeUkPY0tLJntbuLITsfz5T-YV38cuxKZFJKxwKjtBU6cFRiKit7mEB2HakE/s320/Highlighting.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Call me crazy, but when I learned I had cancer a few years ago, I did not immediately consult a journalist. Instead I chose to see an oncologist. When COVID broke out, I threw in my lot with Dr. Fauci and other infectious disease scientists, instead of a former reality TV star who suggested I inject bleach. And so, when I want advice on reading instruction, I avoid the journalists, the parent lobbying groups, the reading program sales reps, and the agenda driven pseudo-education organizations, and I look to the experts.<p></p><p>Two such experts, Peter Johnston and Deborah Scanlon of the University at Albany, have recently laid waste to the so called Science of Reading (SOR) in a thoughtful report written for the Literacy Research Association, <i><a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/literacy-research-association-releases-dyslexia-research-report-301272942.html" target="_blank">An Examination of Dyslexia Research and Instruction, with Policy Implications.</a> </i>I strongly recommend reading the entire report, but I would like to share a few takeaways that I think illuminate the current SOR debate. As the title of the report suggests, SOR cannot really be discussed outside of the context of the research related to dyslexia and the current push by well-organized parent and educator groups that argue that dyslexia is a frequent cause of reading difficulties. Currently 42 states and the United States government have invoked laws enshrining dyslexia. These laws are for the most part aligned with the SOR instructional perspective. The media has famously picked up on this and has helped fuel the narrative that dyslexia is the chief cause of reading difficulty and that SOR is the best instruction not just for those identified as dyslexic, but for all students.</p><p>Here are the key takeaways from the report:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>There is no practical nor definitive way to decide who is and who is not dyslexic. They cite literacy researcher, Keith Stanovich who said in 2014, "The retiring of the word [dyslexia] is long overdue."</li><li>From an instructional standpoint there is no practical distinction between those classified as dyslexic and others at the low end of word reading ability. There is no evidence that our instructional response should be different for those identified as dyslexic.</li><li>There is strong evidence that most children identified in initial assessments as being at risk of having difficulty developing reading skills respond well to good first instruction and early intervention.</li><li>A small percentage of children, 2-6%, make slow progress despite our best efforts. We have little research on how to address these students persistent difficulties. This may be due to the belief that dyslexia is a permanent condition and to the assumption that we already know how to approach instruction for these children.</li><li>Reading is a complex process and comprehension is the central goal.</li><li>The idea that there is a "settled science" that has determined that systematic phonics approaches are the only way to approach reading instruction is simply wrong. Orton-Gillingham and derivative approaches like Wilson and Structured Literacy, the favored approach of groups like the International Dyslexia Association and the National Council on Teacher Quality, has been found to be no more effective in improving reading comprehension than other types of intervention. </li><li>There is agreement among researchers that children identified as potentially having difficulty learning to read benefit from explicit instruction designed to develop phonological sensitivity (the ability to analyze sounds in words).</li><li>Students should be encouraged to use context to direct and check decoding attempts. SOR advocates who say that use of context and pictures is a "disproven" theory are wrong.</li><li>There is no one right way to teach reading. Student's difficulties are unique to the individual students. Better to assume that the instruction we are providing is not meeting the student's needs and adjust accordingly, than to focus on one instructional approach.</li><li>Phonics instruction should be flexible and integrated with other reading instruction to create a balanced program.</li><li>"Research suggests that teachers are the most important in-school factor in a child's learning. It is what teachers know and do, particularly in meeting the needs of individual students, rather than any programs or approaches they use, that are most influential in literacy outcomes."</li></ul><div>To sum up: </div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li>Dyslexia is not a useful label.</li><li>The Science of Reading is not settled, nor is it science.</li><li>Evidence does not support the use of a heavy focus on phonics.</li><li>Reading instruction should be balanced.</li><li>Teachers are in the best position to make instructional decisions for individual students.</li></ol><div>The work to overturn the Science of Reading narrative will be difficult. Parents and legislators like simple solutions to complex problems and terms like dyslexia and "settled science" are seductive. The stakes are high. The goal is clear. All professionals must work to foster a more nuanced view consistent with the research. Our children's access to informed instruction and a full, rich literacy depends on it.</div></div><div><br /></div><p></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-19355406193143275662021-04-19T10:19:00.000-04:002021-04-19T10:19:17.696-04:00Rhythm and Rhyme: Read Alouds that Support Reading Fluency<p>April is Poetry Month and here at <i>Russ On Reading</i> we continue our exploration of poetry read alouds for children with a few books that tell their stories in rhyme. Call it doggerel if you will, what children will tell you is that these stories are entertaining and that the rhymes add to the fun. What reading specialists will tell you is that the rhythm and rhyme in these stories support young readers developing fluency. There are many rhyming books out there, some are very familiar like <i>Click, Clack Moo </i>or the many Dr. Seuss books, but here are some of my favorites that may not be as well known.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxsjcREceoS19pH8Mgz1qVikeeNUod4-IzLj9xCmDId4WYAoWZWeDiXf_3BkOGj_DYOfhPY-6Gd2OaQ9G4gf_zijxr28vqsVo71FXYBPb1OtAtUq2Oo9vNEhnRgAIPwhZA-9xqGFW9zs/s250/Drummer+Hoff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="204" data-original-width="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLxsjcREceoS19pH8Mgz1qVikeeNUod4-IzLj9xCmDId4WYAoWZWeDiXf_3BkOGj_DYOfhPY-6Gd2OaQ9G4gf_zijxr28vqsVo71FXYBPb1OtAtUq2Oo9vNEhnRgAIPwhZA-9xqGFW9zs/s0/Drummer+Hoff.jpg" /></a></div><p>My son's favorite book when he was growing up, <i>Drummer Hoff,</i>by Barbara Emberley with Caldecott Medal winning illlustrations by Ed Emberley, tells the cumulative story of soldiers of various ranks building a cannon. The ending of the story provides a kind of <i>Where Have All the Flowers Gone? </i>message to the militaristic affair. Get your kids walking around the room chanting, "Drummer Hoff fired it off!"</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKvO8Abz06ieYIIgEQQuh3JpMpNxPFeZNiHuApzQzyBnBS26Z_6Z6jsLiDizVtYe0lcGmVIRwIZt-cncd4bS8IYWiSXUqls9jN3ylrNEEle1cjk_5HtW6NnYjE1BdcwuBcm__fD3HrVXM/s1159/Sir+Cedric.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1159" data-original-width="1053" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKvO8Abz06ieYIIgEQQuh3JpMpNxPFeZNiHuApzQzyBnBS26Z_6Z6jsLiDizVtYe0lcGmVIRwIZt-cncd4bS8IYWiSXUqls9jN3ylrNEEle1cjk_5HtW6NnYjE1BdcwuBcm__fD3HrVXM/s320/Sir+Cedric.jpg" /></a></div><p>My wife, the literacy educator Cindy Mershon, introduced me to the works of Roy Gerard and I have been a happy reader ever since. Gerard has mastered the form of silly rhymes to tell a story like no other author. <i>Sir Cedric</i> is the story of a gallant, chivalrous, and extremely short, Sir Cedric, and his efforts to save the beautiful Matilda from the evil clutches of Black Ned. An absolute joy to read aloud.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGeCn86y1tAAQNI8TUozYR4cH6_F00zxU254Trcdbc9Fs4foI9S3IShhlLcdQWDQUO-YcMwnGrVlHJ0BWrd1AQSnkFgg2u1ZYmbSJ_9yja3t4fWKowiZ2P4mRIPg15txH-cNEFzaDbKCI/s309/All+Sizes+and+Shapes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGeCn86y1tAAQNI8TUozYR4cH6_F00zxU254Trcdbc9Fs4foI9S3IShhlLcdQWDQUO-YcMwnGrVlHJ0BWrd1AQSnkFgg2u1ZYmbSJ_9yja3t4fWKowiZ2P4mRIPg15txH-cNEFzaDbKCI/s0/All+Sizes+and+Shapes.jpg" /></a></div><p>I fell in love with the work of Richard Armour while in high school reading his fractured, irreverent, satirical takes on history, Shakespeare, and classical literature. As a teacher, I discovered that Armour also used his gifts to entertain and inform children. This book is out of print, sadly, and may be a bit hard to find, but used bookstores and online outlets like Abe Books, have copies readily available and cheap. <i>All Sizes and Shapes of Monkeys and Apes </i>teaches children about these animals in a most entertaining and rhyme filled way. Don't miss gems like this:</p><p style="text-align: center;">If you think that an ape must be heavy and clumsy,<br />Slow moving, big-bellied,<br />As well as all thumbsy,<br />Consider the Gibbon, so slender and agile,<br />Beside the Gorilla, he'd look almost fragile.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdYOJ0LGmD78FtX2foSwuyJxtAeb9sCpe-rKKSYrjWdGSMx5ygXsR26rbRXmRTY7LDTS1MvASwpxPWI1gOzI2mvIp-Z_0wJQv3OH94RcqP2MR9dncxZE93ZqRSRP55vMeo1-YNcQXMciQ/s304/Caboose+that+Got+Loose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdYOJ0LGmD78FtX2foSwuyJxtAeb9sCpe-rKKSYrjWdGSMx5ygXsR26rbRXmRTY7LDTS1MvASwpxPWI1gOzI2mvIp-Z_0wJQv3OH94RcqP2MR9dncxZE93ZqRSRP55vMeo1-YNcQXMciQ/s0/Caboose+that+Got+Loose.jpg" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;">Former Disney animation illustrator, Bill Peet, has written many wonderful books for children. <i>The Caboose Who Got Loose </i>tells the story of Katy a young caboose who is dissatisfied with her life tethered to the back of a smoky, dirty train. One day an accident sets her free and after many adventures, Katy learns a lesson about enjoying what life brings to you.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXhwe5Hb9cfJ97_xv5TQ2-DoYwSvzHXwjLJpcCLBGBR6csGUB-eqCxFF5znMpjcOtI77MTkvZuKrYcCV5so5FvggmAKEVlliPWRlyvMNp0KlCc0McQir_oZaG6khQ1QdLJEFKrU7PBgo/s400/Seven+Silly+Eaters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="400" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdXhwe5Hb9cfJ97_xv5TQ2-DoYwSvzHXwjLJpcCLBGBR6csGUB-eqCxFF5znMpjcOtI77MTkvZuKrYcCV5so5FvggmAKEVlliPWRlyvMNp0KlCc0McQir_oZaG6khQ1QdLJEFKrU7PBgo/s320/Seven+Silly+Eaters.jpg" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;">Mom is stretched to her limit by her seven children who all have different tastes in food. Amid the chaos, Mom is worried the kids will forget all about her birthday, but to her surprise the kids have been planning a special, and delicious, treat for her all along. <i>The Seven Silly Eaters </i>is wonderfully told in rhyme by Maryann Hoberman, with winning illustrations by Marla Frazel. Don't miss this one.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">All of these books provide great fun and joyful immersion in playful language. What better way to celebrate Poetry Month?</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p><br /></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-69496285224619278872021-04-14T09:27:00.003-04:002021-04-14T19:57:10.929-04:00My Learning Loss Formula: Read, Write, Share<p><a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2021/03/henny-penny-discovers-learnng-loss.html" target="_blank"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPiv9nSrolWMfe1G9jsBuXiCfP-Oh7UgKKfCK0v2j0x4u97TurBSqcpf0RHviTBnpsmGxmLNNb1fpCmb0pJH4x_yZCR5BXEvyxn1ogcxJ0zII9CQs0dNOT1tloOL1iZKfrGrAB23nEVgA/s1828/kids+zoom+meeting.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1388" data-original-width="1828" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPiv9nSrolWMfe1G9jsBuXiCfP-Oh7UgKKfCK0v2j0x4u97TurBSqcpf0RHviTBnpsmGxmLNNb1fpCmb0pJH4x_yZCR5BXEvyxn1ogcxJ0zII9CQs0dNOT1tloOL1iZKfrGrAB23nEVgA/s320/kids+zoom+meeting.png" width="320" /></a></div>As I addressed<a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2021/03/henny-penny-discovers-learnng-loss.html" target="_blank"> in a post a month ago</a>, the Henny Penny's of the world are running around clucking about how the pandemic will lead to inevitable LEARNING LOSS!!!!! Learning Loss, as Peter Greene at Forbes, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2021/03/09/learning-loss-is-just-educational-halitosis/?sh=f6a881d5e8c4" target="_blank">has pointed out,</a> is the latest scare tactic being used by educational reformers to push their own agenda (standardized tests, vouchers, tutoring programs). In assessing any learning loss prescription, the first question we need to ask is, "Who stands to benefit/profit?" If the answer to that question is anyone other than school children, we should look for a different solution. <p></p><p>Many educational researchers are looking at pandemic learning loss as a corollary to summer learning loss. Interestingly, summer learning loss is really only an issue for the most vulnerable in our school communities, those with limited access to literacy materials and other learning opportunities during their time away from school. Richard Allington found that simply giving vulnerable readers books to take home over the summer helped combat summer learning loss. We might conclude that it is not being in school that is most vital to learning, but rather it is about having easy access to opportunities that enhance learning.</p><p>With that in mind, I would like to propose my three-step program for combatting learning loss. I base this program on my own pandemic experience, which has been scary and frustrating, but has also opened opportunities based on increased free time.</p><p><b>Step 1 - Read Something</b></p><p>I have spent much of the pandemic catching up on my reading. I have read books that were assigned to me in high school and college that I never got around to reading before (<i>Crime and Punishment, The Light in August). </i>I have re-read some old favorites (<i>Grapes of Wrath, So Long See You Tomorrow) </i>and read books by favorite authors I had never gotten around to (<i>Pastures of Heaven, Time Will Darken It). </i>I have not neglected my non-fiction reading either <i>(These Truths, Donald Trump vs. The United States, K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches). </i>And I have also indulged my love of detective stories by reading the <i>Bosch </i>series by Michael Connelly and the <i>Slow Horses </i>series by Mick Herron.</p><p>As teachers, I think we should be spending most of our pandemic teaching time finding ways to encourage students to use a chunk of their pandemic time just reading. Just reading from books they have chosen to read for themselves. Engaged reading, it seems to me, is the single most important antidote to learning loss. Kids need help with this. Teachers help by sharing good books that kids might be interested in and by making sure they have access to them, online or otherwise. Reading something aloud to the students is a good start. Book talks are effective in sharing a variety of books of interest. This reading need not, of course, be limited to books. Interesting articles from online periodicals and news outlets are good fodder for engaged reading. </p><p><b>Step 2 - Write Something</b></p><p>Writing something is the single best way to make learning concrete. When we write something, shape ideas into words, we internalize our own understanding. Writing also often spurs more reading as we try to get our ideas down just right. During the pandemic, I have used new found time to launch a new writing career based on my love of baseball. I am now writing short biographies for a website dedicated to baseball research. This work has reinforced in me the idea that writing is, in Jerome Bruner's terms, a unique form of learning. </p><p>The pandemic, therefore, seems to me to be the perfect time for teachers to be finding ways to encourage their students to write. One good way to do this is to share your own writing. Teachers who write often spawn students who write. Your willingness to write (personal narrative, feature articles, poetry, whatever you like) and share that writing can be motivating to students. The key is to give kids choice in what they want to explore in their writing. The idea here is to just write. Just write about those things that matter to you, those things that you want to learn more about. Just write, imperfectly at first, to get ideas down on paper. To shape your own thinking.</p><p><b>Step 3 - Share with others</b></p><p>To be human is to communicate with others. Like all of us, my face to face communication has been limited over the past year. Family Zoom meetings and "Happy Hour" Zoom gatherings with friends have offered an opportunity for communication. Publishing my writing on the blogs I maintain and publishing with my newfound outlets like the Society for Baseball Research and the Internet Baseball Writers of America have provided other opportunities to share and get feedback.</p><p>Similarly, whether in person or through Zoom-type electronic meeting groups, students should be encouraged to share what they have been reading and writing. When we talk about what we have read, we must formulate our thoughts and reflect on our reading. This work requires a deeper, more deliberate understanding. Sharing what we write, first helps us to judge the effectiveness of our writing and second, gives us the opportunity to get feedback on that writing. Whether through the internet or in person in the appropriately distanced classroom, communicating about what we read and write solidifies and extends our learning.</p><p>So, there you have it. My three-pronged formula for combatting learning loss. It doesn't require a great big standardized test. It doesn't cost anything. It simply taps into what we all know is real and personal and lasting in learning.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-77603735768716592662021-04-05T09:07:00.001-04:002021-04-05T10:35:48.442-04:00April Is Poetry Month! Here Are Some Poems to Eat<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EqZopbGX_P4TQGog5jkSoKu5QxFCOlijzCc10DRl5GyUdWMYCEps0lODWxQpXMqu_wftKrP8lHJ_L9zODTyH4QBLUJ8DcUhnKfi2oTwJnLRSUMWwBdA01KCNBWEWRDobl0_0Mj1RT7o/s720/how-to-eat-a-poem.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="640" height="463" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9EqZopbGX_P4TQGog5jkSoKu5QxFCOlijzCc10DRl5GyUdWMYCEps0lODWxQpXMqu_wftKrP8lHJ_L9zODTyH4QBLUJ8DcUhnKfi2oTwJnLRSUMWwBdA01KCNBWEWRDobl0_0Mj1RT7o/w411-h463/how-to-eat-a-poem.jpg" width="411" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">April is Poetry Month. April is the perfect time for celebrating poetry through read alouds. Actually, any time is the perfect time for reading poetry aloud. Poetry is meant to be read aloud and children love poetry. But April, with its symbols of rebirth, with the daffodils and cherry blossoms blooming and with dormant grass and barren trees coming back to life seems like the best of times for Poetry Month. So, as Eve Merriam suggests in the poem above, let's dig right in and choose some favorite poems to munch on.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsCqQ43igRO9TWe4dVrgqjtxEJv7HW76hHlZJtMvesmwAR36Lt4ZMoHmxdt6V0QGTJCXOHuFbWisY-iALJVRsd8eytCiPfiDm_-GS6J3VVlkSDHL45VKB_h3iuA9FHRj7FHDaBGqw5DY/s700/Inner+Chimes.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="572" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglsCqQ43igRO9TWe4dVrgqjtxEJv7HW76hHlZJtMvesmwAR36Lt4ZMoHmxdt6V0QGTJCXOHuFbWisY-iALJVRsd8eytCiPfiDm_-GS6J3VVlkSDHL45VKB_h3iuA9FHRj7FHDaBGqw5DY/s320/Inner+Chimes.jpg" /></a></div><i>Inner Chimes, </i>is a collection of poems about poetry selected by Bobbye S. Goldstein and illustrated by Jane Briskin Zalben. It contains the Eve Merriam poem cited above as well as all manner of poems that discuss how poems are made, how they should be read, and how they are created. Poems by children's poetry luminaries like Karla Kuskin, Eleanor Farjeon, Jack Prelutsky, and Nikki Giovanni are included. This book makes a great introduction to a unit on poetry for students of all ages.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMdICniGrUCXoCHT0BUOpfNE89OvgVdgMaS4NO12zjZsahRZnFHp5-o52qG3ZiZ14ERY_WcyKgkMGj-ucTNEytVRjaBreAY854-q0pqsjUdKKrBCjmIe8_U0c15bNLyAw_Nsj_be7Y46Y/s320/Earth+is+Painted+Green.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMdICniGrUCXoCHT0BUOpfNE89OvgVdgMaS4NO12zjZsahRZnFHp5-o52qG3ZiZ14ERY_WcyKgkMGj-ucTNEytVRjaBreAY854-q0pqsjUdKKrBCjmIe8_U0c15bNLyAw_Nsj_be7Y46Y/s0/Earth+is+Painted+Green.jpg" /></a><i><div><i><br /></i></div>T</i><i>he Earth is Painted Green,</i> edited by Barbara Brenner and lushly illustrated by S. D. Schindler, is a book dedicated to the celebration of planet Earth through poetry. The book is the perfect compilation for Earth Day celebrations, April 22 this year. Poets anthologized here include X.J. Kennedy, Shel Silverstein, David McCord, Myra Cohn Livingston, and Lillian Moore.</div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNapKhujmUn_OQKd8XVlvAB_vniPfnUeWyiAMPZYHAg2X8ml53K5KqnTRcJGD7K7nHq1_-YPYN180CLcMAhQJLeLZoYFTMVX-9K8VaFI0BKq-PBdl3JEa4uOuI2AtXp6qwhst8ARsD24/s2048/i-feel-a-little-jumpy-around-you-9781439116159_hr.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1375" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNapKhujmUn_OQKd8XVlvAB_vniPfnUeWyiAMPZYHAg2X8ml53K5KqnTRcJGD7K7nHq1_-YPYN180CLcMAhQJLeLZoYFTMVX-9K8VaFI0BKq-PBdl3JEa4uOuI2AtXp6qwhst8ARsD24/w228-h339/i-feel-a-little-jumpy-around-you-9781439116159_hr.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><div><br /></div>In <i>I Feel a Little Jumpy Around You, f</i>amed poet Naomi Shahib Nye and famed poetry anthologist Paul B. Janeczko collaborate to collect poems that look at a variety of topics from the differing points of view of women poets and men poets. Topics explored include how men perceive women and women perceive men, and how different sexes view the world. The poems delineate our differences, but also, how we are in many ways very much the same.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgClfbCtdZ511dq8Y06ZhYPDZiBQhY8ywCNZrS5FPdlzwuQMStfqkDitFBF3N0180kM-Xn6i6qDkqLr5y4uG0yuVJ5OkX96s_IB-wp7ROPTxDILKhpngQS-xQJtPc341S8KjFjQnlNnI/s400/Oxford+poetry.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhgClfbCtdZ511dq8Y06ZhYPDZiBQhY8ywCNZrS5FPdlzwuQMStfqkDitFBF3N0180kM-Xn6i6qDkqLr5y4uG0yuVJ5OkX96s_IB-wp7ROPTxDILKhpngQS-xQJtPc341S8KjFjQnlNnI/s320/Oxford+poetry.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><i>The Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children's Poems, </i>edited by the great American poet Donald Hall, is the essential anthology for classroom libraries. It covers the breadth of American poetic history from early Native American verse to contemporary voices from the Barrio. Poets represented run from Emily Dickenson to Sonia Sanchez, from Robert Frost to Shel Silverstein, from T. S. Eliot to Janet S. Wong. With this anthology on your shelf, you will always have an appropriate poem to match what your teaching at the moment.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0COfYTQRow0mEEnWFu3Ozi4sA00mkemqXhf3z9Bkh5FHiRoKWNAneN619KzW6DXykQHxxUTI74-JTDh8a1luXTuPUKGZVTdirBDKc8grAqMh_TJMZdP5B5X8WGpjk3blup3N5wF52uLs/s400/All+the+small.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="261" height="382" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0COfYTQRow0mEEnWFu3Ozi4sA00mkemqXhf3z9Bkh5FHiRoKWNAneN619KzW6DXykQHxxUTI74-JTDh8a1luXTuPUKGZVTdirBDKc8grAqMh_TJMZdP5B5X8WGpjk3blup3N5wF52uLs/w250-h382/All+the+small.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><div>Children who are new to poetry may wish to start small and this collection of short form master Valerie Worth's four volumes of short poems is just what the doctor ordered. Her friend and fellow children's author, Natalie Babbitt, provides the charming illustrations. <i>All the Small Poems and Fourteen More </i>makes an excellent introduction to non-rhyming poetry for all children and, therefore, acts as a spur for children to write their own poems. In my classroom, it was a key mentor text for a writing unit on poetry. Here is a (ahem) brief example.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Coins</b></div><div>Coins are pleasant</div><div>To the hand;</div><div>Neat cirles, smooth,</div><div>A little heavy,</div><div>They feel as if</div><div>They are worth something.<br /><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq61HaOlrRx2odbfK8aS4DkpdxnJhfK4byeG8BBTgHDuRorgSPZGt2IuVw1nGwtvJLTnDKlvLGUhvCSu7u4n89nukifIhtcVjPj4Vi2pk2PnsgupVi8WXBq5IrN6LjgArhuqVCf6kkPtw/s400/Poetic+Possibilities.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="280" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq61HaOlrRx2odbfK8aS4DkpdxnJhfK4byeG8BBTgHDuRorgSPZGt2IuVw1nGwtvJLTnDKlvLGUhvCSu7u4n89nukifIhtcVjPj4Vi2pk2PnsgupVi8WXBq5IrN6LjgArhuqVCf6kkPtw/w251-h358/Poetic+Possibilities.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><div><br /></div>If you are looking for ideas on how to integrate poetry into your literacy instruction, <i>Poetic Possibilities, </i>edited by Susan E. Israel with Michelle M. Israel, will be helpful. The authors offer a collection of poems taken from the pages of the journal, <i>The Reading Teacher, </i>and provide discussion prompts and literacy applications for each poem. Full disclosure: I was honored to have one of my poems included in this anthology. You can read it below.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><b style="font-size: 14pt;">Under the
Table <br /></b>by Russ Walsh</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Under
the table’s the best place to read.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">A
good book and small table are all that I need,<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">For
a morning’s adventure<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Or
a tale of dark doom.<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Under
the table –<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">My
own reading room.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Under
the table, where it’s dark and it’s quiet,<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">I
open a book and start my own reading riot,<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">With
castles and dragons<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">And
maids in distress<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">And
a hero to ride in<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">And
clean up the mess.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Under
the table I’ve a place of my own,<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Where
my book and I can be left quite alone,<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">To
climb the high mountains<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Or
swim with the fishes<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">To
uncover a genie<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">To
fulfill my wishes.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
that’s why each morning at just about 10,<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">When
time for reading rolls around once again,<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Under
the table’s<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Where
I can be found<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">With
a book on my lap<br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">And
no one around.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Enjoy sharing poetry with children this month!</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> <p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div></div>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-66711433860323231882021-03-29T10:22:00.001-04:002021-03-29T10:22:44.168-04:00The Reading Helper<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP-1EBkaTTlFi81NxRpVI4xc9d8wFK3MfDfyqHx4QwMCLqfYq9F40DRjquVObtLJvVVL_cKnRWUDECFQniwkF7Iunn5WfmVuzBB85jVOXtNUL1_Uz5cNVtRw9Z-xPdqE27rUysQyDnzb8/s650/Danielle+piece+image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="430" data-original-width="650" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiP-1EBkaTTlFi81NxRpVI4xc9d8wFK3MfDfyqHx4QwMCLqfYq9F40DRjquVObtLJvVVL_cKnRWUDECFQniwkF7Iunn5WfmVuzBB85jVOXtNUL1_Uz5cNVtRw9Z-xPdqE27rUysQyDnzb8/s320/Danielle+piece+image.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>I have a teaching certificate that says I am a qualified <i>Teacher of Reading, </i>and <i>Reading Specialist </i>and <i>Supervisor, </i>but from the time I got a certain Valentine's Day card from a student in 1993 I have thought of myself as a <i>Reading Helper. </i>That card was from a second grade vulnerable reader named Danielle who had been my student since that September. The cover of the hand made card was full of many colored hearts and flowers and said, of course, "Happy Valentine's Day." Inside was a message that I will never forget and which has defined my work ever since: "Thank you for hleping me read. Love, Danielle" Yes, exactly, "hleping." Danielle still had some spelling reversals crop up from time to time. But the message could not have been clearer. I was being thanked for helping and it meant the world to me.<div><br /></div><div>As I reflected on this note, I began to realize that Danielle's message was truly profound. Danielle had made progress in reading, and I had helped, but Danielle was the one who did most of the work in her great improvement. She needed some help, but she had to do the hard work. I think it is important that we all remember this. Most of the hard work of becoming a reader is done by the reader. We can help, but skilled reading is mostly a matter of the individual spending highly engaged time in the act of reading, making meaning, figuring out words, solving problems along the way.</div><div><br /></div><div>When vulnerable readers need help, reading helpers provide it. Here are some ways I think we can provide that help.</div><div><br /></div><div><b><a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2017/06/on-teaching-well-five-lessons-from-long.html" target="_blank">Develop a Relationship</a></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Vulnerable readers are children first and we need to get to know the child, their interests, their passions, their worries, their hopes, their dreams first. Share with the child your own passions, worries, hopes and dreams as well. Relationships are two way streets. It. may not seem like instruction to just sit and talk, but it is a prerequisite for the reading helper.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Know Lots of Books</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>A reading helper needs to know a wide variety of books on a wide variety of topics and a wide variety of reading levels to make knowledgeable recommendations to vulnerable readers. It is important to be able to say, "I think I know a book you will like."</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Watch and Listen</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>For the reading helper, diagnosis is accomplished by knowledgeable observation of the child in the act of reading and other literacy activities (writing, spelling, choosing a book, sitting and reading). That means lots of listening to the child read and lots of analysis of that reading. Running Records are an excellent format for this, but sometimes just sitting and watching while the child reads can yield useful information.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Target Instruction</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Watching and listening provide information for targeted instruction. Reading helpers need to focus on one or two key instructional points per session. Build slowly and celebrate small successes. Be sure to focus on decoding and comprehension and teach intentionally for <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2018/01/when-readers-struggle-fluency.html" target="_blank">fluency development.</a></div><div><br /></div><div><b>Follow Instruction with Choice Reading</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Build in time for the child to do some reading from a book of their own choosing, perhaps books that have been the focus of instruction previously or a book from a browsing box you have developed with the child. Note how the child is doing with applying the targeted instruction for the day.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Advocate for the Student</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Communicate to the classroom teacher and the parents about what you have learned about the child, their reading challenges, and your recommendations for how they can help. Try to insure that teaching points are reinforced in the regular classroom and work to have the parent provide a time for reading and listening at home.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Increase the Complexity of the Tasks</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Try not to belabor instructional goals, even if they don't seemed to be mastered. Move to more complex tasks and more difficult reading tasks, cautiously, but with the intention of continuing forward momentum. If fluency or understanding are lost, double back to reinforce previous teaching points.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Focus on Will and Skill</b></div><div><br /></div><div>Motivation to read is built on interest and success. As the reading helper your job is to help the child identify books that they want to read and that they can read. Most of what a reader will learn about reading will occur while the reader is engaged in real reading. Make sure that real reading happens as often as possible. Every successful encounter with an unknown word and every successful attempt to make sense of the reading, reinforces your teaching and extends the reader's knowledge of reading. <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2018/02/when-readers-struggle-increase.html" target="_blank">Engaged, independent reading is critical to success.</a></div><div><br /></div><div>My work with Danielle resulted, as many of my encounters with students did in those days, in a poem. The poem was published in <i>The Reading Teacher</i>, in March 1995 (Volume 48, No. 6).</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Danielle</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>As I flash, all business, into the room. </div><div>I am stopped by her doe-eyed expectancy.</div><div>The tilt of the head, the turn of the nose,</div><div>The shy-happy, half-lip smile of greeting.</div><div>Eager.</div><div>Pleased to see me.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Can I read to you today, Mr. R?</div><div>I practiced last night."</div><div>Her baby radiance lifts my bone-achy</div><div>Early morning fog.</div><div><br /></div><div>"Yes, Danielle, read to me.</div><div>Read to me of dreams fulfilled."</div><div><br /></div><div>"Well, I only have this book about a cat."</div><div><br /></div><div>"That will do nicely, Danielle."</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-11883593548026629512021-03-22T09:37:00.000-04:002021-03-22T09:37:52.527-04:00Reading Aloud for Better Human Understanding: Asian-American Picture Books<p>Prejudice and hate crimes against Asian-Americans are not new in the United States, unfortunately, but the recent increase in bias related crimes against this segment of the American population reminds us that anti-bias efforts remain critical. The need to address the issues head on is made doubly important when political leaders are among the principal spreaders of this unreasoned hatred. One way to combat prejudice is through knowledge and understanding and one good way to spread knowledge and understanding is through a good book. Here are some great picture books that will help young readers learn about their Asian-American classmates and neighbors.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-YxcW6KzEj1kDqTEXowlnT12oYT16uSi-cmDA8kbDn-dGI7dgf9km0_P6QBfQJSaEIuDisuggmMura1j5ICA33jB15i0UQsfRHvs6gjujp_0cvNlN-TLPMSDLcfrz10yySLnHl08fL0/s260/angel+child.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="221" data-original-width="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii-YxcW6KzEj1kDqTEXowlnT12oYT16uSi-cmDA8kbDn-dGI7dgf9km0_P6QBfQJSaEIuDisuggmMura1j5ICA33jB15i0UQsfRHvs6gjujp_0cvNlN-TLPMSDLcfrz10yySLnHl08fL0/s0/angel+child.jpg" /></a></div><p>Long one of my favorite read alouds for children in grades 2-5, <i>Angel Child, Dragon Child, </i>by Michelle Maria Serat, with pictures by Vo-Dinh Mai, tells the story of Ut, recently arrived in the United States from Vietnam. Ut is teased by her new classmates for her different language and different clothes. School is a sad, dispiriting experience and home is a place where she misses her mother who has not made the journey with the family. Ut eventually makes an unlikely friend at school, a boy who was her chief tormentor, and the school community eventually unites around Ut and her family. Wonderful soft pencil and watercolor illustrations enhance the story.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbA1dR_MtnUyUbkeI0TpZzyvvcEOQgatbd-ykluB56mArNV3JAMTeOLSKHZBnb4c4oNETguTkpYheeEchmbeyKWPbb3WHxoYa9GvRVS2gWZjWCTYSBfUcxbQBT_C-gkmvxPc9T-X9HbFQ/s2021/Grandfather%2527s+Journey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2021" data-original-width="1650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbA1dR_MtnUyUbkeI0TpZzyvvcEOQgatbd-ykluB56mArNV3JAMTeOLSKHZBnb4c4oNETguTkpYheeEchmbeyKWPbb3WHxoYa9GvRVS2gWZjWCTYSBfUcxbQBT_C-gkmvxPc9T-X9HbFQ/s320/Grandfather%2527s+Journey.jpg" /></a></div>In <i>Grandfather's Journey, </i>the great artist and story teller, Alan Say, recounts his own cross-cultural experience as a man who loves to countries. When in America, he misses Japan, when in Japan he misses his home in America. His grandfather, who made the journey from home in Japan to new home in America, would understand. A Caldecott medal winner. Don't miss it.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Pibk6gVSOJDqDhlKKCK-3BOrREkq7xte2h4scAopvVIxZKQebMaVYPSKyI5kerovejI0ZVcB9kONzkqpuSaOXy9lN-6O2L1qQtvHTKppY_HLBaML1p-pCGZKzTDyKD8Xa-szOZ0rKkU/s318/Coolies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="258" data-original-width="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Pibk6gVSOJDqDhlKKCK-3BOrREkq7xte2h4scAopvVIxZKQebMaVYPSKyI5kerovejI0ZVcB9kONzkqpuSaOXy9lN-6O2L1qQtvHTKppY_HLBaML1p-pCGZKzTDyKD8Xa-szOZ0rKkU/s0/Coolies.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div><i>Coolies, </i>by Yin, with phenomenal illustrations by Chris Sontpiet, tells the story of the Chinese immigrants to America who came to help build the transcontinental railroad. Arriving full of wonder and hope, Shek and his brother, Little Wong, find back breaking labor, harsh discrimination, and dangerous conditions in the railroad labor camps. The story, based on historical events, becomes a testament to these workers' courage and perseverance. The richly detailed pictures make the story even more unforgettable and compelling.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjILSzr-9WC-QOYielNw8pTjUt-QwAL8qlxwaCjrt_m1sxmAgO2rTalrLMgZsvC9JIxPKJJc884aoEl8E8gzQmFMtxrVkso1wsjNb55kNxBMd-HCbrf84Gk5C3tKCjHv6JcPgyV6d71CK0/s2048/Eyes+that+kiss.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1684" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjILSzr-9WC-QOYielNw8pTjUt-QwAL8qlxwaCjrt_m1sxmAgO2rTalrLMgZsvC9JIxPKJJc884aoEl8E8gzQmFMtxrVkso1wsjNb55kNxBMd-HCbrf84Gk5C3tKCjHv6JcPgyV6d71CK0/s320/Eyes+that+kiss.jpg" /></a></div><div><p>Just published this year, <i>Eyes that Kiss in the Corner, by </i>Joanna Ho, with drawings by Dung Ho, is a powerful reminder of the importance of a positive self-image for all young people. When a young Asian girl notices the difference between her eyes and the eyes of the other children in her class, she draws on the strength of her mother and grandmother to come to an understanding that her eyes are special and beautiful and filled with stories from the past and hope for the future.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOOcd2woQ9AmVEgqWU3azim_Fjj9UEXpZCQ3vvFzXhQOKbWxp_Q2c4gy8bOMOyZiunHIUPb_5V2tewOzN_3nLpiAyoUN7ImKmDDBM5C07HzGEKFcuatyYBxSYecvqTcgul4DG5HgUFJWk/s597/Crow+Boy+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="597" data-original-width="474" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOOcd2woQ9AmVEgqWU3azim_Fjj9UEXpZCQ3vvFzXhQOKbWxp_Q2c4gy8bOMOyZiunHIUPb_5V2tewOzN_3nLpiAyoUN7ImKmDDBM5C07HzGEKFcuatyYBxSYecvqTcgul4DG5HgUFJWk/s320/Crow+Boy+2.jpg" /></a></div><p>An old, much loved favorite is Taro Yashima's Caldecott Honor winning tale of the <i>Crow Boy. </i>Chibi, or "tiny boy", is a strange boy in school. He was afraid of the teacher and could not learn a thing. He was afraid of the other children and could not make friends. The other children in school called him stupid and slowpoke. But day after day, year after year, Chibi came trudging to school. Finally, Chibi finds a teacher who understands him. Mr. Isobe discovers Chibi's special gifts. When Chibi shows off his ability to imitate the sounds of birds, the children are amazed and saddened by how much they had mistreated Chibi all those years. A character and a story to remember, with a universal message. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">A good book, well read. A kind word. A conversation about how we are all so very different and yet all so much the same. These are conversations we must be having with children right now. Hate and mistrust cannot be our legacy. When we grow to understand our different cultures, our different histories, our different physical features, we reduce the chances for hate to take root. What a wonderful goal for an author, an illustrator, and a teacher. </div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-87860767715905646732021-03-15T09:31:00.004-04:002021-03-18T08:54:31.921-04:00Henny Penny Discovers Learning Loss<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOipEy20pZCTVdS5CcDuaI7-SWJ1gLLaChOkXJTfoR1Wz05B8CXOcbx3bTuPzgKCRQguc4W_YSQY2uQvbJBxQfGk8pljAFss9b689mYMD8cYA36WHn8dpvUTcx_w7Nec985d8iaDv4G7U/s390/Henny+Penny.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOipEy20pZCTVdS5CcDuaI7-SWJ1gLLaChOkXJTfoR1Wz05B8CXOcbx3bTuPzgKCRQguc4W_YSQY2uQvbJBxQfGk8pljAFss9b689mYMD8cYA36WHn8dpvUTcx_w7Nec985d8iaDv4G7U/s320/Henny+Penny.jpg" /></a></div><br />It was a difficult year in the barnyard with all the animals confined to their own homes because of a mysterious and devastating avian flu. Henny Penny, cooped up in her humble abode with a half dozen chicks scurrying about unable to go to school, was at her wits' end. She barricaded herself in the TV room and turned on Foxy News. There she heard a report from an education expert, one Chester Tester, that the entire barnyard was going down the tubes due to an outbreak of "learning loss."<p></p><p>Henny Penny flew into a panic. She flung open the door calling to the chicks, "You are losing learning. You are losing learning. Hurry we must find it." Henny Penny and her chicks scurried around the chicken house looking for their learning. The looked under the beds of straw. They looked in the kitchen. They searched the family room. They even rifled through the medicine cabinet, but they could not find their learning. </p><p>Finally, Henny Penny FaceTimed her friend, Ducky Lucky. "Ducky Lucky," said Henny Penny, "I just heard on Foxy News that my chicks are losing their learning."</p><p>"Oh, no!" said Ducky Lucky. "If your chicks are losing their learning, mine must be, too. Our friend Goosey Loosey is here, let's see what she thinks."</p><p>Goosey Loosey came onto the FaceTime call. Henny Penny said, "The chicks are losing their learning! The chicks are losing their learning!"</p><p>Goosey Loosey said, "You know, I haven't seen my chicks carrying their learning around in weeks. I think they must have lost their learning, too. It's a community problem. We need a Zoom meeting with all the animals in the barnyard."</p><p>Goosey Loosey, who was the best organized of the three, sent out a Zoom invitation to Turkey Lurkey, Drakey Lakey, Goosey Gander, and Foxy Woxy. At first the Zoom meeting was a disaster with each of the animals clucking at the same time and Goosey Gander having microphone issues, but finally Henny Penny shouted over the din, "Our children are losing their learning! Our children are losing their learning! What can we do?"</p><p>Everybody started clucking and cackling again until Foxy Loxy intoned in a deep clear voice, "I can help you."</p><p>"What can you do?" the concerned parents all asked at once.</p><p>"Well, first we need to measure the learning that has been lost," said Foxy Loxy. </p><p>"How do you do that?" they asked.</p><p>"Oh, with a great big standardized learning loss test," said the sly fox. "I have one ready to go."</p><p>"But what if the test shows they have learning loss?" asked Turkey Lurkey.</p><p>"Oh, well then, my den of learned foxes will offer the chicks intensified tutoring and summer school. It really works wonders," enthused the fox.</p><p>"That sounds pretty expensive," said Goosey Gander who was always worried about money.</p><p>"Oh, no!" said Foxy Loxy slyly, "all you need to do is let my group of foxes into the hen house."</p><p>Foxy Loxy smiled and licked his lips. The group of concerned parents murmured to each other in concern for their chicks. They were about to agree, when Drakey Lakey spoke up.</p><p>"Wait a minute. Are we sure our children have lost their learning? I know a year away from the schoolhouse is concerning. And I know the online learning is not as good as beak to beak learning, but just what are we worried about here. Our children are learning lots of things. They have learned how to make the best of a bad situation. They have learned how we all need to pitch in to help each other. They have learned to wear masks in public. They have learned a lot about communicable diseases. They may have different learning this year, but is that the same as losing learning? Before we let the foxes into the hen house, we better be sure there is a big problem."</p><p>The Zoom meeting went silent. Goosey Loosey shut down Foxy Loxy's Zoom feed. She said, "You know maybe we have bigger things to worry about than learning loss. I am going to go read my chicks a book."</p><p>For some serious reading about the silliness of learning loss check out Peter Greene's collection of the <a href="https://curmudgucation.blogspot.com/2021/03/a-learning-loss-debunkery-reader.html" target="_blank">best pieces on the topic here.</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-11587559242633946712021-03-08T11:10:00.000-05:002021-03-08T11:10:20.979-05:00Read Alouds for Social Justice: The Right to Vote and Combatting "The Big Lie"<p>This past Sunday was the anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," the attack on peaceful protestors on the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama that resulted in many marchers, including future Congressman John Lewis, being beaten nearly to death. Those marchers were seeking the most basic of American rights, the right to vote. Not long after Selma, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was supposed to protect everyone's right to vote. Much of that landmark legislation was gutted by the Supreme Court in a 2013 decision, and that action brought on a new round of attempts to suppress voters. The Big Lie propagated by former President Trump and his followers, asserting that the latest presidential election was rigged, has now led to 23 states again trying to limit our voting rights. </p><p>Picture books and read alouds have an important role to play in informing children about the importance of voting, the sacrifice others have made so we can vote, and the actions we need to take to make sure that the right to vote is protected. He are some favorites.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXlGF9ZDfwIpycjvbfQNn43wcagE8_BaOn65WUMhNOz-9HydxJPo433QgCNA9UF0BHyLkKzvxII0eT87M6g7-OCmQnBwMIEZhie0xaX2lZ9AHx0IbgioQQ1sH0gtPs3i3FMJegXZaovTk/s1437/The-Teachers-March-How-Selma%25E2%2580%2599s-Teachers-Changed-History-by-Sandra-Neil-Wallace-and-Rich-Wallace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1437" data-original-width="1183" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXlGF9ZDfwIpycjvbfQNn43wcagE8_BaOn65WUMhNOz-9HydxJPo433QgCNA9UF0BHyLkKzvxII0eT87M6g7-OCmQnBwMIEZhie0xaX2lZ9AHx0IbgioQQ1sH0gtPs3i3FMJegXZaovTk/s320/The-Teachers-March-How-Selma%25E2%2580%2599s-Teachers-Changed-History-by-Sandra-Neil-Wallace-and-Rich-Wallace.jpg" /></a></div><p>For <i>The Teachers March!</i> authors Sandra Neil Wallace and Rich Wallace interviewed the Reverand F. D. Reese, a principal and teacher and a leader of the Voting Rights Movement in Selma , Alabama, along with several other teachers and their families. The interviews make for a compelling story. It is the story of a group of Black teachers who walked off their jobs on January 22, 1965 to march for the right to vote. Charley Palmer's vibrant illustrations bring the story to life.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXeZIb0TBvrUxM7IdTST8zdD6Qf5wHiMaZ9VXgvCqOa6TnBF27ISw3isEMYH_QzrBPyokcHfU5-7Ms6PEq813RDUgXrjMUvMDKy7cu82Ht3mkCTFexXWY16mpTSNrZjegNFXMcBPoXRI/s334/Lillians+Right+to+Vote.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="260" height="346" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIXeZIb0TBvrUxM7IdTST8zdD6Qf5wHiMaZ9VXgvCqOa6TnBF27ISw3isEMYH_QzrBPyokcHfU5-7Ms6PEq813RDUgXrjMUvMDKy7cu82Ht3mkCTFexXWY16mpTSNrZjegNFXMcBPoXRI/w269-h346/Lillians+Right+to+Vote.jpg" width="269" /></a></div><div>In <i>Lillian's Right to Vote</i>, we get the story of an elderly woman's determination to make her voice heard. As she climbs a tall hill to her polling place, Lillian remembers the sacrifices her family made to ensure that this precious right would be hers. The book is a 50th anniversary tribute to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Author Jonah Winter uses the hill that Lillian must climb to beautifully evoke the struggles of her ancestors to reach their goal. The pictures are by Coretta Scott King Award Winner Shane W. Evans.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTzQJqVGjb14DWjOx4It_184YHaLnsm0nuZE4ZmahjNq5rofx4HsEuuOjpeAO8UVaqGRH4tVySQcRuaVWzsVFrBpK_1TB-jS0Wj4fOwl1XrZCIdwplBMUga8VuBLfQPOj14on0uBRGwk/s1190/So+You+want+to+be+president.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="1190" height="284" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuTzQJqVGjb14DWjOx4It_184YHaLnsm0nuZE4ZmahjNq5rofx4HsEuuOjpeAO8UVaqGRH4tVySQcRuaVWzsVFrBpK_1TB-jS0Wj4fOwl1XrZCIdwplBMUga8VuBLfQPOj14on0uBRGwk/w284-h284/So+You+want+to+be+president.jpg" width="284" /></a></div><div>In <i>So You Want to Be President, </i>veteran non-fiction author Judith St. George and Caldecott winning illustrator , David Small, combine for this updated version of the classic picture book that helps children learn what it takes to be the president. The book shares not just the humanity of our presidents, but some of the characteristics that make each of them unique. The illustrations are laugh out loud funny.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGpiLz4q8ECKYFa83ZoJONotVJMPnw3fs3vCwS9jd_eQUxPQiveSsyN9vYHulj_KCwd4C1QsR6YbJvcr9vynR_-IiL_GkvJqkdEsS4UJigfzSEdWtfK9RwOERIlZk_-8ehX1TWlH14oos/s500/Bold+and+Brave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="500" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGpiLz4q8ECKYFa83ZoJONotVJMPnw3fs3vCwS9jd_eQUxPQiveSsyN9vYHulj_KCwd4C1QsR6YbJvcr9vynR_-IiL_GkvJqkdEsS4UJigfzSEdWtfK9RwOERIlZk_-8ehX1TWlH14oos/s320/Bold+and+Brave.jpg" /></a></div><div>Senator Kristin Gillibrand of New York brings us the story of ten heroes who won women the right to vote. The book highlights not only the stories of well known women like Susan B. Anthony and Ida B. Wells, but lesser known names like Alice Paul and Mary Church Terrell. Gillibrand demonstrates that each woman has a lesson to teach us about courage and determination. The witty illustrations are by famed <i>New Yorker </i>cover artist, Maira Kalman.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIJYR5K7z__dnDxisH2SSKJridtGZbPPm145WwoxBccxXyhPs7MRr9hJ0eAuVCOZ3rgmeLY2UeWxnsvg8piWBDLaYfrWujCJ64-6CpiYcSpACy8nMfwNUlLL9UL4Tevb9NFIabHu3LBw/s377/Ida+B.+Wells.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="377" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPIJYR5K7z__dnDxisH2SSKJridtGZbPPm145WwoxBccxXyhPs7MRr9hJ0eAuVCOZ3rgmeLY2UeWxnsvg8piWBDLaYfrWujCJ64-6CpiYcSpACy8nMfwNUlLL9UL4Tevb9NFIabHu3LBw/s320/Ida+B.+Wells.jpg" /></a></div><div><div><div><p>This biography of Ida B. Wells by one of my favorite authors for young people, Walter Dean Myers, tells the story of the remarkable career of the African American journalist, abolitionist, and feminist who led a powerful anti-lynching campaign and later became involved in the fight for women's suffrage despite the opposition of some of her white suffragist colleagues. Myers' story highlights Ida's courage and persistence, while Bonnie Chritensen's watercolors provide rich historical detail.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Our right to vote is precious. It is never too early to read and learn about how that right has been fought for and defended throughout our history. </p></div></div></div>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-81001897777335975262021-03-01T09:22:00.002-05:002021-03-01T09:22:50.703-05:00Read Aloud Treasures: The Wit and Wisdom of William Steig<p>Most children these days are well versed in the adventures of <i>Shrek! </i>from the Dreamworks movie franchise and the Broadway musical, but <i>Shrek!, </i>of course, first lived in the very fertile, active, and definitely quirky mind of children's book author and illustrator, William Steig. Steig is a fascinating character himself. He did not write his first children's book until he was in his 60s, but by that time he was world famous as a cartoonist for <i>The New Yorker. </i>His books for children are witty, wacky, wonderful, and slightly off center. Here are some of my favorites for read aloud. Reading these books to children always spurred great follow-up conversations.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij84Y2ctIR-sGx8x4J-o1iVRAOGyqSE3mYqpHZKkjKksDrj454B2sNVCiD-k95T9vg14j8iJLMfT-WBciLjMRjVb7wc3bdASE62dmeU7wGNgY3mdMSmLLBPPNZW8AjRiFLRZ2rnGrdDBI/s400/Roland+Steig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="309" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij84Y2ctIR-sGx8x4J-o1iVRAOGyqSE3mYqpHZKkjKksDrj454B2sNVCiD-k95T9vg14j8iJLMfT-WBciLjMRjVb7wc3bdASE62dmeU7wGNgY3mdMSmLLBPPNZW8AjRiFLRZ2rnGrdDBI/s320/Roland+Steig.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>Steig's first picture book finds sweet voiced troubadour, Roland, traveling the country to share his songs and stories. A scheming fox named Sebastian fools the trusting Roland and almost roasts him over a fire, until he is rescued by the King. The fox is "put in the dungeon, where he lives the rest of his years on nothing but stale bread, sour grapes and water." Steig establishes his distinctive style with the animals in this story.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLeudR_AmnORJktVb0qnspdzzZ1gLKQ-ZAHkOfvFQrFKvA3EM8YOlijPxIHfJxs8jxyC-HaSWR6opiXIuaTQtWu_uZLqHy1273BdHy4Q9XhqA0PTnzQYDS_IPEcAzc8Amvs3lCxe6zHSQ/s2048/Sylvester+Steig.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1547" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLeudR_AmnORJktVb0qnspdzzZ1gLKQ-ZAHkOfvFQrFKvA3EM8YOlijPxIHfJxs8jxyC-HaSWR6opiXIuaTQtWu_uZLqHy1273BdHy4Q9XhqA0PTnzQYDS_IPEcAzc8Amvs3lCxe6zHSQ/s320/Sylvester+Steig.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>Sylvester and the Magic Pebble may be Steig's most famous book. It won the Caldecott Medal for 1970 and shows Steig's mastery of the personified animal cartoon format. Sylvester finds a magic pebble and in a panic makes a foolish wish and turns himself into a rock. After a long time and with growing loneliness, he is finally reunited with his family when his rock form self thinks, "I wish I were my real self again."</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQE4nVZOl_sDYOKqGJIAI5y55NwVhw_kbvHjoRb9Q5FO3pTQPeF8x1qoXt5dKgaU3ml3htuplQJU8lgNH1Bs6M-yMdRDvN0YzAWeUr3zgMYxIGsPegk2RFYxx1gmF2B12d_vBbAZzBQnU/s1600/Dr.+Desoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1329" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQE4nVZOl_sDYOKqGJIAI5y55NwVhw_kbvHjoRb9Q5FO3pTQPeF8x1qoXt5dKgaU3ml3htuplQJU8lgNH1Bs6M-yMdRDvN0YzAWeUr3zgMYxIGsPegk2RFYxx1gmF2B12d_vBbAZzBQnU/s320/Dr.+Desoto.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>The warm and witty story of <i>Doctor DeSoto </i>is a sure crowd pleaser. Dr. DeSoto, the mouse, is a dentist who is careful not to treat "dangerous animals, but one day a fox shows up. Children are delighted to find out how the dentist mouse outfoxes the hungry fox.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkw0dyiDcRd5yGmNTQO5pkPZNV7S44m1Jdcyd2yBIA-ujxPPWErDFOnc-ZKEUKzOA5La387S5_tDaRcnxn8dqMJWMTTck-VxgTyfqd_mg9AiyZ6VKgwTQs3vbS8WnfuBTa1xI12chCfg8/s317/Brave+irene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="317" data-original-width="260" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkw0dyiDcRd5yGmNTQO5pkPZNV7S44m1Jdcyd2yBIA-ujxPPWErDFOnc-ZKEUKzOA5La387S5_tDaRcnxn8dqMJWMTTck-VxgTyfqd_mg9AiyZ6VKgwTQs3vbS8WnfuBTa1xI12chCfg8/w270-h329/Brave+irene.jpg" width="270" /></a></div>Plucky Irene braves a terrible snowstorm to deliver the dress her ill mother has made for the duchess. Along the way Irene faces many hardships, particularly from the wicked wind, but she prevails to get the dress to its destination. It is impossible to read this book without cheering Brave Irene on.<p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOWYk8IZ2-qmI368zsefB892zeTRgDwidN1on9LQqhqWFLeze2e5nWx0CuS_4SunreRZEqyvK67NlH7dKV2-lYWOWgIUE5Ug6UFMMR1yfw6GtvitzCOraaJLivyTh4fmRchm8Pc4sG3A/s500/Amos+and+boris.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="434" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxOWYk8IZ2-qmI368zsefB892zeTRgDwidN1on9LQqhqWFLeze2e5nWx0CuS_4SunreRZEqyvK67NlH7dKV2-lYWOWgIUE5Ug6UFMMR1yfw6GtvitzCOraaJLivyTh4fmRchm8Pc4sG3A/s320/Amos+and+boris.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Were there ever two more unlikely or more devoted friends than Amos, the mouse, and Boris, the whale? The two friends meet when Amos goes off on an ocean adventure and is rescued by Boris. Soon Boris needs the help of his friend Amos, when he is in danger. Along with <i>Frog and Toad</i> by Arnold Lobel, this is one of the great books about friendship and loyalty you will ever read.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Today would be a good day to share the special pleasures of a William Steig picture book with your students/children.</p><p></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-16894689625944720582021-02-22T11:03:00.000-05:002021-02-22T11:03:41.537-05:00Joyous Read Alouds: The Books of Audrey and Don Wood<p style="text-align: center;"> <i>There is a house<br />A Napping House<br />Where Everyone is Sleeping</i></p><p style="text-align: left;">Thus begins one of the great read aloud books of all times, <i>The Napping House, </i>by Audrey Wood, illustrated by her husband, Don Wood. Audrey Wood's parents worked as tent and mural painters for the <i>Ringling Brothers & Barnum and Bailey Circus, </i>which wintered for years near Wood's home in Sarasota, FL. Audrey loved to listen to the stories the circus performers told. When she grew up, she wrote her own stories driven by the tales and cadences she heard from the circus people's stories. The playful use of language is evident everywhere in Wood's stories, which are perfectly matched by the raucous world depicted in Don Wood's illustrations. It is that playful language, plus those large and comic illustrations that make these books perfect read alouds. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdaW7MRMJCP2Le7WoDgOnWMx5TgGqmmqJ4d-TAM1pJndWEzc-IGB9bj36EVqPg86vjDTRmXxs-dy5VL0WnjpdQVWpkgdvH3JPxWMASBjhHU7XXui49llaqUl24qYatn-O6GrIEbTmKlnk/s700/Napping+House.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="632" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdaW7MRMJCP2Le7WoDgOnWMx5TgGqmmqJ4d-TAM1pJndWEzc-IGB9bj36EVqPg86vjDTRmXxs-dy5VL0WnjpdQVWpkgdvH3JPxWMASBjhHU7XXui49llaqUl24qYatn-O6GrIEbTmKlnk/s320/Napping+House.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;">An absolutely delightful, cumulative tale of nap time at Granny's house with a snoring Granny, a dreaming child, a dozing dog, a snoozing cat, a slumbering mouse, and one wakeful flea who upsets the quiet repose and causes a huge commotion. The language will have the children tapping their toes and snapping their fingers and the illustrations will induce squeals of laughter. Language Development 101.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJv7PDorFNTcyb_dBgi5T3c4sCa-iAw1ocThkYjlWYlORhXwwoj1uLQ144hdNAtN1hD0YMYye-F3l3Qquy1FZ0rfwX7LMnPYVHvq8NhS6jORorEE6cBBvXXNYeDEWZ8qgsq4n3UWcmM8/s265/King+Bidgood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="220" height="347" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSJv7PDorFNTcyb_dBgi5T3c4sCa-iAw1ocThkYjlWYlORhXwwoj1uLQ144hdNAtN1hD0YMYye-F3l3Qquy1FZ0rfwX7LMnPYVHvq8NhS6jORorEE6cBBvXXNYeDEWZ8qgsq4n3UWcmM8/w288-h347/King+Bidgood.jpg" width="288" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;">This Caldecott Honor Book tells the comical tale of King Bidgood, who would not get out of the tub. He holds battles in the tub, has lunch in the tub, goes fishing in the tub, holds a dance in the tub and no one can stop the madness until the young page pulls the plug. More wonderful repetitive language and the illustrations of goings on in the bathtub are each worth a story in themselves.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ujv5uKFaJ-oXWXUcfJuhJLI6LofOIRtePbE16n9edW0uVpufBakSekhslBcSmn6bNrUi74cQzxYiOWYGBJDJ-b4bFvaVfMcnguf1hIXvrprYGwQltHAqEilwEUdgIo7gXpCBCvYZmzg/s1945/Elbert%2527s+Bad+Word.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1945" data-original-width="1521" height="361" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Ujv5uKFaJ-oXWXUcfJuhJLI6LofOIRtePbE16n9edW0uVpufBakSekhslBcSmn6bNrUi74cQzxYiOWYGBJDJ-b4bFvaVfMcnguf1hIXvrprYGwQltHAqEilwEUdgIo7gXpCBCvYZmzg/w282-h361/Elbert%2527s+Bad+Word.jpg" width="282" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;">This book is sure to resonate for any child who has used a bad word in polite company without really realizing what the word meant or the impact the word would have on the adults in the room. In other words, a book for every child. Elbert's cure is the same as we might have imagined, he gets his mouth washed out with soap, but Elbert finds a more creative way to tame the bad word,-by adding new words to his vocabulary. Delightful tale.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmJrbp4rTVlQ5DE5BcXQvaO_YomGBIVoIGkzu57PHgnG7A030NRVTwxRnHT5Qeu_4Kf9-D79X4PK638FzR-vyoBBNqf3QmVh1aQ4jW_GUBiGhvbEZrgX20NSRgMGl8psQIN8Ea1xbUP6c/s600/Red+Ripe+Strawberry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="521" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmJrbp4rTVlQ5DE5BcXQvaO_YomGBIVoIGkzu57PHgnG7A030NRVTwxRnHT5Qeu_4Kf9-D79X4PK638FzR-vyoBBNqf3QmVh1aQ4jW_GUBiGhvbEZrgX20NSRgMGl8psQIN8Ea1xbUP6c/s320/Red+Ripe+Strawberry.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: left;">How do you hide a red ripe strawberry from a big hungry bear. Little Mouse tries many ways to hold onto the strawberry. He disguises it, locks it up, buries it, but ultimately determines there is only one way to protect the red, ripe strawberry. Lots of onomatopoeia and huge witty illustrations of the biggest strawberry you have ever seen, make this book a winner for the primary school set. </p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpRH6BWEp5YHLXjF-FMherXYY4YcNSqYPgYs3uio7z6VtJJBH5wLiJ2DVOn6Ahad8-mfBy6VJ0yOZorkzjg5SsXxNgo4-PqRdO2xzwKvKFEgO7mDpC9eiZqnIx2qiKWJu5g6zJ0u8khpo/s400/Heckedy+Peg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="314" height="355" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpRH6BWEp5YHLXjF-FMherXYY4YcNSqYPgYs3uio7z6VtJJBH5wLiJ2DVOn6Ahad8-mfBy6VJ0yOZorkzjg5SsXxNgo4-PqRdO2xzwKvKFEgO7mDpC9eiZqnIx2qiKWJu5g6zJ0u8khpo/w279-h355/Heckedy+Peg.jpg" width="279" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Heckedy Peg finds Audrey Wood in Grimm Fairy Tale mode with the story of a mother who risks her life to save her seven children from the evil Heckedy Peg. Don Wood's illustrations evoke the old time fairy tale mode as well. Masterful storytelling.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>So, there you have five from Audrey and Don Wood, each a can't miss read aloud for young children. Today would be a good day to read one aloud!<br /><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p></div>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-89278353813026226182021-02-15T11:12:00.002-05:002021-02-15T13:02:22.193-05:00Reading Aloud with Mem Fox<p> The Australian Open Tennis tournament is going on right now, and while I watch and root for Serena Williams to defy advancing age and the encroachment of the responsibilities of a full life to win another major title, my reading teacher mind turns my thoughts to the great Australian writer for children, Mem Fox. Mem Fox's books have been a part of my read aloud repertoire ever since I discovered <i>Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge b</i>ack in the mid-1980s. From there it was <i>Hattie and the Fox </i>and what I have come to call her Marsupial Trilogy: <i>Possum Magic, Koala Lou, </i>and <i>Wombat Devine. </i>Eventually, I got to hear Mem Fox speak at an International Reading Association Conference and discovered that not only was she a great author and a charming speaker, she was also a passionate advocate for reading aloud. You can read what she has to say on the subject in her book for parents <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Magic" target="_blank">Reading Magic - How Your Child Can Learn to Read Before School - and other Read-Aloud Miracles.</a></i></p><p>Here are some of my favorite Mem Fox Read-Alouds.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqPcV2VNYcCOOkCkR2MTR_4uRhtenfp3d-gWxG3PDqeScKJ6l5Fb6Z9r4b3KKD9nyZmKDJJXLFqBcTCz4b-NmBsSA7TrzHjiIHZ59X42o7xROXFOXl7WSCtJEKuWiufM37nrcIbo4ORU/s400/Wilfrid+Gordon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="381" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsqPcV2VNYcCOOkCkR2MTR_4uRhtenfp3d-gWxG3PDqeScKJ6l5Fb6Z9r4b3KKD9nyZmKDJJXLFqBcTCz4b-NmBsSA7TrzHjiIHZ59X42o7xROXFOXl7WSCtJEKuWiufM37nrcIbo4ORU/s320/Wilfrid+Gordon.jpg" /></a></div></div><p>My personal favorite Mem Fox book, deals charmingly with the very real issue of losing your memory as you grow older. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge is a bright and adventurous little boy who befriends a woman who lives in the nursing home next door, Miss Nancy Allison Delacourt Cooper, because she has four names just as he does. When Wilfrid discovers that Miss Nancy has lost her memories, he sets out to help her find them. Julie Vivas' vibrant pastel illustrations bring the story to life joyfully.</p><p><br /><br /></p><p><br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwDWAxzH6tdQNd3htfGpHWp3LZ9fc2YTxTZ_VUK7-T_Yh6uE1UWPwQT281AfXD4tfjJxzFSRfJwXK4QVlnYv4MYXEqkJTG4Cp_4XzI2WqUvxHnjDbBcLxP7lhPo4Irsi5PHYJBfe6QlY/s474/Hattie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="358" data-original-width="474" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwDWAxzH6tdQNd3htfGpHWp3LZ9fc2YTxTZ_VUK7-T_Yh6uE1UWPwQT281AfXD4tfjJxzFSRfJwXK4QVlnYv4MYXEqkJTG4Cp_4XzI2WqUvxHnjDbBcLxP7lhPo4Irsi5PHYJBfe6QlY/s320/Hattie.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Hattie just knows she sees something in the bushes, but she can't get any of her friends in the barnyard to listen. Full of humor and excitement and the torn paper collage illustrations by Patricia Mullins add to the fun.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyrUq5zfgY8ET3gxTMjY_Jfehbxi_StSvlCuqZR-70ryzyq4x0R4W1wiaZgn3DDsZKzhqage5fq_9rh_m87Q2GmVSjW1659M0OqJ0HXa9lE6bMx1FYf57k905umOtGJm2Z2rWIQkkNWA/s316/Koala+Lou.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="316" data-original-width="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyrUq5zfgY8ET3gxTMjY_Jfehbxi_StSvlCuqZR-70ryzyq4x0R4W1wiaZgn3DDsZKzhqage5fq_9rh_m87Q2GmVSjW1659M0OqJ0HXa9lE6bMx1FYf57k905umOtGJm2Z2rWIQkkNWA/s0/Koala+Lou.jpg" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>"Koala Lou, where are you?" cries mom. Koala Lou is off training for the Bush Olympics, which he has entered in the hopes of attracting his mother's attention. Spoiler alert: He does - for all the right reasons.</div><div><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8FGucGT8od-O8SBWl6OOdOyZHDBlMHKqMv7HNX0SRX35ujhaoot58TIXe9o-y2ODpfA6DGd-0-BcnwlvJndgKEmzs-mF7p-Bo9IEQVwjqcPjBKJW2c2ogWTitHVMa5ErE14zziPLsqk/s400/Wombat+Devine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="294" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO8FGucGT8od-O8SBWl6OOdOyZHDBlMHKqMv7HNX0SRX35ujhaoot58TIXe9o-y2ODpfA6DGd-0-BcnwlvJndgKEmzs-mF7p-Bo9IEQVwjqcPjBKJW2c2ogWTitHVMa5ErE14zziPLsqk/s320/Wombat+Devine.jpg" /></a></div>Wombat's greatest desire is to have apart in the Nativity play during his school's Christmas pageant. The auditions for the show are very nerve wracking for our wombat hero. Will there be a part for him?<br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUG-sjbH3bNFdz2eCBxyka5rgwyIL7QmO1GA1DITDZOub8hKR0PM5f2Ccap9x4HqxzUpyckJxUDJyul1rvY_ZQF455YxA2jK-_XewrIF7OKI0dmkbZGyIFBPCgsa-gOK9IRFB4NIJt8Y4/s339/Possum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="318" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUG-sjbH3bNFdz2eCBxyka5rgwyIL7QmO1GA1DITDZOub8hKR0PM5f2Ccap9x4HqxzUpyckJxUDJyul1rvY_ZQF455YxA2jK-_XewrIF7OKI0dmkbZGyIFBPCgsa-gOK9IRFB4NIJt8Y4/s320/Possum.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p>The most popular children's book ever in Australia, this is the story of Hush, who has been made invisible through the magic of Grandma Poss. When he wants to see himself again, he and Grandma must travel across Australia to find the magic food that will make him visible. Julie Vivas is back weaving her whimsical magic with the illustrations.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Mem Fox is a magical story teller who has worked with a number of talented illustrators. Her books make great choices for reading aloud whether in the classroom or through Zoom, or especially for a warm and winning bedtime story.</p><p style="text-align: left;"> </p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-25640066369112633442021-02-08T07:58:00.003-05:002021-02-08T08:08:53.331-05:00Read Aloud Winners: The Trickster Tales of Gerald McDermott<p> Everyday is a good day for a read aloud, of course, but some books make better read alouds than others. Among my favorites are the trickster tales as winningly told and exquisitely illustrated by Gerald McDermott. McDermott was not only a world class artist, his illustrations just literally jump off the page at you, but also an expert in folklore. Trickster tales come to us from many different cultures and McDermott mined these rich resources for these entertaining stories.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgbLVbdOqLWRd4DsB-QbbUtraXMWPgWrCLP2tzEpT7SPMUy302NNKP6_p9__gan3MHDViZsvV-9jaqyxYWNxqk9wmexnUVCl7poD6ookrk2ssE8_EYv0WDG8ZRHbVZ_UmnOd5qzYUyNbg/s260/Anansi+McDermott.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="226" data-original-width="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgbLVbdOqLWRd4DsB-QbbUtraXMWPgWrCLP2tzEpT7SPMUy302NNKP6_p9__gan3MHDViZsvV-9jaqyxYWNxqk9wmexnUVCl7poD6ookrk2ssE8_EYv0WDG8ZRHbVZ_UmnOd5qzYUyNbg/s0/Anansi+McDermott.jpg" /></a></div>Perhaps the most familiar of McDermott's books, this Caldecott Honor Book established McDermott's distinctive style. Anansi is a troublemaker whose six sons try to save him from all the problems he causes. A West African Folktale.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1UM-JuqZwAlRipwsw57Cp5u9TvPLOYIqSIGFalVlFUIWXh6-EV178DNOy_S9RWgnQTiCR0xDsHeE9xpKnVBqQ_5o94dzaGRSo-DnphpckhLbjMkW-0yY3u58Imjs708DJUyWkKjZ7kM/s400/Coyote+Mcdermott.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx1UM-JuqZwAlRipwsw57Cp5u9TvPLOYIqSIGFalVlFUIWXh6-EV178DNOy_S9RWgnQTiCR0xDsHeE9xpKnVBqQ_5o94dzaGRSo-DnphpckhLbjMkW-0yY3u58Imjs708DJUyWkKjZ7kM/s320/Coyote+Mcdermott.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In this tale from the American Southwest, the animals of the desert teach the troublesome Coyote a lesson.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhb9Tq95wcPvBn8Czy6hn9rmxSQFxr6O2ry1dh72KZ2ev4xhgwE8SNUvSKQktQh80liBKutU6GlCwAF6Ptz_uFq-oFUoW6O0-IwCRqaHjmaEY_fOyHVSs5oTi8q4j2MUdQm6DYja6-1Z4/s500/Monkey+Mcdermott.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhb9Tq95wcPvBn8Czy6hn9rmxSQFxr6O2ry1dh72KZ2ev4xhgwE8SNUvSKQktQh80liBKutU6GlCwAF6Ptz_uFq-oFUoW6O0-IwCRqaHjmaEY_fOyHVSs5oTi8q4j2MUdQm6DYja6-1Z4/s320/Monkey+Mcdermott.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In this tale from India, a hungry, clever Monkey must find a way to get the tasty mangoes from the island in the river with Crocodile's help, without becoming Crocodile's lunch.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cO2KOM5dsnvtK1wDcmSrauikYcq4GI_tNunuSEmxgJtAHqwXJ0F8_0iBwgJQzrgLKoJ16FueRMcBLfMITE-qGliyq4lp-ZBT-geuiOIA-SdFD-cr0fYzzqieI95r479n_wVNwywAyyo/s260/Raven+McDermott.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="211" data-original-width="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0cO2KOM5dsnvtK1wDcmSrauikYcq4GI_tNunuSEmxgJtAHqwXJ0F8_0iBwgJQzrgLKoJ16FueRMcBLfMITE-qGliyq4lp-ZBT-geuiOIA-SdFD-cr0fYzzqieI95r479n_wVNwywAyyo/s0/Raven+McDermott.jpg" /></a></div>In this Native American tale from the Pacific Northwest, Raven wants to bring light into the world, but first he must find out where Sky Chief keeps it.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bL3UKQZ134P-2bkASn4lC8PwlQhk5rzbSZwzVoHhnNW_KWwzrSoBoXN3J7CUTtpKiquKAMMsTwHlc5XJBZDusEdCpjH83qT8IeOyKzm4Gr68iV47vEiCRHwm0VxAdDfuBCRGylEIdIQ/s500/Tortoise+McDermott.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="412" data-original-width="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2bL3UKQZ134P-2bkASn4lC8PwlQhk5rzbSZwzVoHhnNW_KWwzrSoBoXN3J7CUTtpKiquKAMMsTwHlc5XJBZDusEdCpjH83qT8IeOyKzm4Gr68iV47vEiCRHwm0VxAdDfuBCRGylEIdIQ/s320/Tortoise+McDermott.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>In this tale from the Amazon, Jabuti the Tortoise is a fine musician and an irritating trickster. Vulture plots a trick of his own to play on Jabuti on the way to a concert in heaven.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgerOUKgS-Ejd4wPkNZZ8uItd0e5Ej9GbRccoziuzw1JQeXIouX1qoqwRbSFAjZWcJnYbjO9nhXex_WmhOkV1l4Fst5HHFUl2warJR7xy_ZM_MCqGK2HVQo1kfdiiXQFD6Np295VxRB0yU/s489/Zomo+McDermott.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="489" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgerOUKgS-Ejd4wPkNZZ8uItd0e5Ej9GbRccoziuzw1JQeXIouX1qoqwRbSFAjZWcJnYbjO9nhXex_WmhOkV1l4Fst5HHFUl2warJR7xy_ZM_MCqGK2HVQo1kfdiiXQFD6Np295VxRB0yU/s320/Zomo+McDermott.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>My personal favorite of these trickster tales. Zomo the Rabbit retells the West African tale of a tricky rabbit who is very clever, but not very wise. Will the Sky God help him find wisdom?<br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br />Reading several of these titles would make for a great read aloud unit on trickster tales in folklore. What are you reading aloud to your students/children today?</p></div>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-48463875680989063152020-12-16T10:27:00.000-05:002020-12-16T10:27:59.282-05:00A Holiday Gift of Poetry 2020 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeOVqtjPlx4ZI10Ts_5i3Y4IeTvPtggSUNfH07-F7MdU8NhxK7XFwsp81MXhLBO8ZDxTfvjWM_9zHdoI9FBtdM4EuVCr6HHQytYHj5ZxUYZ52YlunyPDH_saf4oN0TUZAK30leEpOPuno/s2048/socks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="2048" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeOVqtjPlx4ZI10Ts_5i3Y4IeTvPtggSUNfH07-F7MdU8NhxK7XFwsp81MXhLBO8ZDxTfvjWM_9zHdoI9FBtdM4EuVCr6HHQytYHj5ZxUYZ52YlunyPDH_saf4oN0TUZAK30leEpOPuno/s320/socks.jpg" /></a></div><br />The holidays will be a bit different for all of this year, but one constant source of joy and solace for me is poetry. Here are a few that I have resonant in this somewhat scary, socially distanced time. Happy Holidays.<div><br /></div><div><b>When Giving is All We Have</b></div><div><b> </b>Alberto Rios</div><div><br /></div><div><p class="rteindent4" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em 12em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">One river gives<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Its journey to the next.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">We give because someone gave to us. </span><br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">We give because nobody gave to us.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We give because giving has changed us.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">We give because giving could have changed us.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">We have been better for it,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">We have been wounded by it –</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Giving has many faces: It is loud and quiet,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Big, though small, diamond in wood-nails.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Its story is old, the plot worn and the pages too,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">But we read this book, anyway, over and again:</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Giving is, first and every time, hand to hand,<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Mine to yours, yours to mine.</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">You gave me blue and I gave you yellow.<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">Together we are simple green. You gave me</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What you did not have, and I gave you<br style="box-sizing: inherit;" /><span style="box-sizing: inherit;">What I had to give – together, we made</span></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Something greater from the difference.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Wonder and Joy<br /> </b>Robinson Jeffers</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #232323; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The things that one grows tired of -- O, be sure<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">They are only foolish artificial things!<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Can a bird ever tire of having wings?<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">And I, so long as life and sense endure,<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">(Or brief be they!) shall nevermore inure<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">My heart to the recurrence of the springs,<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Of gray dawns, the gracious evenings,<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">The infinite wheeling stars. A wonder pure<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Must ever well within me to behold<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Venus decline; or great Orion, whose belt</span><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Is studded with three nails of burning gold,<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Ascend the winter heaven. Who never felt<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">This wondering joy may yet be good or great:<br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">But envy him not: he is not fortunate.</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #232323; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #232323; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Ode to My Socks<br /> </b>Pablo Neruda, translated by Robert Bly</span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #232323; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">Mara Mori brought me</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">a pair of socks</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">which she knitted herself</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">with her sheepherder's hands,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">two socks as soft as rabbits.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">I slipped my feet into them</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">as if they were two cases</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">knitted with threads of twilight and goatskin,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">Violent socks,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">my feet were two fish made of wool,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">two long sharks</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">sea blue, shot through</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">by one golden thread,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">two immense blackbirds,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">two cannons,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">my feet were honored in this way</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">by these heavenly socks.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">They were so handsome for the first time</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">my feet seemed to me unacceptable</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">like two decrepit firemen,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">firemen unworthy of that woven fire,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">of those glowing socks.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">Nevertheless, I resisted the sharp temptation</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">to save them somewhere as schoolboys</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">keep fireflies,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">as learned men collect</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">sacred texts,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">I resisted the mad impulse to put them</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">in a golden cage and each day give them</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">birdseed and pieces of pink melon.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">Like explorers in the jungle</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">who hand over the very rare green deer</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">to the spit and eat it with remorse,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">I stretched out my feet and pulled on</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">the magnificent socks and then my shoes.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">The moral of my ode is this:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">beauty is twice beauty</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">and what is good is doubly good</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">when it is a matter of two socks</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #252525;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">made of wool in winter.</span></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #232323; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #232323; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: inherit; color: #222222; margin: 0px 0px 1em; padding: 0px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></p></div>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-70537005985941373212020-10-26T12:04:00.001-04:002020-10-26T12:04:37.560-04:00Ten Roles of the Instructional Leader in Literacy<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZByYCZ9lp_wsjt8MkpwgnDyFIdchVzmYHAS2HeaFGSqhlMce_Fzu5-TBXdW45uJnEIc52L9XQvEBC1uwn-Uayit9DBheiH9vzy8pCqd7uGyfc4IeQIV4noc06WyIJQ8c8GccGYU8ReI/s600/Teacher+leader.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqZByYCZ9lp_wsjt8MkpwgnDyFIdchVzmYHAS2HeaFGSqhlMce_Fzu5-TBXdW45uJnEIc52L9XQvEBC1uwn-Uayit9DBheiH9vzy8pCqd7uGyfc4IeQIV4noc06WyIJQ8c8GccGYU8ReI/s320/Teacher+leader.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />I currently teach a graduate course at Rider University for prospective reading specialists. While the course focuses on the theory and research behind sound reading instruction, an underlying goal of the course is to prepare students to be literacy instruction leaders. Toward that end, here are the roles I think a successful instructional leader fills in that critical position. These insights were gained over my several decades long experience as a teacher, reading specialist, supervisor of instruction and director of curriculum.<p></p><p><b>Listener</b></p><p>One good way to understand what instructional needs a particular teacher or group of teachers has is to listen to them. We all come into these leadership positions with preconceived notions about what good literacy instruction looks like, but in order to lead we must first understand the needs, desires, understandings, and concerns that the teachers have. Sitting down in small groups and with individuals to talk about literacy instruction from the teacher's perspective is a place to start.</p><p><b>Non-Evaluative Observer</b></p><p>The role of leader often involves observations that end with formal evaluations. In order to understand where teachers are in their literacy instruction and what their individual needs might be, however, it is much better to conduct brief non-evaluative observations and follow-up conversations. These observations are always pre-arranged and never formally written-up.</p><p><b>Evaluative Observer</b></p><p>As I said, however, at times the role of the leader involves formal evaluative observations. The goal of these observations, with very few exceptions, should be instructional improvement. To this end, most observations should follow a clinical model, that is, include a pre-observation conference, observation, and post-observation conference. The clinical model helps to insure that the conference is focused on improvement and not some kind of "gotchya" activity. Feedback on lessons should be supportive and aimed at targeted changes. It is better to focus on one or two areas for improvement and to provide clear expectations for implementation, than to overwhelm with a fistful of suggestions.</p><p><b>Sharer</b></p><p>Literacy leaders systematically share their knowledge and the exciting new books and articles that they read in the course of keeping up to date on research and innovation. Professional book discussions, information shares, informative emails, and monthly newsletters are ways that the literacy leader provides updated information for teachers. As a reading specialist, I would hold bi-monthly, pre-school information sharing sessions. As a supervisor, I often conducted before and after school book clubs to look at new books on relevant instructional topics for teachers.</p><p><b>Available Resource</b></p><p>The literacy leader needs to be available to answer teacher's questions about instructional practice or about individual students. Reponses need to be timely and informed by best practice, current research, and actual experience. When the leader is unable to answer a question, she should be able to point to resources that may be helpful and provide those resources whenever possible.</p><p><b>Modeler</b></p><p>Whether it is guided reading instruction, min-lesson development and delivery, book club organization, phonemic awareness instruction, comprehension strategy instruction or any of the many other instructional challenges that may confront the classroom teacher, the literacy leader must be able to model these practices for the teachers through professional development activities and in the regular classroom with the children. Modeling is a powerful way to teach complex concepts to children and adults. The ability to show teachers best practice instruction goes a long way to establishing credibility and trust for the literacy leader.</p><p><b>Resource Provider </b></p><p>When introducing any instructional innovation to teachers, it is critical that the literacy leader provide the teachers with the resources to implement the innovation. When I wanted to implement literature circles in my fifth grade classrooms, I first had to work with building principles to budget money for the books to support the literature circles and then work with the teachers to identify the books that would be used for literature circle study. The same was true for guided reading. Multiple copies of books on a variety of levels were needed to implement the instructional design. Many a good instructional idea fails for lack of resources. If we expect teachers to implement our innovations, we must provide the resources for them to do so.</p><p><b>Advocate</b></p><p>At times the literacy leader must be the advocate for the teacher. This may involve arguing with a principal for a budget line for each teacher to get money to improve their classroom library or sitting in on a parent conference with a teacher whose instruction, grading, or evaluation of a child is being questioned. The role of advocate may also involve providing parent presentations on literacy curriculum and instruction or presentations to the Board of Education regarding curricular decisions. </p><p><b>Program Evaluator</b></p><p>As a literacy leader, you will be inundated with all kinds of literacy programs that promise great things if implemented "with fidelity." The job requires that these programs be evaluated in light of what the current research says is best practice, in light of the needs of the students in the school district, in light of the ease of implementation, and always in light of the fact that teachers teach literacy and not programs. Programs that seek to provide scripted or "teacher proof" instruction eliminate the most critical aspect of any literacy program - the teacher. The implementation of any program must put the teacher at the center and be both grounded in sound research and teacher efficacy. Any program under consideration must come with a commitment to the professional development and the professional expertise of the teacher.</p><p><b>Networker</b></p><p>The literacy leader benefits greatly from a broad network of other professionals filling the same roles. Professional organizations such as the International Literacy Association or the National Council of Teachers of English are very helpful.. Sometimes local universities bring literacy leaders together on a regular basis for information sharing and networking. Sometimes county or regionally based organizations provide the support. No matter where it comes from, it is critical that the literacy leader gain perspective and support from a wide network of people working on the same problems.</p><p><br /></p><p>I like to think of the literacy leader as the "teachers' teacher." In this role we work to make sure all of the teachers under our supervision are successful, while recognizing that each of them is a unique individual with their own special talents, abilities, and perspectives to bring to the task of literacy instruction.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><br /></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-57428820532415378462020-10-19T12:29:00.001-04:002020-10-19T12:43:36.166-04:007 Ways to Help Young Writers<p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOT-9jQ0xJuFMwQui8ZCr16qtYaUitmNcIE4ZzCYQmdlXCD4xRXWPt4mw_-vbqjwvZOdrIglwban-s_IvkrR-J7d2H0OVe48s7S9yqKPzfumre_wj71va-LSs1U_vkEtiG_LgBQ46CjsU/s800/serious-pensive-pupil-sits-desk-writing-notebook-class-indoor-47898967.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="562" data-original-width="800" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOT-9jQ0xJuFMwQui8ZCr16qtYaUitmNcIE4ZzCYQmdlXCD4xRXWPt4mw_-vbqjwvZOdrIglwban-s_IvkrR-J7d2H0OVe48s7S9yqKPzfumre_wj71va-LSs1U_vkEtiG_LgBQ46CjsU/s320/serious-pensive-pupil-sits-desk-writing-notebook-class-indoor-47898967.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br />This week I have been reading a new biography of my literary hero, John Steinbeck, <i>Mad at the World: A Life of John Steinbeck </i>by William Souder. In the book Souder quotes Steinbeck's favorite writing teacher, Edith Mirrielees, an English professor at Stanford University, as saying, "Writing can't be taught, but it can be helped." This put me in mind of the work the psycholinguist, Frank Smith, who wrote an article titled, <i>Reading Like a Writer,</i> in which he posited that most of what a writer learns about writing is learned, not through instruction, but through reading in a special way - reading like someone who thinks they are a member of the "writing club."</span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Of course, even if writing can't really be taught and even if most of what a child learns about writing is learned by reading, there is still plenty of opportunity for the teacher to help, to be the guide on the side. Here are some good ways to help.</span></p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Provide regular opportunities to write on self-selected topics. </b>In order to feel like a member of the writing club, kids need to view writing as a regular part of their lives. Daily writing time puts the developing writer into a perpetual state of rehearsal for writing. <b> </b>For example, because I knew I would be writing this blog entry today, I have been rehearsing, reading, and jotting notes on the topic all week. The expectation of writing something that I want to write means, as Smith says, that I am reading like a writer. That is, my reading is driven in part by my goal of writing about the topic,</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Provide lots of opportunities to read on self-selected topics. </b>If, as Smith says, most of what we learn about how to write comes from reading, it is a given that we must find plenty of time for students to read widely in self-selected topics. We can further help by making the connection between what we read and what we write explicit to the children, perhaps by talking about how certain authors have influenced your own writing or how things that you read about give you ideas for writing.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Model the process of writing through writing for the students. </b>We know from the research that writers follow a definite process when they write. When we write for students. we not only get to model the process of writing, but we get to share something of ourselves. Talking aloud while we write, which takes some practice, provides the students with a template for their own writing process.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Model good writing through mentor texts. </b> Much of early writing is imitation. Actual authors provide a template on which we can try out our own efforts to express things in new and attention getting ways. I remember in high school much of my writing was juvenile attempts at satire. I would enjoy writing comic takes on Benjamin Franklin's kite flying experiments or the courtship of Miles Standish, John Alden, and Priscilla Mullins. A teacher happened to mention that my writing reminded her of the books of Richard Armour. Intrigued, I went to the library and took out two Armour books, <i>1066 and All That </i>and <i>It All Started with Columbus, </i>two riotous historical satires. Armour became my mentor for the silly, hyperbolic, gently reproachful satires I wrote for the next several years. Pointing students to the right books to help them write about their own topics is an excellent way to be helpful. We can then let the professional authors, provide the teaching.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Provide timely mini-lessons </b>Mini-lessons are a great structure for the teacher to provide a high amount of input into student writing. The best mini-lessons, I think, are those that are most timely. We need to ask ourselves, "What lesson will have the most impact right now?" It makes no sense to teach a mini-lesson on punctuating dialogue until students have begun to try to use dialogue in their writing. Likewise, the best time for a minilesson on varying sentence length is when students are showing that they are capable of writing longer sentences, but have not mastered how to effectively use sentence variety in a composition. It is also important to provide a variety of mini-lessons. We should be providing as many mini-lessons on the qualities of good writing (like show, don't tell) as we are on correct usage and punctuation.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Conduct writing conferences where you listen, respond, and extend</b>. I like to go to early in the writing process conferences without a pencil in my hand. In these conferences, I want to focus on the writing, what is the writer trying to communicate, how successful are they being, what assistance do they want? To this purpose, I want the writer to do most of the talking and I want my probing questions to elicit more talk to help the writer clarify in their own mind what they are trying to do. I also want to respond personally to the writing, by indicating, yes, this is something I am interested in or this is like something that happened to me, or I can see why this is important to you. Finally, I want to ask some questions that might get the writer to rethink, do further research, or examine what they have done so far. Have you considered...? What if... I was wondering...? The writer should go away from a conference feeling that they are doing work that the teacher values and that they have some ideas to work on to improve their draft.</span></li><li><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Target those things you want to correct </b>Because we are working with students, we should not expect the work to be perfect. Our focus for final revision and editing should be on targeted corrections. What should we target? One focus would be on topics of recent mini-lessons. If the class has been working on varying sentence length, that might be a target. Another focus would be particular challenges that this individual student exhibits. If the student has a tendency to misspell certain words, that could be a target for that individual student. If we try to fix everything, we may cause confusion and frustration. Targeting our corrections means that students can focus on one or two things that will improve the writing, while other problems can be reserved for another writing project.</span></li></ol><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Maybe Edith Mirrielees is right that writing can't be taught, but teachers can go a long way to be effective writing helpers. </span></div><p></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-19714768553121079572020-10-12T12:01:00.000-04:002020-10-12T12:01:07.507-04:00Haiku: A Path to Poetry for Young Writers<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDaZSoMyDEYYHZwIpqETxJHZq0AGbS3-morRu2M_2ujQkstic7U2VBSOtBJCD9sc7klLn1GivMdDJaz23WdJ-fASyUOpWWwfqSO5NcLYjP7eKUtVjp97LCWSACeDJYl61eQmM8RsAqAA/s450/haiku.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVDaZSoMyDEYYHZwIpqETxJHZq0AGbS3-morRu2M_2ujQkstic7U2VBSOtBJCD9sc7klLn1GivMdDJaz23WdJ-fASyUOpWWwfqSO5NcLYjP7eKUtVjp97LCWSACeDJYl61eQmM8RsAqAA/s320/haiku.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Most young children love poetry, but when it comes to writing poetry they are often overwhelmed by the demands of rhythm and rhyme. Sense suffers as kids scramble for rhyming words.<p></p><p><b>My Mom</b></p><p><i>I love my mom oh so much<br /></i><i>I love her more than chocolate - Dutch!<br /></i><i>She s me all the things I need<br /></i><i>And I help her to weed.</i></p><p>Now this poem, written by a second grader, is not without its charms, but it contains a mixture of the profound and the mundane that is typical of a child stuck in the rhyme versus sense conundrum. Freeing children from the demands of rhyme allows them to tap into the natural poetry that is within them. Haiku provides a structured, but non-rhyming. poetic form with which nearly all children can be successful. </p><p>Haiku is, of course, the short poetry form that originated in Japan. Literally translated haiku means "beginning poem" and indeed these little poems are an excellent starting point for young poets. </p><p>Haiku attempts to capture a single moment or single image in the world of nature. A good haiku should capture an image in the way that a photograph freezes time. As the poet X. J. Kennedy says, "You just point to something and let it make the reader feel something, too."</p><p>Haiku consists of three lines containing seventeen syllables, five-seven-five respectively. Writers and translators of haiku do not adhere strictly to the syllable arrangement, but with young writers I believe the strict form provides a helpful framework. As children become more adept at haiku, the rules can be loosened.</p><p><b>Introducing Children to Haiku</b></p><p>First read lots of haiku to the children. I like to find books that provide illustrations or photographs so that I can show the students the image the author was attempting to capture. I have included a list of suggested books below.</p><p>Secondly, lay out the "rules of haiku" for children on an anchor chart. My chart contains the following:</p><p>1. Haiku attempts to capture a moment in time in nature.<br />2. Haiku attempts to help a reader see an image in the mind's eye.<br />3. Haiku attempts to make the reader feel something (happy, sad, amazed, calm, Ahah!)<br />4. The first line contains five syllables.<br />5. The second line contains seven syllables.<br />6. The third line contains five syllables.</p><p>Next, analyze a few haiku from the books you have read to the students. Discuss how the poem captures a moment in time in nature. Have the children clap and count the number of "beats" or syllables. Younger children sometimes have trouble clapping and counting at he same time, so I have them clap while I count. </p><p>Now you can brainstorm with the children a list of words that might be found in a haiku and that might be a topic of a haiku. . The children will name many things that can be found in nature. I encourage them to use specific words (not just bird, but cardinal, not tree, but oak.)</p><p>You are now ready to model writing a haiku for the children. Using the list of words the children have brainstormed, I talk about the image I am going to try to capture in words. Without worrying too much about the syllable count, I put a tentative first line on the board. I encourage the children to look it over and make suggestions. This gives me the opportunity to show the children how we can manipulate the syllable count by adding or deleting words or choosing a different word with the same meaning. This procedure continues through the next two lines. When the first draft of the haiku is completed, I model revision behavior by reading over the piece and making changes that clarify the message and make the poem conform to the structure of haiku.</p><p>Finally it is time to have the children try their own haiku. I stand back and marvel as the classroom fills with the sounds of children clapping out syllables and conferring with each other. Generally I have the children do a rough draft, a revised copy, and an edited copy before they transfer the haiku to art paper and illustrate. Children's haiku can be bound into an impromptu big book for all to read or displayed prominently on a bulletin board.</p><p>Your students will no doubt amaze you with their facility for haiku. Here are a few written by my second graders in years past.</p><p><i>In a quiet lake<br />Where I visit everyday, </i><br /><i>I hear the birds sing.</i><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><i> </i> Krystal Tamayo<br /></p><p><i>Blue rain falling down</i><br /><i>Landing gentle in my hand.</i><br /><i>So cold and so clear. </i><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><i> </i>Jennifer Bergman<br /></p><p><i>Juicy red apples</i><br /><i>Sitting in the greenish tree.</i><br /><i>All ready for me</i><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><i> </i><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><i> </i> Kristy Hajducek<br /></p><p><i>Down the sunny path</i><br /><i>Slither, slither goes the snake.</i><br /><i>Everybody run!</i><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><i> </i> Anne Marie Schamper<br /></p><p><b>Haiku Books</b></p><p>Atwood, A. (1977) <i>Haiku -Vision</i>. NY: Scribners.<br />__________. (1973) <i>My Own Rhythm. </i>NY: Scribners.<br />Cassedy, S. (1992). <i>Red Dragon on My Shoulder. </i>NY: Harper Collins.<br />Crews, N. and Wright, R. (2018). <i>Seeing Into Tomorrow: Haiku by Richard Wright. </i>Millbrook Press.<br />Lewis, R. and Keats, E.J. (1965) <i>In a Spring Garden. </i>NY: Dial Books.<br />Raczka, B. and Reynolds, P. (2018). <i>Guyku: A Year of Haiku for Boys. </i>NY: HMH Books.<br />Ramirez-Christianson, E. and Gallup, T. (2019).<i> My First Book of Haiku Poems. </i>North Clarendon, VT: Tuttle.<br />Salas, L. P. (2019). <i>Lion of the Sky: Haiku for All Seasons. </i>Millbrook Press.</p><p><b>Teacher Resources</b></p><p>Donegan, P. (2018). <i>Write Your Own Haiku for Kids: Write Poetry in the Japanese Tradition. </i>North Clarendon, VT.: Tuttle.<br />Hopkins, L.B. (1998). <i>Pass the Poetry, Please! </i>NY: Harper Trophy.<br />Kennedy, X.J. and Kennedy, D. (1999) <i>Knock At A Star. </i>Boston: Little Brown.</p><p>This post is revised from an article that appeared in <i>The Reading Instruction Journal.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><br /></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-25480271833098679482020-10-05T11:52:00.000-04:002020-10-05T11:52:26.362-04:00 Word Recognition: To what extent is it "self-taught?"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRSIjVt2xuVM6eNGhzT3VWh-N6WNXLfKkpazQPMMtP5q9LexIecSmRwCrqyv_hKc1ixruGhyvxcUjI9M6NzNubT0UOnjisaItP7mLDUqJXzyJYa-2XPi0IBJuRDdCUkcOJplcVM94SfYo/s663/Reading+Hurdles.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="495" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRSIjVt2xuVM6eNGhzT3VWh-N6WNXLfKkpazQPMMtP5q9LexIecSmRwCrqyv_hKc1ixruGhyvxcUjI9M6NzNubT0UOnjisaItP7mLDUqJXzyJYa-2XPi0IBJuRDdCUkcOJplcVM94SfYo/s320/Reading+Hurdles.png" /></a></div><br />I taught myself how to decode. No, I was not some precocious early reader who intuited how words work at three and was reading before entering school. And, yes, my first grade teacher. Ms. Rickles, did a very creditable job in teaching me the alphabetic principal and the phonological awareness I needed to get myself started on the road to being a reader. Most of what I learned about the ways words work, however, I learned by reading and I can distinctly remember that happening to me. <p></p><p>Early in the second grade, my mother enrolled me in the Weekly Reader Book Club. I was thrilled when the package with my first book arrived with my name on it. The book was a Whitman/Golden Book adaptation of a Disney True Life Adventure documentary series called <i>The Living Desert.</i> The book contained lots to interest a seven-year-old boy and I read it with a vengeance. It was probably a bit above my reading level, but with the help of my understanding of sound/symbol relationships learned in school, a bit of my own background knowledge, the copious pictures in the book, and some determination, I was able to decode words like <i>iguana, rattlesnake, prairie dog, desolate, tortoise, habitat, evaporation </i>and so forth. Along the way, although I was not aware of it at the time, of course, I was teaching myself the orthographic system of our language. The more I read, the stronger, richer, ad deeper this understanding became.</p><p>It has been estimated that there are about 88,500 distinct word families in English. Not even the most heroic of teachers could possibly hope to teach developing readers even a fraction of these spelling patterns. How do we explain how successful readers learn all these patterns? Researcher David Share (1995) hypothesized that readers learn these patterns primarily through the process of successful experiences of "phonologically recoding words." Phonological recoding is the process of translating print to sound. According to Share, this process is a "self-teaching process", which enables the reader to acquire the detailed knowledge of the orthographic structure of the language that is needed for successful reading. The more successful encounters the reader has, the more information is available to recognize new words. As Share puts it, "the process of word recognition will depend primarily on the frequency [with] which a child has been exposed to a particular word, together, of course, with the nature and success of item identification." (p. 155).</p><p>The implications are pretty clear. Students need to develop a thorough understanding of the alphabetic principal and phonological awareness (syllables, onset/rime, phonemes) and at the same time they need lots of opportunities to read, so that they can apply this growing knowledge to new and novel constructs. Another implication is that much of this reading must be on the independent level, because the key is "successful interactions." Children will not have the opportunity to put this self-teaching to work, if they are struggling with the reading. Some challenges are welcome, as opportunities to apply growing decoding skills, but for the most part children should be reading at volume in independent level texts. One exception to this general rule would be when a student shows a particular interest in a topic and that level of engagement motivates the reader to "work through" some challenging passages.</p><p>Another implication is worrisome. If much of word recognition is "self-taught" through wide reading, and if this ability to self-teach is dependent on a high level of phonological awareness, then children who struggle with phonological awareness will struggle to build the orthographic lexicon they need for skilled reading. As Cassano and Dougherty (2018) have observed, this indicates that the Matthew Effect (the rich get richer and the poor get poorer) in literacy can be laid to weakness in phonological awareness and the subsequently fewer opportunities to develop the ability to decode a wide range of orthographic constructs.</p><p>Share's insight is, for me, a clear argument for balance in instruction. While most children need instruction that helps them develop phonological awareness, they also need lots of opportunities to apply this learning in real, independent reading situations. Students who struggle to develop the requisite phonological awareness need continued attention to help in developing that awareness, but also continued opportunities to self-teach through successful encounters with independent and instructional level texts under the guidance of the informed teacher.</p><p><b>Works Cited</b></p><p>Cassano, C.M. and Dougherty, S.M. (2018). <i>Pivotal research in early literacy: foundational studies and current practices. </i>NY: Guilford.</p><p>Share, D. L. (1995). Phonological recoding and self-teaching: sine qua non of reading acquisition. <i>Cognition, 55, 151-218.</i></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4444387311759844041.post-81645276289041284612020-09-29T10:53:00.003-04:002020-09-29T11:08:07.257-04:00When Best Practice Meets Questionable Methods in Literacy Instruction<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfHIBANKwBhr7IzQD7qafANeZ9LI2Xxe8w9S7x-Nn89frhqVtIyFuivu7q-YegbX5jCtGO0XwB8VSBa9m5fGBIOBUdJrQb30Z8MtzoGJxU3uZ-7qkPVYxA1zfd9oNyez-JFK7_C3RfkM/s1200/conferring-photo-anna.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidfHIBANKwBhr7IzQD7qafANeZ9LI2Xxe8w9S7x-Nn89frhqVtIyFuivu7q-YegbX5jCtGO0XwB8VSBa9m5fGBIOBUdJrQb30Z8MtzoGJxU3uZ-7qkPVYxA1zfd9oNyez-JFK7_C3RfkM/s320/conferring-photo-anna.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />All of us try to provide best practice instruction to our students. Sometimes, though, in our enthusiasm to provide the children the instruction they need, we end up using some instructional methods that work against our goals. Here are a few things we know work in literacy instruction, some ways we can turn those good practices into unproductive ones, and then some things we can do instead.<p></p><p><b>Best Practice: Regular Reading - </b>Kids who read a lot tend to get better at reading, so it is a good idea to get kids to read as much as possible.</p><p><b>Questionable Method: Reading Logs - </b>Research has long shown us that external controls have a negative impact on intrinsic motivation. Reading logs, rigidly employed, can turn the pleasurable act of reading into a chore. Other extrinsic motivators like pizza parties and other non-reading related awards should also be avoided.</p><p><b>What to do instead: </b>Trust in the power of books and focus on student engagement in those books. If we want children to read we need to have many books readily available (classroom library), to provide the opportunity to read them (independent reading), to give children some choice in what they read, and to make sure they are able to read them (just right book). We also need to advertise the wonderfulness of books through daily read alouds and weekly book talks. </p><p>If we want to reward kids for reading, make the rewards reading related, such as providing extended independent reading time or increased time to talk about their books or an added visit to the library.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Best Practice: Written Response to Reading - </b>Research shows that when children write about what they have read they increase their comprehension by at least 30%., so we should have kids write after reading</p><p><b>Questionable Method: Journals - </b>Reader response journals are a good thing, but like reading logs, they may be viewed by many kids as a chore that kills the joy in reading.</p><p><b>What to do instead: </b>Journals can be an important part of the classroom reading routine, but they should be used sparingly and not as a daily requirement. They are most successful when the teacher spends time modeling what a good journal entry should look like for the children. One journal a week seems adequate. There are many other ways that children can increase their comprehension of what they have read. Some days a simple turn and talk to a partner about your reading should suffice. Drawing illustrations and acting out scenes in what you have read are other ways to respond. Another productive activity is the Stop and Jot, where children employ post-it notes to identify particularly impactful passages in their reading. Stop and Jots make good notes for a possible later journal entry. Like giving students some choice in what they read, giving them some choice in how they respond is a good idea. Variety matters here.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b>Best Practice: Vocabulary Instruction - </b>A strong and growing vocabulary is critical to a child's ability to comprehend increasingly complex text. It is, therefore<b>, </b>every teacher's responsibility to provide vocabulary instruction.</p><p><b>Questionable Method: Vocabulary Lists: </b>Recognizing the need to teach vocabulary, teachers assign lists of words to be looked-up, put into sentences, and studied for a quiz at the end of the week. Fifty years of research has shown that this form of instruction does not work.</p><p><b>What to do instead: </b>Vocabulary is best learned in context and from a conceptual base. Teachers provide context for learning vocabulary through discussing words during a read aloud, by talking about words in a story children have just read, and by using such concept oriented strategies as semantic maps, List-Group-Label, and concept circles. <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2018/03/building-vocabualry-teaching-from.html" target="_blank">Here is some guidance on teaching vocabulary from a conceptual base.</a> <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2018/03/building-vocabulary-list-group-label.html" target="_blank">Here is an example of the List-Group-Label Strategy.</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Best Practice: Decoding Instruction </b>- Research shows that in order to read well, children must learn to quickly and efficiently decode novel words as they encounter them. Since this is a critical reading skill, we must teach kids to decode words as they read.</p><p><b>Questionable Method: Over-reliance on the prompt "sound-it-out"- </b>Sounding out is an important skill for readers to have. The ability to match sounds to symbols is critical, but over-reliance or inflexible dependence on "sounding-it-out" is both inefficient and often ineffective. </p><p><b>What to do instead: </b>The definition of decode in The Literacy Dictionary (ILA) is "to analyze spoken or graphic symbols to ascertain their <i>intended meaning" </i>(italics mine). Meaning is at the center of the decoding enterprise.<b> </b>Children must be taught to flexibly approach an unknown word seeking its meaning by using a combination of strategies including sounding-it-out, but also employing meaning clues, syntax clues, onset and rime, and morphological clues to decode a word. <a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2015/01/the-limits-of-sounding-it-out.html" target="_blank">You can read more about the role of meaning and flexible strategies for decoding here.</a></p><p><br /></p><p><b>Best Practice: Listening to Students Read Orally: </b>Listening to developing readers read a passage orally is an important diagnostic tool for the teacher. Student miscues in oral reading or lack of fluency in processing provides teachers with critical information for planning instruction.</p><p><b>Questionable Method: Round Robin Reading: </b>Round Robin or Popcorn Reading where children are asked to take turns reading orally is a long discredited instructional practice. It is ineffective in improving reading and potentially embarrassing for vulnerable readers.</p><p><b>What to do instead: </b>Students should only be asked to read orally as individuals in three situations. One is a private diagnostic conference where the child is reading to the teacher and the teacher is taking a running record for diagnostic purposes. The second is in a small group guided reading session where again the child is "whisper reading" to the teacher listening in over the shoulder and prompting to assist in processing the text. Finally, performance activities like reader's theater or radio reading, where students are given ample opportunity to rehearse their parts before reading orally. Y<a href="https://russonreading.blogspot.com/2013/09/round-robin-reading-must-die.html" target="_blank">ou can read more about the problems with Round Robin Reading here.</a></p><p><br /></p><p>In our efforts to provide students with the best possible instruction it is a good idea to keep our eyes on the big picture and not on the most immediately expedient solution. The eventual impact on learning will be profound.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Russ Walshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01999234982751919638noreply@blogger.com6