Teaching Language and Literature in Elementary Classrooms: A Resource Book for Professional Development

Teaching Language and Literature in Elementary Classrooms A RESOURCE BOOK FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

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Teaching Language and Literature in Elementary Classrooms A RESOURCE BOOK FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Second Edition

Marcia S. Popp

2005

LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS Mahwah, New Jersey London

This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Senior Acquisitions Editor: Assistant Editor: Cover Design: Textbook Production Manager: Full-Service Compositor: Text and Cover Printer:

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C 2005 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. Copyright
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any other means, without prior written permission of the publisher.

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers 10 Industrial Avenue Mahwah, New Jersey 07430 www.erlbaum.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Popp, Marcia S. Teaching language and literature in elementary classrooms : a resource book for professional development / Marcia S. Popp.—2nd ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8058-5295-6 (pbk.) 1. Language arts (Elementary) 2. Literature—Study and teaching (Elementary) I. Title. LB1576.P656 2006 372.6 044—dc22 2005012311

ISBN 1-4106-1388-7 Master e-book ISBN

For all the teachers in my life: Thank you for a lifetime of inspiration and learning. And for my husband: The conversation continues.

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Contents

Preface

xvii

Acknowledgments

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CHAPTER ONE Language and Literature in Three Classrooms

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In This Chapter The Main Idea In the Classroom: Three Teachers’ Views A Kindergarten Classroom: Gail Nave, Summerfield Grade School, Summerfield, Illinois 2 A Third-Grade Classroom: Dr. Dick Koblitz, Ralph Captain School, Clayton, Missouri 11 A Fifth-Grade Classroom: Jackie Hogue, Marine School, Marine, Illinois 24 What Research Has to Say About Integrating Language and Content Area Learning Try Out the Chapter Ideas

CHAPTER TWO Reading Aloud: Literacy Begins With Listening In This Chapter The Main Idea In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom 39 A Primary Classroom 42 An Intermediate Classroom 43 The Importance of Reading Aloud Preparing to Read Aloud in the Classroom Determine the Purpose for Reading Aloud 46 Consider the Experience and Interests of Your Audience Assess the Resources for Reading Aloud 48

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Presentation—Reading a Book Aloud Evaluating the Read-Aloud Experience Build Partnerships If This Is Your Situation Reflections (Charles Kamm, Retired Teacher and Principal) A Perspective on Reading Aloud (Jim Trelease, Author) What Research Says About the Benefits of Reading Aloud For Your Personal Library Humor for All Occasions 55 Stories of the World 55 Try Out the Chapter Ideas

CHAPTER THREE Independent Reading: Exploring on Their Own In This Chapter The Main Idea In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: Silent Sustained Reading A Primary Classroom: Reviewing Strategies 58 An Intermediate Classroom: Discovering New Books The Importance of Independent Reading Practice Preparation: Independent Reading in the Classroom Introduce the Idea of Independent Reading 64 Create a Comfortable Reading Environment 65 Select a Wide Range of Reading Materials 65 Teach Independent Reading Strategies 66 Model Self-Selection Techniques 66 Use Various Ways to Preview Good Books 67 Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover 69 Presentation: Manage Independent Reading Time Evaluating Your Independent Reading Program Build Partnerships If This Is Your Situation Reflections (Jackie Hogue, Fifth-Grade Teacher) A Perspective on Independent Reading (John Dewey, Philosopher of Education) What Research Says About Independent Reading For Your Personal Library Try Out the Chapter Ideas

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CHAPTER FOUR Creating a Literature Base

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In This Chapter The Main Idea In the Classroom Pre-Teaching Preparation: The Textbook as Future Reference 77 Student Teaching: Gaining Experience With Books 80 First-Year Teaching: Using Book Clubs 82 The Importance of Creating a Literature Base for Instruction Preparing a Literature Base Kinds of Children’s Literature and Examples 85 Presentation: Using the Literature Base for Instruction Evaluating Children’s Literature: How to Choose the Best Creating an Award-Winning Library 93 Using School Book Clubs Effectively 94 Series Books 95 Series With Substance 98 Helping Students Develop Book Selection Skills 101 Build Partnerships If This Is Your Situation Reflections (Gail Nave, Kindergarten Teacher) A Perspective on School Reading (John Dewey, Philosopher of Education) What Research Says About Selecting High-Quality Literature For Your Personal Library Try Out the Chapter Ideas

CHAPTER FIVE Guided Reading

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83 84 91 93

101 102 103 103 104 104 105

107 In This Chapter The Main Idea In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom—Whole Class Instruction: Big Book 107 A Primary Classroom—Literature Groups: Single Title An Intermediate Classroom—Literature Groups: Multiple Titles 115 The Importance of Guided Reading Preparation: Guided Reading

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Presentation: A Guided Reading Session A Kindergarten Classroom—Guided Reading With a Big Book 123 A Primary Classroom—Introducing Literature Response Questions 124 An Intermediate Classroom—Discussion Groups 124 Evaluating Progress in Guided Reading Build Partnerships If This Is Your Situation Basal Texts—Levels of Involvement 128 Reflections—Pat Sheahan (Second-Grade Teacher) A Perspective on Guided Reading (Louise Rosenblatt, Language Theorist) What Research Says About Guided Reading For Your Personal Library Try Out the Chapter Ideas

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126 127 127 129 130 131 132 133

CHAPTER SIX Mini-Lessons

135 In This Chapter The Main Idea In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: Small-Group Skill Practice A Primary Class: Using Literature to Develop Concepts An Intermediate Classroom: Connecting Reading and Writing 142 The Importance of Mini-Lessons Preparing for Mini-Lessons Presentation: Mini-Lessons Academic Skills 148 Social Interactive Skills 148 Caretaking Skills 148 Creative Skills 149 Evaluating Mini-Lessons Build Partnerships If This Is Your Situation Reflections (Jackie Hogue, Fifth-Grade Teacher) A Perspective on Mini-Lessons (Jerome Bruner, Educational Theorist) What Research Says About Mini-Lessons For Your Personal Library Try Out the Chapter Ideas

135 135 135

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CHAPTER SEVEN Individual Reading Conferences In This Chapter The Main Idea In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: The Emerging Reader 155 An Early Primary Classroom: Assessing Competence 160 A Primary Classroom: Sharing Ideas and Developing Skills 163 An Intermediate Classroom: Encouraging Exploration and Reflection 166 The Importance of Individual Reading Conferences Preparing for Individual Reading Conferences Prepare the Entire Class 173 Help Individual Students Get Ready 175 Presentation: The Individual Reading Conference Begin the Conversation 176 Ending the Session 177 Summarize 177 Show Personal Interest 177 Make Assignments 178 Help Everyone Participate 178 Evaluating the Individual Reading Conference Build Partnerships If This Is Your Situation Reflections (Patricia Sheahan, Second-Grade Teacher) A Perspective on Individual Reading Conferences (Lev Vygotsky, Language Theorist) What Research Says About Individual Reading Conferences For Your Personal Library Try Out the Chapter Ideas

CHAPTER EIGHT Writing to Create Meaning In This Chapter The Main Idea In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: Captions 185 A Kindergarten Classroom: Key Words 187 A Kindergarten Classroom: Language Experience Charts 191 A Kindergarten Classroom: Shared Writing 194 A Primary Classroom: Word Charts, Poems, Journals 196

155 155 155 155

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A Primary Classroom: An Individual Writing Conference 197 An Early Intermediate Classroom: Mini-Lessons and Writer’s Workshop 200 A Late Intermediate Classroom: The Author’s Chair 203 The Importance of Writing Preparing for Writing Activities Materials 206 Plan for Everyone to Participate 208 Presentation: Writing Activities Key Words 210 Captions 211 Language Experience Charts 211 Chart Lists 213 Spelling 214 Handwriting 214 Skills Notebooks 215 Writer’s Workshop 216 Individual Writing Conferences 217 Evaluating Writing Development Portfolios 220 Two-Minute Conferences 221 Build Partnerships If This Is Your Situation Reflections (Julia Parker, Fourth-Grade Teacher) A Perspective on Writing (Sylvia Ashton-Warner, Teacher/Author) What Research Says About Writing For Your Personal Library Try Out the Chapter Ideas

CHAPTER NINE Listening and Speaking In This Chapter The Main Idea In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: Using Words in Social Situations 229 A Primary Classroom: Friday Afternoon Sharing Time 235 An Intermediate Classroom: A Shared-Pair Discussion 239 The Importance of Developing Listening and Speaking Skills Preparing for Listening and Speaking Activities Oral Reading 244 Book Previews 245

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Examples of Grade-Level Previews 246 Shared-Pair Discussions 248 Creative Drama 249 Reader’s Theater 251 Puppet Theater 251 Friday Afternoon Sharing Time (FAST) 253 Audience Preparation 256 Presentation: Friday Afternoon Sharing Time Evaluating Speaking and Listening Activities Health and Safety Presentations 258 Provide for All Speakers and Listeners 259 Build Partnerships If This Is Your Situation Reflections (Jackie Hogue, Fifth-Grade Teacher) Perspective on Listening and Speaking (Jerome Bruner, Educational Theorist) What Research Says About Developing Listening and Speaking Skills For Your Personal Library Try Out the Chapter Ideas

CHAPTER TEN The Languages of Learning in the Content Areas In This Chapter The Main Idea In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: Exploring Mathematics With Language 268 A Kindergarten Classroom: Exploring Science With Literature 270 A Primary Classroom: Science, Computers, Language, and Literature 272 A Primary Classroom: Exploring Social Studies With Language 275 An Intermediate Classroom: Social Studies and Theme Cycles 277 An Intermediate Classroom: Social Studies Sociodrama 282 The Importance of Themes and the Languages of Learning Themes: Organizing Ideas and Creating Connections Theme Units 285 Theme Topics 287 Theme Cycles 289 Preparing for Theme Activities Creating a Theme Cycle 290

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260 261 262 263 264 264 265

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Considering All Learners 291 Presentation: Using Language to Explore Ideas and Information The Theme Cycle 293 Recording and Responding to Ideas and Information: Learning Journals 295 Student Activities to Explore and Explain Ideas 298 Teacher-Directed Experiences to Assist Learning Evaluating Learning in the Content Areas Build Partnerships If This Is Your Situation Reflections (Christine Lanning, Fifth-Grade Teacher) A Perspective (Eleanor Duckworth, Teacher/Researcher) What Research Says About Literature in the Content Areas For Your Personal Library Try Out the Chapter Ideas

CHAPTER ELEVEN The Languages of Expression—Play, Media, and the Fine Arts In This Chapter The Main Idea In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: Play, Drama, and Literacy 309 A Kindergarten Classroom: Drama and Music 312 The Importance of Play and the Fine Arts in Emerging Literacy Preparing for Play and Fine Arts Activities Presentation: Introduction to Play Centers A Primary Classroom: Movies and Literacy 316 The Importance of Media and Literacy Preparing for a Media-Literacy Experience Presentation: A Movie and Discussion An Intermediate Classroom: Art History 320 Importance of Expression Through the Arts Literature for the Arts 324 Presentation: Exercises to Express Responses to the Fine Arts Respond to Art 325 Respond to Music 326 Exploring Art in Reverse: What Do You Hear? 326 Exploring Music in Reverse: What Do You See? 327 What Can’t You See in a Painting? 328 Begin with a Line . . . 329 Evaluating Play and Artistic Experiences

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314 314 315 318 319 319 323 325

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Build Partnerships If This Is Your Situation Reflections (The Author) A Perspective (Karen Gallas, Teacher/Researcher) What Research Has to Say About Play, Language, and Literature For Your Personal Library Try Out the Chapter Ideas

APPENDIX A Minimizing Distractions to Learning Anticipate Responses Adjust Expectations Analyze Causes of Disruption Normal Disruptions Twenty Quick Ways to Deal With Impulsive Behaviors: How to Save Your Sanity and Get on With the Day Other Causes of Misbehavior

APPENDIX B Book Selection Literature Book Links: Connecting Books, Libraries, and Classrooms The Horn Book Magazine Multicultural Publishers Exchange Catalog of Books by and About People of Color Notable Children’s Trade Books in Social Studies Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children American Library Association Notable Children’s Books Children’s Choices Awards Other Sources of Reviews

APPENDIX C Awards for Children’s Literature United States Canada United Kingdom Australia New Zealand International

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350 350 352 352 353 353 353

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APPENDIX D Student Forms and Guidelines Identify the Genre—Primary Identify the Genre—Intermediate Special Features of Informational Books Types of Literature: A Genre Checklist—Intermediate Student Reading Conference Preparation: Primary Student Conference Preparation: Intermediate Student Preconference Memo to Teacher Guidelines for Biographical Writing: Primary and Intermediate Oral Reading Exercises List of Book Response Activities for FAST FAST Proposal FAST Presentation Review Form FAST Presentation Record

APPENDIX E Teacher Forms and Guidelines Personal Response to Literature Comprehension Mechanics Sense of Audience Sample Skills Checklist for Kindergarten Sample Skills Checklist for Kindergarten/ Early Primary/Developmental Sample Skills Checklist for Late Primary/Intermediate Identifying the Genre: Kindergarten Writing Conference Form Sample Questions for Writing Conference Additional Follow-up Questions Writing Skills Checklist: Primary/Intermediate

354 354 355 356 356 357 357 358 358 358 359 360 361 361

362 362 362 363 363 364 364 365 366 366 366 367 367

References

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Author Index

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Subject Index

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Preface

New to This Edition This revised edition of Teaching Language and Literature in Elementary Classrooms: A Resource Book for Professional Development retains the purposes of the first edition, but adds ideas and information gathered over the years from new classroom observations. It also incorporates the results of extensive reviews of educational research, continuous reading in all the genres of children’s literature, and correspondence with faculty and students. In response to these varied and helpful experiences, the following elements will be found in this second edition: • Strategies for dealing with problems of disruption in the classroom • Expanded discussions related to diversity and special needs • Increased attention to methods of evaluation and mandated testing programs • Reorganization of chapter sections to make them more useful to readers • A new chapter on Play and the Fine Arts • Integration of electronic teaching technology into all chapters • Extensive in-text annotations of children’s literature, discussions of new titles in children’s literature, cultural literatures, book clubs, series books, and the influence of books published internationally • Updated reports of research and best-practice studies • New classroom observations Also new to this edition is a set of appendixes designed to provide information and resources for instructional support. They include: Appendix A: Minimizing Distractions to Learning—Preventing and responding to classroom disruptions; information and ideas drawn from the author’s experiences in special education and the literature of educational psychology Appendix B: Book Selection Literature—Annotations of key reference works helpful for book selection and instruction Appendix C: Awards for Children’s Literature—Books honored in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand Appendix D: Student Forms and Guidelines—Sample guidelines for responding to reading; preparing for conferences; and evaluating writing, listening, and speaking xvii

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Appendix E: Teacher Forms and Guidelines—Sample guidelines for conference preparation and evaluation of learning

The Continuing Purpose of This Text In light of the changes to the text described above, it is important to note those aspects that have remained the same. The original edition of Teaching Language and Literature in Elementary Classrooms was written for two major purposes: • The first was to provide beginning educators with a handbook on language arts instruction that would serve both as a text and a professional resource to be carried into the first year of teaching. Nearly a decade after its initial publication, this text remains the only one in the field designed specifically for this purpose. • The second purpose of the original text was to share the talents and enthusiasm of the many competent teachers I had observed in elementary classrooms over a period of 30 years in the field. Some were my colleagues when I was an elementary school teacher, and others were visited regularly as part of my work to place teachersin-training with classroom mentors. I watched these exceptional educators at work—listened, asked questions, and recorded what I learned. As a professor of education, I tried to share as much as possible from these observations with my undergraduate students. This revised text, as did the first edition, represents an effort to share these experiences with a wider audience.

Organization of the Text The sections in each chapter of the text are arranged in an order that helps readers move from a direct experience of the narrative to step-bystep descriptions they can follow to implement these activities in their own classrooms. Chapter 1 presents readers with narrative accounts of entire school days, as observed in the classrooms of three exemplary educators. Following the observations, these teachers describe their practice in their own words. Readers observe, firsthand, how to plan daily schedules to meet yearly goals and provide instruction that generates excitement for learning. Chapters 2 through 11 describe the individual practices of literaturebased, integrated language arts teaching. These include the following: • Reading Aloud—daily sessions with teachers, book buddies, and guest readers • Independent Reading—the silent sustained reading of individually chosen books

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• Creating a Literature Base—developing a classroom library that supports learning in all the curriculum areas • Guided Reading—instruction in small and large groups; literature circles • Mini-Lessons—brief presentations of specific skills or information • Individual Reading Conferences—private discussions of books with the teacher • Writing to Create Meaning—ways to use writing as a tool for inquiry and expression • Listening and Speaking—developing skills that assist comprehension and expression • The Languages of Learning in the Content Areas—using specialized languages in context, to explore ideas in mathematics, science, and social studies • The Languages of Expression (Play, Media, the Fine Arts)—using play and the arts to develop language and express ideas Individual sections are consistent from chapter to chapter throughout the text and follow the sequence listed below: • In This Chapter—the major topics of discussion • The Main Idea—a brief summary of the practice to be described in the chapter • In the Classroom—narratives drawn from observations at all elementary instructional levels • The Importance of the Practice—explains why a particular practice is considered “best” practice • Preparing for the Practice—describes how to get ready to use the various activities that comprise literature-based, integrated language arts teaching • Presentation of the Practice—step-by-step suggestions for what to say and do as activities are introduced to a class • Evaluating the Teaching Experience—suggestions on how to measure learning and redirect teaching • Build Partnerships—ideas for reaching out to all constituencies of the school and community, to extend and enrich student learning experiences • If This Is Your Situation—ways to meet challenges such as mandated testing, required curriculum texts, and philosophical differences with colleagues, parents, or administrators • Reflections on Practice—first-person accounts of experiences educators have had with a particular practice of language arts teaching • Perspective—a section that features ideas from noted educators related to the chapter practice • What Research Says About This Practice—a brief review of studies related to the effectiveness of the particular practice • For Your Personal Library—an annotated list of handbooks, guides, read-aloud books, and professional journals that can be used for reference and resource

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• Try Out the Chapter Ideas—suggestions to explore the information and observations from the chapter

Integrating Instruction Although the individual practices of integrated language arts instruction are discussed in separate chapters in this text, you will notice in the narratives that they are woven throughout the curriculum and never stand alone as context-free objects of study. For example, a mini-lesson on alliteration may involve a particularly good read-aloud picture book. Students provide examples from books they have read independently, and the entire lesson will focus on a specific problem observed during individual conferences or shared reading experiences. Practice for the skill may draw from a current unit in science or social studies, and the lesson and examples become a writing exercise that can later be used as reference for further learning. In a similar vein, the first edition of this book featured a separate section devoted to the accommodation of instruction for students with special learning needs. In the current edition, this information has been integrated throughout each chapter—in the narratives and sections on preparation, presentation, and evaluation. A comprehensive plan for teaching must include the consideration of every student’s abilities and challenges. All children are individuals, who bring varied experiences and skills to any learning situation. The focus is therefore on ability, not disability—building on strengths and supporting special needs where they exist.

Special Features of This Text The narratives in this text, and the accompanying instructions for preparing to teach, are included for every elementary instructional level. There are several reasons for this. First, all learning is developmental. No two children learn at the same rate or in the same way. Every person’s experience with language has differed from the time they were born, depending on their physical and emotional development, their natural abilities, the use of language and books in their homes, opportunities they have had to explore the larger world, and individual interests. These variables continue to influence the rate at which children benefit from their experiences in the classroom, the level of their curiosity, and their desire to learn. Whether a person is assigned to teach a self-contained kindergarten class or departmental sixth-grade language arts in middle school, their students will be developing learners. Knowing that language skills develop at individual rates, depending on natural ability and environmental circumstances, beginning teachers will be in a better position to evaluate and assist every student in their classroom.

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The second reason that narratives and preparation guidelines are included for every elementary instructional level is quite practical. This book is intended to help new teachers learn how to teach the language arts, but it is also designed to be a reference—a resource book for professional development. From methods classes and experiences in cooperating schools, students develop many ideas about what they want to do in their own classrooms. The sections of this book that deal with situational challenges, developing curriculum themes, working with classroom management problems, and creating a community of partners will assume more importance as they move into full-time teaching. In addition, most beginning teachers have a distinct preference for the age of students with whom they most enjoy working. Throughout their teaching careers, however, it is more than likely that they will be assigned to several different grade levels. If they have observed what goes on in classrooms at all stages of elementary instruction, they will be more comfortable and confident with these inevitable changes of assignment. Finally, it is by conscious decision that the numberless distractions that attend all teaching are not fully described in the classroom stories. It is difficult enough to identify what a teacher is attempting to do in an instructional way, without adding these to the mix. In most cases, many of the problems that detract from classroom instruction have been factored into the ways the lessons are conducted. In addition, most of the teachers featured in the narratives help students practice responses to disruptions in advance, as thoroughly as they rehearse for fire drills. But there are still days that challenge even the most effective classroom management programs. For these times, and for other more serious difficulties with individual behavior problems, Appendix A of this book provides suggestions for anticipating and preventing minor and major disruptions. It presents ideas drawn from the literatures of special education and educational psychology, which have proven to be successful in a wide range of classrooms, at all instructional levels. It is my hope that this new edition of Teaching Language and Literature in Elementary Classrooms will be useful to readers, not only as a textbook, but also as a resource for instruction. Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] if there are any questions and comments about the text. I would be most happy to hear from you. The teaching of language arts can be both challenging and exciting. It draws upon the most creative of our impulses and prompts us to share our love of literature, words, and ideas with children. There can be no finer calling than to help students develop their individual powers of learning as they use language and literature to explore an increasingly complex and fascinating world. —Marcia Popp

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank all of the exceptional teachers who are profiled in this book. It has been an honor to be welcomed into their classrooms, some of which I have been visiting for more than 20 years. I am especially grateful for the contributions of Gail Nave, Julia Parker, Christine Cook, Christine Lanning, Ingrid Patterson, Charles Kamm, Jim Furtkamp, Rebecca Culler, Jackie Hogue, Dick Koblitz, Kathy Burch, Cathy Woods, and many talented but modest educators who prefer to remain anonymous. I would also like to thank Martha Eggers, a colleague at McKendree College, whose insights, teaching skill, and tireless efforts on behalf of her students have always been an inspiration. I acknowledge, with the greatest respect, Stephen Poweska, Judith Swanson, Patricia Sheahan, and Deb Cryder (all deceased), whose influence on their colleagues and students live on in the narratives of this book. My deepest appreciation is extended to the reviewers of this text. I would like to thank them for their astute analyses and ideas about what could be helpfully added to this revised edition. I would also like to thank my extraordinary editor at Erlbaum, Naomi Silverman, for her advice, counsel, patience and direction, and Erica Kica, who has diligently provided the information necessary to complete this project. Last, but certainly not least, I would like to acknowledge Theresa Raglin, whose encouragement, keen observations, and eye for detail were invaluable assets in this revision.

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Teaching Language and Literature in Elementary Classrooms A RESOURCE BOOK FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

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CHAPTER ONE

Language and Literature in Three Classrooms In This Chapter Teachers at three levels of elementary instruction—kindergarten, primary, and intermediate—are observed in their classrooms, as they conduct a day’s activities. In their own words, they tell how they begin the school year, plan for instruction, gather resources, accommodate special needs, and interact with their students. All three explain their use of themes, language, and literature across the curriculum and describe how they evaluate learning.

The Main Idea Elementary school educators, who integrate language learning and literature successfully throughout the curriculum, share a common belief that children learn best through active participation.

In the Classroom: Three Teachers’ Views In subsequent chapters of this text, you will look closely at individual activities that promote language and content area learning. In this chapter, you are invited to spend the day in three different classrooms to see how these activities function as integral parts of a daily schedule and are incorporated into planning for the entire school year. In the sections following the classroom observations, teachers talk about their programs and respond to the concerns they most frequently hear expressed from student teachers, such as: “How do you start the school year?” “How do you introduce the different activities?” and “What kind of schedule do you follow?” They also address such questions as: “How do you help children with special needs?” and “How do you involve parents and the community in your classroom?” The teachers portrayed in this chapter are lifelong learners, who are continually growing in their understanding of how children learn. They 1

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all read extensively and attend conferences to improve their professional knowledge. Each has a long history of sharing ideas with others and supporting the efforts of their colleagues to introduce new ways of teaching into their classrooms. Visitors are always welcome and, because they see themselves as learners, they openly discuss the ways they want to change and improve. Over a period of years, they have interacted with college and university students, both as instructors and classroom mentors. All have received local, state, or national awards for their teaching and have been widely recognized by students, colleagues, and administrators for professional excellence. As you enter their classrooms in these narratives, you will notice that each teacher exhibits a particular style as they interact with their students. They may provide you with an additional teaching model to complement those you will have gained from firsthand observations of practicing teachers. Although the grade levels and teaching contexts of these teachers differ, they share common beliefs about teaching and learning. Whether they teach in rural or urban situations, to students of economic privilege or deprivation, all believe that learners should be active inquirers in the classroom. Each teacher creates a print-rich environment for his or her students and provides many opportunities for them to develop and practice skills in reading, writing, listening, speaking, and thinking. All have created a community of learners in an environment that encourages sharing and risk taking.

A Kindergarten Classroom: Gail Nave, Summerfield Grade School, Summerfield, Illinois “Mrs. Nave, what do those words say?” Aaron points to a new poem written on the story chart. “Just a minute, Aaron, I need to finish here first,” she replies. Ten minutes of free play remain in the kindergarten room before the formal beginning of the school day. Mrs. Nave is busy providing background for the day’s activities to a classroom visitor. “Now! Mrs. Nave, I need to know now!” Aaron insists. “I need to know what those words say!” Mrs. Nave excuses herself to read the new poem aloud to Aaron, who then rushes over to another boy to share the news. “Guess what the new poem says?” he asks, and the two of them continue to puzzle out the words on the chart. When Aaron first began school in the fall, he did not notice the words on the chart or pay any attention to the many books displayed around the room. They were not a part of his experience previous to attending school. But, as he listened to books read aloud and shared the foot-tapping, fingersnapping shared reading sessions, he began to observe that printed words were associated with exciting, rewarding experiences. He discovered that books had pictures of things he was interested in, like animals, trucks, and cars. He was encouraged to write his own ideas about what he heard, saw,

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and thought about, and soon he encountered new print with the intensity recorded above. Kindergarten children arrive at Summerfield School over a 20-minute period in the morning. Some walk, while others arrive in buses on a staggered schedule. When children enter the room, they sign in and fasten a clip clothespin with their name on it beside a picture of a lunch tray or a lunch box to indicate their lunch choice. They deposit any notes, book club orders, or lunch money envelopes in a basket and move on to free-choice activities at various centers around the room. There are special areas for housekeeping, blocks (Tinkertoys and Legos), and “The Write Place,” which features paper and writing utensils. The Computer Center is stocked with programs such as Math Rabbit and Alphabears and The Library Corner has class-made books and multiple copies of regular-sized versions of the Big Books from shared reading. There are also puzzles and learning games, a listening station with books and tapes, and a painting center. Because most children do not have many toys in their homes, they are originally attracted to areas that feature these things. By February, however, Mrs. Nave notices that most of the children cluster in small groups during this free-choice time—reading, singing, and chanting to each other from books or from the songs, poems, and stories on charts around the room. Students especially enjoy reading the books they have written and published themselves. Each book is a collection of their memories and common experiences: field trips, visitors, theme studies, and favorite books. Many of these class books begin as displays on bulletin boards. “Look Who Goes to Kindergarten,’’ from the beginning of the school year, features children’s self-portraits and conversation bubbles. Inside the bubble, the teacher or an aide writes whatever the child wanted the class to know about them, such as “Hi! My name is Lisa. I love pepperoni pizza.” After free-choice time, students move to Writer’s Workshop and the “Word of the Day.” This word is written prominently on the blackboard and is usually associated with the current theme, such as “butterfly” from a study of insects or “spider” from their current read-aloud book, Charlotte’s Web (White, 1974). Students draw a picture to illustrate the word or create their own words and pictures. Today, the word is “leprechaun,” which they have heard in read-aloud books and in discussions about the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day. To assist their writing, students consult other words on their discussion chart and books about leprechauns that are displayed in the room. Some label their pictures with words such as “shamrock,” “rainbow,” “pot of gold,” or “green hat.” All use developmental spelling to tell their stories. Above the chalkboard, Mrs. Nave has placed the manuscript alphabet for children to use as a model for their writing. She makes her own alphabet cards, writing the letters on an enlarged version of the blue and red dottedline primary paper available to students. When everyone has drawn and written, it is time for Morning Meeting. Students retrieve clipboards from a large plastic tub at the front of the room and gather on the rug in front of a large calendar. Also posted here are the

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“Poem of the Month” and an enlarged copy of the “Letter of the Month”, written to the students from the teacher. The clipboards hold copies of the calendar, poem, and letter. At the end of the month, Mrs. Nave will send these materials home, and parents will help children continue their reading practice. There are no books in many of her students’ homes and the teacher is eager for children to have printed matter that they can read in their hands. Each morning, students interact with the calendar, practicing the concepts of time. They add a new numeral for the day and review the name of the month and day of the week. They talk about what happened yesterday, what will happen today, and what they will do tomorrow. They count the number of months in the school year before February and say the names of the months that will follow. They create questions for each other, such as: • How many days have there been since the beginning of the year? • How many days have there been since the beginning of the month? • How many days until the end of the month? They talk about birthdays that occur during the month and count the number of days left until these special days. In the beginning, Mrs. Nave writes in the numbers on the individual student calendars before they are duplicated, and children draw Xs through each day as they occur. By the third month, however, children are filling in the numerals on their own. Students draw pictures on their calendars to note birthdays, holidays, and special events like field trips, visitors, the first snowfall, early dismissal, and days off. The teacher writes the day’s number on an appropriate seasonal shape (sun, leaf, snowflake, flower) and fastens it to the register tape that makes a border around the room. This is part of the 100-days-countingproject and, at the end of 100 days, there will be a celebration. Children make frequent estimates about how far the tape will go around the room before the end of 100 days. “Lost Tooth of the Month” follows, and for every lost tooth the children chant, “I lost a tooth, but I don’t care; another one is growing there!” Each month has a tooth on it, with the names of children who lost teeth during that month. The group talks about tooth statistics and makes comparisons, such as the fact that more people lost a tooth in September. They also examine their calendars to find the month when the fewest children lost teeth. On their copies of the teacher’s letter, students find the word “love” and draw a heart around it. They also draw pictures to illustrate other words in the poem or the letter, and draw blocks or circles around the letter of the day. Poems of the month are repetitive and rhythmic, allowing children to join in immediately. At Christmas time, Mrs. Nave uses “I wish you a Merry Christmas,” and in late spring, Robert Louis Stevenson’s verse: “The world is so full of a number of things, I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.” The large chart letters and poems are saved and hung up on nails above the blackboard, so that children can refer to them during the year.

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Behind the Scenes During each Morning Meeting, a child tells about Griswold’s visit to their home the night before. Griswold is a stuffed bear who goes home with a different child each night and returns with a story of the visit written in his journal. Children may also choose to draw a picture about the visit and talk about the visit firsthand. By the end of the year, many are writing sentences and brief stories in the journal themselves and sit in the author’s chair to read. Griswold travels to the various homes in a book bag, along with his journal, which is enclosed in a ziplock bag. The journal is a spiral notebook that has hard plastic covers to withstand repeated use. As the smaller spiral notebooks are filled, they go into a three-ring binder and are placed in the library center for student reading and review. Morning Meeting is followed by a read-aloud session, to which students respond enthusiastically. P.E. is out-of-doors today, followed by a snack and restroom break. After this, the children settle down with favorite books for silent sustained reading (SSR). Each chooses a favorite spot: Some sit at tables, while others stretch out on the rug or tuck themselves away under tables and behind shelves. The classroom aide joins the class before SSR and participates by reading her own book. When the independent reading period is finished, she works with the students on a song she is teaching them to sing and perform in sign language. On other days of the week, this may be time for a shared reading experience, using Big Books or other predictable stories, poems, and songs written on a chart tablet. The morning closes with math activities and another story. In the afternoon, the teacher will read aloud from a chapter book, and they will explore their current theme study. During the last half hour of the day, students examine books with their Book Buddies from second grade or listen to a book read aloud by a guest storyteller. In Her Own Words

Because most of my children have never been in an educational setting prior to enrollment in kindergarten, I need to “ease” into my program. However, from the first day of school, my students are reading, writing, and immersed in quality literature. They “sign in” to the classroom every day by writing their names in any way they are able. This daily exercise establishes the need to write and demonstrates the power of writing. Through careful prodding, I get them to take risks and show them they are valued as learners. We also begin Writing Workshop on the first day, and I model for the children what I would like to see on their papers: words, a picture about the words, their name, and the date—stamped with the library stamp. I continue modeling for the first week or so and, periodically through the year, as the need arises. Within days, the students are able to independently file their writing efforts in hanging files. The types of activities in the daily schedule remain the same from day to day, but there is flexibility in how long each activity lasts. I like to allow more time for activities when children are really involved, and move on if their attention wavers.

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Our Daily Schedule Morning Free choice of activities in centers—art, blocks, writing, reading, science Morning meeting—discussing ideas together Writing workshop—individual writing and drawing projects Mini-lesson—reading and writing strategies P.E.—outdoors or in the gym, according to the weather Music—experiences to enrich the theme study Shared reading—predictable books, nursery rhymes, chants, poetry Math—manipulative experiences Afternoon Story time—reading aloud from a chapter book Afternoon theme study—reading, writing, talking, and thinking about concepts in science and social studies I begin planning for the year with a broad overview of where I want students to be by the end of the year, and then I am able to better pace activities, based on the abilities of my students. I do not use workbooks or rely heavily on ditto sheets, but I must meet the objectives established by the district. I identify the skills my students will be expected to know by the end of the year and incorporate these objectives into mini-lessons, as they are needed. I also identify a sequence for reviewing letters and sounds in shared reading. I have discovered, however, that my students always learn far more than I set out to teach them! The children are in charge of their learning, and I am quick to point out that this year belongs to them. I had my year in kindergarten a long time ago. Most of our themes begin with the KWL approach. Children contribute ideas about what they already know about a topic, and we list things they want to know. At the end of each session, we review what we have learned. To get them “hooked,” I also like to introduce the theme with an especially appealing book. When the children walk into the classroom on the day a new theme is being introduced, they see new books displayed that deal with that topic and pictures or a chart on the easel. Although I must use some of the materials adopted by the district, I supplement from many other sources. In many respects, my program seems to be driven by the introduction of new books. Given the fact that many of my children are environmentally disadvantaged, a good number are not familiar with the language of print. If I expect them to read print, they must first hear the language of print and hold books in their own hands. While students in my class are basically practicing how to read, they surprise themselves by becoming quite accomplished readers by the end of the year. I believe that children first act as readers and then they become readers. I am always genuinely excited about any book I share with my class. There are far too many good books to read to waste time on ones that are so-so. When I read aloud to them, I always identify the author and illustrator of the book, something I did not always do. (I continue to be amazed at how adept my class is at identifying authors and illustrators.) I might also ask the

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children what they think a certain book might be about, based on the title and cover illustration. Then I read the book in its entirety, trying to avoid interruptions, as the first reading should be for sheer pleasure. Usually, I hear whispered requests to read it again, just as I am closing the book. And YES, I do read it again that day and many other days as well. During later readings, I will certainly pause for discussion or bring attention to some particular part. At the end of the school year, children vote on their favorite chapter book, and we read it again. I delight in the first day of SSR (silent sustained reading). I place a tub of wordless books in the center of the floor, and we sit on the floor in a circle. I pick up a book and start looking at it silently. Sometimes, others join me by selecting a book. Other times, they just stare. When I have finished the book, I share what a wonderful story it was. This creates a model, and soon everyone joins me. I have discovered that at this age, independent reading time will not be silent. I also discovered that vocalizing is part of developmental reading, and that if I occasionally walked around the room and listened while children were reading to themselves, I had a wonderful opportunity to see how well their reading strategies were developing. I use many resources for my students’ learning. Visitors are always a welcome addition to the classroom, and I invite a different storyteller each Friday. That person might be the principal, other school personnel, a family member, or family friend. They are asked to share several of their favorite children’s books with the class. I try to take the class on as many field trips as the district will allow to help broaden my students’ knowledge of the world around them. We go to the apple orchard, visit the dairy farm, go to the post office to mail valentines to our Book Buddies, attend a performance of the St. Louis Symphony, and attend the all-school Outdoor Education Day. Most years, we are able to squeeze in a trip to the St. Louis Zoo, Grant’s Farm, or the Continental Bakery. I try to increase my professional knowledge and skill by attending meetings of our regional reading teacher’s group, which provides excellent monthly programs. They also bring in outstanding speakers several times a year for Saturday conferences. My all-time favorite conference is the Illinois Kindergarten Conference, held in Chicago in late winter. Not only do I hear wonderful keynote speakers, but the presentations by fellow teachers also provide me with many ideas to bring back to the classroom. I also regularly read The Reading Teacher (2004) for ideas to use in my teaching. If I were a beginning teacher, I would purchase for my library the four professional books that have had the most influence on my teaching: What’s Whole in Whole Language (1986) by Kenneth Goodman, because it gives an overview of this kind of teaching in clear terms; Joyful Learning (1991) by Bobbi Fisher, because it is written by a former kindergarten teacher for kindergarten teachers and has applications for both half- and full-day programs; and Transitions: From Literature to Literacy (1988) and Invitations (1992) by Regie Routman, because I have found many useful ideas for my own teaching in both of these books. If I had to recommend the best books I have read aloud to my class, they would have to include: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (1989) by Bill Martin, Jr.,

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and J. Archambault; How Many Bugs in a Box? by David Carter (1988); The Very Quiet Cricket by Eric Carle (1990); and Griswold’s Journal, a continuing account of our room mascot’s visits to student homes. My student teachers regularly ask me: Do you teach phonics? Can I really do all this when I’m a teacher? and Where do I start? This is how I answer them: I do teach the sounds of letters, but in the context of helping students figure out how to spell a word for their writing or to read a word in a book they are interested in. Sometimes at the beginning, teaching can seem overwhelming, but you can do it! You must be patient with yourself and your students. Teachers who expect miracles or try to do too much at one time will soon burn out. This is an evolving process that takes years to develop, but what fun we have along the way! Begin with an area that interests you most, the area in which you are most comfortable. Visit other teachers and observe the way they present and manage activities in their classrooms. Then, choose the best of what you see and mold it to fit your own situation. While you are in the classrooms, ask the teachers why they do certain things. Ask lots of questions. The first year I introduced daily writing, I eventually discovered that children only become writers when they have the time and opportunity to improve their skills. I learned to be patient, waiting for results. One day, I apologized to the class because I had forgotten to pick up balloons for our calendar. Without a blink of an eye, Travis, who was helper of the day, told me he would write me a note to help me remember. Much to my amazement, he did just that and slipped it on my desk. From then on, children were quick to write notes to remind me of things I should know. I had convinced the children that they were writers with a real audience. I believe in whole group instruction for the most part, with limited grouping by common needs in the form of mini-lessons. Children learn so much from each other, and I learn from them, too. Immersed in a printrich environment and provided with many opportunities to practice reading, they come to see the joy of reading and believe that they can learn to read as well. They are actively involved in learning throughout the day. My children know up front that the word “can’t” does not exist in our room. I expect all students to succeed in my program, and I try to create an environment in which all can meet with some measure of success. Patience goes a long way, and if we provide enough opportunities to practice literacy skills, they will suddenly bloom when we least expect it. Each time I learn that I am getting a child with special needs, I tend to be a bit apprehensive. As soon as he or she arrives, however, those fears vanish and we all seem to adapt very easily. Children fought over the opportunity to join Charley in a quiet game when the weather did not allow him to be as active as he would like (he was born without sweat glands and could not perspire to cool his body). Kate participated in all aspects of physical education and was cheered on by her teammates, even though she was slowed down by braces because of cerebral palsy. Thomas’s frequent epileptic seizures did not alarm his classmates. Another student was quick to get a resting mat for Thomas, because he or she knew that Thomas would need to rest afterwards from seizures that physically exhausted him. Added

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to these special needs were those of foster children, who were emotionally drained. To each child, my classes have responded in an accepting and caring way. This may be partly due to the fact that limitations and differences are not pointed out or emphasized, and partly a result of the bonding we enjoy as a community of learners. Without exception, all of my students make great strides. My classroom library has books of every kind and description. I also have class books the children have made throughout the year. These books will later find new homes with class members who take them home in May. Many show the wear and tear of daily handling, as they are always favorites, given the fact that students’ own efforts are between the covers. In addition to the class books, there are also multiple copies of regularsized versions of the Big Books we use in shared reading. Children are already familiar with the text and can use these books to practice their reading skills during free-choice time or SSR. Before children begin handling the books, we read Benjamin’s Book (1987) by Alan Baker, the story of a hamster who spoils a page in a book and tries to clean it up. This book sets the tone for handling books with care. I have all kinds of trade books in my classroom, not only in the library but also around the room, on chalkboard ledges, the piano, the window ledges, and any other available space where children might be drawn. During our study of spiders at Halloween, I might read aloud from a factual book about spiders, help students examine a Big Book version of The Very Busy Spider (1985) by Eric Carle, and share with them some of the Anansi tales such as Anansi and the Talking Melon (Kimmel & Stevens, 1995). I make a real effort to introduce my children to many different kinds of literature. A fun activity that requires little effort on my part and thoroughly holds my students’ attention is gathering different versions of a folktale. Each day I read a different version, while the children develop their listening skills to fill in a chart of common elements. For example, at Thanksgiving, when we are getting ready for the feast with our Book Buddies, I share a different version of Stone Soup (Brown, 1982; McGovern, 1986; Forest, 2000; Muth, 2003) each day. The children listen for the main characters in the story and try to remember the different ingredients that go in the soup. We then record this information on a chart. Once the chart is completed, we are able to develop many math concepts, than any other ingredient.” such as “There were more We vote on our favorite version of the story and dramatize the one that is chosen. As a culminating activity, we make stone soup as our contribution to the Thanksgiving feast. We also use this activity with different versions of Little Red Hen (Galdone, 1985; McQueen, 1987) and The Mitten (Tresselt, 1964; Brett, 1996), identifying the animals involved in the stories. Students are able to familiarize themselves with story elements and learn that although the characters and settings may vary, the problem is generally the same, as is the resolution of the problem. I also used this activity with environmentally deprived first graders, who were equally receptive to the activities. I brought in a number of the ingredients that I knew they were not familiar with, and passed the

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food around so children could examine it. They were then given a small piece of plain paper to draw, color, and cut out their own pictures of the food. Children experimented with spelling the names of the food on a chart. Next, we looked up the standard spellings and wrote them in a different color. The students were amazed at how close their approximations were to the correct spelling, a point that I also emphasized. The children shared words that described the food, which I recorded on the chart. Then, they pasted their pictures of food around the words. One of my favorite topics to study is St. Patrick’s Day. Although this study only lasts for 2 days, the children really enjoy it. We begin with a brief overview of Ireland and the historical meaning of St. Patrick’s Day. They love it when I pull down the map and whisper to each other, “She’s pulling it down again!” There are some wonderful books about this holiday, which I read and make available to them. The first day, children decorate Styrofoam cups. I tell them that they will be used for our party, but that night I put them in the oven for a short time and they shrink, taking on a strong resemblance to a leprechaun’s hat. When the children arrive the next day, they see that the room is not orderly. The leprechaun has even left his green footprints on the “Sign In” sheet. Needless to say, the children are high all day. We make green glasses to read with—oak tag with green cellophane for the lenses. For math, we cover black construction paper with different-colored shamrocks; then we count and graph the number for each color. Probably the highlight of the day is when our principal, Mr. Kamm, comes into the room wearing a sparkly green tie and reads the story of Jeremy Bean’s St. Patrick’s Day (Schertle, 1987). Jeremy fails to wear anything green to school, and after the offer of many green articles, he finally decides that the principal’s tie will do. It is a beautifully written book and very heartwarming. We do the traditional potato prints, wear green shamrock name tags, and I am “Mrs. O’Nave’’ for the day. Although many teachers distance themselves from holiday themes, I feel it is important to tell about these holidays so that children understand why they are celebrated. However, I do not concentrate on subjects like ghosts and goblins at Halloween, but rather have areas of concentration on owls and spiders. My holiday themes are generally light on holiday, but heavy on literature. Given the nature of five- and six-year-olds, most of my evaluation is done through “kid watching.” I can generally be seen with a clipboard, circulating around the room. On the clipboard is a checklist of one or two items of reading or writing student behavior to observe. Within their language development portfolio, you might find writing samples and informal reading inventories as well as emergent reading and writing checklists. Post-its are a “must” because they can be quickly added to the child’s individual folder along with other anecdotal notes. I do occasionally use formal assessment because it is required for report cards and often demanded by parents, who want to see documented proof of their child’s progress. However, from my own notes and checklists,

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I know much more about each child’s strengths and weaknesses than any paper-and-pencil test can show.

A Third-Grade Classroom: Dr. Dick Koblitz, Ralph Captain School, Clayton, Missouri “Look at that,” Shannon whispers to Bethany. “I’m getting the dictionary,” she adds, as the girls settle down at one of six round tables situated around their open classroom area. “You have to try it on your own first,” Bethany whispers back. “I know,” Shannon says. “But we’re going to need the dictionary before we’re through.” When students enter their space in the third-grade pod, they focus on the warm-up exercise written on the blackboard at the front of the room: i gots a knu book calld the 5 little girbels askt Amy. dr amery tooked a plain to hawai on thersday.

The two sentences contain misspelled words, grammatical errors, and punctuation problems that students frequently make in their writing. Students quickly finish editing the sentence and begin reading books of their own selection. Some read individually and others look at books in pairs, talking about the pictures or content. Books and print surround the students. There are two baskets of themerelated books on Argentina and shelves of picture books and chapter books on every subject, in every genre, at a variety of reading levels. Beyond the pod is a computer area that stocks additional class sets of books and manipulative materials. Another adjoining area provides sinks, a water source, and surfaces for science demonstrations and experiments. On the wall of this third-grade classroom, charts developed by the students display concepts from all the content areas. Twelve charts grouped together list multiples of familiar objects, from one through twelve (two hemispheres, three blind mice, four seasons, etc.). Another group of charts lists common objects that are solid geometrical shapes (sphere—globe; cylinder—potato chip container; cube—dice). A prominently displayed theme cycle web groups the students’ interests in learning for the year, and another web displays facts about spiders from the book Charlotte’s Web (1974), which students have just finished reading. A student-made chart portrays concepts related to vertebrates, while another lists synonyms for the word “said.” Other displays include a learning web for Argentina and a list of questions students have about the Argentine pampas. “Mark your places, please,” Dr. Koblitz says, and children pull out bookmarks to complete their reading. The teacher moves to the board, and the class begins a discussion of the editing exercise. “The i needs to be capitalized, and you need to take the s off of ‘gots’” Charles begins, and Dr. Koblitz makes the corrections. “That still sounds wrong,” someone remarks.

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“Is the grammar correct?” Dr. Koblitz asks. “I think it would be better to say ‘have’ instead of ‘got,’” Shannon adds. “I have a new book.’’ “What if someone asked you what you got for your birthday?” Bryce asks. “Then you might say ‘I got a book.’” Shannon agrees but sticks by her first suggestion, because they do not know the context of the sentence. Colton says that “knu’’ should be spelled “knew,’’ and Dr. Koblitz changes the spelling. Immediately, several students object with “That’s not the right word . . . It should be ‘new.’” “It’s not the wrong spelling,” Bryce says, “it’s the wrong word. ‘Knu’ is an animal.” “That’s not how you spell ‘gnu,’” Michael says. “I looked it up in the dictionary last night for something I was reading. It’s g-n-u, not k-n-u.” Bryce agrees, “Oh yeah. . . . ” Someone adds the e in “called,” and then there is a discussion about how to correctly indicate a title in writing. A student says that titles are not underlined in books, and another student remarks that book titles are italicized in print. The teacher says that underlining is a convention to indicate italics in writing. There is a discussion about the spelling of “gerbils.” Several attempts are made to spell it correctly, but they all look wrong to the students. “I have a dictionary,” Shannon announces. “Shall I look?” “Please,” says the teacher. She provides the correct spelling, and several children murmur, “Oh, yeah. . . . ” “Read us the definition, too,” the teacher suggests, and she does. “What else?” the teacher asks. “That word ‘askt’ is misspelled,” Colton says, “but the word ‘asked’ should be changed to something else.” “Why?” the teacher asks. “Because it doesn’t make any sense. They’re telling something, not asking something.” “What would you replace it with?” Dr. Koblitz asks. “It should be ‘said,’” Amy offers. “Could it be something else?” the teacher asks. “Exclaimed,” Shannon suggests. “No,” several others protest. “That doesn’t make sense.” “What if . . . what if someone asked you ‘Why are you so excited?’ and you answered, ‘I got a new book!’” Bryce asks. “Then it would make sense.” He again defends a response on the basis of a possible context. They continue editing, noticing the need for capitals and periods to indicate abbreviations. For each instance of editing, the teacher asks students to explain the error and the correction: “Why do we need a capital here?”, “a period?”, or “a new word?” They come to the word [hawai] and Charles says it should have another “i” and capital letter. “Why?” asks the teacher. “Because it’s a place,” Charles says. “What kind?” the teacher asks. “A state,” he replies.

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“Which one?” he asks. The class replies, “Fiftieth.” “Where is it?” he asks. “In the Pacific Ocean,” they say, and he adds that it is the only state that is a group of islands. “What about New York?’’ Bryce asks. “It has Manhattan Island, and there are islands off the coasts of Florida and California.’’ “Good thinking, but can you think of how these examples are different than Hawaii?’’ the teacher asks. Eager hands go up all over the room, but the teacher waits for Bryce to think. “The whole state of New York, Florida, or California isn’t a group of islands,’’ he says, finally. “Good work,’’ the teacher says. When the class edit is complete, students check their own papers, then turn them over. Dr. Koblitz draws a vertical line on the board. On one side he writes the letters “gn” and on the other he writes “soft g,” an exercise that draws on information the teacher has gained from observing spelling errors in student writing. He draws a circle around the “gn” and asks students what words they know that start with these letters. As they offer suggestions, he records them: gnarled, gnome, gnu, and gnaw. Bryce suggests “newt,” but other children remind him that there is no g. He looks it up in the dictionary to be sure. After each contribution, the teacher asks students to tell what the word means and to use it in a sentence. When a student says “gnashed,” Dr. Koblitz asks if they know a famous children’s book that has that word in it. Immediately, someone says “They gnashed their terrible teeth...” and another student says, “Where the Wild Things Are’’ (Sendak, 1963). “By whom?” the teacher asks. “Maurice Sendak!” they chorus. The students make remarks to each other about the book, telling when they read it and how much they liked it. “Can you guess what ‘gn’ word means a small biting insect with two wings?” the teacher asks. There is a short pause, and then the class responds: “Gnat!” They move on to soft g, and the class generates “gel,” “gelatin,” “George,” “Georgia,” “gin,” and “gerbil.” “What’s unusual about the word ‘George’?” Dr. Koblitz asks. Students study the word. “It has two soft gs,” someone says. The teacher encourages them to look for soft g at the ending and middle of words also, and they produce sage, edge, sedge, ledge, and merge. The teacher asks them what “merge” means, and they are uncertain. “Like you merge from the ground...you come up out of it,” Bryce tries. “No, that’s e-merge,” Michael says. “I had to merge this morning when I was coming to work in my car,” Dr. Koblitz says. “Rush? Does it mean rush?” Scott asks. “I had to wait for other cars before I merged,” the teacher says. “Move in slowly?” Shannon asks.

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“You’re on the right track,” he says, and they finally agree that “merge’’ means to come together into one thing—a line of traffic, smaller companies joining together, or people putting their ideas together. The teacher asks the group to notice what they see after all the soft gs, and they reply “e.” “What might you say about g when it’s followed by e?” the teacher asks. “It sounds like ‘j,’” Bethany answers. “What about “get’’? Bryce asks. “Good work,’’ the teacher says. “Sometimes there are exceptions to the rules.’’ “Are there any other letters that follow ‘g’ and make it sound soft?’’ Students think for a minute and come up with “y,” producing “gym’’ and “gypsy’’ as their evidence. Dr. Koblitz says they will study subjects in fourth grade that begin with soft g, and they think of geometry, geography, and Egypt. Throughout this session, Dr. Koblitz draws from his students’ experiences to help them practice editing skills. He acknowledges and praises Bryce’s efforts to find exceptions. “These are ‘remembering’ words,’’ he says, “when they don’t follow the rule.’’ As students interact to correct the errors together, they add to their vocabularies, make connections with other experiences, and discuss the value of writing conventions. When the session ends, one person at each table collects the editing papers and hands them in. The class then moves to a carpeted area near a discussion chart. Dr. Koblitz asks the group if they know anything special about the day, and the class responds with “The first full day of spring!” They talk about the vernal equinox and the Latin meaning of the term, which describes days and nights of equal length and the greening of the earth in the northern hemisphere. Evan tells the group about an experiment he and his family did on the vernal equinox, the evening before. “We set an egg on end and it was supposed to balance.” “How could it do that?” Colton asks. “Gravity,” Michael answers. “Can’t be gravity,” Colton responds. “There’s always gravity.” “Maybe it’s different sometimes,’’ Michael replies. The discussion continues with Evan saying that the egg failed to balance. Dr. Koblitz asks where he heard about the experiment and suggests they find out more about it—why the egg was supposed to balance and why it might not have in Evan’s case. Evan promises to bring the information to school the next day. Dr. Koblitz was absent the previous school day to attend a state conference, so he begins the discussion on the Argentine pampas by asking students to tell him about a book read aloud to them the previous day. “It’s about a girl in the city who goes to visit her grandfather on the pampas, and she becomes a gaucho,” Emily begins. The discussion continues as others add to the story and contribute details. “From reading this story, what did you learn that was new?” the teacher asks.

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“There’s a kind of ostrich that lives in South America,” Colton begins. “A rhea,” Shannon injects. “Yeah, a rhea, and the father bird takes care of the eggs,” Scott adds. Dr. Koblitz adds “rhea” to a chart they have constructed, under the heading of “What kinds of animals live on the pampas?” Michael adds the fact that silver mined in Argentina is used to make silver coins throughout the world. “Was this fiction or nonfiction literature?” the teacher asks. The students debate this question, and finally decide that the story is fiction, but is full of interesting facts. “Let’s review your questions about Argentina and see if you’ve found any more answers from your research,” the teacher says. He opens a chart that lists questions the children developed at the beginning of the study. Each day, the teacher records the new information students discover about these questions. “What sports do people play?” the teacher reads from the chart. There are several answers and some speculations. In the trade books they have read and in several reference books, they have discovered that Argentineans play soccer and ride horses. From a newspaper, they discover that the Argentineans competed for a world medal in baseball. But, they also discover a comment in the same article that says that the sport is almost nonexistent in Argentina. “What does ‘nonexistent’ mean?” the teacher asks. “It means most people don’t play it,” Bryce responds. “They don’t have any big teams.” They move on to other questions. “How many people live on the pampas?” the teacher reads. “Did anyone find out?” “Yeah, we did,” Bryce says, and he gets up to find his research papers. While he looks, Colton consults the encyclopedia and comes back with a figure of approximately 28 million people. “Is that for just the pampas or all of Argentina?” Dr. Koblitz asks. “It’s for all of Argentina,” Colton replies. “It doesn’t tell how many live on the pampas.” “In the back of this book it says that approximately two thirds of the people in Argentina live on the pampas,” the teacher says, showing students the figure in the book. “Two thirds,” Bryce mumbles, looking up from his notes. “If you know that, could you figure out how many people that would be?” the teacher asks. “How would you do it?” Charles asks. “Well, you could start by estimating,” the teacher says. “If you round twenty-eight off to the nearest number, what would that be?” he asks. “Thirty,” comes the reply. “If you divide thirty into three parts, you would have one third. How much would that be?” “Ten,” they reply. “How many thirds do you want to find?” “Two,” the class responds. “Two tens are . . . ?”

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“Twenty,” comes the answer. “Twenty million people live on the pampas,” Charles says. “Wait . . . hold on,” Bryce says. “I found our notes and we got a different number. It said about 32 million in the place we looked before.” “Why might the two figures be different?” the teacher asks. “Maybe the encyclopedia is old,” Shannon suggests. Evan looks at the copyright date, which is 1988. The source for 32 million is a later statistic. “We can check the Internet,’’ Evan suggests. “They might have a more recent number.’’ “Enter this figure for now and update it when we find a more recent source,” the teacher suggests. “If this is the more recent population, and two thirds still live on the pampas, how many people would that be?” “Maybe about 2000 more than before,” Michael says. “Two thousand! Out of four more million? No way!” Colton exclaims. “I meant 2 million,” Michael says. “Two million!” “How could you figure it out?” Dr. Koblitz asks. “Same as before,” Shannon responds. “Find one third and then make two thirds.” “What if you wanted to find out more exactly?” the teacher asks. “Use the calculator,” Bryce says, and he goes to get his. “Tell us what you’re doing,” Mr. Koblitz says. “We’re putting in the exact figure, then we’re dividing it by three.” The teacher nods. “Now we get 10.66666 million. So then we multiply by two,” Bryce says, and he completes the computations. “It’s about 28 million,” he says. “Nooooo,” comes the response from the class. “Couldn’t be,” Michael says. “That’s too much. That’s what the first figure was for the whole country.” “Wait,” Bryce says. “Oops, sorry . . . I must have pushed the wrong number. Wait . . . okay . . . it’s about 21 million.” “More like it,” Michael comments. The boys then use the calculator to figure two thirds of the first figure, and discover that it is 19.32 million. When students have reviewed all their previous day’s research, Dr. Koblitz asks what they know about cowboys in the United States. As they contribute their ideas, he lists them on the chart. Charles says that cowboys ride horses and wear hats. Scott says that cowboys wear boots and get dirty. Someone says that cowboys carry guns, but Emily modifies this by saying that cowboys may wear guns but they do not use them often. John says that they have spurs on their boots and have special packs to hold tobacco. Someone says that cowboys brand cattle, but Nora declares that they use ear markers nowadays instead. “Those are the old western things,” Bryce protests. “My dad was a cowboy and he didn’t wear spurs or chew tobacco.” “Are you saying that some of these things might be stereotypes?” Dr. Koblitz asks. “Yeah, like from the movies and TV?” Shannon offers.

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“Maybe he wasn’t a regular cowboy,” Charles suggests. “What kinds of things did your father do?” the teacher asks. “He took care of cows . . . and sheep,” he responds. “You mean cattle, not cows,” Michael corrects. “Okay, yeah . . . cattle,” Bryce says. “How did your father dress?” Dr. Koblitz asks. “Jeans,” Bryce responds. “And a hat and boots . . . he wore those.” “Where did he work?” Michael asks. “In southwest Missouri, on the Arkansas border,” Bryce replies. “Neat-o,” someone remarks. “Did he work for someone on a ranch?” Colton asks. “It was his own ranch,” Bryce says. “Who’s running it now that you live up here?” Michael asks. “He’s paying someone else to take care of it for him,” Bryce responds. “Let’s read about real cowboys and see if we can find some of the answers to these questions,” Dr. Koblitz says. They review note-taking strategies, and while Dr. Koblitz reads aloud from a book about contemporary U.S. cowboys, students practice taking notes on facts about cowboys. The book is full of pictures and information. Cowboys are shown roping cattle, shoeing horses, repairing machinery, tending sick animals, transporting horses to the range, and feeding and caring for animals. When he is finished, the teacher asks: “Who has some good notes?” Students review the notes they have taken and compare the information with their original questions. Then, the teacher tells the class they will read about South American gauchos the next day and compare them with U.S. cowboys. Students leave for P.E. and when they return, they begin a discussion of Tuck Triumphant (Taylor, 1992, reprint), the book they are currently studying together. The book is a sequel to Taylor’s The Trouble with Tuck (2000), where the main character helps her blind Labrador learn to use a seeing-eye dog. In the current book, the family decides to adopt a Korean orphan. When the boy arrives, they discover that he is deaf and mute. Tuck rises to the occasion and helps the frightened boy, as the adults decide whether to let him stay as part of the family. Conversation about the themes is lively, as students talk about the meanings of words and events in the story and give their interpretations of the feelings and actions of the main characters. They find similes in the writing and define the terms “tantrum” and “earth tremors” in terms of their own experiences. When literature study concludes, Dr. Koblitz asks the group about an event in the news about a famous basketball player. This leads to talk about how games are scored. “How many different ways could Michael Jordan score 10 points?” he asks, and the group brainstorms a number of possibilities. On the chart next to his chair, he demonstrates how to write their suggestions, using parentheses. He also models the language used to express these groupings: “So if Michael scores 2 three-pointers, 1 two-pointer, and makes two free throws for one point each, how would you write this?”

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Chapter 1

Charles says, “You’d multiply 3 times 2, 1 times 2, and 2 times 1. “What else would you need to do?” the teacher asks. “Put each thing in parentheses,” Michael answers, and directs the teacher to put in the necessary marks. “And add them up . . . put in plus signs and an equals after.” “How would you read this, then?” Dr. Koblitz asks. Emily volunteers. “The quantity 3 times 2, plus the quantity 2 times 1, plus the quantity 2 times 1, equals 10.” They practice creating, writing, and reading other combinations. Then the teacher asks: “How many different ways could Michael score 10 points?” “Millions!” Michael declares. “Hundreds!” someone else says, moving the number down. “I say nine,” Emily says, finally. “Why do you say nine?” Dr. Koblitz asks. “Because 3 times 3 is 9,” she answers. “Let’s test your hypothesis,” the teacher says. He gets out a bag filled with the students’ names on cards. He draws the cards out in groups of three and the corresponding persons group together to make a chart that will explore the possible scoring combinations. Across the top of the chart are the numbers 3, 2, and 1, representing the individual scoring possibilities. In each column under these numbers, students write the number of each of these kinds of points and create a number sentence. Students group together around the room, figuring out ways to make the greatest number of combinations. In Emily’s group, the students quickly create a combination and Emily is eager for them all to practice, using the correct mathematical language to read what they create. “Now let’s read it,” she says, and they read together: “The quantity 3 times 0, plus the quantity 5 times 2, plus the quantity 1 times 0, equals 10.” Another combination is generated. “Now read the problem,” Emily coaches, and another student begins reading. “Quantity!” she says, “use the word ‘quantity’ to read it!” she reminds him. Writer’s workshop begins the afternoon session. LaTrice reads a biography of Thurgood Marshall that she has written and discusses several pictures of her subject from an accompanying book. Students like the pictures she chose to have scanned onto her final copy, because they portray Justice Marshall both as a child and as an adult. Emily reads a lengthy account of the life of Abraham Lincoln. Already published as a poet in a national children’s magazine at the age of eight, Emily is an accomplished writer who enjoys sharing her work with the class. Other students enjoy her report and give her their concentrated attention through four pages of reading. She asks for comments when she is finished. “You know what I like?” Evan says. “The way you put in things that kids would be interested in, like that story about Lincoln making those footprints on the ceiling.” “Yeah,” Kaitlin agrees, “I liked all the funny things you told about him.” “How do you think those stories helped this biography?” Dr. Koblitz asks. “You’d want to read it because it had funny stories in it,” Charles suggests.

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“It made him seem more like a person,” Shannon says. “Emily, what do you think?” the teacher asks. “It was those things and also to show his character,” she concludes, “to show what kind of person he was.” Before the group enters the independent writing phase of writer’s workshop, Dr. Koblitz asks each student what they plan to work on for the next hour. Some will continue writing on first handwritten drafts of their biographies, while others will edit into their second, third, and fourth drafts. Several children check out laptop computers from the computer technologist, and others go to the computer center to scan photographs and pictures into their final copies. Several students work on projects together, each contributing research for the biography and sharing responsibility for illustrations. Writer’s workshop is followed by an hour of art (alternated with music on other days), and the day concludes with the teacher reading aloud from The Cricket in Times Square (Selden, 1960).

Behind the Scenes Throughout the day, students work on their own— in pairs, flexible small groups, and within the grouping of the entire class. These arrangements allow students the best of both worlds: to follow individual interests and then to create a sense of community from their shared experiences. In discussions with the whole group, the teacher encourages students to use exploratory talk, to figure out problems, make relationships among different kinds of knowledge, and relate ideas to their own experience. He models the strategies of researchers when he encourage students to ask questions, compare accounts of events, and provide documentation for the facts they present. The students in this third grade come from widely diverse backgrounds. Some live in the immediate area of the upscale St. Louis neighborhood and are the sons and daughters of doctors, lawyers, and professors, many of whom are connected to nearby Washington University and the Barnes– Jewish Medical Center. Other children are bused in from the St. Louis inner city. All of the students have parents who are eager for their children to succeed, but they differ in the amounts and kinds of experiences they have had with books, travel, and the city’s cultural advantages. Their teacher takes them out into the community to experience the riches available to young learners and invites travelers, artists, and writers into the classroom to share their stories. Dr. Koblitz follows the guidelines for the district curriculum and utilizes the many resources they provide—sets of books, science equipment, computer technology, and math manipulatives. However, instruction in the content areas is not restricted to a specific time during the day. The special languages and concepts of math, science, literature, and social studies are used to help students learn about the world within any context. Dr. Koblitz models the values of a lifelong learner in his own professional life. He reads widely in the professional literature; is active in professional groups at the local, state, and regional levels; and is the co-founder of the local TAWL (Teachers Applying Whole Language) group. He is a published author and travels extensively to visit innovative schools in the United

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Chapter 1

States, England, Australia, and New Zealand and to attend classes and conferences throughout the world. In His Own Words

When I first began to experiment with classroom organization, I read a lot of professional literature—Kenneth Goodman’s (Goodman, 1973) research on miscue analysis, Frank Smith’s (Smith, 1986) theories on the reading and writing processes, and Don Holdaway’s (1979) developmental model—and it all made a great deal of sense to me. I began trying to implement some of this new research and thinking in my classroom. Reading aloud took a more prominent place in the daily schedule, and I began to allow the children time to read for pleasure each day. I brought more and more books into the classroom and started reading a lot of children’s literature myself. I had the children write every day instead of just once a week. It was all very successful, and the children’s progress in learning written language was outstanding. Our daily schedule is very flexible, with large blocks of time devoted to shared language experience and workshops in reading, writing, and math. The teaching and learning of written language are totally integrated, and language is taught across the curriculum. In my classroom today, children are learning written language by using language for a variety of meaningful and personal reasons. My overall goal for all my students goes far beyond my old goals of just getting through the curriculum and having acceptable test scores. Today, I want all my children to develop positive self-esteem and become independent learners, so that they will be able to and want to learn outside the classroom away from me. I teach from a whole-to-part instructional mode rather than the traditional part-to-whole. I try to integrate the curriculum rather than fragment it. And, I teach from a model based on children’s strengths rather than their weaknesses. Now when I begin a new year with a class, we make a big chart of the topics we want to study and learn more about. This is when I find out what the kids know, what they are interested in, and what they want to learn about. Many of their interests will include concepts we have to study in science or social studies. Those that cannot be included this way can be explored in a literature study. For instance, some of the kids are really interested in dinosaurs, and so am I. That is not part of the required curriculum, but after the Easter break, we will do a literature study group, reading lots of different books about dinosaurs, so they can pursue this interest. Other interests are very individual. For example, Evan is really interested in World War I and the aircraft involved, but he is the only one in the class. When students in my class have these individual passions for a topic, I encourage them to read and write about it, to do all kinds of research, complete a project, and share what they learn. The more you help students make relationships between their experience and the content areas, and among the subject areas, the better you get at it and the more natural it becomes to teach in this manner. When you are just beginning to teach this way, it is difficult to see all these relationships. Just like the thing that came up with the map this morning, when we were

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talking about the population of the Argentine pampas. I did not anticipate it, but it came up naturally and we worked with it. There are basic units of study in literature, health, social studies, and science that we cover in the third grade, and there are target outcomes in terms of general content and ideas for each of these. For each required area, there are all kinds of lesson suggestions for classroom activities. The district also supplies the literature and all necessary materials and equipment to support these studies. We can choose to do the same thing in our own way or in another way, as long as we meet the district objectives. There is a core curriculum in literature for each grade level that includes three books selected for intensive study. In third grade, we study Charlotte’s Web (White, 1974), The Hundred Dresses (Estes, 1944), and Stone Fox (Gardiner, 1980). Beyond that, we can select anything we want to. Before Tuck Triumphant (Taylor, 1992), one literature group read a biography of Harriet Tubman (McMullan, 1990) and another read the biography of Mahatma Gandhi (Demi, 2001). Before that, two different groups read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (Coerr, 1977) and Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People and War (Tsuchiya, 1988). We met together to discuss similarities in the two books. The kids are writing their own biographies now and have chosen subjects such as Abraham Lincoln, Thurgood Marshall, Jackie Robinson, Helen Keller, and Albert Einstein. I have a special interest in developmental spelling and try to integrate the teaching of spelling into a total literacy curriculum, rather than teaching it as a separate subject. I feel that I am actually teaching spelling, rather than just testing it, when spelling is learned in the context of stories, reports, and poems written by the children themselves. This allows me to help students move from one developmental stage to the next and really gets them to focus on patterns, rules, and word structure in their own writing and in all subject areas. My students also learn to be careful spellers by using dictionaries and computer spell-checks as they write their first drafts and published pieces. When we look at the large number of words most children are spelling conventionally and begin to examine the wide repertoire of strategies they are using in their invented spellings, we can begin to appreciate the sophisticated knowledge children are developing as they investigate and learn how our very complex alphabetic system of written language works. When children have the opportunity to use developmental spelling in their writing, they develop a fluency of expression that might not otherwise be encouraged. When Adam began second grade, his first journal entry was: “My dump [truk] is big.” He had little to say in writing. Observe how much he has to say in an entry written several months later: Snow is white. Snow is very cold. It is [beutiful]. Snow is fun. sometimes snow gets so deep it is unbelievable. Some people hate snow [becase] snow is so slick. Some people get drunk and they do donuts. Some times it gets to eight feet. Today the weather man said it is going to be two feet. Snow is terrific. Some kids love [makeing] snowmen. Sometimes snow [terns] into slush. And sometimes there are icicles. Snow covers the [hole] [U]nited [stats] of [ameraca].

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When Ty entered second grade, he often wanted to use words in his writing that he could not yet spell. Over a period of 2 months, his spelling developed in the following ways: September Favrite sailler multply brout dauter nawe anwser caracter

October favirite sillyer multaply boghut daghter naw anwser charectr

November favorite sillier multeply brought daughter gnaw answer character

By the end of the school year, standard spelling had developed for these and many other words. In words like “daughter” and “brought,” notice how contact with these words in reading leads Ty to use certain unsounded letters in these words as he moves toward the correct spelling. Beginning teachers usually have many questions about using themes in the classroom. One of the best books I have read about themes is Jerry Harste’s book Creating Classrooms for Authors: The Reading–Writing Connection (Harste et al., 1988). Another good collection of ideas for theme teaching are the Scholastic Source books (Boskwill & Whitman, 1986, 1988), which can give you a model to get started. The focus of these materials, which are available for both primary and intermediate grades, is on integrating different types of literature into the curriculum. Using the activities they suggest as a model, you can begin with your own students’ interests and also incorporate the curriculum required in your own district. The themes they use are typical for most grade levels and coordinate well with the requirements of most districts. The binders provide ideas about materials and how to use them, kinds of learning activities that appeal to students, and ways to make relationships among all types of literatures and the content areas. There is no one right way to do a theme cycle, because each class and teacher is different. We usually begin with a KWL chart, beginning with the questions: What do you know? and What do you want to know? Their responses give me information that will help direct the activities we do. If students know a lot about the particular topic, then we do not have to do a lot of background building. If they do not have a lot of information, then I might spend time reading aloud or showing videos to help build prior knowledge for their independent research. These kinds of experiences help students generate questions about the topic and also help guide their individual research. Each day I ask, “What have you learned?” They share the results of their research with the entire group and record any information that answers their original questions. When you first begin teaching, I think it really helps if you have a colleague, mentor, or someone else to work with and use as a model. If you have a good relationship with this person, you do not feel like you are

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being evaluated, that you are doing things wrong or making a mistake. In this district, there is a mentor teacher for every beginning or new teacher. These teachers are usually selected from the same grade level or specialty area, and they help guide the new teacher through the first year. When you begin to interview for a position in a school, you might look to see if the curriculum is textbook driven. Although it might be a challenge at first, I think it is really helpful if you are not bound to a textbook, because it forces you to create your own reading and writing activities and build the curriculum with your students. It also helps to be around people who share a common philosophy. If you have a choice and really want to teach with an integrated approach, try to find a school where this kind of teaching is done. This will provide you the necessary support to introduce your own ideas in a context where there is respect for what teachers know and do. When my students begin third grade, they are already familiar with Reader’s Workshop, Writer’s Workshop, KWL, and independent inquiry from their previous three years in school. So on the first day of school, we just begin with finding out what they are interested in. When I get kids that do not have that background, I spend some time with them talking about the activities and modeling them. Fortunately, this is the kind of program new students can drop into and function fairly well, because students are encouraged to talk to each other and help each other with ideas and problem solving. Also, every child that moves into the district is assigned a mentor. I just got a new little boy, Dimitry, from Siberia. He reads fairly well but speaks little English. His mentor stays close beside him in the classroom to explain things and help him become familiar with school routines. We have a number of hearing-impaired children, because our school is one of the central locations for these children within the Special School District. Last year, two children with hearing difficulties were part of the classroom activities in the morning and then spent the afternoons with a specialist for the hearing-impaired. When they came in the classroom, they wore special hearing aids and I used a microphone and wore a monitor on my belt, so they could hear me. I received a lot of help from the specialist in the hearing-impaired lab, who gave me suggestions about how to work with the children. This teacher was also available for consultation any time I had any problems, and would come into the classroom to work with the children. There is a lot of parent involvement in our school program. At the beginning of the year, I conduct an extensive parent survey to discover any interests, hobbies, and expertise that parents might want to share with the class. When we studied the animals of the Serengeti, visitors came to class to show a video and tell about a safari experience. The class also visited the St. Louis Zoo to attend a special program that is devoted to animals of the Serengeti Plain. When we studied the pioneers, students went to the Museum of Western Expansion at the Gateway Arch and to Shaw’s Arboretum, where they could see examples of prairie grasses. When we began our study of biographies, a storyteller came to class to talk about Harriet Tubman.

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In addition to the regular school program, the school also sponsors clubs that meet for 30 to 45 minutes before and after school, where students can explore foreign languages, literature, drama, poetry, science, and technology. Once a week, I meet with a multiage Reading Club that discusses books that students are reading.

A Fifth-Grade Classroom: Jackie Hogue, Marine School, Marine, Illinois Visitors to Mrs. Hogue’s fifth-grade classroom always find students productively engaged in learning activities. They read and talk together in small groups and as an entire class. They explore and respond to ideas across the curriculum in writing and with artistic creations. If you walk through the room during literature study, you will find students intent on their discussions and eager to share their ideas with each other. On one particular day, a group of four boys sat together, discussing Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Farmer Boy (1953a),an account of Almanzo Wilder’s childhood on a prosperous farm in upstate New York. This story, with its mouthwatering descriptions of sumptuous meals and accounts of privileged living, creates a stark contrast with the hardships of the Ingalls family. Students could choose to read any Wilder book and then meet together with others who selected the same book. Three of the four boys in the Farmer Boy group live on farms themselves. Their assignment for this meeting was to create questions to ask the other members of their group. David begins: “How would you feel if you were Almanzo on Christmas Day?” he asks. “That’s a good question,” Aaron replies, “I’d feel really good.” “Yeah, me too.” Scott comments. “He got a jackknife and them boots,” Jerry adds. “What would you have done about Frank when he tried to scare the colt?” David asks. “Man, I’d beat him up,” Scott says. One boy says that his uncle beats horses and the boys respond with outrage. After a brief discussion about beating animals, the boy serving as secretary returns the group to the original discussion: “What would you have done about Frank?” he asks Jerry. “I’d grab him by the leg and pull him off the stall, like Almanzo did,” Jerry replies. “I don’t know why Royal got so mad at Almanzo. He was just trying to keep Frank away from the colt.” “He didn’t see it,” Aaron says. “He thought they were both messin’ around in the stall.” “Why do you think he [Frank] was doin’ all that stuff anyway?” Jerry asks. The boys think about the question for a minute, and no one says anything. “Maybe...,” Scott begins. “He was dumb!” Aaron says. “No, he wasn’t dumb, but he showed off a lot,” David suggests. “Maybe he wanted to show Almanzo he knew about horses,” Scott says.

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“That’s a dumb way to do it,” Aaron says. “He was a town boy,” David responds. “I don’t remember that,” Aaron says. “Yeah, I know he was . . . there was somethin’ in one of the chapters. Was it Fourth of July? No . . . wait, I’ll find it . . . it was at church. I know it was at the church ’cause Frank had on the store-bought cap . . . yeah, here . . . listen: Frank’s father was Uncle Wesley; he owned the potato-starch mill and lived in town. He did not have a farm. So Frank was only a town boy and he played with town boys.

“He didn’t know about horses or anything. Maybe he wanted to prove something,” David concludes. “Maybe,” Aaron agrees. During the discussion the teacher has joined the group and listens for a while. When they finish talking, she asks, “Do you know what I like about the way you answered these questions? Your reasons came from something you read. You are using inferences, something you understand from what is going on in the story. The author doesn’t say it exactly, but you have to figure it out, by trying to think about how this character feels . . . how you would feel if you were this character. You also tried to justify your answers. It’s fine to have an opinion, but you want your opinion to be more than ‘That’s just the way I feel about it.’ You used what you read to give reasons.” The secretary for the group gives the teacher a copy of their discussion questions. The previous day, Mrs. Hogue talked with the group about what constitutes a discussion question, and she reviews this first. “Did you ask good questions today?” she asks. They look at each other, and then one boy responds that they could have done better, but they are improving. Another boy mentions that they wander off the topic sometimes when they are discussing connections. “What could you do to help this?” the teacher asks. “Just remind each other, I guess,” Aaron says. “It worked today,” David remarks. “Now that you’re aware of what happens, you can make a choice,” the teacher observes, and the boys nod their heads. “Do you know what I like about many of these questions?” she asks. She has quickly observed the list made by the secretary. “You have to be a good reader to ask these kinds of questions. You have to think about what you are reading and use your own experience.” The boys seem pleased with her observations. The teacher stays a brief time with each discussion group, commenting on what she sees to be the strengths of their interactions. She asks them to reflect on any problems in discussion and encourages them to think of solutions. Each student in the classroom has a folder where they keep notes from their reading. They take turns being secretary and recording the questions and interactions of the group. These notes, including the vocabulary words discussed by the group, are handed in to the teacher at the completion of a book study. A group of students (three girls and one boy) are reading Wilder’s On the Banks of Plum Creek (1953d), which describes the Ingall’s

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first real house, memorable birthday parties, and Laura’s jealousy of her prettier and smarter sister. The group invites a visitor into their group to talk about their literature circle. In the interview, the visitor’s questions are designated with a “V” and the student responses are numbered, according to the person responding. Student #1 is a boy. V: S1: V: S2: V: S3:

V: S2: V: S1: V: S1:

V: S4:

V: S2: V: S3:

V: S1: S2: V: S4: V: S3:

“What kinds of things do you write in your folder notes?” “We keep our questions in here.” “What kinds of questions?” “Questions that we think of when we read. And we write down the page number, so we can talk about it in our group.” “Anything else?” “We write down the page numbers of our favorite parts of what we read, our connections, and any hard words. We make a bookmark for each book and write the hard words on them. Then we talk about them in our group and figure them out.” “What if you can’t figure them out?” “We read the story around the word—you know, before and after— to figure them out.” “What if you still don’t know the word?” “Then we ask Mrs. Hogue and she gives hints, but she doesn’t tell us.” “What kinds of hints?” “Well . . . she’ll say, ‘Do you know any other word that looks like it?’ or ‘Look at this part, what does it mean?’ or we’ll look in the dictionary.” “What do you do with these words?” “We choose our 12 spelling words from the list. Our own list. Then we write sentences that tell something about the word. We study the words and give each other tests until we learn them.” “What does ‘connections’ mean?” “That’s how the book connects with us. Some experience we have that’s like the people in the book.” “How do you decide what to read?” “We decide together. Mrs. Hogue might say for us to choose a Laura Ingalls Wilder book when we’re studying something from that time. Then a bunch of us look at the books and decide.” “What gets you interested in a book?” “Well . . . sometimes the title is interesting or we read about it on the back cover. Sometimes Mrs. Hogue tells us a little about it.” “And sometimes our friends will tell us about a book and we get interested that way.” “Do you read in class at other times?” “We read what we want during silent reading and other times, and most of us take our books home to read.” “How do you decide how many chapters you’ll read?” “We decide together and the secretary writes it down. Yesterday we read 10 chapters, mostly at home. Sometimes we read to ourselves

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or to our family. The day before we only read five chapters. Most of us wanted to read seven, but one of our group had to do work on his farm that night.” Later in the session, several groups complete their reading and discussion and begin to work on response projects. Some write in journals, and others plan drawings or models for the bulletin board that will represent the book they have just read. Several students create a scene from the story, while others make models of period houses and furnishings. One group has finished all their work and decides to choose another book. Sean, who is the only boy in the group, is not happy with Little House on the Prairie (1953b), the book the girls want to read for their second selection. He wants to read Farmer Boy (1953a), but no copies are available. The teacher encourages him to use his own social skills to solve the problem. He drifts around the room after half-hearted attempts to join another group. “What I’m concerned about is that you’re wasting time that you could be using to enjoy reading,” the teacher tells him. “Take 5 minutes and try to decide on something you’d like.” Sean goes to the library center and picks up a copy of the book his original group has decided to read. He begins to look through it, sitting apart from his group. “Can I read alone?” Sean asks. “That won’t work, Sean,” the teacher answers. “You need someone else to discuss your reading with.” Sean’s group makes a reading assignment, and then they all sit apart to read. Sean reads in the new book for a while and then tells the teacher he does not like it. Mrs. Hogue suggests that he look for another one and that he might want to invite someone else to join him. Sean thinks about a boy who has been out of the room for special classes and decides to ask him to share a book. Mrs. Hogue agrees to this arrangement. If the other boy agrees, they can study the book together as partners. The second boy is willing, and the two boys look at several books, finally choosing Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Long Winter (1953c), which describes how the Ingalls family kept themselves from starving or freezing to death during an exceptionally cold winter on the Plains. As they look through the book, they begin to get interested and stay involved until time for lunch. Students are so wrapped up in their reading that it is with some reluctance that they mark their places and put away their books.

Behind the Scenes Students in Mrs. Hogue’s fifth grade begin the day with a discussion of current events, which they prepare for by reading the newspaper or watching the news on television. Following this discussion, the teacher reads poetry aloud to the class, which students monitor for examples of figurative language. In the context of books and poetry read aloud, Mrs. Hogue introduces personification, alliteration, hyperbole, idioms, similes, and metaphors. Students look for examples of figurative language in their reading and are encouraged to use them in their writing. When they find an example, they add it to the list on a prominently displayed chart at the front of the room.

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“This can be a problem sometimes,” Mrs. Hogue observes. “I will be reading aloud to them and hear them saying ‘simile’ or ‘metaphor’ under their breath!” Poetry reading is followed by math, which involves students immediately in writing. Mrs. Hogue puts a problem on the board and asks students to solve it by using fraction blocks. “What is the rule for adding fractions?” she asks. “Can you write the rule?” Writing the rule enables every student to work on the problem at their own pace. The teacher is able to evaluate the level of individual student understanding by reading what they have written, and students get a better idea of what they know or need to know about a concept by exploring the idea with language. When the class works with a story problem, Mrs. Hogue posts key words from the problem on the board, so students can refer to them as they work. Students work together in pairs, analyzing problems for relevant and irrelevant words and numbers. At the beginning of the day, Mrs. Hogue posts the work for the morning on the board, and after math, students go from activity to activity at their own pace. They meet together in small groups to review their spelling sentences and then move into the literature groups described above. On other days, they might use this time to read short stories, study a class novel, or examine copies of Weekly Reader. When students return to the classroom in the afternoon, they resume their reading from the morning or select new books to read during silent, independent reading time. The balance of the day, students read, conduct research, write, or work on displays related to their study of the Middle Colonies. At other times in the semester, afternoon research might be organized around a topic in science, such as the environment or geology. Mrs. Hogue is required to teach specific subject matter and must use the text adopted by the district for content area learning. She tries to involve her students in using texts and exploring knowledge in ways that stimulate their own curiosity about a topic and utilize the resources of the textbook. When she introduces a study of the Southern Colonies, for example, she gives students a list of 10 true or false questions about the colonies and lets them work in small groups to complete the answers from their own information. When they complete the test, they use their texts to check their answers. Students might also use their textbooks as a springboard for reviewing a topic in a content area. They begin by examining the headings in the chapter to help them decide what is important and then develop a list of research topics, which are posted on the board. Next, they read the material in the text to get an overview of the topic and choose an area that most interests them. They form interest groups to research an individual area in more depth, using trade books, documents, maps, and reference books. When students encounter reading that is too difficult for them, Mrs. Hogue offers groups the option of being read to. Others may read the material in small groups, in pairs, or by themselves. When the teacher presents information about a reference, she always asks the class how they plan to find the information in that source. This provides an opportunity to review the use of indexes, glossaries, and other special locator helps.

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All during the year, Mrs. Hogue looks for articles related to the theme studies. Someone brought in an old letter from the time of the Civil War, which she copies and places in a file folder for students to read. She saves old Weekly Reader magazines and copies interesting facts and articles from outdated textbooks. For example, she found a list of Colonial slave rules in an old social studies text, which she places in a folder called “Life of Slaves” to help students compare slave life and the life of the average Colonial citizen. Students often create a class book to demonstrate what they have learned during a theme study. After these projects have been available for the class to examine or displayed in the hall for other classes to enjoy, students sign up to take these books home for parents to review. There is a special sheet in the back of each book where parents can write messages back to the students who created the project. Projects constructed by the entire class include a Vertebrate Encyclopedia, a Big Book of Body Systems, and An Almanac from the Colonial America study. A weekly newspaper is produced by the class, with each student writing a column about events and learning that occurred during the week. Students also write poetry books, and several poems they entered in a national contest were published. When she reviews a student’s writing, Mrs. Hogue selects strengths to praise, such as the use of vivid adjectives or effective dialogue, and then asks questions that will help students enlarge or improve on expression. She believes that writing about what has been read improves comprehension because students must understand what they have read in order to write about it. She sees errors in reading and writing as providing direction for instruction. In her classroom, errors are not penalized but are regarded as steps in development. Direct teaching, when it occurs, is in the form of mini-lessons—demonstrations that model effective strategies for reading and writing. In mini-lessons, the teacher might introduce a concept from the content areas, explain a literary device, or demonstrate ways to use resources effectively. For individual reading conferences, the teacher asks students to complete a form like the following and bring it to the conference to guide their discussion: Individual Reading Conference Student: 1. What book did you choose to read? 2. Who is the author of your book? 3. What character in this book was like a character from another book? 4. Is there a lesson to be learned from this book? What is it? 5. If you could, would you change the ending of the story? 6. Can you find a compound word in the book? 7. Would you read a favorite page for me? Questions on other forms include those that are suitable for the genre being read and ones that review the mastery of grammatical forms expected

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of students by the district. For these forms, Mrs. Hogue includes questions like: 1. If you could, would you like to be a character in this story? Why? 2. What do you think the author is trying to tell people in this story? 3. What experience did a character in this book have that you’d like to have? 4. Would you like to be like any character in the story? Why? 5. Was there a lot of exaggeration in the story? 6. Is the story real or make-believe? 7. What do you think was the best part of the story? 8. What other books have you read by this author? 9. Did the illustrations help you read this book? 10. Tell me the setting of this story. 11. Can you find a one-syllable word in the book? A two-syllable word? Can you find a contraction in the book? What two words make this contraction? Can you find a noun? Can you find a verb? 12. Show me a word that was not familiar to you. How did you figure it out? 13. Is there anyone else in the class who might enjoy reading this book? When the class studied geology, they were identifying examples of figurative language in the books they were reading in literature circles. Students asked to make a book that would describe what they had learned in geology, using alliteration. They decided to make an alphabet book, with each student contributing a page. Each page included a letter of the alphabet; an object, event, or idea that began with that letter; and a sentence that described the concept and used alliteration. Drawings on the page explained or illustrated the sentences. The pages were laminated and bound together with a cover and plastic spiral. This book, like all others made in class, was sent home on a rotating basis to share with students’ families. Here is an example: M—Mark, Mike and Martha made up their minds that marble is metamorphic rock because the minerals in the marble were changed by heat and pressure. (The illustration shows the mineral and color changing in the rock.) To gain practice using the thesaurus, students were asked to bring their favorite nursery rhyme books to school to read aloud in groups. As a class, they used the thesaurus to rework a rhyme and then were eager to try to write one on their own or with a partner. When the rhymes were completed, they were read aloud in a sharing session, then printed with colored markers on large sheets of paper to display in the hallway. Kindergarten and first-grade teachers brought their classes to look at the rhymes and try to guess the originals. The display drew interest from every grade level in the building and other classes asked to create their own. The following is an example: Hey diddle, diddle The kitten and the stringed instrument, The calf leaped over the heavenly body.

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The small puppy chortled To observe such a game And the china jogged away With the dining utensil! In addition to samples of student’s creative work around the room, there are signs and charts everywhere—pinned to cork stripboard, fastened with E-Z clips, and hanging from wire with clip clothespins. Rules for the room were created by students at the beginning of the year and are posted in front of the room, with examples of appropriate and inappropriate behavior. This room is rich in student-generated print. In Her Own Words

I believe that it is important to help my students build on what they know and for them to have high expectations for their learning. I also believe it is important for students to have as many choices as possible about the ways they will learn and to be actively engaged throughout the school day. I have been influenced in my own thinking about teaching by Nancie Atwell’s In the Middle: Writing, Reading, and Learning with Adolescents (1987), Regie Routman’s Transitions: From Literature to Literacy (1988), and articles in The Reading Teacher (2004). I also take many classes at the university, read constantly, and attend the TAWL (Teachers Applying Whole Language) meetings whenever possible. Early in the year, I begin a theme study on ancient Native Americans by reading Motel Mysteries (Macaulay, 1991), an entertaining book that speculates what archaeologists in the future might find if they would unearth the remains of a typical motel of today and how they would interpret these discoveries. The children make a display that would be uncovered in the year 2492 by archaeologists of the future. Each child brings an item for the display and writes a paragraph explaining how scientists might interpret the use of the item. After a brief overview of the ancient Native Americans (Incas, Mayas, Aztecs, Anasazis, Hohokams, and Cahokians), the children read the general information in the textbook. They discuss what they already know about these peoples and what they would like to learn. I write their questions on chart paper, leaving space for them to record answers as they find them: How did the Native Americans get food? In what kinds of homes did they live? Where did they live? When did they live? Why did they live a particular kind of life? Students can also add their own questions to the chart as their research progresses. They examine two or more of the Native American groups, using trade books, encyclopedias, children’s magazines, and books made by previous students. They also use the Internet, the resources of the city library, and take notes in a “Fun Facts” notebook. At the end of each day, the children share one piece of information they learned in a whip format, which takes only a few minutes to complete. After several days of research, students gather around the chart to share answers they have found to their original questions. I write the facts on chart paper so the information is available to them at all times. Students locate the Native American groups on a map and label a time line to show when each

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group lived. Each student chooses two Native American groups to compare and contrast. I model the assignment in a mini-lesson before students begin their work. When they finish writing, they meet in groups to revise and edit their papers. Because Cahokia is located nearby, the class spends more time studying this group. They read brochures from Cahokia and study information provided by the Cahokia Mounds Museum. One time, the children found in a trade book a game that the Cahokians played, explained it to their physical education teacher, and then played it in P.E. The students also find information about the arts and crafts of the Native Americans and create many of these items in their art class. I try to keep the art teacher informed about what we will be studying and pass on any arts or crafts ideas I find that will relate to our studies. The culminating activity for the study of ancient Native Americans is a field trip to Cahokia to visit the museum area and see the movie, City of the Sun. I also take students on a walking tour of the plaza and the smaller mounds and give them additional information at the different stops along the way. To prepare for the educational classes on Native American diversity, students learn about and debate the repatriation issue, which helps them ask more knowledgeable questions. When they return to school, students write stories from the viewpoint of the Cahokian child, adult, or chief and share these in groups. I like to bring parents and other members of the community into the classroom to share ideas, experiences, skills, and artifacts with the students. From a questionnaire sent home at the beginning of the year, I choose parents who are interested in the study of Native Americans and invite them to share their expertise with the class. Parents with Native American heritage tell legends and teach songs, games, dances, and even some of their language. They show students papoose carriers and Native American craft items, such as blankets, beaded work, dolls, looms, basketry, and feathered headpieces. Presenters allow children to examine and wear clothing, and provide samples of food such as frybread and jerky. Students read Sign of the Beaver (Speare, 1984) and Island of the Blue Dolphins (O’Dell, 1971) as class novels. They keep notes in a reading folder, list vocabulary words to discuss, and questions or comments about their reading. They also respond to general questions suitable for the discussion of any book. Soon, the children are asking each other the same types of questions: Discussion Questions Author What do you know about the author? What is the author trying to tell you in this story? What did the author have to know about to write this story? Characters Who are the most important characters? Do you know anyone like these characters?

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Choose one character. Why is this character important? Do any characters do things you think are good? Do any characters do things you think are wrong? Did any character change in the story? Plot What was the problem/goal in this story? What important things happened because of the problem? What was the solution? How did the story end? Were you able to predict the ending? What other way might the story have ended? What do you think was the best part of the story? The Story—Setting Where does the story take place? When does the story take place? What words or what part of the story helped tell about the setting? Mood How did you feel while reading this story? Why? What was the funniest/saddest/most exciting/strangest part of this story? What do you remember most about the story? Style What do you like about the way the author has written the story? Were there any unusual or neat ways of saying things? How does the author keep you interested in the story? List important words under these headings: people, animals, places, things. During this study, I read to the children from Sing Down the Moon (O’Dell, 1992) at the end of the day. Other literature books related to the theme are also available for them to read during silent reading time. After their daily reading, students record their responses in journals for 10 minutes. Three students volunteer each day to share their entries with the class. The rest of the children respond to these comments. We also enjoy a game day. The children create board games in any format, using the information they have learned in their research. They write clear directions, provide or create all pieces to play, and sit in groups to play their games. It is a wonderful way for me to evaluate their knowledge. I only give tests when I am required. Otherwise, I evaluate research, reading folders, and projects, using rubrics to help me focus on the concepts and skills that are to be evaluated. In the spring, one of our first theme studies is Colonial America. I begin the study of New England by reading aloud to the class from The Witch of Blackbird Pond (1986), chosen for its description of New England life and the Puritan Church. Some students wish to read the book silently, so I give them that option. The vocabulary is quite difficult, and I notice that students will shift back and forth between reading alone and joining the group on a daily basis.

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Students respond to the reading by making daily entries in their journals, following entry guidelines. When they write, I encourage students to invent spelling for words they are not sure of and to demonstrate skills they already know. They learn to spell words they are using, to write ideas that are important to them. They also learn to spell as they proofread their writing, in an effort to be understood by others. Later, we list some of these words on charts and discuss spelling rules. Students also make a diorama or mobile of a scene from the book and write a paper describing the scene. Each group generates a list of words from their research and creates sentences to indicate their understanding. As they complete these sentences, I walk around the room and note sentences that might be used to discuss grammatical constructions or sentence formation. Only one or two concepts are discussed each day, such as run-on sentences, compound sentences, or parts of speech. Students find applicable grammar rules in their English books and I record them on chart paper, which is hung on the wall for future reference. They also write these rules in their own personal English notebooks. Students read about New England villages and learn about craftsmen, such as the tanner, cooper, chandler, and blacksmith. I always model how to take notes, which students keep in their social studies notebooks. They read about the schools of that time and the Puritan Church. I have two sets of books for the children to investigate: The Historic Communities (Kalman, 1992b) and the Early Settler Life Series (Kalman, 1992a), along with other articles I have found for them to read. We also use the textbook, encyclopedias, and library books. Students draw a New England village on mural paper that includes the church, school, and village green. They label the pictures with keys to explain tools and other items in each craftsman’s shop and prepare a paper that describes the particular job that was researched. The Middle Colonies are introduced with KWLC. I am required to use texts for all instruction, so students begin by reviewing the text material on the Middle Colonies. We then discuss what they know and what they still want to know about the topic. Each day, we review together what we have learned and the connections we have found to other areas of the curriculum and our own experience. I provide students with books, articles, and other resources on Benjamin Franklin, William Penn, Middle Colony farms, the Quakers, and other related topics. Because our resources are limited, students must take turns using reference materials. I list the projects I want the children to complete on a chart, and they rotate assignments as materials become available. One project asks them to read a book (several are available) about Benjamin Franklin and to write predictions as they read. When they finish reading, they indicate which of their predictions were correct or incorrect. They take notes on interesting facts and record the main character, the setting, and major events in the plot. To supplement their information, they also use the encyclopedia and take notes on facts they did not learn in the book. For another project, they use three different sources of information to learn about the Quakers. Because religion determined different Colonial lifestyles, we talk about the differences between the Quakers and the

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Puritans, and students compare and contrast them in writing. Students draw maps of the colonies and key the information. They also produce an almanac as a class project. Students are always interested in learning more about the topics they study, so I post extra-credit projects, which may involve research or reading literature related to the topic. When we study the Southern Colonies, kids look through the textbook at the bold print to help them decide which topics to research. I read excerpts from To Be a Slave (1968) by Julius Lester, using guided imagery. The students write their feelings as they listen to these first-person accounts and later write a dialogue between two characters from the Southern Colonies, using the information they have learned. Many of the papers express strong emotions. They read The House of Dies Drear (1968) by Virginia Hamilton, which describes the Underground Railroad, and I read Runaway to Freedom (1978) by Barbara Smucker to them each day. They also read related books as part of their research. After studying all the colonies, the kids decide which colony they would like to move to and make advertisements to persuade others to join them. They also write persuasive papers, using the advertisements as their outlines. In the past, students have organized an Early American day. They brainstormed activities for the day and decided who would take certain responsibilities. They dressed as Early American children, brought their lunches in buckets and kettles, and dippers from which to drink. They also brought old books to study, used slates for ciphering, conducted a spell down, and insisted there be no electricity for the day. One year, another teacher and a friend, who are both Colonial dance buffs, dressed in costume and taught the children to dance. Our art teacher helped the students make simple costumes for the dance event. As we study other subjects throughout the year, the children choose class, group, and individual projects to display the knowledge and skills that they have learned. When the students research explorers, they read books about early explorers and write their reports in the first person. Students listen carefully and attentively to try to identify the explorer from the clues given. Using pizza boxes as a stage, students create scenes of their explorers. The lids contain illustrative maps of the explorer’s routes and a time line of important events in the explorer’s life. We also draw the Santa Maria in chalk on the playground surface, using the actual dimensions of the ship. When students study the Revolutionary War, they make a time line mural of cause-and-effect events leading to the war. They also create individual newspapers about famous people and the battles of the Revolutionary War. I like to use games and simulations to help students learn concepts. In the fall, students study how animals survive by playing “How Many Bears Can Live in This Forest?” They play “Web of Life” to learn how animals depend on each other, the “Musk Ox Game” to learn the concept of predator/prey, and “Turtle Hurtles” to learn the life cycle of a sea turtle. These games come from Project Wild (Western Regional Environmental Education Council, 1992) and Project Aquatic (Western Regional Environmental Education Council, 1987). The class also takes a field trip to The Treehouse, an animal sanctuary for predatory birds. Injured owls, falcons, eagles, and other birds

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and mammals are brought there for rehabilitation and eventual release into the wild. During our study of the environment, a group decided to draw a 6-foot tree, with suggestions on each leaf about ways to save the earth. Others wrote a play and raps about the rainforest, complete with student-made props and music. This was presented to the younger children and parents at school and videotaped to show at a parent–teacher meeting. As previously mentioned, I send home a questionnaire at the beginning of the year for parents to fill out and return. Their replies provide many resources for our studies. I also ask each child and parent to complete a survey at the completion of the Native Americans unit. An end-of-theyear survey for students asks essentially the same questions as those asked on surveys completed after each theme study and includes additional questions. The end-of-the-year survey for parents asks for a response to the year’s curriculum. From their responses to the surveys, I noticed that as the year progressed, students increasingly favored learning skills in the context of reading children’s literature and content area trade books. They also preferred learning how to spell in the context of their writing. The great majority believed that they were better readers, writers, and spellers at the end of fifth grade. Responses from the parent surveys indicated that students were more enthusiastic about school, and most parents believed that their children had learned more than in a typical school year. They gave a variety of reasons, including: School was more interesting and fun because children enjoyed the research, writing, and other projects; children felt they had more control over their learning because they could make choices; they wanted to know more; they remembered more by learning this way; and they had to think more. In response to the question about study habits, parents noticed that students were more willing to study, write, and work on self-initiated projects. The most frequently observed behavior was that their children read more for enjoyment and to find information. Some parents were amazed at the creative skills of their children and their willingness to present projects and speak in front of their classmates. They also felt that the children communicated more easily and understood better what was expected of them. In the first survey of the year, a few parents felt that basic spelling and English were not being emphasized enough, and several were concerned because students were not using textbooks and workbooks in the traditional way. In response to the surveys, I added an emphasis on phonetic, spelling, and grammar rules. As the year progressed, these concerns diminished.

What Research Has to Say About Integrating Language and Content Area Learning We know a great deal about the functioning of the brain, but all too often this information is not brought to bear on how we support student learning in schools. We know that the brain operates as a parallel distribution system

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(all functions of the body and attention to the environment occur at the same time). This allows the brain to process information at an estimated rate of 100 trillion computations in 1/100 of a second. A computer running at this speed would require over a week’s time, running day and night, to do the same processing. Most of this processing occurs at an unconscious level, which allows us to simultaneously digest food, create new cells, and manufacture enzymes without thought. Paul Churchland (1995) points out that learning, problem solving, and discovery are ways the brain seeks to understand new experience in terms of what is familiar, and that scientists themselves make extensive use of analogy and metaphor when they seek answers to new questions. He says: “This, after all, is the point of having concepts: to allow us to deal appropriately with the always novel, but never entirely novel, situations flowing endlessly toward us from an open-ended future” (p. 145). Integrating learning that occurs among the various disciplines in the curriculum is brain-friendly, in the sense that it provides opportunities for students to make the best use of the naturally active functioning of their brains. Consider how students learn things outside of school. They observe with all their senses, ask questions, connect what they discover with their own experience, and make sense of new information by actively operating on it. Allowing the brain to work at school-related learning in the same effective and pattern-seeking manner that it operates on learning outside the school requires that students: • • • • • •

be active in exploring objects, events, and ideas focus attention on what they observe and experience be encouraged to ask and answer questions they have about concepts pose and solve problems that are of interest to them be encouraged to find patterns in information and ideas consciously relate new ideas to those that are already familiar.

Teachers who provide opportunities for students to observe, question, make meaningful connections with other ideas, and talk about what they are learning are encouraging them to bring the same effective skills they use to make sense of the world outside of school into the classroom. Cooperative study groups allow students to share what they have learned with others, listen to their peers’ insights and discoveries, and consider new strategies. In the process of this interaction, students gain new information, develop new perspectives on the subject matter, rehearse ideas, and build further connections between new and complex ideas, and their own experience.

Try Out the Chapter Ideas • Identify what you believe to be the greatest strengths of each teacher. • Try to identify the common beliefs of the three teachers as they are demonstrated in the classroom observations and from the way the they describe their individual educational programs.

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• Consider the educational resources available to each teacher and describe how each made the best use of what was accessible to them. • List the ways each teacher accommodated individual learning needs and interests. • Choose a teacher at the level you would like to teach. List the particular practices described in this chapter that you might try in your own classroom. • Choose a teacher at a level other than the preceding and describe how you could adapt one or more classroom activities to another instructional level. • Consider the natural and cultural attractions in the area where you live. Create a list of places you would like to share with an elementary class. • Research the different ethnic and cultural groups of your area. Discover persons who would be willing to visit a school to share information or skills with an elementary class.

CHAPTER TWO

Reading Aloud: Literacy Begins With Listening In This Chapter • • • • • •

Narrative descriptions of reading aloud at all grade levels The importance of reading aloud to all ages Selecting a good read-aloud book Inviting visitors to participate Dealing with controversial books Professional resources and how to use them

The Main Idea Reading aloud to students is a simple but highly effective way to enrich all learning. It assists language development, increases comprehension skills, and expands vocabulary. Reading aloud is one of the best ways to help children develop an interest in reading, improve the quality of their writing, and create a bond of common experience and enjoyment between you and your students.

In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom Mrs. Jamison opens the book Charlotte’s Web (White, 1974) and prepares to read aloud to her kindergarten class. Today, she will read about Wilbur the pig waking up to find Charlotte’s unusual web. She looks down briefly at the first sentence, fixes it in her mind, then looks up at the children and begins: “The next day . . . was foggy,” she says, pausing for dramatic effect. “Everything on the farm . . . was dripping wet. The grass looked like a magic carpet . . . . The asparagus patch . . . .” 39

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Mrs. Jamison pauses, looks up at the children, and finishes the sentence in a hushed voice: “. . . looked like a silver forest.” Several children respond with “Oooh . . . .” Carrie raises her hand. “What’s asparagus?” “It’s green,” Cody says. “A vegetable,” someone else offers. “You’re right,” the teacher says. “Asparagus is a green vegetable that grows straight up in stalks. In the morning, with all the dew, asparagus plants look like little silver trees, when the sun hits them. Who has seen asparagus?” Only a few hands go up. “I’ll bring some on Wednesday for Tasting Day,” she promises. Every Wednesday, Mrs. Jamison brings new foods to school to provide her students with sampling experiences they might otherwise not have. There are no further questions, so Mrs. Jamison continues the story. She reads about the web that Charlotte the spider has woven during the night, and gestures with her hand as she pretends to read the message written in the web: “SOME PIG!” In the story, the hired man brushes his hand across his eyes in disbelief when he sees the web. Mrs. Jamison uses the same gesture and stares into the far corner of the room. Caught up in the story, most of the children turn around to look, expecting to see the miraculous web. “I’m seeing things,” the teacher whispers, reading the hired man’s words, and the children lean toward her in anticipation. The reading continues to the end of the chapter. Mrs. Jamison closes the book and waits for a minute, allowing the class to soak in the experience. Then, she asks, “What do you think Charlotte’s web looked like?” “Silky,” Hannah offers, “with little dewdrops on it.” “HUMONGOUS!” Sean exclaims, demonstrating the imagined size with his outstretched arms. “It would have to be big for everyone to see it.” “And it has ‘SOME PIG!’ written on it,” Danny adds. “Would you like to see how Garth Williams [the illustrator] saw the web?” she asks. “Yes!” the children chorus, and she shows them the pictures. Amy, who has moderate sight loss, signals to the teacher that she would like to examine the picture more closely. Mrs. Jamison hands the book to Amy, who holds it close to her face and smiles as the outline of the web comes into view. “Does it look the way you imagined it?” the teacher asks. “Just like I thought,” Amy replies, “only smaller.” “How about the rest of you?” she asks the class. “Not big enough,” Sean replies, and Danny agrees. “It should take up the whole page,” Sean declares. “Who would like to draw a picture of how they think the web looked?” Mrs. Jamison asks. All hands go up, and the children return to their tables to pass out paper and group around crayon buckets. A few congregate at the science table to examine the large spider that lives there in a terrarium. Several children, including Amy, pick up a magnifying glass to observe the spider and its web before returning to their places to begin drawing.

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Each child will write something about their picture on the lines below the drawing, and the teacher records their request for words on the front chalkboard. “SOME PIG!” “Wilbur,” “Charlotte,” “spider,” and “web” are listed in large letters for copying. “If there are other words you want to use, just write the sounds you hear,” the teacher reminds the class. She copies the words from the board onto a piece of paper for Amy to use as a reference. Amy writes her story on a separate piece of paper with wider lines and fills up a large art paper with a detailed picture of a spider, complete with tiny hairs all over its body. As students complete their pictures, they show them to the teacher or the classroom aide and read aloud what they have written. When students have tried to write a word they do not know how to spell, they are praised for using new and different words. Beneath misspelled words, the correct spelling is lightly penciled in. All papers are filed by students in their own folders. The next time they want to use the word, they will have a reference to find its correct spelling. Mrs. Jamison also takes note of words the students want to use and has filled up several flip charts around the room, where children can look up “action words”—words associated with school, home, animals, seasons, plants, play, and other categories associated with specific studies.

Behind the Scenes There are thousands of books that would be appropriate to read aloud to a kindergarten class, but Mrs. Jamison chose one of her own favorites from among those she knew well from her own childhood, from her children’s literature class in college, and ones she had read to her own children. Although she reads several picture books a day to her students, she chose a book with chapters to model the idea that wonderful stories are found in books with many words and few pictures. This is a valuable foundation to begin building early in a child’s schooling career, because many students lose interest in reading when chapter books are introduced. Mrs. Jamison has read Charlotte’s Web several times, but she reviews it again before reading it aloud to get a renewed sense of the story. Before a reading session, she plans how she will read the first few words and how she will pace the first sentence, the first paragraph, and the first page to draw her students into the story. She knows how important it is to create a mood for something mysterious and wonderful to happen. As part of her preparation, Mrs. Jamison also plans how she will share the few illustrations with her students. One of her goals for reading aloud is to help children develop their powers of imagination. She encourages them to form pictures in their minds while she reads before she shows them the illustrations. The teacher has also established a routine for sharing illustrations with Amy, who is partially sighted. At the beginning of the year, Mrs. Jamison offered Amy a copy of the picture book to hold while she was reading aloud to the class. Amy initially declined the offer, preferring to listen to the story with the rest of the class and then look at the pictures later, on her own. When the teacher shared The Snowman (Briggs, 1978), a wordless book, with the class, Amy listened to the other children discuss the story. After she examined the pictures later on, she decided to accept Mrs. Jamison’s offer to have her own copy so that she could participate in the discussion

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with the others. The teacher encourages Amy to make decisions about how she can best learn and participate in the classroom. This helps her student to develop a sense of autonomy, which has led to greater self-confidence in other learning situations. When Carrie asked about the asparagus, she was trying to create a picture in her mind. Many of the children in this kindergarten class have limited experience with a wide variety of foods, and Mrs. Jamison was pleased with Carrie’s curiosity. She allowed the students time to respond to Carrie before she added her own experience. Sometimes, the teacher asks the children to listen to a story read all the way through the first time without interruption. Then she rereads and takes questions as they arise. At other times, she encourages children to inquire about words or comment on the story as it is read, because they might forget their questions when the reading is finished. Some teachers prefer to anticipate words that children might not understand in a story by calling attention to them before a reading session or writing them on the board. Mrs. Jamison believes that the reason for wanting to know the meaning of words comes from listening to a good story and wanting to understand everything about it. She also knows that her students will learn new words more quickly and permanently when they can attach their own meaning to them.

A Primary Classroom “Ha Hah!” Students in Mr. Hernandez’s third-grade class are startled to hear their teacher laugh out loud during silent sustained reading time. The teacher glances up from his book, slightly embarrassed. “Oh . . . sorry!” he says. “This was just so funny.” Tony looks up, puzzled at his classmates’ reaction. His partial deafness did not allow him to hear the teacher’s laugh. The teacher holds up a copy of Owls in the Family (Mowat, 1996) to show the class what he was reading, and repeats for Tony’s benefit, “The book is so funny, I laughed out loud!” Tony grins. “After the silent period is over, I’ll talk to you about this,” he promises, and everyone settles back in to their own books. “Let me read you a little of what I was laughing at,” the teacher says at the end of the period, “and you can decide if this would be a good book to read aloud.” He reads an excerpt from Chapter 6, which tells about a pet parade that dissolves into hilarious chaos when a surprise contestant is introduced. The class giggles and laughs out loud as they listen to Billy get his pets ready for the parade. I went back to putting the dolls’ clothes on the owls, and it wasn’t easy. Weeps just stood there and whimpered while I pulled a pink dress over his head and pinned a floppy hat on him. But Wol took one look at the sailor suit I had for him and then he rumpled himself up into a ball and began to clack his beak and hiss. (p. 46)

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The class asks for more, and the book becomes an unplanned but highly successful introduction to a unit of study on raptor birds. Mr. Hernandez was particularly delighted that his class enjoyed the book he shared with them. Weeps and Wol are memorable characters, and he knows the book will be picked up and read again after he has finished reading it aloud. He will stock his classroom library with several copies of Owls in the Family and other books of its kind, such as Rascal (North, 1990), the equally memorable story of a pet raccoon. Each time Mr. Hernandez finishes reading a chapter of the book aloud, he closes the book and allows his listeners time to savor the experience. Students usually have questions about owls to add to the list at the front of the room, and others suggest sources for answers, which are recorded below each question. Students are encouraged to bring in owl artifacts—pellets and feathers— for the science table. Humorous stories about owls, culled from family memories, are related in discussions and turned into books to share with other classes. Magazines and books with owl themes are brought from home, and the father of one of the students offers to share anecdotes about his experiences photographing owls at night. Reading this particular book aloud has created a receptive audience for the scientific study of raptor birds. Each student has chosen a favorite, and after the reading session, they move immediately into groups to continue researching the birds they have selected.

Behind the Scenes Each time he prepares to read aloud to the class, Mr. Hernandez makes certain that Tony can see him easily. Although he wears two hearing aids, Tony also relies on lip reading to supplement what he cannot hear. If Mr. Hernandez stands next to a window when he reads, the glare of incoming light may prevent Tony from seeing his face. Just as he has learned not to talk when he is writing on the blackboard, Mr. Hernandez also remembers to keep the book away from his face so that Tony’s view of his speaking is not obstructed. Tony has taught Mr. Hernandez how to help him gain the most from classroom instruction. He feels free to approach the teacher to ask questions or suggest ways to enhance his opportunities to learn. At the beginning of the school year, Tony occasionally had outbursts of anger for no apparent reason. Mr. Hernandez realizes now that his student frequently felt left out when he did not know why the class was laughing at something he did not hear or was embarrassed when he did not understand instructions. Both the teacher and class have learned to support Tony’s efforts to participate fully by making sure that he hears and understands instructions and knows what is happening in class discussions and playground games.

An Intermediate Classroom “Why do we have to run like that in this heat?” Dirk asks Mr. Chamberlain as he slumps into the sixth-grade classroom. “Too tired,” Susan complains to a friend, as she slides into her desk and puts her head down. “Yeah . . . tired,” Ambry says, to no one in particular.

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The students are exhausted from a physical education class. Exercise in the unseasonably warm fall weather has made them hot, tired, and cranky. Mr. Chamberlain used to dread this time of day—a period that he and his class were forced to suffer through together. As everyone heads to their desks, the teacher taps lightly on the desk to get their attention and holds up a book for them to see. He is not surprised to see the principal come into the room at the end of the line and take a seat at the back. Students pick up the pace of getting to their desks, and as soon as everything is quiet, Mr. Chamberlain begins to read the next chapter in Maniac Magee (Spinelli, 1999). If the class had experienced difficulty settling down, the teacher would have drawn them into the story by asking where the story ended the day before. As he reads, he alternates between standing in front of the class and sitting on the edge of his desk, remembering to stay above the heads of his students so that his voice will carry to the back of the room. Unlike many teachers who roam the room as they read, he stays put, which has a relaxing effect on his listeners. If there is a disturbance, he simply pauses and waits for it to subside. Mr. Chamberlain first read Maniac Magee on the recommendation of another teacher. He knew it had won the Newbery Medal, awarded yearly to an outstanding book in children’s literature. He was captivated by the story of a young boy with an unusual talent for running. The powerful narrative also touched on racial and poverty experiences and provided rare insights into cultural differences and homelessness. The teacher was fairly certain that his class would like the book, but he was still amazed at the level of positive response it received. Nearly every student in the room wanted to order the book during the next round of book club orders. Each chapter held their interest, and the discussions that followed the reading indicated a depth of identification with the characters. As he begins to read on this particular day, Mr. Chamberlain is looking forward to his students’ responses to Grayson, the old man who takes the homeless Maniac under his wing. In yesterday’s reading, Maniac untied Cobble’s Knot, a huge ball of tangled string that hangs in Cobble’s pizza parlor. The special education teacher brought in a ball of tangled twine that morning and suspended it from the ceiling, with a sign that said “Chamberlain’s Knot.” The class was delighted. When the principal asked about the knot, they invited him in to listen to the story. As Mr. Chamberlain reads, he glances at Derek, who is drawing a picture of Grayson. At the beginning of the year, Derek was a wreck during this period of the day. Overstimulated and distraught from P.E., he often threw things and hit other students as they entered the room. At Mr. Chamberlain’s suggestion, the P.E. teacher began to let Derek cool down early from physical activity by assigning him to round up equipment or take the attendance report to the school office. These activities helped some, but Derek still had problems staying at his desk during the read-aloud session. After brainstorming the problem with his teacher, Derek came up with two coping skills. He would keep a small rubber ball in his desk that he could squeeze to drain off excess energy. Because drawing helped him relax, Derek also asked if he could sketch while

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the teacher was reading. This was a good suggestion, and Mr. Chamberlain encouraged the entire class to participate if they chose. The class had cheered the day before when Maniac won a year’s supply of pizza for untangling Cobble’s Knot, a response in stark contrast to the book Mr. Chamberlain had tried to read to them the previous week. Then, there was no reaction at all from the class as he read through the first three chapters. “Too bad,” he thought. “It was a great book and last year’s class really liked it.” But this was a lesson about reading aloud that he had learned early on: If a book does not click in the first few chapters, select something else. With thousands of good books available, there was no point in wasting time with something that did not draw their interest. He left a copy of the book on his desk for anyone who wanted to finish reading it.

Behind the Scenes Books selected for awards on the basis of excellent writing are not always the best ones to read aloud. When Mr. Chamberlain selected Maniac Magee, his own experience with the book was positive, and he knew he could share it with enthusiasm. He did, however, gauge the responses of his students to continue reading it, because the whole point of reading aloud is to create a pleasant experience with books. The previous book had worked for another class but not with his current students. Differences in experiences, maturity, and interests create different tastes in books, so he wisely moved on to another book. Mr. Chamberlain worked in constructive ways to help Derek participate fully in all classroom activities. Perhaps the most important thing he did, however, was to enlist Derek’s help in addressing the problems he was experiencing. This encouraged Derek to think creatively about coping skills and to see himself as a competent and autonomous agent in his own learning.

The Importance of Reading Aloud If someone read to you when you were a child, either at home or in the classroom, you have some idea of the importance of reading aloud. Perhaps this was how you were introduced to the magic of books—through rhymes, adventure, mystery, humor, and compelling information about the world. Through these experiences, you lived vicariously in other times and places, observed fantasy lands, shared the lives of ordinary people, and explored the minds of fictional and real-life heroes and heroines. Although you did not know it at the time, you were also learning about the structure of language, increasing your vocabulary, absorbing the idioms of our culture, and improving your ability to read on your own. Reading aloud is the most basic way to help students learn about language and literature. It is not an optional activity, to be fitted in at spare moments in the school day or as a reward for good behavior. It is an integral, necessary part of language learning, and removing it as punishment for poor classroom

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behavior is as counterproductive as deciding not to teach math because students did not complete homework. Indeed, it is at times of high classroom stress and distraction that reading aloud provides a way to reach and teach, in a manner that calms the spirit and feeds the mind. Changes in schedule, overstimulation from extracurricular activities, or community tragedies can be temporarily soothed by reading aloud from a favorite book. Good stories are like Emily Dickinson’s ship, incomparable in their ability to “take us lands away” (Dickinson, 1957). A special bond forms between teacher and students during these readaloud times. Most people remember being read to as children—by parents, siblings, or grandparents. If your memory of this experience was exciting and comforting, you will pass along this gift to your students, convinced of the pleasure that reading aloud brings to listeners. Although many people cannot remember much about third grade, most can tell you the name of a book read aloud to their class every afternoon after lunch. By reading aloud from books that you personally enjoy, you share individual interests and create a model of adult enthusiasm for reading. Your selection of a variety of genres to read from will broaden the reading interests of your students and demonstrate how to present books in a manner that will capture and hold the attention of an audience. Through this intensely social practice, you can share the richness of prose and poetry, begin topics of study, and introduce children to types of literature they might not otherwise select.

Preparing to Read Aloud in the Classroom Selecting a book to read aloud to your class will be guided by (1) your purpose for reading; (2) the age, experience, maturity, and interests of your audience; and (3) the books available to you from various resources.

Determine the Purpose for Reading Aloud One of the main reasons teachers select a particular book to read aloud is to share a compelling story or characters that they have enjoyed themselves. They may also choose books that will introduce topics in science, mathematics, social studies, or the fine arts in an appealing way. Reading aloud from well-written children’s literature exposes students to beautiful language and rich vocabulary, providing them with a model for their own spoken and written expression. Books that generate laughter, stir the imagination, or tap deep emotion usually contain language that is powerful and full of rhythmic patterns. Words that speak to the senses will enrich the vocabulary of your students and provide them with a high-quality listening experience. Reading aloud is one of the best ways to introduce students to a wide variety of books and expand their appreciation of the range of information or entertainment that can be found in the different literary genres (types of

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books). At all age levels, children enjoy picture books, folktales, myths, legends, poetry, contemporary realistic fiction, historical fiction, and modern fantasy. Expertly written and beautifully illustrated nonfiction books come in every size and shape, with special features to interest students in science, history, geography, mathematics, music, art, biography, sports, jokes, riddles, careers, and hobbies. Children’s listening comprehension usually far outpaces their individual reading skills, and reading aloud provides them with opportunities to explore more complex concepts than they might be able to read about on their own. Because reading aloud is a shared experience, it also provides a chance to discuss ideas and information as part of a social group that includes the teacher. Reading a story together creates a special bond of shared experience between teachers and their students. But, this practice also has restorative powers when things have gone wrong in the classroom. Many experienced teachers keep a copy of Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends (Silverstein, 1974) or Jack Prelutsky’s The New Kid on the Block: Poems (Prelutsky, 1984) on their desks. Reading a page or two from these popular collections of hilarious poetry is just what the doctor ordered for students and teachers who feel out-of-sorts with each other. Laughing together is good medicine and models a positive way for students to make themselves feel better in stressful situations.

Consider the Experience and Interests of Your Audience Matching up a particular class with just the right book is a skill that teachers practice and learn. They ask for recommendations from librarians, other teachers, and their students. They also review resources, such as The ReadAloud Handbook by Jim Trelease (2001) and Esme Codell’s How to Get Your Child to Love Reading (2003). These popular guides to reading aloud provide just enough information about child-tested favorites to help teachers select just the right book to try with their classes. Whether you decide to read a book that is an old favorite or one that has been recommended by someone else, it is important to read (or reread) the book before you present it to the class. A story you enjoyed as a child may be dated or not as you remembered it. Recommended books may not be as compelling to you as they were to those who suggested them or may not be appropriate for your particular class. Make sure that your preparation includes reading parts of the book aloud for practice and that you can pronounce any unfamiliar or specialized words with ease. As you gain confidence with book selection, expand your students’ literary experiences by choosing other types of books on favorite topics. If they enjoy animal stories, introduce poetry, myths, legends, folktales, and modern fantasy that feature animals as real or imaginary characters. Look for books that associate historical characters with animals, such as Traveler (Adams, 1988), a narration of the Civil War as seen through the eyes of Robert E. Lee’s horse. It is important to consider the racial and cultural composition of your class as you select books to read aloud throughout the school year. Myths, legends,

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and realistic and historical fiction of the many nations of the world allow students to identify with the heroes and storytellers of their own cultural backgrounds. Reading aloud books written by authors from diverse cultures helps expand children’s understanding of the values and ideals of other peoples of the world. By creating compelling characters for listeners to bond with, writers of these books help children feel a sense of kinship for the common and distinct concerns of children of other races and regions of the earth. In addition to sharing the wealth of stories from the nations of origin of all the students in your class, it is equally important for them to hear how their individual stories have been woven into the unique literature and history of the culture they currently share. Anthologies such as From Sea to Shining Sea: A Treasury of American Folklore and Folksongs (Cohn, 1993) provide listeners with American prose, poetry, and songs created by persons in the process of drawing together as one culture.

Assess the Resources for Reading Aloud In addition to books written specifically about good read-aloud materials, other reliable sources of information include people who read aloud to groups of children on a regular basis. These would include the school librarian or media specialist and the children’s librarian at the public library. People who work in bookstores often know the latest and most popular books that are flying off the shelves, and teachers from your own school or others in the district are usually happy to share their experiences with a favorite book. In the end, however, select something that you personally enjoy, regardless of the purpose for which you are reading. If you like the book, you will be enthusiastic about sharing it, and it is this excitement that will invite your listeners to stretch their minds and hearts to embrace a new experience.

Presentation—Reading a Book Aloud Almost any good reader can read aloud, but the quality of this activity can vary widely. Reading is more than naming words and saying sentences aloud. Good reading creates a mood and catches listeners up into a feeling of being there. The story comes through you, so it is important to give it your best effort. You have chosen a book, read it through, practiced reading it aloud, and are ready to share it with your class. Just before you pick up the book to read, review the following six guidelines: • take a deep breath • imagine the opening scene (or the beginning idea, for informational literature) • slow down to add drama • create the story with gesture and voice • read loudly enough for everyone to hear • accommodate any special needs

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The advice to take a deep breath to restore calm has been used so often that it may sound trite. However, if you inhale and exhale slowly three times, making certain to fill your lungs to capacity and empty them completely, you will accomplish two things. You will regulate your breathing so it is not shallow, and you will send oxygen to your brain. The more oxygen, the less nervous and more alert you will be. You will also avoid the shortness of breath that sometimes plagues reading aloud. The first sentence of a book is designed to catch the reader or listener’s interest, so pay particular attention to this sentence as you begin to read to your class. Create a picture in your own mind of the opening scene. Think about the characters who will soon be on the stage in your listener’s minds. If you are reading an informational book, think about how the book will draw their interest to the topic. Open the book—look at your class—then down at the book again. Read the first sentence slowly and with as much expression as possible. This purposely slow pace gives your listeners the opportunity to grasp any introductory information they may need to know as the book progresses and draws them into the story. For example, in The Westing Game (Raskin, 1978), the foreshadowing (clues to future events in a story) of character and setting in the first few pages is critical to understanding of the rest of the book. The sun sets in the west (just about everyone knows that), but Sunset Towers faced east. Strange! Sunset Towers faced east and had no towers. This glittery, glassy apartment house stood alone on the Lake Michigan shore, five stories high. Five empty stories high. Then one day (it happened to be the Fourth of July), a most uncommonlooking delivery boy rode around town slipping letters under the door of the chosen tenants-to-be. The letters were signed Barney Northrup. The delivery boy was sixty-two years old, and there was no such person as Barney Northrup. (p. 1)

To make the most of this intriguing introduction to the book, contrast the way you say “east” and “west,” and alter your tone of voice when you say “Strange!” Then, pause for a few seconds before you read the second piece of information. “Sunset Towers faced EAST (pause) and HAD-NOTOWERS (Read each word slowly). In the third paragraph, emphasize “uncommon-looking” and the name “Barney Northrup.” Read the final sentence slowly, emphasizing the age of the delivery boy and the word “was.” If you read these initial sentences of the story slowly and carefully to establish the puzzle firmly in the minds of your listeners, when you look up at them at the end of this first page, you will see every eye on you. It is that kind of book. As you begin to read, be aware of the pace at which you are speaking. There is a natural tendency to read too quickly, either from nervousness or becoming lost in the story yourself. If you make an effort to add drama to what you are reading, you enter a performance mode, which helps you monitor your speed of delivery. It will also encourage you to speak loudly

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enough so that everyone can hear. Many teachers ask students to raise their hand if they cannot hear or if you are reading too rapidly. It is important to stand still while you are reading. Students are trying to focus on the story, and if you pace or move around too much, this is distracting. On the other hand, do not be offended if students shift around in their seats, doodle, draw, or put their heads down while you are reading. The effect of being read to is relaxing for most children, and they will naturally assume a more casual posture and behavior. If there is a slight but not major distraction while you are reading, you may want to pause briefly, look up at the class, and wait. A simple question like “Everyone ready?” will draw individuals back into the experience. If there is general disruption, it may indicate that you have reached the limit of attention span for the class and that it is time to stop reading. A comment such as “We’ll read more later” ends the session on a positive note. If you suspect that the book has not held the interest of your class, take a secret vote to see if you should continue reading it. Students write “Yes” or “No” on a slip of paper, and if “No” votes predominate, select another book. Be sure to offer the book to anyone who wants to continue reading it. Before you read aloud to your class, be sure to consider any special needs your students may have in terms of seeing, hearing, or understanding you. It is a good idea to talk with children directly to get their ideas on how they can best be assisted to maximize their learning. As you will have noticed from the narratives, these students will usually have good suggestions based on their previous experiences, and most will have preferences about how they would like support to be offered.

Evaluating the Read-Aloud Experience Effective evaluation of instruction begins with setting goals for yourself and your students. From these initial goals, you notice and record how well they are met, add information about positive results that were not planned for, and adjust future instruction to build on what has been achieved. When you read aloud, you may have multiple desired outcomes: introduction of a topic of study, enhancement of a curriculum area, development of vocabulary, or increasing your students’ comprehension skills. Perhaps your goal is simply to share a favorite book with students—one that will add a dimension of understanding or insight to their lives. In any case, it is important to evaluate the response of your students to the book and your own performance as a reader. If you have picked the right book for your group, you will know it immediately. Students may be looking out the window or down at their desks, drawing, or writing as you read. But when you finish reading, you will know it is the right book if they groan and ask for one more chapter or ask you to read a picture book again. Sometimes, they will sigh with delight, laugh at the humor, or be moved to silence by a particularly powerful passage. When you finish a successful book, your students will line up to be the first to read it on their own. They will ask for other books by the same author, books of the same genre (type), or on the same topic.

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As you evaluate a read-aloud session that seems not to go as well as you expected, you may want to reevaluate your goals. Perhaps you planned to read two chapters of the book. Your students were actively interested as you read the first chapter, but grew restless as the second chapter progressed. This may have nothing to do with the story or your skill in reading aloud. The fact that they had an initial interest in the book indicates that one chapter at a time may be optimal for your particular group. At the next reading session, briefly review what happened in the first chapter and begin reading the second again. Then, stop at the end of that chapter. If they ask for more, promise to read later. If disinterest persists, this points to the book rather than attention span. Children give other clues about their responses to a book. They will lean forward, eager to hear the next sentence, if the material draws them in. If they do not “buy” the book, there will be bored expressions, constant moving around, shuffling, whispering, and signs of physical discomfort. When this happens, it is important to stop the session so that only pleasant associations are made with reading aloud. The length of time put aside for reading aloud is critical. It should be daily, and several times a day, when possible. Begin with short periods of time, particularly for kindergarten students, and lengthen the time as attention spans increase. Ten- to 20-minute sessions are recommended, depending on the age and maturity levels of your students. Although many teachers like to keep read-aloud sessions a pleasant, listening-only experience, others periodically ask their students to write a brief response after a read-aloud period—a sentence or two about what they enjoyed or something they learned. Teachers may also ask students to evaluate particular books when they are first introduced and again when the book is finished. These evaluations often reveal a growth in appreciation for a particular type of literature or new understanding of complex ideas and information. If you also keep a brief, one- or two-sentence record of your reading aloud, it will provide you with direction for choosing the next book and preserve ideas about relating story content to other studies. These notes might include vocabulary words that could be added to weekly spelling lists or grammatical constructions to discuss in a mini-lesson.

Build Partnerships Over 100 years ago, the educator Edmund Huey (Huey, 1900) commented on the natural way of learning to read: “The secret of it all lies in parents reading aloud, to and with the child.” Research since that time has supported this belief, and teachers make every effort to involve parents in reading aloud to their children. They also invite the principal, parents, and community members to read aloud to their students on a weekly basis. This activity models adult interest in books and is usually quite popular with students. During National Book Week, many schools invite prominent persons (Celebrity Readers) from their communities to the classrooms to share

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favorite books with children. Those who attend may include the town mayor, health care professionals, the police chief, newspaper editors, sports figures, local heroes, and town merchants. The Book Buddy program is another way to provide students with additional read-aloud experiences. Students read aloud together in pairs or threes during a set period each day. Many schools feature a cross-grade buddy system, with an exchange program at grade level or between grades. Book Buddies that pair intermediate students with primary students are usually quite successful. Even with a great difference between reading levels, children of all ages enjoy looking at picture books together. Older children read their own favorite books aloud to the younger students. Younger children talk about their favorite books, point out illustrations they like, and receive help with books they want to learn to read. Teachers have observed that additional benefits of Book Buddies work both ways—young children enjoy the positive attention of older students, who often become more protective of their young partners in the hallways and on the playground. Less confident older readers frequently show improvement in their reading achievement and attitudes toward reading.

If This Is Your Situation If the book you want to read aloud to your class contains questionable language or controversial topics, you may want to consider the following to help you decide if the book is appropriate for your situation. • Know the policy of your school or district school board with regard to questionable language or sensitive topics in literature. • Determine your own comfort level in reading the words or discussing the topic. • Decide if your particular group of students will be distracted from the purposes of the story by particular words or situations. • Consider reading around words or passages that can be omitted without seriously impairing the tone, value, or purposes of the story. At the beginning of the school year, many teachers send home a list of books that will be used during the year—those that will be read aloud in class, made available in the classroom library, or incorporated into curriculum studies. If individual parents object to their child listening to a particular book, it is better to have this information in hand before it becomes a problem. There are thousands of books available for reading aloud, and creating a controversy that will embarrass a student or create tension in the classroom is counterproductive. When you make a decision about controversial material, it is also important to consider how comfortable you are personally with the language or topic. Reading a book aloud that contains words or ideas that make you feel uncomfortable or embarrassed will not work. If parents object to their children reading particular books on an independent basis, it should be made clear that it is THEIR responsibility to

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inform their children and send a list of these books to you. This approach balances the rights of parents to make certain decisions about their children’s reading material with your instructional decisions and the rights of other children in the class to read books of their choice, as part of their independent reading or study.

Reflections (Charles Kamm, Retired Teacher and Principal) As a teacher and principal, I believed strongly in the importance of reading aloud to children. I did not read what I did not enjoy myself. I could not fool children. When we shared the joy of reading, the joy was mine and theirs. I saw it as an opportunity, not an obligation. I wanted children to know that reading is a pleasurable activity and one that I wanted to share with them. I believe that reading aloud provides continuity to our lives, as we pass along our ideas and ideals from parent to child, teacher to class, generation to generation, and age to age. Lee had been in my class for several months, but peer acceptance of her was minimal. One day, she arrived clutching a well-worn copy of Poe’s writings. She had discovered “The Raven” and wanted to share it with me. I had not previously read this poem to my class—again, I had underestimated their love of language. They were fascinated by Poe’s musical, mystical melancholy. “Quoth the Raven: ‘Nevermore’” became their spontaneous choral response as we read the poem several times. I needed no teacher’s guide to lead us; the class’s natural interest and curiosity served far better. Lee and her book, through her book, became part of us. The Pied Piper marched into our classroom much as he must have entered Hamelin Town hundreds of years ago, cloaked in language as foreign to our ears as his strange garb had been to the eyes of the Hamelin people. But, through the lilting language of Browning, the Piper charmed us and led us as he had so many others before. True, we stumbled and hesitated along the way, but the pen of a powerful storyteller led us through the obstacles. And how, like the rats and the children, we raced through the lighter passages!

A Perspective on Reading Aloud (Jim Trelease, Author) Jim Trelease, who has popularized the benefits of reading aloud to children in five editions of his Read-Aloud Handbook (2001), believes that teachers who read aloud model the pleasure of reading, as they expose their students to new information, rich vocabulary, and good grammar. At the same time, the child’s imagination is stimulated, attention span stretched, listening comprehension improved, emotional development is nurtured, the reading–writing connection established, and where they exist, negative attitudes reshaped to positive. (pp. 16–17)

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Although most reading aloud is associated with stories, there is also a great storehouse of nonfiction literature that allows teachers to share interesting concepts and facts in read-aloud form. Children are naturally curious and generally fascinated by good nonfiction writing. Reading aloud from books about history, science, math, and the arts expands listeners’ experience and gives them new ideas to think about. Many fine nonfiction books might not be selected by students or they might be too difficult for them to read on their own. Trelease believes that reading aloud is a good advertisement for the entire reading process. Students who are not attracted to reading or who have difficulty reading can often be sold on the activity when a teacher reads aloud from a good storybook or introduces them to the fascinating world of nonfiction literature. Students who have not experienced the enjoyment of being read to at home or in previous grades can be drawn to reading by hearing good books read aloud in the classroom.

What Research Says About the Benefits of Reading Aloud At every level of instruction, reading aloud can provide positive benefits for your students. Fine literature enriches and expands children’s vocabulary, increases their comprehension skills, and improves the quality of their writing. Furthermore, the positive effects of reading aloud are extended by increasing the amount of time spent reading aloud and improving the quality of materials selected for this purpose (Wigfield & Asher, 1984). It has also been observed that reading aloud is most successful in promoting progress in learning when the level of vocabulary and sentence structure are slightly above that used by students (Chomsky, 1972). There is a high correlation between reading aloud and vocabulary development in children (Cohen, 1968), and children can sometimes learn the meaning of new words from a single exposure to a book read aloud (Elley, 1989). Reading stories aloud increases competency in reading comprehension, and frequent reading aloud in the classroom has been found to improve children’s decoding (sounding out) abilities (Fietelson et al., 1986). Cosgrove (1987) conducted a study in which intermediate students were read to for 20 minutes a day, three times a week for 12 weeks. At the end of this time, the researcher found statistically significant improvement in reading attitudes, independent reading, and comprehension skills. Roser and Martinez (1985) found that an adult’s reading aloud style influences children’s responses to literature. Teachers model for children the process of the mature reader in interaction with the text, showing the importance of making sense from print and modeling strategies for doing this. Studies have shown that reading aloud increases the ability of children to predict when they read, a skill closely tied to competency in reading comprehension (Teale, 1984). Reading literature aloud also improves composition skills, including the increased use of complex phrases, clauses, and sentences in writing. Children of all socioeconomic backgrounds seem to benefit equally from being read to.

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When researchers observed natural readers (those who came to school already knowing how to read), they found they were invariably those who had been read to from an early age (Durkin, 1966). The national commission appointed to summarize the findings of research on reading concluded that “the single most important activity for building the knowledge and skills eventually required for reading appears to be reading aloud to children” (Anderson et al., 1985).

For Your Personal Library Humor for All Occasions Every teacher has a small stack of books—usually poetry and stories—that can be picked up and read almost at random because children are so fond of them. The following are teacher favorites and are well worth the investment to have in your personal library. The Random House Book of Poetry (1983) is a collection of 500 poems selected by Jack Prelutsky and illustrated by Caldecott-winning artist Arnold Lobel. The poems are indexed according to title, author, first line, and subject—helpful information for teachers who want to enrich a theme study with poetry. Favorite poets featured in the collection include Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, Gwendolyn Brooks, Robert Louis Stevenson, Robert Frost, Ogden Nash, Edward Lear, and Shel Silverstein. The Random House Book of Humor (1988), collected by Paula Pollack and illustrated by Caldecott artist Paul O. Zelinsky, includes humorous short stories and excerpts from such favorite authors as Richard Peck, Beverly Clearly, Eleanor Nesbit, Judy Blume, Mark Twain, and Roald Dahl. Stories range in length from two to 25 pages. Where the Sidewalk Ends (1974), by Shel Silverstein, is perhaps the most beloved of all of his collections of poems and drawings. Students rarely forget the towering heaps of garbage that Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout refuses to take out (pp. 70–71) and identify with the child in “Sick” (pp. 58–59), whose symptoms range from instamatic flu to a sprained ankle . . . until she discovers it is Saturday and there is no school. The New Kid on the Block (1984), by Jack Prelutsky, is a book of poems suitable for sharing with all ages. Prelutsky has continued Shel Silverstein’s tradition of creating poems that both tickle the funny bone and prompt reflection. Everyday events take unpredictable turns, as when the fierce new kid on the block turns out to be . . . a girl. And who could forget the ingredients for jellyfish stew?

Stories of the World The following collection of stories and book excerpts is designed to enrich the imaginations of children from all cultures. Everyone loves stories, and literature unites children of varying ethnic, national, and racial backgrounds.

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This literature provides opportunities for enjoyment and discussion and helps students become acquainted with their heritage as citizens of the world. 101 Read-Aloud Classics (2001) by Pamela Horn is a collection of excerpts from traditional and contemporary favorite children’s stories. Each can be read in about 10 minutes and is of a quality that encourages students to investigate the books from which they are drawn. One Hundred-and-One African-American Read-Aloud Stories (1998) by Susan Kantor includes African legends, traditional songs, classical myths, fairy tales, hero sagas, poetry, biographies of contemporary African American heroes, and stories from the days of slavery. Included are excerpts from such books as The Slave Dancer (1991), which tells the tragic story of Jesse, who is captured from New Orleans and made to play a fife onboard ship to make the slaves dance and keep fit. Reading from the classic dog story, Sounder (Armstrong, 1969), will send children to the library to read more. Latino Read-Aloud Stories (Suarez-Rivas, 2000) features 10-minute readings of Latin American literature and includes both traditional stories (preColumbian legends and folktales) and biographies of noted Latin Americans. Also included are poetry, riddles, and excerpts from contemporary authors. 101 Read-Aloud Asian Myths and Legends (2001) by Joan Vernerio is a collection of myths, legends, and stories from China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Tibet. The stories can be read in about 10 minutes and are designed to introduce young readers to Asian culture, through tales of royalty, deities, monsters, beasts, and heroes of the region.

Try Out the Chapter Ideas • Try to recall a book that was read aloud to you as a child. If you can locate a copy, read it again—the entire book, if it is a picture book; the first chapter if it is a novel. Notice your response to the book, and consider why you initially enjoyed it so much. It may be one that you would like to share with your own class. • Observe several people (teachers, librarians, media specialists) reading aloud to children. Notice how they introduce the material to their audiences, the pace of their reading, and ways they use their voice or gestures to add dramatic interpretation. • Observe children listening to a story read aloud. Notice the variety of ways that children demonstrate attention to a story, how they respond to distraction, or show disinterest. • Notice how persons who read aloud handle distractions and the methods they use to draw disinterested or distracted children back into a story. • Record yourself reading a picture book or a passage from a favorite children’s novel. Notice your voice and the pace at which you read. Listen for variety in the pitch of your voice and the use of dramatic tone.

CHAPTER THREE

Independent Reading: Exploring on Their Own In This Chapter • • • • • •

The importance of independent reading to language learning The value of previewing books for students How to identify the best series books Reading strategies for independent readers Where to get a collection of books for the classroom How to tell if your program is working

The Main Idea Independent reading is the daily practice of teachers and students reading silently and autonomously for 10–30 minutes, from material of their own choosing.

In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: Silent Sustained Reading Samantha slips into the hall and hangs a sign on the door handle of the kindergarten room—“Please Do Not Disturb, Reading in Progress.” Several children playing near the door put their blocks away and head for the library corner to select their books. Mrs. Jamison rings a small bell three times, and the rest of the children move to the book area to find something to read. One by one, they return to their tables with three or four books each and begin to read or look at the pictures. Most have selected books with bright, attractive illustrations; others choose books written by themselves or others in the class. A few choose easy reader books, such as More Spaghetti, I Say (Gelman, 1993), Frog and Toad Are Friends (Lobel, 1979), or a book from the Henry and Mudge (Rylant, 1996) series. Mrs. Jamison reads from a stack of picture books on her desk. 57

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As students finish looking at their books, many go through them again, having obviously enjoyed the first experience. Others put their books into a pile in the center of the tables where they sit, and select another book to read. Occasionally, some will chuckle at pictures or stories they are reading; a few whisper sounds under their breath as they try to figure out words; others nudge their neighbors to point out funny or interesting illustrations. For the most part, however, the room is quiet except for the sound of pages turning. When Mrs. Jamison senses that her students are nearing the end of their optimal attention span, she rings the little bell again three times. Some children look up, obviously disappointed, while others stack their books and return them to the library corner. Those still absorbed in their reading either look at their books all the way back to the center or put them in their storage bins to check out later.

Behind the Scenes During this 15-minute silent, sustained-reading period, everyone in the classroom reads, including the teacher. “When we first began independent reading,” the teacher explains, “we read for 5 minutes, which was about the limit of most attention spans. Now, most of them would go on like this for half an hour or longer.” This particular session is scheduled immediately after the morning rest period, and another session follows the rest period in the afternoon. The teacher adds that reading in the library center is an option for her rotating play centers, and that the beanbag chairs and rug near the bookshelves are always filled to capacity. Opportunities to examine books of their own choosing encourage kindergarten students to develop independent reading habits at their own level of emerging literacy (growing ability to read and write). Most of the children “read” the illustrations and follow the story by looking at the pictures. Others can read a few words and practice their decoding (sounding out words phonetically) and context analysis skills (guessing word identity from their knowledge of the other words that surround it). A few are accomplished readers and enjoy flexing their reading skills with the easy reader (limited vocabulary) chapter books stocked in the library. When students have selected their books, they stay at their tables for the entire reading time. There are always plenty of books to read, because other children at the table put the books they have completed reading in the middle for everyone to share. Children are usually interested in what their classmates have chosen and are often exposed to books they otherwise might not have selected for themselves.

A Primary Classroom: Reviewing Strategies “Does everyone have something to read?” Mrs. Scott asks her second-grade class. Tyler is still deciding between The Three Golden Keys (Sis, 1994), a fantasy involving a trip in a hot air balloon, and The Disaster of the Hindenburg (Tanaka, 1993), a historical account of the famed German dirigible. Using a self-selection technique, he has discovered that he will be able to read the first book on his own, and takes it to a spot on the rug near the library

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corner. The book about the Hindenburg is too difficult for Tyler to read independently, but he enjoys looking at pictures of the airship and will take it home to read with his father, who shares his interest in flying machines. Jace looks through the collection of Tomie de Paola’s books, which are stacked in a basket in the Authors Learning Center at the back of the room. He chooses Strega Nona Takes a Vacation (2000) and the brown envelope containing letters from the author, written to Mrs. Scott’s classes over the years in reply to ones sent to him by her students. Rachel is till trying to find a book by Beverly Cleary. All of the books by her favorite author have been taken, and she looks downcast. “There’s a new book about snakes on my desk, Rachel,” the teacher suggests, and Rachel’s mood brightens immediately. “Tell me later what you think of it,” Mrs. Scott adds as Rachel retrieves the book. When everyone has decided on a book, the teacher asks: “What will you do about words you do not know?” “Use our strategies,” they reply in unison, holding up their bookmarks. Each student has decorated and laminated a personal bookmark that lists hints for figuring out the pronunciation or meaning of an unfamiliar word: • • • • • • •

Read around the word. Substitute a word that makes sense. Read the pictures. Read the sentence again. Look for clues. Sound it out. Look in the dictionary.

Students know that at any other time of the day, they can also ask another student or the teacher for help with unfamiliar words. Mrs. Scott briefly reviews the strategies with the class, and they all settle contentedly into their books. Soon, quiet prevails, broken only by occasional sighs and giggles that do not seem to bother anyone else. The teacher has been waiting all morning to read The Children of the Greene Knowe (Boston, 2002), an imaginative fantasy book about a boy who plays with ghost children. The story was recommended by Jim Trelease in an early edition of his Read-Aloud Handbook (Trelease, 2001, 5th edition), and Mrs. Scott is delighted with the magic in its pages. The second graders read for 20 minutes, until the low buzz of a timer tells them they have 2 minutes to bring their reading to a close. “This is their favorite time of day,” the teacher comments. She reluctantly closes her own book. “This will be a great book to read aloud,” she says. “I think I’ll take it home tonight to finish it.”

Behind the Scenes Like Mrs. Jamison, Mrs. Scott is a strong adult model for independent reading. She enjoys exploring new books and makes a point of sharing these experiences with her students. Like this one, many classes become totally absorbed in their reading and would continue long past the time set aside for this independent activity. Timing helps keep the activity fresh and anticipated, and most of the children, like their teacher, continue their independent reading outside of school. At the end of the

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day, Mrs. Scott mentions books that she is taking home to read and asks her students about the books they plan to share with their families that evening, as part of their 10-minute home read-aloud program. Mrs. Scott makes a note to check the school library for Ramona Quimby, Age 8, a book by Beverly Cleary (1981) that she knows Rachel would enjoy. Rachel does not have access to books at home, and following a favorite author is a positive sign that she is developing a taste for reading a particular kind of literature. From class discussions, the teacher knew that Rachel had a pet snake at home and was able to redirect her interest to another book. If other children had indicated disappointment at not finding exactly the right book, Mrs. Scott might have encouraged them to keep looking and may not have been as direct in her suggestions as she was with Rachel. When students have many books available to them at home and use the public library regularly, not finding a favorite author prompts them to look at something new and broadens the scope of their reading selection. In each case, the teacher is looking for growth to encourage and adjusts the selection challenge to fit each child’s level of literacy development. Each day, the teacher plans a mini-lesson (brief presentation and practice of a single reading, writing, listening, or speaking skill) that focuses on a comprehension strategy. Mrs. Scott demonstrates how to use pictures and context clues to figure out unfamiliar words. “Reread the sentence,” she suggests, “or look more carefully at the words around it.” She shows them how to substitute a word that makes sense, sound it out, or skip it and keep going. These strategies encourage students to be problem solvers and stimulate their desire to become increasingly autonomous in their reading.

An Intermediate Classroom: Discovering New Books It is a typical morning outside Mr. Brown’s fourth-grade classroom. Students talk and laugh in the hallway, and bang their lockers shut as they put away coats and backpacks. It is 8:55 a.m. when Madison picks up a tally stick at the attendance center and puts it into the box under the lunch menu choice for soup and salad. Index cards with student names printed on them poke out of paper pockets stapled to the bulletin board above the center. Madison removes her card, turns it around, and puts it back in the pocket. It now shows a drawing she made at the beginning of the month to illustrate a favorite book. At the end of the day, she will turn the card around again, ready for the next day’s attendance. When all of the students have checked in, the teacher can easily and immediately identify those who are absent, because their names face out from the display. Each month, students make new cards to illustrate a favorite book, and the display becomes a place for students to browse the reading interests of their classmates. The cards also provide the teacher with information that will help him select favorite types of books for the classroom library. This month, Madison drew a picture of Frightful, Sam Gribley’s falcon in My Side of the Mountain (2001). She read the book twice, once on her

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own and once with Ria, her Book Buddy from third grade. Ria saw the picture of the falcon on Madison’s attendance card one noonhour when the girls were reading together. Ria’s class was studying birds, and while they were reading the book, she chose the falcon for her research study. When she told Madison about Owls in the Family (Mowat, 1996), which was being read aloud in her class, Madison found the book in the classroom library and read it at home. Later this month, she plans to read to Ria from The Capture, the first book in the Guardians of Ga’Hoole series (Lasky, 2003), a fantasy about a community of owls. Madison is working on her card for November and has decided to draw a picture of the locket given to Annemarie for safekeeping by her friend Ellen in Number the Stars (Lowry, 1989). She hurries to her desk and pulls out the book, eager to see if Annemarie will make it past the Nazi guards with the basket for her uncle. She has already told Ria about the book and promises to loan it to her when she has finished. Nick decides on pizza for lunch and drops his tally stick in the labeled box. As he flips his attendance card over to show the drawing of a catapult, he thinks about other drawings he has made from David Macaulay’s Castle (1982). “That has to be the best book ever written,” he thinks, and wonders if the book orders have arrived with his copy of Macaulay’s Pyramid (1983). Only a minute remains before independent reading time, so Nick picks up a copy of National Geographic (February, 2004). Two polar bears wrestling on the front cover, over the title: “Great Whites of the North,” initially draws his attention, but he sees another article listed that he hopes he has time to explore: “World’s Fastest Monkeys.” Skye spends the entire 5 minutes searching for just the right book. He wants something about cars, preferably a book with lots of illustrations. He asks Mr. Brown if there are any books about cars on the library table. “Keep looking, Skye,” Mr. Brown replies. “I think you’ll find something you like.” Skye looks more closely and finds Monster Trucks and Other Giant Machines on Wheels (Bushey, 1985). He opens the book to a picture of a tree crusher. This is just what he has been looking for. After he studies the pictures for a few minutes, he will read about how the giant machines work. All over the room, students take out books from their desks, find a book on the table or pick up one of several science, history, or literary magazines available in the library center, and settle down to read. Mr. Brown pulls out a copy of Louis Braille (Keeler, 1988) from his desk. Charles told him about the book in his last reading conference and made it sound so interesting that the teacher decided to try it. At the end of the first chapter, Mr. Brown thinks it might be a good biography to read aloud to the entire class. When he finishes reading the book, he will read a little of the first chapter to his two sons, to test its read-aloud qualities. No wonder Charles liked this book, he thinks to himself. Louis Braille was a problem solver and, just like Charles, was always thinking of ways to improve things. He makes a note to tell Charles about The Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk (Sobol, 1987), another biography about problem solvers.

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Behind the Scenes Independent reading is part of the classroom management system for this teacher. Students take responsibility for accomplishing routine tasks quickly and move immediately into an academic task. Because attendance and lunch count are accomplished by the students, this frees the teacher to be a resource during the book selection process. The teacher of this class and the third-grade teacher sponsor a volunteer reading club called “Book Buddies” at noon each day. The club meets alternately in the two classrooms, where interested students pair up to read books together. Madison and Ria have developed a cross-grade friendship based on mutual reading interests, and have helped expand each other’s involvement in a wide variety of books. Mr. Brown is alert to the books his students are reading and often chooses read-aloud books from their recommendations. From what he learns about his students, both in their book selections and in individual conferences, the teacher is better able to reinforce and broaden their reading habits and make available many different kinds of books on topics of their interest. Skye is dyslexic, which means that he is often able to begin reading sentences without difficulty but then sees the words as a scramble on the page. The entire process of decoding the material becomes a slow and tedious puzzle to solve. Mr. Brown helps Skye with this problem by providing him with reading materials that feature many illustrations, graphs, diagrams, and photographs. This allows his student to learn in ways that accommodate his learning strengths and compensate for his difficulties. On the other hand, Charles reads easily and well but tends to focus only on nonfiction, particularly books with science themes. The teacher uses this intense curiosity to draw the student’s attention to books in other genres, particularly biographies, which will increase and broaden his interests. The parent–teacher organization in his school provides Mr. Brown with a classroom subscription to a magazine of his choice, and he has selected National Geographic. It is the most widely read periodical in his classroom, and students often call his attention to articles in past issues that refer to topics they are currently studying in science and social studies. The school provides a book club magazine about current events, and he brings Cricket (2004), a children’s literary magazine, from home. It is important to this teacher that students have the opportunity to explore topics of interest in high-quality periodical literature.

The Importance of Independent Reading Practice Students learn to read by reading, and the more times they practice, the better readers they become. Frequent, enjoyable experiences with reading develop pleasant associations that move students toward the disposition to be lifelong readers. Regular daily reading helps establish good reading habits and encourages children to consider reading as a leisure activity. Setting aside a period of time each day for independent reading gives status to this practice and communicates its importance to students. It also

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provides an opportunity for all children to explore reading materials that might not be present in their own homes or that augment materials provided by their families. A regular schedule for independent reading offers children sufficient time to become involved with a book. Traditionally, this kind of reading was limited to students who finished assignments quickly, to give them something to do until others completed their work. It was often the case that students who already read well were rewarded with additional time to improve their reading ability, while those who needed the practice were penalized by their slower work pace. The benefits of independent reading are not limited to students. This scheduled period also provides teachers with time to explore children’s literature or articles of interest in professional journals and magazines. Educators who have conducted successful independent reading programs agree that teachers must read while their students are reading. Your participation is the key to successful participation by your students. In almost every instance where independent reading time does not work well with a class, it can be traced to the teacher’s lack of interest in modeling the practice or the lack of sufficient or suitable reading materials available for students.

Preparation: Independent Reading in the Classroom Independent reading time in the classroom is referred to by a number of acronyms, including: SSR Silent Sustained Reading RFF Read for Fun DEAR Drop Everything and Read USSR Uninterrupted Silent Sustained Reading DIRT Daily Independent Reading Time SQUIRT Sustained Quiet Uninterrupted Reading Time RABBIT Read a Book Because It’s There Under whatever name the program in your school is known, the following are standard guidelines that will help you set up a successful independent reading program: • Introduce the idea of independent reading to students in a manner that will effectively communicate its purpose and possibilities. • Create a comfortable setting and relaxed atmosphere for independent reading. • Select a wide range of reading material for many levels of reading interests and abilities. • Teach independent reading strategies. • Model self-selection techniques.

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Introduce the Idea of Independent Reading Tell your students at the beginning of the year that a special time will be set aside each day for them to read and enjoy books of their own choosing. Describe what you want to happen during this time: • Everyone in the room, including the teacher, will select something to read for 15–20 minutes. (Times will vary with age, experience, and maturity of the class.) • Everyone, including the teacher, will be free from interruption during this time. • Everyone will stay with a book long enough to find out what it is like. • No assignments will be attached to this reading. • Talking, play, homework, writing, or drawing are saved for other times. In light of these goals for independent reading, some teachers ask their classes to suggest guidelines to help accomplish them. Almost without exception, students come up with excellent ideas. You can, of course, simply tell the students what the guidelines will be, which may be more comfortable for you. But when the rules are established by students, they own the program and take increased responsibility for its success. They often generate ideas about their particular situation that you might not have considered. Student-generated guidelines usually include a variation of the following. If they fail to cover what is needed, ask them what kind of rule would help accomplish a particular goal. • • • • • • • • •

Choose something you want to read. Think about what you might read ahead of time. Read when the timer starts and finish when the timer rings again. This time is for reading ONLY. Read at least the first chapter (or half of a picture book) of any book you start. Save talking until after independent reading. Decide where you want to read and stay there. Keep a dictionary with you, if you think you will need it. Keep the room noise-free.

Sometimes students make their suggestions in negative terms—no talking, no interrupting, no taking books back, no doing homework, no walking around the room. If this happens, accept all contributions the first time through. Then, ask if anyone can state the guideline in a way that tells them what to do rather than what not to do. Help them merge guidelines that are duplicated by asking, “Are there ideas here that say the same thing?” When everyone is satisfied with the guidelines, read them over together and make a poster to display for the first few weeks. If students talk, walk around the room, or fail to get involved in reading, gesture in the direction of the poster as a reminder and then return to your own reading. For pre-readers,

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make a poster using drawings or cut-out pictures to illustrate the guidelines. In the beginning, it helps to review the rules before each independent reading session.

Create a Comfortable Reading Environment In the simplest form of independent reading, students and teachers take out a selected book from their desks and read it for a set period of time. Some teachers allow students to sit or lie on the floor while they read, and children may group themselves together as long as there is no talking. Others provide beanbag chairs, large boxes, and other exotic places to read, including treehouse scaffolding, large stuffed animals, bathtubs, and sofas. While these are interesting variations, nothing more is necessary than good books to read and a relaxed atmosphere in which to enjoy them.

Select a Wide Range of Reading Materials When you begin to assemble a collection of books for independent reading, it is helpful to make a connection with books you are reading aloud to your class. Stock extra copies of books you have already read, ones by the same author, and others in the same genre or about the same topic. Include books that relate to topics of study for the year, choosing from all the genres of fine children’s literature—poetry, historical fiction, legends, myths, fantasy, biography, and factual reference books about science, math, social studies, and the arts. Children will develop their reading tastes from the material made available to them, so it is important to choose the very best. Your school librarian or media specialist will have recommendations and informational literature to help your selection, including The Hornbook Magazine (2004) and the American Library Association’s Book Links (2004). Both of these publications are described in Appendix B. Other resources include Best Books for Children (Gillespie, 2001) and Adventuring with Books: A Booklist for Pre-K–Grade 6 (McClure & Kristo, 2002), both of which contain subject matter indexes and precise annotations to help you choose just the right books for your class. These are further reviewed in the For Your Personal Library section of Chapter 5. Include a selection of good magazines, particularly those that relate directly to the curriculum. At the beginning of the school year, some teachers stock other forms of reading material to “jump-start” interest among students who have turned off reading. These include joke and riddle books, restaurant menus, travel agency brochures, atlases, driving manuals, magazines about mechanics, cars, fashion, and books of interesting facts. As students indicate their interest in various topics, teachers are in a more informed position to make available books of high literary quality that complement or extend these interests. Most school libraries provide classroom collections of books (3–5 books per student) for a 3-week period of time. As the school year progresses, bonus books selected from school book club orders help establish a more

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permanent collection. In the meantime, you can increase the number and kinds of books made available to your students by checking out an assortment from the public library. Public libraries frequently have book sales, and a large number of children’s books can be purchased for very little investment. Be sure to pick books that still have attractive covers and with no signs of deterioration. Avoid any books with browned page edges, as these indicate serious problems that can spread to other books in your collection.

Teach Independent Reading Strategies Mini-lessons are a good way to introduce independent reading strategies to your students (see Chapter 6), although many teachers like to involve their students in generating ideas for dealing with unfamiliar words. Depending on the age of your students and their past experience with using reading strategies, the list will usually include most or all of the following: • • • • •

Skip the word and keep reading. Reread the sentence or paragraph for clues. Use the pictures to figure out what is happening. Substitute a word that makes sense in the sentence. Sound it out.

When students are asked what to do if they do not understand ideas presented in a book they are reading independently, they typically suggest: • • • •

Use the pictures (K–primary). Read it again. Go back to the part you understand and read forward. Skip the confusing part; sometimes it is explained later.

These strategies can be transferred to a chart or poster for easy reference, using drawings or cut-out pictures to illustrate the strategies for kindergarten children. Older children often copy the ideas onto bookmarks, which are individually decorated and laminated. Some teachers provide a few minutes after independent reading time to answer questions students have or allow them to consult each other. Still others provide a few minutes for students to present their questions to the entire class, which permits a sharing of ideas that can be helpful to all.

Model Self-Selection Techniques After you have assembled the books for your classroom, your students will make their choices from this collection. Beyond being interested in a book, how will they know if it is written at a level they can read and enjoy independently? Of course, if students are not reading text yet, they can choose almost anything they like and look at the pictures. As they are able to read words, they should be encouraged to try anything that draws their interest. Sometimes students will ask, “Is this too hard for me?” Perhaps the best answer is: “Try it and see.”

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At the same time, it is important to help students find material that will help them have a successful reading experience. There are several techniques that students can use to identify material that they can enjoy at their reading level. Books in this range will present a level of difficulty that provides practice for emerging skills without creating reading frustration. The Three Bears Method This technique is easily introduced to young children by reviewing the story of The Three Bears. Using Goldilocks’ “threetry” method for tasting porridge, finding a comfortable chair, or the perfect bed, students can find a book that is not too easy or too difficult—but just right. Students open the book they have selected to the middle. Picture book readers read both sides of the open book, and chapter book readers read the right-hand page. As students explore a possible book to read by themselves, they unfold a finger from their fist when they find an unfamiliar word. If they complete reading the two middle pages with no more than one finger unfolded, this is a book they will be able to read easily. Two fingers unfolded will tell the reader that there is a little challenge to the book, but they can probably figure out the words from context clues (words or information around the unfamiliar word). If three or more fingers unfold, this is probably a book to save for later, take home for a read aloud, or browse through to enjoy the pictures. Rule of Thumb An adaptation of the Three Bears method is suitable for older primary and intermediate level students. Students rest their open hand lightly above the desk and, beginning with the little finger, place their fingers down on the surface as they encounter unfamiliar words. One or no fingers down will generally guarantee a good independent reading experience. Two or three fingers down may require the use of a dictionary. If they reach their thumb, this indicates a book that might be better enjoyed if it is saved for later, used for guided reading, or taken home and read together with someone else. These techniques are also helpful when students choose books to prepare for individual conferences with the teacher. In this situation, students actively seek a difficulty level that helps them grow and develop as readers. Three fingers down, using either the Three Bears method or the Rule of Thumb, indicates a book that is approximately the right level of challenge.

Use Various Ways to Preview Good Books Students select books for independent reading that have drawn their attention in some way. It may be an attractive cover, a recommendation from a friend, the subject matter of the book, a favorite author, or a book that was read aloud to the class. There are additional ways to interest students in exploring new and different kinds of books. Best Bets Review When students enjoy particular books, they write a sentence or two on an index card telling what they especially liked. This card is initially posted on a bulletin board for review by class members and later filed in an index card box, for further reference by readers. This is a voluntary activity, but most students participate, and almost all will use the index file to get new ideas about good books to read.

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This activity allows students to share their favorite books and draws others to try books they might not otherwise consider. For example, The House of Sixty Fathers (DeJong, 1987) is an intriguing story about the courage of a young Chinese boy who is separated from his parents during wartime and cared for by 60 American soldiers. Looking at the cover and glancing through the first few pages might not grab a student’s interest, but seeing the book recommended by someone else will often stimulate interest. Students who read and enjoy books recommended by another child will inquire about other books that child has read. Bonds of friendship, based on common experiences with books, are often established between students with similar reading preferences. Children who read great numbers of books more frequently explore various kinds of literature, and through the review process, they draw others into similar exploration. Book Talks It takes only 5 minutes a day to give quick book talks that will generate interest in the kinds of literature available in the classroom. Kindergarten and primary teachers generally review six to ten picture books a day, to provide their students with many informed choices for independent reading time. They show a few illustrations, briefly describe the books, and then return them to the library center for children to select later in the day. At the kindergarten level, you might choose Eric Rohmann’s Caldecott Award book, My Friend Rabbit (2002). Show your students the front cover, and ask them what they think is about to happen in the picture. Find the page in the middle of the book where the animals are standing precariously on each other’s shoulders, and ask the children if they can guess why they are stacked up this way. The pictures are bright, colorful, and bold; there is very little text; and even the most hesitant of readers will be interested. Do you think you could send a person through the mail? This is a question you might ask primary students as you introduce them to Michael Tunnell’s Mailing May (1997). Tell them this is the true story of May Pierstorff, who was mailed from Grangeville to Lewiston, Idaho to visit her grandparents in 1913. At the intermediate level, you might introduce the book Midnight for Charlie Bone (Nimmo, 2003a) by saying: “Harry Potter discovered that he had special powers, and was sent to Hogwarts to learn to be a wizard. In this book, Charlie Bone discovers that he, too, has a special gift. He can hear the thoughts of people in paintings and photographs! Like Harry, his home life is dismal, but the special school he must now attend is full of danger.” The book will leave your hands as soon as you offer it to the class. Or, you might hold up a copy of Among the Hidden (Haddix, 1998), the first book in the Shadow Children sequence and high on the list for reluctant readers. Ask if anyone has at least two brothers or sisters. When hands go up, tell them that if they had lived in Luke Garner’s house, the youngest member of their family would have been hidden all their lives from the Population Police, because the government forbade families to have more than two children. What would it be like never to have had a friend or gone to school—to hide all day and live in constant fear of being discovered? Read the first page of the book aloud, and hands will go up to be the first to read it. Few students can resist the charms of Ida B . . . and Her Plans to Maximize Fun, Avoid Disaster, and (Possibly) Save the World (Hannigan, 2004). Ida B. is a young girl forced to attend public school after four years of homeschooling.

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Her mother’s illness and the sale of part of her beloved farm depresses Ida and separates her from anyone who tries to help her. Despite the serious issues addressed in the book, this is a delightful and humorous first-person narrative that will charm students. It also provides teachers with some of the most imaginative examples of metaphors in contemporary children’s literature. Book talks are an excellent occasion to interest students in the wide variety of children’s literature. They provide opportunities to introduce literature that will help them better understand and appreciate their own and other cultures. Open a book to a particularly exciting scene and read aloud to your students from such books as Robert Westall’s Blitzcat (1989), which describes Britain’s heroic defense of its country during World War II. They will be drawn into the story as they discover that it is seen through the eyes of a cat, a flight squadron mascot who becomes separated from his flyers and travels the length of the country to find them. In a similar way, reading a brief excerpt from Clinton Cox’s Undying Glory (1991) will engage students in this exciting, well-written, and expertly documented account of the participation of African American soldiers in the Civil War.

Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover Although we all know the truth of the admonition not to judge a book by its cover, too often we are drawn by attractive and colorful illustrations, and children are no different in their selection habits. We have all chosen books with promising covers only to be disappointed by the contents of the book. On the other hand, we have sometimes taken a risk with an unpromising cover and discovered a treasure inside. In addition to calling attention to these books by reviewing them with your class, you can also invest a little time to transform the ugly ducklings into swans. • Create interesting and attractive new covers for the books. Ask students to illustrate a favorite “ugly duckling,” laminate the drawing, and tape it to the front cover. • Tape pictures of the advertisement for the book from publishers’ catalogs (available from your media specialist or the public librarian). • Ask students to decorate bookmarks and write a sentence review of the book. A simple and effective one was found in a weathered copy of Rascal (North, 1990): “This is the best and funniest animal book I ever read—Joey.”

Presentation: Manage Independent Reading Time Books have been previewed, a varied and interesting collection is waiting for students in the library corner, and the time has come for children to begin reading on their own. To begin a session, announce that it is time to read and briefly review the guidelines (not necessary after a few sessions). Students quickly begin to anticipate reading time and get their books out at the slightest of cues. Some teachers ring a small bell; others move to a

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particular spot in the room or have a student hang out a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the classroom door. It is important to be able to see your students during their independent reading and that they are able to see you. Initially, look up frequently to monitor the level of involvement. This gives you information on the types of books to make available and the length of time scheduled for the activity. If you schedule independent reading for a particular time of day, many students will automatically pull out their book or begin looking for one as that time approaches. Others may need a little help. Put a time limit on the book search process by setting a timer for 5 minutes, and offer appropriate help to those who need assistance. When the timer rings, set it again, for 5 to 20 minutes, depending on your students and the time available. If your school has adopted an all-school independent reading program, you may be asked to follow general school policy with regard to the time of day and length of time scheduled for this activity. If students are not accustomed to independent reading, they may need reassurance that they can really choose something they want to read. Children who are pressured to excel or who hope to please the teacher may seem anxious, and ask for approval of their selections. Some teachers address this problem by placing a stack of award-winning books on their desk and tell these students that any book they choose from the pile will be a worthwhile choice. It sometimes takes several weeks before they are assured that fulfilling the assignment means that they can follow their individual interests, and not worry if there is something they should be reading.

Evaluating Your Independent Reading Program The goals of independent reading time are: (1) to help students develop their ability to select books which they can read with ease and enjoyment, (2) to extend the time they are able to read without being distracted, and (3) to provide practice for emerging skills in reading. To evaluate the extent to which these goals are being achieved, look for the following: • Students gradually increase the time they read without being distracted. • They choose reading as an activity during free or unstructured time. • They take books home at night and on weekends. • Parents report their children’s increased interest in books. • Students ask for books by particular authors or in certain areas of interest. • Students express regret when the scheduled independent reading time ends. • They talk about what they are reading with you or other students. Evaluate your own responses to independent reading by observing the following in yourself: • You look forward to this scheduled time. • You follow your own advice and read something you really want to read.

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• You discover books that you want to share with students or other teachers. • You have found new ideas or information for your teaching.

Build Partnerships Many teachers encourage children to take books home for independent reading. At the kindergarten and early primary levels, it is helpful to send the books home in plastic ziplock bags labeled with the classroom number. Sealed plastic sacks offer protection from en route damage and provide identification if the book is lost. (Safety officials discourage the printing of children’s names on schoolbags or any item of exterior clothing, such as coats, jackets, and sweaters). Some teachers send home their weekly schedule of independent reading times so that parents or grandparents can join the class occasionally for these sessions. Frequently, these visitors stay in the classroom to talk about their favorite books or to help with other activities. Principals, special teachers, librarians, cafeteria workers, school secretaries, maintenance staff, and community members can also be asked to join a class for independent reading, to provide additional models of adults enjoying books.

If This Is Your Situation In many schools, programs of independent reading have been replaced by the Accelerated Reader program. Valued by teachers and administrators because it provides a record of comprehension and vocabulary knowledge, Accelerated Reading is more accurately classified as a program for guided reading, an instructional method that will be discussed in Chapter 5. Although this successful program helps students find their optimal reading level, encourages reading autonomy, and provides a selection of books from a wide range of good literature, independent reading is distinct from this commercial program in several respects: • Independent reading does not involve testing over the material read. • It does not require computers, software, or record keeping. • The range of materials that can be explored is determined by the student. • The main purpose of independent reading is to help students develop skills that will help them become autonomous readers and encourage them to select reading as a leisure activity. • Accelerated Reading is a structured program, designed to closely monitor a student’s progress in reading skills development. Although it might be tempting to add on instructional activities to this time of independent reading, it is critical that students associate this activity with reading for pleasure and not as preparation for a test. Louise Rosenblatt

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(1991) believes that some portion of the day should be set aside to experience literature: We may not always be able to look over his shoulder while a student is having a real literary experience, but we can do at least two things. First, we can be very careful to scrutinize all our procedures to be sure that we are not in actuality substituting other aims—things to do about literature—for the experience of literature. We can ask of every assignment or method or text, no matter what its short term effectiveness: Does it get in the way of the live sense of literature? (p. 287)

Reflections (Jackie Hogue, Fifth-Grade Teacher) On the first day of school, we talk about how we learn and discuss strategies for good readers, such as: skipping words they do not know, as long as they understand what they are reading; reading for meaning; and rereading sentences that do not make sense. I encourage students to look for books written by favorite authors and to discuss their books with friends after the session. I tell them that they can read anything they want during silent reading and can share what they have read with a partner in a Buddy Journal. This is a great way to get kids writing about the things they are interested in. This is the first year Aaron has taken part in the regular classroom program; he was just released from the special reading class. Although Aaron has wonderful basic reading skills and a high level of concentration, his mother and I were concerned about him keeping up with the rest of the class, because he reads very slowly. I had a conversation with his mother and told her how much I appreciate the fact that she always makes sure Aaron has quiet time to study and read, and checks his assignments to make sure they are completed. She told me that Aaron had been reading lately just for the pleasure of reading. She walked into his room several times and “caught” him reading! He told his mother that she could get rid of the baby books, because now he could read chapter books. He has even asked if he could go to the library to check out books I have read aloud to the class. Now, instead of asking to watch TV, he reads!

A Perspective on Independent Reading (John Dewey, Philosopher of Education) In his book Interest and Effort in Education (1975), John Dewey observed that outside of school, children expend great efforts to learn something in which they have a compelling interest. Dewey, a distinguished educational philosopher of the twentieth century, also noted that many teachers attempt to motivate children in two equally unsuccessful ways. They either tried to

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create interest in learning tasks so that children would participate in activities that require effort; or required effort for learning, so that students would develop the discipline necessary to master more difficult tasks. Both of these approaches assume that children’s natural interests and efforts are foreign to school-related learning. Dewey believed that children are naturally curious and expend great effort to find out things they want to know. They spend hours developing skills that interest them and seek out information about projects and hobbies. When children are trying to develop a sports skill, they practice day after day. They drop the ball, fall off the skateboard, and repeatedly miss the hockey, soccer, or basketball nets. In spite of setbacks, they persevere until they develop the level of skill they are seeking. Computer games hold a similar interest for some children, who occasionally forget to eat when they are exploring cyber worlds or amassing points to move to the next level of play. Research skills are clearly evident when children try to find a particular brand of shoes or clothing. They check the yellow pages, consult their friends, call stores, and surf the Internet to locate the desired item. Natural interest fuels the effort necessary to accomplish a task. Dewey believed that the school could harness this great natural enthusiasm for learning by providing opportunities for students to develop learning skills, as they explore real interests. He spoke of this as giving direction to tendencies already present. In classrooms where children have opportunities to explore well-written books which address their curiosity about the world, hear them read aloud, and read independently from a wide range of attractive reading materials, they usually display both interest and effort in their reading habits. They discover that books are a resource for learning skills, traveling through time and space, and climbing into the mind of an author or his characters to see the world in a new and different way. When a particular author draws student interest, they will seek out other books written by the same person. Perhaps the topic was stimulating—they will look for other books on the same subject. Maybe they liked the style of writing or the particular genre and will look for more books of poetry, fantasy, myths, or historical fiction. In any case, interest and effort arise from natural tendencies, which can be directed into broader and more intense directions by observant teachers.

What Research Says About Independent Reading Educators who have reviewed relevant research studies in reading education (Anderson et al., National Commission on Reading, 1985) strongly recommend daily independent reading time—at least 2 hours per week— and encourage teachers to plan activities that help create student interest in books. Providing a time each day for students to read self-selected material encourages students to practice their reading skills and develop increasingly positive attitudes toward reading. From this experience, children begin to see reading as an enjoyable activity and one that can help them discover new and interesting ideas.

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In his landmark study, Stability and Change in Human Characteristics (1964), Benjamin Bloom stresses the importance of developing good reading habits early in life, because the window of opportunity for developing these habits closes around the age of 12. According to Bloom, children not only need to develop the ability to read, but also the desire to read that will help them become lifelong readers and learners. One way that teachers can help students develop this desire is to provide daily opportunities for them to explore books of their own choosing, for the express purpose of enjoyment. Independent reading appears to benefit students of all abilities and achievement levels, helping them to expand their vocabularies and increase comprehension skills. In a notable study (Fader, Duggins, Finn, & McNeil, 1976), boys from the W. J. Maxey Boys’ Training School in Michigan who had experienced reading failure were provided books and time to read them. They self-selected the books, and there were no book reports or tests over the material. By the end of the school year, these boys showed significant gains in verbal proficiency, reading comprehension, literacy attitudes, and self-esteem. Their scores were double those of the control group, another Midwestern training school for boys that did not provide this experience with books. In a review of research studies on literature-based reading instruction, Tunnell and Jacobs (1989) found that in each of the successful programs examined, there was a specific time set aside for children at all grade levels to self-select books and interact with them independently. Other researchers found that the amount of leisure reading and reading achievement are correlated (Conner, 1954; Greaney, 1980) and that self-initiated reading produces more progress in reading because it helps make reading skills automatic (Fielding, Wilson, & Anderson, 1991). They also concluded that the best predictor of comprehension test performance, size of vocabulary, and gains in reading achievement between the second and fifth grades was the average number of minutes students spent reading books per day. Researchers also found that student interest in the material read was critical. In a study of fifth-grade readers, Asher (1980) and Mathewson (1985) found that the interest level of reading material directly influenced students’ comprehension levels. A book about racing might seem to rank above a child’s reading level, because of the frequent use of technical terms related to engines. But if a child had experience related to the book’s topic and a high interest in cars, words like transmission, generator, and accelerator would be easily recognized from context and picture clues. This would add directly to a student’s ability to read and understand material at a level not predicted by general reading comprehension analyses. Fielding et al. (1991) found that children who have opportunities for independent reading at school do more reading at home than children from classrooms that do not promote independent reading. They also found that teachers play a critical role by providing reading materials that appeal to a wide range of interests and reading levels. By their own participation, they model reading as an activity important to adults. Their behavior during independent reading times is important, because researchers have observed that students use the teacher as a role model to shape their own responses.

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For Your Personal Library Many teachers keep copies of professional magazines on their desks, as independent reading time provides them with an occasion to explore new ideas in teaching. Others create a stack of books they want to review, as possible candidates for reading aloud, resources for content area study, or books to recommend to students with particular interests. See Appendix B for additional suggestions for book selection resources. If you teach departmentalized reading or language arts, consider becoming a member of the International Reading Association (IRA) or the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Both organizations provide a rich store of information for teaching and keep you informed about the latest research in the field. Check with your school librarian to preview a copy of the IRA publication, The Reading Teacher, and the NCTE elementary journal, Language Arts. Another helpful publication is Book Links, published by the American Library Association, which provides a bibliography of books related to the content areas and a wealth of ideas for using literature in the classroom. The development of themes in each issue makes these journals collector’s items for teachers who want to use the best available books in their subject matter teaching. (See Appendix B for more information.)

Try Out the Chapter Ideas • Using one of the professional books listed above, research a topic studied in science, social studies, or math. Notice the different kinds of books available on the subject. • Using three different resources for recommendations (e.g., teacher, friend, child, reference book, librarian), select three books you think would appeal to a kindergarten child who is looking for a good book to read during independent reading. Read all three and decide why these books were recommended. • Use a different combination of three resources to select three books that would appeal to primary (Grades 1–3) age children. Scan all three books, read the first chapter of each, and decide if you would want to continue reading them. • Refer to three resources to identify three books for intermediate level children (Grades 4–6). Read the first chapter of all three books, and decide which one you would like to continue reading. • Interview a school librarian or the children’s librarian at the public library. Ask them about the resources they use when they select new books for the library and where they get their materials for display.

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CHAPTER FOUR

Creating a Literature Base

In This Chapter • • • • • • •

Textbooks and trade books Literature-based learning School book clubs Kinds of children’s literature The value of each type of literature The series debate Qualities of good children’s literature

The Main Idea Good children’s literature provides excellent resources to introduce, enrich, and expand understanding of concepts in the curriculum at every grade level. Well-written fiction and nonfiction books, either read aloud or available to students for independent reading, add richness to the way students see the world and the manner in which they speak and write. To provide students with the best possible associations with literature, it is important to select a wide variety of books from the best examples of all the genres.

In the Classroom Pre-Teaching Preparation: The Textbook as Future Reference With sock puppets still on their hands, students in Dr. Mayfield’s children’s literature class applaud a visiting kindergarten teacher’s presentation on using puppets for storytelling. “Any questions for Susan?” the instructor asks. “What do you do if someone doesn’t bring in a sock?” someone inquires, and laughter sprinkles around the room. “The same thing you did today,” she replies. 77

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Everyone was supposed to bring a sock to class, to participate in the presentation, but a few students had forgotten. A mother of three children brought in a sack full of unmatched socks, and Dr. Mayfield had an extra package on hand in the supply cabinet. “About a week before we do the project, my children draw a large sock on a piece of paper, color on a face, and staple it to a note that tells about the puppets,” the teacher replies. “I ask only for old or unmatched socks, so parents don’t feel they have to go out and buy something. Just like today, someone always brings in more than one pair, and I also keep a sack of spares on hand, just in case,” she adds. “That was after I discovered a student going barefooted in his shoes, because he’d taken off his socks to do the project!” There are several other questions about the presentation, and then Dr. Mayfield asks: “Any general advice to beginners, from an ‘old-timer’?” “I knew this was coming,” the visitor says. She turns to the blackboard and writes the words “Keep your textbook!” The class laughs. Selling textbooks from a previous term is the only way some of them can afford to buy the required texts for the next semester. “I know, I know,” the visitor says, “and this one is really hard on the pocketbook.” “Dr. Mayfield already gave us that lecture,” one of the students says, grinning at the instructor. “We need to keep our professional books, just like doctors and lawyers.” “Let me put it this way,” Susan says. “I got the same lecture, too, and pretty much ignored it.” “Then why . . . ?” “Anybody here taking methods courses yet?” she asks. A few people raise their hands. “I suppose you’ve all started your end of semester projects?” The question is met with nervous laughter. “When I took methods of teaching elementary science, I had to make an annotated reading list of fiction and nonfiction trade books that could be used to introduce a unit on reptiles for a primary grade,” she says. “I also had to recommend read-aloud books for the theme, and books to have for reference at all different reading levels. Then . . . ” she pauses for effect “ . . . I had to come up with six activities for an intermediate unit on World War II for my methods course in social studies. I also had to find some poems to read to my field experience class for poetry week, and the teacher wanted something that would demonstrate alliteration. And guess where my roommate found all of that information?” she asked the class. “In the textbook,” a girl in the front row answers. “Right,” Susan says. “Luckily, she let me borrow her copy, and at the end of the semester, I bought a used one, which still sits on my desk at home. It’s been nearly 10 years, and the classic books are still current, especially the Newbery and Caldecott winners. I also look up selections offered by the book clubs, because they reissue so many of the older books.” “What else would you recommend, besides the text?” someone asks. Without hesitation, Susan names Jim Trelease’s Read-Aloud Handbook, 5th Edition (2001), Esme Codell’s How to Get Your Child to Love Reading: For

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Ravenous and Reluctant Readers Alike (2003), and Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever by Mem Fox (2001). “These aren’t as comprehensive as the textbook,” she says, “but they all have good ideas, and list really great books for reading aloud, for independent reading and tie-ins for math, science, and social studies. They’re also not as expensive,” she adds. “I bought one and got the other two as Christmas presents. Ask Santa Claus for these things!” she laughs. “I know you’ve just about completed your master’s degree,” the instructor says. “Have you discovered any helpful books you might want to recommend? Something you wish you would have had when you started teaching?” Susan thinks for a moment. “Yes,” she says. “It’s a little book called Best Practice.” The instructor nods. “We have it in the library, and I have a copy if anyone would like to borrow it.” “It’s full of suggestions for ways to teach in all the curriculum areas,” Susan says, “no matter what grade level you teach. It’s based on the standards from all the different associations, including the National Council of Teachers of English and the International Reading Association, so you know it’s professionally approved. My favorite parts are the one-page summaries of activities to increase in your teaching, like reading aloud, making time for independent reading, and shared reading experiences.” The course instructor makes a note to borrow some additional copies of the book from interlibrary loan, so students can browse through the contents in small groups.

Behind the Scenes Practicing professionals in the field are in a good position to offer advice about children’s favorite books and those they find helpful as resources for lesson planning. It is sometimes difficult for you to gauge the usefulness of a particular undergraduate textbook, because you may not have time to explore all the resources it has to offer during the semester. It may also not be readily apparent that this information will be a helpful reference, often as soon as the following term or in your career as a classroom teacher. You will have to decide if your particular textbook for children’s literature is worth keeping. The best of these contain annotations (brief summaries) of many kinds of books in all the genres, sample illustrations from picture books, and ideas for using these books throughout the curriculum. The textbook should be well organized for easy reference and have comprehensive indexes for titles, authors, and subject matter. The three books about reading aloud that were mentioned by the experienced teacher are popular because they are engagingly written and helpfully designed for quick reference. The authors are trusted in the educational community and the recommendations they make are based on responses from hundreds of readers and listeners of all ages and backgrounds. Best Practices, 2nd Edition: New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America’s Schools (Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde, 1998) is a helpful reference for teachers who want to know how to translate educational research and the standards of professional organizations into everyday classroom practice. As a beginning teacher, you might want to browse through this book to

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see what it offers and plan to eventually purchase a copy for your own professional library. It is a good idea to spend at least a half hour per week browsing through children’s books—in the library at your field experience school, the university library, or your local public library. This will help you develop familiarity with the kinds of books available for children and the general organization of a children’s library. Ask librarians about the kinds of resources available for selecting good books and how they decide what to purchase. Library browsing will also give you some good ideas for creating your own classroom library. Take a notepad with you to jot down titles of interesting books and to record ideas about posters, book displays, and room arrangements. Ask the librarians about their sources for display materials. Publishers often provide these items free of charge to schools and libraries. Lists of free materials, including bookmarks, posters, and lesson ideas, are also included in the quarterly publications of the Children’s Book Council, which should be on file in the school or public library. On at least one visit, examine the periodical collection for children and notice the types of literature, topics of interest, and the themes around which they are organized.

Student Teaching: Gaining Experience With Books “Here’s the list of authors, Eric,” Mrs. Jackson says. “Choose one that you like.” Eric takes the list from his supervising teacher and examines it carefully. “Gary Paulson, Madeleine L’Engle, Lois Lowry, Farley Mowat, and Robert Westfall,” he reads aloud. “The kids would like any of these.” Mrs. Jackson nods. “We’ll eventually study all of them this year,” she says, “so you may have the first choice.” “What about the history and science units coming up?” Eric asks. “We’ll be starting our study of World War II in a few weeks,” she answers, “and a unit on the human body is scheduled to start Friday.” “That gives me an idea about which author to choose,” Eric says. “Let me guess . . . Robert Westfall?” “No, I thought about him, because of all his writing about the war in Britain. But I chose Lois Lowry.” “That’s an interesting choice,” the teacher responds. “What made you choose her?” “Two Newbery books, fantasy, realistic fiction, historical fiction, and autobiography. There’s one book about the war, and we’ll be writing autobiographies in writer’s workshop in a few weeks.” “I’m impressed,” the teacher agrees. “You seem to know a lot about Lois Lowry.” “I got hooked when I read The Giver [Lowry, 1993b] in elementary school,” Eric responds, “and I’ve read everything else she’s written, several times.” “Even the Anastasia Krupnik [Lowry, 1984a] books?” Mrs. Jackson teases. These earlier books by Lowry are coming-of-age books for girls. “Maybe not Anastasia, but I did read All About Sam [Lowry, 1993a], her little genius brother. What a great character!”

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Behind the Scenes Eric is beginning a semester of student teaching in the sixth grade at Lincoln School. Because he has a minor in English literature, his supervising teacher suggests that he draw on his strongest subject matter experience by planning and teaching an author study for guided reading. Eric begins to gather copies of the books he will need, including one to read aloud, and those he will need for literature groups and independent reading. Mrs. Jackson refers him to the school media center, where he finds multiple copies of several titles. Eric also scouts the local public library for additional books and discovers that he can borrow three books per student, for a 3-week period of time. He tucks away this piece of useful information for future use. When his search is completed, Eric has collected four copies each of Lowry’s Newbery Award books: Number the Stars (Lowry, 1989), historical fiction that tells the story of a young girl who becomes part of the Danish resistance movement in World War II, and The Giver (Lowry, 1993b), science fiction/fantasy about a young boy chosen to keep the memories of a Utopian community. Eric also locates four hardback copies of Gathering Blue (Lowry, 2000) the story of a young crippled orphan girl who is spared being killed by the community elders when it is discovered that she has an exceptional talent for weaving threads that can tell the future. Two copies of Messenger (Lowry, 2004) complete the collection, and he plans to offer them to students who have read all of the other books. Messenger draws together the stories and characters of The Giver and Gathering Blue, and introduces the great healing gifts of a young boy who uses his powers to save his friends from an enchanted forest that threatens to destroy them. The school librarian suggests The Silent Boy (Lowry, 2003) as a possible read-aloud book. It differs in subject matter and tone from the other books Eric has collected and describes a young girl’s friendship with a mute farm boy in the early years of the twentieth century. Eric knows that it is also less likely that his sixth-grade students would select this particularly well-written book to read on their own. Eric plans to use Lowry’s Looking Back (Lowry, 1998) to introduce a unit on autobiographical writing, which he hopes will encourage students to explore the meaning of events in their own lives and prompt them to bring in photographs to create a class family bulletin board. The group reading Number the Stars will share what they learn about the Danish underground resistance movement during World War II when the class studies the war in social studies. The school librarian also suggests stocking the classroom library with other classical Lowry favorites that can be explored during independent reading time. Eric selects several of the Anastasia and Sam books and Taking Care of Terrific (1984b), the adventures of a young girl who babysits a small boy for the summer, meets uncommon people on the Boston Commons, and plots with them to take all the bag ladies in the park on a midnight ride in a swan boat. He also finds a copy of Autumn Street (1986), a sensitive look at racism and mental illness, which he plans to recommend to several gifted students who have read and enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee, 1988), a classic novel with similar themes.

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As he created the author study, Eric was alert to the possibilities of using the content in the books to provide information for other areas of the curriculum. The Silent Boy offers many opportunities to explore medical knowledge at the beginning of the twentieth century and changing societal views toward the mentally handicapped. The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger encourage readers to examine the foundations upon which communities are formed, the ethics of human relations, and the problems inherent in utopianism. With this themed literature unit, Eric is learning how to match up readers with books that meet both ability and interest. He will use his supervising teacher’s “rule of thumb” method to help individual students identify books at a reading level that will assist their growth as readers. From the school district curriculum center, Eric obtains a Spanish language translation of The Giver for his two students from El Salvador. They will use the book for reference and practice reading aloud in English to each other. With Eric’s help, they will prepare written responses to their reading, which they will share during discussions with other students who are studying the book.

First-Year Teaching: Using Book Clubs “Maria, after this order goes in, the book clubs are yours,” Ramon says. Maria, a first-year teacher at San Juan Elementary, looks up from the table where she is helping her co-worker sort the book orders for students in the five third grades. She knew this was coming, but it still seemed overwhelming to keep track of three different school book clubs. I don’t think I can keep track of one! she thinks to herself. “It’s good practice,” Ramon says encouragingly. “Maybe you can help us figure out how to streamline the process.” Ramon has taken his year’s turn at handling the book club program for the third-grade wing, and it is time for someone else to assume responsibility. After helping her co-worker through one cycle of book club orders, Maria agrees that the entire process needs to be managed in a different way. That evening, she phones Elena, the school district mentor assigned to her during her first week of teaching. “I can’t do this, with lessons to plan and projects to grade,” she complains. “Didn’t Ramon say you could do some ‘streamlining’?” her friend asks. “Well, yes, but I don’t know how to make the whole process any less work.” “Volunteers,’’ Elena suggests. “Get some help with this so you have time to get copies of the books from the libraries and ‘sell’ them to your class. I can tell you how we set up the program at Douglass, and you could try it out for one order cycle, to see if it works.” A few minutes later, Elena e-mails the details of her book club volunteer program to Maria, and the first-year teacher thinks that the process might be manageable after all.

Behind the Scenes There are aspects of school book club programs that Maria really enjoys and knows will have a positive impact on her students.

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She enjoys previewing the books for the students and creatively promoting the ones that are exceptionally good literature. She reads to her class from the teacher’s leaflet that comes with the book club packet and points out the books that have won awards. Maria also likes to whet her students’ interest in the better books by reading short passages from copies she borrows from the school media center. Curious about the source of the reviews printed in the teacher’s flyer, Maria explores the major listings and discovers that Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, and The Horn Book contain extended and well-written analyses of new and reissued books. Book clubs are a great way for Maria to build a classroom library and expand the number of titles she has available for content area teaching. Ordering from several book clubs allows her to choose books from different reading levels and ones that appeal to a wide range of interests. After Maria’s talk with Elena, she is enthusiastic about trying out some of her suggestions. She now sees her contribution to the book club program as one of teacher rather than clerk. The time-consuming tasks of tallying the orders, handling the payments, and distributing the books are all responsibilities that can be delegated. At her mentor’s school, older students use school service time to help with book clubs. Other schools in the district call on community organizations or PTA volunteers for help. Maria decides to follow her mentor’s example and contacts the sixthgrade service club, whose members volunteer time to assist with school activities. They read aloud to younger students, give school tours to visitors, answer the phone in the office during the secretary’s break, and help to file papers in student portfolios. Several students are enthusiastic about the book club project and agree to come once a month after school to tally forms and place the order online. Maria gives the students a list of the books to order with the bonus points, and they enter these titles on the form with the paid selections. They print a copy of the order for Maria’s files and take another copy to the school secretary, who processes the payment with a district invoice number. When the books arrive, the student volunteers devote another afternoon to sorting out the orders into large, reusable envelopes marked with the students’ names. Curious to know how the students respond to the book orders, the volunteers return the following morning to share the third graders’ excitement about the books purchased for the classroom library.

The Importance of Creating a Literature Base for Instruction In traditional elementary classrooms, textbooks are used for instruction in all the content areas, including language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Textbooks contain a broad range of information presented in a sequential format. Students read assignments in these texts and complete exercises designed to help them review the information or practice a skill.

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In literature-based instruction, teachers provide a wide variety of trade books for their students to explore ideas and information in the content areas. Trade books are children’s literature that you would find in a bookstore. They are not designed specifically for instruction, but they present ideas and information in a competent and appealing way. Some teachers who use a literature base of trade books for instruction may also use subject matter textbooks for specific purposes. Textbooks can be utilized as a reference tool or provide a general outline to structure a particular study. (See how Mrs. Hogue does this in Chapter 1.) In many classrooms, children’s trade books in mathematics, science, and social studies are replacing traditional textbooks in the content areas, because they have the following advantages: • They permit individualized reading, according to interest and ability. • They provide students with a wide range of materials at a variety of reading levels. • Trade books encourage students to read more challenging material to find out what they want to know. • They allow students to explore topics in greater depth and offer creative and comprehensive explanations of concepts. • In the better examples of these books, complex terminology and abstract concepts are clearly explained. • Information in these books is more current. • Attractively illustrated trade books provide visual appeal and draw student interest. • Trade books are more apt to be written and organized in a style that is reader considerate (helpful organization and clear writing style that students can readily understand). • Most trade books can be used flexibly to introduce, expand, or enrich an endless variety of themes. In a literature-based classroom, teachers select from all kinds of books to read aloud and to conduct guided reading. Children’s literature is also used as a resource or springboard for mini-lessons and writing workshops. Teachers provide a wide variety of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry trade books for students’ independent reading and to enrich content area studies. Students are encouraged to draw from all the genres for their individual reading conferences and to attempt each kind of writing on their own.

Preparing a Literature Base Thousands of books are published for children each year, so it is important for teachers to know how to choose the very best of these for their students. The sections that follow include descriptions of the kinds of children’s books, provide guidelines for selecting the best, and suggest ways to build a classroom library.

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Kinds of Children’s Literature and Examples It is important to select books to support student learning from every genre of children’s literature. A literary genre is a specific kind of literature, such as biography, poetry, or historical fiction, and each genre has certain characteristics that distinguish it from the others. Biography, for example, is based on the known facts of a person’s life, whereas historical fiction tells an imaginative story in an authentic historical setting. Like adult literature, children’s literature can be broadly classified as fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. Fiction is literature that is an imaginative, artistic creation of the writer and includes folktales, modern fantasy, historical fiction, and contemporary realistic fiction. Nonfiction, on the other hand, describes real persons, events, or things. Biography and informational writing in the sciences, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts are examples of this kind of writing. Poetry is characterized by the elements of rhyme, rhythm, repetition, and imagery. Classifying children’s literature into genres is helpful for teachers and students alike, because it encourages thinking and discussion about the purposes and significant elements of each type. In the chapters that follow, you will observe how teachers encourage children to read and write in the various genres and to use a wide range of literature to explore topics of interest to them. The following section provides a description of each kind of literature and lists reasons for including each type in the classroom. Traditional Literature A young girl is made to tend the fire by her cruel older sisters, causing her hands and face to become burned and scarred. But because she has a kind heart and is filled with courage, she alone can see the Invisible Being and is chosen to be his wife. The Rough-Face Girl (Martin, 1998) is a myth from the Algonquin Indians and an example of traditional literature. Traditional literature provides experience with time-honored values and ideals: the triumph of right over wrong; the rewards of hard work and perseverance; and vindication of the persecuted, helpless, or humble of society. These stories often utilize fanciful beings, persons with exaggerated powers, talking animals, or noble heroes, all of whom appeal to a child’s imagination and sense of adventure. Many of the stories contain predictable elements that create anticipation and allow listener participation. These stories in Big Book format (oversized picture books used on easels) are excellent for guided reading in kindergarten and early primary grades, because they provide predictable and repetitive elements that can be easily assimilated by beginning readers. In addition to myths, traditional stories also include folktales, fairy tales, fables, legends, and tall tales that have been handed down in an oral tradition from generation to generation in a culture or society. Each of these kinds of stories is described below: Folktales and Fairy Tales relate adventures of animals or humans and contain elements of the supernatural. There is usually a quest or task for the main character, who is either assisted by helpers with special powers or

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opposed by magically endowed adversaries. A common theme for these tales is the reward of good and the punishment of evil. You probably recall many of these stories from your own childhood, such as Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Puss-in-Boots, Rapunzel, and Rumpelstiltskin (The Random House Book of Fairy Tales, Goode & Erlich, 2000, reissue). Folktales from around the world reflect the values of a culture and, like myths, often feature main characters who succeed despite a humble station in society (Favorite Folktales from Around the World, Yolen, 1988a). Fables are stories in which animals behave like humans. Their purpose is to illustrate human foibles or to teach a lesson. The most famous of these are Aesop’s Fables (Aesop, 1990), a collection of stories that demonstrate the consequences of greed, impatience, vanity, or ignorance. In more recent times, artist–storytellers such as Arnold Lobel (1980) have provided a new generation of readers with funny, well-drawn stories on the same themes. Mitsumasa Anno’s versions of the familiar tales are full of puzzles and contain parallel stories told by a fox (Anno, 1989). Myths, a common story form in all cultures of the world, are considered to be true in the societies in which they originate. These sacred accounts involve deities, humans, and animals. Myths are accounts of events that happened in the earliest of times, with themes that deal with the origins of the world, human beings, and natural phenomena such as seasons and the weather. Legends, which may have their origins in a historical event, are frequently considered to be true by the storyteller and audience but are more contemporary than myths. They are set in the recent past rather than long ago and frequently exaggerate notable events, such as those which occur in times of war, plague, and famine. Many, such as the Arthurian legends, feature royalty and brave deeds. Tall Tales are obviously exaggerated accounts of characters who exhibit superhuman strength or endurance. These stories feature larger-than-life persons, such as Paul Bunyan, who could easily cut down an entire forest in a single day; the African American railroad builder, John Henry; and the infamous cowboy, Pecos Bill (American Tall Tales, Osborne, 1991). Modern Fantasy While they are hiding in an old wardrobe at their uncle’s home, four children accidentally enter the magical kingdom of Narnia, where they encounter an evil witch, talking animals, a heroic lion, and all manner of strange creatures. They are called on to fight the great evil that keeps the kingdom in continual winter. Eventually, the children become kings and queens of Narnia. When they return home from their adventures, they are surprised to discover that no time has elapsed, although their adventures lasted for years in the other world. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Lewis, 1994) typifies modern fantasy, with its strange creatures, mythical elements, magic, time warps, and the forces of good and evil in great battle. Modern fantasy shares themes with traditional literature and is created by altering one or more elements of reality. Most recently, the stories of Harry Potter (Rowling, 1997) have captured the imagination of a generation of children worldwide. As in all good modern fantasy, some elements of his experiences are based in reality. He goes to school, has loyal friends, worries about his studies, and tries to cope with difficult relatives. Because readers

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can identify with Harry’s real-life problems, they are willing to suspend disbelief and enter the world of Hogwarts, a place that could not exist in terms of current understanding. In fantasy literature, animals talk (The Amber Spyglass, Pullman, 2000), little people live in the walls (The Borrowers, Norton, 2003), time travel is possible (Charlie Bone and the Time Twister, Nimmo, 2003b), and entire worlds follow different rules of nature (The White Mountains, Christopher, 1988). Stories that feature the deep myths of a culture, such as the Arthurian legends, are featured in books such as The Dark Is Rising series (Cooper, 1976). Fantasy helps develop a sense of imagination in children. It appeals to ideals of justice and confronts readers with issues of good and evil. Modern fantasy provides an escape from the burdens of reality and helps children identify with characters who are strong and responsible. Most children enjoy reading about the clever and charming animals and persons who populate stories of fantasy. They like the exaggeration, preposterous situations, the great adventures, and humor. Modern fantasy also contains excellent examples of allegory, irony, and figurative language. The “what if?” questions of fantasy writing (What if animals could talk? What if we could travel through time? What if man could fly? What if space were curved?) are characteristic of innovative thinkers through time, from Leonardo da Vinci to Einstein. As children read fantasy, they are encouraged to think creatively and to give credence to their own imaginings. Science Fiction, a type of fantasy, is based on scientific hypothesizing and includes tales of robots, spacecraft, mystery, and civilizations from other times and places in the universe. Most stories are based on probable advances of science that have occurred on other planets or in a future time, and appeal to children who are interested in space and “what if” story situations. Outer Space and All That Junk (Gilden, 1989) is a good story to read aloud to introduce an ecology unit, whereas Madeleine L’Engle’s classic trilogy that begins with A Wrinkle in Time (1973) illustrates a good example of this genre for intermediate students. Modern Realistic Fiction An uncommonly ugly dog wanders into a store, where India Opal Buloni is shopping for groceries. When the owner threatens to call the pound to haul the dog away, Opal claims that the dog is hers and she takes him home. Named after the store where the girl found him, Winn-Dixie helps introduce Opal to a succession of persons who bring joy to her life, including the local librarian and the unlikely Gloria Dump, who hangs bottles in her trees to scare away ghosts. Because of Winn-Dixie (DiCamillo, 2001) is an example of modern realistic fiction, with its honest treatment of problems that real children face. Although the most popular topics with elementary age children are animal stories, mysteries, sports stories, and humor, they are also interested in reading about children who face challenges in their lives and families who have exciting adventures. When children read realistic fiction, they identify with the characters in the story and discover that their hopes and fears are shared by others. They find insight into their own problems, broaden their interests, experience

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vicarious adventures, and expand their understanding of persons of different backgrounds. This type of literature stimulates discussion, helps children share ideas and feelings, and provides pleasure and escape. Everyone experiences fears and doubts about themselves, and realistic fiction provides children with models for dealing with these challenges. In the context of a compelling story, they learn that children can be brave and intelligent, can solve difficult problems, and can overcome obstacles of handicap, family disruption, and the forces of nature. Historical Fiction In fourteenth-century England, Asta’s son discovers that he has a name—Crispin. After the death of his mother, he is accused of a crime he did not commit, and must flee the only home he has ever known or he will be killed on sight. He makes an uneasy alliance with a juggler named Bear and tries to unravel the mystery of his identity, armed only with the lead cross his mother wore around her neck. The desperate circumstances and hopelessness that filled the lives of most peasants during medieval times are integrated seamlessly into this tale of daring and courage. In Avi’s Newbery Award-winning Crispin: The Cross of Lead (2002), readers discover a young man with hopes and fears not unlike their own. When students read in this genre, they identify with a compelling main character and vicariously experience a period in history. They learn how people both affect and are affected by the times in which they live. Good historical fiction is painstakingly researched for authentic detail and presented in a form that is attractive to student readers. Historical fiction helps people from the past come alive for students. Through story, they live in another time and discover what it was like to dress in period clothing, obtain and prepare the foods of that time, go to school, live in a log cabin, help build the pyramids, sail on a fishing boat, or live in a concentration camp. From stories of historical fiction and their authentic details, students gain a new understanding of their own and others’ heritage. The values, beliefs, and customs included in the story provide insight into the significance of historical events and help develop an awareness and understanding of the past. This understanding often promotes an appreciation of the sacrifices and perseverance that created the benefits of the present. Vivid descriptions of history, presented in narrative form, are more interesting to students. They discover in this genre the human qualities that persist through time and connect us with the past. Biography and Autobiography Few readers come away from reading the diary of the young and gifted Anne Frank without feeling as if they had shared her experiences of the Holocaust in a powerful way. Her death in a concentration camp at the end of World War II ended her life, but not her story of hope in the midst of horrific degradation (Frank, 1993). Wolfgang Samuel was Anne’s age when war broke out in Germany. His family was not Jewish, nor were they Nazis. As persons who opposed the Third Reich, they were persecuted, displaced from their homes, and some were murdered. They ran for their lives when the Russian Army began to occupy the country and were reduced to starving beggars, surviving from day to day in unspeakable living conditions. German Boy: A Child in War (2000) is the autobiography of this young boy who survived the ravages of World War II and went on to become an

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American citizen and a colonel in the United States Air Force. Encouraged by the historian Stephen Ambrose to tell his story, Samuel takes readers on a journey into history that comes alive with the sounds, sights, fears, and hopes of that time. When children read biographies and autobiographies, they have the opportunity to learn from the lives of interesting people and to live vicariously through the challenges portrayed. They see that the most famous and brave were once children. They experience the joy and sadness of other persons and have the opportunity to read about the successes of those who are like them in gender, race, culture, or disability. When students read about a person they like or admire, they often continue to read more about them, the issues they faced, other persons mentioned in the biography, and the particular time period. Subjects of biography include inventors, explorers, scientists, political and religious leaders, social reformers, artists, sports figures, doctors, teachers, writers, and war heroes. There are excellent biographies of persons who have overcome obstacles of personal disability or environment to succeed, and those whose bravery or intelligence have changed or influenced our lives. Biographies help children discover that one person can truly make a difference in the lives of those around them. Poetry Poetry comes in all shapes and sizes, recording events as serious as war and as hilarious as a boy who turns into a television set. Karen Hesse’s powerful and riveting Out of the Dust (1999) is an example of poetic narration that grips the reader’s attention immediately and carries it through to the end. Courage and resilience are documented in this free-verse account of a young girl who struggles to survive the Dustbowl in 1930s Oklahoma. The equally powerful Heartbeat by Sharon Creech (2004) chronicles the parallel events of birth and decline in a family. A baby is about to be born, as the grandfather slips into senility. Susan Jeffers contributes a thoughtful interpretation of Robert Frost’s poem Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening with pencil, pen, and ink illustrations that enhance the classic verse (Jeffers, 2001). And, 30 years after she first refused the task, Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout still will not take out the garbage, to the delight of a whole new generation of Shel Silverstein fans (Where the Sidewalk Ends, 1974). It is important to include poetry in the literature you select for your classroom. Children enjoy listening to poetry, both classic and contemporary, rhymed and unrhymed. It helps them become more aware of sound patterns, expands their vocabulary, and increases their appreciation of language. Poetry helps them see the value of carefully chosen words and encourages them to look at the world in new ways and with new appreciation. Wellwritten poetry models precision of thought and language and inspires wonder through the beauty of its words and the power of its images. Humorous poetry can lighten lives that are too serious and assist children’s expression of feelings. Verse describes familiar moods and helps students identify with persons of other cultures, ages, and gender. At its best, poetry gives them insight into themselves and others. Plays and Reader’s Theatre Plays written for children span a wide range of interests and subject matter. You can purchase commercially prepared dramas for the classroom from teacher’s stores or borrow them from your school

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or public library. Commercially prepared play kits include instructions for presenting a performance and multiple copies of the script. Examples of these include Folktale Plays from Around the World That Kids Will Love (Applebaum, 2001) and 20 Terrific Mini-Plays That Build Reading Skills: 20 Engaging Read Aloud Plays to Kick Off and Enrich the Key Social Studies, Science, and Language Arts Topics You Teach (West, 2001). Students also enjoy reading plays adapted from their favorite books in reader’s theatre. These scripts can be purchased commercially or can be adapted by your students from their favorite stories. Multicultural Literature A young Latina girl imagines that she and her grandmother are flying like birds, high above the city. They fly over the Statue of Liberty, where her grandmother arrived in the United States, and circle above the docks where workers are unloading fresh produce from the country where her grandmother grew up. They take a rest on the clouds and observe familiar surroundings of family and friends below them. This is the story of Abuela (Dorros, 1993), an example of multicultural literature. When children’s literature in any genre is written from a cultural perspective, it is referred to as multicultural. In the United States, teachers pay particular attention to literature by and about the major racial and ethnic minorities that share the American culture, such as Native Americans, African Americans, Latino/Latina Americans, Asian Americans, Jewish Americans, Arabic Americans, and the Amish. They also try to include books that represent additional cultures from many nations, to help children understand and appreciate their fellow citizens of the world. Coming in contact with multicultural literature helps all children develop a sense of the richness of heritage shared as Americans. It sensitizes them to the difficulties faced by minority peoples in a society and helps them identify with all people as real human beings, not as stereotypes. For minority children, good literature that displays their heritage in a respectful manner helps them develop self-esteem and a sense of identity. Multicultural literature includes writing in all the genres, with special emphasis on cultural holidays and celebrations. Other writing includes folktales and fairy tales, legends, informational nonfiction, historical fiction, contemporary realistic fiction, poetry, picture books, and biography. An excellent way to introduce stories from cultures around the world is through reader’s theater. A helpful resource is Folktales on Stage: Children’s Plays for Reader’s Theater, with 16 Play Scripts from World Folk and Fairy Tales and Legends, Including African, Chinese, Southeast Asian, Indian, Middle Eastern, Russian, Scandinavian, and Native American by Aaron Shepard (2003). Informational Books Where can you find out everything you wanted to know about polar wildlife? Of course, you could look in the encyclopedia, but if you want to read about each animal in detail as you look at pictures of caribou, wolves, penguins, and whales, then you would probably pick up and read Polar Wildlife (Khanduri, 1992). Like most good informational books for children, this one features an index of terms, explanations, descriptions, definitions, and colorful illustrations designed to attract and hold a young reader’s interest. Informational books deal with real subjects, such as wildlife, history, geographical regions, culture, weather, the arts, science, math, health, recreation, and crafts, to name a few. They satisfy children’s curiosity, generate

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new interests, provide knowledge about the world, and extend or enhance what they already know. Reading these books aloud to introduce or expand a theme study, previewing them for independent reading, and including them in guided reading helps students develop critical thinking skills. Informational literature stretches children’s minds, expands their vocabularies, and encourages them to look at the world creatively and with enjoyment. A good variety of informational books are the cornerstone of learning in all areas of the curriculum. Children are fascinated by the real world and frequently are not provided with enough good-quality nonfiction literature to satisfy their curiosity. When children learn that they can find answers to pressing questions in this type of literature, they are drawn to books as sources of information and inspiration. The experience of Charley, described in the book Did You Carry the Flag Today, Charley? (Caudill, 1988), is an excellent example. Charley is a kindergarten student whose first contact with books is puzzling. He has not been read to at home and is somewhat uncertain about the value of books. He does have a consuming interest in snakes, however, and when he discovers that he can find out about snakes in a book, the value of reading takes on new meaning for him.

Presentation: Using the Literature Base for Instruction When you have learned how to select the best children’s literature and have discovered the resources of your school and community, you will be ready to begin using all the genres of children’s literature in your classroom. Here are a few of the ways you can use these different kinds of books to support language and content area learning. Reading Aloud Choose books from the different genres to introduce every kind of literature to children throughout the year. Children are attracted to books that are read aloud by the teacher and will read that particular book or others like it on their own. Illuminate the characters and events of a historical period by reading from historical fiction. Introduce a literary theme or a content area study with poetry, a biography, or a well-written informational book on the topic. Interest students in good authors by reading aloud from a compelling example of their work. Independent Reading Provide examples of each kind of children’s literature in a wide range of reading levels. When you read from a particular genre, such as biography or modern fantasy, try to borrow as many different biographies or examples of modern fantasy as you can find from your school and public libraries. You will also want to have on hand as many books as possible that relate to your content area studies. Guided Reading In Chapter 5, you will learn how to conduct shared and guided reading sessions for your students. These are opportunities for students to enjoy reading poetry, chants, songs, and plays aloud together or to practice reading skills and strategies through group interaction. Through the reading of Big Books at the kindergarten or primary level and the discussions of literature study groups, teachers help students explore the characteristics of all the genres of literature.

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Individual Reading Conferences At least once a week, every student in the class meets individually with the teacher to share ideas and responses to books they are currently reading. Children usually have a checklist of all the genres and will try to bring a different kind of book to each conference. During these conferences, teachers learn the kinds of books that children enjoy and can often recommend books that would interest them. For example, if a student loves dinosaurs, the teacher might show them Jack Prelutsky’s Tyrannosaurus Was a Beast: Dinosaur Poems (1988). Although extremely funny, these verses are also scientifically correct and will catch the fancy of true enthusiasts. Few children fail to be charmed by rhymes such as “Clankety clank, clankety clank, Ankelosaurus was built like a tank.” Writing Students enjoy trying their hand at writing in the various genres in response to their own experience, content areas studies, and topics in literature. Through writing, they develop an appreciation for the characteristics of each kind of literature and the skill of authors who write in these genres. Speaking and Listening Throughout the day, children talk about books they enjoy, to the teacher and to each other, in small groups and pairs. In preview sessions and Friday afternoon sharing time (described in Chapter 9), each of the kinds of literature can be shared with an audience. In addition to play kits that can be purchased commercially or checked out from the library, explore ways to use reader’s theatre in your classroom by adapting literature of all kinds into drama. Content Area Learning and Themes Your knowledge of many different kinds of literature will help you establish a literature base for your students’ learning in all areas of the curriculum. Students can use the genres of literature to expand and enrich their understanding and appreciation of specific subject matter. If your school district mandates the use of curriculum texts, you can supplement this material with trade books in these areas from all the genres. Cultural Respect and Understanding It is vital to provide your students with good examples of literature from all the cultures represented in your classroom. With a thoughtful selection of books, you can help create an environment in which students who are in the minority learn and grow from their involvement with literature. All children like to read about experiences to which they can relate in some way. This is how they gain meaning from what they read or listen to, by connecting it to something they already know. They identify with illustrations and text that feature persons and settings that are familiar to them. When you provide a variety of books for minority students, you maximize their efforts to make sense out of print, by building on their experience. Children who represent the majority culture in the community can gain a new view of the world from exposure to these literatures. When students read books that feature family and community life in other cultures, they observe events, activities, and behavior that are common to all peoples: birth, death, celebrations, work, play, hope, fear, joy, and grief. They see that people have more similarities than differences and begin to understand that everyone has a unique perception of the world, shaped by individual experience.

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Research the cultural composition of the community where you will be teaching. Remember that many cultures compose a community, and you will want to have them all represented in your classroom library. When you are selecting books from other cultures, look for authors who are members of these minority communities or those who have demonstrated sensitivity to the cultures they are writing about or illustrating. In addition to any ethnic or racial cultures, try to include books that portray all ages of persons, people with disabilities, families of varied composition and income levels, and those that accurately depict life in both urban and rural areas. As you select books for intermediate students, try to choose those that help children see the world as an interdependent human community, faced with common problems of food, health, ecology, conflict, and education. From books that describe holidays and celebrations, children get a taste of the joy and solemnity of special days in many cultures. The best of multicultural literature stresses the integrity and worth of the individual and communicates the idea that diversity is a part of life, making it rich and interesting. You will also want to consider the reading needs and interests of children in your room who face physical, social, or emotional challenges. Schedule a meeting with any special teachers or counselors your students will meet with during the year and ask their assistance in finding suitable literature. They will be able to direct you to central libraries of large-print books, talking books, tapes, and other materials specifically designed to meet the reading needs of children with special challenges.

Evaluating Children’s Literature: How to Choose the Best As you expand your reading in children’s literature, it is important to develop criteria for judging the merits of the different kinds of books in each genre. One way to do this is to identify books that have been honored for excellence in all the English-speaking countries, as these are being made increasingly available to the school market. Of equal importance is the selection of books which have received awards for accurately and respectfully depicting the culture and history of ethnic groups that compose society. Books written in series are discussed in this section, as are book clubs, which occasionally present challenges along with their potential to help build an extensive classroom library.

Creating an Award-Winning Library There are many awards given each year for outstanding contributions to children’s literature in the English-speaking countries of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. Increasingly, books written in the languages of Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America have been made available to English readers, through the efforts of organizations that sponsor the translation of fine literature into languages other than the original.

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It is helpful to know about the literature produced by authors in other countries, because these creations enrich the lives and imaginations of all who read them. Increasingly, these books have become part of a worldwide dissemination of literature, through the marketing of school book clubs and Internet bookstores. But, even before these commercial enablers became prominent, children spread the word about good books, and favorites moved from country to country, across oceans and national boundaries. The best of award-winning books are characterized by excellence in writing and/or illustration, insight into the human condition, noble thoughts, memorable characters, and vivid examples of the best and worst that persons can be. Books from all cultures and countries of the world deal with the common experiences of human beings everywhere: loneliness, courage, grief, aspiration, humor, and joy. The best illustrations portray ideas with color, line, shape, and characterization in ways that draw the eye and enhance or enlarge storytelling or nonfiction description. Allen Say’s Caldecott Award book Grandfather’s Journey (1993) touches persons of every age who have missed their home or wondered about the people in their family. The beautifully painted pictures in this book have the appearance of photographs and look like they were taken from a family album. In addition to being a story of common human emotions, Grandfather’s Journey also examines the reasons that people leave their countries of birth to become part of a new, and often significantly different culture. Generations of young readers have floated down the river with Ratty and Mole in the classic Wind in the Willows or visited the imaginary kingdom of Narnia and the exotic locales of The Hobbit. When they reread the same books as adults, they are always amazed at how their life experiences bring new meaning to the familiar stories. A classic is not only a standard of excellence for a certain age of readers, but also a book that can be enjoyed over a lifetime, gaining and giving meaning as it is read and reread. Book awards for excellence in children’s writing and illustration are presented by publishers, organizations, and groups who are interested in the quality of children’s books. Books are recommended to these groups by committees of persons who read widely from all the new books published in children’s literature each year, such as book editors, librarians, and teachers. Some awards are for literature about specific groups or topics, whereas others honor the works of specific authors in particular countries. Awards for books presented in English-speaking countries are listed in Appendix C. These include those presented in the United States, such as the Newbery and Caldecott medals, and the major awards given to authors in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

Using School Book Clubs Effectively Many school book clubs have introduced items other than books into their monthly offerings. These include, among other things, green slime, keychains, model cars, stationery, diaries, stickers, video games, and TVrelated items that are naturally popular with children. Consequently, many individual student orders are relatively book-free. The purpose of making

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good, inexpensive books available to children is somewhat thwarted, as teachers increasingly become middlemen for novelty sales. Two simple activities can moderate the influence of book club gizmogadgets and emphasize the positive benefits of choosing well-written, awardwinning books: • Highlight the good books, using the teacher’s notes that accompany the book club packet. Most of the books offered will be stocked in your school library. Select a few and read the first page aloud, from those that are recommended. • Duplicate and send home the teacher’s review page from the book club packet, with a note about those you personally recommend. Note one or two books that will enhance a current curriculum study. Many software programs offer historical simulations and skill practice in the curriculum areas. Some teachers accept orders for books only, and still others limit the orders to books of proven quality. This will be your personal judgment. It is probably more effective to generate interest for high-quality books than to impose order censorship on entertainment items and books of lesser quality. Previewing individual books in class is the best way to draw students into a story and create the desire to read a particular book. Children often become so interested in previewed books that they check them out from the school library before the book orders arrive. Are school book clubs worth the teacher time and effort invested in them? You will have to decide this for yourself. Teachers who use children’s literature as part of an integrated language learning program regard book clubs as integral to their classroom programs. Ordering from book clubs creates student interest and excitement about books. Book clubs provide opportunities for students to obtain sturdy and inexpensive books of high quality, many of which are priced considerably less than the regular paperback versions. Because order forms are sent home with students, parents have an opportunity to review the books offered. Most parents are eager to help their children succeed in school and will support the purchase of one or two books a month. Even if they do not order anything, they have noticed the titles and topics of good children’s literature. To accommodate those children who want to select books but cannot afford them, all students can be involved in deciding the use of some of the bonus points. Ask them to submit requests on a piece of paper, and try to include the preferences of those who typically do not order books. In lieu of this, you might decide to use bonus points to order a copy of every high-quality book on the list for the classroom library.

Series Books Mention the word “series” to librarians, booksellers, teachers, parents, or children, and books that come immediately to mind are series chapter books—collections of stories created around a theme, usually intended for

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mass-market reading. In some cases, these are books with dimensionless characters, predictable plots, spare setting descriptions, and nonchallenging vocabulary. Often highly popular with young readers, these books are intended for light, recreational reading and generally do not aspire to literary greatness. The value of “series’’ books has been debated since the beginning of printing, when penny novels were sold in the streets, at an appropriate worth. More recently, the debate raged again at the beginning of the twentieth century with the publication of the adventure-filled Tom Swift books (Appleton, 1992, reprint) and the innocent adventures of The Bobbsey Twins (Hope, 1905, 1989, revised). The latter starred two sets of twins—Bert, Nan, Freddie, and Flossie—whose adventures at home, school, and in the country featured seasonal celebrations, adventures with animals, and an occasional mystery to solve. In the 1930s and 1940s, Nancy Drew (Keene, 1968, reprint) and her friends were adept at finding secret passageways and catching counterfeiters, while Frank and Joe Hardy, sons of celebrated detective Fenton Hardy, solved the most difficult of mysteries in the Hardy Boys (Dixon, 1976, reprint) detective stories. The Boxcar Children (Warner, 1989, reissue), a favorite series of several generations of readers, tells the continuing story of a family of children who initially take up residence in a deserted boxcar until they discover a long-lost grandfather, who rescues them. Each of these series features action and easy reading. The main characters are creative and competent, their families are close and supportive, and any dilemmas of plot are resolved in a predictable, satisfying manner. These books were (and still are, in their reissued, revised, and facsimile reincarnations) a type of “comfort’’ reading for both reluctant and proficient readers. Their very numbers create a sense of familiarity with the characters that develop strong series loyalty. When yesterday’s children were asked informally what they liked about these stories, some said the main characters felt like friends; others said they were the kinds of friends they wished they had. Of those older adults who recalled reading the books from these early series, none could remember a particular book or story. They did remember quite vividly, however, the stories of Heidi (Spyri, 1998, reissue) and Black Beauty (Sewell, 2002, reissue), which had been read aloud to them in school. “I could almost taste the bread and cheese that Heidi’s grandfather toasted over the fire,” one person said. Another said he had never looked at workhorses in the same way after listening to the details of Black Beauty’s challenging life. Some persons reported that they read the series books when they did not want to think too deeply about life. They were living through a world war or the Depression, and the familiarity of the books and their characters gave them a sense of security. At certain times in their young lives, they wanted to be entertained by stories where everything would come out all right and everyone would be happy at the end. The last part of the twentieth century saw a return to the popularity of series books, with the introduction of the Sweet Valley Twins (Pascal, 1988). A teenage girl who remembers reading many of the books about

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the Wakefield twins says that she wanted to be Jessica, one of the twins. “I know that sounds kind of silly, since she’s a fictional character, but she just sounded so pretty, popular, and perfect. She had the life and the looks that I wanted so bad.” The Babysitter Club (Martin, 1995) series revolves around a group of girls who share ideas about babysitting while they handle concerns about their everyday lives, including parents, illness, and boyfriends. Everything comes out for the best in the end, and the only complaint most fans of this series have is that the premise for the books is repeated in every volume. Even this is seen as positive by some readers. One preteen preferred the simpler series books because the characters stayed the same age and none of the problems seemed as difficult as her own. The quality of writing in these series varies, but in general, the plots are simple, character development is slim, and there is a noticeable lack of descriptive language. Children are drawn to these books because they are easy to read, easy to understand, and wildly popular among their peers. Indeed, popularity probably accounted for many children’s interest in the series books of the 1980s and 1990s. Each of these sets was a fad—collected in haste, read in a hurry, and tallied competitively with others. One of the most popular was the controversial Goosebumps series (Stine, 2003), horror books for intermediate-grade readers. Readers eagerly exchanged accounts of their nightmares after reading the books or bragged that nothing in the stories scared them. Few of the books in any of these series are memorable. They were not intended to be objects of inquiry or reflection, but rather a commodity to be consumed in the same manner as one might enter a pie-eating contest. Support for this hypothesis is found in the fact that even the most gifted of readers were drawn to them, consuming the volumes in addition to their own intense and more sophisticated tastes in literature. Another factor that has influenced children’s book selection has been the practice of offering prizes or rewards for the numbers of books read. School principals promise to kiss a pig; restaurants offer free food coupons; public libraries provide treat items as part of their summer reading programs. Reluctant readers, under pressure to perform by their parents, teachers or peers, opt for the easy reading of slim series volumes, and eager readers waste their time with less than challenging reading so they can collect the prizes and get back to the books that really interest them. Some educators argue that series books, even the most poorly written, still have some semblance of narrative form. What is usually missing, however, are complex character development, rich descriptive language, and a meaningful plot. Others believe that as long as a child is reading anything for pleasure, they are practicing their reading skills and associating pleasure with the act of reading. Still others believe that time spent reading these books is wasted when there are so many high-quality books available. They point out that few adults would use the same logic when making decisions about other critical areas of a student’s development. If a child did not sleep at night and dozed off during the day at school, for example, no one would claim that as long as they were sleeping sometime, it was okay. Nor would most parents allow

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children an exclusive diet of candy, potato chips and soda, reasoning that as long as they are eating something, there is nothing to worry about. An occasional episode of lost sleep because of unexpected visitors, homework, or holiday celebrations is to be expected in everyone’s life. Junk food is part of the culture, and children survive occasional bouts of less than nutritional eating. Reading the latest books in a series should also be an occasional life event, as long as there are opportunities to gain nourishment from books that feed the mind and spirit. The most effective way to draw students into worthwhile books is to stock only the best in your classroom library. If these are the kinds of books your students have to choose from, anything they read will have literary value. You can also actively promote good books by reading aloud to your students every day from the very finest of children’s literature. This practice introduces them to ideas in books that may be above their reading level and shows them the kinds of rewards that await them in well-written books. You can also set up a time for students in your classroom to take turns giving 1-minute commercials about the books they are reading, and schedule these reviews immediately before independent reading time.

Series With Substance In more recent years, children have been drawn away from the less challenging series books to high-quality contemporary fiction and fantasy books that stand alone as literary entities, with characters that grow and develop with experience. Although they may be referred to as “series,’’ they are different in quality and conception. An example of this kind of book first emerged in the 1930s with the Little House books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. The first book in the series is Little House in the Big Woods (1932), when Laura is 5 years old and living in the Minnesota woods. She traces the everyday life of her pioneer family up until the time of her marriage to Almanzo Wilder, whose childhood is chronicled as part of the series in Farmer Boy (1953a). There is no formula to predict the events in these stories, some of which are joyous and others tragic. Readers are excited when Pa makes it through a blinding snowstorm to reach home by Christmas, and are saddened when illness takes away Mary’s sight and threatens her dreams to become a teacher. Perhaps the most popular books ever to capture the imagination of children worldwide have been the Harry Potter books (Rowling, 1997), beginning with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1997). When Harry is 11 years old, he discovers why his hair grows in moments after it is cut and the cause of the lightning bolt scar on his forehead. He is a wizard and about to begin the adventure of his life, as a first-year student at a magical school called Hogwarts. Although school provides a respite from his life with spiteful relatives, Harry is far from safe at Hogwarts. His new life features staircases that move about, rampaging ogres, the exciting but dangerous sport of Quiddich, teachers who are not who they seem to be, and an encounter with the evil Voldemort, who killed both his mother and father shortly after he was born.

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As each volume is published, children tackle descriptive language and mythological concepts far above standardized reading levels because they are drawn into the rich and imaginative details of Harry’s world. In each volume, Harry becomes a year older and deals with the typical problems of being a preteen and teenager. He also faces challenges that are matters of life and death, in heroic battles of good against evil. Jenny Nimmo has created a similarly sympathetic character in Charlie Bone, who is whisked away to Bloor’s Academy when it is discovered that he can hear what people are saying in photographs and paintings. Like Harry Potter, Charlie is also forced to live with wicked relatives, and his life at school is fraught with danger. Nimmo’s Children of the Red King books (Nimmo, 2003a) begin with Midnight for Charlie Bone and feature a main character whose understanding of his particular talent grows as he faces and overcomes the challenges he meets. Lemony Snicket’s witty and word-rich Series of Unfortunate Events begins appropriately with A Bad Beginning (1999) and has created reader loyalty at all ages and reading ability levels. Although the books are filled with irony and figurative language that is as sophisticated as many adult novels, the stories are compelling, the language is explained in humorous terms, and the adventures of the unfortunate Baudelaire orphans have readers waiting to see how the three will meet the next terrible challenges in their impossibly complicated lives. Violet, the eldest, is a skilled inventor; Klaus can read at lightning speed; and baby Sunny has teeth sharp enough to bite through steel. With these talents, they are more than a match for the persistent and evil Count Olaf, who covets their inheritance and threatens their lives at every turn. Older intermediate readers are fascinated with the books in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy (1995). Eleven-year-old Lyra Belacqua is introduced in The Golden Compass. She has been raised as an orphan on the grounds of Oxford University, a familiar and realistic setting, where changes in historical events have created an alternative present. Lyra is able to use a magic compass to determine truth, and with this instrument she begins a quest that will take her to parallel universes, accompanied by strange creatures and Pantalaimon, the manifestation of her soul in animal form, who protects, directs, and comforts her. Contemporary attention to the works of Rowling and Pullman has renewed interest in classic fantasy literature. In The Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis, 1994), magical worlds are just a wardrobe or a sailing ship away; J. R. R. Tolkien’s furry-footed Hobbit (1974) becomes more heroic than he could ever have imagined, as he gains control of a magic ring and faces the evil dragon, Smaug. The courageous children of The White Mountains in John Christopher’s Tripod Trilogy (1964) resist alien creatures who take over Earth by means of mind control. The Hall Family Chronicles, which begin with The Diamond in the Window (Langton, 1962), feature bicycles and beds that travel through time. Lucy Boston’s Greene Knowe stories, beginning with The Children of the Greene Knowe, are populated with ghosts of children from centuries past. Mary Pope Osborne’s Magic Tree House series explores distant lands and long-ago times in a format easily accessible to young, beginning, or reluctant

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readers. Jack and Annie discover a magic treehouse inhabited by an unusual librarian, who sends them through time and space to rescue valuable books. Their adventures feature dinosaurs, Vikings, knights, pirates, astronauts, polar bears, and volcanoes, to mention just a few. A typical book in this series is Night of the Ninjas (1995), which is popular with girls and boys alike.The well-researched, factual content of these imaginative books make them suitable reading to accompany theme studies in science or social studies. In Jodi Lynn’s contemporary realistic fiction series, Glory (2003), a young girl is accidentally responsible for the death of a friend. She is forced to swallow what she believes to be poison and is expelled from the commune in which she lives. With no knowledge of contemporary life, she sets out on a journey through four volumes of the series, until she finally arrives in Boston and finds acceptance in an unexpected place. The Sammy Keyes mysteries, which begin with Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief (Van Draanen, 1999) are similarly well-written and chronicle the adventures of a young girl being raised by her grandmother. She cannot openly live in her grandmother’s senior living apartment and must sneak around to avoid detection. In the meantime, she courts disaster at every turn as she investigates mysteries that draw her interest. The characters are warm and believable, and each book addresses the very real concerns that girls have as they are growing up. Boys who like mystery and adventure are spellbound by Margaret Haddix’s Shadow Children Books which begin with Among the Hidden (2003). Families are limited to two children and “extras’’ must hide to save their lives. When Luke sneaks over to visit another illegal child, he never guesses this simple deception will end in tragedy and take him away from his family forever. In the Joey Pigza books, which begin with Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, (Gantos, 2000), Joey is being raised by his grandmother, and both struggle with attention deficit disorder (ADD). Told from Joey’s point of view, the stories allow readers to experience the terror, exhilaration, and regret a child feels as his emotions take roller-coaster rides. Both humorous and touching, this series features some of literature’s most unforgettable characters, who endear themselves to the reader because of their enormous efforts to be their best selves. Teachers at the kindergarten and early primary levels can help children develop a taste for well-written series books by providing them with highquality easy reader literature. As they transition from the picture book world into chapter books, they introduce their students to memorable characters who star in a collection of self-contained stories, such as James Marshall’s books about the delightfully mischievous Fox. In Fox on the Job (1995), Fox must find a job that he likes (and can hold). Arnold Lobel documents true friendship in his Toad and Frog books. In Frog and Toad are Friends (1979), Frog waits out Toad’s long winter sleep and Toad writes letters to Frog, so he will have some mail. Betsy Byars creates equally engaging characters with the irrepressible Golly Sisters, whose adventures begin with The Golly Sisters Go West (1989). May-May and Rose are entertainers who fight like sisters while they sing and dance their way through riotous adventures in the old West.

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Helping Students Develop Book Selection Skills As children develop competency in reading, they are frequently drawn to favorite topics or genres. Some may want to read only books about dinosaurs or cars. Others restrict their reading to modern fantasy, while still others select all their books from nonfiction. The best way to help children from being stuck in one genre is to introduce them to compelling examples of other types of literature. Check with your school or public librarian for reference books that annotate books under curriculum themes and student interests. If a child reads exclusively in fiction about horses, look for informational books about horses that feature attractive photographs or drawings of these beautiful animals. Poetry, traditional tales, historical fiction, and biographies frequently involve horses as significant players. Biographies of Robert E. Lee include extensive discussions of his faithful horse, Traveler, and the memorable tall tale of Pecos Bill features the jealous horse, Widowmaker, who flings Pecos Bill’s beloved into outer space. You can also direct your equine-enamored students toward modern fantasy, where stories of heroic and noble horses abound. When students read exclusively in a genre, suggest reading about favorite topics in other types of literature. For example, students will sometimes read exclusively in modern fantasy. Appeal to this interest in the “what if” by providing biographies of famous scientists, such as Einstein, or informational books that treat the subjects typically found in science fiction, such as quantum mechanics and genetic engineering.

Build Partnerships Professional librarians and media specialists can provide you and your students with invaluable assistance as you assemble materials for your classroom. It is a good idea to introduce yourself immediately to these persons in the schools where you assist, student teach, or have obtained a position. In addition to giving you information about the holdings of the school library and policies for using books and materials, they can also assist you with resources for content area theme studies. If you plan to study ecology in your third-grade class, the librarian can direct you to good fiction and nonfiction books, magazines that highlight wildlife or conservation, CDs or DVDs from the National Geographic Society, and Internet Web sites that allow children to explore the characteristics of their favorite animals. They will also know about community resources, nearby wildlife refuges, and speakers who will visit the classroom for special presentations. These persons will show you and your students how to access the resources of the library, including: how to locate a particular book; where to find information on a specific topic; how to use media technology; and how to search for information on the Internet. In addition, they frequently make special presentations for classes, such as how to use the resources of the

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genealogy library to research ancestors. Many will schedule times to read books aloud to your class, tell stories, or put on a puppet show. Help your school or district librarians support your learning program by keeping them informed about what you are teaching. Tell them what you are looking for in terms of grade level reading, theme literature, or artistic connections with content area studies. Librarians read many reviews of new books and will be alert to those that will support the specific instruction in your classroom. Although this information is usually provided as part of new teacher orientation, be sure to ask if there are security precautions in place for students accessing the Internet and specific guidelines for taking a class to the media center. If you are in an open classroom situation, the media center may be part of your learning area. You will want to know the regulations that apply to the use of materials and space. You might also want to ask the public librarian if there are any programs planned for the year that will relate to the studies in your curriculum. It is important to keep your relationship with media coordinators and librarians cooperative and strong. Be sure to return books, tapes, printed materials, and equipment on time and in good condition and review with your students the respectful use of the media center and its resources.

If This Is Your Situation Many school districts mandate the use of textbooks for science and social studies. Teachers in this situation frequently use the textbook to demonstrate how knowledge about a topic can be organized. Students explore the types of information contained in the text and examine headings, indexes, glossaries, and special features. Some teachers begin a topic of study by asking students what questions they have about it. (See Mrs. Hogue’s discussion in Chapter 1.) Then, everyone reads in the text to find answers to the questions that have been posed. As a class, they discuss other things they want to know about the topic, and the teacher provides relevant trade books for them to examine. In these situations, reading aloud from high-quality trade books and providing a wide variety of books for students to explore on the study topic will help students expand their learning and enrich the concepts presented in the texts. Textbooks provide students with a broad survey of a content area. Through textbook reading, students can begin to identify the concepts and issues believed to be important by educators in the field. When textbook reading is combined with reading in high-quality trade books, students observe how authors select important ideas and communicate them to a reader. This provides them with experience in evaluating the expertise and authority of different types of writing. It also encourages students to regard texts as a resource rather than as a final or complete authority. They can compare the purposes and styles of writing in textbooks and trade books and become increasingly proficient in utilizing the distinct qualities of each for their own learning.

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Reflections (Gail Nave, Kindergarten Teacher) I can remember a time when I smiled as my students went to first grade, knowing they knew all their letters and sounds. However, these children did not have a clue as to what to do with those sounds. They needed to see these sounds in the context of whole words and as parts of whole stories. I remember working with a child who was having trouble identifying sounds in words. As he struggled, I pointed out to him that the word had a long A in it. “Mrs. Nave,” he said, “that A don’t look any longer than any other!” I always include chapter books among the books I read aloud to my class, and on several occasions I have seen the benefits of this practice. One year, I read Sarah, Plain and Tall (MacLachlan, 1987) to my class in the fall. The following spring, we attended an outdoor education day at the YMCA in a nearby city. Close by, there was a large man-made lake, whose waters were green and shining. As we walked beside it, one of my most deprived students tugged at my sleeve and asked, “Mrs. Nave, I wonder if this is the color of Sarah’s sea?”

A Perspective on School Reading (John Dewey, Philosopher of Education) John Dewey was interested in how our goals for education are related to the ways we try to realize them, and spoke of this as the “means–ends” relationship. When teachers have a clear idea of what they want children to achieve in terms of language learning, they can better choose activities that will create an environment to support this learning. In turn, Dewey also believed that the means teachers use to achieve their goals directly affect the goals themselves: “A goal cannot be intelligently set forth apart from the path which leads to it. Ends cannot be conceived as operative ends, as directors of action, apart from consideration of conditions which obstruct and means which promote them” (1933). Dewey believed that the means and ends of education are essentially the same, because each participates in the other. For example, researchers suggest that one of the best ways to interest children in reading is to provide an attractive display of many kinds of books in the classroom. But if a student’s access to these books is limited or restricted throughout the day, the original goal will be defeated. If a school reading program is dominated by trying to get students to read large numbers of books for contests and prizes, children may miss the deeply personal rewards that come from reading and savoring a single book. Educators agree that reading aloud is an excellent way to help children develop an enjoyable association with books. But if books are read aloud in a distracting manner or if read-aloud sessions are taken away as punishment, the goal will not be realized. The way you go about doing things in the classroom is very important because it directly affects the goals you hope to achieve.

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What Research Says About Selecting High-Quality Literature It is vitally important to create the best possible collection of books for your students to read for pleasure and inquiry. Research studies have suggested that children who read high-quality literature related to the content areas of the school curriculum show benefits in all areas of school learning. Lehr (1988) found that children who receive increased exposure to literature are more able to identify story themes. Repeated experience with literature enabled them to respond in more sophisticated ways to books. Eckhoff (1983) found that children who read higher-quality literature used more complex and elaborate literary styles in their own writing than those who read basal texts that used simplified sentence structures. Studies by Lancia (1997), DeFord (1981), and Dressel (1990) also found that children exposed to high-quality literature were more likely to show this influence in their own writing than were children exposed to writing of lesser quality. These benefits were not confined to beginning readers, but spanned the elementary grades.

For Your Personal Library As the teacher in the first classroom story in this chapter mentioned, three helpful books for teachers include those by Jim Trelease, Esme Raji Codell, and Mem Fox. Each offers a different look at children’s literature, but all agree on the importance of sharing good books with children as often as possible. All three books are helpfully upbeat reads for teachers at any level of experience. In The Read-Aloud Handbook, 5th Edition (2001), Jim Trelease reviews the benefits of reading aloud, discusses the latest research on reading, gives tips on how to lure children away from TV, and suggests ways for teachers and parents to create book-friendly environments in the home or classroom. He reviews more than 1,500 books and gives enough background to help readers make an informed selection. One of the most helpful aspects of his annotations is the inclusion of other book titles by the same author and books by other authors that are similar in content or theme. How to Get Your Child to Love Reading: For Ravenous and Reluctant Readers Alike (2003) by Esme Raji Codell, does just what the title advertises. In 532 pages, she describes how to use books to host mad-scientist parties and ways to use costumes to liven up reading-aloud sessions (among other useful suggestions). Descriptions of 3,000 children’s books are found in this readable volume, tucked in among hilarious anecdotes, clever teaching ideas, and an intensely enjoyable conversation that the author carries on with the reader. The book begins with the sentence: “This book started with a potato,’’ as Esme compares the useful and versatile potato with children’s literature, a resource for nourishing children’s learning that is often untapped in schools and homes. The book ends with helpful subject, author, and title indexes

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and lists of award-winning books. In between is a reading adventure you will not want to miss. Reading Magic: Why Reading Aloud to Our Children Will Change Their Lives Forever (2001) by Mem Fox, provides kindergarten teachers with a wealth of ideas for reading aloud to young children. Fans of her many popular picture books, including Koala Lou (1994) and the sensitively written Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (1985), will appreciate Mem’s tips for bringing books alive to an audience of one or an entire classroom. She champions reading aloud for its value in bringing a variety of experiences to children, for enriching their vocabularies, developing sophisticated tastes for highquality literature, and establishing a connection with reading as something pleasurable. Best Practices, 2nd Edition: New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America’s Schools: Reading, Writing, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, The Arts (Zemelman, Daniels, & Hyde, 1998) is a great overview of instructional practices in K–12 instruction. For each of the curriculum areas, there is a description of an exemplary program, such as a developmentally appropriate reading program in kindergarten, math stations in second grade, and literature circles in intermediate science. A question-and-answer section addresses questions teachers might have about initiating these practices in the classroom, and this material is condensed into summary charts at the end of each chapter. The charts list recommendations of best practices, as developed by the professional teaching organizations for reading, writing, math, science, social studies, and the arts. Concluding sections of each chapter suggest ways to encourage the involvement of parents and the support of the school principal. Also included are bibliographies for further reading and resources on the Internet.

Try Out the Chapter Ideas • In the classroom where you observe, review the books available for students. Notice if there are selections from each of the genres and provision for varied interests and different levels of reading ability. • Using one of the resource books annotated in this or other chapters, choose one book from each genre of children’s literature that interests you. • Choose a grade level and select a book from each genre that would be appropriate to include in your classroom collection for this level. • Keep a notebook with you whenever you visit a school. Notice the kinds of displays in the hallways and any schoolwide projects that look interesting. Ask teachers or the principal about any displays. They will be pleased to be asked, and you will get more information about how the project began and its success. • Interview a teacher who uses school book clubs. Ask how they handle the ordering procedure and what they perceive as the benefits from participating.

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CHAPTER FIVE

Guided Reading

In This Chapter • How to set up and present guided reading experiences for students of all levels • Selecting books and other materials appropriate for shared and guided reading • Developing guidelines to assist group interaction • Creating questions to encourage discussion and analysis • Key words, language experience charts, Big Books, literature study groups • Evaluating guided reading sessions • Accommodating special needs for reading instruction • Addressing local, state, and national curriculum mandates

The Main Idea Guided reading is a direct teaching activity conducted by the teacher with the entire class or with a small group of children. It is also a type of indirect instruction featured in literature groups, as students respond to questions designed to help them explore a book they are reading together. Both activities involve a more thorough examination of literature and encourage students to give deliberate thought to what they read. During these discussions, students share ideas and experiences that increase their understanding of what has been read or listened to.

In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom—Whole Class Instruction: Big Book Mrs. Jamison points to the words on the Big Book page, as 17 kindergarten children chant the lively story verse of Bill Martin’s Chicka Chicka Boom 107

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Boom (1989). She has read the book to the children several times, and they now anticipate the places where they can join in. “A told B, and B told C, I’ll meet you at the top of the coconut tree!’’ they sing together. They read through the story again, and this time Mrs. Jamison pauses before key words in the story, encouraging her students to fill in the parts they can read or remember. “A told B, and B told . . . (pause).” “C!” the children exclaim. “Chicka, Chicka.” The teacher points to the words that follow and waits. “Boom! Boom!” they shout. They are reading the story with the teacher. Mrs. Jamison continues through the book, pausing to allow the students to read words she knows most will recognize. All join in on the refrain. As they go through the story, she asks about punctuation (“What does this mark tell us to do? What is it called?”) and capitalization (“Why does this word start with a capital letter?’’). As they complete the second reading, she asks the children what they think about the illustrations. “Good,” Luke says. Luke is the master of one-word responses. “Show me your favorite picture,” she asks, and Luke moves hesitantly to the large book, turns a few pages, and shows the one where parent letters have rushed to assist their children. “Any particular reason you like this picture?” the teacher asks, prompting him to elaborate. “. . . um . . . the parents came.” This is a relatively long response from Luke, and Mrs. Jamison encourages him to continue. “Anything else?” Other children are raising their hands, and she will have to move on to their responses. But Luke continues, “They helped them,” he says. “I like that part too,” the teacher says. “Can you tell me that in a sentence? Start with ‘I like the way . . .,” “I like the way the parents came.” “And what did they do?” “Helped.” “Can you make me a BIG sentence now? Tell me who came to the rescue and what they did. Start your sentence, I like the way . . .” she prompts. “I like the way the parents came and helped them.” Luke looks pleased with himself. “A great sentence,” the teacher says, and moves on to the other raised hands. “They all fall DOWN,” Nathaniel says. “Sentence?” Mrs. Jamison prompts. “I like the way they all fall DOWN!” Nathaniel says. “They’re all . . .” Trinny pauses, and forms a sentence in her mind: “I like the way they’re all jumbly under the tree,” she says. The teacher moves on to ask about the main characters in the story. This a difficult question, because all the letters in the alphabet and their parents play important roles, as does the tree. Mrs. Jamison suggests looking

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through the book again, and this time the children notice that the tree is on one page by itself. “It’s the tree!” LaToya guesses. “The tree is the main character.” Mrs. Jamison nods at her, and LaToya knows she must give a reason for her answer. “It’s the most important,” she says. “It has a whole page to just itself.” Other children voice their agreement. But, Sterling has other evidence. “There are two whole pages with just letters,” he argues, then asks, “Can you have so many main characters?” “Before we decide, let’s think about the setting for a few moments,” the teacher says. “Where does this all happen?” The children guess Hawaii or Florida, because the tree is a palm. “Oh, oh . . .” Amy raises her hand. “What if the tree is the setting?” she asks. “Then the letters . . .” Sterling thinks through his answer. “It’s the alphabet,” he says, triumphantly. “There’s a whole bunch of letters, but they’re the alphabet all together!” “What does everyone else think?” Mrs. Jamison asks. The other children nod and agree, and the teacher moves on to talk about the rhyme. “What about the verse?” she asks. “What do you like about it?” “It jiggles!” Marcos replies, illustrating its rhythm by nodding his head. “Yeah . . . it jiggles,” the others join in, bobbing back and forth as they remember the reading. “Jiggle, jiggle, boom, boom,” someone says, and the others giggle. It is not part of the original verse, but catches their imagination. “Hey! I like that,” the teacher says. “What else can you make up?” “Wiggle, wiggle, boom, boom!” another child improvises. Nathaniel growls out “Clicka, clicka, zoom, ZOOM!” and everyone laughs. “Keep going,” Mrs. Jamison says, and more rhymes emerge. “Can you make up a verse to rhyme with ‘boom’?” she asks. “Chicka chicka boom boom . . .” She waits. “Sweep ‘em with a broom, broom,” Amy says immediately. “Push ‘em out the room, room,” Marcos adds. “Make em speed, v’room, v’room,” Sterling says—a popular contribution with the rest of the boys. “Faster, faster, zoom, zoom,” Nathaniel adds, bouncing off Sterling’s car analogy. Mrs. Jamison writes the new verses on the black board, and they all read them together. As a class, they reread the Big Book through together. Students are gaining confidence and lean forward to find the words they know. The teacher distributes standard-sized copies of the book for the students to read in pairs, with an extra-large print edition for Amy, who is partially sighted. With their own copies in hand, she asks them to find details in the illustrations that interest them. They find E’s stubbed toe and the bandage on the letter F. They also notice that the alphabet children are lowercase and

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the parents are capital letters. As the reading period comes to a close, she gives the children a few minutes to read the story in pairs, then asks them to hand in the books as they move to their tables for the next activity. The small books are placed in the library corner for children to examine during free time. Big Book sessions will continue through the week, and on Friday, a small copy will go home with every student. Over the weekend, they will share the story with their families and practice their skills by reading the book aloud. Suggestions for discussions are printed on a sheet of paper, folded inside the book. Mrs. Jamison explained her policy of sending books home at the beginning of the year, and parents have been enthusiastic participants since that time.

Behind the Scenes This experience of shared and guided reading encourages active participation by every child in the classroom. Regardless of reading proficiency, each can join the repeated chorus of the story, and everyone can participate in the discussions and observations. As children share their responses, those who process information quickly or who are adept at analysis are challenged to their best performance. Their ideas often provide peer models for ways of reacting to literature. As the book is read and reread, the teacher encourages her students to look more closely at illustrations, words, and story structure. The repetitive nature of the book provides extended practice of words and, as the week progresses, the teacher will help students make sight–sound connections between the letters in words and the sounds they make. Each reading of the book adds a dimension to a child’s understanding of the story and the skills required to read it. The teacher involves the class in a variety of ways: They move to the rhythm of the rhyme, join in the refrain, and develop prediction skills when they are asked to fill in letters and words before she reads them. She waits for responses, encourages students to debate answers among themselves, and asks them to present reasons for their answers. As the teacher interacts conversationally with her students, she prompts them to speak in complete sentences and encourages more participation by those who are hesitant to speak. She urges them on in their discussion with comments such as “Keep going,” “What do you think?” and “Why do you think that?” Throughout the session, the teacher is enthusiastic, broadcasting the distinct impression that she is enjoying the entire experience herself. Unspoken, but evident, is the message: “I really like this book and want to share it with you. There is so much inside this book for us to explore.” Mrs. Jamison encourages and praises her students’ attempts to play with the words in the story, as they create new verses and practice rhyming. The children’s ideas bounce off each other, and each response prompts that of someone else. The teacher lists what they say on the board, reminding them that words they say can be written down and then read again. In this classroom, students have daily opportunities to respond to books with writing, drama, and art. They take turns reenacting the story, with children pantomiming the letters climbing up the tree, while the teacher (or a child who can read) recites the verse. Pretending to be the letters,

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they fall down and are picked up and dusted off by students who portray the parent letters. Each day, students write a sentence or more about their response to the book, which provides the teacher with information about how well students understand the interaction of the sessions. When Mrs. Jamison first introduced guided reading, she encouraged children to draw pictures about the stories and write captions (descriptive titles) for them. Soon, her students wanted to write more about their pictures, and this led to using separate sheets of paper for writing. (Captioning is more fully described in Chapter 8.) As her students write, Mrs. Jamison is alert to any use of words from the story, improved sound–symbol relationships (spelling accuracy), and correct forms of punctuation. She observes the length of the sentences, which she encourages by allowing students to try developmental spelling (using letters or a combination of letters to represent the sounds of the words they want to write). Mrs. Jamison also observes her students while they are writing, watching to see how they hold their pencils and slant their paper. She helps students adjust awkward pencil grips and monitors student behavior that might indicate vision problems, such as putting their faces too close to the paper. She notices and records the resources student use to spell their words. Most use a combination of developmental spelling, reference to the Big Book, or lists of words recorded on charts around the room. Some ask each other for help in spelling the words they want to use. Students respond artistically to the book in several ways. They draw and decorate letters to show the various bumps and bruises sustained from falling out of the coconut tree. They cut out leaves, trunks, and coconuts that they have drawn freehand and construct their own trees, choosing the color for the background. The teacher provides stickers of upper- and lowercase letters for them to use in their pictures, but some choose to draw their own and cut them out. Variety in the completed pictures is striking. Palm trees with fat and skinny trunks dance across the wall at the back of the room. Some stand straight; others lean sideways or bend over, imitating the positions of the tree throughout the story. Leaves of every imaginable shape and size adorn the trees. Details abound, from veins on the leaves and hair on the coconuts to bark on the tree trunks. Construction paper frames add flair to the drawings and reflect each artist’s favorite colors and designs. For the next 2 weeks, the festive pictures will grace the classroom. After that time, they will go home to be shared with the family or be filed in student portfolios, to join a collected sampling of classroom work.

A Primary Classroom—Literature Groups: Single Title While Mrs. Scott’s third graders are putting away their books from independent reading, she places a stack of books on her desk. Students begin to pull their desks together into groups of four, and one member of each group goes to the teacher’s desk to get copies of the book. It is time for guided reading.

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When all the books are distributed, Mrs. Scott begins to read aloud from Tommy at the Grocery Store (Grossman, 1989), a humorous picture storybook with lively illustrations. Children giggle as they listen to the story and follow along in their own copies. A little pig is left at the grocery store by his absent-minded mother. He is subsequently taken home and then returned by a series of shoppers who mistake him for something else. The grocer puts him in the deli because he thinks he is a salami. A shopper buys him, takes him home, and decides he is a potato, because he has eyes. He is returned to the store and soon mistaken for corn because he has ears. And, so the story continues until his mother comes to rescue him. “What do you think?” the teacher asks, when she finishes reading. The class responds enthusiastically—it was a rollicking good story and everyone enjoyed it. “We’ll study the books in groups for about 20 minutes,” the teacher says. “If you have problems, try to work them out with each other. If you still have questions, you can ask me.” From their previous work in guided reading, the students in each group know how to begin exploring the book on their own. In some teams, each person takes a turn reading a page aloud; in others, they read several pages at a time. One group reads their book aloud all together, which works, because the rhythm and rhyme of the story lends itself to choral reading. Occasionally, the students encounter an unfamiliar word, and if no one knows it, they use their decoding skills (sounding out the letters until they make a recognizable word) to figure it out. If they still have difficulty, Mrs. Scott gives them clues: “Are the ‘gh’ letters silent in this word? How would they sound if you pronounced them like an ‘f’?” She may also refer them to the dictionary or a classroom chart of similar-sounding words. In the group nearest the teacher’s desk, Riley, a new transfer student, declines his turn at reading aloud. “You read,” he says to Mercedes. “I like how you read.” Mercedes looks at the teacher, who nods her head to approve. Mercedes reads an extra page. When all the groups finish reading, they address the questions on their discussion sheets. “What was your favorite part of this book?” Mercedes asks the group. “You go first, Riley.” “That’s easy—it’s when the teacher took Tommy home,” he says. “Read it again.” When Mercedes finishes, he recites the verse from memory: Next a teacher bought him and took him home to eat, and very nearly fainted when she noticed he had feet!

He continues to the end of the following page. “How’d you do that?” Justin asks. “Don’t know,” Riley replies. “I just do it.’’ “You’re good,” Justin says, admiringly.

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Riley looks pleased. Mercedes continues reading the questions, and each person in the group responds in turn. “What are these purple things on the front cover?” Justin asks. “Eggplants,” Natalie says. “You cut them up and fry them.” “Aubergines,” Riley says. “In England, they’re called aubergines. That’s what they call ‘purple,’ too.” “How do you know all this stuff?” Justin asks. “We lived there for a while, when my dad was in the service.” “My mom fries it,” Natalie says. “It’s crunchy, with cheese and spaghetti sauce all over it.” “What are these?” Mercedes asks, pointing to the cover. “They look like fat onions.” “Leeks,” Natalie says. “They’re kind of like onions. My mom makes leek soup. It’s good.” “I want to live at your house,” Justin grins. “Your mom sounds like a good cook.” The group decides that the artist made a good decision to use grocery items to create a frame for the front cover. Justin thinks it would have been more interesting if the artist had used the same grocery items that were part of the story. Natalie says the illustrations remind her of Rosemary Wells’ characters. “Why?” Riley asks. “Didn’t you ever read the Max and Ruby stories?” she asks. “They’re animals just like these, but they have adventures like they’re human beings.” No one has read anything else written by the author, Bill Grossman, so they decide to ask the librarian if there are any others in the library. “What do you like best about the story?” Mercedes reads from the discussion sheet. “The pictures,” Natalie says. “I liked the rhyme,” Riley adds. “It makes me want to dance!” The others laugh and nod their heads. The group agrees that the book is make-believe. “Nobody would think a little pig was an ear of corn,” Riley says. “That’s stupid.” “Or a ruler,” “Or a pie,” “Or a bottle,” the others join in. “But it’s still funny,” Riley adds, and the others agree. “What kind of story is it, then?” Mercedes asks. Natalie reads the choices and their definitions on the literature response sheet. “Is it modern fantasy?” she asks. “It has to be,” Justin says. “It’s not long ago, ’cause the pictures are like now. So it’s not a folktale.” “It couldn’t happen, either,” Natalie adds. “Pigs don’t wear clothes and go to the store.” “It rhymes,” Riley says. “So it’s poetry, too.” “And a picture book,” Mercedes says. “A picture storybook,” Justin corrects. “It has to have words. You can’t tell what’s going on without the words.” When they have agreed that the book fits all three categories, they individually record their answers in their journals and work on the remaining questions that ask for written responses. Riley watches as they write.

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“Do you want help?” Natalie asks, as she finishes her work. “Can you write what I say?” he asks. Natalie looks up at Mrs. Scott, who nods approval. She reads the response questions and records what Riley says in his journal. “Now read what I said,” he asks, and she does. “Yeah. . . that’s it,” he says. “Thanks. That’s exactly what I said.” Later, when students are drawing their responses to the book, Riley will dictate a new verse for the story to Natalie, and then illustrate it with strikingly sophisticated artwork.

Behind the Scenes Three things are apparent in this observation: • The children enjoyed listening to the book, reading it independently, and examining it together. • The teacher supports this interaction by providing a compelling book to explore and encouraging them to problem solve. • Everyone was involved in responding to the book, including Riley, who can neither read nor write. Students were drawn to this book because of its lively illustrations and humorous verse. They will spend time with it in their groups and individually, because they enjoy it and want to share this pleasure with others. With subsequent rereading, they will notice more details in the illustrations and pick up more subtle bits of humor from the verse. Students have also been introduced to figurative language in a colorful and pleasant way. During the next mini-lesson, Mrs. Scott will write the term “figurative language” on the board, define the concept, and ask her students to find examples in the book they have just read. They will copy the definition in their journals and continue to add examples of figurative language to the list throughout the year, which can be used in their own compositions. Mrs. Scott encourages the interaction in Riley’s team to help him begin to develop literacy skills. Through Riley’s verbal participation and his artistic and poetic responses to the book, the teacher is able to see that he not only understands the content and form of the book, but also is able to create new extensions for it. In a traditional classroom, other students (and the teacher) would probably be unaware of his talents. The developmental nature of reading experiences in this classroom will encourage Riley to use his strengths to improve his reading and writing skills. Although he will receive individual help with his reading from the Title I teacher (additional assisted reading and math instruction) and from Mrs. Scott during individual reading and writing conferences, he will be highly motivated in his efforts by the interaction that occurs within his study group. The team discussion format permits students to share each other’s varied experiences. The questions they discuss are designed to enhance awareness of genre, authors, illustrators, story content, and organization. When the groups meet together the following day, they will read the story again and compose an additional verse. They will also practice reading the verses aloud to kindergarten students and their Book Buddies in the sixth grade. Most

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will take their books home to continue this practice and to share the story with their parents.

An Intermediate Classroom—Literature Groups: Multiple Titles “Circle Justice has been practiced by native cultures for many centuries. Only recently has the concept been given a chance to work within some modern U.S. judicial systems . . . . ” Mr. Robinson has just finished reading Touching Spirit Bear (Mikaelsen, 2001) aloud to his sixth-grade class and is sharing the author’s notes with them (p. 241). The book tells the story of Cole Matthews, a 15-year-old boy who chooses Native American Circle Justice instead of prison, as punishment for severely beating another boy. He is sent to live alone on a remote Alaskan island, where he is savagely mauled by a great white bear and must struggle to survive. “Would you like to read some more books like this?” he asks the class, and they respond enthusiastically. “Just in case you happened to say ‘yes,’ I’ve collected a few titles for that purpose,” the teacher says, and the class laughs. They know that Mr. Robinson always introduces a theme study in literature by reading a book aloud to them, and had probably been collecting books for the new literature study long before he began reading Touching Spirit Bear to them the week before. “There are eight different books for you to choose from,” he says, and distributes a single copy of each book to six class study groups. “Write down the names of all of the books and then use the ‘rule of thumb’ to see which ones will be at the right challenge level, if you happen to find them interesting.” “Should we number the books in the order we want to read them?” Joel asks. “Yes,” the teacher replies, “and remember, if you take your time reading the two middle pages when you do ‘the rule of thumb,’ you’ll also get some idea of the author’s writing style.” When all students have completed their reading level assessments, Mr. Robinson continues the selection process by previewing each book. “The theme is courage,” he says. “Each of the young people you will read about in these books is about your age, and all had to survive under the most trying of circumstances. They were hunted down by enemy soldiers, abandoned in the wilderness, trapped on deserted islands, imperiled by the sea, threatened by hurricanes, or dependent upon wolves for their survival.” Mr. Robinson tells his class that the various books also represent a range of cultures, from Native American to Asian, and historical settings that span more than 300 years, from Colonial America and post–World War II Korea to the present time. “I’ll start with Hatchet by Gary Paulson [1987],” he says, and a few boys at one study table cross their fingers, hoping they will get the book that is their first choice. “It’s contemporary realistic fiction, and tells the story of a young boy about your age who survives in the Canadian wilderness

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alone, with only his wits and a hatchet to defend himself and provide for his needs.” He picks up a copy of Scott O’Dell’s historical fiction book, Island of the Blue Dolphins (1971), and taps his finger on the Newbery seal on the front cover. “Karana’s story has been around for a long time,” he says. “It was named one of the 10 best American children’s books of the past 200 years and it’s based on a true incident. A young Native American girl, about your age, jumps from the ship that is evacuating her people from an island off the coast of California, when she realizes that her younger brother has been left behind. Tragedy follows, and she eventually lives alone on the abandoned island for 18 years.” The teacher picks up the next book, The Cay, by Theodore Taylor (2002), a story set in more modern times. “This is a book about friendship, trust, and courage,” he says. “It tells how a West Indian native and a blind American boy, who are marooned alone on a desert island, work together to survive a hurricane.” “I also chose Sign of the Beaver [Speare, 1984], which tells about an unlikely, and ultimately life-saving friendship between a boy in Colonial Maine and his Native American counterpart.” A few boys throughout the room flash a thumbs-up sign to each other, hoping to get the book for their assignment. “The next book is Call It Courage [Sperry, 1968],” the teacher says. “It’s another Newbery Award book. All of you sea nuts will like this one. You haven’t experienced the ocean until you take off on a raft by yourself . . . and you’re afraid of water!” He goes on to briefly outline the saga of a young boy in the South Sea Islands who tries to prove his courage by facing the things that frighten him the most. “Ever wonder what you’d do if you were lost in the frozen North, with no food or shelter?” Mr. Robinson asks the class. “How about snuggling up to a family of wolves?” Several girls in the class look at each other. “The girl in this story did just that,” he says. “Julie of the Wolves [George, 1972] tells how a young Inuit girl survives the tundra winter with the help of animals who are feared by most humans.” “I know you’ve all read stories about the colonists who fought against the British during the Revolutionary War,” the teacher says. “But, did you ever wonder what happened to the people who wanted to stay under British rule? This book [Sarah Bishop, O’Dell, 1991] shows another side of the war that is seldom told—how the colonists turned against one another because of their political beliefs. Sarah’s father is killed, and she is forced to hide in a cave in the wilderness, to save her own life.” Mr. Robinson also chooses a modern war story to explore the aftermath of the Korean War in Year of Impossible Goodbyes (Choi, 1991). “The North Korean people had just been freed from the occupation of Japan, when the Chinese invaded their country, at the end of World War II,” the teacher says. “This book tells how a young girl and her brother try to escape to the south of the country, which is controlled by the Americans.” With each preview, the teacher reads a brief passage from the book. Students make notes and place check marks beside the titles of those that

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most draw their interest. When the previews are finished, students list their reading level assessment on a sheet of paper and write a reason for selecting the book as their first choice. (“Three fingers down. I’d like to find out more about how the Colonial boy taught the Indian boy to read.’’) They put their names on their individual lists, circle the other books that interest them, and number them in order of preference. From this list, Mr. Robinson will form groups of four students who have expressed an interest in the same book. “While I look over these lists and decide on the groups,” the teacher says, “use your thesauruses for reference and decorate a bookmark with words that are synonyms for ‘courage.’” He quickly scans the students’ preferences and decides to allow five boys to read Hatchet together, and places three girls in the group that will study Island of the Blue Dolphins. The rest of the groups fall into groups of four, and everyone will get to read his or her first choice. The teacher announces the groups for each title, and there is general cheering all around. After reminding students to take their bookmarks to the reading session, he tells them to pick up their books from the table and stand with their teams, until he assigns them a table for reading and discussion. Mallory, Danielle, Chamera, and Lakshmi form a group to study Scott O’Dell’s Sarah Bishop. They decide to read individually to themselves, although other groups in the room are taking turns reading quietly to each other. Danielle reads quickly, but goes back to reread portions of the chapter. Lakshmi gets a printed paper from the book file at the teacher’s desk and begins to read the historical background of the story. When the bookmarks signal that everyone has read the first chapter, Mallory gets a copy of the discussion questions from the teacher’s desk. She reads the first question on the sheet. “What do you like about the book, so far?” “Well . . . it’s different,” Chamera says. “Different, how?” Mallory responds, then corrects herself. “In what way is it different?” One of the guidelines for leading discussions in literature groups is to help team members describe what they say as fully as possible, and discussion leaders are encouraged to use complete sentences as well. “Well . . . ” Chamera hesitates. “Usually in books about the Revolutionary War, it’s all one side . . . you know . . . mostly about how everyone was against England. I never thought about how it would be to live in a Tory family, like Sarah.” “There were lots of colonists who were very loyal to England,’’ Lakshmi says, and she reads some of the information from the historical background page. “What did you like, Danielle?” Mallory asks. “I liked the fact that Sarah is telling the story,” Danielle says. “It makes it more real.” “I like the details,” Lakshmi adds. “I always like a book that talks about what they ate and wore, and how their houses looked.” Mallory adds her own comments last. “I liked the book because the story was interesting right away. I don’t like books that take a long time to get going.”

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“Sometimes the slow ones turn out to be the best, though,” Chamera says. “I almost gave up reading The Hobbit [Tolkien, 1974] because it was so slow. Lots of description and stuff.” “That’s what I liked about it,” Lakshmi says with surprise. “Didn’t you like the way Tolkien told about Bilbo’s house and everything? I could just see it.” “Well . . . yeah, I guess,” Chamera says, “but I liked it better when it got to the part where there was more action, with Gollum and the dragon and all.” “Off topic,” Mallory interjects. “Interesting, but off topic. Let’s get to the next question. Did anything about this first chapter connect to other things we’re studying or something from your own experience?” Danielle says that the Skinners, mentioned in the first chapter, remind her of modern-day skinheads: “They do the same things—beat people up and destroy their property, if they’re different in some way.” Mallory asks the group if they can predict what might happen next in the story. “Well . . . Sarah probably learns to use a gun,” Chamera says. “She’s standing there on the cover with one in her hand.” “We already know there’s going to be a war, but we don’t know how these characters will be involved,” Lakshmi says, and Mallory guesses that Sarah’s brother might go off to be a soldier. They proceed to the next question. “Were there any words you didn’t understand?” Mallory asks, and the girls compare their lists. They take turns using the dictionary to look up the meanings of mahogany, russet, fishcake, muslin, firelock, and trestle. The next question asks for a one-sentence description of three main characters. The girls write individually, then share their sentences, comparing notes on the features they included. They talk about how they might share the story with others and decide they will either create a television interview with Sarah when she is living in the cave or publish a period newspaper. This would include articles about her adventures, ads that the colonists might have put in the paper, and news of the day. They will decide on a final project when all have completed reading the book. When their discussion is finished, each continues reading background material for the book until everyone in class has finished their work.

Behind the Scenes At the beginning of the year, students tried to find out which book their friends had chosen, so they could be in the same group. Eventually, reading interests won out, and membership in groups has varied from theme to theme. The teacher initially tried to balance the literature he selected by choosing equally between books with boy and girl protagonists (main characters). He has discovered, however, that this criterion is not a reliable predictor of which books each one will choose. From their written requests for the current list of books, he discovers that more boys than girls selected Year of Impossible Goodbyes (Choi, 1991), because they were interested in the Korean War. More girls than boys requested The Cay (Taylor, 2002),because the relationship between the blind boy and his rescuer drew their interest.

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As students develop skills of literary analysis, they can assume the role of discussion leader in their literature groups. This is modeled by the teacher at the beginning of the year, and everyone has a chance to practice helping others expand their ideas with prompts such as “Why do you think they believed that?” “What could he do?” or “Would you have acted that way?” Although these questions are somewhat stilted at first, they soon become comfortable parts of group conversations. Sharing experiences related to the books helps make the story elements more real. Students talk about their experiences as readers and their preferences for the kinds of literature they like best. Throughout the year, they will find books to recommend to each other, based on this knowledge. Because students read at varying rates of speed, at different levels of comprehension, and with diverse decoding skills and vocabulary knowledge, it is unrealistic to expect silent reading in groups to progress as if the group were one. Some teachers forbid reading ahead, while others pay it little attention as long as discussion groups focus on the assigned chapter. Children who read quickly sometimes do not notice the story details as closely as those who read more methodically. Grouping children according to the interest they share in a common book can accommodate these differences and model a variety of reading techniques among participants.

The Importance of Guided Reading Just as teachers share their enthusiasm for books by reading aloud to their students and model adult interest in reading by participating in silent sustained reading, they also demonstrate the activities of a mature reader in guided reading sessions. Through their comments and questions or printed guidelines, teachers encourage children to search for meaning in what they read, model strategies for successful reading, and help students make connections with their own experiences that will increase their understanding of what they read. At the kindergarten or beginning reading levels, Big Books are frequently used for guided reading. These oversized texts with large print feature predictable stories, folktales, and poems that allow children to experience a sense of reading and to establish associations between spoken words and the symbols that represent them. In the process of examining the book, students become acquainted with the conventions of grammar, punctuation, and capitalization. They practice identifying and reading familiar words and use context clues or decoding strategies to figure out unfamiliar words. Students also analyze pictures in the book, to pick up additional clues about the story and to develop an appreciation for the variety of media used in illustration. Beginning readers practice reading with expression during guided reading sessions and learn to identify literary genres. They relate their own experiences to the books they are reading, discuss the purposes of the author or

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illustrator, compare books and authors, and connect the theme of the story to other areas of the curriculum. Older students read and discuss books as an entire class or in small literature study groups (sometimes called literature circles). In these groups, they share their personal responses to literature, talk about ideas that interest them, and examine relationships between what they read and their own experience. Together, they explore the meaning of the story, interpret the behavior of characters, examine the plot, and identify the themes and values portrayed. When questions arise, the teacher acts as a resource, referring students to other sources that will help them find answers on their own. Guided literature study is an ideal medium for including all students in the regular activities of the classroom. Students read at their own rate, respond in a preferred mode, and interact with others on the basis of common interests. Open-ended questions permit participation at many levels, and small-group dynamics provide helpful support for the physically or academically challenged. Students with limited English-speaking proficiency have increased opportunities to practice language skills in small groups. Academically challenged readers seem particularly to profit from small-group interaction, which encourages them to organize their thoughts and practice expressing them as they explore and discuss ideas with other students. As students develop skill in exploring books in small groups, teachers may introduce multiple titles on a common theme, such as courage or diversity. They may also use these sessions to introduce different genres of books (realistic fiction, biography, poetry) or titles related to a study in the content areas (historical fiction and the Civil War; science fiction and the human genome project). Teachers often provide different books by the same author or a variety of books in a literary genre to encourage students to group themselves by common interests. During these small-group interactions, teachers may join different groups to observe, share ideas, monitor group dynamics, or make suggestions that will improve the quality of discussions. (See Chapter 1 to observe how teachers at all levels interact with students during guided reading sessions.)

Preparation: Guided Reading As you examine the book(s) you plan to use, think of ways to help your students explore them. You will have school or district curriculum requirements and standards that are mandated at state and national levels to consider. Most of these objectives for language arts can be easily met within any literature study. Remember that if you know what you want to share with your students in terms of reading strategies, you can introduce these naturally within the discussion of literature, adding mini-lessons (see Chapter 9) for particular skills or emphasis, when necessary. At all levels of language arts instruction, it is important to read aloud to your students and to initiate conversations that will help them explore the theme, form, and content of the story. As you read the story together, ask

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questions about the meaning of the story, the definition of words, and ways to figure out words that are unfamiliar. Encourage students to examine illustrations closely for details that enhance the story. Give them opportunities to join you, to practice reading aloud with expression. Exploring the format of a book together helps students practice good study strategies. As part of the discussion, you might ask: Where can we find the list of chapters in this book? What part of the book lists important words or topics? How do the pictures help you understand or enjoy the story? What kinds of things can you learn from the map at the front of the book? • Where else could you find out something about the topic in this story? • • • •

Provide questions that students can respond to on an individual basis and then share with a small group. Some possibilities might include the following: • • • • •

What do you like about this book? What character would you like to be in this story? Why? How do the pictures make you feel? Do they help tell the story? What do you think this book is about? Find examples of: (On handouts, students can circle the item to be identified.) synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, figures of speech (metaphors, similes, idioms), parts of speech (verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs).

At the intermediate level, students can read independently and discuss books in small groups. You might select a single title for students to read and respond to as a class, several books by the same author, or multiple titles on the same theme. If you use combinations of books, prepare the class by presenting previews. Be sure to obtain at least five to seven copies, if you plan to allow students to choose from an assortment of books. Choose response questions, and select those that will be used for whole class dialogue, personal journal entries, and group discussion. Write them on the board for students to copy into their literature response notebooks or provide a printed copy of the questions for each study team or student. Types of questions appropriate for intermediate age students include those mentioned for other instructional levels, with additional emphasis on interpretation, inference, prediction, and values. Suggestions for questions in each category are listed below. Remember that you will choose only a few questions each time for students to respond to. • What about this story interested you? Would you read another book: of this type; by this author; on this theme? • Have you read other books of this type, or on this theme, or by the same author? Did you ever have to solve a problem like this? • What do you think is the theme of this story? What was the author trying to say?

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• What important decisions did the main character have to make? Why do you think he/she chose these particular ways to solve his/her problems? • What do you think this word means? Does it look like any other word you know? Can you tell what the word means from the rest of the sentence? Can you discover what it means from other sentences around this one? • What ways did the author use to tell you about this character? Would it have made any difference if the main character were a boy instead of a girl? Have you read any other books that were similar to this one? How did this particular setting influence the story? • What do you think is the meaning of this story? What is it really about? What values do you think were important to the main character? Other characters? Do you share or disagree with these values? Your goal as a teacher is to make good literature available to every student in your classroom. Large-type trade books are available for students with visual difficulties, usually through your school media specialist or special education coordinator, who can order titles you request from a central library. Books on tape or CD are also available, but you can make your own tapes or enlist the help of parent volunteers, classroom aides, or students. If a student experiences difficulty with hearing, involve other members of the study group in making sure the student can see everyone’s face for visual cues. As it was observed in the primary classroom story, study group members often support each other spontaneously, with no direction from the teacher. Regardless of any sensory challenge, it is a good idea to prepare all students to check each other’s understanding as part of the process of working in groups. Students with learning difficulties are drawn to the discussion format of guided reading because they can participate fully, sharing their ideas in ways not restricted by traditional methods. You can maximize the benefits of involving these students with literature by providing opportunities for alternative responses, such as artistic expression. They can listen to books on tape, take books home to preread with their families, or listen to another student read the book aloud. The goal for these students is to alert them to their learning strengths while providing opportunities for them to develop their emerging skills in reading and writing.

Presentation: A Guided Reading Session In your preparation for guided literature study, you have selected your book(s), decided on the kind of interaction that will occur, and constructed the questions for small- and whole group dialogue. Now, you are ready to introduce guided reading to your class. This introduction will set the tone for the interaction with literature to follow. Whether you read aloud from a Big Book to kindergarten children or create an environment for written, verbal, and artistic responses to several books at the intermediate level, you will have established a context that places high value on student response.

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You can show students that you value their ideas by the way you respond to them. Sincere remarks, such as “I never thought of that,” “That’s a new way of looking at the story,” or “I can tell you’ve thought about this,” show students that you value experimentation and divergence. Nod appreciatively when they offer their ideas. This will not be an act on your part if you listen closely during discussions. Children’s comments about books are quite insightful and represent a point of view that is sometimes lost as we mature. We also show that we value a child’s contributions by saying, “Tell me more,” “Go on,” or “That sounds interesting.” Ask students to tell you about the pictures, dance, sculpture, model, or chart that they have created in response to their reading. Avoid asking: “What’s this?” or “What’s this supposed to be?” You will learn a great deal more about a student’s understanding of what they have read if you encourage them to talk about their response. In the following paragraphs, you will find suggestions for introducing guided literature study to students at the kindergarten, primary, and intermediate levels. Keep in mind that techniques used at one level can be successfully adapted to other levels.

A Kindergarten Classroom—Guided Reading With a Big Book Gather your class around you at an easel that will support the Big Book used for guided reading. After everyone is settled comfortably, hold the book in front of you and introduce it. “We are going to read a book together today. I will read it to you first and then we will look at it more closely and talk together about what you liked.” “Let’s look at the cover for a minute. What do you see?” Children will respond to illustrations, and some will be able to read the words. If they cannot read the title, read it aloud and point to the words. Also, read the name of the author and illustrator. Put the book back on the easel and begin reading the story aloud. On the first reading, concentrate on making the book as interesting as possible. When you finish reading, ask your students what they think about the book. As they respond, turn to the pages they mention. Remember that the order of discussion is not as important as the types of questions asked. When you first begin guided discussion, you might want to put a copy of possible response questions on your lap or on the floor where you can glance at them from time to time. It is not necessary to ask every question or be locked into asking it a particular way. As you gain experience, you will see opportunities to direct exploration of a book in many ways impossible to plan in advance. You will also find better questions in the context of your interaction with your students than you had previously anticipated. The most important thing to remember about these discussions is to listen to your students and respond to what they say. Be alert to anything that might confuse them and elements of the reading that they obviously like or dislike. As was noted previously, the questions you prepare in advance are an outline for exploration. The exciting part of guided reading is what you discover about a story together with your students.

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Monitor your students’ attention and involvement carefully. It is better to explore a few ideas intensely and leave the guided reading session with the enthusiasm of your students still intact, than to “cover” everything and create a weariness with the book and the exploration process. Avoid turning “grand conversations” into “gentle inquisitions!” (Eeds & Wells, 1989).

A Primary Classroom—Introducing Literature Response Questions Big Books can also be successfully used at the primary level. Many feature science or social studies concepts, and the large format is ideal for group discussion. If you use a standard-sized paperback, present the book you have selected as a read-aloud. Talk together briefly about the cover and what the book might be about. When you finish reading the book, distribute copies to everyone and let them take turns reading aloud to each other. Afterwards, they can talk about what they liked and write their responses to the story. Review the response questions with the entire class, to make sure they understand what is expected of them. Discuss what they should do if they encounter words they cannot pronounce or do not understand. (Confer with each other; use the dictionary; ask the teacher.) Some teachers have children create and laminate bookmarks that list these strategies, for easy reference. Others post the strategies on a chart or prominent poster in the room. As groups complete their individual written work, those who finish more quickly may reread the book for additional practice. A special response to this rereading might be recorded in their literature journals: “What new thing did you discover about the book when you read it this time?” This question encourages children who read quickly to look more closely at what they have read. They take great pride in finding details in the text or illustrations that they might have missed the first time through.

An Intermediate Classroom—Discussion Groups At this level, there are several options for literature discussion groups. Depending on the age and maturity level of your students, you can adjust the ways the groups are formed, the number of book choices, and the types of responses you suggest. The method described below is probably the most structured model. This is how one teacher introduced literature study to his sixth-grade class: “We are going to begin reading a series of three books in groups today,” Mr. Bradley says. “The first one is historical fiction–the Newbery book, Out of the Dust [1999] by Karen Hesse, who wrote Letters from Rifka [1993], which several of you read and reported on during our Immigrant Nation study last month. Next week, we will read Carver [2001], a Newbery Honor book written by Marilyn Nelson. It is the biography of scientist and inventor, George Washington Carver.” “The third book is called Joyful Noise: Poem for Two Voices [1992], by Paul Fleischman. It is full of funny, sad, noisy, and quiet conversations between insects—fireflies, honeybees, cicadas, and even a book louse. The title of

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the last book gives the only clue to the kinds of books these are. Does anyone have an idea?’’ “Do they all involve insects in some way, like locusts in the dust bowl or some way that George Washington Carver worked with insects?” Graham asks. “Insects isn’t in the title,” Abby says. “We just know about that because of what Mr. Bradley told us. Are the books about two people talking, somehow?” “Great guesses,” the teacher says. “Those would all be good clues, but there’s something else all three books share. When you begin to read the first two books—historical fiction and biography—you’ll notice something unusual. They are written in free verse, which is poetry that doesn’t have to rhyme or even have a particular rhythm pattern. I want you to explore the idea of poetry as a way to express ideas about anything, and we’ll be carrying this idea over into Writer’s Workshop later today.” Mr. Bradley introduces the first book, Out of the Dust, and the narrator, 14-year-old Billy Jo, who tells her story in the form of a diary over the period of a year. She and her father live by themselves and try to survive the great dust storms that destroyed farms and lives during the mid-1930s. “I’ll be very interested to know what you think about this book and the special way it was written,” he says. “Everyone will have a copy of the book and should read at a rate that is comfortable for them individually.” He distributes the books with colored bookmarks enclosed, and tells the class: “Look at color of your bookmark and find the colored paper square in the room that matches it. That will show where you will meet with your group to talk about the book. In a few minutes, I’ll have you move a group at a time to your place in the room. But, first we need to talk about how these groups will work.” “After you’ve read the first section of the book—Winter, 1934—you’ll discuss four response questions about the section together. Some responses will involve talking about the book and others will be written in your individual literature journals. Choose a discussion leader before you begin to read. Tomorrow, someone else should read the questions to the group until everyone has taken a turn. When the bell rings, we’ll talk together about some of your responses.” “You’re probably wondering what you should do if you finish reading before others in your group. This is the procedure. Put your bookmark out on your desk to show that you’ve finished the chapter and continue to read. When everyone’s bookmark is out, the discussion leader will get the response questions from my desk and you will begin working on them together, as directed on the sheet. Are there any questions?” Students move into their groups, one color at a time, until everyone is situated. After this initial experience, Mr. Bradley talks to his class about the goals of shared reading in groups and lets them contribute ideas for participation guidelines. As his students interact with literature and share responses, they become increasingly aware of problems that must be solved to help the groups work successfully. When this happens, the teacher encourages his students to create the necessary guidelines on their own.

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As students gain experience working in literature response groups, the teacher will introduce titles that involve reading on a particular theme from social studies or science. They will also study different books by the same author and a variety of other books that represent a literary genre.

Evaluating Progress in Guided Reading After you discuss a book with a kindergarten class, jot down a few notes about the dialogue. Record what they liked about the book and any difficulties they experienced with understanding. At the primary and intermediate levels, briefly visit each literature group during guided reading and take notes, where appropriate. When students read aloud to each other, listen for problems. As they talk about books with each other, monitor their responses to gauge the depth of their understanding. Observe how well they interact together. During these observations, you will have good opportunities to observe students using their reading, speaking, and listening skills in an authentic context. (Writing progress can be noted when individual written responses are reviewed.) Observe who does or does not participate in discussions or if there is a lack of interest in the book. Note any difficulties that might signal the need for a mini-lesson (brief, single topic practice of a specific skill, discussed in Chapter 6) for a particular individual, group, or the entire class. As students react to what they have read, notice if their written work indicates an understanding of the genre and the main idea of the book. Look for evidence that they are bringing their own experience to bear on what they read, and that they use new terms or phrases found in the book. If your students use literature journals to record their responses, a brief review of these notebooks each week will give you a good idea of a student’s level of comprehension. Teachers often make time after literature groups meet for them to share responses with the entire class. This allows further monitoring of the understanding level of individual students. Artistic responses (drawing, drama, puppets) should show an understanding of the story, include relevant details, and indicate that the story inspired creativity or insight. For example, a kindergartner’s drawing might include all the important characters in the story, or the main character may be drawn with more features than the others. Spontaneous drama will retell the story in sequence and add dialogue that indicates an understanding of the plot. It is important to decide what you want students to demonstrate in terms of learning as you plan the response questions and activities for guided reading. For example, the question “In what ways is Madeleine L’Engle’s Meet the Austins [1981] different from her book Wrinkle in Time [1973]?” is designed to help students sort out the differences between realistic fiction and fantasy. Careful observation of student responses to literature can provide you with information to direct future guided reading sessions or to prepare mini-lesson presentations if additional instruction in a skill is required.

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Build Partnerships Enhance the effectiveness of guided reading activities in your classroom by creating opportunities for students to interact with books and persons in their wider social communities. Here are some possibilities: Cross-Grade Book Buddies Many teachers schedule 20 minutes several times a week for children in different grades to read to each other. Others plan part of the noonhour for this activity once or twice a week, with teachers taking turns monitoring the classroom. Reading proficiency improves with this activity, but there are other bonuses. Friendships develop between older and younger students that help improve intergrade relations on the playground. The attention of older children is highly motivating to most students. Assisting younger students also helps create self-confidence in the older ones. Same-Grade Book Buddies This activity permits a sharing of reading interests among students who may be looking for someone to explore similar interests. Additional opportunities to read aloud and talk about books provide the kind of practice that increases reading skill in both children. Parents Send home copies of books that are being used in guided reading. Involve your parents at the beginning of the year by enlisting their help in this activity. Provide guidelines and suggestions for reading aloud to a family member or friend. School Staff There are many people available in the school community who would be able to listen to children read aloud. Parents, aides, special education teachers, librarians, other teachers, and principals frequently take turns with this activity. Community Members Senior citizens and retired teachers often express interest in assisting in the classroom. These are resourceful persons to contact for assistance.

If This Is Your Situation Your school may require that you follow a commercial reading program that includes reading skills workbooks and copies of children’s trade books. This system is perhaps the easiest to adapt to integrated language learning, because the skills to be learned are clearly identified and can be incorporated into guided learning that involves any text. Frequently, high-quality, award-winning books are also provided in sets and can be used for guided reading. Programs such as Accelerated Reading establish reading levels, provide multiple copies of award-winning books, and include computer testing of reading comprehension. If your students are required to participate in this kind of program, take advantage of the fact that sets of good books will be available for literature group discussions. You can also augment the program’s limited evaluation methods with student discussions, as described above.

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From your reading in previous chapters, you know there are many reasons why school districts choose to adopt Accelerated Reading, basal readers (including reprints of the nineteenth-century McGuffey Readers), or commercial reading systems for their students. You also know how important it is to understand the educational concerns of the decision makers involved. Traditionally, programs have been chosen for one or more of the following reasons: • Familiarity Commercial reading programs have been around long enough that most people regard the basal reader/workbook approach as the accepted way to teach reading. • Budget Commercial programs are big business for those who create them. They have large advertising budgets that put the names and achievements of their programs in all the periodical literature of persons in decision-making positions, including teachers, administrators, and school board members. • Standardization Decision makers who choose basal programs believe that this approach will provide every child with the benefit of everything the program has to offer. They believe that these programs decrease variability among teaching styles and abilities. • State Mandates Increasingly, schools are evaluated on the basis of standardized measures of achievement and face the loss of state or federal funding if scores do not reach a set level. Many states require school district scores to increase every year. Formalized programs that emphasize the teaching of individual skills in a sequenced manner may seem to offer the best support for this kind of evaluation. The standardization argument is perhaps the one most frequently used, because it is an attempt to provide equal education for all students. Unfortunately, most of these programs create great inequality, because every student gets the same instruction, regardless of the fact that some may not need it at all and it is not enough for others. The challenge to teachers who want to integrate language learning in their classrooms is to demonstrate that their students can acquire the necessary skills to score well on standardized tests.

Basal Texts—Levels of Involvement If you are required to use a basal program for reading instruction, your level of involvement with these materials will vary depending on the involvement of other persons concerned. At every level, however, there are ways to integrate language learning into the curriculum and still meet the curriculum objectives of your school district. • Level One At this level, your class is self-contained (which means that you are responsible for all instruction in the language arts and content areas). This situation is most common at the kindergarten and primary levels in public schools and throughout the grades in many parochial schools. You decide how and when to use basal materials and the amount of time you will spend on reading instruction. In this situation, you can use the best of the commercially provided

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books for guided reading sessions. Supplement them by reading aloud from good books and providing time and additional books for independent reading. To meet the skills requirement, simply make a list of the skills to be developed and present them as mini-lessons throughout the year, using methods described in this chapter and the mini-lessons chapter to identify student needs. • Level Two At this level, you share instructional responsibility with other teachers. Students of an identified ability level come to your classroom for instruction, and students of other ability levels leave your classroom for instruction by other teachers. If you must accommodate the teaching schedules of other teachers, you can still create a common experience for all the students in your group by reading aloud to them and using common experiences of the class to develop the required skills. • Level Three This is perhaps the most challenging level of involvement with a basal program. At this level, all materials must be used, as presented, by state, district, or local administrative mandate. Examine the material for reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities that are commensurate with integrated language learning. Under the strictest scrutiny, there will still be opportunities to share good literature and build on student experiences. Read the curriculum objectives for language arts instruction at your grade level and examine the teacher’s manual for the basal program carefully. At what points do these objectives agree with those of an integrated program? Write them down and use them as guidelines and a rationale for the way you conduct your instruction. If you want to provide for integrated language arts learning within a basal system, your work will be more challenging but not impossible. Experienced teachers have discovered that skill instruction that is based on the experiences of individual students and particular groups of students is more effective, because students are willing to practice the skills required to read what they want to read. They will also be able to demonstrate their comprehension and vocabulary skills on standardized tests, because they have learned and practiced these skills in meaningful situations.

Reflections—Pat Sheahan (Second-Grade Teacher) I was moved to integrate language learning in my classroom from several experiences: My students were not showing progress using the basal text and the endless worksheets; and they were experiencing success when they used trade books to learn about all areas of the curriculum. After giving much thought to the curriculum appropriate to my grade level, I realized that children could acquire these skills in more meaningful, positive, and hands-on ways than they could by using the traditional methods. For several years, my children had been immersed in literature: reading the newspaper, enjoying poetry and chart readings, and corresponding with

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award-winning authors. These activities allowed me to integrate the language processes—reading, writing, speaking, and listening—into all subject areas. This foundation helped me move toward even more integration of language learning throughout the curriculum. One of my students’ favorite activities is the author study. I introduce an author by giving a biographical sketch and showing his or her picture. For some authors, I read 1–2 books a day, depending on the length of the books. I always write the title(s) on a chart, and each day we review the titles we have already enjoyed. I have often used the book in a content area and then reintroduced it in this shared book experience. For example, I use When I Was Young in the Mountains (1985) by Cynthia Rylant as part of an author study and also as part of a social studies unit on families. Once a book has been shared in a class session, it is available to children on a daily basis. Books are divided into crates, which are labeled with the author’s name. Books for the content areas are on shelves or on chalkboard ledges for display. There will be a bulletin board for any topic we are studying, with books on that topic displayed in the same area. Books are also grouped in crates or on the display racks into independent reading, chapter books, poetry, holiday books, and those that are favorites for Book Buddy reading.

A Perspective on Guided Reading (Louise Rosenblatt, Language Theorist) Louise Rosenblatt (1991) describes reading as a transaction between literature and an individual reader. She believes that readers re-create the intended meaning of an author in light of their own experience: We would not forget, of course, that the text was an event in the life of an author, that he produced it at a particular moment in his life and in the history of his world. But we would not forget, either, that the poem becomes an event in the life of each reader as he re-creates it from the text. (p. 282)

Although the creation and experience of literature is specific to the author and a single reader, Rosenblatt says that: The uniqueness of the transaction between reader and text is not inconsistent with the fact that both elements in this relationship have social origins and social effects. If each author were completely different from every other human being, and if each reader were totally unique, there could, of course, be no communication. There are many experiences that we all have in common—birth, growth, love, death. We can communicate because of a common core of experience, even though there may be infinite personal variations. (pp. 27–28)

This common core of experiences is what makes the sharing of responses in literature groups possible. The deepening and broadening of ideas and insight that result from this sharing supports the value of using guided reading as part of an integrated language arts program.

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Guided reading experiences are highly social interactions that help create a common experience for students. The goal of these sessions is to increase the meaning of reading for the individual, but as students make an effort to share their understanding of literature, they better organize their ideas, and their understanding is often enhanced or enriched by the thoughts of others.

What Research Says About Guided Reading Studies indicate that students who have the opportunity to ask questions and make comments about what they read show increased comprehension and vocabulary development. They learn the strategies of good readers, practice skills of analysis, have the opportunity to express themselves orally, and are challenged to defend their points of view. Through study questions, they learn to look for important features of a literary genre and are challenged into a deeper and more complex understanding of reading material. McClure (1985) found that children support each other as they respond to literature in a variety of ways. They help clarify meanings, serve as an audience for each other, and share their collective memory. She also found that complexity of responses to literature in group situations depends more on the cooperative nature of the discussion context than the students’ developmental characteristics. Eeds and Wells (1989) write that children engage in what they call “grand conversations” when they meet together in literature groups. Their studies show that students help one another respond more fully to stories by collaborating in the construction of simple meaning, sharing personal stories inspired by the books, and actively questioning what they have read to uncover meaning. They also found that the kind and quality of the text being discussed influences the quality of these discussions. Morrow (1990) found that students who are encouraged to ask questions and make comments about stories read to them show an increase in comprehension and the number and complexity of their comments and questions. She also noted (1988) that repeated readings of the same book increased the quantity and complexity of student responses. Repeated experiences with stories produced a wider variety of responses and more interpretive comments than single readings of a book. Martinez and Roser (1985) described five changes that indicate a difference in children’s responses as they listen to stories repeatedly: They talk more frequently about familiar stories; make more comments when listening to familiar stories; ask more questions about unfamiliar stories; gain control over particular aspects of the story so they are able to attend to other dimensions; and make more complex responses. Hickman (1981) noticed that successful teachers planned for cumulative experiences with literature, allowing children to consider each book and type of book in depth and in a variety of ways over time. She also found that children’s responses to particular books change over time. The length of time involved with a book increases the quality of responses, because it provides opportunities for repetition and reflection.

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Kiefer (1983) observed that in naturally occurring responses to picture books in the classroom, the teacher plays a key role in influencing response. When teachers read and reread books, children’s responses deepen and broaden. He found that open-ended discussion (questions that do not seek a single correct answer, but require a student to make relationships between ideas and with other experience) encourages a variety of responses. Kiefer also observed that language used by the teacher to describe books was adopted into students’ conversations when they talk about books. Hepler and Hickman (1982) observed that when students talk informally about books, this helps them rehearse and organize the content of the book. This point is especially important for challenged readers. Sharing information that these students are intensely interested in is significant, both for motivating them to read and for providing a way for students’ reading abilities to be evaluated (Afflerbach, 1993). Hickman (1981) recorded responses to literature in a natural setting, looking for behaviors that revealed some connection between children and stories. These responses included: applauding after a book was read; joining in refrains; browsing among books; and keeping books close to them. They often read together with other children, shared discoveries in books, and commented on them without being prompted. They participated in dramatic play, made pictures or games about books, and wrote about the stories they had read.

For Your Personal Library At some point in your preparation for teaching, you will probably take a course in children’s literature. Most of the texts used for these courses contain comprehensive discussions about books and constitute a valuable resource for your teaching later on. (See narrative in Chapter 4.) You will also want to be familiar with some of the reference books that you can find in your school or public library, such as those listed below. Adventuring with Books: A Booklist for Pre-K–Grade 6, 13th Edition (McClure & Kristo, 2002) contains brief plot synopses of children’s books, information on illustrations, and applications for the classroom. The volume has author, illustrator, subject, and title indexes for use in locating titles or developing themes. There is a directory of publishers and a list of award-winning books that feature holidays, humor, friendship, disabilities, human relationships, and ethnic, racial and religious groups. Best Books for Children: Preschool Through Grade 6, 7th Edition (Gillespie, 2001) is a guide to 9,000 titles in children’s literature. Books are grouped by subject matter, titles, authors, and grade levels. Annotations are helpful and accurate. Although you may wish to have this volume in paperback as a personal reference, your school librarian or the public library will probably have a copy on hand. The New York Times Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children: 3rd Edition, Revised and Updated (Libson, 2000) is an excellent guide to books

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designed for parents, but also very helpful for teachers. The volume includes listings of 1,700 new and classic books for every age group, annotated and arranged by topic and age level. There are subject, author, and illustrator indexes as well as those for selecting books that are age-appropriate and ones to read aloud.

Try Out the Chapter Ideas • Choose a picture book to read and respond to it in several ways: Write, draw, compose a poem, develop a craft, sculpt in clay, make up a song, or create an original response. • Observe guided reading sessions at the kindergarten, primary, and intermediate levels. Identify the skills being practiced by the students. Observe one student more closely and describe his or her responses. • Choose a picture book and develop guided reading questions to share with a small group of your classmates. With the permission of a classroom teacher, present the book to a group of students. • Borrow a copy of a Big Book from your curriculum library or cooperating school. With the permission of a classroom teacher, prepare a guided reading lesson for a small group of kindergarten or primary students. • Use a children’s literature reference book from your school or university library to select several books on a theme appropriate for an intermediate study. Be sure to include books for a variety of reading levels. • Interview a teacher at the kindergarten, primary, or intermediate level who uses guided reading. Ask them how they decide which questions to ask about a book and which reading skills to practice or reinforce with their students. Ask if they have favorite books for guided reading and how they accommodate students with special needs. • Interview a teacher who uses a commercial reading program, such as a basal reader/workbook or some form of computer-assisted reading. Ask how they decide which activities to use from the ones suggested in the teacher’s manual. Inquire what they like best about using their particular program. • Examine the teacher’s copy of a commercial reading program. Decide which activities could be incorporated into an integrated language arts program.

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CHAPTER SIX

Mini-Lessons

In This Chapter • • • • •

The purpose of a mini-lesson The benefits of mini-lessons Varied uses for mini-lessons Where teachers get ideas for mini-lessons How to plan for and present mini-lessons

The Main Idea Mini-lessons at all levels of instruction consist of a brief, single-topic presentation; student-generated examples; and immediate practice. The frequency of mini-lessons, types of groupings, presentation format, and practice applications vary from classroom to classroom depending on the age, experience, and skill levels of individual students. Mini-lessons are developed in response to observations of children’s speaking, listening, reading, and writing performances and use materials currently being studied for examples and skill practice.

In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: Small-Group Skill Practice During play time, Mrs. Jamison meets with three children who are confusing the sounds for D and B. “Did everyone bring a book with words?” she asks. Each boy holds up a picture book and shows her the words inside. “Good,” she says. “We’re going to be detectives today.” The three boys lean forward on their chairs. “The first thing we need to do is find some letters. Who thinks he can find a D in a story?” she asks, and they dive into their books. 135

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“Here’s one,” Lance says, pointing to a D in “dinosaur.” “Here’s one, here’s one,” Gideon says, as he finds a d in “dash.” “I got one,” Alec adds, locating a d in “drink.” “Good, good!” Mrs Jamison passes her finger over each of the words they have found and says it out loud. “Lance, how does your mouth go when you start to say ‘dinosaur’?” Lance opens his mouth. “Say ‘dinosaur,’” the teacher asks, and he complies. “Where is your tongue when you start to say that word?” she asks. He points behind his teeth. “Good,” she says. “When you are ready to make the d sound, your tongue is right here against the roof of your mouth, behind your front teeth. What about your word, Gideon? When you start to say ‘dash,’ where is your tongue?” The boys all experiment, suddenly conscious of their mouths and the sounds. “It’s where you said, eye . . . uhh . . . eah (right up here),” Gideon says, with his finger inside his mouth, against the roof of his mouth. “And how about your word, Alec?” the teacher asks. He has already experimented. “It’s there,” he says, pointing in his mouth. “Okay, you’ve found where D starts. Where did you tell me again?” she asks. They all point and show her. “All right, you’re about halfway through the case,” she says. The boys grin and look at each other. “Someone else has been using D’s sound and he wants it back. It’s his sound and no one else’s. Who do you suppose might want to use D’s sound?” The boys shrug their shoulders. “Let’s find out,” the teacher says. She turns around to a Big Book resting on the easel behind her and begins to read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, a story they have practiced in guided reading. “Chicka Chicka Doom Doom,” she reads. The boys look at each other, and Mrs. Jamison continues to read, substituting the sound of d each time she reads a word that begins with b. “Mrs. Jamison,” Gideon interrupts, “you’re reading it silly!” “Oh!” she says, “What’s wrong?” “You’re saying the words wrong,” Lance exclaims. “It’s ‘boom boom,’ not ‘doom doom’!” “Oh!” the teacher exclaims. “So are you telling me that this B is saying D’s sound? I must have put my mouth in the wrong place.” The boys look at each other. “What does your mouth do when you start to say ‘boom boom’?” she asks. They put their lips together. “Where’s your tongue?” the teacher asks. They think for a minute. “Just in there loose,” Lance says. “Not on the roof of your mouth, behind your teeth?” They shake their heads.

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“Feel the shape of your lips,” she directs and demonstrates by tracing her lips from under her nose to her chin. “It makes the B shape,” she says and shows them again. They imitate her. “You make b lips to say the b sound,” she adds. “Let’s see how good a detective you are,” and she opens the Big Book to the beginning. “I’m going to start reading this story. But, I’ll leave out some words, and you use your detective skills to show me how your mouth should be to say the word.” She begins to read “I’ll beat you to the top of the coconut tree,” and stops at the word “beat.” The boys watch each other and purse their lips. “Excellent!” the teacher says. “Keep watching,” and she continues reading until she reaches the words “boom boom!” Again, they purse their lips. She continues reading. “Skit skat skoodle doot.” “Mrs. Jamison, a d word!” Alec exclaims, and tries to show her his tongue on the roof of his mouth. “Good for you, Alec. Let’s see everyone ready to say ‘doot.’” She continues reading and stops at the words “dears” and “dust,” then “breath” and “down,” each time observing how they place their mouths to form the first sound of the words. “How many D words are in your head?” she asks. Lance lists dinosaur, dungeon, Dad, Davey, do, and dumb. Gideon thinks up dum-dum, dodo, dude, dummy, dust, duck, and dare. Alec thinks longer, rolling up his eyes with the effort. “Dastardly,” he says finally. “Dastardly Dan, the villainous man,” he quotes from a TV program. “What great words!” the teacher exclaims. “What about some B words now?” They list four or five words each. “How will you remember about B and D words?” Mrs. Jamison asks them. “I’ll do this,” Lance says, tracing his mouth, “and this.” He grimaces and shows his tongue. “I’ll copy some words out of my book and practice,” Gideon answers. “I know ’em,” Alec replies. “I know ’em, I know I know ’em,” he adds with confidence. “Good for you,” the teacher says. “Maybe you’ll show me an example when you come for your conference tomorrow.”

Behind the Scenes Mrs. Jamison uses the boys’ experience with favorite books and a story from guided reading to explore the differences in the two sounds. They can already recognize letters; she is trying to help them associate the letters with the correct sound (sound–symbol association). By drawing attention to the position of their lips, tongue, and teeth as they pronounce the two sounds, she provides them with a temporary tool to associate sound and symbol. The teacher begins this practice with words they identify from their own reading. She also refers to words found in a book used in a shared reading experience and those that are generated from the boys’ own experience. When she substitutes “doom, doom” for “boom, boom” in one of their favorite

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stories, the boys immediately see the importance of associating the correct sound with its symbol. The boys generate, identify, describe, and analyze letter sounds and think of ways to practice them before they leave the mini-lesson. Mrs. Jamison will check this skill when the boys request their key words, when they volunteer in guided reading, and while they are doing independent reading or writing.

A Primary Class: Using Literature to Develop Concepts “What’s that?” Raya nudges her friend and points to the language chart. Sophia stops and looks at the sentences the teacher has written. Today, it is as cold as the North Pole! By noon, I will be as hungry as a bear. I’d like to be as strong as Paul Bunyon’s ox.

Below the sentences, she has written: “Can you think up some more sentences like these? You may work with a partner.” The two girls find chairs at their table and join several other third graders, who are bent over their papers, intent on writing sentences. “Hmm. Something that’s like something else,” Raya says. “What about . . . slippery as an eel?” Sophia suggests, “I heard my grandpa say that once.” “That’s a good one,” Raya says. “Now what would be slippery as an eel?” “The stair rail outdoors,” Sophia says. “It’s all covered with ice, and when I grabbed it, my hand slid down.” “The stair rail was as slippery as an eel?” Raya asks. “Good,” Sophia replies, and they write down the sentence. All over the room, students glance at the chart and begin working. Throughout the room, there are murmurs of “hard as nails” “light as a feather,” and “bright as the sun.” After 10 minutes, Mrs. Parks rings a small bell, and the class comes to attention. “I heard some good discussions,” she says. “Let’s see what you’ve come up with.” One by one, the pairs report their sentences, and the teacher writes them on the next page of the chart. Everyone laughs when Kade reads “This morning I was as tired as a dog who had just run 10 miles.” Sydni writes that she wishes she were “as small as a mouse,” and Teagan says that he plans to build a treehouse this summer that is “as high as the sky.” “These are all good sentences,” the teacher comments. “You gave them a lot of thought. When you compare something to something else this way, to make it more interesting or to describe it more vividly, it’s called a simile.” She flips the chart to the next page, where the word is written in large letters. “That looks like ‘smile.’” Kade says. “It does,” the teacher agrees, “but it has an extra letter. Can you think of a word that reminds you of simile?”

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There is a brief pause, and then Shelby raises his hand. “Ooh, ooh! I know, I know!” he says. “Let’s give everyone a little more time to think, Shelby,” the teacher says. “Write your answer down on a piece of paper and bring it to me.” While the others think, Shelby hands his paper to the teacher. She smiles and nods. “Must be the right answer,” Kade says. “She similed.” The class laughs at the pun. “What do you think?” the teacher asks. “Have you thought of a word?” Sophia volunteers: “Similar?” she asks. “It sounds like similar.” “Yes,” the teacher says. “It does, and that’s what a simile is. It tells something that’s similar about two things. It compares them in a special way, like your sentences on the board.” She turns to the next page of the chart, where she has written the definition of simile. The class copies it into their Word Books. “Let’s say the word together several times, just for practice,” and the class choruses the word “simile.” “You’ve already discovered that the word is spelled like smile, except for one letter. Practice writing it three times in your Word Books. Can anyone think of a way to remember the spelling?” “If I put myself in smile, I get simile,” Raya suggests. “I don’t get it,” Curt says. Raya goes to the board and writes the word smile. Then she squeezes in an “i” between the letters s and m. “See, I put myself—I—into smile, and I get ‘simile.’” “Hey, great,” Curt says. “but couldn’t you just remember similar and put an ‘e’ on the end, instead of ‘ar’?” “Another good idea,” the teacher comments. “You are all bright as dollars this morning.” “Bright as dollars?” Jason asks. “Dollars aren’t bright. They’re all greeny and dull.” “Before there was paper money,” the teacher explains, “dollars were made of metals, like silver and gold. They were large and beautiful coins. People kept them polished up and shiny, so I was complimenting you.” “I’ve got a silver dollar,” Brett says. “My grandpa gave it to me for my birthday last year. He said the same thing when he gave it to me, and I think it means ‘smart.’” “My grandma says ‘sharp as a tack,’” Jason says. “I never heard ‘bright as a dollar.’” “Collect some of these sayings from your parents and grandparents tonight,” the teacher says, “and don’t forget to write them in your Word Books, so you can share them with us tomorrow morning.” Mrs. Parks pulls up a page on the language chart, where she has written a question: “Which of the following is a simile?” 1. He tugged at the load, like a horse pulling a wagon. 2. The train was a snorting dragon. 3. The meal was simply delicious.

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“Anyone want to try?” she asks. “Which one do you think is a simile?” “None of ‘em,” someone says. “Why not?” the teacher asks. “Nothing says ‘as something as something else,’” Jason says. “Wait,” Shelby says. “Maybe there is.” “Do you want to guess?” the teacher asks. “Is it the first one?” “Why do you say that? “Well . . . it doesn’t say ‘as,’ but it tells that something is like something else.” “You’ve got a good eye,” the teacher says. “Yes, the first one is a simile. Which word tells you that?” “Like?” Shelby inquires. “He tugged like the horse. I guess that means he was as strong as a horse.” “Both are clues to help you find similes, if you’re not sure,” the teacher says, and she turns the page of the chart to reveal four more sentences: The sleet sounded like tiny knives hitting the window. The ocean looked like a piece of the sky The sweet potatoes tasted like candy. The bed felt like sleeping on a cloud.

“Let’s read these sentences out loud together,” the teacher says, “then decide if any of them are similes.” The class agrees that all are similes. “This is like that,” Shelby says, “and this is as something as something else.” “And all are?” “Similes,” the class choruses. “Who thinks they could find some similes in Owl Moon [Yolen, 1987]?” the teacher asks. The class is reading the Caldecott Award book as preparation for writing about a special experience with their families. The story tells about a young girl’s trip into the woods with her father late at night to see an owl come out during a full moon. The class is also studying the pictures, to decide why the book won an award for best illustration and what the artist added to the story that was not in the text. Two students who read well above grade level are also reading Farley Mowat’s Owls in the Family (1996), which contains many interesting facts about owls and the account of a family’s experiences with them. They are concurrently sharing the adventures of the little owls,Weeps and Wol, with the rest of the class, some of whom are trying to read the book on their own during independent reading. Students pull the book from their desks and begin working together. Immediately, they find “a train whistle blew, long and low like a sad, sad song.” Delighted, they press on and find another example: “And when their voices faded away it was as quiet as a dream.” Antonio is still having difficulties, even with his partner’s help, so Mrs. Parks works with him individually to create more examples from his school experiences in El Salvador. She also browses through several books with him, helping him look for examples of similes.

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He finds two similes in a Salvadorian folktale and in a favorite picture book that features a Spanish family’s birthday celebration. “The bread my abuelita bakes is a soft as a pile of feathers,” he says, as they end their session. The teacher writes down his sentence, satisfied that Antonio has understood the mini-lesson. Shelby and Raya soon complete their search of Owl Moon and pull out their chapter books to look for more examples. “Hey, listen to this,” Shelby says. “Here’s a great simile!” He reads aloud to Raya from Charlie Bone and the Time Twister (Nimmo, 2003b), the second book in the Children of the Red King fantasy series. Charlie, like the other children at Bloor’s Academy, has a special talent—he can hear people talking in photographs and paintings. In this sequel, a boy is brought from the past into the present by a special marble. “Charlie is describing his wicked aunt, here,” Shelby says, delightedly. “How do you know?” said Aunt Venetia, patting her hair, which was coiled above her head like a black serpent.

“Good one,” Raya agrees. “I can see her hair, and it’s not a pretty sight. Now what about this.” She reads from Lemony Snicket’s A Bad Beginning (Snicket, 1999), the first in the Series of Unfortunate Events books, which chronicles the desperate but humorous adventures of three orphans as they try to escape the evil clutches of Count Olaf: Sunny had wormed her way into the pile of curtains so that she just looked like a small heap of cloth.

Inspired by what they find, the two continue searching for more examples and share them as they record several good examples in their writing journals.

Behind the Scenes In several months’ time, Mrs. Parks’ third graders will be tested for grade level proficiency in writing, grammatical constructions, and figurative language in a state-mandated test. She uses a minilesson to elicit examples of similes from her students’ own experience, and helps them discover clue words that signal similes. Then, she introduces a question about similes in the form in which they will encounter it on the test. Mrs. Parks helps her students discover the meaning of the word from its spelling, and models with many examples the different ways similes are used in writing. To help them build on their initial understanding, the teacher introduces only one construction for a simile at a time, so that the second type is learned quickly and easily. She encourages them to look at the word carefully, spell it, and identify it in print. When all students have completed their search for similes, they will report their findings and record them in their Word Books. This brief presentation is tied to other parts of the curriculum when the teacher asks her students to find examples of similes in the book they are currently reading in literature study. The topic of similes will come up again during Writer’s Workshop, when she asks her students to include at least two similes in the writing they complete today. As students share their

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writing in the Author’s Chair, others will notice and comment on the way their classmates incorporate this construction into their writing. Students will take their Word Books home with them in the afternoon. Tonight, they will share the lesson with their families, read the examples they have found, and ask for additional ideas. This exercise allows parents to see what is being taught in school and encourages them to share their own experiences and information with their children. Some children will call their grandparents to discover additional generational examples of similes, and these will be shared the following morning with the rest of the class. Antonio speaks English as a second language and sometimes needs a few extra examples of a grammatical construction to help his understanding. Because the rest of the class is productively engaged in the task, the teacher is free to give him individual attention. She draws on his life and family experiences for examples and uses books provided by the ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. These contain ideas familiar to him and allow him to complete the lesson quickly and competently. Shelby and Raya read at two grade levels above the rest of the class and complete the search in the literature book within minutes. They might be easily bored if they were left with time on their hands. Instead, they know from past lessons to move on to the chapter books they are reading, where they can find increasingly more challenging examples of the presentation. Incidental learning includes the concept of a dollar as a coin, which is picked up and expanded several weeks later by Jason and Kade, who choose to research the history of money as a project in social studies.

An Intermediate Classroom: Connecting Reading and Writing “Many of you have the same question when you come to your writing conferences,” Mr. Yamaguchi begins. “‘How can I make the beginning of my story more interesting?’ That’s what we’re going to talk about today. Did everyone bring a copy of the book you’re using for literature study?” The sixth-grade students, sitting in their literature groups, pull out copies of the book their group has chosen to explore Native American culture. Five groups are studying four different books, all of which also feature the theme of how people respond to loss: Sing Down the Moon (O’Dell, 1992) is the story of a young Navaho girl captured by Spaniards in 1860. She escapes and hides with her husband and baby. Ishi, Last of His Tribe (Kroeber, 1989) tells the story of a young Native American who loses his family and all the members of his tribe. He spends most of his life hiding from enemies who no longer exist. Bearstone (Hobbs, 1991) tells about Cloyd, a troubled young Native American boy who begins to discover himself in a foster home. The story of Sweetgrass (Hudson, 1984) begins with a devastating smallpox epidemic that destroys a young girl’s tribe. It continues with the courage and hope she brings to others as she struggles to create a new life. Mr. Yamaguchi introduces the mini-lesson by explaining how people learn to create compelling first pages for their stories by studying the ways good authors draw readers into their books. He asks everyone to read the first page or two of their book.

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“For many of you, this might have been the way you decided which book you wanted to read for literature study,” he says. “Try to identify what it is about those first few pages that got you interested.” Students begin to read. Some jot down a few notes. After a few minutes, Mr. Yamaguchi says, “Well, what do you think? Why did you choose your book?” Gerson raises his hand. “I chose the book about Ishi because I found out it was a true story, and then when I read the first page it was so full of details about Indian life, I felt like I was almost there.” Mr. Yamaguchi writes the word “details” on the board. “Good,” he says. “Anyone else?” Andy says that he chose Bearstone because it is a contemporary story and he wanted to know more about how Native Americans live today. “And I liked the way it started out,” he says. “The main character, Cloyd, he’s in this hospital and all, trying to find his father. And the way he gets in is really cool, ’cause he says he’s delivering some flowers, because maybe they won’t let him in otherwise.” “Something is happening right away?” the teacher asks. “Yeah,” Andy replies. “I like that.” The teacher writes “action” on the board. “In the beginning of my book [Sing Down the Moon],” Hannah says, “Bright Morning is really happy, but she reminds herself not to show it, because one time when her brother was happy he got struck by lightning and was killed. After that, I sort of knew that something bad was going to happen to her.” “What’s the word for that?” Mr. Yamaguchi asks. He waits while Hannah refers to her Word Book. “Foreshadowing?” she asks. The teacher writes the word “foreshadowing” on the board. “How about this group?” Four girls who read the book Sweetgrass look at each other and giggle. “Well?” the teacher asks. “It’s a little embarrassing,” Iris says.“Oh well . . . ” she hesitates. “We might as well be honest.” She takes a deep breath. “It looked romantic.” The class laughs, and Mr. Yamaguchi smiles. “Nothing wrong with that,” he says. “Did it turn out to be romantic?” The girls look at each other.“Sort of,” Belle answers for the group.“After the first part, it tells how Sweetgrass lived and about a smallpox epidemic. She was really brave. It was a good story.” “But the author got you interested in reading the story by emphasizing something else at the beginning?” The girls nod their heads, and the teacher writes the word “audience” on the board. “What purpose do you think the author had in writing your book?” the teacher asks. The girls look at each other. Karla says “She wanted to tell the story of Sweetgrass, because it’s a really good story.” The teacher nods for her to continue. “So . . . maybe she started out the way she did, so we’d keep reading.”

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“Do you think she had a sense of her audience?” the teacher asks. “Yeah,” Belle replies. “She really did. We couldn’t stop reading it.” “You’ve identified a number of ways that authors try to draw you into their stories,” Mr. Yamaguchi says, and reads the list from the board: “Details, action, foreshadowing, and a sense of audience. Now, think for a minute about your most current writing project. You’re writing historical fiction, where each of these things is an important part of the story. What kinds of details do you want to read about in books?” “Where they lived, how they dressed, what they ate,” Hannah says. “And what they look like,” Iris adds. “I like to know about what their houses were like and how they cooked and got their food,” Kendra says. “I like it when they tell about hunting or battles,” Andy offers. “All the details about what happens.” “Gory stuff, you mean,” Hank says. “That too,” Andy replies. “But mostly just details, so you know what it’s like.” “I like it when they tell something about the main character, so you want to know more about them,” Caleb adds. “Yeah, like Maniac Magee,” Nick says. “While you’re full of these ideas, jot down a few details you could use to begin your own stories,” the teacher suggests, and he waits while students make entries in their writing journals. “I’ll give you about 10 more minutes to think about ways you could introduce some of the other literary devices you’ve identified into the introduction of your stories,” the teacher says. “Then, go on with your independent writing for the rest of the hour. I’ll see Iris, Hannah, and Andy for their writing conferences during that time.”

Behind the Scenes As part of Writer’s Workshop, Mr. Yamaguchi gets his students involved in solving a problem by encouraging them to use the work of other authors as a model. As they examine the books they are reading, the teacher helps them identify several literary devices frequently used by writers to develop reader interest. Then, he asks them to think how they might respond as writers in light of what they like as readers. He also provides sufficient time for them to apply what they’ve learned by scheduling independent writing time immediately after the mini-lesson. Mr. Yamaguchi treats the comments of his students with dignity and models a thoughtful response to the girls who chose a book for its romantic qualities. This sets the tone for a focused discussion that demonstrates the value of a sense of audience.

The Importance of Mini-Lessons The content of mini-lessons is determined by the learning needs of a particular individual or group of students, which teachers discover during guided reading, writer’s workshop, and individual conferences. For example, several

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students or the entire class may not understand how to use an index or the table of contents. Others may need help with paragraphing, reading aloud with expression, or organizing a research report. Many teachers use the mini-lesson format to help students prepare for standardized tests mandated by the district or state. In contrast, lesson topics in traditional classrooms are presented in an established sequence, often determined by the order of discussion in a text. When teachers present these lessons, they frequently discuss multiple concepts, and the lesson may last from 10 to 20 minutes. Instruction in traditional classrooms is presented to the entire class or to small ability groups. Each group receives essentially the same instruction, with some adjustments for speed of learning. To understand the difference between a mini-lesson and a traditional lesson, it might be helpful to observe how a topic would be presented using each of these types of instruction. Notice in the following descriptions that both lessons involve a presentation by the teacher that is intended to help students develop a skill. Each involves the students in the lesson, and both include student practice exercises. The differences between the two types of lessons are: • • • •

the origin of the content the types of practice exercises the purpose of the lesson the use of practice exercises for future learning

Traditional teachers begin a lesson on synonyms and antonyms by asking all students in the class to read two pages in their English textbooks. When students have finished reading, they are asked to define synonyms and antonyms and to identify the difference between them. Teachers write a list of words on the board and ask students to volunteer examples of synonyms and antonyms for each one. For practice, students rewrite 10 sentences from the book and substitute synonyms for the underlined words in each sentence. They also identify pairs of words as either synonyms or antonyms. The teacher’s presentation lasts 15 minutes, and students are given an additional 20 minutes to complete the practice exercise. They hand in their papers, which the teacher grades and returns to them the next day. They review the correct answers in class, and students take their papers home or throw them away. In classrooms that use mini-lessons, teachers notice that students frequently overuse certain words in their compositions. To help them become more aware of synonyms, they ask students to bring a book they are reading and some writing they want to improve with more interesting words. In the mini-lesson, students analyze their writing to find words they use frequently and to identify one or two other words they could use instead. Students take turns sharing the words they substituted, and the teacher records them on a chart. The teacher tells the class that the words they have generated are synonyms, or words that mean the same, and then writes this word at the top of the chart. In their writing notebooks, students write “Synonyms” at the top of a page, followed by the definition. They search their favorite books

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for synonyms that could be used in their own writing, and record these in their notebooks. During the independent writing period that follows, students analyze their writing for repeated use of the same words and substitute synonyms. On the following day, the teacher will introduce the use of the thesaurus, both as a reference book and as a feature on the word processor which provides students with an additional resource for their writing. Throughout the year, students will continue to record examples of synonyms in their notebooks and refer to this page and the thesaurus for ideas when they want to make their writing more interesting. Mini-lessons provide an excellent format for meeting the special needs of many students. Because learning groups are task-oriented, students focus on the particular skills they need to develop. Group membership is based on an individual’s desire to know, not on generalized ability or a labeled deficiency. Beginning readers and writers may reverse letters (confuse b and d), lack a system of sound–symbol associations (be unable to match sounds with letters), or have inaccurate sound–symbol associations (mispronounce words). Students at all levels may have difficulty with letter formation, handwriting, spelling, standard grammar use, and comprehension. Many problems are developmental and will correct themselves with time and experience. This happens naturally in classrooms where there are opportunities to participate in a wide range of language activities. The following chart provides a visual comparison of these two distinct kinds of lessons: Comparison of Traditional and Mini-Lessons Traditional Lesson

Mini-Lesson

Several concepts or skills presented. Presentations are sequenced. Presentations last 10–20 minutes. Everyone receives the same instruction. Practice is predetermined. Practice exercises are discarded.

Single concept or skill presented. Presentations are responsive to need. Teacher presentation is 5–10 minutes. Instruction meets individual needs. Practice is drawn from student experience. Exercises become learning resources.

Preparing for Mini-Lessons One of the best ways to prepare for mini-lessons is to examine the curriculum objectives for the grade level you hope to teach, and to become acquainted with the skills students must demonstrate on state or district level achievement tests. These sources will give you some idea of the information students are expected to know and the skills or problem-solving strategies they will be required to master. Exploring these requirements will give you practice in examining similar objectives at any level of instruction. It is also a good idea to review a

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standard English grammar textbook to refresh your own understanding of key ideas and constructions. You are expected to be a good model for the students you teach, so be certain that your spelling and grammatical skills are in good order. Your mastery of these skills and concepts is critical to your ability to teach students of any age. (See suggested titles at the end of this chapter.) Before you begin a mini-lesson, check to see that everyone has all the materials that will be required, such as pencils, paper, books, notebooks, or examples of writing. If you are working with a small task group, review the possibilities for independent work with the rest of the class, such as centers or individual reading and writing projects. Ask students to form the appropriate groups. If you will be meeting with a small task group, try to find a quiet corner of the room and make certain everyone else has plans for an independent work period. If the mini-lesson will involve the participation of the entire class, you might allow students to sit in small study groups, depending on the application of the skill or concept that will follow. Whether you are teaching one student, a small group, or the entire class, introduce the topic and explain why it was selected for a mini-lesson. The lesson might give them new ideas for creating characters in their stories, help them figure out words when they are reading independently, or show them how to use the new computer center. The following are some possible introductions: • “Many of you want to write historical fiction. Today we’re going to explore the elements of historical fiction by examining one of your favorite books.” • “Most of the class is still having difficulty with paragraphing. For Writer’s Workshop this afternoon, please bring something you’re working on for review.” • “I’ve brought the three of you together for a mini-lesson because you all wanted to learn how to use the thesaurus.” • “Today we’re going to create some guidelines for our trip to the zoo.” • “Most of you are ready to assemble your ABC books. Mrs. Singley will show you how to use the punch and the binder.”

Presentation: Mini-Lessons In a time period of between 5–10 minutes, define a concept, demonstrate a skill, or explain a strategy that addresses a specific need. Present ideas in terms that are familiar to students, and ask them to provide examples from their own experience. For practice, students might role-play, list guidelines, examine books they are reading, or divide into groups to practice interactive skills. Walk around the room to observe, provide assistance where needed, and encourage students to help each other. After about 10 minutes, ask your

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students to share examples or describe their practice experience. When you are satisfied that students understand the idea or have learned the skill, ask them to record their understanding of the lesson in the appropriate notebook or journal for future reference. These notes might include drawings, charts, definitions, descriptions, outlines, guidelines, or procedural steps, depending on the topic of the mini-lesson. With small task groups, you may want to assign additional practice for students to continue on their own, such as searching favorite books or interviewing their families to collect additional examples. The following are ideas that have been successfully introduced in the mini-lesson format. As you can see, the possibilities are endless and can even include physical skills required to play games or use athletic equipment properly. If you supervise your own students on the playground, use the minilesson format to demonstrate how to jump rope, hit a ball, tag a runner, climb a pole, or swing safely.

Academic Skills • identifying important elements of poetry or other genres • writing a biography or a work in any other genre • creating and using a portfolio, research notebook, literature journal, diary, personal dictionary, reading or writing log • conducting an author study • researching a topic in science or social studies • reading aloud in an interesting way • preparing for reading or writing conferences • preparing for independent reading • working a math problem • setting up a science demonstration

Social Interactive Skills • What to do when you come into the room in the morning (from recess, the cafeteria, after lunch, after assembly, after a fire drill) • How to greet visitors to the room (principal, other teachers, students, parents, guest speakers, observers from teacher education programs, community members) • How to read together with a partner (in small groups, with a Book Buddy, into a tape recorder) • How to work together at the chalkboard (art center, science lab, media center, block center, housekeeping center) • How to settle differences in groups, the classroom, or playground

Caretaking Skills • The correct, helpful, and respectful way to assist a classmate with a disability

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• How to take care of the plants, animals, models, chalkboard, or furniture in the room • How to take care of books, the computer, science displays, art and writing materials, blocks, toys, or housekeeping items in the classroom

Creative Skills • How to make books, puppets, charts, posters, greeting cards • How to create art projects; record an oral biography • How to conduct an interview in various formats: panel, TV show, radio program • Performance ideas for dance, movement, drama, puppet theater

Evaluating Mini-Lessons Mini-lessons begin and end with the evaluation process. Create a checklist, with your students’ names listed down the left side of the page. At the top, list the skills or information your students will be expected to know by the end of the term or semester. As you observe your students in language learning activities throughout the day, check the appropriate box with B (beginning), D (developing), or I (independent) to describe their progress (see definitions below). Some teachers also keep anecdotal records of these events, such as: “Troy brought the discussion group back on track today by saying, ‘We need to listen to each other more carefully.’” From these observations, you can create mini-lessons on a wide range of topics. After you conduct a mini-lesson, observe your students to see if they apply the strategies and use the skills. If a few students do not show progress in developing these skills, it may be necessary to review the material with individuals or in small groups. In rare cases, you may need to reteach a concept or skill to the entire class. Remember that you will be watching for progress, not perfection. Peter Winograd (1994) suggests that teachers think of the levels of student progress in the following terms: • Beginning At this level, students need lots of guidance during language learning activities. They will make a few attempts to apply a skill or strategy presented in a mini-lesson, but need frequent review and teacher support. • Developing These students are more involved in all activities of the classroom; they respond to reading and produce writing with teacher modeling and support. Developing students show progress in their applications of the mini-lessons to language learning. • Independent At this level, students are autonomous in their learning behavior and are highly involved in reading, writing, and responding. They use the skills and strategies presented in mini-lessons appropriately and consistently.

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Build Partnerships Many parents become concerned if their children do not receive phonics instruction as part of their primary school experience. They may not understand the idea of learning sound/symbol relationships in the context of unlocking words a child wants to know. If phonics is not systematically taught in the school, they may purchase drill cards and use them with their children at home. Their concern is that their children may not be able to read as effectively or be able to spell unless they learn the individual sounds that comprise words. It is easy to add the skills or strategies introduced in mini-lessons to individual take-home cards for kindergarten students and Word Books or journals for older students. If this practice is introduced early in the year, parents expect them and are usually eager to help develop these skills at home. At the kindergarten level, you will need some assistance from an aide to add practice information to children’s cards, or you can type the information into a computer label maker and let the children attach them to their own cards. At the primary and intermediate levels, this information can be copied from a chart or chalkboard by the children themselves. Many teachers send the cards and journals home inside a zipped plastic bag. Inside the kindergarten bag is a folded set of activities parents can do at home, such as listening to children read aloud, providing time for independent reading, and encouraging practical writing. Older children can paste or tape instructions for home help to the inside of their journals. There should also be a set of guidelines to help parents assist their children effectively, such as providing a special time and place for this work at home, joining their children for these activities, and encouraging them to be as self-directed as possible in completing the exercises.

If This Is Your Situation If you are required to use a basal reader system or are part of a teaching team, you can still use the concept of mini-lessons to help your students develop language skills and strategies by allowing students to use their favorite books to find examples for compulsory lessons. As ideas are generated, they can be recorded in writing notebooks and used as references for student writing and review material for standardized tests. If composition topics are assigned by the school district or state, use mini-lessons to explain the criteria that will be used to evaluate students’ writing. In most cases, you can allow students to choose their own topics of writing for practice. In some schools, there will be separate spelling and handwriting programs. Encourage children to find words from spelling lists in their favorite books and to practice handwriting skills as they create compositions to share with others.

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Students can also expand their spelling lists by adding words they especially want to use in their writing. Many students enjoy creating outlandish sentences that use words they are required to spell. A fourth grader produced this one: “When the lion learned there would be big chunks of meat for breakfast, he was very punctual about getting up.” Another student wrote: “I guess I’m not very punctual, because I was tardy twice this week.” This exercise helps children play with the words and tie them to their own experience.

Reflections (Jackie Hogue, Fifth-Grade Teacher) I demonstrate all kinds of writing to my students and encourage them to try out the different forms. For example, when we study ancient Native Americans, I introduce contrast and comparison writing. Students choose two groups, such as the Mayan and Aztec, to compare and contrast. We also contrast prejudice and tolerance during the Colonial period. I want my students to be able to write in many forms, including expository, persuasive, and poetic, and all of these are introduced in mini-lessons. My students asked if they could write historical fiction, like The Island of the Blue Dolphins (O’Dell, 1971), which we had just finished reading, using the information they had learned from their research. This was another opportunity for them to use the elements of comparison and contrast. We read Native American legends, and I asked students what they noticed about all of the stories. We listed the elements on a chart, and they referred to them as they wrote their own legends for state writing assessment. When they completed their stories, the students read them aloud to the class while I wrestled with three checklists for state evaluation. In my mind, however, the most valuable assessment occurred after the reading. Everyone clapped for the readers, told them what they thought was good about their writing, and what might make their stories better. Each writer made notes and put the legends into writing folders, to polish and improve as they had time.

A Perspective on Mini-Lessons (Jerome Bruner, Educational Theorist) Jerome Bruner (1984), a prominent educational theorist, refers to activities like the mini-lesson as scaffolding. In construction, a temporary frame is built that gives workers access to the exterior of buildings for painting, laying bricks, or shaping stone. As the higher construction is completed, the scaffolding frame is removed, little by little, until finally the work is completed and the scaffolding can be dismantled. In like manner, teachers who use the technique of scaffolding provide students with temporary support for their learning and language use. The

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goal of scaffolding is for the student to be able to use skills and strategies independently. Support can be gradually withdrawn as students increase their proficiency. When teachers present mini-lessons, they begin with students’ current skill or understanding levels and use the support of student experience and familiar materials to introduce new skills or concepts. Practice activities are related to an immediate task, but as students gain proficiency, teachers provide opportunities for them to apply these skills in new situations. Bruner (1966) also believed that children have a natural will to learn, as evidenced by their behavior in situations outside of school. In the most ordinary of circumstances, children are characterized by their curiosity, their desire to work together to solve problems of mutual interest, and their striving for competence. Mini-lessons capitalize on these naturally occurring characteristics by creating classroom situations in which children can satisfy their curiosity and help each other gain competence with a task.

What Research Says About Mini-Lessons Lev Vygotsky (1978) believes that students learn most successfully in what he terms the zone of proximal development. This term refers to the kinds of tasks a student can accomplish with the help of a more skilled person. Mini-lessons are designed to work within this developmental zone, with demonstrations and explanations that build on students’ current levels of understanding. Both teachers and classmates help individuals develop their skills by sharing ideas, strategies, and techniques for learning. The mini-lesson format also encourages language development. As students work together with teachers or peers to find examples and practice applying new skills, they talk about what they are doing. This dialogue helps them organize their efforts and internalize the language they are learning as they complete a task (Berk, 1994). Vygotsky (1966) sees language as the medium of social experience and as the chief tool for thought. He believes that thinking is an activity that is created through dialogue in social interactions, and that thinking develops best in classroom environments that provide opportunities for problemsolving and discussion. When teachers use mini-lessons effectively, there are frequent opportunities for students to talk and solve problems as they work together to explore new ideas and practice new skills.

For Your Personal Library Grammar for Teachers: Perspectives and Definitions (1979) by Constance Weaver, a handbook published by the National Council of Teachers of English, has an excellent discussion of the theories of grammar, but it also contains discussions and definitions that provide a helpful reference to teachers

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who must teach the specifics of grammar at the intermediate levels. Equally helpful is Weaver’s companion text for language arts teachers, Teaching Grammar in Context (1996). There are several books of lists published by Jossey-Bass which provide helpful reference to teachers as they construct mini-lessons in language arts and other curriculum areas. One of the most helpful is The Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists, 4th Edition (Fry, Kress, & Fountoukidis, 2000), which contains examples and definitions of many different kinds of words. It can also be used by students as a reference for foreign phrases, proofreading, lists of books, and literature activities. A user’s guide suggests the most helpful sections to review at various grade levels and for ESL students. Readers can find lists of homophones, homographs, and heronyms and their meanings. Also included are daily living words, work words, picture words, collective nouns, and lists of vocabulary for all levels of mathematics, science, and social studies. The Greek and Latin roots of words are included along with words that have been shortened, blended, or put together to form new words. Synonyms, antonyms, analogies, similes, metaphors, idioms, proverbs, and euphemisms are described, and there is an entire chapter on phonics. The book also provides learning and study skills, writing strategies, and enrichment activities. There is a helpful section on signs, symbols, and abbreviations, including state abbreviations and capitals, Roman numerals, the manual and Braille alphabets, Morse code, and Native American symbols. A reference section at the end of the book provides nondiscriminatory language guidelines, handwriting charts, literary and computer terms, and the names of reading organizations and publishers. There are also guides to Web sites for educators, ideas for tutors, and suggestions for teaching with newspapers. Equally helpful for constructing mini-lessons are the companion books in this series, which feature content-related terminology and concepts, examples, and teaching tips. These include The Literature Teacher’s Book of Lists (Strouf, 2002) and The Writing Teacher’s Book of Lists (Muschla, 2004). See this section in Chapter 10 for other books in the series that are helpful resources for teaching in the content areas.

Try Out the Chapter Ideas • The next time you observe in a classroom, note any difficulties students are experiencing that could be addressed with a mini-lesson. Decide what kind of information, strategy, or skill would help them read, write, or discuss more easily. • With your cooperating teacher’s permission, plan and present a minilesson to a small group of students that will help increase their skill in reading or writing. • If you are student teaching, find a skill or strategy that would be helpful for all students in your classroom to develop, then plan and conduct a mini-lesson.

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CHAPTER SEVEN

Individual Reading Conferences

In This Chapter • • • • • • •

What teachers learn from reading conferences How reading conferences provide direction for instruction Benefits to students from one-on-one discussions of books How to prepare for a reading conference How students prepare for a reading conference Ways to set up independent work periods The relationships among individual conferences, mini-lessons, and guided reading

The Main Idea In an individual reading conference, a student meets one-on-one with the teacher for a private discussion about a book the student is reading. These conferences provide teachers with information about the progress of individual students and patterns of learning needs in the classroom.

In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: The Emerging Reader “Does everyone have some books about insects to read?” Mrs. Jamison asks the class. Each student holds up one to three books they have selected in the previous 5 minutes. The class is studying insects as part of a theme study. “Good,” she says. “While I talk to Isaiah, what will you do?” “Read,” they reply. “What will you do when you’ve looked at your books?” she asks. “Practice,” they reply, and point to a chart on the wall that has pictures of choices for practicing reading skills. They can read aloud with a partner, 155

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look for particular letters or words in favorite books, or work in various centers around the room. “How will you read and work together?” she asks. “Quietly,” they whisper, putting a finger to their lips. “And how many people at a center?” she inquires. “Four,” they reply. “What happens if the center is full?” she asks. “Go to another one,” they respond. “Good work,” the teacher says and turns her attention to Isaiah, who has brought his book to the desk. The rest of the class settles into looking at books in pairs and small groups in their favorite reading places around the room. “Tell me about this book,” Mrs. Jamison says, as Isaiah presents her with a paperback edition of In the Tall, Tall Grass (Fleming, 1991). “It’s about things in the grass,” Isaiah responds, turning through the pages and pointing out caterpillars, bees, ants, and rabbits. “What do you want to show me about this book?” the teacher asks. “I can read some of it,” Isaiah declares, and he demonstrates by pointing to the words in the title and saying “In the tall, tall grass.” Isaiah is reading the title from memory, but Mrs. Jamison recognizes this as developmentally positive. Isaiah increasingly associates printed and spoken words, one of the first steps toward literacy. “Can you point to just one word in the title and read it for me?” the teacher asks. Isaiah confidently indicates the word “tall.” “Tall,” he says. Then, he points to the next word. “Tall again. Tall, tall.” Isaiah took this book home several times during the week, and it has been read aloud to him often enough for this word to have been learned by sight. “Good for you,” the teacher says. “Can you find that word anywhere else in your book?” Isaiah proceeds through the book and shows her where “tall” is found in four other places. “How does ‘tall’ begin?” she asks. “T,” he replies, pointing to the letter. “What if I cover up the t?” the teacher asks. “Is this a word you know?” “All!” he replies. “Do you remember seeing this word anyplace else?” she asks. “In Chicka Chicka Boom Boom,” he says. “All, fall, call, hall, ball . . . . ” “Good for you!” the teacher says. “What’s your favorite picture?” Isaiah turns to the middle of the book and shows her a picture of frogs catching flies with their tongues. “What do you like about this picture?” the teacher asks. “Their tongues,” he says. “I drew a picture of a frog catching a fly.” “I’d like to see it,” the teacher says. “It’s at home. I’ll bring it tomorrow.” “How do you think the artist made these pictures?” she asks. Isaiah studies the watercolor stencils carefully. “It looks like paint,” he says finally. “It’s kind of smeared here.” He points to the color differences on one of the frogs. “I think it’s a stencil.”

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“You looked at that very carefully,” the teacher says. “Does this book remind you of any other books you’ve read?” she asks. “Eric Carle books,” he says immediately. “I thought this one was going to be like The Very Hungry Caterpillar [Carle 1983],” he adds, as he turns to the first page. “See . . . ‘crunch, munch, caterpillars lunch,’ and look . . . ,” he turns the pages carefully, “the caterpillar is on every page! Sometimes, you have to look real close for him . . . like down here at the bottom on this page. I bet you can’t find him here,” Isaiah says, showing the teacher a page with a picture of large ants. Mrs. Jamison looks at the page closely. The caterpillar is not evident. “Ha!” Isaiah says triumphantly. “He’s here! This big thing in back of the anthill is the caterpillar. See, he’s great big, compared to ants.” “You’re right, Isaiah,” the teacher says. “That’s an ant’s eye view of a caterpillar.” “I didn’t think he was on the page either, ‘til I looked at it a lot of times,” Isaiah says comfortingly to the teacher. “You really observe very well!” She smiles, and he looks pleased. “Do these words tell what’s happening?” she asks, pointing to the words on the page. “Zip, zap, tongues snap,” Isaiah recites from memory. “Wait. I practiced,” he says. Then, he reads the words again, this time emphasizing the final letters and creating a dramatic effect with his voice. “Wow!” Mrs. Jamison says. “That really got my attention.” “Good,” Isaiah replies. His assignment this week was to practice reading to get his listener’s attention. “How come this frog’s tongue is short and these others reach clear out here?” he asks, pointing to the frog’s tongues that are in various stages of extension and retrieval. “Their tongues are all the same length,” the teacher explains. “See, this first frog zips out his tongue to catch the fly (she points to the word “zip”), and this one is getting ready to zap (she points to the word “zap”) the fly. You can see this one beginning to snap (she points to the word “snap”) his tongue back to his mouth, so he can eat the fly.” “Zip, zap, snap,” Isaiah says, pointing to each of the frogs. “Zip, his tongue goes out. Zap, he catches the fly. Snap he pulls it back. Zip, zap, snap,” he says, pointing to each of the frogs. “Can you find the words that begin with z?” the teacher asks. Isaiah points to “zip” and “zap,” and the teacher writes each word on a separate card for them to study together. “What letter is at the end of zip and zap?” she asks. “P,” he replies. “Are these two words just the same?” she asks. Isaiah studies the words carefully. “No, here’s an a and here’s an i,” he says. “Show me the sounds,” the teacher asks. “Zzz,” he begins, pointing to the z in “zip.” “No e on the end, so i doesn’t say his name.” He looks up at the alphabet card on the wall to find a picture for i. There are two pictures: a bib and a bike. “Is the middle sound like ‘bib’ or ‘bike’?” the teacher asks.

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“Bib,” Isaiah says. “Zzzz . . . i . . . p. Zip. Zip, zip, zip.” “Good for you,” the teacher says. “Now, how about this one?” Isaiah looks at the word “zap.” “Zzzz . . . . ” He looks at the alphabet card for A. “Is that a like ‘map’ or ‘tape’?” the teacher asks. “Map,” he says. “No e on the end. Zzzz . . . a . . . p. Zap. Zap, zap . . . goes the map!” “You made a rhyme,” the teacher says. Isaiah looks pleased. “Zip and zap. What other words sound like these words?” she asks. “Tip and tap,” he says, and rolls his eyes up to think harder. “Rip, rap, skip, skap, lip, lap, trip, trap . . . The Three Billy Goats Gruff !” he says, remembering the repeated verse of a favorite folktale. “Good for you,” the teacher says. “Look, I’ve written down the words you said. I’m not sure if ‘skap’ is a word, but maybe you invented it. Let’s read your list together.” When they have read the list together several times, Mrs. Jamison asks Isaiah to read the list on his own, which he does easily. “This week, will you look in the books you read for words that look like ‘zip’ and ‘zap’?” she asks. “Here, I’ll write them down for you in your Word Book. Where else can you look for them?” “On the charts,” he says, “and at home.” “You had a good conference today,” Mrs. Jamison says. “Thanks for showing me where to look for the caterpillar.” Isaiah grins and gets up to leave.

Behind the Scenes To be able to give Isaiah her full attention, Mrs. Jamison must know that the other children in the room are productively engaged and will not interrupt the conference. During the first month of school, conferences were more informal. While children established routines of playing and working in the various centers in the classroom, Mrs. Jamison spoke briefly with individuals about books they were reading. As students developed their skills in independent activities, she introduced the idea of individual conferences and used role playing to demonstrate what everyone would be doing. She began by meeting with one student for a few minutes during the day and moved gradually to four students, so that she now meets individually with each of her 20 students at least once a week. In the beginning, students needed reminding about not interrupting the conferences, but now a review of the rules at the beginning of the session helps them remember. Her students value their time alone with the teacher’s full attention and have learned that everyone’s behavior makes a difference when it is their turn. If noise in the room becomes disruptive, Mrs. Jamison rings a small bell and everyone lowers their voice. Most of the time, this is not necessary, because children are highly involved in independent work. From her conference with Isaiah, Mrs. Jamison observed the following: • He is able to use the alphabet as a tool to find the sounds in words. • He asks questions to better understand what he is reading. • He knows the purpose of illustrations in a picture book. He observes details carefully and is aware that this observation will add to his enjoyment of the book.

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• He uses illustrations to derive context clues to help with his reading and is aware that illustrations expand his understanding of text. • He has read or listened to the book many times. • He is at ease getting around the book. • He is developing the idea that reading aloud is an opportunity to share interesting ideas with others. • He is also developing a sense of audience when he prepares for the conference with his teacher, and shows heightened awareness of story interpretation by emphasizing key sounds and adding a tone of mystery to his oral reading. Children enjoy talking about things that interest them. That is why the teacher asks Isaiah to share his favorite picture. As he talks about what he likes, the conversation can easily extend to the characteristics of letters and words. From their discussion, the teacher sees that Isaiah is puzzled by the varying lengths of the frogs’ tongues in the pictures. She helps him understand how their tongues work and makes a note to ask the principal if he will bring a frog to school for the children to observe. The principal is an avid naturalist who regularly supplies the terrarium with interesting specimens. At several points in the conference, Isaiah breaks into a spontaneous rhyme. Mrs. Jamison is delighted with this activity and encourages him to continue. In daily guided reading, children become increasingly aware of sounds and are encouraged to make up rhymes as a group. When Isaiah says “Skip, skap,” the teacher suggests that “skap” may be a word he has invented. At a later time, she might ask him to check the word in the dictionary. If it cannot be found, she might suggest that he think about what it could mean and add it to the class dictionary of invented words. Beginning teachers often wonder how to handle the contribution of inappropriate words (curse or scatological) during individual or group sessions. The simplest response is to accept the word, but not write it down. Sometimes, children will not be aware of an inappropriate meaning, while at other times the word may be forwarded for its shock value. In any case, you can say, “That’s not a word we use at school. Can you think of another one?” The assignment for Isaiah encourages him to notice words that are similar to the ones he has worked with during the conference and helps him continue practicing on his own. This week, he will point out similar words in books, on the charts, and in a newspaper he brings from home. He will also bring in a copy of TV Guide to show the teacher “rip” and “rap.” He is now alert to the way these letter combinations sound and will use this knowledge to unlock hundreds of words. Three years ago, Mrs. Jamison asked the art teacher to create examples of the types of illustrations found in children’s picture books, including watercolor, stencil, collages, acrylics, and woodcuts. On a table beneath this display, Mrs. Jamison has an assortment of books for children to browse through and match to the examples. This exhibit stays up all year, to help children identify the kinds of art work that is featured in the books they are reading. Since she began using the display, Mrs. Jamison notices that her

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students are more creative in their own artistic responses, choosing from a wide variety of materials and styles to illustrate their writing.

An Early Primary Classroom: Assessing Competence “What book did you bring to read to me today?” Mrs. Gardiner asks Delvar. “This one,” he says, handing the first-grade teacher a bright red, black, and white paperback copy of Anansi the Spider (McDermott, 1972). “Tell me about the cover,” Mrs. Gardiner begins. “That’s Anansi. He’s a spider,” Delvar says, pointing to the large stylized spider on the front cover. He counts the spider’s legs out loud. “Is this a special spider?” the teacher asks. “Uh huh.” Delvar replies. The teacher waits. “Tell me about him,” she asks. “He gets in trouble.” Delvar replies. “That sounds serious,” the teacher says. “He fall in the river,” he says, showing her the picture. “Oh, oh,” the teacher responds. “What’s happening here?” “A fish be swallowin’ him up.” “Wow,” the teacher says, and waits. “He gets saved,” Delvar continues, savoring his role as a narrator. “That’s a relief,” the teacher says. “How does he get rescued?” “He got six sons. They help him.” Mrs. Gardiner continues to ask Delvar to tell her about the story. Next to oral response, she checks the “developing” category because Delvar is replying in short sentences. This is quite an improvement from no response or the one-word responses characteristic of his earlier conferences. “What are your favorite pictures in this whole book?” the teacher asks. Delvar turns without hesitation to a two-page spread. “These,” he says, looking with interest at the pictures. “Can you read the pages to me?” Mrs. Gardiner asks. Delvar hesitates. “Why don’t you tell me what happens on this page?” she asks. Delvar looks relieved. “This here is Cushion. He’s one of the sons. And he be real soft like a pillow. And here’s his father fallin’ down, ’cause a bird drop him . . . and he land here on top of Cushion and don’t get hurt. He land soft.” In his excitement about the pictures, Delvar forgets his reticence and reveals his interest in the story with an accurate portrayal of the events. He also begins to express himself in longer sentences. The teacher tries again with oral reading. From the interaction so far, she is satisfied that Delvar understands the story events. “Why don’t I read this page and you read that one?” she suggests. “You can help me if I get stuck.” She begins to read: “Now Cushion ran to help . . . . ” The teacher pauses and points to the last word in the sentence. “Father,” Delvar says. Mrs. Gardiner continues on, “Very soft, Anansi . . . . ” She points the last two words.

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“. . . came down.” Delvar finishes. “Now you read and point to words for me to say,” the teacher suggests. Delvar shows some interest. He turns the page and begins reading. “They were very . . . . ” he pauses and the teacher reads “happy.” Delvar grins and continues. “. . . that spider family.” He turns the page again and continues reading. “All home again that . . . . ” “. . . night,” the teacher says. Delvar nods his head in teacher-like fashion to indicate that she is to continue. She reads “Kwaku Anansi found a thing in the . . . . ” Delvar fills in the word “forest.” “Now,” says Mrs. Gardiner. “Let’s try something else. What’s happening here on this page?” she asks. “Anansi found the moon,” he replies. “How does he feel about this?” the teacher asks. “Surprised. He want to give it to his sons.” “Can you read this sentence to show me he was surprised?” she asks. Delvar studies the three-word sentence. He takes a deep breath. “What is this?” he booms out. Several children sitting nearby are startled and glance up. The teacher smiles at them, and they return to their own reading. “Go on,” the teacher says. Delvar reads the sentence again, for effect. He is pleased with the way his voice sounds. “What is this?” he reads. “A great glob of light?” “Wonderful,” the teacher says. “I could tell you were surprised. Look at this word again. It doesn’t say ‘glob,’ but that’s very close. It says ‘globe.’ Can you tell me why?” Delvar studies the word. “I like ‘glob,’” he says. “It’s a good word,” the teacher agrees. “But ‘globe’ means something special about the moon. It means it’s round . . . all around, like a basketball. Remember how we looked at the United States on the globe?” She points out the globe in the library area. “Hmmm. Can I say ‘glob’ when I read it to myself?” he asks. “Certainly. That’s your privilege,” the teacher replies. “Can you show me the letter that makes this word say ‘globe’?” Delvar studies the word again. “E,” he says, pointing. “This e.” “Good for you!” the teacher says. “Let’s look at the front cover for a few minutes. Do you notice anything unusual about Anansi?” the teacher asks. Delvar studies the spider. “Shapes,” he observes. “Tell me about the shapes,” the teacher asks. “Well . . . . ” he pauses, tracing around the features of the spider. “Circles,” he says, pointing to the eyes. “Can you tell me a little more about the circles?” the teacher asks. “His eyes are circles . . . and these here on his nose. And these . . . are his eyebrows . . . they’re triangles . . . and his mouth has two triangles and these things on his chest . . . . ” “His markings?” “Yeah, his markings are triangles . . . . ” Suddenly, he notices that the spider’s body is a triangle too and points this out to the teacher. “What did you think about this book?” Mrs. Gardiner asks. “It was good.” “You know, some other people agree with you. How can you tell?”

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Delvar points to the silver Caldecott honor symbol in the upper righthand corner of the cover. “This gives you three Caldecott books on your list,” the teacher notes. “Do you remember the others?” Delvar leafs back through his notebook and indicates The Jazz Fly (Gollub, 2000) and Ten, Nine, Eight (Bang, 1983). His preference for bold shapes and color is evident. “What would you like to share about your book on Friday?” Mrs. Gardiner asks. Delvar hesitates. “Can I do something with Jose?” he asks. “Certainly,” she replies. “Be sure to tell me by Wednesday, so we know how much time to save for you. What do you plan to read next?” Delvar answers immediately. “Jose’s book.” “Dinosaur World [Santoro, 1997]?” she asks. “Yeah, the one with the little flaps, where it shows the bones,” he replies. “It sounds like you’re looking forward to reading it,” the teacher says. “Jose’s already read parts of it to me. I want to read it myself.” When Delvar returns to his table, Mrs. Gardiner makes a few notes on Delvar’s progress sheet in her three-ring notebook, in addition to the items she checked during the conference.

Behind the Scenes During her conference with Delvar, Mrs. Gardiner gained information about his development as a reader that might otherwise not be obvious in group instruction. She was able to observe that: • Delvar pays close attention to the details in illustrations, which helps him better understand the content of what he reads. • His oral reading difficulties are a matter of confidence, not lack of ability. • In a supportive context, his verbal proficiency in standard English is improving. • His comprehension of the story is good, and he is able to analyze words using rules. • He is very creative and likes bold, bright colors. If Delvar had participated in a traditional reading group, the teacher may have assumed that Delvar could not read aloud or express himself verbally. Delvar’s hesitancy to commit himself by speaking would also prevent a teacher from observing his skill in word analysis or his ability to interpret illustrations. Delvar went to a preschool where his English was constantly corrected. He subsequently reduced his schooltime speech to a minimum of words and short sentences to avoid this unpleasant response. Mrs. Gardiner understands his reaction and tries to provide a model for standard English while encouraging his fluency. She knows that Delvar needs to feel that he can express himself without penalty. When he listens to books read aloud by the teacher or on tape and immerses himself in the guided reading sessions with the teacher and other students, he has the opportunity to see and hear models of Standard English that he can adopt as the school language. His teacher respects the language

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of Delvar’s home and racial community. A member of the community herself, she sees her responsibility to Delvar as one of helping him master an additional form of English that will allow him to succeed in situations beyond his immediate neighborhood and family. Mrs. Gardiner is delighted when Delvar prefers the word “glob” to “globe.” It represents a highly personal transaction with the language in the story. He has publicly expressed a preference, something new to him and a sizeable risk. From their conversation, she is certain Delvar knows what the word says and can tell the difference between “glob” and “globe.” Delvar is hesitant to read aloud to the teacher. She moves him into the activity in gradual steps, by reading his favorite part of the book together. First, she encourages him to read words she leaves out. Then, Delvar directs the reading, indicating the words the teacher should read. This activity allows the teacher to evaluate Delvar’s performance in a nonthreatening way. Mrs. Gardiner helps Delvar explore the illustrations by asking him to describe the action and look more closely at details. He is drawn to the bright colors and geometric shapes and will look for the Ashanti designs in other books of African American stories. Although Delvar has strong preferences for the books he selects, he is also drawn to the books his friend Jose reads. This relationship is positive for both boys. Jose likes Delvar’s creativity, and Delvar explores books he otherwise might not select. The dinosaur book is somewhat above his reading level, but he will get enough help with the specialized dinosaur terminology from Jose.

A Primary Classroom: Sharing Ideas and Developing Skills Four third graders sign their names on the board under a picture of an open book, indicating that they are ready to talk about books they have read. If there is additional time, Mrs. Parks will ask for other volunteers. Most children are prepared for conferences on a daily basis. She rings a small bell, and Claire brings her book to the table. “I liked this book,” she begins, holding up Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story (Manushkin, 1990). “It’s about latkes [potato pancakes] and it made me hungry to read it.” “This sounds like a good book,” the teacher agrees. “What’s it about?” “Well . . . it’s about a family . . . they don’t have much food. They don’t even have applesauce and latkes for Hanukkah.” “That would be disappointing,” Mrs. Parks says. “But the name of the book . . . it’s a surprise. I bet you can’t guess.” “Well, I know that latkes and applesauce are special foods for Hanukkah,” the teacher ventures. Claire covers her mouth to keep the secret and giggles. “That’s not the surprise,” she says. “Now you’ve really got me interested,” the teacher says. “When will I know about this surprise title?” “When I read you my favorite part,” she replies.

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“I can’t wait!” the teacher says. “Why don’t you tell me a little about the story and why this family doesn’t have latkes and applesauce.” “Well . . . they’re poor . . . but they aren’t sad. They have a little food and they play dreidel and sing.” “They go ahead with the celebration anyway?” the teacher asks. “Yes, and they even share their little food with a dog and cat who come to the door.” “They sound like a kind family.” “And then the dog digs up potatoes in the snow, and the cat helps them find apples in the tree for applesauce.” “How wonderful! Then what happens?” “The mother makes latkes and applesauce for everybody.” “How does the story end?” “That’s the surprise part, the part I’m going to read,” she says, and begins to read aloud. She is excited about what she’s reading and reads very quickly. Then she stops, looks up at the teacher and says, “Oops!” She starts over, reading more slowly and pausing for dramatic effect in the part of the story that tells how the lost animals are named. The dog is called “Latke” because he found the potatoes and the cat is named “Applesauce” because she found the apples. “That is a surprise!” the teacher says. “Now when I look at the title of the book, it has a new meaning.” Claire beams. “Do you have some favorite pictures in this book?” the teacher asks. Claire opens the book to a marker. “These,” she says. The drawings portray the family and the kitten playing with a dreidel. “They look happy here.” “Is there any special reason you like this picture?” the teacher asks. “It looks like they’re all having fun. It’s how I feel when I play dreidel.” “Tell me some more about the picture.” “It’s kind of soft. It looks warm and cozy.” “What else do you like?” “It’s funny, too. Listen . . . . ” and she reads: “The little kitten spun the dreidel so well, she won two nuts and a raisin!” Mrs. Parks and Claire laugh together. “This looks like a special candleholder,” the teacher says, pointing to the picture. “It’s a menorah,” Claire explains. “We light the candles every night in Hanukkah.” “There’s a place for nine candles. Is there a special reason for nine candles?” the teacher asks. “There’s eight for the days the oil lasted in the Temple, a long time ago,” Claire replies. “The one in the middle is the shammes, the servant candle. It lights all the rest.” “Did you have any problems with particular words?” Mrs. Parks asks. Claire opens her Word Book. “These I didn’t know how to say,” she says, pointing to “furious” and “whistling,” “and these I didn’t know what they meant,” she adds, indicating “flickered,” “dwindling,” “sagely,” and “gazed.” “How did you figure them out?”

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“Well, this one says ‘furious,’” Claire explains. “I thought it said ‘fur-eus.’” She points out “furious blizzard” in the book. “I thought it must mean really windy, ’cause that’s what the picture shows. I looked it up in the dictionary and it means ‘stormy,’ but you say it different than I thought. It’s ‘fyoo-re-us.’” “Good for you,” the teacher says. “Can it mean anything else?” “My mom told me it means ‘really angry.’” “Can you use the word that way in a sentence?” the teacher asks. “When we track mud into the kitchen, my mom gets really furious,” she replies, grinning. “How did you find out what the other words meant?” the teacher asks. “I looked in the dictionary for ‘whistling’ and then I knew what it meant. And I asked my sister about ‘dwindling.’ I figured out what ‘gazed’ meant by the sentence. ‘Let us go out and gaze at the stars,’” she reads. “I thought it meant to look at the stars, and I was just about right. But it means to look at something for a while, to study it. My sister didn’t know what ‘sagely’ meant, so I asked my Dad. He said it meant ‘wise.’” “Did you write any sentences with the new words you discovered?” the teacher asks. “Here they are.” Claire hands her the Word Book, and Mrs. Parks looks at the sentences. “These look great,” she says. “Do you think you’ll be able to remember them if you want to use them sometime?” “I think so. I like ‘dwindling’ the best. It makes you smile.” Mrs. Parks looks puzzled. “Watch,” she says, “when you say it, it makes your mouth go in a smile,” and she says the word to demonstrate. Mrs. Parks laughs. “That’s an interesting observation,” she says. “I never thought about words creating facial expressions.” “The others do, too,” she points out. ‘Whistling’ makes you show your teeth.” Mrs. Parks laughs again. “This is a great discovery,” she says. “There’s another book over in the library you might like,” she adds. “It’s about Hanukkah too, and it’s funny.” Claire looks interested. “A grandmother can’t see too well and she mistakes a big bear for the rabbi,” the teacher says. “It’s called The Chanukkah Guest [Kimmel, 1988], and it has a picture of a bear with a red scarf on the cover.” “I’ll try it,” Claire says. “I like funny books.” “You were going to practice reading aloud to your family this week,” the teacher notes. “How did that go?” “We’re all reading My Side of the Mountain [George, 2001] together,” she explains. “And I’ve read two whole chapters.” “Good,” Mrs. Parks says. “Are you practicing your audience skills?” “Yes,” she replies. “I’m trying to read more slowly, so everyone can understand better.” “What do you plan to read next?” the teacher asks. “I’ve got a book in my desk about bats,” she replies. “It’s going to be my science information book.”

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Behind the Scenes In this 10-minute informal conference, Claire’s teacher was able to make the following observations: Claire’s ability to choose a book at an appropriate instructional level. Her approximate reading instruction level. Her word analysis skills and resources for finding word meanings. Some of Claire’s interests, experiences, values, and her sense of humor. • Her oral reading proficiency and reading comprehension skill. • • • •

Claire tends to read aloud as quickly as she reads silently. By asking her to read aloud to her family, the teacher is helping her develop a sense of audience. With this awareness, she will learn how to share her enjoyment of reading with others. Mrs. Parks has already noticed a difference when Claire reads aloud to her kindergarten Book Buddy and was pleased to see that she self-corrected when she read aloud during the conference.

An Intermediate Classroom: Encouraging Exploration and Reflection Madelyn brings a copy of Letters From Rifka (Hesse, 1998) to the reading conference with her sixth-grade teacher, Miss Tanaka. “This was a good book,” she begins. “It was kind of different . . . . ” “Different in what way?” the teacher asks. “Well . . . all the things she goes through . . . Rifka . . . the main character. You’d think the book would be pretty depressing. And it is, in parts. Terrible things happen to her. But in other ways, it seemed optimistic. She . . . Rifka . . . was really strong and you don’t feel sorry for her, even though she went through a lot.” “This sounds like a good story,” Miss Tanaka comments. “Why don’t you tell me about it?” “Well, like the title says, the book is all the letters that Rifka wrote to her cousin Tovah after her family left Russia in 1919 to go to the United States. They’re Jewish, and everyone persecutes them because someone told the peasants they were responsible for bad times. They have a terrible time getting out of Europe. The whole family gets typhus, and Rifka finally has to stay in Belgium by herself for a year because she has ringworm and they won’t let her into the United States. And the reason she got ringworm is because she helped a poor girl on a train fix her hair to look nice for her sister.” “It sounds like she had a difficult time.” “Really bad,” Madelyn agrees. “See, she writes these letters to her cousin, but she doesn’t send them. They kind of comfort her because she can pretend she’s talking to her cousin. She doesn’t have any paper, so she writes on the blank pages and in the margins of this book of poetry her cousin gave her before she left. ” Madelyn opens the book and indicates some lines at the beginning of the chapter. “This is the poet . . . Pushkin. I looked him up. He was a great Russian poet. His poems are sad though . . . there are parts of them at the beginning of each chapter.”

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“Why do you think the author used Pushkin’s poetry that way?” the teacher asks. “Well . . . it sort of makes you think a certain way before you read the chapter. It gets you in the mood.” “Did you find out anything else about the poet?” Miss Tanaka asks. “I looked him up in Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia [Benet, 1987],” Madelyn replies. “It said he was like Shakespeare to the Russian people. And I also found out that he wrote a novel in verse, called Eugene Onegin. I know that Tchaikovsky made an opera out of the story, because we listened to it on the radio a few weeks ago. And I found another one of his poems in an anthology.” She reads the poem aloud, and then comments, “He must have been a sad person . . . everything he writes is sad . . . some of the music in the opera seemed sad,” she observes. She tells the teacher about Pushkin’s early death as the result of a duel and then lapses into silence. Both teacher and student sit quietly for a moment. The teacher nods her head to acknowledge Madelyn’s feelings. “Everyone is looking for examples of similes in their reading this week,” the teacher says. “What did you find?” “Lots,” she says. “Here’s the first one I found. It’s when Rifka is trying to distract some soldiers away from a train where her family is hiding: ‘Inside I twisted like a wrung rag, but on the outside I held still.’ Then here’s another one. She’s telling about the guard at the train station as they were trying to escape from Berdichev where they lived. ‘His eyes were like the Teterev in the spring when the snow melts, churning with green ice.’” “Those are both very powerful,” the teacher agrees. “And listen to this one,” Madelyn says. “This is the best. It’s when Rifka is talking to the boy she takes care of on Ellis Island. She’s trying to get him to read.” I looked down at Ilya. “Read to them,” I ordered in Russian. “Show them that you are smart enough to live in America. I know how clever you are, Ilya. But Mr. Fargate needs to know. Your uncle needs to know too.” I looked back to where the uncle sat with his hat in his lap. The man’s eyes never left Ilya. He drank in the sight of his nephew the way a thirsty man pulls at a dipper of water. (p. 133)

“The last line I read . . . that’s the simile.” “Excellent,” the teacher says. “The examples you chose make me want to read the book.” Madelyn looks pleased. “We’ll be looking for metaphors next week,” Miss Tanaka says. “Do you remember what they are?” Madelyn consults her Word Book. “It’s when you say something is something else, to make it more interesting or vivid.” “Can you give an example?” Madelyn thinks for a minute. “The class is a sleeping dragon.” “I hope not!” the teacher exclaims. They both laugh. “Let’s get back to your book,” the teacher continues. “What did you most like about Rifka as a person?”

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“I liked that she was so strong. Things she went through . . . really scary things . . . and depressing. I would have just given up. But she kept going.” “Does she ever get to the United States?” the teacher asks. “Yes, finally,” Madelyn replies. “She has to stay in Belgium for a year until the ringworm is cured and then . . . ,” Madelyn laughs. “It really isn’t funny, but it’s like nothing can go right for her. She’s gets herself together and all these terrible things keep happening. The boat she’s on is caught in a storm, and a boy who really likes her is drowned. Then, the immigration officials won’t let her in because her hair hasn’t grown back in from the ringworm.” “Why is that important?” the teacher asks. “They’re afraid no one will want to marry her if she’s bald. Then the state will have to take care of her. Is that really true, Miss Tanaka?” Madelyn asks. “Did they really keep people out of America for reasons like that?” “Yes, it’s true,” the teacher replies. “There were so many people who wanted to come to America, it was necessary to make sure that they could take care of themselves once they were here. Remember that this was the early part of the century, and most women were economically dependent on their husbands.” “Well, the story gets better, anyway,” Madelyn says. “Rifka has to stay in a special hospital on Ellis Island while they decide what to do with her. She takes care of a little Russian peasant boy who has been sent to live with an uncle. The uncle never comes to visit him, and everyone thinks the boy is retarded because he never speaks. She reads her poetry book to Ilya and also some poetry that she’s written herself. You know that part I read to you before, about the uncle listening to Ilya read?” Miss Tanaka nods her head. “Well, that’s how Rifka helps Ilya get his admission papers. She shows he’s not retarded by making him read from her poetry book. He’s only 7 years old, so it shows he’s really smart and can take care of himself. Then Ilya shows the examiners how smart Rifka is by reading her poetry to them. They’re impressed because she’s so good in English and can speak other languages too. And she took care of everyone who was sick in her ward, so that shows she has other talents and can maybe even become a doctor. There’s a really good surprise at the end, too. Her hair finally grows back!” “It sounds like a lot goes on in this book,” the teacher says. “There’s more, too,” Madelyn says. “I didn’t even tell you about her brothers or how her mother treats her or what she did in Belgium.” “I’m just going to have to read the book myself,” Miss Tanaka says. “Did you find any words that were new to you?” “Lots,” Madelyn says. “But they were all interesting.” She reads her list and the definitions she found for each one: fumigate, typhus, Berdichev, Teterev, peruke, tallis, rucksack, Yiddish. “Did Rifka change in this story?” the teacher asks. “She learns to understand other people better as she goes along,” Madelyn says. “And she understands herself better too. At the beginning, people were either good or bad, but at the end she could see reasons for the way people acted. And she’s more sure of herself, too. Even if they won’t let her into the United States, she’s going to work out a plan for her life.” “Did any of the characters in the book remind you of anyone you know?” the teacher asks.

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“My older brother Mark reminds me of Rifka’s brother, Saul,” Madelyn says. “He teases me all the time and I think he really can’t stand me. But once somebody chased me at school, and I fell down and got a bloody knee. Mark took me to the nurse’s office and was really nice to me the whole time, like Saul was when Rifka had typhus.” “What do you think is the main idea of this book?” Miss Tanaka asks. “Well . . . I think it’s probably about prejudice. People were really bad to Rifka and her family because they were Jews and they blamed them for things that weren’t their fault. But Rifka saw that she had prejudice too, when she was afraid of people in other countries because some foreigners had treated her badly. When she went to Belgium and the people were kind, she had to change her mind. And she was angry at all Russian peasants because of what happened to her family. But she learned to love Ilya, even though Ilya was a peasant and the peasants drove her family out of Russia.” “Was there a message in this book?” the teacher asks. “To not make up your mind ahead of time how things are going to be. Get to know people and not judge them one way or the other because they belong to some group or another.” “Did the author give you any background on this story?” “Yes. In the beginning she tells how she got the story, from her greataunt. Then in the back, it tells how the Jewish people were driven out of Russia. The government made the peasants prejudiced against the Jews to take away their anger at the government. Then the peasants beat the Jews and burned their houses or even murdered them.” “Has the book been recognized in any way?” the teacher asks. “Lots!” Madelyn replies and she shows her the list on the back of the book that includes a Christopher Medal, an International Reading Association Award, and recognition as an American Library Association Notable Book, Best Book for Young Adults, and a School Library Journal Best Book. “Very impressive,” Miss Tanaka agrees. “Would you give this book an award?” “Definitely!” she replies. “It’s one of the best books I ever read. Are there any more books like this one?” “Alike in what way?” the teacher asks. “About how people react to war and hardship. Ones where girls are the heroes.” “I can think of several in our library that you might like,” Miss Tanaka says. “Would you like to write them down?” Madelyn takes out her notebook. “Year of Impossible Goodbyes [Choi, 1991] is about a young girl trying to escape from Korea after the Chinese Communists take over the country in 1945,” the teacher says, “and The Road from Home [Kherdian, 1992] tells about how the Armenians were driven from their homes in Turkey in 1915. The Devil’s Arithmetic [Yolen, 1988b] tells about a young Jewish girl who goes back in time to a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. I think you’d like any of these.” “Did any of them win any awards?” she asks. “All of them did,” Miss Tanaka replies. “I liked Number the Stars [Lowry, 1989],” she says. “Are these as good?”

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“I thought so,” said Mrs. Tanaka. “But you can let me know what you think, if you choose one to read. Have you decided what you’re going to share on Friday?” “I’m going to try something different,” she confides. “I hope everyone doesn’t laugh. Josh read the book already and he’s going to play the immigration official who questions Rifka. I’ll play Rifka, and I’m going to get my little Book Buddy, James, to play Ilya. We’re doing the scene in the book where Ilya shows he can read. We’re going to practice at noon.” “That sounds great,” the teacher says. “I don’t think anyone will laugh. Be sure to give the class enough background so they understand where this interview fits in the story.” The teacher hesitates. “Why do you think the class might laugh?” “Well, Rifka is bald and I’ll have to tie a scarf over my head and all.” “What will you do if they laugh?” “Just go on,” Madelyn says. “That’s what Rifka would do.”

Behind the Scenes In this conference, the student does most of the talking. Miss Tanaka asks Madelyn to reflect on both the content and style of the book, asking her why she believed certain elements were important and what message the author was trying to convey. As Madelyn talks about her interaction with the book, Miss Tanaka responds, inquires, and observes. Conferencing provides Madelyn the opportunity to ask Miss Tanaka questions, to check the credibility of what she has read. When she asks about the immigration rules, she is asking for confirmation from a previous generation: She wants to know if this was something that really happened and, if so, what the reasons were. The teacher asks questions to assess Madelyn’s understanding of character development and her personal identification with the story: Did any of the characters remind you of anyone you know? Did Rifka change in any way? From her conference with Madelyn, Miss Tanaka learned the following: • Madelyn has clearly grasped the main idea of the book and is able to make inferences, based on her knowledge of the story. • She understands the meaning of what she has read and is interested in exploring other books that deal with persecution and prejudice. She also wants to read more stories that demonstrate courage in girls. • She can analyze the character in the story in some detail and is able to recognize character growth. • She is alert to the use of figurative language and identifies excellent examples. • She is able to identify with the characters in the story and their motivations. • Her family background helps her make rich connections with her reading. Because they listen to opera as a family, she recognizes Pushkin as the author of the text on which the opera Eugene Onegin is based. It is obvious to the teacher that Madelyn has learned a great deal from this book. The poet Pushkin was introduced in a manner so integral to this exciting story that Madelyn was compelled to find out more about him

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and read some of his poetry. She gained new ideas about a time period and events in history and increased her knowledge about a geographical area. She added new words to her vocabulary and learned something about prejudice, the problems of immigration, and the causes and consequences of war. The book also provided her with a glimpse of medical knowledge and practice in the early part of the century. Most of all, Madelyn was attracted to the courage and persistence of the main character and a story that takes her beyond herself and her own experience. Madelyn’s experience with this book will add meaning to her future reading, increase her understanding of the human condition, and help develop the skills she needs to encounter gradually more difficult reading. It also helps establish the idea that difficult books are worth the effort. She will continue to explore award-winning books because they might have ideas worth knowing. Madelyn has prepared for this conference with the expectation of certain types of questions the teacher will ask. She has a copy of the general questions and knows that the teacher will inquire, not only for assessment purposes, but also because she is interested in what Madelyn has read. Students often extend their exploration and research so that they can share more interesting background about their book. With teachers like Miss Tanaka, they have an appreciative audience who will be just as excited as they are with their findings. At this level of reading, the teacher emphasizes literary elements and devices. Similes and metaphors were introduced in mini-lessons and literature study. Each week, students look for examples of one or more elements in their own reading, record them in their Word Books, and use them in their own writing.

The Importance of Individual Reading Conferences Students prepare for individual conferences by reading a book of their choice and preparing a short selection to read aloud to the teacher. They also research unfamiliar vocabulary words, analyze literary elements, and connect the story to their own experience. Most teachers encourage students to read in a different genre for each of these conferences and provide students with guidelines for analyzing and interpreting what they read. Students may bring questions and problems related to their reading to the conference, and the teacher will also note any difficulties observed as they discuss various elements of the book. In traditional reading programs, students usually meet in ability groups for instruction. They take turns reading aloud from a basal text, listen to instruction, and begin workbook or skill sheet assignments. When teachers are satisfied that students can complete these assignments independently, they dismiss the group to work on their own. Another group joins the teacher for a similar kind instruction at another level. In contrast, students who meet with teachers for individual reading conferences choose their own book to read and prepare their read-aloud

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selections carefully in advance, to demonstrate their best reading to the teacher. From the teacher’s own model of reading aloud, they will put great thought and effort into both the selection of this passage and their interpretative performance. They know that they are not just reading words, but sharing ideas and creating interest in the book they have read. The challenges they encounter in this reading will be their own, allowing the teacher’s assistance to be both specific and helpful. Because students will be developing skill to read what they want to read, they are highly motivated to identify and practice the skills that will help them achieve this goal. Teachers who use individual conferences are better able to assess the reading proficiency of individual students and more accurately judge their progress over a period of time. Students bring their favorite books to these conferences, which gives teachers information for selecting literature to meet individual interests. They also gain information about what students believe is important from these conversations and can more precisely identify areas of thinking that need encouragement or support. If they discover that a student needs to know a specific skill, they might teach it immediately and assign appropriate practice as a follow-up activity. If the skill or strategy requires additional time to explain or if several children could benefit from the instruction, the teacher will make a note to create a mini-lesson for a small group. If many students indicate the need for the information, she will conduct the mini-lesson for the entire class or include the skill in a guided reading session. Individual conferences allow students to choose what they want to read, to explore a variety of interests, and to read at their own levels. Independent work periods give them time to browse through many kinds of books to find one that interests them. And, unlike their counterparts in traditional classrooms, students can read as quickly or slowly as they are capable, with no penalty. As they prepare for conferences, students respond to guidelines that help direct their attention to details and encourage them to analyze the literary elements of a text. These individual interactions with books help students develop responsibility for their own learning and increase their autonomy as learners. While students meet with their teachers on a one-to-one basis, others in the classroom choose books they want to read, using a self-selection process, such as the rule of thumb described in Chapter 3. When they have read the book for pleasure, they begin to study it more closely and respond in writing to questions similar to those they have used in guided reading sessions. During independent work periods, students also practice reading aloud the passage they will share with the teacher and record any questions they have about their reading. If they have just completed an individual conference, they may practice a particular skill or strategy that will help develop their reading proficiency. Teachers create the independent work time environment in several different ways. Most provide a schedule of activities, some of which are completed by all students and others which are self-selected, according to need or interest. When all students participate in the same activities, the length of time spent on each task is determined by individual students. If an hour

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and a half is scheduled for reading conferences, students may be expected to read something of their own choosing for at least 20 minutes, spend approximately 15 minutes responding in writing to their reading, and 15 minutes on some form of practice to improve their reading skills. In the time remaining, students may choose to draw, paint, create a drama, or other response project. (See Chapter 10 for response suggestions.) They might also begin reading a new book, practice a reading skill, or prepare for an individual conference.

Preparing for Individual Reading Conferences Prepare the Entire Class A week before you plan to begin individual reading conferences, give each child a notebook to record their preparations and assignments. They should also have a printed list of preparation guidelines, which can be taped to the inside back cover or placed in the pocket of a three-ring binder. Explain that you want to meet with each student at least once a week during the school year to discuss one of the books they are reading. This book should meet the test of the “rule of thumb” for a challenging book, that is, at least three fingers down when they read two pages from the middle of the book. This means that the book will help them grow as readers—they will learn new words, comprehend new ideas, and increase their understanding of the books they read. Tell your students that you want them to share interesting features of the book, and talk about some of the topics listed on the Student Preparation for Conferences sheet (see Appendix D). Go over each of the questions, and ask them if they can imagine responding to them from a book they have read. Make certain that they understand each question by asking students to give examples. Explain that you will occasionally mark on a form or write brief notes during the conference, but that these are not grading marks. These notations will help them remember the skills they have achieved and remind them about areas where you can offer assistance. Tell students that at the close of the conference, you will discuss areas for practice, which they will write down in their reading notebooks and use for reference during independent study time. Ask them to complete a memo at least a day before they will be having a conference so that you can preview the book they will be talking about (see sample memo in Appendix D). Be sure to ask if there are any questions. There is usually a great deal of curiosity about these conferences at the primary level, and students can be engaged at the beginning on a voluntary basis. A simple invitation like “Who would like to go first?” usually garners at least five or six volunteers. Later, you can ask “Who is ready for a conference?” and get the same results. At the intermediate level, students may be initially more cautious because of peer expectations. It is not cool to be too eager. In this event, you could take the class alphabetically or have students

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draw numbers to establish the sequence for the first conferences. As students experience the positive effects of conferences, they line up to volunteer. When everyone understands the purpose of the conferences, review the independent study time procedures with the entire class. Make sure that everyone knows what to do and understands that the conferences are not to be interrupted except for emergencies. Some teachers check in with every student, asking them to announce their plans for the independent work period. Others ask students to submit their plan in writing, believing that this helps them organize their thinking about the work time. If centers are used, this is the time to present any information that will be necessary to use them. Guidelines for independent work should be posted in the classroom, and all activities must be self-directed. This means that directions and materials necessary for participation must be in place before conferences begin, to avoid any unnecessary interruptions. You will want to rehearse this independent study time with your students, so that you can observe possible problems and help students gain experience working in a self-directed fashion. If all students will be completing the same kinds of activities, such as reading silently, practicing skills, writing in journals, or working in groups, this schedule should also be rehearsed for at least a week, or until everyone feels comfortable with it and is able to function independently. When problems arise, discuss them with the class. Ask how they can solve the dilemma of a group that is talking too loudly in the back of the room, and to identify the kinds of problems that are serious enough to warrant interrupting a conference. Many teachers place a small bell near their conference book and use it sparingly to remind students to respect the conference times of others. Students should know in advance what they should do if someone comes to the door during a conference, if someone feels ill, or there is an accident. They should also have a nonintrusive way to notify the teacher if someone is talking too loudly or bothering others who are trying to work. It is important to role-play possible situations and ask for ideas. As much as possible, involve students in creating guidelines for the independent work period. These kinds of discussions help students realize that they not only own the problems, but also have the ability to help address their solutions. One way to begin this process is to discuss the benefits of individual conferencing and independent study, which include: • Uninterrupted time with the teacher. (You might want to role play this so students can experience how it feels to be interrupted.) • Time to read books of their own choosing; opportunities to practice skills that will improve their ability to read whatever they want. • Opportunities to respond to books in ways that they choose: art, drama, music, crafts. When students are asked to brainstorm ways to support these benefits for everyone, they usually generate rules similar to the following: • • • •

Have a plan. Don’t disturb anyone else. Finish independent work first. Consult others when their plans involve yours.

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Help Individual Students Get Ready Guidelines for the student’s preparation for a conference complement those used by the teacher. Their purpose is to provide direction to students preparing for conferences during independent work time. As children gain experience with conferences, these guidelines will help them interact with their books in an analytical and reflective manner. Samples of primary and intermediate level student preparation guidelines can be found in Appendix D. There are also sample forms to help students identify the various genres in their reading. In the beginning, you may want to indicate certain items that will be asked of every student. Later, you will know from past conferences the types of questions that will provide the most information for individual students. After you have seen every student the first time, they should sign up for subsequent conferences on a weekly basis. Some teachers have a weekly or monthly calendar on their desk or the bulletin board where students can enter their names on a preferred date. Others ask children to move an index card with their name on it to a file box, while still others ask children to write their names under a conference title on the blackboard. Reading conferences represent a sample of a student’s reading interests and skills. Students read all week, to pursue individual interests during independent reading, to research ideas of interest in theme or content area studies, and to explore the various genres of literature. From this broad range of reading, they select something they especially like to share with the teacher. For 5 to 10 minutes, they have the teacher’s undivided attention, and most students give this time their full effort in terms of preparation. They examine the literary elements of what they are reading and practice strategies that develop their ability to interact with literature. When this analysis and skill building is based on material chosen by the student, the reading process becomes more meaningful.

Presentation: The Individual Reading Conference When you are confident that your class can work independently for a period of time, you are ready to begin preparing for individual conferences. It is important to find an area in your classroom where you will have some privacy with each student during your conversation. A small table and two chairs located in one corner of the room is a preferable arrangement. This will allow you to sit next to the student and share the book. It also provides a surface for your conference notebook. You should be able to hear what is going on in the classroom and students should be able to see you, but not hear the conversation of the conference. Avoid sitting near any place students must go regularly for any reason, such as any of the centers, the restroom, the door, or the pencil sharpener. One of the most basic and important ways you can prepare for all your reading conferences is to read as widely as possible. The more books you have read, the more you will be able to interact thoughtfully with the materials

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your students bring to conferences. When students express an interest in a topic or author, you will know other books to suggest. Of course, you can also look up these topics and authors in your reference books, but a wide acquaintance with books allows you to recommend them out of your own experience.

Begin the Conversation Open your conference book on the table, desk, or your lap so that you can see the questions easily and enter data as needed. Call or nod your head at the first conferee and you have begun. Be sure to welcome the student and indicate where he or she is to sit. Begin by asking a question like: “Tell me about this book,” “What did you like best about this book?” or “This looks like an interesting book. I’d like to hear about it.” You may feel a little nervous about conferences in the beginning, but this will get better as students begin talking about their books and you will become less self-conscious as the conversation progresses. It is important to set a limit on the conference, because you could spend at least a half hour with each student once you have begun to discuss the features of the book. Begin with a 10-minute limit, but try not to hurry. If you do not get every question asked during each conference, make a note to ask it the next time. Listen carefully to student responses. This is where you gain information about understanding and skill progress. Remember that eye contact will show the student you are interested in what he or she is saying. Nod appreciatively when appropriate, and respond to what they have to say. The first conference is essentially a “get acquainted” meeting, to establish a pattern of expectations. If a student has not prepared well, tell them what they might do for the next time. They might need to practice their oral reading selection at home, or into the tape recorder, or with a reading partner. Perhaps they did not understand the questions. Be clear about what you expect from them, and recheck their understanding before they leave the conference. When you ask questions during the conference, your first purpose will be to assess the student’s involvement with the book. The way you ask questions and respond to student answers will also influence the quality of your discussion. • Give time for students to answer. Avoid rapid-fire questions and encourage thoughtful and reflective answers. • Encourage original answers. Comment positively on creative responses or responses new to you, with remarks such as: I never thought of it that way. That’s really a new way of looking at the whole problem. • Be genuine. Ask questions because you really want to know the student’s ideas, not ones to help them guess what you have in mind. For example, you might ask a student what they think about the main character or about a particular experience they had with the book.

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• Encourage students as they talk to you by asking them to continue what they are talking about—tell you what happened next, describe how they think the characters felt, and why they think certain things happened. There are four major categories of questions that will help you evaluate student involvement with a book. Try to discover something about their personal response to the story or presentation, their comprehension of major ideas, their mechanical proficiency in observing details and decoding unfamiliar words, and their oral reading ability. In Appendix E, you will find a list of questions that will help you assess skills in these four categories. You may want to add other categories to fit your particular situation, but these cover the basic areas of reading skill development. Choose just a few from each section, and rotate them on successive conferences.

Ending the Session Terminating a good conversation about a book is sometimes difficult. Children typically have many ideas to share, and you do not want to dampen their spirits or enthusiasm. On the other hand, having time limits makes the entire process work. The main goal is to bring the conference to a conclusion in a satisfying way. One way to do this is to set a small timer at the beginning of the conference. When it rings, this will remind both you and the student that there are 2–3 minutes of time remaining and the interview must be wrapped up. During this brief concluding time, describe what the student accomplished in the conference, give a personal response to these efforts, and make any necessary assignments:

Summarize “You shared a lot of information with me about whales. You’ve learned about where they live, how they communicate, and why they’re endangered. You also showed me how you figured out many technical terms. I really enjoyed the part you read to me about whales singing.” “Thanks for sharing your book about the daughter of Chief Joseph. You told me a lot about Native American life and why you’re so interested in it. You also did good background research about the Nez Perce. I enjoyed it all.” “You put a lot of work into this conference. It was a difficult book to read, and you had to look up many words to understand it. You also figured out some complex maps and charts to show me where the ship sailed.”

Show Personal Interest “You really chose a challenging book. I can tell you learned a great deal from it.” “This was really an interesting conference.”

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“You got me so interested in this book, I want to read it myself.” “Our conversation about this book makes me want to read it again.” “I can tell that you really liked this book.” “It’s obvious that you did a lot of preparation for this conference.” “You really like stories about space, don’t you? What do you plan to read next?” “Our time is up for now, but I’ll look forward to hearing about your next book.”

Make Assignments As you discuss any assignments with a student, make certain that students record them in their literature notebook or journal. Immediate “We worked today on finding the number of syllables in a word. When you go back to your desk, write a list of 10 favorite words from your book and put the number of syllables in each word next to it. Put the paper on my desk for checking.” Weekly “While you’re reading this week, see if you can find some examples of onomatopoeia [words like buzz, smack, clap]. Write down anything you find in your notebook and bring it to your next conference.” For Review “You were really enthusiastic about your story today, but you’re having trouble remembering how the plot progresses and the order of events. Go back and review the important parts of the story, so that you know what happens after the shots are fired at Lexington, where the boy spends the rest of the day, and how he finally finds his way home. Write down a few brief notes to help you remember the sequence.” When There Is a Lack of Preparation “There are some things you need to practice to improve your reading. Would you like to read this book again to practice these things or choose a new one?” The Book Chosen Is Too Difficult “This book may be too difficult for right now. Choose a new one you’d like to read, and we’ll do the rule of thumb on it together.” (Review self-selection techniques.) Repeated Difficulty in Choosing Books “Here are three books about dinosaurs (cars, space, pioneers). Choose one that you like.” (Provide books at an appropriate reading level in the student’s area of interest.)

Help Everyone Participate At whatever level you teach, you will find that some students are distracted during these independent work sessions. But, many children who do not pay attention to reading activities may simply lack experience with books. Those who have been read to at home usually become immediate and attentive listeners when the teacher opens a book to read aloud. They look forward to independent reading because it gives them time to enjoy the books they want to read. From personal experience, they associate pleasure with reading and know how to respond to these familiar activities. If these activities have not been part of children’s experience, they may resist reading or ignore it. Individual conferences allow teachers to begin

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at the beginning with these students by providing them individual time and attention with books. These conversations can help students see books and reading in a new light, as the teacher becomes better acquainted with their needs and interests. It is especially important for beginning readers to supplement these conferences with book buddy paired reading and the individual attention of an aide or parent volunteer who can read aloud to individual children and talk with them about their books. If you have children who must always be in your line of sight, such as the students with chronic illness, severe disability, or attention deficit disorder, you can place them somewhere close to you so that they are in your peripheral (side) vision at all times and you can be aware of any emergencies or problems. Some teachers supply these students with a small bell to ring if they should experience a physical difficulty during conferencing. A positive benefit of individual conferences is the opportunity to identify vision problems. When children hold the book too close, squint to make out words, have difficulty tracking words across a page, or blink repeatedly, you will want to record the particular difficulty and report the symptoms to a parent and the school nurse. If you suspect they might have a speech or hearing problem, you can also contrast the attentiveness and interactive levels of children between conference times and whole class activities. Individual conferences will also help you better evaluate students who are hesitant to speak in groups, who have difficulties expressing themselves, or who are just beginning to learn English. If your school has an inclusion program, you may have students with more severe physical, emotional, or mental challenges. But, you will also have a special education teacher or aide who will help attend to these special needs. The purpose of inclusion is to allow all students to participate as fully as possible in a classroom with age-level peers. Providing equal access to the curriculum requires team planning, and many teachers find that this program offers them new ideas and extra help in planning activities for the entire classroom.

Evaluating the Individual Reading Conference Evaluation of reading conferences helps you plan additional instruction— individual, small group, and whole class. After you have carefully reviewed the curriculum objectives for your grade level, use them to create a checklist and duplicate the list for every student in your classroom. Place the name of each student at the top of a separate page, and place these forms in a three-ring notebook. You can record skills across the top of a page in a standard grade book to record student skill achievements across the class. Provide your students with guidelines to help them prepare for their individual conferences. The sample guidelines in Appendix D of this text are designed to help students identify the genres they are reading and assist them as they organize their preparation for the conference. These can be taped inside students’ literature notebooks or punched and placed in threering binders, for future reference.

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Assemble a list of questions to ask your students about their reading, and duplicate enough of these lists to have at least a month’s supply on hand. For each conference, place the question form and the skill checklist so that they open in the notebook facing each other. This allows you to move back and forth easily between questions and the checklist. From the information gained in these individual conferences, you will discover the particular skills students need to learn. When a student indicates individual reading skill needs, as recorded in your checklist, this information and related skill assignments can be offered directly during the reading conference. As indicated in Chapter 6, when a number of students indicate that they need instruction in a particular area, you can create a mini-lesson, drawn from the need to understand a particular concept or practice a particular skill. In each case, however, the instruction should be related directly to favorite literature and students should have sufficient time to practice the new skill or strategy.

Build Partnerships Many parents, especially those with children at the kindergarten and primary levels, will approach you to ask how they can help their child succeed in school. Using the information you gain from individual reading conferences, you can provide direction for parents at any level who want to assist their children’s reading development. At the beginning of the year when you meet with parents or in a letter sent home, you can tell them you will be assigning homework that will help develop the reading skills of each child in the classroom. Explain that homework assignments will rotate among such activities as reading aloud to someone in the family, recording oral reading, reading independently, writing for a purpose, and practicing skills and strategies that will help them become better readers and writers. Enclose copies of any checklists you will be using to evaluate student progress and student guidelines for independent conference preparation. Let them know that a copy of the student guidelines will also be taped inside their conference notebooks. Inform parents that you will give students an assignment for skill or strategy practice at the close of each conference period. Intermediate level students will record these assignments in notebooks, but at the kindergarten and early primary levels, the assignment will be written on an index card and placed inside a favorite book to take home. Tell parents they can help their child develop their reading skills by asking them to discuss what they need to practice and observing this practice for a few minutes each day. You might also ask parents to encourage their child to read aloud to them from a chapter book each night. For busy parents, this reading can accompany the preparation of a meal, washing dishes, or folding clothes. Children enjoy reading to their parents, and parents will find these sessions equally rewarding.

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If This Is Your Situation Some schools require the use of basal reading materials for instruction. It is possible to use these materials and still retain the individual reading conferences for your students. Instead of meeting in small ability groups, students can choose stories in the reader for their conferences. Many basal programs currently draw their excerpts from good children’s trade books, and you can encourage children to explore the books from which the excerpts are taken. Other programs feature collections of paperback books, which can be used both for individual and guided reading. As they are needed by individual students, duplicated materials and workbooks can be used for practicing specific skills. If you modify a school reading program, it is important to reassure supervisors and parents that students will be learning the same skills as effectively as they would under the standard program. You can do this by putting your plan in writing, describing what you will be doing and how you will be utilizing the materials provided by the district. If you use a checklist of the curriculum objectives for each student in your class, you will also be able to document student progress and achievement in an impressive way. It is important to maintain good communication with parents, by involving them in practice and enrichment activities with their children’s reading. Principals and supervisors appreciate hearing success stories and will usually support alternative approaches to using materials if they are kept informed.

Reflections (Patricia Sheahan, Second-Grade Teacher) Many children in my class receive help from Chapter and LD resource programs. I involve these children in hands-on activities for immediate success, because paper-and-pencil tasks often defeat and discourage these children. Learning centers allow active children to be out of their seats, participating in a variety of activities in a cooperative context. I also observe the attraction between these children and particular authors, and then make sure that many of these authors’ books are available. I believe that students learn best when they are involved in activities that are both purposeful and functional in their daily lives. The classroom needs to be full of print: books, magazines, dictionaries, encyclopedias, newspapers, telephone books, menus, maps, posters, and labels. All kinds of bulletin boards, charts, and signs should provide interesting information to read, and there should be as many opportunities as possible for children to interact with computers, audiotapes, and hands-on science activities. I keep a notebook divided into sections for each child. I date and write comments on various skills: writing sentences; spelling; newspaper activities; creating story maps; math skills; grammar skills; understanding in content areas. I observe children closely when they are working at the centers or

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are engaged in reading or writing activities. Then, I use this information to create mini-lessons that one or more of the children may need. The first year that I moved toward a more integrated language approach in my classroom, I occasionally wondered if all the skills were being presented as thoroughly as they had previously been. In early March, our school district administered the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. As I gave the directions, one of my students excitedly announced, “Mrs. Sheahan, we did this in a mini-lesson!”

A Perspective on Individual Reading Conferences (Lev Vygotsky, Language Theorist) Lev Vygotsky (1962), a language theorist, believes that we develop thought and language as we interact with others. According to Vygotsky, this explains why talking and writing about ideas often leads to a better understanding of them. Vygotsky also believes that language helps create a distance from experiences that allows us to think about them and select those that are useful in a new context. Individual reading conferences encourage students to reflect on what they have read. They respond to questions about their reading, write down their responses, and interact with their teachers on a one-to-one basis that encourages the development of speaking skills. This process of interpreting the ideas of a book to themselves and to another person adds meaning to their individual reading experience and provides new ideas that will enrich their future reading.

What Research Says About Individual Reading Conferences One of the most valuable benefits of individual reading conferences is the bond that develops between teacher and student as they talk about books together. This is one occasion when an individual student has the teacher’s full attention to talk about something that interests them. The teacher, in turn, has the opportunity to get acquainted with individual students, in a way not possible in the context of the entire class. As they talk together about the meaning of stories and share what is important about life, a relationship develops that carries over into other parts of the school day. New understandings are created between persons of any age when they share a funny poem or talk about how a powerful book affected them. Karen Gallas (1994) suggests that teachers play a key role in helping students respond to literature by providing many opportunities for them to respond, by talking, writing, drawing, and dramatizing their responses. Cochran-Smith (1984) observed that teachers also assist students in developing their levels and proficiency of responses by modeling the response of a mature reader.

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Heath (1983) found that teachers help children develop their reading skill by discussing the meaning of words in stories and by helping expand the ideas of the text. By conjecturing, making connections between elements of the story and experience, asking questions aloud, and demonstrating appreciation for literature, teachers encourage their students’ active participation in the reading process. Teachers further support student responses by encouraging experimentation and by valuing the diversity of student contributions. James Britton (1968) believes that the goal of teaching should be “to refine and develop responses the children are already making” rather than to instruct those responses. Cochran-Smith (1984) observed that teachers help children respond to literature by acting as a mediator, helping them learn to take knowledge they have to make sense of the books they read. Teachers help children apply meanings gained from books to their own lives and add to their knowledge of how to respond as a listener by modeling their own responses. They also ask questions that signal appropriate feelings. Kiefer (1988) found that language used by teachers to talk about books is adopted by students and that open-ended discussion strategies encourage a wide variety of listener responses. Hickman (1981), who pioneered the study of children’s responses to literature in naturally occurring contexts, found that teachers who discuss books with children often use critical terminology to help support children who have an idea, but need words to express that idea. In the Primary Classroom narrative at the beginning of the chapter, Delvar spoke of a shape on Anansi’s back, which the teacher gave a name—“marking.” He picked up the word and used it to express his idea in his response. Hickman also found that children more readily express their responses to literature when they have the book in hand. More reflective thinking (artwork, writing, discussion) emerges when children have direct access to the books they are responding to.

For Your Personal Library Keep one or more of these references on your desk to use as introductory material when you read aloud from a favorite author or for students to borrow as they prepare for individual reading conferences. The Sixth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators, edited by Connie Rockman (2005), is a collection of personal autobiographical statements by children’s authors and illustrators. Most libraries have copies of the entire set, beginning with The Junior Book of Authors, published in 1935. Entries are arranged in alphabetical order. There is also a helpful index and a cross-reference for pen names. Multicultural Voices in Contemporary Literature (1994) by Francis Ann Day, a handbook designed for teachers of intermediate and middle school students, describes the lives and work of 39 authors and illustrators. It includes bibliographies, author birthdays, and activities. This is a good

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reference for expanding understanding of writing styles, language subtleties, and worldviews. The Big Book of Picture-Book Authors & Illustrators (Preller, 2001) contains biographies of 75 children’s favorite authors and illustrators. This inexpensive book is one that can be read aloud to a class or used by older students as a reference for author studies. Meet the Authors and Illustrators, Volume 1, Grades 1–6 (Kovacs & Preller, 1999) is a collection of profiles of 60 favorite authors and illustrators, which can be used as a helpful reference by teachers or students. The book also includes writing activities, bibliographies, and a special birthday index. Each entry includes a picture, selected titles, descriptions of the author or illustrator’s life, challenges they faced in writing or illustrating, and suggestions for young artists or writers to try on their own. This feature of the book is excellent and provides an artist’s perspective on the creative process. Meet the Authors, Grades 5–8 (Kovacs, 1999) is a volume similar to the one above. It provides readers with biographical information and interviews with favorite authors of this age group.

Try Out the Chapter Ideas • Read a favorite picture book, a short novel, and a longer novel. Choose both fiction and nonfiction examples. Respond to a question from each category on your list: comprehension, vocabulary, word analysis, study skill, interpretation. Notice the questions that most interested you and the ones that made you think about what you had read. • Observe someone else conducting a conference, either a teacher or a classmate. • Conduct a conference with a classmate. Take turns asking questions and taking notes on your observations. • From one of the books you read above, practice making connections between the story and your own experience. Observe the kinds of ideas or memories the book created for you. Make a note of the particular experiences you brought to this book that made it meaningful (living in the city, wanting a dog, feeling lonely).

CHAPTER EIGHT

Writing to Create Meaning

In This Chapter How independent reading improves the quality of writing How writing for an audience improves skills Information that teachers gain from individual writing conferences How teachers and students prepare for successful writing conferences Using writing portfolios to create a historic record of writing development • Ways that developmental spelling helps create fluent writers • Using student self-evaluation as a tool for improving writing performance • • • • •

The Main Idea Writing is not only a physical and mental exercise, but it is also a way to think and thus a way to learn. Students use writing to organize, analyze, and explore ideas. They also use writing to express, edit, and revise their knowledge of subject matter and all aspects of life.

In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: Captions “Did you bring some writing to show me?” Mrs. Morning Light asks. Bright Feather hands her a detailed picture of warriors on horseback hunting buffalo. “Tell me about your picture,” the teacher says, and Bright Feather tells her an extended story that reaches beyond the picture into preparation for the hunt, the participants, and the eventual conclusion. 185

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“And what do you call your picture?” she asks, when he has finished describing it. “Buffalo Hunt,” he says proudly, indicating the words at the top of the page. “My sister showed me the letters for ‘buffalo’ and I spelled ‘hunt’ myself, except she said to make the H a big letter.” “I like your picture,” Mrs. Morning Light says. “It has much life in it.” Bright Feather nods modestly. “Your letters are easy to read,” the teacher says. She pulls a paper from Bright Feather’s portfolio. “Look at this paper you wrote last month, and tell me the ways you have improved,” she says, handing him the paper. Bright Feather examines the two papers carefully. “This B,” he says, pointing to the first letter in his title. “It’s better.” “How is it better?” the teacher asks. “It’s bigger than the other letters.” He points to the letter B he wrote to caption a picture called “Bright Feather’s Brothers,” where the capital letters were the same size as the lowercase letters. “I can tell that you’ve been working hard on that,” the teacher says. “Why is it important for readers to see capitals?” she asks. “They’re signals,” Bright Feather replies. “What kind of signals are these?” the teacher asks, pointing to the title “Bright Feather’s Brothers.” “Title signals,” he replies, “and names, too.” “And these?” she asks, pointing to “Buffalo Hunt.” “It’s a title signal,” he replies. “What else has improved?” the teacher asks. Bright Feather looks closely at the two papers. “This a is better,” he concludes. “It’s closed on top so it doesn’t look like a u.” “You observe very well,” the teacher says. “Did you bring some sentences to show me?” Bright Feather hands her a piece of lined paper with two sentences written on it. The letters are nicely formed, but the spacing is somewhat uneven. “Show me your best word,” she asks. Bright Feather considers this and points to “Hunter.” “What would you like to improve?” she asks. “I can’t make the words stay on the line too good,” he says, indicating two words that float above the line. “Why is that important?” Mrs. Morning Light asks. “It’s harder to read,” he answers. “What can you do?” the teacher asks. “Practice,” he responds. “Sometimes it helps to think about the line when you write the first letter in the word,” the teacher suggests. “Try writing ‘buffalo’ for me right now, and see if this helps.” Bright Feather puts his left finger on the line, and then positions his pencil right next to it. The B sits nicely on the line. “That worked well,” teacher comments. “Can you get the others to rest next to the B?” With great effort, Bright Feather completes the word and successfully places all the letters on the line. He holds up the paper and examines it.

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“Does your work please you?” the teacher asks. Bright Feather nods, and takes his paper back to his table to continue practicing.

Behind the Scenes Daily monitoring of individual student writing gives Mrs. Morning Light a good idea of her students’ writing skills. As she assists them in their writing, she is also helping students develop skills of evaluation. She models the use of portfolios by asking Bright Feather to compare previous work with his current writing, so that he is aware of the progress he is making. She helps him assess his work in terms of how well it communicates his ideas, and it is in this context that the teacher discusses capital letters, emphasizing their use as signals to give information to the reader. Since the beginning of the year, students have discovered capital letters in their own and others’ names, in the titles of stories, and in the names of events, places, and specific things. This activity seems to heighten student awareness of capital letter use, both in their reading and their own writing. From this conference, it is evident that this teacher encourages her students to consult a variety of resources for assistance in writing. Children are given many opportunities to read their writing aloud to each other and to consult each other about the spelling of words. Picture dictionaries, Big Books, and language experience charts of all kinds can be found in the reading and writing centers and other places throughout the room. A poster in the writing center reminds students of these resources, with pictures of family members, friends, reference books, charts, and books that students can refer to as they compose their ideas.

A Kindergarten Classroom: Key Words “What word do you want this morning, Ethan?” Mrs. Bell asks. Ethan is jumping up and down with excitement. It is obvious that he has been ready for this question since he arrived at school. “James!” he says, “James that starts with a J, a capital J!” “Is this a special name?” Mrs. Bell asks. “My new baby brother!” he announces. “His name is James, and I’m going to write him a letter.” “A good idea,” Mrs. Bell agrees. “Everybody in our family is writing a letter for his baby book, and I want to write my own.” “Good for you!” Mrs. Bell says. “You’ve already told me how ‘James’ begins . . . with a J,” she begins. “I wonder if you can hear any other sounds?” She prints a capital J on a 3 × 8 strip of tagboard. “J . . . a . . . m . . . e . . . s.” Ethan says the name slowly. “There’s an a. I can hear an a.” “Good for you,” Mrs. Bell says and she prints a lowercase a. “An a is next. What else?” “Mmmm,” he replies, thinking. “Did you check the alphabet?” the teacher asks. “Get your mouth ready to make the mmm sound.”

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Ethan looks at the large, colorful picture and letter cards that ring the room. He nods his head in the rhythm established by the daily review of letter sounds. “A . . . apple, angel too; B . . . bear, bat, and boo!; C . . . caterpillar, circus, clown; D . . . dinosaur, digging, down . . . . ” He reaches M and rehearses “M . . . mountain . . . it’s m! M is next!” he says. “Wonderful!” Mrs. Bell comments, adding a lowercase m to the word. She waits. “Anything else?” “That’s all I hear,” he replies. “Can you hear any other sound at the end of ‘James’?” she asks. He repeats the word to himself and nods. “Jamessss. There’s an s.” “Great!” Mrs. Bell replies, “there certainly is an s.” She writes the s, leaving room for another letter to precede it. “Let’s look at your word,” Mrs. Bell says, and she points to each letter, saying the sound. “These are all the sounds you can hear. But right now the word says ‘jams.’ How can you make this a say its name?” Ethan looks puzzled. “There’s a letter missing,” he observes. “Yes,” the teacher agrees and she waits. “Does it say a sound?” he asks. “No,” she answers, “but you’re on the right track.” “It doesn’t say a sound,” Ethan thinks out loud. “Why don’t you look through some of your other words for a clue?” she suggests. “Or on one of the charts in the room,” and she gestures toward the winter weather words. Ethan reaches down to his belt to retrieve his other key words, which are fastened together with a metal ring to the belt loop on his pants. He looks through the words, stopping at one that says “game.” “Maybe this one,” he says. “What about this one?” Mrs. Bell asks. “Well, a says its name,” he replies. “Who helps a says its name?” she asks. A grin breaks out on Ethan’s face. “It’s e!” he says. “Silent e, the Enforcer. It makes a say its name!” The teacher prints an e in the space and says “James,” running her finger beneath the word as she says it. Ethan takes the word. “James,” he says proudly, and traces each letter with his finger. Mrs. Bell watches him form the letters. “If you move back up the line when you make this letter,” she says, demonstrating the formation of lowercase m, “it’s easier to write.” Ethan traces the word two more times. Each time, he says the letter as he traces it. Then, he runs his finger underneath the word, imitating the action of the teacher. “I’m going to use it now,” he says and returns with all his words to a table to write the letter to his new brother. As he writes, he asks for additional words from other students and the classroom aide. He also consults several of the many charts around the room that contain words he wants to use. Cheri is next up to the writing center. She asks for a four-syllable dinosaur name that she heard on a science program. She hears most of the sounds,

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but Mrs. Bell shows her the silent p in “pterodactyl” and the y that sounds like short i. Cheri’s other words, which she keeps in a wide, dark-lined primary tablet, include the names of other dinosaurs: Tyrannosaurus rex, Triceratops, and Stegosaurus. On the back of each sheet, she has asked the teacher to write what each name means: king of the terrible lizards, three-horned face, and so on. Cheri is partially sighted, but she has read since she was 4 years old. She can find most of the words she wants to use in her writing by searching for them in books or on the charts, but interacting with the teacher for special words helps her build her word analysis skills. While he waits his turn, Juan works with the classroom aide, practicing words for the objects he has pointed out in the room on previous days. He has accumulated 20 words, in addition to his stack of “at home” cards which he takes home every night to share with his family, who have recently arrived from Guatemala. The cards he has added this week have the names of household furniture and appliances, such as bed, table, chair, sofa, refrigerator, stove. The aide hands Juan a word, printed with black marking pen on an index card. He looks at the word carefully, then places it appropriately in the room. This is an exercise they do every morning. When he is finished, he will have distributed cards that say: book, bookcase, library, bathroom, coatroom, floor, wall, paper, pencils, crayons, door, window, blocks, train, car, and playhouse. Another activity that both he and his classmates like to play is the Name Game, which will follow the key word exercise. Each child has a sign to wear for the game that has his or her name on it. Someone collects the signs and puts them in the middle of a circle. One by one, they pick a sign and try to figure out who it belongs to. Students also practice the Picture Matching game during free time, a favorite activity of small groups of children. On a bulletin board, there is a picture of each student glued to a pocket made by stapling an index card to the surface. Each pocket holds another card placed vertically and labeled with the name of a student in the classroom. Players remove all the cards and try to match the names with the faces. As Juan approaches the teacher’s table, he pulls out a picture from his pocket and smoothes it flat. It is an advertisement for Disney World, and he points to the figure of Mickey Mouse. “Who is this, Juan?” the teacher asks. “Rato . . . Mouse. His name . . . Mickey. His word, please.” “Wonderful!” Mrs. Bell says. “This is Mickey Mouse. Is that what you want, Juan? ‘Mickey Mouse’?” “Yes, yes!” he replies. “Mickey Mouse, please.” Mrs. Bell begins writing the name, saying each letter as she prints it. When she finishes the word “Mickey,” she runs her finger beneath it and says “Mickey.” Then, Juan says each letter after the teacher and runs his finger beneath the word, saying “Mickey.” She repeats this procedure with the word “Mouse,” and Juan says the letters and the word after her.

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“Mickey Mouse,” the teacher says, running her finger under the words as she says them. “Mickey Mouse,” Juan says proudly. “My family like this!” he says. “We like . . . ” he pauses and points to Mickey . . . “Mickey Mouse.” “Good work, Juan,” Mrs. Bell says, smiling. She points to herself. “I like Mickey Mouse, too.” She asks the aide, “Do you like Mickey Mouse?” The aide responds enthusiastically. Juan returns to his table to cut out the picture of Mickey Mouse, which he will paste on the back of the word card and take home to show his family.

Behind the Scenes Mrs. Bell provides an opportunity for her students to turn words they are using into print. These key words, a practice first developed by Sylvia Ashton-Warner in her work with Maori children in New Zealand (Ashton-Warner, 1963), are already invested with students’ interests, experience, and emotion and are usually instant additions to a child’s reading vocabulary. They provide occasions for students to examine a word that is meaningful to them and to find clues for spelling and writing. There is a certain intimacy that develops when children share these words with the teacher, because they confide their experiences, their interests, and, sometimes, their deepest feelings about life. When a pet dies or something frightens children, they are apt to request words associated with these occasions, providing the teacher with opportunities to understand and comfort when it is most needed. In the writing conference with Ethan, Mrs. Bell waits for him to figure out the sounds in the word he wants to write. She encourages him to consult his resources: the charts, alphabet cards, and his other key words. She also gives him time to remember how to use silent e. This waiting encourages Ethan to see himself as someone who can analyze words and use them for his own purposes. It is possible to show all children in this classroom how to make the symbols for words that are significant to them, regardless of their level of reading proficiency. These words, because they arise out of interest and experience, already belong to the students. The teacher simply demonstrates the symbols that will help them express their ideas to others. In the teacher’s conference with Cheri, the student displays proficiency in reading and writing that is beyond what is usually seen at the kindergarten level. She shares this talent generously with her classmates when they need the spelling or meaning of a word. Because Cheri is visually challenged, her teacher provides her with black marking pens and paper with darker lines than the ordinary primary lined paper. She also gives her many opportunities to use the magnified computer monitor screen for word processing. Cheri’s classmates are delighted with the stories she writes and shares with them. She has written and illustrated several books that are laminated and available for student reading in the classroom library. Because Cheri is so aware of words and is interested in their meanings, Mrs. Bell writes additional information about each word on the back side of the word sheets in her primary tablet. The teacher encourages Juan to complement his word learning with pictures pasted on the back of his cards. This allows him to practice with

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them independently, by looking at the picture and trying to remember the word or by looking at the word and trying to remember what it represents. High-interest words, such as “Mickey Mouse,” will be used later on to help Juan unlock the sounds of English. He rehearses the special alphabet several times a day with the aide and with other children who are practicing sound/symbol relationships (letter sounds). As Juan becomes more fluent in his speaking, the aide will take additional dictation from him to demonstrate that what he says creates writing that he can read. The teacher also establishes a helpful home–school relationship with Juan’s family by sending home the word cards for Juan to practice. This encourages parents and children to assist each other as they learn a new language. As Juan begins to read, storybooks will go home each night for him to read aloud. She has obtained several picture books from the school book club, which are printed in both English and Spanish. This will be especially helpful to Juan’s family, enabling them to develop their English proficiency with stories that have been read aloud to Juan at school. As the students in this classroom label their drawings, create books, and write sentences about their pictures or experiences, they discover that writing is a way of expressing themselves in a deeply satisfying manner. It is also a way to share their ideas with others. As they work to express the meaning in their own lives, they become increasingly aware of the effort required to create the literature they enjoy reading or listening to themselves. They are learning to be authors.

A Kindergarten Classroom: Language Experience Charts “What would you like to write about today?” Mrs. Bell asks her students, who are gathered on the floor around her. Most of the children respond with “The Star Chamber!” “No, the new Harry Potter movie,” others respond. “Basketball playoffs?” Cody offers. “Which one first?” the teacher asks, writing the suggestions on the board. “Raise your hands for the Star Chamber.” Many hands go up. They have just come from a presentation by a volunteer from the St. Louis Science Center. The Star Chamber is a tentlike portable planetarium that can be set up and demonstrated in area schools. “How about the new Harry Potter movie?” she asks, and counts several hands. “Basketball playoffs?” One eager hand defends this choice. “It’s the Star Chamber first and the Harry Potter movie second,” she announces. “We’ll write the story about our visit to the Star Chamber today, and tomorrow we’ll make a chart story about the movie. Cody, how about getting a group together later to write about basketball? We can do that right before lunch.” A few boys nod to Cody, and he is satisfied. “What do you want to say about the Star Chamber?” the teacher asks, and everyone’s hand goes up.

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“We could see stars the same as in the sky,” Emma says. “So what is the first word you want me to write?” the teacher asks. “We,” the group responds. “Let me see how your mouths look when you start to say ‘we,’” she asks. The children pucker their mouths. “Put your hands in your lap when you find what letter makes that sound on the alphabet cards,” she says. One by one, children find the walrus on the W card and put their hands in their laps. “What letter will start the sentence?” she asks. “W!” they respond. “What kind of ‘W’?” “A capital,” they reply. “Who can show me where to start writing?” the teacher asks. Abby comes up to the easel and taps the upper lefthand corner. The teacher writes the word “We” on the board in large print and then the rest of the sentence, saying each word as she writes it. Then, she passes her hand under the complete sentence and says it at a normal speaking rate. “Who can read the sentence?” she asks. Several hands go up. Tim reads: “We could see the stars in the sky.” “Very close,” the teacher says, and reads the sentence correctly. “Let’s all read it together.” “What else do you want to say?” she asks, when they have read the sentence. “We had to crawl into the star chamber,” Zach suggests, and the teacher repeats the same writing and reading procedure. “Do you want to say what happened first, next, and last?” Mrs. Bell asks. There is a chorus of agreement. “What happened first?” she asks. “First we went to the gym,” Nicole says, and Mrs. Bell records the sentence. Cody raises his hand. “Then the lady told us how to act in the star chamber,” he says. “Is it all right to say, ‘Miss May told us how to act in the start chamber’?” she asks. “Yep,” he replies. “I forgot her name.” The children take turns contributing sentences, with the teacher asking “What happened next?” If events are out of sequence, she asks, “Did anything important happen before that?” to activate their memories. “Can you tell the rest of what happened in two sentences?” Mrs. Bell asks. “You might like to use one sentence to tell how you felt about the presentation.” Kaden suggests, “Then we came back to our room.” Zach says, “We liked it so much that we wrote a story about it.” The last two sentences are printed on the chart and practiced.

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“Let’s read the whole story together,” Mrs. Bell says, “and then you can decide on a title for it.” The class reads the story aloud and decides to call it “A Visit to the Star Chamber.” Mrs. Bell asks who can find the words “star chamber,” giving several children the opportunity to frame the word with their hands, the cardboard window, or the rectangular magnifier. She reads a sentence and asks whose it is and if they can read it. Other questions follow: What letter does this word begin with? Who can find a question mark? How do you read a sentence that ends that way? Can someone draw a circle around the “little words”? Mark circles the word “the” 10 times with a marker, and Josh finds “a” and “an” nine times. They read the story again all together, and Mrs. Bell asks for volunteers to read individual sentences. She calls on children to show their favorite words and read their favorite sentences. “Who would like to draw a picture of the star chamber?” she asks. All hands go up. “What are some words you could use in your caption?” she inquires. “Star Chamber,” Eloise volunteers. “Can you show me that word?” Mrs. Bell asks, and Eloise frames the correct word. “What else could you use for a caption?” she asks, and Tyler suggests using the title of the story the group has composed. Others contribute words that tell about going to the gym, listening to the teacher, experiencing the dark inside of the chamber, or watching the constellations. “Some of you might like to write your own story,” Mrs. Bell adds. “If you write more than a sentence, use the lined paper.” She briefly reviews the rules for independent writing with the group, and everyone leaves to draw and write. During this time, she will observe students as they write, watching for the ways they use resources to figure out the words they want to spell and noting how they form their letters and hold their pencils.

Behind the Scenes Mrs. Bell schedules a writing workshop soon after a particularly enjoyable experience. She asks them to reconstruct their experience in the Star Chamber, giving them the opportunity to organize their thoughts and reflect on what happened. This process also encourages additional learning, because each child notices certain things more closely. Comments such as: “I didn’t see that.” “When did she say that?” or “Where did she say you could see those stars?” illustrate different experiences that can be shared or expanded through this rehearsal of events. Guided interaction helps children share their impressions and remember what they have seen. As she creates the chart, Mrs. Bell says the words as she writes them and then reads the entire sentence at a normal rate. She asks students to tell her where to begin writing and passes her hand under each sentence when it is completed, reinforcing the left to right and up to down progression of English reading. This practice is helpful both to beginning readers and ESL

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students who may have learned to read in languages that progress from right to left and from the lower righthand corner of the page. Mrs. Bell models ways to use the alphabet as a tool in spelling, showing them how the shape of their mouths, sounds, and symbols relate to each other. She asks children to find individual words and favorite words, which offers students at every ability level the chance to participate. If a child simply points to any word, the teacher can say, “Good, you chose ‘gym.’ Everyone say Paul’s word with him.” Likewise, she can say, “Who would like to read Paul’s sentence?” giving status to the sentence generator. She also encourages risk taking among nonreaders, validating Tim’s memory reading of the first sentence by saying “Very close” and then reading it correctly. The class rehearses the concept of main idea by creating a title for their story. They also practice punctuation rules, capitalization, and the sight words “a,” “an,” and “the,” which Mrs. Bell now calls “little words” but will soon begin to label as “articles.” Students practice sequencing events as the teacher asks, “What happened first? Next? Then what happened?” She asks permission to rephrase a contribution, and might ask students to say something a different way if a sentence is awkwardly constructed. At other times, the teacher asks if a student can make a longer sentence or a shorter one, depending on the situation. She also asks if they can think of a different word, a pronoun or synonym, to substitute for a repeated word.

A Kindergarten Classroom: Shared Writing “Hello, Griswold.” Mr. Kamm is just leaving the kindergarten classroom after reading aloud to the class. He has stopped to greet Griswold, the traveling teddy bear, who sits on a shelf beside the door. Griswold has just returned from an overnight stay at Addison’s house. “Can you listen to what Griswold did at my house?” Addison asks the principal. He agrees to stay and hear about the bear’s adventures at Addison’s house. Every night and over the weekend, Griswold goes home with someone in the classroom. He returns to school with an account of his visit, written in a take-home journal zipped into his backpack. Parents and students work together to record Griswold’s visit to their home. The next morning, his adventures are read aloud to the class. “Do you want to read it, or would you like me to read?” the teacher asks. Addison looks at the journal page and frowns at the line of letters she has written on the page, along with a few pictures. “I wrote it in kindergarten writing,” she says, “and I can remember parts of it.” Mrs. Nave nods her head encouragingly, and Addison strides to the front of the class to begin her story. “Griswold rode home with me on the bus, and everyone wanted to hold him, but I said he was my guest and might be afraid of other people. We

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got home and my mother said ‘Guess what? We are going to have pizza for Griswold!’” “Griswold was very happy about this. We got the pizza and Griswold ate four pieces, just like my Dad. Then we went outside and Griswold jumped on the trampoline with us. But my brother David fell down off the trampoline and hurt his arm.” Addison stops her story and hands the journal to the teacher. “Here, you can read the rest about what happened. I told it to my mom and she wrote it in big people’s writing, underneath mine.” Mrs. Nave takes the book and continues the story. “David had to go to the emergency room, so we all got into the car and drove to the hospital. I let him hold Griswold when he had to have an X-ray, and then they put a cast on his arm. I think it hurt him a whole lot, because he cried. Griswold wanted to sleep with him and keep him company, and that made him feel better. This morning we had oatmeal with strawberries on it, and Griswold said it was his favorite breakfast. The End.” Mrs. Nave closes the journal, and the class claps for Addison’s story.

Behind the Scenes It is late fall, and Griswold has visited every student’s home at least once. He spent one weekend with the school principal and learned how to hunt mushrooms. He also visited Mrs. Nave’s home and helped her babysit her new granddaughter. The student teacher took Griswold to baseball and basketball games, where the celebrity bear talked to the cheerleaders and had his picture taken with the college mascot. Other teachers in the school have adopted a traveling mascot to encourage home–school writing. In fourth grade, Mrs. Parker’s students take turns hosting a plush toy raccoon after they have listened to the teacher read the book Rascal (North, 1990) aloud to them. Teachers in other schools, from kindergarten through middle school, send animal ambassadors like Griswold on trips around a school district, the country, or the world. Called “Travel Mates” or “Animal Ambassadors,” they promote interesting exchanges with the people they meet. When someone leaves for a vacation at a distant spot, the mascot goes along, carrying letters, pictures, photographs, and a tape from the class in a backpack. When possible, the mascot visits a school, where students write letters back to the class. Often, these letters are accompanied by pictures drawn by students, photos of the school and area, and a videotape of the entire class. The mascot is then sent on to another location. This journey continues until April, when the roving ambassador returns home at the request of an accompanying note. Griswold’s visits to student homes involve parents in a reading/writing activity through which the ordinary becomes special and children are recognized for the unique characteristics of their families. Visits to the most humble of homes never fail to be interesting because each visit is a story, and children enjoy hearing the stories of other children’s lives. The process of recording Griswold’s visits allows parents to be involved in their children’s learning, and the response to this home/school activity is most enthusiastic. Through the journal, Mrs. Nave learns about her students’

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families in a manner that is not threatening to them and that adds to her own understanding of each child. Several parents do not read or write, so the teacher places a small tape recorder in Griswold’s backpack, and all families can choose whether to write or tape-record the account of his visit. The classroom aide transcribes the visit into Griswold’s journal when the tape is returned the following morning. Mrs. Nave reads this transcript aloud to the class or they all listen to the tape together, according to the child’s wishes. As was the case with Addison in the story above, children are encouraged to write their own accounts of the mascot’s visit, with parents underwriting their beginning efforts so the story can be shared the following day. The most important part of this developing ability to write in a conventional manner is the idea that what you think, you can say. What you say can be written down, and what you have recorded can be read and shared with others.

A Primary Classroom: Word Charts, Poems, Journals The snowfall and cold temperatures of mid-January have captured the attention of many students in Mrs. Logan’s third-grade class. When it is time to make journal entries, several decide to write about the weather. “Let’s write poems,” Olivia suggests, and the other three girls in her writing group agree. Two of the girls pull out their journals, while Olivia and LeeAnne get drawing paper from the teacher’s desk so they can illustrate their poems. “If this is good, I’ll put it in my portfolio,” Olivia says. I need a word to rhyme with snow, Olivia says to herself. She pulls out a small notebook where she has recorded lists of rhyming words for just this occasion. “Snow . . . blow . . . stow . . . crow . . . below . . . to and fro?” She gets an idea and writes: It’s going to snow, Look out below! Old leaves [rusel] To and fro.

Olivia reads her poem again, decides that “rusel” does not look quite right, and draws a circle around it. When the girls finish their poems, they read them aloud to each other. No one is certain how to spell “rustle,” so they look in the dictionary. They fail to find the spelling in this source, so Olivia consults the teacher. Mrs. Logan shows her the correct spelling, which Olivia records in her personal dictionary. The teacher also encourages her to think of other words that might have a similar spelling, and she discovers and records “hustle” and “bustle.” “Muscle” is entered as a rhyming word that is spelled differently. At this point, she thinks of another verse for her poem. She writes it down, copies it into her journal, and then makes a final copy to date and file in her portfolio.

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Others around the classroom consult their word lists and look around at the charts for additional ideas. Aidan turns the seasons chart to winter and finds what he is looking for—the spelling for “January.” He writes: January brings the snow. Today it must be 10 below!

Pleased with the rhyme, he sits back and grins at what he has written.

Behind the Scenes There are words everywhere in this classroom. Charts of seasonal and holiday words stand in one corner of the room, as do several charts of stories written by students to describe field trips and responses to books read aloud. Other charts are fastened by clothespins to lines strung across the room. These include words that rhyme, words that change with different endings, and words associated with current studies in science and social studies, such as parts of the body, parts of a flower, names of the planets, names of continents, and countries in South America. In the library corner, there are 10 books written and illustrated by the class and several others written by individuals. Some of these books are creative adaptations of other books they have read, and others are original stories or nonfiction accounts of ideas they have studied in science or social studies.

A Primary Classroom: An Individual Writing Conference “I brought my biography, but it’s not very good,” Haley says to the teacher, as she sits down at the conference table in one corner of the classroom. “Tell me what you’re trying to do,” Mrs. Logan says. “It’s about my great-grandmother. She was a teacher and had a pretty exciting life. But what I’m writing doesn’t seem very interesting.” “Why don’t you start at the beginning and read it to me,” the teacher suggests. My great-grandma was born in 1909. Her mother was very pretty and her father was a [bucher]. Once she got a red [umbrela] from a [travling] salesman and once she almost got run over by a horse. She called her grandma [grosmuter] and her grandfather [grosfater]. Her [grosfater] gave her a gold dollar and when she grew up she paid for [collage] with it. When she was ten years old her mother took her and her little brothers and sisters to the circus and when she was older there was a big flood and a big snowstorm. My grandma went to [collage] and then she was a teacher. She taught children about art. When those children grew up, she taught their children. She gave piano lessons to children and some of her students won prizes. She got married, then she had two children and one of them is my grandma. Then my grandma had two children and one of them is my Dad.

Haley stops reading. “See? I’ve got all the parts in, but it’s not how I want it to be.” She looks discouraged. “Can you tell me a little more about how you’d like it to be?” the teacher asks.

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“I don’t know,” she replies, “I just don’t like it this way. I guess I wanted it to be like Caddie Woodlawn [Brink, 1990] or Little House on the Prairie [Wilder, 1953b],” she adds. “More exciting.” “Do you want it to sound more like a story?” Mrs. Logan asks. The student thinks for a minute and then nods her head. “Then I think you might have everything here to make your writing what you want it to be,” the teacher says. Haley looks puzzled. “At the beginning of your biography, you talk about all these exciting things that happened to your great-grandmother when she was little. Do you know something more about any of these stories?” “I know all the stories. My great-grandmother told them to me.” “Do you have your outline for biographies?” the teacher asks. She takes out her outline for biographical writing. The form provides sections for notes on the subject’s life: early life facts; early life anecdote: adult life facts; adult life anecdote; contributions to society facts; contribution anecdote, later life; end of life. There is also a place to list sources: books, magazines, encyclopedias, interviews, newspapers, diaries, journals. “In your first sentence, you have some early life facts. You tell where and when your great-grandma was born. Then you list some of the things that happened to her, and these look like pretty interesting events. Do you remember how Helen Keller’s [Davidson, 1997] biography began?” the teacher asks. Haley shakes her head. “Why don’t you go get a copy from my desk,” the teacher says. Mrs. Logan keeps a copy of each genre of writing that she reads aloud on her desk. The student returns with the book, opens it to the first page, and begins to read to herself. “It just starts right in with a story,” Haley observes. “I could do that. I could tell one of the stories first to make it interesting.” “Why don’t you make a note about that?” the teacher suggests, and Haley writes “Start with story” under the planning section on the outline. “Can I borrow this book for a while?” she asks. “I want to look at it some more.” “There are several copies in the library corner,” the teacher says, “and others you might like to look at also. If you can’t find any copies, you are welcome to use this one,” she adds. All of the read-aloud books have orange covers so they can be easily identified if they are needed for conferences. “Which story do you think you might use to start your biography?” the teacher asks. “The one about the horse running away,” Haley replies immediately. “That’s the most exciting one. If the neighbor boy hadn’t rescued her, she might have died.” She thinks for a minute. “There wouldn’t be a me,” she adds. “Well, I’m glad you’re you and that you have a great-grandmother with such interesting stories,” the teacher says. The student looks pleased. “Are there any words in your biography that readers might want to know more about?” Mrs. Logan asks.

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“Hmmm,” she says, as she reads over her writing. “Well, they might not know what a butcher did in those days. It’s different than now. They even had to go cut out ice from the rivers in the winter to keep the meat cold.” She continues looking while the teacher waits. “Traveling salesmen . . . they sold everything when my great-grandmother was a little girl. And ‘grossfatter’ and ‘grossmutter’ . . . most people wouldn’t know what those words mean,” she adds, “although they could maybe guess.” “Can you explain them as part of your story?” the teacher asks. “You might want to look at the Helen Keller book to see how the writer explains things about her time period that readers might not understand.” Haley nods her head enthusiastically. It is evident that she wants to return to her writing, so Mrs. Logan finishes up her questions quickly. “Shall we do your circled words?” she asks. The student has listed five words whose spelling she did not know. “I can ask my great-grandma how to spell ‘grossfatter’ and ‘grossmutter’ when I talk to her on the phone tonight,” she says. The teacher helps her use phonetic clues and similar words to figure out the spellings of butcher, traveling, college, and umbrella. Haley enters the correct spellings in her personal dictionary.

Behind the Scenes This classroom provides children with a rich print environment. When they want to express themselves in writing, they can consult their own resources, standard reference books, a wide range of fiction and nonfiction books, or one of the many student-created charts available around the room. All students are provided with time to record their thoughts in a daily journal and to engage in writing that is meaningful to them. They write letters, essays, poems, books, newspaper and magazine articles and editorials, lists of things they enjoy, and lists of things to do. They take notes as they research topics in science and social studies, and create written reports of information in a variety of formats. Few children sit around chewing on their pencils, wondering what to write. Everyone writes because they have ideas they want to express and share. As students work on various writing projects, they do not interrupt the creative process by immediately looking up the correct spelling of each word they want to use. They write the sounds they hear and circle the word, to remind them to edit later. This is an example of developmental spelling, where children approximate the words they want to use as they write. They are motivated to find the correct spelling for words that will be part of something they prepare for an audience, because they are eager for their readers to understand what they have to say. Students each have personal dictionaries to record words they want to use in their writing, and refer to these references frequently. At the end of the year, each child will have a notebook full of the words they have learned to spell as part of their desire to communicate in writing. In traditional classrooms, teachers often believe it is necessary to correct every error in a child’s writing. One child who was handed back a paper decorated in the teacher’s red ink commented to her neighbor, “Look, my paper is bleeding!” It was an apt metaphor. Mrs. Logan does not write on her

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students’ compositions, because she believes that as children make their own corrections and create notes to make improvements, both the ownership of the work and responsibility for improving it stay with the author. Nor does she try to correct everything at once in her students’ writing, but focuses on an aspect that most concerns them as writers.

An Early Intermediate Classroom: Mini-Lessons and Writer’s Workshop Mrs. Parks asks the table helpers to distribute the Skills Notebooks from the baskets in the writing center. This year she budgeted the cost of the notebooks from the workbook fund, because they replaced the use of workbooks in her third-grade classroom. “Does everyone have their books to use for writer’s workshop?” Mrs. Parks inquires. Students nod their heads and hold up their books. They are reading modern fantasy in groups of three and four. “Here are some sentences from our read-aloud chapter book, A Wrinkle in Time [1976],” she says and points to them on the board. A single word has been underlined in each one. • • • • •

“Where are we now, then?” Charles Wallace demanded. “And why?” “I can’t stand it any longer,” she sobbed. “Watch!” the Medium told them. “Calvin’s mother first,” Meg whispered to the Medium. “Oh, dear—” the Medium murmured, and the picture began to dissolve.

“Let’s read these sentences together,” the teacher says. When they finish, she asks them what they notice about the underlined words. There is a brief pause as the children look at the words. Quickly, hands go up around the room. “Verbs . . . they’re all verbs!” Barry announces, and there is voiced agreement around the room. “Do you notice anything else?” the teacher asks. The children study the words. Sanjiv raises his hand. “Are they words to use instead of ‘said’?” “What do the rest of you think?” Mrs. Parks asks. “Yes!” they agree. “Let’s read these sentences together again, and this time we’ll substitute the word ‘said’ for the words that are underlined.” The class reads through the list. “What do you think?” Ethan raises his hand. “Booooring!” “Why?” the teacher asks. “You can’t tell exactly . . . how they’re saying something,” he replies. “Like you don’t really know if someone is whispering or murmuring or what.” “So these words are more descriptive?” the teacher suggests. “Yeah,” Ethan says. “Descriptive. They tell more about how the person is saying something.” “It’s almost like they’re adjectives,” Logan observes. “That’s an interesting observation,” the teacher says. “Go on.”

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“Well . . . an adjective tells something about something . . . Oh!” Logan stops in midsentence. “No, no! They’re more like adverbs, because they describe how someone is doing something . . . saying something!” “Can you tell me more about your idea?” the teacher asks. A few other hands go up around the room. “Why don’t we try out Logan’s idea,” the teacher suggests. “How could we read the first sentence and still use the word ‘said’?” Emily gives it a try: “‘Where are we now, then,’ Charles Wallace said, in a demanding voice.” “Or ‘Charles Wallace said, demandingly,’” Logan suggests. “Do all of these sentences about Charles Wallace tell how he said it?” the teacher asks. The class nods, almost as one. “I’ve noticed in your writing that many of you use ‘said’ quite a bit, when you are writing dialogue,” the teacher explains, “and sometimes this is entirely appropriate. Can you think of times when it’s all right to use ‘said’?” Members of the class think for a minute. Jacob raises his hand tentatively. “Maybe when the people are just having a conversation, and you don’t have to show what they’re feeling, like Meg sobbing or whispering. Maybe just ordinary stuff, like plain talking.” “A good example,” the teacher replies. “Sometimes it’s distracting to use too many different words, when you want people to pay attention to the dialogue itself. Any other ideas?” “What about in biographies,” Jake offers, “when you don’t know how a person really felt when they said something . . . like that old letter in our social studies project?” “Another good example,” the teacher agrees. “But now that we’re writing our modern fantasy stories, you might like to show your readers a little more about how your characters are feeling when they ‘say’ something. Who thinks they can find some good examples in the books they’re reading?” “Me! Me!” the students chorus. They reach for their books and begin looking for words the author has used to make their characters speak more descriptively. In their groups, students record at least five examples. When they complete their assignment, they each read quietly in their books until all have finished. “What have you found?” the teacher asks, and turns to write the words on a chart that can be used for writer’s workshop. The first group to report is reading Roald Dahl’s The Enormous Crocodile (1993), the lively tale of a cunning crocodile who loves to eat children. The group offers the words: answered, yelled, whispered, grinned, and cried. They choose the sentence: “‘That’s not a wooden crocodile!’ sang the Roly Poly bird.” The second group is reading Babe the Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith (1995), the heartwarming tale of a small pig who is raised by a sheepdog. He escapes being Christmas dinner to become the hero of the barnyard and the first of his species to win a coveted farming country award. This group contributes the words: shrieked, called, began, answered, and barked. The sentence they choose reads:

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“Keep yelling, young un!” bawled Ma, as she ran beside Babe. Other groups are reading Oliver Butterworth’s The Enormous Egg (1956), the story of a boy who achieves fame when one of his chickens lays a large egg that hatches into a dinosaur, and Stuart Little (1973), E. B. White’s adventures of a young mouse born into a human family. They produce additional words: answered, shouted, laughed, wanted to know, announced, remarked, replied, suggested, and exclaimed. The various groups also mention that “said” is used frequently in their books but is sometimes described in different ways. They give examples: “ . . . he said, in a strangled voice.” “she said, excitedly,” “It’s all right,” Calvin said in a low voice. “Sometimes they do something else when someone has said something,” Logan tells the teacher. “Can you give me an example?” she asks. “Well, they just don’t say anything, and the next person talks. And you can understand it pretty well. Other times, you just don’t notice the ‘said.’” Others in the class join in, having noticed the same construction. “Here are some more possibilities from A Wrinkle in Time,” the teacher says, and writes the following sentences on the board. “What about these examples?” • “We thought we’d just let you sleep dear.” Mrs. Whatsit patted the Medium’s shoulder. • “Ddon’tt ffrrighteenn themm,” Mrs. Witch’s voice came. • “We are such stuff as dreams are made on,” she smiled broadly. “It tells who’s saying something, but they don’t say ‘said’ or anything.” Emily observes. “They kind of show it.” “Do you think you could write some sentences like these?” the teacher asks. The class is ready to try. “Take out something you’ve written, and see if you can use some of these techniques. I’ll write them on the board for you to put in your writing journals.” She writes on the board: • • • •

Vary the words that mean “says” or “said.” Leave out “says” or “said” if it isn’t necessary. Use the dialogue to show who is talking. Describe the way people say things.

Students pull out their journals, copy the mini-lesson from the board, and move directly into their own writing to begin experimenting with alternatives and enrichments for the word “said” in their own writing.

Behind the Scenes Mrs. Parks noticed that the students in her class consistently used the word “said” in their stories. Although the construction

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works well in most writing and is appropriate in much of nonfiction, she wanted them to expand their skills in using other ways to designate speakers. As they located examples to share with each other and the class, students became increasingly aware of other constructions that accomplish the same purpose. Some teachers discourage the use of “said” altogether. It is evident from reading good literature for all ages, however, that the finest of writers do not shy away from the word, but vary its use and create other ways of indicating speakers in a dialogue. This mini-lesson helped students become more aware of the writing constructions in a book they were studying in literature, gave them some new ideas to improve their skills, and provided immediate practice in the context of their own writing. The students in this class read at widely differing levels, yet all were able to contribute to the discussion, and the observations of Logan, who reads at a fifth-grade level, were helpful to the entire group. Had he not been in the class, the teacher would have drawn attention to the same points he made, but she frequently waits for him to notice these things and comment on them. In many classes, a child who notices literary constructions with such a keen eye might be marginalized by other students as a show-off. In this class, he is valued, because his insights make discussions more exciting. Students compete to be in his reading group even if he is reading books at a level higher than theirs.

A Late Intermediate Classroom: The Author’s Chair Mr. Schupak’s sixth-grade class has just completed 45 minutes of independent writing. Although most students write independently for the entire time, several pairs exchange work and share comments with each other in one corner of the room. As he always does, Mr. Schupak works for 15 minutes on his own writing, a book review he is preparing for a districtwide language arts newsletter. During the rest of the writing period, he has individual writing conferences with students. At the end of the 45-minute period, Mr. Schupak asks, “Who has something they want to read today?” Students pull their desks into a great circle, and most bring something they are writing. There is a moment’s hesitation, and then several hands go up. Mr. Schupak checks his list and sees that Herschel brought something for the Author’s Chair yesterday that he did not get a chance to read. “Herschel?” “I’m still working on my science fiction story,” he says. “I want to read the third chapter . . . the one I rewrote.” He begins reading a fairly complex tale about space travelers entering a new universe. Everyone around the room listens closely. They have watched the story develop week by week and are interested in what happens. When he finishes, Mr. Schupak asks for class response. “I liked what you did with the Juneo character,” Margaret begins. “I couldn’t tell before how Juneo felt about risking the lives of his crew to change the mission.”

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“I still like the action part the best,” Tucker says. “That’s what I like the best about the whole story.” “The part about the flight path was good,” Isaac says. “And I liked where Juneo loaded the sky geography into his own mind and then put it on automatic pilot.” “I think it helped to tell about the spaceship that Juneo lost before,” Sarah volunteers. “I didn’t really understand about how much risk he was taking, in terms of what had happened to him already. The way you changed it makes the story more exciting.” “Any suggestions?” Herschel asks. “More information about the other crew members,” Elizabeth suggests. “Like Sarah said about knowing more about the people . . . it makes it more exciting. Also, I didn’t know right away what the trans-accelerator was. I know you tell about it a few pages later, but I kept wondering what it was and lost track of the story for a while.” Herschel makes some notes on his paper while the others are talking. “I think you ought to have more alien crew members,” Daniel suggests. “It would make it more interesting to have people from different backgrounds, like they did in the Star Wars movies.” Herschel nods. “I thought about that, but I don’t think I can do it in this story,” he concludes. “I want to work on describing events, so I kept the number of characters down this time.” The class laughs. Herschel’s last story had 27 characters, and it was difficult to keep track of everyone. “What if they could do something with mind control, like opening and shutting hatches?” Elizabeth asks. “It could be like a computer chip that would operate everything—with the remote control built in.” “Yeah!” Herschel brightens, as he writes down several sentences quickly. “That’s how they could operate most of the systems. What if everyone was specialized and then someone was knocked unconscious or got sick? They couldn’t control that particular program.” “What about a fail-safe system?” Tucker asks. “If they’re that sophisticated, they’d have a fail-safe system.” “You’re right,” Herschel agrees, “but what happens when the fail-safe system malfunctions? It could happen, like in 2001, A Space Odyssey [a movie that describes how the computer in a spaceship takes away the control of the craft from the astronaut pilot]. “What do you think about the responses from the group, Herschel?” Mr. Schupack asks. “Pretty helpful,” he replies. “I’m glad they liked what I did with Captain Juneo . . . . I’ll think about adding more information about the other crew members. But I don’t think I’ll add any more characters because I want to pay more attention to the story this time. I liked the idea about using your mind to operate systems on the spacecraft,” he adds. “That might add something interesting to the story. I’ll wait and see.” The class members applaud Herschel’s efforts and move on to consider a narrative poem about time travel that Sarah has written. The topic for writing workshop in this 3-week period is science, and class members have experimented with a wide range of genres. Tucker will present an informational

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piece written for the school newspaper on cloning, and Winston will entertain everyone with a satiric essay entitled “May the Force Be with You: The Trip of a Historic Apple, by I. Zak Newton.” Several students have written historical fiction based on inventions occurring at an earlier time, such as the development of a working airplane by Leonardo da Vinci. Isaac has developed several modern fables based on ecological problems, and Elizabeth has written a biography of the physicist Stephen Hawking.

Behind the Scenes When the idea of an author’s chair was first introduced in this classroom, students were initially hesitant to contribute. But, this timidity soon wore off and everyone wanted to read what they had written, sometimes to the point of not being able to give attention to the writing of others. Attentiveness improved with time and experience. After the first month, students began to develop a balance between wanting to share what they had written and providing a supportive audience for someone else. When the sessions first began, Mr. Schupak modeled appropriate responses by telling the writer what he particularly enjoyed. Criticism was framed in phrases like: Have you ever thought about . . . ? I wondered what happened to this particular character. I wondered what the inside of the spaceship looked like. These types of comments help writers see what needs to be clarified or expanded to make their writing clear and understandable. One of the goals of writing in this classroom is to help young writers communicate effectively to their listeners and readers. The author’s chair activity supports this goal with opportunities for frequent feedback on the clarity of expression. Because all students in class are writing on a similar theme, they can contribute ideas to each other. In previous sessions, students experimented with a single genre and any topic of their choosing. At this point in their writing development, they are exploring broad topics by selecting the genre of their choice.

The Importance of Writing In traditional classrooms, teachers frequently teach about writing and provide exercises for constructing sentences and paragraphs. Most writing is completed outside of class. Students write papers, poems, or themes as homework assignments, which are then graded and handed back for corrections. The purpose of writing, in topic and form, is to produce a product that will meet a set of grading criteria. In classrooms that integrate language learning into the curriculum, teachers see writing as a way for students to explore and express ideas—a process as much as a product. They set up writer’s workshops—blocks of time

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scheduled each day for students to talk about their ideas, experiment with writing in the different genres, and share their work with each other. Scheduling all parts of the writing process during the school day allows the teacher to act as coach and mentor. When students are discouraged with their writing, teachers encourage them to talk about their ideas or read portions of their work aloud. This interaction may be all that is needed to rekindle confidence. Teachers may also direct students to resources that will help them spell a word or find a reference. In these classrooms, literature often provides models for writing. Story or content area themes stimulate research and encourage children to write about similar topics. Students attempt their own writing in the various literary genres and refer back to favorite authors as models for their writing. Teachers read aloud to their students on a regular basis, because they know that listening to well-written stories is the single most important influence on the quality of their writing. In addition to the scheduled writer’s workshops, students are encouraged to write throughout the day, for many purposes. They respond to ideas and information in the content areas of math, science, literature, and social studies. Students also regularly communicate with others in letters, essays, newspaper articles, and by e-mail. There are additional opportunities to compose songs, create posters, and write reviews of books, films, and television programs. Students work together to write radio and TV news broadcasts, conduct interviews, write advertisements, and compose editorials. In some classrooms, students write letters and e-mails to the editors of community newspapers and to government officials about matters of concern to them. They also correspond by post or e-mail with pen pals in other states or countries and with favorite authors. They record their thoughts in personal journals or diaries. As a class, they create dictionaries and content area theme books. As individuals, students write and publish their own books. Each of these activities is based on the premise that students create meaning through their writing and communicate this meaning to themselves and others. Writing is an excellent way to express joy, sadness, anger, or loneliness. Through writing, students can discover what they understand and what they need to know. The process of writing helps children clarify their ideas and gives them new insights into their own thoughts and feelings. When writing is shared with others, the listener’s response provides an immediate and satisfying reward to the writer.

Preparing for Writing Activities Materials For younger students, it is helpful to have materials for writing stored in one place, preferably a writing center, where they can also participate in individual or small-group writing activities. You will need paper of various sizes

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and kinds, including primary lined paper, drawing, painting, and construction paper. If any of these are in short supply in your school, use whatever is available. Parents, churches, or businesses can sometimes supply you with computer paper from print drafts. You will also want to have primary pencils, regular-sized pencils, crayons, chalk, colored pencils, watercolors, and tempera. Some kindergarten and early primary children find it more comfortable to write with standard-sized pencils. Encourage your students to try out various pencil sizes and use the one that helps them write easily. If children do not provide their own crayons, be sure you have enough for every child in the classroom. A student teacher supervising a writing–drawing activity worried about the emotional state of a child who drew an entire picture in black. When asked why, the child replied, “It was the only one left!” Role-play the responsible use of each of the types of writing and illustrating mediums. When students show that they can work independently with the materials, make them available at centers for independent work time. If possible, provide places for displays of drawing and writing near the center or at an established place in the classroom. Computer word processors are increasingly available for use in classrooms, and most schools have computer labs where students can check in to complete writing assignments. Encourage students to explore the use of any helpful features of the word processor, such as grammar and spell checkers, the thesaurus, or synonym generator. They should be cautioned that all of these tools have certain limitations. It is not possible for the computer to know the particular intent of a word or grammatical construction; a search for synonyms may turn up words that do not make sense in a particular context; and the accuracy of spelling corrections may be constrained by a small database. Computers, printers, scanners, and photo processors can all be used to help students create their own books. When these technologies are available in your building, be sure to find out how your students can make frequent use of them. Students in your class, older students, parents, and community volunteers can provide support and instruction for using this technology. If you use language experience charts in your classroom, you will need: • • • • •

Large-size newsprint tablets or pieces of poster board Easels for dictation and display Loose newsprint Large paper clamps, clip clothespins, string, or wire Drawing paper and crayons

You will need one or more easels for large tablets or poster board that can be clipped to the top edge of the blackboard. Chart easels are usually standard equipment in most kindergarten classrooms. If you teach at the primary or intermediate levels, check with your PTA for funds that might be available for this type of purchase. A letter home to parents might turn up one that is not being used, or maintenance personnel may be able to construct one for you. A large writing tablet sits on the ledge of the easel, and most teachers tie a marker by a string to one corner so it is always available for dictation.

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Some teachers tie several colored markers to the easel, which they use to indicate parts of speech in sentences, to underline important terms, or to separate words from definitions. As the classroom narratives described, some teachers create many charts through the year and fasten pages with lists of words related to content studies by pins onto heavy string or clothesline strung across the room. Wherever the charts or posters are displayed, they should be in a place where students can refer to them easily. Older primary and intermediate students will need either a separate spiral notebook for each content area or a three-ring binder with labeled dividers to use with theme cycles. (See Chapter 10 for more information about writing in the content areas.) When guidelines are part of the writing and response, you can staple, clip, tape, or glue these to the inside covers of notebooks for easy reference. If students use three-ring binders, these guidelines can be punched and placed appropriately. Some teachers ask students to tie a pen or pencil to the spiral with string, so that a writing instrument is readily available. Notebooks may be provided as part of your classroom materials or requested from home as part of a school supplies list. To help organize these books or dividers, you can distribute white, selfsticking labels to put on the front covers, which can be filled in by students with the appropriate titles. Some teachers also distribute self-sticking colored dots to place in the upper righthand corner of the notebooks. “Bring the red-dot books to your conference” is a quick instruction that is easy to follow.

Plan for Everyone to Participate When a student with limited English proficiency is placed in a regular classroom, they enter a world of total immersion in a foreign language. For most children, this is an extremely intimidating experience. If you can imagine yourself in a similar situation, you can see how frightening it would be not to understand what is being said around you or to be able to make yourself understood. Persons who try to help may speak more loudly in their efforts to be clear. This creates a situation where everyone is shouting at the person who already faces difficulty with the language. Of course, it is important to speak clearly. But, keep your voice at a normal level and maximize opportunities for students to work individually with you, an aide, and other students. At the primary and kindergarten levels, label everything in the classroom at a time when the student can watch you. Make a game of going around the room with the student to let him or her distribute labels for familiar objects and activity areas. Play this game on a daily basis and try to involve others as helpers, including peers, book buddies from other classes, and classroom aides. You can also print the names of objects on index cards and ask the student for the one that says “book,” “library,” “piano,” and so on. Gradually, add pictures of actions such as “The boy runs” or descriptions like “purple

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flower.” It is helpful to write the parts of speech in different colors to provide prompts for identification, such as red for nouns, purple for adjectives, and green for verbs. When you create a language experience chart, be sure to use illustrations that help students identify words and provide additional clues to their meaning. You can help students acclimate to your classroom by providing a volunteer mentor. Some schools assign these mentors, or you can ask for volunteers. When students volunteer their efforts to involve a new student in language activities, they work hard to help the student be successful. As the student experiences success, this is personally rewarding to the mentors, and bonds of friendship often result. Other students begin to volunteer their help and see each success of the new student as their own. Students will show enormous patience and ingenuity in their peer tutoring, approaching the new student in ways often not possible for the teacher. (See the classroom narrative for Dr. Dick Koblitz in Chapter 1 for an illustration of how this works.) Children who experience hearing loss can participate in the author’s chair activity with minimal assistance. Teachers and students can help by making sure they face the student when they talk, and teachers can monitor the light to avoid glare than might interfere with the student being able to see the speaker’s face. Encourage children with hearing difficulties to practice reading aloud what they want to share before the session. They may also want to tape-record the mini-lesson portions of writing workshops to review at a later time at a higher volume. In some hearing support programs, students wear special hearing aids that amplify the teacher’s speech. Teachers wear a special microphone and monitor that permits them to speak normally, but allows the student to adjust the volume to their own individual needs. It is important to model simple courtesies for all students such as: “Could you speak louder, please?” and “Could you say it again, please?” If you have students who are physically challenged, they may be eligible for special equipment to assist their writing. Computer keyboards with large keys that can be tapped with a pointer attached to a head strap have been particularly effective with students who must deal with the challenges presented by cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy. Some computer programs have speaker systems that can read aloud any text entered into it. This enables students who have speech difficulties to participate in writing and discussion activities. Other programs create print from speaker dictation, which allows partially sighted students access to word-processing. This configuration is also useful to students whose vision prohibits great amounts of reading. Stories and entire books can be loaded for reading aloud. If students routinely enter their stories on the word processor, they can be listened to for enjoyment by all classmates, including those with physical challenges. A brief word about color coding: With students at all levels of instruction, it is important to be alert for color recognition deficiency, sometimes called “color-blindness.” This genetic problem makes it difficult for students to recognize colors in the red–green spectrum. More rare—and more easily recognized—is the yellow–blue deficiency or cases in which students see

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only in shades of black and gray. It is estimated that as many as 20 percent of boys have some degree of color recognition deficiency, so it is important to notice any difficulty in color recognition at an early age. Color coding activities can be adjusted with as simple a change as underlining parts of speech with a varied number of lines: nouns—one line; verbs—two lines; adjectives—three lines, instead of color coding them. Testing procedures that require the use of color codes can be adjusted by special education consultants, and there are special Internet Web sites that adapt screen colors for more successful use by students who experience color recognition difficulties. The most important goal for writing is to provide all students with the opportunity to write, as often as possible, in response to ideas and experiences that are meaningful to each individual. Stay alert to all the ways this goal can be realized for each student in your classroom, making adjustments as necessary for special needs and adding the support of technology as this is appropriate and available.

Presentation: Writing Activities The sections below provide specific guidelines for using key words, captions, language experience charts, recording activities, individual writing conferences, and writing workshops in the classroom. Each of the activities can be used appropriately at any level of elementary instruction. Although used primarily in kindergarten classrooms, captioning can easily be adapted for use with older students who have limited English proficiency. Language experience charts are appropriate to use at any level of elementary instruction.

Key Words This is one of the most basic and successful writing activities for beginning writers because it allows beginning students to see themselves immediately as readers and writers. Key words are especially helpful to use with ESL students and those who have experienced difficulty in learning to read by other methods. Teachers introduce key words to their kindergarten students by showing them their own favorite words. They tell them that they will get a new notebook page every day with one of their favorite words written on it. It can be any word they choose, but they should think about it carefully to make sure it is the best one they can think of. Write each word in a small notebook that children can refer to easily. Children can decorate the front cover with drawings and their name. One word is written in large letters on a single page. On the back of the page, students may draw a picture or place a sticker to illustrate the word. These books should be available to students during the school day for reference and taken home at night for additional practice.

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Captions This is an excellent beginning activity to establish the reading–writing connection with students. A caption is a word or several words written at the top of a page to describe a picture, a discussion, or a story. This is one of the first types of writing that children attempt, when they name what they have drawn by scribbling something next to it. In kindergarten, children may begin the year by asking teachers to title their drawings, but with encouragement, they soon learn to write their own captions. Eventually, these captions expand to sentences and then paragraphs as students develop confidence in their ability to record experiences that are meaningful to them. You can begin this activity with kindergarten and early primary students by asking them to tell you about pictures they have drawn or painted. Avoid asking “What’s this?” or guessing about the contents of the picture. If you say “Tell me about your picture,” the student will respond by describing the meaning of the pictures and symbols. You might then ask the student if they would like to have some words at the top of their picture to tell others what they have told you. When they have decided on a caption, help them identify the sounds in the word(s). Write the completed caption on an index card for them to copy onto their paper. Teachers also use captions to help students develop the idea of topics in writing. When students dictate stories, as individuals or in a group, they are encouraged to think about the main ideas of their discussion. These ideas are then distilled into single words or phrases, which can be moved around as part of an outline for writing. Captions are also used to help students generate titles that express the main idea of completed writing.

Language Experience Charts Any discussion can be used to create language experience charts. Begin a sharing session by commenting on the weather or a shared experience, such as a school assembly, a class visitor, a film, theme study, or a book that has just been read aloud. Make a statement or ask a question: “There’s snow all over the daffodils” or “What do you think about the snowstorm?” will usually start the conversation. You might simply ask: “What would you like to talk about today?” As your students add their own ideas, record words that serve as one-word captions. For example, one group of children commented on the way the unseasonable storm covered all the flowers. Others mentioned the slippery roads during the bus ride to school, the snow that fell out of the trees on their heads as they walked to school, and sledding possibilities on a local hill. The teacher wrote the words “snow,” “flowers,” “roads,” “trees,” and “sleds” on the board. When everyone has had a chance to contribute to the discussion, ask the group if they would like to write a story about their discussion. If students are interested in the topic, they will be excited about recording their talk.

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If not, continue talking about other things of interest until a topic engages them. Some teachers discuss a wide range of ideas and then ask students to decide which one will be made into a story. Ask your students how they want to begin the story or inquire: “Who has a sentence?” Before you write the sentence, ask them where you should begin writing. In the beginning, invite individual students to come up and point to the correct section of the chart. Ask them what kind of letter should be used to begin the sentence and, as you record the sentence, say each word aloud as you write it. When you finish the sentence, ask your students what punctuation mark should be placed at the end. Read the entire sentence as you run your hand underneath it, to draw attention to the words creating the sentence and model the left-to-right progression. Ask your students: “What do you want to say next?” or “What happened next?,” depending on the type of story. If the story requires sequencing, such as the events of a trip or the retelling of literature, help children sort out the order by asking, “Did anything important happen before this?” or “What happened while we were on the way to the zoo?” As you write, leave spaces that will allow you to insert an additional sentence in a sequence of ideas. If the story is descriptive, such as the snowstorm mentioned above, it may not require a sequence. Encourage children to group ideas by asking, “Is there anything else you want to say about the slippery roads?” or “Shall we save that sentence for when we write about the flowers?” As you record children’s ideas for sentences, model the writer’s mind by asking such questions as “How can we show that this word starts a sentence?” or “I’m wondering what kind of punctuation mark we should use.” You can also ask students to identify parts of the composition by asking: “Can anyone read this sentence?” “Can you find a word in here that you know?” “Whose sentence was this?” or “How many paragraphs do we have?” When the story is complete, ask your students to read it aloud all together and then decide what caption or title to use at the top. When several suggestions have been generated, let the group vote on the one to use. Encourage students to interact with the dictated story in the same manner used for guided reading (Chapter 5). Students also enjoy retelling stories, which provides practice in recalling details and ordering events. At the beginning level, students learn that what they say can be written down and that this writing is something that can be read to reconstruct what they say. When students write independently, they find many of the words they want to use on these charts, from words about winter to the correct spelling for a favorite dinosaur. At the intermediate level, charts display content area terminology, definitions, and guidelines for discussions, writing, and research. ESL students use the story charts as models for spelling and sentence construction. Both students and teachers can suggest topics for charts, such as making a list of words about hockey or recording specialized terms related to a theme study. Other times, teachers draw on the shared experience of a book, movie, visitor, weather event, or field trip to create a chart.

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Whatever the topic, prepare a list of skills to practice during the session, similar to your preparation for guided reading. These can be derived from the mandated skill objectives for writing at your level of instruction or state-mandated objectives. At the kindergarten level, there is generally an emphasis on letter and word recognition, capitalization, simple punctuation, initial sounds, ending rhymes, and left to right and top to bottom progression on the page. Each of these objectives can be easily accommodated in most writing sessions. Meet for conversations with groups of five to seven children. Plan separate groups that will support contributions by reluctant speakers and allow highly verbal children frequent opportunities to express themselves. This arrangement will permit contributions by children who are hesitant or who process information at a slower rate. They will be less likely to be intimidated or excluded by conversations that are fast-paced. Children who are highly verbal will have increased opportunities to practice developing skills and be challenged by the ideas of others of similar abilities. During the school day, children interact frequently in homogeneous groups to talk, listen, read, and write with each other. Occasional grouping by language proficiency allows students the chance to participate more fully. It also creates a more positive experience for the teacher, who is not forced to juggle competing forces by suppressing the activity of those who are more fluent and trying to pull contributions out of children who are not eager to participate, for whatever reason.

Chart Lists Group-generated lists are helpful visual aids for writing. Take dictation for these on the blackboard and transfer them in more orderly fashion to charts at another time. These lists of words should be displayed where students can see or access them easily for their writing throughout the day, to help generate ideas and relationships and provide spelling assistance. Popular charts include: holiday words, words about space, dinosaurs, animals, and plants. Include brainstorming sessions to develop lists of synonyms and antonyms and paired words, such as knife–fork, peanut butter– jelly, salt–pepper. Record the names of things at home or school and things they see on the playground, in the classroom, media center, hallway, cafeteria, and gym. Lists can be made of objects that are certain shapes, textures, or colors. Generate words that accompany seasons, the weather, or months of the year. Create words or sentences related to a literature theme or topics in science, social studies, math, or the fine arts. Record the daily weather and make lists of instructions for using the centers. Spelling and vocabulary words and content area terminology that will be tested by the district or state can either be incorporated into the wide range of lists in the classroom or prepared separately. One fifth-grade teacher asks her students to make up sentences every day using one of the state-mandated words. On successive days, these sentences

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are: the funniest they can write, the saddest, one that uses alliteration, one that incorporates a metaphor or simile, and one that involves onomatopoeia. These formats provide practice to meet mandated standards in a way that challenges students to be creative. Individual efforts are shared with the class at the end of the day, to everyone’s enjoyment. Before children are able to write, they can create lists by making a mural. They draw pictures of things they can do, which can be labeled by the teacher or aide: (“James can take care of his baby brother, dry the dishes, and empty the dryer.”; “Amy can draw dinosaurs, count to 100, and spell her name.”). Another way to generate lists of words for students to use in their writing is to encourage students to name as many things as they can remember seeing or hearing on their way to school that morning (the noise on the bus, a new house being built). Ask them to record all the things they can know through their senses or list the kinds of sounds that animals make (roar, buzz, growl). What things can machines can do (grind, chop, slice)? Name things that are sweet, sour, hard, soft, salty, or bitter. What things made of cotton, wool, metal, or stone? Teachers at all levels of instruction create lists related to themes, content terminology, definitions, and examples of language constructions. Instructions, rules, and guidelines for classroom management or procedures for using equipment or centers can also be generated by students for easy reference. Some teachers begin lists that promote research and can be added to by students throughout a particular study. This approach to content area learning is described by the teachers profiled in Chapter 1 and will be outlined in more detail in Chapter 10.

Spelling Teachers who encourage students to use writing as a tool to explore and express ideas support the use of developmental spelling. When students are eager to express their thoughts, they write the sounds they hear in words without worrying at this stage about correct spelling. Standard spelling gradually emerges, but it is considered an editing procedure, separate from the creative process. With many opportunities to examine words in print and experience writing their own ideas, students develop an awareness of spelling conventions. If a word does not look right, they leave spaces for missing letters or circle it. When they are finished writing, they look up the words in the dictionary or ask someone for assistance. The spellings of words they use frequently are recorded in personal dictionaries, for practice and future reference.

Handwriting It is important, especially at the beginning of instruction in either manuscript (printing) or cursive (writing) forms, to provide models for the letters. Current programs emphasize economy and ease in letter formation, and a

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smooth transition from manuscript to cursive writing. However, it is obvious that after years of instruction in any particular program of handwriting, all students eventually develop a signature style that is uniquely their own. Although penmanship is a mechanical skill that students practice throughout the elementary grades, it is primarily a tool that allows children to express their ideas to themselves and communicate them to others. As students develop proficiency in letter formation, the most important criteria to apply to the inevitable variations that emerge from child to child is that their writing be (1) legible (easy for them or others to read); (2) consistent (letters written in a constant manner, with appropriate size and spacing); and (3) comfortable (in a manner that does not cramp the hand, tire, or discourage the writer). It is especially important to work closely with children who use their left hand to write. Show them how to slant the bottom of their paper to the left and how to hold their pencil comfortably. If you are not left-handed yourself, invite an older student to the room who can demonstrate this skill. These students are usually very interested in helping a fellow lefty, and have many tips to share. Standard handwriting instruction books used throughout most elementary school systems provide additional information on helping the left-handed student achieve a comfortable handwriting style. The goal for all handwriting is communication—with self and with others. To this end, teachers encourage students to develop a style that will allow them to write fluently, in a manner that can be easily read by someone else. In practical terms, there is a communication breakdown if students cannot read their own notes about a topic from a previous day’s research or if the teacher is unable to decipher a student’s responses to a test question.

Skills Notebooks Teachers use a variety of methods to help students organize the writing they complete throughout the day. Some use notebooks, which are variously called logs, journals, Skills Books, or Word Books. Students date and number each page and make a table of contents so they can easily find ideas they have jotted down in Writer’s Workshop, an assignment for a curriculum area, a definition, or the correct spelling of words they want to use. In other classrooms, students use individual pieces of paper (or remove written work from a notebook), mark the work with a dated stamp, and place it in their personal file folder. These folders are usually stored in an alphabetically arranged holder located on the teacher’s desk, the writing center, or a small table easily accessible to students. Student recording activities vary from classroom to classroom. Some teachers prefer that students keep their completed writing projects in file folders, but most teachers encourage students to use combinations of the following: writing, spelling, and grammar journals; research journals for content area studies; math journals; personal dictionaries; diaries; and literature response journals. The purpose of each of these activities is to create references for composition by keeping a record of ideas, words, and resources.

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Writer’s Workshop In Writer’s Workshop, students write independently, without interruption, for a period of time. Mini-lessons often precede these sessions, and time is usually provided for several students to read a completed work or a work in progress for comment by their peers. As students take turns sitting in the author’s chair to share their writing, they provide an audience, to help each other improve the quality of their writing. These sessions, which may last from 20 minutes to an hour, usually provide time to evaluate and discuss four to six examples of writing. Members of the audience contribute positive comments and suggestions aloud or submit written evaluations to the presenter. Because audience participation is regarded as an emerging skill, each student is helped to develop ways to respond positively and critically to the presentations, with the help of teacher modeling, student-developed guidelines, and lots of practice.

Teacher Preparation Nancie Atwell (1998) suggests designating separate areas of the room that communicate the type of writing a student is doing. If they are seated at their desks, it is all right for others to ask for help or schedule a peer review session. If a student moves to a reserved table, this is a sign that serious writing is happening and the author does not want to be disturbed. Other set-apart areas should include a place for peer review conferences and for individual conferences with the teacher. When students finish this period of independent writing, decide on the best place to gather them together for a mini-lesson or an author’s chair session. If you plan to include the entire class, ask students to draw their desks together into a semicircle. If there is enough space in the room, students can sit together on a rug around the author’s chair. Student Preparation The best way to prepare students for writing workshops is to role-play. Rehearse what everyone does during independent writing and the purpose for each writing area in the room. During the initial practice session, ask students to look at something they have written and choose something they would like to know about their work from an audience. Model the types of information that an audience can provide: • The manuscript should seem finished, and the audience should be able to understand what was read. • If the writing is a story, the characters should be adequately developed and a listener should be able to see the setting. • The work should hold their interest, to the point that they want to know more about the story. Tell your students that the entire class (or smaller groups) will meet daily to share their writing. They may bring anything they want from their literature response journals for the first workshop, but after that, they will be asked to write in response to particular broad topics or to write in a particular genre. Students may volunteer to share their work, but everyone will have a turn. The purpose of a Writer’s Workshop is to gain experience with

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reading to an audience and talking about their writing. They will get new ideas to make their writing communicate effectively and gain experience being involved as a helpful listener. Ask your class for ideas about being a helpful audience. Most students will come up with guidelines similar to the following and generally respond more favorably to them because of their involvement in creating them. Encourage them to keep the number of guidelines to no more than three or four items. Author’s Chair—Audience Guidelines • Give the author your full attention: Look at the author; encourage them with your responses. • Be positive when you talk about another person’s writing. Tell them what you especially liked about the story—the characters, descriptions, humor, or language use, for example. • When you have suggestions, begin your comments positively, such as: “Did you ever think about . . . ?” or “I liked this part, but I had difficulty understanding . . . .” Students should be encouraged to evaluate writing in terms of how well it drew and held their interest. Was it understandable? Would it help to read it again? Is it the kind of writing that might be better understood if it were read silently? Were there parts where the listener felt confused? How might this be addressed? If the writing is fiction, listeners might want to consider if the writer tells enough about the setting so that it can be visualized. Are the characters described fully enough? If the writing was in a particular genre, such as historical fiction or modern fantasy, does it have the necessary features? Is terminology used in nonfiction explained clearly? Keep in mind that Writer’s Workshops will be most effective if they are coordinated with guided reading. When you are studying literature in a genre or for a particular theme, this is the best time to practice writing in this genre or to respond to the theme at hand. The more experience students have with genres or themes, the more proficient they will become in expressing themselves, analyzing the relevant components, and synthesizing this experience in new and creative ways. Themes and genre writing are also helpful for writing clubs because this tends to create a focus for student writing.

Individual Writing Conferences These one-on-one discussions with students are scheduled on a weekly basis, and are conducted during writer’s workshops while the rest of the class is working on individual projects. You will notice that the preparation and conference closely parallel that of individual reading conferences, and many teachers conduct them at the same time. More informal interactions between individual students and the teacher occur daily in brief, 2-minute walk-around conferences that will be described later in this chapter.

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Students prepare for conferences by writing daily—in response to literature, personal experience, content area study, and to record their thoughts and ideas in creative ways. They bring an example of their writing to share with the teacher, either something they believe to be their best work or a piece that is giving them difficulty. They may read it aloud to the teacher during the conference or submit it in advance for prereading. During the conference, the teacher comments on the positive aspects of the writing and asks pertinent questions that will help students improve the quality of their expression.

Teacher Preparation for Writing Conferences Your preparation for writing conferences is the same as that for individual reading conferences: Find a place to meet with students, establish an independent writing period for the entire class, develop questions to ask about the student’s writing, and assemble a skills checklist. Try to create a sense of privacy as you listen to students read their writing aloud or when you both discuss the features of a particular piece of writing. As you did with the reading conferences, sit next to your student at a table so you can look at the writing together. This arrangement also permits you to make notes in a conference book and mark off skills on a checklist. You will need a three-ring conference notebook and a conference sheet for each student in the classroom. Select several items to evaluate and promote in each conference. A sample conference sheet and a skills checklist can be found in Appendix E. Student Preparation for Writing Conferences Students prepare for individual writing conferences by reviewing their completed writing projects or works in progress. If they have completed a number of writing projects and filed them in their portfolios, they will try to choose work that illustrates their best efforts. If they have questions about writing or problems with a particular piece of writing, they may also bring these to a conference. Students use conference guidelines to help them prepare for the discussion and as a checklist for self-correction. Writing Conference Guidelines Read what you have written aloud. Be sure to practice. If the work is long, read your favorite part. What do you like best about what you’ve written? What is the main idea? Are you having any problems? What would you like to improve? Tell how you’ve tried to address the genre guidelines. Did you check to see how another author solved this problem? Did you read your story aloud to anyone else? What did they have to say? • What are your writing plans for the next day (week, 2 weeks)? • • • • • • • •

At the primary level and above, provide students with guidelines for writing in the various genres. These can be adapted for a range of grade levels from the genre descriptions in Chapter 4. An example is given in Appendix D.

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Students anticipate that the teacher will be interested in hearing what they have written and will be able to help them sort out writing difficulties. The teacher will also work with them to identify writing skills for practice during independent writing time.

Conducting an Individual Writing Conference When you meet with students for conferences, use questions that encourage them to identify the purpose of their writing and to consider the effectiveness of their communication to an audience. Help them consider how their content and writing mechanics add to or detract from their writing purposes. Review your discussion at the end of the conference to help students establish a direction for additional writing, revision, or the start of a new project. In addition to the standard conference questions, you might want to add additional comments, to help students clarify their writing or to encourage them to reflect on what they have written. The following questions are examples of questions to add to your list. Additional follow-up questions can be found in Appendix E. • Did you have any difficulties with your writing? What would you like to work on today? • You circled this word. How can you find out how to spell it? Does it look like another word you already know how to spell? • Can you explain what you mean here? I’m not familiar with this term. Can you tell me what it means? Establish a time limit for these conferences, and try to follow it. It is better to aim for weekly rather than daily conferences so that you will have sufficient time to listen and interact for 5–10 minutes, depending on the age and ability level of your students. Schedule three to five conferences per day or enough to create time for each student during the week. Students will have their questions established before the conference, and you will have decided what you want to know about a student’s writing in advance. Greet each student pleasantly, listen to them read, and then ask your most important questions.

Evaluating Writing Development For students to progress in their writing, it is important for them to be involved in self-evaluation. From the time they first begin to write, students can be encouraged to look at their writing in light of personal goals for expression. They can identify elements that indicate progress and those that require attention. The teacher’s role in this process is to model ways for the students to evaluate themselves. Questions such as the following direct student attention to their best expression: • Show me your best letter. • Which sentence do you like the best? • What part of your story is your favorite?

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• What kind of writing do you do best? • Read me your best description. Teachers can also help students spot areas of difficulty in their writing: • What was the hardest letter to make? • Are there any sentences that don’t sound right to you? • What do you think about this part? Does it satisfy you? What do you think it needs? • Did you have any problems with this sentence? • Read this paragraph again. Does it say what you want it to? • I’m not sure I understand this idea (or what happened). Can you give me some more information? From teacher modeling and interaction with a variety of audiences, students begin to ask these questions of themselves, gradually internalizing standards of clear, comprehensive expression that will help them evaluate their own progress. It is important for students to be able to monitor their own progress. Student files and portfolio collections are an invaluable asset for this activity. Because all work is dated when it is filed, students can easily compare their previous and present skills to observe progress in such areas as letter formation, sentence construction, or character development. Evaluation by teachers is complementary to student self-evaluation. It models the kinds of questions students can learn to ask themselves: “How well does this writing express my ideas?” and “How have I progressed toward this goal?” For each conference, students should take notes on the ideas discussed. Some teachers provide students with a simple memo form for note taking. The following is an example: Student Self-Evaluation Memo I need more information about: (Examples: how polliwogs change into frogs; how to write a biography; how to draw a map) I need more practice: (Examples: writing the cursive capital Q; creating a character in modern fantasy; using semicolons) Teachers collect information about their students’ writing throughout the day as students write about their ideas and share them with a variety of audiences. They observe students as they participate in Writer’s Workshop or share their writing in individual conferences. Using checklists and brief written comments, they note the progress and difficulties of individual students and use this information to direct their teaching. Portfolios and 2-minute conferences provide additional information on the development of student writing skill.

Portfolios A portfolio is collection of an individual student’s writing that is representative of the work that a particular student has produced. Most teachers provide folders and files for students to contribute to these portfolios. When

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students complete a piece of writing, they stamp it with the date and put it in their file. They may bring samples of their best writing from this file to writing conferences or writer’s workshop. Teachers review these files when they assemble material for required evaluations, such as parent conferences, report cards, and reviews by supervisors, the district, or state. Not all writing that students complete is evaluated by the teacher. There are two reasons for this. First, when students are encouraged to write throughout the day for many purposes, they generate more writing than could possibly be read and evaluated. Second, some of this writing is, by its very nature, private. Reporting activities such as diaries are intended to help students explore their thoughts and feelings and to organize their thinking through written expression. This writing provides practice for writing skills and creates habits of thinking through writing, but it is not intended to be part of a portfolio evaluation.

Two-Minute Conferences Donald Graves (1994) suggests that teachers conduct brief, walk-around writing conferences with students on a daily basis to keep in touch with their writing progress. This contact, approximately 2 minutes in length, should include questions that encourage students to consider the past, present, and future of the piece they are working on. Keep questions brief and to the point. Your goal is to encourage the student to do all the talking while you listen carefully. This process of talking out loud about a project helps students focus on their writing in terms of their purposes and progress and encourages autonomy in solving problems that arise. Prepare a simple checklist with the names of all students in the classroom. As you move from student to student, progress or difficulty can be noted with plus or minus signs. Brief notations about specific difficulties (indenting paragraphs, using descriptive words, correct use of quotation marks) provide information for planning mini-lessons or writing workshops.

Build Partnerships A good way to communicate with parents and enlist their help in writing activities is by sending notes home. At the end of the day, review all of the day’s activities and list them on the board. Some classrooms have a rotating secretary who records the day’s activities on a large chart at the front of the room. With these prompts, students can write their own notes, commenting on what they enjoyed or are looking forward to. They might also describe activities that individual family members would be interested in. Kindergarten children can copy single words from the board that will help them describe the day’s activities. These letters home can be addressed to anyone and are intended to provide information about a child’s interests and activities at school. They help

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students organize their thoughts about their work during the day and provide daily practice in the lost art of letter writing. With e-mail, chat rooms, and text messaging, children too often abbreviate their communication with family and friends. This activity promotes conversation at home about what children are learning at school and is an antidote for the typical response of “Nothing” to the question: “What did you learn at school today?” Students may vary the type of written communication they take home by writing brief descriptions of the day’s activities or more detailed descriptions of a single activity that especially drew their interest. Most teachers also write home to parents. They describe current learning activities and talk about how parents can provide assistance. At the beginning of the year, they may ask for volunteer help with writing activities, such as taking dictation, typing up stories, or helping students learn to use the word processor. Teachers may also send home a list of ideas for families to support writing at home, such as providing opportunities for children to write for a purpose. Students can help make grocery lists, leave messages for family members, take phone messages, write up catalog orders, write letters to family and friends who live at a distance, order free materials, write about trips or things that interest them, and keep a journal or diary during a family trip or visit. Reach out to the broader community of your school and area to expand your students’ concepts of writing as a career. Invite local writers, newspaper editors, sportswriters, and feature writers for food, business, and education to share what they do. Encourage your students to ask them how they became interested in writing, the problems they encountered with their writing, and how they solved them. You might also encourage students to interview school personnel, family members, and community workers to ask how they use writing in their work.

If This Is Your Situation It is likely that your school, district, or state will have mandates about how writing is taught. If language skills are taught as separate subject areas, you may also have specific directives for teaching composition, handwriting, spelling, and English grammar. The concern of the educators or governing bodies who create these mandates is that the level of writing performance has decreased among students. They believe that assigned projects and frequent assessments will improve student writing and help ensure that all students will receive at least minimal instruction. Teachers who have established successful writing programs on their own may feel unfairly penalized by these restrictions, which they see as obstructing rather than promoting achievement in their students. They have, however, worked successfully with administrators who are under pressure to show improvement in writing skills. These teachers initiate contact with their principals by sharing their concerns about several children in their class. They keep the principal informed of their progress, telling success stories and showing them samples of improvement.

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As an individual teacher, you can respond to mandates in several ways, depending on the level of restrictions imposed on your decision making: Level One—The school district lists curriculum objectives. Make a list of the skills required or word lists that must be mastered. Word lists can be administered at the beginning of the year during a week’s time. At the kindergarten level, required word identification lists can be checked off as individual children learn these words throughout the year. At the primary and intermediate levels, individual students can copy words they need to learn to spell or define and create their own word lists to study and master throughout the year. As words are spelled or used correctly, they can be checked off on the teacher’s master list. Instructional audiotapes or videotapes for handwriting can be used, as needed, by students who require assistance with handwriting skills. English grammar objectives can be easily adapted into mini-lessons. Use charts to display required vocabulary or spelling words. Level Two—A specific writing program is mandated. Sometimes districts have specific writing programs with activities that must be completed by all grade levels. States may also assign writing topics or projects as part of an assessment program. All of the writing activities described in this chapter can be used as warm-up exercises or informal practice for the more formal assigned topics or projects. The concern here is that students will be able to perform well on writing tests. The additional practice helps achieve this goal. Level Three—Writing instruction is a team effort or another teacher’s responsibility. Occasionally at the primary level, but more often at the intermediate grade levels, language arts instruction is departmentalized. This means that one teacher is responsible for teaching language arts to all classes at a grade level or, in smaller schools, to all intermediate grades. If this is your situation and you are the language arts teacher, you may be able to create an integrated program with each group of students you teach, subject to the restrictions noted above. If you must correlate your teaching with a team, you can still use these guidelines. If you are not the language arts teacher and your assignment is social studies, science, or math, you can use all the language arts as tools for learning, expression, and communication. Ideas for integrating language arts into the content areas are discussed in Chapter 10.

Reflections (Julia Parker, Fourth-Grade Teacher) Over a period of several months, my students complained about the workbook pages they were required to complete as part of a district-mandated language arts program. It began when I told them they did not have to write complete sentences in the reading workbook (as the book asks them to do) because there simply was not room for them to do so. After a while, they started to notice short lines in parts of the grammar workbook when there was obviously room to make longer lines. They asked

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why the publisher did not add more lines (there was a 2–3-inch blank space at the bottom) in the spelling workbook, where they were asked to write a short essay using their spelling words. I told the class that this was the second year I had used the series and that I had a good mind to write to the company and complain to them. One of my students said, “Why don’t we do that for next week’s writing assignment?” Because this particular language arts series assigns an essay each week as part of the lesson, a “teachable moment” was created. To help my students see how writing can be used to serve real purposes, I suggested that we pool our ideas, write them on the board, and each write a letter that included the pertinent information. Tiffany began her letter with: “I am a fourth grader and my school uses your language arts workbooks.” “There are some things that I don’t like about them [the workbooks],” Nolan continued. Joe added, “The answer spaces are too short.” Andrew gave an example of a question from the book, that would require at least five times the space provided to accommodate the answer. “With such small lines,” he argued, “you have to shorten answers.” He wondered if this will lead to students not learning as much. He also said: “Furthermore, having to write smaller makes your hand hurt, unlike when you are able to write normally.” Nolan raised similar concerns about the learning value of several exercises. He noted: “ . . . on a page in grammar, you may have mostly the same answers,” a concern echoed by Andrew, who said that when all the questions in an entire exercise have the same answer, this can “lead to a loss of learning.” Joe and others noted that “We don’t have any workbook pages for our challenge words.” Andrew observed that some pages have large empty spaces for answers, but they must use their rulers to draw more lines to write on. To balance the criticism, each student thought of something they could honestly compliment the company about. All commented that they like the stories on CD, and several mentioned particular titles that they found humorous or interesting. Andrew liked the fact that there were “two pages for vocabulary, a spelling review page, and good stories in the reading book.”

A Perspective on Writing (Sylvia Ashton-Warner, Teacher/Author) Ideas about children and writing were given a new perspective by the work of Sylvia Ashton-Warner. In Teacher (1963), Sylvia Ashton-Warner says: A child’s writing is his own affair and is an exercise in integration which makes for better work. The more it means to him the more value it is to him. And it means everything to him. It is part of him as an arranged subject could never be. It is not a page of sentences written around set words, resulting in

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a jumble of disconnected facts as you so often see. It is the unbroken line of thought that we cultivate so carefully in our own writing and conversation. (p. 54)

Discouraged by her efforts to teach her New Zealand Maori students to read with the basal texts provided by the British government, Sylvia Ashton-Warner began to write her own books, using the experiences of the native peoples of the country, which were far different than those of English children learning to read thousands of miles away. The cultures were so different that the experiences narrated in the British texts had no meaning for her students. Ashton-Warner believed that children could learn to read words that were important to them. Every day, she asked her students for their “best” word, helped them trace the letters with their fingers, talked about the sounds the letters made, and gave them time to practice writing the word. Words with emotional loading varied from student to student, but they almost instantly learned to read words that came directly from their experience—mother, father, baby, fight, strong, scared, ghost, happy. The teacher used these words as stepping-stones to teach those that were required by the standard British curriculum. She helped her students identify and learn words that started with the same letter as their key word; had the same ending sound; meant the same; meant the opposite. Key words allowed these children to have immediate success with reading and to develop the idea that words they thought about and spoke were important. What they said could be written down and read. Writing was a magic way to save their personal stories.

What Research Says About Writing Marilyn Boutwell (1983) describes students’ behavior during writing as a continuous process of alternating between writing and reading. A child writes, then reads what has been written, and returns to writing as part of a strategy of making sense in his or her communication. Calkins (1983) observes that students read continually as they write, to enjoy what they have written, to edit and rehearse their ideas, and to create momentum for further writing. Students read their writing aloud to others and study others’ writing for inspiration and direction for their own. Calkins also observes that skills used in writing are useful skills for reading, such as finding the main idea, identifying cause and effect, supplying supporting details, and developing conclusions. Tierney and Pearson (1983) see reading and writing as essentially similar processes. Writers create for readers, and readers must recreate the ideas of the writers to gain the intended message or experience. Both reader and writer are trying to make sense of what is happening on the page. Goodman, Smith, Meredith, and Goodman (1986) observe, however, that reading and writing are not reverse processes. Readers are free to pick and choose many of their clues for meaning. Depending on their own

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knowledge and background, they can move toward comprehension in a personal way. Writers, on the other hand, must always consider the knowledge and experience of the intended readers. Research points to a relationship between writing and reading proficiency. A review of reading/writing research by Sandra Stotsky (1983) concluded that good writers are also good readers. Correlational studies indicated that better writers tend to read more and that better readers tend to produce better writing. McClure (1985) found that time, space, materials, and teacher conviction are directly tied to the success of a writing program in the classroom. Other teacher factors that encourage student interaction with literature include the support of experimentation and divergent thinking. Also important are praise and feedback, acknowledgment of writing as a challenging process, clear-cut expectations within which children can work comfortably, and the encouragement of self-determination. Donald Graves (1994a) observes that when children write about ideas and experiences that have meaning for them and share these ideas with others, they become increasingly aware of the “durable power” of writing as a permanent record of things they have experienced or thought about (p. 48). Prominent educators who teach writing to children have observed distinct benefits to students who participate regularly in daily writer’s workshops. Lucy Calkins (1991) believes that children learn to think on paper. She says that children stand on the shoulders of their thoughts as they explore their ideas and memories (p. 67). As students practice taking notes about things they have read about or seen, they begin to understand that information can be stored through writing. Sharing their writing by reading it aloud in a friendly group helps children share the unique way they see the world. The responses of others to their writing also helps them discover new things about the people, places, things, or ideas they have written about.

For Your Personal Library Answering Students’ Questions About Words by Tompkins and Yaden (1986) is a useful little handbook that provides answers to questions students ask about language, such as why the same words have different meanings and why different words can have the same meaning. It traces the origins of words in English from different cultures and provides meanings for common root words, prefixes, and suffixes. This is excellent background material for teachers at all levels as well as a good source for mini-lessons and classroom teaching charts. It would be a helpful reference book to have on hand for readers and writers at the intermediate level. Writing Workshop Survival Kit by Gary Muschla (1993) offers good ideas to begin using writing workshops in the classroom. These materials include mini-lessons, exercises, and checklists for a broad range of writing activities. Topics cover the creation and management of writing workshops, prewriting

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strategies, drafting, revision, editing, and publishing. Mini-lessons cover types of writing, including genres, news articles, plays, letters, and poetry. Lessons cover writing techniques and mechanics, and bibliographies include books and resources for the teaching of writing.

Try Out the Chapter Ideas • Interview a practicing teacher about the spelling program he or she uses. Ask them what they like about this approach and what they think about developmental spelling. • Examine the handwriting of other people in your class or members of your own family. Observe the differences in style and letter formation, and evaluate the samples for legibility and consistency. If they write the sample while you are watching, notice if they seem comfortable as they write. • The next time you write something, observe your own behavior. Notice if you reread the sentences you write and what effect this has on what you write next. • Practice taking key words and creating captions with kindergarten children or ESL students. • Create a rhyming words chart with primary children. • Set up a continuing language experience chart for a content area.

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CHAPTER NINE

Listening and Speaking

In This Chapter How listening and speaking help children learn to read and write The importance of being able to read aloud well Ways to stimulate class conversations The importance of sharing responses to literature How to set up book previewing, creative drama, puppetry, reader’s theatre • How to create and present a Friday Afternoon Sharing Time (FAST) • The use of audiences to help develop speaking and listening skills • • • • •

The Main Idea Students’ speaking and listening improve with increased opportunities to practice these skills in a variety of contexts for a variety of purposes. These contexts include discussions about ideas and information related to the content areas, creative ventures that allow students to share their talents, and situations that require the suitable use of words to engage gracefully in social occasions.

In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: Using Words in Social Situations Jacob and Hayden come into the kindergarten room arguing. “Is so, is so!” Hayden claims. “No, it’s not!” Jacob retorts, banging the back of his chair with his hand for emphasis. 229

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“I know it’s going to rain . . . my mom made me bring an umbrella ’cause she can’t come get me after school,” Hayden says with authority. Jacob is disappointed because he is looking forward to a joint recess with the sixth graders to practice for the buddy baseball game. “Can you solve it with words?” Mrs. Jamison asks. Jacob scowls. “You really feel disappointed, don’t you?” she sympathizes. Jacob nods. “I don’t want it to rain,” he declares. “It’s not going to rain.” “Is too, is too,” Hayden chants at him, from behind the teacher. “Can you say something else if you disagree?” she asks, turning around to Hayden. He pauses. “Excuse me, I have a different idea?” “That sounds pretty good. What will you say to support your different idea?” Hayden thinks a minute. “Tell why I have that idea. Give some evidence.” “Try it,” the teacher says. “Excuse me,” Hayden says to Jacob. “I have a different idea. It’s going to rain. I think it’s going to rain because my mom told me.” “Your mom’s wrong,” Jacob mumbles. “It’s not going to rain.” “How else could you say that?” the teacher asks. “I have a different idea. It’s not going to rain.” “And your evidence?” “I just don’t want it to.” “Could you find out?” He rolls his eyes up to think. “We could ask Mr. Wright to listen to the radio,” he says finally. “What do you think, Hayden?” “Yeah, Mr. Wright. He can prove it.” “What will you say to him?” the teacher asks. “Mr. Wright, we want to find out if it’s going to rain this afternoon,” Hayden says. “He will want to know why you’re interested,” the teacher says. “What will you say?” “I want us to play buddy baseball,” Jacob replies. “What part will you say to Mr. Wright, Hayden?” “The part about will he listen to the radio,” he replies. “And I’ll tell the reason part,” Jacob answers. “Good enough,” the teacher says. “Take the Hall Key and come back as soon as possible. We’re going to have Discussion in a few minutes.” The boys return from the office with news that satisfies them both. Mr. Wright has heard the weather prediction for rain, but promises Jacob that he will supervise 20 minutes in the gym for the two classes to practice softball catch if rain spoils their other plans. Mrs. Jamison moves to the Discussion Chair and sits down. Twenty children gather around her, sitting on the rug. “How might we make visitors feel welcome in our room?” the teacher asks the group. “Give ’em a hug,” Nicole suggests. The others giggle.

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“I’m sure that would make them feel very welcome,” Mrs. Jamison agrees, and she writes “hug” on the blackboard behind her. “What else can you think of?” “You could give ’em a chair,” Jacob says. “That’s sounds good,” the teacher replies and adds “chair” to the list. “Why do visitors come to our room?” she asks. “To see us read and do things,” Kaylee volunteers. “Because they’re learning to be teachers,” Hayden says, “like my mom.” “And Mr. Wright comes to see us,” Amy says, “and our parents.” “What helps them have a good time in our room?” “They just do,” Jacob replies. “When we go down to the sixth-grade room for poetry reading, what do you like best about going into their room?” Mrs. Jamison asks. A number of hands go up. “They’re friends for us. They’re big, but they’re not mean.” “Would you say that they’re friendly?” the teacher asks. The students nod their heads in agreement, and Mrs. Jamison adds “friendly” to the list. “And my book buddy comes for me and we go to our special place in the room,” Janeele says. “And Matt asks me what I want to read. He lets me decide,” Jacob adds. Several children volunteer their ideas at once. “First Hayden, then Cody, and then Tyler,” the teacher says. “One at a time now, so I can hear your ideas,” Mrs. Jamison says, and she adds the words “choices” and “special place” to the list on the blackboard. “They show us around the room every time and we see stuff they make,” Hayden says, “like the rain forest.” “And they wrote books for us,” Cody says. “And they give us crackers and raisins and peanuts,” Tyler adds. “Wait a minute,” the teacher says. “Let me catch up,” and she writes the words “displays,” “books,” “refreshments.” When Mrs. Jamison has recorded a key word for each contribution, she asks the children to read the list with her. “Which of these things could you do for visitors to our classroom?” she asks. All hands go up, and there is a scramble to talk. “Who will go first?” she asks. The children look at each other. “Amy first, then Cody, and then me,” Jacob says. “Good work,” Mrs. Jamison says. “We can be friendly,” Amy begins. “And we can give them a special place where it’s nice, like the beanbag chair.” “Jacob said he liked it when Matt asked him what he wanted to read or do. Can we do something like that for our visitors?” Mrs. Jamison asks. “We could ask them what they want to look at,” Hayden suggests. “You should have another chair,” Callie adds. “My Grandma couldn’t sit in a beanbag chair.” “Very thoughtful,” the teacher says. “Are there other places that visitors could sit?” The class identifies chairs at the listening center, the rocker in the story area, and the chair at the piano.

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“Can they see what is happening from each of those places?” she asks. A volunteer goes to each area and reports that the visitor’s view would be blocked if they sat at the piano. “What could be done?” the teacher asks. “We could move the chair for just when a visitor comes,” Hayden suggests. “What about food?” Tyler says. “We should give them some food.” “What do you have in mind?” Mrs. Jamison asks. Children suggest peanuts, raisins, juice, crackers. Hayden says “a cake!” “That costs too much money,” Amy says. “My mother could bake one,” Callie suggests. “We could all have some,” Tyler says. “What kind of food do we already have in the classroom?” Mrs. Jamison asks. “Crackers and juice,” Hayden says, “and raisins and peanuts.” “Do you think a visitor would enjoy sharing those with us?” she asks. The children look at each other and nod their heads. “They’d like cake better,” Tyler grumbles. “You know, a cake does sound like a good idea for a special occasion,” Mrs. Jamison agrees. “What about having cake when we give our play?” “Yeah, a big cake so everyone can have some,” Tyler agrees. It is obvious that he is hungry. “Tyler, all this talk about food is making me hungry,” the teacher says. “Why don’t you bring the peanut and raisin boxes over so we can have a snack and perk up our brains?” As the children munch, Mrs. Jamison asks: “If someone is friendly to you, what do they say?” she asks. “And what do they do?” Responses, given with examples from their own experience, include smiling, saying something nice to them, taking their hand to lead them to their special place, showing them interesting things in the classroom, and reading a book to them. “Let’s practice,” the teacher says. “Who would like to be the greeter—the person who makes the visitor feel welcome?” Callie volunteers. “And the visitor?” Anna raises her hand. She goes outside and then comes back in to pick up a large purse from the dress-up box. She returns to the hall, closes the door, and knocks. The children giggle. “Who should answer the door?” Mrs. Jamison asks. “Me,“ Callie replies, and she hesitates. “Go on,” Jacob says. “She wants to come in.” Callie goes to the door and opens it. Anna begins to giggle and the class joins in. The teacher waits. The two girls look at her. “Why have you come to visit the class?” Mrs. Jamison asks Anna. Anna thinks for a minute. “I want to see this class read their charts again,” she replies. “They are just amazing.”

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The class gets still. The dialogue has captured their interest. “What will you say when Callie opens the door?” she prompts. “Good morning, I’m from the college. Can I come in?” Callie looks puzzled. “Say somethin’ back!” Jacob coaches. She pauses a minute and then replies. “Yes, come in. We like visitors. Come in, ’cause we’re going to be amazing today,” she says. “Thank you,” Anna says, and comes into the room dragging her makebelieve briefcase. “Good job,” Mrs. Jamison says, and the girls sit down. “How did Callie make the visitor feel welcome?” she asks the group. “She was friendly,” Justin says. “She told something interesting,” Hayden adds. “We’re going to be amazing, so she’ll probably want to stay and watch us.” The others agree. “What could the greeter do next to make the visitor feel welcome?” the teacher asks. There are many suggestions, including reading a favorite book, showing them a place to put their coat, escorting them to a place to sit down, inviting them to look around the room, showing them the centers, and telling them about the reading/writing charts and art work around the room. “When it’s time to leave the sixth-grade room, what do your book buddies say?” the teacher asks. “See you later, alligator!” “Bye!” “Thanks for coming!” “Come back again.” “We’ll see you next week,” they volunteer. “Could you say any of those things to a visitor?” she asks. “Not the alligator thing,” Amy says, “unless it’s the sixth graders.” “We could say ‘thanks for coming,’” Anna says. “And ‘Come back again,’” Hayden adds. “And smile,” Jacob says, “so they know we’re friendly.” “Excellent ideas,” Mrs. Jamison says. She reviews the role of greeter with the students and then lets them group in pairs to practice conducting a tour of the room. When everyone has had a turn, she draws the group back together and asks them what they liked best about what their greeter said or did. “She smiled a lot,” Jacob says of Callie. “Hayden told me all about the stuff on the science table,” Anna says. “Amy showed me the computer photo printer and told how we make Big Books,” Maria says. When everyone has shared their experience Mrs. Jamison tells the class that they will have the opportunity to practice being greeters during the afternoon. A class of students from the college will be coming to help with art work for the Insects study, so there will be enough visitors for everyone to be a greeter. The children look interested. “What if we forget what we’re supposed to say?” Jacob worries. “Just be friendly,” Amy suggests. “Good advice,” Mrs. Jamison says. “I’ll move your suggestions for making visitors feel welcome to the chart, and you can look at it for ideas.” “What if we can’t remember what the words say?” Jacob asks.

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“What do you suggest?” she asks. He thinks a minute. “You could put up some picture clues,” he says. “Good idea,” she replies. “How about helping me draw some?

Behind the Scenes Mrs. Jamison’s first purpose in the above conversation is to give students practice in thinking, talking, and problem solving. The second purpose of this dialogue is to help children develop social skills that can be practiced and reinforced on a daily basis. In each interaction, the teacher asks open-ended questions to encourage students to think about options, solve problems, and reflect on their experience. When Jacob enters the room upset about possible rain, Mrs. Jamison immediately moves to acknowledge his unhappiness so that he does not have to demonstrate it further. She encourages both boys to use language to solve their conflict. Because the dispute was created with language, she wants them to experience the power of language to resolve it. At the beginning of the group session, students respond rather perfunctorily to Mrs. Jamison’s question about how to make visitors feel welcome in the classroom. When it is apparent that this question has not tapped into their own experience, she encourages them to report their own feelings about being a classroom visitor. At various times in the discussion, several children talk at the same time, a common occurrence when they are excited about the topic. When this happens the first time, the teacher sorts out the confusion and reminds them that taking turns will ensure a good audience for their ideas. In the second instance, she allows a student to guide the discussion, encouraging students to take increased responsibility for the process. Each time the class talks together, Mrs. Jamison introduces a principle of good discussion for them to practice. At the beginning of the year, she encouraged students to add ideas to what they say, helping them move from one word or condensed responses to complete sentences. Through modeling and role-playing, she demonstrates the value of being understood and the responsibility of speakers to speak clearly, loudly enough to be heard, and in a voice that is pleasant to listen to. She has focused on speaking with a volume and tone appropriate to the occasion and models ways to disagree politely. She suggests alternate ways to express disagreement and encourages students to provide evidence for their opinions. This activity builds the foundation for successful group participation and helps children practice the fundamental processes of social interaction. Throughout the day, students practice speaking and listening to each other. They talk about things that interest them—personal experiences, school, community and world events, and their responses to books they have read. They create puppet shows and plays for visitors and engage the visitors in lively discussions. Music is an integral part of classroom activities, and students listen closely to favorites to learn the melody and words. All of these events arise from things that are immediate and interesting to students. By creating an environment full of opportunities to actively practice listening and speaking, the teacher helps students develop these skills. Each student learns to share a variety of information, for a number of

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purposes, with a broad range of listeners. As members of an audience, they develop skills of appreciation, encouragement, and support.

A Primary Classroom: Friday Afternoon Sharing Time “Mrs. Logan! My great-grandma loaned me the pictures!” Lucy announces, as she deposits a large manila envelope on the third-grade teacher’s desk. “Great!” Mrs. Logan responds. “Let’s take a look,” and she carefully slides the cardboard-backed photographs from their protective wrapping. “See, here’s her friend Esther,” Lucy points to a class picture, taken in the early 1900s. “This is when they were in first grade. They’ve been friends for 90 years! And here’s a picture of them now.” She shows the teacher a smaller, contemporary photograph of the two friends sitting at the piano. “They played duets together when they were young and they still do sometimes. Esther’s mother was my great-grandma’s piano teacher.” “This looks like a very interesting presentation,” Mrs. Logan says. Lucy looks pleased. “I worked really hard on it,” she says. “Do you have all the equipment you need?” the teacher asks. “I tested my tape in the listening center recorder. It works all right.” “Have you practiced the volume, and starting and stopping at the right places?” the teacher asks. “Yes,” Lucy replies. “I practiced at home.” “Well, good luck,” the teacher adds. “I’m really looking forward to your presentation.” Lucy thanks Mrs. Logan, collects her pictures, and goes to the art center for materials to make signs for her display. At two o’clock in the afternoon, students put away books from independent reading and begin to set up displays and pictures. Benjamin has requested blackboard space to put up photographs of submarines, and he lines up submarine models along the chalk ledge. He will be showing the class the book he is reading on submarines and reading a letter from his uncle who is stationed on a nuclear submarine, somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean. “Is everyone ready?” Marissa asks. Students in the classroom take turns acting as mistress or master of ceremonies for the Friday afternoon sharing time, and today it is Marissa’s turn. Her question sends presenters scurrying to put the finishing touches on their displays. “We can start when everyone is quiet,” she tells the class, and the talking stops. “Welcome to our Friday Afternoon Sharing Time,’’ Marissa begins. “Our first presenters today are Francis, Mary Claire, Jane Anne, Matt, and Zach. They are going to give a play they made from Jan Brett’s [1996] The Mitten: A Ukrainian Folk Tale.” The class applauds as Mary Claire carries a white sheet to the front of the room. The students sewed the sides together to make a large sack and stitched a pillowcase onto the side, to make the thumb for the mitten. They used watercolor black markers to create the effect of a knitted mitten.

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“We’re going to give this play to the kindergarten class,” Mary Claire explains. “And we wanted to practice it on another audience first.” Each performer holds a mask of the animal they portray in front of their faces. As Mary Claire reads about the animals that seek refuge in the mitten, performers climb into the sheet sack that represents the ever-enlarging mitten. At the climax of the story, the bear sneezes and the sack explodes. Performers tumble out on cue, drawing the applause and laughter of the audience. “Do you have any comments?” Mary Claire asks, when the performance is completed. “Do it again,” Benjamin says. “I liked it!” “You did a good job making the mitten,” Lucy says. “That was my favorite story when I was in kindergarten,” Jane Anne remarks. “How could we make it better?” Mary Claire asks. “Did you ever think about doing the masks a different way?” Senya asks. “Like how?” “Well . . . I like the masks you made and everything, but. . . .” “But what? “What if you made them out of paper bags, instead . . . put them over your heads, so you didn’t have to hold them up to your face. It would make getting in and out of the sack easier and look more like animals.” “We were trying to do the masks like Japanese plays,” Matt says, “but it would be easier if we didn’t have to hold them up.” “Maybe we’ll think about it,” Mary Claire concludes. “It wouldn’t be too hard to draw them on something like a paper bag. Any questions?” “How did you make the masks?” someone asks. “Miss Krueger [the art teacher] set up the overhead projector and we traced the pictures we wanted,” Zach answers. “Then we cut out the pictures and glued them to cardboard. Miss Krueger showed us how to staple the masks to the sticks,” Francis adds. “Why did you choose this story for a play?” someone asks. “We found it in the library when we were looking for folktales from Eastern Europe. Matt read it to Hayden down in kindergarten during book buddies and he really liked it. We asked Mrs. Jamison if she’d like to have us make a play about it, and she told us to go ahead,” Jane Anne replies. “Did you know there are other versions of this story?” Mrs. Logan asks. “I read one of them when I was in elementary school. It was also called The Mitten [Tresselt, 1964], and it told a similar story.” Mary Claire looks at her group, and they shake their heads. “It’s not in the library,” Francis says, “because we looked at every single book about Russian and Ukrainian folktales. I’d like to see what it looks like, though. Do you still have your copy?” Mrs. Logan laughs. “No, but you can do a search on one of the Internet bookstores, to see if it’s still in print. I’m sure there are versions from other countries, also. They might be included in similar books, listed with Jan Brett’s story. Let us know what you find.” Marissa, the moderator for FAST, has allowed 3 minutes for questions and rings a little bell to indicate the end of question time. Next, she introduces

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Benjamin, who makes an 8-minute presentation with the letter from his uncle, complete with anecdotes about life on a submarine. Because there are many questions, Marissa allows extra time for Benjamin to answer inquiries about how a submarine works. He shows the class Jonathan Rutland’s book, See Inside a Submarine (1988), and several boys ask if he will share it with them for independent reading. Lucy is next, with the oral biography of her great-grandmother, a project she became interested in after reading How to Tape Instant Oral Biographies: Recording Your Family’s Life Story in Sight and Sound (Zimmerman, 1992). She begins by telling the group about the book. “When you collect an oral biography,” she says, “you try to ask good questions and then record the answers people give. I didn’t know what questions to ask at first, but the book gives you ideas. They must be pretty good questions because my great-grandma said she liked them. She said they made her think about interesting things. I recommend this book if you would like to know more about your relatives. I never thought about my great-grandma ever being my age. When she was little, most people didn’t have radios or telephones or TV. Here are some of the other things we talked about.” As students listen to the taped conversation between Lucy and her greatgrandmother, she shows them pictures of the people who are being talked about. The class listens attentively to stories about ice cut out of the river and stored for summertime, a hot air balloon that visited the town on the Fourth of July, and Civil War veterans marching in a Armistice Day parade—all vividly recalled by Lucy’s great-grandmother. Students ask her if she is going to interview anyone else. Someone asks to borrow the book. “Would anyone else like to do a project like this?” Mrs. Logan asks. There is an immediate and enthusiastic response from the class. Lucy’s project has provided a highly motivating introduction to an interview technique that will enhance the next theme study on communities. Nathaniel is introduced next. “I made a game,” he says, holding up a bundle of large cards made from cardboard separators he got from the janitor. “It’s about The Borrowers [Norton, 2003, reissue]. How many of you have read this book?” he asks, holding up the book. Three hands go up. “Well, I like this book because it shows how little people make things they need by borrowing them from humans. They live right inside the same houses and get their names from the places they live, like the Mantelpieces.’’ “I’m going to hold up a picture and you pretend like you’re about 3 inches high and decide what you can do with it. I also made some Borrower furniture that’s over on the table,” he concludes. He holds up a picture of a spool of thread. The class guesses a table, wheels for a cart, and a yard hose holder. Nathaniel tells how the spool is used in the story and moves to the next pictures, which include scissors, a matchbox, postage stamp, and a teacup. This creative presentation earns enthusiastic applause. Someone in the class who has read the book asks if Mary Norton wrote any other books about the Borrowers. “My mom said she read a whole bunch of Borrower books when she was my age,” Nathaniel says. “And there are some other ones I read about,” he adds. “I’m going to read Poor Stainless [Norton, 1985] next.’’

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“It may not be in the library,’’ the teacher says. “I think it’s out of print. But you can usually get those books in new condition from one of the Internet bookstores.’’ “I know,’’ Benjamin says. “I sent away for it, and it was only a dollar, plus the postage. My dad ordered me a bunch of books that he liked when he was my age, and they weren’t too expensive.’’ Robert and Daniel give the final presentation, reading Knots on a Counting Rope (Martin, 1987) aloud together. This conversation between a blind Native American boy and his grandfather is somewhat of a struggle for the two boys, but they persevere and are obviously very much caught up in the meaning of the story. They have made their own Native American costumes and sit around a fire made from fireplace logs, colored tissue paper, and a flashlight. This is a touching performance, and when it has finished there is thoughtful silence, broken in a few seconds by warm applause. There is great interest in how the boys made their outfits. Some want to see the pictures in the book, and they pass it around. While some students look at art work and various projects related to literature displayed on a table at the front of the room, others pick up evaluation forms and fill them out. The forms are used to provide audience feedback to the presenters. When completed, they are returned to trays on the teacher’s desk, marked with each presenter’s name. After the teacher reviews the forms, they are distributed to the presenters. Students are encouraged to list what they liked about each presentation and to give suggestions that would help them understand or appreciate the presentation better the next time.

Behind the Scenes Like the students in Mrs. Jamison’s class, these children are learning to be critical and appreciative listeners. At the beginning of the year, Mrs. Logan models respectful applause as each presenter is introduced. She explains that this initial audience response shows appreciation for the work that students have already done in preparing for the presentation. The effect of the applause on the presenters is noticeable, providing encouragement and support for their efforts. Students are encouraged to ask questions and contribute positive comments after each presentation, telling what they especially like about each one. They may also provide helpful feedback if they think it will make the presentation better, such as speaking more loudly or slowly, using charts and pictures, or providing more explanation. In January, the class began recording their evaluations in writing, responding to the prompts: What I Liked and Suggestions. Mrs. Logan models appropriate responses to these prompts by giving examples, such as: “I liked hearing what it was like to go to school a long time ago,” or “The poem you read was funny. I’m going to check out the book you read it from.” Suggestion responses might include: “I couldn’t hear too well.” or “I couldn’t remember the parts of the submarine. Maybe you could write them on the board or a chart.” In this third-grade classroom, students also participate in creative drama. They plan and present puppet shows and plays based on books they have

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read. Each day, one third of the class gives a preview to the class about a book they are reading. Another discussion session uses taped and printed commercial material to encourage students to explore issues and ideas that affect their own lives, the community, or the world.

An Intermediate Classroom: A Shared-Pair Discussion “What’s the shared-pair debate about today?” Dejon asks Mr. Robinson. “I think you’ll like this one,” the sixth-grade teacher replies, but gives no other clue. Students check the schedule for their discussion partner and shared pair, then move into groups of four. “What about an idea from The Giver [Lowry, 1993b]?” he asks, holding up the Newbery Award-winning book he has just finished reading aloud to the class. “All right!” Dejon says. Others seem equally enthusiastic. Students submit ideas for shared-pair discussion, and there have been several requests to talk about the book. The Giver tells the story of Jonas, a young boy in a Utopian community who is chosen to be the Receiver of Memories. The Utopia exists in a protected environment that has eliminated the necessity of personal decisions. All citizens are treated the same, and all are regarded the same. All are clothed, housed, fed, and cared for from birth to death. All have an occupation that is suited to their talents. But there is an underside to these benefits, which Jonas discovers. When he receives the memories of the Giver, Jonas becomes the only person in the community able to see color. He also is able to feel other forbidden experiences, such as pain, joy, the warmth of family, the joy of celebrations, the knowledge of death, and the sensations of snow, rain, and sun. His new knowledge separates him from his family, and Jonas must eventually leave the community to protect someone he has learned to love. Mr. Robinson writes the topic on the board: “In spite of its flaws, the Utopian community described in The Giver was essentially a good one.” In their assigned groups of four, students take out their personal copies of discussion guidelines, quickly copy down the topic, and begin to take notes on their thoughts. After 5 minutes, the teacher rings a bell and students turn to talk with their first partner in the group. “Can I be For to start with?” Rachel asks Senya. “Okay,” Senya says, “Most of my ideas are Against, anyway.” “Well, first of all, nobody ever went hungry.” Rachel begins. The two girls enter their own shorthand for this idea on a chart they have drawn in their discussion notebooks. Rachel writes “No one hungry” on her chart and Senya writes “Enough food.” “And everyone got a good education for what they were suited for,” Rachel continues. “There was no pain and no one had to worry about anything, not even fixing meals or buying clothes. Everything was given to them. Everyone was nice to each other, and people were trained to be whatever they were good at.”

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The girls record this list in the “For” column. “Did you have anything for the ‘Against’ side?” Senya asks. “A couple,” Rachel replies. “They didn’t have any Christmas or any real holidays,” she says. “And I hated the part about ‘releasing’ people.” “Me too,” Senya agrees. “I almost couldn’t believe what they did— especially Jonas’ parents.’’ “That’s what I thought, too,” Rachel says. “What did you have on your list?” “I had the 2 you said and also that they couldn’t see color or hear music. There weren’t any birds or trees or snow or sunshine. That would be terrible. I can’t even imagine not being able to see color. It’d be like living in the old black and white movies. Kind of scary. And they all kind of acted nice and pretended there weren’t any differences, but everyone knew there were, like Jonas’ eyes were different from everybody else’s. And then his assignment to be the Keeper of Memories . . . that was way different . . . he really didn’t have any friends after that.” The two girls record Senya’s ideas in the Against column. “Do you have anything to put in the For column?” Rachel asks. “The same as the ones you already said,” Senya replies. “About having enough food and clothes . . . oh, and everyone had a nice place to live,” she says, and the girls add this idea to their lists. A warning bell rings, indicating 2 minutes to write a conclusion. Rachel looks at the discussion guidelines. “So what’s our consensus?” she asks. “We liked the good things and hated the bad things,” Senya says. “We have to have reasons,” Rachel reminds her. “I think they paid too big a price for all those things,” Senya says. “No one was allowed to be different. They lost their freedom.” “Why is that important?” Rachel asks, using another question from the discussion guidelines. “Because, without any freedom, you can’t make choices.” “Why is that bad?” Senya thinks. “You have to answer some of this, too,” she reminds Rachel. “Well . . . ’’ Rachel hesitates. “No one really did anything because they really felt it. Like Jonas’ parents—they did things to follow the rules, but his dad didn’t really care about the babies he took care of, except as failures or successes.” “Yeah,” Senya agrees. “So what do we want to say for a concluding statement?” Rachel asks. “What about: ‘This wasn’t a good community, because there wasn’t any freedom or change or love,’” Senya suggests. “But that wouldn’t matter if you didn’t think those things were important. If you thought everybody being the same and having enough food and everything was more important, then you’d think that was good,” Rachel answers. “Well . . . what about saying: ‘If you wanted to always live the same, with no freedom or change or love, then this community would be good,’” Senya suggests. “That’s good,” Rachel agrees, “or we could say: ‘This community would be good if freedom and change and love were not important to you.’”

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“Yeah, that’s good,” Senya says. “Let’s write it that way.” Another bell rings, and each girl turns to continue the discussion with a member of the other pair of discussants in their group. Each new pair compares their notes, sharing the ideas of the previous pairings. Then, they work to create a consensus statement. “Read your other statement again,” Rachel asks. Deidre reads: “This wasn’t a good community because of the way they treated people who were different.’’ “Can we just add our statement in there, like: This would be a good community if you didn’t care about how they treated people and if freedom and change and love weren’t important to you.” “It’s kind of long,” Deidre hesitates. “Can we say it shorter . . . I mean with fewer words?” She laughs. “What’s the matter?” Rachel asks. “I was just thinking like Jonas in the story. Remember? Everyone had to be precise, and it was wrong to use a certain word if there was a better one.” Rachel nods her head. “I thought about that, too,” she said. “It’s good to use the best words, but it’s not such a crime like it was for Jonas.” “Why can’t we just say: ‘This was not a good community, because there were too many flaws,’” Deidre suggests. “They didn’t have any freedom or love and they got rid of problems in a bad way.” “What about the good parts, then?” Rachel asks. “How do we show that?” The girls are thinking as the 2-minute bell rings. “What about just saying what we think,” Deidre suggests. “We believe the flaws in this community were more important than the good parts because we value freedom and love.” “That’s good,” Rachel says. “It tells our opinion and why we have it.” The girls are satisfied with their consensus and pull together with the other pair to decide on a final statement and a spokesperson for the group. “What are we going to say?” Senya asks. “Read us what you and Brittany wrote,” Deidre asks. “This community had too many flaws to be called ‘good,’” she reads, “because there wasn’t any freedom or love.” “Here’s ours,” Rachel says, and she reads their statement. “We all agree that the community had so many bad parts, that we can’t say it’s good,” Brittany says. The others nod their heads. “So that’s our consensus. It wasn’t a good community.” “Not if freedom and love are important,” Senya adds. “So that’s our position,” Deidre says. “But the other things are important too,” Rachel adds. “Having enough food and clothes and education for everybody.” “Right, but not more important,” Brittany says. “They made too many sacrifices to get those things, and they ended up solving their problems in a bad way.” “So could we say that those things are important . . . like food and clothes and everything for everyone, but not if it means getting rid of freedom and love?” “Yeah, that’s good,” Senya says. “That sounds like our position.” “Who wants to be spokesperson?” Rachel asks.

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“Who hasn’t been for a while?” Deidre replies. “I spoke in my group yesterday.” “So did I,” Senya says. “What about you, Brittany? Have you had a turn this week?” “No, but I don’t want one . . . yet.” “But you said all the things we were talking about. You can tell what we said.” “Well . . . all right. But I don’t like to.” “You’ll do all right,” Deidre says. “Just talk to the class like you talk to us.” Brittany looks doubtful. “I’ll do it if you don’t want to,” Rachel says. “No . . . I’ll do it . . . I think.” “Look, if you get scared at the last minute, just look at me and I’ll do it,” Rachel promises. Brittany looks relieved. When the time comes, however, she stands and gives the consensus of the group. When she sits down, her group gives her a pantomimed cheer and she looks happy with her performance. There are similar consensus statements from other groups. Some focus on the value of diversity versus sameness. Others concentrate on what was lost to the community to achieve freedom from physical needs. The consensus reached by the class as a whole is that the Utopian society described in The Giver required too many sacrifices for its benefits.

Behind the Scenes In the discussion above, each girl takes turns being the discussion leader. At the beginning of the year, they refer frequently to key questions, but have assimilated them into their interactions at this point, 3 months into the school year. Questions such as: “What did you have?” “Did you have anything else?” “Why is that good (or bad)?” “What reasons do we have for saying this?” help direct the discussion. Focus is also encouraged by having time limits for each stage of the shared-pair discussion. Students know they have to stay on task to arrive at consensus within the designated time. This arrangement of pairs allows all students to participate in a discussion at three levels: in pairs, shared pairs, and in a small group. One out of four students participates in the final all-class discussion. Shy or hesitant students build confidence in their speaking within the dyads and small groups, and they receive group encouragement to contribute in the larger forum.

The Importance of Developing Listening and Speaking Skills In traditional classrooms, student talk is frequently discouraged because it is believed to be distracting to the academic environment. Desks are arranged in straight rows and students are encouraged to keep their eyes straight ahead or on their own paper. Exchange of ideas between students typically occurs in whole class discussions, which inevitably limits the number of participants.

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Teachers who integrate language learning into the curriculum believe that speaking and listening are developed through practice. They also believe that students can practice thinking skills by participating in exploratory talk about all areas of the curriculum. This informal speech allows students to examine ideas together and increase their understanding of concepts in the content areas of literature, science, mathematics, social studies, and the arts. There should be many opportunities throughout the day for students to interact by talking and listening to each other. In pairs, small groups, and whole class situations, students share their thoughts, persuade, problem solve, and respond to each other’s ideas. These opportunities also serve another purpose, according to Mehan (1979): Students not only must know the content of academic subjects, they must learn the appropriate form in which to cast their knowledge. That is, competent membership in the classroom community involves employing interactional skills and abilities in the display of academic knowledge. They must know with whom, when, and where they can speak and act, and they must provide the speech and behavior that are appropriate for a given classroom situation. (p. 133)

Students usually self-select membership in these flexible groups and are drawn to individual discussions by interest in the topic or compatibility with other group members. This interaction is planned and monitored by the teacher, who helps the groups develop productive guidelines for their discussions. In contrast to the straight rows of the traditional classroom, furniture is flexibly arranged to promote interaction or privacy, according to the purpose of individual activities. Language arts educators have long agreed on the importance of being able to listen and speak effectively. In a joint statement more than 40 years ago by the National Council of Teachers of English, the International Reading Association, the Association for Childhood Education, and the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the authors of Children and Oral Language (Mackintosh, 1964) said: We share with all educators the concern about written communication and the recognition that reading skills are basic to all learning. But we have voiced the need for equal concern about educating all children to be effective speakers and listeners . . . the ability to speak and listen effectively is probably the most important asset that [they] can acquire and maintain throughout a lifetime. (p. 36)

In a report of The English Coalition Conference: Democracy Through Language (Lloyd-Jones & Lunsford, 1989), listening and speaking were recognized as central to both communication and learning. Contributors believed that communication skills permit effective social interaction and assist students as they seek knowledge and display what they know. Although there is general agreement among educators that listening and speaking skills are essential, there is disagreement about how they should be developed. Should there be specific instruction in these areas, or are they tools for learning that should be integrated throughout the curriculum?

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More traditional instruction favors specific instruction, with exercises and activities designed to accomplish certain objectives in listening and speaking, such as the ability to follow directions correctly or present a persuasive argument. In this view, listening and speaking are seen as separate subject areas to be taught and learned. Teachers who see listening and speaking as tools for learning, integrate their practice throughout the curriculum. As students speak and listen, they attend to important features of information, bring past knowledge to bear on a present situation, relate personal experience to what is being heard, and engage in the process of conversation. Speaking and listening interrelate as people interact with each other to converse, debate, discuss, persuade, and express themselves.

Preparing for Listening and Speaking Activities Oral Reading In traditional classrooms, oral reading is usually limited to round robin reading in ability groups. Teachers who integrate speaking and listening practice into the curriculum encourage their students to read aloud, share interesting ideas, or stimulate others to read something they have enjoyed. They believe that a child’s ability to read well improves with practice, and that it is important for every child to read well for an audience. Opportunities to read aloud help students see how their own interpretation of a writer’s ideas adds to someone else’s understanding and appreciation. From oral reading, students learn to assume the minds of their audience and to adjust their expression to achieve maximum audience response. Reading aloud for a purpose provides practice in analyzing the tone of literature and sensing the creative relationship between text and reader. Students learn how to vary their expression appropriate to the material they are reading, and how to use their voice to achieve different reading purposes. With practice, they develop the ability to adjust the volume, tone, and pitch of their voices to produce a variety of effects. With these purposes in mind, teachers encourage students to practice reading aloud as often as possible: in pairs, in small groups, to the entire class, family members, and friends. They also set up a Book Buddy program with same grade or cross-grade classes in their schools. Most children also enjoy reading into a tape recorder and monitoring their progress. Model the elements of successful oral reading on many occasions, demonstrating ways to adjust expression to match the tone and purpose of the literature. Exercises for developing skill in oral reading can be found in the Chapter 9 section of Appendix D. These can be demonstrated in a mini-lesson (Chapter 6) and practiced by individuals or small groups of students. It is also helpful to walk around the classroom while students are reading aloud to each other. Alternate listening with making supportive comments,

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when appropriate. Tell students what you enjoy about their reading, such as “I really liked the way you hissed out those words! It sounded just like a snake might talk,” or “You’ve been practicing . . . you knew all the words.” This is also a good time to make observations and take notes on students’ speaking and listening skills.

Book Previews Book previews provide an informal context for students to practice speaking to a group. In a regular daily cycle that includes everyone in the class, students talk to their classmates about books they are reading. This activity also promotes friendships and assists the formation of literature study groups, because it identifies persons who might have the same interests. Previews are usually scheduled immediately before or after independent reading sessions, to provide incentives for listeners to explore a book promoted by a classmate. Prepare students for previewing books by providing practice, so that the activity of standing up and talking about a book gradually becomes one that is comfortable and familiar. During these initial exercises, every student participates by responding to a single question about his or her book. Begin the first week by asking everyone to respond to the same question. A week’s schedule to ease into book previews might look like the following: • Monday—Stand, show the cover of your book, and tell the title and author. • Tuesday—Briefly tell (one or two sentences) what your book is about. • Wednesday—Tell what you like most about the book you are reading. • Thursday—Give reasons why someone else might like this book. • Friday—Tell something you’ve learned from reading your book. During the second week, put up a poster of response questions for reference and ask a group of four or five students each day to respond to all of the questions about their books. At the beginning of the third week, distribute Book Preview Guidelines (see below) to the class and establish a rotating schedule that permits every student to give a book preview at least once a week. Encourage students to add their own questions and comments to their previews. Provide at least 10 minutes each day for several students to give a brief preview of a book they are currently reading. Adapt the following form for your grade level to help students prepare for their presentations. Book Previews • Introduce the book by showing it to the class and naming the author and/or illustrator. • Tell about any awards it has won and other books the author or illustrator has written or illustrated. • Tell briefly what the book is about.

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• • • •

Tell why you like the book. Tell why you think someone else might like the book. Read a short passage to show what the writing is like. Tell something new you learned from reading the book.

Examples of Grade-Level Previews Kindergarten Student—Mary Ann I’m going to tell you about Yoko (1998), by Rosemary Wells. Yoko is a kitten, and all of her classmates at school are animals, too. Rosemary Wells must like to draw animals, because her stories all have animal characters that do human things. Rosemary Wells wrote Bunny Money (2000) that we read in math, and all the Max and Ruby books. She wrote my other favorite book, Morris and the Magic Disappearing Bag (1979), that we read at Christmastime. Yoko’s mom fixes her lunch for school, but it’s different than what everyone else has. They have sandwiches or beans, but she has sushi. Her teacher plans a day when everyone brings things their family eats. But no one wants Yoko’s food, until Timothy eats some. He likes it, and he and Yoko become friends. I liked this book because I like stories about school. It also made me hungry to read about all the different kinds of food. I also liked that Yoko and Timothy got to be friends. If you like books about school and food, you will definitely like this book. It has funny characters in it, like the two boys who are both named Frank. They are Boston Bulldogs and all they eat is franks and beans. My grandma told me this is funny, because a famous kind of bean is Boston Baked Beans. I’m going to read you about what Yoko’s lunch was like: [Kindergarten children can ask the teacher to read a selected passage aloud, if they cannot yet read.] This is when Yoko is eating her lunch. It sounds delicious, and I liked the way the author describes the food. Even if you couldn’t see the pictures, you would know what it looked like. Yoko opened the willow-covered cooler. Inside was her favorite sushi. Tucked in the rice rolls were the crispiest cucumber, the pinkest shrimp, the greenest seaweed, and the tastiest tuna.

Before I read this book, I never heard of sushi or red bean ice cream. Now I know what they are and I’d like to try some.

Primary Student—Claire My book is called Our Only May Amelia (2001). It was written by Jennifer Holm, and was a Newbery Honor book in 2000. Many of the things in the book really happened, and all the places where they happened are real places. Jennifer Holm also wrote the Boston Jane series (2002), which tells about a girl who goes from a very proper school in Boston to Oregon, when it was still wilderness. This book tells about May Amelia, who is a tomboy. She’s also called a “miracle’’ because she’s the only girl ever to be born in her settlement in Washington State, back in 1899. Her family is from Finland, and she has seven brothers. Everyone thinks she should dress and act like a proper young lady, but May Amelia likes to dress like her brothers and do all the things her brothers do.

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Her grandmother, whose name is Patience, is the most impatient person with her. She hits her when she doesn’t obey her immediately. But May Amelia’s favorite brother, Wilbert, always takes care of her when she gets in trouble. I liked this book because May Amelia reminds me of Laura Ingalls and Caddie Woodlawn, who are two of my favorite story characters. They were all brave and liked to have adventures. There is a sad part in the book, but I liked the part where it shows how May Amelia gets over being sad about what happens. I liked the part at the end, where the author tells how a diary of the author’s Aunt Alice inspired her to write the book, and I also liked all the old photographs. I think that boys and girls would both like this book. Girls would like it, because May Amelia is such a strong person. Boys would like all the descriptions of the Wild West in Washington State, and the adventures her brothers have on the river. I’m going to read a part of the book that shows how May Amelia’s family felt about her being a tomboy. Sometimes it’s kind of hard to understand what her father is saying, because he speaks in Finnish dialect and she uses capital letters a lot when she wants to make a point. It’s not fair, I say. The boys get to take the boat out. That’s why they get to take the boat out May Amelia, Pappa says. Because they are boys. Do you want to end up on the bottom of the Nasel [River]? We’re living in the wilderness and it’s a dangerous place, May Amelia, and you girl have a got a Nose for Trouble. Pappa stomps away. Pappa is always so unfair to me all on account of Being A Girl. Maybe if there was another girl around he wouldn’t be this way. I hope for the hundredth time that I get a baby sister. (p. 134)

When I read this book, I learned that pioneers sometimes polished their floors with skimmed milk. I’d never heard of the Nasel River Valley in Washington State where Mae Amelia lived, and I learned that Nasil is a Chinook word that means sheltered and hidden.

Intermediate Student—William I’m going to tell you about The Planet of Junior Brown (Hamilton, 1971). It was written by Virginia Hamilton and was a Newbery Honor Book in 1972. I read it because I like the author’s books. The last one I read was The House of Dies Drear (1968), which is about a history professor and his son, who discover a secret in their rented house, which was once a station on the Underground Railroad during the Civil War. Virginia Hamilton also wrote The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales (1985), that some of us read for our Living in America theme in social studies. This is a story about two boys who are friends with the janitor in their high school. The janitor used to be a teacher and he tries to help the boys with their problems. Junior Brown is a really big kid who is a musical genius, but no one understands him. The other boy, Buddy, is homeless, but no one knows it. The story tells about thousands of homeless boys in New York City. Buddy is one of the older boys who takes care of a group

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of younger children in abandoned buildings to keep them out of foster homes. Reading this book was like entering a whole different world. I’d never even thought what it might be like not to have parents or a place to live. It reminded me of Maniac Magee (Spinelli, 1999), where Jeffrey Magee is homeless, but makes some really good friends in the neighborhood and Slake’s Limbo, where Artemis disappears into the New York City subway tunnels and no one knows or cares. I like reading about really good guys who try to make a difference where they live, even if it’s rough. If you like to solve problems, you’ll probably like this book because the main character has to solve a lot of major problems for himself and the boys he takes care of. I’m going to read you a conversation between two boys who are trying to take care of other boys, getting them food and clothing and sending them to school. Each of these boys have the name “Tomorrow Billy” and each has a “planet” which is their assigned area to take care of. This shows how they think about their responsibilities. Remember that they’re both just kids themselves and they’re really trying to be parents to other kids like them: Each of the planets had a full house but both Tomorrow Billys were broke. Buddy listened to the story of the second Tomorrow Billy, alert to the Billy’s calm sincerity. “The work is drying up,” the young man was saying. “I can’t even pick up a bus boy job anymore. Students are moving in on us, man. I got to feed these kids so I guess I’m going to have to lift more food than I usually do.” There was danger in stealing too much, Buddy knew. “How are you for sweaters and stuff?” Buddy asked the Billy. “I got nothing left, man, but some long-sleeved polo shirts,” the Billy said. “They not going to keep nobody warm, either. I been thinking about making capes out of the sleeping bags but then I figure the kids would stand out wearing something like that.” (p. 93)

Before I read this book, I didn’t know anything about how children without parents live in the city or how hard their lives are. They never know if they will have something to eat or a place to sleep at night. I also didn’t know anything about the kind of mental illness that Junior Brown had, and why people act this way when they are sick. If students show an interest in the book, they can sign up to read it next or in order by entering their name on an index card with the name of the book on it. These “Next in Line” cards can be kept in a file box in the library area of the classroom.

Shared-Pair Discussions Shared-pair discussions (featured in the intermediate level In the Classroom section of this chapter) provide opportunities for students to combine critical thinking with listening. Pairs of students discuss both sides of an

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issue until they arrive at a consensus. Then, this pair switches partners with another pair of students to continue the discussion, and compare their notes. Both pairs form a small group to continue the discussion, and this group in turn elects a spokesperson to discuss their ideas in a whole class setting. This activity provides talking, thinking, and listening practice for every student in the classroom. Those who are shy or hesitant benefit from these increased opportunities to express their ideas in one-to-one and small-group discussions. It also provides more verbal students with additional opportunities to express their ideas. These discussions promote listening and speaking, but they also help develop critical thinking skills. The teacher’s most important contribution to this activity is identifying topics for discussion from student interests and from issues connected with study themes. Prepare students to participate successfully in these meetings by describing what is to happen and providing guidelines for their future reference. (See Guidelines below.) Create a schedule that alternates pairs and provides the opportunity during a month’s time for students to interact as a pair with every other student in the classroom. During the discussions, move around the room to observe pairs and groups. Stay a few minutes with each group and, before you leave, comment on anything positive you have observed. If there are difficulties, ask the group a question that will help them reflect on their discussion, such as: “Are you being careful not to interrupt the other person before they are finished speaking?” or “How can you show the other person you are hearing what they say?” Shared-Pair Discussion Guidelines • Read the issue carefully. What do you agree with? What do you disagree with? What evidence do you have for your opinion? • Share your ideas with your first partner. Take turns speaking and listening. Record what you agree about with your partner and what you disagree about. • Repeat the process above with your second partner in the group. • Meet together as a group of four and construct a position on the issue. Appoint a spokesperson from your group to tell your ideas to the entire class. • Listen carefully to what other people say. Did you learn something new? Do you see the issue in a different way than when you started thinking about it?

Creative Drama Creative drama helps students draw on their own thoughts and feelings to examine human experience. In dramatic activities, students explore movement, sound, speech, character, sequence, story, and their environment. Through the power of imagination, students enter the settings of stories and become its characters. They consider and dramatize the answer to questions such as: How does the wind feel on top of a mountain? What does a

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lonely Irish immigrant think about as she huddles in the dark hold of a ship? What does Narnia really look like? Groupings for this activity may involve the entire class or a small group of students who create dialogue for characters in a favorite story and act out the parts. Pairs of students or individuals might create a soliloquy or act multiple parts in a drama. These exercises help develop an appreciation for the methods and literature of the theater and are appropriate to use at all elementary instructional levels. Exercises in creative drama are designed to stimulate imagination and enhance appreciation of sensory experience. When used in conjunction with literature study, students re-create a story by examining the context and exploring the feelings and motivations of characters. These exercises benefit skill development in speaking and listening, but they also enrich the reading and writing experience with their emphasis on imagery. These are simple exercises to use before reading a story or as preparation for writing. • Begin with a relaxation exercise. Ask students to take two deep breaths, close their eyes, and then breath normally. • Read the setting of a story. Ask students to imagine they are in the setting of the story: the hold of a ship, hiding in the dark near a pyramid, bouncing over ruts in a covered wagon. • Imagine that you are the main character in this story. How do you feel? What do you see? • What might happen in this story? You have just read the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff to your class of kindergarten students. Ask questions that will help children imagine they are hungry goats, standing on one side of the bridge and looking over to the other side. As you provide students with prompts, let them act out what the goats are thinking and doing. • You are a goat now. Look down at the thin white fur on your legs. Describe yourself. • Rub your sharp horns against a tree. Practice walking on your sharp hooves. What does this feel like? • Are you really, really hungry? As a goat, what looks appetizing to you? • How do you feel about crossing the bridge, where a troll might come up and eat you? Your sixth graders have just finished reading The Giver (1993). In the final chapter, the main character, Jonas, uses his memory of snow to feel cold and transfer this experience to the baby he has escaped with into the countryside. He is doing this to avoid notice by heat-seeking planes that have been dispatched to capture him. Ask students to work in pairs, taking turns being Jonas and trying to transfer the memory of snow to their partner. Encourage them to imagine what else Jonas is feeling, such as fear, desperation, and hope.

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Reader’s Theater This popular activity involves students in reading plays together or making stories into plays. It provides excellent opportunities to practice and improve oral reading expression. Reader’s theatre can involve the entire class in a production or small groups of four to six persons, who read a play based on a book that they have read. You can obtain commercially prepared materials for reader’s theater from your curriculum library, from teacher’s stores, and school book clubs. When dramas are purchased commercially, they usually consist of a set of six books and a guide, with a model script that can be duplicated and distributed to students. But, you and your students can also prepare excellent dramas from favorite books that feature dialogue between characters. Reading plays together is an excellent activity for literature study groups. It helps students “try on” the experience and mindset of other persons. Participants in drama learn to better understand the motives of others and to experiment with ways to behave in a setting that allows the consequences to educate or inform rather than penalize. The following guidelines will help students adapt books into the reader’s theater format: • Choose a scene from a book that is mostly dialogue. The story should be straightforward and action-oriented. The characters’ motivation should be evident within the scene selected. • Decide who the main characters are. Talk about how they relate to each other. Have students draw from their own experience to imagine how each character feels and responds to the events in the story. • Underline the dialogue parts in the story. Paperback copies can be used for this purpose, or dialogue can be written or typed out. • Decide what the narrator will read as descriptive material between the dialogue. • Read through the play several times for practice and enjoyment. • If the play is to be presented for an audience, write down ideas about possible scenery, props, and costumes. • A publicity committee can design flyers and programs, take pictures during rehearsal to use for promotion, and serve refreshments related to the theme of the play.

Puppet Theater Puppets allow students to express themselves imaginatively and with ease. These wonderful speaking props permit even the most hesitant child to have magical powers as they create characters and action for an audience. Puppets can be as simple as moving a sock on one hand or as involved as a drama, with props, sound effects, and costumes. Creating puppet shows can help stimulate critical thinking, develop planning skills, and encourage children to assess the effects of sound and movement. This is another speaking and

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listening activity that is appropriate and effective throughout all elementary grade levels. Many school districts sponsor a fine arts series that includes puppetry or marionettes. It may also be possible to plan field trips to provide your students with this experience. If these resources are not available to you, consult your media specialist or public librarian. They are often trained in puppetry and will visit your class to present a story. If you are a primary or kindergarten teacher, check with the intermediate teachers in your building. They may be creating puppets with their students, and you can sign up your class as a possible audience. Like live theater, puppet shows give students the experience of interacting as an audience with skilled performers. Although there is nothing like the real thing, much can be learned and enjoyed from watching videotapes of good puppets. Most children have grown up with the puppets on public television and cable TV. They have some idea about what puppets can do and the kinds of stories puppets best portray. Make use of this experience to talk with your students about the elements of successful scripts, costuming, and sets. Ask them to watch their favorite show closely, to see how a puppet’s personality is created and to notice the kinds of puppets they enjoy the most. In kindergarten and the early primary grades, many teachers use hand puppets to help tell a story. Extend this experience to your students by letting them create their own hand puppets from a sock or a paper sack stuffed with paper. Let students choose a partner to talk back and forth with, using puppets. You can also encourage peer and cross-grade book buddies to use puppets when they read aloud to each other. When students have had experience seeing puppet shows and have created and used their own puppets, explore the idea of writing or adapting a story for puppets to act out. Choose a story or write one together. Popular choices in the primary grades include folktales and predictable stories. Older students enjoy tinkering with stories and creating modernized versions of traditional literature. All ages like to make up “origin” tales, such as how the horse got its tail or why potatoes grow underground. When you have decided on a story, ask your students to list and describe the major scenes, telling where and when they take place. On a chart, make an outline that briefly describes the setting, scenery, and the mood of the characters. Think about how to leave a scene in an interesting way and how to generate interest in the next one. Decide what the conflict in the story will be and how it will be resolved. If you are using a prepared puppet script, decide who will play the individual parts. If students are writing an original story or making an adaptation, encourage them to create lively dialogue and to include lots of action. Suggest varying the kinds of sentences and the length of individual speeches for contrast. Brainstorm ideas for the production with your students, including how to create and move the background scenery. Decide how to describe the setting (“This is Cinderella’s room in the attic”), which can either be done by a narrator or with a poster placed beside the stage at the appropriate moment (Cinderella’s Room—Before the Ball). Some of these decisions must be made with the audience in mind. For example, if the production

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is to be presented to the kindergarten, many will not be able to read and a narrator is preferable. Musical or sound cues can indicate the passage of time or posters can display a sun and moon. Many of the props or the materials to make them can be found in the classroom or at home, and the rest can be made, often with the help of older students or the art teacher. Decide what sound effects will be needed and if music would help tell the story. Think of special effects that will make the production more interesting. Students should determine how many characters will be involved and what they will look like. Then it is time to decide which kinds of puppets to make and the types of materials that will be needed. You will want to discuss how the puppet’s personality will be revealed in its appearance or in the way it is made or moves. When the puppets are completed, practice the actions first, with someone reading from the script. Students should concentrate on the movement of the characters until they feel comfortable. The script can also be practiced on several read-throughs before putting the actions and dialogue together. When students practice the play, bring in ideas from oral reading to emphasize expression and encourage lots of action. Ask them how they can use movement instead of dialogue to move the plot along, and to experiment with moves that look mysterious, scary, or funny. Create a final script with simple directions for action and description of the scenes. Decide who will be invited to the play, and generate interest by making posters and flyers to distribute to guests. Your class might want to decorate theme bookmarks to hand out to guests after the performance. Before the show, warm up the audience and relax the performers with a sing-a-long led by a puppet, who can be brought to life by a student, teacher, or the music teacher. Afterwards, have a question-and-answer period between the guests and the puppets. Tape the show to send home with students or to share with nursing homes.

Friday Afternoon Sharing Time (FAST) Friday Afternoon Sharing Time (FAST) sessions (Popp, 1996) provide opportunities for students to share their responses to literature with the entire class or additional visitors, such as parents, the principal, and other classes. These presentations encourage students to organize information and prepare material for an audience. Each student also participates as an active audience member, learning both critical and appreciative listening skills. At every age, students are interested in what other students are doing. They like to see what others have written, researched, and created. Because there are endless ways to respond creatively to literature, all students have the opportunity to demonstrate individual strengths in their responses. These sharing sessions help develop a sense of competence and self-worth in the presenters and provide a pleasant experience for members of the audience. FAST is purposely scheduled for Friday afternoons, a time traditionally used for cleaning out desks, drill practice, worksheets, puzzles, and

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games. Teachers have sometimes regarded this final period of the week as throwaway time, because students are worn out or too distracted to stay academically involved. In classrooms where students read and write about topics that interest them and have many opportunities to express their responses, they are energized by the chance to share what they have been studying with others. Once students have experienced the pleasure of these presentations, they approach them with anticipation and give them their full attention. Throughout the week, students respond to books they have read with writing, drawing, or additional research. During FAST, they share these responses with the entire class or in small interest groups. This sharing may involve displays of their writing, book covers, bookmarks, cartoons, magazines, newspapers, drawings, sculpture, murals, or other artistic expression. Students may also create presentations such as puppet shows, pantomimes, dances, game shows, interviews, news broadcasts, or 5-minute dramas. Sometimes they just want to read aloud from a book that is particularly interesting to them or share poetry that is beautiful or humorous. The first goal for this sharing time is to provide an opportunity for students to talk about books and experiences that are interesting to them. The second goal is to create an ongoing activity that is planned and executed by the students themselves. Most of the teacher’s planning for FAST will involve the development of forms, construction of guidelines for these interactions, and modeling appropriate responses to presentations. Copies of sample forms can be found in Appendix D. At the kindergarten and early primary levels, post charts with guidelines for audience participation and presenter preparation, which can be reviewed before the activities take place. Late primary and intermediate students should keep copies of the guidelines, evaluation sheets, and record-keeping forms in their reading or writing notebooks, for easy reference. It is helpful to establish a rotating schedule for all tasks that can be easily assumed by students, including: arrangement of furniture, setting up displays, greeting guests, introducing presentations, and distributing audience evaluation forms. Create a calendar that schedules student assistants for the different tasks. When you begin Friday Afternoon Sharing Time, review the entire process with your students, role-playing where necessary. Distribute guidelines (see Appendix D) for presenters and audiences and go over each item, asking students why they think each might be important. Talk about the different ways students can share their responses to books during these sessions (see next section and Appendix D). Ask for their ideas, and encourage them to write down the suggestions that interest them. Emphasize the idea that as they gain experience with preparing and presenting their responses, they will be adding their own creative touches. Some teachers distribute copies of sharing ideas for students to tape inside their reading or writing notebooks. As part of the preparation for FAST, students need to know how much time will be available to them, what constitutes appropriate content, and the deadline for signing up for presentations or displays. Encourage students

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to try different kinds of presentations each week, to work with new partners, and to share their experiences with a variety of literature genres. They should also keep a record of the types of books they respond to and the kinds of presentations they make. This helps students review their past efforts and plan for future presentations. (Forms that can be used at different grade levels to plan, prepare for, and record participation in FAST can be found in Appendix D. There is also a list in Appendix D that suggests additional ways to interpret and share books with an audience.) Ideas for Presentations Talk about a book you’ve read this week. Read aloud a passage you especially enjoyed. Read what you’ve written in response to something you’ve read. Display writing, drawings, paintings, or murals created in response to a book. • Pantomime a scene from a book you’ve read. • Create a puppet show from an event in a book. • Display bookmarks or book covers created in response to a book you’ve read. • • • •

Physical Space Arrangements When students have submitted their ideas for displays and presentations, help them assess the kind and amount of space they will need. Decide where the hornets nest and the honeycomb go, the best place to display a Japanese kimono or a Boys Day Kite. Mark any displays that are fragile or should not be touched. Note anything that might be harmed by exposure to sunlight, such as fabrics or paper objects. Decide if items will be shown by the presenter or placed in a central area for students to observe. One group may need space for a Colonial dance demonstration. It may be possible to move desks to one end of the room or go to the gym for more space. Determine how many guests to invite, the number of chairs that will be needed for adult guests (and where to place them), and who will be able to sit on the floor during the presentations. As much as possible, students should be responsible for estimating the space they will require, moving desks, setting up tables and displays, and greeting guests. They should also take turns introducing their classmates and the presentations. A suggested introduction form is included below. Distribute copies of the form to all students and role-play introductions well in advance of the first sharing session. Introduction Guidelines The following can be copied from the board or duplicated and distributed to students for their permanent reference files: • Interview the person ahead of time and agree on the information you will use in your introduction. • Use your own words and ideas, but be sure to include the person’s name and tell something about the presentation. • Encourage the presenter by leading an introductory applause and final applause at the end of the presentation.

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Example: “I would like to introduce Mary Klein. She read Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind [2003] during Independent Reading and became especially interested in the camels. She’s going to read her favorite part and tell us about some research she did on how camels dance. Let’s give Mary some encouragement.” (Lead applause.) At the end of the presentation: “Let’s show Mary our appreciation.” (Lead applause.)

Audience Preparation Learning to be a good audience takes practice. Brainstorm some guidelines for audience participation with your class before the first sharing session. Ask your students how they can help the presenter feel comfortable—show their interest, respect, and appreciation. They can also think of ways to help the presenter give his or her best performance. Most classes generate guidelines similar to the following: Guidelines for Audience Participation • • • •

Listen carefully: Look at the presenter. Give your full attention. Show appreciation: Smile, nod, applaud. Be patient if something goes wrong. It happens to everyone. Think about the presentation: what you liked; what might improve it.

To help students develop their critical listening skills and skills of audience appreciation, encourage brief, positive oral responses at the conclusion of all presentations. As students gain confidence as presenters, they should practice writing evaluations. Besides providing practice for thoughtful audience participation, these forms provide helpful information and encouragement to presenters. Presentation Review Form Sample Responses • A student displays a newspaper based on the book Ralph S. Mouse (Cleary, 1993). I liked: I learned: How about:

the cartoons and the sports. It was neat. how to make a newspaper from a book. putting all the articles that are alike together, like sports, and have sections like they do in real newspapers.

• A student reads a page aloud from Dragonwings: Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1903 (Yep, 1977). I liked: I learned: How about:

hearing about the San Francisco earthquake. that people lived in the parks when their homes were destroyed. reading a little slower next time.

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• Three students create a dramatic scene from Pippi Longstocking (Lindgren, 1997). I liked: I learned: How about:

how funny the play was and the props that showed how strong Pippi was. that I’d really like to read this book. not changing anything. It was great!

• Two students present research about wolves based on the book Julie of the Wolves (George, 1972). I liked: I learned: How about:

all the information about the social habits of wolves. that wolves ordinarily do not attack humans. writing technical terms on the board.

Presentation: Friday Afternoon Sharing Time Because the goal of FAST is to involve students as much as possible in their planning and presentation, your main responsibility will be in the early weeks of developing guidelines and modeling appropriate participation. As students gain experience and assume increasing responsibility for this sharing time, you will have more opportunities to observe their developing listening and speaking skills. Use this time to note the following, using a simple code, such as: B (beginning skill); D ( developing skill); and I (independent/well-developed). Student Name: • Interacts positively with others to plan • Assumes responsibility for presentation details • Responds positively to presentations • Critical comments are diplomatic • Critical comments show careful listening In the beginning, check with everyone who has signed up for a presentation and be certain that all necessary physical arrangements have been made for displays and dramas. Meet with the person who is introducing the presenters or guests, to make certain they have all necessary information. Place any forms that are to be distributed in a convenient place. After a month or so, establish a rotating schedule for students to assume each of these responsibilities. At first, ask students to report their work to you sometime before the session is to begin, so that you can be informed about their progress. Greet guests as they arrive, then sit back and enjoy what your students have to share. Resist intruding if there are difficulties and allow students to solve their own problems. When you role-play the sessions, encourage other students to assist or be patient if sets collapse or someone forgets a line in a play.

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Evaluating Speaking and Listening Activities All during the day, students talk and listen to you and to each other. During some of these times, you will be highly involved in the discussions and less able to observe individual expression and response. Target specific times to observe your students speaking and listening when you are able to record what is happening. These observations in turn can provide direction for mini-lessons and future speaking and listening sessions. Try to observe students when they are talking informally to each other in pairs or small groups. Notice how well they listen to each other in conversation. Observe the speaking and listening situations in which they seem most comfortable. The guidelines for evaluating FAST presentation are suitable for evaluating other instances of speaking and listening during the school day. Remember that your goal for these evaluations is to help individual students increase these behaviors, and this may mean providing additional opportunities for them to practice skills in pairs or small groups. Behaviors that you will be looking for will include the following. Discuss and role-play each one, and post the guidelines on a chart in the classroom for easy reference. If there are cultural differences about eye contact, address these early on as “school’’ ways of interacting. • • • • • • • •

Make eye contact when talking. Make eye contact when listening. Listen without interrupting. Speak clearly and loud enough to be heard. Take turns talking. Include others by asking questions. Take a turn being the leader of discussions. Help keep your group on task.

Health and Safety Presentations It is always a good idea to hold a discussion time immediately after presentations on health or safety, to evaluate how well children understand what was presented. They should be able to retell the presentation accurately, with no misconceptions. One way to assess this is to ask each child to respond to the prompts: “This is what I heard . . . . ” or “This is what I learned . . . . ” Encourage others in the group to respond to these statements with either: “I heard that too” or “I heard something different.” In these postpresentation conversations, you can create a discussion chain to practice and clarify ideas. An example from a presentation on relating to strangers might involve the first student saying: “I learned . . . not to walk close to cars on the street.” A second child would then say: “I learned not to walk close to cars on the street and to run away if someone bothers me.” Depending on the age of students, these chains can build from two to six statements, with each child using the previous rule and adding one of his or her own.

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At the intermediate level, encourage students to summarize what they have learned in response to prompts like: “The most important thing I learned was. . . . ” “The two most important things I learned were. . . . ” These summaries can be generated by individual students or created in small groups, written down, and then shared with the rest of the group in the shared-pair format. Chaining and summarizing helps you see immediately what students have learned from presentations critical to their health or safety. At the intermediate level, summarize these discussions by writing statements of what was learned from the presentation on a chart to be displayed in the classroom.

Provide for All Speakers and Listeners In addition to FAST, all occasions for student listening and speaking can assist students who have language difficulties. These interactions provide students with the opportunity to practice and gain support from peers. By asking questions like: “What did you like about the way Jonah read his poem?” or “What can you say to encourage Jonah about his reading?,” you model support for students who are struggling to gain competency. The shared activities described in the sections above provide excellent one-onone and small-group opportunities for shy or language-deficient students to express themselves. As non- or limited-English-speaking children listen to classroom discussions, they hear the cadences and inflections of the language. When a topic is discussed, they hear some words repeatedly as well as words commonly used with these topics. At the kindergarten level, discussions about a new dog will repeatedly involve not only the word “dog,” but also other words such as fur, ears, nose, tail, dog food, bark, and pet. When the object under discussion is not present, teachers can hold up a picture or draw an outline on the board so that students can see what is being talked about. Student presenters for FAST should provide visual aids as often as possible, to assist the understanding of non-English-speaking students. In later grades, teachers can write a word or words that title the discussion on the board while students are talking during discussion or FAST presentations. Ask ESL students to record these words in their reading or writing notebooks with any descriptions or drawings they find helpful. During individual conferences, teachers can check on these words and their descriptions for accuracy and to use for instruction. Remember that appropriate codes for speaking and listening may differ among the cultures of children you have in a classroom. Research this area most carefully. It is important to recognize and respect the communication mores of the community in which you teach. If these customs are at odds with the successful functioning of your students in the larger society, you will want to explain this variance to them. For example, African American children may turn their heads or avert their eyes from the teacher or principal to show respect for authority (Benson, 1986). If you insist that a child look you in the eye when you are talking to him, you may be creating a conflict in his effort to respond

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appropriately to you. Learn how minority children begin and continue conversations. Find out how the physical context of interaction and body movement influence what is said and what is considered appropriate audience response. It is also important to remember that dialectical varieties of nonstandard English, such as African American, Hispanic, Native American, Appalachian, Chinese, and Vietnamese, follow different, but complex and regularly patterned linguistic rules. As the teacher of children who use these dialects, you will not seek to eradicate or replace them or label them as deficient. Your goal will be to expand these children’s experience with the mainstream dialect, in the context of respect for dialectical variation. When you want to encourage children to speak or write in standard English, you can differentiate between the two dialects by asking children to express themselves in “school talk” as opposed to “home talk.” When there are children from different racial, cultural, and religious groups in your classroom, you may want to involve them in sharing ideas and experiences from their cultural backgrounds. But, remember that this is an activity they must feel comfortable with, and all requests should be made in private. Each child in your class is an individual and not a representative for his or her particular race, religion, or ethnic group. Individual children may not have the necessary information to talk about holidays or celebrations in their cultures, and many older children feel uncomfortable drawing attention to themselves, particularly if this activity sets them apart from the majority culture. Often, parents and community members indicate their willingness to share information and experiences from their respective cultures. You can send home letters asking for parents to volunteer to talk to the class about their cultural heritage. Of course, some children will be eager to share their experiences with customs that are unfamiliar to the rest of the class, and many will volunteer their parents or other relatives as well. Always call or write to parents to explain these situations. If you ask the parent to call, he or she may feel embarrassed and forced to do something they would not feel comfortable doing. Tell them what the class was discussing when their child volunteered their time or talent and explain that this type of contribution would be welcome, if it is something they wish to do.

Build Partnerships Help your students share what they have learned at school and build connections with their families’ experiences by asking them to draw or write down something they have learned at the end of the school day. Encourage them to share this information at home. Children will discover that parents and other family members know a great deal about many of the things they are learning. There might be an uncle who was in the Vietnam War or a picture of a great-great-grandfather who fought in the Civil War. Relatives may live in urban areas, the country, or in countries that are being studied. Many parents will remember their own parents telling them

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about the Depression or a World’s Fair. Someone may have a small bag of ashes and vivid memories of the Mount St. Helen’s eruption. These home– school conversations help children see a connection between what they study at school and the experience of their own families. They also provide you with information about family members who might be willing to share experiences with your class. Many teachers extend opportunities for students to practice reading aloud by providing small, portable tape recorders for use at home. Children can check out the tape recorders or use their own, if available, to record their oral reading. At every grade level, children can evaluate their progress by keeping a portfolio of several tapes. An inexpensive drawer container will hold up to two tapes per child and permits children to be involved in their own oral language skill assessment. On their own, with friends, or with members of their family, students can practice reading aloud favorite stories and plays. They can also record music and sound effects for classroom presentations such as puppet plays. Older students frequently record stories on tape for kindergarten and ESL students. Others use school service time to record books for use in hospitals, nursing homes, and senior centers. If your students prepare FAST presentations, be sure to invite different kinds of audiences to participate. Students can create the publicity and invitations for these weekly events in the form of flyers, posters, and individual notes. You might want to begin with other classes, school staff, the principal, and special teachers. At other times, parents might be the best audience or you can extend the invitation to other members of the community. Some schools sponsor activities such as Adopt-a-Grandparent or School Friends. These programs pair students with nursing home residents or children in daycare facilities for shared literacy events such as choral readings, plays, puppet shows, buddy book reading, and song fests.

If This Is Your Situation If language arts teaching is departmentalized in your school or you must create a teamed program with other teachers, you can still provide many opportunities for your students to engage in speaking and listening activities. Begin by looking at the curriculum objectives. Most likely, there will be several that relate to listening and speaking skills. Note if there are any that might be accomplished with FAST presentation activities or sharedpair discussions. Even in tightly scheduled classrooms, book previews can be tucked into the spare minutes before a noon bell or afternoon dismissal. (Observe how the three teachers in Chapter 1 incorporated mandated objectives into their language- and literature-rich class curricula.) If you can demonstrate to a supervisor or a team colleague that students are learning and practicing the skills required by the curriculum objectives, you will probably be given the latitude to meet these objectives in any

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manner that you choose. It is helpful to describe the activities you plan to do in writing, and submit these to the appropriate supervisor. Be sure to include explanations of how these activities will help students achieve the curriculum goals. If a required schedule for team teaching seems to minimize opportunities for activities like the ones described above, approach the teachers on your team about the possibility of allowing students to work in small groups for projects and presentations in content area studies. They might also be interested in a joint FAST session to share projects in literature, science, or social studies. Often, your colleagues will be happy to add these new experiences for students if you can gain the necessary approval from supervisors and volunteer to organize the project. Do not be discouraged if more experienced teachers are hesitant about trying something different. This is an understandable response and should not be taken personally. Remember that they have seen many educational innovations come and go and may have grown cautious about trying new things. Most are very protective of new teachers and may want to spare them the disappointment that sometimes accompanies experimenting with new methods. Their experience and wisdom is invaluable in many instances, but as a beginning teacher, you will want to experiment with creative ideas to discover your own teaching style and the methods that will work best for you and your students.

Reflections (Jackie Hogue, Fifth-Grade Teacher) We read two stories for enjoyment and discussed them, but the discussions were not as lively as I would have liked. Now that we are reading Island of the Blue Dolphins, the discussions are going better. I have encouraged students to discuss the book as they read, with a partner or small group. This seems to help class discussions because it brings to mind what they have discussed with their partners. We are going to begin a study of Native Americans, and we need a way to let parents know what we are doing. I suggested the idea of a newspaper, and they were so excited about choosing what they wanted to write that they wanted to start immediately. I gave them an author’s checklist to help with revising and editing. They were definitely ON TASK! After the kids completed the articles, I made copies of the newspaper. They kicked off their shoes, relaxed, and read their very own newspaper. Kurt said it was the most interesting writing he had ever read. He said it was so cool! I had a lot of positive feedback from the parents, too. They want us to publish more, because they want to know what is going on in class. Good public relations. Another neat experience—the kids had mentioned in their journals that they would like a visitor with Native American expertise to come to the classroom. I know a lady who was married to a Native American at one time. The whole class wanted to call her and were ready to do so without

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putting any thought into it. When I asked what they would say to her, they thought we had better discuss it. We brainstormed all the details and picked two boys who would make the call. The class quizzed them to see if they could remember everything, so they decided to make notes. To get the phone number, they wanted to ask the secretary, but we encouraged them to look it up themselves. We reviewed telephone manners, they went down to the office to make the call, and she is coming Thursday! I noticed that many kids were using dependent clauses at the beginning of their sentences. We talked about what makes a clause dependent and discussed how to use a comma correctly. I told them that they would learn about dependent clauses in high school, but since they were writing like high schoolers, we would discuss it now. They were all ears. Adam drew a cartoon of Santa Claus standing under water in the deep end of a swimming pool and labeled it “A Deep-ended Claus!”

Perspective on Listening and Speaking (Jerome Bruner, Educational Theorist) Opportunities to speak and listen in the classroom build on one of the most powerful motivations children bring to school: the desire to share their ideas and experiences with others (Bruner, 1990). They are eager to talk about what they have seen, heard, or thought about and want to know what someone else thinks about what they have to say. They are also interested in the activities and stories of other students. Jerome Bruner (1966, 1990) refers to these elements of natural learning as reciprocity (the desire to interact with others) and narration (the telling of stories about our experiences). Providing opportunities for both spontaneous and formal sharing of ideas and experiences through talking and listening encourages the practice and refinement of these critical skills. Many kinds of activities provide this practice. In classrooms that integrate language learning, students share constantly. They talk together about topics of mutual interest, read books to each other, and share their writing by reading aloud to a variety of listeners. In kindergarten and the primary grades, children recite poems, sing songs, compose language experience charts, and talk together about Big Books. At the intermediate level, students discuss the elements of a story together in literature groups and share ideas about content area study. Students are encouraged to reflect on the experiences they talk about and are given opportunities to relate these experiences to others they have had. Before they write, they share ideas with other students in prewriting activities. First drafts are brought to writing workshops to read aloud and discuss. During independent study time, students meet in small groups to discuss content area projects and plan oral reports. In these classrooms, there are also activities that are specifically planned to provide practice for speaking and listening skills. They include

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opportunities for students to read aloud to same-grade or cross-grade book buddies, preview books for an audience, interact in small groups to discuss and persuade, create puppet shows, participate in reader’s theatre or creative drama, and make presentations for regular weekly sharing sessions.

What Research Says About Developing Listening and Speaking Skills Dunkin and Biddle (1974) found that in order for students to develop competence in oral communication they must be given many opportunities to talk. Wells (1981) observed that students learn language and its function by using it in social situations, for realistic purposes, in a variety of contexts. According to Delamont (1983), students use oral language to seek and derive meaning from other students and the teacher. They receive feedback on their communicative effectiveness from peers as they attempt to display their knowledge of classroom learning. Geraldine Siks (1983) reports a close link between imagination and both the expression and control of emotion. Children who are encouraged to participate in dramatic activities and show early interest in make-believe play display more self-control in other situations, persist longer at tasks, sit quietly when it is necessary to wait, evidence leadership with other children, and develop certain cognitive skills more rapidly than those deprived of these experiences.

For Your Personal Library How to Tape Instant Oral Biographies: Recording Your Family’s Life Story in Sight and Sound (Zimmerman, 1992) is an easy-to-read, large-type book filled with ideas for helping children become better acquainted with the older generations in their families. It includes ideas and questions for interviews, video and home movie ideas, and tips for taking notes. This is an excellent student resource, with easy-to-understand guidelines that competently direct both individual and group research activity. Creative Drama and Imagination: Transforming Ideas into Action (Rosenberg, 1987) is an excellent introduction to using dramatic activities in the classroom. More than half the book is devoted to descriptions of these activities, which tell the reader how to set them up and conduct them. They also identify the perspective the activity is intended to inform or enrich (director, actor, critic, designer, playwright) and offer information about the dramatic stimulus, suggested props, ways to evaluate, and possible extensions. Case studies from the world of theatre and examples from school settings make this book an excellent resource for teachers interested in using drama in the classroom.

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Playbuilding: A Guide for Group Creation of Plays with Young People (Bray, 1994) a helpful manual that provides instructions for creating plays from prompts. The author illustrates the method by showing examples from plays he has created with students, beginning with initial discussions and ending with final performances. The book is richly illustrated with photographs of student performances.

Try Out the Chapter Ideas • If you have the opportunity to observe a classroom, notice the opportunities students have to develop their speaking ability. Observe how often they are encouraged to ask questions of concern to themselves or to express their ideas. • Observe one child in the classroom for at least an hour. Tally the times this particular child has opportunities to speak. Notice the kinds of groups he or she is a part of and how often the child participates in discussions compared to others in the group. • Using the guidelines for participation in the evaluation section of this chapter, walk around the room and practice noticing these behaviors in the students you observe. • Offer to sponsor a FAST presentation for your supervising teacher. Be sure to tell them exactly what is involved for preparation and presentation. Record your experience, noting what went well and what might be helpful to plan for the next time. • Observe how teachers handle disputes between children in their classrooms. Do they help students use language in a constructive manner to settle their differences? Note anything you saw that you would like to remember for your own use. • Find a play designed for reader’s theater and read it aloud with a group of classmates. • Plan a reader’s theater session with the students in your field experience classroom. • Explore an area of language expression that you are least familiar with. Try making different kinds of puppets or responding to literature in one of the ways described in the FAST section. Experiment with your new knowledge by helping your class make puppets and showing them how to develop a play from a favorite story.

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CHAPTER TEN

The Languages of Learning in the Content Areas In This Chapter • Teaching the specialized languages of math, science, and social studies • How to use themes to organize classroom learning • Ways to develop a theme cycle • Introducing KWL (what we know, want to know, and have learned) • Using ACTS (Ask, Connect, Transform, Share) to explore the content areas

The Main Idea Ilya Prigone, who received the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1977, observed that “The world is richer than it is possible to express in any single language.” He was not referring to the many languages and dialects of the world, although it is true that story forms, descriptive terms, and cultural idioms are unique to the languages in which they arise. The scientist was speaking rather of the specialized languages we use to explore and understand the world—descriptive terms, symbol systems, and structural frameworks of the various academic disciplines, which enable us to describe the stars, decode the human genome, lay out the dimensions of space, and explore ideas of time. In the same manner that we master the intricacies of the English language, we also become familiar and competent with the languages of science, mathematics, history, geography, and sociology—by listening to books read aloud and talking to others about the ideas. Later, we learn to recognize these symbols and ideas in print and can read about them on our own. As the concepts become increasingly familiar, we use the new symbol systems to manipulate ideas about the world: to study the marvels of the visible and invisible world, create and balance equations that express relationships between numbers, and locate ourselves in space and time with maps and time lines. 267

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In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: Exploring Mathematics With Language “Mrs. Jamison, look!” Eric says, as the teacher moves into the corner area where he is working. “I made a train story.” “Tell me about it,” she says, as she kneels down to get a closer look at his work. “See these trains?” he asks, and the teacher nods her head. “There’s 10 of ‘em, and they’re going up this steep mountain.” He illustrates his story by moving the small models up an incline he has made from some blocks. “Only these get loose and roll back down the mountain.” He separates three of the trains and slides them back down the incline. “That’s 10 minus 3.” “A great story,” Mrs. Jamison agrees. “Did you make a picture story about it?” “Yep,” he says, and shows her a page in his math journal where he has drawn the three trains rolling down a mountain. “Can you make a symbol story to go with that?” she asks, and Eric writes “10 − 3 = ” in his book. “How will you solve it?” she asks. “I’ll count,” he replies. “Show me,” the teacher asks. “These trains up on the mountain . . . I’ll count them to see how many are left,” he replies. “So your story is . . . ?” “Ten minus three is seven,” he says. “Are you going to make other math stories with the train?” she asks. “Yep, there’s lots I can make,” he replies, already turning his attention away from the teacher as he configures the next train disaster. Mrs. Jamison stops next to observe three girls who are sorting keys. “Look at this one.” Alexis shows the teacher an ornate skeleton key. “I never saw one like this before.” “That’s an old key,” the teacher says. “My grandfather had several of those.” “We’re sorting them out first, and then we’ll make the story,” Alexis explains. She and two other girls have made piles of keys on the rug. “How are you sorting?” the teacher asks. “Well, we put square tops here and rounds here and these are sort of curvy,” Christina explains. “And then we put all the ones that have bumps on one side here,” Beth adds, “and all the ones with bumps on two sides over here,” she gestures. “Then what?” “Then we write the story,” Alexis responds. “This pile with the bumps on both sides has nine keys in it. And some are round heads and some are square heads and some are just curvy.”

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The teacher waits. “So we can say three bumpy round head keys plus five bumpy square head keys plus one bumpy curve head keys are...ta da! Nine bumpy-sided keys!” The girls spontaneously clap. “How will you write your story?” Mrs. Jamison asks. “Symbol stories,” they say in unison, and pick up their notebooks to record 3 + 5 + 1 = 9. They will also experiment with writing the story in a variety of ways, such as 5 + 3 + 1 = 9 and 1 + 3 + 5 = 9, and will test these stories with their keys to see if they get the same totals when the symbols are rearranged. Mrs. Jamison moves over to the classroom aquarium, where Noah is attempting to draw a picture of what he sees in his math journal. “Minus, plus . . . plus, minus . . . minus. There . . . no . . . plus again,” he mutters to himself. “How’s it going?” Mrs. Jamison inquires, looking over his shoulder at a picture of seven goldfish. “I can’t get the story to stop,” he says. “They keep plusing and minusing.” “You wish they’d all stop moving?” the teacher asks. “Yeah . . . no . . . they gotta move. They’re hard to draw, though.” “What can you do?” “Well, I know there’s seven fish in there. So . . . .” Mrs. Jamison waits. “I could make up one of the stories I saw.” “Like what?” she asks. “Well, there were three that swam around the back of the castle, and I could draw them that way and tell a story about that.” “How would it go?” “These seven fish were swimming along . . . and then they heard ‘Help! Help!’ ‘What’s that?’ one fish said. ‘I don’t know,’ a second one said. ‘Let’s go find out,’ the third one said, and they swam around the back of the castle.” “Sounds exciting,” the teacher says. “Yeah,” Noah agrees. “And then it gets better. Only one fish swims back.” “This sounds like several math stories,” Mrs. Jamison observes. “Yeah, and there’s going to be even more,” he announces. “I forgot I can make imagination stories.” “So what is the first story you will draw?” she asks. “Just four fish here,” he gestures. “Then . . . ” he pauses and thinks. “I want to show all the story’s parts, so I’ll make this castle so you can see through it . . . you can see the fish behind it . . . or . . . .” He studies his picture and then crawls around on the floor to the side of the aquarium. “I could draw it from the side, then you could see the fish at the front and back . . . yeah . . . that’s it.” He turns the page of his notebook and starts to draw. Mrs. Jamison will return later to hear the stories he creates from his observations. He will tell her four stories about the first episode, including symbolic representations for three plus four, four plus three, seven minus three, and seven minus four. He will also create a longer story about the single fish that returned from a fierce battle behind the castle, with seven minus three, plus one.

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Behind the Scenes Mrs. Jamison uses a program called Mathematics Their Way (Baratta-Lorton, 1976) as the basis for math instruction in her classroom. It stresses individual development of math concepts and the use of real things and situations to talk about mathematics. Within this program, children begin talking about numbers at the concept level, with objects they can touch and manipulate. As they gain experience, they move into the connecting level, representing their exploration with pictures and experimenting with the language of mathematics. At the symbolic level, students write mathematical symbol stories to represent the events or objects they are exploring. The assignment for this independent math period was to find something in the room to write a math story about. Children in this class are emerging as math learners and are at various stages of development in their ability to find or create problems and represent them with pictures or symbols. As the teacher circulates through the room, she asks students to tell her about the stories they are creating. Some are imaginative, many are action-filled, and others reflect a complexity of developing thought. Creating math stories throughout the room allows children like Brian the opportunity to be physically active in his exploration of math concepts, while he is learning to use the language of mathematics to describe his play activity. The girls who are sorting keys are seeking more challenging aspects to their math stories and enjoy moving directly into symbolic representation. Students ask math questions throughout the day, such as: “What time is it?” “How long do we have to wait?” and “How many cookies can I have?” Mrs. Jamison points out to the children that they are asking mathematical questions, to help them become aware of the uses of this special language. She also calls attention to math events by asking questions like: “How many crackers will we need today?” or “How many cartons of milk are left?” Although a specific time is set aside for students to find math stories as they play, they frequently make observations throughout the day, such as: “Two chicks are hatching out! That’s 12 minus 2!” or “I read a book this morning and another one this afternoon; that’s one plus one.”

A Kindergarten Classroom: Exploring Science With Literature One morning before school, Mrs. Nave shows the school principal a copy of Eric Carle’s The Very Quiet Cricket (1990), a picture book with a surprise feature built into the last page. “I just got this,” she says, “Would you like to read it to my class?” Mr. Kamm takes the book back to his office and, after reading through it, agrees to share it with the kindergarten class after lunch. At twelve-thirty, Mr. Kamm arrives in the room, greets the students, and sits down in a small chair. Twenty eager children group around him on the floor, ready to listen. He hands the book to Amy, who is partially sighted. She looks closely at the cover and hands it back.

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“Is everyone comfortable?” he asks the class. They nod and shift around on their floor squares. Mr. Kamm holds up the book and asks if everyone can see. Some move forward for a better view. “What do you think this book will be about?” he begins. “Bugs!” Jake guesses. “Why do you say that?” the principal asks, and Jake points to the picture of the cricket on the cover. “Any special kind of bug?” he asks. “It’s a cricket,” says Courtney, who can read. “It says ‘The Very Quiet Cricket.’” “A quiet cricket?” The principal acts puzzled. “Very quiet cricket,” Courtney replies. “Are crickets quiet?” he asks. “No!” the children chorus. “Some are,” Austin declares. “Some don’t say anything.” “Do you know what kind?” the principal asks. “Nope, just black ones,” Austin responds. “We’ll have to find out about that,” the principal says. “Maybe the book will tell us. Mrs. Nave, are you planning to study about crickets that don’t make sounds?” “We can certainly include that,” she replies, and makes a note on the question chart. “What do crickets sound like?” he asks. “The ones that say something?” The children respond with cricket noises. “Who do you think might have illustrated this book?” he asks. There is a pause as children study the cover. “Eric Carle,” Emma guesses. “It looks like the pictures for Rooster’s Off to See the World [Carle, 1999].” “No, it’s not,” Christopher disagrees. “It’s more dark, like Ezra Jack Keats.” “Yeah,” Gabriel agrees. “It’s like the ones in the Regards to the Man in the Moon book [Keats, 1987].” “Uh-uh,” Tim says. “It’s Eric Carle. He does more animal stuff.” “Crickets aren’t animals,” Will says. “Uh-huh!” Tim retorts. “Why do you think an insect is an animal, Tim?” Mr. Kamm asks. “Well . . . they move . . . and they got legs and . . . eyes and mouths,” he replies. “What do you think, Will?” the principal asks. “They don’t look like animals,” he replies. “Animals got hair. Insects are too little to be animals.” ‘This sounds like a good question to put on your chart,” the principal says. “What do you think?” They nod approval, and Mrs. Nave adds the question: “Are insects animals?” to the question chart. “Is it all right to wait until later to discuss this question?” he asks the boys. They look at each other and say “Okay.” Later in the afternoon, Mrs. Nave will return to the question as they explore a theme study on insects.

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“You made some good guesses about the illustrator,” Mr. Kamm says. “It’s Eric Carle. But you sure came up with good reasons for it being another artist, too,” he adds. He begins to read, holding the book open toward the children and slightly to the side, so he can still see the text and the children can see the pictures. The story has a surprise ending, and the students clap spontaneously. “Read it again,” they chorus, and the principal reads the book again. By popular demand, he reads it a third time, and then reads the author’s notes at the end of the book, where they discover why some crickets do not chirp. Then, they take time to explore the pictures together. “What do you see on this page that you didn’t notice before?” the principal asks, showing the book to the class and then handing it to Amy. Hands go up as children spot new details in the pictures. Mr. Kamm talks about how crickets make their sounds, and the children try rubbing their hands together to experiment with sounds made by friction. Before the principal leaves, several children volunteer to bring crickets to school. He gives them some pointers on how to catch the insects without harming them, and suggests types of containers to keep them healthy and alive. “My brother pulls the legs off of crickets,” Davey says, as the principal gets up from his chair. “Oooh!” the girls groan and make faces. A few of the boys say “Cool!” “What do you think about that?” the principal asks him. “I don’t do it,” he replies. The principal pats him on the shoulder. One of the boys who said “Cool!” catches Mr. Kamm as he starts to leave the room. “I wouldn’t do that either,” he says. “Good for you, Kevin. I didn’t think you would.”

Behind the Scenes By asking the principal to read a particular book to her class, Mrs. Nave offers him the opportunity to share his background in science in an informative and enjoyable way. Later in the day, she will refer to this experience several times as students dictate the events of the day for her to record on a chart. “What did Mr. Kamm tell us about how crickets make their sounds?” she will ask, and “Why do you think an insect is an animal?” As the principal reads aloud to the kindergarten, he offers children a model of an adult reading—someone who both values and enjoys reading, as evidenced by his interest and enthusiasm. Reading aloud creates a comfortable context for discussing values with students, as illustrated in the interaction between the principal and several boys. The principal could tell that Davey was concerned about what his brother was doing and wanted to know how someone else viewed this behavior.

A Primary Classroom: Science, Computers, Language, and Literature “I want to make a circle graph to show how many kinds of bats there are, compared to other mammals,” John Stephen announces to the rest of Mrs. Taylor’s third-grade class. They are seated in a circle on a rug in the

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back of the room, sharing problems and questions about their research. At the beginning of the year, they chose the theme “Scary Animals” to study in October. A wide range of animals have been selected for study by individual students, including crocodiles, bats, sharks, snakes, spiders, wasps, tigers, wolves, and bears. “I can show you,” Caleb offers. “I made one when I asked everybody which animals they were most scared of.” “Thanks, Caleb,” Mrs. Taylor says. “There’s a handout on graphs at the math center you can check with, too.” Several students write down the information on graphs in their science notebooks. “Anyone else have a question?” “I don’t have a question,” Blaine says, “but I brought my animal to show.” Several girls move back from the circle. He pulls out a copy of Scary Sharks: Fearsome, Scary, and Creepy Animals (Landau, 2003). Several students look relieved. On other occasions, Blaine has brought live scorpions and a snake to show the class. “This book is one of a series about animals with bad reputations,” he explains. “And there are great ones on fierce cats and killer bees.” Several students write down the titles. “Anything else?” the teacher asks. “This isn’t a question,” Adrienne says, “but my notes about bats keep getting mixed up. I’ve written down a lot of things, but I don’t know how to organize it.” “What have you tried?” Mrs. Taylor asks. “Well, I just start at the beginning, but then I find something that should go in before, and it’s a mess,” she admits. “You know what I do?” MacKenna asks. “My sister showed me how to write down just one fact on one index card. Then you can put the cards together that go together. It really works.” “There’s a program on the word processor that lets you do the same thing,” Gabriel says. “And sometimes I just list the facts, and then make headings for the categories they seem to fit it. I move them with the copy/paste until they’re in some sort of order. Then I’ve got my paragraph stuff and just have to put the paragraphs in order.” “Can I watch how you do that?” Adrienne asks. “Sure, but then I’ve got to do my own stuff.” Mrs. Taylor makes a note to have Gabriel and MacKenna demonstrate their organizational schemes to the entire class at the next mini-lesson for Writer’s Workshop. There are a few more questions, and then a number of students take up seats at the classroom computers to begin Internet searches. Others look for pictures of their animals so they can draw them, and some take notes from special reference books on animals. All work from guidelines they developed as a class or added on their own as their study progressed. They will include the habitat of the animal, its appearance, what it eats, and if it is endangered. Students will look for information about the young, including how many babies are usually born at one time, if they are hatched or born alive, and how they are cared for. They will also note if different

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cultures regard the animal in different ways, if there are any myths associated with it, and why some people see the animal as scary. An additional question asks students to find out how to act around their animal to be safe. Several students decide to model their animals in clay for the class exhibit, and two girls work on a puppet show that involves a discussion between their two animals. One boy is creating a newspaper, The Swamp Times, edited by Anthony Alligator. Jamal and Morgan are coordinating the construction of an alphabet book for the kindergarten and ask students to sign up to write and illustrate an alliterative sentence about their animal. Jamal begins the book with “A asked the alligator annoying questions,” and Morgan adds “C cracked the crocodile’s crazy cranium.” They will read the book aloud to the kindergartners during a Book Buddies session and leave it in the classroom for them to enjoy at other times. When the research session is over, students take a few minutes to look at their notes and write down something they learned about their animal that was especially interesting. They also write a note to the teacher, ranking their work for the morning on a scale from 1 to 5, and tell why they think this is an accurate self-evaluation. In small groups, students share their day’s discoveries with each other, and there is a great deal of support and encouragement for each speaker. The discovery notes are handed in to the teacher along with their self-evaluations. Notes are handed back at the end of the day to take home and share with parents. Later in the day, students will take turns observing the large tarantula Mark has brought to school. They will practice drawing the spider and dance to a recording of Tarantella. The class will also begin planning ways to share their study with other classes. With the help of the art teacher, they will create masks to use with a drama they are writing about endangered animals. They will also begin writing their own animal creation myths, based on those read aloud from cultures around the world. A collection of their drawings and reports will be bound into a classroom book, and children will take turns sharing the book at home with their families.

Behind the Scenes The scary animal study was chosen by children at the beginning of the year and planned for October, to coincide with Halloween. From an initial interest in animals that are frightening to many people, students gained new respect for the particular characteristics of each animal studied and learned valuable information about the contributions each makes to the environment. They discovered that ancient peoples often deified animals which were dangerous to humans and that animals are a part of the creation myths of many cultures. They talked about the fact that what frightens one person may not frighten another. With a wildlife biologist, they explored ideas about healthy fear and the necessary precautions to take with animals that sting, bite, or scratch. As students drew their animals, they became familiar with their anatomy and began to analyze why certain physical aspects are frightening to humans, such as disproportionately large teeth, rough-looking skin, or small eyes. From a conservation Web site, they discovered that several of the animals they researched are endangered and that some have not changed in

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appearance for millions of years. They also learned that the most ferocious of today’s animals are tame by the standards of land and sea animals that lived long ago. A large matrix drawn on butcher paper is fastened to the chalkboard, where students record data about their animals: size, color, species, outstanding features, habitat, food, and environmental contribution. On a bulletin board, under the heading of “I use to think . . . ” and “Now I know . . . ,” students have fastened index cards with ideas they had about their animals before and after their study. One boy wrote “I used to think that all bats were vampires that sucked out your blood” and “But now I know that most bats eat insects and fruit.” The sharing sessions before and after their research sessions allow students to draw on each other’s expertise and permits the teacher to identify strategies or information that might be helpful to student inquiry. Most of the class takes notes about the issues raised in the problem-solving session, because they realize they might need this information at a later time. As students pursue individual interests, they add to the knowledge of the entire class through sharing sessions. They can also choose to respond to what they are learning in a multitude of ways that maximize their learning strengths and help develop those that are emerging.

A Primary Classroom: Exploring Social Studies With Language As third grader Elizabeth makes entries in her learning journal, she occasionally glances up to refer to the chart at the front of the room. The day’s activities have been recorded there by the class scribe throughout the school day, and they provide an easy reminder of what has happened in the classroom. She records the things she has learned and adds other comments—questions, plans, and additional ideas. The last 20 minutes of the school day is set aside for this activity, which provides a learning review and gives the students a sense of academic achievement. The journals go home to be shared with families and provide an excellent home/school communication tool. “I better write down the list of materials we’re supposed to have on hand for the art project,” the teacher thinks, and writes the list on the board. “Whew!” Elizabeth says to herself. “I would have forgotten all about that,” and she quickly makes notes on a sheet of paper to fold inside her journal. “Don’t forget to check your journal folders,” Mrs. Larkin reminds the class. “There is a project due tomorrow and one next Monday.” “Our permission slips for the trip to the Lewis and Clark Exhibition are due, too,” Grandy adds. There is a sudden rustling of forgotten papers into the folders at the back of journals. “Is all your homework recorded?” the teacher asks, and students glance over the assignments they have written down, noting the due dates and requirements for long-term projects. Students continue writing their review of the day’s events, making notes to describe their individual activities. Beside “Independent Reading,”

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Elizabeth writes “Reading conference tomorrow,” and removes a book from her desk to take home for review. She is reading The Children of the Green Knowe (Boston, 2002), a fantasy novel the teacher loaned her from her own library. “One of the best books I ever read,” she said when she handed the book to Elizabeth. “She was right,” Elizabeth thinks. She was quickly drawn into the story of Tolly, a lonely boy sent to stay with a relative in an ancient mansion. He soon learns that he shares the old house with more than just his aging great-grandmother. Children from an age long past fill the dusty old rooms and draw Tolly into their adventures. Elizabeth’s literature group will finish their book tomorrow, one that is related to the theme in social studies. Lewis and Clark and Me: A Dog’s Tale (Myers & Dooling, 2002) is an account of the Lewis and Clark expedition as seen through the eyes of Seaman, Lewis’ dog. Other groups are reading accounts of the trip from the viewpoints of other participants. Elizabeth finally finishes her notes about the activities of the day and folds her math homework into its folder in the back of the journal. This evening, she will share the day’s events with her parents and complete any assignments due the following day.

Behind the Scenes Mrs. Larkin’s third grade is currently studying Lewis and Clark’s Journey of Discovery. Because the school is located within driving distance of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and two St. Louis historical museums, the class will visit each of them on a day’s trip. To prepare for this event, the teacher reads aloud from Sacajawea (Bruchac, 2003), which tells the story of the expedition from alternating points of view—that of William Clark, captain of the expedition, and Sacajawea, the young Shoshone woman who became the expeditionary guide. The teacher chose this particular book to read aloud because it previewed the sense of excitement the children will later experience when they view the OmniMax movie about the journey at the St. Louis Science Center. It also provides a balanced point of view of the contributions made by all members of the trip. The author, Joseph Bruchac, is a Native American writer with an eye for authentic details and an engaging manner of relating a story. Mrs. Larkin also previews many other books about the Lewis and Clark journey on a daily basis and collects sets to be read in literature groups. Intrigued by the read-aloud and the teacher’s brief reviews of other books, students explore books about the trip that they later select for reading conferences and use as resources for their reports in social studies. One of the books is an account of the expedition as told by the young artist who accompanied Lewis and Clark, and the book is full of drawings of plants, animals, people, and scenery. After showing the book to the class, the teacher took her students outdoors with sketchpads to record the details of their own natural environment. They also wrote descriptions about what they observed beside their pictures. This activity helped students appreciate the importance of meticulous journal entries and the documentation in drawings of all the things seen or experienced on the Lewis and Clark expedition.

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At the beginning of the school year, the teacher consulted the music teacher about songs from the Colonial era, and the P.E. teacher began instruction with a unit on Colonial period dancing. The school media specialist was happy to help Mrs. Larkin build a collection of books related to Lewis and Clark, and suggested that she also borrow books from the local public library. The school book clubs had featured many relevant titles during the previous years, which the teacher purchased for the classroom library with bonus points from class orders. Mrs. Larkin has used the theme of the trip in other areas, relating it to topics that are part of the district’s curriculum for third grade—plants and animals in science, graphs in math, and map reading in social studies. Because students have developed an intense interest in the thematic study, they give increased attention to developing skills that will help them better understand the expedition. The effort necessary to create and understand graphs and the generic lessons on plant and animal life have been transformed by natural curiosity into a compelling study. Students will score well in these areas on the state’s standardized tests. In the beginning, Mrs. Larkin recorded each instructional event on a large chart as it was completed during the day. During the last 20 minutes of the day, she used the headings to conduct an informal, oral review of the activities. Gradually, she moved this time of reflection into a written account, which gave students practice in analyzing their own experiences and increased their responsibility for assignments. Eventually, she assigned a different student each day to perform the recording task. At first, this involved the entire class thinking aloud together, “What shall we write down?” Now, students carefully and quietly record each activity on their own.

An Intermediate Classroom: Social Studies and Theme Cycles At the beginning of the school year, Mr. Ryan encourages his sixth-grade class to contribute ideas about what should be studied in the next 9 months. After much deliberation, they agree on the following themes for the year: Why are they closing military bases? Why are so many area farmers going out of business? What is the human genome project? What makes movies and TV shows popular? What would it be like to live on the space station? How will genetic engineering change the future? How does global warming affect us? What makes people around the world look different? What makes a person a hero?

The topics reflect their own personal concerns: The nearby military base employs or supports the employment of many of their parents, and local small farmers must work at other occupations to support their families. Their choices also reflect a desire to know more about their environment: the

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positive and negative effects of the increased uses of technology, scientific research, life in space, and the influence of the media. Students chose the military base closing to study first, because this possibility directly affects nearly every person in the class. Many have parents who are enlisted personnel or civilian staff, whereas others are concerned that the base closing will affect their parents’ jobs even though they are not employed by the base. Area farmers are aware that the possible joint use of the base as a commercial airport will affect the value of their land. The class begins their research by using the Internet to find a list of other military bases around the country that might soon be closing. Using a school locator Web site, they send e-mails to schools located near these bases, hoping to hear from persons facing a similar challenge. They receive a number of supportive letters, including one from a congressman and several from classes in areas where bases had been closed. From a pamphlet sent from another area of the country, the teacher makes enough copies for students to study in small groups. He asks them to read and analyze the pamphlet for its effectiveness in communicating convincing arguments for keeping a base open. Students examine the materials using two criteria: Would this material help someone make up their mind about this issue and, if not, what information is missing. “Well, what do you think?” Mr. Ryan asks when the groups have completed their review of the pamphlet. “This thing has real problems,” Carter begins. “How so?” the teacher responds. “Well, to start with, there’s nothing to it, just a whole list of statements. I don’t think anybody’d read it.” Mr. Ryan puts the brochure on the overhead for the discussion. “What would make it better?” he asks. Carter looks at Kya, who refers to some notes she took during their group’s discussion. “If we were doing it . . . ” she pauses for effect and looks around the room, “we’d do it right, of course.” She waits for the rest of the class to respond, and they do, in various ways. Other members of her group flash a victory sign. “First, we wouldn’t put all this junk on the front cover. No one’s going to read all that to start with. We’d get their attention with a photograph of a base family—you know, with the dad all dressed up in his uniform and a family with a whole bunch of kids. Then we’d print the words ‘Unemployed’ over the top of the picture, and at the bottom, ‘Don’t let it happen.’” “So you want to personalize the closing, and you want that to be the first thing the reader sees?” Mr. Ryan asks. “Right,” Kya agrees. “Then we can go on to some of the stuff they put on the first page, about how it will make other people lose their jobs, like fast-food places and people who work in all the stores where base people buy stuff.” “Yeah, and look at all the ways they said the same thing,” Jordan adds. “Our group put together a lot of the things, so it doesn’t look like so much to read.” “You want to send the message in fewer words,” the teacher observes.

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“Yeah,” Kyle responds from his group, “and we think they could say it plainer . . . what they said . . . it should use words that everybody understands.” “So you’re saying that it should aim toward a broader audience?” the teacher asks. “Yeah, that’s right,” Kyle agrees, “In plain language everyone can understand.” “More like a commercial,” Jason adds. “Short and to the point. You want to get their attention, not bore ‘em to death.” “You’re trying to persuade the reader, but is there a difference between what you want to have happen here and a commercial?” Mr. Ryan asks. “Well, the goal’s the same,” Jason says. “We want to sell the reader something . . . get ‘em to write to their congressmen and the president and anybody else who will decide what happens.” Mr. Ryan waits for the idea to develop. “But on TV or whatever, they sometimes lie . . . or they don’t really tell you everything,” Kelsi replies. “Like when you were a little kid, you’d see really good stuff on the cartoon shows, that made you want to buy it—like cereal or whatever, and it never was as good as it looked.” “So the difference is . . . ?” Mr. Ryan asks. “We’re trying to get the facts out to everybody, so they know what’s happening and can do something to help,” she concludes. As the class talks about the defects of the pamphlet, Mr. Ryan writes their criticisms on the board under the heading “What’s Wrong.” When the discussion concludes, he writes another heading beside the first, entitled “How to Fix it,” and the group reviews the suggestions they made during the discussion. From these suggestions, they create five criteria for effective persuasive writing. In small groups, they begin to construct their own informational pamphlets, which they will present to the local base/civilian committee.

Behind the Scenes This study was generated by students who wanted to contribute in some way to support an issue in the community that would affect their lives. In the process, they explored issues of accuracy and honesty in pamphleteering and ways to persuade an audience. They reached out to other communities experiencing similar distress and received a number of helpful suggestions. From a poorly designed pamphlet, they developed criteria to evaluate informational/persuasive messages, which they then applied to their own writing of similar material. Reading, writing, talking, and thinking about this problem made them feel more involved in helping to solve a problem of mutual concern. In a previous year, Mr. Ryan’s class generated other themes that related to their proximity to the military base. Because the war in Afghanistan and Iraq had touched their lives personally, they wanted to research the reasons for war. Students generated questions such as: “Why do people join the military?” “What is the special role of our base?” “What do our parents do at the base?” “What other wars did our families fight in?” and “Will there always be wars?”

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Themes differ each year to accommodate the interests and concerns of each particular group of students. When students have identified their concerns, Mr. Ryan helps them develop questions that will assist their research and suggests sources of information. He knows that nearly any topic of interest to his students will involve the development of required skills and investigation of the content that is required at his grade level. For example, in sixth grade, students are required to study American history, the body systems, historical novels, persuasive speaking, maps, ratios, and graphs. As the class researches the base closings, students trace their local base back through the history of American wars in this century, and then continue their research back into the forts of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The historical novel Calico Captive (Speare, 2001), which is based on a true event, tells the story of a 14-year-old girl kidnapped by Indians on her way to safety in a nearby fort. She is taken to Canada and sold into the service of a French family. Reading the novel helps students understand the purpose of forts and gain a perspective on their importance on the American frontier. As a class, the sixth graders examine famous speeches in American history that were concerned with ideals and defense, such as Patrick Henry’s speech in 1775, President Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in 1863, President Roosevelt’s address following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and President Kennedy’s speech during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. As students researched the base closings in other areas, they learned to use a variety of maps and invited one of the students’ fathers to describe the use of maps in military planning. To conduct surveys connected with their study, they had to learn how to use graphs to record and share their information. When the year’s study involved the causes of war, paramedics and doctors who served in Kuwait and Iraq introduced the function and care of the body systems in the context of maintaining the health of troops. Mr. Ryan provided historical novels that portrayed America’s experience with war, such as My Brother Sam Is Dead (Collier & Collier, 1974), Johnny Tremain (Forbes, 1971), Fallen Angels (Myers, 1988), Sarah Bishop (O’Dell, 1991), and Undying Glory: The Story of the Massachusetts 54th Regiment (Cox, 1991). They examined the metaphors and similes in these novels and used figurative language to express their own ideas about war. Students developed criteria for persuasive speaking and writing and explored issues of war and peace in shared-pair discussions. They traced their own families’ experiences in previous wars and collected oral biographies from parents and grandparents. They investigated the various branches of the government that are involved in the declaration of war and the management of armed forces. Students also examined relevant historical documents, such as the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, the U.S. Constitution, and the United Nations and NATO charters. They studied the effects of westward expansion on the indigenous peoples and the consequences of the introduction of slavery to support the development of eastern and southern economies in Colonial America. They used the language of mathematics to examine and manipulate data from their

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research and to record the results of their interviews and surveys. Graphing skills were developed to share the information gained from these computations. Students examined war as a topic for artistic expression, including such classic expressions as Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, Sibelius’s New World Symphony, and the paintings of Pablo Picasso and Edvard Munch. The class listened to recordings of songs from U.S. wars, such as “Yankee Doodle” (Revolutionary War), “Dixie” and “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again” (Civil War), “Over There” (World War I), “Wild Blue Yonder” (World War II), and the Marine Band marches by John Philip Sousa. They examined the role of patriotic music of all kinds during visits by military musicians from the base. Students researched the role of drummer boys and buglers in military units and created dramas about Johnny Shiloh and Orion P. Howe (Civil War drummer boys) from historical documents. They watched documentary tapes of Bob Hope’s USO tours and compared the influence of musicians and entertainers during wars from the eighteenth to twenty-first centuries. This study reached out into the community, as students interviewed members of the armed forces who had fought in both world wars, the Korean and Vietnam conflicts, and wars in the Middle East. The genealogical librarian at the public library gave them tips for tracing ancestors who fought in U.S. wars. She also helped them locate community members who had been displaced by wars in other countries and one who had lived in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. A local doctor’s parents had been interned in a camp for Japanese Americans during World War II, and he spoke to the class about his family’s loss of home and business. Students were surprised that Italian Americans had also been sent to camps in both Canada and the United States, when Italy allied with Germany in World War II. They learned that prisoners of war from Italy were kept at Jefferson Barracks in nearby St. Louis, and that some had stayed and become citizens after the war. Parents of several students had family members who were involved in wars against the United States, including Japan, Korea, Germany, and North Vietnam. Others had suffered as civilians in those countries. Several students had grandparents who survived the bombings in London during World War II. One student’s great-great grandfather had been a Buffalo (African American) soldier in the West. Because so many of the students’ parents were involved in the military base, additional issues are brought up for discussion, such as the difficulties faced by families who must say goodbye to parents when they are deployed, getting adjusted to new communities when a parent is transferred, and the role of ritual and ceremony in dealing with loss. The class visited local cemeteries to locate graves of soldiers from each of the U.S. wars and helped the local Scout troop place flags on the graves of persons who had served in the military. With letters to the editor and in cooperation with local veteran’s groups, they helped revive the local Memorial Day celebration to honor area veterans. Mr. Ryan adds his expertise and special interests in living history. On the weekends, he performs with an area Civil War reenactment group. Each

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year, he brings several reenactors to class to talk about the experiences of volunteer soldiers during the Civil War. He also brings a copy of the movie Gettysburg and videotapes of the Abraham Lincoln–Stephen Douglas debates to share with his students. He has Native American friends who visit the class to share a historical perspective on the frontier conflicts of several centuries.

An Intermediate Classroom: Social Studies Sociodrama “I’m ready to go,” Cody announces as he wheels himself into the classroom. “Go, Cody!” Zander responds. “You’ve got to do it for us, buddy,” he says, and gives the boy in the wheelchair a high-five. “Get ready to lose,” Cody says to Whitney, his legal opponent in the courtroom case that is to be tried in Mrs. Jansen’s fifth-grade classroom. “Some professional manner!” Whitney replies. “That’s what lawyers say to each other,” Cody protests. “Well, then you’re the one who’s cruisin’ for a bruisin’,” Whitney responds. The exchange is good-natured, and both parties retire to the tables where their assistants sit ready to present the case of the explorer Christopher Columbus. Whitney and her team will try to convince an impartial jury (their fifthgrade class) that the behavior of Christopher Columbus toward his crew and the native peoples he encountered should deny him his privileged status in American history. Cody and his team will argue that Columbus’s contributions to world exploration have earned him proper respect, and that he deserves to be retained as an American hero. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” Cody begins. He peers over his glasses and affects courtroom dramatics. “My client is an upright man, a good man, an intelligent and forward-looking man. He did not set out to harm his crew. Indeed, we will show today that Columbus provided very well for his men and had their interests at heart for every journey made to the New World.” “In a special historical arrangement, we will interview some of these men today, who will tell you in their own words what it was like to sail on his ship. We will also hear from Mr. Columbus himself, who will tell you of his good and true intentions in sailing to the New World. This is a man who bravely sailed into a sea where others thought they would die. This is a man of courage and vision, who is most deserving of his status as an American hero.” Whitney consults in whispers with her team and then strides to the front of the courtroom. “Did you hear that, ladies and gentlemen?” she begins. “This is the very attitude that is on trial here today. Mr. Johnson refers to this continent, where people have lived for thousands of years, as the ‘New World.’ New World, indeed! This continent was the old world for many different cultures, all of which would be harmed in some way by the action of Mr. Columbus.” “We will call witnesses today who will testify to the damage done by the actions of this man and those who followed him. People who lost their land,

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their homes, their way of life—and yes, ladies and gentlemen—their very lives. And all for what? Greed, that’s what. All they wanted was gold to take back to Spain. I will ask you to consider if such a man should be regarded as an American hero.” After opening statements, each side presents testimony from witnesses, with the defense promoting Columbus as a scholarly sailor who sought a new and shorter trade route to India. The prosecution calls witnesses who speak of mistreatment aboard ship and persecution of the native populations. The defense produces witness among sailors and native peoples who deny any bad treatment. They also point out that the Vikings actually explored the continent before Columbus and that Columbus did not treat the natives as badly as some who followed him. They portray him as a victim of poor press, created by sailors who held grudges. Cody finishes his witness examination by whirling around in his wheelchair to face the jury. “I ask you, ladies and gentlemen, if Columbus had not made these journeys, where would each of you be today? You might be hiding in fear in some terrible place in another country. You would not have the advantages you have as an American. Think about it!” He ends with a flourish. “And at what cost to others are we here today?” Whitney counters. “Nothing excuses his terrible treatment of these people—giving orders to have them tortured and killed. One whole culture was destroyed by him in Hispaniola.” The prosecution continues by saying that even if other explorers treated people more poorly, that did not excuse Columbus. Throughout the trial, the lead lawyers consult for questioning points with their legal team, composed of four additional persons. The presiding judge listens carefully to testimony and objections by the lawyers, thinking carefully before overruling or sustaining the objections. In her closing statement, Whitney calls upon the jury to reconsider the status given to Columbus as a hero, in light of the testimony of concerned witnesses, and to consider what the world would be like if Columbus had not come to America. She concludes that Columbus should be remembered only for bringing tobacco and smoking to Spain and overpopulation and pollution to America. In his final statement, Cody says that Columbus deserves recognition because the prosecution has been unable to produce any conclusive evidence that Columbus treated his sailors any worse than did other explorers of his time, and that if natives were harmed, it was without his knowledge or direct orders. “If people have to be perfect to be heroes,” he concludes, “there would be few heroes in history.” He closes his remarks with the observation that Columbus showed determination and courage, traits that Americans typically honor. The jury considers the case for a half hour, during which time they ask to examine evidence in the form of maps, pictures, and diaries that have been used in the trial. A student portraying a TV journalist reviews the case and evidence to a small group of students from the other fifth grade in the school. They are observing the trial with the idea of conducting one in their own classroom.

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When the court reconvenes, the foreman reads the verdict. The jury finds Columbus guilty of mistreating sailors and harming natives, but recommends that he still be recognized for his accomplishments as an explorer and navigator. Court reporters write up the basic arguments to include in a newsletter students prepare for distribution to other classes. When 1 minute remains before dismissal, the teacher asks the class to count backwards from 20 in Spanish, which they complete just before the bell rings.

Behind the Scenes The presentation of this trial followed several weeks of intense preparation by everyone involved. One half of the class studied Columbus, while the other half researched other explorers and the time period to prepare themselves to be an impartial, but informed jury. In addition to the textbook assigned by the school district, Mrs. Jansen provided trade and reference books on Columbus that featured historical diaries and current analyses of the exact routes of the explorer. Because only the prosecution and defense teams researched the specifics on Columbus, the jury had to depend for its decision on the information provided by witnesses and the arguments of the legal teams. Each team had access to the same materials and the use of computers located in the classroom for Internet searches. The courtroom format encouraged students to examine each side of the issue carefully. They realized they would have to know the opposing arguments as well as their own in order to refute them. The entire class visited a courtroom to witness a trial and asked questions of the judge and several lawyers about how cases were tried. They also investigated the rights of children in the legal system and learned the meaning of due process. Mrs. Jansen receives support of persons outside of her classroom because she reaches out to involve parents, the school staff, and professional/business members of the community. Although her class is officially designated as departmentalized language arts and social studies, she creates a learning environment that encourages students to practice language skills in the context of exploring ideas they are curious about in any curriculum area. She makes a great effort to talk to other teachers about the information, skills, and strategies her students are learning in their classes, so that these can be integrated as much as possible into the activities of her classroom. Counting backwards in Spanish at the end of the period settled the class after the exciting session and provided a little warm-up for their next class (Spanish). Mrs. Jansen had previously been a middle school teacher, where teaching teams met regularly to support each other’s instruction. She has successfully transferred this practice to her new job in a departmentalized elementary school.

The Importance of Themes and the Languages of Learning Traditional schooling methods often assume that students are empty containers to be filled up with knowledge. In contrast, teachers who help students use language and literature to explore the world see children as persons

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who already possess ideas and experience that are relevant to academic subject matter. Students have intimate contact with people, places, and things that are the objects of study by mathematicians, scientists, and social scientists. Many of their questions are of the same kind, such as: “How does the world work?” and “Why do people behave the way they do?” In classrooms where all knowledge is seen as related, students learn that their thoughts and questions encompass all disciplines of knowledge and that there are many ways to respond to and communicate these ideas. They begin to see school as a place that will help them find answers to the very real questions they have about the world. As students observe and talk about the mathematical and scientific concepts in their experience, they learn how to translate their questions about the world into these special languages. In the process, they discover the power of these languages to explore ideas and events. When students write about an object or event in the classroom and compare their observations with those of their classmates, they learn that others may see things differently than they do. Peers may see things they missed or from a different perspective. When students think, write, and talk about future events or the causes of natural phenomena, they learn to speculate, predict, and hypothesize. They begin to see that when persons talk about ideas, the conversation flows outward to encompass all kinds of knowledge. As they observe, discuss, research, organize, and share what they discover in the content areas, they also come to know and appreciate the language tools that mathematicians, scientists, and social scientists use for inquiry and communication.

Themes: Organizing Ideas and Creating Connections One of the most widely used methods of relating learning across subject matter disciplines is the theme, which is a broad idea or concept around which learning can be organized. There are several approaches to theme learning, including the theme unit, theme topic, and theme cycle. These approaches vary in terms of their comprehensiveness, the level of teacher organization required, and the amount of student participation encouraged in the planning and development of the study.

Theme Units Theme units are the most common organization of study in the traditional classroom. These units may be developed by individual teachers, curriculum committees, or commercial publishers. Although most involve active student participation, the teacher (school district, teaching team, state, publisher) selects the theme to be studied and plans the activities. Typically, social studies or science provide the unifying framework, with all areas of the curriculum drawn upon to study a particular topic, such as “Animals” or “China.” Teachers often read books aloud to introduce

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theme studies and stock their libraries with trade books related to the theme. Teachers who use theme units believe that organizing the curriculum in this manner provides many opportunities for students to practice language skills and helps them begin to see how different areas of knowledge are related. When teachers first begin to work with themes in the classroom, they may capitalize on strong or immediate interests of children—dinosaurs, insects, or some aspect of the popular culture, such as music or film. They use these themes as organizing tools for some or all areas of the curriculum and often repeat the themes from year to year, because they are successful with a succession of classes. Others may use the same themes each year, but adjust the literature base and content to accommodate the special needs or abilities of individual classes. A social studies unit on Australia might center on the history, geography, and sociology of the continent but also reach into science with a study of its plant and animal life. Mathematics could be involved if students analyze the population statistics with graphs, fractions, ratios, and percentages. They might also investigate the music, dance, literature, and art of the country and respond to their study with various kinds of writing and artistic expression. Evaluation of student learning in theme units usually involves individual or group projects and a written exam over the content, depending on the grade level. Christine Cook, a first-grade teacher, organizes the curriculum for the year around a succession of themes, each lasting 2 weeks. She begins the year with a study of bears and, over the next 10 days, reads more than 50 books about bears to her students. Two poems about bears are read aloud to the students every day, and by the end of the first week, everyone in the class can read them. In centers around the room, students listen to bear stories on tape, such as Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey (1976), which tells how a human child and baby bear exchange mothers for a short time while both are searching for blueberries. Students compose and illustrate their own poems about bears at the writing center, and learn two songs about bears, which have factual content and incorporate hand movements. A lesson on homonyms begins with the words “bear” and “bare,” and children add other words to the list of words that sound alike but are not spelled the same. They keep a journal of bear facts and make a classroom book from their collective information. The scientific study of bears focuses on four different types: black, grizzly, polar bear, and the Alaskan brown bear, all of whom live in North America. As each bear is discussed, the teacher helps students find their habitat region on a map. They study the characteristics and habits of each type of bear and chart these facts, noting similarities and differences. These are compiled in a class book, entitled The Bare Bear Facts. Children use bear counters as concrete manipulatives to complete their first lessons in addition. As they see, touch, and move the bears around, they gain a better understanding of the addition process. These counters are available during the day at the math center to provide additional practice in counting and addition.

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To develop fine motor skills, students are taught how to draw a bear, using circles, which are then painted with Q-tips and made into pins. They decorate their books about bears and make a large bear that is held together with brads, to allow its arms and legs to move. Students present the play “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” to the other classrooms and an audience of parents and special visitors. They use the cafeteria kitchen to make cut-out cookies in bear shapes and serve them at the play. As the year progresses, activities become increasingly more sophisticated. An Arbor Day unit features an illustrated book made by children using the computer. They create a web of key words and topics related to trees, generated from facts they accumulated from reading independently and from books read aloud. Students list these facts on a chart, labeled “Did you know . . . ?,” and play bingo with vocabulary learned during the unit study. In centers, they sequence the growth of a tree, label its parts, and draw pictures of trees and themselves as they appear during different seasons of the year. Students find the rhyming elements in poems, unscramble words, and complete word finds, all of which use tree-related vocabulary. They take a poll to discover the kinds of favorite trees among class members and then translate these data into a tabulation, bar graph, picture graph, and pie chart. They count the trees in their yards at home and identify those that are the tallest and shortest. Spelling words include the parts of a tree, and students practice alliteration by creating tree-related tongue twisters. Homework includes making a genealogical chart with their family (a family tree) and talking about the people they are related to. They memorize poems about trees and sing songs, such as “Save a Tree for Me” (They won’t last forever). At the end of the unit, they plant a tree on the school grounds and put on a play for the kindergarten and their parents. Children prepare a ranch dressing, dip broccoli stems in it, and place the “little trees” in thick slices of bread for their guests to munch on. For more descriptions of this type of theme structure, see Chapter 1, where the kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Nave, talks about how she constructs theme units for her students.

Theme Topics Another way themes are used as organizing devices for instruction is the theme topic approach. Themes in literature, such as Survival, Courage, The Environment, Communities, or The West, create a framework to combine the required topics of study in various subject areas. In contrast to the theme unit, which draws from other curriculum areas to enhance a study, the topic approach creates an umbrella under which all areas of the curriculum can be explored. For example, the broad theme of “The West” might relate the study of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books in literature to a historical study of Western expansion in the nineteenth century. Theme topics require students to research the people, geography, history, science, mathematics, art, and music of a time period. Students may create

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newspapers, conduct interviews, work together on research teams, construct team projects, and write stories, poems, and plays to respond to the study. Expert visitors might demonstrate pioneer crafts or a Native American speaker might be invited to describe the impact of Western expansion on the indigenous populations. Julia Parker, a fourth-grade teacher, brings together the sharing of a classic read-aloud book with a study of the author’s province in Canada, the scientific study of owls, related scientific research of other birds, literary analysis of story elements, art, drama, displays, and conservation projects. She begins the topic by reading aloud from Farley Mowat’s Owls in the Family (1996), the story of two owls (Weeps and Wol) whose personalities have endeared them to generations of readers. They also read Owl Moon (Yolen, 1987), the Caldecott-winning description of a young child’s journey through the snow on a winter’s night to see an owl; The Owl and the Pussycat (Lear & Brett, 1996), Edward Lear’s funny and timeless poem about the marriage between two unlikely and eccentric animals; and the colorfully illustrated story of Good Night, Owl (Hutchins, 1990), where a sleep-deprived owl gets the last hoot. As a class, the fourth graders brainstorm what they know about owls, using a KWL chart (see the description of this activity below) and do individual research on owls. They discuss wild animals as pets and research the setting of the story—Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. There is general discussion about vacations and where students go on vacations to accompany the reading of the Mowat family’s extraordinary holidays. They also construct a tree featured in the story—a cottonwood (Hanging Tree) out of cotton, glue, markers, and construction paper. Students make bookmarks, discuss backpacking (an activity in the story that precedes finding the first owl), create vocabulary lists related to their study, and order owl pellets from a scientific supply store. When the book is finished, the class creates attribute webs for each owl (see the description of web clusters in the section below), and the teacher reads aloud a short section of Winnie the Pooh (Milne, 1996), whose owl character with the misspelled name is Wol’s namesake. Students use one of the chapters of the read-aloud book to study cause and effect, and create comparison charts for the two owls (activity described below). To practice expository (explains or tells how to do something) writing, students write step-by-step instructions for building the owls’ cage and act out the funeral of the owl that dies. When the sterilized owl pellets arrive, each student dons latex gloves to dissect and tally the contents. Mrs. Parker brings edible owl pellets made from chop suey noodles, chocolate chips, and peanut butter to school as a surprise treat. Students design a poster announcing the hilarious pet parade described in the book and create their own display for a classroom parade. The class acts out scenes with major characters in the book—the cook, postman, preacher, and the boys who caught Weeps. They draw a three-frame cartoon showing why the minister or the postman disliked Wol, and act out the scene where Billy apologizes to the postman. Students also research the various birds Billy saw and bring in a naturalist to talk to the class.

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They discuss plot, setting, and climax and then write a short story about a wild animal they trained. If they have not had a real experience, they invent one. They make owls in art class and write a letter from Bruce to Billy a year after the story ends, telling how the owls are doing. Most students want to find out more about the author, Farley Mowat—his life and travels—and they read other books he has written. As a concluding activity, the class adopts an owl at the St. Louis Zoo, which the fourth grade has done for 13 years. A description of another theme topic and how to use it to combine many elements of the curriculum can be found in Mrs. Hogue’s description of her work in Chapter 1.

Theme Cycles Of all the thematic approaches to learning, this highly integrated organization of the curriculum requires the most active participation of students. At the beginning of the year, they select a succession of themes they want to explore, based on what they want to know about the world. The term “theme cycle” is used because topics of study are never exhausted (Altwater & Flores, 1994). As new ideas are introduced, related, and explored, they create additional interest in the topics and provide direction for further study. Teachers using theme cycles begin by asking students what they would like to study during the year, drawing from the specific interests, needs, and abilities of their classes. As questions and ideas are listed, the teacher adds concepts or topics that are grade-level or district requirements, and state-testing mandates, which will later be incorporated into the interests student have expressed. One teacher tells his class directly: “This is what I am responsible for teaching you, and it must all be included in what you choose to study.” Students help group the suggestions into broader topics and select those in which they have the greatest interest. Students vote on nine themes for the year, and one is assigned for each month. At this point, the teacher creates a checklist of content or skills that must be taught and matches them with opportunities provided by topics in which the students are already interested. Kindergarteners’ curiosity about insects fits nicely into investigating life cycles for many different kinds of animals. Primary children who want to know more about the space station will also study concepts of gravity, the solar system, and measurement. An intermediate class who chose to study Harry Potter discovered the foundations of his story in ancient myths from around the world, and segued into a study of British culture, which included visits from a Shakespearean actor and a World War II survivor of the London Blitz. In Writer’s Workshop, children examined the elements of modern fantasy and students wrote their own stories in this genre. To observe firsthand how a teacher uses theme cycles as an organization for instruction, refer back to Chapter 1 and the classroom observation of Dr. Dick Koblitz.

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Preparing for Theme Activities Whether teachers organize their instruction into units, topics, or theme cycles, some of the materials and activities are the same. The extent to which you are free to make choices about the organization and content of the curriculum in your classroom will determine the number and kinds of activities you will be able to use. The following section describes how to set up a theme cycle, but the activities that are part of its functioning can be adapted to any style of theme study, at any level of instruction.

Creating a Theme Cycle The list of things that students know and want to know about a topic are sometimes generated in class and recorded on a chart. One drawback to this approach is that the more verbal students tend to dominate the conversation. This puts teachers in the awkward position of having to choose between dampening the enthusiasm of some or missing the possible contributions of the less vocal. If these questions are considered first on an individual student level, as a homework assignment, they can be both enthusiastically and deliberately processed. This arrangement acknowledges the experience and information everyone brings to the discussion and provides adequate time to reflect on questions that will influence students’ course of study. As students share their ideas, the teacher records the discussion on two charts, one that lists what students already know and another that lists the questions they have. All contributions are accepted, and if the accuracy of any information is challenged, it is marked with an asterisk for further research. When all contributions are acknowledged, ask students to suggest ways they could group their questions. For example, if students want to know the kinds of foods astronauts eat in space, if eating in space is different than on earth, and if they have a special diet, these questions might be grouped together under Nutrition in Space. With categories in place, students then decide on the ideas in the theme that particularly interest them and sign up to research them. Students typically work in pairs, groups of three, or alone; but as a group, they discuss various ways their subtopic might be explored. They talk about available resources, both human and material, and the different ways their learning can be shared with other class members or a broader audience. When theme cycles are used at the kindergarten/primary levels, students often create talking murals to express what they know and want to know about a topic. They draw a picture and write (or dictate) something they know about the topic in a cartoon balloon. This mural can be added to as students learn more about the topic under study, or a new mural can be created to display the new knowledge. At primary and intermediate levels, students often write what they know and what they want to know about a topic in a research journal. Answers

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to their questions are recorded in the journal as their research proceeds. Students also record their sources of information in a bibliography, with brief annotations of the books they have read or consulted. The role of the teacher at this point is to organize learning experiences to help students discover what they want to know. This is accomplished by encouraging the formation of flexible groups and by creating workshops and learning stations to explore the major ideas of the theme. Theme cycles are more comprehensive than either the unit or topic approaches in their potential for students to see how all forms of knowledge are interrelated. Because theme cycles encourage students to create categories of investigation from their own questions and to organize their inquiry, they more effectively discover how knowledge is connected by large ideas. Unlike the theme unit or topic, theme cycles are unique to individual classrooms, with their particular stores of knowledge, interests, and available resources. The chapter on mini-lessons illustrated how focused periods of direct instruction can help students learn concepts and practice skills in a meaningful context. This chapter will describe strategies that can help students organize and develop their inquiry in the content areas. These can each be introduced and explored in the mini-lesson format for individual or group use. All-class mini-lesson instruction provides students with experience in using a wide range of inquiry strategies. After they have experimented with a number of these strategies, it is important to let them choose those that are the most effective for them personally.

Considering All Learners Enlist the help of your school or public librarian to obtain English language versions of stories, poems, and folktales from your students’ countries of origin. In many areas, English language issues of newspapers and magazines from other countries are also available. Contact travel agencies for copies of travel brochures in English, and write the embassy or consulate of the particular countries to obtain free illustrated materials in English. Display a map of the student’s country that includes the countries around it, to allow the student to explore the geography and talk about it with other students. All students in the class will be interested in folktales from other countries and enjoy finding elements in common between these stories and those with which they are already familiar. Enlist the help of a librarian or consult one of the reference books described in Chapter 4 to locate folktales from countries around the world. If you live near a military base, these kinds of books may be available from the base library or parents of children in your school who have lived in different countries. One of the most overlooked students in the classroom with special learning needs is the child sometimes referred to as “gifted.” Many teachers believe that children who learn quickly, exhibit precocious skills, or demonstrate great creativity in their approach to learning do not need any special attention. They assume that these students can take care of themselves in the classroom program or are adequately challenged by take-out programs

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of 1 to 2 hours per week, in which children of several grade levels meet together outside of the regular classroom with a special teacher to work on joint projects. Other schools group these children in their own classes and keep them in ability tracks throughout the elementary grades. These practices and the assumptions upon which they are based may deprive both the gifted student and their classmates of productive interactions. When students excel in an area, such as math or reading, teachers may believe that they have similar ability in all areas and not provide the help necessary to support their learning. Students labeled as gifted often hesitate to ask for help or are turned away by teachers who tell them they should know how to perform a task. At the other extreme, teachers frequently do not help students perform at their best level when a small effort produces work that is substantially better than that of their peers. Highly creative children sometimes arrest at the level of idea production and do not complete projects, even when self-selected. To develop their abilities, they need help from their peers and the teacher, in the form of encouragement, to translate their ideas into a form that can be shared and responded to by others. Take-out programs encourage children to think of their gifts as something they share only with others of similar intellect or ability. They may withdraw from their classmates when their ideas or interests are not understood. Others hide their abilities and even intentionally produce failing work in order to be accepted. When children’s talents are utilized within the classroom, they learn how to communicate effectively with peers of differing interests and abilities. They see themselves as contributors to a community that requires the best efforts of all its members. Classrooms that integrate literature and language learning throughout the curriculum provide a distinct learning advantage to these children and their classmates. In this environment, children who learn quickly have increased opportunities to make decisions about their learning and to develop their autonomy as learners. They are encouraged to select books at their individual reading levels and pursue special interests in depth. In groups, they learn to better organize and clarify their ideas for speaking and writing. They learn how to explain ideas so that they can be understood by an audience and are drawn into the community of the classroom. Provide a wide variety of reading materials for these students, with content that challenges and interests them. Encourage students to share their hobbies and writing with the rest of the class. Special interests draw students of varying abilities together, an interaction you will want to foster. Establish a mentor program for students who show strong interest or ability in a particular subject area. High school teachers, university professors, or local professionals are often willing to meet with students who demonstrate highly developed talents in their areas. You may also suggest that their parents apply for a library card at a local college or university to provide access to more challenging reading materials. Depending on the particular talents of your students, encourage them to enter school, district, state, and national competitions in writing, speaking,

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science, math, art, music, or sports. Check the Internet for Web sites that announce competitions and publishing opportunities for children’s writing and art.

Presentation: Using Language to Explore Ideas and Information The Theme Cycle When you and your students have established a list of topics to be explored during the year, provide each student with a printed copy and send a copy home to the parents. Describe the skills and content that will be included as part of these studies, and ask if parents have expertise, information, or materials they would be willing to share with the class. Copy the list to your principal and post it on the teacher’s bulletin board, to see if colleagues might direct you to resources that would be helpful in pursuing these themes. Take the list to your school or district’s media specialist and the public librarian. They will be able to direct you to relevant resources and may even be willing to plan special programs to assist the studies.

Research Sessions Whether students are following individual research interests or participating as a group, the research period generally includes: • Consultation Time—Teachers and students meet together to talk about individual research problems. • Independent Study—Students conduct research individually, in pairs or as a member of a small group. • Creative Responses—Students react to what they are learning by writing, drawing, painting, making models, or creating a drama. • Student Self-Evaluation—Students review their efforts and accomplishments. • Sharing Discoveries—Students talk about what they have discovered in small groups or as a class.

Consultation Time Begin every research session with the opportunity for students to share any difficulties they are having. This allows other students to share strategies that have been successful for them and gives you a chance to make suggestions that might be helpful. If a number of students are experiencing a particular difficulty, you can offer a mini-lesson to demonstrate a particular skill or strategy to those who are interested. For example, if many students express frustration with the mechanics of computer searches or are having difficulty finding information using an index, you can review the basic skills with them before they begin their day’s research. When only one or two students are experiencing difficulty, other students often volunteer to help. Independent Study During the period of independent study, students need to be free to walk around the room—to consult with each other and the teacher and to refer to books and other materials. Although they will be

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working from the lists of questions they have generated as individuals and/or as a group, encourage students to write down any new questions that occur them as they pursue their research. Depending on the grade and maturity level of your students, this independent work period can last anywhere from a half hour to 2 hours. Many teachers encourage students to adopt a research project that reflects a strong individual interest and that is unrelated to any theme study in the classroom. (See Dick Koblitz’s description of this practice in his classroom in Chapter 1.) Students have the opportunity to research individual interests and share them with the rest of the class. As they find out everything they want to know about a self-chosen topic, students begin to feel like experts. They practice the skills of a researcher and in the process become more proficient problem solvers.

Creative Responses Drawing is an excellent way for students to build specialized speaking, reading, and writing vocabularies. Representing an object or animal from firsthand observation or pictures expands a student’s basic knowledge of an organism and the ability to represent it in form and thought. For some children, it is a both a way of examining a phenomenon to learn about it and a method of externalizing this learning to share with others. For example, students might decide to draw pictures or create a dance in response to an exhibit of the life cycle of a frog. When they have observed the process, they will return to examine the frog more closely for details of appearance and movement. The way his legs or eyes move may modify or expand their artistic interpretation. From these observations, new questions arise, such as “Where were the frogs legs when he was a tadpole?” “Why does he have such a long tongue?” or “What are these little knobs on his fingers?” Just as children come to a new appreciation and understanding of literary genres by writing in them, they also gain increased knowledge of and appreciation for persons of all cultures throughout history, as they work to express their ideas in the forms of folktales, poetry, and other artistic media. Native American tales, Rudyard Kipling’s Just-So stories, and origin tales of cultures around the world take on new meaning when students wonder about and try to express their understanding of natural phenomena in these forms. (See Mrs. Hogue’s use of this activity with her fifth-grade students in Chapter 1.) Student Self-Evaluation The following is an example of a student self-evaluation sheet. It can be easily adapted for use in the classroom at higher and lower instructional levels. • • • • • •

What do I know now that I didn’t know before? Where did I look (number and kinds of references)? Who did I talk to? What problems did I face and how did I solve them? What questions do I have now that I didn’t have before? Is the information I want to share presented in an understandable way?

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Sharing Discoveries It is helpful to allow time at the end of each research period for students to share briefly what they have discovered. If they have worked as individuals, they may want to meet with other students who are exploring the same ideas to compare notes. There should also be some time allowed for students or small groups to share new information with the entire class. These sessions invariably provide new ideas to other researchers and expand the amount of knowledge available to all students in the group.

Recording and Responding to Ideas and Information: Learning Journals In classrooms where the curriculum is organized into units of study, themes, or theme cycles, students often keep a record of their learning in a special notebook called a learning journal. Learning journals contain facts from reading, individual responses to ideas and information, and a record of discussions with other students. It is a collection of work that can be used to create projects of all kinds and serves as a reference book for content area terminology, spelling, definitions, and guidelines. As a record in progress, learning journals help students create an academic conversation with themselves, which can be used as a resource for discussions with other students, the teacher, or family members. The acronym ACTS (ask, connect, transform, share) is a study technique used with learning journals, and summarizes the different ways students interact with new ideas (Popp, 1996). After students record information about a concept in their journals, they ask questions about what they are trying to understand and make connections with their own experience— personal knowledge they have about the topic or ideas they are studying in other areas of the curriculum. Using drawings, charts, maps, diagrams, poetry, or graphic organizers, students transform the material in some manner to help them make personal sense of complex ideas. Then, they share information, ideas, discoveries, and strategies with others—in pairs, small groups, with the entire class, or with the teacher in an individual conference. Students create a reference section in these journals, specific to the content area, which may include any of the following: • a glossary of technical terms (divisor, marsupial, metaphor, genealogy) • a personal spelling dictionary (words that have been misspelled or are used often) • ideas for solving problems or creating projects (how to divide fractions; set up an experiment; write a poem in haiku; make a time line) • theme-related articles or pictures from newspapers and magazines (poems, editorials, cartoons, biographies, examples of mathematical concepts, scientific discoveries) • brief annotations of books related to a theme or concept • guidelines for working in groups

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This all-in-one-place arrangement helps students organize their learning experiences and develop resources to assist future learning. Some journals include a folder at the back for notes sent home and dedicated pages to record school assignments. Sometimes referred to as “think books” or “learnals” (learning + journals, Winship, 1993), learning journals encourage students to examine their experience through the unique perspective of each discipline. They support what Christopher Thaiss (1986) describes as “language across the curriculum,” with an emphasis on all the language arts as tools for learning. As students reflect on what they are learning in terms of their own experience, they begin to observe the unique questions asked and answered by each academic area. Using the processes of each discipline to pose and answer their own questions, students gain appreciation for the explanatory power of each kind of knowledge and methodology. Learning journals encourage students to explore these different ways of thinking and knowing as interesting, helpful, distinct, and interrelated ways to make sense of their experience. In some classrooms, learning journals replace dialogue journals or portfolios because they provide similar writing, response, and evaluation functions without the overwhelming demands of paperwork and time inherent in both. When journals are used to explore individual content areas, they continue to serve the goals of an integrated curriculum, as students soon realize that answering their questions about the world will involve the skills and processes of many subject areas. Each area of knowledge takes on a new meaning when students begin to recognize the power of its particular processes to explore or explain phenomena of personal interest. In integrated programs, students may have journals for every content area or they may keep a series of topic or theme-related learning journals that include everything they are studying. In many classrooms, journals replace workbooks and some textbooks. The following types of assignments, recorded in journals, help students look at their everyday world through the perspectives, terminology, and categories of the content areas or integrated themes: • Science: Find examples of biology (metamorphosis, plant growth), chemistry (oxidation, baking powder), physics (levers, pulleys), or ecology (endangered species, drought) at home, in nature, in news reports. • Math: Look for uses of measurement (odometers, mileage signs), calculation (sports statistics), estimating (crowd numbers), patterns (fences, windows), and shapes (buildings, nature) in the world around you. • Social Studies: Find instances of history (geography, economics, politics, anthropology, sociology) at home, on vacation trips, at family reunions, in family photograph albums, in the movies, TV, newspapers, and books. • Literature: Find literary themes (survival, courage) and devices (foreshadowing, parallelism) in a newspaper, magazine, on TV, or in a movie.

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• Language and Writing: Observe words (figurative language, puns, alliteration) used in interesting ways in books, movies, TV, newspapers, magazines, at play, or at home. Recording ideas and information in journals also prompts students to observe more closely as they are writing and drawing. Questions arise as students work with information in their journals: They return to books, encyclopedias, the Internet, and other sources to see if frogs have fingers or if Gettysburg was close to Philadelphia. Students consult time lines or compare dates to see if Frederick Douglass (noted African American abolitionist) lived at the same time as Sojourner Truth (famed conductor on the Underground Railroad). As they describe a place, they may return to see if the windowpanes are squares or rectangles, and consult a classroom chart to see if a particular phrase is a simile or a metaphor.

Evaluating Learning With Journals In traditional classrooms, the chief audience for student performance is the teacher. Teachers describe the learning tasks, provide some practice for new concepts or skills, and then rate and rank students according to their performance on tests, papers, drills, and projects. In these classrooms, students are dependent on the teacher’s evaluation to tell them how well or how poorly they are learning. In classrooms that adopt a more integrated and autonomous approach to learning, student self-evaluation is emphasized. Individual conferences with the teacher support this process and provide students with additional criteria for evaluating their work and progress. As Linda Crafton and Carolyn Burk (1994) observe: Successful learners do not wait until the end of a performance to think about its effectiveness, nor do they depend wholly on someone else to tell them how they did. They enter the engagement clear about what they value; they use themselves and others as monitors throughout the experience and exit with an altered sense of what to focus on in the future. (pp. 2–7)

A student’s learning journal is a portfolio of understanding: a collection of what has been thought, understood, misunderstood, revised, retained, examined, and reflected upon. It is a record of thought, values, questions, challenges, achievements, and progress. When students review their journals at the end of a day, week, month, or year, they can track the emergence of their own understanding, observe strategies that were successful, and relate past experience to current learning. Because they constantly address the question “How well do I understand this concept (process)?,” they take increased responsibility for the direction of their own learning. Younger children can evaluate their learning by drawing pictures of what they know about a topic before it is studied and then adding a new picture to illustrate their new understanding. For example, a kindergarten child drew a generic insect with 15 legs in his journal at the beginning of an insect study. In developmental spelling, he wrote: “Bgs hv got lots of lgs.” (Bugs have got lots of legs.) When the study was finished, he drew a cricket with six legs and wrote, “This crcket has 6 legs. All insects hv 6 lgs.” Notice that he now uses the term

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“insect” and spells it correctly, because he has wanted to use it several times and has it recorded in his personal spelling dictionary at the back of his theme book. In addition to the information this provides the teacher (and parents) about his understanding, this student’s journal entries also permit him to observe his own progress, a personally satisfying experience (Popp, 1997).

Student Activities to Explore and Explain Ideas The following activities have proved helpful to students who are trying to understand complex ideas in the content areas. Students can record their work in notebooks or journals and use these responses to share their ideas in small groups or with the entire class. It is a good idea to demonstrate each activity in a mini-lesson, so students have the opportunity to identify those that are most helpful to them personally. Cluster Webs Students begin by writing the name of the topic in the middle of a piece of paper and drawing a circle around it. They create three to five ways the topic can be described and place these words in circles around the page, connecting them by lines to the central topic. From each of these clusters, more subtopics can be created and connected as they relate to other clusters. For example, if the topic is Oceans, you might generate: major, flora, fauna, geography, and geology. Each of the oceans derived from the major category will further subdivide, according to the distinct characteristics of ocean. But, each ocean will also have elements in common, and these relationships can be indicated by connecting lines. This activity helps students organize ideas and consider how these ideas relate to each other. Cluster webs can be used successfully by individuals or small groups in the late primary and intermediate grades and with the entire class and teacher assistance at the kindergarten and early primary levels. Word Bank This is another strategy for individual or group use, depending on the maturity of the class. Students list words they think of in response to a topic. For example, when asked to generate any words that they associate with insects, they might produce: bugs, bees, spiders, creepy-crawly, fly, ant, butterfly, moth, fly, buzz, crawl, legs, antenna, feelers, anthill, hive, nest. They then decide categories that these words might fit in, such as Homes, Food, Movement, and Characteristics. It is a good idea to keep a list of these words available on a classroom chart to assist student writing. Venn Diagrams These are visual aids to help students compare and contrast elements of a topic. They place distinct elements in the far sides of two large overlapping circles, and elements in common where the circles overlap. For example, if students compare Venus and Earth, surface temperatures and distance from the sun would differ and be placed separately. Similarities, such as the presence of an atmosphere and certain atmospheric gases, would be placed in the overlap. Older primary and intermediate students are able to generate these individually or in small groups. Teachers can use pictures on charts or felt boards when they use this activity with kindergarten children.

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Outlining This activity can follow one of the activities described above to create a framework for writing. Some students find this helpful because outlining moves ideas from a graphic form into an intermediate stage that allows them to evaluate content before it is written into a final report. Outlining helps some students visualize the major ideas of a topic and establish the proper sequencing of a presentation. Others may feel limited by the structure of an outline but may refer to one after they have written, as a way of editing for content. Data Charts Students gather the same data on different subjects within a topic and organize it into a chart. For example, they may record the ages, national origins, educational levels, and professional careers of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. This type of recording makes comparisons and contrasts apparent, indicates areas to analyze further, suggests possibilities for interpretation, and reveals connections between subjects that were not previously noticed. Study Murals This activity is especially suited for kindergarten, primary students, and students whose writing skills are still developing. Students draw pictures directly on large sheets of mural paper or draw individual pictures to tape onto a bulletin board to illustrate their answers to two questions: What do I already know? What do I want to know? As the study progresses, students can add pictures to illustrate their answers to the question: What am I learning?

Teacher-Directed Experiences to Assist Learning The following are activities used by teachers to help students organize, interpret, and decode the information they find in their research. Remember that you will be modeling ways for children to create questions, discuss ideas, interact with their peers, and modify conclusions from their reading and research. Help your students sort out what they are discovering by asking questions like: “Is this a fact?” “How do you know this?” “Where else could you look?” or “Have you tried the strategy we talked about yesterday?” Class Matrix This is a visual summary of the types of information students are seeking about a topic. Create a chart with descriptors, such as the parts of insects or immigrant cultures in the United States, and keep it on display as students add relevant information. Blank matrices can be also be duplicated for student use in recording independent research. Both types of matrices allow students to compare and contrast data in a study. For example, they might record the size, color, food, and habitat of a variety of insects. This information allows them to rank insects by size and compare their other characteristics and habits. A matrix of immigrant cultures might enable students to compare climates and geography in countries of origin and areas of settlement in the United States. Talking Murals Before you begin a theme study, attach a long piece of mural or inexpensive butcher paper to the chalkboard. Remember to use an adhesive (never use tape) that will not leave marks on the chalkboard.

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When students have discussed what they already know about a topic or theme, allow them to draw pictures that represent their understanding. If they can write, they can describe their pictures in cartoon balloon fashion over what they have drawn. The teacher or an aide can write what the children say about their pictures for those who are still developing writing skills. As the study progresses, students add to the mural as they add to their own understanding. Some teachers vary this activity by having children draw individual pictures, which are then attached to the mural or posted on a large bulletin board. Teachers also encourage students to talk and write about their pictures: “Tell me about your picture.” “How does it show what you know about frogs?” Trade Books Review the criteria for good informational trade literature in Chapter 4 as you collect resource materials for your class. Be sure to select books that are attractive and well-written. Science and math materials should explain concepts clearly and make connections with students’ experience. If you use historical fiction, it should be a good story and accurately portray persons and events. Because most fiction is written from a single perspective, you will want to encourage your students to reflect on other points of view by asking: “What are other ways of looking at this?” or “How might another character have interpreted these events?” These questions help students become aware of the interpretative nature of history. The use of multiple books about people and events will help students develop more complex concepts, answer questions they have, and develop additional perspectives. Encourage students to review the author’s credentials and resources and to consult the encyclopedia or experts for confirming or disconfirming evidence. Personal and Historical Time Lines Ask children to identify one event in their lives per year and match this event with an event that happened nationally or internationally. If they choose the day they were born and successive birthdays, they can add any event that happened during a particular year. Older children may want to add other important events, such as moving to a new city, a vacation trip, a new pet, the birth of a sibling, or a first bicycle. They might also want to find several events within a year or match personal/historical events to particular days or months. History-related Web sites and Internet issues of major newspapers publish this information on a daily basis, and many supply archival information. Observation It is important to provide many opportunities for students to observe natural processes, such as the hatching of eggs or the metamorphoses of frogs or butterflies. As students talk about what they observe, encourage them to call upon their own experiences to create stories for these events. These narratives can serve as hypotheses that can be tested by reading, research, or further observation. As students use stories to think about scientific events, they gain experience with one of the most powerful of scientific tools—analogical thinking (comparing an unfamiliar event with one that is familiar, to better understand it). Manipulative Materials The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the National Science Teachers Association both recommend that students experience the concepts of these disciplines through firsthand experience—with objects they can handle and demonstrations. Learning

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proceeds from concrete experiences to the more symbolic, and to leave out this critical foundation is often to delay students’ understanding of mathematical or scientific concepts. Many school districts provide manipulative materials for classrooms, but it is possible to enlist the aid of parents to develop good collections of interesting items to use for measuring, counting, computing, and other mathematical functions. Many basic scientific concepts can also be demonstrated with ordinary materials available in most homes, such as old keys, clothespins, popsicle sticks, pasta, pencils, cookie cutters, or plastic spoons. Your district office may have science kits available for your classroom. You can also contact a nearby college or university to see if the science education instructors have boxed experiments and demonstrations to loan to teachers. When children arrive in your classroom from schools in other countries, they may speak little or no English; but all will speak the international language of mathematics, so this is a good place to begin a productive dialogue. Using concrete objects, you can discover what students know about one-toone correspondence, counting, matching, sorting, and categories. Number problems allow you to talk with a student in a language you both understand. When students work together in small groups to create and solve their own problems, most will adopt the newcomer and work tirelessly to help them develop the English skills they need. In these groups, a child hears the names of numbers and kinds of computation repeated frequently. It is possible for them to communicate with their peers and the teacher by drawing pictures to represent story problems and for others to draw pictures of theirs to supplement language limitations.

Evaluating Learning in the Content Areas With both theme cycle studies and learning journals, evaluation of learning involves the observation of students as they seek and share information. Note their ability to find the information they need, the way they organize their thinking, and how they respond to what they have learned. Content area notebooks and learning journals allow you to follow children’s thinking and understanding as they explore a topic. Your students’ artistic expression will also help you observe more accurately what they understand. At the kindergarten level, pictures are the beginning of writing and provide a starting place for literacy discussions, with questions such as: “Tell me about your picture.” or “What would you like to say or write about your picture?” As the conversation continues, you can begin to identify what students know and help them expand their understanding. Children with language, learning, or social interaction problems are often freed from these constraints when they can express their understanding of a topic in an artistic medium. These products of learning frequently draw the admiration of other children and help develop academic self-confidence.

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Students need a variety of ways to represent what they have learned. As they choose a presentational format, they develop skill in transferring information from one form to another and learn which forms are most effective or appropriate for particular data.

Build Partnerships Most communities have a wealth of resources to expand and enrich your students’ content area learning. Local historical societies frequently staff the genealogy room in the public library, where they are available to help young researchers. These groups may also have a local museum or welcome visitors to local historical landmarks, such as old schools and farmhouses. Many will come to your classroom and bring items of interest to share with the class, such as military medals and uniforms, photographs, toys, clothes, and utensils from other time periods. Some will set up displays and demonstrate crafts or everyday chores from times past, such as churning butter, quilting, cider making, and spinning. A list of historical societies in your area can be found on the Internet or in your public library’s copy of the Directory of Historical Organizations in the United States and Canada. It is published by the American Association for State and Local History, 172 Second Ave N., Suite 202, Nashville, TN 37201. You may also want to explore partnerships between the schools and the business community in your area. Many businesses will help students organize small business enterprises to help them learn concepts of the marketplace. If this idea sounds interesting, you can obtain information by contacting the National Association of Partners in Education, at 209 Madison St., Suite 401, Alexandria, VA 22314 or by visiting their Web site on the Internet. Your local Chamber of Commerce will also know of businesses and organizations in the community that might be willing to serve as classroom resources. Many professionals in your community use mathematics as integral parts of their jobs. Sponsor a math day for your class and invite architects, engineers, computer specialists, or accountants to demonstrate how they use mathematics to perform their work. Be sure to investigate any children’s museums in your area. There are some 400 museums in the United States that feature science, history, and the arts in special museums designed for children to explore. To find out about any museums in your area, visit the Web site or contact the president of the Association for Youth Museums at the Children’s Museum of Memphis, 2525 Central Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104. You may also call at (901) 458–2678. Other community resources to explore include the YMCA, which often sponsors special programs in health, physical fitness, or safety for children. Local health care professionals—doctors, dentists, nurses, EMTs, and

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physical therapists—are usually willing to participate in school-sponsored wellness days. Contact your local or area newspaper to see if they sponsor a program called Newspapers in Education (NIE). Class sets of newspapers are delivered to schools on a weekly basis, accompanied by helpful ideas for relating the content of the newspaper to all areas of the curriculum. Parent groups and community members frequently volunteer to help pay the subscription costs when they know that teachers want to use these resources in their classrooms. Another program to explore is Wee Deliver, which is sponsored by the United States Post Office. It involves students in setting up and running a mail delivery system in their schools. When you invite visitors to your classroom you can help your students and presenters have a successful experience with a little advance preparation. Before a visit, ask your class to generate a list of questions for the guest and review the guidelines for good audience participation. Provide your presenters with some background on what your students are currently studying and the list of questions your students have about their topic. You will also want to inform visitors about the approximate attention span of your class and their level of understanding of the subject matter. Be sure to notify the special teachers (art, music, physical education) in your building when you begin a theme study in any area. These persons can enhance and enrich any content area study with recordings, dances, songs, craft projects, artistic techniques, and biographies of famous artists and musicians. If you do not have specialists in your school, you can find many resources in your school or public libraries to help you make connections with art and music. See Chapter 11 for ideas about integrating the fine arts into your class curriculum.

If This Is Your Situation Many schools must meet state-mandated requirements in content area subject matter and writing instruction. You may be required to teach specific topics in science, social studies, health, or literature. Others require writing samples from each student and stipulate both the topic and form. The best way to meet these mandates is to involve your students in the process, creating as many opportunities for their decision making as possible. Explain to your class that the intended purpose of the tests is to make sure that everyone learns specific skills and content. Create a mini-lesson to demonstrate the forms these tests might take, such as multiple-choice (students choose the correct answer from several choices) and constructed answer (students create their own response to a question). Talk about how to answer questions in these formats most effectively. Discuss the content of the test and ask students to create some possible questions. Make up some questions of your own, and go through them

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step-by-step with the class. Give them some sample multiple choice questions dealing with the content area, and let them work in groups to practice their test-taking strategies. Ask students to explain how they figured out their answers. When the state requires students to produce a certain type of writing, such as narrative, persuasive or expository, tell your students about this requirement at the beginning of the semester. With mini-lessons, demonstrate how to respond to content area questions in each of the forms, and allow them to choose one of the required forms when they write about what they are learning. If your state or district requires samples of specific types of writing more often or if they require responses to a specific topic, tell your students about the requirement, demonstrate the form in a mini-lesson, and help them practice their responses. Many states or districts administer achievement tests that evaluate spelling proficiency. Generally, these tests present students with four choices for the correct spelling. You can make a running list of words most often misspelled by your students and add those that are most frequently misspelled by children at your grade level. Encourage small groups of students to create multiple choice tests of these words for other groups. Students can also practice tests for math by writing story problems and posing four solutions from which to choose. Involving students in dealing with a testing situation helps them practice the format and content of tests, but it also models a way for them to gain control over a difficult situation.

Reflections (Christine Lanning, Fifth-Grade Teacher) We use the program News Currents (Knowledge Unlimited, 2004) to keep students acquainted with world and national events. The paper’s content meets all the thematic standards for the National Council for the Social Studies. Each week, we receive a CD of photographs, charts, graphs, and maps that are keyed to the information in an accompanying newspaper. As the frames are shown on a monitor, I read from the text. The information is given at three different levels of student comprehension—basic, general, and advanced. This allows the paper to be used at all levels of intermediate instruction. At the end of each article are questions that help students review and remember the information. One week, I lost my voice and asked a student to fill in with the reading. He enjoyed doing this so much that he continued on, doing an excellent job. Other students in the class have the option of doing this as well. On the front page are definitions of new names (Mao Zedong), places where news is happening (Gaza), and new words (alliance, jet stream) that are used in the articles. Also on the front page are the major headline of the week and a profile of a prominent person. In addition to six pages of news articles (story about NAFTA, explanation of the Dust Bowl, description of Hamas), there is an article on sports (NCAA Basketball), the Country of the Week (Taiwan), and a variety of sections, such as The Worst Cliche

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(“like” as in “She was, like, whoa. And I was, like, yeah.”). There is also a story from that particular week in history (Marian Anderson sings at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939). At the back of the paper, there are suggested student activities and reproducible maps, to locate where news has happened during the week. There are also review quizzes at each of the comprehension levels. After all of the intermediate classes in school have had the opportunity to view the CD and process the questions, the materials are donated to the local community senior center. In fifth grade, we study early people and settlers of the United States and then narrow it down to our own area. We talk about some of the early Native Americans of the Summerfield–Lebanon area and pioneers of the two communities. Each child researches a family member, early pioneer, or Indian group native to this area and puts together a display of that person. Prior to our “display day,” we hike a mile to the Summerfield Cemetery and look at the graves of early settlers, where I have a list of things for them to look for. We also do stone rubbings and then complete the visit with a Mystery Hunt, which helps develop a sense of North, South, East, West orientation. If they are successful, they find one of my ancestors. The retired principal of Summerfield School visits the class early on in the project and shows the students how to make clay pinch pots. We finalize everything on Genealogy Day, when students present their projects to classmates, school, and family. Some kids take on the character of their ancestor and do their presentation in the first person. Many bring in photos and food samples of a favorite family recipe. The principal also returns to the classroom in the spring to help the fifth graders construct rockets from kits, as he has for 20 years. They take the completed rockets across the street to the park and launch them, with the entire school looking on. Fifth graders take turns controlling the ignition system, which is run off the battery of a car parked nearby. Kindergarten children run after and retrieve the rockets when they float back to earth on their parachutes. They know that someday they will be the ones launching their own rockets—a day they greatly anticipate.

A Perspective (Eleanor Duckworth, Teacher/Researcher) In her book “The Having of Wonderful Ideas” and Other Essays on Teaching and Learning (1987), Eleanor Duckworth observes: Certainly the material world is too diverse and too complex for a child to become familiar with all of it in the course of an elementary school career. The best one can do is to make such knowledge, such familiarity, seem interesting and accessible to the child. That is, one can familiarize children with a few phenomena in such a way as to catch their interest, to help them raise and answer their own questions, to let them realize that their ideas are significant—so that they have the interest, the ability, and the self-confidence to go on by themselves. (p. 8)

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Duckworth believes that if knowledge is something created by individual students, then teachers can assist students in having what she calls “wonderful ideas” in two important ways: The first is to put students into contact with phenomena related to the area to be studied—the real thing, not books or lectures about it—and to help them notice what is interesting; to engage them so they will continue to think and wonder about it. The second is to have the student try to explain the sense they are making, and, instead of explaining things to students, to try to understand their sense. These two aspects are, of course, interdependent: When people are engaged in the subject matter, they try to explain it and in order to explain it they seek out more phenomena that will shed light on it. (p. 123)

What Research Says About Literature in the Content Areas Learning in science and social studies is enhanced by the use of narratives, both those of published literature and those produced by children themselves. Egan (1983) suggests that narratives, with their emphasis on human response to historical events, can be the beginning of historical understanding for students. With narratives, students can imagine themselves in a historical situation because there is a personal connection to these events. Historical fiction provides details that associate events and persons with aspects of living that are familiar to students and introduces experiences that are interesting and novel, such as what people wore, what they looked like, what they ate and drank, what they did in their leisure time, what their homes looked like, their likes and dislikes, and their friends and enemies. Levstik and Pappas (1987) believe that historical stories reflect the values of a culture and is part of the way we come to understand ourselves and the world. Levstik (1986) studied the impact of literature on historical interest and understanding. She found that students strongly associate themselves with the characters in historical fiction and biography, express the desire to be like these persons, and think about what they might have done in similar circumstances. Teachers can assist this identification for children by encouraging them to reflect on ways they are like historical figures and providing opportunities for them to role-play parts of the stories that reflect positive traits. When students are asked to find examples of science, math, literary devices, figurative language, history, or geography in their everyday experience, they are more apt to remember and be able to use what they have learned. Studies in neuroscience indicate that this is how the brain works, by making connections and detecting patterns in experience (Hart, 1983). Learning occurs when a new experience is connected in some way to knowledge already acquired, to familiar patterns and relationships (Churchland, 1995). The most helpful assignments encourage students to become conscious of the way concepts and processes of the content areas relate to questions they have about their own experience.

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For Your Personal Library Teaching Reading in Social Studies, Science, and Math by Laura Robb (2003) is an excellent resource for teaching late primary and intermediate-level students how to read in the content areas. Most helpful are the strategies she outlines for use before, during, and after instruction. There are also practical suggestions for developing the specialized vocabulary associated with subject matter studies and ways to use scaffolding and discussion to help students who are struggling to understand complex concepts. The format of the book takes readers step-by-step through lessons designed to highlight possible difficulties students might face as they try to understand the terminology and broader ideas associated with content area learning. Other helpful handbooks that contain terminology, definitions, illustrations, and ideas for concept development include The Elementary Math Teacher’s Book of Lists (Helton & Micklo, 1997), The Science Teacher’s Book of Lists (Barhydt & Morgan, 2002), and The Social Studies Teacher’s Book of Lists, 2nd Edition (Partin, 2003).

Try Out the Chapter Ideas • Interview several elementary students and ask them what they would like to learn more about if they had the chance. • Notice if any of the math instruction you have observed in classrooms incorporates language and literature in any significant way. • If you observe elementary science instruction, notice if there are opportunities for students to talk about what they have observed or read. Note any writing that is used as part of the study and if attractive science trade books are available in the classroom. • Observe the kinds of inquiry that occur in elementary social studies classes. Ask the teachers if they involve community members in their programs. • Notice any evidence of artistic expression related to social studies, science, or math in the classrooms you visit. Make notes of ones that look especially interesting. • Interview three different teachers about the way they teach concepts in the content areas. Compare the levels at which they integrate language learning and literature into these studies. • Conduct a KWL with a group of children on a topic they would like to study. • Use the ACTS guidelines to examine a nonfiction book in math, science, or social studies. Notice the level of your understanding of the concepts when you complete the exercise. Be sure to share the information with someone else, as this type of verbal formulation is an important part of the learning process.

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CHAPTER ELEVEN

The Languages of Expression— Play, Media, and the Fine Arts In This Chapter • • • •

Children’s play and its contribution to literacy Film criticism and its value to literature study Art, artists, music, and musicians in the classroom Ideas for fine arts and writing activities

The Main Idea Kindergarten students should have many opportunities to engage in printrich play during the school day. At all levels of instruction, there should also be opportunities for children to experience the products and performances of artists and musicians. Stock your classroom with books about the fine arts, display examples of art, and share a wide variety of high-quality music with your students at every opportunity during the day. Provide opportunities for them to speak, write, read, and listen in an artistically rich context.

In the Classroom A Kindergarten Classroom: Play, Drama, and Literacy “I’ll be Yoko and you be Timothy,’’ Raynelle says to Kane. She pulls up two small chairs to a table, for them to sit down. “We need menus,’’ Kane says. “Yoko and Timothy had menus in their restaurant.’’ “I know,’’ Raynelle answers. “We can make some.’’ Kane gets some crayons and paper from the art center, and the two kindergartners begin working on their menus. “We can do one like in the book,’’ Kane suggests, as they try to decide what to put on the paper. 309

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Raynelle finds the book Yoko (Wells, 1998) in the library and brings it to the table. “Here it is,’’ she says. “The menu is on the last page.’’ Yoko is the story of a kindergarten girl who brings a traditional Japanese lunch to school, which the other children make fun of. The teacher attempts to broaden understanding of cultural foods by holding an international foods day, but the children remain uninterested in Yoko’s colorful sushi and crab cones. At the end of the celebration, Timothy is still hungry and tries some of the food, which he gobbles down with gusto. He asks Yoko if they can share their lunches the following day. At the end of the story, the two decide to set up their own restaurant in the Play Area of their kindergarten classroom. Kane finds the drawing of Yoko and Timothy’s menu, and the two children study it. “What does it say?’’ Kane asks. “MENU,’’ Raynelle says with confidence. “It’s up at the top, and that’s where it would say it. It starts with ‘M.’’’ “I remember what this is,’’ Kane says, pointing to a line of words. “It’s ‘tomato sandwiches.’ I remember that because the teacher showed us how the word was too long and Yoko wrote it going up the side of the page. She wrote it in red crayon, like tomatoes are red.’’ Raynelle looks closely at the words. “It starts like ‘tomato’ all right,’’ she agrees. “There’s a ‘T.’’’ “And I remember that ‘green tea ice cream’ was written in green crayon!’’ Kane exclaims. “G...G,’’ Raynelle says, studying the words. She folds down her fingers as she says them. “There are four words—that could say ‘green tea ice cream.’’ “This doesn’t look like a real menu, though,’’ Kane says. “Real ones are more fancy and folded up,’’ Raynelle agrees, “like the ones where my mom works.’’ Mr. Spring, the student teacher, has finished reading aloud to another student near the play area and enters the conversation. “Did you look in the Real Life Reading basket, to see if there might be a menu in there?’’ he asks. The two run over to a rectangular wicker basket sitting on a shelf in the Play Center. It is filled with printed materials of every kind, and in a few minutes they locate three menus. One is from a formal restaurant owned by the uncle of one of the students in class, one is from a fast-food chain, and another from a carryout Chinese restaurant. “This one, this one!’’ Kane exclaims, grabbing the Chinese menu. “I’ve been to this one and they have the kind of food Yoko brought to school.’’ “Not sushi,’’ Raynelle says. “Sushi is Japanese. My mother told me. This menu is for Chinese food.’’ “But it’s almost the same,’’ Kane insists. “They had rice and Yoko had rice—remember? In the sushi?’’ Raynelle takes the discussion to the student teacher, who confirms that sushi is a Japanese food and the menu is for Chinese food. “But they both eat rice, don’t they?’’ Kane asks. “Yes,’’ Mr. Spring answers. “Many people in Asian countries eat rice. Which kind of food are we eating today—Japanese or Chinese? I’m hungry.’’ “Japanese,’’ Raynelle says, “like Yoko.’’

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“Yum,’’ the student teacher says. “May I have some red bean ice cream?’’ “Not now,’’ Raynelle says. “We’re not ready yet. We have to make a menu.’’ “Okay,’’ Mr. Spring says. “Let me know when you can have a customer.’’ “How do we make a menu like this?’’ Raynelle asks. “It looks folded in pieces.’’ “I could be the person at the printing company who makes menus,’’ Mr. Spring suggests. The children nod, and the student teacher shows them how to fold a piece of paper in thirds. They each fold a menu and return to their table in the Play Center to decorate them. “We could write ‘rice’ on here,’’ Kane suggests. “Let’s just copy what Yoko and Timothy wrote,’’ Raynelle says. “What about rice? Can we write rice on there, too?’’ “We don’t know how to spell it.’’ “Mr. Spring can write it,’’ Kane says. “He works for the printing company.’’ He takes a piece of paper over to the student teacher. “Can you write ‘rice’ on this piece of paper, please?’’ he asks. The teacher helps Kane find the letters on the wall alphabet that make the sounds in “rice,’’ and they review how the final e makes i say its name. Kane writes the word on a piece of paper and returns to copy it onto his menu. When the children have finished writing, they decorate the covers. Raynelle draws a picture of Yoko on hers, and Kane draws a big bowl of rice. They bring their finished copies to Mr. Spring and ask if he would like to order some food. “Should I be seated in the restaurant first?’’ he asks. “Oh, yes. Please come this way,’’ Raynelle says, and she takes him to the small table in the restaurant play area. “Do you have an order pad?’’ he asks, and the children hunt through the Real Life Reading Basket for a pad. There is only one, but Kane says he will enter the order on the computer after Raynelle writes it down. “The cook will get a printout of this in the kitchen,’’ he explains to the teacher. “That’s what Raynelle says.’’ The student teacher tells Raynelle what he would like to eat, and she scribbles furiously, crossing ts and dotting is with a flourish. She reads off what she can remember of the order to Kane, who punches in the order in a series of capital letters on the computer keyboard. Raynelle and Kane gather up dishes and put them on a tray to carry to the table. “That’s one order of rice, two California sushi rolls, peach hot tea—and for dessert, two bowls of red bean ice cream,’’ Raynelle says, as she sets down a plate and some bowls. “Would you care to join me?’’ Mr. Spring asks. “Oh, no thank you,’’ Raynelle says quickly. “We work here and have many more customers to take care of.’’ The children watch as the teacher consumes the imaginary meal with relish. He compliments them both on their service and the food. “I’ll come back,’’ he says. “This was very good food.’’

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“Don’t forget to leave a tip,’’ Raynelle says. “For me, too,’’ Kane adds. “I’ll divide with you,’’ Raynelle says, “’cause you’re the busboy. “What’s that?’’ “You clear off the dishes and take them back to the kitchen,’’ Raynelle says. “My mom divides her tips with the busboy.’’

Behind the Scenes Kane and Raynelle are playing in the restaurant/kitchen area of their kindergarten classroom, which also includes play equipment for an office, a laundry, and a clothing store. They begin their play by deciding to open a restaurant, prompted by the teacher’s reading of a favorite book. The first decision they make is to create a menu, and they study the one in the book together. Kane uses color cues and his memory of interacting with the book to remember what the words are. Raynelle identifies the words by looking at the first letters of each or by counting the number of words in a phrase to see if the guess about green tea ice cream might be correct. The student teacher purposely sits near the play area, to enter conversations or provide support. He suspends his role as teacher unless asked to assume that role, as he was when Kane asked how to spell “rice’’ and when he provided information that resolved the debate about Japanese and Chinese food. In all other cases, Mr. Spring approaches the students as someone who wants to play with them—first suggesting a role for himself as a printer, to help with the menus, and then as a customer in their restaurant. They, in turn, draw him into their drama, telling him how to act appropriately in the context of their scenario. From this vantage point, the student teacher observes the students in their unselfconscious moments, noticing how they solve problems and their individual levels of emerging skills in reading and writing. He listens to Raynelle’s logic as she tries to decode words and is impressed with the way Kane uses color cues and his memory of past reading to make guesses about the identity of words. This information will be helpful for the teacher to know as he works with the students in individual reading and writing conferences. It also confirms the value of repeated read-alouds of a favorite book. Kane and Raynelle are familiar enough with the book, and drawn to it so powerfully, that they continue to play in the restaurant area for the rest of the week, reenacting other scenes from the story. At least two other children will be required to play out one of the scenes, and the teacher observes Raynelle and Kane first planning what they will say to get additional play volunteers and their ultimate success in persuading others to join them.

A Kindergarten Classroom: Drama and Music Play and literacy development go hand in hand in Gail Nave’s kindergarten classroom, where her students listen to Arlene Mosel’s Tikki Tikki Tembo (1977) read aloud until they can recite it by heart. The story tells why Chinese boys have short names. Tikki Tikki Tembo’s name takes so long to say (Tikki, tikki tembo—no sa rembo—chari bariruchi—pip peri pembo)

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that the boy almost drowns before his younger brother can convey the message that he has fallen into the well. Mrs. Nave’s students never tire of the rhythmic lilt of the familiar story and find it relaxing to listen to just before their afternoon rest period. The class decides to put on a play about the story. They help write dialogue, which Mrs. Nave copies onto a chart. They all take turns playing the various parts and decide to present the play several times so that many different children can have a role. With the help of parents and the classroom aide, they create programs and costumes. The music teacher writes songs for them to sing, and they share their production in several performances. Those attending include parents, other classes in school, community members, and teacher education students from a nearby college. As Mrs. Nave recounts in Chapter 1, her choice of Big Book stories and Morning Meeting charts feature repetition, rhyme, and rhythm—exciting, fun, and easy ways to develop literacy in young children. She draws her stories, poems, and songs from many cultures and uses holidays to create appealing literacy experiences. (See the story of the kindergarten leprechaun in Chapter 1.) She encourages children to move to many different kinds of music. Often, her students’ first contact with classical music is in her classroom, so she makes these sessions as memorable as possible.

Behind the Scenes In addition to making favorite literature into dramatic productions, the children in this classroom like to sing and dance to mathematically themed music, such as Ten Little Monkeys (Kubler, 2001) and Over in the Meadow (Keats, 1999). They march to the stirring tunes of John Philip Sousa, singing “One, two, three, four; one, two, three, four,” and waltz to the melodies of Johann Strauss, as they hum “one, two, three; one, two, three,” along with the music. Students listen to Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf (1991) and talk about the story and the instruments used to tell the tale. On another day, they find Russia on the pull-down map and listen to the music again. This time, the students act out the parts of the wolf, duck, bird, the hunter, Grandfather, and brave Peter. They respond to the haunting score with their own spontaneous interpretations, creating an improvised ballet. When they enter the classroom after recess, students often hear the introduction to Camille Saint-Saens’ Carnival of the Animals (1991) and drop down on all fours, growling to the “Royal March of the Lion.’’ The majestic music fills every corner of the room, as students crawl around the floor like tortoises, hop like kangaroos, swim like fish, and lumber heavily like elephants—glowing, pacing, stomping, soaring—in response to the music. For a short time, they become the animals as the notes fill their minds and imaginations. These shared experiences provide additional opportunities for expression, as children draw pictures of the animals from the musical performances and caption them. (See Chapter 8.) They write about how they felt as they responded to the music, using developmental spelling, and share these with the teacher during individual writing conferences. Each child is also invited to stand and talk about their pictures and their experience with the music.

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The Importance of Play and the Fine Arts in Emerging Literacy In 1998, the International Reading Association and the National Association of Early Childhood Education issued a joint position statement that stressed the importance of literacy play. They suggested that centers for play in kindergarten classrooms include literacy props, such as paper, markers, calendars, signs, and menus. Literacy play, according to the statement, is best supported by teachers who read aloud to their students on a daily basis, talk to them about what they have read, and provide opportunities for children to play with words, by making up songs and rhymes and calling their attention to alliteration. If you have a child who is severely disabled in your classroom, you will usually have an inclusion aide to assist his or her participation in classroom activities. This is a bonus, both for the child with a disability and for your other students, when they are in the play area of the kindergarten room. As the aide helps their student interact with the materials in the office center, build with blocks, play dress-up, or pretend cook in the kitchen center, they can also facilitate interaction with classmates by entering the pretend play of other students. Invitations like “Jason and I are baking cookies. Would you like to help us?’’ or “We’re building a castle, and need more people to help’’ provide opportunities for students to get to know a child in terms other than his disability. Perhaps the most popular way for a classroom aide to assist a disabled child in their developing literacy is to read aloud to them in the library center during free time. This activity always draws an audience and provides additional opportunities for a child with disability to interact with stories and peers. Many teachers introduce their children to spirited versions of The Moldau, The Hall of the Mountain King, Fingal’s Cave, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, whose passages are full of drama and excitement. Music from other cultures, played on the instruments of that culture, provide students with additional knowledge and pleasure from forms of expression they might otherwise not experience. Students of all ages are encouraged to draw what they hear, using color in shapes, lines, and scribbles to express their responses to the music. These activities help children use all their senses to enjoy the music and integrate this experience into their aesthetic development.

Preparing for Play and Fine Arts Activities When you create a play center for your kindergarten students, set up a series of centers for them to explore a wide variety of objects and experiences. Art, music, writing, library centers, dress-up, and block play centers are the most common. Other areas of imaginative play might include a hospital, grocery store, restaurant, business office, or machine shop. Some children enjoy playing school, with desks and a blackboard.

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Play centers that seem to have the most influence on children’s emerging literacy are stocked with reading and writing materials that relate to the activities of the particular center. These should be prominently displayed and discussed as each play area is introduced. Each center should help students associate play experiences with reading and writing. Items in the various centers might include menus, newspapers, magazines, schedules, and telephone and address books. Some teachers include invoice pads, receipt books, catalogs, and calendars. Other possibilities might be appointment books, order forms, and stationery. Specialty items that are popular with children include price tags, play money, and prescription pads. A listening center might include books on tape and CDs or tapes of favorite music. An art center should be stocked with crayons, markers, pens, erasers, stickers, punches, string, yarn, cardboard, and paper of all kinds. Include many different kinds of media, including paints, an easel, clay, magazines, scissors, and a box of assorted materials for collage projects. Hang a print or poster (change every 2 weeks) of a classic work of art in this area, and talk about the picture sometime during the day. Ask students about the things they notice and what they like. Inquire on a daily basis if they have discovered anything new about the work as they continue to study it. Label each of the play centers with signs hung at the children’s eye level, and separate the centers with screens or tables. Literacy props should relate to the theme of the center. For example, a car shop would have magazines about cars, pads for writing estimates for repairs, invoice and bill forms, books about cars, and a set of words related to cars that can be matched to pictures of car parts. As much as possible, all materials should be arranged to help the play space seem as realistic as possible. When your play area is constructed, be sure to spend some time each day in at least one of the centers observing students and joining them in their play, as you feel comfortable doing so.

Presentation: Introduction to Play Centers At the beginning of the school year, move your class to each of the centers and role-play the way each can be used to explore new ideas and experiences. Rehearse the rules for each center—the number of people that the center is designed to accommodate, responsible use of materials, and respect for others in the play area. In the beginning, it is a good idea to review these rules every day before play time so that they are fresh in the students’ minds. Discuss what should be done to avoid conflict in the play area: Give everyone enough space to explore; take turns; share; use words to work out differences of opinion. Demonstrate each of the following rules and add others, as your situation demands: • Imagine that everyone sits in the middle of an imaginary circle. This is their personal space. Before you enter another person’s circle, ask permission.

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• If you would like to look at something a person has drawn or built, remember not to touch it unless invited. • Move carefully in the play area so that projects are not accidentally knocked down or damaged. • Handle books, paper, dress-up clothes, and construction materials with respect. • (See the kindergarten narrative in Chapter 1 to see how Mrs. Nave uses literature to begin a discussion of this topic.) Teachers can assist children in taking turns at the centers by assigning rotations. This helps every student become acquainted with the opportunities available at the centers and avoids the repeated monopolization of certain materials by the same children. Some teachers place a colored-coded clothespin on the nameplate by a student’s storage cubby to direct them to a certain center. Others write student names on clothespins and place them in particular centers on a rotating basis. Eventually, students “sign in’’ to the centers of their choice by writing their name on a clipboard and checking the “Time In’’ and “Time Out’’ sections, using a digital clock as reference. After students have had the opportunity to experience the activities in every center, the sign-in procedure creates a record over time of their favorite activities.

A Primary Classroom: Movies and Literacy “What did you think of this version of The Secret Garden [Warner Home Video, 1949]?’’ Mrs. Ingram asks her third-grade class. They have just finished watching a movie adaptation of the classic book. The previous week they viewed a more recent version produced by the BBC (1984). “I liked the one we saw last week,’’ Lydia says. “It’s just how I imagined all the characters looked when you read the book to us.’’ “I liked that one, too, especially the way the children talked in the movie,’’ Jessie says. “Can you say more about that?’’ the teacher asks. “It was like The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe [Lewis, 1994]. The children in the story were British, so it sounded more real with British children playing the parts.’’ “Like the Harry Potter movies,’’ Tyler adds. “I liked the one we saw today,’’ Ryan says, crossing his arms in front of his chest in an almost defiant gesture. “Tell us why,’’ the teacher says. Ryan unfolds himself and gives his analysis. “The whole movie was black and white until they went into the garden. Then the movie was in color, and that made it like a surprise. It was like The Wizard of Oz—all in black and white until after the tornado, when Dorothy landed in Oz.’’ “That is called contrast,’’ Mrs. Ingram says. “Film makers add interest to their stories by using contrast, just like authors who write books. What do you think the film maker was trying to say by making part of The Secret Garden in black and white, and part in color?’’ “That the garden was beautiful?’’ Rachel suggests.

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Mrs. Ingram waits for Rachel to finish her idea. “I mean, it was really different than when it was all full of weeds,’’ she adds. “I think it was to show there was hope,’’ Bernardo says. “Can you add more to that?’’ Mrs. Ingram asks. “Well. . . . in the story, nobody had much hope about things. Colin didn’t think he’d ever get well and Mary didn’t like it much in that big old house. The black and white part was like that.’’ “So you’re saying that the garden. . . . ’’ Mrs. Ingram prompts and pauses. “The garden is in color, ’cause it’s more hopeful . . . happier.’’ Others join in. “They plant flowers.’’ “And birds come back to it.’’ “And Colin learns to walk there to surprise his dad.’’ “They create the garden . . . .’’ the teacher begins, then pauses. “Yes, they make it pretty again, the way it was before,’’ Rachel says. “When the mother was still alive,’’ Tyler adds. “Did anything else change, besides the garden?’’ Mrs. Ingram asks. There is a pause. “Colin changed. He learned to walk and he didn’t have temper tantrums anymore,’’ Jessie says. “And Mary changed, too,’’ Bernardo adds. “She wasn’t cross or angry like she used to be.’’ “Everybody changes, even the dad . . . Mr. Craven. He’s happy that Colin isn’t crippled,’’ Tyler says. “So the children changed the garden and the garden changed them?’’ Mrs. Ingram asks. “Yeah,’’ they agree. “How do you think that happened . . . ’’ she asks, “that the garden changed them?’’ “Maybe they were happy because it was so nice,’’ Lydia suggests. “Colin was probably just glad to be outdoors,’’ Tyler says. “I hate it when I have to be inside when I’m sick.’’ “Yeah, and you see other kids playing, like your friends, and they’re having fun and you’re not,’’ Bernardo adds. “What about Mary?’’ the teacher asks. “Why did the garden change her?’’ Another pause while the students think. “I think maybe it was because she was taking care of something,’’ Rachel suggests. “Remember in The Bear’s House [1996], Fran Ellen felt good when she took care of her baby sister?’’ “Go on, Rachel,’’ the teacher encourages. “Well, Mary started taking care of the garden, and she liked it when things grew. She took care of it and she felt important.’’ As the conversation continues, the class contrasts the previous film with the one shown today. They make a graph on the computer and print it out to indicate class members’ favorite version of the story (book, contemporary BBC version, older American version). Individually, they will write their responses to the movie in their personal journals.

Behind the Scenes The film maker’s interpretative use of color in the American version of The Secret Garden leads students to discover and

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discuss metaphors in the story that had not been apparent to them when they listened to the story read aloud. When the garden came alive in color on the screen, they saw the story through the eyes of the film maker. This helped them discuss the book in more depth and promoted a deeper understanding of the story. Viewing two movie versions of the story helps students see how film makers interpret ideas about the same story in different ways. The conversation also demonstrated to students how preferences arise from certain expectations. Many in the class preferred the BBC version because the children’s British accents made them seem more authentic. The previous week, the class read the Caldecott Award book Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China (Young, 1989), a thousand-yearold tale colorfully illustrated with impressionistic paintings. At that time, they talked about the similarities and differences between the Chinese and Western versions of Red Riding Hood. The discussion about the two film versions of The Secret Garden emerges from this previous conversation and helps students begin to develop the idea of storyteller perspective. Mrs. Ingram asks open-ended questions that prompt creative and thoughtful responses. When students respond, she encourages them to expand their ideas and gives them sufficient time to think about what they want to say. When her students describe an element of the film, she names it for them, adding a term to their vocabulary that will permit them to think about the idea of “contrast’’ in future discussions. The reactions from her students indicate a serious processing of the story elements. Some students respond by identifying with various characters, while others make connections with other books made into movies. Several draw upon the class’s community memory to make relationships between story themes. Technology has made it possible for students to discover new layers of meaning in this classic story and has heightened their awareness of the elements of storytelling.

The Importance of Media and Literacy In a poll that reflects a similar situation in other English-speaking countries, a survey of 300 children in England, ages 7–14, revealed that nearly one third of young people cannot name a favorite book (Ward, 2004). The poll, published by the Prince of Wales Arts and Kids Foundation, found that children’s reading interests, where they existed at all, were dominated by film favorites, the most prominent of which were the Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings movies. Michael Morpurgo, children’s laureate, believes that this lack of interest may be due to the fact that fewer parents and teachers are reading aloud to children, and they often display a lack of enthusiasm for reading themselves. He also believes that the drill and practice activities of many reading lessons at school turn children away from the “joy and excitement of books’’ by their emphasis on formal analysis.

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Television, video games, and DVD movies are among the distractions children default to for passive entertainment. Books do not rank high in choice for entertainment, and reading is not as frequently shared between parent and child. As demonstrated in the primary classroom story, it is possible for teachers to draw both interests together, by using classic children’s literature and film adaptations as part of a classroom discussion.

Preparing for a Media-Literacy Experience In classroom studies that compare media adaptations of children’s literature, be sure to read the book aloud to your class first. This allows students to create the characters, setting, and action in their own imaginations. This order also retains the author’s original intent for the experience of the story. If possible, try to identify a classic book that none of the children have seen recently depicted in movies or on television. The contrast between a book and its film interpretation is often so striking that children cling to the version they encountered first. They consider this to be the authentic version and are critical of any differences they find in the book. On the other hand, students who have read the book first are free to evaluate the film version in terms of the original intent of the book. They often find more positive things to say about the various interpretations, as noted in the narrative discussion above.

Presentation: A Movie and Discussion When you show the film version(s) of a book, ask your students to notice the following: • How closely the setting follows the description in the book • How accurately the actors portray the characters • How nearly the actors resemble what they imagined them to look like • How closely the film story follows the book’s original story line • Techniques the film maker used to convey the message or tone of the book Good books to read aloud for this exercise might include: Black Beauty (the story of a horse’s tragic, but eventually rewarding life, as told by the horse); Lassie Come Home (the story of a dog who follows his master to war in Europe); National Velvet (a young girl disguises herself as a boy to ride her prize horse to victory); Swiss Family Robinson (a family is marooned on a desert island and must survive a succession of perils); and Rascal (the humorous adventures of a boy’s pet raccoon).

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Other classics featured on film include: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (four children evacuated from the city during the war in England travel through a closet into the magical world of Narnia); The Secret Garden (an orphan girl rescues a sickly boy from his fear of being crippled); Wrinkle in Time (a young girl discovers that her greatest problem is also her greatest strength, as she rescues her father and then her brother from an evil force); and Undying Glory (the story of the first all-black regiment in the Civil War—the movie is simply called Glory).

An Intermediate Classroom: Art History “Tell me about Michelangelo,’’ Mrs. Parker asks her fourth-grade students. The previous day, she read them a biography of the famous artist and showed them photographs of his work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Still impressed by this accomplishment, students raise their hands and volunteer information. “When did he live?’’ she asks, reviewing their discussion from the day before. “What did he want to be?’’ Students move on to Michelangelo’s work on the Sistine Chapel and recall how the artist worked on his back, lying long hours on scaffolding to complete the painting. “What do you think that experience was like for Michelangelo?’’ the teacher asks. “It took a long time,’’ one student says. “He must have been pretty tired.’’ “If he really liked doing it, maybe it didn’t seem like so long,’’ another volunteers. “How would you like to find out a little about what it was like?’’ the teacher asks, and the students lean forward, unsure of how this would work. “Today, the bottom of your desk will be the ceiling of the Chapel,’’ she says, “and you will be Michelangelo. You’ll tape a piece of drawing paper on the underside of the desk and lie down on the floor underneath, which will be your wooden scaffolding.’’ Students excitedly take out paper and tape, crawl under their desks, and begin to get their canvasses in order. “Do we have to use paint?’’ someone asks. “It might drip in my face.’’ “Use any medium you want,’’ the teacher replies. “Paint, markers, crayons, colored pencils, chalk. . . . ’’ “What should we draw?’’ a student asks. “It would be too hard to paint like Michelangelo.’’ “You may draw anything you wish,’’ the teacher replies. “You’re the artist having this experience.’’ Without teacher prompting, two girls tape Haley’s paper to the bottom of her desk. Haley has cerebral palsy, and they have automatically assisted her with small tasks like this since she first came to kindergarten, 5 years ago. A number of students browse the teacher’s collection of art books displayed on a table at the front room. Mrs. Parker has added new art books to her own library every year, usually purchased when her students visit the

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St. Louis Art Museum. Those on display this week include photographs of Michelangelo’s painting and sculpture. The teacher also puts out a file that holds samples of work of several artists, including Michelangelo, da Vinci, and Monet. A photograph album displays pictures of the Sistine Chapel and other photographs of Rome that the teacher took when she traveled to Europe a number of years ago. “Mrs. Parker, is this you?’’ one of the students asks, pointing to one of the photographs. “Yes it is,’’ she replies, and tells the class a little about her trip. A boy who is examining one of the books has it open to The Pieta. “I saw that sculpture,’’ she says. “I even touched it.’’ “Wow!’’ the student responds, tracing the picture with his hands. “You can’t do that any more,’’ she adds. “Human touch was disintegrating the marble. Now the sculpture is protected behind a rope barrier.’’ Several students sketch pictures from the books. “I’m going to try this,’’ one of the boys says, pointing to a painting of an angel. “That looks good,’’ the teacher remarks. “Many art students learn to draw that way, by copying from famous artists.’’ Three boys continue to leaf through some of the books. “Man, he drew a lot!’’ one exclaims. “There it is—that picture we saw!’’ another boy points to the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. They find other photographs. “This is cool,’’ one of the boys says, as he discovers another intricately designed statue. Others group around him to see what he has found. “How’d he do that?’’ Finally, everyone returns to their desks and the drawing begins. Students struggle to get comfortable, and some retrieve coats from their lockers to lie down on to cushion the hard floor. Others are absorbed in the task but rest their arms every few minutes. Mrs. Parker moves around the room to make sure that everyone is successfully engaged, helping students retape their paper or situate themselves more comfortably. She checks to see that Haley is able to reach the bottom of her desk, although she knows that either Haley or one of the other students will be quick to tell her if she needs any assistance. Whispered comments are heard around the room: “This is fun.’’ “Yeah! Let’s draw this way all the time.’’ All is silent for a few minutes, and then someone says, “This is hard work,’’ and there is a general murmuring of agreement. “My back hurts,’’ a student complains. “I don’t think I can finish,’’ another says. “My arms are too tired.’’ “It’s like working underneath a car.’’ “Take a break,’’ the teacher says. “Put your arms down for a minute and stretch a little.’’ Eventually, everyone resumes work, but whispered complaints of discomfort continue. Mrs. Parker assures them that if Michelangelo could lie on his back for 8 hours a day for 4 years, they could do it for 15 minutes. “Man, he must have been in good shape,’’ a boy remarks, rubbing the muscles of his arms.

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“He didn’t come down all day, not even to eat, drink or go to the bathroom,’’ the classroom aide mentions. There is a silence, and a shuffling around the room. “He probably took lunch up with him,’’ someone says, “and maybe some water in a jar.’’ “Not wine,’’ another student hypothesizes. “He might get dizzy and fall down.’’ A boy comes to ask the teacher if he can use the bathroom and is given permission. Two or three others follow with requests, and several ask to get a drink. “This happens every time,’’ the teacher comments to the classroom visitor. “Power of suggestion.’’ “Can I use my science goggles?’’ a boy asks. “I tried to paint and it got in my hair, and now I’m using crayon and the pieces are getting in my eyes.’’ “Good idea,’’ the teacher says. “Does anyone else need goggles?’’ A few ask for them, and she sends a student across the hall to borrow several pairs from the fifth-grade teacher. “Could Michelangelo erase?’’ one boy asks quietly. The classroom aide picks up a book and answers the question by reading aloud. “The painting was only ‘half-fresco,’ not ‘true fresco,’’’ she reads. “At the end of the day, Michelangelo could make changes.’’ “Did he sketch everything before he painted it?’’ another asks. He is struggling to copy the sketch he made from one of the books. “Yes,’’ the aide replies. She is taking a college course in art history as part of her teacher education preparation, and the information is fresh in her mind. She talks to the class about the canon of proportions and how artists back to the time of the Egyptians had struggled with problems of size. One by one, the students finish their work and bring it to the teacher. One boy has drawn Michelangelo’s sculpture The Pieta; another has drawn an interpretation of the creation touch; others have painted scenes of nature. The drawings will be displayed during the art show later in the month. As they hand in their pictures, some of the students pause to look again at the art books. “Mrs. Parker, why are so many of these sculptures naked?’’ a boy asks. “Remember what we talked about yesterday?’’ she asks. “People in those days believed that the human body was the most beautiful thing in creation, so artists used many nudes in painting and sculpture.’’ “Oh, yeah, I remember,’’ the boy says. “That makes sense,’’ he adds. Students who have completed their drawings crowd around the table, looking at pictures of paintings and sculptures and pointing out the ones they particularly like to the teacher, the classroom aide, and the visitor. They note that Michelangelo’s David is 14 feet tall and go to get a yardstick, to see if it would fit in the classroom.

Behind the Scenes Like other teachers who share personal hobbies with their students, Mrs. Parker uses her interests in travel and art to enhance her students’ experience. Because she has so many pictures and photographs on file, children are able to see the wide range of several artists’

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work and can observe how their talent emerged and developed. With the exercise of drawing under the desks, the teacher helps students appreciate the circumstances under which one of the most celebrated paintings in history was created. This class, along with other classes in the school, visits the art museum in St. Louis, Missouri, where they have additional opportunities to view artistic masterpieces. The museum provides individual tape-recorded tours that allow students to walk from display to display, as they listen to historical background and analyses of the works. They can also turn off the recorder and pause to appreciate the paintings or sculptures they particularly enjoy. Over a period of weeks, the teacher will read aloud to her students about several other artists who represent different historical periods in art. Each time, she will plan an activity that will give students some idea of the type of media, artistic style, or challenge that the artist faced. Sometimes, they will create their own work of art, using the style of the artist, and other times they will practice using a particular artistic medium. At the end of this time of exploration, the teacher will ask her students to choose a favorite artist to research and write about. This writing, along with their own interpretations of the artists’ styles, will be displayed at an open house for parents in late spring. Listening, discussing, reading, and writing about art and artists creates a rich environment for students to experiment with their own artistic responses, which they share with their class, the school, and the wider community. In this observation, the classroom aide adds information to the discussion of Michelangelo’s work; at other times, a retired principal has provided additional facts of interest. He will be the one who mounts and frames the students’ work in gallery style for the community open house. Other times, a knowledgeable volunteer from the community sits in on the discussions and provides background material from his or her own experiences as an artist or as someone who has seen particular works of art in museums around the country or the world. Inevitably, questions about artistic forms emerge. In this observation, the children noticed that Michelangelo painted nudes. The teacher answers these questions directly and honestly, which resolves their curiosity and leaves them free to appreciate the aesthetic elements of the artist’s work.

Importance of Expression Through the Arts It is important for students to have the time and materials necessary to explore ideas and communicate what they are learning in a variety of ways. In addition to reading, writing, listening, and speaking, children need opportunities to expand their understanding of literature, mathematics, science, and social studies through the expressive arts of music, drawing, painting, sculpting, model making, drama, and movement. According to Karen Gallas (1994), these expressive arts are powerful, alternative languages of learning, that allow students to think about ideas

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and share what they have learned in more complex and personally meaningful ways. The arts allow children to speak creatively about what they understand, what they are thinking, and what they want to know. They help make children’s thinking visible, to themselves, their peers, and to the teacher. These responses permit a more accurate assessment of children’s understanding and often generate new kinds of conversations among students and between students and teachers. Do not hesitate to take children with sight or hearing impairment on field trips to symphonies or the art museum. Call ahead or check the Web sites to see what provisions are made for persons with disabilities. Most museums have taped tours for everyone and special tapes for the partially sighted or blind. Special children’s concerts at symphony halls throughout the world provide opportunities for deaf, blind, partial-hearing, or partially sighted children to sit inside the orchestra for performances and meet oneon-one with musicians. Performers often allow these children to touch the instruments, so they can better imagine either the sight or sound, and feel the vibration of strings, metal, and drums. For activities such as puppet shows, drama, or dance, which might require visual, auditory, or physically demanding abilities, pair disabled students with others, on a rotating basis. In most classrooms, even at the kindergarten level, students are eager to help and anticipate these needs automatically, once they know what to do.

Literature for the Arts It is important to fill up your classroom library with the best nonfiction books about art and music. With budget cuts in schools and increased pressure to spend additional time preparing for standardized tests, there is often little time and few materials available to teach to children’s souls. Large bookstore chains frequently have sales of large coffee-table-sized books on artists and artistic styles, some of them costing less than a fastfood meal for one person. Add lists of books about art and music to your PTO/PTA wish list, and browse library sales for donated and discarded books that feature biographies of great artists and photographs of classic works of art. Many of these kinds of books can also be checked out in quantity from the local public library or requisitioned from the regional lending library. Biographies of famous artists, musicians, dancers, actors, and poets take students into the minds of creative persons and locate their artistry in a particular historical time and culture. Books such as Grandma Moses: Painter of Rural America (O’Neal, 1986), Isamu Noguchi: The Life of a Sculptor and a Young Painter (Tobias, 1974), The Life and Paintings of Wang Yani—China’s Extraordinary Young Artist (Zhensun, 1991), and Coming Home: From the Life of Langston Hughes (Cooper, 1998) provide primary and early intermediate students with representations of the work of a wide range of artists of varying cultural backgrounds and ages. Leonardo da Vinci (McLanathan, 1990), Marc Chagall: Painter of Dreams (Bober, 1991), and Pablo Picasso: The Man and the Image (Lyttle, 1989) are suitable for use at the intermediate levels. They demonstrate the interaction

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between artistic genius and the politics and cultures of particular times and places in history. As students examine these representations of artists’ work, encourage them to experiment with the techniques of individual artists to express their own ideas. At the kindergarten level, be sure to call attention to the cover art of any picture book you read aloud to your students. Discuss the media used— collage, tissue paper, pen and ink, watercolor, etching, wood print—and talk about how this art is produced. Contact a local artist or an instructor at a nearby high school or college to talk to the class about types of art used in illustration. A high school or college art student might be able to produce examples of each kind of media, which children can use for reference when they want to study particular illustrations in more detail or create their own illustrations in that form. A good resource book for helping students develop an appreciation for art is Meet the Masterpieces: Strategies, Activities, and Posters to Explore Great Works of Art/Book and Two Sided Posters/Grades 2–5 by Chertock, Hirschfeld, and Rosh (1995). Art pictures and music CDs are available at every public library and in many school media centers.

Presentation: Exercises to Express Responses to the Fine Arts At every instructional level, place a copy of a famous work of art on a special bulletin board every week and talk about it daily with your students. Choose an excerpt from a piece of classical music to play on a daily basis.

Respond to Art Ask your kindergarten and early primary students to draw pictures as they listen to the music. Older primary and intermediate students can either draw or write about what the art or music makes them think about or feel. At these higher grade levels, ask each student to find a fact about the artist or musician. These can be written on strips of paper and tacked to the bulletin board. At the end of the week, ask students to write about their week’s experience with the artist or the composer’s music, using story, essay, or poetic form. Invite your primary or intermediate students to draw an object in the style of different artists. This creates interesting discussions about the particular challenges each artist faced as they developed new ways of looking at the world. Intermediate students often enjoy researching the lives of famous artists. Give them opportunities to respond in writing to this experience by creating diaries or journals the artist might have kept or letters they may have written to friends or relatives about their work. Ask students to pretend that they are art critics who must write up a review of a particular artist’s recent exhibition. This assignment requires research into the work of the artist’s contemporaries with whose work the artist would be compared.

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Respond to Music At the kindergarten and early primary levels, write descriptive words on strips of tag board or index cards and place them at random on a bulletin board. Review the meaning of the words with your students—beautiful, melodious, lyrical, powerful, quiet, flowing, thunderous, sparkling. After listening to a selection of music, read the words again and distribute them to the class. As you play the music again, ask students to hold up their card when the music sounds like their descriptive word. Encourage students to search for other descriptive words in music dictionaries or encyclopedias that describe specific pieces. At the end of the week, ask them to write their response to the music, incorporating some of the vocabulary they have learned. As soon as kindergarten children can write sentences, they can use these terms as “key’’ words and write a description of the music. (See Chapter 8 for key word instruction.) “This music sounded like a flowing river’’ is well within the capacity of a beginning writer. Older students will write paragraphs, describing their response to the “thundering rumble of kettle drums that increased the excitement of the music.’’ Make a similar list of descriptive words for art appreciation—vivid color, delicate shades, dark and light contrasts, impressionistic, expressionistic, classical, angular, soft hues, rugged, dynamic. As you talk about a picture, ask for volunteers to select one descriptive word at a time to place beside the picture and tell why they chose it. Encourage students to look for other descriptive words in art books and to record them in a notebook. Continue this exercise for several days, and then ask students to write a sentence (kindergarten, early primary) or a paragraph (older primary, intermediate) describing the picture. These exercises are particularly beneficial when they precede a field trip to a museum or a visit to the symphony. An intense preview of the works students will see or hear helps create anticipation for a live performance or a direct experience with a work of art.

Exploring Art in Reverse: What Do You Hear? Students of all ages enjoy an activity that asks them to do something unexpected. This exercise can be done orally in kindergarten and the early primary grades, with major emphasis on the development of exploratory talk. (See the discussion of exploratory talk in Chapter 9.) In the later primary and intermediate levels, ask students to write their responses, which can then be shared in small groups or with the entire class, to combine sensory observation with language expression. Hold up a painting and ask students to tell you what they hear. The first response will be puzzled looks. “There are many things going on in this picture. Tell me what you hear. What are people saying? What noises are in the background? What might you have heard just before the scene in the picture was painted? What sounds might occur afterward?’’

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When an intermediate class was shown a picture of a group of people waiting in the rain to board a train, they talked about what happened before the scene depicted in the painting. They heard a train whistle in the distance and the sounds of people’s clothes rustling as they hurried from their buggies to meet the train. Horses stamped their feet impatiently, and thunder rumbled in the distance. In the present scene, some said they heard people talking anxiously. They were worried about being captured by soldiers, and children were crying because they were hungry or tired. Others heard people speaking of everyday things. Had they brought enough food for the trip? Didn’t they think the children’s grandparents would be surprised to see them? Thinking into what might have happened afterward, some of the students picked up on the soldier theme and said they heard the sounds of many horses hooves and the clatter of swords. Some of the soldiers fired muskets at the departing train, and horses neighed at the sound. Others said they heard the train sounds—wheels clacking on the rails and the whistle—disappear into the distance. After you demonstrate this exercise with the entire class, ask older students to write individual responses to share with small groups or the entire class.

Exploring Music in Reverse: What Do You See? Ask students to jot down images they see as they listen to an excerpt from an adventure-filled piece of music, such as Smetna’s The Moldau, Tchaikovsky’s Hall of the Mountain King, or Mendelssohn’s Fingal’s Cave. When the piece is concluded, compare ideas on the kinds of pictures the music created in their minds. Play the same piece again, and ask students to visualize more details in their images and keep brief notes to help them remember. This time, students should put their experience in writing, to be shared in small groups or with the entire class. After students have produced their own sight responses to the music, read aloud from the CD information sheet or a music encyclopedia to reveal what inspired the composer to create the particular work. Listen to the music again, and ask students if they can now imagine what the composer was responding to. Another variation of this exercise is to listen to the same passage for a few minutes each day, each time asking student to respond artistically in a variety of media—pencil, pen and ink, crayon, markers, clay. These can be displayed with the artist’s cover of the CD on a bulletin board, or a small table, when clay sculpture is used. Read Sharon Creech’s Heartbeat (2004) aloud to an intermediate class and ask them to complete the assignment given to the narrator, 12-year-old Annie. Her art teacher asks her to draw an apple 100 times, to enhance her powers of observation. The story includes powerful images of running, birth, death, illness and friendship, told in free verse, creating a rare and rich aesthetic experience for readers or listeners.

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What Can’t You See in a Painting? This is another exercise that not only stretches the imagination, but also helps students add details to their own pictures and think about art in more complex ways. In connection with a study of World War II, a sixth-grade teacher holds up a picture of The Scream, by the Norwegian painter, Edvard Munch. The classic painting shows an amorphous figure with his hands on either side of his face, his eyes staring and mouth opened wide. In the background are two-well dressed and more exactly drawn men, who have turned to look at the figure. They are all standing on a bridge, set against the background of a fiord in Oslo, Norway. A garishly painted red sky above intensifies the emotion of the painting. “What can’t you see in the painting?’’ the teacher asks the class. Some students believe the figure to be a ghost, because he does not look particularly human compared to the other figures. Others say that the man has seen something horrible—something only he can see, and it makes him feel as unreal as he looks. Still others suggest that he has seen his child die or a person being murdered. The teacher explains that the painting is classified as “Expressionism,’’ because it is less about what the artist saw than how he felt, and that it is often associated with the terrifying events of World War II. He reads them the artist’s words about his own painting. Edvard Munch was walking with two friends when he suddenly felt very tired. The sky turned red and hung like a sword. He says: “My friends walked on—I stood there, trembling with fear. And I sensed a great, infinite scream pass through nature.’’ The picture is left on the bulletin board for the next week, and students are invited to write responses and post them around the board. The teacher continues to read aloud fiction and nonfiction related to World War II and to share art created at that time in history. At the end of the unit, the teacher asks his students to draw pictures of anything that impressed them from their study and to create it in such a way that they must answer aloud the question “What can’t you see?’’ One girl draws a picture of a bleak-looking factory. “What you can’t see is Anne Frank’s family hiding inside the factory, trying to keep very quiet, so they won’t be discovered by the German soldiers,’’ she says. (Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Frank, 1993). Another boy draws a small home in some mountains. “What you can’t see,’’ he says, “is that this house is in France, just a short distance from Spain. A woman lives here who is hiding her Jewish son-in-law. He helps smuggle Jewish children over the French border into Spain where they will be safe. You also can’t see Anya, his daughter, who was separated from him when they were hiding in the forest. That’s where they get the name of the book— Waiting for Anya [Morpurgo, 1997].’’ On the kindergarten and primary levels, this is a great exercise to use with any book, as part of the activities that children do to interest classmates in reading a particular book. (See Chapter 3 for more ideas.) One girl drew a tree with a tail sticking out from the side. She asked the class to guess what they could not see, and they ventured that a dog was on the other side of the tree.

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“Nope,’’ she said. “This isn’t a dog, but you’ll have to read the book to see what it is. This picture is about The Mitten [1996] by Jan Brett.’’ In other instances, the class asks the student artists about their pictures: “What’s in the house? Under the flower? Above the clouds? Over the fence?’’ You can use this technique with children of all ages to gently encourage them to add details to their drawings.

Begin with a Line . . . When you ask kindergarten children to draw, they rarely ask, “What should I draw?’’; they just begin drawing. By the primary years, they ask, what they should draw and begin to examine their pictures with a more critical eye. They erase a lot and ask, “Does this look like an elephant?’’ Drawing as a free and pleasant experience is nearly over by fourth grade; the most frequent comment thereafter is either “I can’t draw’’ or “I goofed,’’ followed by a crumpling of their work into the nearest wastebasket. From kindergarten through the elementary grades, an exercise to help students express their ideas in drawing follows the example of Harold, of Harold and the Purple Crayon (Johnson, 1981). In this series of books, the first of which was written 50 years ago, Harold creates adventures as his simple line drawings come to life. Harold sets off at night in his pajamas, holding a large purple crayon, and begins to draw interesting scenery, people, and animals from his imagination. He is resourceful and manages to sketch up some pies to eat when he is hungry. He nimbly escapes dangers unintentionally drawn, and keeps his wits about him to figure out how to get back home. He draws the moon, and then his window around the moon. This takes him back to his own room, where he “draws’’ up the covers on his bed. Read the book aloud to your kindergarten or sixth-grade students. Ask them to begin telling you a story, which you can illustrate as Harold did, with a simple connected line drawing on the board. Let students practice illustrating a Harold-like story with their own purple crayons, colored pencils, or markers. If they do not want to draw an outline figure to represent themselves, they may leave out the artist figure or use stickers to represent themselves. Suggest that they draw as they think and then go back and write their story, using words to illustrate the pictures, a reversal of the usual technique. Another helpful book is Mona Brookes’ Drawing with Children (1996, revised edition), which is aptly subtitled: A Creative Method for Adults Beginners, Too. This surprising volume will convince you that you can draw anything, even if you have not believed this since you were 5. In the preface to the book, Geraldine Schwartz of the Vancouver Learning Center says of drawing: As brain scientists interested in the whole spectrum of human learning we know that the trained, practiced, stimulated brain is also more efficient at new learning. If we develop the building blocks of visual perception, visual spatial organization and visual discrimination by learning to draw, our brains cannot help but transfer these skills to such tasks as mathematics, which is at its base the organization of objects in space; or to reading and spelling,

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which require visual attention to detail, as well as pattern and organization in space, as the eye sweeps across the line of print and down to the next line. (p. xvii)

Evaluating Play and Artistic Experiences There are several ways to assess the play activities of children depending on the purpose for evaluation. Many school programs require a mark or comment on social development at the kindergarten level, and exploratory playtime is an opportunity for teachers to observe a student’s progress in this area. Evaluation of the play experience also provides helpful information about the development of literacy skills and a child’s preferred method of learning. Teachers at this level listen to speech patterns and notice pronunciation and grammar use. They are also alert to children’s talk about events outside of school, as these provide opportunities for children to share information with others. This information also helps the teacher connect these experiences with school learning. There are many reasons to include artistic experiences in the language arts curriculum, the most obvious being that these types of events are exciting occasions to practice and develop language skills. Of equal importance is the fact that the arts help students develop cultural and cross-cultural literacy—an increased appreciation of the aesthetic expression of others— through direct experience with the products or performances of artists. From the standpoint of evaluating learning, a critical reason to include experiences in the fine arts is to help teachers assess how well individual students understand a concept. These “alternative’’ languages of learning help teachers gain valuable information about individual learners that may not be possible to obtain through other means. Indeed, the various languages of the arts provide all students with additional ways to explore information and ideas in the curriculum. As they draw, sing, or dance to discover meaning in an experience, they find new ways to learn about the world and express their understanding.

Build Partnerships Many teachers recruit parents, grandparents, community members, or college students to help monitor and support playtime in kindergarten classes. If you choose to involve volunteers in the classroom, be sure to provide them with instructions about what you want them to do, well ahead of the time they are scheduled to help. Check Mrs. Nave’s communication to the parents who help with her writer’s workshop in Chapter 1 of this text. She tells them exactly what the children will be doing and how they can best assist this process. Monitor your new assistants frequently at the beginning, with a neutral “Everything going okay?’’ This gives a volunteer the opportunity to bring up any concerns or questions about procedures.

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If you send home a survey at the beginning of the year to find out what talents or expertise your parents can share with the class, be sure to include drawing, painting, sculpture, crafts of any kind, sewing, singing, and playing the piano or other instruments. Grandparents frequently volunteer, and many love to play the piano to accompany children’s singing. Inquire if they have any old records, prints of famous paintings, or posters they could bring in and talk about. Contact your nearby college or university for art, music, or drama students who might be interested in sharing a lesson with your students. Tell them what you are studying, and ask if they can think of a way for students to express this learning through their particular artistic medium. Remember that public and private high schools often have exceptional faculty members who are willing to share their talents with elementary students. Public librarians may know of citizens in the community who would come into the classroom to help children make puppets or conduct a session of storytelling. Remember to check with the student teachers in your building. There may be persons with artistic talents who would be willing to share their knowledge or skill with your students. And, do not overlook maintenance and cafeteria personnel. They are often quite talented in areas that are underutilized in their regular employment. In one school, the janitor builds sets for plays, easels, and bookcases. He also leads the singing of carols for the Christmas program and is a certified EMT. The head cafeteria cook in another school is an accomplished quilter, who shares her talent with the fifth grade when they study Colonial times and helps them prepare a Colonial-era meal in the cafeteria.

If This Is Your Situation Experienced teachers are all too aware of budget constrains that limit field trips and the inclusion of formal art, music, and drama instruction in the curriculum. This chapter comes at the end of this textbook, because by now you will not only be aware of the way the language arts are integrated and practiced in the context of other curriculum areas, but you also will be able to figure out how to incorporate opportunities for artistic and musical expression into your daily routine as well. Children can draw as they listen to good books read aloud, to illustrate concepts in social studies or science, and to express relationships in mathematics. At the end of a period of geometry, ask students to use the skills they developed in drawing circles with a compass, or squares and triangles with a protractor and ruler, to create a picture, using only circles; only squares; only triangles. Put up pictures of work by Picasso and Klee and ask them to identify the geometric elements in cubism. There are many lost and wasted minutes in a typical school day. Discover how many of these you can retrieve from the lull that precedes dismissal for lunch or at the end of the day, with activities that discuss, describe, and encourage participation in the arts.

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If there is no music teacher, play recordings of every kind of music during the school day, including marches, waltzes, classical, jazz, and folk music. Create sing-alongs with printed song sheets and taped music from every era in the nation’s history. There are musical tapes and CDs for every kind of mathematical drill. If computation skills are high on the list of standardized testing demands, let your students dance and sing their way to competence. It works—to the point that children will sometimes hum under their breath to remember a multiplication fact. If field trips are not an option, because of transportation costs or other restrictions, consult your principal about bringing guests to your classroom. Most museums have traveling educators who make “school’’ calls, bringing exhibits that can be displayed for a single class or the entire school. These presentations are usually made by educator–artists who know their field and understand how to present the material in a compelling way to students. In an attempt to reach out to greater audiences, symphony orchestras also travel to schools to give demonstrations of instruments and present programs. Many states award grants to school districts to bring other kinds of artists to school audiences. Mimes, jugglers, acrobats, storytellers, magicians, and performers in the fine arts visit schools across the state, supported by these grants. These experiences create excellent opportunities for expression in writing, drawing, and spirited discussion.

Reflections (The Author) When children play in activity centers, watch a movie, listen to a book, observe a work of art, or listen to a symphony performed, their responses will be as different and unique as their individual personalities. Children who attend the symphony regularly will know what the dimming of lights signals; they will look forward to favorite passages and listen for certain instrumental solos. If they are familiar with museums, students will look for the interactive exhibits, stand for periods of time to observe a painting, or wonder in amazement at how a sculpture was released from a great hunk of stone. Lacking these kinds of experiences, children may sit by themselves in a play center or be overwhelmed by the number of choices available to them. Music at the symphony is unfamiliar and seems to go on forever. Museums appear to be room after room of things, some of which are interesting, but all pass by in a blur. If students have not been read to at home, they may be puzzled at the rapt attention of others who draw near to any teacher holding a storybook. Previous knowledge directly influences the way persons of any age experience an event. When I first began teaching in Evanston, Illinois in 1963, I read aloud to my fourth graders from Mary Poppins (Travers, 1997). The bristly, stern nanny became an immediate favorite with the students, and before the year was over, we had read the two sequels. In 1964, the movie version of Mary Poppins was released, to great acclaim. It was a delightful musical, but not the same story. The vain, reserved, and

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oddly eccentric nanny of P. L. Travers’ creation had been replaced with a kinder, gentler, and more beautiful character. To someone who had read the books since childhood, the magic was lost in the translation to film. All of my students that second year saw the movie and were enthusiastic to hear the book read aloud, having already heard great things about it from brothers and sisters in my class the year before. They were clearly disappointed with the story, and we stopped reading the book after the third chapter. “It’s not the same!’’ they complained, and they were right. The character they knew and loved from the movie was someone entirely different than the one in the book. Later, when I taught at McKendree College in Lebanon, Illinois, the kindergarten teacher at Summerfield Grade School handed me the book The Very Quiet Cricket: A Multi-Sensory Book (Carle, 1990) to look at one morning, while she took her class to P.E. I sat at her desk in the empty classroom and enjoyed the charming story. When I turned to the last page, the experience was made even more delightful by the coincidental (I thought) chirping of a cricket in the cloakroom. When the teacher returned, I told her about my experience. She laughed as she showed me the computer chip in the book that produced the chirp. Later in the day, I observed the book being read aloud to a small group of primary children. When the last page was turned and the book chirped, I expected them to be surprised, but one boy said immediately: “Neat-o! A computer chip!’’ Back at the college, where I taught children’s literature to preservice teachers, I shared the experience with my students. Several years later, one of them called to tell me she had another story to add to the “cricket tales.’’ She had just finished reading The Very Quiet Cricket aloud to a group of children who had few experiences with books or technology, and certainly none that would involve a book with a computer chip in it. She opened and closed the book several times, to show them that something in the book was creating the sound. “Why do you suppose the chirping stops when I close the book?’’ she asked them. “Because you’re squashing the cricket, teacher!’’ one boy exclaimed. She hastily reassured them that there was no cricket in the book and showed them the location of the computer chip that produced the sound. The children remained unconvinced. The cricket must have hopped away to avoid being squished again. It was beyond their experience to imagine otherwise.

A Perspective (Karen Gallas, Teacher/Researcher) Karen Gallas (1994), a teacher and researcher, notes that significant learning takes place when the definition of language is expanded to include a complex of signs. Children’s narratives are not naturally confined to the spoken or written word. From early childhood on, they tell stories in dramatic play,

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in their drawings and paintings, and in movement and spontaneous song (p. xv). She urges teachers to regard these “enormous number of innate tools for acquiring knowledge’’ as assets to learning. When children have many opportunities to use a variety of ways to represent their learning, they can more accurately demonstrate what they understand about a concept and, conversely, what they do not understand. Gallas sees talking, writing, drawing, singing, and dancing as alternative languages that enable children to explore ideas and express understanding of their experience. According to Gallas, narratives help students make their thinking visible, so they can reflect upon it, extend, and modify it in light of the responses from others. When students are encouraged to create stories to explain what they observe in natural events, they engage in hypothetical thinking. When they try to explain what they see happening in terms of other things that are familiar to them, they are thinking analogically, a process that is helpful to scientists as they reach out to the unknown. Students use their own and others’ narratives as a way to make sense of the world. As they tell stories about what they are trying to understand, their explanations are challenged and become more refined. They modify their ideas to make their explanations more plausible and examine their past experiences to support or refute the explanations of other students. Through narrative interaction, they begin to see learning as an integrated process and relate what they are learning throughout the curriculum. As they share narratives with each other, they learn that there are many ways to understand the world and to communicate what they are thinking.

What Research Has to Say About Play, Language, and Literature Burns, Griffin, and Snow (1999) believe that “sociodramatic play activities give children a chance to develop language and literacy skills, a deeper understanding of narrative, and their own personal responses to stories’’ (p. 72). Gretchen Owocki (1999) observed that children who play together in a literate environment share what they know with each other, helping each other figure out the meaning of signs and symbols. They ask questions, solve problems together, and learn to take risks by thinking aloud. Research indicates that the connections between play and literacy are strengthened when children use the plots, characters, or themes from books as a basis for the personal dramas they create. McGee and Richgels (1996) believe that teachers help encourage literacy in children’s play by keeping centers stocked with related literacy materials and participating in play activities, by modeling literacy behaviors. Owocki (1999) also believes that the teacher plays a critical role in helping a play episode contribute to increased language facility. If teachers take a part in the drama, they are available to encourage and support children’s efforts to use text, speech, or writing as part of their imaginary play.

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Cooperative activities are supported by contexts that encourage imaginative play—tables, chairs, and kitchen equipment: materials for construction; and dress-up areas. Christie (1991) confirmed that play opportunities in centers that provided literacy props (such as stamps, envelopes, appointment books, and phone books in an “office’’ center) had a direct impact on written language development, because it provide opportunities for children to practice reading and writing in the context of a real-life setting.

For Your Personal Library If you do not have a separate art center in your classroom, keep one or two books of fine art prints on a small table, for students to browse through during independent reading time. Children of all ages enjoy looking at copies of paintings and interesting photographs. Biographies of famous persons from all the arts make interesting reading and should be included in your classroom library. Other books of interest to teachers who want to integrate the arts into language learning include the following: Lively Learning: Using the Arts to Teach the K–8 Curriculum (2004) by Linda Crawford is an excellent source of ideas for integrating the arts into science, social studies, and math. It is designed to provide guidance for teachers without an arts background, but is full of helpful suggestions for all teachers. There is a sample lesson plan for each of the content areas and a comprehensive list of resources to use in the classroom. Emphasis is placed on the art forms of drawing, music, movement, drama, and poetry writing. The Creative Classroom: A Guide for Using Creative Drama in the Classroom, PreK–6 (Kelner, 1993) is an excellent book to begin exploring creative drama in the classroom. It is especially designed for teachers who have no previous experience with creative drama, with step-by-step instructions for implementing each activity. Techniques described can be used to reinforce concepts in all curriculum areas and to promote language, comprehension, and thinking skills. The book includes sample lessons and modifications for different curriculum areas and grade levels. All activities have been developed from direct work with students and have been used successfully by a wide range of teachers. Storymaking and Drama: An Approach to Teaching Language and Literature (King, 1993) has many good ideas for using creative drama to explore literature. The author uses stories from a variety of different cultures to illustrate strategies and includes a section on using drama with students who have limited English proficiency. Talking to Learn (Phelan, 1989) is a collection of teaching ideas to help develop listening and speaking skills. The individual essays describe activities at all levels of instruction, but many of the ideas for secondary classrooms can be adapted for use in the intermediate grades.

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Try Out the Chapter Ideas • Accompany an elementary class on a field trip. Observe how the teacher prepares students for the experience. • Sit in the play area of a kindergarten classroom and observe children as they interact with the materials. Join them, as you feel comfortable doing so. • Experiment with the music and art exercises described above. Ask your school or public librarian for suggestions of paintings or music to use in the exercises, if you do not already have favorites of your own. Listen to the music or view the art over a period of time until you feel comfortable and familiar with it. Be sure to share something that you truly enjoy. • Read aloud to a class at any instructional level and discuss with them how the book might be transformed into a play—speaking parts, sets, props, costumes. • Contact an area field trip site—historical center, museum, zoo, botanical gardens, symphony, park, business—either by phone or on the Internet. Inquire about special provisions for children who have a sight, hearing, or physical disability.

APPENDIX A

Minimizing Distractions to Learning

If you have been in an elementary classroom, you already know that teaching is a performance punctuated by interruptions: An announcement is made over the intercom; a parent, principal, or student comes to the door; a student needs to use the restroom; another child gets sick all over the floor. Someone’s block house is knocked over in the play center, initiating namecalling and crying; teasing hurts someone’s feelings; a girl is excluded from a clique; a boy has let his team down with a strikeout on the playground. All of these are common events in a child’s school day, and they interfere with his or her ability to pay attention. In addition, there are often emergencies that involve storms, loss of electrical power or water, and the impact of community tragedies. Lessons can be interrupted by fidgety children who disturb others, defiant behavior, whispering, and general restlessness. Each of these distractions can be minimized by attending to the four cornerstones of classroom management: anticipation, analysis, action, and adjustment of instruction.

Anticipate Responses The methods of teaching described in this book anticipate the natural ways that children learn—following their curiosity, interacting with each other, seeking firsthand experiences, exploring autonomously—and they direct these natural tendencies into classroom learning by providing many opportunities for children to participate in these same activities in a positive and productive manner. This approach to learning often precludes the types of behavior problems experienced in classrooms where walking around the room, talking to others, observing exhibits or maps, or reading from books other than texts is not permitted. Reading aloud draws a class together and creates a bond of shared experience that can be referred to during times of stress. Experienced teachers keep a small stack of books on hand for occasions of restlessness and distraction, and the promise of this type of pleasurable and calming experience is often enough to restore a restive class to order. In addition to favorite books, reading humorous poems and short stories aloud often reduces tension in the room and gives everyone something to laugh about. 337

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Some classes respond enthusiastically to unscheduled opportunities to read books of their own choosing, write, draw, or practice skills on the computer. Others are calmed by listening to music and moving to the rhythm. Exercise tapes get students out of their desks and actively involved in oxygenating their brains. If the weather permits, time outdoors for free play, a playground game, a nature walk, or sketching may transfer restless energy into productive exercise, discovery, or expression. Teachers may give spelling tests out of doors or schedule writing exercises that encourage observation of the environment. Anticipate the times when these activities might be helpful, have all materials on hand, and obtain any permissions required from the principal or department head for altering your schedule. If children have physical disabilities that might interfere with their full participation in classroom activities, be sure to work these out early in the school year and review them periodically. Also, encourage children with hearing, sight, or mobility problems to suggest ways to help them succeed and to tell you immediately if there is any change in their ability to participate. It is also vital to work from the very beginning of the school year with children who have attention deficit disorders, behavioral problems, or social difficulties. By discussing these problems as attempts to reduce obstacles to their personal learning, you can often gain the necessary cooperation to help them develop coping skills, which modify these problems. Ways of dealing with restlessness, anger, resentment, fear, and social awkwardness can be practiced safely and confidentially with the teacher and then used as tools for coping as they are needed during the school day.

Adjust Expectations There will always be days that try a teacher’s soul. Changes in the weather may create a sea of wiggling first graders, jabbery third graders, snappish sixth graders, and impatient teachers. If you have experienced these days or witnessed them happening to others, you know that it is counterproductive to charge ahead with new material or insist on a lock-step adherence to preplanned lessons. The most successful teachers try to do more than just survive these particularly difficult days, because productive work is still possible—with adjustments of expectations and activities. At these times, it is better to throw out drills or new instruction and read aloud to your class. Some teachers ask students to create tests over curriculum material for each other or let them play Quiz in pairs, to practice information that will be on state-mandated tests.

Analyze Causes of Disruption There are times, however, in well-managed classrooms where minor disturbances become disruptive to learning. It is helpful to anticipate these kinds

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of disruptions by knowing what to look for and how to deal with them in a way that does not cause further disruption. According to Jerome Popp (1999), “expertise in classroom teaching rests on two fundamental and reciprocating teacher abilities. These are: 1) the ability to initiate and sustain student engagement in classroom academic activities, and 2) the ability to curtail and prevent typical disruptions of classroom academic activities.’’ He believes that order itself is not the goal of managing classroom disruptions. Some forms of order support growth, while other forms prevent it. Our task as classroom teachers is to establish classroom order that allows for full engagement in academic activities, including student interactions. This means that we must create a context for classroom activities that minimizes disruption as it enhances the academic involvement of all students. (p. 6)

Popp identifies five levels of classroom disruption: normal, impulsive, chronic, eruptive, and those that may involve referral to resources outside of the classroom. This discussion will focus on the first two levels and include a brief discussion of problems that may be due to illness or nutritional deficiencies. District level or school-based special education personnel can provide helpful information for dealing with the less frequently occurring eruptive episodes (temper tantrums) and chronic misbehavior characterized by constant demands for attention or power, and emotionally charged behaviors that indicate a desire for revenge or the fear of a display of inadequacy.

Normal Disruptions Normal disruptions are those sights, sounds, and events that happen with a certain frequency and predictability. There will be fire drills and children who get sick in school. Moving on from these distractions is easier if you have planned for them ahead of time. At the beginning of the school year, practice responding to these kinds of disruptions with your students, in whatever grade you teach. Create a cadre of student assistants for specific emergencies (one boy and one girl) and have back-up persons for both, in the event they are absent from school. Put up a pocket chart with the assistant’s name written on a bookmark or popsicle stick, and rotate the responsibilities on a weekly basis. Teachers have found that it is helpful to have at least two persons who can quickly go to the office, the nurse’s station, the janitor, or the classroom next door when an emergency happens in the classroom. A child who is ill but shaky can be accompanied to the restroom, the nurse’s office, or the principal’s office by another student. Cleaning up after an episode of vomiting or a bathroom accident can be quickly handled by a preappointed runner to the janitor’s headquarters. If an accident requiring immediate medical attention occurs in your room and you must leave your class to take a student to the nurse or school office, your assistant can run ahead to notify someone that your class will need

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supervision for a brief time. In the event of fainting episodes or epileptic seizures, a student assistant can notify the nurse while you attend to the person who has become unconscious. If you should become ill yourself, you can use a similar notification procedure. All teachers have a system in place for students who need to use the restroom at unscheduled times. Some hesitate to allow children to leave in the middle of a presentation, but the alternative is a student who is uncomfortable and probably not able to give full attention to the lesson. Many teachers are also concerned about students who use this privilege to walk around the halls or get into trouble in the bathroom. On the other hand, calls of nature do not always follow the clock, and it is a terrible mistake to force a child to be uncomfortable or perhaps have an embarrassing accident because he or she was prevented from using the restroom. An assistant (one for boys, one for girls) can make a quick check on children who are late returning from the restroom. This also assures that a child is not ill and alone in the facility. Talk about possible emergencies with your class and decide together how best to meet them. Make sure that everyone knows what to do and where to go when it is their time to serve as an assistant, and review the rules at the beginning of each change of assistants.

Twenty Quick Ways to Deal With Impulsive Behaviors: How to Save Your Sanity and Get on With the Day When emotions run strong, the brain shuts down and learning is minimized. These techniques are designed to correct behavior, preserve a student’s selfesteem, and get them back to academic activity in the quickest possible way, with the least distraction to all involved. Any other techniques that you might add to this list should satisfy these criteria. Methods of dealing with impulsive behavior emerge from the literature of special education and some of those described below are derived from techniques described by Redl and Wattenberg (1959) and Long and Newman (1961). They involve the support of self-control, situational assistance, and appeal to already-existing student values. 1. Ignore the behavior. Often, it is more effective to ignore mildly disruptive behavior, such as whispering, than to take action to curtail it. Some disruptions terminate quickly on their own, and constant corrections can be more disruptive than the behavior itself. 2. Move close to the misbehavior. If students are whispering, passing notes, or are inattentive, the most effective teacher response is to move to the location of misbehavior rather than to interrupt instruction. It is usually not necessary to say anything specific about the behavior because the teacher’s proximity is the only prompt required.

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3. Send a nonverbal message. Sometimes a certain look or glance sends enough of a message to let students know that a behavior is not appropriate. This technique is effective because it gets the message to one student without involving or distracting other students who are behaving in an acceptable manner. 4. Show interest in an individual student’s work. When a student shows decreased interest in a project, it helps to stop by their desk, ask a question, or make a positive personal comment about the work being done. Frequently, interest in the task will return. As Redl and Wattenberg (1959) point out, This simple step changes somewhat the value the youngster puts on his work. The result is a renewed burst of energy. For a while, the wandering attention is checked; the young person concentrates on the task at hand. In this way, any misconduct which might have arisen from boredom and restlessness is prevented. (p. 350)

5. Draw them back. Students sometimes become distracted or daydream during instruction. A quick way to bring them back to classroom participation is to ask a question that can be easily answered. This technique should never be used to embarrass students. Since questions are key tools for teaching and learning, it is vital that students do not associate them with fear or punishment. 6. Use humor. Occasionally, students make remarks that create tension in the room, or they will arrive in class, upset from another experience. A humorous remark can help reduce tension and keep the situation productive. Note that this technique is not simply telling a joke, but rather a way to help return the atmosphere in the room to a more positive tone. For example, one teacher relieved the tension created by an impending test by remarking that all tests completed in Sanskrit would receive an A. Another responded to an unintentionally rude remark about her age by pretending to have a cane and limping to the chalkboard to write the assignment. 7. Encourage expression of feelings. When students seem irritated or annoyed about life at school or in the classroom, it is often helpful to allow them to express their feelings. Some teachers encourage students to write down what is bothering them and hand these papers in anonymously. Others allow students to discuss their concerns in a group situation, where they listen to each other and contribute their own comments. These methods provide emotional release for students and allow them to return more quickly to the learning situation. 8. Establish routines. Experienced teachers know that well-explained and practiced routines help prevent the vast majority of misbehavior. At all grade levels, effective teachers plan activities for students to begin as soon as they enter the classroom. There are established routines for taking attendance and

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collecting lunch money that are minimally disruptive. Many teachers assign these tasks to students on a rotating basis, such as caring for classroom pets and plants or distributing materials. Because a key goal at the beginning of a class or school day is to bring students as quickly as possible into an academic frame of mind, many teachers allow free reading from self-selected books or assign brief practice activities that students complete while nonacademic matters are being processed. 9. Provide additional instruction for an individual or class. It is important that students understand how to complete an assignment and that the material is appropriate to their comprehension level. Individual help with getting started and alternative activities, when necessary, give students the extra boost that is sometimes necessary to achieve success. After receiving directions for completing an assignment, many students in the class may appear confused or slow to begin the task. At this point, you will want to check with the entire class, step-by-step, to discover where they might be having difficulty, and create examples that illustrate the task. 10. Encourage students to solve the problem. It is critical to give students tools that will help them deal constructively with the consequences of impulsive behavior: A kindergarten student carelessly knocks down a block tower; crayons are dumped out on the table and fall on the floor; someone is accidentally shoved to the floor when a student rushes through the classroom door at the last bell; a student fails to follow instructions and breaks equipment for an experiment; paper for a mural is torn because it was stepped on by one of the artists. These are all examples of behavior that results in unpleasant consequences for the student or others. Avoid rushing in to settle things. State the problem: “The mural is torn.’’ Then, ask the student “What can you do about this?’’ or “You knocked this person into their desk. How are you going to make things right?’’ This technique requires the student to own the problem, solve it, and learn from it. It replaces guilt with action and provides practice in recovering positively from impulsive misbehavior. 11. Try something new. When routines grow stale and students seem restless with instruction, it may indicate that a fresh approach is called for. Teachers might introduce new activities that involve more student participation. Students at every age level respond positively to increased opportunities for social interaction, with group or team work. Some teachers change the way they introduce new topics, such as reading aloud from a gripping historical novel to provide background for a study of the Revolutionary War. Others find that displays and learning centers provide new ideas and challenges for their students. 12. Place distractions out of view. Objects and materials that are not being currently used, and are distracting to the lesson at hand, should be placed elsewhere until they are required. Materials for a demonstration to be used in an afternoon class may

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prove irresistible to students during the morning. At the kindergarten and primary levels, most teachers require show-and-tell objects to be brought and stored in paper sacks. 13. Remove distracting behavior. When students cough continuously, have the giggles, or get a case of nervous hiccoughs, it is important to get them relief from the physical problem or embarrassment as quickly as possible, both for the individual’s sake and the attention level of the rest of the class. Ask students to get a drink of water or run an errand outside the classroom. This helps prevent the spread of contagious, imitative behaviors and allows students to regain composure. 14. Use temporary restraint. When a student loses control and poses a threat to others, temporary physical restraint may be called for. Examples of behavior that may have to be restrained include impulsive running-away behavior by kindergarten children or fighting behavior at all ages. Guidelines or even permission to use physical restraint is strictly regulated in most schools. Be sure to check with your school’s code before an event occurs that might call for physical restraint. Most codes include five general rules: Be Decisive. If you have any doubts about the outcome, get assistance before you intervene. Keep Talking. When you restrain a student, talk immediately. “It’s all right now.’’ “I can’t let you hurt yourself or anyone else.’’ Deny Harm. If the student says something such as, “You hurt me,’’ respond with “I am not hurting you. You know that I can’t let you hurt yourself or anyone else.’’ Even if the student is very upset, these words are calming, and they reassure other children in this stressful situation. Follow Up. Any situation requiring the use of physical restraint should be reviewed with the student. When things have calmed down, a discussion of what happened and how it might be prevented in the future is necessary. The student should not be allowed to walk away from the situation. Report. Immediately inform your principal or building head about the incident. 15. Plan ahead. Some classroom situations are particularly conducive to disruptive behavior. If a certain activity seems loaded with opportunities for distraction, try to prepare the class ahead of time. When instructional activities are out of the ordinary (audiovisual presentations, guest speakers, demonstrations, experiments, or field trips), the teacher should anticipate every possible situation (breakdown of equipment, speaker is late, demonstration takes longer than expected, someone gets lost from the group on a trip). It is helpful to go over the rules for the unexpected and allow students (especially primary children) to role-play proper behavior. 16. Involve valued persons or organizational models. If we know that a student values something, and at the same time engages in behavior that is contrary to these values, it is helpful to indicate

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to them how their values establish limits and give direction to behavior. If you know that a child is a scout member or admires a highly principled athlete, you can ask them how the scout code or the athlete might address the situation at hand. In one elementary school, students are given two warnings for misbehavior. At the third offense, they must call home and tell their mother what they said or did. “It’s worse than a spanking,’’ a student reported (Popp, 2003). 17. Create interest bonds with individual students. The experience children have with their peers at school is vital to their self esteem. But, their experience with classroom teachers is also a vital factor in how a child sees himself. If you show a personal interest in a student, it often compensates for difficulties they might experience at home, on the playground, or in the hallways. At the beginning of an academic term, watch for students who enter your class determined to have a hostile relationship with you. As soon as possible, make an effort to find an interest of theirs that you can relate to. Continued conversations and a common interest made it increasingly difficult for the student to be hostile, and eventually lead to productive conversations about academic problems. 18. Describe the behavior, not the child. The old school rule was, praise in public and criticize in private. But when a student must be criticized in the presence of peers, avoid ridiculing or humiliating. Describe the behavior and not the person. When a primary child was reckless with science equipment during an experiment, his teacher said, “We can’t bump the bottles together. They will break. If you think you can’t work safely with the glass, you’ll have to put the bottles away.’’ Another teacher witnessed a group having difficulty with a member who was distracting the rest. “Your group has only 10 minutes left to complete the study sheet, Brandon. Are you doing everything you can to get it finished on time? Do you need to take a break and complete a sheet on your own?’’ This type of comment can help refocus a child on a task or allow a restless child the option to complete work without the stimulation of social interaction. 19. Follow up in private. When classroom discipline must be administered publicly, it helps to have a discussion in private with individuals and in class if it was a group situation. For example, the teacher above asked Brandon in private what was most difficult for him about group work. He reported being frequently bored by the level of discussion and was successfully changed to a more rapid-moving group. Debriefing with the group revealed that other group members found Brandon’s remarks to be unhelpful and that he worked too fast for them to keep up. The follow-up discussions benefited both the individual and the group. 20. Interpret class behavior. Things are not always what they seem. Even the best of classes may be unruly when its members are hungry or tired, and most teachers attest to the distractibility of students when the barometer falls. One teacher asked students to notice when they were most restless or distracted, and if they

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could identify the causes. During the discussion, they revealed that it was most difficult to sit still or concentrate right before lunch, after recess, and 15 minutes before dismissal. They worked together to identify ways to deal with these situations and settled on several solutions. The teacher agreed to read aloud to students and provide group learning games, which would support the academic effort in a varied form. In return, students agreed to give their best efforts during these awkward time periods. The exercise involved students in problem solving that provided insight into their own behavior.

Other Causes of Misbehavior Experienced teachers have learned how to recognize behavior that is not typical of a student, and carefully observe those who display the fatigue, defiance, and irritability that can accompany fever and infection. If you suspect that a student is ill, send them immediately to the school office or nurse, so their family can be notified and they can rest in a quiet place. Prompt attention to these symptoms also helps prevent the spread of communicable disease. Many teachers stand at the door to the classroom and notice each child as they enter, speaking to them and welcoming them into the room. This sets a good tone for the day and also allows other observations. As students walk by you, it is possible to detect fever radiating from them or signs that they have heated up too much on the playground. Irritability may signal hunger, low blood sugar, allergies, or nutritional deficiencies and should be discussed with the school nurse. If children enter the classroom still embroiled in a playground dispute, this may call for a cooling-off period before instruction resumes. Some schools permit students to drink caffeinated beverages between classes or at recess, which can create hyperactivity in children. Diet colas may be no better because some children cannot tolerate the sweetener in most diet drinks today. It is also possible that a disruptive student may have psychological problems that require treatment from a professional counselor. If this is suspected, teachers should speak with their principals, school counselors, or school nurses. School districts can make arrangements to obtain treatment for students who are correctly referred.

APPENDIX B

Book Selection Literature

The following are excellent sources for selecting the best books for use in your classroom. Most should be available in your school media center, the public library, or the education library of your college or university. Some of the lists are included in journals of professional organizations, such as the National Science Teachers Association and the National Council for the Social Studies.

Book Links: Connecting Books, Libraries, and Classrooms This booklist publication of the American Library Association is designed for teachers and parents as well as librarians and provides a wealth of information for educators who use the integrated approach to language learning. “Classroom Connections,” a regular feature, provides multigrade bibliographies related to broad themes, such as Dinosaurs, Wetlands, or World War II. Background information is provided for each theme, and boxed ideas describe techniques to use in theme teaching. Annotations describe the content of each book, and information is provided about the publisher, cost, number of pages, and appropriate grade levels. “The Inside Story” features interviews with authors, illustrators, and others associated with the publication of books, which can be used as background information to enhance appreciation of books and the craft involved in producing them. “Visual Links” explores the techniques of illustration and provides ideas for helping students appreciate these techniques and incorporate them into their own artistic expressions. In addition to an extensive description of the content of a book, there are suggestions for discussion, activities and research, and an annotated list of fiction and nonfiction related to the same theme. Good-quality paperback books are featured in “Paperback Plums,” which also list books printed in Spanish. Visit their Web site at www.ala.org/BookLinks.

The Horn Book Magazine This compact publication is issued six times a year and contains reviews of children’s books, articles by children’s writers, and book recommendations. 346

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Reviews helpfully tell enough about the content and quality of the book to enable the reader to make informed choices on book selection. Most of the books reviewed are recommended, but any reservations are clearly stated. The reviews are grouped in approximate age-level sections and include publisher information, number of pages, cost, and ISBN number. They include picture books, novels for intermediate (9–12) and older readers (12 through young adult), folklore, poetry, nonfiction, and books of interest to adults. There are also sections of briefer reviews, recommended paperbacks in all the categories listed above, and noteworthy children’s books in Spanish. The magazine publishes the acceptance speeches of the Newbery and Caldecott Award winners each year, providing insight into the artistic minds that create these notable books. Subscription information is available from The Horn Book, Inc., 14 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02108-9765, or visit their Web site at www.hbook.com

Multicultural Publishers Exchange Catalog of Books by and About People of Color This catalog is a professional organization of African, Hispanic, Asian/ Pacific Islander, Native and White American small press publishers of multicultural books. Their listings include: children’s books in all the genres, young adult fiction and biography, drama and literature, history, games and puzzles, posters, music, art, audio books, curriculum materials, journals and newsletters, self-help books, Kwanzaa materials, and reference books. Visit their Web site at www.mpec.org.

Notable Children’s Trade Books in Social Studies These books are selected by a joint committee of the National Council of the Social Studies and the Children’s Book Council. Written primarily for elementary age children, they emphasize human relations, present an original theme, are highly readable, and, where appropriate, contain maps and illustrations. The complete list appears yearly in the April/May issue of Social Education, a journal of the National Council for the Social Studies. You can obtain a free copy of the list by sending a stamped (3 oz.), 6 × 9 selfaddressed envelope to: Children’s Book Council, 568 Broadway, Suite 404, New York, NY 10012, Information on the list may also be obtained from the NCSS Web site at www.ncss.org or the CBC Web site at www.cbcbooks.org.

Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children A joint committee of the National Science Teacher’s Association and the Children’s Book Council select books that are readable and contain

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information consistent with current scientific knowledge. They must also have a pleasing format and illustrations and be nonsexist, nonracist, and nonviolent. The complete list of these books can be found in the March issue of Science and Children, a journal of the National Science Teacher’s Association. The list is also displayed on the NSTA Web site at www.nsta.org. A free copy of this list can be obtained by sending a stamped (3 oz.) selfaddressed envelope (6 × 9) to: Children’s Book Council, 568 Broadway, Suite 404, New York, NY 10012. Information about the publication or professional organization can also be obtained on their Web site, at www. cbcbooks.org.

American Library Association Notable Children’s Books This is a list of books that are notable for their literary quality, originality of text or illustration, design, format, subject matter, or interest and value to children and likelihood of acceptance by children. The Notable Children’s Books appear yearly in the March 15 issue of Booklist, a journal published by the American Library Association (ALA). The list also appears on the Booklist Web site (see address above) and at www.ala.org.

Children’s Choices Awards Each year a joint committee from the International Reading Association and the Children’s Book Council selects a group of books to be made available to children for their consideration and vote. The list contains those books that received the most votes. A complete list of Children’s Choices can be found each year in the November issue of The Reading Teacher. You can get a free copy of this list by sending a stamped (4 oz.) 9 × 15 envelope to: The International Reading Association, 800 Barksdale Road, P.O. Box 8139, Newark, DE 19714-8139. Information is also available online at www.reading.org.

Other Sources of Reviews The New Advocate, a publication of the Advocates of Literature for Young People, provides helpful and insightful information on children’s literature. This journal is published quarterly and features book reviews and articles written by editors, educators, and librarians. Sometimes, favorable reviews are quoted on the back covers of children’s books. Knowing the source of these reviews will help you evaluate the credibility of comments made about the book. A few of the more respected and frequently quoted reviews are from Kirkus Reviews (Kirkus), the American Library Association (ALA), and the School Library Journal (SLJ).

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High-quality children’s books are also reviewed in professional journals, such as The Reading Teacher (International Reading Association) and Language Arts (National Council of Teachers of English); in weekly newsmagazines and newspapers, such as The New York Times Review of Books; and in teacher’s magazines, such as Learning and Instructor.

APPENDIX C

Awards for Children’s Literature

United States Most American readers are familiar with the Newbery and Caldecott awards. When you find books that have been given these awards in bookstores, they are distinguished by the gold and silver seals affixed to hardback editions and printed on paperbacks. The gold seal indicates the primary award, and honor books are designated with silver seals. The Newbery Medal is presented annually for the most distinguished contribution to children’s literature published in the United States during the previous year. The award is named for John Newbery, the first English publisher of books for children, and is presented by the Children’s Services Division of the American Library Association. It has been awarded since 1922, when it honored The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Van Loon (1922, reissue, 2000). This informational book traced the development of man from prehistoric times to the early twentieth century and was a benchmark in children’s nonfiction literature, because it presented historical ideas in an exciting and comprehensive manner. As you examine books that have been honored with this award, you will notice how they reflect the national problems and concerns of their times. Broad universal themes such as the quest for tolerance, a desire for peace, and concern with the effects of racism, war, and environmental damage can be found in many of these books. Amazingly, very few are dated and can be read with interest and enjoyment by contemporary readers. The Caldecott Award was first presented in 1938 to Dorothy Lathrop for her illustrations in Animals of the Bible (Fish, 1938). The award is named for Randolph Caldecott, a British illustrator of children’s books, and is presented annually by the Children’s Services Division of the American Library Association. A great variety of artistic styles and media are represented in these beautifully illustrated books, including woodcuts, pen and ink,watercolor, acrylics, chalk, stencil painting, and collage. Like the Newbery winners, the Caldecott Awards have reflected the broad concerns of readers and a genuine effort to include illustrations and illustrators that represent the many cultures of the world community. The Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature have been awarded in three categories, since 1967, when they honored The Little Fishes (1967) by Erik Christian Haugaard and the picture 350

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book London Bridge Is Falling Down by Peter Spier (1967). More recently, the awards were given to The Jamie and Angus Stories (2002) by Anne Fine and Penny Dale (illustrator) and Big Mama Makes the World (2002) by Phyllis Root and Helen Oxenbury (illustrator). The National Book Awards were established in 1950 to enhance public awareness of outstanding books written by American authors. An award for children’s literature was first presented in 1969 to Meindert DeJong, author of Journey from Peppermint Street (1969). The Children’s Book Award is presented annually by the International Reading Association to authors from any country whose first or second book shows unusual promise. It was first presented in 1975 to T. Degens (1974) for Transport 7-41-R, the harrowing story of refugees fleeing the aftermath of World War II. The Mildred L. Batchelder Award is presented for a book originally published in a foreign language in a foreign country that has been translated into English and published in the United States. The 2005 winner was The Shadows of Ghadames (Stolz, 1999, 2004), a girl’s coming-of-age story, set in 19th-century Libya, published by Delacorte Press. Originally published in French in 1999, it was translated and published in English in 2004. The Coretta Scott King Award has been awarded annually since 1970 to writers of African descent whose books promote an understanding and appreciation of the “American Dream.’’ The award is presented by the Social Responsibilities Round Table of the American Library Association for outstanding inspirational and educational contributions to children’s literature. The first awards were given to Mildred Taylor for her book The Friendship (1988) and John Steptoe for Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters (1988), which he wrote and illustrated and which was also a Caldecott Honor book for that year. The Pura Belpr´e Award is presented to an author whose work best reflects the Latino cultural experience in literature for children and youth. Julia Alvarez won the 2004 award for her book, Before We Were Free (2002). The award for illustration was given to Robert Casilla for First Day in Grapes (2002), written by L. King Perez. The Jane Adams Children’s Book Award is awarded annually by the Jane Addams Peace Association and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. First presented in 1953, it honors books that most effectively promote peace, world community, and social justice or equality of sexes and of all races. The first award, presented in 1953, honored People Are Important (1951) by Eva Knox Evans. Fifty years later, the award was presented to Kathleen Krull for her picture book Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez (2003). The National Jewish Book Awards, sponsored by the Jewish Book Council, are designed to promote American Jewish literary creativity and an appreciation of Jewish literature. Awards are given for a specific book or a cumulative contribution to Jewish juvenile literature. An award is also given to recognize excellence in illustration. The first award was presented in 1952 to Sydney Taylor for All-of-a-Kind Family. The first award for illustration honored Michael Deraney for his illustrations of Yussel’s Prayer: A Yom Kippur Story (1987), written by Barbara Cohen.

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The Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction is given annually by the Advisory Committee of the Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books to honor distinguished historical fiction for children. The setting for the book must be in North, South, or Central American. Scott O’Dell’s own books include such favorites as Sing Down the Moon (1992) and Island of the Blue Dolphins (1971). O’Dell was also the winner of the 1972 Hans Christian Anderson Award. The Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal is presented every 5 years by the Children’s Book Division of the American Library Association to an author or illustrator whose books have made a lasting contribution to children’s literature. Awarded in 1954 to Laura Ingalls Wilder, other honorees have included E. B. White, Beverly Cleary, Dr. Seuss (Theodore Geisel), Maurice Sendak, Russell Freedman, Jean Fritz, E. B. White, and, more recently, Eric Carle. The 2005 medal was awarded to Lawrence Yep, who has given voice to the Chinese American experience, with 55 books over a 30 year period. The Phoenix Award, established in 1985, is presented annually by the Children’s Literature Association to a book originally published in English 20 years previously that did not receive a major award at the time of its publication. For example, E. L. Konigsburg, author of the Newbery awardwinning books, From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (1977, reissue) and The View from Saturday (1998a, reprint), was honored for her collection of five short stories, Throwing Shadows (Aladdin, reprint, 1998b), first published in 1978.

Canada The Canadian Library Award, established in 1947, is presented by the Canadian Library Association to the author of the best children’s book published in Canada. The Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award, established in 1971 by the Canadian Association of Children’s Librarians, honors the best illustrated book for children published in Canada by a Canadian illustrator. The Governor-General’s Awards for Children’s Literature, established in1975, were originally called the Canada Council Children’s Literature Prizes. Awards are presented to the best books by Canadian citizens published in Canada or elsewhere. Two separate juries select one Englishlanguage book and one French-language book. Awards for illustration were added in 1977–78.

United Kingdom Outstanding children’s books in the United Kingdom are presented the Carnegie Medal by the Youth Libraries Group of the British Library Association. Established in 1937, this award was initially limited to English

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writers whose books were published in England. Beginning in 1969, books written in English and published first, or concurrently, in the United Kingdom have been eligible. Books published in the United Kingdom are also eligible for the popular Smarties Book Prize, administered by Book Trust, an independent charity that promotes books and reading. It was first awarded in 1985 and is “designed to stimulate interest in children’s literature and encourage children to enjoy reading.’’ The prestigious Whitbread Award also celebrates a Children’s Book of the Year. The Kate Greenaway Award, named for the artist who brought warmth and beauty to children’s illustrated books, is presented to the best illustrated picture book published in the United Kingdom.

Australia The Australian Children’s Book of the Year Award is presented annually by the Children’s Book Council of Australia. From 1946 to 1952, there was only a single award category; now there are five, which include recognition for picture books, information books, and books for early childhood, younger, and older readers.

New Zealand The New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, sponsored by the New Zealand Post, were established in 1997 and are awarded to books published in five categories, plus a Book of the Year. In 2003, the award was presented to Margaret Mahy for Alchemy (2003).

International The Hans Christian Anderson International Medal was established in 1956 by the International Board on Books for Young People. It honors authors and illustrators from countries around the world and is presented every 2 years to a living author and illustrator whose total works have made an outstanding contribution to children’s literature. Each of the five members of the award committee represents a different country. In 1956, Eleanor Farjeon of Great Britain, who also won a Carnegie Medal for The Little Bookroom (2003, reissue) that year, received the first award by the International Board on Books for Young People.

APPENDIX D

Student Forms and Guidelines

To Accompany Chapter 7: Individual Reading Conferences

Identify the Genre—Primary I. What kind of book is this? • Is this book about real persons, places, or things? Then it is Nonfiction. Write the name of the book in the space below. • What kind of nonfiction book is it? Underline the one that describes your book the best. Biography—tells the story of a famous person’s life Informational—gives you information about such things as science, health, math, history, geography, art, people, weather, animals, or plants Entertainment—puzzles, jokes, riddles, puns, cartoons II. Circle the kinds of things that helped you enjoy and understand this book: index table of contents illustrations drawings pictures charts

maps glossary preface afterward epilogue photographs

III. Does this book tell a story that was made up by the author? If it does, then it is Fiction. • Write the name of the book in the space below. IV. What kind of fiction book is it? Read the descriptions and decide: • Traditional stories—myths, legends, folktales, fairy tales, or tall tales. They sometimes begin with the words “Once upon a time . . . ” or “A long time ago . . . . ” There may be strange creatures, great powers, magic, and great bravery. 354

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• Modern fantasy—stories about things that could not happen, such as animals talking, time travel, or tiny people who live in clocks. They are similar to traditional stories, but they take place in more recent times. • Historical fiction—stories from history that might have real persons, places, or events, but the story is imagined. • Contemporary fiction—stories that are about everyday life. V. Does your book have verses that rhyme or have rhythm or repetition? Then your book is a poetry book. Write the name of the book below. • What kind of poetry book is it? Underline the ones that apply: Narrative poem—tells a story Lyrical poetry—verses that sing Poetry collections—a number of verses about one thing Anthology—a collection of many kinds of poems

Identify the Genre—Intermediate 1. Is this book fiction (a story), nonfiction (facts or information), or poetry (written in verse)? 2. When you have answered question #1, then ask: What kind of fiction (nonfiction or poetry) is this? Check the categories for the characteristics of your book: Fiction—A book that tells a story created by the author. • Traditional stories—myths, legends, folktales, fairy tales, tall tales. They may begin with: “Once upon a time . . . ” or “A long time ago . . . . ” These stories feature strange creatures, great powers, magic, and great bravery. • Modern fantasy—stories about things that could not happen, such as animals talking, time travel, or tiny people who live in clocks. These stories may be similar to traditional stories, but they take place in more recent times. • Historical fiction—stories from history that might have real persons, places, or events, but the story is imagined. • Contemporary fiction—stories about everyday life, created by an author. Nonfiction—A book that is a true story or gives true information. • Biography—the story of a real person’s life. Usually about someone whose achievements or courage have made a significant contribution to others. • Informational books—books that describe or explain words or ideas about history, science, geography, math, music, art, or sports.

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Special Features of Informational Books index table of contents maps glossary of terms charts photographs pictures afterward drawings notes

Types of Literature: A Genre Checklist—Intermediate Underline each kind of book as you read it. Beside each type of book, write the country or culture of its origin. Where provided, underline the appropriate category. Write the title of the book in the space below the category. Legend Myth Folktale Fairy tale Tall Tale Fable Modern Fantasy Historical Fiction

Country/Culture: Country/Culture: Country/Culture: Country/Culture: Country/Culture: Country/Culture: Country/Culture: United States: 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 21stcentury life, inventions, Native Americans, wars Historical Fiction Asia Europe Africa South America Canada Middle East Contemporary Fiction United States Native American Contemporary Fiction Asia Europe Africa South America Canada Middle East Poetry English Asian Native American African European Hispanic Types Lyric Narrative Ballad Concrete Free verse Haiku Other Biography U.S. European African Asian Hispanic Native American Informational Science History Geography Art Math Health Space Sports Environment Local regional national international Multicultural Picture Books

Genre: Genre:

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Student Reading Conference Preparation: Primary • • • • • • • • • •

Pages to read aloud Pictures to show Problems How I solved them Difficult words How I figured them out What the story was about My favorite part Why I liked this book Kind of book

Student Conference Preparation: Intermediate • Prepare a short passage to read aloud (one or two paragraphs) from your book. Write the page number in your reading notebook (bookmark pages for picture books). • When you read aloud to the teacher, tell what happened before the part where you read. After you read, tell what happened afterward. • These are some things you might talk about during conferences. Make notes or record page numbers to help you remember your responses. Words that were difficult. How I solved them. Ideas or situations that were hard to understand: page numbers. What the story was about. Briefly tell what happened. What you liked most about this book. Your favorite part of the book. Favorite character. Favorite picture. Kind of book. (Use the book identification form.) Books like this that you’ve read before (same genre or topic). The message of the story. Ways the author made the characters real. How the author established the mood of the story. Special features in informational books: indexes, maps, pictures, photographs Note anything else you’d like to talk about.

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Student Preconference Memo to Teacher (Fill in and give to the teacher at least a day before you plan a conference.) Name

Title of Book

A question I’d like to answer: Plans for sharing the book:

To Accompany Chapter 8: Writing to Learn

Guidelines for Biographical Writing: Primary and Intermediate • • • • • • • • •

Early life facts: Early life anecdote: Adult life facts: Adult life anecdote: Contributions to society facts: Contribution to society anecdote: Later life: End of life: Sources: book, magazine, encyclopedia, newspaper, diary, journal, interview, other

To Accompany Chapter 9: Listening and Speaking

Oral Reading Exercises Practice reading the following sentences using the volume (vary between loud and soft), pacing (fast and slow), and tone of your voice (high and low pitch) to communicate the content. • The snow fell from the darkened sky in quiet heaps around the barn. • Rain began with a steady “plink, plink, plink’’ on the tin roof of the lean-to. • Great streaks of lightening brightened the sky, while thunder rolled on and on and on, pounding the air like a giant hammer. When you read the following sentences, use your voice to create a picture of each one. • Slowly, the lion arched himself to his feet, baring his teeth. “What do you mean, disturbing my sleep?” he roared. • “What do you want?” I asked the kitten. She responded with a tiny but brave “meow.”

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• As the pterodactyl flashed over my head, its deafening cry flattened me to the ground. • “Where are you going?” the cobra hissed. “I would be happy to show you the ruins, if you have the time,” he added, as he coiled up into a ring. Use your voice to describe the sad, fearful, angry, happy, excited emotions in the following: • Panic rose in my chest and my teeth began to chatter uncontrollably. Fear was in every cell of my body, shaking me apart. • I took the hated skates and flung them to the ground. Then, I picked them up and threw them down again and again, until I no longer had strength to show how angry I still felt. • I held the owl in my arms, joyous with relief. I stroked his wet feathers and whispered over and over again, “Thank you, thank you, thank you for coming home!” • What could it mean? Were we not to enter our new homeland after all? After all the years of waiting, I could not believe it could be so. In a moment we would know if all our hopes and dreams were finally to come true. • I looked at the small ball of fur lying beneath the tree and felt as if my heart would break. It had no chance against the elements, and I was too late to make any difference in its survival. Practice reading the exercises above or anything of your choice into the tape recorder. When you play it back, notice the following: • • • •

Can you easily understand the words? Does your voice show emotion? Does your reading have variety in volume and expression? Do you read slowly and with enough volume to be understood?

Practice reading aloud with a partner in different settings: your room at home, outdoors, or on the playground. Notice how your voice must change in these different settings to be heard and understood by listeners.

List of Book Response Activities for FAST • Present a 5-minute drama based on an event in your book. • Share additional research about an author, illustrator, or book topic that will increase a reader’s appreciation of a book. • Share responses to letters written to authors. • Host a game show based on information in a book. • Interview the main character in a story. • Present a newscast based on the story. • Create a magazine with pictures, based on the story. • Share research on the geography or history of the setting in a book.

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• When many students have read the book, act out scenes and ask the class to guess the character. • Host a TV talk show based on the characters, events, or topic of your book. • Create a cartoon, an editorial, or a feature for a newspaper based on the events, topic, or characters in your book. • Create a conversation between characters of different books you have read, such as Harry Potter and Charlie Bone or Laura Ingalls and Caddie Woodlawn. • Create a newspaper or magazine from a time period. • Talk about food from a particular place or time in your book. Bring samples. • Talk about clothes from a particular place or time in your book. Try to create an outfit similar to one in the book. • Play or sing music from the time or place of your book. • Perform and/or teach a dance from a time or place in your book. • Bring artifacts for display, such as photographs or historical items, related to the book. • Make and display/talk about artifacts you have made that tell something about your book, such as a lunchbox burglar alarm from Dear Mr. Henshaw (Cleary, 2000) or Cobble’s Knot from Maniac Magee (Spinelli, 1999).

FAST Proposal (Please submit by Thursday of each week.) Name(s) of Presenter(s) Title of book or books Brief description of presentation Time required (limit—10 minutes): Guidelines for Preparing Your Presentations 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

What part of this book do I want to share? What are some ways that it could be shared? Is this a new genre? Is this a new kind of presentation? Will this presentation be displayed or talked about? Will what I have planned fit into 10 minutes? Should I ask for more time? Have I practiced the presentation at least three times? (More, if needed.) From past presentations, is there something I want to improve? Will I need props? What kind of space will I need?

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FAST Presentation Review Form Name 1. What did you like?

2. What did you learn?

3. How about . . . . ? (Make suggestions that might help improve this presentation. Be specific and positive.)

FAST Presentation Record Name: Names of students you’ve worked with on presentations: Dates when you have introduced presentations. (Use this form: Record October 4, 2007 as 10/4/07) Put a check mark beside each kind of presentation you have made: display of writing display of art display of artifacts book sharing reading aloud drama puppets TV show interview newspaper Put a check mark beside each type of literature you have shared: traditional literature modern fantasy modern fiction historical fiction poetry biography multicultural books nonfiction: science, social science, art, other

APPENDIX E

Teacher Forms and Guidelines

To Accompany Chapter 5: Guided Reading

Personal Response to Literature These questions help assess the reader’s identification with the characters, situation, or values and help students gain insight into behavior of the characters in the story: • • • • • • • •

Tell me what you liked about this book. Describe your favorite character. Tell me who you admired most in the story. Did any of the characters remind you of anyone you know? Why do you think this character did this? Why do you think this character changed beliefs? behavior? What do you think of this character’s behavior? Could this character have done this differently?

Comprehension This type of question helps students look for the main idea of a story, to make inferences, to read critically, and assess the purpose of the author: What was this story about? Tell me the story. Tell me what you think the message of this story was. What do you think the main character learned? What happened first, next? What happened in the beginning of the story, the middle, the end? What would have happened if this character did this instead of that? • How would this story change in a different setting? (geographical, historical) • • • • • • •

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• What do you think the author wanted you to feel when you read this book? • Why do you think the author wrote this story?

Mechanics These kinds of questions help you observe student skill in word analysis, pronunciation, vocabulary, study skills, and attention to details. • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

What does this word say? Does it look like any other word you know? Can you tell what this word is by reading other words around it? Can you figure out this word by looking at the pictures? How did you figure out the pronunciation of this word? How did you figure out what this word means? What sound does this word start with? End with? What is the sound in the middle? How do you know? Show me how you use the index, table of contents, glossary. Can you show me where this is on the map? How did you find out more about this place, time, author, book? Where in the story did it tell about . . . ? Did that happen in the beginning, middle, or end? Tell me what these pictures (photographs, drawings, paintings) tell you about the story (characters, setting, mood).

Sense of Audience These questions involve a demonstration of skill in oral reading, interpretation, and retelling a story in brief. Read me your favorite part, page, paragraph, scene. Read something about your favorite character, setting. What have you decided to read to me? What are you going to share with me today? Show me how the author might hear this character talking. Show me how you think the author might want this scene read. Would this character talk in a special way? Show me with your voice how scared, happy, angry, or hurt this character was. • Show me with your voice how windy, cold, hot, or stormy the weather was. • Very quickly, tell me the main parts of the story. • Tell me the story in your own words. • • • • • • • •

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To Accompany Chapter 7: Independent Reading Conferences

Sample Skills Checklist for Kindergarten • Recognizes these words: • Letter recognition: capitals lowercase • • • •

Initial sounds Ending sounds Rhymes Vowels: long short

• Blends • Punctuation: period question mark exclamation point • Student understands: main idea characters author fiction/nonfiction illustrations • Student has read these books:

Sample Skills Checklist for Kindergarten/ Early Primary/Developmental Key: Acceptable + Needs work / Check again? • Oral reading: smooth unhesitant pleasant tone

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good rate accurate • Uses: context index table of contents maps graphs illustrations endings—rhymes • Can recognize or apply: two-vowel rule vowels + R silent E vowels: long, short vowel diphthongs: long and short oo, au, oi syllables compound words consonant digraphs sh, ch, ph, th soft C soft G

Sample Skills Checklist for Late Primary/Intermediate Key: identifies + unsure / • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

figurative language simile metaphor personification irony onomatopoeia synonyms antonyms homonyms homographs foreshadowing plot character development main idea genres parts of a book (index, table of contents, glossary, section headings)

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Identifying the Genre: Kindergarten Symbols for individual portfolios and chart display: Toy books—picture of a toy Easy to read—book with words Wordless—book with pictures Counting—numbers Alphabet—letters Nursery rhymes—Mother Goose Concept—time, length, opposites

• • • • • • •

To Accompany Chapter 8: Writing to Learn

Writing Conference Form Name Date Work Title Type of Writing Comments

Sample Questions for Writing Conference 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Read me what you have written. Read your favorite part. What do you like best about what you’ve written? What do you think is most successful about this work? What are you trying to say? What is the main idea? Are you having any problems? What would you like to improve? Let’s look at the genre guidelines. Tell me how you have tried to address them. 10. Did you check to see how another author solved this problem? 11. Did you read your story aloud to anyone else? What did they have to say? 12. What are your writing plans for the next week (day, 2 weeks)? Comments:

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Additional Follow-up Questions • Is this part as clear as you can make it? Read it to me again, and then we’ll think about it some more. • Why don’t you bring this chapter to the author’s chair for some suggestions? How about reading it to someone else to see what they think? • I’m not sure I understand this part. Tell me about it in your own words. Do you think you said all that in your writing? I would understand it better if you told me more about . . . . • If I were reading this sentence, I wouldn’t be sure how the character felt. Could you add some of his/her thoughts here? Could you help me understand it better with a different punctuation mark? • Could you compare this to something else that would help me understand how cold (surprised, frightened, angry) your character was? • Do you have some evidence that this really happened? Where could you look or who could you interview to find out the facts about this? • Could you add more information here? Would it add interest to interview someone who was there (knows about this)? Can you call on your own experience to add some background here? What could you add to the description of this scene to help the reader see it more clearly?

Writing Skills Checklist: Primary/Intermediate Exceptional Handwriting Appearance of work Sentence formation Paragraphs Vocabulary Word use Decoding skills Idea Spelling Clarity Consistency Sequence Genre accuracy Characterization Authenticity Accurate use of terms

Adequate

Developing

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Author Index

A Adams, R., 47, 369 Aesop, 86, 369 Afflerbach, P., 132, 369 Altwater, B., 289, 369 Alvarez, J., 351, 369 Anderson, R., 55, 73, 74, 369, 372, 378 Anno, M., 86, 369 Applebaum, M., 90, 369 Applebee, A., 369 Appleton, V., 96, 369 Archambault, J., 7, 107, 238, 376, 377 Armstrong, W., 56, 369 Asher, S., 54, 382 Asher, S., 74, 369 Ashton-Warner, S., 190, 224, 369 Atwell, N., 31, 216, 369 Avi, 369

B Baker, A., 369 Bang, M., 162, 369 Baratta-Lorton, M., 270, 369 Barhydt, F., 307, 369 Barry, A., 378 Beane, J., 369 Benet, W., 167, 369 Benson, J., 259, 369 Berk, L., 152, 370 Berstein, L., 370 Biddle, B., 264, 372 Blackburn, E., 370 Bloom, B., 74, 370 Bober, N., 324, 370 Boskwill, J., 22, 370 Boston, L., 59, 276, 370 Boutwell, M., 225, 370 Bray, E., 265, 370 Brett, J., 9, 235, 288, 329, 370, 375 Briggs, R., 41, 370

Brink, C., 198, 370 Britton, J., 183, 370 Brookes, M., 329, 370 Brown, M., 9, 370 Bruchac, J., 276, 370 Bruner, J., 151, 152, 263, 370 Burk, C., 297, 371 Burke, C., 22, 374 Burnett, F., 370 Burns, M., 334, 370 Bushey, J., 61, 370 Butterworth, O., 202, 370 Byars, B., 100, 370

C Calkins, L., 225, 370 Carle, E., 8, 9, 157, 270, 271, 333, 370 Carpenter, S., 371 Carter, D., 8, 371 Caudill, R., 371 Chertok, B., 325, 371 Choi, S., 116, 118, 169, 371 Chomsky, C., 54, 371 Christie, J., 335, 371 Christopher, J., 371 Churchland, P., 37, 306, 371 Cleary, B., 60, 256, 360, 371 Cochran-Smith, M., 182, 183, 371 Codell, E. R., 47, 78, 104, 371 Coerr, E., 21, 371 Cohen, B., 351, 371 Cohen, D., 54, 371 Cohn, A., 48, 371 Collier, C., 280, 371 Collier, J., 280, 371 Connor, D., 74, 371 Cooper, F., 324, 371 Cooper, S., 87, 371 Cosgrove, S., 54, 371 Cox, C., 69, 280, 371

383

384 Crafton, L., 297, 371 Crawford, L., 335, 371 Creech, S., 89, 327, 371 Cullinan, B., 371

D Dahl, R., 201, 372 Daniels, H., 79, 105, 382 Davidson, M., 198, 372 Day, F., 183, 372 DeFord, D., 104, 372 Degens, T., 351, 372 DeJong, M., 68, 372 Delamont, S., 264, 372 Demi, 21, 372 dePaola, T., 59, 372 Dewey, J., 72, 103, 372 DiCamillo, K., 87, 372 Dickinson, E., 46, 372 Dixon, F., 96, 372 Dooling, M., 276, 378 Dorros, A., 90, 372 Dressel, J., 104, 372 Duckworth, E., 305, 372 Duggins, J., 74, 372 Dunkin, M., 264, 372 Durkin, D., 55, 372

E Eckhoff, B., 104, 372 Eeds, M., 124, 131, 372, 378 Egan, K., 306, 372 Elley,W., 54, 372 Erlich, A., 86, 373 Ernst, K., 372 Estes, E., 21, 372 Evans, E., 351, 372

F Fader, D., 74, 372 Farjeon, E., 353, 372 Feitelson, D., 379 Fielding, L., 74, 372 Fietelson, D., 54, 373 Fine, A., 351, 373 Finn, T., 74, 372 Fish, H., 350, 373 Fisher, B., 7, 373 Fisher, S., 256, 373 Fleischman, P., 124, 373 Fleming, D., 156, 373 Flores, B., 289, 369 Forbes, E., 280, 373

Author Index Forest, H., 9, 373 Fountoukidis, D., 153, 373 Fox, M., 79, 105, 373 Fox, P., 373 Frank, A., 88, 328, 373 Fry, E., 153, 373

G Galda, L., 371 Galdone, P., 9, 373 Gallas, K., 182, 323, 333, 373 Gantos, J., 100, 373 Gardiner, J., 21, 373 Gelman, R., 57, 373 George, J., 116, 165, 256, 373 Gibbons, G., 373 Gilden, M., 87, 373 Gillespie, J., 65, 132, 373 Glenn, C., 380 Goldstein, Z., 54, 373, 379 Gollub, M., 162, 373 Goode, D., 86, 373 Goodman, K., 7, 20, 225, 373 Goodman, Y., 225, 373 Graham, K., 373 Graves, D., 226, 373 Greaney, V., 74, 373 Green, J., 373 Griffin, P., 334, 370 Grossman, B., 112, 374

H Haddix, M., 68, 374 Halliday, M., 374 Hamilton, V., 35, 247, 374 Hannigan, K., 68, 374 Harker, J., 373 Harste, J., 22, 374 Hart, L., 306, 374 Harwayne, S., 225, 370 Haugaard, E., 350, 374 Heath, S., 183, 374 Helton, S., 307, 374 Hepler, S., 132, 374 Herman, P., 378 Hesse, K., 89, 124, 166, 374 Hickman, J., 121, 132, 183, 374 Hiebert, E., 55, 73, 369 Hirschfeld, G., 325, 371 Hobbs, W., 142, 374 Holdaway, D., 20, 374 Holm, A., 374 Holm, J., 246, 374

Author Index

385

Jacobs, J., 74, 381 Jeffers, S., 89, 374 Johnson, C., 329, 374

Lee, H., 81, 376 Lehr, S., 104, 376 Lester, J., 376 Levstik, L., 306, 376 Lewis, C., 86, 99, 316, 376 Libson, E., 132, 376 Lindgren, A., 257, 376 Little, J., 376 Lloyd-Jones, R., 243, 376 Lobel, A., 55, 57, 100, 376, 379 Long, N., 340, 376 Lowry, L., 80, 81, 169, 239, 250, 376 Lunsford, A. A., 243, 376 Lynn, J., 100, 376 Lyttle, R., 324, 376

K

M

Kalman, B., 34, 374 Kanduri, K., 90, 374 Kantor, S., 56, 375 Keats, E., 271, 313, 375 Keeler, S., 61, 375 Keene, C., 96, 375 Kellogg, S., 375 Kelner, L., 335, 375 Kepler, J., 375 Kepler, P., 375 Kherdian, D., 169, 375 Kiefer, B., 132, 183, 375 Kimmel, E., 9, 165, 375 King, N., 335, 375 King-Smith, D., 201, 375 Kita, B., 54, 373, 379 Knox, E., 375 Konnigsburg, E., 351, 375 Kovacs, D., 184, 375 Kress, J., 153, 373 Kristo, J., 65, 132, 377 Kroeber, T., 142, 375 Krull, K., 351, 375 Kubler, A., 313, 375

Macaulay, D., 31, 61, 376 Mackintosh, H., 243, 376 MacLachlan, P., 103, 376 Mahy, M., 352, 376 Manushkin, F., 163, 376 Marshall, J., 100, 376 Martin, A., 97, 376 Martin, B., Jr., 7, 107, 238, 376, 377 Martin, R., 85, 377 Martinez, M., 54, 131, 377, 379 Mathewson, G., 74, 377 McClosky, R., 286, 377 McClure, A., 65, 131, 132, 226, 377 McCracken, M., 377 McCracken, R., 377 McDermott, G., 160, 377 McGee, L., 334, 377 McGovern, A., 9, 377 McLanathan, R., 324, 377 McMahon, S., 377 McMullan, K., 21, 377 McNeil, E., 74, 372 McQueen, L., 9, 377 Meddaugh, S., 377 Mehan, H., 243, 377 Meridith, R., 225, 373 Micklo, S., 307, 374 Mikaelsen, B., 115, 377 Milne, A., 288, 377 Morgan, P., 307, 369 Morgenstern, S., 377 Morpurgo, M., 328, 377 Morrow, L., 131, 377 Mosel, A., 312, 377 Mowat, F., 42, 61, 140, 288, 377

Holman, F., 374 Holtze, S., 183, 374 Hope, L., 96, 374 Horn, P., 56, 374 Hudson, J., 142, 374 Huey, E., 51, 374 Hutchins, P., 288, 374 Hyde, A., 79, 105, 382

I Inhelder, B., 378

J

L L’Engle, M., 126, 376 Lancia, P., 104, 375 Landau, E., 273, 375 Langer, J., 369 Langton, J., 99, 375 Lasky, K., 61, 375 Lawson, R., 375 Leal, D., 375 Lear, E., 288, 375

386 Mullis, V., 369 Munsch, R., 378 Murphy, J., 378 Muschla, G., 153, 226, 378 Muth, J., 9, 378 Myers, L., 276, 378 Myers, W., 280, 378

N Nagy, W., 378 National Geographic, 378 Nelson, M., 124, 378 Newman, G., 340, 376 Nimmo, J., 68, 87, 99, 141, 378 North, S., 43, 69, 195, 378 Norton, M., 87, 237, 378

O O’Dell, S., 32, 33, 116, 142, 151, 280, 351, 352, 378 O’Neal, Z., 324, 378 Osborne, M., 86, 100, 378 Owocki, G., 334, 378 Oxenbury, H., 351, 379 Oyler, C., 378

P Pappas, C., 306, 376 Partin, L., 307, 378 Pascal, F., 96, 378 Paulson, G., 115, 378 Pearson, D., 225, 381 Perez, L., 351, 378 Peterson, R., 378 Phelan, P., 335, 378 Piaget, J., 378 Pollack, P., 55, 378 Popp, J., 339, 378 Popp, M., 253, 295, 298, 343, 378, 379 Preller, J., 184, 375, 379 Prelutsky, J., 47, 55, 92, 379 Pullman, P., 87, 99, 379

R Raphael, T., 377 Raskin, E., 49, 379 Redl, F., 340, 341, 379 Revenson, T., 380 Richgels, D., 334, 377 Robb, L., 307, 379 Rohman, E., 68, 379 Root, P., 351, 379 Rosenberg, H., 264, 379 Rosenblatt, L., 72, 130, 379 Rosenhouse, J., 379

Author Index Roser, N., 54, 131, 377, 379 Rosh, M., 325, 371 Routman, R., 7, 31, 379 Rowling, J., 86, 98, 379 Royse, B., 375 Russell, W. F., 379 Rutland, J., 237, 379 Ryan, P., 379 Rylant, C., 57, 130, 379

S Sachs, M., 379 Samuel, W., 380 Santoro, C., 162, 380 Say, A., 94, 380 Schertle, A., 10, 380 Schoenherr, J., 288, 382 Scott, J., 55, 73, 369 Selden, G., 19, 380 Sendak, M., 13, 380 Sewell, A., 96, 380 Shepard, A., 90, 380 Shepard, E., 288, 377 Short, K., 22, 374 Siks, G., 264, 380 Silverstein, S., 47, 55, 89, 380 Singer, D., 380 Sis, P., 58, 380 Smith, D., 380 Smith, E., 225, 373 Smith, F., 20, 380 Smucker, B., 35, 380 Snicket, L., 99, 141, 380 Snow, C., 334, 370 Sobol, D., 61, 380 Speare, E., 32, 116, 280, 380 Sperry, A., 116, 380 Spier, P., 351, 380 Spinelli, J., 44, 248, 360, 380 Spyri, J., 96, 380 Stein, N., 380 Steptoe, J., 351, 380 Stevens, J., 9, 375 Stevenson, R., 380 Stine, R., 97, 380 Stolz, J¨oelle, 351, 380 Stotsky, S., 226, 380 Strouf, J., 153, 380 Suarez-Rivas, M., 56, 380

T Tanaka, S., 58, 380 Taylor, M., 351, 380

Author Index Taylor, S., 351, 380 Taylor, T., 17, 21, 116, 118, 380, 381 Teale, W., 54, 377, 381 Thaiss, C., 296, 381 The Horn Book, Inc., 65, 374 The Reading Teacher, 7, 31, 379 Tierney, R., 225, 381 Tobias, T., 118, 324, 381 Tolkien, J., 99, 381 Tompkins, G., 226, 381 Travers, P., 332, 381 Trelease, J., 47, 53, 59, 78, 104, 381 Tresselt, A., 236, 381 Tsuchiya, Y., 21, 381 Tunnell, M., 68, 74, 381

387 Weaver, C., 152, 381 Wells, D., 124, 131, 372 Wells, G., 264, 381 Wells, R., 246, 310, 382 West, T., 90, 382 Westall, R., 69, 382 White, E. B., 3, 11, 21, 39, 202, 382 Whitman, P., 22, 370 Wigfield, A., 54, 382 Wilder, L., 24, 25, 27, 98, 382 Wilkinson, I., 55, 73, 369 Wilson, P., 74, 372 Winograd, P., 149, 382 Winship, M., 296, 382 Witman, P., 22, 370

V Van Loon, H., 350, 381 Veatch, J., 381 Vernerio, J., 56, 381 Voigt, C., 381 Vygotsky, L., 152, 182, 381

Y

W

Z

Waber, B., 381 Ward, L., 318, 381 Warner, G., 96, 381 Wattenberg, W., 340, 341, 379

Zelinsky, P., 55, 378 Zemelman, S., 79, 105, 382 Zhensun, Z., 324, 382 Zimmerman, B., 237, 264, 382

Yaden, D., 226, 381 Yep, L., 256, 382 Yolen, J., 86, 169, 288, 382 Young, E., 318, 382

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Subject Index

A A Bad Beginning, 99, 141 A Wrinkle in Time, 202, 320 Abuela, 90 Academic skills, 147, 148 Accelerated Reading program, 71, 127 Achievement tests, 304, see also Testing ACTS technique, 295 Adventures with Books: A Booklist for Pre-K–Grade 6, 132 Adventuring with Books, 65 Aesop’s Fables, 86 ALA, see American Library Association All About Sam, 80 Allegories, 87 Alliteration, 29, 78 All-of-a-Kind Family, 351 Alphabet, 108, 109–110, 194 Alphabet book, creation, 29 Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustrator’s Award, 352 American Library Association (ALA), 346, 348 Among the Hidden, 68, 100 Analogical thinking, 300 Anasi the Spider, 160 Anastasia Krupnik, 80 Anecdotal records, 149, see also Mini-lessons Animals in the Bible, 350 Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, 328 Applause, modeling, 238 Argentina, 14–15 Art, 323–325, 331 Art centers, 315 Art history, 320–323 Artistic expression, 301 Artistic responses, 126 Artists, 325, 332 Assignments, making, 178 Attention span, 51, 58 Attentiveness, 204, 205

Audience author’s chair in writer’s workshop, 217 Friday Afternoon Sharing Time experiences, 261 individual reading conferences, 165 interests and reading aloud, 47–48 listening/speaking activities, 256–257 puppet theater, 252, 253 sense of mini-lessons, 143–144 teacher forms/guidelines, 363 writing to create meaning, 199 Australia, 353 Australian Children’s Book of the Year Award, 353 Author’s chair, 203–205, 216 Authors, 6, 142 Autobiographies, 80, 81 Autonomy, increasing, 172 Autumn Street, 81 Awards, 350–353

B Babe the Gallant Pig, 201–202 Babysitter Club, The, 97 Bare Bear Facts, The, 286 Basal reading program, 150, 181 Basal textbooks, 128–129, see also Textbooks Bear theme unit, 286–287 Bear’s House, The, 317 Bearstone, 142, 143 Because of Winn Dixie, 87 Before We Were Free, 351 Behavior, disruptive, 340, 344 Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, 167 Best bets review, 67–68 Best Books for Children, 65, 132 Best Practices, 79–80, 105 Big Book of Picture-Book Authors & Illustrators, The, 184

389

390 Big Books, see also Picture books; Wordless books kindergarten guided reading, 107–111, 119, 123–124 language/literature learning, 9 preparation of literature base, 85 Big Mama Makes the World, 351 Binders, three-ring, 208 Biographical writing, 358 Biographies importance of expression through art, 324 language/literature learning, 18 preparation of literature base, 88–89 research about literature in content areas, 306 writing to create meaning, 197, 201 Birthdays, 4 Black Beauty, 96 Blitzcat, 69 Blueberries for Sal, 286 Bobbsey Twins, The, 96 Bonding, teacher–student, 181, see also Reading conferences Book Buddy program guided reading, 114, 127 independent reading, 60, 62 individual reading conferences, 166, 179 listening/speaking activities, 244, 252 partnership building and reading aloud, 52 Book clubs, 82–83, 94–95, 97 Book format, 121, see also Guided reading Book Links, 65 Booklist, 348 Bookmarks, 11, 59, 117 Book previews, 245–246, 276 Book selection literature, 346–349 Book talks, 68 Books high-quality, 98 independent reading, 60, 67 literature base preparation, 84–91 reading aloud, 45 theme activities, 292 writing to create meaning, 198, 201 Books on tape/CD, 122 Bookstores, 324 Borrowers, The, 237 Boston Globe–Horn Book Awards for Excellence in Children’s Literature, 350–351 Boston Jane Series, 246 Boxcar Children, The, 96 Brain, 37 Brainstorming, 252 Bruner, Jerome, 151–152 Bunny Money, 246

Subject Index

C Caldecott Award, 347, 350 Calico Captive, 280 Call It Courage, 116 Canada, 352 Canadian Library Award, 352 Capitals, 12, 186 Captions, 185–187, 210, 211 Capture, The, 61 Caretaking skills, 148 Carnegie Award, 352–353 Carnival of the Animals, 313 Carver, 124 Castle, 61 Categorization, 273 Cay, The, 116, 118 Celebrity readers, 51–52 Chanukkah Guest, The, 165 Chapter books, 41, 43 Characters, 49, 168, 170–171 Charlie Bone and the Time Twister, 141 Charlotte’s Web, 39–41 Chart easels, 207–208 Chart lists, 213–214 Charts exploring social studies, 277 independent reading, 66 language/literature learning, 11, 20 listening/speaking activities and FAST, 254 mini-lessons, 145 Checklists, 149, 221, 364 Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, 107–109, 136, 156 Child–book connections, guided reading, 132 Children and Oral Language, 243 Children of the Greene Knowe, 99, 276 Children of the Red King, 141 Children’s Book Awards, 351 Children’s Book Council, 80, 347, 348 Children’s Choices Awards, 348 Children’s magazines, 31 Choral reading, 112 Christopher Columbus, 282–284, see also Sociodrama Chronic misbehavior, 339 Chronicles of Narnia, The, 99 Civil War enactment, 281–282 Class, individual reading conferences, 173–174 Class books, 9, 28 Class matrix, 299 Classification, literature, 85 Classroom aides, 5 Classroom behavior, 46, see also Reading aloud Classroom Connections, 346 Classroom library, 83

Subject Index Classroom visitors, 303 Clubs, language/literature learning, 24 Clues, reading aloud, 51 Cluster webs, 298 Colonial lifestyles, 33–35 Color/black & white movies, 316, 317–318 Color blindness, 208–209 Color coding, 208–209 Comfort, penmanship, 216 Common interests, 119, 120, see also Interests Common themes, 120, see also Themes Communication, handwriting goal, 216 Community members, 127, 330–331 Competence, 101, 142, 143 Competitions, 292–293 Composition skills, 54 Comprehension guided reading, 131 independent reading, 74 individual reading conferences, 162, 177 reading aloud, 54 teacher forms/guidelines, 362–363 Computers, 19, 208, 273–274, 287 word processors, 207 Concept learning, 330 traditional versus mini-lessons, 146 Concept level, 270 Conference notebook, 175, 218 Confidence, 162, 206 Conflicts, 229–230, 234, 315, 345 Connections creating and organizing ideas, 285–289 developing content areas, 306 Consensus statement, 241–242, 248–249 Consistency, penmanship, 216 Consultation time, 293 Content analysis, 58 Content area learning, 28, 36–37, 214 Content areas languages of learning evaluating, 301–302 if this is your situation, 303–304 intermediate classroom, 277–284 kindergarten, 268–272 partnership building, 302–303 personal library, 307 perspective, 305–306 preparing for theme activities, 290–293 presentation and exploring ideas and information, 293–299 primary classroom, 272–277 reflections of a teacher, 304–305

391 teacher-directed experiences to assist learning, 299–301 themes, 284–289 what research says about literature, 306 literature base for instruction, 91, 92 writing to create meaning, 206 Content–experience relationships, 20 Context cues, 159 Context, words, 26 Contrast, movies, 316 Controversial topics, 52 Conversations, 120–121, 176–177, 213 Coping strategies, 44–45 Core curriculum, 19, 21 Coretta Scott King Award, 351 Courage theme, 115, see also Themes Creating Classrooms for Authors, 22 Creative children, 292 Creative Classroom: A Guide for Using Creative Drama in the Classroom, PreK–6, The, 335 Creative drama, 235–236, 238–239, 249–250 Creative Drama and Imagination: Transforming Ideas into Action, 264 Creative responses, 294 Creative thinking, 87 Creativity, 148, 149, 318 Cricket, 62 Crispin: The Cross of Lead, 88 Critical listening skills, 256 Critical thinking skills, 249 Critique, books, 7 Cultural respect, 92 Cultural diversity, 19 Culture guided reading, 115–116 individual reading conferences, 163–164 internet search and exploring science, 274 language/literature learning, 14, 15, 16, 17, 31 mini-lessons, 142–143 myth story form and literature base, 86 selection of books for reading aloud, 47–48 speaking/listening, 259, 260 Current events, 27 Curriculum, 6, 28, 23, 223 objectives, 129, 146, 261 Cursive forms, handwriting, 215 Customs, 259

D Daily schedule, language/literature learning flexibility, 20 kindergarten, 6–11 Data charts, 299

392

Subject Index

David, 322 Dear Mr. Henshaw, 360 Debate, guided reading, 110 Decision making, 303 Decoding, 58, 62, 112 Departmentalized programs, 223 Descriptive words, 200–201 Details, books, 143, 144 Developmental spelling, see Spelling Devil’s Arithmetic, The, 168 Dialects, 260 Diamond in the Window, The, 99 Dictionary independent reading, 67 language/literature learning in third grade, 11, 12, 21 unfamiliar words and guided reading, 112 writing to create meaning, 196 Did You Carry the Flag Today, Charley? 91 Difficulty level, determining, 67 Diorama, 33 Discussion chains, 258–259 Discussion groups, 24–27 Discussion questions, 32–33, see also Questions Discussions, 117–118, 211–212 Display posters, 64–65 Displays, 207, 254 Disruptions, 338–339 Distractions, minimizing, see Learning, minimizing distractions District, objectives, 6 Disturbances, 174 Diversity, 19 Drafts, 19 Dragonwings: Golden Mountain Chronicles, 1903, 256 Drama, 49, 309–313 Drawing, 111, 211, 294, 329 Drawing with Children, 329 Dyslexia, 61, 62

English as a second language (ESL) individual reading conferences, 160–163 presentation of writing activities, 210 simile learning and mini-lessons, 140–141, 142 speaking/listening activities, 259 writing to create meaning, 189, 190–191, 193–194 English Coalition Conference: Democracy Through Language, The, 243 English proficiency, 120, 208, 210 Enormous Crocodile, The, 201 Enormous Egg, The, 202 Environment, 9–10, 36, 63, 64 Errors, 12, 13, 28, 199–200 Eruptive episodes, 339 ESL, see English as a second language Ethnic minorities, 90 Eugene Onegin, 167, 170 Evaluation choosing the best literature, 93–101 guided reading, 126 independent reading program, 70–71 individual reading conferences, 179–180 language/literature learning, 28 learning in content areas, 301–302 learning with journals, 297–298 listening/speaking, 238, 258–260 mini-lessons, 149 play and sharing time, 236 read-aloud experience, 50–51 writing development, 219–221 Events, 86, 192 Exceptions, spelling rules, 14 Expectations, distractions to learning, 338 Experience, 2 Exploratory talk, 243 Explorers, 35, 284 Expression, using, 49, see also Reading aloud Expressionism, 328

E

F

Early American day, 35 Early primary classrooms, 364–365, see also Primary classrooms Easels, 207–208 Easy reader books, 57, see also Big Books; Picture books; Wordless books Editing exercise, 11–13, 14 emails, 206 Emergencies, 339–340 Emotion, 164, 206 Emotional expression, 35 Encyclopedia, 34

Fables, 86 Facial expressions, 165 Fairy tales, 85–86 Family, 195–196, see also Meaning construction Fantasy, modern, 86–87, 201 Farmer Boy, 24–25 FAST, see Friday Afternoon Sharing Time Favorite books, 79 Feedback, 264 Feelings, expressing, 341 Fiction, 78, 85, 87–88, 115–116 Field trips, 7, 23, 35

Subject Index Fifth grade, 24–36, see also Intermediate classrooms Figurative language, 27, 29, 87, 114, 170 File folder, 216 Fine arts, 314–315 Fine motor skills, 287 First grade, 160–163, 286–287, see also Primary classrooms First reading conference, 176, see also Reading conference, individual First-year teaching, see Teaching Flexibility, 5, 20, 338 Folktales, 9, 85–86, 141 Follow-up, 344 Foods, 40, 42 Foreshadowing, books, 143, 144 Formal assessment, 10–11 Fourth grade, see also Intermediate classrooms art history, 320–323 independent reading, 60–62 theme topics that organize ideas and create connections, 288–289 Fox on the Job, 100 Frank, Anne, 88 Franklin, Benjamin, 34 Freedom, listening/speaking, 239–241 Frequency, independent reading, 62 Fresh approach, disruptive behavior, 342 Friday Afternoon Sharing Time (FAST) book response activities, 359–361 listening/speaking, 235–239, 253–256 presentation, 257 Friendship, The, 351 Friendships, 245 Frog and Toad Are Friends, 100 From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, 352 Funding, 207

G Game day, 33 Games, 3, 17–18, 35 Gathering Blue, 81, 82 Genres, 85, 171, 356, 366 Geology, 29 German Boy: A Child in War, 88–89 Gifted students, 292 Giver, The listening/speaking, 239–242, 250 student teaching and gaining experience with books, 80, 81, 82 Glory, 100 Glossaries, 28

393 Goals creating a literature base, 103 guided reading, 122 independent reading, 64, 70 individual reading conferences, 182 language/literature learning, 20 listening/speaking activities, 254 read-aloud experience, 50, 51 Golden Compass, The, 99 Golly Sisters Go West, The, 100 Good Night, Owl, 288 Goosebumps, 97 Government mandates, 129 Governor-General’s Awards for Children’s Literature, 352 Grammar for Teachers: Perspectives and Definitions, 152 Grammar, 12 Grammatical construction, 28–29, 34 Grand conversations, 131, see also Conversations Grandfather’s Journey, 94 Grandparents, 330–331 Graphing skills, 281 Greene Knowe stories, 99 Greeter, role, 232–234 Griswold the traveling bear, 5, 194–195 Group formation, mini-lessons, 147 Guest speakers, 222, 231–234 Guided reading coordination with writer’s workshop, 217 evaluation, 126 if this is your situation, 127–129 importance, 119–120 intermediate classroom, 115–119 kindergarten, 107–111 partnership building, 127 personal library, 132–133 perspectives, 130–131 preparation, 120–122 presentation, 122–126 primary classroom, 111–115 reflections of a teacher, 129–130 using literature base for instruction, 91 what research says, 131–132 Guidelines audience preparation, 256 independent reading, 63 individual reading conferences, 172, 179 individual writing conferences, 217 listening/speaking activities, 239–242, 245, 249, 251, 255–256 mini-lessons, 150 preparation for writing activities, 208

394

H Hall Family Chronicles, 99 Halloween, 274 Handwriting, 186–187, 214–215 Hans Christian Anderson International Medal, 353 Harold and the Purple Crayon, 329 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, 98 Harry Potter books, 98–99 Harry Potter movies, 316, 318 Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez, 351 Hatchet, 115–116, 117 Having Wonderful Ideas, The, 305 Health/safety presentations, 258–259 Hearing, exploring art in reverse, 326–327 Hearing impairment, 23, 42–43, 122, 208 Hearing problems, 179 Hearing support programs, 208 Heartbeat, 89, 327 Heidi, 96 Heritage, 88, 90 High-quality literature, what research says, 104 His Dark Materials trilogy, 99 Historical documents, 280, 281 Historical fiction, 205, 306 Historical societies, 302 Historical time lines, 300 Hobbit, The, 94, 99, 118 Holiday themes, 4, 9, 10 Holocaust, 88, 281 Home-school conversations, 261 Home-school writing, 191, 195 Horn Book, Inc., The, 346–347 Hornbook Magazine, The, 65 House of Dies Drear, The, 247 House of Sixty Fathers, The, 68 How to Get Your Child to Love Reading, 104–105 How to Tape Instant Oral Biographies: Recording Your Family’s Life Story in Sight and Sound, 237, 264 Humor, 55, 112–114, 341 Hypothesis testing, 18

I Ida B, 68–69 Idea sharing, 254, 255 Ideas guided reading, 123 independent reading, 64 language/literature learning, 6 organizing and creating connections, 285–289 student activities to explore and explain, 298–299 using language to explore, 293–299 Identification, characters, 87–88

Subject Index Illustrations awards for children’s literature in the United States, 350 exploring science with literature, 271 guided reading, 108, 113, 119, 121 individual reading conferences, 156, 160, 163 language/literature learning, 3, 4 reading aloud, 40, 41 silent sustained reading, 58 writing to create meaning, 190 Illustrators, 6 Imagination, creative drama, 250 Imagination stories, 269 Imaginative play, 314 In the Tall, Tall Grass, 156 Incidental learning, 142 Inclusion, 179 Independent reading disruptive behavior, 341–342 evaluation, 70–71 if this is your situation, 71–72 importance, 62–63 intermediate classroom, 60–62 kindergarten, 57–58 language/literature learning, 5, 7 minimizing distractions to learning, 338 partnership building, 71 personal library, 75 perspective, 72–73 preparation, 63–69 presentation and time management, 69–70 primary classroom, 58–60 reading aloud, 54 reflections of a teacher, 72 using literature base for instruction, 91 what research says, 73–74 Independent study time, 172, 174, 293–294 Index cards, 60, 61, 67, 208 Indexes, 28 Indigenous people, 280, 283–284 Individual differences, 19 Individual learning, 172, see also Reading conferences Inferences, 25, 121–122, 170 Information modeling, 216 Information processing, 37 Information sharing individual reading conferences class preparation, 173 first grade, 162, 163 kindergarten, 159 sixth grade, 168, 170 language/literature learning, 22, 28, 31

Subject Index teaching independent reading, 66 using language to explore ideas and information, 295 writing to create meaning, 190 Information sources, 291 Information transformation, 295 Informational books, 90–91, 356 Insect unit, 156–158 Insects, 271 Instruction, 83–84, 342 Instructional level, 166 Integrated language, 36–37 Interest bonds, 344 Interest(s) children’s compelling writing, 143 exploring social studies, 280 guided reading, 116, 123 independent reading, 62, 69, 74 individual reading conferences, 159, 160–161, 177–178 language/literature learning, 20, 22, 23, 26, 28 learning to read/write, 225 listening/speaking skills, 234, 245 read-aloud experience, 44, 50, 51 theme activities, 286, 292 using book clubs effectively, 95 writing to create meaning, 190, 191, 204, 205 teacher and dealing with disruptive behavior, 341 Intermediate classroom book previews and listening/speaking activities, 247–248 exercises to express responses to fine arts, 325–329 genre checklist, 356 guided reading, 121, 124–126 guidelines for biographical writing, 358 identifying the genre, 355–356 importance of expression through art, 324–325 reading conference preparation, 357 sample skill checklist, 365 writing skills checklist, 367 International awards, 353 International Reading Association (IRA), 75, 79, 348 Internet building partnerships and creating a literature base, 102 language/literature learning, 16, 31 science theme, 273–274 social studies themes, 278 teacher-directed experiences to assist learning, 300 Internet bookstores, 236, 238

395 Interpretation, 121–122, 162 Interruptions, 158, 174, 344–345 Introductions, mini-lessons, 147 Invented words, 159 Invitations, 7 Involvement, 128–129, 176 IRA, see International Reading Association Irony, 87 Ishi, the Last of His Tribe, 142 Island of the Blue Dolphins, 116, 117, 151, 261, 352

J Jamie and the Angus Stories, The, 351 Jane Adams Children’s Book Award, 351 Japanese Americans, 281 Joey Pizza Swallowed the Key, 100 Journals language/literature learning, 5, 27, 33 writing to create meaning, 196–197, 199 Journey from Peppermint Street, 351 Joyful Learning, 7 Joyful Noise: Poem for Two Voices, 124–125 Judging a book by its cover, 69 Julie of the Wolves, 116, 257 Junior Book of Authors, The, 183

K Kate Greenaway Award, 353 Key words, 187–191, 210 Kid watching, 10 Kindergarten evaluating learning with journals, 297 exercises to express responses to fine arts, 326–329 explore and explain ideas, 299 guided reading, 107–111, 123–124 identifying the genre, 366 importance of expression through art, 325 labeling and universal participation in writing activities, 208 language and literature teaching, 2–11 languages of expression, 309–312 listening/speaking activities, 246, 252, 254 mini-lessons, 138–138 reading aloud, 39–42 sample skills checklist, 364 talking murals, 290 writing activities preparation, 206–207 presentation, 210, 211 Kirkus Reviews, 83, 348 Knots on a Counting Rope, 238

396 Knowledge benefits of reading aloud, 55 developing listening/speaking skills, 243 preparation of literature base, 90–91 KWL, 6, 22, 288 KWLC technique, 34

L Labels, writing activities, 208 Language Arts, 75 Language development and mini-lessons, 152 exploring science in third grade, 273 preparation of literature base, 89 reading aloud, 45 skills development and play/artistic activity evaluation, 330 speaking/listening activities, 259 Language experience charts preparation for writing activities, 207, 211–213 writing to create meaning, 191–194 Language/literature, three classrooms research on integrating language and content area learning, 36–37 teachers’ views fifth-grade classroom, 24–36 kindergarten classroom, 2–11 third-grade classroom, 11–24 Language/writing, 297 Languages of expression evaluating play and artistic experiences, 330 if this is your situation, 331–332 importance expression through the arts, 323–325 media and literary, 318–319 play and fine arts in emerging literacy, 314 kindergarten drama and music, 312–313 play, drama, literacy, 309–312 movie and discussion, 319–323 partnership building, 330–331 personal library, 335 perspective of a teacher/researcher, 333–334 preparation, 314–315, 319 presentation exercises to express responses to fine arts, 325–330 introduction to play centers, 315–318 primary classroom, 316–318 reflections of the author, 332–333 what research says about play, language, and literature, 334–335

Subject Index Late primary classrooms, 365, see also Primary classrooms Latino Read-Aloud Stories, 56 Latkes and Applesauce: A Hanukkah Story, 163 Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal, 352 Learnals, 296, see also Journals; Learning journals Learners, considering all, 291–293 Learning guided reading, 122, 126 minimizing distractions adjust expectations, 338 analyzing causes, 338–339 anticipate responses, 337–338 normal, 339–340 other causes of misbehavior, 345 20 ways to deal with impulsive behaviors, 340–345 needs of students and mini-lessons, 144–145 teacher-directed experiences, 299–301 Learning journals, 295, 297 Learning reviews, 275 Learning webs, 11 Left handedness, 216, see also Handwriting Legends, 86 Legibility, 216, see also Handwriting Lesson planning, 79, see also Planning Letter of the Month, 4 Letters, 206, see also Meaning construction Letters from Rifka, 166 Lewis and Clark and Me: A Dog’s Tale, 276 Lewis and Clark expedition, 275–276 Librarians, 81, 101, 291 Library building in classrooms, 83 creating a literature base, 104–105 pre-teaching preparation, 80 creating an award-winning children’s literature, 93–94 independent reading, 75 languages of expression, 324, 335–336 reading aloud, 55–56 Library corner, 197 Limitations, computer word processors, 207 Lincoln, President Abraham, 18–19 Linguistic rules, 260 Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The, 86, 316, 320 Lips, letter sounds, 137 Listening, 9, 47, 92, 123, 176 Listening and speaking evaluation, 258–260 if this is your situation, 261–262

Subject Index importance of developing skills, 242–244 intermediate classroom, 239–242 kindergarten, 229–235 partnership building, 260–261 personal library, 264–265 perspective, 263–264 preparing for activities, 244–257 presentation of Friday afternoon sharing time, 257 primary classroom, 235–239 reflections of a teacher, 262–263 what research says, 264 Literacy guided reading, 114 importance, 318–319 language/literature learning, 6, 8 languages of expression, 309–312 primary classroom, 316–318 reading aloud, 46–47 Literacy props, 314, 315, 335 Literature discussion groups, 124–126 exploring in third grade, 272–275 impact and research in content areas, 306 importance of expression through art, 324–325 types and genre checklist for intermediate classroom, 356 using language to explore ideas and information, 296 Literature base, creating building partnerships, 101–102 evaluating children’s, 93–101 first-year teaching, 82–83 if this is your situation, 102 instruction, 83–84 perspective, 103 personal library, 104–105 preparation, 84–91 presentation, 91–93 pre-teaching, 77–80 reflections of a teacher, 103 student teaching, 80–82 what research has to say, 104 Literature groups, guided reading multiple titles in sixth grade, 115–119 third grade, 111–115 discussion and importance, 120 Literature journals, 126 Literature Teacher’s Book of Lists, The, 153 Little Bookroom, The, 353 Little Fishes, The, 350–351 Little House books, 98 Lively Learning: Using the Arts to Teach K–8 Curriculum, 335

397 Living history, 281 Lon Po Po: A Red Riding Hood Story from China, 318 London Bridge is Falling Down, 351 Looking Back, 81 Lord of the Rings, 318 Lost Tooth of the Month, 4 Louis Braille, 61

M Magazines, 65 Magic Tree House books, 99–100 Mailing May, 68 Mandated learning, 223, 303–304 Maniac Magee, 44–45, 248, 360 Manipulative materials, 300–301 Manuscript form, 215 Maps, 280 Marshall, Justice Thurgood, 18 Mary Poppins, 332 Materials availability and mini-lessons, 147 language/literature learning in kindergarten, 6 preparation for writing activities, 206–208 Mathematical questions, 270 Mathematics concepts development, 9 exploring with language, 268–270 language/literature learning, 15–16, 17–18, 28 practice and mandated situations, 304 using language to explore ideas and information, 296 Mathematics Their Way, 270 Meaning construction guided reading, 119 individual reading conferences, 161, 164, 165 language/literature learning, 13–14, 17 reading aloud, 42 Mechanical proficiency, 177 Mechanics, teacher forms/guidelines, 363 Media center, 102 Media, importance, 318–319 Media–literacy, 319 Media specialists, 101 Meet the Authors, 184 Meet the Authors and Illustrators, 184 Meet the Masterpieces, 325 Mentoring, 23, 292 Mentors, 208 Menus, languages of expression, 310–311 Messages, 168, 279 Messenger, 81, 82

398 Metaphors, 167, 171, 199 Michelangelo, 320–322, 323 Midnight for Charlie Bone, 68, 99 Mildren L. Batchelder Award, 351 Mini-lessons evaluation, 149 guided reading, 114, 126 if this your situation, 150–151 importance, 144–146 independent reading, 60, 66 individual reading conferences, 180 intermediate classroom, 142–144 kindergarten, 135–138 learning in content areas, 303–304 organizing science material, 273 partnership building, 150 personal library, 152–153 perspective, 151–152 preparation, 146–147 presentation, 147–149 primary classroom, 138–142 reflections, 151 speaking/listening activities, 244, 258 theme cycles, 291, 293 what research says, 152 writer’s workshop, 216 writing to create meaning, 200–203 Minority cultures, 260 Misconceptions, 258 Mitten, The, 328 Mitten: A Urkranian Folk Tale, The, 235–236 Modeling, 182, 208, 215–216, 234 Modern fantasy, see Fantasy Monitoring, 70, 124 Monster Trucks and Other Giant Machines on Wheels, 61 Moods, 41, 48 Morning Meeting, 5 Motel Mysteries, 31 Motivation, independent reading, 72–73 Mouth, letter sounds, 136, 137 Movies language/literature learning, 16, 32 presentation and discussion, 319–320 primary classroom, 316–318 Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, 351 Multicultural literature, 90 Multicultural publishers, 347 Multicultural Voices in Contemporary Literature, 183 Murals, 214 Museum educators, 332 Museums, 302, 323, 324

Subject Index Music exercises to express responses to fine arts, 326 exploring social studies, 277, 281 importance in emerging literacy, 314 language of expression, 312–313, 332 My Friend Rabbit, 68 My Side of the Mountain, 60–61, 165 Myths, 86

N Name game, 189 Naming, 214 Nancy Drew, 96 Narrative poem, 204 Narratives, 334 Narrators, 253 National Book Awards, 351 National Book Week, 51–52 National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), 75, 79 National Council of the Social Studies, 347 National Geographic, 61, 62 National Jewish Book Awards, 351 National Science Teacher’s Association, 347 Native Americans language/literature learning, 31–32 listening/speaking activities, 238, 261–262 mini-lessons, 142, 151 writing to create meaning, 185–187 Natural environment, exploration, 276 NCTE, see National Council of Teachers of English New Advocate, The, 348–349 New England life, 33–34 New Kid on the Block, The, 55 New York Times Parent’s Guide to the Best Books for Children, The, 132–133 New Zealand, 353 New Zealand Post Book Awards for Children and Young Adults, 353 Newbery Award winners, 347 Newbery Medal, 350 News Currents, 304–305 Newspapers in Education (NIE), 303 NIE, see Newspapers in Education Non-English speaking students, 259, see also English as a second language Nonfiction, 85 Nonverbal message, 340–341, see also Messages

Subject Index Normal disruptions, 339–340 Notable children’s books, 348 Note taking guided reading, 116, 126 language/literature learning, 17, 25, 32 learning in content areas, 275 read-aloud experience, 51 writing to create meaning, 199 Notebook, 173 Number the Stars, 61, 81, 168

O Observations, 70–71, 158, 300 One Hundred-and-One African-American Read-Aloud Stories, 56 100-day counting project, 4 101 Read-Aloud Asian Myths and Legends, 56 101 Read-Aloud Classics, 56 One-sentence description, 118 Open-ended questions, 120, see also Questions Oral biography, 237, see also Biography Oral reading, 358–359, 244–245 Oral reading proficiency, 166, 177 Oral response, 160 Organization, 273 Our Only May Amelia, 246–247 Out of the Dust, 89, 124, 125 Outcomes, 21 Outlines, 198 Outlining, 299 Outside resources, 339, see also Resources Over in the Meadow, 313 Overstimulation, 44 Owl and the Pussycat, The, 288 Owl Moon, 140, 141, 288 Owl theme, 288–289 Owls in the Family, 42–43, 61, 140, 288

P Pacing, reading aloud, 49 Painting, 328–329 Pampas, 14–15 Pamphleteering, 279 Pantomime, 110–111 Paper, 206–207 Paperback Plums, 346 Parents evaluating children’s literature, 95, 97 expectations and mini-lessons, 150 exploring social studies, 281 guided reading, 127 individual reading conferences, 180

399 information sharing, 260 language/literature learning, 23, 32, 36 manipulative materials and teacher-directed experiences to assist learning, 301 partnership building, 221–222, 330–331 reading aloud, 51, 52–53 writing to create meaning, 195 Parent-teacher organization (PTO), 62 Participation guided reading, 110 individual reading conferences, 178–179 writing activities, 208–210 Partnership building creating a literature base, 101–102 guided reading, 127 independent reading, 71 individual reading conferences, 180 languages of expression, 330–331 learning in content areas, 302–303 mini-lessons, 150 reading aloud, 51–52 speaking/listening activities, 260–261 writing to create meaning, 221–222 Parts of speech, 200–201, 208 Pausing, reading aloud, 49, 50 Peer review, 216 Peers, 58, 61, 163 Penmanship, 215–216 People Are Important, 351 People Could Fly: American Black Folktales, The, 247–248 Periodical literature, 62 Personal dictionary, 199, 215 Personal library, see Library Personal response, individual reading conferences, 177 teacher forms/guidelines, 362 Personal time lines, 300 Peter and the Wolf, 313 Phoenix Award, 352 Phonics, 8 Physical disabilities, 208, 320, 338 Physical education, 44 Physical space arrangements, 255 Picture books, 41, 57, 113, 268, 325, see also Big Books; Easy reader books; Wordless books Pictures, see Illustrations Pieta, The, 321, 322 Pippi Longstocking, 257 Planet of Junior Brown, The, 247 Planning, 6, 20, 179, 339 Planning ahead, 343

400 Play evaluation, 330 importance in emerging literacy, 314 languages of expression, 309–311 preparation, 314–315 Play centers, 315–316 Playbuilding: A Guide for Group Creation of Plays with Young People, 265 Plays, 89–90 Poem of the Month, 4 Poems, 78, 196–197, 337 Poetry guided reading, 113, 125 individual reading conferences, 166–167, 170–171 language/literature learning, 27 preparation of literature base, 85, 89 Poor Stainless, 237 Portfolios, 187, 218, 220–221 Post Office, 303 Posters, 245, 288, 315 Post-its, 10 Practice, 6, 48, 62, 159, 243 Practice exercises, 145, 146 Praise, 110 Predictions, guided reading, 121–122 Prejudice, 168, 170 Presentation guided reading, 122–126 independent reading time, 69–70 listening/speaking, 254–255 reading aloud, 48–50 traditional versus mini-lessons, 146 using literature base for instruction, 91–93 Previews, 121, see also Guided reading Primary classroom book previews and listening/speaking, 246–247 captions and presentation of writing activities, 211 exercises to express responses to fine arts, 325–329 guided reading, 124 guidelines for biographical writing, 358 identify the genre, 354–355 importance of expression through art, 324 labeling and universal participation in writing activities, 208 reading conference, 357 writing skills checklist, 367 Principal, 222, 270–272 Print, student-generated, 29–30 Privacy, individual reading conferences, 175 Problem solving animal study, 275 dealing with disruptive behavior, 342 developing skills, 234

Subject Index difficult words and independent reading, 60 exploring social studies in sixth grade, 279 guided reading, 125 language/literature learning, 18, 28 languages of expression, 312 mini-lessons, 152 Problems, individual reading conferences, 174, 179 Professional books, 7 Professional journals, 349 Professional literature, 19, 20, 31 Professional magazines, 75 Progress, mini-lessons, 149 Promotion, listening/speaking activities, 253 Props, 253 Proximity, teacher and disruptive behavior, 340 Psychological problems, disruptive behavior, 345 PTO, see also Parent–teacher organization Public Library, 66, 81 Punctuation, 212 Puppet theater, 251–253 Pura Belpr´e Award, 351 Puritans, 35 Purpose, reading aloud, 46–47 Pushkin, 167, 170

Q Quakers, 34–35 Questionable language, 52 Questionnaires, 36 Questions deriving from classroom discussion of books, 24–25 disruptive behavior, 341 guided reading, 121, 123, 125 individual reading conferences, 173, 175, 176, 180, 218 language/literature learning, 32–33 reading aloud, 42 writing conference, 366–367

R Race, 47–48 Ralph S. Mouse, 256 Ramona Quimby, 60 Random House Book of Fairy Tales, 86 Random House Book of Humor, The, 55 Random House Book of Poetry, The, 55 Raptor birds, 43, 61 Read-aloud books, 78, 81, 84 Read-Aloud Handbook, The, 104 Read-aloud program, 7–8 Reader’s theater, 89–90, 251 Readiness, individual reading conferences, 175

Subject Index Reading aloud book selection in fourth grade, 61, 62 exercises to express responses to fine arts, 329 exploring science, computers, language, and literature, 274 exploring social studies, 276 guided reading, 115, 121, 124 importance in emerging literacy, 314 language/literature learning, 2, 3, 9, 14, 20, 28, 33 listening/speaking activities, 244, 246, 254 literacy begins with listening evaluating the experience, 50–51 if this is your situation, 52–53 importance, 45–46 intermediate classroom, 43–45 kindergarten classroom, 39–42 partnership building, 51 personal library, 55–56 perspective, 53–54 preparation in the classroom, 46–48 presentation, 48–50 primary classroom, 42–43 teacher’s reflections, 53 what research says about benefits, 54–55 literature base for instruction, 91 media–literacy experience, 319 minimizing distractions, 337 second grade, 59 theme units, 286 writing in kindergarten, 187 Reading attitudes, 54 Reading conferences, individual early primary classroom, 160–163 evaluation, 179–180 if this is your situation, 181 importance, 171–173 intermediate classroom, 166–171 kindergarten, 156–160 language/literature learning, 28 partnership building, 180 personal library, 183–184 perspective, 182 preparation for classrooms, 357 presentation, 173–179 primary classroom, 163–166 reflections of a teacher, 181–182 using literature base for instruction, 92 what research says, 182–183 Reading habits, 74 Reading Magic, 105 Reading materials, 65–66 Reading practice, 157 Reading proficiency, 172

401 Reading Teacher, The, 7, 75, 348 Reading Teacher’s Book of Lists, The, 153 Reading, 24–27, 47, 212 Reciprocity, 262 Records, 255 Reference books, 79 Reference materials, 34 Reference section, 295–296 Regards to the Man in the Moon, 271 Regional reading groups, 7 Rehearsal, 132, 188, 253 Removal of distracting behavior, 342–343 Rephrasing, 194 Rereading, 124, 131 Research, 73–74, 206, 225–226, 287–288, 293 Research journal, 290–291 Resources creating a literature base, 101–102 language/literature learning, 7, 19 listening/speaking activities, 251 reading aloud, 48 theme cycle, 290 Response projects, 27 Restraint, temporary, 343 Restroom use, 340 Reteaching, mini-lessons, 149 Retelling stories, 212 Review assignment, 178 Reviews, 6, 28, 346–347 Rewards, 97, 103 Rhyming, 109, 110, 112–113, 196 Risk taking, 194, 204 Road from Home, The, 168 Role models, 74, 147, 181, 205 Role play, 207, 216, 234, 315, 343 Rooster’s Off to See the World, 271 Rotations, 316 Rough-Face Girl, The, 85 Routines, 341 Rule of Thumb, 67, 115, 173 Rules, 14, 28, 158, 193, 315–316

S Sacajawea, 276 Sammy Keyes and the Hotel Thief, 100 Sarah Bishop, 116, 117 Sarah, Plain and Tall, 103 Scaffolding, 151 Scary Sharks: Fearsome, Scary, and Creepy Animals, 273 Schedules, 206, 338 Scholastic Source books, 22 School aides, 179 School code, 343

402 School Library Journal, 83, 348 School staff, 127 Science exploring third grade, 272–275 with literature in kindergarten, 270–272 using language to explore ideas and information, 296 trade books and book selection literature, 347–348 Science and Children, 348 Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction, 352 Scream, The, 328 Sculpture, 321, 322 Second grade, 58–60, see also Primary classrooms Secret Garden, The, 316, 317–318, 320 See Inside a Submarine, 237 Seeing, exploring music in reverse, 327 Selection, books evaluation of read-aloud experience, 50 helping students with book skills, 101 mini-lessons in sixth grade, 143 preparation of literature base, 84–91 Self-correction, 166 Self-evaluation, 219, 220, 274, 294–295, 297 Self-selection, 58, 66–67, 74, 172, 243 Sending books home, 110 Sentences guided reading, 108, 111 individual reading conferences, 165 language/literature learning, 13, 26, 34 meaning construction, 201 reading aloud, 49, 54 using word lists in presentation of writing activities, 212, 213–214 writing to create meaning, 192, 194, 205 Sequence, identification, 6 Series books, 95–100 Series of Unfortunate Events books, 141 Setting guided reading, 109 reading aloud, 49 Shadow Children Books, 100 Shadows of Ghadames, The, 351 Shapes, 161, 163 Shared information, 132 Shared-pair discussions, listening/speaking, 239–242 preparing, 248–249 Shared reading, 5, 125 Shared writing, 194–196 Sharing discoveries, 295 Sharing experiences, 119 Short stories, 337 Sickness, 345

Subject Index Sight–sound connections, 110, 111 Sign in boards, 316 Sign of the Beaver, 116 Signing in, 5 Signs, 315 Silent Boy, The, 81, 82 Silent letters, 188, 189, 190 Silent sustained reading (SSR), 5, 9, 26–27, 57–58, 42–43 Similes, 138–139, 167, 171 Sing Down the Moon, 352 Sistine Chapel, 320, 321 Sixth Book of Junior Authors and Illustrators, The, 183 Sixth grade exercises to express responses to fine arts, 328 exploring social studies and theme cycles, 277–282 first-year teaching and using a book club, 83 guided reading, 115–119 individual reading conferences, 166–171 listening/speaking, 239–242 mini-lessons, 142–144 reading aloud, 43–45 social studies sociodrama, 282–284 writing to create meaning, 203–205 Skills checklist, 213, 218 Skills notebook, 215 Slake’s Limbo, 248 Slave Dancer, The, 56 Smarties Book Prize, 353 Snowman, The, 41 Social Education, 347 Social interactive skills, 147, 148, see also Mini-lessons Social situations, listening/speaking, 229–235 Social skills, 234, 243 Social studies exploring sixth grade, 277–282 third grade, 275–277 trade books and book selection literature, 347 using language to explore ideas and information, 296 Social interactions, 334 Sociodramas, 282–284, 334 Sock puppets, 77–78 Soft g, 13 Songs, 5 Sound patterns, 89 Sounder, 56 Southern Colonies, 35 Space estimation, 255 Spanish language translation, 81 Spanish students, 140–141, see also Mini-lessons

Subject Index Speaking, 92, 208 Special needs children dealing with distractions, 338 language/literature learning, 8–9, 23 literacy props in emerging literacy, 313 reading aloud, 50 theme activities, 291–292 traditional versus mini-lessons, 146 Special teachers, 303 Speech problems, 179 Speeches, 280 Spell-checks, 21 Spelling developmental language/literature learning, 3, 12–13, 21–22, 34 presentation of writing activities, 214, 215 writing to create meaning, 196, 199 evaluation of proficiency, 304 mini-lessons, 150 theme units, 287 Spider, observing, 40 Spiral notebooks, 208 Sports, 15 SSR, see Silent Sustained Reading St. Patrick’s Day, 10 Standard spelling, 215 Standardized testing, 141, 145, see also Testing Statistics, 16 Stereotypes, 16 Stickers, 210 Stone Soup, 9 Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening, 89 Storage, distracting items, 342 Stories of the world, 55–56 Story of Mankind, The, 350 Storymaking and Drama: An Approach to Teaching Language and Literature, 335 Storytelling, 5, 77–78, 329 Stress, 46, 47 Student(s) forms/guidelines, 354–361 individual writing conferences, 218 preparation for writer’s workshop, 216–217 theme cycles, 290–291 Student assistants, 339–340 Student teaching, 80–82 Study murals, 299 Study questions, 131 Substitution, words, 194 Summaries, 259 Summarizing, 177 Support, student, 182

403 Surveys, 36 Sweet Valley Twins, 96 Sweetgrass, 142, 143 Symbol–sound association individual reading conferences, 156, 157–158 mini-lessons, 135–138, 146 writing to create meaning, 187–188, 192 Symbol stories, 269, 270 Synonyms-antonyms, 145

T Taking Care of Terrific, 81 Talking murals, 290, 299–300 Talking to Learn, 335 Tall tales, 86 Tape recordings, 261 Teachable moments, 224 Teacher evaluating children’s literature, 95 forms/guides, 362–367 independent reading, 63, 74 individual reading conferences, 175 individual writing conferences, 218 listening/speaking skills, 243 planning for FAST, 254 preconference memo, 358 preparation for writer’s workshop, 216 pre-teaching preparation for creating a literature base, 79 reflections on reading aloud, 53 resource and independent reading, 62 role creating a theme cycle, 291 evaluating writing development, 219 oral reading, 244–245 using play, language, and literature for learning, 334 writing to create meaning, 197–198 Teacher-pupil bonding, 46, 47, 181 Teacher’s aides, 150 Teaching Grammar in Context, 153 Teaching Reading in Social Studies, Science, and Math, 306 Teaching, 22–23, 66, 82–83 Team discussions, 114 Team teaching, 261 Technology, 16, 207 Television, 16 Ten Little Monkeys, 313 Testing, 28, 141, 303 Textbooks, 28, 83, 84, 102 Thanksgiving, 9 The Three Bears method, 67

404 Theme cycle creating and preparing for activities, 290–291 exploring in sixth grade, 277–282 organizing ideas and creating connections, 289 using language to explore ideas and information, 293–295 Theme cycle web, 11 Theme topics, 287–289 Theme units, 285–287 Themes, 22, 28, 33, 284–285 Thesaurus, 30, 117, 146 Think books, 296 Thinking skills, 243 Third grade book club program, 82 exploring science, computers, language, and literature, 272–275 guided reading, 111–115 individual reading conferences, 163–166 language/literature learning, 11–24 listening and speaking, 235–239 mini-lessons, 138–142 reading aloud, 42–43 writing to create meaning, 196 Three Billy Goats Gruff, The, 250 Throwing Shadows, 352 Tikki Tikki Tembo, 312–313 Time, 63, 131 Time limit, 70, 177, 219 Timers, 177 Timing, 59–60 To Kill a Mockingbird, 81 Toad and Frog books, 100 Tom Swift, 96 Tommy at the Grocery Store, 112–114 Tone, alteration, 49, see also Reading aloud Tongue, letter sounds, 136 Topics, 46, 211, 212 Touching Spirit Bear, 115 Toys, 3 Trade books creating a literature base for instruction, 78, 84 language/literature learning, 9, 15, 31 teacher-directed experiences to assist learning, 300 Traditional classrooms, 242, 244, 284, 285, 297 Traditional lessons, 145 Traditional literature, 85 Traditional reading programs, 171–172 Transitions: From Literature to Literacy, 7 Transport 7-41-R, 351 Travel mates, 195 Trelease, Jim, 53–54

Subject Index Trial, sociodrama, 282–284 Tripod trilogy, 99 Turn taking, 234, 315, 316 Two-minute conferences, 221

U Undying Glory, 69, 320 United Kingdom, 352–353 United States, 350–352 Utopian community, 239–242

V Values guided reading, 121–122 valued persons and disruptive behavior, 343 Venn diagrams, 298 Very Hungry Caterpillar, The, 157 Very Quiet Cricket, The, 270–272, 333 Videos, 22 View from Saturday, The, 352 Vision problems, 179 Visual Links, 346 Visually impaired children, 40, 41, 122, 189, 190, 208 Vocabularies independent reading, 74 language/literature learning, 25–26, 33 preparation of literature base, 89 reading aloud, 46, 54 writing to create meaning, 202 Vocalization, 7 Voice, 208 Volunteers, 173 Voting, 50

W Waiting for Anya, 328 Walk-around conferences, 217, 221, see also Reading conferences, individual War, 280, 281 Wee Deliver, 303 Weekly assignment, 178 Weekly Reader, 28 Wellness days, 302–303 What’s Whole in Whole Language, 7 Where the Sidewalk Ends, 55 Whitbread Award, 353 White Mountains, The, 99 Whole class instruction, 107–111 Wind in the Willows, 94 Winnie the Pooh, 288 Wizard of Oz, The, 316 Word analysis skills, 162 Word bank, 298

Subject Index Word books, 139, 141–142 Word charts, 196–197, see also Charts Word lists, 230–234 Word-symbol connections, 119 Words chart lists in presentation of writing activities, 213 descriptive and response to music, 326 guided reading, 108, 109, 112, 119, 124 independent reading, 59, 60, 67 individual reading conferences, 164–165, 168 language/literature learning, 26 reading aloud, 41 writing to create meaning, 190, 198–199 Wordless books, 41, see also Reading aloud Work analysis, individual reading conferences, 166 World War II, 328 Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk, The, 61–62 Writer’s workshop importance, 205–206 language/literature learning, 5, 18 presentation of writing activities, 216–217 simile learning and mini-lessons, 141–142 writing to create meaning, 193, 200–203 Writing compositions and mini-lessons, 150 creating an award-winning library, 94 create meaning evaluation, 219–221 if this is your situation, 222–223 importance, 205–206 intermediate classroom, 200–203 kindergarten, 185–196 late intermediate classroom, 203–205

405 partnership building, 221–222 personal library, 226–227 perspectives, 224–225 preparing, 206–210 presentation, 210–219 primary classroom, 196–200 reflections of a teacher, 223–224 what research says, 225–226 guided reading, 111, 114, 126 influence of high-quality literature, 104 language/literature learning, 5, 8, 21–22 Writing center, 206 Writing conferences individual presentation of writing activities, 217–219 writing to create meaning, 190, 197–200, 203 teacher form, 366 Writing constructions, 203 Writing notebooks, 145–146 Writing programs, successful, 226 Writing skills, 367 Writing Teacher’s Book of Lists, The, 153 Writing Workshop Survival Kit, 226–227

Y Year of Impossible Goodbyes, 116, 117, 169 Yoko, 246, 310 Yussel’s Prayer: A Yom Kipper Story, 351

Z Zone of proximal development, 152