That moment in guided reading...

I quickly flashed an index card with the word 'some' printed on it to one of the fifth graders I work with in the intellectual disabilities class. "Three somes?" the boy exclaimed. "Three somes?"

We start every guided reading group with a quick word game to review our high frequency words (words a reader can expect to see all the time like and, because, some, come, etc.) The game changes occasionally but we always use the same stack of index cards. As we go through a new book I'll add new words to our stack depending on what words they have difficulty with. We've been adding to this stack for two years now so it is getting fairly thick. I have not done much in the way of editing the cards for repeats and there are numerous words that sneak into the stack multiple times. This usually works out in my favor because if the students have trouble with the word and it is already in the stack then it certainly doesn't hurt anything to repeat it.

Yet there now happen to be three some cards. Three. Somes. Say it fast.

The friend I showed the third 'some' card to was obviously keeping track of the number of times he'd been asked to read the word some. He's also a friend who finds one phrase to repeat over and over again. Some days he asks me if I'm wearing boots the entire 45 minutes we work together. Other times it's announcing he's not coming to school on Saturday. Yesterday it was the number of somes in our deck.

Mrs. Lipstick, why we have to do three somes? Why you make us do three somes? 

Loudly. 

Over and over again. 

I've never been so happy that no one happened to walk by the classroom at that exact moment. I shamelessly drew his attention away from the three some cards and to our shoes. I won't get fired over a 45 minute line repetition over shoes. The three somes would be harder to explain.

Miss Clavel

As I introduced my daughter to Madeline to my daughter tonight I found myself  reading a whole different story than I'd read when I was a girl. As a child I loved the idea of the girls sleeping in one big room, walking in two straight lines, the little girl who stuck her tongue out at the tiger, and the beautiful toys she was given in the hospital. Back then, it was a sweet story.

The words haven't changed, but on this reading the sweet story melted away and all I felt was anxiety.

Here is this teacher who lives with these girls. She spends all day taking them around Paris, keeping them safe, and trying to keep up with little Madeline. Even Little Lipstick gasped in horror and said, "No, no, no!" when Madeline walked on the stonewall of the bridge. Can you imagine the heart attack that would cause a teacher? That child would be in the "thinking spot" so fast she wouldn't know what hit her. Once she earned her outings privilege again we'd spend hours practicing how to walk on the sidewalk safely.

And the zoo? I've taken Madeline to the zoo. I've held onto Madeline as she tried to climb over the fence to get to the tigers. I've held her back from attacking the prairie dogs. I wasn't on my own with 11 other girls either. And I didn't have to watch over them at night. I got to spend the post-zoo field trip evening in my own house. With wine.

Oh Miss Clavel, I feel your pain. I know you love Madeline, but that oh-my-goodness she keeps you on your toes. I hope that you enjoy long summers where you are able to take peaceful, relaxing baths, sleep through the night, and go for walks around Paris without constantly being scared that Madeline will suddenly dart in front of a street car when you're not looking. I hope that when Madeline grows up she writes you a letter thanking you for taking her to the hospital when she was sick in the middle of the night, and for all those times you kept her safe on your outings.

Using Kindle on the Smartboard

In January I wrote about my frustrations with trying to get my Kindle library to show up on my Smartboard. I finally figured it out and am now able to project my Kindle books for my whole class.

In some ways this is great. I don't have to take the time to scan each page, which saves a lot of time. The print of the book is small, but you can change it, which really helps. Suddenly any book I own digitially becomes a big book that we're able to use as a shared reading for a class text. Since my word wall is right beside my smartboard we've been able to find the word wall words and match them in the text. We had a great time finding all the words we knew in "The Paper Bag Princess".

The downsides, however, are that the Smartboard doesn't "talk" to the iPad like it "talks" to the computer. Touching the Smartboard doesn't do anything to the iPad  Instead I need to be standing beside the iPad to turn the pages. Unfortunately the way my classroom is set up I need to have my iPad at my computer station, which doesn't make it easy for me to lead the class in the book and then turn the pages. I'm constantly running back and forth between the Smartboard and the iPad. The Smartboard itself just because a projector screen in this case- it's interactive capabilities are useless.

SO, it's not perfect. Scanning the books and importing them into the smartboard software is better overall because then you can actually circle the words in the book and interact with the book digitally.

Still, not having to sit by a copier and scan books is worth something. I have Scaredy Squirrel in my Kindle library just waiting to be introduced to the kids on Monday. It's not perfect, but magically turning a regular book into a big book is pretty exciting.
(Of course I always have a hard copy of the book as well so that during quiet time the kids can interact with the actual book).

Smartboard turned big-book

Retelling Center Success!

Thanks to our awesome Donors Choose donors we have a toy barn and farm animals to use to act out stories we've read. 

Today I put Farmyard Beat into the retelling center- asking the children at that center to act out the story using the barn and the animals. I modeled what I expected and then set them loose.

I occasionally heard one of the girls tell the other girl not to play, and by the end of reading workshop I could hear a bit of non-retelling behavior. Yet when we gathered back on the rug as a class for share time my skepticism of their behavior vanished.

I started by asking them specific questions about the story- out of order- "What happened last?" and they were able to tell me, without prompting, using detailed, specific language. Because they'd acted it out they had a much firmer grasp of what happened in the story. 

They were answering questions that were beyond their specific goals and objectives and showing me a true understanding of the story- hooray for comprehension through play! 

autism in fiction

Somehow over my extended 2 week spring break I've managed to read 2 books that both center around a main character with Asperger's syndrome. House Rules, by Jodi Picoult, and Marcelo in the Real World by Frances Stork York. It's interesting to see how popular fiction is beginning to attempt to focus on characters with Asperger's syndrome, and how the authors choose to portray their main characters.

The holy grail of autism in literature is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, where the author, does an unbelievable job of portraying his character's world, in both the internal workings of his mind, and how his disorder impacts his family.

I'm not sure I can place either of these in the same category as The Curious Incident. However, despite the fact that I think Picoult copied many themes and even direct phrases from Rules, by Cynthia Lord, she does an incredible job of giving a 360 view of her character's communication disorder, and how it impacts those around him. It forced me to ask tough questions for myself- how do we prepare our children for the real world? Do we make it possible for them to independently handle the strain of life? Is it our job in schools to prepare them for more realistic situations, or do we need to focus on teaching them important academic tools like reading and writing that they also need to be successful?

Picoult uses a court room with expert witnesses to educate her readers about autism, which occasionally comes across as what it is, paragraphs out of an autism text book, but because it is a court setting she weaves the lectures nicely into the story.

Maybe it is because Picoult did such an incredible job of writing in the first person for her character with autism, but I couldn't appreciate Frances Stork Young's portrayal of his autistic character in Marcelo in the Real World. Marcelo, who is the same age as Picoult's main character, is not nearly as convincing. Young seems to flirt with autistic tendencies in writing about Marcelo's world, but does fully decide which of these tendencies his character has. His character occasionally speaks in the 3rd person, but does not do it consistently or in any discernible pattern, and bounces back and forth from first to third person in the same sentence. I've worked with children with autism who do speak in the 3rd person, but they reserved this for particular situations, and once they were in their 3rd person world they did not easily switch out of it. Marcelo's characteristics seem to bounce back and forth between a character with autism and one with a severe auditory processing disorder which would cause him to respond slower to stimulation, questions, extended wait time, and would in fact limit his communication. Marcelo says throughout the book that Asperger's is the closest definition to what he has, and I can't help but wonder if they should revisit his eligibility.

I was disappointed with Marcelo, but enchanted with House Rules, neither of which were the reactions I was expecting when I began reading both books. Marcelo, which promised to be an enlightening young adult book turned out to be written as though it was jumping on the autism bandwagon, and House Rules, which I was sure would be an autism bandwagon book, read with a more realistic portrayal of the world children and families with autism live in.

Our school's amazing librarian felt the same way about Marcelo, and expressed disappointment that the library could not offer a book to young readers with communication disorders that they could relate too. I'd love to hear other thoughts on Marcelo in the Real World, House Rules, and other books that portray characters with autism. What is out there for our children with high functioning autism to relate to? Or, because of the nature of their disability, are we more concerned with finding someone for them to relate to than they are?

and everyone thought beezus was so perfect

think it's henry's?






;)

teaching independent thinking

In a small bookstore in aspen, CO I found a book titled, The Collaborator of Bethlehem by Matt Beynon Rees. I was a religion major in under grad and so am always interested in reading about relations between religious communities.

The book turns out to interest me more than just as a story of relations between religious communities. The main character, Omar Yussef, is a teacher at a UN school for refugee girls in Bethlehem. He has been a teacher throughout his life and has taught students of all religious during his various teaching assignments. His passion is teaching students to think with an open mind, and act honorably. While these are important lessons for students growing up in a terrorized community, Omar is being forced into retirement by the UN, who fears differences of opinions within the safe camp. As the community violence worsens, Omar is realizing that his students who took his message to heart are the ones being killed for their open minded actions. By not following the code the various terrorist groups in the city have laid out, Omar's students are killed despite their innocent actions. Omar is haunted by wondering if his teachings caused their deaths.

In looking over so many of the Passion Quilt meme pictures of my coworkers and other teachers in the blogging community, it is evident so many of us share the passion for teaching students to be open minded, independent problem solvers. We all phrased it in different ways and gave it different pictures, but for the most part we all show a strong desire for our students to be open minded, free thinkers. I think such beliefs are a sign of passionate, caring teachers. We're not creating cookie-cutter children, but ones who truly know how to think.

How easy is it for us in our country to teach such lofty ideals? Sure we complain about NCLB and are frustrated with how it limits our ability to teach open minded problem solving, but it is merely a standardized test and not a terrorist organization with guns.

Reading Omar's thoughts about his students and his teachings is diving into the head of a truly reflective teacher. Does he teach the basics, leaving out the independent thinking? It will be easier for his career if he teaches safely, but is that fair to the students? Yet giving them the power of free thinking is leading them toward their own deaths. Does he go on teaching what he believes is right, hoping that one day enough students will listen to him to change the ways of Bethlehem, or does he protect his students, himself, and his family, by teaching the way he has been asked to teach?

The book is a fictional account of real events, and while Omar is a fictional character, Rees captures his soul-searching and deep questions in a way that make you wonder if there is a right answer.

A Book House

Over Thanksgiving I walked into my parents' bedroom and jumped for joy when I saw the new stack of paperback books forming a leaning tower of Pisa under my Dad's nightstand. I immediately rummaged through it to find books I hadn't read, ones that I'd be interested in reading, or ones that might just keep me occupied when I'm procrastinating from my grad school work. As I rummaged I realized how common this act was for me growing up. Despite the fact I had trouble reading and spelling in school, I was an avid reader at home and read fairly quickly. Growing up in a small town with one tiny bookstore and one small library, being a fast reader didn't help me much. With twin babies at home we didn't get to the library as frequently as I would have liked so when we did we stacked up on books. For a very long time I kept my original library card with my six-year-old signature on it. You had to be able to write your name to get a library card, and so I was filled with pride when I printed those letters on the white plastic for the first time. My license to read.

Even so, I frequently rummaged through my family's books finding ones I could read because I had nothing new to read. I re-read books I loved, and then re-read them again. I was never above finishing a book only to turn to page 1 and start over.

The only real rules I remember getting in trouble for growing up were:
1) No reading at the dinner table.
2) No reading Nancy Drew after 6pm.
3) No reading under the covers with a flashlight.

I'd read while walking and then stop in awkward places... the stairs happened most frequently. Perhaps because when I got to the bottom or top of the stairs I had to fill a parental request like "clean up your room" or "set the table". As long as I was in-transit between floors I could finish my chapter... or book.

My first year teaching I walked through the rooms of my house suddenly realizing how lucky I was to grow up in a 'book house'. Reading was so important to us that we have books in every single room. Some rooms have toppling stacks of books, others have messy bookshelves. Some have books in nice, clean, linear order, while others display books on the coffee table as though they are the centerpiece of the room. My parents are avid readers so reading for pleasure was modeled for me every day. There are even framed pictures in our house of my mother, her sister, and her grandfather sharing a book. There is a similar one of me and my own grandmother so entranced in reading Eliose that we don't notice the camera snapped our picture. Reading was so important to my house we took pictures of it and framed them. As a first year teacher I realized what an incredible message that sent to me as a child. You take pictures of a child's first steps, first bike ride, birthday parties, and holidays. Yet alongside those framed moments were framed pictures of us reading.

I went out and bought cheap picture frames, decorated them, and placed pictures of children reading in the shelves of our classroom library. Every year I start by having those nice orderly bookshelves (the one day they stay that way) covered with pictures of last year's class reading books. Welcome to my room, where you too will learn to dive into the world of reading. As soon as I can I snap pictures of my new kiddos enjoying books and replace the pictures so they can look at themselves experiencing such a momentous occasion.

I struggled with reading in school and was usually in the slow reading group. I even needed a tutor (who is now my principal) to help me with my reading and my God-awful spelling. I wonder where I would be in life if I hadn't grown up with such a powerful message displayed to me everyday in my house. I am sure I wouldn't have had the perseverance and the desire to read despite the unpleasantness it created for me in school. I try to remember this as I open books for children in reading workshop, invite them in, and wish them Happy Reading. Beyond any good teaching I myself can give them is their desire to dive into the world of books itself. Creating that desire may be more important than the skillful reading strategies we so diligently teach. So, how do we create that love and passion?

Can I teach you to read?

One of my froglets (frogblog authors) spent today in the office for the second day in a row. I was shocked to see him sitting there. Yesterday was one thing, but to be back already by 10am? Did an entire day in the office not seem miserable the first time?

I was sure his behavior warranted an office visit. Lately we've witnessed his frustration come out through kicking chairs, throwing anything in his way, and banging his head against the door. He goes out of his way to refuse to do whatever we ask and we've been banging our own heads against the wall trying to figure out what to do with this kiddo who refuses to hold a reading book.

I was startled to hear him crying and I went over to talk to him. I tried asking him open ended questions and didn't get anywhere. So I tried,
"thumbs up or down, do you know why you are here?
thumbs up.
Did you listen to your teacher?
thumbs down
Are you angry?
thumbs up
Are you sad?
thumbs up
We went through this for a bit before I asked him to tell me what he is good at. No response. Ok, are you good at art?
thumbs down
are you good at reading?
thumbs down
are you a good friend.
Head nods and eyes light up
are you good at listening to stories and talking about them?
fast head nodding
are you good at art?
more head nodding.

Can I help you? I finally asked him, looking straight into his big brown eyes. "You are so good at all of those things. I know you feel like you are not good at reading. Can I help you be better?"
Head shake, no.
"Do you know my secret?" I asked, "My secret that I didn't learn to read until I was in third grade? My mom found me a special teacher, and that teacher was our principal."
He nodded and I realized I'd already used this one before. Oops. New tactic.
"Do you know that I love to teach kids to read?"
No response.
"Do you know that it is my job to teach kids to read? I went to school and I studied and I read books at night so that I can teach kids how to read?"
Big brown eyes looking at me.
"Do you know what I really love to do? I love to work with kids who have trouble with reading. That's my job. It is ok when kids have trouble with reading, they might just need someone like me to help them."
Head starting to nod.
"Can I teach you to read?"
Head nodding vigorously
"I would like that a lot. But you know what, we have to be a team. If I'm going to teach you I need you to help. You need to look at the book."
Head shaking, no
"I can't open up your brain and make it read, so we'll have to be a team. Your job is to look at the book, point to the words, and follow my directions. Can you do that?"
head shaking no- then slight change to a nod
"If you can do those things than I can help you learn to read. Can we be a team?"
Head nodding, slowly, unsure, then vigorously as a smile breaks out on his face.
"We'll be a team. I'll do my job, you do yours. Let's shake on it."


Later I came back, asked if we were still going to be a reading team, and decided we would meet every day, just the two of us in my office to do some hard work. We can do this as long as he is ready to be a team. This means he'll have to follow directions, listen to his teacher, and keep his hands and feet to himself.

This isn't exactly the stern lectures I want kids to get in the office. But something got to me today. The look of loss on his face, the fact that even though he is only in first grade we're already losing him to his anger, or the fact that it was the 2nd day in a row he was sitting in the office. He's a great kid with a big smile when he lets you see it. We just have to make sure he feels confident enough to show it and not find his confidence through being the problem child in the class.

We'll see how this goes. Now I just hope I can live up to teaching him to read. After staring into his eyes today I'm terrified I'll let him down.

to be 7 again

Every once and awhile something will catch my eye that makes me really, really jealous that I'm not still a 7 year old girl. Something so inspiring that it's full experience can only be seen through the eyes of a creative child.

Today I was checking out exhibits at the National Gallery of Art planning my visit when I came across this website: http://www.nga.gov/kids/zone/dollhouse.htm
It lets you play with a Dutch dollhouse on-line!! When you move furniture closer to you it gets bigger, away it gets smaller. Move the mirrors on the wall... look how its reflection changes. How cool is that? Don't like the Dutch painting on the wall? Here are 3 others you can choose from. Go outside, meet the pig and ring the church bells.

Saturday my husband and I were visiting friends in Amherst, MA and visited the Eric Carle Museum after reading rave reviews from Blink. As I watched a little girl snuggle up with one of the children's books and read the story the art on the wall was created for I felt a twinge of jealousy. I want to be 7 again! I want to walk the galleries with wonder, read the stories and see the real paintings on the walls. I want to use my child imagination to create in the studio. I want my parents to read to me in the library, walk me through the exhibits and read aloud the inspiring questions on the walls. I want to run through my own back yard woods and search for the animals I saw.

I mean, really, who decided we had to grow up?

library fines, bar tabs and interest

The librarian at the local library behind my house just informed me that my pattern of racking up library charges and not paying them until they get over the $8 limit is similar to people who keep bar tabs.

books? beer? They do both begin with b... Still, I like to think that's a stretch.

My favorite librarian is the one who pointed out that the library doesn't charge interest, so really, you are under no obligation to pay your fine until it reaches the $8 mark. Excellent point. Come to think of it, bars probably don't charge interest either.

National Book Festival

I personally believe the National Book Festival should be treated with the same enthusiasm and magic as Christmas. Maybe even more. Christmas = one Santa Claus, Book Festival = many authors AND other fictional characters. (Although we heard staff whispering that the Penguin from Penguin books got sick and had to leave before his scheduled appearance)

Our first stop of the morning was to hear Brian Haig, a mystery/thriller writer I discovered this summer on my quest to do nothing but sit on my porch and read. He was a surprisingly engaging speaker and beneath his quick wit he had great insights into the writing process. His greatest writing suggestion I took away was that he always starts knowing his ending. After that, he just needs to figure out how to get the characters there. What a great mini-lesson on planning for writing workshop.

Another tidbit I took away from him was that he writes with the beliefs that:
1. His readers are intelligent people and he doesn't need to hit them over the with his message. Less is more, both in terms of descriptive text and in political messages.
2. Much of the press and general literature depicts life as being black and white. He works to show that life is not like that. I haven't read his newest book on Iraq, but if it somehow shows what is going on over there without taking sides, I can't wait to read it. (hello intersession).

Later we wandered down to the Pavilion of States, which is really like a literary version of Halloween. Kids get a map of the US and are suppose to go to every state's booth and get their map stamped. Teachers, as true scavengers, go to every booth and grab posters, sticky notes, book marks, and more that all have something to do with reading.
Just like Halloween I came home to empty out my large yellow bag to check out my loot.
1 orange 'readstrong' bracelet. 1 Latin music cd. 2 books on nursery rhymes to read to your toddler. many fabulous posters. 1 nice pen. 1 pack of sticky notes. 2 cds of children's books in spanish. 1 pack of black-eyed-susan seeds.

We ended up at the top of the Post Office Pavilion where we could look down and see the large crowd of readers swarming the National Mall. What a great sight.