This is my last response to this book since I am on my way out of town and have to focus on curriculum mapping. I needed to rehear many things they said. I have read and reread what makes good literature. I still can't verbalize it well. It isn't mine yet, but I believe what they said.
I was interested in the history of the books. Of course, children read adult books in the past because there was not school for everyone, only the wealthy who could provide a tutor. Now that we want everyone to read, we must provide experiences that are meaningful for all kinds of people.
I personally love to read, but I am very choosy. I watch vocabulary that I don't want to pick up because I do...pick it up that is if I see it very much. I watch authors that pull me down because I don't need that either. By that, I don't mean I don't like a good cry once in a while, but hopelessness...no. I believe in hope and grace.
I'm excited about all the books that were listed and pleased that I have read many. I have acquired many more throughout this time. So, thank you Tunnell & Jacobs.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Tunnell & Jacobs - Poetry
I, as a teacher, am a little tired of being blamed for people's unwillingness to read and children's learning to dislike poetry. By third grade, it seems to me that many children dislike lots of things. They dislike having to get up and go to school at a certain time. They dislike having to be serious about learning when, as a preschooler, everything was in play format. Some jump into to the challenge of school because they either want to learn, or because they want to please their parents or some other adult or even themselves. But many, unfortunately, would prefer it to be a non-thinking easy thing. As the volume of knowledge in the world increases expotentially, we are faced with more and more expectations as well as learning to be done and yet, the same amount of time in a lifetime (well, maybe a few years more). So, what do we do? We've seen and read stories of Thomas Alva Edison kicked out of school and learning on his own while he worked on the train (oops, can't do that, can't work, children's laws), Albert Einstein who was so smart they thought he couldn't learn at all, Theodore Roosevelt, who because of asthma stayed home and followed his own desires to learn which were enormous because apparently he had many things available to him. Maybe, we should all be at home just doing whatever and watching some people come to the top of the pile.
The trouble is, most of us would not come to the top. School may be hard. Life may be hard. Teachers may ask us to do things we don't like to do in ways we feel is stupid. I remember the aha I had when I finally figured out how that sentence diagraming helped me understand meaning and construct meaning for myself. I assure you, that didn't happen in seventh grade.
So then, what is my point about poetry? Tunnel & Jacobs talk about the "natural affinity" children have for poetry before they come to school because of their love for Mother Goose and nursery rhymes. Is that a "natural affinity" for poetry or for the pleasure that comes when they are played with and laughed with? I suspect that teachers do, as people do, like some forms of poetry...the kind that makes them laugh (Shel Silverstein...Jack Prelutsky) or cry, but find it hard to explain to kids why when they are writing paragraphs, they must indent and then continue the thought on the next line rather than write the sentences short enough to fit on one line with another sentence on the next line, etc...with maybe numbers in front like a list.
Then, the teacher has them write poetry and tries to explain that only certain words go on certain lines for a specific reason. The kid is going..."huh?" It's supposed to follow each other. They don't hear it that way...they hear it flow as though it were a paragraph.
On page 83 a better approach is defined. "The key is consistent, unfettered exposure to poetry by an enthusiastic teacher who begins mixing light verse and more artistic poetry." May I add that it is heard and seen as heard and repeated and enjoyed (or not). I know for sure that some children jump the tracks and take off because their natural inclination is toward music and sound and they already have a wide and diverse vocabulary. Perhaps, if the expectation is that we will all do it, hard or not, and come to a pleasureable understanding of it, then kids will willingly undertake whatever the teacher has to offer. I have a whole section in my classroom of poetry. We create poetry books every year that are not as closed as Tunnel & Jacobs would see, but the issue is finding interesting, odd, delightful words, putting them to the rhythmic sounds of music and having fun doing it. In the process, there is much work going on. Work is not bad. Doing something you can't do well is not always bad. Just look at me...I'm actually blogging on a computer. Unreal.
Teacher's delight
Not to fight
Encourage.
Teacher's strength
Not to demean
But encourage.
Authors...
We need to
hear
Encouragement.
Otherwise...
why would
we
stay?
The trouble is, most of us would not come to the top. School may be hard. Life may be hard. Teachers may ask us to do things we don't like to do in ways we feel is stupid. I remember the aha I had when I finally figured out how that sentence diagraming helped me understand meaning and construct meaning for myself. I assure you, that didn't happen in seventh grade.
So then, what is my point about poetry? Tunnel & Jacobs talk about the "natural affinity" children have for poetry before they come to school because of their love for Mother Goose and nursery rhymes. Is that a "natural affinity" for poetry or for the pleasure that comes when they are played with and laughed with? I suspect that teachers do, as people do, like some forms of poetry...the kind that makes them laugh (Shel Silverstein...Jack Prelutsky) or cry, but find it hard to explain to kids why when they are writing paragraphs, they must indent and then continue the thought on the next line rather than write the sentences short enough to fit on one line with another sentence on the next line, etc...with maybe numbers in front like a list.
Then, the teacher has them write poetry and tries to explain that only certain words go on certain lines for a specific reason. The kid is going..."huh?" It's supposed to follow each other. They don't hear it that way...they hear it flow as though it were a paragraph.
On page 83 a better approach is defined. "The key is consistent, unfettered exposure to poetry by an enthusiastic teacher who begins mixing light verse and more artistic poetry." May I add that it is heard and seen as heard and repeated and enjoyed (or not). I know for sure that some children jump the tracks and take off because their natural inclination is toward music and sound and they already have a wide and diverse vocabulary. Perhaps, if the expectation is that we will all do it, hard or not, and come to a pleasureable understanding of it, then kids will willingly undertake whatever the teacher has to offer. I have a whole section in my classroom of poetry. We create poetry books every year that are not as closed as Tunnel & Jacobs would see, but the issue is finding interesting, odd, delightful words, putting them to the rhythmic sounds of music and having fun doing it. In the process, there is much work going on. Work is not bad. Doing something you can't do well is not always bad. Just look at me...I'm actually blogging on a computer. Unreal.
Teacher's delight
Not to fight
Encourage.
Teacher's strength
Not to demean
But encourage.
Authors...
We need to
hear
Encouragement.
Otherwise...
why would
we
stay?
The Sisters Grim series - Magic and Other Misdemeanors by Michael Buckley
This series is the ultimate in fractured fairy tales. The fairy tale characters are all alive and well together in a place called FairyPort Landing, USA where they have taken up residence under the supervision of Wilehm Grimm's family. Over the generations, the Grimms who are human, pass down the responsibility of caring for the ever afters. This is the 4th book I've read and obviously I missed one because apparently there are five. Two little girls, the Grimm sisters come to live here because their grandmother came and got them out of foster care after their parents had disappeared. There is magic of course, although the grandmother prefers to think, plan and develop relationships rather than use it as a matter of course. In this book, there is a rip in time and the characters are thrown back and forth trying to find out what is happening and fix it. They are detectives after all. The plot keeps you connected all the way through because it is fascinating how Buckley is able to weave and maintain the personalities of the various characters together while placing them in modern settings and cross fairy-tale relationships. For example, Sleeping Beauty is upset because Prince Charming has disappeared so the story finds Rappunzel, Cinderella, Snow White and Beauty sitting in a coffee shop talking over what he was like as a husband and how he always did love her...etc. And...you should see what's inside that magic mirror. What a kick!
This series is labeled as mystery and is in the Young Adult section of the library. I have thoroughly enjoyed each one and can't wait until the next is ready for publication. I enjoy particularily the twists of characterization. It all seems very real and uncontrived.
This series is labeled as mystery and is in the Young Adult section of the library. I have thoroughly enjoyed each one and can't wait until the next is ready for publication. I enjoy particularily the twists of characterization. It all seems very real and uncontrived.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Caleb's Story by Patricia Maclachlan
"Fault?" said Sarah. "Oh, Caleb, I want you to listen to me. There comes a time when fault doesn't matter. Things happen. And we can't blame ourselves-or someone else-forever." Isn't that the truth?! But the struggle to forgive great pain is still there and this story told it beautifully. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed the gentle spirit of Patricia MacLachlan. I'm glad Helen reminded us. That's why I chose this today.
Tunnell & Jacobs - Unengaged and Engaged Reading
When I read this chapter first, a month or so ago, it was so captivating, that I thought about it for a long time and talked to my friends about their reading over and over again. I'm not sure that it is fair to be judgemental about why people read or don't read. Earlier in the year I was talking to the other teachers in my school because I wanted to put up a poster outside their rooms about the latest book they were reading. Most of them don't read. They say they don't read much because...1)if they started they couldn't put it down 2) they are too busy with life's requirements and don't even watch TV 3) they enjoy crafts more than sitting in one place 4) their kids, their work, their singleness require their attention...and so it goes. I think it's because they can't find an author or a style that they really, really like. It might be because they don't read fast enough to get engaged in short periods of time, and since they don't have long ones, they don't read at all. Some have a tendency towards short things like magazines and non-fiction pieces and internet news, etc.
Tunnell & Jacobs comment taken from a sign over the library that says, "The person who can read, and doesn't is no better off than the one who can't read." is shocking. I guess, although I am a reader, I understand my friends perspective and although I'm sorry that it is so, I don't really think they are no better off. Efferent reading has value too. Not everyone is emotional about books like I am. Individual differences should be respected.
On the other side, I keep thinking, if I could just find the key that would unlock the pleasure for them, maybe they would read. It's all really about choices and unfortunately, choices must be made. More on this later. My husband needs to get on the computer.
Tunnell & Jacobs comment taken from a sign over the library that says, "The person who can read, and doesn't is no better off than the one who can't read." is shocking. I guess, although I am a reader, I understand my friends perspective and although I'm sorry that it is so, I don't really think they are no better off. Efferent reading has value too. Not everyone is emotional about books like I am. Individual differences should be respected.
On the other side, I keep thinking, if I could just find the key that would unlock the pleasure for them, maybe they would read. It's all really about choices and unfortunately, choices must be made. More on this later. My husband needs to get on the computer.
Battle Books 3/4- Jake Drake, Class Clown by Andrew Clements
Here's the proof that you shouldn't stop reading a book just because you don't like the subject matter or because you think it's going to be something you don't like. It's clearly an early third grade book. Jake is the protagonist in several books. I've not read them because I thought he was going to get away with stuff. I'm really, really glad he didn't.
It is true that we are told not the smile until Christmas. It is true that we really try to focus on accomplishing the work these days and not get sidetracked. The trouble is, I guess, that there was no relationship there, and so the kids were honestly afraid. That spoke to me. I certainly don't want my students to be afraid, but I do want them to succeed and so sometimes we just work and work and work. On the other hand, Jake had no insights apparently as to what was the goal of his time. He just wanted to be funny to relax the tension I suspect. Fortunately, the regular teacher understood, did exactly the right thing and Jake responded well. The student teacher makes it and Jake learns about when to be appropriately funny. The characters and the setting were certainly realistic. I have seen the exact same kinds of senarios replayed many times. I think "the author treated the audience with respect and writes so the text is honest and interesting." (27 Tunnell & Jacobs) Once I got going, I did sail right along.
As a postscript, it is interesting to me to note that having chuckled over the last one of his I read, I could enjoy a class clown as well. Bully for him.
It is true that we are told not the smile until Christmas. It is true that we really try to focus on accomplishing the work these days and not get sidetracked. The trouble is, I guess, that there was no relationship there, and so the kids were honestly afraid. That spoke to me. I certainly don't want my students to be afraid, but I do want them to succeed and so sometimes we just work and work and work. On the other hand, Jake had no insights apparently as to what was the goal of his time. He just wanted to be funny to relax the tension I suspect. Fortunately, the regular teacher understood, did exactly the right thing and Jake responded well. The student teacher makes it and Jake learns about when to be appropriately funny. The characters and the setting were certainly realistic. I have seen the exact same kinds of senarios replayed many times. I think "the author treated the audience with respect and writes so the text is honest and interesting." (27 Tunnell & Jacobs) Once I got going, I did sail right along.
As a postscript, it is interesting to me to note that having chuckled over the last one of his I read, I could enjoy a class clown as well. Bully for him.
Battle Books 3/4- The Blue Ghost by Marion Dane Bauer
This is clearly an late second/early third grade book. I'm not sure I like the idea of the girl going back and forth in time in this way because of the whole ghost thing. The relationship between the girl and her grandma was poignant, but I wanted the grandmother to keep the place and will it to her when she grew up. I was disappointed. There is a theory (rumor) going around out here that the earth was established by aliens from outer space and that explains the way all of creation has the same component parts rather than evolving necessarily. That's what this reminds me of...the fantasy that whatever is here now is because someone came forward or went back in time to make it so. That's pretty subtle here, but deeply there. I guess it's a reflection of the times, the edginess.
The story was simply and well told. I was just disappointed with the format. Although I must say, Madeline L'Engle is one of my favorites, and they jump through dimensions all the time. The difference is that in this, you didn't have a sense of fantasy, but normalcy and that I think would make it questionable for some parents. I suspect I'll have to wait and see what happens when the kids read it. I remember very clearly my own son saying to me when I asked about some revolting song he was listening to, "Ah, I don't know what they're saying. I only listen to the beat and the melody." Maybe that will be true in this book, and they will miss that whole thing. I kind of hope so.
This is the third book I've read by Marion Dane Bauer. I'm going to look her up and see who she is. I remember being somewhat shocked and saddened by On My Honor years ago and a little bit surprised by A Bear Named Trouble. In both of those though, it was an issue of disobedience and consequences. In this one, there is nothing like that, it's more relationship and a great one at that.
The story was simply and well told. I was just disappointed with the format. Although I must say, Madeline L'Engle is one of my favorites, and they jump through dimensions all the time. The difference is that in this, you didn't have a sense of fantasy, but normalcy and that I think would make it questionable for some parents. I suspect I'll have to wait and see what happens when the kids read it. I remember very clearly my own son saying to me when I asked about some revolting song he was listening to, "Ah, I don't know what they're saying. I only listen to the beat and the melody." Maybe that will be true in this book, and they will miss that whole thing. I kind of hope so.
This is the third book I've read by Marion Dane Bauer. I'm going to look her up and see who she is. I remember being somewhat shocked and saddened by On My Honor years ago and a little bit surprised by A Bear Named Trouble. In both of those though, it was an issue of disobedience and consequences. In this one, there is nothing like that, it's more relationship and a great one at that.
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