Literacy Now

Jenny Rich with Brian Floca at IRA 2014

Dear Colleagues,

This was my first year at the IRA conference. There are a lot of reasons why I didn't go before, but, mostly, there was this: it felt like a lot of money, and I didn't know anyone else who was going. Those things were still true this year (though—full disclosure—I had a friend/colleague/mentor there on the first day) but I decided to give it a try anyway.

Here is what I can tell you: Attending IRA 2014 was one of the best professional experiences of my life. I wish I had done it sooner. It might have changed the course of my career (really!) because my teaching and my network would have been so different.

You see, what I didn't know is that IRA is a celebration of the profession of teaching. Walking into the first opening session (to see Jeff Kinney speak, no less!) felt like walking into a concert, complete with flashing lights, fun music, and giant beach balls sailing around the room. I knew immediately that this was going to be like nothing I had experienced before.

Jeff Kinney set the tone for the conference, telling a room full of teachers that he believes "putting books in the hands of kids is a sacred act." This was after he explained that he walked away from being a cartoonist for a while—that he needed to put in his 10,000 hours to become an expert at writing and cartooning.

It was a moment of revelation: if even Jeff Kinney had to work this hard to be an expert, well,it's okay that writing doesn't come easily. Not to us, sitting in the audience, not to the kids we teach…. He was one of us! We were a room full of writers, united for a moment by the hard part.And Jeff Kinney made the hard part okay.

And that's when I realized that IRA was a place that would bring teachers together. It would make the hard parts of our days, our challenges, a source of camaraderie rather than isolation.

The conference continued this way, bringing teachers together in the most unexpected ways.We stood together in lines to get the most incredible swag. Leather tote bag from Scholastic? Got it! A tiny little speaker that plugs into my phone or tablet from Amplify? Yes, got that, too! How about the pounds and pounds of free books, many of which were signed by the authors? Got so many of those that I had to ship them home.

(I mentioned that one reason I had waited to go to IRA was because I was concerned about cost. Well, I am fairly certain that if I were to add up the value of just the swag alone, the conference would pay or itself.)

The best part about the lines, though, was talking to the people I was waiting with—the coming together of teachers.

I got everything I needed from IRA, and found things that I didn't know I wanted. I met teachers from Kentucky and Kansas, from Minnesota and Canada. I met authors, both because I sought them out, and because they were everywhere, signing books and leading sessions. I listened to research from some of my personal heroes like P. David Pearson and Tim Rasinski, and then heard classroom applications of research from literacy rockstars, including (but not limited to) Chris Lehman and Donalyn Miller (though not together, though that would be REALLY cool.)

I walked away each night unable to fall asleep. At IRA I spent days surrounded by people who not only "got it," but who were inspiring. Dav Pilkey, the incomparable author of the Captain Underpants books (a favorite in my house) told a packed auditorium that "our job is to help kids discover the clues to the universe in what they choose to read." He also said, "There is a reading revolution going on under our noses, we just have to get out of the way. "Well, all right! That's the way to start a day, isn't it? As I walked out of his opening session, I overheard one teacher say to another, "I've always kept his books out of my classroom, but now I want to buy every single one!" That's the kind of impact IRA had.

Every session, every moment spent in that convention center was one of inspiration, innovation, and collaboration. I have a notebook full of ideas waiting to be implemented, from how I communicate with students to ways in which I hope to get more involved with IRA going forward. My Personal Learning Network (PLN) on Twitter has expanded, which means that the learning that started at the conference will keep going for me. And, of course, I am already looking ahead to next year in St. Louis, a mantra at this year's conference.

So, you see, going to the conference was a game changer for me. I am so grateful that I took this opportunity to attend this year, and—again—wish that I had done this sooner. For years I was an elementary school teacher, and, at times, I felt isolated in my practice (because, of course, this was before Meenoo Rami wrote her brilliant book Thrive:5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching, which I read in my hotel room in New Orleans). Now I teach preservice teachers, and want to make sure that they don't go through those periods of uncertainty in their own practice.

And so I write this letter to my current students who are about to enter the field, and for the teachers who, like me, are unsure if the IRA conference is really for them. It is.

You will leave enriched, connected, engaged, and eager to return home to your colleagues, students, and classroom.

You will remember why you became a teacher in the first place.

You will remember, as Jeff Kinney and so many others reminded us, that you are not alone in feeling challenged, and that the good stuff lies on the other side of those challenges.

I hope to see you next year, in St. Louis.

Jenny

Jenny Rich is an adjunct instructor in the School of Education at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and a doctoral student at Rutgers University.You can find her on Twitter at @jdrich219, and will see her at IRA 2015 in St. Louis.

You’re off to a big conference and you know it’s gonna kick butt! Great speakers, diverse workshops, lots of people geeking out over things you yourself love to geek out about.

Indeed, good times are on the way. Best of all, it’s perfectly fine to break your diet. After all, conferences and dessert go hand-in-hand like, well… dessert and conferences. You can skip the molten fudge chocolate lava drama cake back home when it’s just a regular ol’ out-to-dinner night but when you’re advancing your pedagogical skills at a ferocious clip, it’s practically your academic duty to plunge in your fork, both wide and deep.

After all, you’re not doing it for yourself; you’re doing it for the kids!

To help maximize the benefits of attending this year’s brain exchange, here are five tips that can assist you to get the most out of this year’s shin-dig—steps to take AFTER you arrive home (and renew your vows to go to the gym).

Experience has taught me that managing the conference is fairly straightforward; managing all the information/follow-ups/things to do and people to contact afterwards, however, is a valuable skill worth knowing.

Note: All of these tips are unified by the critical belief that you must carve yourself out a few uninterrupted minutes—not hours, but minutes—after you leave the conference to maximize your attendance benefits.   

Tip #1: Plan for a Sift Through (10–15 uninterrupted minutes)

Conferences are like an all-you-can-eat buffet where a ton of the food is good, good, good. And while you are there it is often wise to gobble, gobble, gobble as much as you can. But once you touch down on the home front, not every last bit of material you took home with you is going to meet your post-conference needs.

That’s why you plan for a sift-through.

After all, lots of presenters hand out materials, lots of Exhibit Hall folks give out informational brochures, and lots of people say things at lunch, while riding elevators, or while waiting in the bathroom lines. (That would be the ladies room, mind you—there is never a line for the guys, a chronic issue of conference gender bias decreed by no less than Mother Nature herself.)

Give yourself ten to 15 uninterrupted minutes (I really can’t stress the UNINTERRUPTED part) to thoughtfully filter through your take-home material and notes.

Don’t be afraid to categorize either:

• Pile 1: AWESOME stuff! For sure has value.
• Pile 2: Good stuff, worth keeping
• Pile 3: The jury is still out on this stuff
• Pile 4: Bzzzp! Why did I bother to schlep this home? 

Tip #2: Schedule your “follow-ups” (5–10 uninterrupted minutes)

There are people you’ll want to send emails to in order to say “thank you.” There are people you’ll want to send emails to in order to say in order to say “great to meet you.” There are people you’ll want to send emails to in order to say “screw you.”

Kidding! (Don’t send those.)

Thing is, it’s far too easy to get back home, slide into the piles of work that grew from molehills to mountains (or from mountains to Mt. Everest!) while you were away and neglect to do the follow-ups which you really wanted/needed to do.

Plus, doing these follow-ups in a timely manner is often important. After all, did you ever get an email from someone that said, “Hey there, remember me? We chatted about X while grabbing a quick salad on that Saturday afternoon at that really awesome, big conference… like seventeen weeks ago?

Um, no.

But since we’re all pretty much polite we respond by saying, “Oh yeah… remind me again…” And what happens is that which could have been a very real, very meaningful connection that brought real oomph to something in your world ended up fizzling out simply due to its poorly timed follow up.

Within a week after you have “landed back home” make sure you have done your “connects.” Trust me, it pays off.

Tip #3: Do a Big Picture reflection (5–10 uninterrupted minutes)

The immensely popular system of Cornell Note Taking stresses the “Summary” section with a great deal of emphasis. Why? Because after you digest a lot of new material, taking a moment to reflect, paraphrase, and summarize anchors the learning and opens pathways to deeper understanding, fresher insights and yes (to go all brain-based research on you) more dynamic connections between newly created neurological pathways.

Here are four questions you might want to try and answer:

• What was your best experience of the conference? Why?
• What was the one thing you learned that stuck with you? Why?
• What skill do you now realize you need to add to your bag of tricks? (You can’t learn everything, but you can add something.) Why?
• Who can you connect with upon returning home in regards to the conference? (i.e. maybe it’s someone you met, maybe it’s a colleague at home worth having some new discussions with, and so on.)

Tip #4: Download that New App and noodle with it (10 uninterrupted minutes)

Inevitably, someone introduced you to a cool new app that sparked your imagination… but the conference just wasn’t the right time and place to get a good grip on it.

Here’s a means by which you can ramp up your digital skill set in the world of apps (and/or new software, as well):

1. Download the app that caught your eye.
2. Set a timer for 7–9 minutes. Start the timer and DO NOT allow yourself to judge the app or your own ability to use it until the timer goes off.
3. Play with the app. Experiment, make mistakes, try things. Most importantly, refuse to judge or give up until the timer goes off.
4. Reflect. Do you want to:
1. Seek out help with the app by asking someone?
2. Seek out help by jumping online and searching for tips? (Often there are videos out there which really can move mountains.)
3. Click your heels cause you are WAY excited and now own a new tool that is gonna help a ton.
4. Trash the app and just say, “Hey, I tried… not for me.”

Tip #5:  Share! (time factor up to you)

Look, there are people who wanted to go the conference who did not get to attend for one reason or another. Go find them and hook them up with a tidbit, a piece of data, a new idea or even a tool. Conferences are all about generosity.

Did you hear about a great new book for reluctant readers? Tell someone. Did you grab a PowerPoint that you know a colleague will love? Turn them on to it. Sharing feels great and often when we come to our professions with the aim of giving we end up getting a whole lot more.

After all, these tips were free, weren’t they?

Alan Lawrence Sitomer was California's Teacher of the Year in 2007. He is also the author of multiple works for young readers, including Nerd Girls, the Hoopster trilogy, “The Secret Story of Sonia Rodriguez,” “Cinder-Smella,” and “The Alan Sitomer Book Jam.” He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and daughter. In addition to being an inner-city high school English teacher and former professor in the Graduate School of Education at Loyola Marymount University, Alan is a nationally renowned speaker specializing in engaging reluctant readers who received the 2004 award for Classroom Excellence from the Southern California Teachers of English, the 2003 Teacher of the Year honor from California Literacy, the 2007 Educator of the Year award by Loyola Marymount University and the 2008 Innovative Educator of the Year from The Insight Education Group. Visit him online at www.alanlawrencesitomer.com.

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“I am not here to entertain students. I am here to teach them to learn specific content and skills,” commented a teacher in a workshop we were conducting. Imagine her surprise when we agreed with her!

In our research on motivation and engagement, which led to creating our joyful learning framework, we discovered that the terms engagement and entertainment are often used synonymously when they are anything but alike. Below, we point out the differences and provide some student engagement suggestions. We are drawing these thoughts from our most recent work, “Engaging Minds in the Classroom: The Surprising Power of Joy.”

What is engagement?

Wlodkowski and Ginsberg (1995) defined engagement as the visible outcome of motivation, the natural capacity to direct energy in the pursuit of a goal. It usually happens when learners can sense success is within their reach, they value the outcome of the learning experience, and they feel safe in the classroom setting (Brophy, 2008).  

Attentive, committed, persistent, and meaning seekers are four characteristics of engaged learners (Schlecty, 2011). During a whole-group lesson, a teacher would look for attentive students who are focused on completing a given task and persist if the task becomes difficult because they value what they are doing and derive meaning from it.

One sure way to double-check these observations is to talk with students as they complete their work and listen to what they have to say about it. Engaged students might make comments such as “I am having trouble understanding this section but I really want to know about how gravity works. I think I need to look at more of the diagrams to help me understand.”  

So what is entertainment?

The difference between entertainment and engagement is clear if we just think about the two words. We know that entertaining students is fairly easy (remember the Friday afternoon video?). As Katz and Chard (2000) remind us, engagement involves getting students interested in the word around them.

If students become interested in their world, they will always be able to find something that interests them in their lives. Engagement draws us into our daily lives, whereas entertainment does the opposite; we seek it out to distract us from our daily lives. It diverts us from attending to important matters. In the end, entertainment is fairly fleeting and short-lived.

So why make the distinction between these two terms?

As educators, our job is to engage students rather than entertain them. We get them engaged by providing tasks that enable them to be attentive, committed, and persistent learners who strive to understand what they are learning, which leads to sustainable and longer-lasting pleasure than when they are entertained. Engaged students and teachers derive joy and pleasure from what they do; they do not need to be entertained (Schlecty, 2011).

So what does this mean for educators?

While we emphasize the importance of engagement over entertainment, we also recognize that a bit of entertainment can lead students to engagement. In these instances, we want to use entertainment. For example, we might decide to dress up as a historical figure to engage students in learning about that figure. Or we might use a humorous story to entice students to learn content.

We fully recognize that having fun allows students to build social relationships. Rather than seeing engagement and entertainment as an “either/or” issue, we suggest using both in purposeful ways to gain a full understanding of how engagement and entertainment contribute to the larger picture. Entertainment becomes a means rather than the end.

Using props, humor, and other activities that students find fun in purposeful and meaningful ways can lead to engaged students. Engaged students are more joyful in their learning pursuits. As a result, their learning is learning with staying power. In essence, joy leads students to learning rather than away from it.

You can see Michael F. Opitz and Michael P. Ford at IRA's 59th Annual Conference in New Orleans, when they present, "Using Joyous Effort to Engage Learners and Create Urgency, Agency, and Responsibility" on Saturday, May 10th, at 1 p.m.

Michael F. Opitz is professor emeritus of reading education at the University of Northern Colorado, where he taught undergraduate and graduate courses. An author and literacy consultant, Michael provides inservice and staff development sessions and presents at state and international conferences and also works with elementary school teachers to plan, teach, and evaluate lessons focused on different aspects of literacy. He is the author and coauthor of numerous books, articles, and reading programs.

Michael P. Ford is chair of and professor in the Department of Literacy and Language at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh, where he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses. He is a former Title I reading and 1st grade teacher. Michael is the author of 5 books and more than 30 articles. Michael has worked with teachers throughout the country and his work with the international school network has included staff development presentations in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South America, and Central America.

Friends and colleagues for more than two decades, Opitz and Ford began working together as a result of their common reading education interests. Through their publications and presentations, they continue to help educators reach readers through thoughtful, purposeful instruction grounded in practical theory.

photo credit: U.S. Army Garrison Japan via photopin cc

The Common Core State Standards call for a substantial increase in the sheer volume of informational texts students read. This means we need to put into action creative ideas for motivating and encouraging all our students to read more of the “real” genre.

Here are five easy ways to help unlock the power of informational text for all of your students.

#1: The Pillowcase Lesson: Modeling everyday informational text reading

It is estimated that in our adult lives, 85-90% of our reading is informational. The Pillowcase Lesson is a hands-on demonstration and modeling session where the teacher totes a pillowcase from home loaded with his or her informational text reading material. I first heard about this fun lesson from Kathy Au, former International Reading Association President. Sharing your informational text reading will get their attention as you help demonstrate a variety of purposes for reading informational texts.

Fill the Pillowcase: To prepare for this lesson simply take a pillowcase from your hall closet and have fun walking around your home filling it with informational texts that might include recipes, newspapers, magazines, maps, menus, advertisements forms, directions, and more. 

Show the Pillowcase: At school hold up your lumpy pillowcase loaded with informational texts and ask your class if they’d like to see what you’ve been reading at home.

Create a Chart: Pull out each item one at a time as you build a three column chart with the headings: Text, Purpose for Reading It, and Strategies I Used.

Electronic Option: Some teachers admit to reading absolutely everything on their iPads. If you want, show the pillowcase but pull your tablet or phone out of it and look up directions, recipes, or other informational texts you read.

Table Team Option: If you go the route of rounding up your actual hard copies you might even pass out one item per table (cookbook, newspaper ad, etc.) and ask the teams of students to tell three things about the text: the type of text, why you probably chose to read it, and one or two strategies you used to read.

Everyday Reading Station: Bring in “everyday” reading for students and keep it in a bin in the independent reading center or classroom library. Include brochures to local venues, restaurants, game directions, letters, maps, newspaper articles, and any other texts you think your students might like to read.

#2: Job Interviews: Modeling  career informational text reading

In order to prepare our students for careers and college in the 21st century, they need to understand the ways people use literacy on the job. In this lesson, students study literacy use in careers and also interview parents, friends, and other adults about how they use informational text on the job.

Invite students to discuss how people in different careers or jobs might use literacy by brainstorming a list of careers and jobs. Ask students to think about what types of informational texts each of the workers reads while on the job. Then, create a chart that lists each job or career, the reading material required, and the purpose for reading.

Consider asking students to interview family members or friends at home and add to the chart. Students may include photos of the people they interview and or photos of their reading material. Students may ask, “What kinds of reading material do you read on the job?” Interviewees should give examples and tell the students why they read each. Students may follow up by asking questions such as, “What is the hardest reading material you have to read? What do you enjoy reading the most at work?”

Optional Video Interview (Skype/Google Hangout/FaceTime): Schedule a possible video interview for your class with an adult who can discuss and show some of the reading material he or she uses on the job. Allow students to ask questions.

#3: The Seven-Times-a-Day-Read-Aloud Challenge

Reading aloud to students continues to be one of the most important activities we can offer in our classrooms to build the skills and background for success in reading. Here is a creative way to use read-alouds to motivate your students to read informational text all year long. The goal is to read aloud seven different times throughout the day with six of the read-aloud spots lasting only a few minutes. This gives you the opportunity to expose your class to a wide variety of interesting informational text snippets. Of course, you’ll want to make sure you secure an uninterrupted 15-minute read-aloud time each day to make your way through a longer text such as a novel.

Start a read-aloud bin and include informational texts. Keep a stack of read-aloud materials on your desk. Include poetry, the fiction book you are reading for 15–20 minutes to students, along with a variety of informational texts. During transitional times, such as between subjects or when lining up, consider filling the time with a one- to two-minute read-aloud.

Encourage rich talk. Allow students to turn and talk about what they learned or to ask a question. Use text dependent starters to get at main ideas, details, or author’s craft. Compare and contrast and share opinions about the texts.

Assign a student monitor. One student can be in charge of the bin and check off the seven readings as well as select what you read to the class.

Share the reading. Move the materials into the class library so students may read the entire text or reread it.

#4: Read for Real: Reading informational text during independent reading

Researchers tell us the time students spend in independent reading is one of the best predictors of reading achievement. Try encouraging your students to add informational texts to their independent reading logs in the following ways.

Invite students to fill out an interest inventory. Encourage students to reflect on their interests and need to read informational texts by using an interest inventory or topic bank.

Use the inventory to conference with students. Invite students to keep a copy of the interest inventories in their independent reading folder along with a list of books they’ve read. Encourage students to keep a steady diet of informational text reading as well as fiction. Encourage students to read texts that are increasingly challenging.

#5: Literacy Centered Project-Based Learning

In the real world, we read informational text to take action. Students jump into texts with more motivation when they have a purpose for reading. Project-based learning projects can provide hands on opportunities as students share online reports, write letters to pen pals, interview senior citizens, or make brochures for local museums or historical societies.

One to investigate: the Read to Feed project from Heifer International. Read to Feed is a wonderful way to not only involve your students in a community service project but also to encourage them to read. Register your class online to track students’ reading and at the same time collect quarters to save up for an animal to donate to a family in a third world country.

From now until June 15, if your class raises $600.00 for Read to Feed, the class will receive 30 copies of one of the Read to Feed picture books. Students can also upload their essays and quotes for possible publication in the magazine “World Ark.” The Read to Feed project offers opportunities for your students to read and write for a purpose!

Inspire Your Students to Read Informational Text

Whether you tote a pillowcase full of informational text from home, try interviews, keep informational text book logs, read seven times a day, or sign up for the project-based Heifer reading program, your students will thank you for engaging them in meaningful experiences with informational text.

End your year strong by inspiring your students with the power of informational text!

Attending IRA's 59th Annual Conference in New Orleans? See Lori Oczkus present "The Art of Ending Your School Year Literacy Strong," with Timothy Rasinski, Valerie Ellery, and Danny Brassell on Saturday, May 10th at 10 a.m. in the IRA Theater. If you don't make it into that session, catch Lori at 11 a.m. that same day, when she presents "25 Best Ever Informational Text CCSS Lessons That Promote Close Reading and Engagement!" in Rooms 271-273.

Lori Oczkus is an independent literacy consultant and author. Her most recent book with IRA is Best Ever Literacy Survival Tips: 72 Lessons You Can't Teach Without. Lori's new book, Just the Facts: Close Reading and the Comprehension of Informational Text (Shell/IRA, 2014) will be released this month.

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For decades, teachers have incorporated song lyrics into their instruction. Most often, the intent with song lyrics is to "analyze meaning." But what hasn't already been done with song lyrics? Here is a new twist on an old trick.

The learning sequence typically spans a week, but may take longer depending on the class.

Day 1: Students are introduced to the text. The teacher reads the song aloud, giving students a chance to focus on clarifying and comprehending. After reading, students may write down questions or predictions. The reader may try to clarify new or unknown words, including words that may carry a different or metaphorical meaning. When using "Buffalo Soldiers" by Bob Marley, many students try to clarify the lyric "analyze the stench," which forces them beyond literal interpretation (smell) into the "ulterior motive" interpretation. Students, then, read the song and further apply strategies by writing in the margins of the paper and preparing for small-group discussions. At the end, a paragraph summary is written consolidating the learning acquired. This confuses some students as they have yet to "learn" about the topic. Summarizing "where we are at" is necessary to show day-to-day meaning making.

When using Paul Kennerley’s "Story to Tell," two short texts are offered. One is a primary source document from the 1850’s describing Southern values, written by a Southerner. Another is an excerpt from "Daily Life on a Southern Plantation, 1853." The primary source is often read aloud. Writing in the 1850’s differs starkly from today. The exposure to the writing is necessary for students to gain understanding of the time. Modifying documents to reflect today’s writing styles—making a text more accessible—steals the authenticity of the document. The secondary source is more accessible to students; however, they are quick to note the quality change in information. Most prefer, despite complexity, the primary source.

Day 2: Readers are provided primary documents that align with the song. Meaning is made through a whole class effort and interpretations are recorded on an anchor chart. Students have the text to refer to and cite later in the process. After the anchor chart is made, students carry out a reciprocal teaching discussion before revisiting the song lyrics. To conclude this lesson, students refer to their predictions and questions from the previous day, initiating clarification of the song lyrics. As a ticket out, paragraph summaries are collected.

Day 3: Day two is repeated with a second text. Students strategically and independently read this text. Students discuss the reading before revisiting the song lyrics and further clarifying.

Day 4: Stanzas are assigned. Students are asked to clarify a stanza using text evidence. Most of the ideas to clarify concepts are present at this time, turning students’ attention to closely reading and locating text evidence. This reading period is longer and has two defined parts, one for each text. The primary source is read in small-groups as a scaffold for those who need or desire support or encouragement. The text read independently is conferred upon between the teacher and the student. Evidence is collected in a graphic organizer.

Day 5: After modeling an argument essay, through a think-aloud, students begin to draft a response that clarifies the song lyrics using text evidence. For the most part, basic drafts are completed and shared. The idea at this time is not perfectionism, but the organization of an argument and sentence construction that incorporates text evidence. The next week may be devoted to enhancing the writing, if so desired.

Using lyrics in this manner creates the following learning opportunities.

Common Core State Standards would like teachers to abstain from providing extensive background information before reading. Song lyrics used to introduce a topic. Using Paul Kennerley’s "Story to Tell," from White Mansions, readers use reciprocal teaching strategies (Palinscar & Brown, 1984; Ozckus, 2010) to read and discuss their initial understandings and interpretations. Song lyrics alleviate pre-teaching because there is plenty to infer and wonder within a songs’ ambiguity. By creating a scenario where readers must draw on any level of background knowledge and collaborate to share perspectives create schema and become prepared to read specific content related material, aiming to clarify and expand knowledge base.

Readers consider possible viewpoints, biases, and stances from a variety of writers. The song used may or may not have a stance. What is certain, by reading associated short text from varying perspectives, student will learn stances or biases within related texts. Afterwards, students may ask and clarify what influences the song writer’s viewpoint

The rewarding aspect of this study is students can chart their learning from the start to the end. Many students already know facts about the Civil War. This study launches a study into the emotions and people behind the war and invites interpretations. When the song is revisited after reading primary sources and essays, the meaning changes! How real life is that?

Readers, in this activity, are breaking critical literacy ground. Reading content-related documents to clarifying the song lyrics, students discover lyrics have multiple meanings and that "facts" do not contain multiple interpretations. This dissonance creates the thinking and learning. With respect to the Civil War, students learn about clash between cultures, ethics, and principles between the two sides. Students, throughout the study, also begin to consider the war’s ramifications. The questions they ask, the conclusions they draw, the learning that is composed all melds into one idea students begin to ponder, how different is today from yesterday. Critical literacy is off and running.

The everlasting effect appears down the road. For example, if students study "Buffalo Soldiers," what comes to mind when they hear the song later? For most the link back to African-American units battles with Indians, during Westward Expansion or the Indian Removal Act, and the slave trade. Most importantly, when hearing the song again, the learning rushes back. The historical concept attaches to the song in the way many of us relate to a life event through song.

In the end, really, this is a new spin on an old idea. Song lyrics remixed, so to speak. The model of instruction can be applied with poetry or other short texts, not just lyrics. Like in the classroom, the lyrics define the starting point, a hook to invite students exportation of profound topics and ideas in history.

Coming to IRA 2014? See Justin Stygles present "Close Reading and Critical Literacy: Song Lyrics—The Ultimate Teachable Moment, Grades 4–8" on Saturday, May 10th, at 4:45 PM to 5:45 PM.

Justin Stygles is a gr. 5/6 teacher at Guy E. Rowe School in Norway, Maine. He is a member of the IRA's Advisory Committee of Teachers and is a liason for the Maine Reading Association.