Literacy Now

Being a teacher means embracing constant change. Yet all too often, teachers are told when, how and why to change. In this monthly column, Mrs. Mimi takes on creating change for herself by rethinking old practices and redefining teaching on her own terms. 

Happy Digital Learning Day!!! Whee! Cupcakes for everyone! Even better than that—You get an iPad! You get an iPad! You get an iPad!

Sorry.

Someday I will realize I am not the Oprah of education. Not yet anyway. (But when I am? iPads all around!)

Wait, say what? Digital Learning Day? If you are wondering what Digital Learning Day commemorates, let me fill you in. Digital Learning Day promotes giving every child the opportunity to learn and grow in a dynamic digital environment every day. Every. Day. Translation? Asking kids to “type up” one piece of writing a year is no longer enough.

p: flickingerbrad via photopin

Technology is certainly nothing new in the classroom. (Perhaps working computers are a revelation in your particular school but that is another story for another day.) As the technology conversation has evolved, educators have discussed ways in which technology can be integrated in meaningful ways rather than as an afterthought. To me, that means technology can no longer be isolated to the product alone. You know, when we ask kids to type up what they wrote with pencil and paper, or when we ask kids to make an iMovie to represent what they have learned in a particular social studies unit.

Don’t get me wrong, those things can be H.O.T. hot, but they are no longer enough. (And if we’ve learned anything about being educators it’s that somehow most things are never enough. Never.) If we are to integrate technology in meaningful ways into our classroom instruction on a daily basis, it means that technology must be a part of the process, not just the product.

Maybe you’re nodding along with me right now and thinking, “That Mrs. Mimi has it going on.” Or maybe you’re rolling your eyes and thinking, “That sounds good but what can I do in my classroom today, hot shot?” I hear you.

When I think about integrating anything new into my reading instruction, I always ask myself, “What do I do as a reader with (insert new idea here)?” So, what do you do as a reader with technology? Or as a reader of technology? Personally, as a reader, I read books, blogs, recipes, articles, magazines and emails on my iPad, laptop and phone. I watch videos, both with and without text. (Yes, those count too.) I do this to research a new area of interest, to learn more as I complete a project, to find out how to do something and to relax. Take a minute and think about yourself—how do you use technology as a reader?

Now comes the key question. (Drumroll please.) How can you mirror that in your classroom?

Still shaking your head and thinking to yourself that it all sounds nice but that you don’t have any technology in your classroom? Well, that excuse isn’t working any more is it? Teachers are still expected to integrate technology despite the fact that some schools are dragging their heels when it comes to re-tooling classrooms. 

Clearly, doing nothing is not motivating said schools to prioritize purchasing technology for you to use. So, sign out the computer lab. Sign out the rolling laptop or iPad cart. Every day. Every day. Every. Day. Maybe if the labs are full and the carts are scarce, the Powers That Be will get the hint. All we can do is try. Now, do a quick Google search for ideas or apps. There are literally a ho-jillion resources out there. Give it a shot today—after all, it’s Digital Learning Day!!

Now, where’s my cupcake?

Mrs. Mimi is a pseudonymous teacher who taught both first and second grades at a public elementary school in New York City. She's the author of IT'S NOT ALL FLOWERS AND SAUSAGES: MY ADVENTURES IN SECOND GRADE, which sprung from her popular blog of the same name. Mimi also has her doctorate in education from Teachers College, Columbia University.

February’s International Reading Association (IRA) Member of the Month is Brandie McNabb, second grade teacher and President-Elect of the Louisiana Reading Association, the host state of the IRA 59th Annual Conference to be held in New Orleans from May 9-12, 2014. Reading Today caught up with Brandie to ask her about her plans for the conference in her home state, her experiences as Teacher of the Year and a National Board Certified teacher, why she loves Dr. Seuss, and her thoughts on why to become and why not to become a teacher!

When did you know you wanted to become a teacher?

I always wanted to be a teacher. I can remember helping my aunt set up her classroom each summer. It seemed like the coolest job ever! I had many people trying to influence me to pursue other fields. I unfortunately listened to them when I first finished college, but I finally did come back to what I feel was my calling in life.

Which children's literature books influenced your decision to become a literacy educator?

Anything by Dr. Seuss! He felt that children’s books were boring and wondered why anyone would want to read a boring book. Amen! Whether it makes you laugh or cry, there is nothing like a good book. The best feeling is to read a book to my class and see their anticipation of what the next page has to say.

How did you begin your career, and what led you to your current position?

Oh that’s a great question! As I mentioned, I wanted to be a teacher even in high school. But also I had a friend whose mom was a teacher. She said, “Don’t do that. You won’t make any money.” I listened and ventured off to nursing school. When it was time to begin my clinical work, I realized that wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I finished college with a General Studies degree. I worked in a pharmacy for several years before realizing I still felt that calling to be a teacher. I found out about an Alternate Certification Program in education. The rest is history. I’m currently getting my masters in Curriculum and Instruction.

I’ve been in my current position, second grade, for eleven years. My school district has only been in existence for eleven years. I was lucky to be with them from the beginning. Our school district doesn’t have neighborhood schools but has grade level clusters, which I think is part of the key to our success. We’ve been the number one district in our state for the past eight years. My school has only first and second grades, which means every child in our district will attend our school.

What can literacy educators do to motivate kids to want to read?

Help them find the right book! Many times, teachers give the students the books to read. Letting students choose what they want to read is giving them a voice. In my reading groups, I provide them with books on their instructional level, but I always make sure that they get to pick books to bring home too.

How long have you been a member of the International Reading Association? How has membership influenced your career?

I’ve been a member of IRA for over ten years. At first, it was just to attend conferences, but I slowly became more and more involved. In 2008, I started the local reading council in my school district. I wanted to give reading teachers in our district an opportunity to come together and talk. It was a way to learn the latest and best methods without leaving our schools. Through ZARC, I’ve become active in the state’s council, Louisiana Reading Association (LRA). I’ve developed some great friendships with some great leaders in reading. Janet Langlois was the first person I met when I first started researching the possibility of creating a council. She took time to meet with me and provided an enormous amount of help in the process. As the President-Elect for LRA, I hope to honor Janet's memory by making her and my other new found friends proud.

What are you looking forward to doing at the Annual Conference in New Orleans?

Oh, there’s so much! Of course I have to mention the exhibit hall; what teacher doesn’t love exploring the new books, meeting the authors, and collecting lots of free stuff? I enjoy looking through the program and studying which sessions I want to attend. It’s exciting and frustrating at the same time because I can’t be in three places at once! Discovering new ideas, learning about new technology, and making connections with other literacy teachers just amplify the event. 

What do you consider to be your proudest career moment?

That’s a hard question to answer and pick one. It was an honor to be picked Teacher of the Year several years ago by my colleagues. Achieving National Board Certification was a highlight too, but I honestly think what is most rewarding is getting those e-mails from former parents or seeing former students. It means the world when they take the time to let me know how they are doing and how they still love to read. Knowing that parents want their kids in my class lets me know I’m doing my job and is the biggest reward I could ever receive.

What do you like to do when you're not wearing your educator hat?

I love spending time with my family, traveling, reading, and trying to not think about school. I have two girls, ages eight and three. My husband and I love to travel, and we are always dreaming about that ultimate trip.

What's the best advice you could offer someone new to the profession?

Don’t give up; remember why you became a teacher. Dig down deep, and remember why you became a teacher. If it’s because you’re off holidays and weekends, think again. Teachers bring work home constantly. If it’s because you want to make a difference, GO FOR IT! Get involved and stay active either in educational organizations or volunteering for activities at your school. I love to teach reading, even on those bad days. But when you see a child smile because they read the book independently for the first time or made a B on a comprehension test, you’ll remember why you are here.

Just as the TILE-SIG series on Reading Today Online provides a place for us to share ideas regarding issues in the field of technology and literacy education, online publications, communities, and blogs can be used in the classroom to foster collaboration and sharing among students and a wider audience. As access to technology and the plethora of digital resources increase, blogging can be a viable tool for increasing collaborative opportunities in the classroom setting.

p: BarbaraLN via photopin

Blogs offer endless possibilities for use in the classroom. Zawilinski (2009) suggests developing students’ higher order thinking skills through reflection, response to literature, and sharing of class news and student work. Students can use blogs as a forum for literature discussion within and beyond the classroom. Having an authentic audience to communicate with about commonly read literature beyond the four walls of the classroom can enhance students’ motivation and engagement with reading.

The use of blogs also allows for cross-curricular connections. Blogging from the perspective of a historical figure allows students to interact with content-area text in meaningful ways. Using a perspective guide (Lapp, Wood, Stover, & Yearta, 2011), the teacher poses several thought-provoking questions for students to respond to from the point of view of a historical figure such as a Union or Confederate soldier. These responses could be shared on students’ blogs where, remaining in character, they could then engage in digital dialogue with their peers.

Using the blog as a space for scientific thinking can also allow students to create and share content specific writing. Students can respond to experiments or pose questions to one another.  Additionally, students can write content-based “I am what I am” poems. See the example below written from the perspective of a plant cell.

I am what I am
I am a plant cell and I’m pretty amazing
I am different than an animal cell
I am green
because of chlorophyll
I maintain structure
because of my cell wall
I take energy from the sun and water
to make my own food
in a process called photosynthesis
I am what I am

In math, students can respond to a thought-provoking “problem of the week” on a class blog. Here, they can create word problems for their peers to complete and can also discuss their problem solving process. With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards across much of the United States, students are required to show their thinking when working through math problems. The Smarter Balanced standardized assessments currently require that students are aware of their thinking and can explain how they arrived at a particular answer. Sample math problems from Smarter Balanced can be found here. Encouraging students to create and work through problems on the blog gives students a platform to share their mathematical thinking and reasoning with a wide audience.

Blogs can be used in a myriad of ways across the curriculum while also providing teachers with a form of authentic assessment as students’ thinking and inner conversations are shared (Stover & Yearta, in press). Teachers and students’ peers can reply to posts by leaving comments and asking questions to probe for deeper understanding. Students can also use blogs as a form of ongoing self-assessment. By returning to previously written blog posts, students can set goals and reflect on their growth over time.

Blogs offer a digital landscape for students to interact with their peers within and beyond the four walls of the classroom. Examples of kid-friendly blogs include www.kidblog.org and www.quadblogging.net.

References

Lapp, D., Wood, K.D., Stover, K., & Yearta, L.S. (2011, Nov. 7). “You’re on a ‘Role’ with Perspective Guides” in Rigorous Real-World Teaching and Learning. International Reading Association. Retrieved from /Libraries/Members_Only/Lapp-Fall_2011-Perspective.pdf.

Stover, K. & Yearta, L. S. (in press). Using blogs as formative assessment of reading
comprehension. In K. Pytash, R. Ferdig., & T. Rasinski. (Eds.) Technology and reading: New approaches to literacy competency. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.

Zawilinski, L. (2009). HOT blogging: A framework for blogging to promote Higher Order
Thinking. The Reading Teacher, 62(6), 650-661.

Katie Stover is an Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at Furman University in Greenville, SC. She can be contacted at katie.stover@furman.edu.

Lindsay Sheronick Yearta is an Assistant Professor of Literacy Education at the University of South Carolina Upstate in Spartanburg, SC.  She can be contacted at lyearta@uscupstate.edu.

I think that the very first test I remember taking in elementary school (beyond the Friday spelling tests) was one on the Spanish explorers and the conquest of America. We had to draw a line matching the explorer with the territory—Cortes with Mexico, Ponce de Leon with Florida, De Soto with the Mississippi and Louisiana. In my memory the Spanish Conquest was a cornerstone of the elementary curriculum.

There are other eras and episodes in history that are taught and re-taught, written about in grave historical texts, threaded through social studies units, and the subject of novels. To even think about writing a novel on some of these subjects is daunting just because they have been written about so much. From an author’s perspective the stories seem almost threadbare or worn out from so much exposure. She thinks to herself, What else might I offer?

And then in this nearly threadbare, worked-over historical tapestry, you find one little maverick thread sticking out at an edge and you just can’t help giving it a tug. What will happen? Will the entire tapestry unravel? Or will the thread itself lead like a trail into new, undiscovered territory?

A little of both happened to me when I tugged on one such thread in the story of the Spanish Conquest. It was that of horses. We have been told and taught in elementary school that the Spanish brought the first horses to our continent; that in February of 1519 Hernando Cortes sailed from Cuba to Mexico. He sailed with eleven ships, five hundred men and sixteen horses. All this is written down in the seminal book by the conquistador/historian Bernal Castillo Diaz who was on that voyage. Interestingly enough Hernando Alonso, the blacksmith for the horses, was a Jew escaping the Inquisition. He was a secret Jew actually or what was called a converso. There were several conversos on board.

I found all this intriguing. Yet what really caught my fancy was a revelation that it is completely erroneous to think of these sixteen horses as the first ones ever to set hoof onto the soil of the New World. There had been horses in the New World but they had disappeared millions of years before the Spaniards had arrived.

So for the horses of Cortes it was not so much an arrival as a return, a homecoming of sorts. In fact it was in the New World that the first horse Eohippus equus, known as the Dawn Horse, had evolved. Of course the Dawn Horse did not look much like the modern horses we know today. It was tiny, no more than ten to twenty inches in height. Over the vastness of time that tiny creature changed and became the progenitor of three other species of horses much closer to what we now consider a modern horse. However, two million years before the arrival of Cortes those horses mysteriously vanished .

This seemed like a story waiting to be told. But then again, how to tell it?

I considered telling it from Hernando Alonso’s point of view—a secret Jew with a deep empathy for horses, fleeing his own native land. Or perhaps I might tell it from the perspective of a young groom for the horses, an African boy who was on the ship as a slave. Finally, I thought, Why not tell the story of the Spanish coming to the New World from the horses’ point of view.

At first I was rather intimidated. I have written so many books about animals now—owls in The Guardians of Ga’Hoole series, wolves in The Wolves of The Beyond series. But all these animals were completely wild. Indeed I set those series in post-human times. There was no contact or involvement with humans.

p: Randy C. Bunney via Wikimedia

But the history of horses is inextricably involved with humans. Horses were domesticated for centuries. Oh yes, I know there are ‘wild’ ones, mustangs, but in North America they are nonetheless the descendants of the horses that came to America with the Spaniards. To say they were “wild” is not entirely accurate. They were “feral.” That means they were not born in a wild state but only became wild after they escaped from captivity or domestication. Therefore they had to actually learn how to live wild, to forage, to shed the gaits they were trained to trot in and to gallop without shoes.

It is an odd angle perhaps from which to tell this uniquely American story, but as I said it is an alternate history. I truly felt there were themes and subtexts concerning questions of wildness and freedom that I could only explore from this peculiar perspective of the horses who had been brought to serve in the Spanish Conquest of the Americas.

Winston Churchill once said that history is written by the victors. THE ESCAPE, the first book of my new Horses of the Dawn series, is in one sense a novel of alternate history in that it is not being told from the perspective of the victors or the vanquished, but of the horses. I think of it as an equine retelling of the coming of horses to the New World that for them was ultimately a homecoming after millions upon millions of years.

Kathryn Lasky is the author of more than 100 books for children, adults, and young adults, including the New York Times bestseller series "Guardians of Ga'Hoole", basis for Warner Brothers recent film "Legend of the Guardians". She has won awards including a Newbery Honor, New York Times Best Books, Boston Globe Hornbook Award, and the Washington Post Children's Book Guild Award for the body of her non-fiction work and the Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young Readers Literature. She has twice won the National Jewish Book Award.

Kathryn lives in Cambridge, Ma. With her husband Christopher G Knight who has photographed many of the nonfiction books.

BALL DON’T LIE (Delacorte Press, 2005)
Written by Matt de la Peña
Grades 9-12

Sticky is a young teenager trying to find his way and make sense of a world where he feels alone. He suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder, which embarrasses him, so he just can’t help doing certain things over and over until they “feel” right. He no longer answers to his given name, Travis Reichard, and his memories of his life before his mother died are distant, confusing, and not always happy.

He has been in four foster homes since his mother died, but his home-away-from-home is a gym called Lincoln Rec where he goes every weekend to play basketball. Sticky had to earn his way to play in the Saturday games, and he is a force to contend with on the court, where he experiences every move on the court in meaningful detail. His friendships at Lincoln Rec and his girlfriend Anh-thu help him along the way, even though his path is difficult.

BALL DON’T LIE is a moving story, rich in imagery and description. An excellent book to study with adolescents, BALL DON’T LIE offers up many topics for discussion including basketball as a passion, what it entails to become the best that one can be regardless of the obstacles, how to matter when it seems no one has your best interest at heart, working through ethical dilemmas when you have nothing, and how to proceed when finding oneself on a difficult path.

Cross-Curricular Connections: English Language Arts, Social Studies, Health

Ideas for Classroom Use:

What Makes a Person?

There are descriptions of different characters on pages 45, 76, 120, and 121, beginning with the phrase “he (or a character’s name) is:” that can be used to start a discussion of what makes up a person. Can a person change from moment to moment? How important are physical characteristics? Using these sections from the book, have students write a paragraph about who they are right now, in this moment, using the format de la Peña uses.

To continue this lesson further, have students transform their paragraphs into a picture blog using https://jux.com. This blogging platform offers a clear, screen-sized picture with no other “clutter” on the screen unless you decide to put words there yourself. Students can decide to put the words they have written in their initial paragraphs on each picture of their presentation, or they can let the pictures speak for themselves. Students can use pictures of themselves or pictures of everyday objects they used to describe themselves.

Figurative Language

BALL DON’T LIE is full of powerful imagery, metaphors, and similes. As a pre-reading activity, teach a lesson on figurative language and use synectic boxes to learn about similes. Place students in groups and use the following chart with basketball terms, everyday items, or items of interest to the students. After completing the chart, have students discuss how the existing examples could be changed to create metaphors, and have students create new metaphors to share with the class. Instruct students to identify and keep notes of similes and metaphors as they read the book.

Similes are as easy as pie!

Socioeconomic Status: A Race to the Wall

Dante has a conversation with Sticky on page 228 about the injustice in life. “The laws we operate under are set up by those who have everything, in order to protect themselves from the ones who have nothing.” He goes on to make a comparison of life in America to a race to a wall in which some people have much more of a head start than others. Begin by doing a close reading of that section of the book. After reading, begin a class conversation in which students consider how one’s background, experiences, and resources can affect success.

The Ethics of Stealing: A Moral Thief?

There are several references and a few conversations throughout the book about stealing. Sticky thinks that stealing from an individual is wrong; however, he justifies stealing from a store as acceptable. On page 123, Chuck tells Sticky “Stealin is stealin, Stick. Don’t matter if it’s from a store or some little old lady, it’s the exact same state of condition.” As a pre-reading activity, have students read the background and the ethical questions posed on this ethics blog.

Have students comment on their thoughts on the ethical dilemma on a private class blog (www.edublogs.com). As a post-reading activity, have the class re-visit the blog and discuss the ethics of stealing as it relates to Sticky’s situation. Is Sticky right, is Chuck correct, or is the answer more nuanced?

Additional Texts:

More books that deal with the themes of basketball and coming of age.

Alexie, Sherman (2009). THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Alphin, Elaine Marie (2011). THE PERFECT SHOT. Carolrhoda Books.
Deuker, Carl (2009). NIGHT HOOPS. HMH Books for Young Readers.
Deuker, Carl (2008). ON THE DEVIL’S COURT. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
Fink, Mark (2011). STEPPING UP. Westside Books.
Lupica, Mike (2007). MIRACLE ON 49TH STREET.Puffin.
Lupica, Mike (2007). SUMMER BALL.Puffin.
Lupica, Mike (2012). TRUE LEGEND.Puffin.
Mackel, Kathy (2010). BOOST. Speak.
Myers, Walter Dean (2014). HOOPS. Ember.
Quick, Matthew (2012). BOY 21. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.

Additional Resources:

Random House Readers Guide
Random House has compiled a reader’s guide for four of de la Peña’s books. Page 6 offers many thought provoking questions about BALL DON’T LIE.