Literacy Now

by Terry S. Atkinson

Children born this year will graduate from high schools in the year 2030. With this fact in mind, TVO has launched Learning 2030, a special on-the-road series canvassing citizens and experts about the future of education. Recently featured in this series is Douglas Thomas, co-author of A New Culture of Learning. Through his lens as a cultural historian, he argues that game-changing technologies including Google, Amazon, Wikipedia, smart phones, and YouTube have transformed the way that students think, learn, and make sense of the world. Thomas argues that university instructors must make radical shifts in their teaching to reach today’s students and challenge them to address tomorrow’s yet unknown problems and questions. While Thomas makes many points based on what he claims are the best historical tenets of education, several ideas are particularly intriguing for university instructors. These include:

• Shifting the teacher’s instructional role from dispenser of content to that of guide and mentor;
• Rethinking learning so that student passion, imagination, inquiry, collaboration, and a quest for greater understanding are foregrounded; and
• Valuing the notion of honing student intellect through challenging and substantive questioning, rather than providing right answers to teacher-generated questions. Such questioning may reveal no definitive answers and, therefore, has the potential to foster long-standing student interest and engagement.

Traditions in the academy often undermine such radical shifts in university teaching and learning. Perhaps no one understands that better than Roni Jo Draper, who launched an innovative cross-campus action research project among engineering, English, history, mathematics, music, science, theatre, and visual arts colleagues at Brigham Young University (BYU). In her quest to better understand her own role as a content-area literacy educator, this collaboration has led her to question a fundamental tenet of content-area literacy. She no longer imagines that she can suggest a body of cross-content literacy strategies appropriate for all teachers and disciplines. Participation in action research with her BYU colleagues has led her to conclude that participation in the intellectual discourse of specific disciplines must be the focus of content-area literacy instruction and can only take place in collaboration with content-area specialists.

Draper and her Brigham Young University colleagues offer one innovative model for collaborative professional development among university faculty. In rethinking their own roles and practices as teacher educators, their efforts offer inspiration for other higher education faculty to envision and create new cultures of learning within their own classrooms, departments, colleges, and universities.

Terry S. Atkinson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Literacy Studies, English Education, and History Education at East Carolina University.

This article is part of a series from the International Reading Association Technology in Literacy Education Special Interest Group (TILE-SIG).

We all have unique lives, experiences, and interests, no matter what age we are. These can be springboards for each of us to create stories that no one else can write. Students who comprehend this may write with more confidence and, perhaps, come to see themselves as authors too.

I regularly visit schools and give presentations on my children’s books and writing process. When students have an opportunity to ask questions, one invariably posed is, “Where do you get your ideas for stories?” I love answering this question, because by sharing the “sparks” for my stories, I hope to inspire kids to create their own. Starting points for stories may be found in relationships with family and close friends, personal interests, personal experiences, and even dreams. All of these have jumpstarted my fiction.

Another source of inspiration that I like to discuss in some detail with students is the great big world of ideas, happenings, and information that constitutes current events. These offer boundless opportunities for authors looking for story ideas.

I was browsing the Internet in early 2008 and read an online news article from the Alaska Dispatch about a cease and desist order issued to prevent an Anchorage, Alaska man from building a 25-foot snowman. There was a photograph of Snowzilla (built the year before), and I marveled at his enormity. He dwarfed people and nearby houses. The huge snowman had caused chaos in town; tourists clogged roads, and people claimed he might hurt someone if he collapsed.

So the town issued the order to prevent the second rising of Snowzilla. This struck me as a very sad commentary on our times. Legal action against a snowman? I ruminated for months before writing the first draft of SNOWZILLA, based on the true facts. But I write for children, and this version had an adult protagonist and a not-so-happy ending. After brainstorming with colleagues, playing “what if?” with the facts, and putting myself “in kids’ boots,” I wrote a fictionalized version in rhyme about a little girl and her brother:

It snowed without stopping for week after week.
When it ended, at last, Cami Lou took a peek.
She bundled and booted and zipped up her brother.
“Let’s build a huge snowman, unlike any other!”

Departing from fact to create fiction isn’t always easy, especially if you are basing your story on true facts within your life experience. But a good fiction writer must often depart from the facts to serve his or her story. For example, a character inspired by a cranky uncle might be more memorable if there’s a secret reason for his unhappiness. The same freedom to change and mix things up applies to plot. A good fiction author doesn’t limit him or herself to “how it really happened.”

Since I had only read about Snowzilla and wasn’t wedded to his true story, it wasn’t that hard to turn on the “fiction switch.” How could I ratchet up the humor, the story, the size of this tall tale? I started with a spunky child protagonist who enlists her mom to plow the whole yard and her dad to place Snowzilla’s head using a rig. I thought of funny reasons for people to complain:

“Poochie is scared to go out the front door.”
Another said, “Views were much better before.
A lady warned everyone, “Make no mistake—
when temperatures rise, he’ll turn into a lake!

I changed the town ordinance violation into neighbors bringing lawsuits. And when I ruminated about how to save Snowzilla, my own life experience kicked in with a fact—in my New England town, the flattest, most open space is our community garden. What a perfect spot to move Snowzilla! Major scaffolding, many hands, a trip down Main Street, and marching bands helped complete the joyous move. And when the inevitable happened, Cami was ready for the challenge:

Weeks later, the sun became hotter and bright.
Snowzilla grew smaller and flowed out of sight.
Cami Lou waved, hardly shedding a tear,
because she had much bigger plans for next year.

My completed manuscript had grown into a humorous tall tale far different from the original news story I’d read. My creative journey can be a model for similar journeys in your classrooms. Consider encouraging students to use a news story as a starting point for writing fiction. Such assignments or exercises will introduce or expose them to journal and newspaper articles as a reading option. Interest in current events may be kindled. And opportunities abound for tailoring assignments to particular literacy goals.

For pre- or early literacy students, a teacher might propose a simple fact line drawn from the day’s news, or from the day’s events—“Principal Jones stood on the playground.” The class can brainstorm to invent a story, with the teacher saying, “What if?” or “What might have happened next?” This storytelling exercise, led by teacher prompting, can encourage all students’ creative juices while targeting specific skills. For example, the class story line might include, “Principal Jones ran away.” Students can brainstorm a “best word” for the verb “ran.” (Students might suggest, “He hopped away,” or “He dashed away,” “He hurried away,” or “He zoomed away.”)

For more experienced writers, a teacher might select and read two or three short news articles that would be of interest to kids. Students can write a fictional story, developing a story idea from the article. Teachers might model an example, creating a short fictional story. An article about a giant underground ant colony might lead to a story about a child using all his leftover dinner food to set up a soup kitchen for ants. Students could share their articles and brainstorm together to come up with story ideas.

For older grades, students themselves could select an article from a print newspaper, or online news source. That article would provide the story idea. A teacher might refine such an assignment to focus on specific traits or mechanics of writing, such as story arc, descriptive passages, hyperbole, active verb choices and tenses, etc. Students should tackle such assignments with enthusiasm—they will be reading and choosing an article that piques their curiosity. Some will be drawn to human interest stories; others may be drawn to science or medical writing. Still others may be fascinated by local, state, national, or international history or current events.

With a bit of guidance, students of almost any age can mine news sources for a story idea. Creating fiction out of real events will help students develop confidence as story tellers and provide myriad opportunities for teachers to present or reinforce numerous language arts concepts and literacy skills. Hopefully, students will soon see stories everywhere in the world around them—as do all good fiction authors.

Janet Lawler is the author of IF KISSES WERE COLORS (a Common Core Curriculum Map-suggested work for kindergarteners), A FATHER'S SONG, and A MAMA BUG'S LOVE. Her latest book, SNOWZILLA, was published this past October. OCEAN COUNTING is slated for a 2013 release by National Geographic. Learn more about Janet and her work at www.JanetLawler.com.

With the holidays quickly approaching many families have begun decorating their homes, shopping for presents and making plans for the new year. Two important presents teachers give their students each year are a book filled classroom and the love of reading. In theses last few weeks of school continue sharing the gift of books by reading aloud a title from this list. The International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) wishes everyone a happy holiday!

GRADES K-3

Alko, Selina. (2012). Daddy Christmas and Hanukkah Mama. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Young Sadie launches the family holiday season with her declaration, “I am a mix of two traditions.” In simple text but vivid and playful gouache, collage and colored pencil illustrations the author describes how this household celebrates Christmas and Hanukkah. Father is Christian and mother is Jewish, yet the reader will find dad making latkes (for Santa, no less!) and kugel dressing for turkey dinner. He hangs candy canes from the menorah on the mantel. As relatives arrive and dinner is served, the extended family share stories about holiday traditions. This unique family situation provides a great conversation starter for those interested in a truly multicultural look at the holidays. Learn more about the author and her books at her website.

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Andreasen, Dan. (2012). The twelve days of Christmas. Mankato, MN.: Sleeping Bear Press.

Though there are numerous book versions of this traditional Christmas song, author/artist Dan Andreasen has created a new volume specifically intended for young readers. A baby partridge begins the story song and each day a new cast of characters arrives illustrated with playful animal characters that prove to overwhelm the young partridge. Funny-looking turtledoves, cats that are milkmaids, rabbits performing as dancing ladies and tortoises banging on drums start the mayhem. Though the words remain the same, this is a fresh look at a traditional English carol for young readers counting the days toward the Christmas holiday.

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Black, Birdie. (2012). Just right for Christmas. Illus. by Rosalind Beardshaw. New York: Nosy Crow Publisher/Candlewick.

For teachers looking for a read aloud about the joy of giving, this new book from Birdie Black is just that right book including repeating phrases that young readers will want to join in with the teacher, especially “That cloth is so red and soft and Christmassy!” This phrase opens the book as the king strolls through the market on Christmas Eve and sees a bolt of red cloth that he knows is just right for a grand cloak for his daughter. When the king’s seamstresses finish the cloak, they put the scraps outside the back door. The kitchen maid walks by and sees the discarded red scraps and she immediately decides to make a jacket for her ma. When she discards the scraps, along comes a badger who sees that he can make a hat for his pa; then a squirrel gathers the scraps to make gloves for his wife; and from the last bits of red cloth a mouse makes a beautiful red scarf for her son. The final pages bring all the characters from the book together at the ice skating rink and readers will see all the red gifts sported around the ice rink. The mixed media illustrations use cloth and patterns and sewing items that add a touch of homespun storytelling to the story. Pair this with Simms Taback’s Caldecott winner, Joseph Had a Little Overcoat. A quick book talk of this book can be found at YouTube.

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Bryan, Ashley. (2012). Who built the stable?; a nativity poem. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

Told in rhymed couplets and illustrated with the brilliantly familiar artwork of Ashley Bryan, this story of the nativity brings new thought to the original story of Christmas. The narrator is a young boy apprenticed to his father and training to be a carpenter. When Mary and Joseph arrive in Bethlehem, the young apprentice invites them to stay in the stable. As Ashley Bryan was traveling in an open Jeep across Africa, the bumpy terrain reminded him of the bumpy journey Mary made all those years ago to Bethlehem. Throughout this new book, Bryan has illustrated the pictures with a strong African influence including background pictures of a giraffe, a zebra, a monkey, and an African drummer. Some observers might question these artistic details, but it brings universality to this glorious birth. After the young carpenter boy has cared for Mary and Joseph’s comforts for the coming night, he greets them in the morning and meets the new babe. He proclaims that this child will also be a carpenter and a shepherd. This vibrant new book brings a new slant to the Biblical version as young readers enjoy the story told in rich language with beautiful illustrations. This would make an excellent family story or gift for Christmas. Listen to a podcast on the illustrations of Ashley Bryan. 

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Carpenter, Tad. (2012). Sad Santa. New York: Sterling Children’s Books.

It is December 26, and Santa is sad. The presents are open, the cookies are eaten, and everyone is forgetting about Santa. He has the blues. Mrs. Claus tries to cheer him up and suggests going on a beach vacation but this doesn’t work as he just doesn’t feel wanted or needed any longer. Then, one day, a letter arrives from a young boy who is starting on his Christmas list for next year. He is asking for gifts for his brother and his parents. Santa’s enthusiasm returns and he heads for the North Pole to begin the new season’s extra-special gifts. Though he is back to work, the end of the book concludes with Santa’s thought about sharing and the spirit of giving and caring every day of the year. The author got the idea for this book after his recent marriage. The planning of the wedding took months and months and then was over so quickly, it made him think of Christmas in the same way. Enjoy the website dedicated to this book.

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Kelleher, Kathie. (2012). The night before Christmas, deep under the sea. Illus. by Dan Andreasen. New York: Holiday House.

For those collectors of all the parodies and varieties of Clement Moore’s poem, “The Night Before Christmas,” here is a new addition/edition. Narrated by a jolly old lobster, readers will find the undersea marine setting a humorous touch to the traditional poem. Mermaids replace peeking children in this tale of underwater Christmas. When Santa finally arrives, readers will see that he is a blue walrus and sea horses with their own marine names pull the conch-shell sleigh. Using oil and digital artwork the illustrations are often double page spreads that add a luminescence for underwater effect in addition to humorously supporting the text that stays admiringly close to Moore’s original.

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Matteson, George, & Ursone, Adele. (2012). The Christmas tugboat: How the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree came to New York City. Illus. by James Ransome. Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Books/Clarion Books.

Many young readers will cherish this book that explains how the huge Christmas tree that graces New York City's Rockefeller Center at Christmas arrives at its destination. Although the story does not cover the selection and the cutting of the tree chosen for this honor, it describes its watery journey along the Hudson River. Based on their own experiences, the authors relate how one family ventures out in a tugboat along the river to guide the tree to its rightful place of honor. The story highlights family love and how the three family members take note of everything along their path while the acrylic illustrations paint the city and its surroundings in eye-catching style, making the route back to NYC seem almost like a parade attended by passengers in boats. Although many readers will be familiar with the lighting of the tree at the Rockefeller Center, few of them will have considered how the tree would be transported. This is a perfect read aloud as the holiday season draws nigh. 

- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Patricelli, Leslie. (2012). Fa la la. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

As is often the case for little ones, Baby is beyond excited as Christmas approaches. Eager for Christmas to come, he seizes every chance to get involved in the festivities, even draping tinsel and lights around himself while his parents attempt to decorate the tree. Parents reading this board book to their own little ones will smile at the less-than-desirable but heartfelt presents that Baby makes for his own parents since they may have received similar gifts themselves. It's all lots of fun, accompanied by vividly-hued acrylic illustrations, and Baby's irrepressible joy for life. Readers will chortle as Baby belts out Christmas carols in a decidedly off key fashion to the annoyance of the family's pets who seek solace from the noise. It’s a good thing the holiday comes only once a year.

- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

Schuette, Sara L. (2012). A Christmas cookbook; simple recipes for kids. Mankato, MN: Capstone Press.

Christmas also means cooking! This cookbook is especially designed for young children to enjoy as the subtitle indicates: simple recipes for kids. Large print, simple step-by-step instructions, and color photographs makes this an ideal Christmas cookbook for young readers. Starting with an introduction on Festive Foods that provides a metric conversion chart, kitchen tools and techniques (crush, drizzle, fold, measure, spread, sprinkle, stir, toss) recipes for snacks and drinks will make apprentice child cooks proud of the kitchen products they produce. Recipes include: North Pole Pie, Blitzen’s Bagels, Hawaiian Snowball Salad, Santa’s Salsa Rolls, Stuffed Sleigh Sammies, and of course, Mrs. Claus Cookies and a Popcorn Garland. A glossary and index help with definitions of specific cooking terms. Yummy! Good news for Santas everywhere!

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

Whelan, Gloria. (2012). Smudge and the book of mistakes; a Christmas story. Illus. by Stephen Costanza. Mankato, MN: Sleeping Bear Press.

Fifteen-year-old Cuthbert is sent to live at the monastery of St. Ambrose on the Irish island of Moracrrick. Living in the Middle Ages and small for his age, his father thinks Cuthbert will never be a warrior and the life of a monk is more suited to him. When he is assigned to the scriptorium to learn the art of writing and creating illuminated letters, Brother Cuthbert is delighted. He loves writing and creating the beautiful letters, though most of the time he is a bit sloppy and quickly earns the nickname “Smudge.” A special project is started at the monastery and is designed to bring fame to the church but due to a mistake in assignments, Cuthbert is selected over the best writer/calligrapher at St. Ambrose to be the illuminator of the Christmas story project. Smudge?? Brother Gregory lends Brother Cuthbert guidance and confidence that he can, indeed, complete this project. Through hard work, diligence and many hours of practice, Cuthbert works his way through this momentous task. When a mistake at the very end of the manuscript threatens to completion of the project. Brother Gregory shows Cuthbert how to turn a mistake into something creative and beautiful. Check out "5 Questions With... Gloria Whelan" on the Engage blog. Teachers might like to try teaching students to practice making an illuminated letter.

- Karen Hildebrand, Ohio Library and Reading Consultant

GRADES 4-6

Kalz, Jill. (2012). Christmas chaos: Hidden picture puzzles. Illus. by James Yamasaki. Mankato, MN: Heinemann/Picture Window Books.

Fourteen puzzles created around a holiday theme give readers a chance to test their patience and enhance their visual literacy and puzzle-solving skills as they try to locate various hard-to-find objects such as a rocking horse, a candy cane, and mistletoe, among others. Although finding them might seem easy, some of the puzzles require combing over the images slowly and patiently several times since the colors blend together. This entertaining book will keep young readers busy as they try to spot all the objects, but don’t be surprised if they ask older readers for some help. Despite the book's title, it also features puzzles about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and New Year's as well as a puzzle about the winter season. Many of the pages feature friendly figures enjoying the lighted houses and ice sculptures in their neighborhood as well as standing in line to visit Santa Claus. Successful puzzle solvers can return to the puzzles to look for even more objects, including a cupcake, a mermaid, and a lizard, of all things. While reading this book is great fun, looking at the multi-hued pictures for too long can be headache-inducing.

- Barbara A. Ward, Washington State University Pullman

These reviews are submitted by members of the International Reading Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) and are published weekly on Reading Today Online. 

In the spring of 2012, a group of English Language Arts educators from Franklin, MA, launched a highly successful middle school reading program around The Hunger Games.  In this five-part special series, the teachers who orchestrated the whole-school read will detail, step-by-step, this year’s initiative. Parts I and 2 focused on how the team made this year’s book selection, The Hobbit, and encouraged student participation. In part 3, Mary Cotillo and Erin O’Leary discuss some of the challenges they’ve faced—and how they’re working as a team to overcome.

We know where we’re headed on this journey—we really do—and we know it’s going to be worth our while. How to get there? That’s another story. 

Our merry band of literature lovers are much like Bilbo and the dwarves—prepared and peppy at the outset, tromping gamely through the Misty Mountains, blissfully unaware of the evils that are lurking around the bend.

If you are planning a school-wide reading program, please take a few moments to benefit from our experience as we highlight the pitfalls—both real and imagined—that line our path.

Challenge #1: Time

Although a read-a-thon may not seem like something that will dominate your life for several months, let us be the first to tell you: it can and it will.

We first hinted at our reading initiative in mid-October. We teased the reveal for about a week and made the surprise part of our journey. While we adults tend to get irritated when people (read: celebrities’ publicists) announce that they are going to make an upcoming announcement about an important announcement, our middle schoolers lapped it up.

After the reveal comes the reading. Not a big deal, right? Maybe not with a modern, popular young adult book with a glossy cover featuring knock-out models. But we’re not talking about heartbreakers; we’re talking about a furry-footed Hobbit. We needed to keep our initiative in the forefront of kids’ minds and capitalize on the tween desire to belong. Don’t get left behind! We peppered the school with propaganda, aired weekly videos encouraging reading, and ran daily “caught reading” contests. All of this takes time.

Here’s how we created our schedule: We knew we wanted the kids to see the movie as close to the release as possible, which gave us the target date of Dec. 14 (before Christmas break—thank you, Peter Jackson!). Now, back up one week for those permission slips. If you want your students to have some level of accountability—a riddling or reaping or what have you—subtract at least one more week for that. That put us at a “due date” of December 3.

Which means our students had seven weeks to read The Hobbit. Literally, seven weeks.

Of course, our read-a-thon will not end when we walk out of the theater. The field trip is what requires the most planning and generates the most excitement among the kids, but we also rock some post-viewing school-wide events. In fact, we decided to save most of the activities for after the movie. It gives us some time to regroup, and also gives our little hobbits the chance to reconsider and join the throng. Last year we picked up an additional thirty-something tributes after the movie. Apparently, they didn’t know how cool we were.

Challenge #2: Faculty Support

Like any initiative, if your school is like ours, you’ll have reactions ranging from immediate “This is awesome! What can I do to help?” buy-in to “You’ve got to be kidding me, I can’t handle one more thing before Christmas” resistance.

If your budget allows, order copies of the book for your teachers. Make them signs for their classrooms, offer lessons, news stories, and articles, and provide logistical updates for your faculty as you are able. It’s not always easy, but don’t stress too much. Most are only concerned if an event interferes with their teaching day. If you can provide advance warning, most will happily accommodate.

However, there are some teachers who’ll be armed with a laundry list of questions, and you won’t always have answers. (See “Doubts” below.) Learning styles are evident even among adults. Some need to see the “big picture,” while others crave minutia, playing the “what if?” game. If you’re concerned with collegial dynamics, have the important stuff come from above. That’s what Gandalf is for. Remain as positive and kind as humanly possible; if your faculty isn’t excited about your initiative, the kids will suffer.

Overall, we’ve been blessed with incredible support that far outweighs any stray negativity that comes our way. We have more offers for support (and requests to chaperone) than we can possibly accept. We’ve found teachers are more than willing to tolerate disruptions to their schedule in exchange for the unifying effects of a school-wide adventure.

Challenge #3: (Self) Doubts

An adventurer’s greatest enemy is not a goblin or a giant spider or a dragon, but oneself. We intrepid few who willingly embark on such grand missions must be prepared to come face to face with our own doubts and fears. And, as was so beautifully illustrated to the Horace Mann Middle School contingent recently, we must be willing to stay the course.

The Hobbit is not The Hunger Games. Last year we had students falling over themselves to participate. This year, the readers are much more reluctant. The book is long. It has old-fashioned language. There are no mutts or fireballs or love interests. It wasn’t long before we faced what Mary at least considered to be a disastrous realization: we were highly unlikely to fill six buses.

“But we have to fill six buses,” the doubting voice in Mary’s head cried. “We have a mandate! We have a precedent! If we don’t meet these new, higher expectations, what will happen next year? We’ll lose our budget! We’ll have to fight tooth and nail for support just like we did last year. Not filling six buses is not an option! We need to change the program!”

So we did…almost.

First, we did some research to figure out where the first movie ends (The Hobbit film adaptation will be a trilogy) and figured that students would have to read roughly five chapters to understand the first movie. We talked about eliminating the requirement to read the book, opening up the field trip to those students who had read at least the first five chapters. This would encourage those students who were stymied by difficult language, bolster our numbers, and ensure our literacy initiative would be funded in years to come.

Oh, and the message the kids would receive about not having to read the whole book? The lowering of our standards? We’ll just ignore those issues for now. We’ve got six buses to fill, people!

Thank goodness, once again, for coolheaded administration. When we approached our Gandalf with our worries and suggested plan of action, we were quickly set straight. It mattered not if we had 50 or 500 students participating; our program (and budget!) was safe. We were reminded to keep our eye on the real prize. We are in this not for movie premieres, not for newspaper coverage, but for the kids. We are encouraging a love of reading and literature, and to do that we absolutely must require the students to read the whole novel.

And as for Mary’s worries that we’d only have a handful of kids participate? That was proven wrong on the day before Thanksgiving break, when we held a surprise early-riddling. Twenty-five students qualified in an hour. Not too shabby!

Mary Cotillo and Erin O’Leary both teach English Language Arts at Horace Mann Middle School in Franklin, MA.

Read the rest of the series here:

Six Buses: The Quest for School-Wide Reading Begins!

The Quest, Part 2: Monday Morning Hobbit-Backing

The Quest, Part 4: Some Shall Not Pass

The Quest, Part 5: The Journey Pays Off in Unexpected Ways

This post originally appeared on the Engage/Teacher to Teacher blog in November 2011.

The holidays present a host of challenges for teachers. Whether you are trying to preserve instructional time or simply break free of traditional holiday activities, here are ten titles that can help you reinvent your classroom’s holiday traditions. For each non-traditional holiday title below you will find a brief synopsis and an idea for connecting the book to the work of your classroom. What holiday season do you want in your classroom this year?

’Tis the Season to Notice

WE ARE AMERICA
Written by Walter Dean Myers
Illustrated by Christopher Myers

In their latest father-son collaboration, New York Times bestselling author Walter Dean Myers and Caldecott Honor artist Christopher Myers create a stunning journey through American History. The free-verse, non-fiction poetry and the epic illustrations offer homage to the diversity of people who have shaped America across its vast and complicated history. Offering resounding respect both for America and for those who have shaped it, Myers and Myers have found a way to say “Thank you” to all those we owe a debt of gratitude, from brick makers to presidents.

The cross-curricular connections for using this book are extensive. Our favorite, however, offers a variation on the traditional writing prompt: “I’m thankful for...” Instead, let children think about whom in history impacted the way they live their lives today. If they could say “thank you” in person, how would they say it and what would they say?

’Tis the Season to Break Stereotypes

NAVAJO YEAR: WALK THROUGH MANY SEASONS
Written by Nancy Bo Flood
Illustrated by Billy Whitehorne

The Navajo year begins in October, when summer and winter meet each other. In NAVAJO YEAR: WALK THROUGH MANY SEASONS, Coyote walks the reader through the thirteen months of the Navajo calendar. Illustrated by Billy Whitehorne, who lives in the Shonto-Black Mesa area of the Navajo Nation, this book captures the Navajo seasons with images and words. Presented in poetic form, with graceful and precise language, Flood manages an economy of words that makes the innate challenges of poetry appear easy. The book closes with a Navajo pronunciation guide produced by Berlyn Yazzie, Sr. The guide offers narrative descriptions as well as phonetic pronunciations of each of the months of the Navajo calendar. This book was carefully vetted, and offers a present-day counterpoint to stereotypes of Native Americans that abound around Thanksgiving.

You can use this book in math to make comparisons between our traditional calendar and the Navajo calendar. Use it in social studies to challenge students’ assumptions about Native Americans. NAVAJO YEAR is most valuable, perhaps, for the opportunities it offers to explore community, traditions, and special days across a calendar year. This book also lends itself to classroom events marking New Year celebrations.

’Tis the Season to Rethink What We Thought We Knew

THE ARRIVAL
Written and illustrated by Shaun Tan

Ask most students to describe a “pilgrim” and you will likely hear descriptions of women in bonnets and men in pointy hats with buckles on their shoes. You can help your children see Thanksgiving Day afresh (not to mention giving them a break from the common school traditions they endure over and over again) by showing them that “pilgrims” still exist.

THE ARRIVAL, Shaun Tan’s beautiful, wordless masterpiece is an award-winning book about an immigrant’s experience that will broaden your students’ definition of the word pilgrim, and offer new depth to what it means to be thankful. A beautifully complex text, THE ARRIVAL offers something for students of all ages. The wordless images will engage younger students, while older students can work through Tan’s invented alphabet, which allows readers to experience the same confusion immigrants experience as they face a new language in a foreign land.

The potential student responses to this book are many, but this book should probably be left to work its magic without extensive teacher direction. If anything, a simple, post-discussion writing prompt like, “I used to think..., but now I think....” can lend some consistency to student responses that could form a class poem or book.

’Tis the Season of Observing

NABEEL'S NEW PANTS: AN EID TALE
Written by by Fawzia Gilani-Williams
Illustrated by Prioiti Roy

While teaching your students about Eid, the celebration that takes place after the fast of Ramadan, NABEEL’S NEW PANTS will also show your students the ways that family holiday preparations are universal. From buying special gifts for family to preparing holiday food, this sweet tale carries a traditional note that any child can recognize, regardless of family traditions.

Roy’s gouache, watercolor, and ink illustrations help create a cheerful story of a mishap that leaves Nabeel with a most unusual pair of pants for Eid morning. This is a lovely and truly multicultural book: the author and illustrator are from India, the story is Turkish, and the glossary in the front of the book explains the Arabic terms used throughout.

Let your students use this book to observe the commonalities in holiday traditions. Students may discover that, even if cultural traditions vary, most holidays share the same, core elements, such as family reunions, giving, and anticipation.

’Tis the Season of Peace (In and Out)

THE PEACE BOOK
Written and illustrated by Todd Parr

Author/illustrator Todd Parr’s books present straightforward, accessible illustrations to teach sophisticated ideas, such as tolerance and love. While people celebrate certain seasons of peace in particular, we can think about the importance of peace throughout the year.

Parr lends concrete examples to this complex word, defining peace as multi-faceted. His illustrations show a range of peaceful moments, from caring for the earth to learning a new language. Use THE PEACE BOOK in your classroom to broaden classroom conversations beyond holiday calendar limitations.

For a deep discussion that can verbally prime comparably deep written responses, ask your students to think about whether peace is on the inside of them or on the outside. For further analysis, as what they think about this distinction, how inner and outer peace are connected, and whether it matters. You can even go page-by-page through THE PEACE BOOK and think about whether each illustration shows peace within or peace without.

’Tis the Season for Enough to be Plenty

THE SPIDER'S GIFT: A UKRAINIAN CHRISTMAS STORY
Written by Eric A. Kimmel
Illustrated by Katya Krenina

Spiders at Christmas? Children may wonder if you are talking about Christmas or Halloween. This story introduces a culturally significant holiday tradition that may be unknown to many of your students. In the Ukraine, spiders and their webs represent good luck. Many Ukrainians decorate their Christmas trees with spiders and webs.

THE SPIDER’S GIFT is a retelling of this tradition and its spider legend. This book is perfect considering the economic difficulties many will face this holiday season. The opening line will pull your students in as they learn that Katrusya’s family must figure out ways to turn little into plenty.

Let this story launch a campaign of holiday decorations or projects that appreciate nature and illustrate that something doesn’t have to be expensive to be beautiful. Paired with conversations about the dimensions of holiday traditions that aren’t sold in stores, students might find that getting down to earth, literally and figuratively, may introduce a new simplicity to a typically frenzied season.

‘Tis the Season of Our Own Celebrations

SEVEN SPOOLS OF THREAD: A KWANZAA STORY
Written by Angela Shelf Medearis
Illustrated by Daniel Minter

SEVEN SPOOLS OF THREAD explains, in classic folktale form, the origin of Kente cloth as well as the seven Kwanzaa principles. Use this title to give your students an overview of this holiday, established in 1966. Minter’s bold, brilliant linocuts convey the strong family ties in a Ghanaian village that serves as the setting for this tale of seven constantly quarreling brothers. With a glossary, pronunciation guide, and craft activity section, this book supports numerous opportunities for exploring and understanding Kwanzaa.

The SEVEN SPOOLS OF THREAD also invites an exploration of all kinds of holiday traditions. You can support discussion and writing by asking a few of the following questions: What did the creators of Kwanzaa have to consider as they developed this holiday? What does Kwanzaa include that was missing from other holidays? What is the same about Kwanzaa and other holidays? What makes the particular holidays that students observe meaningful for them? What makes a holiday your own?

‘Tis the Season to Start Something New

I LIVE IN TOKYO
Written and illustrated by Mari Takabayashi

Brilliant illustrations accompany the authentic text that sometimes reads like a journal and other times like a caption. For each month, Takabayashi offers a two-page spread that chronicles one year in the life of Mimiko, a seven-year-old school girl who lives in Japan.

With special emphasis on Mimoko’s holiday observances and other family traditions, I LIVE IN TOKYO offers students a new perspective on family celebrations. Takabayashi’s illustrations are intricate, while the ideas are simple but rich. The book ends with a glossary of Japanese terms. I LOVE TOKYO is the perfect book for welcoming in the New Year. Each page offers its own writing prompt, such as favorite foods or hometown landscape. Combined, these prompts offer an authentic mentor text for an illustrated journal across a year.

In January, share this book with students and let them begin their own monthly journals. Each month they can add a two-page spread. When school ends for the summer, they will have enough of an investment in their journals to continue writing during the break. Perhaps you will be greeted next fall with last-year’s student’s returning to share their summer writing with you.

Jan Miller Burkins is the founder of Jan Miller Burkins Consulting and Literacyhead.com, and is an author of PREVENTING MISGUIDED READING: NEW STRATEGIES FOR GUIDED READING TEACHERS (IRA, 2010).

Rachel Watkins is the Assistant Editor of Literacyhead.com and the Children’s Book Specialist at Avid Bookshop, an independent bookstore in Athens, Georgia.



Holiday Book Reviews

Putting Books to Work: Judy Cox's ONE IS A FEAST FOR A MOUSE: A THANKSGIVING TALE