Primarily Play

I was given this resource as part of a Kindergarten/Grade 1 Inquiry project this year.  It's a good starting point for shaping what should happen in the next few years in Primary education (i.e. finding a balance somewhere between accountability and authentic learning...we've moved too far towards being accountable and aren't giving students the freedom they need to make their learning meaningful.)

I like that this book points out the focus on play in the Kindergarten program and then the glaring absence of the word in almost all of the 1-8 curriculum documents.  It didn't contain the practical information I was looking for, however.  (How to plan, how to conduct assessment.)  I wanted more detail on those things.  As information to start a conversation about how we can make the Primary years more meaningful and engaging for our students, it has potential....

Guiding Readers - Lori Jamison Rog

A second inquiry project with which I've been involved over the past month is observing the 40-minute guided reading lesson that makes up our Early Literacy Intervention program for Grade 1s and working with other educators to discuss how guided reading in the classroom can be more closely aligned with what happens as part of the intervention program.  Around the same time as this project started, a book arrived in the mail: Guiding Readers by Lori Jamison Rog.  (Yep, that's the author of The Write Genre, for anyone asking "Where have I heard that name before?")

This year, I've adopted some of the suggestions from The Daily Five program to answer the question of "What is the rest of the class doing?" while I do guided reading.  It's working.  Oh, it's working.  Now that I have time to sit and work with a focused small group at the back of the room while the others are occupied with their literacy boxes, I'm working to fine-tune and make the most of what happens in that precious 20 minutes.

Why include a post about guided reading on a blog about technology?  Because (hold onto your seats, folks), I believe there are areas of learning where 21st-century tech is not required.  The passion and individualized response of a teacher beats any technology I've ever seen when it comes to literacy instruction.  Douglas Reeves, one of the current gurus of best practices in education, quips that, "technology is the servant, not the master, of education."  In this case, I'm inclined to agree.

When I read in The Daily Five about having students simply sit and read for 20 minutes, I'll admit I was skeptical that a 6-year-old could do that. But, we started with two minutes and worked our way up, adding and subtracting a minute a day until we had built the stamina and muscle memory needed to make it work.  In a recent ASCD newsletter, Reeves goes on to passionately proclaim:
"Perhaps one of the most important 21st century skills that teachers can impart is that of focus-devoted concentration to a task."
I think concentration is the key word there.  I can take my students to the computer lab, show them a new game that reinforces a concept, and they all appear to be focused, but there's something in that glazed-over zombie-like look in their eyes as they sit there, expressionless, clicking the mouse that I just can't call concentration.  (Think: Who or what is in control?)

That said, when we power up the LCD projector and display student work using the document camera, then there's a definite focus in the room.  When we use digital photos and video to capture student learning, there's excitement there, too.  I completely believe there is a place for technology in every classroom (that's why I started this blog!), but I also believe there are times to hold back, simplify, and remember Reeves' master/servant analogy.

Now, back to guided reading for a bit.  Talk about engagement!  We discussed in our inquiry sessions the concept of "Bottoms Up!"--that is, books that have children leaning out of their seats with excitement, ready to grab the book from the teacher's hand.  Rog writes: "Just-right texts for guided reading should have students standing on their tippy toes" (p. 12) (i.e. --exerting a bit of effort, but not toppling over).  Put those two together and you can see how there's hardly room to focus on anything else.

Another great quote from Guiding Readers? "Books are leveled, not children." (p. 13)  A running record does not tell the whole story.  In order for students to be engaged in learning, the content needs to be accessible.  There is an art to choosing the right texts for the right groups that involves knowing the child's interests, background and worldview that tells you whether a book is just right for them.  There is an onus on the teacher to make the whole experience as engaging as possible and book choice is usually where you hook 'em or lose 'em.

I read the whole book yesterday, sitting on the back deck in the sun.  I had my iPad beside me for googling and notetaking.  I was making shopping lists of simple materials to buy to enhance my guided reading lessons, looking up web resources mentioned in the book, and even crafting bits of parent communication for my next classroom newsletter.  Not to mention, I was sticky-noting up a storm.  Here's what the text looked like by the time I was through with it:

I would give this book a solid 4 stars out of 5.  There's nothing earth-shattering in here, but I like the way the book is organized and there are many new ideas on how to teach certain concepts in guided reading lessons.  I also like that the focus is on how to "make the magic happen" in the 18 minutes you've got in a typical classroom.  Since I'm teaching Grade 1, I did gloss over a few chapters on teaching older, more sophisticated readers, but there appeared to be good stuff in there, too.

For immediate access to a bunch of Lori Jamison Rog's work, download an ebook.  Guiding Readers is available for preview in its entirety on Stenhouse's website.  You can also visit Lori's website.  Scroll right to the bottom of the books page to access some quality (free) articles.

This posting is also posted on my Wired Like That education blog.

Books To Read This Summer

Professional Rereads:
The Element by Sir Ken Robinson
The Language of Art by Ann Pelo
Teaching For Comprehending and Fluency by Fountas and Pinell
Building Bridges Through Sensory Integration by Yack, Aquilla, Sutton
Conversations by Regie Routman
Where Great Teaching Begins by Anne R. Reeves
Classroom Instruction That Works (2nd Ed.) by Dean, Hubbell, Pitler, Stone
The MindUp Curriculum(K-2) by the Hawn Foundation
Creating the Opportunity To Learn by Boykin & Noguera
Differentiated Instructional Strategies by Gregory & Chapman

Books To Re-read or Re-visit:
The CAFE Book
The Daily Five
Making The Most of Small Groups

Starbucked: A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce and Culture

We are almost finished this book!  It's been traveling back and forth between both of our household cars and has gone with us on countless road trips since I found it on the shelf at the Belleville Value Village over Christmas holidays.  (We got stuck in traffic on the 401, finally made it to Belleville, and needed to get out and stretch our legs.  Where better to do that than in the used books aisle at VV?)

I didn't think it possible, but I think I love coffee more after having read this book.  It's not just about Starbucks.  It tells the story of the rise of coffee culture in North America (okay, mostly the U.S. but I'm trying to include 'us Canadians' in the story) and the effects of Starbucks' massive growth on the coffee industry (better coffee, good news for mom 'n pop shops, hope for fair pricing for coffee farmers).  It also gives some insight into what it's like to work for the Jolly Green Mermaid Giant and some of the quirks of some of the Starbucks bigwigs.

The bits of the book I'm enjoying most, however, have to do with the history of the coffee.  It's actually really cool.  I don't want to give it all away, but I will give you the book if you're interested. ;) (It will just come with a warning from me that every few pages you read will have you craving a cup of hot java.)

Book Sale Haul

Attending the Elora Book Sale on the first weekend in May has become an annual tradition.  Arriving home to stack up my treasures and photograph them has, too!  Here are this year's fabulous finds:

From top to bottom we have:
1.  The Scottish Clans and Their Tartans
2.  The Rebel Sell ("Why The Culture Can't Be Jammed")
3.  A Short History of Progress (CBC Massey Lectures series - 2004)
4.  The Wayfinders (CBC Massey Lectures series - 2009)
5.  Leaning Towards Infinity
6.  Made To Stick
7.  Bachelor Girl ("100 Years of Breaking the Rules--A social history of living single.")
8.  Bowling Alone ("The collapse and revival of American community.")
9.  Everything Bad Is Good For You ("How today's popular culture is making us smarter.")
10.  In Praise of Slow:  How a Worldwide Movement Is Challenging The Cult of Speed
11.  A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius
12.  The Canterbury Papers
13.  Boom Bust & Echo 2000 (An "oldie" but a goodie: this was discussed at length at a workshop I attended last weekend.)
14.  Shakespeare's Wife
15.  The Element (I <3 Sir Ken Robinson!)
16.  Girls On The Edge
17.  Bartlett's Familiar Quotations  (I used to sign this out of the library a few times a year.)

This year's collection is very heavy on the non-fiction (highlighted with green numbers).  The collection of novels at this year's event was a bit uninspiring.  I'm wondering if the popularity of ebooks is already impacting the availability of used books?  Then again, there were several great books on the table, it's just that I have the same titles on my shelves already. :)

I also scored a few teaching resources:

1.  Sign Language Fun (anything from the Key Education Resources gets my automatic stamp of approval)

2.  Raffi's singable songs for the very young album.  (We had this record in our family collection; it was also a second hand find.)

Without fail, every year after the book sale I start imagining how wonderful it would be have a little cottage somewhere and to load all of these books on to the shelves for summer reading...

I also have to give myself an annual congratulatory pat on the back for all the great deals I found.  None of these items cost more than $2.00.  The whole pile was just under $30.  Thirty dollars!  That's the price of one new book, or the running tab of overdue fines on my library account at any given time.  I do love a good book sale.

The Prophet's Camel Bell

Not every second hand store has a book section quite as organized as the one at the MCC Thrift Centre in New Hamburg.  During last weekend's shopping adventure there, I came across a box of about 20 New Canadian Library books.  What I wanted to do was buy the whole box, despite the fact that I already have many of the titles sitting on my bookshelf.  The new covers are just so appealing!

The New Canadian Library (NCL) has been around since 1958.  It's a collection of the classics of Canadian Literature.  I like how all the books are the same size and style, so they fit together so nicely on my bookshelves.  However, the publisher keeps re-releasing the library with a new set of covers, so I have several mini-collections.  I know you can't judge a book by its cover, but I think you can justify having several versions of the same book on your shelf just because the covers are a little different.

I finally settled on four titles (but it was a complete exercise in restraint):

• The Prophet's Camel Bell by Margaret Laurence
• The Fire-Dwellers by Margaret Laurence
• The Equations of Love by Ethel Wilson
• The History of Emily Montague by Frances Brooke ("Canada's first ever novel")

NCL editions, from oldest to newest.

Today, I started in on The Prophet's Camel Bell.  I actually read the first two chapters aloud to Dan while he did the dishes.  (I think I got the better end of that deal, but he says he likes hearing me read.)  Since it's a mix of Margaret Laurence's commentary on human nature (my love) and travel narrative (his), it was an enjoyable read for both of us.

Started: Sunday, April 8, with a mug of home-brewed coffee in hand (we will not buy Our Compliments Espresso again!)
Finished: in progress...

Manga Shakespeare - King Lear

After finishing, Fool, I looked up and saw a graphic novel version of King Lear on the shelf right above me.  This was a Christmas gift I gave to Dan this past December.  He's becoming a big fan of graphic novels; I enjoy them, but I feel that they flash by too quickly.  I need more words to help me slow down and savour the story.

This version of Lear has its appeal, though.  It relies solely on actual language from the most widely known version of Shakespeare's play.  Where it takes its departure is in the setting: this version is set in early days of colonization in America.

This would be a great text to read in parallel with the "original" (I use "original" for lack of a better word, because the version usually used is a conflation of two scripts).  I can see how the visuals would help a student better understand what was happening in the script version, but I can also see how the manga version on its own could be a little tricky to follow.

Started: Saturday, April 7th at Balzac's in Kitchener.  

Finished: Presumably later today. 

Fool by Christopher Moore

Bawdy, bawdy, bawdy, bawdy, bawdy.  And hilarious.  Rather than reading one of the many "unreads" on my shelf this weekend, I went to the thrift store and The Book Vault and added several to my collection.  This was one of them.  I have seen Christopher Moore's books around all over the place, but I assumed they were all vampire novels.  Guess I'd never seen this one before!

Fool is a retelling of Shakespeare's King Lear from the perspective of Lear's fool (jester), Pocket.

Started: Saturday, March 31 at Balzac's in Stratford.

Finished: Saturday, April 7.  Ah, Easter long weekend: long stretches of time to lounge on the couch with a book.

Three Cups of Tea and Punished By Rewards

What I should be doing is getting ready for work. There'd be a certain amount of irony if I showed up late after waking up at 5:30 a.m. It's one of those big mug of tea and internet kind of mornings, though.

After link-hopping through several other blogs on books and education, I've been reminded that I've neglected my own blog on books. Not that anyone actually reads this thing, but I think it was an important means of measure for me. So... here's what I'm reading now.

I've got two books on my bedside table right now. One is Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin. The other is Punished By Rewards by Alfie Kohn.

Three Cups of Tea is an inspiring, entertaining adventure story of an adventurer who makes the decision to build a school in remote Pakistan.

Punished By Rewards is a book I'm reading for my teacher book club about the negative effects of incentives. What's crazy is that this book applies to the corporate world as much as it does to school system culture, so I'm hoping my sister will read it after I do...

Now that the guilt of a time well-wasted morning is settling in, I'd best hop in the shower and face the day. More to come.

Memento Mori

I am falling behind in my book tracking!

My latest read was Memento Mori by Muriel Spark. The title is Latin and translates to, "remember you must die." The plot is launched when elderly people begin receiving phone calls from an anonymous caller who reminds them of their impending death. Despite it's morbid theme, the book is quite humourous and looks at aging sometimes with gravity, but mostly tongue-in-cheek-ishly.

The Good Earth

Perhaps it's a little backwards, but I'm doing a little research on Pearl S. Buck's The Good Earth, having finished it early this morning, sitting on a sunny front porch, coffee mug resting on the bistro table beside me. What I did know: The Good Earth won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932, a year after it's publication (it's printed on the front and back cover of every copy of this book I've ever seen!) and that Buck won the Nobel Prize for literature. What I didn't know is that this novel is the first in a trilogy--although that makes sense, based on its ending. I was also amazed to read her biography; what a truly inspirational humanitarian! I also didn't know that it was an Oprah's Book Club pick in 2004. Well, Lyndsay's Book Club recommends it, too.

The Good Earth tells the story of the familial, moral and economic cycles of Wang Lung, a Chinese farmer, pre-revolution. The fact that it's written by a white woman (granted, a white woman who was raised in China by missionary parents) forces you to read the story with a certain amount of criticism, but Buck's storytelling skills are good enough--and her attention to cultural details is fine enough--that quite often, any problem of narration disappears.

A repeating theme in the book is what happens when "the poor get too poor and the rich get too rich." (General idea: there's a shift in who holds the power--the poor become ambitious and the rich become careless and lazy.) It's a really interesting way to look at the world, although slightly depressing, since Buck's message seems to be that material wealth and idleness leads to inevitable corruption.

The Penelopiad

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood is considered a "parallel novel;" it retells The Odyssey from the perspective of Penelope, Odysseus' wife. I've been reading a lot of parallel pieces lately (Wide Sargasso Sea, Till We Have Faces, Not Wanted On The Voyage), and I think I'm about through with metafiction for a bit. I'd like to say that's why I didn't enjoy this book all that much, but really, I think this book is more of a gimmick than a carefully-wrought work of art.

The Odyssey is an epic poem attributed to Homer. It's the sequel to The Iliad, which tells about the final year of the Trojan War and the eventual fall of Troy. The Odyssey is the recount of Odysseus' journey home after the war, and his many "detours"--it takes him 9 years to return. During Odysseus' absence from Ithaca, his home becomes overrun with suitors who are after Penelope and trying to take his place. The Penelopiad imagines what happened while Odyesseus was away and gives creative consideration to the female perspectives that are overlooked in Homer's poems.

While the novel has a bit of imagination, it's not beautifully assembled. It hardly contains enough content to be considered a novel, although that's how it's been marketed. Like a last-minute university paper, the text is well-spaced and framed with fat, white margins in order to stretch it into a 200-page book. What's most interesting about it is the voice that Atwood gives to the 12 maids who Odysseus inexplicably killed upon his return. Mostly though, it seems that this book is just a chance to apply Atwood's celebrity to a string of books known as the "Myths Series." This is the kind of book that you can read a few pages of in the bookstore, appreciate the idea, and return to the shelf without any desire to finish it.

This would, however, be an interesting read to add to a course where Homer's works were being studied. ..

White Teeth

White Teeth by Zadie Smith

Unless

Lost In A Good Book

A Short History of Indians in Canada

Thomas King is, without a doubt, the most featured author in my list of books. There is, however, good reason for that! He writes satire unlike any other, and I just can't get enough salt-in-the-wound humour these days.

I've just finished, A Short History of Indians in Canada. The title alone was enough to stir up controversy among those who saw me reading it, the common response being a nervous, "Er...what is that book about?" (The best answer I've been able to come up with, for the record, is, "Well, the title says it all.")

In this collection of short stories, you will find:
-reverence and irreverance, sometimes at the same time.
-King writing in a woman's voice (only for 1/2 dozen pages or so, but I believe it's a first)
-(some) stories that have no obvious connection to aboriginals in Canada
-broken families; broken relationships; broken promises
-snappy jokes
-jarring juxtapositions (I'm still working on the incorporation of Star Trek into Canadian history...)

A Short History is a potentially quick read that should, in my opinion, be read slowly. I've been savouring it for about three weeks, and I think I'll go back and read some parts again.

Drawing on the high school history class theme of my Beauty Tips post, I think that some of these stories would fit much better in history class than English class...and I'm going to start sneaking copies into my would-be-history-teacher friends' bookshelves just to see what might happen.

Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw

I've just finished a course on teaching writing. One of the main questions we struggled with in our twice-weekly class discussions was how to escape from the dreaded 5-paragraph essay format when creating writing assignments. I'd like to give a copy of Will Ferguson's Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw to each and every high school teacher with any kind of connection to teaching Canadian history or geography. Ferguson gives an excellent example of how writing about history doesn't have to be boring! (In fact, it can even be funny!)

My friend Lynne says that this book is what inspired her to travel across Canada. I can see why! Ferguson does a good job of making the everyday interesting. (Read this book and you'll have a new level of respect for the cultural significance of a grilled cheese sandwich, for example.) Continuing on the grilled cheese theme, some chapters in the book are a little...dull and synthetic. Those would be the ones stuffed into the middle--the three-chemicals-short-of-a-garbage-bag filling that holds the gloriously toasted bread (ie. the opening and ending chapters) together.

My advice to somebody who's thinking about reading this book: if a chapter gets boring, skip on ahead to one that looks more interesting...you're not going to miss much! This would be a good book to find on tape for a road trip, or to read at a summer cottage....or even to read aloud with a group of friends, if you're into that sort of thing. Ferguson's skill with language makes this a book that sounds good (ie. even funnier) out loud.

Another disappointment I had with the book is that so many good sights and sites are skipped over. I suppose that could be part of the point of the whole book. For each and every, "Oooooh. I wish he'd included a chapter about...." there's a fascinating history assignment waiting to be written.

Larry's Party

I am buoyant with joy, having just finished Larry's Party by Carol Shields. The book is almost completely responsible for this buoyancy, but the sunshine streaming in the window; the coffee in my hand; and the sudden realization that I love the word buoyant and all its variations--all of these things are helping, too.

So, Larry's Party is a recent acquisition, but Carol Shields is an old favourite of mine. This book is Amelie-like in its exploration of the beauty of triviality, the excitement of mundanity... It's a look at the life of Larry Weller, one average guy from Winnipeg whose passion for mazes turns him into something of a novelty. The book is all about Larry--his life, his work, his wives--but really the entire novel leads up to a final chapter--the description of Larry's dinner party--where a relatively mundane occurance becomes a beautiful end. I'm still too buoyant to give this note any justice, but I would highly recommend this book for just about anybody. There are times when Shield's attempt to write from a man's perspective seems a little off (but really, who am I to judge, not being a man myself) but if you can get over and through that, you're on your way to a wonderful read!

Running In the Family

After the god-like feat of completing Atlas Shrugged, I've opted for something a little lighter for my next read, both physically and philosophically speaking.

Michael Ondaatje's Running In the Family was thrust into my hands by a friend while we ransacked the racks at a charity book sale. "Have you read this?" she mumbled, half of her attention focused on me, the other half focused on scanning the rest of the titles in the shelf she was currently perusing. "You probably have, 'cause it's good."

I hadn't read it, and I never turn down a recommended book! Since I liked In the Skin of a Lion, and The Collected Works of Billy the Kid is on my must-read list, I figured that spending $2 on another of Ondaatje's books would be a sensible investment.

So far, it's paying off! This book is arranged as a memoir, with bits of story, poetry, photographs intermingling to paint an autobiographical tale where truth takes a backseat to beauty. I'm really enjoying it so far. I suppose I should attempt to articulate why: I think it has something to do with how Ondaatje represents history as memory--a not-to-scale map of stories that have been told and retold enough times that they become the significant elements of a family history. I like the idea that history lies in incidents; that incidents can have more impact than big-picture themes...

Atlas Shrugged

This book was recommended to me by a Kindergarten teacher! I suppose I should clarify that she doesn't read this sort of literature to her students; it might be a little bit over their heads.

Anyway, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged is a major commitment, weighing it at 1069 pages in squint-sized print. The basic premise of the book is examining what would happen if the powerhouses of the world went on strike and refused to carry along the leeches and mooches any further. It plays out as a bit of a mystery novel, so, aside from spots where Rand's own philosophy (Objectivism) takes over and weighs things down, the plot moves along pretty quickly.

Some quotes-for-thought from the book:

p. 447 para 2:
"He was seeing the enormity of the smallness of the enemy who was destroying the world. ... If this is what has beaten us, he thought, the guilt is ours."

p. 461 para 4
"People with pleading eyes and desperate faces crowded into tens where evangelists cried in triumphant gloating that man was unable to cope with nature, that his science was a fraud, that his mind was a failure, that he was reaping punishment for the sin of pride, for the confidence in his own intellect--and that only faith in the power of mystic secrets could protect him from the fissure of a rail or from the blowout of the last tire on his last truck. Love was the key to the mystic secrets, they cried, love and selfless sacrifice to the needs of others."

I think that the portion in the last 1/10th of the book, where John Galt takes over the airwaves and preaches his philosophies for three hours, would make an interesting book club chat. But I'm not sure I would want to impose reading this entire book on somebody just to discuss that part....

Anyway, my biggest issue with Rand's theory--that nobody does anything completely honestly unless it also has a selfish motivation--is a bit off the mark. I also think her idea that nobody in society should benefit from a "free ride" off the others is a bit drastic. In Rand's world, children, the disabled, etc. are not factored in to the equation.....