Third Grade — October 26

Third Grade – First Hour

This week we began by going over a couple of Ebonics-related things. D mentioned that she heard someone in her family speak in what she called “Ebonics-sonics,” which I am certain is some kind of mishmash from the word “phonics” as used in Open Court. I asked what she had heard and she said that someone said “ain’t.” Well, I tried to sort through how there were many varieties of English that used “ain’t” that were NOT Ebonics, that is, not the language spoken by African-Americans at home within their own community, but I think this kind of whizzed by without their understanding. “A” kind of looked like he might have understood, but I go the feeling I was talking non-sense to them from their perspective.
So then we moved chairs over to the world map and read aloud from a handout that imagined the whole world as a village of a hundred people and how it would break down culturally and demographically, with 60 Asians, 40 Africans, X South/Central Americans, X Europeans. I was pretty disappointed to see how confused and unknowing they are about geography and names of regions and places and people. They had no concept of “Asia” as a place, or knew the word “Asians.” So we sort of shifted into making sense of the map – continents, oceans, etc. One girl noticed how the world was mostly water, which I congratulated her on seeing that. But the lesson I had imagined was sort of a bust – the whole idea of seeing the entire population of the world as 100 people was not appropriate developmentally to 3rd grade.
And then we got to work writing about what we liked and disliked in letter form to me. I got some interesting stuff. AP wrote a lovely letter with a conclusion – “That is my letter” at the end.
A kind of weird and disturbing thing: RB wrote a made-up story about her mother speaking Ebonics. At first I was a little worried because the paragraph began, “At home I don’t like when my mother talks in Ebonix because it don’t sound right and I just walk away and then she says why are you walking away and then I says I don’t like it when you speak in Ebonix and then she tell me to go to my room and then she says you don’t ever walk away from me.” So I read this and of course crouched down for a little tete-a-tete. I was very concerned that somehow this whole Ebonics stuff was backfiring and making the kids think that the language they heard at home was bad/wrong – exactly the opposite of what I’m trying to convey, which is that it is a way of speaking that is appropriate in some places with some people at some times. And that it was causing some kind of intrafamily rift or problem. Well, EB tells me that no, she is making this whole thing up, that this conversation/episode with her mother did not really happen. But of course I am still concerned that EB saw/felt my concern and then worried that maybe the story (if true) was bad somehow, which is why she then told me she had made it up. Ugh. So anyway, I did reiterate some more of the Ebonics lesson, and suggested that if this were a piece of fiction she should let me (her reader) know that. So she added several lines down, “I made this up!!!!” I’m not sure what to think, now. I think’s it’s an example of muddying the waters in order to get to the bottom of things.

Third Grade – Second Hour

With the second hour kids I did something different. I began by having a talk with them about writers paying attention visually to the world. That one way we trained ourselves to be better see-ers was to look at the work of people whose job it was to see – photographers. I brought in my five Richard Avedon portraits and passed them out to pairs of kids at table dyads. They were to talk and work together to help each other SEE as much as possible in the image and then write up their thoughts and observations on paper. They were to see as much as possible and infer the feelings and attitudes of the subject and the photographer, if possible, beyond simply the details of the photo. They rose to this task and stayed focused in a heavenly way for a half hour. Some things I overheard:
“Let’s put he’s got money up his pants.”
“Why do you think he dress different?”
“Gray hair on his shirt.”
“P-O-L-I-S-E.”
The writing I got was excellent in every way. I am tempted to type out every single one but may not have time right now. Then we all went over to the bean bag on the floor and took turns listening to the pairs read aloud. Some read in unison (having written collaboratively the exact same thing), some took turns in half by half. Some took turn sentence by sentence. It all depended on their choice.
On a photo of Ezra Pound in which the poet looks truly tormented:

“The man on the picture is closing his eyes. The man on the picture has gray hair. The man has on a white jacket. This mans name is Richard Avedon [oops, they misread the back of the laminated card]. This man has a white beard. This man has white hair on his chest. On the picture it shows that this man has one ear but he has two ears I think. Also this man has black hair too. On the picture it shows that this man is white. On the picture it shows that this man mouth is close. On the picture it shows that this man has gray eyebrows. On the picture it shows that this man has gray hair on his face. On this picture it shows that this man has his jacket unbuttoned. On the picture it shows that this man has a mustache. On the picture this man look like he has pain in the inside.” *CC and TW)

One other because I can’t resist: on Lew Alcindor (before becoming Kareem Abdul Jabar (sp?) – in which he’s standing on a playground in Harlem, palming the basketball and gazing steadily and stiff-neckedly at the viewer.

Basketball Player

This African American Lew Alcindor we can see that he does not dress like us. There are buildings and children in the background and it looks like its in the 1970s. And it looks like he’s a basketball player because he’s trying to make more money and become a star. The picture looks proud because he has accomplished a life time goal. Is African American basketball player trying to make a lifetime goal for him or is he playing to make America a better place for African Americans? In the background are these buildings his home or a part of his naboorhood? The number on his shirt is it his favorite number or did someone pick iut out for him or did he pick it his self?” (SA and AE)

I just loved the way this day flowed. If every day were like this….I should mention that we were missing 5 kids this week from the 2 classes who had been suspended for misbehavior.

-Inda

The Last Two Weeks of Second Grade

Second Grade, Second Hour – October 18 and 25

I love this group of children! I think I mentioned that we did lifelines on 10/18. I just wanted to log in a few phrases they keyed into when reflecting upon their own lives. Some “good things” above the line (from various people): got a new book bag, a skateboard, walk, talk, go to Chuck E. Cheese. Some “bad things” they put under the line (again, from various people): stole gum, fell off bike, bit by a bug, peed on myself.
Now, in the activity’s next step, they put one of the phrases into a full sentence with some detail. Some examples:
From “spoiled” placed above the line near age 1: “My mom kept picking me up that’s what made me spoiled.” (KH)
From “baby brother” placed above the line at age 7: “I like to cary [carry] him. I like to feed him. I like to play with him.” (KW)
From “have no friend” from below the line: “I said that becuas (sic) peploe hate me!”
After reading the last one, I saw that the writer was crying. I crouched beside her and put my arm around her but she didn’t want to talk. So I wrote: “Who do you think hates you?” And she wrote a name of a classmate. So I talked a little more and said that I was her friend and teacher and that I liked her. I also wrote some silly messages down for her to read and respond to only in writing. Eventually she had a tiny smile on her face because we were sort of playing. I also wrote down a suggestion for how she can tell the named person that her feelings are hurt so that they can make up. She left the room feeling better, I think.
The next week as I called roll I asked each child to name an animal when I said their name. Then they had to move around our circle as if they were that animal, making the sound, etc etc. Then I had them sit down and write a letter to me (thank you, Allison, for this great activity!). I asked them to let me know something they liked or did not like at school, or something they liked or did not like at home. I was truly stunned at how much these kids wrote in a half hour or so. Again there was loads of feeling-stuff revealed here, and a few times I needed to get low and close to one or another of them to get to the bottom of what they were expressing to me. The same child who had been crying the week before had written about people being mean; another child, above 12 lines saying “I love Ms. Schaenen,” wrote, “I like going to Springboard because it is fun. I hate everybody in the planet. I am going to kill every. I hat” [a shortened “hate, I think]. So obviously we had to talk. This is a kid with a pretty noticeable processing delay, thought to speech. (NB: all my “diagnoses” are totally lay, but you get the idea.) But he is really smart and has a sweet smile and when you give him time to say something, it’s usually a complete sentence and clear and well-thought-out. Well, it turns out a 3rd grader is threatening him. So I stopped the whole class and encouraged them all to support this classmate and help him when he feel afraid at recess or whatever. But only with words, and to get an adult as needed.
I realize over and over again that what I am REALLY doing with these 2nd and 3rd graders is showing them that language is more than a school-skill. It’s a way to live – to express stuff, to solve problems, to respond and communicate. We live IN and THROUGH language, and there’s this whole-part-whole aspect to every single thing we do in the room. If in the process of doing an exercise it becomes clear that talk is more necessary than writing, or that reading is more necessary than talking, we just switch gears. For example, one of the other girls in the class, seeing that her friend was upset again, at the end of her paper, and hanging several lines below her “formal” response, was a state-of-the-heart communication to me: “I feel bad for K–.”
This approach requires me to be completely present to mood, to facial expression and body language, and to all the regular things – participation, produced work, etc etc, –and completely able to go with the flow as needed.
I ought to mention that when we walk to and from their classroom, we have the custom now of playing follow the leader, so that I do silly silent things with my arms to keep them in line and paying attention and not scraggling off. Otherwise there is a constant attempt to sneak water, go to the bathroom, or trip each other up.

Second Grade, First Hour – October 18 and 25

Another group of adorable kids. Their lifelines were rich and full of stuff. Some “bad” things:
“When I was running I had fell I was at my granny house I fell and scrap my knee.” (MM)
“I broke my arm.” (R)
“Good” things:
“When I was six I went to Six Flags. Then I got on the roller coaster.” (JC – who had a detailed sentence for every single age, all written in poetic form under the line.)
“On my birthday I had fun with my moma. We whet [went] to Home Touw Bufduy [Home Town Buffet] and Chuckecheeie and Skate King then we whet home. We had fun that was the best birthday.” (ST – who asked for zero spelling help, sounding out pretty well on his own. This child consistently focuses on the work.)

On the 25th II read this class Mirandy and Brother Wind and we talked about Ebonics a little bit, but it was clear that they were not quite ready to understand the concept. So I wrote some family words on the board – Mamma, Brother, Daddy, Sister, Granny – and some natural elements – Wind, Fire, Water, Earth – and asked them to write a little story using one of the family words and one of the element words. Not easy! But they did it. Check this out:

“Hi! I’m Brother Fire. What’s your name? We is going to have fun today. Today we going to play with fire and water. I’m going to throw fire and you going to throw water. We are going to make it rain. Then we will take a break and eat lunch. We going to eat chicken and rice and peas and cornbread.” (SF)

“Once there was a little girl who was name Sister Fire. Who was a big sister. She had a brother name Brother Wind and my friends came to my house and we had tea. hey name were Mama Earth and Daddy Water and we had fun and we had a party with my family and we had food and drinks. We had so much fun and I went to my Daddy Water house.” (N)

“One day a little boy was trying to play basketball. he did not know how to play so he got Brother Fire. Brother Fire can do anything.” (R—the reason this one is so amazing is because it demonstrates that this boy “got” the story on a deep level. In Mirandy, the main character outwits Brother Wind so that she and her friend can win the cakewalk contest by means of Brother Wind’s gifts. Here we have concise yet legitimate proof of R’s understanding of “the point” of the story.)

–Inda

Update from Sally– October 24, 2006

I borrowed Allison’s idea of asking students to write me a letter today. We read Langston Hughes’ poem, “Dear Mama,” which was a good example of how you can convey a lot of information about a person in a short letter. Also, since Hughes often uses everyday speech in his poems, I used this as an opportunity to discuss the difference between the vernacular or Ebonics and standard English. The students call their vernacular, “Ghetto,” but I said there were additional ways to refer to that mode of talking.

I gave them the choice of writing about themselves in any way they wanted to, but as a prompt, we had a discussion about how they fit into their families. I asked how many were oldest children, in the middle or the babies. Then we talked about the advantages and disadvantages of all the positions. I got a wide range of written responses.

Charisma, Grade 7

I have three sisters and two brothers. I have almost gone crazy because they were all screaming. I am the oldest of all my sisters and brothers. When my Mom wants to leave or has to leave, I have to watch all my sisters and brothers. My sisters are 3, 5 and 12. My brother is 1 years old, talks like he’s 5 and acts like 10.

Sometimes if I treat them bad they will all jump me and kick me and stump me. When we play we play but when someone cries that is when I stop playing. I have to change my little brother’s diaper when I am at home and it needs changing. I have to wash the dishes every night after dinner. You may think this is hard. Well, it is then I have to do my homework and we sometimes have a lot of homework.

Jamaul, Grade 7

I love it
I love it
It’s the best there ever is
I love it I love it
you should see how it is:

No trouble
No punishment
No yelling at
No staying home
me! always gone
Never alone
No dishes
No broom
No duster
No tile
No toilet scrubber
No making beds
I live happily
why
cause I’m the baby of the family
______________________________________

After last week’s 7th grade class, I printed up three examples of student writing on the floral paper in the bookshelf and pinned them up in the hallway. I will do a group each week until there are examples of writing from every student displayed.

yours,
Sally

Second Grade Lifelines–October 18

I draw a long line across the chalkboard. On the left end of the line (where the line begins) I write 1960. On the right end I make an arrow suggesting that the line does not end yet. What happened in 1960, I ask the kids. I hear lots of answers:
“There was no microwave ovens.”
“There was none of the stuff we have nowadays.”
“There was no country called the United States.”

Actually, I say, the reason I write it now is because it’s the year I was born. And so we begin talking about how to make a lifeline, which is kind of like a number line, but a little bit different. It’s a way to keep track of what kinds of things happen in your life and when. So I model: I write a few ages along my line and note what kinds of things I remember about those ages. I put the good things (learning to ride a bike, graduating from high school, etc.) above the line, and the not-so-good things (cutting my chin badly, getting sick with hepatitis A from eating a bad oyster) below the line. Then I pass out a page with a number line already printed from age zero to nine but with no personal information on it. The children fill it out as best they can. Some good things they note: going to Six Flags, getting a present, going to a slumber party, learning to talk/walk, getting a baby brother, starting kindergarten. Some not-so-good: falling off a bike, getting in trouble, etc. After this, I ask them to pick one of these moments and write a little more about it on the bottom of the page. These are uneven writers, very early writers, but they do get the point of this whole thing: Writers keep track. Some people keep track of emotions, some of events, some of good things, some of bad things. It’s impossible to keep track of everything, but it’s necessary to keep track of SOMETHING. To keep track you have to pay attention, and to try your best to remember things. I have the first-hour kids for nearly an hour, which is nice. The second group feels too short because I’ve got them for only a half hour or 35 minutes. I want to see if I can change this somehow. It was a nice day.

Also: I chose the seven 4th graders for radio show and will pass out scripts next week. We’ll rehears a few times and tape on Friday, November 17th. It’s all cleared with Mrs. Jensen and the teachers.

-Inda

Allison’s Wednesday morning–October 18

After two weeks out of the Room (one for vacation, one while I was sick), I was very excited to be back. I came in early to work on some things in the Room. My first group, Ms. Allen’s 5th graders, were involved in a presentation about the legal system. They were participating in a mock trial. I was dissappointed to not have them, as it’s a great group, but Ms. Allen invited me to join. So I went in and watched them work on
their mock trial. It was interesting seeing what they were learning. I have thought about bringing some peer justice into the room, but it just hasn’t been necessary yet this year. Still, the vocabulary and many of the other things they were doing will translate nicely into my curriculum later in the year.

At 9:55 (although it was actually 10:10, because Ms. Iskali is often late getting the kids back upstairs after their ancillary), I had my mixed group of 6th and 7th graders (part special ed.). Most of those kids I have worked with before, and though it is a large group (12), they are doing very well together. The last time I met with everyone, I asked each student to write me a letter, and they all did. The cool thing was the older ones took it really seriously and seemed to love telling me things, and important things at that, about
themselves. So, I wrote each of them back– 62 letters.

I used to always start each college semester that way and it just began the year on the right note for me. It establishes a certain trust, but I also get the chance to tell each of them something positive. I wrote to my previous students that I was excited to see them again, and things I looked forward to reading about, or things I hoped they would continue in the classroom. I told the new students things about me where there was something in common, or teased them a bit with things that we would do that I thought they would like. I have a couple of students that I have had problems with previously. Instead of saying it was
in the past, I chose to not bring it up at all and instead tell them what I liked about them and why I was pleased to see them again.

Well, they all loved the letters– the older kids even more than Ms. Guilfoy’s 4th graders. With both groups today, we embarked on the same process. I am working on an identity unit. With my older kids on Thursdays, we are working through media images and creating collages about ourselves, which they will then interpret and write about. With everyone else, we are working through the writing process. Today, I hit a dual lesson: part in prewriting and the beginning of the writing process, and the rest in preparing
them to write list poems.

Today, we talked about where we are from. I introduced the concept as geographical, and then I read them two list poem examples. One called, “I Am From Soul Food and Harriet Tubman”. It rhymes and talks of the author being from a strong African American family that is always strong, sometimes, violent, and that has a rich history. We talked about what we learned about the author and how sometimes where we are from is not a place, but a culmination of our experiences and our surroundings.

I had six list headings on the board and I gave them 15 minutes to make lists, which we will use as prewriting for their own list poems “I Am From” for next week. Everyone took to it and seemed really excited. I was especially excited about Steven’s list. I had Steven last year and he is a bright, bright young man. He asked me if he could list things that were real. I didn’t know quite what he meant when he asked, but my answer was definitely yes. When he read me his list, I understood, and then was amazed by him. It’s going to be a great poem. Here’s some from his lists:

Things around my house: killers, crackheads, drug feans [sic], stray dogs
Things in my neighborhood: liquor stores, chinamen’s, and crazy people all around
Things people do (his own category): people kill, people die, and commit suicide
Things we see: robeers [sic][, gangs, shootouts, killing, drug dealing
Where I keep my memories: I keep my memory of my mom, and everything else is out the window.

There was just such an unflinching honesty in his listing. He was not trying to be sensational; he is not that kid. But I thought that he sees these things and knows they are not good, but it still is part of where he comes from. A few other kids mentioned gangs, while the fourth graders listed parks, toys, kind animals. It was an interesting thing to see how their perception seems to shift at a certain age, and just how precariously positioned they are as children growing up in the city.

I can’t wait to see their poems and talk about them next week.

–Allison

Silent Reading Time-October 17

Every day Mrs. Jensen signals reading time (about 2:50 to 3:05) by reading a poem over the loudspeaker. By now the children mostly know this poem by heart. Mrs. Jensen told me that she was open to having the children in R4W create new inspiring things for her to read at this moment. And so third grade gave it a try today. With the first group I read aloud from Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. We talked a little bit about the narration in standard and the dialogue in Ebonics (I return to this subject in casual ways all the time, now — sometimes asking kids to rephrase something they say into one code or the other, sometimes asking whether what I’m reading is in one or the other code. I ought to mention that two children in this grade have reported to me that WHEN AT HOME they have caught themelves saying something in Ebonics like “You got to stop messin with me” and changing it to “You have to stop messing with me.” J, S, and T have all raised their hands and told me stories like this).

But back to today…so one class was read to, and the other class chose books and read quietly. Then they all thought about what reading silently meant to them and wrote something down. It was interesting to me how some kids absorbed the rhyme and sense of Mrs. Jensen’s poem into their own, either in whole or in parts, while other kids invented something wholly new. For the record, here’s the poem (to the best of my memory) they’ve been hearing daily since August:

The more you read, the more you know
The more you know, the more you grow
Books can take you anywhere
To New York City, or country fairs
So grab a book, and take a journey in your mind
It’s silent reading time.

Examples from the two third grades:

I love books it silent reading time
I love books it silent reading time
I love books it silent reading time
silent silent silent silent
I love books it silent reading time
I love books it silent reading time
I love books it silent reading time
silent silent silent silent

* * *

I love books books love me we love silent reading because it is fun to learn to read. Why. Because you can learn how to be smart and be able to read.

* * *

It’s that special time of day again
reading can make you smart
reading can make you grow.
So read because you can be
really smart. It can make you
grow. Reading can make things come true. Books can make
thing better in your life so
grab a book and make things
better.

* * *

Dear Mrs. Jensen

More read the more you know the more you grow
books can take you you anywhere from New York City to Country fairs from to Mexico from
Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River from there to the Pacific Ocean take a book read and take journey in your mind
It’s silent reading time.

* * *

Reading Poem

I know you can read
I know you can grow
But if you read you can go to Los Angeles on a boat.
And if you can go on a boat you can buy a coat.

* * *

So here we go
silent reading has just begun
have fun

* * *

Dear Mrs. Jensen Silent reading time inspires me when I grab a book it’s like I am in my own world. I think of all the things that was in the book. When I read it’s so fun but when people start to talk party time is up. When I read the book MESSY ROOM I thought of silent reading.

* * *

Dear Mrs. Jensen

The more you read the more you know the more you know the more you grow books can take you anywhere from New York City from country fair so grab a book and take a journey in your mine it’s silent reading time. You can learn about reading by thinking in your head and reading to your self. Books are very good for you. So if you read it you will know it. I will read a book if I was you. So keep on reading until you really know it. With out having no one help you. You can decide if you like some in your book. I know you can read because you are bigger now. So I just want you to keep on reading. The principal is good for you.

* * *

(I’m not sure, but I think this last one might actually be a perfect model of a persuasive paragraph a la Open Court…a replication or transference of a skill set from the regular classroom to me!)

The reason I like silent reading time is because doing silent reading time the principal get on the speaker and say the more you read the more you know the more you know themore you grow books can take you any were from new york city to country fairs so take a book and take a journey in your mine it’s silent reading time. When the principal say that some of the teachers send some of their good students to the office to read with the principal for silent reading time. But before you start you must have a books to read. Having a book to read is the most important thing about silent reading time.

* * *

Typing these out I realize how wonderful they are as pieces of writing — the echoes of the formal speech from the loudspeaker, the new stuff added on by their own minds. And of course, I must include one example of a piece of writing from today — given the exact same instructions/directions as the rest of the class, one child wrote this:

Dasiyies and Loveness

To Ms. Jensen

Dasiyies are everywhere.
I like dasiyies they are pretty and smelly because they are flowers that smells good.
But other people might say I hate flowers.
That mean when you say I hate flowers
You don’t posope [supposed] to say I hate flowers
They not nasty ugly they don’t stingk.
But they really special because they might be lucky, magic, special.
_________________________________________________________

Loveness

Loveness is mostly like friendship., happness, funess, kindness,
I love the way when people get along having fun
together don’t argue about something that’s like understanding to me.
Can I ask you something do you like flowers.

I am looking forward to tomorrow with second grade!
Also Allison: sorry the board is so dusty with chalk. I’ll try to get in early and wash it down.
Welcome back!

-Inda

Second Grade Hears Voices

I want to mention what second grade did the week before last because it was a continuation of the whole Ebonics/Standard lesson from the week before. I introduced the concept of listening carefully to how and what people said and then writing dialogue. I explained that writing dialogue meant that you wrote the name of a person followed by a colon and then their actual words NOT in quotation marks. Some kids got it right away. Others no. I asked them to think about a conversation they had had the day before with someone they knew and write it out. Here’s what R wrote:

Me: Hi baby so
Alexis: Wat is you doing today
Me: Well nothing yet
Alexis: Well you can come over my house

Pretty amazing, no? Here’s another by a different R:

Me: I had a goood day.
Friend: That is very good.
Me: I had a good day at school.
Friend: I played my xbox.
Me: I played my Nintendo 64.

Here’s one by another child who put the words into indirect discourse and gave the whole thing a title:

One Day

I was talking to my moma and a nader [neighbor] and my nader ake [ask] how was your day! I said good she gave me a chete [treat]. and my momma ake how was your meten [meeting] I said good. Didn [then] I went outside and played whit my dog.

This activity we did on October 11.

-Inda

Note from Sally: October 10

Here is a poem that MJ wrote today in response to Paul Laurence Dunbar’s poem, “Sympathy.”

The Girl

I know how the young girl feels
Being trapped in a cage
She feels alone
Like she’s on her own
No one to care
No one to bear
No one to feel the pain
No one to claim the pain that they cause inside

Apples to Apple Cider

This week I brought in a big gallon jug of cider and second and third graders inquired into the nature of this mysteriously dark brown stuff that smelled like apples and tasted like apples but was so thick and dark. First, after I poured a cup for each of them, they looked at it and smelled it and described it on paper. Then they tasted it and for the most part loved it. We talked about how it was made, where it came from, and learned words like “windfall.” We thought about why you can only buy cider in the autumn. We drew pictures of apples and apples trees and worms eating windfall apples.

With Miss Casey’s class I read some of a chapter book called The Land by Mildred Taylor. We talked about bullying and working things out with words. With Miss Twellman’s class I read Miss Tizzy. We talked about the lesson in that story: When you are nice to people they will be nice to you back. It’s taken this whole month to settle in on steady rosters for both these classes. Now that we’ve got ourselves sorted out, I anticipate a wonderful year. Both groups can really write and think. Behavior has been fine this week.

Third grade has been wonderful, too, with a few moments of spotty behavior thrown in. I feel sure we can work this all out, though. Part of it, I’m sure, is the release they must feel leaving a room with 28 kids and finding space in the R4W. We opened the 5 boxes of books sent by Claire H. from New Jersey and sorted them out. They loved the cider lesson, too, and did some concrete, well-observed writing.

By MW:
“Apple cider is good. It tastes like apples. It smells like apples. It looks very dark. Apple cider comes from apples. I know that you grow apples in a garden. When you have apple cider in a cup and when you like slant the cup the apple cider turns light then when you put it down it turns dark and that’s all of the things I know about apple cider. The End.”

MS:

“Apple cider is good. It tastes like apples. It is not bright. It came from a farm. It is pressed it pressed an apple. I like apple cider. I think of apples when I drink it. I bet my grandmother and grandfather like it. It is healthy for you. I would drink it all day long if my dad and mom let me. Healthy apple cider.”

October 4th and 5th: the roster shuffle

Thank you, Wendy, for your comment. In case Sally and Allison don’t see it, and for anyone else contributing to this blog, we are going to use only initials or some other code names for the kids. If anyone has any good ideas for coding names, please jump in and let us know.

Wendy asked how this year felt. Well, so far so good. There is a feeling of calm and order in the building. Every day I love coming downstairs at 3 and seeing Mrs. Jenson (our new principal) sitting on a small chair outside the main office reading the newspaper. There are always a few kids sitting on the floor near her reading, too. Silent reading time is a lovely way to end the day.

I love our room, I love the effect all this action research reading has had on my classroom presence. I ALWAYS keep my notebook with me and the kids see me making notes on and off the whole hour. I also feel much freer this year to set them up with something or some activity and just watch, listen, and try to “catch” them in the act of “being” in the room. I feel oddly free of all agendas, even as I feel more comfortable setting my standards and establishing some rules (like absolute silence when writing). I finally feel like I have a journal method that works for me: For each class, I divide the page into vertical halves. I write the name of each child down the left (skipping lines so there’s loads of space). Down the right side I sketch out the stuff that’s going on, the activity flow of the lesson for the group as a whole. By each child’s individual name I jot observations or quotes or anything pertaining to him/her individually.

Due to some changes this week, the 3rd grade classes got blended into one group with Ms. Milligan as teacher. Ms. Hayes moved to 4th. Mr. Tinsley, with whom Allison has been working, is gone. There were also some changes made in Ms. Twellmann’s class — I’ve now got a different group I had from the first couple of weeks. I think things are fairly settled now, though. I also gave a heads-up to Ms. Hayes and Ms. Guilfoy with respect to radio show. We’ll be casting SUPERSWITCHER with 4th grade actors next week and begin rehearsing for a November taping date. It was great to pop in and see the faces of last year’s 3rd graders — how big they’ve grown and what big smiles to see me in the doorway!

I’ll fill in more lesson plan info in the next few days, but for now, I can just mention one of the highlights: with the second period of 3rd graders, I taped to the floor a long piece of butcher paper. The children wrote poems, drawings, stories, comments, and basically anything they wanted to. For 3 children I started stories with a few sentences of my own and then said to them, “Take it from here.” They wrote precious continuations of these narratives. M wrote a few “roses are red poems,” and with a little prodding I got her to alter the flowers to tulips and daisies so that she could play with different rhymes. To see them all crouched or leaning over this shared pastiche with pencils in hand was just heavenly.

Other highlights: on Wednesday, teaching ROYGBIV (the mnemonic for the order of rainbow colors) to K in 2nd grade. Teaching that whole class the MISSISSIPPI song I know to learn the spelling of the state/river.

Lowlights: a few boys–D and D– got a little wild and distracted and had to be scolded.

Have had a bunch of discussions with all sections about Ebonics. It is really sinking in with the 3rd graders, first section got it to a person (except for T, who remains a little befuddled). M, T, D, D, D all get it. (Is this initial thing weird or annoying?) All classes have heard stories, have done some writing, have talked, have been getting used to the routine.

More specific stuff to come.
-Inda