Allison’s Week — November 29 and 30

Update, R4W
30 November, 2006

The ice is pouring down outside, but I saw the first flurries on the Northside today. I ran to the board and
wrote a quick haiku and changed our writing warm-up… and then waited. I never found Mrs. Hayes-Adams
class today. There were some kids on a field trip and some had been reshuffled due to absences and no
sub, but no 4th/5th grade class. I asked in the office, left notes on the door, and then after half an hour,
finally packed up and went home in the icky weather, sad that they had not gotten to see the snow with
me.

I also met Mr. Harris early this morning, the new Asst. Principal. Yep, we have one of those now, must be a
new decision. His office is upstairs in Rm. 210 right by the room. My assumption is he is there to help with
discipline. He came by in the middle of a class to meet me, but we didn’t have any time to talk and when I
offered more info., he said for now he just wanted my name. I also tried to tell him about Inda and Sally,
but he said maybe he’d meet them later. It seemed like he had a lot on his plate. But I’d like to drop by
and talk with him more. Mr. Marks told me he is from Roosevelt, so they’re pulling in the big guns so to
speak.

Otherwise,the last couple of weeks have been nice. Last week, since I only met with my Wed. kids and
they were antsy from the holiday, I shucked my lessons and we wrote letters of thanks and then played
Apples to Apples. I had smaller groups and most were familiar with the game, but all loved it. There was
great teamwork involved.

Wed. 11/29, my groups finished their Bill of Rights exercises we were working on and all but my 6th/7th
mixed class had a chance to read them. O. and B. from Ms. Allen’s 5th grade had great Bills about different
American rights and Girls’ Rights. I typed them and hung them in the hall. My 6th/7th class continues to
be unfocussed and an issue behaviorally. We left ten minutes early yesterday because they could not listen
to directions or stay quiet. It’s a shame because some are fantastic, but all seem to want to be there. Their
behavior just says otherwise. I talked with their teachers about it and we will mix it up next week.

Today, Thursday, I had great groups. My 6th grade group finished their philosophy “I Believe” list poems
and did a great job. My seventh graders were mostly finished, so I challenged those who were done to
write 7-10 original philosophical questions that my younger kids could use for journal prompts, and they
did a great job with it (that’s also typed and hanging on the board by the door). The 7th grade group
continues to amaze me. There behavior is exemplary and they will do anything I ask with concentration
and excitement. I would like very much to see about taking this group on a field trip in the winter or early
spring– maybe the city museum and writing about it. I am continually impressed with how smart they
are, and how much they seem to like to be challenged.

I am seeing such improvement with all the kids. It can get challenging when they are all working at
different rates– to keep them all busy and engaged, but I am having much more time to work one and on
with them and help them slow down and find mistakes and fix them. even if it’s short, I am trying to get
them to pre-write, draft, and revise every single thing they do, even if they are not perfect corrections. I
am also trying to take five to ten minutes every day to read out loud and give comments. The younger
kids have all been checking out the books and loving it. The older ones seem less interested, so I am going
to try to bring in some magazines they can take thinking that might be closer to their content level.

All is well in the Room though, and I am pleased the heat is working, especially today. The roof has begun
leaking in the hallway, so I am being careful to inspect the room each day for problems. Oh, and I also
have put up brainstorming sheets around the room for a project I am doing with my 4th/5th graders to
write a Writers’ Bill of Rights. Feel free to have your kids add to them. It’s been an interesting dialogue so
far. They want what we want, so I am excited to draft a document.

Inda’s Week — November 28 and 29

Thanksgiving Week

On account of the holiday, I only saw the third graders this week. I brought in my sister, Eve, also known as “Ms. Schaenen Blue” (on account of her having worn a blue shirt last year when she visited), and Claire, my niece. Claire had collected several boxes of books for the R4W this fall and shipped them all to us. The kids were all so grateful and got a chance to thank her in person. It was heavenly to see them greet her with huge hugs.

First I introduced Eve and Claire to those who did not know them. Then we got straight to the lesson. We talked about journals and diaries. I spoke about Anne Frank and her diary. We talked about keeping track of thoughts and feelings, or making notes about our day, and all the other things a journal could be used for. Then I passed out the Dr. Seuss journals (donated by Booksource, thank you very much!). Each child got his/her own. They wrote their names and then began making entries. M. asked if they could take notes about each other? A. wondered if they could list questions they had? Sure, I said. So they spent the rest of the period entering in their journals. A few people wanted to share their entries with me or with Eve or Claire. Others kept them private.

November 28

Third Grade-First and Second Hour

We had a visitor from Springboard, a teacher looking for ways to incorporate more writing into her program. She sat at the big desk and took notes. I spoke some more about journals and this time read aloud from Anne Frank’s diary. They all had many many many questions about her life and experience. Why were the soldiers after Anne and her family? Did they shoot her? I did not want to get into this WWII stuff, so I told them that eventually I will get back to the history of the time, but right now the important thing to know was that we know about Anne’s life because of her diary. Then the kids got to work on their second entries. Silence during writing time. Anne had named her diary “Kitty.” Sone child named hers “Beautiful.” Other names from both hours included: King. Martin. Princess.

For a small grace note I passed out the cool paragraph about reading that jumbles the letters within words but leaves the first and last letters where they belong. Everyone in the class could read this paragraph and we talked about seeing words WHOLE rather than in bits of letters. A nice moment.

One thing…with the second hour I had the kids take deep breaths, slow and several. They were all wound up form having a substitute in the classroom all day. Things had been wild and many of them seemed all out of sorts because of this. They really miss Mrs. M. when she’s gone! Also, there were some upsetting stories from D. about Thanksgiving this year. There had been a violent death in his family that afternoon when a cousin was shot. C. and M. were also reminded of violent moments in their families.

November 29

Second grade, First hour

I don’t know. This group’s behavior was really rocky today. There’s a lot of intelligence and spark in many of these kids – J and J, R and R and S – all boys. So I know that this is one of the reasons I see what I see. N and M, of the girls, try to focus, also D and T of the girls. K was distracted by a cold, I think. She was snorting a ton. I have a feeling the problem is that I’m doing something wrong, setting my expectations in the wrong place or planning the wrong kind of lesson. Anyway, we talked about journals and then I wrote on the board a model journal entry about my morning – some writing, some laundry, etc etc. Then I passed out paper (second grade does a make-your-own journal instead of having a book to work in). Many got hung up by spelling. Others got straight to reporting bad things from real life – shootings, deaths, bad dreams. It was very disheartening and worrisome.

Examples:

“My cousin got shit [shot] an [in] the arm People was cryed I can spell encyclopedia my cousin got better somebody got shit an [in] the nee they poped [?] somebody elas [else] got shit an the leg my cousin name is ton-ton.”

“I learn responsibility in school by teacher I want to be a better person because I Don’t want to get trouble I want to be good not bad. I love my momma and daddy. I want to be good not bad. I like to play with my friend. I like to jump rope. Sometimes I play kik ball with my friend I play wheel of fortune with my mom.”

“Today I had a dream last night about vampires in they came to life it was scary in very sad I didn’t like it. they came into my apartment in killed my cat and dog”

“My cousin and me
I had a fun
Weekend
Over My
Cousin house
And We
Played Catch
And We
Played Soccer
And Played
Kickball
Basketball
Bastball
I Played Football”

Not all of them were intense, as you can see. But the combination of their disordered behavior and the heavy material these kids have to process just got to me and when the hour was over I felt awful. Ms. M and I talked a little bit about the situation but I really think it’s mostly something I can repair by adjusting what I do.

In between periods, a quick chat with Wendy on the cell phone also helped.

The second hour was totally different. The kids came up and we sat all snug and cozy on the floor by the bean bag. I read them Something From Nothing, and they loved it – the repetition, the moral, and pictures. These also just seem to be a bunch of happier kids in general, more affectionate with each other and more relaxed. I had two new children this week, J and B. After this we sat in a circle knee to knee, crossed our hands, and passed a pulse along. Then we built a collaborative story, each person adding as much as he’she wanted to the “once upon a time” I began. This was a half hour class, and it was perfect. I only wish I had a whole hour with them. But with the Dibbling they have to do and the schedule as it is, this is the best we can do. Anyway, it was a dramatic display of the difference between a good lesson and a bad one. The good lesson accomplishes good things, the bad one leaves a bad feeling in everyone’s stomach. Thank goodness there’s always next week.

-Inda

Inda’s Week — November 14 and 15

Third Grade – First Hour

This week during circle talk someone asked me why I wasn’t there last week. I explained that my son had no school and that I had to stay home with him. (A. told me I should have brought him.) So we got to talking about staying home alone, and that made them think about That’s So Raven (a TV show they watch) and an episode when Raven stayed home alone. It was just one of those days when it seemed like we needed to go with the flow. So I passed out paper and zapped them all into silent writing mode (one by one pretending to zap writer energy into their heads from above using my hands magically). Basically it was a free write moment, with them choosing to write about one of the themes we had been talking about—favorite shows, staying home alone, etc. When they finished they picked books out and read for a while until everyone was done, and then we shared one by one aloud. I do love watching them listen to one another. They pick up every single word of every single story and pay real attention. I think I’ll type out one example from the first hour, written by D.H.

“I got left at home when my mom went to the club and I had to watch my brother and sister and my brother had been bad. He wrote on the wall and spilled buttermilk on the couch and when my mom got home I was asleep and my mom made me clean it up and I had to scrub the wall. She was mad and she had to buy some more buttermilk for the pancakes. I don’t think it was a fair punishment because I was asleep and I did not do it.”

This is the kind of writing I just feel so pleased to see. It’s real, it’s meaningful, and it’s connected to something D.H. knows something about. In general, this group is SLIGHTLY hard to manage on account of the three lively boys. It’s getting better and I love their spirit but this is just for the record.

Third Grade – Second Hour

In the second hour, C.C. had brought in about a dozen pictures of herself (as a baby and small child) and her family to show and share. She was so proud of them that I again scrapped what I had planned and divided the group into pods – with A.W. and P. J. working on their own. Each group had a couple of C.C.’s pictures and set about inferring as much as they could from the image. It was the same exercise we had done with the Avedon photos a few weeks before. Behavior in this group is completely exemplary.

TJ – “We think C. is a cutiepie in this picture. We think that Christal is 8 months. When she was a baby she was light skin but now she is dark skin.”

AW – “In this picture it look like Christal is in her livingroom as a baby o n her couch with her blanket going to sleep. In this picture it make me feel like for when I was a baby. In this picture C. look really cute. In this picture C. look the same was my baby brother Ahmir look like for why he is a baby. From: A.W. To: Everybody”

PJ – “On this picture C. looked like a queen with a smile. C. looked like me when she was little. In this picture C. has three toys and a lot of hair. C. has a beauful eyes. C. has fat cheecks like I did. C. has a shiny white shirt on. C. has her little cousin in the picture. C. has blue and white barrettes.”

Second Grade – First Hour

We had a Springboard/Young Audience board member sit in this afternoon. Things were a little hairy, behavior-wise. Part of the problem was that some of the kids who had been absent last week were here, so we were in two different places in the activity. I had wanted people to revise and add to their Harold and the Purple Crayon paragraphs, or write new stories with different colors, as they had requested. But we also had to re-read the story so the other kids could catch up. There was TONS of managing behavior, with D. being VERY down in the mouth and angry the whole time. The two Js are so cute and smart but also lively and chatty. R. took a while to get going but then came around and wrote a nice little twist on the story. As always, once he gets down to writing he demonstrates such a solid conceptual understanding of the book or lesson. As you can see below, clearly they are “getting” the idea of the title. They might be reminded that you don’t need to write the word “title,” only the title words themselves. N’s punctuation is adorable – she wants to use it, and is only confused about how and where and why.

By S.: “I like to draw with purple. Purple is my favorite crayola and it is a nice color. I like to write with it I like to draw with it and I like to color with it. My sister likes it my moma likes it too. I can draw a lot of things with it. I like purple [better] than pink because it color smoover [smoother] then pink.”

By J.: “Title Nick and the Blue Crayon
One day there was a boy named Nick Anderson Nick had found a blue crayon at the park. It was a magic crayon. Then he started to draw he drawed a moetersycle. Then he tart [turned] into a grown up he drew a car with some spinners.”

By N: “The title N. and the Pink Crayon
Once upon a time there was a big girl name Chnal [Channell], She had a pink crayon. She was drawing a pink playground. She was playing on the playground with her daddy. and we played and played and my momma came with us. We came to my daddy house and we had hot chocolate with. marshmallow’s then we went to mamma house and we had pies. cerry [cherry] pie’s. The End. N. Story”

Second grade – Second Hour

This class came in and during circle chat CB mentioned that he had heard some Ebonics since last week. I asked for the example and he said that his cousin said, “What you doin.”
“What would that be in standard English?” I asked.
“What are you doing,” he said right away, as did L.
K also had an example and when I asked her about it she mentioned the example
from a woman on TV who said something like “he not going there.” When I asked how that was different from Standard, K said, “It’s missing some of the verb,” an answer which kind of blew me away for this second grade class. We then talked briefly about where Ebonics was spoken and C and a few others said Africa and China…I then pointed out that C’s cousin and the woman on TV were not in China or Africa. Then they said,” at home.”
“At home,” I repeated, and we dropped it for the time being.

After the circle chat we taped a big piece of butcher paper to the floor and I asked the kids to write down everything they could remember about Harold and the Purple Crayon. B.T. the boardmember was still visiting, thank goodness, so he could see a totally different class at work. They were so cute and cooperative. The banner is now hanging in our hall. C. had missed last week on account of fighting so he used the book in hand in order to jot down some things.

A peaceful, lovely 45 minutes.

Inda’s Week — November 7

Second Grade – First Hour

Last week we blended our class and welcomed three children who had not been upstairs to the Room before. As always when this happens, we take our circle and I ask one of the regulars to explain what the newcomers can expect. It’s always interesting to me to hear how they describe what we do. After this intro, they begged to put on another show like last week. I said we’d be doing shows again but that today I had something else planned. We scootched our chairs all close together and I read Harold and the Purple Crayon. They listened attentively. Some comments:
“That baby can draw!”
N: Remarked that the way Harold was making up his story as he went along was like the way she and J and M made up THEIR show last week, taking the dolls and just making up a story as they went along.
(A giant hurray from me to this connection!)
Then we went back to the larger circle and I passed out purple crayons and nice bordered paper. They drew out titles and illustrations with the crayon, and then with pencil and lined paper set out to write their own story.

By way of illustrations I saw lots of buildings with windows (they loved those images), lots of crescent moons. Most of the children entitled the work “J and the Purple Crayon, or M and the Purple Crayon,” simply substituting their own name for Harold’s.

Example:

J and the Purple Crayon

One day a boy named J had a purple crayon he was drawing. the he drawed a apple tree. then he fell in water and he almost drowed in the water then he. Drawed a boat then he drew. New York City and he Drew his window and drew his bed and. pillow and he went to sleep Z Z Z.

The interesting thing about this example is that in our show from the week before, J had his character fall into an ocean [the bean bag chair] and nearly drown, and another character, played by N, had to do CPR on him, which she said she had learned from watching ER with her mama.

Another example from a first-timer in the Room:

L and the Purple Clor [Color]
Here it go
Once upon a time there was a boy name L
he draw a hos [house] and bed
by his self. the end
After he got done he went to sleep. whit [with] a bear.

And another:

M and the Purple Crayon

I can do anything with a purple crayon I can draw pictures and I can color with the purple crayon.

Second Grade – Second Hour

This class time always feels a little short, so we managed to have our chat and the reading of the story and they got right to work writing their own things with purple crayons and pencils, whichever they preferred.

By K:

I am K. I have a purple crayon. I can draw stuff with it. I draw a crazy house.

By K2 (who asked to have the book beside her for reference; hence the “thinking it over for some time”):

One afternoon, thinking it over for some time, Kelcie and mom decorated a big house. But guss what a nice nice man came up and gave me some cash.

By C:

MY dog in the purple crayon. My dog name is Bones. he is a good boy. He is white.

C’s picture shows a simple outline of a dog with huge, pointy, bared teeth.

It was a lovely day with second grade. I think I will be building on this lesson next week with both sections, trying to get them to write a little more using their own work from last week as a starting point.

Allison’s Week — November 8 and 9

Update for 11/8 and 11/9

I had big plans for this week, transitioning from an identity unity for my younger grades (5 and 6) to
thoughts about our community and politics. The election seemed like a good time to do that.

Wed. 11/8

My 9am group of 5th graders came in ready to go. The kids had all voted in the Kids Voting USA polls and I
had stayed up late the night before to check the results of their polling. When they came in, we bagan by
discussing the election. They knew candidates’ names and some of the issues, but did not know what the
races were for, or what was at stake. So they had voted, but seemingly with little to no understanding of
the actual election. I eased back off my lesson plan a little after our talk and went a slightly different
direction. After a quick writing warm-up, I had the kids go to the chalkboards in partners. They then listed
things they would change in their community or laws they would make if they were president. There were
the typical answers (no school, less school), but some thoughtful ones too– less violence in the
community, less drugs, less homeless. They wrote some very nice things about who they wanted to help
and why. Next week, we’re going to take that information and move forward, beginning to isolate some
neighborhood concerns and write letters to the 22nd alderman (voter turnout for that ward was 32%,
amongst the lowest in the city, so I figure it never hurts to get them involved early).

My second group of Iskali and Vernell’s students came in swinging. Even with Ms. Vernell in the room, I
was reprimanding kids for noise, running, not being on task. We began working on finishing drafts of the “I
Am From” poems. I repeatedly had to ask them to be quiet. When the timer ran out and I tried to get
their attention to re-group and move on, they were ALL talking and walking around. Several tried later, I
gave up, told them to pack up and that we were going back to the room. I said it seemed clear they
wanted to waste my time and did not want to be there. They were dissappointed, some kids like D.D. and
C.H., who were being good, were clearly unhappy. They didn’t move at first, thinking I was joking. I just
stood there quietly waiting for them to pack up. At that point, Ms. Blanchard and Susie Brodden came in to
work with Inda. So, sadly, I had to explain to them that they would not be able to observe anything and
the reason why. I went back to the room with the kids to speak with their teachers. That’s two weeks in a
row, so we are going to make some changes, and some of the kids, 2 or 3 for sure, will not be back. I did
make sure I praised the 5 or 6 who worked well so they did not get in trouble.

My last group Wed., however, was a dream. Inda was practicing the radio show with some of my kids
whom she taught last year, and 2 more were in suspension, so I had just five. I altered the plan
somewhat in route because of our numbers. I began by discussing the elction and T.R. spoke up and
asked why “voting is so important anyway”. Great question, so we went through it historically and
discussed that 100 years previously, none of us in that room would have been able to grow up and vote–
for different reasons. The questions then started flying: why do kids have babies; why do people have kids
and then leave them; why do adults beat their children; why this and that? So we discussed things, but
much of what they asked, there is no good answer for. Then we brainstormed on the board and on paper
the rest of the time. Basically, I talked about politics with 9 and 10 year olds for 45 minutes, and we had a
great time. They were engaged, enthusiastic, and bright. Great class.

THURS. 11/9

I went in early as always to set up my room this morning and then get my class at 8:15– no luck. They
had a field trip, and I found myself wishing someone had thought to tell me because I could have used
that extra hour of sleep prety badly. I did paperwork, then went and got my 9am of 7th graders.

That 7th grade group continues to be a dream. Mr. Marks is very proud of them. They all come to school all
the time and get good grades, and he really thinks they benefit from being in the Room. They work so
quietly, without my saying anything, that I am amazed every time. Today, we began with a warm-up,
then I sent them each to a chalkboard to brainstorm for new list poems we will be doing. I had the word
“philosophy” up on the board. I knew they wouldn’t know it, but wanted them to think before I gave them
answers. So I gave them some examples of how it might be used in a sentence and asked them each to
jot down synonyms and possible definitions for the word on the blackboard. They were pretty dead on
(answers ranging from “how we think” to “it’s about living”). I asked T.G to look the word up and we went
through the definition and their brainstorms until the concept made sense. Then we began new lists, what
might we use philosophy to think about, or what do we believe in, as a people? They again made great
lists. K. wrote immediately “superstitions”; R. wrote “truth and love”. K.H. wrote about MLK and how he
“believed in things”. Others listed we might use philosophy to think about holidays or religion.

Having got that down, and without me telling them what it meant– I love when they learn it by
discovering, I told them they would be writing list poems about their personal philosophies– what they
believe in as individuals. They jumped and began prewriting for their poems. Their was great talk while
they did this, which I let go because they started talking about “I don’t believe in divorce,” and “I don’t
believe in year-round school.” And they had great reasons. We’ll continue with those poems next week,
working through the writing process, but it was a fantastic class.

My last group of mixed 4th/5th continued with their writing workshop, reading their poems and writing
responses down. C.T. remained shy and refused to read. But I had told them all they must and tried to
explain to him that others had shared, and why it’s beneficial to get feedback. The class was impatient with
him, which did not help. But he finally read, albeit very fast and quiet. The group commented that they
would have a hard time writing any responses for him if he didn’t read again and read better. So he did it
again. I think everyone got one thing down. The infortunate thing is, he had a good poem, but it had also
been hard for him to write it.

So, it was good week overall, despite the one group I sent out. Despite my preference to only run two
lesson plans a week, I am back on six different ones. They are all at different places, need different
amounts of time, and have different levels for me to work with. It makes more work for me to do it six
different ways. I am trying to at least keep the track of running two units. If they get different skills and
different lessons to accomplish some of the same material and same thinking, then so be it. With so many
students, I have to be flexible, and ultimately, it allows for much better learning when I can tailor it more
to then. And luckily, two months in, that’s where we are.

Sally’s November 6

Just reporting in from today. They have turned on the heat all over the school so now it is toasty warm but only 55 outside so a bit warm in the Room. I noticed Ms. Guilfoy had all her windows open so I opened ours and that was great except that a bee flew in and terrorized everyone for awhile.

I used a version of Allison’s “I am From” lesson with both my 4/5th graders and the 7th. The 4/5 were more talkative today than they usually are and I had to ask them to be quiet on a number of occasions when I was talking or one of their classmates was reading to the group. They seemed to enjoy the exercise though and many were eager to read theirs aloud. We had time to read about half, and we will finish up the rest next week. We will do a revision class next week as well, so we will have something for them to display on the wall in the hallway. After class, Ms. Guilfoy told me that I have the bottom half of the class in terms of reading and writing ability.

The 7th graders came up with some great poems. We started out reading Langston Hughes’ poem “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” because I thought it would be a good model of how a poet can describe himself through geographical locations. The poem mentions the Euphrates, the Nile and the Congo, but they had no idea where any of those places were.

Here are two first drafts from 7th graders:

Where I’m From
by MJ

I’m from the STL
where half my family roots are from
where the people in the hood throw block parties every weekend
where you hear gun shots every night
where my family is very close
the STL is where we have our family get-togethers when our family celebrates
the STL is where the Cardinals won the World Series,
where the STL Public Schools get together to help kids stay in school

I am From
By CJ

I am from St. Louis
I am from a family that is sweet
I am from 4 sisters and brothers
I am from a house in Normandy
I am from a mother that fusses and fights
I am from a family who likes to dance
I am from a family who loves to talk
I am from a brother who likes to fight when he feels good
I am from a family who drinks and smokes
I am from a family that plays and jokes

yours,
Sally

Allison’s Week — November 1 and 2

Update on Classes Held on 11/1 and 11/2

Whoa, nelly! Try to hold a class early in the morning on the day after Halloween. I had not even thought of
the implications or the after effects of too much sugar. I had two goals for the day: one, to finish and read
our “I Am From” list poems, and two, to do a Day of the Dead lesson and have the kids warm-up by
responding to one of three prompts.

The day, however, did not go according to plan. The irony was, it took me until about 11 am, halfway
through my third group, to finally figure out that the day’s disasterous behavior was likely due to sugar
energy. Each class went something like this:

Walk down the hall. Not in a line. Loud. Talking. And so, as per usual (though I hadn’t had to do it this year
yet), I turned them around and marched them back and forth until they could get to, and enter the
classroom properly. If i can’t get them to come in calmly, then I have no hopes of a focussed lesson or
their attention. Then, I was able to keep their attention through the Day of the Dead stuff– the material
and pictures seemed to fascinate them. But when I set them about the task of writing their warm-up, uh-
oh, all heck broke loose. With each group, here was where I lost them. I repeatedly had to ask them all to
be quiet (5 or 6 times) while writing. It was only when I started saying it was clear to me they did not
want to be there that the talking would die down. Then, we would work on poems, but most just sat there
blankly, or talked to their neighbors, or I’d get the opposite, 6 kids running (yep, running!) up to me to ask
for help and all talking loudly and quickly without taking breaths– all at once. Then time would run out
with me feeling we had accomplished nothing, and we would repeat the same terrible hall process going
back.

And sadly, I had not one student all day, in any grade, that could quickly or easily find Mexico. They even
had a hard time locating North America. I discussed this with Mr. Marks, who seemed surprised and
disappointed.

I delivered stern words to each group, telling them that if there behavior was ever like that again that they
would not be returning. They know how they need to behave. I was not messing around. That being said,
a bright note about their poor behavior is that no one was mean to one another and there was no fighting.
It was simply disruptive and disrespectful– not good, but still a step up from the behavior I sometimes
encountered last year.

Thursday, however, was much better.

My 8:15 6th grade group strolled in quietly and ready to go. We did the same Day of the Dead lesson and
writing warm-up, then moved on to their Media Collage Presentations. The goal of the media collages was
to give them experience appropriating images and text, to see how these things were presented to them in
media, and then to make choices about what they would use to represent themselves. Each student had
to do a 2 minute presentation and then answer my questions about what things meant and why they
designed their project the way they did. Overall, their presentations were pretty good, though this group
was slower to finish and used a lot less text than I had envisioned. They will soon work on writing list
poems to juxtapose to their media collages. The list poems will be about their personal philosophy: “I
Believe”.

My 7th graders had amazing presentations, and much more polished presentation skills. Particularly, J.H.
gave a mighty fine presentation, answering every question I had before I could ask. She has a great sense
of observation and seemed to pick up what I was asking others and incorporated it into her delivery. T.J.,
who is sometimes very reticent, moody, or shy, asked me to read what she had written the week before
about “commotion” when it was the vocabulary word for our warm-up. It was some fantastic writing, and I
felt like it was a huge deal that she wanted me to see it. (She generally seems to be in the “too-cool-to-
care” category… but man, can she write when she wants to, spelling notwishstanding.)

My mixed group of 4th/5th graders on Thursdays is quickly becoming one of my greatest weekly joys. That
group is the one that turned out the great list poems with such little effort. With them, I had a hunch, and
we skipped the Day of the Dead stuff and worked on something I had whipped up quickly between groups.
We have been going over the writing process, and were specifically on revision. I had some guidelines on
the board and gave them 10 minutes to clean up their poems, change them, etc.– then everyone had to
read.

C.T., who has gotten stuck while writing his poem and then whipped up a pretty great one, was the only
one remotely hesitant to read. He refused, and I acquiesed saying he did not have to read the whole thing,
but he had to read at least 3 lines. He chose 3 lines about the violence in his family, which seemed
noteworthy to me.

Before they read, I told them that I had read lines of each of their poems to my other groups because they
had written such great poems. They beamed. They took their revision seriously. They whispered, practicing
their reading aloud. Then each read, and we clapped. They seemed to get how good the poems were when
they each read. After each student read, I picked something specific that they did well and commented on
it. We had discussed how writers workshop, reading their poems and then giving feedback. After everyone
read once, I gave them each a workshop with everyone’s name in the class. I said we were going to read
the poems again, and then I wanted them each to write down three things they liked, noticed or
remembered from the poem. We talked about examples of what that might be. We only got through
workshopping 4 people and will have to continue this week, but I promised to compile their classmates’
comments for them. It’s taking a while, but they are getting the writing process in this beautiful way and
they all seem very wrapped up in thinking and acting like writers. I think, too, the most important thing to
note is that almost all of them were in our program last year. I have not been able to do this with other
groups yet, but that group gets it, and it’s working.

Some of the kinds of things they wrote down:

had rhythm
funny
I like the way she rhymes
I like the way he read his poem.
I like how she actually made specific words like “loud, loud music”
He said I am from candy and picnics.
I like the part when she said she is from the city that is not pretty
I like when he said a fish was my only pet.
When he say I live in a big neighborhood but it’s all good.
I like the way he told the truth.

Man, they have some great listening skills. I don’t think adults would have come up with comments this
great– and those are just from four poems.

I can’t wait to finish. This week, my groups will start traveling in different directions. I am going to work on
some creative political writing with the groups the next couple of weeks. They should have participated in
the Kids Voting project mock election today (all of SLPS is supposed to), so some topics should be fresh on
their mind and I’d like to engage them with it.

So last week started poorly, but that writers’ workshop had me flyin’ high by the end. And there’s
something to be said for that.

Second/Third Grade – week of November 1

Second Grade – First Hour

Well, I had a VERY small group this week: with absences and detentions we were down to three kids. J, N, and M. So we tried something kind of new. I gave each child a doll and asked them –as we still sat in our circle – to tell me a little bit about their character. Name, home life, likes and dislikes. a few other things. Then I asked them to use these characters to put on a show for me. I wanted to hear them produce dialogue on the spot so I could learn how their imaginations worked, how they created the voices of “others,” a narrative story, and so forth. Instead of manipulating a pencil on a blank page, where spelling, small motor things, and other obstructions got in their way, they were working impromptu with language out of thin air. It was a way for me to get straight at the stuff of narrative without the limitations of mechanics. I moved my chair into an audience position and let them get behind the book case with the lettercloth over it. So with my pad and pencil in hand I listened and watched with pleasure the story of Miss Kim, 30, Marlisha, 25, and little Leon, 19. Right away I learned that Kim liked to dance, and that she was going to a ball to dance with the royal prince. Of course there wound up being a dangerous ocean that nearly drowned Leon, and some stealing of her jewelry, and even some conflict between the characters, resulting in Miss Kim declaring that was “going to my room and squeeze the tears out my eyes because she was my bestest bestest friend and she stole my jewelry and I am mad.” J got way into it too. They all adjusted their voices to a higher pitch as they acted. After the first show seemed to come to an end I asked for another show. In this one they switched dolls and got right to it with a little more organization beforehand. The characters were now Mama, Daughter, and Blind Brother Leon.

The first line:

“Mama, I’m going to the ball with my blind brother. Blind Brother, do you want to go to the ball with me?”

There was some interesting dialogue when Mama was talking to Daddy on the phone with Daughter listening in.

“Unless you gonna buy their clothes you not their Daddy anymore. Unless you don’t have nothin to say to your daughter and your son you’re not their Daddy anymore.

There was even some linking of their dialogue with having heard me read them Mirandy and Brother Wind a few weeks before:

“I’m gonna write Blind Brother and Brother Wind.”

After the two shows I asked them to return to the circle and write about the experience. For J, after he wrote a sentence on his own, he dictated the rest to me because he had tons more to say and the writing itself was too hard:

“I’m blind Brother Leon and I act blind and I’m is not blind. And he fell in the ocean and he fell in the wooden blocks and he hurt hisself. And he almost died by an accident cause he was acting blind and he was not real good at blind and he was acting blind. And so now he sat down and he didn’t think about what he done today and he was looking at TV and he went back outside to play with his blocks and he ran and he caught asthma and he got sick because he was in the rain and he didn’t have no coat. And he went back outside and went to get wet and it was summertime. He was outside getting wet and he had drowned in the water and the Jacuzzi and the swimming pool. and then he got out breathing hard. And the show was good.,”

By N:

“I am Sister Marlisha and I have a blind brother and I have a mother and we played in a show. It was a talk show and we had fun. And I act like the queen with the prince. I went to the ball with my blind brother Leon.”

Second Grade, Second Hour –

This group had just gotten in huge trouble in PE so they came in totally whipped and spent. We talked a little about what had happened. I learned a phrase: “joanin on” someone, which is to diss them. Then I read Mirandy to this group and we talked some about language. An energy-less hour.

Third Grade, first/second hour

We played a game. I wrote words on index cards – egg, preacher, grass, sheep, kitchen, cigarette, and a few others. I handed the cards out to five or six kids and each child stood by a section of board and wrote as many clues as possible for the word (without using the word). Meanwhile, I wrote the same words on paper for the kids sitting in the circle. This was the variation from last year. When the board person read out their clues, the circle person did afterward. It was interesting to see what clues were similar and also how they differed. We talked about how every mind is unique, and one person may think certain things about sheep, say, while another person focuses on other aspects of sheep. This is what makes writers different from one another.

Board person’s clues for SHEEP:

“It is white. It has fur. It has four legs. It lives in a farm and a farmer take care of it and it is an animal.”

Paper clues for SHEEP:

“It says bahhh and it eats grass and it has lots of fur. It is white and it makes milk. It lives in a farm. They live in group.

Pretty neat, no?

From Sally — October 31

Hi,

I do share Allison’s sentiments about how great it is to be in the same school again, in my case for the second year in a row. I like seeing my old students in the hall and knowing the teachers.

I enjoy working again with Ms. Guilfoy. Yesterday, I lost three of her students due to their either transferring or going to another class and she assigned me three more. I am getting to know Ms. Warren and she is very cooperative. Did you work with her last year, Allison? Three of the th grade boys were not there last week because of detention, but they were all there yesterday so I welcomed them back. When class was interrupted for the announcements of the new detention group, they all seemed relieved not to be named, so maybe Allison is right that Ms. Jensen’s discipline tactics are working well.

We did list poems yesterday, reading Maya Angelou’s poem, “Life Doesn’t Frighten Me at All.” I will schedule a revision class soon because they are getting great first drafts and are excited about writing, but it’s time now to polish what they’ve got a bit. Lots of misspellings!

Here are two poems from 7th graders:

Creepy Things About My House

The basement — walkings and shadows
The front room — sounds
The attic — things bump up there and footsteps
The kitchen — the dishes rattle in the sink
Mom’s room — the TV comes on by itself

By DB

Dogs Don’t Frighten Me at All

I make little dogs shoo
I hit them with the boot
Dogs don’t frighten me at all.

Yelping mutts
Must shut up
Dogs don’t frighten me at all.

By JA

yours,
Sally

From Allison — October 31

I still cannot use the Room for Writing blog, which has curtailed my correspondence a bit. That being said, I
will enclose a summary of last week in this email, as it was a great week. There is something about this
year. In every way, I feel it being different. The kids have been great across the board. The seem to
understand the value of the Room in a different way. They understand that it is a privelege, but moreover,
they seem to love it in a different way than they did last year, and that makes my job easy and even more
wonderful. It is not just them though. Perhaps it is because it is my third year with most of the teachers,
but they are fantastic and enthusiastic– particularly Ms. Guilfoy, Mr. Marks, and newcomer Ms. Allen (who
has had many Springboard programs at other schools). Not only are these teachers very welcoming, but I
get constant feedback, what they notice, what they need, and news about the school. The other big
differerence is Ms. Jensen. She has that school running tightly, and I see the difference in students’
behavior. I like the hard line. I am ready to follow it, but surprisingly, because she has done it so well, I
have not had to do very much in terms of discipline. It’s a different world without the constant fighting.

I have been trying to work on units with the kids. It’s tough because I have four grades to teach and six
classes, so I utilize roughly two different lesson plans a week and then adjust activities to the group, age-
level and writing/reading ability of the students. Roughly, I have the 4th and 5th grade and my 6th/7th
mixed class of Iskali/Vernell doing one lesson each week, and then my 6th an 7th groups on Thursday do
something else (in part because I have taught most of them, but also because they are fewer in number
and at a slightly higher level). Right now, we are working on the basics. I am using an Identity Unit to
work through the writing process with my younger grades and to begin media awareness and critical
thought with the older kids.

I will keep working through topical units and corresponding those with actual writing instruction. I have
photociopied sheets for each class where I make notes about students’ progress, attitudes, writing,
interests, and what we accomplish as a group.

Here is a class by class summary of last week. I have used initials only.

Wed. 10/25, 9:00 (5th grade)

This is a really excellent group. I know several students, but they are quiet and reserved for the most part.
They very much understand the Room as a privelege and each student shows so much excitement and
engagement, it is sometimes difficult to get them to clean up and end for the day. During the first ten
minutes (our writing warm-up, where they write about the quote, the vocab. word, or the piece of
history), I write as they do. D.S. picked up on this with excitement. This is a bright group, and they keep
asking why they can’t come more. B.G., who was in Sally’s class last year shows a great amount of
thought in her pre-writing and is very good with providing details. In her neighborhood list, she wrote she
sees “elderly people” where others wrote just “people”.

Wed. 10/25, 9:50 (6th/7th)

My main issue with this group is getting them on time. I have such short classes this year, which is a
challenge for me to get it all in. I am continually getting this group 15-20 minutes late, leaving me only
about 30 minutes. I impressed upon them last time that we would not be able to do so much unless they
came on time, so I am hoping they help remind and regulate that with their teachers. In this group, I
have been particularly impressed with D.S., a student whom I removed from my class last year. She can
have an attitude, but I sense we are both trying very hard together this year. She has worked quietly, by
herself, and is producing great work. She’s a great writer, so I am trying to impress upon her that this is
her chance to be heard, but she has to follow certai guidelines. Give respect to get it. A.P., worked quickly
and well and asked if he would get another “notey-note”, referring to the letters I gave them, saying he
thought that was cool and would write me again. P.M., whom I have taught before, has started coming to
me with help. I ask her questions so she can get there on her own, and for the first time, I see her really
thinking instead of blowing it off, and the look on her face when she gets something is incredible.

Wed. 10:45 (4th)

This is a great group. They all wrote great, great list poems. For some reason, it was easier for the younger
ones, perhaps because they have less of a concept of what poetry “should be”. I went through all their
poems and marked them up for revision, providing comments and encouragement. My big issue last week
was with J.J. who did not seem to get the assignment at all. His list poem was about a girl and some fairly
unsettling lines in it, the idea of which I am pretty sure he took from a rap song. I sat down to talk with
him, and he wouldn’t look at me. I don’t think he understands some of the things he wrote, but whe I
tried to ask, he did not like being called out for not getting something. He and I will definitely need to talk
further. He’s a nice kid, but I did not like what he wrote about, so I am going to try to come at the angle of
respect.

Thurs. 10/26, 8:15 (6th)

This group has been working on media collages (with text) called “All About Me”. I wanted to get them
familiar with appropriating media for their own purposes. They have been cutting newspapers and
magazines the last two weeks. They will eventually give presentations and then write about what they put
on their collage. J.N. found a bunch of pics of Rosa Parks in a paper and set straight out, one of the few to
put on her collage “My Idol”, going to a deeper sense of herself, and not just picking consumer items. B.L.
has an excellent design sense. M.J. offered to help sweep at the end of class. They will finish this week and
then present.

Thurs., 10/26, 9:10 (7th)

I gave the teacher a note about this class last week because they continue to be so ridiculously good that I
think I am dreaming and am afraid to break the spell. They write during the warm-up in absolute silence,
without any reminder from me. They seem so amazingly engaged in what they do. I think they have also
figured out the power of writing, in that it gives them both a voice and a chance to figure themselves out,
especially at an age where they so need to do that. In fairness, the group also gets along very well
together, making it easier.

As they finished their collages, I asked questions about what they were finding and putting on. I was
shocked to find out that almost all of them have their own cell phones or their own phone number. They
chose to include music they liked, cars they wanted, clothes they liked. I asked them about their selections
and placement. They were very thoughtful, understanding that in many ways, this arrangement of stuff
does represent them. T.G. finished first and then helped the others. She gave a great presentation and
answered my questions with great thought. With them, we’re going to discuss how things represent us
versus how thoughts do. They will then write list poems called “I Believe” which will be put up alongside
their collages. They are thinking about the media in great ways, with just a little questioning. I have not
taught them any actual critical approaches yet, but we will soon get there. Right now, they are doing
exactly as I had hoped. And they are doing it with great care.

Thurs. 10/26, 10:45 (4th/5th)

This group, wow. Wow. Wow. I am repeatedly stunned by everything they do and how they act. They get
it and they love it. They intuitively got the “I Am From” list poem assignment and all finished their poems
in 10 minutes!!! They all want to read, so I am making sure to carve 10 min. at the end of each session.
They even want to read what they write about the voacbulary words as warm-up. The word “commotion”
stirred some great writing in this group.

Here are a couple poems that blew me away:

“Where I Am From” by K.H.

I am from ice-cream cones
every time it comes around.
I lived in St. Louis, Missouri
since I were a baby, all year round.

I am from a family that really loves me
I am from swinging on trees,
and landing on my knees.

I am from “clean up your first mess before another”
I am from singing and dancing with my brother.
I am from trying to help my sister,
any time she gets a blister.

I am from home cooked meals
like chicken in gravy
I am from playing with my sister
yelling “save me, save me”.

I am from Missouri and
I am from St. Louis

I am from a nice big family.
and a nice family tree.

That’s where I am from.

[Wow!!!]

Here’s a few great lines from the middle of R.Y.’s poem:
“…I am from get togethers and family fun./ I am from presidents and governments./ I am from votes and
happiness. / I am from guns to basketball…”

from C.B.’s poem:
…”I am from older sisters and hand me downs to shut-up and sit down…”

The beginning of J.B.’s poem:
“I am from Sunday dinners to cookouts, three beds and black couches, squirrels climbing through trees. I
come from a violent family of three…”

[Man, these kids astound me. Can’t wait for this week.]