1st Reading Notebook Check

I've been telling my 4th graders that the skill of reading is INVISIBLE. However, if we LOG, STOP&JOT, and IDENTIFY CHARACTER TRAITS, then they can make their reading VISIBLE to me. While reading-aloud My Name is Maria Isabel, I modeled how to log, jot, and name character traits that match Maria Isabel and her mom, dad, teacher, and brother. SO last weekend, I collected all 27 students' Reading Notebooks so I could look closely at the work they have done so far.

The rubric I used looked like this:

This is what one logged looked like:

This is what stop and jots looked like:

This is what Character Trait Work looked like (using these free paint samples from Home Depot, it seems to motivate the reader to push to name at least 4 character traits!)

Overall, 12 students received a 12/12 on this rubric!! This shows me they are reading independently, logging, and jotting about what they read! 12 received scored between 5-11, showing that something was missing but the score on the rubric also helped to make it more visible for them what the Reading Workshop expectation is. Only 3 scored under a 4 and these 3 I am working with closely as they aren't able, due to different factors, to work independently yet. 

I think we are off to a good start!!

1st Publishing Party in 4th grade

I stopped being a Reading Specialist this year and am a 4th grade teacher!! With one month down, I am loving it. However, I will admit that being a classroom teacher is HARD. All September, I have felt like I'm on a rollercoaster while juggling balls at the same time!!

On the last Friday of September, we had our first Writing Workshop Publishing Party. We are now authors of Personal Narratives!! Here's a few pictures:

First, I had all their writing folders so I called them over to specific places to sit. This strategic placement helped to keep all focused during our celebration. (I have a very chatty group of 4th graders - 27 kids, 15 boys and 12 girls.)

Our celebration started with a Cicle Greeting (Responsive Classroom move) where after shaking hands, we said: "I am an author who wrote a story about ___." It does take time for 28 in a circle to greet. But this calmed us, got us focused on our writing, and helped us to stop and listen.

Then I asked each to take out their published piece and find one or two lines that they are proudest of writing. "We are not going to share the whole story aloud, just one or two lines we like the most. When you have the line, point to it and I'll know you are ready." Then I walked around, pushing all to get ready.

Next I explained we would being doing a Symphony Share. "Just like in a Symphony, the instruments play when they are ready, we are going to SHARE when we are ready. When you feel like sharing your one line, please do in your loud, presenting voice. Just like during our Grand Conversations, if two voices start at the same time, one wait and then go next."

"Finally, let me teach you a cheer (that I learned from Kagan training). After a student shares, this is the cheer we will give them. With your finger, pretend to be pumping the spray nossle of the Fantastic Cleaner three times and say "ch-ch-ch" and then move your hand to look like it is wiping off the cleaner and say "FAN- TAST-IC". This will be the cheer we give each classmate after they read aloud their favorite line from their published piece."

And we began...AND IT WORKED!!! All happily shared a line or two. All listened respectfully. A few shy friends needed encouragement to share and 4 really shy friends allowed me or a visiting teacher to share their line for them. (This reminded me that sharing our writing is scary). Then I gave them free time to draw, read, or use their computer and I started hanging up their writing in the hallway to make it public.

Already in the hallway are paper-people we made to hold an I AM poem for Back to School Night. One student, Lotta, suggested that now the paper-person could hold our story! Great idea...so the personal narrative is on the paper-person, an illustration drawn by our talk buddy is hanging next to it (since our writing is so descriptive, it made a movie in our talk buddy's mind and THEY could draw the illustration!) and a reflection - I worked on _____ when writing this first personal narrative in 4th grade.

As I reflected on the way home, I realized that these kids are only 9 going on 10. The school they are in has not been running Writing Workshop with them since Kindergarten. As 4th graders, this may have been their FIRST publishing party. Happlily I celebrate!!

I can't wait to do an on-demand on Tuesday and start teaching Personal Narrative one more time in October. I know we can write even better. I know they are proud now of their work and ALL will be amazed at how much better they can write with more practice and guidance in October.

TCRWP 2013 Summer Writing Institute Notes – Learning with Annie

I got to spend 5 days learning from Annie Taranto, a TCRWP Staff Developer who had also taught me during the January, 2012 Reading Coach Institute. Back in January, we were together at a school in Brooklyn and Annie taught us how to coach while being in Labsite classrooms all week long.

Now I had the honor to  be in a group of very smart Advanced Institute participants from all over the globe ready to hear more tips from Annie on how to teach teachers to teach writing by using the structure of Labsites and Meetings. 

Here are my notes taken while with Annie:

Recommended Book:    Literacy Coaching by Katherine Casey, Heinemann.

Two Structures to Use to Teach Other Teachers to Teach Writing?

Labsites – time to try it, practice it

As the coach, plan the lesson and plan the voice overs – YOU must talk to the teachers so they will value labsite time and understand why you are doing what you are doing.

Plan the lenses:

—  Giving a lens for teachers to view the Labsite is very important. During the debrief, hold the teachers accountable and be sure to recall who had each lens and give each a chance to share.

—  Possible lenses: explicitness, independence, transference,  student engagement, transitions…(see emailed list); a building walk-thru can help you decide on the lenses to use.

Lab Guides can be created to give teachers a place to take notes and can also be a chance to share content and list the debriefing agenda.

Meetings – time to discuss labsite work, time to learn together

Four Mini-Lesson Methods can be “taught” using a labsite structure

1. Demonstration – watch me do it / now you try it
2. Explanation/Example – One thing writers do is ____. For example, _____.
3. Guided Inquiry – teacher names a question and students name what they notice.
4. Guided Practice – you call out the steps while students try it (teach and AE is together)

The Guided Practice mini-lesson structure was created to get kids to write independently with more rigor. A pattern was seen where there was a big gap between strong writing on a published piece (a piece worked on with lots of time and teacher support) and a student’s on-demand writing piece. It seemed the parts were being taught slowly, 1 thing at a time but kids were not pushed to do the whole. This structure gives them rigorous practice led by the teacher.

Tennis Hopper Analogy: If the tennis coach threw all the balls at you at once, all you could do is duck and cover. Instead, the coach hits you one at a time with repeated practice to your forearm and then moves to your backhand. Then you play a game. This analogy can be shared with the teacher who is teaching MANY strategies within one mini-lesson.

To help teachers know the 4 kinds of mini-lessons:

1. Show each of the 4 kinds in a lab through demonstration and voice over
2. In the lab have the teachers practice
3. Help T plan lessons during meeting time

Remember, the lesson plan template is just a scaffold. The goal is for it to become a part of us so we don’t need it anymore. Just like on buildings, a scaffold goes up, the problem gets fixed, and then it comes down.

To ensure that a gradual-release occurs, use JIGSAW and FREEZE-FRAME in labsite.

Jigsaw/Freeze-frame helps teachers to practice while working together.

EX: Conference (each teacher takes a part)

                research - Teacher A

                decide (freeze-frame and all pick compliment and teach)

                compliment - Teacher B

                teach     - Teacher C

                link - Teacher D

In the labsite, use WHISPERING IN.

This is a move toward independence. The teacher is teaching. The coach or another teacher sits next to her and whispers in, telling them what to say.

—  Teachers need to be seen as learners so in a labsite, the kids are seeing this method and see that their teacher is learning.

EXAMPLES of What to Whisper In:

Say What are you working on?                   Say Show me where you did that.

Say Write this down                                        Say the teaching point again

Say This matters because…

Pitfalls:

·         be sure to sit by teacher and not by student and only talk to teacher.

·         Let the teacher teach and add in-the-moment coaching

·         Only lean feedback

·         Take notes so at the debrief, you can tell them WHY you whispered that to them. “I told you to ask them more in the research so you could learn more and then teach.”

NOTETAKING TIPS

—  Make sure you are taking conference notes during a labsite so they see you modeling it

—  Show them lots of different methods so they see choices

—  Help teachers see the value in taking notes. When they see you in a labsite return to a student for a conference and using your notes to help you to say, “Last time you were working on ___. How’s it going? Show me where you tried ___.” the teachers can SEE the value of notetaking.

—  Have teachers study notes in a meeting. All bring notes of one student and together we ask, “Are we helping this student grow as a writer? Bring the student’s writing. Look at last 5 conference notes and the writing . What do we notice?

—  Have teachers look across ALL conference notes of her class and use it to form small groups to teach. 

Using On-demand Prompts

—  When teachers say students won’t know what this means (the specific language of the on-demands), DON’T dumb it down . Instead teach S the vocabulary and teach what it means. ALL in school need to administer the on-demands in a standard fashion.

—  Remember that the goal of the on-demand is not an evaluation. It is to find out what they know how to do and to decide what I need to teach.

—  When 4^th grade teachers in Sept say “This looks like 3^rd grade work”’ celebrate this. It should. You haven’t taught them 4^th grade skills yet!

—  The on-demand at the end of the unit lets you see what stuck and what still needs to be taught.

—  Ask “Have they grown as writers?” If not, why? The purpose is to see what is working in my teaching and what isn’t working. Use this as feedback.

Scoring On-demand Prompts at a Norming Meeting (described in Pathways book)

1. ALL in grade get the prompt and discuss the importance of giving it by using the scripted directions
2. ALL administer prompt in one class period
3. ALL bring writing to the norming meeting

·         As a group all look at one piece of writing while looking at the learning progression charts. Using this stem, I would put it on this level because ___, discuss what level writing this piece is.

·         ALL read another piece and score it individually and then as a group, see if you agree. DO a few more if needed.

·         Score the rest in the class (optional: can switch piles with a colleague)

·         Discuss the writing and answer the question: Where are we going? Based on the answer, plan the unit to meet the needs of these students.

4. If the NF unit is in Nov. give the on-demand in Oct so they can be leveled and discussed and then the unit can be planned based on what the kids can and cannot do.

How to “test” independence and transfer:

Place a student’s publish piece side-by-side with their on-demand. If the published piece score is higher than the on-demand, it is showing that a child can do it with teacher coaching. The goal, though, is for the student to do it independently on an on-demand.

Tips for Great Meetings

1. Make the agenda known and clear
2. Include how much time will be spent on each topic
3. Think about what might need to be done prior to the meeting and clearly state these assignments (ex: we will read the continuum progressions prior to meeting)
4. Be a “proficient partner”; do not dominiate the conversation, Do ask questions to get all to think it out as a group.
5. Name the possible pitfalls ahead of time to set the tone of the meeting as being collaborative
6. Be realistic and don’t overplan
7. The meeting time needs to support the labsite time
1. Write minilessons in meetings
2. Practice minilessons in labsites

Annie also asked us to share scenarios we encounter as Literacy Leaders and she offered suggestions:

Scenario: “Teachers say they buy in and think they are doing it but they aren’t.”

—  Staff Developer (SD) needs to talk to administration and make sure they are on the same page and are making the vision clear.

—  Honesty and feedback w/ teachers is important. Compliment, then teach (don’t just tell).Tell WHY you are suggesting to do it this way.

—  Suggest studying together around a lens, like independence. It will help them to see how the big idea is held through the whole workshop.

Scenario: “Test scores…they are fine so we don’t need to change”

—  Discuss what we value. I don’t value a test. It is the age we live in but the greater moral purpose is missing. For kids, testing won’t really exist much beyond the SAT. Kids won’t always be living in the testing world so let’s teach them to be readers/writers. These are skills kids can transfer to live their lives.

—  The new writing units have kids writing multiple pieces w/in a unit. Instead of one piece in a month, it is a piece a week. Fast-drafting in a day and then large-scale revisions are taught. This pacing will help kids when they have a test.

Scenario: “There is no sense of urgency by the staff to work with the staff developer.”

—  Think about WHY they aren’t valuing it; are the pre/post meetings productive? Are they leaving with useful things to help them act. This is feedback to me, the SD. I need to reflect and act upon it.

—  Do they not see the value in the lenses you are giving them? Does the group of teachers need to change? Does the “one bad apple” need to be removed?

—  Can they sign-up for working in the labsite so they have buy-in?

—  Talk to admin/literacy team and brainstorm how to help teachers get the most out of labsites.

Scenario: “A teacher starts out strong but fizzles. You aren’t seeing it transfer from unit to unit.”

—  Ask was I explicit enough to show them how this can be done in another unit. “Anytime in a unit…”

—  Do they possess the knowledge of the new content? A meeting can be a content dump to help them. Pick a mentor text for new unit and together read and mark it up)

—  Are they working with colleagues or alone? It can go faster and better with a group so burn-out is avoided.

Scenario: “I don’t know what to teach them in a conference?”

—  Show teachers how to use the  If…Then… Curriculum Book, Part 2 resource to make a cheat sheet to have on their clipboard.

—  Think of the problems you expect kids to have in the unit and make a chart:

If                                                             Then

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

No ideas                                              * pick something you do every day

                                                                * think of places you go to regularly

                                                                * close your eyes and see the day

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bed to Bed story                              * box out 20 min of story

                                                                *stretch it with I said, I thought, I did

                                                                * box out the heart of the story

TCRWP August Writing Institute: A week with Colleen Cruz!!

Colleen Cruz taught me daily in an Advance Small Group during the 2013 August Writing Institute.

Our focus was on:

1. How to teach kids to write informational writing
2. How to design a curriculum unit
3. You will write a professional article for teachers

Here are my notes:

How To Teach Teaching Nonfiction Writing:

The two most important aspects are structure and elaboration.

To move toward having strong structure and elaboration, we brainstormed a topic by:

1. Listing kinds, parts, types
2. Listing pros / cons
3. Listing similarities / differences
4. Listing cause/effect; if/then; problem/solution
5. Now, using all these lists, we created the table of contents for our information writing piece!

Past Process:  pick any topic, take lots of notes, organize notes, draft, research some more to fill in holes.

Process NOW: Start from a grounding in a topic you already know, pick something related to that topic, draft a table of contents after brainstorming all angles of the subtopic, revise table of contents, write a flash draft, now research to fill in the holes, revise, edit and publish.

Note: This is a big shift in how to approach the teaching of nonfiction. It matches what real nonfiction authors do – they start with a topic they know and research into that container. Start from a place of knowledge, build your structure, draft quickly, then research to fill in the holes.

Nonfiction Writing Research Moves

1. Teach what a reliable source is
2. Make a research plan -  can use a T-Chart and list chapter topic and the plan for research
3. Notetaking – provide lots of options for how to do it and let students choose
4. Teach Students to follow these steps:
1. Read text
2. Think hard about it and make sure you truly understand it
3. Now decide what to write and write it down

How the new 3^rd grade NF Unit was Written

Bend 1 – Organization: five sessions written on organizing info

Bend 2 – Reaching to write well; now you are making something through your writing

Bend 3 – Moving toward Publishing; revising, editing, preparing piece for others

Bend 4 – Transferring the skills used to write a long piece to a writing a short piece; how to do it quickly, in a short amount of time. 

An Overview of How a NF Unit Might Go:

—  Immersion to see an overview of possible structures

—  S picks topic of interest that you want to teach others about

—  S brainstorms all they know about topic (kinds, parts, reasons, pro/con, compare/contrast)

—  S drafts a table of contents based on present knowledge

—  S plans out what to research based on the holes in the table of contents

—  T teaches how to take notes (3 steps)

—  S Researches

—  S drafts, starting with best part first (out of order is OK)

—  T teaches to revise for structure, elaboration, craft (I think the writer is trying to ___. He does this by ___. He does this because ___.), purpose/meaning, and language

—  S edit for readers

—  T teaches ways to make it public

—  S publishes

I’m looking forward to guiding my students to write nonfiction by following this unit structure during the 2013-14 school year.

When Writing Curriculum:

—  Know your kids and write for them

—  Decide what the goals of the unit are

—  Decide on the bends of the unit

An awesome unit is like a story; it gets progressively more exciting. It should build and build and build.

How to Design Good Teaching Points (Because it is easy to do poorly!)

—  Session #7 in 3rd NF Unit – Making Connections within and across chapters

◦       TP = Today I want to teach you that writing chapters is like making a paper chain. The order needs to make sense and transitional words are used to hold it together.

—  This is a good TP because it is explicit, gives a concrete example, connects to things in real life, students can relate to it and it includes the content and the process.

—  Try it: #16 In this session you will teach that when info writers are editing, they keep a close eye on the way they use paragraphs.

◦       TP = Today I want to teach you that writers edit their work by using paragraphs. We indent to show a new part is beginning just like how the department store hangs signs so you can find the part of the store you want to shop in.

Colleen made me realize how GREAT the new Writing Pathway book is that comes in the new Writing Units of Study kits.

History of Writing Pathways

—  Years ago we laid out lots of narrative writing and it led to a continuum for personal narrative.

—  When CC came out, we decided to make continuums for opinion and information.

—  COOL STUFF in the book:

◦       Learning Progressions – we can SEE where a kid is. Rarely is a kid on grade level for all skills. This helps to see where they are.

◦       Rubrics with points can be used to show growth

◦       Helps a teacher teach the exact steps that the kid needs and not just grade-level skills

Colleen also encouraged US to write this week about a topic that we know lots about. What is it that people in your building go to YOU for help? Write about it!

Tips for My Own Nonfiction Writing:

—  Think about weight and angle

◦       When something matters, it takes up more space. The most words should be on the parts important to you.

◦       It is not important to draft in order of the table of contents. Instead, start with the most important part.

—  The mentor text you use should match the genre you are writing.

—  Have a goal as a writer; ex: I will write a chapter a day.

—  Audience – Who am I writing for?

Colleen’s Favorite Nonfiction Mentor Texts

—  Structure – Deadliest Animals (least to most), Cats vs Dogs (compare/contrast), Amazing Journeys (3 animals on a journey) ALL National Geographic for Kids have great structure!

—  Elaboration – Elephants by Bloom

—  Craft – Oh, Rats!

—  Language – The VIP Pass to Major League Baseball Game; Time for Kids Natural Defenses.

I Meet Ralph Fletcher!!

I attended the TCRWP August Writing Institute and on Day Two of the Institute, Ralph Fletcher, was the Keynote Speaker! At lunchtime, he signed my copies of Fig Pudding and Talking Trees, two books that I loved read this past year. Then I stopped at the bookstore and purchased a collection of his poems. I should rename August 6th as Ralph Fletcher Day!! His Keynote focused on using Mentor Texts. Here are my notes:

—  We need not teach alone – we have mentor texts!

—  “In order to write well, you first have to be flattened by a book” Stephen King

—  He shared his poem Sometimes I Remember and he asked us to write a poem starting with the same first 2 lines and ending with the same last lines.    Fun, easy exercise to write successfully as a poet!

Ten Tips

1. Read books and poems that you love. Kids will sense your delight and be motivated to become readers themselves.
2. Take advantage of “micro-text” what can be read in one sitting. Ex: The Other Side – great ending!
3. Talk about the author behind the book.
4. Try not to interrupt the 1^st reading of the book. Then reread it to do craft work.
5. Leave time for students’ natural responses
6. Reread for craft. “I read everything twice. Once to enjoy it and once to steal everything I can from the author.”  Robert Cohen
7. Design a spiral of minilessons around a craft element. Ex: character – first share info, then example from literature, then from teacher writing, then from student writing.
8. Use the share session to reinforce the craft lesson you introduced in the minilesson.
9. Invite (don’t assign) students to use their WN to experiment with the craft elements you are teaching.
10. Be patient.

Bonus: Don’t squeeze all the juice out of the mentor text.

Quote by his sister, Elaine:

“You have to keep making your life bigger because things keep getting pulled out of it.”

We can make our classrooms bigger by bringing in mentor texts.

Ralph Fletcher - my new favorite (former) Staff Developer for TCRWP

I spent the weekend reading Walking Trees by Ralph Fletcher at the recommendation of my friend, Evi. I LOVED reading his memoir of the 1985-86 school year where he was hired to be a staff developer for Lucy Calkins' Teachers College Writing Project. He spent the year teaching teachers how to teach writing.

One reason I enjoyed Ralph's book is that he shared the background of how and why Lucy started a Writing Project in 1981. He pointed out the aspects of Writing Workshop and he honestly remarked on the ups and downs of trying to teach teachers.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the book:
"I would first have to master the nuts and bolts of launching or beginning a writing process classroom. This meant helping teachers set up a classroom where children could use some of the strategies professional writers use - choosing their own topics, working at their own pace, drafting and revising, editing and publishing - and assuming far more responsibility for their writing than they had ever assumed before."

He was told by a Principal: "The central truth to all staff development is that teachers are resistant to change. These teachers have seen every dog-and-pony show around come down from the district, only to be replaced by a new one the next year... You win good teachers over slowly to a program like this."

A Principal told Ralph:  "You are suggesting a radical approach to teaching - valuing what children have to say, encouraging kids to write what matters to them, getting the teacher to leave the front of the room and really listen to her stories."

Ralph learned from Lucy and others and started: "I find myself thinking of a quotation by Jacob Javitz..'If we stand at all, we stand on the shoulders of great teachers'. "

After reading student writing, he replied: "It gave me a deep sense of accomplishment to know that I shared some small part in this creation."

About writing conferences: "The most absorbing part of my job continued to be the writing conference with individual children...I learned how to find something - anything - to enjoy about each writing conference I had....Writing conferences gave me an excuse to get to know kids well. Put another way, writing conferences were the vessels into which beginning friendships with children were poured."

At a school in Harlem, Ralph asked a fellow staff developer: "What's the point of all this writing stuff anyway? Who are we trying to fool? Most of these kids will never become writers. Most of them will never go to college." Joanne replies: "You're right. But writing matters a lot for these kids because it gives them a way to make some sense of their lives. That's what happens when kids start to write their stories. That's the real benefit."

About Personal Narratives: "Writers write about the worlds they know about and that's why you've been working mostly on personal narratives this year, writing the stories of your lives."

About Poetry: "You have to marinate the kids with lots of great poems before they start to write...I read the poems twice and ask the kids two questions. What feeling did this poem give you? What picture dd you get in your mind?"

When Ralph discussed a few difficult teachers with Lucy, asking for advise, Lucy replied, "Why don't you drop them?...It doesn't make sense for you to be working with teachers who are that resistant. You're wasting your time. I mean it. You can tell them if they want you to, and if your schedule permits, you can work with them next year. But you shouldn't be working with them. Your time is too valuable. There are too many other teachers you could be working with instead."

Demitris, a first grader wrote when asked his opinion of writing workshop:
"I like to write because it is fun. And everyone can read my booklets. And I like it because when ever I make a mistake whith spelling nobody can tell me to do it over. I like writing! I like what I write in my booklets. And sometimes my stories go on the buleting board. And when I forget a word I can put a currat. It is fun to write. And I like to read my classes booklets. Everyone can be an author even little children they just have to put their ideas on the paper they don't need to spell the words right."

Ralph Fletcher will be a keynote speaker during the TCRWP Writing Institute. I can't wait to hear him in person and have him autograph my copy of Walking Trees! 

Worth Reading - Cornelius Minor's reaction to G. Zimmerman Trial

My favorite staff developer at TCRWP is Cornelius Minor.
Sunday he posted to his blog his thoughts about the verdict in the Zimmerman trail.
I am still reflecting on his points which include:

"I work with youth in over five major American cities regularly, and I see this when the students I send to read at Starbucks in Seattle are denied entry… or in DC when I lead students into bookstores and all eyes shift to us… or even in NYC at Columbia when I’m continually carded by campus security because I regularly show up an hour early to enter the building where I teach...Trayvon’s case was inexcusable, though, because the consequence was not limited access to coffee house couches for reading or watching Columbia security admit nine white women without ID only to have them scrutinize every square centimeter of my campus ID card. The consequence for Trayvon was death."

It is worth reading the entire posting:  http://kassandcorn.com/

Summer - Great time to read LOTS!

I have been taking advantage of time off from school to READ and READ and READ.
Professional books, young adult novels, and adult novels, too.

To grow professionally this summer, in additional to attending the TCRWP August Writing Institute, I am reading the NEW Units of Study in Opinion, Information, and Narrative Writing, Grade 4 by Lucy Calkins with Colleagues from the Reading and Writing Project (Heinemann, 2013)

Click here to learn more:
http://college.heinemann.com/shared/products/E04712.asp

To broaden my knowledge of books kids are reading, I have read the following this summer:
1. Nothing But the Truth by Jackie French Koller
This historical fiction book is set in New York City in 1933 and shows vividly how a family deals with living during the Great Depression. As the mom prepares to have a baby in April, 1933, it dawned on me that my dad was borned in 1933. This year he would have turned 80 years old. My, how our worls has changed in the last 80 years. I love reading historical fiction because it really lets me walk in another character's shoes, in another time. I highlightly recommend this book!!

2. Steve Jobs: The Man Who Thought Different by Blumenthal
I noticed this biography on the recommended Middle School Summer Reading shelf at the library so I thought I'd try it. I learned that he lacked social skills, had tantrums when he didn't get his way, used drugs, and was very demanding at work. Yet, he did have a vision that saw things different and he did change our world.
Some notable quotes:
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

"Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. Thet somehow already know what you truly want to become."

"Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clear enough to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end, because once you get there, you can move mountains."

To broaded my knowledge of adult novels, I have read the following this summer:
1. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
After reading Gone Girl and The Great Gatsby with BookClub, we decided to read this book next because it was recommended as beign funny. I thoroughly enjoyed it!! I finished it quickly as I wanted to see what was doing to happen with these funny, eccentric characters. Plus, I enjoyed all I also learned about architecture, traveling to Antarctica, and drugs to take for seasickness. Very enjoyable and clever writing!!

2. The Silver Star by Jeanette Walls
I am a big fan of Jeanette Walls, having enjoyed both her memoirs - The Glass Castle and Half-Broke Horses. This book though is a historical fiction story set in Virginia in 1970. I loved ALL the characters - the narrator sister, as well as, all the secondary characters. It felt like the 1970s part felt a bit unresearched. But I still enjoyed it and recommend it!

Discussion with Ken Ludwig

I attended a discussion with Playwright Ken Ludwig at the Folger Theater yesterday, followed by a book-signing for his new book: How to teach Your Children Shakespeare.

He began the discussion by quoting Henry James:
"The flower of art blooms where the soil is deep."
Then he pointed out that WE can make the soil deep by studying Shakespeare.

He "studied" with his children! His daughter, Olivia, came home from 1st grade one day and stated: "I know a bank the wild thyme blows", a line from A Midsummer Night's Dream and Ken decided he could teach his daughter and later his son more of this beautiful 450 year old language.

He follows these guidelines:
1. make the words accessible - he reprints the lines in bigger font and just a few at a time
2. treat it as a foriegn language - explain what each word means in the context and the time period so the vocabulary is understood and also understand that the syntax is different from how we speak today
3. realize that Shakespeare is always talking in metaphors so be aware of the comparisons.

Then over the hour discussion, he helped the audience to memorize this passage from 12th Night:

Make me a willow cabin at your gate
And call upon my soul within the house,

Write loyal cantons of contemned love'
And sing them loud even in the dead of night;

Halloo your name to the reverberate hills,
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out "Olivia!"

He explained what was occurring just before these lines occur in the play.
To help make it clearer for the audience, he had a girl stand to represent Olivia and Viola and a boy to represent the Count. This "acting out" of the play aided our understanding.

Then we went line by line and we discussed what the words meant.
I learned that willow is the symbol for grief.

Then we repeated after Ken, saying the line over and over aloud.
We left the discussion having memoried this Shakespeare passage!
I understood how I could repeat this process with other lines from Shakespeare.

While signing my book, I explained that I was a 4th grade teacher.
He wrote in my book "4th grade?! A perfect time to learn Shakespeare."