Swashbuckling Lessons
September 30, 2008 at 7:05 pm (1)
Despite my recent boredom with all things piratical due to Pirates of the Caribbean saturation, I found “Swashbuckling Adventures on the High Seas: Historical Fiction, Informational Texts, and an Integrated Unit about Pirates” to be quite intriguing. I was reminded of the fascination I had with pirates in the fourth grade, fueled by a visit from Blackbeard, in a pitch-black gymnasium, on a school trip to the Outer Banks. I must have been drawn as a child to tales of piracy due to their romantic, liberating, and even frightening history. Every child loves a scary story!
I was especially impressed by the following aspects of this unit:
· Use of historical fiction, which gives students a personal perspective on historical events and facilitates empathy and comparison to their own lives
· Activities that encourage investigation of the text for answers to questions that they have developed
· A focus on historical relevance, such as economics, wars, geography, and democratic principles
· An independent introductory investigation of the materials to be used for the unit
· Use of a reader response journal for recording important information (such as vocabulary terms) as well as responses to the material
· Inclusion of multimedia resources such as CDs, DVDs, and websites
· Use of twin texts (pairing fiction and no-fiction texts to facilitate comprehension and awareness of different types of literature)
· Use of Double-Entry Diaries and Data Retrieval Charts as a method for students to organize their writing and for teachers to monitor and assess comprehension
· Emphasis on modeling work to facilitate student independence
· Focus on making connections with personal knowledge and experiences to new information
· Teacher serving as a facilitator to “scaffold” learning
· Culminating project that encourages student creativity and passion
I hope that the authors (wink, wink) wouldn’t mind a little admiration through mimicry, because I would love to use this unit in my fourth grade classroom. I am inspired to find more historical fiction relative to various historical events so that I might adapt this format to a myriad of other social studies topics. The first that comes to mind is a study of the writing of the Constitution and the use of a very cool text, Ssh! We’re Writing the Constitution!
Poetry Selections for Children
September 23, 2008 at 9:21 pm (Catch-All)
Do not read Love That Dog unless you want to boohoo all over your pillow. Okay, do read it, because then you will strive to be as brilliant a teacher as Miss Stretchberry. Jack is the student I dream of – an extraordinary poet beneath his seemingly uninterested demeanor. Rather, Jack is every student, if you can find a way to make each one shine and realize their voice.
Brown Angels is full of poems that I could sink into, but first I had to rip my eyes away from the photos of mesmerizingly endearing children. I was ensnared by “Summer.” I felt the sweltering heat. Myers’ poems are an example to poetry students of the joyous delight that can be found within words.
All the Small Poems made me remember the poetry in everything around me. Now I want to sit down and write every time I spot an inspiration, which is about every 2 seconds. I imagine a troop of students wandering the halls and playground, journal in hand, pontificating over clouds and bricks and bees and jump ropes…. Oh, to own the time that belongs to a child…
Ordinary/Extraordinary
September 17, 2008 at 4:48 pm (Catch-All)
What I leave behind: a lamp from my childhood home
(Update: Never fear! My real estate agent says I can replace the lamp. Now I will be able to burden my future progeny with an outdated light fixture!)
What I take with me: a vase containing the only remnants of my wedding bouquet
A rose by any other name….
September 14, 2008 at 12:39 pm (Catch-All)
According to www.behindthename.com, my name is an anglicized form of Eireann (which, by the way, is how I’m going to spell my name from now on, because it’s way cool to have a funky name spelling, and who couldn’t use another word that they have to spell out for people.)
Eireann means “Ireland.” I’m a whole country! (A country with leprechauns, at that.) My parents told me when I was little that “Erin go bragh” means “Up for Ireland,” which I just loved to explain to everyone, partly because it sounded like I was saying “bra” (he, he). They also told me that they named me after a character on the Waltons – interesting, but not very romantic or familial. I’m just glad it didn’t catch on the way “Emma” did when Rachel had a daughter on Friends. It seems like a lot of people are named after TV characters. So how do the TV writers come up with these names… and why do we trust them?
I like having a slightly unusual name. Howmanyofme.com says that there are only 225,804 people in the united States with my first name, and there are only 606 people that share my first and last name! Amazingly enough, there is another woman named Erin Thompson that works at the local bookstore in my town of 13,000. When we met it was like an episode of the Twilight Zone. I felt that if we conversed much longer, the universe might implode.
As a young person, I always wished someone would give me a nickname. A nickname meant that people thought of you often enough to get creative. I like to give my students nicknames; no matter how silly, I can tell it makes them feel special. They get those bashful smiles on their faces – you know, where they try to hide behind their shoulders?
It wasn’t until my 20s that I was blessed with two nicknames, one given by my best girlfriends, and one by my boyfriend (now husband). My girlfriends call me Ern or Ernie. Now I like being the happy-go-lucky puppet friend of Bert, however, Ern is something you put the ashes of dead people in. But I guess you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth…
My husband named me Honey Bunny, which became Bunny, or Bun, for short. I know, you’re thinking, “How adorable! He thinks of her as a cute, fuzzy, woodland creature covered with sugary syrup!” Well, have you ever seen the scene in Pulp Fiction where the crazy couple gets ready to rob the diner, and the guy leans over and says, “I love you Honey Bunny”? Yeah. That’s why. Nothing cute and fuzzy about armed robbery.
And now his whole family calls me Bunny, and introduces me to strangers as such. Okay, I know this eliminates some confusion due to the fact that Joel’s step-sister is also named Erin, but come on! How about, “This is Erin, but we call her Bunny, and you can too as long as you acquire written permission.” That’s not so hard! (In-laws, if you’re reading this, you know I love you!) When I complain about the treacly name I’ve been stuck with, my husband reminds me of the one I gave him: Poopie. His name didn’t catch on with the in-laws, but we did get some cute monogrammed towels out of the deal. His towel, however, isn’t real popular with the guests.
Check out the Baby Name Wizard. It’s fun at parties!
Notebook Knowhow
September 4, 2008 at 12:43 pm (Notebook Knowhow)
Response to p.1-25 of Notebook Know-How, by Aimee Buckner
I was first struck by a comment from the text concerning “living a writing kind of life.” To me, “a writing kind of life” is one that entails reflection and introspection, which leads to a deeper appreciation and understanding of the world around oneself. Such an evolution of mind and spirit is a lifelong goal that I have for myself and dream of for my future students, so it only makes since that daily writing would be an integral part of my classroom activities.
I have a love of writing that has existed ever since I learned my first word. Yet in my experiences as an assistant, I have dealt with many students who resist, delay, and even refuse to participate in the seemingly simplest of writing exercises by claiming that they don’t know what to write, they’ve already written the required amount, they are satisfied with the minimal effort they have already put forth, etc. I am happy to read that the author addresses such issues and am eager to learn of possible solutions.
Despite my love of writing, I have never been able to keep a journal. Attempts have been made though, and I find them scattered around my home, the first 5-10 pages filled with honest attempts, followed by white emptiness. Once enough time has passed to merit destruction, I rip out the used pages, and the rest of the journal is delegated for telephone messages and grocery lists. I become filled with regret that so much of my life has passed by without record. What was I feeling last month? Last year? Where was I on this day? What was important to me? I think I have a mental block fueled by my desire for perfection and order.
It feels weird to start a journal at just some random point in my life that has no particular meaning. If only I had kept a journal from the age of 5 – then I think I could keep it up. My writing also embarrassed me when I was younger. I remember burning pages and pages of poems I’d written about boys I liked. It wasn’t enough to throw them away – someone might find them!
But Buckner writes that keeping a notebook is a process and way of getting something down on paper in order to go back to it. She also notes that students must have the ability to generate text in order to have something to work with. I think this is an important point to get across to students. Writing doesn’t have to be perfect the first or second or third time, and no matter how many times you rewrite it, you will always find something you would like to change. Just as it is with life. (I know… writer, heal thyself.)
