“I’m Glad I’m There, Too!”

Posted on December 14, 2018 by Jennie

Sometimes the best teachers are not in the classroom. Here is proof. Steve is a crossing guard in New York and makes connections with students in remarkable ways. He calls it quizzes, fun facts and brain teasers- but it is so much more. He is engaging students, waking up their minds. When they leave his crossing, they don’t forget. His presense and curious questions simply ‘stick’, because they’re good and because he is the real deal. Steve, thank you for being such a remarkable teacher. Few make a difference, and you are one.

srbottch's avatarS'amusing

Morning light dusts away the darkness. Young students make their way to the school crossing post.  It’s tranquil but for the quiet conversations among friends and the humming of local traffic that announces the start of a new work day.  Some still have sleepy eyes, others are hurriedly finishing an abbreviated breakfast.  The calm is about to change.

“Good morning!”

My long distance call even catches the attention of drivers.

Eyes pop with a mild show of enthusiasm and attention.  Some eagerly anticipate what’s next, a few roll their eyes, no doubt.  They know it’s another morning of quizzes, fun facts, brain teasers or historical notes.  Maybe a quick grammar question, or an observation about the beautiful sunrise greeting us in the east.  Yes, knowing directions is a topic for discussion.  All this before they even step into their buildings.

I’m a school crossing guard, one of a dozen in…

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All We Need is Love

Posted on December 12, 2018 by Jennie

A big hug fills us up and fixes everything.  Love conquers all.
All we need is love.

Jennie

Posted in behavior, Early Education, Expressing words and feelings, joy, Kindness, Love, preschool, young children | 32 Comments

Benefits of Reading: Revisited

Posted on December 10, 2018 by Jennie

Reading gives us far more than pleasure. It is the key to learning, and most importantly it helps us develop empathy. Reading does it all. Charles French, an English Professor, says it well.

frenchc1955's avatarcharles french words reading and writing

book-692575__180

(https://pixabay.com)

I believe this topic to be important, so I wish to revisit it again.

I have previously written about the happiness of reading, a pleasure I hope everyone, or at least, most people experience. As I wrote before, I consider reading to be one of the main joys of life.  Reading is one of the most essential and, at the same time, the most sublime of pleasures.  Reading can take us places we have never been, tell us stories we have not known, and let us experience the lives of many other people.

In addition to the pleasures of reading, I also want to consider the benefits of reading. I think the first, and perhaps most obvious, value is that of education. Regardless of where the reading is done, or if it is for class or for self, all reading informs the reader in some way. As a Professor…

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Ani’s Advent Calendar 2018! Accidents, Jennie Fitzkee and Rex the labrador

Posted on December 8, 2018 by Jennie

My childhood dog, Rex, wrote a Christmas letter to his pal, Ani.

Sue Vincent's avatarSue Vincent's Daily Echo

Mentioning the turkey epsode was a bad idea. It brought back all the memories of my little ‘accidents’ over the years. I pleade ignorance… I was young. How was I to know she wanted the turkey when she just left it laying around? Or the ham on the bone shed just cooked. Granted, the smoked salmon was in the frudge… as was the cheese… but if she wll leave the fridge open for people to help themselves, she can’t complain when they do.

That was a good Christmas! She just laughed… espeially when she realised I’d left my new tennis ball as evidence. That was the real accident on my part!

But, my new pal Rex has a much worse tale to tell. You have to be so careful at Chrismas. Anything can happen…

Image: Pixabay

Dear Ani,
My name is Rex, and I love turkey, too. My two legged…

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Music Saves the Day

Posted on December 8, 2018 by Jennie

Today was a zigger-zagger day.  Oh, boy.  Children were excited, wiggly, having a hard time attending.  There were tears, and sharing toys wasn’t an easy thing to do.  Some days are just like that.

I knew exactly what to do.  Alexa to the rescue!  Yes, we have ‘Alexa’ in the classroom.

“Alexa.  Play “Shout” by the Isley Brothers.”

We danced up a storm to great music.  We had fun!

After that, children were happy and relaxed.  Music has a magic of its own.

“Where words fail, music speaks.” –Hans Christian Anderson-

Jennie

Posted in Early Education, Expressing words and feelings, Inspiration, music, preschool | Tagged , , , , , , , | 48 Comments

The Guest Reader – Age 6

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Jennie

Aaryan has been asking me for days to come into the classroom and be a guest reader.  “Jennie, I have the book in my backpack.  It’s the fish book.  They’re red and blue.  When can I come in and read?”  He absolutely loved chapter reading when he was in my class.  He was always glued to my stories, too. This morning I told Aaryan he could read to the children after snack, before we went outside to play.

And I forgot.

Aaryan didn’t forget.  He appeared bright eyed and eager, with his book in hand, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss.  The children had finished snack.  They had dressed in all their winter gear to go out to the playground to play. This was a pickle.  I said, “Children, Aaryan is here to be a guest reader.  Why don’t you stand by the door before we go outside.  Aaryan, can you be on the rug in front of the children to read your book?”

Aaryan sat on the rug, opened his book, and read a few words.  Children joined him on the rug.  They wanted to be closer and hear him read.  Never mind that they were dressed in snow pants, hats, and mittens.  They didn’t care.  They wanted to hear Aaryan read the story.

The more he read, the closer they got.  Actually, they pressed in.  Close.  Very close.  The only sounds in the classroom were the words being read.  This is a long book, 62 pages.  You would think that the children would be squirmy, hot and sweaty in hats and mittens, anxious to go outside. Not at all.  The crowd simply grew.

It was wonderful.  More than wonderful.  The power of reading came full circle today.  Thank you, Aaryan.

Jennie

Posted in books, children's books, Early Education, Expressing words and feelings, Giving thanks, joy, picture books, reading aloud, reading aloud, Student alumni, young children | Tagged , , , , , , , | 34 Comments

More Quotations on Reading

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Jennie

Outstanding quotations on reading from Charles French.

frenchc1955's avatarcharles french words reading and writing

Ted_Geisel_NYWTS_2_sepia

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

                                                                                Dr. Seuss

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(https://pixabay.com)

“You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”

                                                                                 Ray Bradbury

J._K._Rowling_2010

(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“I don’t believe in the kind of magic in my books. But I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book.”

                                                                                 J. K. Rowling

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar – 50th Anniversary

Posted on December 1, 2018 by Jennie

Fifty years.  That’s a very long time.  For a book to still be alive, vibrant, and read all over the world – fifty years later – is astounding.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this year, with a golden book jacket.

The caterpillar in the story wasn’t always a caterpillar.  Initially it was a worm, and the book was titled A Week With Willi the Worm.  

The editor wasn’t crazy about a worm.  When she suggested a caterpillar, Carle immediately said butterfly, and the story was born.  The favorite part of the book for children, also a nightmare for the publisher, is the five pages of fruit for each weekday – with a hole through the fruit.  Carle’s inspiration came from using a holepunch at work.

“On Monday he ate through one apple.  But he was still hungry.”
(The page with one apple is narrow- only 2 inches.)

“On Tuesday he ate through two pears, but he was still hungry.”
(The page with two pears is 4 inches.)

And so on, through Friday.  Children love chanting the repeating phrase,
“…but he was still hungry”.

Today the book has been translated in sixty-two languages and has sold more than forty-six million copies.  More than one copy of the book is sold every minute.  Those statistics are mind boggling.  Why is the book so successful?  The illustrations are beautiful, especially the butterfly.  The text is predictable, yet exciting.  The story is really about life – being born, learning along the way with mistakes, right and wrong, and also the wonder of what happens when we emerge into the person we want to be.  Isn’t that what children want to hear about?  Aren’t those the important things?  That’s what we need to read to children.

Eric Carle says the story is one of hope.  “Like the caterpillar, children will grow up and spread their wings.”

The youngest of children enjoy the story, and so do older children.  If you haven’t read the book in a while, I highly recommend it.

Happy 50th Anniversary to The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Jennie

Posted in Book Review, books, children's books, Early Education, Eric Carle, history, picture books, preschool, reading aloud, reading aloud, The Arts | Tagged , , , , , | 38 Comments

The Playground at Night

Posted on November 29, 2018 by Jennie

Light and Dark on the Playground

In the dark and cold of December

Children see new things

The dark gives light and beauty

To the starkness

And when children return in the morning

Blues and whites appear

Colors that were hidden last month

Nature always has beauty

Posted in Early Education, Imagination, Mother Nature, Nature, wonder | Tagged , , , , , | 23 Comments

A Story of Reading Aloud

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Jennie

Author Kate DiCamillo tells a childhood story of her teacher reading aloud, when she was in second grade.  It is powerful.  She remembers every detail… including the class bully.

“It’s 1972, and I’m 8 years old and in second grade at Clermont Elementary in Clermont, Florida.

The classroom floors are wood, and there’s a ticking clock on the wall, and there’s a chalkboard, and there are mottoes to live by strung up above it. And the teacher, Ms. Boyette, is wearing cat eyeglasses with glinting rhinestones.

She’s reading aloud to us from “Island of the Blue Dolphins.” And we have just come to a part of the book where the main character tames a wild dog, a wild dog. And I’m literally on the edge of my seat. I’m listening, listening, caught up in the wonder of at all. I’m a kid who loves a story.

But also in that second grade classroom seated not too far away from me, there’s a class bully. Because I am so terrified of this boy, he doesn’t even seem real to me. He is, in my mind, less a boy and more a monster.

In any case, Ms. Boyette is reading. And I look over at this boy because he is someone I am very much in the habit of keeping an eye on. And I notice that he is listening too, that he is engaged by the story, that he, like me, is leaning forward in his seat and listening with his whole heart.

I stare at him, open-mouthed. I’m struck with a sudden knowledge that this boy that I’m so afraid of is in fact just like me. He’s a kid who likes a story.

The boy must feel my eyes on him, because he turns. He sees me seeing him, and something miraculous happens. He smiles at me. Really. And then another miracle. I, unafraid, smile back. We’re two kids smiling at each other.

Why have I never forgotten this small moment? Why, almost 50 years later, do I still recall every detail of it? I think it’s because that moment illustrates so beautifully the power of reading out loud.

Reading aloud ushers us into a third place, a safe room. It’s a room where everyone involved, the reader and the listener, can put down their defenses and lower their guard. We humans long not just for story, not just for the flow of language, but for the connection that comes when words are read aloud. That connection provides illumination. It lets us see each other.

When people talk about the importance of reading aloud, they almost always mean an adult reading to the child.

We forget about the surly adolescent and the confused young adult and the weary middle-aged and the lonely old.

We need it too. We all need that third place, that safe room that reading out loud provides. We all need that chance to see each other.”

-Kate DiCamillo-

Here is the link to the video of her telling this story:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/kate-dicamillo-on-the-magic-of-reading-aloud

Jennie

Posted in books, chapter reading, children's books, Early Education, Imagination, Inspiration, reading, reading aloud, reading aloud, storytelling | Tagged , , , , , , | 63 Comments