Robotic dogs called Spot and built by Boston Dynamics are demonstrated during the Amazon Re:MARS conference on robotics and artificial intelligence at the Aria Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 4, 2019. (Photo by Mark RALSTON / AFP) (Photo credit should read MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images)
Back in January, I stumbled across a video of dancing robots, from Boston Dynamics. Not only did the children in my classroom fall in love with robots and music, they have since then begged to watch this video every day. Yes, every day. On that day in January, I flipped out in the best of ways, showing children the video and saying, “Do you like robots? Do you want to make robots? You can do this!” I was not calm, I was beyond excited because I knew this was ‘one of those moments’, where teachers are presented with a great opportunity to inspire children. Boy, did I seize the moment.
This was IT, and I was leading children into engineering and technology. The difference was the music. Music is math! And that component drew children into robotics. As the days went by and we watched the video, children kept noticing something else, something more. They always paid attention, and anything ‘new’ drew in every child.
In case you haven’t seen the video, here it is:
Children wrote and decorated a big letter to Boston Dynamics to tell them how much they loved the robots, especially Spot the dog, and I included a teacher letter, telling them that their robots are inspiring future engineers and scientists.
A few weeks ago I received an email from Boston Dynamics. They said the letter from the children was very sweet, and the engineers would like to Zoom with the children and show them a live robot demonstration.
Surely, I had found the Holy Grail.
We had that Zoom with Boston Dynamics today, and it was fabulous. Children prepared questions ahead of time. More importantly, the two engineers told the children so much about robots (wires, coding, motors, size.) Every ‘how do you’ question was answered. The engineers even shared stories of when they were little and building with Legos. They talked about robots breaking a lot, and how they had to keep trying. It was very inspiring.
The children adore Spot. Unfortunately he costs $75,000. It took them at least five years to build him.
The icing on the cake is that Boston Dynamics will be featured this Sunday on the TV show “60 Minutes.” If you are in America and watch this show, please think of my classroom when they feature Boston Dynamics.
Jennie
A big thank you to Sally for featuring my blog post on Hope and a Wish Tree. It was lovely to share the day with Robbie, Ritu, and Leon.
This is a year of Hope. Children need it. Adults need it. When they find Hope, it carries them along. Far. Wish Trees are beacons of hope, where people give their most important and sacred wishes. They have been all over the world for centuries.
We’re planning a Wish Tree at school in the spring. It will help children. They need Hope and Wishes.
Have you ever seen a Wish Tree?
Walking with friends along a Cape Cod beach, we rounded a bend where the sand meets the water. This was a remote stretch of the beach, quite a distance from the usual spot where people set up their chairs and umbrellas. The walk was long.
And there it was. An old felled tree. It was covered with shells, each one placed carefully. The shells were a multitude of types and sizes. The enormity of what was right in front of us was enough to stop everyone in their tracks.
I knew right away it was a Wish Tree.
“Look at all those shells. They’re so pretty”, said my friend. And she reached to take one.
“No!” I shouted. Everyone looked at me like I’d lost my mind.
“Don’t you know what this is? It’s a Wish Tree. Every shell is a wish that someone has put onto this tree.”
Silence
“These are sacred. Well, they are to the people who placed their wish on the tree. No wonder it’s out of the way, far from tourists. The shells are so beautiful.”
More silence.
“I’d like to make a wish. Would you?”
I carefully looked for just the right shell, one that spoke to me. I picked the right one, and I had a ‘moment’, making a wish and hanging it on the tree.
Alice did the same thing. And Jane and Paula did, too. We were quiet. Everyone was now part of the Wish Tree. How can so many thoughts and emotions run like a speeding train, and then settle into a warm, vibrant sunset, all in a matter of minutes? That’s what happened at the Wish Tree.
While I had heard of Wish Trees, I had never seen one until now. Lucky for me that I had read the outstanding YA book Wishtree by Katherine Applegate.
She also wrote the Newbery Award winning book, The One and Only Ivan. Yes, she is that good. Wishtree should have won the Newbery, too. I read the book aloud to my grandchildren – for hours, multiple days, and we never stopped.
When I visit with the grandchildren, a beloved ritual is reading a story before bedtime. The musicality of words floating into the ear and going into the mind becomes an arrow that pierces the heart. It always happens that way.
Thanksgiving a few years ago I brought along plenty of books to read aloud. I also brought a new book to read. Not a read-aloud for the children, but a book for me. I never expected what would happen next.
The children were camping out and snuggled in sleeping bags in the bedroom. It was fun, but didn’t lend itself to seeing the pictures in a picture book. I thought I would read to them a little of my book, Wishtree by Katherine Applegate. I hadn’t read the book, so we were all jumping into something new.
What started as one night of bedtime reading became the focus of our holiday together. The book is outstanding. It plucks at every scintilla of the heart. There is no stopping, as the storyline keeps going. So, we had to keep going. We read the next day, and the next night, and so on, until we finished the book. 211 pages. Just like chapter reading in my classroom at school, I was reading aloud with no pictures. The big difference was reading the book in only a few days. Somehow, that made reading more exciting. Breathless. Heart pounding.
Red is an oak tree with two hundred and sixteen rings. He’s been around a long time, and he tells the story. He’s a Wishtree, with a long and honorable history. On the first day of May it’s been a tradition for people to put wishes on his tree, written on paper or cloth and tied to his branches. Sometimes those wishes are also whispered to Red. He talks about his neighborhood:
Different languages, different food, different customs. That’s our neighborhood: wild and tangled and colorful. Like the best kind of garden.
Red talks about himself and people:
For a tree, communication is just as complicated and miraculous as it is for humans. In a mysterious dance of sunlight and sugar, water and wind and soil, we build invisible bridges to connect with the world.
Can you imagine reading those sentences to children? I had to stop. My grandchildren said not a word. Words were not necessary because Red had said them all. We were humbled. Spellbound.
The story is centered on two children in the neighborhood, Samar and Stephen, the host of animal families who live in Red the tree, and Francesca, whose family has owned Red for centuries. It is history and uncovering the past, diversity and acceptance both then and now, friendship, nature, understanding, and great adventure. Oh yes, adventure. My grandchildren and I fell in love with Bongo the bird, Red’s best friend. Lewis and Clark are cats, FreshBakedBread is the mama skunk, and on and on, with animals who are the supporting characters in this book.
When someone carves LEAVE on Red, the plot thickens. This becomes sleuth work. The stories of the children, and Francesca’s past, and also Red’s past come together. It is captivating. The message it sends is a beacon of hope and promise.
Like Red, I’ve been around a long time. I know the best books, and this is one of the best.
And to think that I happened upon a real Wish Tree on Cape Cod. Wow!
I am happy to bring the tradition of a Wish Tree to school. The children need this.
Jennie
Happy St. Patrick’s Day from Gloria!
Jennie
“All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
couldn’t put Humpty together again.”
So, what really happened to Humpty after his fall?
“After the Fall” by Dan Santat tells the story. It is one of the most innovative children’s picture books ever. Humpty is ‘mended’… but not really.
“There were some parts that couldn’t be healed with bandages and glue.”
This is the beginning of the story, and children are immediately captivated. Is it because of Humpty Dumpty? No. He is a character they know, yet it’s the words and illustrations on this page that make children think, “I feel that way sometimes.”
See that ladder? It is throughout the book; ‘there’ and an obstacle in many everyday things he wants to do.
As the book goes on, Humpty cannot climb up. The ladder to his wall is looming. He just can’t do it, and he misses out on many things, like being high above the city and watching the birds. He loves the birds.
An idea flew by. If he can’t be up there with the birds, he can make his own. And so Humpty puts all his energy into making a paper plane bird.
“Making paper planes was harder than I thought.
It was easy to get cuts and scratches.
But day after day, I kept trying…
…and trying…”
This is where children begin to cheer Humpty. He has survived a fall, realized that he cannot climb a ladder, and tries to do something else to make himself happy. Humpty is moving forward. But the worst is yet to happen. He perfects his paper plane bird. It is marvelous. One day it lands on top of the wall – his wall.
“Unfortunately, accidents happen…”
I stop reading and let children look at this powerful illustration. We talk. Oh, how we talk. The floodgates of all that has happened to Humpty open their doors. Children need to talk about being scared and worried, and messing up. They understand Humpty. More importantly, they are relieved they’re not alone.
What does Humpty do? His beloved paper plane bird has landed on top of the wall – his wall. He decides to climb that ladder. This is the bravest thing he has ever done, and Humpty is terrified.
“I didn’t look up.
I didn’t look down.
I just kept climbing>
One step at a time.”
Humpty makes it to the top. “Until I was no longer afraid” are his words. We stop and take a deep breath. Whew! The conversations flow. Being afraid is one thing, overcoming that fear is another. Humpty Dumpty is an egg. Eggs hatch, and Humpty hatched after he overcame his fear and climbed that ladder.
A most important life lesson is in this book. Resiliency. Children need good stories and role models to help them develop this skill. Humpty Dumpty is a role model. “After the Fall” is an outstanding book.
Jennie
At the end of the road
on my way home from work
this is what I see.
A silhouette against the setting sun.
Dark against light.
A daily reminder of life and hope.
There is always hope.
Always.
Jennie
“Some Writer!” by Melissa Sweet is ‘spectacular’, as children’s book illustrator Dayne Sislen points out in her excellent book review. I discovered the book in 2017, and immediately purchased my own copy. As an E.B. White fan and a faithful reader-aloud of “Charlotte’s Web” every year, I found the book to be fascinating. The illustrations are quite different and intriguing, with original handwritten manuscripts and photographs. And, the story is absolutely delightful. It’s a must read. Please enjoy Dayne’s book review:
A book review though an illustrator’s eyes by Dayne Sislen
My last post was a book review of the fun book, BALLOONS OVER BROADWAY, also by Melissa Sweet. On that post, I received a great comment from JennieFitzkee, a teacher and the writer of the wonderful blog, “A Teacher’s Reflection.” She asked if I had also read SOME WRITER! The story of E.B. White, by Melissa Sweet, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company in 2016. I immediately put myself on the request and pick-up list at my local library. I finally was able to get my hands and eyes on the book this week.
I absolutely love reading and looking at this book. Every page is a joy to behold. SOME WRITER! The Story of E.B. White is an incredible middle-grade biography of E.B. White, written and illustrated by Melissa Sweet. The book is beautiful to look…
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Stories never really end…even if the books like to pretend they do. Stories always go on. They don’t end on the last page, any more than they begin on the first page.
~ Cornelia Funke, Inkspell ~
Thank you Mike Tuggle for posting this outstanding quotation on the importance of stories.
“Stories are among the most intimate and personal things we have. Stories touch the imagination and are deeply implanted in one’s psyche and consciousness. Without stories there can be no culture. Without stories there can be no imagination. Without an imagination there is no vitality to human existence. Without that vitality humans are mere robots to be programmed, pacified, and subjugated into parasitic consumers.”
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