You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.
~ Dr. Seuss ~
Read Across America week, appropriately kicks off today, on Theodor Geisel’s birthday. Started in 1997 by the National Education Association, this observance promotes reading, particularly for children and young adults. It’s widely celebrated in schools, libraries and community centers across the country. To find out more, please visit: https://www.readacrossamerica.org
In Part 1, I talked about writing thank you letters to the people in our neighborhood, our community helpers. As a group, we planned the words, and children decorated the letters. This was fun! They felt excited and proud. They knew the importance of words, their words. They also knew the importance of saying thank you.
Part 2
It is one thing to come up with words in a group. It is another thing to tell your own words, your own story. No one is there to help you. Children wrote stories about their own neighborhoods. Imagine being three and four years old, and your teacher says,
“Tell me about your neighborhood. Tell me your story.”
This isn’t answering a “W” question (who, what, when, where, why) which has a place to start. That takes words, but you have a directive to build upon. This is the deep end, not the shallow end.
We’re more than halfway through the school year, one hundred days in fact. I have read aloud more than two hundred picture books, and we’re finishing our fourth chapter reading book, pouring words into their brains. They’re ready for the deep end.
“I have three houses next to me, trees, a pool, two dogs, and a black dog.”
“I have the sun, a big pool, lots of dogs. Julie and Katy are in my neighborhood. They have chickens.”
“I have lots of cats, two dogs, one dorm, and a pool next to Brady’s. I have friends.”
“I have one dog, lots of houses and trees. My house is very gray. There are friends, too.”
“I have trees, a teddy bear who is really little, houses, no cats, and only a dog named Abby.”
“I have trees but no pools. There’s a big road. There are kids and one baby.”
“I have trees, a bouncy slide, a mom and dad, a backyard, and houses.”
“I have dogs, trees, a blow-up pool, houses. I like to play in the backyard with my brother.”
Aren’t these stories remarkable for very young children? In order to get to this point – to be able to think, visualize, process, and execute – a child has to hear hundreds and thousands of words. You see, the hearing vessel in the brain must be filled before it overflows into the speaking vessel.
So now, after a hundred days of school, children have conquered bravery, vocabulary, detailed words, and critical divergent thinking. Words are the golden key, and the surest way to give children a plethora of words is by reading aloud. I still find it amazing that children who know the most number of words do the best in school, in all subject areas. All.
I am raising future readers, and thinkers, in my classroom.
“By words we learn thoughts, and by thoughts we learn life.”
-Jean Baptiste Girard-
Stay tuned for Part 3.
Jennie
Writing a thank you letter is a favorite activity in my classroom. First, children ‘write’ the words – this isn’t so easy. Every writer knows that. For children, they need to think about who the letter is for, and what words are the right thing to say. Children want to express their feelings, too. A thank you letter may be simple, but those words – every word- have been voted upon and debated before pen has met paper. Or before marker has met chart paper in the case of preschoolers.
Today we began writing thank you letters to our neighbors, the people in our community who help us. We wrote to our public library:
Dear Groton Library, Thank you for sharing your books with us. We love the books.
The children didn’t see that we borrowed the books. They saw that the library shared the books. Two very different perspectives.
We wrote a letter to our firefighters:
Dear Firefighters, Thank you for saving us. We love the firetrucks.
Truer words were never spoken. The children knew that saving people was the most important thing firefighters do. They wanted that to be first and upfront on their letter. And of course, they love fire trucks.
Wait till I show them their letter is hanging in the fire station alongside the firetrucks.
Children’s words are important. They need to be aknowledged. Teachers and parents need to ask children questions. Questions stimulate thought, and thought stimulates words. Words bind us together. When we help children write those words, we are giving them tools for life. The feelings and excitement that accompany those words are the icing on the cake.
Stay tuned for Part 2
Jennie
This is one of my best teaching stories. I loved Romana. May I add that I still carry the paper bracelet she made me many years ago?
Thank you for posting this, Sally. Read on, and delight in a wonderful little girl and a very special day.
Norman Rockwell had a profound influence on my life. Thank goodness he still does. It all started with my grandmother, Nan. She was the salt of the earth, strong and loving, and lived her childhood much like Little House on the Prairie. I spent every Sunday afternoon with her growing up.
Nan told stories of her childhood, living in a log house in West Virginia. She took us to the five and dime to spend a nickel on anything we wanted. She let us dress up in her clothes, and she taught my sister how to sew.
She didn’t have many books, but she did have a big book of Norman Rockwell illustrations. I loved that book. I looked at it every Sunday. There was always something new to see. I remember asking questions and just talking about the illustrations. That was the best part. It was real life. There was much to learn. It was my Sunday ritual with Nan.
As soon as my husband and I married and set up our new house, I went to the bookstore to find that Norman Rockwell book. That had to be part of our life.
The following Christmas I bought the Norman Rockwell Christmas Book. At last I felt complete.
When children came along, we spent much time reading stories and looking at the illustrations. Our son was particularly fond of the books. I remember sitting together on the couch looking through the illustrations with him. When he married, our first gift to him and his new wife was that Norman Rockwell book.
In the early eighties, we moved to Massachusetts. What a thrill it was to visit the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge. First it was in his original home on Main Street, and years later a big new museum was built. I was beside myself with excitement at the prospect of seeing these paintings. The real deal. “The Four Freedoms” are enormous. I had no idea. Each one is nearly four feet tall and three feet wide. Standing by these paintings is a humbling experience.
By contrast, “Main Street” (my favorite) is small, only ten inches wide and thirty inches long.
My Dad and I went to the museum together. What a joy. I had no idea he loved Norman Rockwell. That day opened a whole new chapter for us. He was one of the Greatest Generation. While he did not fight in WWII, he was the link for me. We loved watching war movies on TV. I attribute much of my patriotism to him. I teach my preschool class about patriotism in many ways- from the American flag, to songs, to making quilts, to thanking soldiers, to writing to pen-pals, to sending care packages overseas. It’s wonderful.
What does this have to do with Norman Rockwell? He was instrumental in inspiring patriotism through his illustrations. I didn’t learn this until much later, after my Dad had died. Fellow blogger GP Cox at http://pacific paratrooper.wordpress.com wrote an excellent post last October 17th on Norman Rockwell and how his illustrations helped the war effort.
I was bowled over at the recent edition of Military Officer magazine. Right on the cover was an illustration I had never seen. I thought I had seen them all. Boy, was I wrong. When the magazine arrived, I was once again a little girl, sitting with Nan on a Sunday, looking at a new Norman Rockwell illustration.
The magazine had more, much more, including one that GP Cox featured in his blog post. I love this illustration. A picture is worth a thousand words, and every character and artifact here has a story to tell. I fly that blue star flag, too.
Rosie the Riveter and Willie Gillis became famous icons, thanks to Norman Rockwell. Yet, his most memorable illustrations are those of everyday life, like “Home for Thanksgiving”. Just look into the eyes of that mother. He captured our deepest feelings, beautifully and subtlety.
I asked my Dad his favorite. It was “Saying Grace.” Nan would have liked that.
Jennie
You may want to have a tissue ready when you read Pete’s wonderful photo prompt story of a castle, a teacher and a student. A teacher can make a tremendous difference in the life of a child.
The real toy castle in this photo holds a similar story, yet the roles were reversed. Wesley was captivated playing with this castle in my classroom. When it was put away in order to play with other toys, he was upset and asked for the castle. One day he had a temper tantrum in front of his mother, asking her to buy him the castle. Of course she did not.
Many years later the castle was stored in the attic at school, torn and somewhat broken. When we did a major attic clean-out a few years ago, the castle was ready for the dump. I confiscated it, with many fond memories of Wesley. I had just been invited to his Eagle Scout induction ceremony – the castle would be a perfect gift.
And, it was! Wesley said, “I remember that castle! You saved it for me?” Yes, I did. We both cried.
This is a short story in, 1025 words.
It was prompted by the above photo, the third one sent to me by Jennie Fitzkee.
https://jenniefitzkee.com/
Mister Dolman was a good teacher, everyone agreed on that. He could make his lessons come to life by pretending to be a brave knight in armour, or a hedgehog snuffling for food. He would bring things in to show the kids, anything from a funny-shaped rock he had found, to the medals his Dad had been given during the war. Not for him just the dry text of the curriculum books, oh no. In Mister Dolman’s class, the kids actually turned up excited to be there, wondering what would happen next.
And he included everyone. No kid was allowed to sit things out because they were shy, or if they had doubts about their own abilities or skills. Inclusion was his creed, and that…
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Thank you for using my photo in your post, Pete. The photo prompt story is excellent. Here is the real backstory behind the photo:
Our daughter is the artist in the family. She did this drawing using soft pastels, years ago. The bird was actually hers when she was a child. What adventures that bird had! I have written a picture book about the bird, although the child in the story is a boy, not her. She was excited to do a few illustrations. This is one.
This is a short story, in 748 words.
It was prompted by the above photo of an image, sent to me by Jennie Fitzkee.
https://jenniefitzkee.com/
Oscar wasn’t a bad boy. Not one of those ‘deep down’ bad boys who nobody likes. But he was a boy, and everything that came with that. Boisterous, getting dirty, ripping his clothes, scuffing his shoes. Most of the time he did as he was told, but like most youngsters, he sometimes had his bad days.
Paula soon discovered that it was best not to tell him not to do something. “Don’t walk along the edge of that wall, you will fall” would guarantee that he would continue to walk along the edge of the wall. When Richard warned him not to climb the old Oak tree in the garden, it took them over an hour to get him back down from the branches.
He…
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Today is the 40th anniversary of ‘Miracle on Ice’, when Team USA beat the Soviet Union in the medal round in ice hockey at the 1980 Olympics.
This is not a sports story. This is a story of what can happen when kids try hard and give it all their heart.
I was there, glued to the TV, watching the game.
This was a college team, many from New England. Kids playing pros.
And they won.
I teach children to try hard and do their best.
I teach children to believe in themselves and follow their heart.
Miracles do happen.
Jennie
Thank you for sharing one of my favorite blog posts, Sally. Reading aloud one of the best classic children’s books is exciting. When a book makes children question, and takes them to other journeys of learning, it is in a class my itself. “Little House on the Prairie” is that book. Read what happens. It was a retelling that took us across rivers and states, and even to Mount Rushmore. It is exciting!
“Where words fail, music speaks.” -Hans Christian Andersen-
Listening to music is known to be one of the most uplifting things we can to, if you want to change your mood in seconds Music is your answer,who does not have some kind of artefact to produce music where ever you are, if you listen to your old favourites it can even make you feel younger,the image of days gone may bring back beautiful memories, the energy you felt at that time,will make you feel like you did then, how great is that,if you are out walking with music you will find that you walk differently,there will be a little extra spring in your step,your head will be better positioned and if you add a swing to your arms and really get into the music you are listening to you will feel really relaxed and happy,working out is also great with music you get that extra bounce and much…
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A Teacher's Reflections 