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Responding To Literature as A Community: Transactions with Feathers

By Andrea García, Hofstra University

Hope

 

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune–without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

– Emily Dickinson

Book cover for FeathersThere are authors whose words stay with us long after we have turned the last page and placed the book back in our shelves. For me, Jacqueline Woodson is one of those authors, whose writing stays in my mind, as I revisit the emotions evoked by the experiences of the characters in her stories. In her book Feathers we meet Frannie, a six-grade girl who is growing up in a segregated town during the 1970’s. Frannie’s teacher introduced her to Emily Dickinson’s poem Hope, and Frannie is captivated by the words in the poem. She copies them down in her notebook, and is determined to find out their true meaning. Is hope supposed to feel as light as a feather? Continue reading →

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Responding To Literature as A Community: Transactions with Tofu Quilt

By Andrea García, Hofstra University

Our business seems usually to be considered the bringing of books to people. But books do not simply happen to people. People also happen to books. A story or poem or play is merely inkspots on paper until a reader transforms them into a set of meaningful symbols. When these symbols lead us to live through some moment of feeling, to enter into some human personality, or to participate imaginatively in some situation or event, we have evoked a work of literary art. (Rosenblatt, 1956/2005, p. 62-63)

Book cover for Tofu QuiltReading books together and discussing them within a community of readers is at the heart of the process of constructing meaning and negotiating the multiple dimensions that literature has to offer. This month, the focus of my blog is in sharing the literary transactions of a community of elementary teachers, who were invited to document their interpretations to different books through engaging with multiple response strategies while exploring the use of children’s literature in the elementary classroom. Since one of my goals as a literacy educator is to bring books to people Continue reading →

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Text Sets: An In-depth Look

By Lauren Freedman, Western Michigan University

For this last Monday in May, my blog provides examples of text sets created by teachers from various grade levels and content areas. The topics are insects, weather, shapes and angles, amazing animals, and artists. The text set lists include 30 titles and for each book the following information is given: the bibliographic data, a brief summary of the book, what makes it useful within an inquiry, and special features that it may have. Continue reading →

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Students and Scholars Respond: Text Sets & Inquiry Deepens and Strengthens Learning

By Lauren Freedman, Western Michigan University

Children and teachers, mired in narrow curricula and “say this now” instruction geared toward raising achievement scores on standardized tests, are hungry for interesting, engaging, and filling content to be reading, writing, speaking, listening, thinking, and learning about. In a 5th grade Social Studies classroom, the students engaged in an inquiry built around the American Revolution and used a tree as a graphic depiction not only of what they were learning, but also as a metaphor for their learning process and the ways in which inquiry and text sets facilitate learning. Along with the content learning depicted in the photos, the students also engaged in a metacognitive discussion about the ways in which “…a reader is like a tree.” The students’ responses quoted below clearly demonstrate the growth possible when the literacy diets of our children are varied and nutritious. Continue reading →

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Learning Centered Classrooms: Where Inquiry and Text Sets are Essential for Literacy and Learning

By Lauren Freedman, Western Michigan University

An inquiry framework provides both teachers and students with a flexible structure that can be used for learning prek-12 within any content area and perhaps most effectively when integrating content areas. An inquiry framework requires careful planning keeping both the learning goals and each student’s strengths and needs in mind. The importance of students’ choice and voice is honored and the use of text sets provides the tools for students and teachers to reach more deeply and broadly into and across concepts. Continue reading →

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The Power of Choice, Voice, and Inquiry: Students and Teachers Talk about Text Sets

By Lauren Freedman, Western Michigan University

Moon Text Set

It’s more books than we can read, but we get to choose…and the pictures really help…I never used the raggedy old [text] books, we used to have…but now I like these new books and there’s so many, I feel like I’m at the library…you can investigate history and science facts and some books even disagree; then we go to Mr. Xxx and he says “look it up on the web,” so we become investigators.

The books help me learn to read cuz I can go ‘til I find a book that makes sense to me and then there’s another book and then another so I can read as many as 3 books sometimes in one class and that’s a lot…yeah, but you don’t gotta read a whole book to find what you need so you don’t really read 3 books but look at maybe more…and Mrs. Xxx says that’s okay…and you still learn a lot…the trouble with these books is that they make you ask a lot of questions and then Mr. Xxx says the answers are in these books, find ‘em…yeah then you gotta read more.

–7th grade focus group

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The Way School Should Be: Navigating Learning with Text Sets

By Lauren Freedman, Western Michigan University

Don’t let school get in the way of a good education. Mark Twain

Ok! I introduced the books and ninety minutes later, I was physically taking books out of students’ hands and pushing them out the door. Let’s talk about getting more of these for other units. A teacher using text sets for the first time

While sometimes school can be irrelevant, it doesn’t have to be. In fact, school can provide the beginnings of a fabulous life exploration that takes children on adventure after adventure learning about the world in which they live while laying the foundation to preserve it and change it as needed. While books (and other print media) are often thought of as providing mirrors and/or windows, I contend that they provide living, breathing, breathtaking experiences (albeit vicariously). Continue reading →

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Reading as a Collaborative Act: Crossing Borders with Pam Muñoz Ryan

By Marie LeJeune and Tracy Smiles, Western Oregon University


During the month of April we’ve explored how some of our favorite authors can be mentors for reading, writing, and global citizenship. For our final post this month we are featuring author Pam Muňoz Ryan.
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Reading as a Collaborative Act: Sherman Alexie as Mentor

By Marie LeJeune and Tracy Smiles, Western Oregon University

Book cover for The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time IndianThis week, we continue our exploration of authors as mentors—authors whose work and words contribute to our teaching of reading, writing, language, and culture. As we’ve mentioned in past weeks, we are interested in exploring a study of mentor authors whose work informs students as readers and writers but also as global citizens. We are now layering Marie’s framework for Mentor Author Studies with a framework for International Curriculum (Short, 2003).

This week we examine a mentor author study of Sherman Alexie, whose work we have shared with middle and high school students and their teachers. Although Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is his only novel deemed “young adult,” much of Alexie’s work is suitable for secondary study, including many of his poems, essays, short stories and novels. Continue reading →

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Reading as a Collaborative Act: Interactions with Linda Sue Park

By Marie LeJeune and Tracy Smiles, Western Oregon University

Mentor Author: Linda Sue Park

This week, we begin our exploration of some of our favorite authors whom we have looked to as mentors in our classrooms—authors whose work and words contribute to our teaching of reading, writing, language, and culture. Again, we draw upon the framework below for our initial selection of possible mentor authors when we embark upon such study with students. Additionally, we are currently deeply immersed in work with international issues, themes, and literature with both students and teachers in K-12 classrooms. We are now layering <a href="http://wowlit.org/blog/2011/04/04/reading-as-a-collaborative-act-a-framework-for-exploring-author-studies/#more-15955Marie’s Framework for Mentor Author Studies with a Framework for International Curriculum (Short, 2003). In addition to seeking authors who are strong mentors for student writers—we also strive to consider and include issues of personal cultural identity, cross cultural studies, the integration of international experiences and texts, and inquiry into global issues (Short, 2003).
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