Good Read Alouds For the School Year

Here is a list of books that I have read recently. I think they are great read alouds for 5th or 6th grade.

Rules
by Cynthia Lord

Chasing Vermeer
by Blue Balliett

The Wright Three
by Blue Balliett

Star Girl
by Jerry Spinelli

Kimchee and Calamari
by Rose Kent

Hoot
by Carl Hiaasen

Question of the Day: What are some read alouds you would recommend?

Great Read Aloud

I just finished reading this great book by Rose Kent. It's called Kimchi and Calamari. It's her first book. It's about a Korean boy named Joseph who was adopted by a family who has an Italian background. He's been given an assignment in school where he has to write an essay about his heritage. He goes on a journey of self-discovery learning that he doesn't feel Italian. Yet, he knows nothing about his Korean heritage. Joseph is an incredibly likable eighth grader with a great sense of timing and a strong character voice. I felt it would be a great read aloud for students early in the school year. Here's the link. Check it out and see what you think of it. I highly recommend this for any teens on a journey of self-discovery.

http://www.rosekent.com/news.html

Kids Say The Darnedest Things!

Okay, I've accepted the fact that I'm not getting any younger. However, all these kids I teach only seem to get younger. So, that means that almost anything they say is cute. These "cute" children often come up with whopper doodle lies that last for days. Lies drive me a little batty but are often times amusant. Then, the "cute" ones also say some things that are really funny and true. As a former journalist, the truth is what I'm always searching for and love to find. I like to hear about it too, even when it might not put me in the most flattering light. Here's my story about a true confession and an actual dialogue with a class of first graders recently.

Me: Okay class, I've written my name on the board "Mrs. Bernstein". You know me by this name. However, my husband calls me by my first name "Tracy". My dad has a silly knickname for me. He's called me this since I was a little girl. I tell them it's "baby doomp."

(The kids all giggle)

Child 1: I have a knickname too. It's "Mags".

Child 2: I have another name. It's "Kate" short for Katherine.

Me: What are some other names you might be called?

Child 3: Um, you could be called "OLD LADY".

(The classroom erupts into thunderous laughter that lasts for two days.)

Me: Well, that's true. I could be called "old lady".

(More giggles)

Me: Okay, so we've established there are many different names that you can be called and I can be called. Did you know that numbers have others names as well.

(Giggles still linger in the air)

Me: Okay class, get the giggles out. Quickly, do what I do.

(Finally, the class was back on track but my mind was racing with laughter)

End of a true story...



Here's another recent true story that did not actually happen to me but it just goes to show you what creative thinkers are.

A second grade child had apparently been caught spitting on another child. The teacher confronts the child about his spitting. Let's call him Timmy. Timmy admits to his mistake. Trying to get to the bottom of this disturbing problem, the teacher asks, "why did you spit on this other student?" Timmy replies very matter of factly, "Um, I was making a schedule for the day and spitting at him was on my schedule. So, I had to follow it." The teacher remained silent contemplating the logic and truthfulness of Timmy's thought provoking answer.

Question of the Day: What funny kids stories do you have to share?

You Mad Country Yo!

The place where I grew up has always been an "issue" with me. As a child, I wanted to escape that small town down south where everyone knew your name. The thick southern drawl I had was something I wanted to shed like a chrysalis and transform into a butterfly. Well, my chrysalis is still half on and half off. After living north of the Mason Dixon line for a good decade, my accent has faded some. However, it clings to me to remind me of who I am and where I come from.

Teaching in the Bronx somehow allowed me to come to terms with who I was and the person I've become. One of my toughest classes my first year as a teacher was a special education class in a middle school. This particular set of youngsters was an eight grade class who was notorious throughout the school. People who had coverages with this class would often stand at the door. Maybe this was in case they needed to make a quick get away.

Rumor had it that "the leader" of the class was in a gang. I'll call him Kevin. Perhaps he was. He had all the tell tale signs. I was given the opportunity to "teach" this group once a week--every Friday. Most of the students could barely read their names on a piece of paper.

The class I was charged to teach was a video production class. Yikes! How could I teach these students? In the beginning, I couldn't even understand Kevin. He spoke with such a thick street accent and spoke so quickly. It was nearly impossible to translate his words.

Every week when it was time for these kids to enter fear overtook my highly stressed body. My heart began to race. I had to keep this class under control. They didn't respect me. How could I relate to any of them?

Kevin was the one in charge. He told all the students what to do. Whatever he liked, they liked and would participated in. So, I decided that I had to get this kid and the rest of the class would fall in line.

One day, I was teaching and my accent became even thicker with this group because I lost my guard and went deep into my comfort zone--the cadence and rhythms of my childhood. In the middle of an attempt to educate these kids about the world of video production, Kevin stops all his disruptive comments and screams out with laughter, "She's mad country yo." Little did I know at the time, but this was his way of saying that I was southern. Apparently, the word "country" means southern in the Bronx. Then and there, I realized something for the first time. I was like these kids in many ways. Growing up, my grammar was terrible filled with inappropriate use of word meanings and grammatical tenses. In my environment, I fit in with the crowd. Everybody spoke this way. It was only when I was outside my comfort zone-- meaning out of the south, that I needed to worry about my verb conjugation. This made me feel uncomfortable and gave me a need to question myself and wonder...how could I fit in?

These kids feel the same way as I did when I felt out of my element. They fit into their own worlds. It's school where they feel out of place. They are being told to go against who they are--their culture and their language. Kevin taught me something that day. It's important to remember your roots. He reminded me that I am mad country yo and proud of it.

P.S. After this little epiphany, I managed to get Kevin's attention in class and discovered he made an excellent director. He love the camera. He got every student into that class to participate and enjoy learning about how the camera works. Maybe, just maybe, they learned a little something that year. I know I did.

Question of the Day: When did you first learn something from one of your students?

Adults just don't know how to have fun!!

In my blogging travels, I discovered the video of The Crazy Frog Brothers. As adults we get bogged down with the stress of our lives that often times we forget how much fun it is to play around and create. Working with kids everday, I am often reminded of this whimsy. These kids are hysterical. Sometimes, you just need to laugh. Kids are never afraid to do this. We all need a little more laughter in our lives. Enjoy and don't forget to laugh today.

Tips to the Teacher

Students constantly ask, "how do you spell...?" It is a game that I refuse to play. The most important thing a teacher can stress is independence and curiousity in his or her students. Telling them the answers make kids lazy. In my classroom, I make games out of figuring out unknown answers to questions, spelling mistakes, grammar, etc. These are some of my tips about spelling in the classroom.

• I created a chart of three things that a student must try first before asking how to spell a word. This is posted around the room and used as a reminder for all students throughout the year.

1. Try spelling it yourself first.

2. Look it up.

3. Ask a friend. Then check it in the dictionary.

4. Ask the teacher for help sounding out the word.

• For students who have trouble spelling, it's a good idea to have them keep a notebook of words they misspell a lot or words they encounter that are difficult for them to spell. Have them refer to this list when writing drafts. They could even keep it posted on their desk.
• Keep a word wall of misspelled words you see that the class makes all the time. Include these words as bonus words on spelling tests.
• Play the spelling game SPARKLE with highly misspelled words.
• Have students come up with their own word lists from their independent reading books. Make this a routine.

Question of the Day: What spelling tricks can you pull out of your hat?

Teacher Lounge Conversations

Do you know the expression "if I were a a fly on the wall..."? Well, a teacher's lounge would be a good place to be a fly on the wall. In the inner city, there is a lot of moaning and unloading about an impossible student who will not do any work, a teacher's overloaded schedule, how little they are paid, or some parent asking the impossible. Sometimes there is so much negativity that the air is toxic which makes it hard to breath. Yet, there are those who go in there to get a quiet moment away from the kids and grade papers and relay their experiences to others looking for some insight. I was always the latter description. There were these moments where I just needed some rational adult conversation to keep me grounded and realize that all situations were not like the one I was in at a particular school. Sometimes just talking about the movie I saw over the weekend would suffice.

Well, now I do not live in the city anymore. I am located in a suburban area that is fairly upscale part of Pennsylvania. Presently, I am substitute teaching until I locate a full time position this fall. (Jobs are not so readily available out here. It is quite competative.) So, I get around to visiting many different teacher's lounges in this new environment. What a striking contrast to the conversations going on in the city!! The teachers still complain about students. However, what they complain about always seems like a gift to me. Sometimes their worst trouble is about little Johnny rolling his eyes because he was asked to line up. In my humble opinion, this is not really an incident worth recollecting in the teacher's lounge. It's something that can easily be corrected with a little quiet chat away from the other students. Back in the city, I used to get cursed out on a regular basis and called every name in the book. There was often some creative news ones in the mix. I was just happy if a kid said to me "F*&@ Ms. Bernstein" because at least they called me "Ms." To me, it showed respect among the most hideous comment. These were the things I was always grateful to discuss in the lounge. I would simply turn it into a joke because I knew it came from a student who was troubled and that student would not be disciplined by the school. The issue was not about calling me a name but about that student getting a certain kind of attention.

It's really all about perspective. Out in the burbs, teachers and adults are respected by the administration, parents, and the students. This is the not the case in the city. However, it doesn't mean that the suburban teachers' complaints are not valid. However, everytime I hear about their problems, I am dancing a little jig because I know what problems I used to have in the city. Therefore, I am thankful for each and everyone of my new challenges that I encounter in a school. Nothing, I do meaning nothing, seems so bad anymore. I'll take a little eye rolling any day of the week.

Question of the Day: What are some of your best stories from the teacher's lounge?