Poetry Friday: Teaching With Fire

Teaching With Fire: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Teach
by Sam M. Intrator

If you read my last couple of posts (minus the Daemon), you might wonder if I'm counting the days to retirement. Not even close to that! But some days I do need something to sustain the courage to teach my way until the moment when, just to use a recent example, a student compares me to Mo in INKHEART. Or some such. This little book of poems and essays has kept me going more than once.

"Teaching with Fire is a glorious collection of the poetry that has restored the faith of teachers in the highest, most transcendent values of their work with children....Those who want us to believe that teaching is a technocratic and robotic skill devoid of art or joy or beauty need to read this powerful collection. So, for that matter, do we all."
Jonathan Kozol, author of Amazing Grace and Savage Inequalities

"When reasoned argument fails, poetry helps us make sense of life. A few well-chosen images, the spinning together of words creates a way of seeing where we came from and lights up possibilities for where we might be going....Dip in, read, and ponder; share with others. It's inspiration in the very best sense."
Deborah Meier, co-principal of The Mission Hill School, Boston and founder of a network of schools in East Harlem, New York

Check out the great review and synopsis here. (I'm not being lazy; my copy lives at school on the shelves beside my desk!)

Here's Why I Love My Job

Today was Let Your Child Skip School Day Take Your Child to Work Day. Instead of 25 students, I had 12. It was the perfect day to share the book Once Upon a Banana, by Jennifer Armstrong (illustrations by David Small).

In this wordless (except for street signs) picture book, a monkey escapes from a street performer, steals a banana from a grocer's outdoor display, drops the peel on the sidewalk, and, well, you probably know the rest. One thing leads to another and then another.

We had great discussions from the very beginning. The monkey escapes in the end papers, the banana is stolen on the title page spread, and the monkey scampers away from the street performer while he is detained by the angry grocer on the copyright page spread. "It's like an...introduction," I said. "No, a PROLOGUE," corrected one of the students.

As we read on, they made inferences based on facial expressions and body language, made predictions, and used the terms "cause and effect" and "point of view." Then, right when the judge who accidentally stepped on the skateboard runs into the lady with the baby carriage, my Firecracker who was tipping in his chair fell, knocking his desk over, and dumping its contents on his head.

They thought it was hilarious (and no one more than Firecracker himself, who was not injured in the least) that this had all happened at the moment in the book when there's the most chaos.

And then someone brought up the time when I was reading BLOOD ON THE RIVER and the character Samuel punched the character Richard in the mouth and Richard lost a tooth. At that very moment, one of my students lost a tooth. At the time, we went, "Ooooh, ahhhh," because it was like I made my student's tooth fall out. But now it happened again.

"It's just like in INKHEART!" one of my super girl readers said.

"Yeah!" said another. "You're like Mo!" (That might be enough to help me make it to the end of the year!!)

After we explained to the rest of the class about Mo being able to read book characters to life, one of the boys commented that I better not read aloud any books with guns and killing.

"But I already have," I replied. (BLOOD ON THE RIVER currently and DANGER ALONG THE OHIO last year) "I must only be able to read into life things that could happen in a classroom."

"Read a story about cookies!" tooth-loss boy cried out.

"Read a book about Christmas!" begged another.

Those High Paid Teachers

About a month ago, I shared an email that circulates periodically among teachers. It speculates about how a dentist would react if subjected to the professional degradation that is routine for teachers under NCLB. Here's another one that makes the rounds occasionally:

SICK OF THOSE HIGH PAID TEACHERS

I, for one, am sick and tired of those high paid teachers. Their hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work nine or ten months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do...baby-sit! We can get that for less than minimum wage.

That's right...I would give them $3.00 an hour and only for the hours they worked, not any of that silly planning time. That would be $15 a day. Each parent should pay $15 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. Now, how many do they teach in a day.... maybe 25? Then that's $15 X 25=$375 a day. But remember they only work 180 days a year! I'm not going
to pay them for any vacations.

Let's see... that's 375 X 180 = $67,500.00

(Hold on, my calculator must need batteries! The average teacher salary is $40,000.)

What about those special teachers or the ones with master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage just to be fair. Let's round it off to $6.00 an hour. That would be $6 X 5 hours X 25 children X 180 days = $135,000.00 per year.

Wait a minute, there is something wrong here!!! Teachers would earn more if we just paid them to baby sit!!

Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree

EMMA-JEAN LAZARUS FELL OUT OF A TREE
by Lauren Tarshis
Dial Books for Young Readers
2007

I checked out some of the buzz about this book before I read it. (see below) Based on what I found, I knew I was in for a story with two distinct voices, a tight plot line, and a unique style. I also knew that Emma-Jean doesn't use contractions when she speaks, and that I might be tempted to compare the book to THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME, by Mark Haddon.

Everything I'd read was true.

Except I didn't think of Haddon's book, exactly. Rather, I thought of the phrase "spectrum disorder" when I tried to make sense of Emma-Jean.

There is, however, nothing disorderly about Emma-Jean. She is logical, scientific, distant from her peers, and very, very organized and clean. She is unlike Colleen, who is a fairly typical 7th grade girl: self-centered (but trying really hard not to be), obsessed with what others think of her (but trying really hard not to care), and way smarter and better than she ever gives herself credit for being. And Emma-Jean is practically the polar opposite of Laura, who is the alpha female of the seventh grade girls (popular, powerful, cheerleader). Along with these archetypal 7th grade girl characters, there are boys that range from tall, blond athlete Will to Brandon the bully/buffoon.

Almost as soon as I thought of the phrase "spectrum disorder," I realized that Lauren Tarshis had not so much told the story of one character who was vastly different than "normal," but rather, she had given us a set of characters in this book whose behaviors ranged in a spectrum from Emma-Jean on one end, to Laura on the other.

Tarshis shows us that no matter where a character is on the spectrum, he or she is not exempt from from the struggles of finding a way to fit in, finding a way to connect with others, and just plain finding a way to be one's true self. And no matter where the character is on the spectrum, Tarshis manages to show us some good in that person. (Even Laura. A little.)

My favorite character in this book is actually the janitor. Out of all the students and adults at the school, I think he is the one who understands Emma-Jean the best. He knows ALL of the kids the best -- all the variations on the spectrum of what constitutes middle school behavior. He takes care of Emma-Jean, and he "takes care" of Laura, both in very satisfying ways. He reminds me of our janitor, who, for some of the kids, is the most important (caring, accepting, non-judgemental) adult in the building.

I asked one of my 5th grade girls to read this book. She's a fabulous writer who has incredible voice in her writing. She really liked the way the author told the story from two points of view, and made each so distinctly different. I asked her if she knew any kids in our school that reminded her of Emma-Jean or Laura. I can think of some, but she thought that both of those characters were a bit extreme -- "creative" or "bossy" characters that you could find in books, but more over the top than any kids in real life. She could think of several girls in our class who are like Colleen, however.

I'd be curious to know how real the characters in this book are to readers of other ages. 7th grade was kind of a long time ago for me, but even so, I can remember characters in my class like all of the ones in this book...except Emma-Jean. As an adult, I have met/taught some "Emma-Jean"s. How about you? Do these characters all seem real to you, or are they book character stereotypes? Have your 7th graders read this book? What do they think? Does it ring true for them?

* * * * * * * * * *
Reviews at:
Buried in the Slush Pile (how a writer should read this book)
The Excelsior File (great plot summary)
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast
Brookeshelf
A Fuse #8 Production

The John Hancock Club by Louise Borden

What a lucky day we had today--Louise Borden came in to our class and read her new book to us--THE JOHN HANCOCK CLUB. This is a great story of Sean, a third grader, who is not so excited to learn cursive handwriting. But with the help of his teacher, Mrs. Tovani, he learns to have excellent penmanship and to join the classroom's John Hancock Club. Louise Borden weaves in facts about John Hancock as the students learn about him and his signature on the Declaration of Independence. Louise Borden has once again captured life in a great classroom. If you don't know her other school books, you'll want to check them out. THE DAY EDDIE MET THE AUTHOR is a story of a boy who gets to meet an author during an author visit at school. GOOD LUCK, MRS. K! is the story of a classroom of children and their support of their amazing teacher who is diagnosed with cancer. THE A+ CUSTODIAN is a great tribute to the important people who do the job of taking care of the school and the kids. (A favorite of mine because the teacher's name is Mrs. Sibberson :-) THE LAST DAY OF SCHOOL captures the feeling of kids and teachers on that last day of school--the excitement of summer but the sadness of a good year finished. A great one for this time of year!

YAHOO! Mother Reader's 2nd Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge is Coming Soon!

Mother Reader has just announced the dates for her 2nd Annual 48 Hour Book Challenge

We missed this fun weekend completely last year. But, this year, it looks like we might be able to participate a bit! The weekend is perfect for us (we hope!). Our last day of school is Thursday right before the challenge. What better way to spend our first few days of summer than to read for 48 hours!!

If you don't know about this fun, check it out on Mother Reader's website. I was amazed at how many books people could read in 48 hours. I have no intention of trying to win but what a fun great excuse to sit around and read for the whole weekend!! A great time to catch up on that huge pile of books that you've been meaning to read.

Trying to get my family to do it too. A quiet house would be so much easier to read in, don't you think?

Wonder if there is a way to get the kids in our class to participate if they want to?

I have been waiting for this for months! Let the piles begin!

Another Great Adoption Story by the Author of I LOVE YOU LIKE CRAZY CAKES

EVERY YEAR ON YOUR BIRTHDAY by Rose Lewis is another great adoption story that I just picked up. I love it when I find a great new story about adoption. This one is a kind of sequel to I LOVE YOU LIKE CRAZY CAKES by the same author. Two great books that are part of our home library. Jane Dyer also illustrated both of them and the illustrations add to the celebration of th story. In this story, the mother reflects on her daughter's birthdays and how quickly she is growing up. She weaves a love of her birthfamily and her birth country (China) throughout the book. It is a happy book celebrating life, birthdays, adoption, and family. I am noticing that my daughter is outgrowing some of the adoption stories since so many are about the child's actual adoption. But, this book celebrates adoption beyond the actual adoption "event". I am hoping to find more books like this in the future for our children who want to see themselves in stories beyond the typical adoptions story--if that makes any sense at all. This one celebrates the child's life as she grows up, weaving in the fact that her birthfamily and birthcountry are all part of who she is becoming.

Fun Finds

Fruity Cocktails Count As Health Food, Study Finds. "The study did not address whether adding a little cocktail umbrella enhanced the effects." Monica has a fun piece of fiction (I hope?) inspired by a quote in the New York Times. You can make your own comics at Make Belief Comix, and at ToonDoo. If you make your comic at ToonDoo, you can share it with the world on your blog! Voila! 

Blog Reviews

Read Roger had an insightful post about this new world of blog reviews. He made interesting points that we hadn't thought of...mostly because we have never been in the world of professional/print book reviewers. We have, however, always read reviews. They help us choose the books that are worth reading. Then we can decide if and how we will add them to our classrooms somehow--as a read aloud, in the classroom library for independent reading, etc.

F: I worry when I review a book because I understand that I am reviewing with the eyes of a reading teacher and a mother. But, when I sat back and thought about it, I have been reviewing books for years as part of workshops that I do with teachers. Part of every session is about good books for the classroom.

In fact, I don't think I really consider the things I write "reviews." They are just my thinking/my sharing of the books with other people who might like them. They are no different from me talking to friends about books I like. I don't think I have the expertise to critique a piece of literature but certainly trust those who do and I count on them for lots of my reading.

I think each person reads reviews differently--knowing who wrote them and their take on books. There are some books that are not great quality, but they somehow turn that one child into a reader. There are others that deserve a closer look. For years, I didn't like when my kids read lots of series books that weren't well reviewed. Now, I know that getting hooked on a series, regardless of the quality, is a huge step in the life of a reader.

ML: For us, that pairing of a child with a book, or our class with a book is one of the most important reasons why we review/share about books. Roger says that children's voices are still missing in this flood of reviewing that's going on in blogs. True, reviews written by children are not a big part of the Kidlitosphere. (Don't discount the blogging work Educating Alice's students are doing, however, or the guest reviews by MotherReader's daughter, or all the children who write reviews on Amazon.) And while Franki and I write all of our reviews, all of our reviews are written with children in mind -- whether we are imagining how we will use the book with our whole class, or whether we know just which child/group of children might like it. In addition, we often include student insights in our reviews. We're not the only ones: Miss Rumphius works dilligently to keep children's literature at the heart of all her pre-service teachers do, Wild Rose Reader shares children's work with poetry as well as teaching ideas for the poetry books she reviews, and Mentor Texts highlights students' writerly connections to children's books.

Like Franki said, what we write aren't so much reviews as they are book talks. They certainly aren't written by "putatively disinterested experts." But that's what makes them so valuable. They are written not just about the book, but about the book's potential real life experience in the hands of children.

A Great Day With Angie Sage

Thank you, thank you, thank you to HarperCollins and Cover to Cover Children's Books for sponsoring Angie Sage's day with our 4th and 5th graders.

Angie Sage is the author of the Septimus Heap series, a fantasy series about the seventh son of the seventh son in a family of wizards. In the first book, MAGYK, we meet the Heap family, Marcia (Mar CEE uh) Overstrand (the Extra Ordinary Wizard), and Aunt Zelda (a white witch). Knowing that the series is named for Septimus Heap, readers will not believe that he actually dies in the first chapter, but their questions about him will not be fully answered until the last pages of the book. I listened to this book while driving to and from school, and I often found myself either wishing for a longer commute, or sitting in the parking lot/driveway unable to stop listening! The British accent of the reader definitely added to the experience.

I read FLYTE with my eyeballs (instead of my ears), and it was just as delightful as MAGYK. If you were paying attention in MAGYK, you know exactly who the dark stranger is at the beginning of FLYTE, but again, it takes the whole book for the mystery to unwind. In the meantime, there is new evil with which to contend, and some old evil comes back in bits and pieces. The green rock that Jenna gives to Boy Four-One-Two in MAGYK surprises everyone and causes quite a stir.


I ran out of spring break before I had a chance to read PHYSIK, but it is top on my list for summer vacation! From what Angie said about it in her presentation, I am expecting some time travel, and a new avocation? vocation? for Septimus.

One of the perks of the dust jacket of the hardcover of PHYSIK is that the reverse side is a map of the world of the series. All three books include maps, something Angie said is very important in imagining, writing about, and reading about an imaginary world. It is one of the ways that world comes to life in the mind of the author and the reader.

Here are some of the things our students and teachers love about Angie Sage's books:

• the vivid descriptions make it easy to visualize characters and settings

• the way she plants clues for the reader

• the maps

• the bits at the back of MAGYK that tell what happened to some of the characters after the story ends

• the bits at the back of FLYTE that tell what happened to some of the characters BEFORE the story begins

• the characters -- some very good, some very evil, and some in between

• all the sevens that are hidden in the first book, and the fact that each book in the SEVEN book series will have 49 (7x7) chapters

• the short chapters and cliffhangers that make it nearly impossible to stop reading

In this picture, Angie (who I think is equal parts spunky Marcia Overstrand and gentle Aunt Zelda) is sharing the matchboxes she creates for each of her books. She fills the matchbox with small cards upon which are written the name of one character in the book. When she gets stuck in her writing, she takes out the cards and uses them to visually see the connections between the characters and to get ideas to help the story move along.

Her presentation gave the children a fascinating insight into the ways a writer's world and life make their ways into her books. She showed us a satellite picture of her home in Cornwall, England. The whole bottom section of England was shrouded in fog, which was visible from space. How perfect that fog features strongly in her stories! In another, she showed us some big helicopters flying over her town (there is a naval base nearby). While she didn't make the connection at the time she was writing, she now sees that these helicopters are like the dragons in her stories -- and now as then, everyone looks up when one flies by! She showed us the old woods near her house, and the narrow winding channels of the creek near her house. In her books, the woods became deeper, denser, and bigger, and the creek channels became the Merrim Marshes.

The day before Angie visited, our fourth graders performed the dress rehearsal of their spring program for the whole school. The theme was, "The British Invasion," and the songs and movements they learned were all from the British Isles. The first song they sang was "God Save the Queen." I couldn't believe my ears! The perfect welcome for Angie Sage! Here you see our (fabulous) music teacher leading the fourth graders in the first two verses. Angie was touched and impressed. Most Brits, she said, only know the first verse, so to hear 10 year-olds in the U.S. singing TWO verses...well, the same would be true if we traveled abroad and heard a group sing all the verses of "My Country 'Tis of Thee."


Here's a small indicator of the impact of Angie's visit on our students: I had announced that I would end the book sale the day before her visit (so that the autographing schedule could be locked in). Despite this, at least one child brought money for a book on the day of the visit, and I knew the books would still be in my room for at least a couple of days after the visit, so I let the teachers know that the sale would continue the next day(s), but without, of course, the opportunity for autographs.

Half again as many books were sold the day after Angie's visit than were sold in the weeks before.

Clearly, Angie and her books inspire readers! Lucky for us that we got to experience the "magyk" of Angie Sage!