Close Read Freebie

        What Highlight Through Yonder Window Breaks

        It wasn't long ago that I was deeply in love…with highlighters.  The brighter thecolors, the more I loved them. I collected big, chunky, fluorescent highlighters the way some people collect paperclips. What? Only Bert from Sesame Street collects paperclips?  Okay, but you know what I mean.

       I kept a big clear Lucite jar on my desk,and it was always filled with lime green, sunny yellow, hot pink, and myfavorite tangerine highlighters. Ahhh. My lovely Lucite highlighter jar.

        My students knew how invaluable thehighlighter can be, especially for visual learners. I taught lessons on how tohighlight correctly. “Why do we highlight?” I would ask.

        “So information stands out,” they'd answer.

        “What happens if we highlight everything?”

        “Then nothing stands out,” they would respond.

        “Exactly,” I would say, “sohighlighting everything is the same as highlighting nothing.” That was mymantra.

   
           My epiphany came as epiphanies do, onan otherwise mundane day during a Socratic seminar. Students had read andhighlighted the passage a day ahead of time, so I presented them with aninterpretive question on a character’s motive. Now they had to find textevidence to support their ideas. I watched as they perused the text, lookingfor supporting details. I waited. And waited. It wasn't long before I knew theywere struggling. But since there were several possible answers with evidence tosupport each one, I couldn't understand why they were having difficulties.

       We took a “brain break” to discuss theproblem. The kids told me they could think of a possible “answer,” but theevidence eluded them even as they went back to look at the important detailsthey had highlighted

      Eureka! (Great word: a big thank you goes out to my man Archimedes forthat one.)

     They hadn't highlighted everything, but the highlighted text limitedtheir reference to just the highlighted text. They didn't reread anything thatwasn't highlighted!

      My love affair with the beautiful, butshallow, highlighter was over.

      I did what I had to do. I went back to myold, forgotten love: the trusty #2 pencil.

      Now I teach students the tried and truemethod of annotating text (we used to call it “explication”). I start by modelinghow to annotate text in a close read, and the students mark up the text likethere’s no tomorrow. Although I encourage students to use what I like to call “texttoolbox” symbols, I encourage them to use any symbols they are comfortableusing.

      The page doesn't not look as pretty...sigh..sometimes I do miss the lovely colors.

      But looks aren't everything, gosh darnit! Annotating the text works.   

      Here’s a free text toolbox bookmark download. Enjoy it!

     

              My name is Darlene, and I've been off highlighters for six months now. I'm trying to stay strong. How about you?

Rules for Teachers

     No cheating here. Answer honestly.
     Have you cleaned your school's chimney lately? No? Get to it.
     Have you consumed an alcoholic beverage? Better not. Your lack of integrity will earn you a direct pass to the unemployment office.
     Are you a married woman? If so, consider yourself dismissed.
     Have you:
     Been to an ice cream store? Uh oh. That's loitering.
     Dyed your hair? Sleazy.
     Worn a bright color? Ditto.
     Don't let the door hit you in the bustle, Sister. You're history. Go now, before you mar the impressionable minds of children.

     Or at least you would have been history if you were teaching 100 years ago. For these are the official rules for teachers, circa 1879 and 1915. My how times have changed!
 
     I think it might be nice to frame one of these for a new teacher, so feel free to click and copy!

      I found these rules at the website for the Blackwell Museum at Northern Illinois University's College of Education, which is the headquarters of the Country School Association of America. Their goal is to preserve and display educational artifacts and related material. Check it out for some fascinating information about the history of education.
      The rules and the job requirements provided by the museum's website make it apparent that a country school teacher's job was not an enviable one. (Unfortunately, it isn't enviable right now either!)

     Hey...wait a minute. Now that I look closely, this might not be too bad. Read 1872's #9. That's more of an increase than I've received in several years. ;-)
      What do you think?
   
   
   
   

Thank You, Teachers!

     I'm so excited to score some amazing bargains at the TpT Teacher Appreciation Sale on May 7&8th! I'm not a big fan of shopping. I like a one-stop approach so much that I bought the first wedding gown I tried on!
     So when I know I can go to TpT to buy wonderful teacher resources at 28% off ...well, that's all I need to hear!
      Look at what the multi-talented Mrs.Balius made and shared:

Is that CUTE or what?

Enjoy!

Calming the Chaos

      Welcome to the Calming the Chaos Blog Hop hosted by 2peasandadog! 

      All of us bloggers have come together to share our top tips for making the last month of school run smoothly. Visit each of our blogs to learn something new and catch a freebie or two! Happy Hopping!
      It's that magical time of year. The flowers are blooming, the birds are making nests, and the standardized tests are a distant nightmare memory. It's the perfect time for a fun game that requires some "outside of the box" style thinking! The only problem will be that your students won't stop begging you for another day of Rhyme Time!

 

Blog Hop Participants

Check out this Great Giveaway!

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An Open Letter to Longfellow

        Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, I did you a favor. 

     Just like you did Paul Revere a favor, by making him the hero of your narrative poem, instead of poor neglected William Dawes or Samuel Prescott (both of whom also rode on that fateful night, but were sadly overlooked).

      Before I go into the specifics of the favor, let me preface this post by assuring you that I do not condone the "watering down" of texts. I encourage students to read so-called banned books and then ask them to decide for themselves. When Tom Sawyer was altered to remove the racial slurs that were part of the vernacular of the time, (Yes, Longfellow, that did happen. And no, I can't believe it either.) I was as appalled as every other English teacher. Anybody who messes with Twain has some explaining to do, in my book. 

     So, Longfellow, call me a hypocrite, but before I read Paul Revere's Ride, I eliminated a word.  
    Why? 
    Well...I read the poem aloud. 
    And... Longfellow, you used an old fashioned word for rooster. 
    And ...I teach 7th grade. Seventh grade suburban kids.
    So I did the unthinkable. I censored you, Longfellow. 
    
     There were only good intentions behind my decision. The kids love to hear the poem read aloud. They enjoy the suspense and drama. If I had left the word in, well, that would have been the end of our exciting glimpse into that fateful ride on the evening of April 18th, 1775. I would have completely lost the entire class. You see, that word is not really a nice word to say in 2013. 

     I know I shouldn't feel guilty. After all, Longfellow, you also employed poetic license by changing history to suit your narrative. You would understand that art is fluid, alive, and (I suppose) subject to change.

     Longfellow, I like to think that you would not make that particular word choice if you were writing the poem today. In my mind, I imagine you are thankful that your poem is a source of joy and inspiration, instead of ridicule. 

    So, Longfellow, if you are reading my blog from the Pearly Gates, I altered your famous poem for the good of your own reputation as a poet. Your poem, written all the way back in 1861, ended up being a big hit with the 7th graders of 2013. They thought it was cool (which means "powerfully good" in our day). 

     They did have one suggestion though, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. They think we should do something about your name.

      

Poem in Your Pocket Day

                                                         
     Go to Fantastic Freebies for the Poem in Your Pocket Day freebie! I am excited to share the poems I have chosen! I am going to wear jeans with several pockets so that I can carry multiple poems. I tend to overdo things a bit. :)

Quasimodo's Sister

           I’m writing this post under duress. There is a virtual ruler suspended over my hands, ready to pin my fingers to the keyboard if I do not comply. Even worse:The Trunchbull might throw me in the chokey. (For those of you who are not fans of Roald Dahl’s Matilda, the Trunchbull is a headmistress who terrorizes children by throwing them into a torture chamber.) So write I will, but I will make it short. Hopefully, Truchbull (you know who you are) will be appeased.

      Last week I received a little award. Other people in my district also won, and there was a dinner in our honor. Yes, thank you, it was very nice, and now I will move on.

      Anyway, I had to go to the television studio in our district’s high school to make a thank you video that would be shown on award night. This was a good thing, because talking in front of many hundreds of people can be a paralyzing task, as many people know. Well, apparently, sitting in front of a green screen in a bright studio with dozens of people watching your every move through glass is no picnic either. Or so I learned. The hard way.

      People won’t understand this unless they know me extremely well. I like to keep a low profile. I am painfully shy in unfamiliar situations and with people I don’t know well.  And I despise being the center of attention. (A source of discomfort even at my own wedding.) So this was a nice, but totally unnerving honor to be saddled graced with.

     Like most teachers, when I assign student presentations, I tell students to use their index cards for key word cues, but to really try to memorize as much as they can. So I memorized- really improvised- my brief speech. A good idea, I thought, because then I wouldn't have to rely on the teleprompter, and the thank you would be natural looking. Also, what if my poor eyesight caused me to squint to see the prompter, or what if I stumbled on the words? I would forever be the English teacher who couldn't read!

     Sigh... I should have read the stupid teleprompter. Since I didn't want to get confused by the combination of having the speech in my head contradict the speech on the prompter, I tilted my head slightly up and to the left. Which resulted in…my left eye looking closed, and a mouth that looked like paralysis had set in on one side. I looked like Quasimodo. With lipstick. Quasimodo’s sister.

     I was so repulsed that I thanked the folks in the studio and bolted out of there. But that tape haunted me for weeks. Nightmares. Daymares. The whole enchilada. I even thanked my family for loving me even though I was so crooked.

       When I recovered, I begged for a retake.  This time I was not too proud to read the teleprompter. I was okay with the retake, but the folks running the event were not. They wanted Quasi, for reasons unknown. Probably for the comedic value.

      However, there was still a slight ray of hope.  In charge of the editing process was one of my former students, a wonderful boy who struggled to find his niche in the world until he found the magic that is the school’s television studio.  I asked him to use his own judgment, and said that I trusted him to choose the tape that was better.

      All I can say is that I’m so happy he liked my class!

      Now shoo, Trunchbull!