Literature Is Where Empathy Is Strengthened

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

Hi Everyone,
Wow, I cannot believe it is July!  I just wanted to write a quick post about some thoughts I had as I was reflecting on the book, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.  I finished the story last week, and I am constantly thinking about the characters--Starr, Kahlil, Mav, Seven and Momma.  Their experiences pop into my thoughts at various times during the day.  I think about them when I listen to the news, I think about them when I'm reading an article about anti-racism and white privilege, and I think about them as I write new lessons for the upcoming school year.  Those characters touched my heart.  They have a way of constantly reminding me to reflect on my own implicit bias's.  They remind me about my white privilege.  Those characters are the ones who remind me to keep improving myself as a human being and the need to do my part in healing humanity.

My reflections remind me of why I love children's literature and realist fiction in general.  When a story is well-written with believable characters, readers cannot help but become invested in them.  Readers begin to feel connected to those characters.  They root for those characters and want the best for those characters.  If students are taught to pay attention to their thoughts as they read and are guided to read between the lines and infer the character's thoughts and feeling--they may just start to reflect on their own lives.  Readers may start to remember the traits of good characters and want to emanate them.  They may remember the obstacles and struggles their beloved character went through, inspiring students to be more aware of their actions and behaviors.  Students may be able to see another side to situations.  They may be able to step in someone else's shoes for a moment to see the world from that person's point of view.

I'm almost done writing this learning path!  I'll share it soon.

That is what Starr, the protagonist in The Hate U Give has done for me.  Among other things, she has inspired me to become aware of my thoughts, feelings, actions, and privilege.  She has inspired me to be brave, more compassionate, and to keep myself open to new perspectives.  I've come to love that girl and her family.  Her story, getting a look at some of her daily experiences and interactions in the world, has created a feeling inside of me that a news story or a nonfiction article could ever do.

Still my favorite book ever!

Another book I read last summer, that awakened my awareness of the connectedness of all living things on earth, is Tree of Dreams by Laura Resau.  I still think of that story and the characters Coco, Leo, and Gali. Tree of Dreams is beautifully written to show how our actions, both selfish and altruistic, affect others and our environment.  It was this story that immediately appeared in my thoughts at the start of our world-wide pandemic.  As I recalled the events of that story and the far reaching affects Gali's actions had on others, I was reminded that we are all connected...what we do or do not do will affect us all.  No one is beyond it's reach.  As I see the kindness and consideration of others in this very scary time, I am comforted to know those actions will have powerful, lasting effects on us all. They certainly did for the amazon rainforest, the Huaorani people who live there, and all the other main players in Tree of Dreams.

Gone Crazy in Alabama

There are countless children's books, young adult books, as well as adult literature that I could include in this post, but I won't.  My main point is,  developing greater empathy and compassion for others, as well as developing more awareness about humanity, the earth, and ourselves is why I believe literature is vital in helping to heal our world.  I cannot wait to share new stories, and the experiences of characters from all walks of life, with my class in the upcoming school year.

Here are some new titles I want to read.  Some of these books are just for my own reading, while others I intend to use with my class.

Last Stop on Market Street

The View From Saturday

The Red Crayon

These are just a few of the books that are on my list of "want to read."  As I was doing some research for my new learning path, I came across a website titled 27 best moral stories to read with your kids.  It has titles like The Invisible Boy, Beautiful Oops, and a title I remember hearing about years ago, but never bought...The Empty Pot.


So, I guess this was not a quick post, but I'm just so excited about getting back to school to engage my students in reading and discussing books that will touch their hearts, ignite their compassion and empower them to help make our world a kind, healthy, flourishing place to be.

Have a great holiday.
Kim

                                                                                                 

                                                                                           

Becoming Aware, Learning, Accepting and Changing

Sunday, June 21, 2020

Many of you have probably seen the piece of writing by Leslie Dwight on some social media outlet...

What if 2020 isn't cancelled?

What if 2020 is the year we've been waiting for?

A year so uncomfortable, so painful, so scary, so raw--

that it finally forces us to grow.

A year that screams so loud, finally awakening us

from our ignorant slumber.

A year we finally accept the need for change.

Declare change.  Work for change. Become the change.

A year we finally band together, instead of

pushing each other further apart.

2020 isn't cancelled, but rather

the most important year of them all.

"Become the change" is the line in her writing that I reflect on most often.  It inspires me. It gives me hope. It hovers in the shadows of my mind and keeps me asking the questions... 

'What is my part in becoming the change?'  

'What can I contribute to help heal humanity in this most important year of them all?'  

At first, I was overwhelmed. The answers were elusive and out of my grasp.  It seemed there was nothing I could do. After a bit of quiet reflection, a few thoughts came into my awareness--'I am a learner, a teacher, and a role model.  My actions, my words, and my lessons impact kids, and kids are they key to creating a world with new perspectives and new ideas.'  

So, for the past few weeks I have been reading magazine articles about the Black Lives Matter Movement, listening to podcasts created by black people who are speaking about their life-experiences, as well as listening to podcasts created by white people speaking about anti-racism, unconscious bias, and white privilege. I am reading the much talked about book, White Fragility by Robin Diangelo and the realistic fiction book The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.  Diangelo's book is helping me understand the vocabulary terms and the facts about racism, while Thomas' book is allowing me to feel the effects racism has on black lives.

While much of what I am reading can be difficult to "swallow" and heart-breaking, my compassion for others seems to be at the forefront of my awareness and stronger than ever.  I want to show my students how amazing our world can be when we "band together rather than push each other further apart," as Dwight states.  

I will start where I feel the most comfortable, the most secure and possibly the most effective--my classroom.  I am researching ways to make my lessons more diverse, more inclusive, and more mindful about the way we view and treat others.  The most impactful thing I have discovered, thus far, is the importance of exposing my students to literature that celebrates the work black people and people of color have done, and reading stories with diverse protagonists. Diversifying the stories we read, allows everyone a chance to see themselves in the learning and also learn about others. 

It is now more important than ever that I gain a deeper understanding about my students' cultures and weave them into my lessons, classroom management, and academic activities.  These are small steps I can take to deliberately support anti-racism.

100+ Free Anti-Racism Resources

Below are some links I am using as resources when I create new digital and in-person lessons for my third-graders.  My goal is to create lessons that will impact my students' perspective of humanity and our collective connectedness. I will share my first one with you all soon.

Edutopia--full of excellent resources.

Teaching Tolerance

Edchange

Celebrate Difference

I am a learner standing on tip of the iceberg when it comes to understanding anti-racism, implicit bias, and my role in supporting change.  I have a lot to learn and unlearn. I am going to make many mistakes, I am going to say the wrong things, but I will always humbly apologize and continue to expand my awareness, acceptance and learning.

Kim

Penguin Study in Third Grade? What?

Sunday, March 8, 2020

If you would have asked Anne and me a few months back if we studied penguins in third grade the answer would have been a solid, "No!"  If you would have asked us if we were interested in studying penguins in third grade, again the answer would have been a definitive "No!"

And here we are...writing a blog about our latest thematic lessons centering around penguins.  This was definitely not planned, but those are the best lessons, wouldn't you agree?

It all started last fall when we read about the Amazon Forest fires in our Scholastic News and Time For Kids magazines. This topic of hurt, or endangered animals, due to human behaviors was of high interest to our students.

Zoom forward to December and the featured article in Scholastic News was Will They Survive? It was an article about the decline of the South African penguin population.  We assigned this article to the students to read and annotate during our guided reading time.  The discussions afterwards were engaging, emotional, and energetic.  Many students kept referring back to the Amazon Forest animals.

I forgot to mention that we did have the students choose one of the above extended response questions to answer.

A few days later I found an article on Newsela titled Tiny Krill Have a Huge Impact.  Again, the students were assigned to read and annotate it.  After another lively discussion, we noticed many similarities between this article and the Scholastic article.  So, bring in the Venn diagram and comparative writing activity.  Perfect!  We were hitting so many Common Core Third Grade Standards while keeping our students engaged and enthusiastic.

We have found that adding the topics on the side of the Venn keeps the students focused.

These were just some of my ideas I jotted down prior to the lesson with the kids.

I always write out a sample response so I can guide my students' thinking.  This was one of their first times writing a comparative paragraph.

It was now time for some hands-on action.  We decided to create a quick STEM penguin activity for our students.  They were over the moon from the word "Go."  They were charged with creating a realistic, life-sized penguin species of their choice.  The first step was to gather information about the different penguin species available to them.  Then, the students had to look up information about their penguins' heights, as well as find photos of them. With construction paper and liquid glue students created their penguin models. Researching more information about their bird came next. Specific information about the penguins' diets, habitats, and anatomy, as well as fun facts about their chosen penguin was part of the STEM requirement.  Word Art was then used to create an image using the researched penguin information.  It took most of Friday afternoon, but we got the project completed.

Part One of the project completed.

Just a few of the penguins that were made by our third graders.

Working together to research!

Creating word art with information about his penguin.

More word art about their penguin.

These are the moments Anne and I truly feel like teachers.  We feel like we are inspiring our kids to be curious and passionate about our world.  At the same time, we are giving them the tools so they can build their confidence in becoming independent, self-driven, successful life-long learners.

So, do we study penguins in third grade?  This year we did, and we are so grateful for the opportunity.

Have a great week.
Kim and Anne

Valentine's Day, SEL, and Math All Rolled Into One

Sunday, February 9, 2020

Just a quick post to share some Valentine fun.  Anne and I found a new Valentine candy-heart math activity to use with our students.  Most years, we give each student a box of conversation hearts and have them use the candy to practice graphing, comparing numbers with symbols, and division.  However, this year we decided to combine this new math activity with some SEL.  We wanted to have students work in groups of 4 knowing they may struggle with sharing and working together.  Candy does that. :)  So, before beginning the lesson, we had a class meeting to discuss some pluses (pros)  and some deltas (cons) about working together in a cooperative group.  We reviewed Habit #6 Synergize and Habit #4 Think Win Win.  Then, the students decided which delta they would be mindful of during the activity, and if they noticed it creeping up they would gently bring themselves back to synergizing and thinking win-win.   

We cannot believe this is free on TpT!  It's so good.

This bundle is perfect for our students because it involves gathering data in a tally table, creating line plots, finding fractions, determining probability, multiplying, dividing, finding the mean, median and mode, and a challenging word problem to solve.  There is something for students of all math levels to enjoy.

So proud of how well everyone worked together and cooperated.

Close-Up!

Everyone was focused, engaged, and having fun.

Thinking hard!

After we complete the activities on Monday, we told the students we would use the hearts to create a Valentines Day pin.  We do these each year and they are definitely a hit.

This one is a little old.  My newer one was eaten by someone I love dearly.  I'll leave it at that.  :))))

Other fun activities we will do this week include a Valentine logic puzzle, writing Valentine poems to our principal, and reading Love, Z and making an area robot.  Cannot wait for tomorrow.

Another freebie.

This frame is from the notsowimpyteacher blog.  I will change it to "I like you more than..."

This is an adorable book with a heart-felt message about love.

Below is one other area Valentine's Day activity we hope to do this week.

We want to now solve area and perimeter problems in the same lesson.

Happy Valentine's Day!
Kim and Anne

Increasing Vocabulary Knowledge with One Word From Sophia

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Happy Groundhog Day!  From what I heard this morning, the groundhog saw his shadow.  Does this mean an early spring?  Anne and I certainly hope so.

Today we wanted to write a quick blog about a vocabulary activity we did with one of our reading groups.  It is a follow-up to our one-word goal we wrote after winter break.  We thought the adorable, yet challenging, book titled One Word From Sophia by Jim Averbeck would be perfect for building students' vocabularies.  Don't be fooled by the cover.  While it looks like it is for younger students, the plot and word choice is anything but that!

As the story evolves, Sophia goes from being too verbose to finding one perfect word to meet her goal.

Our students each had their own copy of the story.  We read and discussed the plot while being mindful to use strategies good readers use to comprehend at the deepest level.  As we read, we also recorded amazing words the author used, and tried to determine their meanings through context clues.  There are an abundance of Tier 2 and Tier 3 words in this book.

After reading, the students chose one of their identified words to learn more completely.  We did a 4-square activity--word, definition, sentence with the word, and synonyms of the word.  The end result is adorable, but more importantly the students have a new word that they are excited to use when speaking and writing!  They love them.

Here are just a few of the words the kids chose.  We identified well over 30 amazing words in this book!

The amazing word is in the first box.

The second box has the definition and part of speech.

The students wrote a sentence that included their new amazing word and a picture.
The words outside the boxes are synonyms of the amazing words.

The 4-square activity was just the beginning.  Tomorrow the kids will teach each other their chosen word.  Throughout the week we will do activities that will help them internalize the meanings of multiple words.  Activities such as word association, example non-example, and a game called Hit or Miss.  These activities can be found in Bringing Words To Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction, but if you want just a quick glimpse of some vocabulary activities look up "Authentic, Engaging, and Fun Vocabulary Activities and Games," at TpT.

We will continue focusing on collecting amazing words from our reading and the world around us.  This week I will read The Word Collector by Peter Reynolds.  Anne and I will give the students a little pocket notebook and marker (yes, a gimick) to keep with them in case they need to write down a great word they notice.

Some years Anne and I have dressed up like "Word Wizards" and read this book.  The kids all wanted to earn a wizard wand by learning and applying as many amazing words to their writing and speaking as possible.  It's a fun way to engage the students who need a bit more than just the excitement of new words.

We hope you have an amazing week.  February is filled with fun activities, so take advantage of that to engage your students.

Kim and Anne

Graphing Fun

Sunday, January 12, 2020

Wow, we cannot believe we are zooming into the middle of January already!  Our first week back was terrific--slow to get things finished--but terrific all the same.

We just wanted to quickly share a couple of graphing activities and programs we did with our math groups.  One of the end goals with my particular lesson, was to have my students teach Anne's students a new graphing program. Up until this point, my math group has not had the opportunity to be the "teachers."

Anne and I introduced our students to collecting data, making tally tables, and putting the information into bar graphs before winter break.  We showed the BrainPop Jr. video on graphs, and did an old Everyday Math graphing lesson.  The lesson was fun because it had to do with how many letters were in our first or last names.  We also introduced the students to analyzing the data to find the minimum and maximum numbers, range, median, and mode.  On a side note, there is a more advanced version of graphs in Brain Pop.

At that point, Anne's math group was then ready to generate questions and categories about favorite winter activities.  They collected data from their own math group, as well as from my math group.  They made their own tally tables to record the information they gathered, and they entered the information into  Google Sheets to create a bar graph.  Once the graphs were complete, groups of students analyzed the information wrote three statements about it.

After winter break, I wanted to make my groups' graphing experience a bit more concrete.  As a whole class, we graphed how many of each Christmas-shaped eraser were in a bag.  We first made a tally chart so we could record our information. Then, we dumped the shapes onto the carpet. One by one the students took turns picking out an eraser from the pile, and we all recorded a tally in the correct column on our tally table.  The students were focused from the word "Go," because of the novelty of this math lesson, as well as the movement.

The students had more fun using the program Create A Graph, to enter the data and create a bar graph.  They loved choosing different colors for the bars and seeing the words and numbers morph into a graph!   Once the graphs were printed, we looked at the information and wrote statements about what we noticed, including the minimum and maximum numbers, range and median number.

Then it was time for the kids to do the exact same activity in small groups.  This time, the erasers were just a mix of various shapes.   Below are pictures.

This is one of the group's graphs from Create A Graph.

Friday, Anne's group of students taught my students how to generate a question and categories about winter, create a tally table, and survey the kids in the room.  Monday, my students will show Anne's students how to enter the information into Create A Graph, download it to their drive and print it.  Together, they will analyze their information.  I will add pictures to this post tomorrow night, as long as everything comes together as planned.

We will also show them two other videos we just found from Maths With Jacob.  I really like the graphing video because it gives a quick overview about different types of graphs.  As a morning warm-up, the students will answer questions about a line plot graph.  They will have learned about it from the video, and I took a screen shot of a line plot poster from A Math's Dictionary For Kids. This will give the students further information about line plots so they can complete the warm-up.

Created by Jenny Eather.

Knowing how much fun the next few days in math are going to be, Anne and I cannot wait for math time. Tuesday, we will begin our Snowman STEM activity that introduces/reviews 3-D shapes to the kids.



Have a great week!
Kim and Anne